The First True Thing

The Grand Lumination arrived with bells and light and enough religious fervor to drown a city.

Elara watched from her chamber window as the Luminous Order's procession wound through the palace grounds. Hundreds of white-robed Saints and Luminaries carried light-crystals that blazed with captured sunshine, turning night into artificial day. The faithful lined the route, singing the Dawn Hymn, their faces rapt with devotion.

She remembered believing in that light. As a child, before Thornhaven burned, she'd dreamed of becoming a Saint—of channeling divine power, of being good and pure and loved. The memory felt like it belonged to someone else.

"You should see this from closer."

She turned. Kaelen stood in her doorway, dressed in formal midnight blue that complemented his coloring. He looked better than he had in days—the rest, or perhaps their work together, had given him energy.

"I'm not sure the Luminous Order wants my kind at their celebration."

"The Luminous Order doesn't know what you are." He offered his arm. "And tonight, nobody's looking at anyone but the Light. Come. There's something I want to show you."

She let him lead her through corridors crowded with servants and guests, all moving toward the grand ballroom where the main celebration would take place. But Kaelen didn't take her to the ballroom. He guided her through a side passage, up a narrow staircase, to a small balcony overlooking the palace gardens.