Page 91 of Nocturn

“My lord.” A deep, hurried voice was muffled by the distance.

It ripped us out of the bubble that had taken hold.

Cassiel straightened. Tapping my nose, he said, “Wait here.”

He strode away, and I waited until he disappeared to inch to the edge of the outermost shelf and peeked to see who had entered.

Lord Vaner.

“I apologize, my lord, I was preparing for the Solstice Ball.”

I held my breath to hear the rest of what he was dribbling on about.

“Or else I would have been here sooner. Sergeant Crow should have known better than to challenge your presence here. I will have him properly punished for such an infraction.”

Lord Vaner bowed so low that he almost touched his knees with his nose. A man at his age bending that way was quite a feat. “I do believe we should keep knowledge of these new crawling Hollows in the Kingdom to ourselves until we have investigated the matter further.”

Of course he did. I bit the inside of my cheek to stop my scoff.

“I have made my stance clear. We send a larger battalion to Lifton Village.”

The tone Cassiel used indicated they had clearly discussed this at length. Likely had since Cassiel was still dressed in his battle leather. Cassiel held his finger up, and Lord Vaner closed his mouth.

“Await me in the Grand Hall, and we will continue the discussion.”

“Yes, my lord, of course.” Lord Vaner inclined his head and left, his long black robes sweeping around him as he departed.

I yanked back from my snooping position to return before the desk. Cassiel’s steps approached moments later.

“Remain here translating. I will have an officer posted at the exit.”

I just nodded. Seeing as he was already gone, I should not have bothered. Hinges creaked, enclosing me in the large Archives.

I let out a slow breath.

In his absence, I would scan through the Larien text to see if I could see any word that meant ‘magicks’. At least a starting point for his wilting gifts.

Settling in for the painful reading, my surroundings faded as I hyper-focused.

The injections, the council and their behaviors, Al’s ‘experiments’, Cassiel’s loss of power. How many other things were connected?

What you search for is there . . .

Lord Vaner had mentioned a Solstice Ball. Soon I would return to the prophet to claim what I must.

CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE

Fitting

Atickle assaulted my nose, rousing me from the doze. I lifted my head and dropped it back down when I saw it was Cassiel.

His palm caught my face, cushioning the thud.

“The discussion ran on much too long,” he mused. I closed my eyes, and he began to rub his thumb against the spot between my brows.

“Sweet bliss,” I mumbled.

Reading, then taking a break. Again and again for hours on end until the ache became too severe.