Lilith's Arc

Chapter 36 of 40

The binding held. Lilith knew that now. But Novalee's question stayed in her mind. Her daughter did not doubt the spell. She doubted why. Lilith had bound them all and never written down her reason. If the doubt came back, her children would have nothing to hold. She sat in the temple with the sealed memory book and understood the danger. The spell was strong. The trust was thin. She needed a record that would not fade. Not one she guarded, but one her children could read themselves. So she took the crystal trident from the wall and went down to the shore where she thought best. She meant to speak the reason aloud and seal it. But a stranger stood on the sand, watching the waves. The girl was young and thin. Ink stained her fingers. A scorched bag hung at her hip. At her throat swung a small glass vial with gold light trapped inside. Lilith knew that light. It was the fire the gods kept for themselves. "You're the one who saved the moon goddess," the girl said. She did not bow. "I copy their books. I read about you." "Who are you?" "Wren Lask." She touched the vial. "They ration this. Warmth in winter. My brother didn't get it. He died cold." She said it flat, like a fact from a page. Lilith looked at the vial. Three minutes of light, maybe, before the glass gave out. A small revenge, saved for one moment. "Why come to me?" "You bound your family so death can't take them." Wren's black eyes did not move. "Write it down. Why you did it. Or they won't believe you when it matters." Lilith stared. The scribe had named the exact thing she feared. "I was going to speak it and seal it." "Speaking fades from the mouth," Wren said. "Ink stays." She pulled a blank page and a stub of charcoal from her bag and held them out. "I write for the gods. I'll write for you." Lilith took the charcoal. She knelt on the sand with the trident laid beside her. She spoke, and Wren wrote, quick and plain. Lilith told the true reason. Not the fear that had driven her, the fear she had already surrendered. The love that stayed after the fear was gone. She wanted her family beside her, not a life without them. She wanted them to choose her, knowing why. When it was done, Lilith raised the trident. Her goddess side held the thread. Her mermaid and siren voices sang. Gold light rose from the crystal and closed over the page. The words sealed hard and would not fade. "Now they have it," Wren said. She turned back to the sea. Lilith held the sealed page. Her children could read it whenever doubt returned. But she thought of Novalee's flat voice, and she was not sure a page would be enough to make her daughter feel wanted.