Chapter 57: Solenne

Going back up the spiral staircase took an extremely long time, because Celestine could only manage a few steps before she had to stop and rest, and no one was willing to leave her behind.

Sunny finally picked her up and carried her the rest of the way, cradling her frail body in his arms as if she were made of glass, while Liora followed a step behind them in her simple gray dress, never taking her eyes off her mother’s face. She hadn’t spoken a single word since the robe had burned, and no one had tried to make her.

The white light from the broken sun followed them up the stairs, filling every nook and cranny of the old stone walls, and Kai could still feel its warmth pulsing in his chest, right beside the spot where Syraphim lived. Every few steps, he caught himself smiling for no reason at all.

[You keep smiling]

"I know," Kai whispered.

[You look very odd. Mira is going to ask you why]

"She can ask me," Kai whispered.

Garrick made his way up the stairs just ahead of them, complaining under his breath about how one building could possibly need so many stairs, and every time he complained, Princess Seris told him to hush, which only made him complain louder.

Elowen walked behind everyone else with her sword lowered, and halfway up the staircase, she stopped so suddenly that Princess Seris almost ran right into her.

"Kai," Elowen said. "My sword."

Kai turned and looked down at her, and he noticed that her sword was glowing with a soft golden light. It wasn’t the hard white it turned whenever someone told a lie, but a warm and beautiful gold that seemed to come from somewhere deep inside the metal.

"Is that a bad thing?" Kai asked.

"No," Elowen said, and her voice shook. "When I lost my sight, the Radiant Mother gave me this gift, and I always thought of it as a candle that she was holding for me. But now it feels like the candle is mine." She turned her blindfolded face up towards the top of the stairs. "She is awake. Solenne is truly awake."

Up ahead, Sunny had stopped as well, and when Kai looked, he saw that the Holy Champion’s sword was glowing the same warm gold at his side, and that silent tears were running down Sunny’s face.

By the time they finally made it through the small wooden door behind the Book of Oaths and stepped out into the great hall of the Cathedral, the sky outside the tall windows had begun to turn gray as the sun started to rise. The hall wasn’t empty anymore, and a group of twelve priests in white robes stood huddled together in the center of the floor, staring up at the statue of the Radiant Mother. None of them noticed Kai and his friends walking out of the wall behind them.

The statue was glowing, and a soft white light was leaking out of the cracks in the old marble, the same light that had poured out of the broken sun. It was gathering in the statue’s carved eyes, as if she was crying.

"What is happening?" one of the priests asked. "Our light is gone. I have felt the blessing of our Mother in my chest for twenty years, and when I woke up this morning, it was gone. And now this."

"Your light was never hers to begin with," Celestine said from Sunny’s arms. "It was taken from her. What you are feeling now is the first true thing you have ever felt in this place."

Every priest in the hall turned around to look at the old woman in the Holy Champion’s arms, and one of them fell to his knees, and another one let out a scream.

"High Priestess Celestine?" the oldest priest asked, his voice shaking. "But you are dead. I carried your urn myself."

"Yes, I am aware of that," Celestine said. "I watched you do it. You dropped it on the third step."

The old priest went white as milk, and Kai had to bite his tongue to keep from laughing out loud.

Then the great doors of the Cathedral swung open, and the morning sun came pouring in, along with King Rowan Halbrecht, still wearing his nightshirt under his coat, with half a dozen of his guards behind him and Justiciar Hale limping along at the back on his cane. Princess Seris tried to hide behind Garrick the moment she saw her father, which didn’t work at all, because the King had already seen her.

"Seris," King Rowan said. "It’s morning, and you’re standing in a Cathedral. I thought you told me you were going to bed early."

"I did go to bed early," Princess Seris said. "I just woke back up again."

The King let out a long, tired sigh, the sigh of a man who had been having that same argument with his daughter for her entire life. Then he looked past her at the glowing statue, at Celestine in Sunny’s arms, and at Liora standing beside her in a plain gray dress, with no robe and no light.

"Justiciar Hale woke me an hour ago," King Rowan said. "He told me that every priest in the city had lost their light at the same moment, and that the statue of the Mother had started to cry. He also informed me that Mr. Mercer had gone into the tunnels beneath the Cathedral with my daughter, and that I should probably come and see what he broke this time." The King turned and looked at Kai. "What did you break, Mr. Mercer?"

"I broke a sun," Kai said. "And some chains, and a robe. But I didn’t break the goddess. She’s doing great, actually."

The King stared at him for a long moment, and then he turned and looked at Liora.

"There is a warrant for your arrest in the name of the crown," King Rowan said. "For the murder of Lord Aldric Vallen, and for sending an assassin into my own palace. Do you deny these charges?"

Liora lifted her chin, and she glanced at Elowen’s sword before she answered.

"No," Liora said. "I do not."

Elowen’s sword stayed gold, and it never flickered white even once.

"Then you will come with me," King Rowan said.

"Yes, I will," Liora said. "But I ask one thing first. I want to stand before the Conclave in four days, beside my mother, and tell the seven churches what was done to their gods. After that, you may do whatever you please with me."

The King looked at her for a long moment, and then he looked over at Kai, as if he wanted his opinion.

"She’ll tell the truth," Kai said. "Elowen will make sure of it."

"Very well," King Rowan said. "She will stand before the Conclave under guard, and then she will stand before Justiciar Hale."

Hale nodded once, and his face showed no emotion at all, though Kai noticed that his knuckles had gone white around the head of his cane. He had stood at the back of Celestine’s funeral forty years ago, and now he would be the one to judge her daughter.

The King’s guards escorted Liora out of the Cathedral, and she didn’t resist, and she didn’t look back. But as she passed, Kai noticed her reach out for her mother’s hand, and he saw Celestine’s thin fingers brush against hers for one brief second before she was gone.

Outside, the sun had risen over the rooftops, and the city was waking up to the sound of bells. The great bells in the Cathedral tower had begun to ring all on their own, slow and deep and joyful, and all across the city, Kai could hear doors opening and people shouting to each other in the streets.

Kai made his way out onto the front steps of the Cathedral and sat down on the top step, because his legs had finally given out on him, and a moment later, Mira sat down beside him, so close that their shoulders were touching.

"You haven’t slept in two days," Mira said.

"Neither have you," Kai said.

"Well, you’re the one who has to stand in front of seven churches in four days," Mira said.

She leaned her head against Kai’s shoulder, and the two of them sat there in silence, watching the city wake up while the bells rang above them. Then she lifted her head and looked up at him, so close that he could see the sunrise reflected in her eyes, and this time, nobody crashed through a window, and no goddess appeared between them.

Mira gave him a quick, soft kiss, and then she looked away with her cheeks turning bright red.

"That’s for missing," Mira said.

Kai had nothing to say to that, which was becoming very common for him, so he just sat there on the Cathedral steps with his mouth hanging open while the bells rang over his head. Down the street, an old man who was opening up his shop had seen the whole thing, and he gave Kai a slow, approving nod before going back inside.

[Faith gained. Mira Vallen: +8%. Status: In Love.]

[Mira’s faith is now at 90%]

[Kai, I would like you to know that my mother is watching]

"Of course she is," Kai whispered, smiling to himself, and beside him, Mira pretended very hard not to notice him whispering to nobody.

Then Sunny came running out of the Cathedral doors behind them, and Kai could tell from the look on his face that something was wrong before he even said a word.

"Kai," Sunny said. "It is Celestine. She has collapsed."