Chapter 16
“Ihope,” Rulene said slowly, orange eyes flashing, “that the god you wish to kill is not one of us.”
The Sky Goddess still stood in the doorway to her sanctum, her Consort looming over her shoulder. All traces of their kind welcome had fallen away, any shreds of mortality replaced by ethereal power.
Mariah, unintimidated, gave Rulene a deadened look. “Really?”
The two held gazes for a long moment, Rulene’s shimmering glare pulling back far too many of Mariah’s layers, wrenching them from her shadowed heart out into the brilliant daylight.
Finally, the goddess relaxed, the vestiges of her godhood melting away.
“No.” The breeze brushed through Rulene’s sky-blue hair.
“I know who it is you wish to kill. I just did not expect you to wish for it so soon.” She stepped back from the sanctum doorway.
Callamus was her watchful shadow as she extended an arm, gesturing inside.
“Please, come in. I will share with you what I know.”
Mariah released her breath and stepped forward, Matheo following closely on her heels.
She halted again when she crossed the threshold, getting her first true look inside the Sanctum of Rulene.
It was a true homage to the Goddess of the Day Sky.
Sandstone pillars rose up from the floor, inlaid with carvings of a great city and the people—and animals—who filled it.
The roof was made of glass, much like the palace throne room back in Verith, but instead of panels, it was somehow all a single smooth surface.
A clear, unobstructed view of the sky; both during the day for the goddess to revel in her domain, and at night for her to seek comfort from her Consort.
It was likely a building that had never been intended to house the goddess herself; just a place to gather and worship. Which made the swaying figure of Rulene striding through its halls even more surreal, as if this place were truly a divine home.
Mariah wondered if Qhohena’s temple had ever felt that way, if the goddess had ever stepped foot in her own hallowed halls before giving her grace to Xara.
Matheo whistled. “Damn,” he swore softly. “This is impressive.”
Mariah nearly kneed him in the shin. “Language, Matheo. This is a holy place.”
“Since when have you cared?”
“This way,” Callamus interrupted, a trace of amusement coloring the rich timbre of his voice. “We’ll talk in Rulene’s private chamber, out of the main sanctum.”
Heat rose in Mariah’s cheeks. She shoved it down and fell into step beside the god.
The floors underfoot were made of sandstone, but there was something else weaving through the red brick.
Some sort of gem, the exact shade of sky blue as Rulene’s hair, poured into the floor like a river carving through the desert.
“What is that?” Mariah paused above one of the winding veins, using the toe of her boot to point it out to Callamus.
The god smiled wistfully. “The Kreah call it turquoise,” he said.
“But I know it as sky stone. Before the First War, when we freely walked this earth, Rulene made it from a few drops of her blood that she melded with the earth. She once wished to create jewelry from it, but there wasn’t time for that. Not when Kol fell into his strength.”
Rulene’s form was disappearing into a hallway at the end of the sanctum. “Perhaps one day she’ll be able to.”
“Yes. Perhaps one day.”
Mariah tried to ignore the hint of longing and sadness in Callamus’s words. It was the kind of sadness that came from living a limitless life but knowing you were as trapped within it as mortals were to time.
They hurried after Rulene. The hallway she took was narrow and dark, but at the end was a beautiful set of doors crafted from rich red wood inlaid with more turquoise. Mariah didn’t miss the way Rulene’s fingers lingered wistfully over the stone before clicking open the lock.
The doors swung open, light flooding the dark hallway, and the soft melodies of a piano filled their ears.
“Not again with that damned piano,” Callamus muttered, stalking past his Consort.
Mariah stifled her laugh, even as her mind grappled with her shock. The more time she spent with these gods, these immortal beings, the more they simply felt like people.
If the first sanctum was crafted to mimic the beauty of the sky, then this one was to pay tribute to the changes of nature—the other side of Rulene’s domain.
A large circular space opened before them, bright and shimmering with a kaleidoscope of colors.
The ceiling, still glass, was frosted and tempered.
Water droplets had been captured within their panes, scattering rainbows throughout the room.
Four wings peeled off from the main chamber, each dominated by a single color. There was a chilled, icy blue: winter, followed by a boisterous, flowery pink: spring. Summer was next, deep earthy green spreading around its entrance.
Last was a rich auburn, peppered with golds and fiery reds. Autumn. Mariah had been born in the fall. Something about that side of the room tugged her closer, like a gentle call from a long-forgotten home.
“Ah! There you all are! I was wondering where you went this morning.”
Mariah snapped away from the autumn wing. The piano had stopped playing, and a tall figure stood from the instrument in the center of the main sanctum.
“Priam, while you are more than welcome to stay with us while we remain in Desva, please refrain from intruding into our personal spaces.” Rulene’s tone was stern, as if her patience was already wearing thin.
Mariah again had to swallow her chuckle.
Priam smiled brightly. “But this is the communal space! You never said I had to remain in the winter wing while here.”
“Do not lie to me, Priam. I know you went looking for us in our rooms.”
Priam shrugged, unbothered. “It was too quiet. I was merely curious.” His pale silver eyes gleamed as they shifted to Mariah and Matheo. “And it looks like you brought guests!”
Mariah’s spine stiffened under the God of the Stars’s gaze. His smile carried a hint of an edge. It was clear he hadn’t forgotten how they’d first met.
Her dagger to his throat. The way she’d threatened him.
She swallowed.
“The young queen,” Priam said smoothly. “It’s good to see you again. Though I hope we can have a more civilized conversation this time.”
Mariah ground her teeth. “I make no promises, Priam. I’m still dealing with the mess you made but refuse to help with.”
“What mess? Saving your people?” Priam waved a hand, as if shooing away a pest. “I still think you should be thanking me.”
Anger seethed in Mariah, hot and pressing. She opened her mouth, not giving a fuck who this god was, when she caught Rulene’s stare.
The goddess gave her a subtle shake of her head. As if knowing the fury and frustration Mariah felt and telling her that dealing with it the way she wanted would not end well for any of them.
Fine. One day, Priam would understand the strain he caused. One day, she would make him understand.
There was another, more pressing matter to deal with today.
“And one of my Marked!” Priam’s attention shifted to Matheo. His expression noticeably lightened, the starlight in his hair glinting brighter. “I recognize you. The younger merchant boy from Sacale. Though I never felt my Consort’s magic claim you; only your older brother—”
“Qhohena didn’t claim him. Her sister did.”
Priam froze, slowly turning back to Mariah. She tasted the crackling energy of his power, goosebumps pebbling her flesh as his magic brushed her skin.
“I suppose I failed to consider that.” His eyes glowed brighter. “How many of your Armature did the Goddess of Death claim?”
“Four.” Mariah held his stare, even as his grace filled the room.
Matheo looked like he was going to be sick.
“She never could resist inserting herself, could she?” Priam scoffed. As quickly as his magic had spread, it retreated. A weight lifted from Mariah’s chest, and she cursed the silent hollow beneath her ribs.
Priam had made her feel weak. She hated feeling weak.
“Where is Zadione, anyway?” Mariah turned to Rulene and Callamus. “And Qhohena. They’ve both appeared to me before. And since you’re all back, I figured there would be a way for them to be, too–”
“If you ever see them again, it will not be on this plane.” Rulene’s voice was tight and tinged with sadness.
“You carry their grace, Mariah. Silent though it may be, that was their connection to this world. They could appear to you while that grace still slumbered. But since you awakened it, and awakened us, their gateway to this plane is all but sealed.”
Oh.
“I didn’t know.”
Rulene softened. “How could you?” She took a step forward, pale hair flowing. “None of this is your fault, Mariah. We do not blame you. And we are here to help you.”
“Speak for yourself,” Priam mumbled.
Callamus rounded on the God of the Stars. “If you cannot be civil,” he growled, “then you can leave.”
Priam’s lip lifted in a sneer, but he turned toward the winter wing. “Fine,” he said. “Help the young queen. Champion her to the Crieré for all I care. But she is the reason my Golden cannot walk beside me, and I will have no part in it.”
The room fell into silence as he left, vanishing into the shadows of blue and gray.
“You will have to ignore him,” Rulene said. “He’s always been the most difficult of us.”
“To put it mildly,” Callamus muttered, running a hand through his shoulder-length indigo hair.
But Mariah was no longer dwelling on the God of the Stars. Instead, her mind had sharpened, Rulene’s offer to help refocusing her on why she’d come.
“I had a dream,” she heard herself say.
Rulene’s gaze burned. “What kind of dream?”
Mariah swallowed. “The kind…” She shook her head. “The kind that can’t be real but felt enough like it to convince me for a moment that it was.”
Rulene stepped closer. “You have a question. Ask it.”
“Can Kol walk in dreams?”
The room fell still.