11: Epilogue

Seshka—she could not even remember her surname, if she’d ever had one—sat on a rooftop, face muffled thickly enough that the clouds of her frozen breath would melt before puffing into the air. Nothing would give her away to passers-by. She was a ghost, after all. A thing. A creature without a soul. Clicking sounded […]

10: Dawn

Emrhys cast one more look at the quiet Priory building nestled in its cocoon of ivy and snow. She hoisted the satchel with its precious phials onto her shoulder, then cast an aura of obscuring to envelop the receiving room and grounds just beyond — a working so strong her legs wobbled and her mind […]

9: Gifts

*Content warning: mention of blood, small cut. Emrhys padded through the snow, legs weak. Breathless, she leaned against a tree, lungs burning, mind racing. Freedom was close, yet fear lingered, cold and tight in her chest. She glanced back toward the town proper. There was no way in all the hells she would ever go […]

8: Memory

Corvus paced, his saber knocking against his thigh. He was almost out of time. He peered down the narrow hall to make sure nobody had followed them. Thankfully, they were alone. Most of the other guardsmen, Petrov included, were elsewhere, celebrating the holiday night with spiced wine they had snuck in a service entrance. Emrhys […]

7: Sisters and Saints

Lenore Coldriver knelt to light a candle on Saint Eskala’s altar. All around the room, red and green glass cupped tenuous flickering lights. Candles for prayers, for wishes, for desperate dreams. She would never be like those people who lit their candles and went back to their everyday lives. Nor would Emrhys. Not even the […]

6: Souls

“What is happening to me?” Sevens stood in his quarters, hands hovering at his throat. He had woken up all wrong. Somehow, his fingers did not seem to obey his mind’s commands. The black silk of his cravat brushed his skin, but he barely felt it. His booted feet felt rooted to the cold stone […]

5: Aethertrue

Time meant nothing to Emrhys, not anymore. There were only the hours with Corvus Sevens, and without. “Thallium, thorium, thulium, tin, titanium…” Emrhys paused, shaking her head to clear away the cobwebs. The damage from the wards was getting worse. Her heartbeat thundered erratically, and sweat covered her brow, a slow sludge of terror pooling […]

4: Yearning

Corvus never dreamed he could actually enjoy a mission. He’d never had a task like this, one where he could remember everything that happened. Where there was no blood. Guarding Emrhys Coldriver and conveying letters between her and her sister Lenore was his job now, under orders of General Acton. An important job, apparently, they […]

3: Wards

Corvus hesitated briefly at the heavy cell door, steeling himself. A mixture of guilt and determination churned within him, but duty had always been heavier than his own comfort. “This is your cell. I’m sorry that I can’t make it more comfortable, but in a show of clemency, you have a proper pillow and blankets, […]

2: Judgment

Emrhys Coldriver sat before the arbiters in the Imperium High Court and tried to calm herself. She drew in a shaky breath, the cold stone of the bench on which she sat anchoring her briefly. Panic fluttered in her chest, chased swiftly by defiance. She would not break here. Not today, not when her life […]