Chapter 34
Thirty-Four
Kamari
It was Naming Day. Which marked the end of the month.
Kamari’s time to find Desmond had run out. She hadn’t spoken to the council about her suspicions that Desmond was likely murdered. She didn’t trust them for a second, didn’t trust anyone.
Her grief and anger warred together, each one battling for dominance before she realized they were one and the same. Her grief was her anger. Her husband was gone and they didn’t care, because they were the cause.
She clutched the note from Aesira in her dress pocket. Held onto it like it was something to be cherished.
More so, it was something to remain hidden.
They’d found Ravki.
Found something that would change the world, as Aesira put it.
But they had not found Desmond. Not even a single sign of him which, of course, didn’t surprise her since learning of his last journal entry. They didn’t find him, because he never made it out.
The stadium buzzed with nervousness and excitement. People were herded into their seats where they would await their fate. Sentries were stationed on every corner, ready to take the sacrifice to the arena, willing or not.
Kamari fanned herself, her cheeks flushed under the mid-afternoon sun. Hanna sat at her side, Nev and Rahashi in their usual places behind her. Her parents were there too, though they sat further down, the deep red of the Novarian colors a blemish in a sea of purple.
A long horn sounded, making Kamari flinch, before a familiar voice flooded the arena. “In the name of Celestria,” the High Priestess called, “a joyous Naming Day is bestowed upon us once again. See our sacrifice, Celestria, and in return fill our reservoirs.”
“See our sacrifice,” the crowd echoed.
“Bring water to your people who honor you in humble servitude.”
Disgust filled Kamari like days old food, rotten and vile, making her stomach dip with unease. She didn’t know the whole truth, but if Desmond was correct, astra was no gift from the goddess. Her fingers tightened around the scroll from Aesira.
Kam,
It’s been awhile since my last letter, but we found it.
We found the place we were looking for. We also found something else, Kam.
Something that will change everything. We did not find Desmond and I’m so sorry.
We’ll come home and form a new plan. We’ll keep looking.
We will find him. Make sure Nev is with you at all times.
Trust no one.
We’re coming home. I’m sorry about Desmond. I love you.
~Aesira
It had to be astra that Aesira was referring to. What else could she have found that would change the world? Especially when those very words were written in Desmond’s journal about his theory. It had to be true and she didn’t know whether to be relieved or terrified.
The stadium roared with cries and laughs and prayer, as the anticipation grew for the Naming sacrifice to be chosen.
Three bells chimed from the harbor and the pit in Kamari’s stomach unclenched.
Three bells.
A ship was docking.
She turned to Nev whose smile told her she had the same idea. Aesira and Nora were home. “Meet them at the shipyard,” Kamari said. “I’ll come right after.”
The excitement on Nev’s face was wiped away with a hardened scowl. “I’m not leaving you again.”
Kamari’s eyes landed on Nev’s knuckles, still pink and puckered from whatever punishment she’d received from the last kidnapping attempt.
“I’ll go,” Rahashi said from Nev’s side.
“I’ll tell them to join you.” Nev nodded, dismissing her knight and then she and Kamari shared a small smile.
Aesira and Nora were home and even though Desmond wasn’t with them, she could at least be glad for her sister's return.
Another three bells chimed, drowning the noise from the stadium.
Hanna squealed next to her, leaned close so she could whisper. “Nev won’t admit it,” she said, “but she’s been anticipating their return. And the king’s as well.” Kamari’s smile faltered. Hanna’s smile was so bright, she bit her tongue and kept the truth to herself.
The High Priestess was still prattling on about Celestria, listing all the ways they owed their lives to the goddess.
Kamari fought the urge to roll her eyes.
If the goddess truly cared about them, she wouldn’t force them to kill one of her own every year just so the rest of her people wouldn’t die of thirst or heat.
A sudden silence fell over the stadium like a fistful of sand dousing a fire. It was calm. Quiet. It made Kamari’s stomach roll.
“This year’s Sacrifice—” The High Priestess went quiet, nothing but her breathing sounded over the crowd. She took a large breath, then: “Kamari Orathka.”
All eyes burned into the balcony where Kamari sat. She gripped the edge of her seat, sweat dripping down her brow. “Your Majesty,” Hanna whispered from her side. “Your Majesty, it can’t be.”
Two sentries clad in metal armor stepped in front of Kamari. “Stand.”
“She’ll do no such thing.” Nev’s tall frame blocked the sentries from Kamari’s view, as if hiding her away would somehow change her fate. Her heart raced. Head spun. She gripped the note in her pocket harder, using the only piece of her sister she had to tether her in place.
Three more bells chimed in the harbor.
Hanna’s hand flew to Kamari’s shoulder. “Surely there’s been a mistake.” Hanna, sweet Hanna, spoke with such assertiveness even Kamari flinched.
The guards and Nev argued. She could hear them, demanding she stand again, but her mind had slipped away.
Back to the first day she’d met Desmond.
His dark hair and nervous smile. The markings on his arms glistening in the sun.
The way he kept his distance but she always caught him staring and he always blushed like he’d done something wrong.
How was that life so far away? How had she gotten here?
“We said, stand.” The sentry’s gruff voice snapped her back to the present. To her new reality.
When they reached for her she was ready to fight back.
Ready to claw her way out of their arms. Only, they never touched her.
Someone mumbled something from behind them and they stepped aside, forcing Nev to step aside too.
Relief pulsed through Kamari’s veins as Raffe stepped forward in the guard's place.
“Lord Raffe.” She put her hand to her chest, willing her heart to slow. “There’s been some kind of mistake–”
“Time’s up, Your Majesty.” His dark eyes were cold, distant, as he looked past her, not at her. “Looks like Celestria has made the decision for you.” His smile was all teeth and no feeling when the guards yanked her to her feet.
Nev’s sword was drawn, but more sentries filed into her booth. She could hear a cry, Hanna perhaps, but her vision was blurred. Nothing but shapes and distorted sounds pulsed around her.
Fight back, her brain shouted. Do something. But fighting and physical strength were never her power. She was not Aesira, she would not win this fight. Not with brute strength, anyway. Through the million things buzzing in her mind, one word surfaced before the rest.
Treaty.
“You can’t do this,” she spat. “You need me. If I am sacrificed, the treaty is null. Novaria will attack.”
Raffe leaned close, his moustache tickling her ear. She flinched away but he gripped her face, keeping her close. “It’s a good thing,” he whispered, “there are two Novarian princesses.”
Kamari’s stomach plummeted.
Aesira.
They would use Aesira in her place.
“You did this?”
Raffe smiled and snapped his fingers. The guards closed in. She turned her attention to her parents. “How can you sit by and let this happen!” The guards pinned her arms behind her back, bending them at such an angle a shock of pain shot clear up to her shoulder.
Her mother was half decent enough to at least look grief-stricken that her daughter was about to die but it was her father’s cold voice that paralyzed her. “It is the will of the goddess,” he said, clenching tightly to the pointed star pendant hanging around his neck.
A goddess that never blessed Novaria. A goddess that bathed in blood.
A goddess that was not real.
A hot tear slid down Kamari’s cheek and her lips trembled.
“Is it? Or is it the will of men?” Her mother’s brows bunched, a befuddled look sweeping across her face but Kamari had no time to explain before the grip from the guards bruised the back of her arms. Nev struggled against several sentries, sword drawn, metal clashing together.
“Please, do something!” Hanna’s pleas drifted over the wind like a piece of gossamer, floating and floating, until the breeze swept them away and all that was left were the noises of the crowd.
The sentries pulled her down the steps, through the stands where hundreds of wide eyes bored into her. Some spat, shouting obscenities at her. A queen that was never wanted. Others prayed over her, their greedy hands reaching for any piece of her they could touch.
“Praise Celestria,” they said. “Fill the reservoirs. Fill our cups!”
More tears fled from her eyes and when her feet hit the sand of the stadium her legs shook. Somewhere in the distance, through the raucous chatter of the crowd, another three chimes rang, their high pitches getting caught on the wind.
Aesira.
The sentries tied her to the dais, the noose snug around her neck. “Aesira!” she shouted but her voice was lost to the crowd–her people–cheering for her death. “Aesira!” she screamed again, this time choking on a sob.
“Screaming will only make it worse,” one of the sentries said. His voice was rough, just like his hands, as he bound Kamari’s wrists together with thick rope. “Be quiet.” He tightened the rope until it bit into her skin.