Page 28 of Blood of the Stars

When she followed Sylmar, Velden and Cyrus took up the rear.

“Was it the dark spirits?” she asked. The idea wasn’t any more palatable, not if she was the one who called them by spilling her blood, but it helped her understand how it had happened.

“More likely Arvid,” Velden muttered from behind.

They fell into line, and Aeliana mulled over Velden’s accusation, afraid to hope that it could be true. She still wasn’t completely innocent if Arvid had used her blood, but maybe there was a chance she could learn to neutralize it.

If Sylmar and Velden weren’t concerned about the dangers of her magic, then she’d go with them, for now. Not because they offered to teach her magic, and as terrible as it was, not even because they had someone who could heal Cyrus.

They claimed to know her parents, and, if her parents still lived, she wanted to find them.

Sylmar led them to the other side of the clearing, then down a path through the rainforest. His pace was slow considering the urgency he’d expressed.

Aeliana lifted her hair off her neck, wondering if this heat was why both men kept their hair so short. Random questions like that mingled with more complicated questions about magic and starbridges and…her parents, making it difficult to focus and grasp the most important ones.

“Are you still looking for my—my mother?” The familial word felt strange, yet welcome, on her lips.

“There’s been no need to search.” Sylmar turned, his face twisted in what she thought was a grimace but might have been sympathy. “When your father took you across the barrier, Mayvus kidnapped your mother. We haven’t had the resources to rescue her until recently, but we knew she would want us to ensure your safety first.”

One truth stood out from his dire words: her mother was alive.

“And my father? Rildan?”

“Time will tell. I don’t believe Arvid was telling the truth, but I didn’t have magic to waste on sifting his words.”

“Who is Mayvus?” Aeliana asked.

“Mayvus is another high priestess,” Velden said. “She wasn’t as popular as Emeris, so she took out the competition.”

Sylmar grunted from up ahead but didn’t comment.

“That’s not—” Cyrus straightened, affronted. “What kind of priestesses do you have over here?”

“Most are harmless,” Velden said. “Mayvus is her own kind.”

“Now that you’ve found me,” Aeliana asked, “are we going to rescue my mother?”

“It’s not that simple, but yes.” Sylmar’s voice ebbed and flowed with the wind.

“It can be that simple,” Velden said. “But not if Sylmar’s explaining it.”

The older man rested his glare on Velden. “We have a handful of progenies hidden in a cave. Our group’s mission was to retrieve you. Now that we’ve accomplished it, we’ll head out to join the others. Make our way to Mayvus so we can rescue your mother.”

“What are progenies?” Cyrus asked.

“Half-lights who can do magic,” Velden said.

“That’s not exactly precise if—” Sylmar started.

Velden let out a theatrical gasp. “I forgot,” he said, raising his hands in mock defense. “No one but the master may instruct the students.”

Aeliana felt the tug of a smile on her lips, a strange sensation after all they’d been through. Then she caught sight of Cyrus studying her, as if applying their words to who she was and what she could do. There was a hint of admiration in his gaze that she didn’t want.

She rushed to catch up with Sylmar. “What did you mean when you said I needed to be weaned?”

“Your body is used to the release of blood,” Sylmar said. “It’s like a cow that needs milking. The more the cow is milked, the more its body supplies milk to meet the demand.”

Velden groaned from behind Aeliana. “Have some tact, my friend. You just compared the lady to a cow.”

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