Page 37 of Veinblood
“Start with who you really are.” There’s no hesitation in Sacha’s reply. “BecauseMrs. Clancyyou are not, are you?”
The older woman straightens, and for a moment I see someone else. Not the staff member I remember, but someone accustomed to issuing orders, not receiving them. Someone who is used to being obeyed.
“My name is … Nyassa. In Meridian, I was a Tidevein master serving the Veinwardens in our fight against the Authority. Clancy is just the name I took when I came to this world. When I lost everything else.”
The breath leaves my lungs in a rush.
Nyassa?
She was …is… one ofthem. Kalliss, Meren, Nyassa, and Vorith. Their names are burned into my mind. The four Veinblood masters who risked everything to save me from Sereven and whatever the Authority had planned for me.
How? How can she be here? They all died … didn’t they?
“You know who I am.” I force the words past frozen lips.
“I know you are Elowen. I know the Authority was transporting you to Blackvault under Sereven’s personal supervision. I know we believed you were important enough to risk everything to save. A child whose survival was worth any sacrifice.” Her tone sends a shiver through me.
“And you’ve been here this whole time?Watching me?”
“Watchingoveryou, yes.”
I stare at her, unable to verbalize everything I want to say. All those years growing up in the system, believing I was alone, that no one cared what happened to me. But she was there. The entire time.Shewas there.
“Why didn’t you tell me?” Why didn’t you explain what I was, where I came from?”
“Because you were safe here. You were growing up in a world where Sereven could never reach you, and where the Authority had no power. Telling you the truth would have only endangered that safety. And would you have believed me?”
“But if I’d known I was from Meridian, if I’d known who I really was, I’d have been better prepared.” Tears are burning the backs of my eyes. I blink, forcing them back.
I will not cry.
Sacha touches my leg when I draw breath to speak again, and he leans forward. “Why did the four of you risk everything for a child you’d never met and had no relationship with?”
Nyassa sets down her teacup. “We had someone inside the Authority. She was a maid in the Lirien Spire. She was a … favorite among the guards there. The risk of discovery was high, but she sent word that Sereven was personally involved in transporting a child to Blackvault. Something that was unprecedented. She had seen him with the young girl in Ashenvale once or twice. And Authority soldiers talk when they’re deep in their cups. She told us what those soldiers shared with her. How the commanders were using children to contain power stolen from captured Veinbloods, and how you didn’t die like the others. That you reacted in unexpected ways to the power that they poured into you.
“But there was more. Our source had witnessed something that unsettled her. When Sereven first brought you to Ashenvale, the guards acted … differently around you than the other prisoners. They kept their distance, even when their duties required them to be near. She watched seasoned soldiers—men who had faced Veinblood masters in battle without flinching—keep their distance when they passed your cell, some making furtive signs of protection when they thought no one could see. They spoke in hushed voices, calling you cursed.”
The tea grows cold in my hands as she continues.
“She heard whispers among the Authority commanders. They believed you were more than just a vessel. They thought you could reshape the very foundations of their power. The maid overheard heated arguments between Sereven and his most trusted. Some wanted you destroyed, claiming you were far too dangerous to keep alive. Others insisted you were the key to expanding their control beyond Meridian itself.”
Sacha’s hand finds mine, squeezing my fingers. “Why were they taking her to Blackvault?”
“Ambition. You survived something that killed every other child. They saw an opportunity, and wanted to see if they could repeat it, see if they could recreate whatever made you different. When the information arrived to us, it confirmed Kalliss’s visions.”
“Visions?”
“Yes. Of a child who would either destroy the Authority or be destroyed by them.”
“Sa—Lord Torran spoke to survivors in Stonehaven who knew you, or were at Silvermist Pass, but no one could explain what happened after.”
Pain fills her eyes. “We took you to a safe place, somewhere we’d prepared before rescuing you. It was warded and hidden. You were broken. Whatever the Authority did to you left you barely responsive. You would eat when food was placed before you, drink when water touched your lips, but your eyes …” She shakes her head. “Your eyes held such emptiness. As though you were looking through the world to somewhere else entirely. Somewhere no one could follow.”
I'm glad I don't remember any of that.
The thought of being that broken, thatlost, makes a cold lump settle in my stomach.
How long was I like that? How much of myself did they steal before the masters found me?
