House of Night

chapter 4, part 1

BELL

The leader was coming to the House of the Moon.

Bell had learned that fear was a solid, tangible thing, that could be passed from one child to another, and as they all sat in the cavern, with no sound but the slow drip of water and the uneasy movement of children, Bell could feel that fear rippling through all of them, clutching at their hearts.

The priestesses of the House of the Moon had no use for light, and therefore everything was kept in a constant darkness, lit only by the subtle green glow of the luminescent moss that grew everywhere down here. But when the leader came, she brought fire with her, and the burning heat and light of it was such a relief, that it was easy to forget just how dangerous fire could be.

She had pure white hair, always tied tightly to her head. She wore a military uniform, but down here, she was not the general of the Fire Army. Here, she was not Virani, but the leader. The priestesses called her Vira. The children called her any manner of names - The White Lady, the Fire Lady, the Queen of the Below.

Usually it was the priestesses who brought the new initiates. The children were sobbing, scared, cold from their journey and terrified of their new life. Some of the older children were good at calming down the youngest and most terrified of the new recruits, and they all settled in and got used to life in the House of the Moon soon enough. While Bell had been here, she'd only heard of two kids running off into the iceland. They ran to their certain death.

But today, the leader had brought a new initiate with her. Usually the initiates were young, but this boy was older. He was older than Bell, certainly. He was skinnier and more gaunt than he'd ever been, and his hair was messier than it had been in Lombardia. He had a darkness around his eyes that she was sure hadn't been there before, but she still recognised him from the school.

Prince Taikku Tsukasai. He wasn't a sobbing scared mess like the other new initiates usually were. The prince's gaze swept across the hall of initiates, and landed on Bell. Just one second. But it was enough for Bell to feel a sharp knife of panic twist in her gut. Then he looked back towards his aunt.

Bell straightened her spine, trying to dispel the cold shiver that ran down it. She was just one girl among a sea of young starrlings, sitting on the floor in a dark, damp hall underground. She must have imagined that his gaze had picked her out in particular. Fear made her heartbeat frantic against the tight collar of her dress.

"Hush, now," Vira called across the hall. The fires burned hot and bright, as a warning to any initiate who would dare speak out of turn now that the leader was talking. When the fires settled down, almost every gaze in the room was focused on her.

"I have important news from the outside world," she said. "The invasion of Vastier is over. Lombardia has seized control of all Vastien islands. The city of Zantiala will now be named Raphael City."

It felt like ice in Bell's lungs. She couldn't breath. Her world, her nation, somewhere up there beyond the ice and snow - everything was changing, and she was trapped here, hearing about it as if she was in some horrible dream and she couldn't wake up.

Somehow it wasn't the invasion that haunted Bell the most. That was too big, too horrible to think about. It was the name, Zantiala. The city had been named after the saint of trade, community and prosperity, the Saint Tia. For thousands of years, merchants and pirates and traders across the oceans had flocked to the city of Zantiala, where trade prospered. The Saint Tia had watched over their trades and bargains. Anyone who ignored the trade laws of the city were said to bring Saint Tia's curse upon their family.

The Prince Raphael had nothing to do with Vastien trade. Why should that huge, prosperous, and ancient city be named after some boy?

"I am sorry to say, for those of you that have friends and family in Vastier and Lombardia, that this invasion has had a tremendous impact on both peoples. The King's greedy grasp of power means that more and more people are suffering. But the King wears a crown of lies. The throne of Lombardia is a falsehood sold to the people as something holy. They believe in the faith of the light and the power of the king. I am here to tell you there is no such thing. The only truth is darkness, and the only light is fire."

As she spoke, the fires burned brighter, hotter.

"You children are smart. You know there was no throne in Lombardia before the Stargarzen settled upon that land. They colonised the lands of Lombardia and now Vastier, they killed the people who lived there, and they fabricated a throne that worships the false faith of light. Peace can only be achieved if we bring down that false king and false god."

Bell was watching Tai. The prince's eyes were cast down. Darkness sunk into the shadows on one side of his face, while the other side was gold with firelight.

"We know what we must do, don't we children?" Vira asked.

"Bring the darkness."

The words were mumbled from trembling lips, and the strange sound echoed through the hall. Some of the children had been here for a long time, and their words rang true. The younger ones tried to follow the lead of those around them. But Bell scanned the hall, looking for anyone else whose lips remained shut.

She'd noticed the boy before. He had full lips that remained clamped shut as the children around him chanted the words.

He was about Bell's age, but she knew he'd been here much longer than she had. She'd noticed him a few times. He was quiet. He was a spring starrling, so he'd been put to work in a lot of the manual labour roles around the House of the Moon. Some of the other initiates seemed scared of him, because he was so big.

"Bring the darkness," Vira repeated. "The false light will be vanquished, and the fire will burn."

"Bring the darkness," the echo from the children was stronger now.

... to be continued

she's here, she's alive, and she's a POV character for this book! I hope you're excited to get into Bell's head!

thanks for reading, and please don't forget to vote & comment! It means the world to me!

as always, if you can't wait until next week, you can read this book already on Patreon. The link is in my bio ;)

elle x