The Alcazar (The Cerulean Duology #2) - Amy Ewing Page 0,88

lay out for the incoming Cerulean, but the temple was too crowded to talk. She could tell Elorin was bursting to know what had transpired with Kandra and Estelle during the night—and probably wondering where Estelle was now. Leela was dying to tell her everything, about the dream and the will-o-the-wisp and the cache she’d found.

Once the City had gathered, the High Priestess emerged onto the chancel and crossed to stand at the pulpit. Leela saw the moonstone in her circlet with new eyes, a fresh appreciation for its power.

“My children,” she said, spreading her arms wide. “I fear I have grievous news. The sleeping sickness has returned to our City. And it has afflicted our most vulnerable member. Plenna Skychaser has fallen ill.”

The shocked gasps and cries of despair felt muted in Leela’s ears. Plenna. Of all the Cerulean the High Priestess could have chosen, she had to pick the only one who had become pregnant. It felt impossibly cruel, and yet Leela sensed there was some reason behind it. The High Priestess did not choose who she trapped in stalactites by chance.

“We have survived the sickness before and will survive it again,” the High Priestess said. “But for now, I feel a time of fervent prayer and meditation is needed.” The moonstone in her circlet seemed to stare right at Leela and her heart swooped, her stomach churning. “Mother Sun,” the High Priestess prayed, bowing her head. “Help us in our time of need. Keep this sickness at bay, and release Plenna from its fatal grasp. All we do, we do in service to your light and love. Do not abandon us now. Show us the way. This we pray.”

“This we pray,” the congregation echoed.

Leela tried to sense if she could actually feel her magic being siphoned away, but if she had not noticed it for eighteen years of her life, why would she now? She slipped her hand into the pocket of her robe and squeezed the cuff.

I have my own moonstone, she thought. And I know what I need to do with it.

Perhaps she had always known, ever since she realized it may have been her pendant that had saved Sera’s life.

The City prayed, until the sun began to set and the moons and stars painted on the vaulted ceiling became limned with gold. Leela found herself gazing at the Altar of the Lost, the great sun dotted with teardrop-shaped stargems. She remembered the day, so long ago, when she had prayed to Mother Sun and the gems had turned to tears. That was the day she became friends with Elorin.

It all must stem from the Great Sadness, she thought. That’s when everything changed. She should have been more judicious in her use of the circlet. She should have tried to see if she could go back all those centuries and read the High Priestess’s memory from that dark time. She recalled the story of Wyllin and the forming of this tether. Elorin had wondered about its truth just as Leela did. Who knew if the High Priestess had chosen Wyllin for some dark purpose the way she had chosen Sera?

When at last the High Priestess declared the day of prayer and meditation over, the congregation rose and whispers filled the room alongside utterings of fear. Leela saw Koreen being comforted by Daina and Atana—she wanted to say something reassuring to her old friends, but the words stuck in her throat. This City had reached a breaking point—Leela could not allow another Cerulean to be imprisoned beneath it.

A leap of faith, the will-o-the-wisp had said. There was only one leap Leela could make and the thought sent waves of terror rippling down her spine.

Sera survived, she reminded herself. But the thought did not comfort her.

“What happened last night?” Elorin appeared at Leela’s elbow, her voice barely a whisper. Leela glanced around and beckoned for her to follow. They went deep into the Moon Gardens where no one would hear them and Leela told her everything.

“But . . . are you saying . . . did she just siphon our magic?” She looked down at her hands as if expecting to see magic leaking out of them.

“I believe so,” Leela said gravely. “But she must not take enough to be noticed. We still have healing power. We can still blood bond.”

“But we should be able to do more than that,” Elorin said. “I can read the doors now, and Kandra saw Sera’s name on the obelisk.” She