It's been three months since the events of The Honouring Day, and Ignolia is still mourning the sudden disappearance of their powerful rulers.
Lydia finds herself in Ellesmere; the capital of the Congress. Her days are spent accompanying ranked wiza...
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"Do you really think this would work?" Redmond asked. I didn't fail to note the tone of uncertainty in his voice, and I couldn't help but think the same.
Elsie had done what I asked of her, and the Book of Decimus felt odd in my hands.
I had tried to use it sparingly, to limit any knowledge I could obtain from it. At first, I did it out of spite, not wanting a reminder of the lies Decimus had fabricated all these months ago. I still held on to that anger, but I had come to realize that I needed the book if I wanted to use my magic expertly. There was no use in being stubborn, not if I wanted to find Gabriel and the rest of the royals.
"It's worth a shot," I told him, trying to clench my trembling fingers. Something tingled in my stomach, and my skin felt as if it was tightening.
"Have you ever summoned him using the book?"
I shrugged, and Redmond appeared as skeptical as I was.
"He said if I ever needed his help, he'll always be close. Though I'm not sure what that means exactly," I recalled.
That night at Ara -Decimus' cottage was a jumbled blur that resided at the back of my mind, and I would try to push it down whenever it resurfaced. When he had revealed himself to me...all I felt was rage.
Because Luxus' face was the first thing that appeared, and when every piece in the puzzle clicked and formed in my head, all I thought about was that he was there.
He was there when Luxus' body snapped, when his life was stolen out of him. He was there, and he didn't stop it.
He could have revealed himself then and there, but he chose not to. And when I had screamed for the reason, the pain in my throat an echo as I demanded it over and over again, he simply said it was the only way. That Luxus was the trigger, so everything was going according to what the gods had intended.
Just thinking about it now, I could feel my fire slithering within me, threatening to combust and devour.
"Will you be alright? It won't be easy," said Redmond, and his worried eyes followed my shaking hands. I hadn't realized that I was gripping the book so hard that I would have almost torn it in half.
I forced myself to release a breath. "I need answers. And I hardly think anyone here knows even an inkling of what's going on."
"Do you think he would just give you what you need?"
Redmond had a point. Decimus would probably not say anything even if he knew the answers. But this was a shot in the dark, my only way to grasp onto something. After all, who else in Ignolia had a direct means of communication with a god?
"I'll hope for the best." I kicked the thick blankets off my legs, and my body immediately protested the sudden movement. It felt like every joint in my being was incredibly heavy, but I fought through the dull pain.
