Hinata took Nolan to a room that was significantly older than the setup outside. A table and chairs were arranged as if for an ancient banquet. There were only seven chairs, but the length and breadth of the table were much larger than usual, elongated enough to accommodate around twelve members.
Hinata sat at the main end of the exclusive seat.
"Sit anywhere, Nolan. It's already evening seven. We can discuss while having dinner."
Nolan chose the seat to her left, close enough to speak without shouting, far enough to avoid the casual slap she was known for.
The table was empty except for one iron candelabra. Its three flames flickered, and the shadows moved like slow breath across the dark wood.
She snapped her fingers. "Manon."
A servant appeared from a door Nolan hadn't noticed, not a young servant but an old woman with silver hair. She carried a tray.
The tray held two bowls. Steam rose from both, the slow, heavy steam of something that had been simmering for hours. The smell hit Nolan before he saw what was inside: deep, gamey, layered with herbs. It reminded him of the hunting lodges his father used to visit in the deep forests, old stone, burning oak, meat turning on spits over embers. He hadn't realized how hungry he was until that moment.
The servant placed a bowl in front of Hinata, another in front of Nolan. She left without a word. The door closed behind her, soft as a held breath.
Nolan looked down at his bowl.
The broth was dark, nearly black, its surface slick with fat. Floating near the edge were thin slices of meat, dark, almost purple, the kind that came from an animal that had lived hard and died old. A crust of dark rye bread rested against the side of the bowl, its surface rough with grain. Beside it, a sprig of something green: bitter, sharp, the kind of herb used more for medicine than flavor. Just the bowl, the bread, and the steam.
Nolan's hunger vanished the moment he saw it. With a disgusted look, he shifted toward Hinata.
"Just eat," Hinata said without looking at him. "And don't ask what's in it. You don't want to know before eating, and I won't tell you."
Nolan tore a piece of the rye bread and dipped it into the broth. The bread soaked immediately, darkening to the color of wet earth. He brought it to his mouth.
The taste was salt and smoke and something deeper, the kind of richness that came from bones cracked open and boiled for hours, from meat that had been hung in a cold cellar until it was just this side of turning. Then came the herbs: rosemary, maybe, but also something sharper, like rue or tansy. The bread held it all, chewy and dense.
He swallowed. The warmth spread through his chest.
He tore another piece.
Hinata watched him over the rim of her own bowl. She drank, set it down, and leaned back.
"How many stars did you see in the night sky, Nolan? Ever thought about them? What exactly are they? Why do they sparkle?"
Nolan paused, bread halfway to his mouth.
That was surely fast for her age.
"An old saying," she murmured. "Long before the Empire. Before anyone knew what a constellation truly was."
She closed her eyes.
"The stars are not just light. They are wounds. Each one is placed where the dark has been pushed back just long enough for us to pretend we understand. But the stars do not care for our stories. They push us because they have no choice. And we have no other hope other than to go toward where they push us."
"Currently, there are twelve constellations being mapped out due to the unity of our ancestors, in which four different colors have emerged. But your gray stars have two unique patterns: Predas, the Haunched Beast, and—" Hinata hesitated. "There is an ancient saying of an even older pattern, one not recorded to have appeared again: The Pressing Hand. It's only an evolved humanized name. The ancient mapped name was never clearly preserved in the scripts."
"But here is the trouble. These two patterns sit too close, too alike. That's why I cannot name yours." She tilted her head. "Consider your actions. A baby's instinct for survival, nothing more. And yet you caught that rod. You should have fallen. That, perhaps, is your alignment speaking."
Nolan, with a confused look, held the bread piece in his mouth. "What exactly are these things, honestly? Like you did something, you said this, that, then I was down."
"This is so confusing. Why do the stars need to choose us while giving these, what I could say—"
Hinata helped him. "Beyond the Vision Abilities, we holders say."
Nolan swallowed the bread. "Why are they pushing us? Well, what exactly does 'pushing' mean here?"
"I heard a story from the Great Church of Intent. Those bedtime stories about reaching heavenly guardians. The respective tithe needs to be given; the tithe does not destroy. It takes only what was always going to be taken, and shows what remains when everything else is gone."
Nolan lifted his bowl and took a slow sip of the dark broth. The warmth did nothing to settle his thoughts.
"Are they both the same?"
"No. What you are saying is a representation of the Arched One and unpredictable branching."
"For each and every constellation, it asks a specific cost and adds a specific flaw to the core of humanity. This is exactly what 'pushing' means. Basically, the gods are providing us with their flaw and their unique Beyond the Vision Abilities and making us pursue our goals, in my opinion."
"No one can question heaven; it only leads to greater calamities."
"We are just the chosen ones, and we need to live with it."
Nolan frowned. "What you're saying makes no sense. Despite what you're stating, all of that comes after. For now, what exactly caused my awakening?"
"I know, according to the scripts and stories, extreme conditions cause awakening. And with respect to them, I can see my—"
Nolan's mind blanked for a second. Then, his voice soft, he said, "The torture given to me is the reason for it. And now I don't know what to do. In our empire, under the church which is common to the entire continent, I am the third awakener without any opposing controls."
Nolan ate his bread as he spoke to her. He raised the bowl to finish the meal with the soup.
Then he set it down. "In the current situation, as I thought, my awakening might be helpful."
"Is there any way to figure out whether my constellation is either of them?"
Hinata leaned and looked at the chandelier hanging above. She noticed one of the candles was not burning. "The balance of the lights is missing. Hmm. Nolan, you can't really say which one for now. My only prediction is that there might be a possibility yours tends toward the Haunched Beast, because they are very fundamental in reacting to danger even before they sense it. You can see the pattern, right?"
Hinata continued. "Without knowledge, doing certain actions does not always end well. And here it means you might even lose your precious life. For now, let's start the experiments tomorrow onwards. Let's try to reveal things together."
Hinata burped. "The dried aged reptiles are called meaty and unique in their texture. Even their flavor was just playing. Isn't it?"
Nolan's heart skipped a beat.
So yes, I will not meet her at dining time hereafter.
Nolan, with a perfectly alright look, said, "Yeah—"
Tap! Tap! Tap!
A guard stood outside the dining room. "Prince, His Highness—"