Chapter 27

CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN

A fter practicing, they went to the Vesten Library together, to do a bit more reading. In an unexpected show of unity, the Compass Points also had dinner together in the Vesten hall. Carter’s father, Gabriel, hosted them. He was so different from his son. He had a warm, welcoming persona. He had joined them in the afternoon, letting himself into their private library and making his own introductions. If Carter had feline aloofness, Gabriel had all the warmth and acceptance of a canine pack. And whether they liked it or not, he treated the visiting fae leaders as part of his pack—shepherding them off to dinner when he deemed they had worked too long.

“Have you been to Sandrin before, Rose?” Gabriel asked as he passed her a platter of meat.

“Yes, Luc and I visited before the Summer Solstice Ceremony, though, I admit, that was my first time here. I’d always wanted to come.”

“Well, I hope you get to explore a little.” He smiled cheerfully. “How about you, Juliette? Do you get to Sandrin often?”

Rose glanced at the others. They each seemed confused in their own way. Carter’s confusion was most certainly rooted in embarrassment. He clearly hadn’t told his father what they were doing here or the urgency of their journey. Juliette, on the other hand, wore a bemused expression. Rose suspected it had been a while since anyone had tried quite so hard and so genuinely to draw her into a conversation.

“I do not,” she replied. “My duties keep me at Compass Lake.”

Even Luc, who had been in a mood since they practiced merging powers, could barely hold back a smile as he watched Gabriel energetically interrogate each of them.

“Carter, you don’t come home enough.” He waved a hand in a dismissive gesture. “Though I suppose I tell you that all the time.”

Rose wasn’t sure she had ever seen Carter flush so deeply. She lifted her napkin to hide her smile.

“The Suden Point.” Gabriel turned next to Luc. Here was the only indication that Gabriel might be more nervous than he appeared. He bowed his head and shoulders slightly as he addressed Luc and couldn’t bring himself to address him by name. “You, of course, need no introduction to the city. How are you finding your stay? You visit quite often, do you not?”

“I do.” Luc dipped his head back. “We appreciate the meal,” he offered. “We’ve had nothing but stew on our travels.”

“And where have you been?” Gabriel asked as he passed the roasted vegetables to Rose.

Everyone turned to Carter. “I told you, Dad, we can’t talk too much about it. We’ve been traveling in an effort to stop the mist plague.”

“Oh yes, of course,” Gabriel said as he drank his wine. “I expect the four of you together will be able to stop it.”

Rose would swear that he was goading them, but his enthusiasm was genuine. The pride he held in his eyes for his son wasn’t that which could be faked. “We’re certainly working on it,” she chimed in.

“Actually, Dad, maybe you can help us,” Carter said. He glanced around the table briefly to see if anyone would stop his questioning. No one did. “Are you aware of any texts we have about the relationship between Compass Point and their patron god?”

While Arie had said he wouldn’t join them, Rose was unsurprised to feel what could only be a cat brush against her legs under the table. “ What is he asking about?” Arie asked her.

Rose shook her head. There was no way she could respond without alerting everyone he was here. She gently kicked him, trying to usher him out from under the table to make his presence known. “ No,” he said, holding his ground. “ This is much more interesting. Do you think the patron god’s power is tied to their Compass Point? Tap your foot once for yes and twice for no.”

Rose tapped her foot once.

Gabriel looked up. Rose got the impression he was going through a mental index of all the reference books in his archive to see if he could give his son any pointers. He looked disheartened when his gaze returned to the table. “Have you tried Kenna’s journals?”

“ And you think this because Juliette can boost Zrak’s power?”

Rose tapped her foot once. She heard but didn’t track Carter’s reply to his father.

“But…” Rose felt Arie mentally hesitate. “She only boosts his power when she feels the Osten fae magic waning…is that it? And then with the boost, Zrak can strengthen the Osten…”

He’d gotten there all on his own. Rose tapped her foot once. At least this answered whether Arie knew about it.

“I know you’ll call me an idiot, but I hadn’t put that together. I knew Zrak’s artifact was a vial, but I assure you, it didn’t have his blood in it when he gifted it to the first Osten Point. He always had too many plans going for his own good.”

“Rose?” Luc nudged her with his elbow, bringing her back to the conversation at the table.

“I’m sorry, what was the question?” The others all stared at her. Her diverted attention hadn’t gone unnoticed.

“Just if there was anything in Kenna’s first journal about the shared power.” Carter eyed her suspiciously. He couldn’t possibly know she was secretly talking to the Vesten god, could he?

“Oh, well, there was what we discussed about Compass Lake being where we are strongest and the gods knowing if we left—presumably, that means they’d know if our power weakened.” She gestured vaguely. “It could be a simple threat to get the firsts to do what they wanted.”

“ Or it could have meant we would weaken if you did.” Arie paused. “ Kenna never tested me on that. Neither did Nicholas. They stayed at the lake… Juliette’s ritual requires a mixture of her and Zrak’s blood?”

Rose tapped her foot once, desperately trying to keep both conversations straight.

“We should leave soon,” Arie said to her. “ If this is true, I think Aterra’s plans are worse than I realized.”

“When do you leave?” Gabriel asked Carter. The conversation must have moved on, though she missed any conclusion from her point.

“Have you and Luc talked about what this could mean?”

Rose froze. A feeling like a pit opening in her stomach overtook her. What part of this would she have talked to Luc about specifically? She tapped her foot twice and glanced at Luc. She was worried about many things for Luc, but nothing tied to the power of the gods. If Arie was worried about him, they needed to get going, and she needed to find out why.

“I think we should leave tomorrow,” Rose said, interrupting whatever response Carter would give.

“Rose?” Juliette said her name like a question. Luc, it appeared, had glanced under the table and made some assumptions about why she was acting so scattered.

“I think we need to continue our journey,” she said.

“But we haven’t really begun to practice with everyone,” Carter said. “We don’t know if this will work…”

“I know,” Rose looked at Juliette. “I think some of the things we learned today add urgency to our journey. We’ll have to continue to practice as we travel.” Pieces of information were sliding together in Rose’s mind. If the gods knew when the Compass Points weakened, it would stand to reason they knew when they strengthened. That was what Luc had been getting at—how Aterra would strengthen himself.

Juliette’s hand went to her necklace as she took a final bite of her meal. “If that’s the case, I think I should excuse myself to get some rest.” With a last glance at Rose, she added, “We leave early?”

Rose nodded. “We should get going too, Luc.” She looked at Gabriel. “Thank you so much for the hospitality. I apologize that we weren’t able to be more enjoyable company.”

Gabriel demurred. “You were wonderful. Come back any time.”

It would damage the trust they had built with Carter to leave so abruptly, but if Arie was worried about Luc, Rose would risk Carter’s anger.

Luc had been thinking a lot about his magic since their confrontation with Aterra. She just hadn’t fully realized the conclusions he had come to.

“Tell me everything,” Arie said, including Luc in the conversation, as Rose closed the door to his quarters behind them.

“I don’t know what else to tell you,” she said.

“Were you making her tap yes or no responses through dinner?” Luc asked, his eyes dancing with mirth.

Rose glared at him.

“ Of course. It seems you all omitted some details about Juliette’s secret this afternoon.”

“How so?” Luc asked.

“ You didn’t indicate your suspicions that the power sharing could apply to all Compass Points and their patrons. Given what he had planned to do, I assumed it was something Zrak set up for himself.”

“I mean…we don’t know for sure. It’s a question.” Luc considered. “The fact that you know nothing about it lends itself to being Zrak-specific.”

“Why don’t you tell us why you think it applies to other gods,” Arie said, jumping up on the bed so that his yellow-green eyes could stare unblinkingly at Luc more easily.

Luc glanced at Rose, then back at Arie.

This was going to be it. Whatever Luc had concluded about his magic—about Aterra—Arie had also. Rose was anxious to hear it. It felt like a weight settling over them.

“What if Aterra plans to use me in the same way?” Luc said.

Rose tilted her head. Use Luc in the same way that Zrak was using Juliette? Why would that matter? Luc would never be a willing participant. And Aterra wasn’t in a position where his magic needed to be strengthened for the Suden fae. She said as much aloud.

“It requires a mixing of blood, Luc. Yours and his. And Rose has a point… It would be hard to get you to complete that ritual without your knowledge.”

“What if our blood is already mixed? What if I’m Aterra’s son?” Luc asked.

This was what he’d been brooding over for days? She considered what they’d read the day prior—Aterra’s too-close relations with the Suden.

Arie’s tail flicked back and forth as the seconds passed.

Rose couldn’t refute the idea, though she felt they lacked proof. “Say you’re right, which I still don’t think we can confirm.” She paused. “Still, say you’re Aterra’s son. You have his blood in you. Wouldn’t you still have to complete a ritual to be useful to him? To boost his power in some way?”

Luc pulled his hand down his face. “I guess,” he said. “Juliette has the vial, the artifact left by Zrak. Maybe I need the ring? The Suden artifact? But we assume he already has that, so it’s not a stretch to think he planned to slip it on me.”

Taking Luc’s hand, Rose squeezed it and stared at Arie. “Anything to add, Lord Arctos?” She couldn’t help her sarcasm. She had hoped that one of the gods would have more information for them.

“ I don’t think Luc’s assumptions are incoherent…but I honestly can’t say for sure. There was so much about the creation of the fae courts that we didn’t discuss. I trusted Zrak knew what he was doing. ”

“Maybe there is one way to test it,” Rose said. Arie and Luc turned to look at her. “What if we have you test it, Arie? You and Carter?” She paused as the pieces clicked together in her mind. “We have your artifact, you, and the Vesten Point. Why don’t we see if he can share his power with you? If it works for any god, even one not weakened through sacrifice?”

Arie licked his paw.

“It would be a bit of a gamble,” Luc said, staring intently at Arie. “Could Carter trust Arie wouldn’t abuse the power given to him if it worked?”

“I take offense to that.” Arie continued to lick his paw and wipe his head with it. “ But Luc’s not wrong. It’s a huge ask. And I haven’t exactly done anything to gain Carter’s trust.”

“He knows that you asked me to make him a weapon. I told him when I gave him the coin. So, I may have helped you there.” Rose stepped forward and patted Arie on the head. “Though, if you want to do this, you’ll have to ask him yourself. But he knows you were looking out for him. That has to be a good place to start.”