Chapter 53
Something different misted the air as Heraphia and I entered the Divine Atrium. A scent of desperation. A hint of madness. Like the room held its breath, waiting for the storm to descend.
Already, a dozen Seers waited like offerings, a scribe on one side and an attendant on the other.
Two to a Seer today?
My brows furrowed. “What’s going on?” I whispered to Heraphia.
“I don’t know,” she murmured back. From between our crystal chairs, Lyriasthe emerged, easing the tight cinch of thorns around my chest. She hadn’t served us breakfast, which was unusual given that she always had a special plate for me, eggs dusted in an herbal seasoning that contained virelthorn.
Through a beaded curtain, the Korona appeared, her gray hair wild waves. But it was nothing compared to the look in her eyes. They locked on us immediately—sharp and icy and brimming with judgement.
We froze mid-stride. She’d flitted in and out of the Atrium, never staying long, since the ball, but she hadn’t been here to greet us at the beginning of the day. And Vaeron had rushed away early this morning, his mind elsewhere as he’d kissed me goodbye…
Iaoth glided to the center of the room, gossamer gown whispering over the ground as she spun a slow circle. Each pause pinned a different Seer under her piercing gaze.
Lyriasthe jerked her head, and we rushed to our chairs.
I’d scarcely planted myself before Iaoth spoke. “Your visions today will make or break this war. What you See could be the line between our salvation or our annihilation.”
The frantic edge of her voice scraped against my spine. But her usual confidence was shattered. Beneath her words was…fear. True fear. Like I’d never heard from anyone outside of the Elessarum.
“Has something happened with the war?” I sent to Vaeron, his silence suddenly deafening.
I worried my lip as I waited for an acknowledgement.
“Yes,” came his tense, terse reply.
I started to question him further, but his sister drew my attention again.
“The Demon forces are stronger than any of you Saw. Our holy warriors are on a retreat. Tens of thousands have already perished,” she said, wobbling slightly where she stood.
Bile crept up my throat. Heraphia whimpered. I reached for her, slipping my hands in hers and giving it a squeeze. Tears spilled over, each falling for Zuriel.
The entire time I’d been at Thalvireth, she hadn’t heard a single word from him. The barest glimpses she Saw during our sessions weren’t enough to reassure her that he would be okay.
Releasing me, she dashed at her cheeks, rolled her shoulders back, and lifted her chin.
Dread roiled in my gut. I knew that look of hers—the one that meant she was determined to succeed.
I’d seen it when our painting teacher challenged her to capture more emotion in her art.
I’d seen it when Zuriel’s family had rejected her.
I’d seen it more than once when the Korona came, demanding us to test the limits of our power.
“Our Radiant Mother wants us to survive so we may continue to worship Her and carry out her desires in this world,” Iaoth continued, her voice stronger this time. “Which is why, today, we will attempt to power share.”
A gasp flooded the room. Lightning cracked through my veins.
“But, but that is one of the deadly sins!” a Seer protested from my left.
The Korona whirled on her, eyes narrowing. “For Her good, it can be forgiven.”
“How do you know?” the female challenged, fingers digging into stone. “I have been a loyal, faithful servant for you, Korona. I believe She wants us to win this war. But this? This is extreme.”
Iaoth took a menacing step toward her, white wisps crackling in the air around her. “Shall I erase all memory of your beliefs then? Make you as mindless as many of the people who serve you?”
The female gulped. Adrenaline spiked in my veins. Tension draped the room in a dark shroud.
“I don’t need you to think for yourself. I only need you to See,” Iaoth taunted, magic creeping along the ground and wrapping up the female’s legs.
She flinched at the touch, eyeing it like it was a viper. Once it wrapped around her waist, she blurted out, “Fine! I’ll do it.”
The magic retreated back into its wielder. “That’s better.” The Korona turned her attention to the rest of us in the room. “Does anyone else wish to voice their concern?”
I stuck my tongue in my cheek. Nothing I could say would change the situation.
“Good,” she purred, her mood snapping faster than a punishing whip. “Who wishes to try first?”
“I do,” Heraphia said, rash and reckless as she rose from her chair.
“What? No,” I hissed, trying and failing to catch her. “You’re going to get yourself killed, if it even works.”
Heraphia held my gaze then. Really, really looked at me, as if her power spoke exactly of my soul. “I must. I won’t let us all die.”
We’d always, always protected one another, albeit in different ways.
And mine was ensuring that when Zuriel came home, she would be here to greet him. “I won’t let you,” I protested, using the crystal arms to shove myself upright.
But Iaoth was almost upon us, and our furious, hushed conversation had to come to an end.
“My bravest, most brilliant darling,” the Korona cooed, lifting Heraphia’s hands and guiding her to the center.
She didn’t even glance back at me.
Attendants settled cushions on the ground, and the two sank onto them, sitting cross-legged and facing each other.
“Sylaira, sit down,” Lyriasthe whispered, her hand searing into my skin as she tugged on my arm.
I shrugged her off, body vibrating with an internal battle. To go to Heraphia, to physically stop her from performing a sinful, dangerous act or to hold my tongue and avoid the harsh regard of the Korona?
Stifling a scream, I dropped onto my seat, my focus never leaving my friend. “This is insane,” I told the other Elessarum.
“This is what people do for love,” she murmured like she spoke from experience.
But I was mated, and there was no way I’d go to these lengths to save Vaeron. At the thought of that, the bond seared me, like it was displeased that I didn’t worship the ground he walked on.
We’d been working better together, day by day. The trial by light loomed over us like an executioner’s blade, and a spark of fear that I’d somehow end up beneath the Koron’s heel refused to snuff out.
Vaeron had a plan, but we’d been interrupted every time I’d tried to ask him about it.
I rubbed my chest, trying to convince the chain linking our fates to settle down.
A silver knife, the hilt adorned with diamonds and sky blue gems, flashed in beneath the canopy of bubble lights.
Servants placed a matching bowl between Heraphia and Iaoth.
Horror encased me in ice. I couldn’t breathe. The Korona intended to be the one to share her power with my best friend.
No no no no no no no…
Iaoth’s power was stronger than Heraphia’s. Even if it was possible to channel it, Heraphia couldn’t hold so much at once.
The sharp edge pressed into the Korona’s flesh as she intoned a prayer to the Goddess. “Radiant Mother, creator of all life, hear my prayer. Cleanse this world with Your holy light. I walk in Your truth, illuminated by Your divine will. Let Your justice flow through my hands.”
And then, she sliced.
Garnet bloomed on her skin.
“Bloodletting? We are no better than Demons,” the female from before snapped.
I met her gaze and gave her a nod, urging her to continue even if I disagreed with her harsh views of the people who shared our continent.
Iaoth snarled, shooting to her feet. In three long strides, she stood before the Seer. Red dotted the air as she lifted a hand and pointed two fingers straight at the female’s forehead. “I only need a vessel for power. I don’t need you.”
The Seer’s scream ripped through the air as radiance snapped forth and disappeared into the orifices of her head. Nails clawed at her temples as blood dripped from her ears.
“I’m going to be sick,” I muttered, pressing my hands into my stomach. Lyriasthe was there a moment later with a bowl, her hand rubbing soothing circles over my back. Bile heaved from my belly, my sounds drowned out by the female’s cries.
By the time she crumpled into nothing more than a glassy-eyed shell, my skin was clammy. Lyriasthe fanned me with a large palm, but it did nothing to steady the tremble in my hands.
The Seer sat there, blank, unblinking, as if her essence had been scooped out and only her exterior remained.
Iaoth spun on her heel, gliding back to the center of the room where Heraphia had waited, unflinching. Like she too had been hollowed out.
“Now, where were we?” the Korona asked like she hadn’t just stripped the poor female of her memories, her identity, everything that made her, her. And she’d done it in less than a minute. There was nothing the Seer, or anyone else, could have done.
Hate, black as pitch, surged inside me. I glared at my mate’s sister as she sliced again into her flesh, letting her lifeblood drain into the dish.
She offered the blade to Heraphia, hilt first. My friend accepted it, hands steady and sure as she made her own contribution.
“Sanctify us with Your grace. Let no doubt poison our hearts. Let no mercy be given to the wicked,” the Korona continued to pray.
Once Heraphia had finished her offering, Iaoth used the tip of the dagger to swirl the ruby ruin. Dipping a finger into the mixture, she painted runes on herself, then on Heraphia’s outstretched arms. Incandescence whispered around them, locking their stained palms together.
And I knew once their blood mixed, nothing could be undone.
“Burn away all false visions. Leave only Your holy order behind. Let us See.”
Both females dropped their heads. Air froze in my lungs as I waited to see if whatever Iaoth had done had worked.
Others held their stones or inhaled their herbs, falling into their own power.
And still, I didn’t move.
Lyriasthe handed me a glass of water, and I drained it, barely noting the citrus flavor.