7 Deadly Instincts (The Sinfire Chronicles Book 1)

Days past and they fell into a comfortable rhythm of training and study. They were eating more at the canteen, partly because they worked so hard that Midj was too tired to cook in the evenings. Besides, they’d found a second home in the pink palace’s archive, and Mrs. Quillswrath was happy to have the company.

While Tomi read more about the Endless Night, Gray had started to read books on kindness resonances as well as healing. He still wasn’t able to channel the mana in that way. It was rather frustrating because he’d done so well healing the Wrath Tower in the dream. Then again, it had been a dream.

Midj had found some books on early elven cooking, and she said there was an entire section on noodles of various shapes and sizes as well as any number of rice dishes.

Princess Lilian was reading the same books that Gray had read on meridians and core theory, since she had a similar problem. She didn’t have his massive core but he still remembered the violence of her attack. It had been this explosion of power. That would be fine for a single attack but it wouldn’t work in a real fight.

Pinch, oddly enough, had found the tragic romances, and she read them compulsively as did Lilian, who even brought some back to Sunreach Manor. The two had formed an odd kind of friendship, but then, they were the newcomers, and so it probably wasn’t that odd that they got along so well. Also, they both were royalty and knew what that felt like.

While Lilian’s mother had died when she was young, Pinch had also lost her mother when her core had been shattered by her husband’s cheating.

Rynn and Ames had felt Pinch’s pain when Gray had talked to her on the bridge but they didn’t know the specific cause of her sorrow. Not even Ames could guess the kind of core oath that Pinch had made, and Gray couldn’t stop thinking about it.

Maybe that was why she liked reading about tragic love stories, so she could remind her self that there might be happy endings for some, but for most, it all ended in death, betrayal, or murder. When Settie learned what Pinch was reading, she had laughed. She completely approved. Bonding was dangerous business. She didn’t elaborate, and of course, questions were forbidden.

Every day brought them closer to the Yullolly Festival which was a two-day affair when the whole city shut down, except for First Field. They were preparing for the Redemption Midnight, which would happen after Yullolly Festival, the shortest and coldest days of the year.

There were stories of magical things happening during Yullolly Festival. Some were about the dead coming back to life if even for a night. Others were love stories—of bonds either forming or breaking.

A popular story that dated back to the Second Avatar was a story of two lovers who were bonded but hated each other so much that their families went to war. Their entire island was threatened—it took place in the Backbone Islands. It was a Yullolly Festival, when a blizzard hit, and the two lovers were trapped in the cold together, fighting, bickering, hating each other. One wanted to find shelter in a cave in the mountains. The other wanted to get to the coastline where they could catch a ship to sail away from the storm. In the end, the man went to the cave and the woman went to the ocean, their bond was severed, and she sailed away to live happily ever after with the ship’s captain. The man found happiness alone in the mountains, and the war ended.

Tomi relayed the story, getting a little emotional when she recounted the two lovers in the blizzard. It was ironic that her favorite story wasn’t a love story.

Pinch didn’t utter a word, but Gray could see her listening intently. Maybe it brought her as much comfort as the tragic love stories she read.

Lilian found it all fascinating because like Gray, she didn’t grow up in the Belly or the Crown, so she didn’t know a single thing about Yullolly. As for weather, the Null Breaks had basically the same weather year-round except for a rainy season.

It was Midj who started collecting the cookies, candy, frosting and other bits of things—for what, she didn’t say, but it was special, she insisted, and her favorite part of Yullolly. Midj also was working with Settie to both plan and fund the Yullolly feast.

It was a two night, three day affair, filled with parties and feasting and fun. Rynn told him there were five parts:

Last Day.

Yullolly Eve.

Nesting Day.

Yullolly Night.

First Day.

And of course, the first day of the new year and the start of when days would start getting longer and longer. Winter wouldn’t be over for several months, but it was the start.

First Day also celebrated the creation of Midmere, when the gods formed the world as a place where they could go to make love and sing songs and take a break from the First God War.

After lunch on Yullolly Eve, Settie announced the good news. “Since the festival is starting, we will be done for the day. You all have done well with your training. Yes, Lilian’s meridian charge ability might be an issue if we didn’t have Gray. But with him, it shouldn’t be a problem. Gray, I’d like to speak to you in private. The rest of you are excused.”

Tomi laughed. “Someone is in trouble!”

Settie shook her head. “No. He’s not in trouble. Thank you for handling my request for privacy maturely.”

That made the cat girl snort. “Uh, you must’ve had us confused with another squad.”

Rynn took her arm. “Come on, Tomi. Let’s not make this awkward.”

“But it’s what I do!”

Pinch nodded at Lilian, who nodded back, and they both marched away without saying anything else. Lilian’s mark was becoming more and more distinct—it was a circle cut off by a line, a drowning sun, or that’s what Ames said it was, though she didn’t say this to Lilian.

The princess was not happy that her mana mark was on her face. Was that why she was leaving with Pinch? Gray wasn’t sure he liked that particular alliance, though things with both women had been better in the past few days.

Ames and Midj joined the elf girl and the cat girl, and they all made their way out of the canteen, which only had a few squads there. Most everyone else had either gone home for Yullolly or made other plans.

Settie sipped her charbrew and set it down on the table.

“Is there a problem?” Gray asked.

“Yes,” Settie said. “You haven’t tried to channel mana to Lilian’s core. She’s been here nearly two weeks. This is unacceptable. I know, I’m partly to blame, but you must know how critical it is based on her emerging neophyte ability.”

“I know,” Gray said. “But I thought we’d decided we’d give her some time to become more adjusted. Besides, with our history, it might be…uncomfortable.”

Settie didn’t have her mask or her hat on, and so her he could see the intensity in her gaze. “You’re not bonded. What you had before is over. You’re not squadmates. She’s getting a long fairly well with people, though some of her remarks can still be a bit cutting. I’ve spoken to her about it, but, well, she does have a mind of her own, doesn’t she?”

“That’s putting it mildly. But I understand. I’ll connect to her core. I will give her mana. In the end, she’s volatile but so her is her meridian ability. There’s a lot of power there.”

“There is,” the captain agreed. “That’s why I brought her down here.”

“And hid her away in Pubis Port. Don’t think we’ve forgotten.”

Settie smiled. “I don’t need to tell you all of my plans. How would you all have handled it if I had told you I had another recruit waiting in the wings after Ames died? You would’ve accused me of being callous that I could replace her so easily.”

He couldn’t argue with that. But he did fix his gaze on her. “You’re going to tell us everything once we win the Testing. You promised me, and I’m going to hold you to it.”

“But first you have to win.” Her smile was gone. She was deadly serious. He wasn’t going to press her right then, but there would be hell to pay if she didn’t come through.

“What do you know about the Endless Night of Sorrow and Wrath?” he asked. “Were you one of the dragons flying around the crumbling tower?”

Settie rolled her eyes. “I only destroyed one continent, precious Gray. Do you really think I would have such a dark fate as to be the one who destroyed two?”

She was hiding something, he knew it, and he wasn’t surprised. Captain Sette Sevanya had any number of secrets, and in the end, he kind of liked that about her.

Still, he was determined to get her to open up to him. It was only a matter of time.

Rynn and Ames were waiting for him at the gate to walk back through the market with him. He told them about his conversation with the captain, and then, they didn’t talk because the market was a flurry of activity. Most people exchanged gifts on Yullolly—on Nesting Day—but Squad 23 had all decided not to for whatever reason.

Rynn at the market squealed with joy and pulled him over to a vendor who was selling all kinds of different lamps and strange contraptions—candles and what looked like a windmill but tipped on its side.

Rynn giggled, her face bright red, and then she burst into tears.

Gray didn’t know what to do—the emotional live of the women in his life sometimes baffled. She’d been so happy, and now she was crying.

Ames know exactly what do to do. She took the weeping elf girl in her arms and held her close. They stood like that for several long minutes. A few people gave them strange looks but most just kept on walking. They were obvious First Field recruits—black boots, uniforms, the hooded coats—and Gray was sure a few of them knew they were from Squad 23. Not a few probably had made some shekels on betting on them over the past few months.

Ames didn’t try to figure out why Rynn was crying, she just held her.

Gray went and looked at the lamps and the windmills and saw one he liked. It showed the two nights of Strong Simon Benejj’s wooing of his bonded, Aestia the Kind. Most agreed that it was only because of his bond to Aesia the Kind that he was able to unite the seven blood races to kill the last of the gods during the Second God War.

The vendor came over. He was human with a long white beard and a big belly. “Ah, yes, you have good taste. While some celebrate Yullolly for the creation of the world, I like to think we celebrate it for love. Not lust, mind, but love—Simon’s love for Aestia.”

“What are these things?”

That was when Rynn exploded. “Gray, I want to tell you. Please, sir, stop. I want to tell him. He’s my bonded, and he’s new to the Belly, and in truth, so am I. I’m from the Crown, and your…your Yullolly lamps and Weihnachtspyramide are the best I’ve seen in my life! In my life!”

She started to cry again.

The bearded man didn’t look a bit uncomfortable. He put a gentle wrinkled hand on Rynn’s arm. “Missing home, are you? You’ve not been the first to come and weep at the sight of the Yullolly carousels, and you won’t be the last. Cry all you like.”

Gray shook his head, feeling stupid. Of course. The lamps and the carousels must have something to do with the Yullolly festival in the Crown. It made Rynn think of home. He’d been unconscious during the last Yullolly festival during his year of healing, and he doubted Settie would celebrate it anyway. This was Rynn’s first Yullolly away from her parents.

Ames rubbed Rynn’s back, waiting patiently.

The elf girl finally let out a shuddering breath. “I’m so sorry. Yes, I’m homesick, and yes, your Weihnachtspyramiden are the best I’ve seen, and Gray, in the Crown, we set up and decorate our Weihnachtspyramiden—which is a mouthful, I grant you. Seomtimes they are called Yullolly carousels. They turn around and around—you light a candle, even a mana candle, and the heat hits the fins and they turn around and around. Some are enchanted to play music, or to light up the room, or even act out little plays. Aunt Florence has a naughty one she never puts out for polite company. It shows the gods making love across Midmere, and it is very risque.”

She blushed when she realized what she’d said.

The old man just laughed. “Yes, I know of such things. Yullolly means different things to different people. I don’t judge.”

Rynn couldn’t stop herself from rambling. “On Yullolly Eve, we play and decorate and rejoice in the carousels. And then, on Yullolly Night, there is the lighting of the lanterns and dancing, so much dancing. With our family and friends, we used to light the lanterns and carry them through the city to the Temple of Goodness and Order—it’s in the gardens underneath the Joyful Threshold—it was the entrance to heaven up in the sky with the seven pylons floating there, keeping it sealed. But for Yullolly Night, all the seven pylons would be glowing and glistening with magical light. Oh, it was so pretty. And so crowded! We would dance and sing and meet people, and it was just so happy. Father, who was normally so serious, would turn into a little child again, staring at the lamps, the pylons, and Mother, would be so beautiful in her Yullolly gown. I miss them, Gray. I miss them so much.”

And she fell to weeping again.

Right then, Gray knew that he would be purchasing the carousel for his bonded, including the candles to make the pinwheel turn.

He went and held her. “It’s okay,” he whispered. “When we when the Testing, we’ll take a trip up North. I want to see the Crown, the seven pylons floating in the sky, and this Temple of Goodness and Order. And of course, the hole in the sky.”

Rynn snorted. “Because you like holes.” She laughed and covered her mouth, shocked at what she said.

Gray shrugged. “Yullolly means different things to different people.”

Rynn giggled. “Some people who are bonded have sex for three days straight. I can’t tell you how many people have autumn babies because of Yullolly.” She turned back to the vendor. “That one is so good. Don’t you see, Gray? One side shows Simon showering Aestia with gifts and praise and promises. That’s the first night. It doesn’t work, no. That didn’t work at all. But then, the other side shows Simon talking with her, listening to her, and he doesn’t give her gifts, he gives the gifts to the poor in their village. It was during the Second God War, and there was famine, and plagues, and people fleeing from the destruction. See? See?”

“What happened in the Second God War?” he asked.

Ames let out a sigh. “We should get back to Sunreach. It’s what we’re calling it now, right?”

Rynn hugged him. “It’s when the gods fought and the blood races were born but then the fighting went on and on until Simon united the blood races to kill the goddess of cruelty which ended the war.”

Gray thought Malchutt was involved in some way. He’d have to ask Tomi.

The old vendor laughed gently. “It’s ironic, don’t you think? In Yullolly, we celebrate the first day of the world, when the gods were in love, and then we celebrate Simon’s love for Aestia, when the god were murdering each other. Maybe that is life? Love and struggle, life and death, the joy of the moment even when all stories end in death.”

Gray smiled. “I can’t imagine that kind of talk helps you sell merchandise.”

The vendor shrugged, his mood not changed a bit. “Most of my sales are done for the year. I’m happy. Buy, don’t buy, it’s all the same to me.”

He caught Ames looking at him, and she nodded. They had an agreement.

They made their way back to the alleyway which led to the secret passageway.

The memorial pit had never looked better—glowing rocks had been submerged in the normally dark water, so the little boats there seemed to be floating on an sea of light. Each still had a candle, though, glowing a different color. It was so very pretty.

Gray and Rynn stood there, looking at the splendor, while Ames hurried back to the vendor.

They were going to make it a Yullolly that Rynn would never forget.