“Go ahead,” Caelan urged.
“What happened in here? There’s a dead body and an injured child. We also thought we saw Safa running down the hall. Were you able to meet with the High Luminance?”
Caelan smiled at Lu’s crooked grin. He placed his hands lightly on Lu’s arm and sent Tula’s healing gift through their body, mending the broken bone easily. He then moved on to the ugly, bleeding lump on their head and the scratches on their throat. Only the cuts created by Safa’s nails refused to completely disappear. Thin white lines remained on Lu’s throat, a reminder of how close the agent of the Goddess of the Hunt had gotten to killing them.
“To answer your questions, that’s Kamal Giri,” Caelan said with a jerk of his head to the corpse in the corner. “He came in here to kill the High Luminance,” he finished, staring at Lu.
“That’s the High Luminance?” Drayce shouted while Rayne winced. He tossed a look at Drayce that warned he was just inches from beating the life out of him.
Lu giggled lightly, reminding Caelan they were still so very young despite having the future of an entire country on their shoulders.
“Forgive us, Your Excellency,” Rayne rushed. He bowed deeply and jerked on the front of Drayce’s shirt, pulling him down as well. Eno kneeled on the other side of Lu and bowed his head, repeating Rayne’s apology.
“There’s nothing to forgive. Especially since your king saved my life and healed me so neatly.” Lu turned their blind eyes to Caelan and smiled. “Please thank your goddess for fixing me.”
“It was an honor for both of us.”
Tula huffed in his head and Caelan ignored her.
“We need to get you somewhere safe. Safa has likely gone to get some reinforcements. She’s going to return and force you to tell her how to reach the godstone.” He glanced at Eno to tell his bodyguard to lift Lu up. They needed to find a way to sneak out of the city or at least find a way to get Lu past the Empire soldiers and somewhere safe.
Lu placed a hand on Eno’s biceps, stopping him. “I’m not going anywhere. This is my place, and if it’s my duty to die here today, that is what’s going to happen.”
“Lu—” Caelan started to argue, but the High Luminance shook their head. There was a stubborn but peaceful expression on their face.
“I told you already; my job is to protect the world from Zastrad and guide you to the godstone. After that, I can meet the Dead God with my head held high. I will have fulfilled my purpose.”
“Then you’ll go with us to the godstone. We can protect you while I wake the Dead God.”
Lu was shaking their head. “I stay here. With my people.” Caelan wanted to continue to argue, but Lu had turned their attention away from him. They pointed with their now mended arm toward the far wall covered with an enormous tapestry depicting a scene of fiery destruction and chaos. In the sky, a black dragon soared over the remains of the burning city. “Behind that tapestry is the hidden door to the cave of the godstone. About four feet up from the floor you’ll find a round brick among the square ones. Press it.”
Rayne and Drayce crossed to the wall Lu indicated and Rayne held up the tapestry while Drayce searched for the stone.
“Are you sure?” Caelan demanded of Lu. His heart pounded and his palms grew sweaty as he searched for a way to convince them to not stay behind. Yes, he could pick them up and carry them out of there, but he knew Lu would never forgive him for taking their choices away. They were the leader of Zastrad. They deserved dignity and respect. But he still had to try. “We can take you with us. After I meet with Nyx, we’ll sneak down to Temit together. Or we can head out to one of the cities on the eastern coast. From there, we can catch a boat to Sirelis.”
Lu smiled at him, but it was filled with such sadness that it gripped his heart and twisted it into a hard knot. “You have the most beautiful soul. Protect it like you protect your kingdom. Protect it from this world and all the gods, Cael.”
“Got it!” Drayce shouted.
Caelan jerked, having forgotten they weren’t alone in the room. Lu covered the hand holding their arm and pried it loose. “Go. Hurry. The Dead God is waiting.”
He hesitated, inwardly debating whether to just ignore Lu’s wishes and take them along.
“Caelan.” Rayne’s gentle but firm voice wrapped around him. The reminder of duty and the will of the gods. Lu wasn’t just a child about to face Safa and the New Rosanthe army alone. They were the High Luminance, the chosen one of the Dead God, and leader of Zastrad.