Chapter 25: Seraphina's Departure
The sky was still dark when the noise at the city gate woke Violet.
She stepped out of her tent—no. She lived in a small stone house now. The room next door was Leon's. Gray Bone had led his men to build it for her. The door faced east. Good morning light. She rubbed her eyes and walked toward the gate.
Someone stood in the early light. Golden hair in a braid. A gray dress damp with dew. A bulging leather satchel slung over one shoulder. Seraphina.
Violet stopped at the gate and looked at her. "You're leaving?"
"Yes. I've finished what I came to do."
Violet said nothing. She looked into Seraphina's eyes. Those honey-colored eyes held no calculation. No smile. Only a very faint, calm light.
The two of them stood in the morning wind. Someone was patrolling the city walls. Carts queuing for water at the gate. Everything running as usual. But Seraphina was leaving.
"Aren't you going to ask where I'm going?" Seraphina tilted her head.
"Would you tell me if I asked?"
"No." Seraphina smiled. "But you should still ask."
Violet was silent for a beat. "Where are you going?"
"North. Very far." Seraphina paused. "I found something strange in the North. I want to go see."
"What is it?"
"Don't know. Could be ore. Could be something else."
Violet's fingers tightened for an instant. Seraphina saw her reaction and smiled. "Scared?"
"No. As long as it's business."
Seraphina stared at her for a few seconds. "You really are—all business, from start to finish." She pulled something from her satchel. Dark purple. Fine golden veins across its surface. It gleamed faintly in the morning light. She pressed it into Violet's hand.
"What is this?"
"An egg."
Violet looked down at the egg. The shell was dark purple, the veins almost alive, cool against her palm. She turned it over. A small translucent patch on the shell. Through it, she could see something moving inside. Very small. Curled up. As if still sleeping.
"What kind of egg?"
"Don't know. I tested it. Energy readings are high. Probably nothing good." Seraphina's tone was casual, but her eyes stayed fixed on the egg. "This is my child. Mine and your brother's."
Violet's hand jerked. She nearly dropped the egg. She steadied it, but her heart reacted faster than she did, slamming hard against her ribs.
"Say that again."
"My child. Mine and your brother's." Seraphina repeated it word for word. "The thing I'm going after won't wait. Until I come back, you raise it for me."
Violet looked at the egg in her hand, then at Seraphina. "Why don't you let my brother keep it?"
"It's not convenient for him. And—" Seraphina paused. The corner of her mouth curved. "This is the first time he's asked me for something. He said, 'Keep it safe for me.' I didn't agree then. But I'm agreeing now. I'm leaving it with you."
The morning wind blew Seraphina's hair loose. She didn't raise a hand to fix it.
Violet wrapped the egg carefully and placed it inside her coat. The shell pressed cool against her skin. She could feel the small thing inside moving. Very faint. Like a heartbeat.
"Will it hatch?" Violet asked.
"About a month."
"And after it hatches?"
"Raise it."
"I don't know how."
"You will." Seraphina looked at her. "You kept an entire Water City alive. You can't raise one child?"
Violet opened her mouth. Closed it.
"Fine."
Seraphina smiled. A real smile this time. Not calculation. Not perfunctory. Something light and soft. As if she had set down a heavy weight.
"One more thing." Seraphina's voice lowered. "Your enemy isn't outside."
"Inside."
"Who?"
Seraphina shook her head. "I don't know. But I know this. The heart is hidden behind flesh. The people you trust may not trust you."
"Are you talking about Cassian?"
Seraphina was quiet for a beat. "I'm talking about everyone."
Hoofbeats sounded in the distance. A horse came running from the east side of the city. Gray Bone sat on it. Behind him, another rider. Cassian. He jumped off his horse and stood at the gate, looking at Seraphina. A dozen steps between them. Neither moved.
Seraphina spoke first. "You came."
"You're leaving."
"Yes."
"You're not coming back?"
Seraphina didn't answer. She pulled a piece of hide from her satchel. Folded neatly. She handed it to Cassian.
"This is the location of the anomalous energy fluctuation the system detected. North. Past the Ice Wolf Clan's territory." She pulled out another and handed it to Violet. "This is yours. I promised you I'd help sell your water at the Trade Market. I'm leaving. I can't sell it now. This map is compensation."
Violet took the hide. Northern terrain was drawn on it. Several points marked. Dense writing beside them. Symbols she couldn't read.
"It's the system's language." Seraphina said. "Take it back and study it slowly."
Violet folded the hide and placed it inside her coat, against the egg. "Will you die?" She asked.
Seraphina blinked. Then smiled. "Afraid I'll die and no one will sell your water?"
"Afraid if you die, Cassian will cry."
Both of them looked at Cassian at the same time. He stood there. His expression unreadable. The morning light was too bright. His face was in shadow.
Seraphina pulled her gaze back and looked at Violet. "You're more annoying than your sister."
"She's dead. I'm alive. So I'm more annoying than the one you knew."
Seraphina smiled. She turned and walked toward the gate. After a few steps, she stopped. Didn't look back.
"The child bears my mark. I can find it. We'll meet again."
She left. The sunlight chased her back, stretching her shadow long. Violet stood where she was, watching that shadow fade. Thinner and thinner. Until it vanished into the morning light.
Wind came through the gorge. Violet pulled her coat tighter. Leon's coat. She was still wearing it. The egg moved against her chest. Very light. She tucked it closer, afraid it might fall. Afraid it might break.
Cassian still stood at the gate. He didn't follow.
"Why don't you chase after her?" Violet asked.
"Can't catch her."
"You haven't tried."
Cassian turned his head and looked at her. His eyes were gray-blue. Different from Seraphina's honey color. They reflected the morning light. But the light was the light. He was himself.
"She said her mission was finished. The system mission was finished, so she left. She won't stay for me."
Violet said nothing. She knew what Cassian said was right. But she also knew what Cassian said was wrong. Because the last person Seraphina looked at before leaving wasn't her. It was Cassian.
"The egg is with me." Violet said.
"I know."
"You don't want it back?"
"Keep it with you. Safer."
Cassian turned and walked away. His back was very straight. His spine pulled tight. As if he was afraid something might fall out of his body.
Violet stood at the gate, looking in two directions. Seraphina heading north. Cassian heading east. One going after "anomalous energy." One chasing someone who couldn't be caught.
Gray Bone walked up beside her. "She's gone?"
"Gone."
"Will she come back?"
"She said she would."
"You believe her?"
"No. But the egg is with me. If she wants her child, she has to come back." Violet looked down at the egg in her coat. The shell was cool against her skin. She could feel the tiny life inside moving. Very faint. But moving. "How are the preparations for the gathering?" She asked Gray Bone.
"The summons has gone out. Hagen, Eve, the shaman, the blacksmith, Astrid, Ulric. All said they would come."
"When?"
"One month."
Violet nodded. "Enough."
She turned and walked back into the city. Passing the granary, she saw Astrid checking the ledgers. Passing the salt store, she saw Finn hauling salt sacks. Passing the forge, she saw the blacksmith hammering a blade. Everything running as usual. But Seraphina was gone.
She walked to the base of the city wall. Looked up. Leon stood above, watching the northern horizon. She looked too. Nothing to see. Only morning light. Only wind. Only the far line of the earth.
She climbed the wall.
Leon didn't turn around. "She's gone?" He asked.
"Gone."
"The egg?"
"In my coat."
Leon turned and looked at her. "Can you raise it?"
"No. But I'll try."
The corner of Leon's mouth moved. He reached out and tucked the hair the wind had blown loose behind her ear. His fingers brushed her ear. Very light.
"Your hands are cold." Violet said.
"They're fine."
"Whenever you say fine, you're cold."
Leon didn't deny it. His hand stayed by her ear. Didn't pull back.
"Will she come back?" Leon asked.
"I don't know." Violet looked at the northern sky. "But what she left behind will let us know where she went."
"What?"
"The map. The map she left marks the location of the 'anomalous energy.' If that location is ore, we'll be rich. If it's something else—"
"What?"
Violet was silent for a long time.
"Trouble."
In the distance, a light appeared in the northern sky. Very faint. Like the northern lights, but brighter. Shorter. A flash. Gone.
Leon's slit pupils tightened. "You saw that?"
"I saw it."
"What was that?"
"I don't know. But Seraphina went after it."
The two of them stood on the wall, watching the northern sky. The light didn't appear again. But the wind changed. Not its direction. Its feeling. As if something far away had woken.
Violet pressed the egg tighter against her chest.
The egg moved.
Leon's hand was still by her ear.
"The wind's stronger." He said.
"Yes."
"Go back?"
"Stay a little longer."
Leon said nothing. He pulled his hand back and stood half a step behind her. The two of them looked north. Looked at the morning light. Looked at the light that never appeared again.
The egg grew still against her chest.
Seraphina was gone. She had taken her system. Taken her mission. Taken the words Cassian never finished speaking. Left behind an egg. A map. And a question. Your enemy isn't outside. Inside.
Violet turned those words over and over in her mind. Turned them all day.
But she didn't know that the meaning of those words went far deeper than she thought.
---
End of Chapter Twenty-Five
Seraphina is gone. She left an egg. A map. And a line: "Your enemy isn't outside. Inside." Violet pressed the egg to her chest and kept it warm all day. But what she doesn't know is that the tiny thing inside the egg sensed it before she did. The light in the North isn't a distant view. It's footsteps approaching.