Starsinger

Quake

By the next morning, Willa had provisioned them with more than they could carry. In a few hours she had assembled an impressive selection of rations – dried soup balls, stacks of flatbreads, a bag of sundried fruit crisps, and several jars of summer jams. She stuffed their packs with thick winter clothes lined with beaver pelts to keep out the wet. When she tried to hand them a bundle of warmth charms to sell or trade, Delia finally drew the line.

"Even if you don't find anyone to buy them, they'll help keep you warm on those cold nights," Willa insisted.

Delia gently pushed her mother's offering away. "Didn't you say I ought to practice casting my own heat spells more often?"

"I did." Willa sighed and deposited the charms in a nearby basket. "Alright."

"We have to go, mama," Delia said. Aaron eyed the sun peeking through the narrow window. The sooner they left, the less chance there was of the bioscholar Raelyn and Sapphire had intimidated finding or reporting them to the Luminarium's authorities. Jace twisted his brass bangles impatiently.

"Just one more thing." Willa disappeared into her bedroom and returned with a thin bracelet of stones, earth-colored agates and bright quartzes and tiger's eye. "If you're out working as a mage now, you've got to have the right tools."

Delia slipped it on next to the string of rocks she'd collected from the Teeth. Willa squeezed her tight, careful not to disturb the protective gauze wrapped around Delia's freshly tattooed collarbone. She pulled away, swiping at tears, and turned to hug the others goodbye.

"If you've got any more room, I've got a gift as well." Pierce pulled a thin volume wrapped in soft leather from his roughspun tunic and handed it to Raelyn.

The princess blinked. "What's this?"

"A collection of letters between the first high scholar of the Conservatories and the Luminarium's Council of the Glowing. The high scholar was interested in the stories of the Faith, committed to searching for physical evidence of the halfbeasts and monsters that live in all our legends. He had a particular interest in starsingers. Apparently he felt the actions of those warrior spirits might have real world truth to them. He wanted to use science to uphold the Faith."

Raelyn balked. "This is... a treasure. I can't accept it."

"Please do." Pierce grinned. "It's rare to find someone as excited by books as I am."

"What, no gift for me?" Delia demanded.

Pierce rolled his eyes. "The celestite in the bracelet is from me, you snot."

As they embraced, Aaron heard him whisper in his sister's ear. "Enjoy your secret adventure."

Delia flinched. "I'm sorry, P—"

"It's alright. I promise I won't ask any more questions, as long as you promise to come home alive at the end and tell me all about it."

She smiled. "Deal."

They had almost made it out the door before Willa swooped Delia up for another hug.

White cedars closed in around them as they traveled north. On their own again, the quiet of the Wood fell around their shoulders like a cloak, strangely comforting after the bustle of the town and the caravan and the town before that. They fell into formation, Jace at the lead, Sapphire scouting ahead, Delia and Raelyn in the center, and Aaron at the rear. March, camp, sleep, march – the routine was familiar, and yet to Aaron it felt like another lifetime. A time before they climbed the Teeth, before Gavran and the avians, before the prophecy and the fatemongers and the dead-eyed Raven who'd nearly killed him.