Read When Stars Die (The Stars Trilogy) for Free Online Page A

once in a while. I hesitate to say once a week.”
    “Then whenever I know it’s safe.”
    Oliver takes me back to my cell. When we come upon it, Sash is leaving with a smile. He doesn’t make eye contact with me, yet that smile indicates Sash discovered something. I don’t want to know what it is, so when Oliver hugs me goodnight, I throw the door closed and jam the piece of wood back into the lock. I try to hold on to the warmth of the promise I made with Oliver, but thinking about these shadows elicits a vicious chill.
     

     
    Chapter Four
     
    Despite seeing Sash last night, I face this next trial with a renewed sense of vigor, even with pain that shoots through me with every step I take. I am taut and sore from the thick scabs that cover my upper back in whorls, and stiffness has caught up to me from kneeling on those wood chips. Each step I take is small and filled with splintering agony, but I am determined to share in the next trial with my sisters.
    Today we’re all in the basement of Cathedral Reims, a place filled with abandoned tunnels that smell like distilleries. Cracked, wooden beams crisscross above our heads, occasionally dropping dust and dirt in our hair. Tapers sit cradled in wall sconces, the basement’s only source of light. The walls are made of rough-hewn stone, and as we walk through, Theosodore informs us that this basement used to be a wine cellar a few centuries ago. There are remnants of barrels and broken wine bottles lining the walls.
    The basement is even colder than outside, the dirt flooring moist from snow that somehow slips into the basement through cracks we can’t see. I’m somewhat used to the cold, though I find myself pushing against Colette to share in her warmth; she is unresponsive. When we woke up this morning, she was silent, passive, and unmoving. Only Theosodore’s whip of a voice could get her to move, and even then she took tiny steps to line up with the rest of the sisters in the corridor. I have no idea what caused this sudden change in her.
    I look at her downturned face and whisper, “Are you angry at me for going off with Oliver?” This would be a ridiculous reason, but I can’t think of anything else.
    She shakes her head.
    I suck in the frigid air through my teeth, the coolness chilling my lungs and making my bones rattle. “Then what is wrong? You’re usually not like this.” I’m usually like the way she is today. “Did you have a nightmare? Do you not feel well today?” I pause, trying to sort through my distressed thoughts. I can’t think of what could be bothering her. “Tell me, Colette.”
    She shakes her head again. In a small voice, she says, “Later.”
    Theosodore pushes on a flimsy door with an iron rung for a knob and leads us down an even narrower corridor with closed doors made of iron. Once we walk a few paces, he stops and gestures around the small space. “Two sisters to each cell. Today you will spend the day praying.”
    We bristle over the simple request. Praying itself is never a simple matter, yet compared to yesterday’s trial, this one seems too easy. Theosodore starts unlocking each cell and instructing two sisters at a time to enter. He bolts the doors behind each group, and when he gets to Colette and I, he does the same, ushering us into our own cell. When he bolts the door behind us, I realize just what is so challenging about this particular trial. The cell is only big enough to fit Colette and I, who stand with elbows touching. There is only a prie dieu and one taper already melting to a stub. There is no latrine, no space, no way to keep warm besides the wick, and when the wick goes out, we’ll be left in impenetrable darkness.
    Colette takes in a few gulps of air before settling herself on the cushion. I sit down beside her, our arms cushioning each other. I’ve never been prone to claustrophobia, but I can see myself developing a fear of small spaces by the end of the day. With the cell being as small as it