Sunblind Serpent: The Zodiac Without A House

For days, Mara had existed as names on boards, notes left behind, witness descriptions, and the photograph he kept showing strangers. Now, she was finally in his arms, warm and breathing, and complaining exactly as she was supposed to be.

When Mara eventually pulled away, she stared at his face before her expression changed. "Are you crying?"

"No."

"Your eyes are wet."

Marek ignored that and touched the faint bruise on her left cheek. "What happened here?"

"Nothing. I slept against a metal frame."

"That doesn’t make it better. Show me your hands."

"Marek."

"Let me see them."

She sighed but raised both hands. Marek checked them carefully, turning her wrists enough to inspect the skin around the Gemini Marks. There were no cuts or burns, and the paired patterns shifted slightly whenever she moved her arms.

Mara finally pulled her hands away. "See? I’m fine. You don’t have to check every part of me."

"I haven’t seen you in more than a week."

Whatever protest she had been about to make disappeared. Her expression softened. "I know."

Marek opened his backpack.

Mara frowned. "What are you doing?"

He took out one packet of noodles and placed it between them, then reached inside for another.

By the fourth packet, Mara was already smiling. By the seventh, she had started shaking her head at him, and when Marek finally placed all eleven in front of her, she stared at the small pile before looking back at him. "You seriously carried these while looking for me?"

"You wouldn’t stop asking for them."

"That was before all of this happened."

"I know."

Mara picked up one packet and turned it over in her hands. "And you still kept them?"

"The first ones got destroyed, so I bought more."

Her eyes lifted. "You bought them again?"

Marek gave her a look as though the answer should have been obvious. "You still wanted them."

For a moment, Mara seemed caught between laughing at him and crying again. She looked back down at the packet, and the smile remained even as her eyes started watering. "You’re such an idiot."

Marek remembered the messages she had sent before Day 367 changed everything.

Do not forget the noodles.

At the time, it had been another reminder from a younger sister who believed seven messages were necessary to make him buy something on the way home. After everything since, hearing her complain about those same noodles felt more familiar than anything Linden had given him in days. Ironically.

"You still want them?" he asked.

Mara looked offended. "Obviously."

She glanced at the pile again and counted them. "Eleven?"

"Twelve originally."

Mara looked back at him. "What happened to the other one?"

"I ate it."

Her expression changed immediately. "You ate my noodles?"

"I was hungry."

"You bought them for me!"

"I also carried them."

"That doesn’t make them yours."

Marek tried to keep a straight face and failed. The laugh escaped before he could stop it, and Mara stared at him in offended disbelief for barely a second before she started laughing too.

For all the strange things he had heard while tracing Mara’s route, the most consistent detail had always been the same: she complained about the water, argued with people who said it did not taste metallic, and sooner or later asked about noodles. Now she was standing in front of him doing exactly that.

Her attention eventually shifted over his shoulder toward the entrance, and her eyes widened. "Is that Rhovan Torsk?"

Marek turned. Rhovan had technically remained outside the courtyard, although he had moved close enough to see them. "You know him?"

"The woman showed us some of the people you were traveling with and told me who he was." Mara looked at Rhovan again before turning back to Marek. "So that’s Rhovan Torsk?"

"Unfortunately."

Rhovan placed one hand over his chest. "What a cruel way to introduce me."

Mara leaned slightly toward Marek. "Does he always talk like that?"

"Constantly."

"I can hear both of you," Rhovan called.

"Good," Marek replied, which made Mara laugh again.

A woman’s voice came from behind her before Rhovan could answer. "Enough."

Marek turned as the silver-white woman stepped through the doorway Mara had used earlier.

He recognized her immediately, yet something about her presence was different from when he had seen her on the service street. There had been a strange distance to her then, one Marek had not understood at the time. Here, that feeling was gone.

The woman’s Gemini Astral Mark appeared across both palms, with paired patterns extending toward her wrists like two answering structures difficult to focus on at the same time. She looked at Mara first. "You wanted him found."

Mara crossed her arms. "I wanted him to find me. That’s different."

Marek stepped slightly closer to Mara before turning his attention back to the woman. "You know who I am. I still don’t know your name."

Her gaze settled on him. "Venielle Zilis. You may call me Lady Venielle."

"I’ll stick with Venielle."

Venielle regarded him for a moment before glancing at Mara. "Your sister described you well."

Marek looked at Mara. "Should I be worried about what you told her?"

Mara smiled. "Probably."

Before Marek could ask what that meant, Mara retrieved the bowl the other child had set aside earlier. "Can we talk about all of this after I eat? I’m starving."

Marek glanced into the bowl, then toward the eleven packets beside his backpack. After everything he had gone through to bring noodles to her, Mara had somehow managed to find some before he finally reached her.

She pointed toward the packets. "What are you going to do with those?"

Marek began returning them to his backpack. "Keep them. We still have to find Mom."

The amusement on Mara’s face faded slightly at the mention of their mother. She reached down before he could finish packing everything away, took three packets from the pile, and tucked them under one arm.

"Then, I’m carrying some."

Marek almost told her there was no need, but he stopped when he saw her standing beside him with three packets of noodles tucked under one arm and the bowl in her other hand.

He packed the rest away without arguing. They still had their mother to find, but this time, Marek would not have to search for her alone.