The Beholden

by Cassandra Rose Clarke

Genres: Gaslamp; Sword & Sorcery; War & Military

Synopsis

Two sisters, a pregnant aristocrat and a scholar-magician, find themselves at the center of a conflict between the immortal being Decay and the Emperor himself . . .

Orphaned as young women, Celestia and Izara De Malena find themselves land rich but destitute, with only a failing rainforest acreage, Celestia’s perfect manners, and Izara’s nascent magic to their aristocratic names. With the last of their money running out, they enact a dangerous plan—using a spell she doesn’t fully understand, Izara summons the Lady of the Seraphine and demands a favor: a husband for Celestia, one rich enough to enable the De Malena sisters to keep their land. But a favor from the river goddess always comes at a cost...

Now, five years later, rumors of war and disease are spreading, Celestia’s husband has been called away on a secret mission for the Emperor, and the Lady of the Seraphine is back to collect her due. Izara will be forced to leave the academy where she has been studying to become a mage; Celestia will be pulled from her now-flourishing farm while newly pregnant with her first child. Together, they must repay their debt to the Lady—embarking on a mission that will put them on a collision course with Celestia’s husband, the Emperor, and a god even more powerful than the Lady of the Seraphine. 

Gorgeous, compelling, and utterly captivating, The Beholden follows Celestia and Izara as they journey from the lush rainforest to a frozen desert on an impossible quest to find a god who doesn’t want to be found and prevent the end of the world. 

Release date: January 18, 2022

Publisher: Erewhon Books

Print pages: 544

Sample

The riverboat glided through the black water of the lower Seraphine, a place where the trees were so thick they formed a ceiling overhead, blocking out the stars. Ico didn’t like that, not seeing the stars. It was hard for a sailor to find his bearings in the darkness.

The door to the engine room slammed open, and Calix stomped out, his boots heavy on the boat’s deck. One of the passengers startled, although the other, the pretty one, just turned her head toward him, her expression calm. Ico’d been watching her. She sat with her back straight, her chin lifted, her hands clasped in her lap. A proper lady, to be sure. But Ico had noticed her gown when they boarded back in Jaila-Seraphine, and although it was silk and lace, it was also worn out, threadbare. Opulence lost.

“We’re approaching the turn off point.” Calix stopped at Ico’s side and stared out behind him. Ico glanced over his shoulder to see what Calix saw, but there was only the ink of the river, the ink of tree shadows.

Ico nodded. He stood with one hand at the wheel, directing the boat straight down the river. The paddle churned up the water behind him. “You think we’ll even be able to find it?”

Calix grunted. “I’ll bring up some extra lamps. Keep your eye on the two ladies. We don’t know what we’re going to see once we turn off.”

The passengers didn’t seem to have heard Calix. Good thing, too, since the last thing Ico needed was to steer the boat and try to comfort a pair of frightened noblewomen while Calix tended to the engines. At least he was paying him double. Ancestors knew Ico needed the money.

The passengers shifted in their seats. They’d insisted on sitting up on deck, even after the sun set and everything plunged into darkness. The pretty one leaned over and murmured something to the other, too low for Ico to hear. They were sisters, Calix had told him, although even he hadn’t known much more than that.

Sisters who wanted passage to the Lady’s Tributary.

Calix disappeared into the storage room down below. The boat slid forward, churning up the water, the little splashes of the paddles a quiet whisper in comparison to the shrieks of the insects and the nocturnal animals out in the forest. Ico stood in the murky light of the lanterns and guided the boat without much thought. Since leaving his old pirate life behind and going straight, he’d done this a thousand times, taken the riverboat down the main thoroughfare of the Seraphine. But usually there were other boats out on the river, fellow sailors who would shout the customary greetings over the water. But no one was out tonight.

“How much longer?” asked the pretty one. Her voice startled Ico, and he jumped, although practice kept him from knocking the wheel sideways.

“Not sure,” he answered.

She turned toward him. Her brown skin was pristine, unmarred by lines or labor. Her eyes were large and dark and dewy, her hair a thick black cloud that she wore loose around her shoulders. Unmarried, then. A proper lady like that would keep to the customs.

“Could you ask the captain?” she said.

“You ask him,” Ico said. “I’m not leaving the wheel, lest you want to get run aground.” He tilted his head toward the shore. “Probably some beasties out tonight. I’ve heard tell that the bloodsucking tyzoti lives in this part of the forest. If you think you can stand up to that, then I’ll be happy to end the journey now.”

The pretty one glared at him, although her classic beauty tempered any sense of fierceness. The other one, though, the plain one, gave him a cold look and said, “There are no bloodsucking tyzotis in this part of the forest because the bloodsucking tyzoti does not exist. It’s an Eirenese myth meant to disparage the Seraphine. Like the kajani.”

Ico laughed. “You know so much about Eiren, lady?”

She lifted her chin. “More than you, I’m sure.”

Ico doubted that. He spent time in Eiren back in his pirate days. Earned quite a bit of notoriety for himself up there, too, which was why he was attempting to go straight down here in the Seraphine. But beyond that, Eiren was an ancient place, set in its ways, with a long memory. Ico’s ancestors had refused to take sides during a war five hundred years ago, and the Eirenese ability to hold a grudge was legendary.

The hatchway slammed open with a bang that reverberated through the night. Calix climbed up, a cluster of lanterns flung over one shoulder.

“The ladies were asking how much longer,” Ico said.

Calix carried the lanterns over to the bow and then pulled a candle out of his pocket, which he lit on one of the already-burning lanterns. “Not sure,” he answered, not looking up from his work. “Although it’ll be soon.”

“You told us you’d get us here before morning,” the plain one said.

“And I will.” Calix lit the first lantern and hung it on the hooks jutting out from the side of the boat.

“It’s imperative that we arrive before daybreak.”

“You mentioned that.” Another lantern lit, another lantern hung. “Several times.”

The plain one crossed her arms and huffed, and her sister touched her shoulder and said something comforting. The river revealed itself in the light of the lanterns. The current had picked up a ways back, but now he could see the ripples and eddies in the water, veering off to the left.

“Oh, we are close,” he said.

“Mmmhmm.” Calix hung the last lantern and straightened up. “Prepare yourself, ladies. Not sure what we’re going to find once we turn off into the tributary.”

Neither of the sisters answered.

The wheel jerked under Ico’s hand; he gripped it tighter so the boat wouldn’t swerve off to the shore. Water slapped up against the side. They were caught up in the current of the Lady’s Tributary.

“Hold on, ladies!” Ico shouted. “Wouldn’t want you to fall overboard.”

That earned him a dark look from both of the women, but Calix laughed, a sound that echoed out through the darkness. He hung the last of the lanterns and came to the rear of the boat.

“Need any help?” he asked.

“I got it.” Ico grabbed the wheel with both hands and leaned against it with his weight, turning the boat into the current, trying to stay in control. The lantern light slid back and forth over the river. He caught sight of the shore, dark trees and long ropy vines, flashes of animal eyes.

“Think they’re scared?” Calix whispered, jutting his head over at the two passengers.

“Hell, I’m scared,” Ico answered. “Are you really going to let ’em wander into the woods alone?”

Calix laughed again. “What, didn’t Biel tell you? That was part of their payment. They asked for a guide.”

Ico jerked on the wheel again, a heavy stone in the pit of his stomach.

“I didn’t agree to be a guide,” he said. “Certainly not in the forest. At night.” The lantern lights passed over a carved stone sign jutting out of the river. Warning to travelers was all Ico could see before darkness covered it.

One of the ladies gasped. Ico wasn’t sure which one: when he looked over at them, both stared straight ahead, their spines rigid and their expressions blank. They could have been sitting on the Emperor’s throne. Maybe he imagined their gasping. Maybe the Lady’s magic was already starting to get to him.

“Well, I’m not leaving you with my boat,” Calix said.

“Gods and monsters,” Ico said. “You know I’m not in the mind to steal this shitheap.”

“You’ve got that pirate’s taint,” Calix said.

Ico scowled. “I ain’t a pirate anymore.”

“Still. You’re taking them.”

They passed into the tributary. The river narrowed and the trees drooped down lower, their branches grazing across the top of the captain’s quarters, making a dry, scratchy sound. Ico glared at the illuminated water of the boat. He was going to thrash Biel when he got back to Jaila-Seraphine. Drag him out of his favorite table at the inn and give him one good punch in the face, just to let him know Ico wasn’t going to be made a fool of. Biel knew how hard it was to find honest sailor’s work once you’ve been a pirate. And he also knew about the money Ico owed his old, less-than-savory associates.

Calix reached into his pocket and pulled out a slim metal flask. He started to take a drink, stopped, looked over at Ico. “You need this more than me, mate.”

Ico swiped the flask away from him. “You know I’m gonna need more than a drink before I take those girls out there.”

Calix sighed. “You’re already getting half their fare.”

“I want seventy percent.”

Calix leaned over the edge of the boat and spat in the water. The passengers didn’t look back at either of them—who the hell knew what they were up to? “Sixty,” he said.

Ico kept his eyes on the back of the passengers’ heads. For the last two days, as the boat had journeyed down the river from Jaila-Seraphine, he and Calix had avoided discussing where they were headed. Easier to pretend they were just taking the passengers to Nemia-Seraphine or the ship port on the open sea.

“Sixty-five,” Ico said. “Or I’m stalling the boat out in the middle of the river and neither of us is getting paid.”

Calix chuckled. “You wouldn’t say that if you weren’t from Akuran. We know not to trifle with the Airiana here.” But then he slapped Ico hard on the back. “Deal. Sixty-five percent. And you can keep the flask.”

Sixty-five percent. The girls had paid twice the usual fee, given their destination. Another two hundred coins to help pay off his debt. He was getting closer, at least.

Calix threw open the door to the steam room, splashing water on the fires to slow the boat down. Ico took a long pull from the flask, the liquor dark and crawling and potent. It slid down his throat and spread warmth through his extremities. Calix had gotten ahold of the expensive stuff, it seemed.

The water in the tributary was almost still. The boat drifted along, the steam from the engines a white ribbon against the darkness. The lanterns illuminated nothing but trees and the black water. The paddles slapped rhythmically against the water.

“Where will we know when to stop?” Ico said. He was talking to Calix, who was still hunched over the fires, but one of the passengers answered him instead.

“I’ll tell you.” It was the plain one.

“You’ll tell me?” Ico laughed. “Right.”

Calix pulled away from the fires, his body in silhouette against their red glow. “You’ll tell me,” he said to her. “I’m the captain here.”

The plain one huffed and lifted her chin. She hadn’t made the effort to look aristocratic the way her sister had, and her dress was made of the plain, thin-woven ramie fabric favored by the Empire’s poor. Not even trying to hide their financial status, that one.

The plain one stood up and walked to the bow of the boat. The lantern lights poured around her, illuminating the burnished-gold highlights in her thick black hair and carving her brown skin into a mask of shadow and candlelight.

Ico kicked at Calix. “The hell is she doing?” he whispered.

“She’s finding our stopping place.” Now the pretty one was interrupting their conversation, too. She turned her cool lady’s gaze to Ico. “Izara has been chosen to train as an acolyte at the Academy,” she said. “She possesses Iomim’s Treasure.”

Ico rolled his eyes. “If she gets us lost in the jungle, know that I’m not risking my life to bring you back. Hopefully Iomim’s Treasure will be enough to protect you from jaguars.”

The pretty’s ones eyes widened in anger, and Calix knocked Ico on the back of his head.

“Don’t be threatening the passengers,” he said.

The pretty one settled into her skirts, looking pleased.

“They’re paying us,” Calix hissed in Ico’s ear. “You aren’t a pirate anymore, and this is a respectable ferry. Don’t forget it.”

Ico glared at the dark water.

They sailed for a few moments more. The air grew thick with steam from the engines, and it filtered through the lantern light, making the night eerie and haunted. The plain one stood up at the bow of the boat, her hands on the railing. Didn’t look like she was doing much. Just staring at the trees illuminated by the lanterns.

And then she pulled a scrap of parchment out of a pocket hidden away inside her skirts.

Ico frowned, watching her. She read over the parchment and then looked up at the river. She began to hum, an odd, haunting melody that sent chills rippling over Ico’s body. He tightened his grip on the wheel, his muscles contracting, ready to spring into action. He knew danger when he heard it.

She glanced down at the parchment again, and this time she sang. Her voice wasn’t very sweet—there was a smoky roughness to it, like a fire smoldering in the bowl of a pipe—but she could carry the unearthly tune. The pretty one watched her with her hands clenching the fabric of her dress. In the lantern lights her brown skin looked ashen.

“What the fuck is she doing?” Ico whispered to Calix.

Calix looked at him. “She’s finding the entrance to the Lady’s domain.”

The wheel slipped out of Ico’s hand, and the boat swung wildly to the left. The pretty one went sprawling across the passenger’s bench, but the plain one (the acolyte, Ico thought), didn’t move from her place at the bow. Calix cursed and wrenched the boat back into place.

“The hell?” he said. “Pay attention. You knew where we were going.”

Ico took hold of the wheel again. He willed himself not to shake. Yes, he had known they were going to the Lady’s Tributary, known the two women wanted to speak to her. But Ico was from Akuran, and he wasn’t sure he’d ever really believed in the Lady of the Seraphine. But that singing was soaking into his bones, drawing his fears to the forefront.

Over on the passenger’s bench, the pretty one had straightened herself up. She smoothed down her hair and her skirts, trying to look as if she wasn’t afraid either.

The plain one was still singing.

Ico grabbed the wheel with his other hand, holding it tight, staring ahead at the darkness. The engine fires sparked and sputtered and threw off an arc of golden red light at his feet. He did his best not to look at the woman at the bow. Hearing her voice, beautiful and haunting and terrifying, was bad enough.

The singing stopped.

“You got something for me?” Calix called out. His voice trembled. Ico smirked.

The plain one turned around, one hand pressed against the railing. Her eyes were bright as stars. Ico’s skin crawled. He jerked his gaze away from her, out to the forest.

The pretty one gasped. “Izara!” she cried.

“Stop the engines,” she said. “We’ll go to shore here.”

Calix nodded and drifted over to the fires as if caught in a spell. The plain one sagged against the railing, and the pretty one ran over to her, wrapped her arm around her shoulders, muttered something in her ear.

Calix extinguished the fires.

“You heard the lady,” he said. “Drop the anchor and prepare the rowboat.”

Ico hesitated. A cold sickness swelled in his belly. He did not want to go to ashore.

“Dammit, Ico, do what I asked.” Calix looked at him over his shoulder. “I’ll give you your seventy percent,” he said softly. “Just get back here alive.”

Ico sucked in a deep breath. “I can hold you to that?”

Calix glanced out at the woods. “Yeah,” he said. “You can.”

Ico yanked hard on the anchor, sending it splashing to the bottom of the Seraphine. Then he grabbed the tail of rope lashing the rowboat to the side of the riverboat and unwound it, his movements quick and sure. He knew if he stopped to think about it he might turn tail like a coward. The money, he told himself. Just focus on the money.

The rowboat dropped into the black water with a splash.

“Ladies,” Ico said, turning to the two passengers. The plain one sagged against her sister, her eyes sunken. The pretty one lifted her gaze to meet Ico’s. She nodded once. Then she guided her sister over to the side of the rowboat. Ico unfurled the rope ladder. The pretty one held out her hand expectantly. Ico sighed, and took it, and guided her over to the ladder. Her touch was cool and dry, as if she’d been sitting in a drawing room all this time.

The plain one threw her leg over the side of the boat without looking at him. She scrambled down the ladder. Ico followed, clutching the lantern between his teeth. The passengers huddled together on the boat, and the pretty one gave a little gasp when Ico boarded and the boat tilted to the left.

“Nothing to worry about,” he said, a platitude he didn’t mean, that slipped out because he was used to saying it to passengers. Ico dipped the oars into the water and pushed away from the riverboat. The shore was a silvery outline in the distance, starlight dancing off the water as it lapped against the eroded sand. Trees grew up thick and impenetrable. Once they passed into the forest proper, they wouldn’t have the starlight to guide them anymore.

“When we hit land,” the plain one said suddenly, jarring Ico out of his own thoughts, “we will need to go directly east. There will be a path for us to follow.”

“A path? Here?” Ico turned to the thick tangle of trees. “You know we aren’t in Jaila-Seraphine anymore.”

“I am quite aware,” the plain one snapped. “There will be a path.”

Ico sighed. “Fine,” he said. “We’ll follow the path.” Crazy broad. Or maybe it was the result of Iomim’s Treasure—not even the strongest mage could really control magic, much as they liked to pretend.

The boat slipped quietly through the water. The shore loomed close. The pretty one kept squeezing her skirt, then smoothing out the fabric. Squeezing, smoothing. It was a movement as rhythmic as the oars dropping into the water. They rode the rest of the way to the shore in silence. Ico’s thoughts were shaky and nervous, and he kept telling himself to focus on the money, that seventy percent Calix was promising him for sticking his neck out like this.

The boat scraped against the river bottom. Ico lifted one of the oars and jammed into the sand. “Give me a moment, ladies, I’ll drag you ashore.” He leered up at the pretty one. “Wouldn’t want your shoes to get muddy.”

“I don’t care if my shoes get muddy,” the pretty one shot back. “And there’s no need to drag the boat with us in it. We can help.”

Ico laughed. “Get out or stay in, but I don’t need either of you touching my rowboat.”

The pretty one lifted her chin. The plain one ignored the entire conversation, though—her gaze was on the forest. Ico didn’t know how she could see anything. He certainly couldn’t, not beyond the pale circle of light cast by the lantern.

“Quiet,” she said suddenly. “If we make too much noise, it will spook the Lady.”

A shiver wriggled down Ico’s spine. The plain one stared out at the forest. Ico jumped out of the boat and grabbed it at the fore and dragged it up to the shore, the river’s cold water lapping around his ankles. The lantern swung back and forth from its hook, the circle of light growing and shrinking. Without warning, the plain one jumped out of the boat.

“Izara!” the pretty one cried.

The plain one turned around and placed a finger to her lips. The pretty one frowned.

“Don’t run off,” Ico said to Izara, pitching his voice low. She ignored him, only moved along the shoreline, peering out at the forest. The boat wedged against the shore. Far enough. He grabbed the rope and stake out of the bottom of the boat. The pretty one stared after her sister, shadows moving across her face.

“You can climb on out,” Ico said, still in that low whisper. “Keep watch on your sister there. I’m not getting paid to play bodyguard to you two.”

“She knows what she’s doing,” the pretty one said, and then she lifted her skirts and stood up. The boat wobbled against the shore but she didn’t even blink. It was only when she lifted her foot over the boat’s edge that Ico remembered he was a riverboater now, not a scoundrel, and he ought to act the gentleman—if nothing else he didn’t want to listen to Calix complain about it later, assuming the lady tattled on him. He held out his hand. The pretty one barely glanced at it as she rested her fingers against his. Second nature for a lady like that.

He guided her out of the boat and onto the shore. Izara was sniffing around the edge of the forest. Gonna get herself eaten by some nighttime predator if she didn’t watch out.

Ico jammed the stake into the sand and tied off the boat. Then he grabbed the lantern and walked over to the pretty one, who stood with her arms wrapped under her chest. Her sister was a shadow in the distance.

“What’s she doing?” Ico asked.

“Looking for the path,” the pretty one answered.

Ico shook his head. Even he knew there weren’t any footpaths around here. This was No Man’s Land, a long swath of forest owned by No Man, may the ancestors bless him, and the forest grew thick and wild from disuse.

But then the plain one stopped. Ico raised the lantern to get a better look, but it did little to help. The darkness was too thick, even with the starlight. But he was fairly certain she was staring into the woods. His chest tightened. A predator? What stalked at night—jaguars, caimans? Calix would have his head if one of his passengers died under Ico’s watch.

“Stay here,” he muttered to the pretty one, and then he lunged forward, the lantern throwing oblong light over the river and the trees. Up ahead, the plain one turned to him, and the lantern caught her eyes and made them gleam. She held up one hand. Ico skidded to a stop.

The plain one, Izara, was moving her hand—gesturing to him. Gesturing to join her. Did she look scared? He couldn’t tell in the darkness.

Ico reached down and slid the knife out of his belt, cursing Calix for not letting him carry a pistol. He moved toward the plain one. She was whispering something, her voice low and urgent—

“My sister,” she said, stepping toward him. “Celestia. Bring her here—I’ve found it.”

Ico stopped. “Found it?”

She nodded. “The path. Hurry, before we lose it!”

Ico looked to the forest. He saw nothing but thick ropy vines and tall black tree trunks.

“Hurry!” she said, a little more loudly, a little more urgently.

Ico sighed and turned around. He could just make out Celestia picking her way toward them.

“She’s coming,” he said, scowling. He’d told her to stay put. Good thing it wasn’t a predator; otherwise, he’d have two dead noblewomen on his hands.

“Tell her to hurry,” Izara whispered.

“She’s hurrying.” Ico lifted the lantern and waved it back and forth. Light spilled across the sand of the riverbed, making the rocks glint. Celestia lifted the hem of her skirt and scuttled forward. Ico glanced over at her sister. She stared into the darkness of the forest. Fucking unnatural.

“I’m here,” Celestia said, breathless. Ico turned back to her. She stared up at him, her dark skin shining golden in the lantern-light.

“Hurry,” Izara said. “It’s fading. Hurry!”

Celestia pushed past Ico without hesitation. Ico spun around. Izara was halfway into the forest, shadows swallowing her whole. Shit, he thought, and plunged forward. The circle of light from the lantern seemed to be shrinking, squeezing around him. Celestia disappeared into the trees, and Izara stuck out her head and said, “Extinguish the light!”

“Are you insane?” Ico said.

“Do it!”

The lightpool hardly fell beyond his own feet. The water lapped at the shore, and for the first time Ico realized that the forest had gone silent. No shrieking of birds, no breaking of branches, no constant whining of insects. When the hell had that happened? Ico looked back to the boat, but the darkness was too thick for him to see anything.

And then there was a flash of movement, and the lantern light blinked out.

“What in the ancestors’ names do you think you’re doing?” he shouted. A hand clamped over his mouth.

“Silence!” Her voice was close to his ear, her breath hot and furious. “We don’t need the light of men. Come.”

No light of men in No Man’s Land. The girl’s hand was on his wrist, yanking him forward. The trees seemed to open up before him. How could he see the trees, in this darkness? He couldn’t see anything.

Lights.

Lights, up ahead, glimmering and faint.

There was a path too, an ancient one, the soil eroded down into a narrow ditch. Trees soared up on either side of them. The forest was still utterly silent, which made Ico’s skin crawl. The lights floated among the trees, little pale spheres that danced and darted around each other. Ico fingered his knife, although he suspected, unease circling in his stomach, that a knife would do no good here.

The sisters walked ahead of him, side by side. Ico stared at the back of their heads. As long as he could see them—could see other humans—he wouldn’t feel like he was walking into the most dangerous part of the forest.

When he gave up piracy, he thought he’d given up this kind of adventure shit, too. But apparently not.

Izara stopped. Ico nearly ran into her.

“What’s going—” he started, but Celestia fixed an icy glare on him. Right. Keep quiet.

Izara tilted her head, as if she were listening to music.

“This way,” Izara whispered, and then veered off to the left. Ico followed, realizing that the path split. Wonderful. He hoped Iomim’s Treasure was enough to send them on the right way.

They walked, their footsteps rackety in the silent forest. Those eerie floating lights trailed along around them. The lights had multiplied, and they generated enough of a glow that the trees and the girls cast long shadows along the path. Ico reached up and wiped some of the sweat from his brow. The night was balmy, almost cool, but he didn’t know what they were going to find at the end of this path and that had him nervous. He thought about Calix sitting in the riverboat. Probably smoking his pipe, polishing that machete he was so damned proud of. Counting the payment from these two insane sisters.

Ico tapped Celestia on the shoulder. He didn’t want to see what would happen if he disturbed the other one. Celestia glanced over at him. Her eyes gleamed from the floating lights.

“We there yet?” Ico asked.

“Don’t ask that,” said Izara, still staring straight ahead. “I have to concentrate to find the Lady.”

“She has to concentrate,” hissed Celestia before turning away from him. Ico sighed. Lights crowded among the tree branches. He wished he was back on the boat with Calix. Wished he was just ferrying passengers back and forth between Jaila-Seraphine and Kalen-Seraphine, like he’d been doing for the last month. Boring work but at least the forest there rustled with sound, at least you could hear the monkeys and the birds shrieking in the canopy. At least there you could find other people instead of these damned floating lights.

And then Ico heard something. A whisper, a babble—

No, he’d been a seaman long enough to know better. Water.

It wasn’t the sound of the Seraphine proper. That Ico could recognize immediately, and anyway the Seraphine didn’t babble. It roared. This sounded more like a stream, some little rivulet—or a tributary.

Cold sweat prickled over Ico’s skin. The Lady’s Tributary.

Izara slowed her walk and held up a hand. Ico and her sister stopped. Ico craned his head around the two sisters, trying to see the path up ahead. But the lights were swarming, blinding him.

The babbling of the water grew louder, sounding more and more like voices.

Izara gulped down deep breaths of air, her hands tugging nervously at her skirts. Celestia stared at her in alarm.

Ico pulled out his knife.

The babbling voices rose up around them. Ico thought he could make out words. He thought he heard his name, his full name, his Akuranian name, Ishi Kui Ico. He thought he heard pieces of the language he’d spoken as a child, a language he hadn’t spoken for nearly ten years, ever since he left home. He could still understand it. My Akuranian child, the voice said. Welcome to the Seraphine.

One of the sisters let out a long, sharp gasp. Celestia stumbled backward, her hand over her mouth. She knocked into Ico. He immediately gripped her arms to steady her before stepping in front of her, knife out, ready to fight for her like a gentleman.

The knife landed with a powdery thud on the forest floor.

Standing in the path before him was a woman. Her skin was dark like river water, and water streamed out of her hair, running in shiny rivulets over her naked form. Ico looked at her for half a second and his eyes burned and he ripped his gaze away, down to the forest floor, where his vision crackled and sputtered llike he’d stared up at the sun.

“Welcome, daughters of the Seraphine,” the woman said in her babbling voices.

With a strangled cry, Celestia fell to her knees, her head down, bowing like she’d come before the Emperor himself. Izara stayed standing, her gaze lifted. How could she look at that woman head on? Ico took a step back, dropped down to one knee. Better to do what Celestia did, he decided.

The woman laughed. It sounded like rain falling across the Seraphine.

“Those who can find me,” she said, “do not need to bow to me. Stand. Both of you.”

Ico’s cheeks burned. He was reminded of his mother, chastising him in a garden. He stood, sh