Page 110 of Requiem of Silence

A secret not worth keeping.

A story not worth repeating.

—THE HARMONY OF BEING

Ensconced in the plush armchair near the fireplace in her office, Jasminda regarded her brothers, seated side by side on the couch—both were tense. Zeli, next to Varten, was perfectly at ease, and Yllis, who stood near the fireplace, was an emotional lockbox. Her Song could not penetrate him at all.

While Jack was off dealing with other parts of the strategyto battle the True Father, Jasminda had needed to speak to both of her brothers. Apparently, Zeli and Yllis came along as a package deal.

“So you weren’t with Papa at all, instead you snuck off to Yaly without telling anyone?” Jasminda didn’t bother trying to mask the hurt in her tone. Varten flinched at the accusation.

“I convinced him to keep it a secret,” Zeli said apologetically, meeting her eyes. The girl, who had been a bundle of nerves the last time they’d met, was much altered. She pointed at the morning’s paper on the coffee table between them. The headline read,THE GODDESS’S STUNNING SECRET! BUT CAN SHE BE TRUSTED? EXCLUSIVE BY HAZELLE HARIMEL.“That is why we left.”

“Did you know? About the True Father’s escape?” Jasminda gripped the arms of her chair.

Zeli slowly nodded, her composure crumbling. “I knew the day it happened. The Goddess swore me to secrecy, and I didn’t know what to do besides obey Her.”

Jasminda’s heart tore into pieces at the grief and shame in the young woman’s expression. She slid forward, wanting to reach for her and comfort her, but was too far away. “You believed in Her. We all did. She…” Jasminda shook her head. What had Oola been thinking? What was Her plan? Did She even have one? “She has an agenda of Her own and we are not always privy to it. I’m so sorry She put you in that position. I truly am.”

Zeli took a deep breath. “I wasn’t sure what She would do to anyone who tried to cross Her—even you. We decided secrecy was best.”

She and Varten then took turns explaining how they’d read Yllis’s journal and traveled to Yaly to search Saint Gilmer’s Archives, where they’d met yet another ancient Earthsinger who by rights should be dead. There were a lot of those around these days.

“Gilmer gave me my Song back,” Zeli said, voice thick.

“But how?” Confusion, wonder, and hope warred within Jasminda.

“With this.” She reached into the ragged pouch slung around her shoulder and retrieved a bundled package. When she unwrapped it, Jasminda’s heart nearly stopped. “I’ve been calling it the king stone.”

The dagger that Jasminda had plunged into the True Father’s back the day the Mantle fell lay in the young woman’s hand. Encased in a spell made of blood and magic, it looked dull in the light.

“How were you able to use that to restore your Song?”

“You and the Goddess trapped all of the Songs the True Father stole in here when you disabled him that day,” Zeli began. “If this caldera can be unlocked, those Songs will go back to their rightful owners. Gilmer couldn’t free them from such a great distance, he was only able to extract mine.”

She looked down at the object she held. “He taught me the spell he used—the blood magic words at least. He also taught me the idea of it, the intention, but we do not have all we need in order to truly release the Songs. The spell requires more.”

“Is it blood?” Roshon asked, leaning forward intently.

Zeli shook her head. “A sacrifice. More than blood.”

Jasminda recalled the price of a powerful caldera. Death. Her limbs lost all feeling. “I would think dying would erase the need for a Song.”

“Not death, either. Not necessarily.”

Jasminda shook her head, impatience taking over. “What did you sacrifice then?” she snapped.

Varten jerked, glaring at her fiercely. Jasminda held up a hand and breathed deeply. “I’m sorry. But what was it?”

Zeli sat straighter, in an instant she looked older and somehow… mightier. “I sacrificed my fear.” Silence followed the bold statement.

“I don’t understand,” Jasminda finally said.

“Something precious. Something that’s a part of you, that’s difficult to relinquish.Thatis a sacrifice.”

Jasminda blinked. “Fear…” she whispered.

“In order to restore their Songs, the Lagrimari people will require a sacrifice. Not of the vein, but of the heart.”

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