Chapter 16 – OtyliaYou are not alone, Lady Otylia. We are those loyal to Lady Dziewanna. Many of us were stolen from Jawia by Weles before we could ever live. In this, you are like us: bound, trapped. Yet, your mother foresaw your capture and ensured we would be ready. You deserve to be free—as do we all—and, together, we will make it so.
EVERY WORD OF THE NOTE HAD MY HEART RACING as Ivan led me toward the bonfire and the dancers around it. Against the cold void of my goddesses’ absences, its heat washed over me like a powerful river. I’d lost so much in the Trial of Isolation. The next moment, Vlatka’s note had revealed Mother’s plan. Hope had come with it.
You always knew the answer, I silently prayed to Mother. Her bow no longer marked my skin, but I hoped she heard me in Marzanna’s g
