Chapter 61: The Sareth Twins
A boy. About the same age as Sella, with the same short silver hair, the same slender build. But with two immediately noticeable differences.
One. He wasn’t floating. He walked with a normal step, using a thin staff in his left hand.
Two. His eyes were completely white. No pupils. No visible iris. Just the faded silver color.
Blind.
Nathan noticed it in a second.
*Blind.*
*And yet he walks confidently through the settlement without hesitating on direction.*
*And yet he knew we were coming.*
*And yet he predicted the exact details.*
Kalen approached the path. He stopped beside Sella. Extended his right hand toward his sister’s shoulder—a small gesture of specifically familiar contact.
And then, turning in Nathan’s approximate direction, his white eyes pointing toward him without seeing him:
"Sorry about my sister," Kalen said. "She’s very impulsive."
"Apparently," Nathan replied.
"I told her you were coming, and she decided to verify before waiting. It’s a pattern."
"Understood."
Kalen inclined his head slightly.
"Welcome, Nathan Voss. Welcome, Lady Sael’thoryn."
Liaraen went very still.
"You know my name?"
"Yes. The possible paths included your surname with ninety percent probability."
"Understood."
Nathan looked at Kalen. Looked at Sella. Looked at Kalen again.
*Two teenagers with natural birth Seals.*
*One with amplified physical abilities and controlled flight—probably light magic from the glowing details.*
*Another with vision of possible paths. A partial seer.*
*In a Veil settlement. Without official record. Without Church cataloging.*
*These two are specifically important.*
*And I don’t know why they’re here.*
*And I don’t know why the brother can see possible paths.*
*And I don’t know which god gave them those Seals, because I don’t recognize any specific signature from the sixteen official ones.*
Nathan processed all of that in about two seconds.
Then, with his usual casual voice:
"Kalen, Sella. I appreciate the welcome. However, honestly, after the journey I’ve had, I’m more interested in logistical information than theological information right now. Is there a communal house where we can stay?"
Kalen inclined his head.
"Yes. At the end of the road, at the top of the settlement. Our aunt is the coordinator. Her name is Vera. She’s waiting for you."
"Perfect."
"I’ll take you."
"Acceptable."
Kalen began walking toward the settlement with the specific confidence of someone who’d traveled that path a thousand times. Sella followed beside him, still smiling. Nathan climbed back onto the cart with his left arm—specifically hurt from the block—protesting the movement. Liaraen sat beside him with her dagger put away but her expression still cautious.
The cart started moving.
Nathan drove behind the two siblings.
"Sprout."
"Yes?"
"Did you notice?"
"Yes."
"What part specifically?"
"The Seals. Both of them. Natural birth. No official record."
"Yes. I noticed that too."
"And the boy’s ability?"
"And the boy’s ability too."
Silence for a few seconds.
Then Liaraen spoke, in a specifically low voice:
"Nathan."
"Yes?"
"There is no god in the official Pantheon that grants visions of the future."
"None."
"And I don’t recognize the signature of any of the sixteen."
"Neither do I."
"Then."
"Then yes."
"Yes what?"
"Yes. Apparently. The Passers are right. There’s more than one god operating outside official records. And apparently these two are bearers of Seals that belong neither to the Pantheon nor to the seventeenth."
"Whose do they belong to, then?"
"I don’t know."
Silence.
---
Liaraen kept looking at the two siblings walking ahead of the cart. The girl slightly ahead. The boy, with his staff, half a step behind. Both moving with the specific coordination of twins who’d been synchronized for fourteen years.
"Nathan."
"Yes?"
"Sella. The girl."
"Yes?"
"Her eyes glowed when she activated the light currents."
"Yes."
"The glow had the signature of light magic."
"Yes."
"Light magic is catalogued in elven treatises as a manifestation reserved for gods of the primary cycle. Predating the current Pantheon."
"Ah."
"Yes. Ah."
"Good."
"Good."
They continued.
And Nathan drove the rest of the way to the communal house with the specific feeling that Sareth, against all his expectations, also wasn’t going to be a quiet settlement, and that the next few days would probably include several conversations about theology, catalogs, elven history, and all the specifically inconvenient things he’d foolishly hoped to leave for after the journey.
*The river is still the goal.*
*But first, apparently, I have to figure out what these two twins are.*
*Great.*
*Good.*
*Let’s do this.*
---
The communal house appeared at the end of the road.
It was larger than those in Marren and Valcrest. Two stories. With an inner courtyard visible from the entrance. And a woman standing at the threshold, approximately fifty years old, with the same slender build as her niece and nephew, and gray hair pulled back in a simple bun.
Kalen approached her.
"Aunt. The guests."
Vera nodded. She looked at Nathan and Liaraen. And with a voice specifically different from someone who knew the Veil formalities but also the elven formalities:
"Hunter Voss. Lady Sael’thoryn. Welcome to Sareth. Selene’s letter arrived three days ago. Everything is prepared."
Nathan climbed down from the cart.
"I appreciate the preparation."
"We eat in about an hour. Sella will show you the room. Kalen has to return to the library. The full conversation will happen after dinner. Acceptable?"
"Acceptable."
"Good."
Vera turned and went inside.
Sella approached Nathan with the broad smile that was apparently her natural state.
"Come," Sella said. "I’ll show you."
Nathan looked at her for a moment.
Then, with the specifically casual voice of someone who’d decided to change the subject entirely to avoid processing more theology in that instant:
*It seems thanks to Kalen they know Liaraen and I use the word "acceptable" frequently.*
"Sella."
"Yes?"
"Is there a river nearby? Something with moderate current, deep enough to swim."
Sella looked at him.
"A river?"
"Yes."
"There is one. Approximately two hours east of the settlement. The river Arren. Safe ford. The settlement children go there in summer."
"Can we go?"
"Yes. Of course. When?"
"Tomorrow. The day after. Whenever we can."
"I can take you."
"Perfect."
Sella laughed again.
"Nathan Voss."
"Yes?"
"You just met me. I attacked you. I nearly knocked you down. I confirmed you were strong according to my brother’s prediction. And now the first thing you ask me is about whether there’s a river to swim in."
"Yes."
"Why?"
Nathan looked at her for a full moment.
"Because I want to swim."
"Acceptable."
Sella went inside the house.
Nathan followed her.
And internally:
*Two twins with natural Seals from an unregistered god.*
*Flight ability with primary-cycle light magic.*
*Vision of possible paths, without known cataloging.*
*In a Veil settlement.*
*With a coordinator aunt who apparently knew exactly when we were going to arrive and with which letter from Selene.*
*Selene sent me to Sareth specifically.*
*It wasn’t just a rest stop on the route.*
*It was a contact.*
*Good.*
*Good.*
*Good.*
*The river is going to have to wait.*
*First, the conversation after dinner.*
He adjusted his jacket sleeves while climbing the communal house stairs behind Sella.
And with the last reserve of cynicism for the day, to himself, specifically without voice:
*This looks less and less like an escort journey.*
*And more and more like something else.*
*Which Selene, apparently, knew was going to happen before we even left Greywall.*
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