Page 25 of Salt in the Seas
CHAPTER 11
Orra saton the balcony of the north tower watching the Sun rise higher in the sky. The smoky scent of cooked meat clung to the air even though the kitchen was far below. She stroked the blond braid at her wrist, letting her mind drift through the years, seeing flashes of history instead of the soldiers roaming the courtyard. Even though she currently had none of the starbridges in her possession, somehow this still felt like the closest she’d come to righting her wrongs.
The world was changing around her like it had before the Great Divide. Except this time, she sensed the Sun was orchestrating the changes. The Sun was throwing stones and letting the ripples affect everyone else. If only she’d let the Sun direct those changes the first time around.
“I’m going to make things right,” she murmured, dropping a kiss against the braid. Her short dark hair swung against her cheek and eyes, a reminder of the choices that had brought her to this point. “But not on my own.”
“Breakfast is ready in the kitchen.” Aeliana spoke from behind her.
Orra didn’t turn. “Sylmar doesn’t want you up here.” The tower wouldn’t fall, but the others didn’t trust it. Which was part of the reason Orra had made it her own little sanctuary. When she wasn’t out searching for the onyx stone, she was here, contemplating her options, soaking up the Sun’s light, growing stronger.
“Well, Sylmar also asked me to get you to eat more.”
A smile tickled Orra’s lips. “I don’t get my energy from food.”
“And yet I’ve seen you eat. At least come down so Iris doesn’t think you hate her cooking.”
Orra rose and hooked her arm in Aeliana’s, allowing the younger woman to lead her through the tower. It no longer held bodies, but it still had the dank and foreboding feel of a tomb.
“You don’t get your energy from food,” Aeliana said, “and your magic is different from the rest of ours. You don’t even have a starlock.”
Orra hummed her agreement. “Neither does Marnok.” No one had seen their mysterious friend since the battle. He’d received memories from Emeris about his past, things he needed to deal with somewhere else. Yet one more mystery still unsolved, though Orra had her suspicions.
“Yes,” Aeliana agreed. “But… it still seems different. His is limited to healing. He’s clearly on the somatic spoke. You heal and you seem to sift the future.”
“Surely Sylmar has taught you about secondary spokes.”
Orra kept her grip on Aeliana’s arm but moved her free hand to the railing of the stairs. The stone steps were her least favorite part of the tower. It was as if they still held the souls of the soldiers she’d killed in the wake of her magic.
“Even Sylmar has discernment skills on the pneumatic spoke,” Orra continued. “He just prefers to let Kendalyhn do that chore for him.”
Aeliana laughed. “Yes, but the constructive somatic spoke and the constructive pneumatic spoke aren’t adjacent. Secondary spokes are always adjacent.”
A small smile threatened to bloom on Orra’s face. “He’s taught you very well.”
“And you showed up on the other side of the barrier looking like a ghost. How did you do that?”
Orra hesitated. “Sometimes I’m not sure. Every time I push myself to the rim of the Wheel, I wonder if it will be my last time.” Theyreached the bottom step, and she held out her hand, examining how it shook.
“I thought the rim was elementals,” Aeliana said as they crossed the threshold from inside the tower to the battlement.
“It’s an advanced branch of magic that generally focuses on an elemental, yes,” Orra said. “But it’s so much more than that for me.” She closed her eyes and tilted her face up to the Sun.
“So then… are you a Star?” Aeliana whispered.
Orra considered the question. At one time she could have said yes, but it had been so long since she’d felt worthy of the title. She’d thrown it away along with so many other blessings from the Sun. She sighed and opened her eyes. “What do you know of Stars?”
“Very little,” Aeliana admitted as they resumed walking. “No one’s seen them on land in a thousand years—since the Great Divide. They no longer commune with us because it’s safer that way.”
“The Lorvandan view,” Orra said. “Vendarans would say the Stars abandoned the people as a punishment for their sins. But either way, you’re right—they’ve been gone. What else?”
Aeliana shrugged. “I’ve heard they look human when they come to our world, but in the skies they’re like balls of light. Others say they’re a literal glittering star.” She pulled out her starlock and held up the small shape as if Orra needed the example.
Orra bent forward and pinched the charm between her thumb and forefinger. Her eyes widened as she sensed the lock of hair from within. “Andreas,” she murmured.
“What?” Aeliana asked.
Orra dropped the charm like a hot coal and picked up her pace as they left the Sun’s light on the battlement for the cold halls of the fortress. “They’re more like balls of light yes, but they’re merely a reflection of the Sun. They absorb the Sun’s power just like the blood of a half-light. Except they can hold so much more.” Her pitch rose and she let go of Aeliana’s arm so her hands could move with her words. “They constantly reflect it, which makes them bright against the night sky. They become less like Stars and more like the Sun. They constantly absorb its power, meaning their own power is limitless.”
