Page 55 of Veinblood
I swallow. “Varamek nul’tor.”
“Where did you learn those words?”
“Like I told her, I can’t tell you that until I know who you are.”
There’s a pause, then a different voice, male but equally as careful. “Who are the people you have become separated from?”
Frustration burns through me. We’re going around in circles. They don’t trust me. I don’t trust them. But they can’t help me if I don’t confide in them, and I can’t survive in this city without their help. I have to take a risk.
“People who have been fighting against Authority rule for a long time. We were traveling from Stonehaven to Thornspire when we were separated.” It’s not strictly a lie, but not the entire truth either.
The reaction is immediate. Gasps from all four people, and then they all talk at once.
“Stonehaven?”
“You’ve been to Stonehaven?”
I wait until they fall silent. “Yes.”
“I’ve been to Stonehaven. Prove that you have.” The woman whose home this is steps forward. “Describe the main hall.”
Everything depends on this. I close my eyes, building an image of the large chamber in my head.
“Stonehaven is carved from the mountain itself. There are tables in the center, with maps always spread across them. Veinwardens train there daily.” I pause. “There’s a crack running down the western wall. Water drips from it all the time, and there’s always a bucket positioned to catch it. It’s used to water plants.”
The silence that follows feels charged. Then, as one, all three people reach up and lower their hoods.
I find myself looking at faces marked by years of hardship and survival. One woman has iron-gray hair pulled back in a knot at the back of her neck. The man is younger, but still has streaks of gray at his temples. The third is a woman of middle years, her hair untouched by time, but her eyes show years of loss.
“I am Jorana,” the first woman says. “Corwin.” She nods toward the man. “Bessa.” That’s the third woman. “And Masha.” That’s the woman whose home this is.
“I’m Ellie.”
“Where are your papers? Without them, you cannot move freely around Ashenvale.”
“I don’t have any. I …” I struggle to find words that won’t reveal too much. “My arrival here was unusual.”
They exchange glances.
“There is a story there,” Jorana says.
“Yes, but …”
“You don’t trust us enough to share it yet. We understand.” Her voice carries no judgment. “We can help with papers. It won’t be quick, but it will help to keep you alive.”
Relief floods through me, so intense it makes me dizzy. I sink back into my chair. For hours I've been wound tight, waiting for the moment everything would fall apart. Now my body doesn't know what to do without fear driving it.
“Thank you. I understand, and I’m grateful, truly.”
Chapter Sixteen
SACHA
“In darkness, the smallest flame reveals more than the sun at noon.”
Writings of the Flamevein Oracles
It’s beenthree days since the connection snapped back into place. Three days since I learned Ellie is in Meridian, and I’ve had to resist the urge to abandon everything and search for her. For hours, I wrestled with the decision. There are people depending on my leadership to reach safety, and that means ignoring the desperate pull toward a woman who has become essential to my existence.
