Hall of Games [ REWRITE ] | The Varya Chronicles #1

Chapter Twenty-One

Media: Varis

Music: Fight for Life, Ivan Torrent

Ales hadn't forgotten Cadence's inability to read, for the note was brief.

Tonight. Ten Chimes. My office.

A.

But they had a curfew. Cadence turned the parchment over to find a small, shiny badge that heralded Ales' House. Ales had thought of the curfew, and gave this as her pass.

That evening, Cadence didn't head back to the dormitory. Instead, she hung out at the corridor, staring out of the window and down at the little people wandering about the courtyard. Carts and horses drew into the Hall through the massive Celestium gates. Stable boys and girls ran up and down, carrying papers and other messages to their destinations. Not too long ago, she was one of them, one of those at the bottom who did all the dirty work.

She sighed. Usually when the skies were clear, and the ground wasn't white, cold and hard, she would count the stars. The stars were the eyes of the Orishas, and through them, they could see everything happening on the surface of the earth. Her father told her that winter was caused by Sorokin's pain when he was amputated and left for dead. His cries caused the skies to shake and it blinded the eyes of the Orishas until they could see nothing but white. His pain lasted for three months before the white wolf came to his aid, and then the snow melted.

Cadence wondered if her father had passed the twelve Gates of the Underlands. Had his Soul found peace? Did Orisha Valador open up the final gate and allowed him climb up the smoke rope to the Celestial Gardens? Cadence wished she knew. Van was a man who tried his very best to be a good father. If anyone deserved the Celestial Gardens, it was her him.

The bell tower tolled nine times. Almost curfew time.

A group of Murka recruits hurried down the stairs and passed Cadence. Her spirits rose when she saw Arik, Misha, Feathers and Mara, then remembered what happened between them. They went right by her indifferently, not even glancing at her direction.

Cadence caught the words 'steal', 'traitor', and 'Affinities', and felt her heart sank. Did they really believe she stole another Varya's Affinities? It was physically impossible. Up till now, Healers, Physicians and witch-doctors were still unable to determine the actual, physical source of Affinities. All they came up with was the abstract term "Core", which was located at the solar plexus. Why couldn't they understand her Awakening had nothing to do with betrayal to the Murka?

She decided to head toward Ales' office earlier than she was expected.

Working in the Orelik mansion had given her a good sense of direction. She had learned to memorize certain marks or cracks, or something that would help trigger her memory in order not to get lost in the vast place of marble and gold. She found Ales' office with no problem. The snakes on the door stared back at her as she raised the knocker and let her hand fall.