Chapter Seventeen – Mira
Chapter Seventeen
Mira
I sliced my palm with the blade, watching as the high priestess leant in to capture every precious drop.
Tonight’s ceremony was more important than most, and Velanthe’s ancient blessing raised the delicate hairs on the nape of my neck. The language she spoke in was strange – unsettling and powerful.
I felt dizzy as I bled into the chalice – though I wasn’t sure if it was from the blood loss or the knowledge that soon I would be a married woman. Tomorrow V?lund and I would complete the Kalurian handfasting ceremony on the balcony attached to this very hall, in full view of our people.
Velanthe reached for my bare arm, steadying me as priestesses passed around the chalice, which gleamed a deep gold in the firelight.
It was still disconcerting to see them drink from it as though my blood was a sweet wine.
All the priestesses were young and beautiful, and their white, fur-lined cloaks gave the impression of innocence – an illusion that was dispelled as one smiled at me, my blood a red film across her lips.
For a second, I could have sworn her smile stretched too wide, filled with tiny, pointed teeth. Then my vision cleared, and it was just Revna, her long, shiny raven hair gleaming as she handed the chalice to the next priestess.
No one tried to stop me as I approached the life-sized statue in the centre of the Inner Sanctum, my fingers hovering an inch from the black stone. I had once spent hours praying before this very statue. Hoping – begging – the Sorceress to hear me. To answer my prayers.
She never had.
Given no one had seen or spoken to the Sorceress in centuries, I shouldn’t have been surprised. Wherever Selussa was – if she even still existed – she was clearly far beyond my reach.
But I couldn’t help wondering if she hadn’t answered me for different reasons. If she had turned her back on me the moment I entered the Ravalian Trials. Or the moment I had killed Governor Halvor.
‘I am certain the Sorceress is watching you, Kasmira,’ Velanthe said quietly from behind me. ‘And I know she would be pleased.’
It was a nice thought. I tried to believe it.
‘I think my father would have approved,’ I said at last. ‘Of V?lund.’
Velanthe rested her hand on my shoulder. ‘He is a good choice. Steadfast and capable. He will make a wonderful king consort.’
And yet I was no longer thinking of V?lund or my father. I was thinking of how I had said much the same thing to Cassius: how V?lund offered my country stability. How he offered me protection from Roran.
I could protect you from Roran . Cassius’s words rang in my mind, filled with ruthless certainty. He would never get near you. I would kill him first.
‘You’re making the right choice, Kasmira,’ Velanthe murmured. ‘For your country – and for yourself.’
I forced a smile, but it didn’t really matter if V?lund was the right choice.
He was my only choice.
For the next few hours, I soaked in the bubbling hot springs below the domed Temple – a volcanic cavern that cocooned me from the chaotic world above.
What followed was anything but relaxing, an endless parade of servants – attendants, priestesses and seamstresses – all intent on preparing me for tomorrow’s handfasting ceremony.
It was a relief to finally shut the door to my chambers. Crossing through to my bedroom, I sank down onto the plush mattress. The moment I closed my eyes, though, I inhaled the tell-tale scent of rose oil. ‘Please don’t tell me there’s another blessing to be performed.’
The bed dipped as Odessa sat next to me. I didn’t need to open my eyes to imagine the way she perched primly on the edge, her sandal-clad feet crossed demurely at the ankles.
‘No, Mira.’ There was a hint of laughter in her voice. ‘You can relax. I’m here on a social visit.’
But when I cracked open one eye, I noticed the way Odessa stared at the wall. As if she was staring through it – into the chambers next to mine, that now belonged to Cassius. A decision I had made to keep an eye on him, and one I had quickly come to regret.
My cheeks heated with shame as I recalled our encounter the other night. How easily I had allowed him to seduce me, to pull me back into his orbit, all the while knowing that was what he did. How many people had he lured in with his beautiful facade, only to discard when they were no longer of use?
‘He didn’t waste any time,’ Odessa remarked.
I went still, thinking she was referring to me, that she had seen –
But then I heard it. Soft, feminine laughter.
‘That poor priestess,’ Odessa said, sympathy softening her face. ‘She’s bedded a viper, and she has no idea.’
I ignored the sick lurch of my stomach, turning decisively away from the wall. Cassius had never been celibate – far from it. Of course other women would seek him out, and of course he would welcome their attention. Hadn’t I known that Cassius’s advances towards me were just another manipulation?
‘I doubt she’s bedded him,’ I said, fighting to keep my voice level. ‘Don’t priestesses have strict rules about those sorts of things?’
‘Not Kalurian priestesses. They’re of the opposite opinion – most men and women here value experience over virtue.
In fact . . .’ The suggestive way she looked at me was wholly Odessa.
No trace of the Temple acolyte to be seen.
‘I’m surprised V?lund hasn’t tried to tempt you into bed yet.
You certainly seemed cosy enough at that tree-top village. ’
‘You were there?’ I asked, wondering if I should be annoyed.
‘Oh yes,’ Odessa said, without any trace of shame. ‘I’ve been shadowing you on all your excursions with the clan leader. So has Jadis. Why else do you think Velanthe would allow you to wander around without guards?’
‘I’m perfectly capable of defending myself–’
‘I know you are. But even a warrior can be overwhelmed by numbers or taken by surprise.’
I said nothing, conceding the point. Unfortunately, it was no longer the priestess’s soft laughter that punctuated the silence.
I crossed to the oval windows and flung them open, trying to distract myself from the sound of her breathy moans. It occurred to me that Cassius could have done this deliberately – his way of proving a point and getting under my skin.
But that was a very self-centred thought.
Cassius didn’t owe me anything, and his decision to take a lover probably had nothing whatsoever to do with me.
Yet I resisted the urge to storm out of my chambers, knowing that if this was part of a game, leaving would be as good as conceding this round to Cassius.
Better to stay and pretend that I couldn’t care less.
And I don’t, I thought viciously. I most definitely do not care. I had the opportunity to marry Cassius back in Ravalia and I fought like hell to be free of him –
Odessa came to stand at my side. ‘You think that you can control Cassius,’ she warned, ‘but you can’t. The only way is to use your magic on him, or lock him back in the dungeons.’
I wondered if Odessa would feel the same way if she knew what my magic had done to her.
‘Doesn’t Temple doctrine say that everyone deserves a second chance? I’ve made plenty of mistakes of my own; Gods, I killed the Kalurian Governor , but the Kalurian people seem willing to forgive me.’
Odessa shook her head, sending her white-blonde hair fluttering. ‘It’s not the same.’
‘Isn’t it? I haven’t been to many Temple services, Odessa, but I don’t think we get to pick and choose who is and isn’t worthy of forgiveness.’
‘ You can.’
I blinked at her. ‘Pardon?’
‘Don’t you see, Mira?’ A strange intensity lit Odessa’s face as she leant forward, clasping my hands. ‘I doubt Cassius has any intention of trying to change, but you – you can make him.’
I slid my hands out of her grip. ‘By taking away his choice, you mean.’
Odessa stood without answering. For a moment, I thought she was going to walk out – but then she reached for the Sorceress’s grimoire. It was lying open on the writing desk in front of the windows, and I watched her trace the opening sentence with a reverent finger.
Do you know what happens when a god loves you?
Even now, that sentence gave me a chill. Not the question, exactly, or its implication – but the elegant, looping black cursive of my ancestor.
That handwriting was proof – real, tangible proof – that the Sorceress had really lived. That she had walked the earth, just like in my mother’s stories and the murals covering every inch of the Temple’s walls.
They do terrible things to you , the grimoire continued. Curse you with eternal life. Existence without consequence.
‘I used to think the Ravalian Court was the entire world,’ Odessa said pensively. ‘But when I came here, I realised that the world was so much bigger than I believed. If beings like the Sorceress can exist, Mira, then anything is possible.’ Her eyes shone with sincerity. ‘ Anything .’
Maybe her enthusiasm should have been contagious, but all I felt was exhaustion.
‘I know you think my magic is a miracle. But–’
‘You’ve read this grimoire,’ Odessa said, sounding impatient now. ‘You know everything that the Sorceress endured – everything she survived . She should be an inspiration to you, as she is to the rest of us. I don’t understand why you shy away from the Temple’s teachings.’
‘I’m frightened of this power,’ I confessed in a low voice. ‘If anyone can understand that, it should be you.’
‘The Orders aren’t fundamentally evil, Mira. Nor is the power Zandri used to create them. She just shaped them in her image.’
I agreed with Odessa about one thing: Zandri was evil enough to taint the Sorceress’s magic and create something perverted with it. The trouble was, how could I be certain that the Sorceress’s magic wasn’t tainted to begin with?
Odessa turned towards the doorway. But then she hesitated.
‘This alliance is everything ,’ she said, fixing me with beseeching amber eyes.
‘If you’re not going to use magic on Cassius, then at least lock him back in his cell.
I’ve seen the way he looks at you – and at V?lund. You’re playing with fire.’
I didn’t disagree. But rather than thinking about the terrible choices he’d made in the past, I found myself remembering his words in the dungeons. The sincerity of them.
I’m not the monster you think I am, Mira. Or at least, I don’t want to be.
‘I know he’ll use this situation to his advantage. I’m prepared for that. When he starts scheming–’
‘Mira,’ Odessa interrupted, ‘he already has .’
She shook her head sadly and left without another word. Leaving me alone with nothing but the memory of her disappointment.
And the continued sound of Cassius taking his pleasure with another.