little, struggling to keep the knife out of sight as I lie down. I close my eyes, conscious that Bastien’s skeptical gaze is still upon me.
I feign sleep for the rest of the day. By what must be nightfall, Jules returns, and my three captors discuss all that I told Marcel. At length, they fall asleep, one by one. Even Bastien drifts off, though it was his turn to keep watch. He must trust me a little by now.
I tamp down the guilt that gives me. I cut apart my ropes and tiptoe over to Marcel. I slide the flute from his pocket and sneak to the shelves. When I pull down the chipped pitcher, my pulse races. My bones are within.
I grab a small leather pouch that Jules uses for coins and replace the coins with my bones. Energy tickles me as I touch each one. The pendant of an alpine ibex. The wing bone of a peregrine falcon. The tooth of a tiger shark. When I pull the necklace cord over my head and the pouch settles against my chest, I breathe in deeply and close my eyes. I feel my power steel inside me.
I’m whole again. Balanced.
I’m Ailesse.
My graces are weaker than before—I’ve been in the darkness too long—but I can remedy that.
I fetch an oil lamp and quietly push the small door of our chamber open. I tighten my grip around the hilt of Marcel’s knife and look back at Bastien. His dark hair has tumbled across his closed eyes, and it flutters with his heavy breathing.
A flood of sensations rushes into me. The coolness of the water he gave me. The strong press of his hand when he pulled me out of the pit. The echo of his words: Pull yourself up. Take my hand.
I find myself softly smiling at him.
I tuck the knife into the sash of my dress. I won’t kill Bastien. For now. I’ll return to my mother, give her the flute, and ferry the dead at her side. And before the year ends, I’ll track Bastien down and do what I must.
I sneak outside the chamber and take one heart-pounding glance at the wall of skulls, then face the looming tunnel ahead.
Elara, help me find a way out of this prison.
22
Sabine
MY FULL QUIVER BOBS AGAINST my back as I race across the cliffs above the Nivous Sea. I haven’t shot one arrow since I killed the nighthawk. I don’t know what I’m hunting for, but my heart pounds with a deep sense of urgency. I need to decide and make my final kill.
Ailesse has been underground for fifteen days. I can’t wait any longer for the silver owl to come back and give me a sign that I made the right choice of grace bone. So far I’ve pursued a wild boar, a feral horse, and even a rare black wolf, but I hesitated when I had an opportunity to seize them. Would that animal give me enough ability to rescue Ailesse? Why won’t the silver owl tell me? I haven’t seen her since she showed me the vision of my friend.
The smell of salt and brine fills my lungs as I run faster, scanning the plains that sprawl out before me. Each blade of swaying wild grass comes into clear focus. I’m still amazed by my nighthawk grace to see well in the dark. It looks as bright outside as it does during a full moon. But this is a new moon. Ferrying night. None of the Leurress were able to hunt a golden jackal in time, so as a last resort, Odiva carved a new flute from the bone of a ritual stag, giving it all the same markings as the original flute. Whether or not it has the same power remains to be seen. My famille has been on edge about it for days.
When I race another half mile, my path inclines on a rolling hill. I near the top, and a group of women holding staffs approaches from the other side. Ferriers, led by Odiva. My brows lift. They’ve left Château Creux already. Is it that close to midnight? I tense to run the other way—I shouldn’t be out tonight—but it’s too late. They’ve already seen me.
We crown the hill at the same moment. I stop and come face-to-face with my matrone. She’s wearing her five grace bones in their epaulettes, rows of necklaces, and her striking crown, but she’s not wearing her customary sapphire-blue dress beneath.