Chapter 35

CHAPTER THIRTY FIVE

T he gold fabric I'd claimed from my last visit to Wandershire had made a perfect mimicry of a Reaper's cloak and as I finished the last stitch, I stood up from the floor and shook it out to admire it. It was done. And there was no more time to squander. I swear I could hear Pisces whispering in my ear, urging me on, and Cancer clacking her claws in celebration of my achievement. Delphinus was cresting a wave, trilling out her good luck to me and I relished the sense of the stars looking out for me.

Or maybe I was semi-delusional and those sounds were more to do with the clunking of the pipes and the sloshing of the churning water above me in the glass tank. Either way, I was going to attempt something tonight that might end with my head on the chopping block, but I was done waiting on Sky Witches, wishing on stars and hoping for an opportunity to arise.

I had to forge my own opportunities, because Harlon could be beyond one of those archways and there wasn't anyone else in this world who was going to hunt for him.

I wrapped the cloak up in my pack along with Blue who was already asleep in there, tucking it in around him and making him chirrup softly in his sleep. I dressed plainly, my black clothes as simple as the ones the Reapers' wore beneath their cloaks, and I slipped on the dull shoes that I'd gotten from Wandershire, close enough to the Reapers' that they should go unnoticed.

I drew my hair back next, the full, flowing curls likely to draw attention if I didn't keep it out of sight. I braided it quickly, thinking of how my mama had tied it this way when I was a kid with a twist in my heart. It fell all the way down my back, the thick strands bound with a black ribbon, then I shouldered my pack and made for the door. My gaze fell on the book I had taken from Wandershire, the page folded where I'd read up to last night. Between forging and clothes making, I was hardly getting any time to study it, and so far I hadn't learned much about Furies or anything about my own Order. Maybe tomorrow I'd have more luck, but right now, I needed to get moving.

I was missing my final cardinal magic instruction of the day for this opportunity, figuring it would be easier to slip into the Reapers' Quarters unnoticed with fewer conscripts wandering about.

I reached the Heliacal Courtyard where an icy wind blew and snowflakes fluttered in the frosty air. The light of the sun was already fading, the days short and ending all too soon. Even in winter, Cascada had still had sun until the evening, but here, the winter held more power, darkness reigning far more often than light.

I headed past the wooden door that led into the Reapers' quarters, entirely unadorned as if trying to avoid attention and promising a whole host of secrets beyond. But this wouldn't be as simple as walking in there. My magical signature wouldn't open that door, so I needed someone to do it for me.

I walked up to the Taurus statue of a bull ready to charge which stood against the wall of the courtyard, slipping behind it and peering through its horns as I waited for a Reaper to appear. They came and went regularly enough, so it was only a few minutes until three of them stepped out from their quarters.

As fast as I could, I cast a sliver of ice into existence, sending it flying across the flagstones to drive right into the closing gap between the door and the jamb. It swung shut, trapping the ice and leaving it open the tiniest crack as the Reapers headed on their way, my magic going unnoticed.

I quickly pulled the gold cloak out of my pack and put it on. Blue stirred within the bag from his latest nap, jumping onto my hand and disappearing up my sleeve.

"I guess you're coming too then," I murmured, stashing the pack beneath the stone legs of the bull, gathering shadows around it with magic to conceal it from view.

With my heart starting up a wild rhythm in my chest, I made for the wooden door, keeping my head bowed a little to hide my face but walking with purpose, acting as if I belonged. I pushed through the door, hurrying inside and finding myself in a vast entrance hall with a grand stairway that swept away from me, leading down to a long hall below. My feet tracked across the blood red carpet that adorned the stairs, my fingers trailing over the mahogany banister, the grandeur in this place stealing the breath from my lungs.

Beautiful tapestries hung on the walls of the cavernous hall, depicting the zodiac signs in all their majesty, their eyes picked out with silver thread, catching the light of the candelabras above and making it seem as though they were watching me.

A doorway stood open at the far end of the hall and the sound of voices made my stomach knot, but I didn't slow, walking straight inside and hoping I went unnoticed.

The room appeared to be some sort of communal space for the Reapers, circular tables dotted around it, the décor gothic and macabre. There were paintings of skeletal beings on the walls laying on blood-soaked battlegrounds with the stars watching on from above, depicted as bright, unblinking eyes. One after another of the disturbing works showed death in all forms.

The attention of the Reapers milling around the room was captured as one of them threw her head back, her hood falling to her shoulders, revealing her face. Her eyes glazed, her hand reaching toward some unknown thing, and I couldn't help but stop to watch as she jerked back to attention.

"What did you see ?" the Reapers asked her, gathering closer and I realised I had just witnessed a real-life Seer perceiving a star-gifted vision. A keenness filled me, and I felt so close to the voice of the stars in the presence of the Seer that it rattled my bones.

"It's time. The moment has come, are the acolytes prepared?" she asked excitedly and cries of joy broke out.

"I'll send word to the Grand Maester," a male Reaper raced across the room, hurrying to one of the gruesome paintings and flipping it open to reveal a passage beyond.

"The acolytes are cleansed and waiting to meet with fate and see which of them will survive their assessment," another man said keenly, making my blood run cold. What did he mean ‘survive their assessment?' What the fuck were they going to put their acolytes through? "I'll check that they are well." He headed towards a painting of a woman being torn apart by some heinous, yellow-eyed beast. Dread twisted through me as he drew it open, striding away into the dark tunnel beyond, sconces illuminating as he went, then the painting swung shut behind him.

I was left with the rest of the Reapers in the room who were still clustered around the Seer, asking her questions, but her eyes glazed again and when she came back to herself, her face was contorted with horror.

"Blood. Fangs as sharp as blades. Monsters on the horizon," she gasped.

"When?" a man demanded.

The Seer frowned, her head shaking. "I cannot grasp more…" She looked tired, dropping into a seat at one of the tables.

An impulsive part of me urged me to follow on through that passage where the acolytes resided, but with so many Reapers here, I knew it would only draw attention. Instead, I backed away, slipping out of the room and breaking into a fast walk down the hall, rising up the stairs and pushing through the wooden gate back into the Heliacal Courtyard.

I had to cause a distraction, something that would draw the Reapers out of their hole and give me a chance to slip into that passage. Images tangled in my mind of that man tethered to an altar, naked and covered in runes in front of the Reapers, setting my soul alight with terror. I had to reach Harlon. I didn't know how I would stop his assessment, or what I was going to do when I found him at all, but I just had to find him. Now .

I rushed across the empty courtyard just as the bells rang to end the day. But no…it wasn't the right sound. Those bells kept ringing and ringing, the tone an ominous bellow that spoke of oncoming enemies. They had told us during our very first week here what the tolling of the bells meant, and that endless chiming told of only one thing. Never Keep was under attack.

I tore the gold cloak from my back, racing across the empty courtyard towards my bag as Blue clung tight to his perch on my shoulder. The sound of footsteps pounded this way and I shoved the cloak under the statue, thickening the shadows there and stepping back, abandoning my pack as a tide of neophytes came pouring into the courtyard with the Grand Maester and a line of Reapers at the forefront.

"Enemies approach!" a Reaper bellowed from beyond the Night Gate, their voice amplified by magic so it echoed out around the Keep, those words sending a shiver of dread through me. Who would dare attack a sacred place such as this?

My gaze locked on the Sky Witch just beyond the Reapers, she and her clique clustered tight together, the two women, Dalia with the short black hair and terrifying eyes, Moraine with her silver blades and murderous expression. And the man, Cayde, who looked like he was plotting death and carnage in every passing thought.

This was my chance. I knew it in my soul. Pisces was urging me on, encouraging me as if the perfection of this distraction had been borne into existence just for me. And with the challenge that faced me tonight, I wondered if the Sky Witch might just be tempted into the chaos of my plan.

I raced into the crowd, aiming straight for the Sky Witch, madness claiming me as I tossed a silencing shield around the two of us and explained what I'd heard in the Reapers' Quarters in a fast stream of words before telling her of my plan. "This fight will be our chance to get under the Keep again. While the Reapers face the attack along with the neophytes, we can get back there. I saw a way in."

"Are you insane?" she snapped, glancing at her friends who were staring at me in shock.

I'd just approached the Sky Witch in front of a whole crowd and I half-expected her to raise her blade against me, but for some reason she didn't.

"Probably," I admitted, throwing a glance towards the wooden door, hoping more Reapers would appear at any second and we could make it inside. "So, are you coming?"

I noticed the large, imposing form of Kaiser Brimtheon charting a path through the crowd with North and his pack at his heels, looking fit for war, but I ripped my eyes from him back to the pink-haired warrior before me. I couldn't get distracted by that monster right now. Harlon needed me.

"V?" Moraine called to the Sky Witch, the crowd surging past us as the Grand Maester called out for everyone to defend Never Keep. "What the fuck is going on?"

"Extend your silencing shield to include them," the Sky Witch said decisively, and I hesitated before allowing her three companions into the fold, laying everything on the line in the hopes that I could find Harlon tonight.

I could go without the Sky Witch, but in truth, I didn't want to. We had discovered a secret in the depths of this place and it was time we sought answers. Besides, whatever we faced down there would be better fronted together. If she refused, I'd be going either way.

"Vesper, explain," Cayde demanded, and I latched onto that name, finally claiming a piece of the Sky Witch's true identity.

"You are all going to trust this Raincarver for one night only," Vesper said sharply. "The Reapers are hiding something unimaginable at the Keep and it's time I showed you what it is."