Page 24 of The Tenth Muse

Realms, as in there was more than one. The world suddenly felt so vast, and I, so small and insignificant. I thought I’d had a purpose in the palace, bringing joy and glory to the empire, saving the Emperor, but where had that gotten me? What would my purpose be here?

“Well, that’s truly up to you,” Reaper answered, and it was no less unsettling.

They continued walking up the long winding path that seemed to trace the sky toward the furthest reaches where orange bled into a rich scarlet. That tower was larger than the rest and once we made it about halfway up the slope, everyone who had been using the same path had veered in other directions toward other buildings. Reaper’s voice lowered, still smooth and dulcet, only with a tinge of softness. It was a tone I wouldn’t expect from someone who had a sea of shadows trailing behind them, even if they were hidden from view. “I do hope you’ll help me.”

“Is that why you made the bargain?” I asked, glancing behind me at the thick waves of smoky bodies and tendrils, a few broke off and floated toward other buildings.

“It’s one of the reasons.”

“And the other reasons?”

They scoffed. “You like to ask a lot of questions, don’t you, Songbird?”

I snapped my mouth shut.

Nodding up at the building ahead, they held out their hand, nails a sparkling jet black that reminded me of their starlit eyes. I slipped my palm against theirs, a prickling sensation running from the point of contact and through the rest of me. My heart pounded a quick beat, deep and rich. A reminder that I was, as Reaper had claimed, alive.

A smile bubbled up from my chest at that, along with the steadyrappingthat lingered within my ribs. Because that pulsing metronome of my kin?

It was more steady and vibrant than ever.

eight

. . .

Inside the largetower was a long bridge with a glowing circular display at its center. I followed Reaper toward it, noting the others there who all had the same tattoo on their forearm, a scythe that took up the length of it. They also all had the same star-flecked eyes. The others watched me curiously, irises glittering in a way that unmoored me. While they all bore different clothing, some hooded and some not, they all had the bottom half of their faces covered and the slash of black that went from temple to temple, with some streaks thicker than others.

“There are so many. I didn’t realize you weren’t the only one of your kind.”

“Understandable,” Reaper said, pulling me to their side, scanning their fellow beings almost possessively. “While mortality is a very real thing, the perception of what we scythes do is greatly myth. As if one being could carry out all of Death’s duties.”

“Taking lives?”

“Lyric, contrary to what you’ve been told by the Emperor, the nymphs, or whoever else has given you the information, Ido nottakelives. In fact, I have never in my entire existence ended someone’s life.” Reaper’s eyes dropped to the scythe pointing toward their wrist. “Life is finite of its own accord in the mortal realms. We simply guide their souls to their final plane, whether it be here, or in Deorsum.” They pointed levels below that seemed to drop past anything I could see, a vast chasm of darkness. A crackling sound floated up from there, an unwelcoming one. “I should have been bringing the Emperor there.”

“You were the one who set the terms, were you not?”

“I was, but you shouldn’t have agreed so simply to this.” Their voice was harsh, the shadowy souls dragging behind them just as unsettled as I was.

“Did I truly have a choice?” I seethed.

They’d given the Emperor the ultimatum. Not me. How dare they act as if I’d been the one to decide.

“There is always a choice, Songbird.” Reaper shook their head, wavy strands of navy-tinged locks moving with the motion. I had the urge to reach up and brush them back behind their ear, to take away the hood and see the rest of my bargainer’s face. “That you’ve been silenced to believe otherwise only fills me with pity.”

“I don’t want your pity.” I clenched my fingers around fistfuls of feathers at my hips. “I want to understand why you would grant him immortality if he is so horrible. After all he’s done.”

“You only know a fraction of it, Songbird, but that’s a story for another time and not one that’s mine to tell.” Their eyes darted over their shoulder, the uneasy shadows melting away before absorbing back into them. Then they turned their attention back to me. “As for the why, the Emperor may believe he’s won immortality as some great reward but it won’t always be that way. Such things are unnatural in the mortal realms for a reason, as he’ll find out one day.”

I highly doubted that.

“Will I eventually die and belong to this realm as one of those dark souls perched atop the shadows at your back?”

“Never,” Reaper hissed. I retreated a few steps, their tone seeming as much a threat as a promise.

“And now I’m just stuck here with you for eternity?”

I let go of my feathers, a few sifting back and forth as they fell to the floor.

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