Muse Assembly Row Novels & Stories

Sliding into the backseat of an Uber, I clutch my bag to my chest like a shield. I have him— whatever's in here is something he doesn't want anybody to see. But when I unlock my phone, the screen lights up with a push notification that drains every drop of blood from my face. New Music Video: "Muse" - Watch Now. My mouth goes dry. The bastard couldn't have. It's been what? Twenty— Thirty minutes? With a trembling thumb, I tap the link. The video opens on a gritty, unfamiliar set. I let out a hollow laugh.

Corbin wasn't joking when he mentioned that he wanted to completely renew the museum's interior… "We have seven grand exhibition halls in total. We are currently standing in the main one, which, as you can see, was designed to accommodate sculptures or installations the size of a small passenger plane," Oliver explained. Liam walked around the gray interior, his eyes glowing as if he had entered a giant playground. Thankfully, there were no tools or sharp objects in sight; otherwise, my kid would have been the first one to find them and adapt them as new toys…

Above the cliffs, the Clarion Assembly’s meeting hall rises from the rock like someone tried to build a temple and failed to hide it behind bureaucracy. That alone tells me plenty. “They’re staging,” I murmur. Lucien nods. “Yes.” Rowan’s voice is low. “For who?” “For everyone,” I answer. The Axis hums faintly around us, not pressing into my blood the way it once did, but brushing the world like fingertips on glass. It’s curious. Watching. Learning. We step out of the carriage into wind so sharp it feels like a warning. Rowan POV: If someone wants to manipulate people, they pick a place that makes them feel small.

Gabriel got changed and ventured out to take care of a few things before Audrey got up. Audrey pushed back her bedhead hair and changed into a pair of leggings and a T-shirt. She didn't feel like doing much this morning. A sudden hammering from the other room made her jump, she held her chest and sighed heading to where the noise was coming from. To her surprise, it was Gabriel messing around with tools. Audrey picked up the discarded manual, she turned it upright and snickered as she read it. Gabriel grunted when he felt Audrey looking behind him. After he had gotten back, he decided to assemble the crib he bought. The task proved trickier than he anticipated though since the instructions w

"And you are going to stop rehearsing catastrophes and start making a plan. Because that is what you do. You make plans. So make one." Nora looked at her. "The museum exhibit isn't until next month," she said. "Then we'll find another museum. This city has forty-three. I looked it up on the train." Ashley picked up her glass. "Don't argue with me. I came on a three-hour train and the sofa looks criminal." Something loosened in Nora's chest, small and involuntary. "It's not that bad," she said. "It's awful and you know it." Ashley pulled her feet up. "Now stop thinking and drink your wine."

The next day, [Rina P.O.V] The demonstration hall smelled of ozone and polished brass. I stood behind the display table with my hands pressed flat against the velvet covering, my fingers finding the edges of the devices Aurel and I had spent three sleepless weeks assembling. The crystal matrices hummed beneath their enamel casings, ley-line resonance chambers wrapped in silver filigree that caught the chandelier light and scattered it into patterns that looked like frozen music. Selene stood three tables down with her back straight and her white dress arranged in perfect folds around her shoulders.

A flowing red dress framed my figure, and every careful stroke showed the artist's affection toward me. The artist was Anthony, and the title read, "My Only Muse". A hand-painted portrait carried a weight and romance that no confession could match. The entire social circle was in an uproar, shocked that Anthony, who had always been notoriously wild and arrogant, could fall so deeply for a woman. No one expected that after three years of living in the shadows, I would return, looking vibrant and more breathtaking than ever. Comment after comment calling us a perfect match flooded in, each one landing like a blow, leaving Caleb unable to stay composed.

On top, there is a Latin inscription that I cannot understand. There are also 18 eagles on top of the roof. One for each column. Higher up there are two men who look like they are fighting horses. I walk through the museum. I walk into the room where there are one of the more permanent exhibitions called the Ancient worlds. The whole room gives me the creeps. It is mostly sculptured without their heads or some of their limbs. I high tail out of there into the next room.

Pulling out my flashlight, I search the simple map of the museum. The layout of the museum looks to be of an 'I' that has multiple branches perpendicular to the length of it. Simple layout. But where's the ring? I gaze across the map and look for anything. Maybe in the World Artifacts area? I look at the section titled 'World Artifacts'. There's a line running from a dot in the exhibit to a list of words. One seems promising. 'The Crown Jewels'.

--- Part I – The Great Assembly The Ashwood clearing had never held so many souls. Tents lined the perimeter. Fires burned low beneath cauldrons of tea and soup. From every direction, they came—elders and children, Custodians and skeptics, village chiefs, song-bearers, farmers, poets. Some wore their grief on woven sashes. Others bore silence like armor. In the center stood the circular platform where Rowan first sang his mother’s lullaby. Now, it had been remade—polished wood inlaid with riverstone, oakroot, and ash-char from previous fires.