Page 31 of Blood of the Stars

“We both know you don’t trust me enough to give me any responsibilities you aren’t overseeing. You’ll take care of things while I’m gone.” He pulled his shirt off and threw it at Enla to give him space from her glare.

She sputtered and flung it off her shoulder, then spun on her heel as he tugged down his pants. “Gaeren Elanesse! You’re impossible. Mother and Father already think you’re a lost cause. It’s like you don’t want me to convince them you can be more.”

Gaeren smiled as he eased into the bath, letting the steam and flower scent invade him. He’d hoped stripping for a bath would make his sister leave, but it was easier having this conversation with her back, so it was still a win. “You shouldn’t have to convince them. They should see that all on their own because they see what I’m doing and they understand. Not because you’ve made me do what you would do if you were me.”

Some sort of huff met his ears, but he dunked under water, grateful he couldn’t see her expression. When he surfaced, she was mid-speech.

“—the one person I trust. You’re my one ally. What does it say to Mother and Father every time you hop on a boat? What does it say to Lenda every time you leave without even a goodbye? That’s not how you should treat your bondmate. And what about me?”

Gaeren rested his arms over the tub’s edge, the break in his sister’s voice finding that little nerve in his body that knew how to twinge with guilt.

“We have meetings with the council,” she continued, “dignitaries coming from Mayvus?—”

“Mayvus?” Gaeren asked. An image of the high priestess and her wicked grin, more teeth than lips, floated through Gaeren’s mind. “I’ve never trusted her. Why do we need to meet with dignitaries from the eastern provinces anyway?”

Mayvus’ control as a high priestess over the other servants of the Sun in the Sungazers had been growing in the east. Between her subtle shift in power and the Recreants’ outright demand to bring down the monarchy, he didn’t know which was the bigger threat to their family’s rule in Elanesse. But for some reason, his sister and parents weren’t concerned.

“Don’t you pay attention to anything? Mother and Father want to seal her authority as a spiritual leader for the nation in order to differentiate their governing authority. Plus, there are the Recreants in the south to deal with. I need you around when things get hard.”

“I’m not abandoning you. I’ll be back well before the dignitaries arrive. If you trust me as much as you say, trust that this is something I need to do. Not just for me, but for you, for our people.” His words weren’t lies, but he wasn’t sure he could explain their truth. Daisy was important. He’d known it as a child, and his certainty had only grown over the years.

Enla’s hesitation gave him hope. He lathered up with soap, waiting for her response, but the longer her silence went on, the more his hope soured into dread.

“Who is she?”

He stilled, the water suddenly too cold, too suffocating. “You sifted my future.”

It wasn’t a question. It was the only way she could know. He’d never spoken about Daisy with Enla. Normally she had to be near the person whose future she sifted, but with Gaeren, she had other means—objects that contained elements of his essence. Over the years, it had progressed from childhood trinkets to locks of hair and letters. Now he was fairly certain she’d gone back to using the pyramid-shaped bead they’d made with Riveran years ago. Sometimes the older and more meaningful objects were better conduits.

“Every path I sift has you leaving on that boat. Not every path has you returning.” Her soft words held pain.

He winced. “You shouldn’t search that much.”

When she went down multiple paths, it left her weak, and not just because it drained the energy in her starlock. There was a confusion that came with seeing so many options, almost like having a memory play out a hundred different ways until she couldn’t remember how it really happened. Only worse, because the memories were mere possibilities.

“If you’re honest with me, I won’t need to search so much.”

He studied the slump of her shoulders, the way her feet scuffed at the tile. She wore the soft pants and tunic reserved for sleeping, and her hair was loose around her ears and forehead as if hiding her starlock could hide the weight of her role. She was his sister once more instead of the future queen. Older than him, but always smaller, needing protection. Protection he didn’t feel fit to provide.

“What did she look like?” he asked. It could be the stranger he’d met, but he suspected it was Daisy. Or maybe he hoped. Knowing she was in his future only spurred him on to leave sooner.

“Strange.” Enla’s voice gained the faraway tone that never failed to make Gaeren squirm. Her visions were always disjointed. Their accuracy had grown with her trainer’s influence, but they were still too unpredictable to be anything other than a suggestion. “Like she’s from another time. Russet brown waves to her waist, piercing green eyes. Regal grace in humble rags. Remember your bond. You forget in some paths.”

He snorted at the idea. He was chasing a child, an innocent life he’d always felt responsible for. But the warning in Enla’s voice was unmistakable. He did the math, realizing the girl would be approaching eighteen, more of a woman. The five years that separated them in childhood would feel far less now. Gaeren shook his head to clear his thoughts. Bonded or not, he didn’t have time for distractions.

“Her name is D—Aeliana.” He supposed he should learn to call her by her real name. It wasn’t likely that she still made daisy chains into crowns. “She’s the daughter of my dedication priestess.”

Enla shifted, as if she might turn around, then caught herself. “Mother said you came home early because the priestess died.”

“Huh. Interesting.” He’d always wondered what his parents had been told. He stood and grabbed a towel off the stool to wrap it around himself. Enla still didn’t turn as he stepped out, dripping on the rug. Maybe if he told her the truth, she’d let him go. “I don’t actually know what happened to the priestess. Maybe she died. I hope not. But people came to steal Aeliana away. A bright light took her, along with her father and two of the strangers. They crossed the barrier with a starbridge.” He spoke with confidence, but Enla still laughed.

“Starbridges aren’t real. They’re part of the ancient myths.”

“Fernandus would be horrified to hear your heretical words.” He knew she smiled even though she still didn’t turn. The old priest was half-blind and mostly deaf, but he doted on them both as if they were his grandchildren. Gaeren’s faith had far more to do with Fernandus’ care and convictions than anything Gaeren had learned from his parents.

“Something else probably blinded you as they ran off. You were young. You can’t trust your memories.” Her voice hitched. She knew all too well that he could trust his memories. Tuning in to memories was his strongest point on the noetic spoke. He’d relived the memory a thousand times, the small girl’s wide green eyes, her pudgy hands reaching out to him even as her father took her away. The starbridge was supposed to have taken them to safety, but the strangers had used blood magic. Crossing the barrier wouldn’t have kept Daisy and her father safe from that.

Gaeren ran a hand through his wet hair, then shook his head like a dog, more to splash Enla than to dry off. “Earlier tonight, there was a light across the water.”

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