AllFreeNovel
Share Us
I shook my head, after weeks on the road being someone else, right now I needed to be me. I needed to be there.
An hour later, any trepidation I had was gone, the sounds of Lily’s screams were replaced with Ri’s laughter, with my pain mixed with joy as we played another round of Dilts, the dice game that was made for the Qits, where the floors always moved and everything swayed.
“Twelve!” Ri shouted, watching her dice roll over the floor before they rolled back to a seven. “Seven! She amended with a giggle, jumping up and running around the group the required times before I jumped up, ready to steal her seat before she could reach it.
I hit the chair first, Amari throwing herself over my lap as she tried to stop me. Instead, she rolled off my lap with a thump that sent everyone laughing, the house rocking, and the front guard of a shelf clattering to the floor, along with the few books that were stored behind it.
“Oh dear,” Tilny chuckled with that big-bellied laugh of hers. “I’ve been meaning to fix that. Guess I have no choice, now.”
She was still laughing as I stood, already collecting books and rod from the floor.
“Don’t worry, I’ve got it.”
Tilny made noise about how I shouldn't worry, not that she was really trying to be heard. I had already slid the securing rod back into place, using a tiny spark of my fíra magic to melt what was left of the screw and hold it into place. They were all still laughing and joking so loud that I was sure they didn’t notice.
“Wish he was this handy at home,” Jayse laughed as I placed the books and trinkets back on the shelf, the repaired rod keeping them in place as the Qit continued to sway.
“Eh, well, he is always on the road buying for the shop though, he helps in other ways,” Tilny sighed as I picked up the last book off the floor and froze. “Same as mine. He’s always gone, working for a big man in Turin. He comes our way at times, though.”
More ice flooded the usual heat in my veins at what she said. Amari’s father, he existed. This was the first that I had heard them talk about him. The new knowledge swirled through my mind as I looked at the open page of the book in my palm.
The blue leather cover was new and fresh, the pages inside written in no more than a dozen times. But it didn’t matter, I recognized the book at once.
Every family had a Book Of The Goddess in their homes, the leather book was blessed at the Temple of the Sister after a wedding or pilgrimage. There, it would be placed on the altar and in the first light of a new turn the priestess would pray over it and give it connection to the Goddess and allow families to record their histories, their news, and their sorrows and send the words to The Goddess through its pages without pilgrimage.
This one, this one was the one that had been on this exact shelf in my home before the soldiers had come. These names were the exact names.
I turned, staring at the mother and daughter that were rolling dice and laughing with Jayse, and realizing who Amari was.
Kryamri.
I had been right; she was my grandmother.
I turned, the quick motion sending the house rocking a bit. Jayse and Amari didn’t seem to notice, they were too busy throwing and chasing after the dice as they rolled underneath the small cook stove that was tucked into the corner. Tilny however looked up, her eyes narrowing as she caught sight of the expression on my face.
I could only imagine how shocked I looked. I tried to rearrange my features, schooling them into something neutral, but the hard mask that usually accompanied death slid into place first.
“Everything alright over there, Caspyn?” Tilny asked, the shake in her voice unmistakable. I shook my head, chasing away the scowl before looking at her. Even Jayse was watching now, the dice abandoned for Amari’s slender hands.She reached underneath the stone, her tongue caught between her lips as she focused.
I had been able to sense magic since the day I washed up alongside the Qit. It was mostly Fae, but those with Requisite and Catalyst magic were just as easy to track if I focused. Lily had been a Requisite, and I had thought myself a Catalyst, which should mean that I should feel something from either Ri or Tilny, some power that had been passed down. I wasn’t sure how magic presented itself, I had never been around other Requisites or Catalysts to ask. Just like the color of your eyes, it had to come from somewhere. Yet I felt nothing from them, just as I was sure I would feel nothing from my parents.
Magic sprung from nothing.
“Yes, yes, I’m fine,” I finally answered her, waving off the concern on both their faces as I sat down. I just realized that Ri’s full name is the same as my mother’s.”
Jayse practically rushed to sit beside me at that, I never talked about my past with her. Even Tilny sat up straighter.
“Is it now?” Tilny narrowed her eyes, almost as though she didn’t believe me, before sitting back in her chair. “Not a common name, Kryamri. Did your mother tell you what it means?”
I shook my head, “Names are just names.”
“Not all,” Tilny’s eyes narrowed again, her features sharp as Ri came bounding back over the circle of chairs, the slightly soot covered dice balanced in her palm victoriously.
“Got ‘em!” Ri bounced into the middle of the circle, still holding the dice aloft. “Your turn Caspyn.”
She turned to me, her tiny face beaming as she held the dice out to me, a smudge of dirt and soot on her upturned nose. Right then, she looked more like Lily than she ever had. It was possibly all in my head with what I now knew, but it made my heart restart all the same.
Tilny hadn’t looked away. I could feel her eyes burn into me even as I locked eyes with her daughter.
