Page 80 of Of Shadow and Moon

Before I can fully process it, something white catches my eye. A small, lifeless bird lies on the ground ahead of us, its delicate wings broken and muddied. I crawl to it. I don’tremember seeing it there before. My hand hovers above it, and without thinking, like my body is doing its own motions, I press my palm to the ground again.

The whispers start. I can’t understand the words—if they’re even words—but they seep into my bones, chilling me to the core.

And then the bird moves.

Its wings twitch first, a fragile, jerky motion, followed by its head lifting unnaturally. The once dull eyes shine now with an otherworldly light, too bright, too wrong. It lets out a sharp, piercing cry that cuts through the din of the combat field.

Everything stops.

The sparring. The conversations.

Even the wind seems to hold its breath. All eyes are on me, and the thing at my hands that should not be alive. My heart slams against my ribs, and I stagger back, my hand snapping to my side as if I can undo what just happened.

“Selestina.” Nasarea’s voice is low, urgent. She steps forward, her movements careful. “What did you just do?”

“I—” The words die in my throat. My mind is racing, screaming at me to make sense of this. The magic, the whispers—it wasn’t shadow magic. It wasn’t elemental. It was something darker, colder. Something I didn’t even know I could do.

“She’s fine,” Nasarea says suddenly, loud enough to cut through the murmurs of the other students who are now gathering closer, their curiosity quickly morphing into suspicion. She steps in front of me, her body a shield. “The bird was stunned, and Selestina helped it. That’s all.”

Professor Karr strides over, his piercing gaze darting between me, Nasarea, and the bird that now fluttersweakly to the nearest tree, as though mocking me with its newfound life. “What’s going on here?” he demands.

“Nothing,” Nasarea replies smoothly, her voice steady. “Selestina slipped. Probably startled the bird into waking up. Isn’t that right, Selestina?”

I blink, trying to find my voice. “Y-yeah,” I stammer, hating how unconvincing I sound. “It was just… startled.”

Professor Karr narrows his eyes, but after a long, tense moment, he nods. “Focus on your sparring next time,” he snaps before turning back to the other students, barking orders to resume practice.

Nasarea waits until the crowd disperses, her hand gripping my arm tightly as she pulls me aside. “What the hell was that?” she snaps, her voice low but fierce. “That wasn’t normal magic. That wasn’tanymagic I’ve ever seen.”

I shake my head, still trembling. “I don’t know,” I whisper, my voice hoarse. “I didn’t mean to?—”

“You brought it back, Selestina,” she interrupts, her tone deadly serious. “Youresurrectedit. I felt death around it. I’m sure all the Tonalacas did.” She pauses and looks around. “That’s not just magic. That’s?—”

“Impossible.” I finish for her, though the word feels hollow even as I say it. But I know what I felt. The power. The whispers. The cold. It wasn’t a mistake, and it wasn’t chance. It was me.

Nasarea’s grip tightens, her nails digging into my skin. “No one can know about this,” she says firmly. “Not Alexander. Not the princes. Not anyone. Do you understand?”

I nod, my throat dry, but I can’t stop the storm of questions swirling in my mind. Whatisthis magic? How did I do it? And why does it feel so… familiar?

“Nasarea.” I start hesitantly, glancing at her. “What if… what if I’m not…?”

She stiffens, her eyes locking onto mine. “Not what?”

“Not human,” I say quietly, the words feeling foreign, unreal. “What if this… this thing inside me isn’t normal? Isn’tme?”

Her gaze softens for a moment, but it’s quickly replaced by determination. “I already told you that you’re not human,” she says. “We’ll figure it out. But for now, we keep it buried. Got it?”

I nod again, though the unease lingers, coiling tighter around my chest. Nasarea might be willing to help me hide this, but I can see the fear in her eyes, the unspoken question hanging between us.

What does this mean forme? For everything I thought I knew about myself?

As we leave the combat field, I glance at the tree where the bird now perches, its bright eyes following me with an intelligence that feels almost accusing. It shouldn’t be alive. And yet, it is.

And so am I.

Chapter 47

Selestina

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