Page 76 of Daughter of No Worlds

She reached into the pocket of her jacket and pulled out a wrinkled letter, sealed with silver wax pressed into the shape of the moon. The outside said only one word, rendered in perfect, curling script:Tisaanah.

I turned it around in my hands. Despite the fact that it was stored in Nura’s pocket, the paper was so cool to the touch that I nearly flinched.

“Thank you,” I said. Nura didn’t answer, and when I looked up again, her chin was tilted towards the cottage. Max had come outside again and was rearranging piles of firewood near the door. I couldn’t quite decipher the expression on her face. I prided myself on my ability to understand people — but Nura remained such a mystery to me, visible only in blurry, broad shapes, like a figure lingering behind ice-glazed glass.

“He went out there for you, you know,” she said. “So you wouldn’t be alone.”

“I know.” I felt the weight of that responsibility, even though it was oddly warm and comforting in my chest.

Nura’s eyes flicked back to me, a dull glimmer glittering as the corners of her eyes crinkled — the one sign of a small, distant smile. “I knew he would.”

Then, before I had the chance to say anything more, she raised her palm, uttered a tired goodbye, and folded away into the air.

* * *

I went backto the cottage before opening the letter, reading it aloud as I paced around the living room. Max watched me with a cup of tea in one hand, the other loosely hanging into his pocket.

Tisaanah -

It made my day the first time Nura mentioned your name. I hear you have been trying to reach me. I offer you my deepest apologies for my absence and my silence.

I return to Ara shortly and I will not come back without every possible effort to fulfill your noble and well-deserved requests. You have my personal assurance, along with my deepest respect.

Always knew you had it.

- Z.

I lookedup when I was finished, catching the end of Max’s exasperated eyeroll. I flipped the paper over. Folded it. Unfolded it.

That’s it? A few sentences with a vague promise of… something?

“Zeryth and his personal assurances. I’m sure that was what you were hoping for.” Max slurped the final sip of his tea, shooting a sardonic stare to the letter in my hands. “But at least he gave you that sweet, patronizing little bit at the end. I’m sure it was all worth it to know that the dazzling Arch Commandant alwaysbelievedin you—”

I didn’t even hear his bitter sarcasm. I nearly let the paper slide from my hands.

“Arch Commandant?” I squeaked.

Max blinked at me. “What?”

“Zeryth is Arch Commandant?”

“You didn’t know?”

“How I would know?”

“Howwould Iknow.”

“You would know what?”

“I was correcting your Aran.” Max cocked his head. “You really didn’t?”

I looked down at the letter again, brow furrowed. I never would have imagined that the man I had spent so much time with could possibly be the most high-ranking member of one of the most powerful organizations in the world.

“He never said.”

“I’m shocked. I thought he’d start to melt if he went more than an hour without mentioning it.”

I paused, silent, turning this new information around in my head.

---