Firstborn by Michelle West

Author:Michelle West [West, Michelle]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Fantasy
Publisher: DAW
Published: 2019-02-19T00:00:00+00:00

• • •

“There is a way to approach the tangle safely,” Corallonne said. “You might be able to call the cats back to your side from its edge. There is no safe way to enter the tangle, but it might not be necessary for you.”

Calliastra said, “No.” The word was snapped out, harsh; she was pacing, her hands in fists.

“Did she not come from our sister’s domain to learn what she must learn? Has she not succeeded at least well enough that she can continue her journey?”

This was not the first time Calliastra had had this argument. Jewel could feel the weight of history in her denial, see it in her posture.

“Our sister did not tell her everything she needs to know.”

“She could not; Jewel is mortal, and time is pressing for her kind.”

“What,” Shianne said, her voice as hard as Calliastra’s, her eyes colder, “do you feel she must know?” She spoke to the firstborn daughter of darkness, command in her voice, in her words.

It seemed to calm Calliastra, but it would; it was something to stand against. Corallonne provided no counterbalance to her growing anger. Her fear.

“You know nothing about the Sen. Nothing about mortality—which is ironic, considering your state. You’ll learn. It will kill you, but you’ll learn because you have no choice.”

“And you know the Sen?”

“No. I know insanity. I know how to break a mind. I know how to break a man, a boy, a woman, a girl. I know when hope is a gift and when it is a curse. The strongest of people can be broken by the smallest of things—if you understand them.”

Jewel cleared her throat.

Both women turned toward her—as did Corallonne. Shadow came to sit by her side, his tail twitching.

“The reason I came to the Oracle was to learn the use of my gift. The full use. To be able to command it, rather than drifting in its currents to be tossed up on some random shore.”

“Do you honestly feel that you will be in command should you choose to expose your heart here?” Calliastra’s voice was almost the definition of scorn. Jewel took comfort from it, which she knew was perverse. Maybe scorn was one of the capstones of her early life; it reminded her so much of her Oma.

“The location won’t make much difference,” Jewel replied. Her voice had a bit more edge in it, but it had a bit more color as well. If she didn’t know what to fight for, she knew what to fight against.

“I do not speak of location. Honestly,” she added, speaking to Shadow, “I do not know how she has survived to reach her present age. It must be very difficult for you.”

“It is,” Shadow replied.

“The Oracle understands tragedy. She understands fear. She understands the weight of hope. But she does not understand people.”

“And you do?”

“Of course I do,” she snapped. “I had to snare them to hunt them. I had to learn everything about them in order to live.” She glared at Jewel; Jewel’s gaze didn’t falter.

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