Chapter 17

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

“ Y ou already tried to cross?!” Arie shouted as Rose turned the corner and was visible to him and Aurora in the dining room. Arie and Annabeth must have reached some agreement, because even as the god and goddess were seated with the food Arie had prepared before them, more plates were arriving from the kitchen.

Rose put her hand on her hip. “Don’t act like you thought I would wait.” She pointed to the dishes laden with eggs, bacon, fruits, and pastries. “Who is all this for?”

Arie shrugged and ran his fingers through his hair. She was still getting used to him making such a gesture. It felt too human—too common for the shapeshifting being who was her best friend. “Annabeth insisted. And I hoped you’d at least take a minute to try to research where you were going. Texts about the realm beyond the veil are few and far between. I figured you’d search for at least one, giving us time to catch up with you.”

“We’re doing research now!” Rose replied, gesturing back toward the library.

Arie sighed loudly and dropped his head down on the table. Rose didn’t miss Aurora’s sympathetic smile as she patted Arie’s shoulder through his overreaction.

“Aaron brought some very specific texts. Journals from villagers in Marcil—apparently, the governor’s daughter made a deal with Cassandra to protect the village.”

Rose tested out the Lady of the Veil’s name. The name felt powerful—as she knew the ruler to be from their brief encounter.

“Really?” Arie raised his head and tilted it with interest, and she could once more see the movements of the bird form he usually held. “What did it say?”

“I thought you guys weren’t supposed to help us?” Rose tapped her chin playfully. Even though she was unsure where exactly Arie and Aurora fell on this question. “I also didn’t wait for you because I figured, as with stopping Aterra, we’d have to do this ourselves.”

“We were only a day behind you,” Arie replied, avoiding her question. “How did you even make the crossing already? I figured it would take Carter days to come clean about his abilities.”

“I was pretty proud of him as well.” Rose smiled again, marveling at their progress as a team. “I may have pushed him a little, but he told us on the ride back.”

“Now he decides to start sharing information,” Arie mumbled as he shook his head.

“I still had to ask,” Rose offered. “He was just much faster to cave than he had been about his other abilities.”

“Okay, so…” Arie didn’t finish the sentence, waiting for her to fill in the blanks about their attempt to cross beyond the veil.

“I’m sure Aurora already told you,” Rose said with feigned exasperation. “We tried, roots shot from the ground to hold us, veil cats chased us. The Lady of the Veil was kind of scary. We didn’t want to become prisoners, as I suspect Luc and Aterra are. What else do you need to know?”

“You didn’t speak with her?” Arie asked, his elbow on the table; he let his hand fall, palm upward in a gesture that begged for patience.

Rose’s eyes widened. “Did we speak…” That wasn’t the question she’d expected. “No. She met us moments after we arrived. Her magic felt a little unhinged as roots tore through the soil to ensnare us, and a host of veil cats with very large teeth were growling angrily. We didn’t have time for introductions.”

“I see,” Arie said.

Rose put her hands to her temples, wondering if there was another way. The roots trying to hold them had been her breaking point. They would have been at the Lady’s mercy.

“How did she know we were there?” Rose looked between Aurora and Arie. By telling her about the dagger’s power, Aurora had already indicated that the Gods knew something about how the Lady ruled her realm.

“Cassandra’s control over her domain is very different than ours over the continent,” Aurora said. She gave Rose and Arie a grace period, allowing them their usual give and take, but her calm insertion steered them back to the business at hand.

“How so?” Rose asked.

Arie sat up straighter and glanced at Aurora. He appeared unsure—like he didn’t know what Aurora would say.

“Her entire purpose is to protect the spirits, shepherding them into the next phase of their existence.”

Rose didn’t feel like that was an answer to her question. “Are you saying the nature of her duties grants her some magical knowledge over those entering her realm?” Rose considered this. It at least explained how quickly she’d shown up. It did not explain her demeanor upon arrival. “Neither she nor her veil cats seemed very welcoming.”

“Her cats would have known you were alive. They would have considered you intruders,” Aurora said.

“I’ve always thought she had a way to communicate with her cats,” Arie said, resting his chin on his hands. “I’m sure they alerted her that this was no normal crossing.”

Aurora nodded. “And once she knew you were alive…well…” Aurora gestured with her hand as if to explain Cassandra’s extreme reaction. “The living have no business in her domain.”

Aurora and Arie shared a look that spoke of an eternity of communication.

“Don’t hold back now,” Rose said, finally sliding into the chair across the table from them. The food Arie and Annabeth had prepared smelled wonderful. She could still see the steam rolling off it. She began piling the plate set for her with food while she pushed on the question she again needed to ask. “Where did we land on the gods helping the Compass Points with this anyway?” She focused on her food, pretending the answer didn’t matter.

She had understood the nature of Arie’s inability to help with Aterra. In hindsight, she agreed with his decision to search for Zrak separately from them. The Compass Points needed to learn to work together, and no one could have helped them. Arie’s presence likely would have only exacerbated the strain between herself and Carter—but this felt different.

Aurora and Arie knew the Lady of the Veil and her realm—at least more than the Compass Points did. Rose was confident their knowledge wouldn’t be available in any texts. She wanted their help with this.

“That was part of what we needed to discuss before we arrived,” Arie started.

“Sure. I bet that was it,” Rose said wryly.

Arie coughed primly, ignoring her suggestive comment. “Anyway, we agreed.” He shared another look with Aurora. She reached for his hand and squeezed it. Something in Rose’s heart melted at the small gesture. Arie deserved this—no matter his answer. Rose was glad to see him reunited with his lost love.

Arie continued, pulling Rose from her warm moment. “We agreed the balance on the continent is already in shambles. The mist plague may have been tamed. But since it only paused after Juliette’s brute force communication with Zrak, it’s clear enough the plague is his.”

“What are you saying?” Rose asked.

“We’re sure that to stop Aterra’s plans for good and return balance, the Compass Points need to work together,” Arie tried again, but then seemed unsure how to continue.

Aurora picked up the thread. “We’re also certain the gods have meddled even more than we originally thought.”

“It’s one thing if the mist plague were the continent’s natural response to the imbalance, it’s another to have Zrak send it, masquerading it as such,” Arie said. He scratched the back of his neck. It clearly still bothered him that Zrak was doing this. Rose hoped they would have answers to ease his anxiety on the matter soon. She still wanted to believe in Arie’s view of Zrak—wanted to believe there was some master plan behind all that he had done.

Mostly, she was worried about what it would do to Arie if there weren’t.

“We’re comfortable telling you what we know,” Aurora said.

“We’ll give you every advantage we can in this fight,” Arie said, nodding to himself.

Rose smirked, wanting desperately to pull the melancholy from Arie’s face. “So, you believe we’re so screwed your interference won’t make anything worse?”

Arie’s smile returned immediately. He perked up and rolled his shoulders back as if Rose’s playful words had lifted the weight of the world from them.

“What an elegant way to sum it up, Rose, as always.”

“Well then.” Rose smiled. “Let’s dive right in.” She took a bite of the eggs on her plate, chewing as she considered her first question. “Tell me everything about the Lady of the Veil.”

“Well,” Aurora started, “we’re embarrassed to admit we didn’t know she existed until”—she glanced at Arie—“about five hundred and fifty years ago?”

“How could that be—isn’t she a goddess?” Rose asked dryly, scooping another forkful of eggs.

“Isn’t that the question?” Arie replied. “We don’t pretend to know everything about every realm that isn’t ours, but as you can imagine, the continent has a connection to the realm beyond the veil. Before Cassandra showed up, we thought the veil cats were the only shepherds of the spirits.”

“So, you think she…” Rose couldn’t figure out what they thought. She just appeared? She was hiding?

“My guess is that something brought her into existence,” Aurora said. She shared another look with Arie. It was understandable that the gods weren’t sure about Cassandra; the leader Rose had encountered didn’t seem one to explain herself. Rose was sure the limited interactions between Cassandra and the gods of the continent had been prickly at best.

“Like what?” Rose asked.

“You have to understand,” Arie started, “we’re not the same as we were then.” He sighed deeply. It was the sigh of an immortal who knew less than he liked to pretend. “We haven’t discussed it much, but we were different before the Flood.”

Arie was right, of course. Rose hadn’t truly examined it—hadn’t thought through the implications as it pertained to her friend—but she knew it. She’d started to feel it even as she read the journal entries Aaron brought. The selfish gods were just so incongruent with the Arie she knew. She wanted to think only of this Arie—only of the friend, the protector, the one who’d stuck by her side for ten years. It wasn’t fair to him though. She had to see him both as he was before and as the god he’d grown to be. She nodded at Arie’s words. “I know.”

“I’m not sure you see it fully. I’m not sure I want you to.” Aurora put her hand over Arie’s again as he spoke. Rose lost her appetite and pushed her plate forward.

“I know what your selfishness caused, Arie.” She scratched her temple. “Of course, I don’t dwell on the apathy you must have had to let the world burn as you did, but I can see that version of you.” She sighed. “I also see how much you’ve changed from that god.”

“I will choose to believe that,” Arie said.

“So, did the same behavior that affected the continent affect Cassandra’s realm? Is that it?” Rose asked, trying to make the connection.

“Cassandra, well, she never told us what happened.” Aurora continued. “She confronted the gods about fifty years before the Flood. That was the first time we met her. She was upset.”

“More than upset,” Arie chimed in.

Aurora nodded. “She was furious, claiming our negligence of humanity on the continent nearly destroyed her realm.”

Rose swallowed. “I could see why she’d be upset if that was true. Do you know what happened beyond the veil?”

“No.” Arie shook his head. “She wouldn’t tell us much. She and Zrak negotiated for some kind of recompense for our actions, and that was that.”

“It sounds like the journals Aaron brought you might have insights we don’t.” Aurora gestured toward the library.

“Yes,” Rose agreed. “Although, the one we need, Aaron is still looking for. He thinks the most useful journal will be that of the governor’s daughter, Celeste.”

Arie nodded. “She did something to Cassandra. Stole something from her?” he questioned as he ran his hand through his hair again.

“From what I skimmed in the journals, she made a deal with her,” Rose said.

“Cassandra was far too angry for it to have been a deal,” Aurora said. “We need to consider the perspective of who is telling the story. The villagers might think it was a deal, but as you said, the truth will probably lie with someone closer to the situation. We suspected a human stole from her out of desperation and somehow affected her realm’s magic. It would explain why she blames us for it.”

“As Juliette would say, it always comes back to power,” Rose said.

“I would say that, but what does it apply to in this case?” Juliette drawled as she and Carter entered the dining room.

“You’re just letting yourselves into Norden house now?” Rose asked, turning her head with a smile that said she was delighted by this development.

“I heard a rumor we were friends,” Juliette replied, looking at her nails. “That we were inseparable in our efforts to save your lover and the continent. The least I can do is let myself in the front door.”

Rose couldn’t hold in her laugh. The mention of Luc didn’t bring forth the familiar pulse in her chest. She needed to test her theory on her connection with this group—see if they knew what it was capable of, or if they’d doubt her.

“I’m glad you’re here. Have a seat and grab some food. Arie and Aurora were giving me a history lesson about the Lady of the Veil, and Aaron brought journals that might provide helpful context. But before we go further…” Rose allowed herself to reach toward the Luc-shaped space within. Though not in the heart of her magic, she could sense where his power resided.

Acknowledging her and Luc’s connection—no matter how unlikely—strengthened it. Part of her still knew it sounded ridiculous. A stronger part was sure that the more she told her friends—even ones recently added to the list—the more easily she could access this bond between them.

And she needed to know what it could do.

She took a deep breath as she looked around the table. Her silence lingered for too long. All four of her guests stopped what they were doing to stare, waiting for her words.

Either they would believe her, or they wouldn’t. Rose couldn’t let her truth be governed by what they would think—no matter how much she respected the opinions of everyone in the room.

“Luc and I are bound.” She let the words hang there, the familiar warmth flooded her as she spoke them aloud. The more she said them, the truer they felt.

“ We’re bound,” Luc’s voice echoed through her mind. She couldn’t see him, but she could feel the smile on his face—one she hoped to see again soon. Was he actually speaking to her? Could he hear her words? The connection was alive between them. She had to learn the details of what it could do. They had communicated across realms last night in the heart of her magic—of that, she was sure.

“We’re bound,” she said again, the strength of the words growing with the echo of Luc’s voice inside her.

Finally, she looked up. Her gaze met Arie’s sitting directly across the table. She wasn’t sure what reaction to expect from him, but his smile was broad and genuine. Warmth bubbled in her chest again. It was just as quickly doused as his smile turned to a smirk with his reply.

“I’m glad you figured that one out on your own. That’s one awkward conversation I can check off my list.”