Selene stopped and stared at the abbey. The low, deep voices were coming from the far side, where the face of the abbey overlooked the sea. As she listened, the chant began to blend with the soft wind and gentle sound of the waves. The hairs along her arms rose at the sound. The music, although it was much more, seemed to spread across her body and move toward her heart, warming her entire being along the way.

She wanted to join the voices. She wanted to raise her hands and close her eyes and let forth this incredible, enchanting power filling her on the inside. She didn’t even realize she was crying until Karl stepped beside her.

“It’s the Chant of Light.”

Selene worked her mouth, trying to form words. “It’s beautiful,” she whispered. “I’ve never heard anything like it.”

“Very few have. The Baris Abbey monks sing to greet the coming winter, to remind us that even though the days will be short and cold, the light will come again.”

The light will come again.

“Do you follow the Light, Karl?” Selene asked as the wind whipped the tears from her cheeks.

“I believe he exists, but nothing more. Not like the monks. Not like his lordship, Lord Damien.”

“Why?” She hadn’t meant to ask the guard such personal questions, but at the moment, it was like her heart was flung open.

Karl glanced away, his arms crossed. “I’ve seen too much darkness.”

Selene wiped her eyes with her fingertips. “I understand.” And yet there was something inside of her that longed desperately for the light. If there was such darkness in the world, then there could also be immense light . . . right?

That was what she was determined to find out.

The last notes of the monks’ chant lingered in the air like a fading wisp before being washed away by the sound of the sea. Selene started again along the path, her dress and cloak rustling through the long grass, her eyes focused on the double doors ahead. A mist began to rise from the trees, and a gull called out nearby.

Her fingers were numb with cold when she reached the doors. There was a large pewter knocker on the left door, which she lifted and let drop with a loud bang. Karl waited silently behind her.

Moments later, the door opened with a creak. A stout man dressed in mahogany robes stood in the door, a beard covering the lower half of his face. A golden pendant of the sun hung from his neck. “May I help you?” he asked in a deep voice.

Selene folded her hands together and raised her chin. “I am Lady Selene Raven—er, Maris, and I am looking for the monk Cohen.”

His eyebrows shot up. “Lady Maris? His lordship’s new wife?”

“Yes.” She could feel his perusal but could not tell what he thought of her.

“This way, my lady,” he said, motioning her inside.

Selene stepped into the long hallway. The entrance area was two stories high, with a stone staircase on the right that led up to the second floor. Thick wooden beams held the steep ceiling in place, and arched windows lined the far wall, allowing natural light into the sacred building. An enormous fireplace stood against the wall opposite of the staircase, a long wooden table in front of it.