Chapter 34: The Bloodline Test
The ceremonial chamber in the Temple of the Divided Flame was colder than Eira expected.
White marble stretched in every direction, veined with gold that shimmered in unnatural pulses. Columns as tall as towers circled the sacred dais at the center, upon which the Test of Bloodlines was to take place. Above, the open dome revealed a sky in hues of violet and silver, as if twilight had bent into something mythic. A soft hum filled the air—magic ancient and alert.
Eira tried to steady her breath. Her palms were damp in her gloves, her corset too tight beneath the gown selected by Mira: a midnight-blue creation that clung like spilled ink, studded with onyx around the collar. Fitting, Mira had said, for a test meant to reveal one’s origins.
But Eira had no o
