Chapter 12
This is the Ice
Raven
Present Day – Off the Coast of Grypheem
Raven will marry us both.
Griffin took up my arm on one side and gestured for Julian to follow suit. “The rest of you remain here until we have made it to the carriage. You will draw too much attention if you don’t.”
Raven will marry us both.
Julian didn’t hesitate even though it was clear this plan had been dropped on him too. His mouth was still slightly agape from the news.
Raven will marry us both.
Levi’s familiar hand rested on my back, his fingers fanning the material, rubbing comforting strokes.
Our ship approached the land before us. Even from a distance, I could see it wasn’t anything like Violencia. The snow-tipped mountains in the distance, the abundance of forest, the lack of walls surrounding it.
We drifted towards what appeared to be another source of water feeding into the sea, a long dock jutting out closest to us. There were a few other boats and ships that lined it, but none as big as ours.
“The Styx River,” Griffin murmured. “It separates Luscinia from Grypheem.”
Raven will marry us both.
“Ready yourselves!” Drago called from behind.
And I realized there weren’t brakes on this ship as we drifted the last hundred feet sideways into the dock, landing nearly perfectly against it.
“Let’s go. We need to make it to our carriage as quickly as possible. The Priestess is already here waiting for us.”
Raven will marry us both.
“Wait, why didn’t you tell her your plan?” I attempted to tug free from him, but he held on tight looking down at me.
Sunlight spilled over us, but all it did was cast Griffin in a long shadow. His typical forest eyes were nearly impenetrable. “Because this could get us killed, but it is also the best way to keep you safe. I need to announce it when we are surrounded by allies who will fight for it.”
“We’ll be right behind you darlin’,” Levi reassured.
The crew moved around us, working to secure a bridge to the dock. As soon as they were done, Griffin didn’t hesitate, leading myself and, by extension, Julian off. Separating me from Levi’s comforting hand and leaving a frigid unease in its wake.
It wasn’t until we were on the dock that I realized how off-kilter I felt. My entire being attempting to rock into my next step.
“Sea legs,” Griffin muttered. It was clear he was forcing himself to remain upright, but I could see the uneasiness in his gait too. “I hate this part.”
But he didn’t allow it to hinder us, leading us further down the dock. With the distraction of my own shortcomings gone, I once more honed in on my surroundings. On how similar and different it was here. Night and day. Fire and ice.
This is the ice.
My foot slipped on a patch on the dock, but Julian’s steady hold didn’t allow me to stumble.
Literally.
Drago’s guards from our ship flanked us, masked men with weapons and wearing full gear.
It put me at ease because I knew Oleks was among them.
But what if Ivan is too?
Stamping the thought down, I focused on the shore. The ground was covered in white, a thick snow that I had only seen in books. But poking up and through, everywhere I looked, there were familiar pretty pink and purple flowers. And past that, there were…more.
A gathering just on shore near the river, hundreds of people—correction, hundreds of men—huddled in a circle around a singular stage that the High Priestess stood on.
Behind her a boat rocked in the river, an oversized…
metal, elongated tube on it? It was smooth, similar in shape to a ginkgo seed, with a single barred hole on top.
Her eyes burned a hole into mine, but I ignored them as best I could.
She wore the same garb as before, and I realized the flower on it was the same that littered the ground.
Julian’s warmth and support kept my nerves planted in my stomach, but Griffin’s statement from before threatened them to come up my throat.
Raven will marry us both.
Our arrival drew another crowd of its own, but the guards from Drago’s ship were keeping them at bay, not allowing anyone to approach enough to get a look.
Even still, as we stepped onto the ground and off the docks, they were able to get closer. I could hear them.
“A woman.”
“A Sacred Cherished.”
“It’s true!”
“The Creator must be punished!”
“Our prince? They had him too!”
The words overlapped, one on top of the other as the crowd forming around us began to bow; Griffin stiffened at my side, frozen in place.
Even as the crowd of men slowly raised their heads and forcefully turned their attention back to the stage, the High Priestess stood on.
Except I clocked the fear that swam in the air, the ashen faces of the men around us.
As if they were terrified to go against the High Priestess, even in the presence of a prince.
The High Priestess is the higher entity. But it seems she has their fear, not their respect.
With the men gone, I could see now that we were heading towards a vehicle as Griffin had described. It was similar to the cars we had back home but older? A carriage was more accurate as he had said, similar to what I would see in one of our history books, not on the road driving.
“As promised. The evidence in the flesh. As you all can see, not only a Sacred Cherished but your beloved prince were sent to the Redemption!” The High Priestess’s voice was unmistakable. “For this, his crimes are unforgiveable!”
From this angle, I could only see the High Priestess until she moved to the side. Then I saw there was someone else up on the stage with her.
Older, badly bruised, restrained, but familiar.
I didn’t realize I had broken free of Griffin and Julian’s hold. Didn’t realize my body was propelling me towards danger, until Felix stepped into my path, physically stopping me.
“That’s far enough.” Felix glared down at me and I returned the favor, physically pushing him aside. He didn’t expect the force I put behind it and stumbled a bit.
My memory pierced back to when he dragged me from Sparrow, but then I remembered what had taken my attention. “Jayce’s dad?”
Griffin was panting when he landed next to my side, a loud growl filling the space between us. I could tell he wanted to yell and scream at me, but instead he forced his hand into mine, lacing my fingers with his. This time, Julian didn’t take up my other arm, but instead the space behind me.
“Yes,” Julian whispered into my ear. “Harold and Sharon Roger, Jayce’s adoptive parents.
They were the Creators. Harold is who sponsored Jayce.
I will answer your questions, but we need to be careful.
All eyes are on us.” He leaned back, offering his support but just enough space between us to not touch.
The guards from before found us, placing themselves between us and the men in the crowd. Creating a boundary of protection. One stood very close to me on the opposite side of Griffin.
The familiar scent of acrid poison suffused the air; it calmed my nerves.
Oleks.
“Harold Roger has dared to break our most precious law. And thus! Punishment must be exacted!” the Priestess called. Her voice was eerie, both soft and grating as it launched itself into my ears.
Griffin’s hand squeezed tightly, to the point of pain.
He attempted to rip us away, but I wouldn’t move.
There was a tense energy in the air, and my gut screamed that I needed to figure out what was going on.
See first hand this country with my own two eyes.
Be aware of what I was getting myself into.
“Raven, please.”
I knew if he wanted to he could lift me up and throw me into the carriage. I knew that he needed to present an image of a united front. I knew that I was being insolent and purposefully so.
For too long in Violencia, I buried my head in the ground. I refused to see the truth even as it screamed in my face.
It was time to change that. I was here to fight.
I needed to know why.
The High Priestess found my gaze again. “For any man who wishes to extinguish a Sacred Cherished. A reminder to him, to us all, that no matter our origin, we all are born from wombs, and thus we must return him from whence he came.”
“You’re making a mistake! There’s more to it than tha—" Harold fell to his knees on a broken sob as a priest kicked his calves and shoved him over.
The High Priestess’s iridescent skin shimmered under the sun as she snapped her fingers in the air.
The world went silent. Harold. The crowd. Griffin. Even my heart seemed to slow, the beats soft and distant.
And then the next few steps happened quickly.
Several priests dragged Harold up off the stage. I expected him to be taken away, but instead, he was walked to the small boat behind the Priestess. From this vantage point, I could see it all.
As they lifted open a hatch on the metal tube, stuffing a struggling Harold onto his knees and into it.
As another lit a fire under the metal contraption, as they locked it closed with Harold inside, as the Priestess waited for the priests to leave the boat, she released the rope securing it behind her.
Harold’s voluble begging landed on deaf ears as his fingers poked up through the small hole on top.
For a single instance, my eyes flicked to the other side of the river, to what the boat had been blocking.
To the three people on a stage. One woman and two men were present, watching this act. Their attire was similar to Griffin’s but different hues. Royalty.
It was difficult to distinguish their faces from this distance, but even still, there was an odd familiarity.
And then the fire caught, engulfing up and around the seed-like metal tube, and Harold’s blood-curling screams pierced the air, pulling back my full attention. It was clear that he was already in excruciating agony.
It was similar to boiling a piece of meat without water. I could only imagine the way his skin stuck to the metal inside. The agony he must be experiencing.
The agony he well deserves.