Chapter 7 #2
“It’s the gifting ceremony.” Charlotte leans forward and lowers her voice, as if this is a secret. “Once every five years, during Darkfall, the temple doors open and anyone the emperor deems worthy is sent to speak to the gods. They ask for magic and are granted powers.”
“Most of the time,” Antonia adds. “Or they die.”
“That only happened once. Everyone else lived.” Katherine takes a card from the pile in the center.
“I thought the emperor gave them their magic,” I say.
“The emperor chooses, but the gods have the power.” Charlotte kisses her palm and then touches her chest in reverence. The other girls repeat the motion. It’s a symbol I’ve never seen before, but I can guess what it means, and I follow along, not wanting to raise suspicion.
“I thought he gave all the Night Legion their shadow magic.” I place a card on the table.
“It’s sort of the other way around,” Katherine says. “It’s the most common gift, and if that’s what they end up with, they have to join the legion if they weren’t already planning to.”
“What if someone doesn’t get shadow magic?” I ask.
“Then the emperor finds something else for them to do. But it’s very rare,” Katherine explains.
“Like the enforcer,” Charlotte says. “I’m not sure what he got exactly, but it’s not shadow magic.”
“Whatever it is, he can use it on me any day.” Katherine winks.
Charlotte giggles.
“In front of a princess?” Antonia gasps.
“Really, don’t mind me. I grew up with…” I almost mention my brothers. But the princess of Iskvaland is an only child. “What other kinds of magic are there?”
“Well, there’s a few people who have elemental magic.” Katherine taps on the table as she says each element. “Fire, wind, water, you know. They do special things for the emperor,”
“We’re not really permitted to know.” Antonia adjusts her chair, pulling herself in closer before playing a card. “Women aren’t allowed in the temple.”
“That’s not true,” Charlotte says. “The empress was.”
“That’s right. She went in. Just before giving birth. I remember hearing the story.” Antonia turns to me. “I wonder if they’ll send you this Darkfall? You’ll probably be with child by the next one. They’ll want you to have any extra strength before then.”
My mouth goes dry. “What exactly happens in the temple?”
“The gods measure your worthiness and appoint you magic in correlation to it,” Antonia explains confidently. “I’m sure you’ll get something amazing. With a mother and father from two opposing kingdoms who united all of Iskvaland with their marriage, I’m sure your blood is going to please the gods.”
“They’ve never sent anyone who isn’t Pendralian.” Charlotte sets her hand on mine. “I don’t think you need to worry about it. And I heard they only sent the empress because she was ill.”
“That’s right,” Katherine says. “They thought she might lose the baby, the emperor’s heir.”
“I forgot about that. I remember hearing the story from my grandmother. She said everyone was so worried.” Antonia looks over at me. “She was very old by the time she first fell pregnant. Everyone had started to discuss who would become the next emperor if she never birthed a child.”
“Was she trying for immortality like the emperor?” I ask.
“I’m not sure, but I think so since she was empress for so long.” Antonia sets down a card. “But I think they must have let her mother gain that gift also. So maybe all the royal family gets immortality?”
“Perhaps that’s what the prince has. Maybe he’ll live forever like his father.” Charlotte shrugs. “Maybe you will, too.”
I swallow hard. I’m not sure I want to live forever. Especially if it means living with Caiden as my husband under the emperor’s rule.
“Maybe that’s the gift he received when his mother went.” Antonia shrugs.
“She was pregnant with Caiden in the temple. He’s her only pregnancy, her only child,” I say to confirm.
The ladies nod.
“It’s why people expected something unusual from him.” Katherine reaches across the table to pull a card from the pile.
“I’ve never even heard of him using magic,” Charlotte says. “And he never visited the temple, did he?”
“He did,” Antonia confirms. “He was a child, though. Probably twenty years ago.”
That would have made him very young. Six, maybe. I knew he wasn’t much older than me. “What happened?”
She shrugs. “I’m not sure. But Charlotte’s right. I don’t think anyone has seen him use magic.”
“That doesn’t mean he isn’t hiding something impressive.” Antonia plays a card. “He’s just not flashy about it.”
“That’s possible.” Katherine glances toward the doorway. “I’ve never seen the enforcer use his magic, either, but we know it’s powerful.”
“What exactly does he do?” I move around some of the cards in my hand so I can see them better.
“We know he can use his magic to find the relics of the gods, but there’s definitely more to it. I hope there’s some shadow magic in there. I was with a legionnaire once who used his shadows in very creative ways…”
“Katherine!” Antonia scolds.
“What?” Katherine smiles at me. “I hope the prince has something useful for you. I hope he’s not as formal and cold as he seems.”
“This is too far. You can’t talk about the future emperor that way!” Antonia’s face is red.
“Who else am I going to talk about this with?” I ask her. “You’re all loyal to me, aren’t you?”
“Well, of course we are,” Antonia replies quickly.
I notice the twitch in her eye and wonder who she’s reporting to. Is she in the prince’s pocket? Or is it just Marian who is in the emperor’s pocket? Or are they in someone else’s? The rebels’ pocket, even? All I know is that I can’t trust her, or any of my ladies.