Chapter 6

Chapter Six

Cypherion

Objectively, Lumin was a beautiful city. The lake was nestled against the mountains, the jungle surrounding it broken up by pockets of buildings that filled sloping hills down to the crystal blue water.

Various shades of pale stone comprised the city itself, homes and storefronts fitting together like puzzle pieces in slightly different hues that complemented each other. Mosaics covered the walls and greenery poured out of the jungle to tangle around pillars and homes.

But it all crawled beneath my skin.

Before I'd ever laid eyes on this city, I'd heard the pain of a young girl tied to a temple. I'd heard of the tears she'd cried at night and the marks left on her body.

Vale had painted a picture of serenity and bliss with her stories of fruit and swimming in the lakes, and that had been my goal. To give her something beautiful to remember as she entered a place she loathed.

But I couldn't see past it. As we left the inn, and I followed Vale through the city, I had a feeling she couldn't forget it either.

And I wanted to burn it all down.

"Just this way." Vale's voice was stronger than I'd anticipated. When I turned to face her, she was clear-eyed.

Guard up, Stargirl .

She waved a hand down the block, and we continued quietly. The city bustled, though. Shoppers ran down cobbled streets, bags drooping from the market as they headed home to prepare dinner. Kids screeched, releasing bouts of energy they'd likely kept bottled up during their lessons all day.

Normal life did exist in Lumin, I guessed. Despite what went on in the temple, despite what we were currently here to do. It was an unsettling reminder that everywhere, every day persisted around us no matter what shit we were in.

Vale turned a corner, and the next street was shadowed by a large structure, white stone glowing in the setting sun, and a mosaic dome glinting proudly with its silver spires.

"Vale, why?—"

"I had to face it," she muttered. And she strode across the street with her chin high, pressing one hand to the smooth wall.

She was still for a long while, and a part of me wished I knew what was going through her head. Don't ask, Kastroff .

Instead, I gave her a moment of privacy, and observed the historic—horrific—Lumin Temple. With the ethereal glow of golden rays and stained glass, it was beautiful—if I didn't know what had occurred inside years ago. What might still happen at the hands of the temple masters.

The Starsearcher crest adorned the dome—a circle of eleven stars with a gap where a twelfth used to be—as it did every flag in this city.

"For the Fates," I whispered, gesturing to a pennant draping above the temple wall.

Vale's gaze swiveled toward me. "The stars are the eleven existing. The gap is the lost Fate."

The silken symbol wavered in the breeze. I studied the wall again, the stone etched with depictions of the eleven existing fates, the twelfth carved away, like a great beast's claws had gouged it out.

Dragging a hand along the rough surface, I walked a few feet and found the one I was looking for. There weren't names—the Fates' names were only given to the Starsearchers—but I recognized the rendition.

"Cruelty and Adoration," I muttered.

Vale's breath hitched. "You remember?" she asked.

I looked at her, saying firmly, "I remember everything."

"Cruelty and Adoration," Vale said wistfully as we strolled through the quiet back alleys of Damenal.

My brows shot up.

"What?" She laughed, and the sound made my throat dry out.

I licked my lips. "A bit of a juxtaposition."

"All the Fates are," she explained. Her hand brushed mine as she turned to study a shop window full of precious gems, and my heart stuttered like I was thirteen years old again.

We were in one of the wealthiest parts of the city—not because I was trying to impress her, but because in the month since she'd arrived in Damenal, it was one of the few we had yet to explore. And truthfully, the silence was relaxing. The sound of her voice melodic as we wandered, a break from the strategy meetings we were in all day.

"All the Fates are counters to themselves?" I asked, studying the rings catching the setting sun in their velvet boxes. Sapphires, emeralds, rubies—even an extravagant cluster of pearls that complemented the single opal Vale always wore, the silver tarnished.

"All magic in this world and all others requires a balance, Cypherion," she explained. "The Fates are beings of magic—they are no exception."

"So, Cruelty and Adoration is the Fate that you're aligned with?"

Vale kept her eyes trained on the glass, nodding. "She passes me such powerful readings."

"And they center around those two things?"

"Those, and many more. Always connected in one way or another."

"How?" I asked, crossing my arms.

"Adoration comes in many forms." Her eyes turned up to mine. "It can be love, passion, poetry." My heart raced at the intensity of her stare. "And cruelty…well, can't cruelty be a consequence of all those things, as well? They go hand in hand, a spectrum stretching between them. And every reading the Fate of Cruelty and Adoration passes to me falls along that spectrum."

The darkness Titus read in Ophelia's future. That could have been cruelty. One we remained blind to, though Vale was trying every day to decipher what the chancellor's reading meant.

"And these spectrums are all…various states of being?" I clarified.

"Some are. Fate of Chaos, Fate of Wrath, it goes on." Vale pushed away from the glass. Taking a few steps into the alley, she drew a circle in the air. "Think of the Fates as a sphere. They orbit like true stars, three-dimensionally rotating around us at all times. And in the center, are the Starsearchers." She pretended to draw a line from the perimeter to the middle of that circle. "We conduct sessions here on Ambrisk, and they stretch out to us, burning in the wake of stars falling from the sky."

She dropped her arms. "That's what it looks like, at least. The images I'm shown appear in the trails of starfire burning in their wake."

"You explain it beautifully," I commented. I could listen to her talk about her magic for days.

She smiled softly, ducking her head. "It's a beautiful part of my life."

"Come on, Stargirl," I said, placing a hand at her back to guide her down the street. Her cheeks flushed at the name, and I froze.

I'd been thinking of her that way for a bit now, like a woman who walked among the stars—who shone brighter than them—somehow falling into my life. But I hadn't meant for it to slip out.

I'd say it every chance I got if it caused that rosy blush, though.

I inclined my head back toward the palace. "Tell me more about them on the walk home."

And though the concept of the Fates was still foreign to me, it was feeling more like she might be mine.

"I remember everything." My fucking words were too pining.

I cleared my throat, opening my mouth to say we had to go, but Vale spoke over me. "I remember everything, too, Cypherion."

Then, she flipped up her hood and left, the velvet cloak I'd given her swaying around her frame. And for the sake of my fucking spirit, I wouldn't admit how much I liked to see her wear it.

It wasn't hard to locate the rings given that they weren't a secret. Organized fights weren't illegal so long as all participants consented—or no one knew they hadn't. Carthern had said to look for a dark-blue flag marking the entrance and take the back stairs to the underground haven.

As we entered, my pulse raced with the familiar jeers of the crowd. With the roars of bets being called, won, and lost. It was rowdy and obnoxious and would have been entirely comfortable for me to sink into and lose myself had I not had Vale at my side.

We cut through the main bar, and no fewer than seven warriors appraised her. I fought the urge to punch their teeth out for it. Because I was her guard. That was why.

"Did you bring a weapon?" I muttered.

Quietly, Vale flashed me the triple-bladed dagger sheathed at her thigh, a Starsearcher signature throwing knife.

"Good girl." I hated that I cared.

This fighting space was smaller than the one I frequented in Damenal, but it was just as crowded. Tables and alcoves lined the circumference, booths were veiled behind sheer curtains, and a window was tucked to one side where Starsearchers dropped their bets.

The center ring was a dust floor lined by thick red ropes, sprinkles of crimson staining it. As I watched those spots fade into dirt, and a warrior was dragged from the arena, my blood heated.

I shook off the urge for the time being, focusing instead on the woman I was responsible for.

Vale was quiet when we entered, her eyes darting around the space from beneath her hood. Cataloging everything, I was certain, but she also seemed to be searching for something. As we made our way toward the betting window, she inhaled sharply, turning and heading down a path between a few tightly-packed tables.

I followed, not questioning her. There was pain I didn't understand buried within her at being here, and this was not the place to discuss it.

Not that she would even tell me . The memory of her secrets soured in the back of my throat, blurring the niceties we'd exchanged today.

"He's unstoppable," a man bragged, and I instantly knew who they were speaking of. The only opponent I wanted to fight. "He's taken down every contender the past six nights."

"I don't believe it," another argued.

"It's true!" The first one dropped his voice. "Ledger came straight from the war. Saw some things that changed him. Now…sorry to any poor guy who stands against him."

He couldn't be that strong…could he? For once, a hint of doubt tainted my mind.

"Come on," I said stiffly to Vale, tilting my head toward the betting window and leaving those men behind.

Approaching the teller, I spoke in a low voice. "I'd like to put my name in for the next round against your current victor. Ledger."

The man appraised me. "Next fight with Ledger starts after these two are done." He nodded to the ring behind me, two scraggly warriors currently—unskillfully—trying to outlast each other. It seemed the drink swaying their steps was a bigger threat than the fight.

"Put my name in for it," I commanded.

Smirking as if he didn't believe in me, the teller ducked beneath the counter and returned with a piece of parchment. The inkwell he passed me was filled with a silver liquid. It radiated with magic, but it wasn't Mystique ink.

It likely came from the mountains, like ours did. Mined and imbued in some way. And if it was to sign a betting slip, I would put money on it being binding when one signed their name.

That was fine. I didn't intend to back out of this fight.

I reached for the parchment, but the man pulled it away at the last moment. "You can sign, but her signature is the one that matters."

My voice dropped into a growl as his eyes landed on Vale, and I nearly snapped the pen in half. "Why?"

The man's eyes dragged over me, snagging on the blades tucked into the vambraces at my wrist, where the mystlight illuminated a distinct Mystique sigil. Damien's balls .

"Should've left the foreign blades at home," he said.

Vale had convinced me to leave my scythe at the inn, but I hadn't been comfortable without any weapons. I should have bought triple blades, even if just for show.

"Everyone who loses is required to give a reading," he continued. "You clearly are not capable of doing that."

"And if I win?" I asked.

He scoffed. " If you win against Ledger, you'll hear from her ." He gestured over his shoulder where a dark curtain was drawn, beaded chains dangling before it. "True names only. The ink will know."

Grumbling, I signed the slip of paper and slid it to Vale. Wary eyes met mine.

I dropped my voice low enough that only she would hear and swore, "You're not going to have to read. I won't let that happen."

"Cypherion," she whispered, "I'm rethinking this?—"

"You're rethinking this?" I snapped, brows raised. Was she concerned for me? And why did a part of me want her to be?

"Yes, I am rethinking this! It involves me." Her eyes locked on the paper, my signature blatant and shining. Full first name and everything. "I can't attempt anything here."

The fear in her tone grated through my chest. I shoved that away.

She was worried about herself. Only herself, as always. Fine, but I would do what I needed to win this information and stay true to my cause here.

"I promise you won't come near a reading, Vale. No incense, nothing." She hesitated, not meeting my eyes, so I took a step closer. "I swore to protect you when I accepted this mission. I swore to see you back to Starsearcher Territory to retrieve whatever answers we could find and fix your sessions so you can aid Ophelia. I won't let that vow break in something as basic as a fighting ring."

Her brows drew together, working through something I'd said. Or something I didn't. Spirits, I didn't know. But whatever it was had a small bead of hurt widening in her eyes.

"I know these people, Cypherion. You don't."

Apparently my promises held little weight to her, because she didn't even acknowledge it.

"This is happening, Vale." My tone was harsher than usual, but desperation was sending my nerves into a riot. We didn't have time for this, and I couldn't afford the distraction.

No matter how much it twisted my gut.

"You may be a victor in Damenal, but here they won't—" Her eyes flitted around the dim room, latching onto someone or something, I didn't care. I kept my stare on her and didn't miss when she took a sharp breath, lifted her chin, and blinked a few times.

Unsettled .

Spirits, it ripped at that stirring instinct in my chest, but I fought it down, locked all the doors that it may try to escape through.

"They won't play fair," Vale said. Why did she even care?

"Good thing I won't either, Stargirl." I tapped the paper. "Sign."

She mumbled something beneath her breath, but as I started taping up my hands, she did as I said. We didn't speak as I discarded my vambraces and weapons, removing my tunic and tying back part of my hair with a leather band.

Once the bet was sealed behind the counter, I turned away, ready to storm toward the rope and shut out the jeering crowd. But Vale snatched my arm just above the tape. Skin against skin, her warmth rocked through my body.

"Be careful," she muttered, only loud enough for me to hear.

I couldn't afford that right now. Not heading into a fight that she was right about: it would not be fair. It would take everything I had to win and uphold that promise to keep her safe.

If I was going to get us both out of here with a reading that would hopefully give us answers, I had to remember that she didn't want to stay. She chose to lie, chose the chancellor who used her, over me.

So, I looked over my shoulder and met those olive eyes. Forced myself to memorize the hurt that bloomed as I growled, "Why do you care, Vale?"

I ducked beneath the rope and faced the mountain of a warrior who had spread his name across the territory. His frame was a bit larger than mine, but our height was about even. Long onyx hair was knotted at the back of his neck so opponents would not pull it, and the wrap around his hands was stained. Not replaced after each fight as a professional did, but trying to intimidate me instead.

Organizing all those details, I forgot everything else.

I shut out Vale's damaged expression and the way it panged through my chest. I shut out the mission I was here on and the worry I carried for my friends down south. I shut out my own opinions and the hurt I clung to.

And when my fist connected with Ledger's jaw for the first time, a depraved part of me sang.