Chapter One
Hoofbeats thunder through the air, rousing me from my work.
I set down my quill next to the star chart and stretch my arms overhead, my back cracking as I arch it with a grimace. That’s what I get for working all night hunched over the desk like a crone.
The chair screeches across the wooden floor as I push it back and stand, strolling over to one of the thin, arched windows to investigate. The foggy glass lets in a weak stream of early morning light. I push open the window and breathe in a lungful of pine fresh air.
The sky is a quiet blue, the distant mountains tinged lilac in the morning haze, and somewhere much closer, beyond the snow-dusted trees of the forest, the little village of Henling starts to wake. My home for the last three moons – and hopefully not much longer. A pang of guilt reminds me I’ve left Gee alone in our wagon all night again.
The cold nips at my nose as I lean farther out of the tower, looking down at the restless horse tied below, a blot of color against the white snow. Its flanks heave, huffing clouds in the frigid air. A single set of footprints lead inside the enclave.
Someone’s returned in a hurry.
I move back to the desk and gently run my hand over the natal star chart I’ve finished casting for Lady Bryher’s new baby. The ink’s dry, so I roll up the paper and tuck the scroll into my bag.
“Cassia?” Sister Lucine’s breathless voice calls out as she bursts into the room, violet robes billowing around her. Her heart-shaped face is drawn, her usually fair cheeks ruddy.
“Stars, Lucine. Your hair looks wild.” I eye the long, red tangles as she strides toward me. “Was that you on the horse?” As soon as the question leaves my lips, her panic reaches me, as if it floated through the air. My heart beats a little faster and a chill creeps into my bones.
Not again.
“The snatchers are coming!” She sucks in a breath, her chest rising and falling rapidly. “They’ll be here in a few days.”
Something in my gut hollows. “But the Taiga Pass is still blocked by snow. How–”
“It’s melting…fast. Faster than usual for this time of year. They’re already in Osele.” She sweeps past me and up to the window, bracing her hands against the ledge. She peers out as if she can see all the way to Osele, the next village down the mountain.
I move to stand behind her. How can Sister Lucine know this? “A warning in the stars?”
She shakes her head, auburn hair swishing. “Not this time. I was there myself yesterday. I saw the cage wagons. At first light, I took one of the mountain trails here.”
My eyes widen. The narrow, winding trails are barely wide enough for a person, let alone a horse. It’s why Henling becomes cut off from the rest of Myrsia every winter when snow blocks the Taiga Pass.
I shake my head in disbelief. “You could have died, Lucine.”
“I had to warn you.” She reaches out to grab my arm. The tattoo on her wrist, a constellation of five tiny stars, peeks out from beneath the flared sleeve of her robe. I pat her cold hand, her skin pale beneath my darker complexion.
Snatcher inspections don’t happen often up here in the remote mountain villages. Not like in the bigger towns and cities in the south. This news will throw everybody into a panic.
Lucine lets go of me, and I unhook my heavy, green cloak from the back of the chair, wrapping it around my shoulders and untucking my long, dark hair with my arm.
“I’ll go to Henling now.” I swing my satchel onto my back. “I’ll warn them, and we’ll round up the children. There’s only one boy, Timo, who’s had his Awakening over the winter.” I pick up the astrological almanac sitting on the desk. “Can I take the ephemeris?”
“Yes, yes.” Sister Lucine waves a hand in irritation. “Cassia, I didn’t come back so you could act as messenger and warn the village. I came back to warn you. If you insist on warning the village, you must come back here afterward and hide.”
I feign innocence. “Oh? Why?”
She raises her brows and places her hands on her hips, impatience radiating from her. “Because of that uncanny intuition you’re so quick to downplay.”
Magic. The word pops into my mind. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
Lucine huffs out a breath, not appreciating my evasiveness. We’ve become something like friends over the winter. Annoyingly, though, that means she can read me like the book I’m clutching.
“Besides,” I continue, “I’m eighteen now. The snatchers are only interested in children. They won’t look twice at me.”
Lucine shakes her head but doesn’t argue.
“Have you told anyone else?” I ask.
“I went straight to the High Priestess when I got back,” Sister Lucine replies. She runs a hand through her tangled hair, wincing when her fingers get caught in the knots. “She wants to see you.”
I suck in a breath. “Stars. Why?” In all the winters I’ve spent in Henling, all the times I’ve visited the Stellar Sisters of Celestial Devotion, I’ve met the High Priestess only once. The Stellar Sisters are practically nocturnal, and when she is awake, she’s usually tucked away in the Sanctum, the sister-only heart of the enclave. “I’m honored, but I should get back to Henling to warn them as soon as–”
“She’s seen your star chart,” Lucine interrupts.
I let this unpleasant fact wash over me. That damn star chart and its prophecy. I should have burned it when I had the chance.
Lucine’s green eyes shine. “She probably wants to know why you’ve been lying about having magic.”
I trail behind Lucine down the spiral steps of the astrology tower, then back up the stairs of another. My heart hammers with anticipation. I shift the heavy book in the crook of my arm, taking comfort from its weight.
Sister Lucine knocks and opens the door. The High Priestess doesn’t stand when we walk into the room. She remains seated at a round, pine table that fills most of the space. Her amethyst robes are a slightly darker shade of purple than Lucine’s, the velvet embroidered with tiny copper-colored constellations that seem to glow softly in the morning light spilling through the windows.
“High Priestess Andromeda. Cassia’s here.” Lucine ushers me forward.
I step farther into the room and execute what I hope is a respectful curtsey.
Andromeda raises her intense, brown eyes to me. Her skin is golden brown, her stern face oddly ageless. Only the faint lines around her eyes and two streaks of gray framing her dark hair suggest she’s older than forty.
“Sit, please.” She indicates one of the chairs next to her, and I lower into it, resting the book on my knees primly, not wanting to look too comfortable.
The teapot clinks and gurgles as the High Priestess pours steaming, amber liquid into the thick, ceramic cups in front of her. The spiced scent of tea hangs in the air between us.
“I take it Sister Lucine has told you the news?” The High Priestess slides a cup toward me.
I lean forward to take it. “She told me about the snatchers.”
Curiosity curls from the High Priestess like the steam from my mug. “If she’s brought you to see me, may I assume you declined our offer of sanctuary?”