A Court of Song and Shadow

Chapter 25

I enter the dark temple and light the torches in here so I am able to see. The torches glow a bright blue, and a blue fire lights in the front of the temple behind the statue of Nyx. I do not look at the statue for too long--it feels as if I am staring into the goddess herself. I take in the large temple and want to crawl away just from the sheer size of it. The ceiling goes up at least a hundred feet in the air, pillars of obsidian were built throughout the temple to hold the ceiling in place. Tiny blue lights shine at the top of the ceiling--making it seem as though the night sky was above me. There are a few dozen benches that are seated in front of the statue of Nyx--no doubt where our people used to pray when they still believed in Her.

I still believe in Her.

My mother told Rhysand and I stories of the olds gods when we were children, but every night she would read us stories about the Goddess of Night--Nyx. Since I was a busybody as a child, I began to look for more information about Her and that is when I found this temple. It had not been used in centuries--ever since the old gods were considered long gone. I still believe in the old gods--it makes more sense to me to believe in them rather than a Cauldron. It was possible that Nyx and The Mother were the same, and the name had just changed from over the centuries--but it felt wrong to believe in a being called The Mother. I believe my powers were given to me by Nyx--I believe most of the power that the people of the Night Court receive are from her. Just like I believe the other courts received their powers from their corresponding old gods.

I begin making my way over to the bookshelves and find some of the books I am looking for. I grab as many books as I can and make my way to a table and I light a candle so I can begin to read. I open the first book and begin coughing as dust flies out of it. I begin reading the book and when I finish that one I move onto the next. I read for what feels like hours but I have no sense of time down here--considering there were no clocks or window. The books did not help me--considering they said the same aspects that the Cauldron one's has said. In these books they explained the Goddess Nyx chooses every mate that is in the night court and that mates were equal in every way. If one of our people were to be mated with someone from another court, Nyx would plan with that court's god. If that were true, then my mother should have had a mate that was ten times the man my father was--

Then you and your brother would not have been created.

I gasp and turn around to try to find the source of the female voice that was just inside my head--or maybe it was outside of my head. I could not tell anymore. I find no source of the voice and decide it is most likely an after effect of the poison. I slowly look to the statue of the Goddess and chills go through me as I swear the eyes of it have moved to look right at me. I quickly put the books back where they belong, and work up the courage to approach the tall statue.

"If you want me to be honest, I do not know if you are real or not." I say quietly to the statue, "Because if you were real, why do you let one of your creations endure so much and just let it happen?" My voice breaks as I speak to a statue. I could have sworn the air in here became colder and I look to the floor around the statue and find white, opalescent, stones scattered around Her. I pick one up and hold it up to the statue, "I am taking this as a reparation."

I quickly walk out of the temple--not wanting to feel a wrath from a Goddess from taking from Her temple. She either does not exist--or did not care that I took a stone from Her temple because I walk out of there still breathing. I make my way up to the stairs and find the white haired lady waiting for me at the top of it.

"What are you doing?" She asks, and I quickly stick the stone in my pocket.

"Exploring." I lie, I have explored every part of this House when I was a child--that is how I discovered the temple.