“It’s a good idea,” I say quietly.
Kellan doesn’t turn to look at me. “It’s not forever. In a month or two, we will need to go back to doing blessings. We’ll also need to bless some older children who were never taken to the well.”
“How?” I ask.
“Their parents hid them. Father’s secret of killing the children blessed by Vardek was not so well-kept in some circles,” he says. “There are women who had their babies at home and never registered them in the city birth records for fear of which Divine would bless them. Most of them come from family lines that have historically received Vardek’s blessing. We all know that they could end up blessed by any of the Divine, but they thought it better safe than sorry. Better to have a living, unblessed child.”
“Do you really think you can manage the wall and the other high houses without our father or Able?” I ask.
Finally, my brother turns to face me. He looks changed in a way that’s hard to pinpoint. It’s as if he’s been made lighter by our father’s death, but heavier by the burden of responsibility that’s fallen on him. When he smiles, his eyes light up, and it reminds me so much of Aidia that it’s hard to breathe.
“I think the high houses are committed and relieved to have a different Carrenwell to deal with, but I’m not foolish enough to think it will be easy or that there won’t still be people coming for me. I’m counting on our siblings to help me hold on for now.” He glances at the gathering crowd.
“How did you hide those children with holy fire from our father?” I ask.
Kellan gives a shrug and a mischievous smile, as if he’s a child getting away with hiding sweets, instead of a grown man who has been hiding magically blessed children under our father’s nose for years.
“I marked them all as blessed by Elvodeen. In the dim well light, I could pretend it was an honest mistake. But I kept a running list, and I could go to visit the families once the gifts showed up to ensure theyknew how to hide it while still learning to use it. You know how it is in Lunameade. Every spare bit of space is used. When you can’t work at ground level, you have to go up. We used the roof of the birth center in the Northeast Quadrant. Plenty of space and all the guards avoid it like they’re afraid they’ll catch something.”
“Smart. How many are there?” I ask.
“Four in their twenties. About six more in their teens. And ten too young to fully come into their magic yet. I think we can get the older ones on rotation for a quadrant each. Doing a quadrant requires way less magic. I’m cautiously optimistic that this will be a better way.”
I cast a glance south. I can’t see South Hold from here, but I can feel it lurking, its presence ominous and constant. “And Able?”
Kellan leans closer and lowers his voice. “He’s chained up in the Cove. I want to see if not going in the well for a while will bring him back. He hasn’t been himself in a very long time.”
“How do you know this isn’t himself?”
Kellan sighs and places his hands on my shoulders. “You’re not prone to trust, Low, but this is something you’ll have to trust me on. You’re hardly the only sibling who had to survive our father. Think long and hard about what you know about how he treated these Vardek-blessed children who weren’t even a threat yet. If Able can’t come back, you can have the task of putting him out of his misery if you really want. I’ll even make the soup so you only have to bring the poison. But for now, let’s wait and see what happens.”
I’m angry, but I can’t argue. Kellan isn’t that much older than me, but he has always had access to more information.
“I would never have let them marry you off to Rafe. It wouldn’t have come to that,” he says softly.
“But you let them send me off with Henry,” I say.
“You always wanted to leave. And I met Henry when we were younger. I showed him and his sister around the festival one year. So I knew him.”
I cross my arms. “Not well.”
Kellan sighs. “I knew enough. It’s the job of anyone with Polm’s blessing to take the measure of a man quickly. Henry is not a man who would hurt his wife.”
“He hurt me plenty.”
Kellan’s eyebrows shoot up. “Your heart or your ego?”
I look back at the Divine statues over the Blood Well.
“Don’t be proud, Low.” He throws an arm around my shoulder and leans his cheek against the top of my head. “I saw his extra blessing on Descent night. I didn’t know before that. When they came to town before, they hid their auras with rings. I couldn’t tell what his magic was. But at that party, I saw the purple, and then I saw the orange when he was convincing the crowd to go along with the rumors about Rafe. It’s a credit to him and his commitment to the greater good that he went along with it. Imagine lying to protect Rafe.”
I grimace.
“Exactly.”
Kellan squeezes my shoulder and nods toward the edge of the square, where Henry stands waiting. “I made him walk with me in the garden and I told him what you’d been through because I know you and I know you wouldn’t be forthcoming. You deserve to be understood, and the reason I wasn’t worried about him having Polm’s blessing was because I knew he wouldn’t use it to hurt you.” He kisses the top of my head. “Now stop sulking over your bruised pride and go talk to your husband. His brooding is bringing down the celebratory mood.”
Henry leaves me no choice or time to escape. He’s already walking over to us.
