Chapter 50
Avriel
W arm blood trickled down my fingers as I raised the heart, freshly carved from a male goat’s chest, above my head, for all to see. The throne room was filled to the brim with attendees, everyone wearing their finest clothes for today.
On the first day of every month, we offered a sacrifice to the empress on behalf of the people.
It was a tradition that began shortly after she defeated the emperor.
Originally, a heart was offered from an immortal male’s chest, but as time passed and those became less easy to come by, priestesses had resorted to animals instead.
I looked at the heart in my hands and then at the poor creature lying by my feet. His pale tongue had fallen out of his mouth, eyes bleak and lifeless. The knife I had used lay beside his slit abdomen, entrails leaking out of him. It was a bloody mess.
All of this was a bloody mess .
In truth, I didn’t see why this sacrifice was necessary anymore, but people had a hard time breaking with millennia-old traditions. And because of it—I spared one more glance at the horned goat—the innocent suffered.
The irony of it all was that half of the time the empress didn’t even show up for the sacrificial ceremony, and some poor animal had to needlessly die because of it.
I relaxed my clenched jaw, remembering I had hundreds of eyes on me and then began to chant in an ancient tongue. The bottom of my pristine white robes swept along the ground as I walked up to the foot of the dais that housed the empress’s mighty, empty throne.
Knees bending, I lowered onto them, the fabric of my ceremonial garb bunching stiffly under my knees, digging into my skin where the fabric had folded over.
I paid it little mind—the goat had suffered far worse.
Continuing to chant, I lowered the organ muscle into the bronze bowl sitting on the ground before me. The heart made the softest of plunks as it fell inside. I waved my hand over it as if I were stirring a pot. The bowl began to twirl, guided by the breath of my wind.
The monstrous doors groaned as they opened behind me. That was odd. No one was allowed in once the ceremony started.
My tongue stilled, and I glanced over my shoulder, my gaze falling right on the empress as she stampeded toward me.
My mind flared with panic.
Shit .
Did she know Shadow and I were planning to leave tomorrow?
No, how could she know?
We had told no one .
We’d been careful.
. . . Hadn’t we?
I got to my feet, my bloody fingers itching to reach for the rabbit’s foot, my legs ready to run, muscles on blaring alert. I’d toss myself out of the window if I had to—there was no way I was going to become Victor’s vessel-growing factory. I’d rather die.
As she approached, I steeled my spine, readying for the worst.
“Get out of my way,” she snarled with mirth, her manicured hand grabbing hold of my shoulder and shoving me to the side. I stumbled, but I didn’t fall.
Swiftly, I turned to face her, watching as she grew to her giant size, strode up the stairs, and seated herself in her massive, imposing throne.
Realizing my paranoia had gotten the better of me, I quickly dropped into a bow, just like everyone else in the room. I’d made a fool out of myself, and I’d let the invisible mask slip. I was damned lucky that the empress had something else on her mind and hadn’t seemed to notice.
“Everyone rise,” she commanded. As we all did, she said to the guards standing near the door, “Tell them to come in.”
The guards nodded and stepped out.
Seconds later, they returned with three soldiers from the empress’s imperial army.
They looked weary and battle-worn. I recognized the one—a general by the name of Areon.
She had been present during the meeting that took place a few days ago, when news first came to us that the Goddess of Life might have been spotted, flying with another female on the back of a gryphon.
Upon hearing the news, the empress had dispatched some of her forces, tasking them to retrieve her.
My heart fell into my stomach—had they been successful?
And if so, where were they keeping her?
“Speak, General. Tell them all what you and your soldiers have witnessed,” the empress commanded, her voice absolute.
Witnessed? Confusion tempted my brow, but I did not lower it. I would not let my invisible mask slip for a second time today.
General Areon stepped forward, her helmet tucked underneath her arm. “In all my years, I have never seen such power,” she started, turning toward the crowd. “A short few days ago, we were tasked to retrieve the white-haired traitor, the female who escaped her fate in the arena.”
Hushed whispers scattered across the room.
The general continued, “We did manage to find her; however, she was not alone.”
Tension drifted around every one of us, hanging like fog in the air—dense and hard to see through.
The general took a shaky breath and then said, “Nockrythiam was there. ”
The throne room erupted into chaos, faces filling with shock, eyes stretching wide with horror. While they all panicked, I remained calm—
Hopeful .
If Nockrythiam was truly back . . . that could change everything .
“Calm yourselves.” The empress’s voice erupted like thunder, bouncing off the gemstone walls as she rose from her throne.
“ I stood against Nockrythiam in the past, and it was I who won that battle.” She spoke with great conviction, taking her time to deliver the message because she wanted it to sink in.
“I will do the same again. I will protect you all from the heathen and his ilk. I will ensure what we have built remains intact. No male will destroy the laws of our realm.”
As the people around me nodded, I realized a sad truth—
They were all under her spell, blinded by her lies and the familiarity of what they knew.
“Do not fear, my loves,” Empress Avena cooed performatively, placing a dazzling smile on her face. The charade came to her just as easily as if she were changing jewelry. “I will do all within my power to crush Nockrythiam and protect you.”
People began to cheer and clap, endorsing her words.
I felt sick to my stomach.
She told them not to fear, but that’s exactly the emotion she was trying to seed into them.
That was how she had controlled them for so many centuries—by selling them her snake oil, convincing them there was a problem they needed her help taking care of, telling them a monster was prowling outside their doors, when the truth of the matter was, she was already inside.
Later that night, I was in my room, my stomach flipping and flopping. Tonight’s dinner was one of my favorite plates—roasted, lemon-stuffed chicken and warm, creamy mashed potatoes, but I had barely touched it.
My nerves were bad, my palms sweaty, and I was shedding hair like a stressed-out cat.
There was so much riding on tomorrow.
After Shadow had retrieved the map, we’d debated for a few days, but we’d finally come up with a plan to escape.
The only downside was that it put us dreadfully close to when Victor planned to take me away.
However, it was the best plan we had, and it would allow us to travel a great distance before anyone realized we were missing.
One of Shadow’s soul crusher events was scheduled for tomorrow, in an arena with an underground river that ran directly beneath it.
The river was going to be our horse, carrying us away faster than our legs ever could.
Hopefully, it would give us enough of a head start.
Hopefully .
I finished going through the satchel we planned to take with us—for the third time that night—and closed it up, walking over to my armoire. As I stuffed it inside a skirt and hid it in the very back, a knock sounded on my door.
My heart leapt into my throat and my fingers went straight for my rabbit’s foot . . . I thought I had been nervous before .
Knock! Knock! There it was again, and whoever it was did not sound patient.
I froze. I didn’t know what to do. It was very late.
Too late for visitors.
“Avriel, are you in there?” Mercia urgently spoke from the other side of the door. “Her Majesty is losing her mind, and she needs all council members and priestesses to help her look.”
I shoved a breath into my stiff lungs, forced myself to blink, and moved toward the door. By the time I got there, my sky-high blood pressure came down a few notches. I opened it and said with a fake yawn, “Sorry, about that. I fell asleep at my desk. You gave me quite the startle.”
“I can tell. You look paler than milk,” she said, offering me an apologetic smile.
Tonight, her shoulders were coated with monarch butterflies.
The orange and black beauties were lined up in a perfect row.
The color and pattern in their wings matched the sleek, body-hugging dress she wore. “Sorry about that, but it’s urgent.”
“What’s going on?” I asked, leaning against the door. Firstly, because I’d nearly almost had a heart attack a few short seconds ago and needed the support, and secondly, because I wanted to keep up the charade of being tired.
“The empress is looking for two souls she had stored in the Archive of Souls Tower, but she can’t find them. She is having everyone go through every box. If they aren’t found, High Priestess Calandra could lose her life.”
High Priestess Calandra oversaw the highly secretive tower, which very few were granted access to.
I had only seen her a handful of times, but from what I knew of her, she was quite kind.
It made me sad to hear her life might be in jeopardy.
Part of me wanted to help, but the other part of me knew I should stay as far away from the empress as possible—I was already on edge.
I didn’t need her growing suspicious of me at the last minute.
“But the tower is forbidden to lower priestesses like me,” I said, hoping I could wiggle my way out of this.
“Not tonight it isn’t,” Mercia replied. “Besides, haven’t you always wanted to see what the tower is like? I’ve lived here for two thousand years and I’ve never seen it. It could be the experience of a lifetime.”
Or the end of one if the empress smells a runaway in her midst , I thought to myself.
“Are you sure the empress wants all priestesses there?”
“Yes, she demands it.” Mercia’s brows pressed together.
“I’m surprised by you, Avriel. Everyone is flocking to the tower to help her, and yet you aren’t even interested.
” She raised a brow. “Do you have something better to do tonight?” Her eyes flicked past the door.
“You wouldn’t be hiding a dirty secret in your room, would you?
Perhaps,” she whispered with a playful smile, “one of the empress’s courtesans? ”
“Don’t ever say that again,” I scolded her, my voice firm. “I would never do that to the empress. And I’ve taken an oath of celibacy, as all priestesses must do.”
“Sheesh, you bunch are so uptight. I’m only joking,” she said, a hand landing on her hip, which she popped to the side.
“Yes, well, it’s not funny. Jokes like that could get my soul crushed,” I hissed at her.
“I’m sorry, Avriel,” Mercia apologized. It felt genuine.
“It’s alright.” I sighed softly, realizing I didn’t really have a choice. If word got out that Mercia had asked me to come and I had decided not to go, even though the empress had requested it, that could arouse suspicions.
So, begrudgingly, I agreed to go.