My tongue started the sound of an S, but I paused, thinking twice. Father Aedan would have noticed my absence from the cathedral. Someone had likely been sent to Terasta to search for me. If they’d taken a direct route, they would have reached it before I did.
I was not yet in Terasta itself; this farmhouse seemed to be on the outskirts of the small town. But that promised me nothing.
The woman’s face softened. She stepped inside and shut the door behind her before taking up a seat on the trunk. “My name is Telda. I live here with my husband, Jude. We’ve three sons who have all moved on to their own houses.”
Taking a deep breath, I said, “My name is Ceris.”
Telda nodded. “I thought so.”
A worm of fear wriggled up my sternum. “Then you know me.”
“Some riders came by yesterday asking after you. Claimed you were in great danger. And when you came pounding on our door, you looked like you were. Jude stayed up guarding the place, but nothing else followed you here.”
I thought of the bandits, their hands on me. The strange glowing of my skin. “Did the riders say what the danger was?”
She shook her head, but her eyes drank me in. “They said you were a living star mother.”
I sat back on the bed, the single worm of fear becoming three. “Please. I don’t know why I survived, but I was granted permission to come home. Only . . . time must pass differently here. The home I knew, the people I knew”—my throat constricted, and I coughed to loosen it—“they’re gone. The riders you saw are strangers to me. They wish to keep me against my will. I only want to find my descendants.” Or, rather, my sister’s, but such was an unnecessary detail.
To my relief, Telda nodded. “I don’t understand, not entirely. But you seem like a capable woman. You must be, for Him to choose you. If you went out on your own, I expect you had your reasons.”
A long sigh escaped me and fled through the twine screen of the window. “Thank you, Telda.”
“Of course. I’ve had my share of hardships. Sometimes all a person needs is a hand.” She stood. “I insist you stay one more night. We’ll tuck you away, and I’ll make sure Jude knows. I packed some lunch in case you woke.”
My stomach grumbled and my eyes watered. “Thank you.”
I went downstairs to eat. Telda told me more about her family and current events, patiently stopping each time I wasn’t familiar with a name or term, which was often. I helped her with her chores—any that didn’t involve me going outside—to show my gratitude, and the work loosened my sore muscles. When Jude came in from the farm, I greeted him warmly, and he offered to go into town in the morning to sell what little I had for coin. The most valuable item I’d brought with me was the compass, although I couldn’t decide which would benefit me more—to sell it or keep it—for it could also help me find Nediah.
When I asked if there was anyone in Terasta who might let me hire them as a guide and guard, both Jude and Telda looked doubtful, but he promised he would ask around. I felt terrible taking any more from the kind couple, but when Telda began packing me food for my trip, I couldn’t refuse. I had so little, and even if Jude successfully sold my few wares, I would need to be careful with my coin, especially if most of it would go toward a guide.
That night, I waited until the rest of the house quieted down before I took a candle and, holding the shoes Shila had given me in one hand, crept down the stairs and into the kitchen. I snuffed the candle and set it aside, then slipped on my shoes and slid out the back door. The scent of horses was heavy, even with a chilly breeze. I started walking, letting the light of a waxing crescent moon guide me. Its silver bands fell over a small shrine, about hip high, set a short ways from the house, made of carefully woven twigs and yarn, filled with tiny dolls carved from wood and a stale loaf of bread that had already made meals for at least one mouse. The shrine to the Earth Mother was not too different from the one that rested outside Caen’s home, and I paused to bow to it, showing respect to a goddess so critical to us, yet so easily overlooked.
Short clover covered the ground in abundance. A crooked fence to my left marked the grazing field for the animals. I walked straight ahead, ensuring I wouldn’t get lost, though the area was fairly open, the forest a narrow, dark swath in the distance. A lake shimmered halfway between the house and the woods, reflecting the moonlight.
Tilting my head back, I studied the stars, holding my breath as I searched, my hand twisting the ring on my finger. The sky was not as deep here on Earth. The stars were numerous and uncountable, but not in the way they had been in Sun’s domain. I couldn’t see their separate colors. I couldn’t see—