Page 111 of House of the Raven
“I told him it was called an eclipse, but the ignorant peasant insisted it was an omen from the saints.”
Ibn Ziyad - Moro Astronomer - 103 BV
The engagement ball is in two days. I don’t know how I will manage to go through with it. My nightmares have gotten worse, and I feel as if I’m waiting for something: my inevitable drowning, perhaps.
Momentum is building. The tension rides the air like an electric current, a storm brewing inside of Nido that will soon unleash itself.
I know I have to do something, but what? So far my efforts have yielded nothing. I didn’t even find out about the council’s concerns.
Standing alone on the balcony of my bedchamber, I glance toward the observatory. It is nighttime and moonlight refracts from the larger pieces of glass, behemoths bigger than the tallest buildings in the city.
Maybe the Eldrystone is the answer to everything. I might be able to use it to find Orys and free my sister from his hold. But I must admit I fear it. I fear being unable to wield it. I fear delivering it into the wrong hands. I fear being ensnared by its power.
Maybe it would be best if The Eldrystone is forever lost because how could greed for its power not bring about more tragedy than it already has?
A warm breeze blows my hair, and I close my eyes and inhale. It is past midnight, and my exhaustion runs bone deep. I should be in bed, but I’m afraid of the dreams that will inevitably come. Begrudgingly, I get in bed and slip under the covers. When sleep finally takes me, the nightmare inevitably comes.
Bastien and I spar under the twilight sky. Beautiful colors glimmer in our blades as steel meets steel. We dance. We push into each other, lean closer and closer, our gazes locked. My arms and my heart tremble. We push, jump back, and begin a new dance.
I want our dance to last forever, but a voice beckons me. I follow it. The voice grows desperate as I walk through Nido’s halls, many of them unrecognizable. I thought I’d explored every corner of the massive palace, but I’m lost, and nowhere closer to the voice, to Amira. She’s calling for help!
I reach a closed door. The walls around it throb, as if built around a beating heart. Rivulets of blood begin seeping from the wood and stone. Desperately, I pull on the doorknob, calling out my sister’s name. The door doesn’t budge. My hands slip, sticky blood soaking them. I try again. The door breaks open. A wave of blood slams into me, flushes me down the corridor. I sputter, coughing crimson. Something hits me. I claw at my eyes to clear them.
A set of wide-open eyes stare at me from a pool of blood. They belong to Amira.
BASTIEN
I slip into Valeria’s bedchamber as I’ve done every night since she’s been back. Moving quietly through the shadows, I search the area for signs of the amulet. My eyes rove over every surface: night tables, vanity, mantel, armchairs. It’s unlikely she would leave it lying around, but I can’t be too thorough. I peruse her closer for a moment, then approach her bed.
There’s no sign of the amulet on her pillows or bedding. The hope is that she will retrieve it, tempted by the desire to test its power, and what better time to do it than at night? But so far, there’s been no sign of it, not even when I search the room more closely when she’s not here.
I’m about to retreat when she begins breathing hard. Her arms thrash, pushing away the covers. It appears as if she’s having a dream of some kind. She wears a silk gown that sticks to her, outlining her body.
Squeezing my eyes shut, I take a deep breath.Don’t look. Don’t look.
It’s what I tell myself every night as I’m tempted to watch her sleep and contemplate her beautiful features without reverse.
But like every night, I fail, and this time, it’s not only her face I admire.
Guilt tears through my chest as I follow the flawless shape of her breasts through the thin silk. My mouth goes dry, and my fingers twitch. I want to reach out and touch her.
I want so much more than that.
Her mouth parts and a small moan escapes her. I lick my lips and wonder what it would feel like to kiss her, to slip my tongue in and taste her.
Shaking my head, I take a step back.
No. You can’t. Don’t be fooled. Don’t lose sight of why you’re here. She is no different than the rest.
VALERIA
I sit up with a start, my silk gown sticking to my body. At first, I’m disoriented, but some survival instinct sends a jolt of energy straight to my chest, telling me there’s danger. My still-blurry eyes scan the room.
A shadow looms nearby.
I go for the knife under my pillow, but the figure, a man, jumps on top of me and restrains my arms with his knees as he straddles me. He presses a hand to my mouth, stifling my scream.
“Shh, it’s me, Bastien,” he says. “Don’t scream or you’ll get half the Guardia Real in here.”
