House of Eclipses by Casey L. Bond

6

The further we traveled downriver, the more I noticed that Sol, still stuck in the sky, did not move with us. I felt a strange tug from her, as if she held the end of a rope coiled around my chest. The reluctance to leave her light and heat settled uncomfortably in my bones.

In the fifth hour of our third day as we journeyed down the river, the riverfarer’s earlier words came to life. I could still see part of Sol’s face in the northern sky, but she was almost gone.

A shadow had settled over us. The sky was at war, the vibrant blue losing the battle to a muted gray. An unsettling hue. The temperature had dropped as well, and while most of the people on board marveled at the feel of cooler air on their skin, the feeling sent shivers skittering up my spine.

Sol’s fire, lodged in my veins, fought valiantly to chase the frigid feeling away again and again.

Kiran and Saric were walking around the deck, Kiran finally having adjusted to the undulating motion of the ship on water. Saric needed to stretch his back and legs, but as they strolled, they occasionally glanced over at me.

Father hadn’t spoken to me since he shared his secret plan, then tried to strangle me. As the ache in my head subsided and the rush of fear from what occurred wore off, I was finally able to relax. Kiran’s eyes kept catching onto mine.

“What?” I quietly asked.

He didn’t want to tell me, so I rifled through crates until I found a hand mirror. I was horrified to see that a vessel had burst in my right eye, a red bolt surging from my caramel pupil.

I hadn’t spoken to him or Saric since. Not because I was angry with them, but because with all the attention they’d given their Atena, it was only a matter of time before Father saw how much they meant to me and decided to hurt them to hurt me. Being silent might not be enough to keep them safe.

When they were on the other side of the ship, I stood and stretched and made my way to the stern, leaning against the railing and watching the ship’s wake. Without Sol’s powerful rays, the water looked murky and indistinct. I couldn’t see the patches of grass and algae that should lay beneath, and unless a fish rose to the surface, even the flicker of their metallic scales eluded me.

Citali came to stand beside me, cocking her hip against the rail and crossing her arms. I considered tossing her overboard; a smile graced my lips at the thought of her flailing in the river and attracting the crocodiles that lurked nearby.

She grew more impatient the longer I ignored her.

“What do you know of him?” she finally asked, relaxing her posture. For the first time since we were girls, Citali looked unsure, almost nervous.

Even though she didn’t mention him by name, I knew she was referring to the elusive Lumin. What did I know about the Lumin? In all honesty, I didn’t know much and certainly not enough for the plans I needed to make. The Lumin was newly chosen, and while I knew about his power, I knew little else about the man. It was the man I needed to learn. I had to earn his trust, get close, and unravel his shadowed secrets.

“No more than you, I’m sure.”

“Some of the guard say he is part beast,” she whispered. “That he feeds on blood and flesh instead of food.”

I’d heard whispers of the same since silver dusk had fallen over us. Apparently, the shade unsettled the others as much as it did me. Sol was so far away I could barely see her now. In another hour, she would be beyond reach, completely out of sight, and we would trade her warmth for the gray shroud laying over the earth. It felt like we were being buried.

Citali shivered and rubbed her bare arms.

“You should’ve chosen warmer apparel,” I remarked dryly.

She smirked and moved closer to keep our conversation private. “I’ll wear far less than this in the House of Dusk. If you think I won’t do everything possible to win over the Lumin, you’re wrong, Noor.”

I watched the river eddies disrupt the cool surface, hoping she didn’t see that I was equally as desperate to garner his favor and attention, but for a far different reason.

She leaned in to whisper, “I must have the crown of moonlight, Noor.”

“So you can give it to Father?” I snipped. “Never.”

“You have me all figured out, huh? You think you actually know me? Know anything about my life?”

“I don’t want to know of it.”

Her eyes dropped to my throat and she smiled. I expected her to turn and leave. To go find some male to entertain her. But she surprised me by shoving me backward and pinning me to the rail with her forearm. My back cracked against the rail, bent over it. The river water, placid only moments ago, now roared in my ear. She put her weight onto my chest. I clamped desperate hands onto her wrists to keep from falling. My heels lifted from the planks. My toes. Then… she let go, raising her hands as if she’d thought better of killing me.

“The crocodiles in the dusk lands won’t leave a trace of you for Sol. Remember that. I’ve found a way out, and I won’t let you or anyone else stand in my way now.”

Citali sauntered away like she hadn’t tried to feed me to the crocs, like we’d had a lovely, sisterly chat and now were parting.

My heart thundered.

She could have killed me. Might have come closer than Father did when he tried to strangle me. I just couldn’t figure out why she didn’t.

I had no idea why she wanted the crown, but now I questioned whether she intended to hand it over to Father, after all.

I gasped when the ship finally dragged me away from Sol. It felt like she’d taken hold of my heart and was tearing it from my chest for a few anguished moments. If it weren’t for the ship’s rail, I would’ve fallen into the river and the currents would have drowned me. The riverfarer promised the entire journey to the dusk lands would be smooth, but the water here churned and eddied in ways I’d never seen. Where my heart should be, a cold, darkness took root, desolate and lonely as the shifting sands.

Across the ship, Citali laughed with the guardsmen who still unwisely entertained her. She didn’t seem to struggle from the absence of Sol at all. I searched for Father, but he was likely ensconced within the riverfarer’s quarters.

Did Saric and Kiran feel this, or was I the only one? Had I upset the goddess so badly she’d abandoned and left me for dead?

A tear fell from one eye, then the other. I stared at the undulating water, my sorrow splashing into and adding to the water pushing me to a fate I might not survive.