The Alcazar (The Cerulean Duology #2) - Amy Ewing Page 0,22

a ship, crossing an ocean and gazing up at the stars, such tiny things, mere pinpricks in a blanket of ink black. And not only that, but there were Cerulean trapped in stalactites beneath the City. Leela’s head was so full of questions she wondered how it didn’t simply burst and spill her thoughts all over the moonstone statue of Faesa, who was staring at Leela with her wise, sad eyes. Who were these Cerulean? What had the High Priestess done?

Without even realizing it, she called on the statue to slide back over the hidden staircase that led down to that mysterious underground garden beneath the City. It was as if the moonstone was reacting to her very instincts and desires.

Leela looked up at the temple of Mother Sun, wondering where the High Priestess was now. She could still hear the faint swish plop in her ears, the sound of the High Priestess feeding the trapped Cerulean with that odd golden fruit. It was bad enough when Leela had first discovered that it was the High Priestess and not Mother Sun who had chosen Sera to be sacrificed—but after tonight she had no idea how deep her treachery ran. What was she doing with those Cerulean? Why keep them in stalactites?

The Moon Gardens seemed so alive now after all that stillness below—the snuffling of rodents and the buzz of insects sounded louder than usual. Leela realized she needed to move, she needed to get home before anyone saw her. It was not expressly forbidden for her to be here, but it wouldn’t do to have anyone asking questions.

The temple was on an island in the middle of the Great Estuary, in the center of the City, with three bridges connecting it to the mainland. Leela crossed Dendra’s Bridge in a fog, her mind pulled in a hundred different directions. But there was one thought that overpowered all.

Sera is alive. She repeated it over and over, numb shock giving way to joy as she passed the Aviary, the birds silent in their nests at this late hour. She wove her way through the domed sunglass dwellings until she reached her own home, nestled near the Apiary, and climbed through her bedroom window so as not to wake her mothers. She lay down and gazed at the ceiling, clutching her hands to her chest as tears seeped from her eyes and dripped into her hair.

“I’m going to find you, Sera,” she whispered to the ceiling. “I’m going to bring you home.”

How to actually accomplish this, she had no idea. But for now it was enough to know that her friend was alive, that she had not lost her forever.

It was all connected to moonstone, Leela was sure of it. The moonstone obelisk by the birthing houses had revealed markings and moved aside for her like Faesa’s statue did. It had shown her first a vision of a dark room with glowing flowers and a pretty tree with turquoise leaves, then another vision, a smaller room with a person with pale skin, turquoise eyes, and curly black hair. Perhaps it was even the moonstone itself that had saved Sera’s life. Leela exhaled in a gust. Could her gift have been responsible for keeping Sera alive?

Kandra, she thought with determination. She had to tell Sera’s purple mother. Not only had Leela found Kandra’s long-lost friend Estelle among the Cerulean imprisoned beneath the City, but Kandra needed to know that her daughter had not died. Except Kandra was living in the birthing houses now, far away in the Forest of Dawn, along with all the other purple mothers who had been chosen to bear daughters during the newly announced birthing season. How was Leela supposed to speak to her in secret there?

She bit her lip, regretting that she could not seek help from Sera’s other two mothers. But that would require far too much explanation of things Leela did not know or think it safe to reveal. She had no idea for what purpose the High Priestess was using the trapped Cerulean, nor could she actually prove to anyone that Sera was still living, since she seemed to be the only one struck by the visions, the only one with this connection to the moonstone.

She tossed and turned all night, but when dawn’s pale fingers crept in through her window, she was no closer to figuring out what to do next. She needed help. She needed Kandra. Leela fretted over the impossibility of the task