Page 73 of Bound Paths
“Not all the Compass Points returned,” Meg said snidely, cutting Rose off.
“Now you care about the Suden Point?” Rose asked, unable to rein in the shock in her tone. Meg and Catherine had been appalled by Rose’s relationship with him. The fact that they now questioned where he was—as if they cared whether he came back alive—was rich.
The pair glanced at each other. A few in the crowd laughed awkwardly. Many had witnessed Rose and Luc’s relationship. It seemed not everyone was as opposed as the ex-elders wouldhave Rose believe. “I want to assure everyone that our goal is to stop the mist plague and restore those impacted to their former state. The Compass Points still work together to secure that future. We need a resource that Aaron went to help us find—that will help us make our next move?—”
Rose cut herself off as a large black bird appeared, flying over Norden house. Rose’s heart felt lighter as she noted a large wrapped package in his claws.
“Need any help down there?”Arie asked as he flew straight toward Norden house and the window Rose had left open.
Rose shook her head and hoped he could see it.
“Well, get in here and read your book. It’s heavy, but I stopped to talk to Aaron on the way back, and he said this is the one you want—and it’s even better than he expected.”
“In fact, it seems our resource has just arrived,” Rose said. I must return to my work, but please spread the word. We’ll start open court sessions in Norden house next week. I’d love to hear from more of you, and I’m eager to share my own ideas.”
Walter spoke up again. “I’m happy to organize such an event.”
“Thank you, Walter. That would be perfect.”
Meg and Catherine glared, but it was clear Rose had won over the majority of the crowd. The rest, Rose knew, would take time. But she would continue to show up and prove herself to them.
CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE
Arie was already in human form in the library with Aurora when Rose entered the house. They were hunched over the table, the book laid out before them.
“This is Celeste’s journal?”
“It is…but it looks like it’s more than that,” Aurora said.
“What do you mean?”
“These are two different writers,” Aurora said, pointing to various entries in the journal. Her eyes skimmed the pages as she kept speaking. “All the other journals spoke of the governor’s daughter, Celeste, but…I think there were two daughters.”
“How could we have missed that?” Rose asked.
“I’m not sure it’s us so much as the villagers. Even in this entry—Andie notes the villagers follow Cee—that must be Celeste.”
“So, who is Andie?” Rose asked, though the pounding of her heart told her she already suspected the answer. But it couldn’t be—could it?
Arie pulled out the chair on his opposite side. “Your questions aren’t going to speed this up. Sit down and read with us.”
550 YEARS AGO
“We can take the excess,”Cee said.
Cee and Andie, each in veil cat form, faced off. The rest of the pack growled around them.
“Look at it, Celeste. Really look at it,”Andie said, gesturing with her nose toward the lake. She rarely used her sister’s full name, but Andie needed her to understand. This wasn’t the solution to their problems. This only created another problem.“There may have been excess at one point, but there isn’t now.”
Cee glared, her teeth showing.“Don’t condescend, Cassandra. I can use your full name, too. The cats said more spirits than normal were crossing. We can take some of what’s here, and it will refill shortly.”Her tail swished frenetically.“A small shift in balance here could be recovered. Our village—our continent—needs this.”
Andie wasn’t sure she agreed. An answer was rooted somewhere in the ground beneath her feet. Andie inherently knew her sister was wrong. A small shift in balance was all it would take to tip the scales, to leave this land beyond the veil in the same ruin as the continent.
It was telling that Cee stared only at Andie. She no longer looked to the veil cats for approval. Somehow, Cee understood the veil cats would listen to Andie’s decision.
“Andie.”Cee returned to the pet name she used for her sister.
The weight of her name on her sister’s lips. The desperation in her gaze when Andie met it. This was more than she could bear. The knot in her throat grew heavy like the weight of this decision.
