Chapter Thirty-Four – Scarlett #2
‘I don’t expect you to understand. No doubt your religious education was severely lacking, considering Emperor Kalias’s determination to silence anyone who believed in a power greater than his own.
But if you could have experienced what I have, if you could have felt Fennec’s presence and bathed in the purity of his love .
. .’ She closed her eyes as if remembering.
‘The first time I ingested Selussa’s blood, I had access to the world of the divine for a month.
I’ve never experienced such a potent connection before or since. ’
I crossed my arms protectively across my chest, wishing that Zandri had warned me about the Temple. My eyes darted to the ceremonial dagger lying in front of the dais and back to Velanthe.
‘What happened to her? The Sorceress?’
‘What do you think?’ Velanthe’s smile was positively ghoulish as she finally looked at me. ‘I killed her.’
I took a startled step back, wondering if Velanthe was imagining cutting me open even now. Imagining what powers and divine access my blood might grant her – however temporarily.
Velanthe laughed softly at my reaction. ‘I quickly realised that killing Selussa was a mistake – though Fennec was certainly pleased. Besides, a being granted eternal existence cannot die completely. I dispensed with her body, but her spirit remains.’
I followed Velanthe’s gaze to the life-sized statue.
I wasn’t sure which was harder to believe – that Velanthe was old enough to have known the Sorceress, or that the Sorceress’s spirit somehow still existed.
But even as I had the thought, I realised that I did believe it.
I could sense it – could sense her . Selussa.
I stared into the cold, unfeeling features of the statue. It looked lifeless, but surely it was the source of the energy I felt. Where else would it be coming from?
I glanced sideways at Velanthe, wondering if she could feel it too. But I suspected my affinity with death gave me the ability to sense what even the high priestess couldn’t.
‘The blood only works when it’s fresh, and it’s best when it’s willingly given,’ Velanthe continued, as if all of this was perfectly reasonable.
‘Your mother used to provide some after Temple services – just a thimbleful here and there to allow us to communicate with Fennec and channel the power within her blood. We’re not monsters. ’
I wasn’t convinced, but I was careful not to react. ‘And Mira? What are your plans for her?’
‘Your mother didn’t tell you?’ The high priestess sighed. ‘Of course she didn’t. Kasmira was supposed to unite the clans and the Temple, helping us to finally dispense with Roran. After that . . .’ Velanthe shrugged. ‘Well, Zandri never had any intention of leaving her alive.’
I remembered Zandri telling me that she had a plan to deal with Mira – and the Temple. It seemed that Velanthe knew about the first part of that plan, but hopefully not about the second.
Otherwise this visit could take a very unpleasant turn.
‘Obviously, your deal with Roran changes things,’ Velanthe continued, those eerie dark eyes still fixed on my face. ‘My understanding with your mother extends to you – so it’s better that Kasmira is dealt with sooner rather than later.’
‘We made an alliance–’
‘Yes, Jadis told me about that. Unfortunately, it’s likely that Mira now knows the truth about the Temple, which means I can’t let her return alive.’
Despite myself, I felt a flicker of pity for Mira. She really was nothing to Velanthe – and I knew the sting of betrayal well.
‘Do you have an approach in mind?’ I asked, keeping my voice level. If Velanthe was anything like my mother, she would already have put a contingency plan in motion.
‘Her blood allows her to influence others – a dangerous gift, but like your own, it comes with a considerable cost to the wielder. If Kasmira attempts to use blood magic on a group of people all at once – as I instructed her to do with the Council of Ancients – there’s every likelihood that it will destroy her. ’
A shiver darted down my spine. Not just at the implications for Mira – but at the implications for me .
‘There’s no need for you to worry,’ Velanthe said, correctly guessing my thoughts. ‘Training you is part of the deal I made with your mother; once this war is done, I will teach you how to use your abilities safely, in a way that maximises their potential.’
I thought of what Velanthe had done to Mira, and I felt sick at the thought – and the realisation that Zandri hadn’t even bothered to mention this to me.
Doubts crept in, dark and insidious. I wanted to believe that my mother had no intention of handing me over to Velanthe, but I knew how much she valued power.
I could only imagine what I would become under their combined tutelage.
‘He will wake up soon,’ Velanthe said, her fingers lingering on Aric’s pulse. When she turned to face me, her hand was extended. ‘Give me his blood ruby.’
‘No.’ My hand dropped protectively to the ruby in my pocket. ‘It stays with me.’
I sensed the priestesses before I saw them. I tried to reach for my death magic, but all that rose up was a kind of icy dizziness.
‘Don’t be stubborn, Scarlett,’ Velanthe said serenely as I struggled against the four priestesses. Fury burned inside me, but my limbs were slow and non-responsive, and I felt so faint that it was suddenly difficult to remain standing. ‘We all want the same thing.’
A priestess handed the blood ruby to Velanthe, who took it, her dark eyes glittering.
‘What are you doing to me?’ I tried to raise my voice, but it came out as little more than a sigh.
‘You will be perfectly fine,’ Velanthe said, with a cursory glance. ‘I’m simply slowing your blood to make you more docile. It won’t cause you any permanent harm.’
Her matter-of-fact tone chilled me – as did the scope of her powers. But I was more concerned with Aric as he stood, his eyes wholly black – as black as the blood ruby pulsing in Velanthe’s palm.
‘Release him,’ I ordered, wrenching my arms free of the priestesses’ grip.
‘I can’t do that, Scarlett. There’s a possibility Kasmira will survive the Council of Ancients, but I doubt she will survive against him .
’ Velanthe murmured something to Aric, too low for me to hear.
‘It’s practically poetic. What better way to kill Kasmira than by using the person she loves against her?
He’s the perfect tool to ensure her demise.
’ She smiled at him, almost affectionately.
I took a step towards Velanthe, summoning every shred of energy I had left. ‘If you do this, I will destroy you–’
‘No,’ Velanthe said softly. ‘You won’t.’
And then I was falling. Velanthe caught me before I hit the stone floor, lowering me to the ground. I tried to pull away but I couldn’t move. I had never felt so cold before – or so utterly powerless.
The high priestess cradled me like a child, but her eyes didn’t remain on my face for long. They dropped to my arms – to the blood s taining my white skin. The hunger in her eyes stole my breath.
‘No,’ I breathed, and I hated that I was pleading with her.
The other priestesses closed in with sly smiles. Their beautiful, youthful features melted away to reveal glowing yellow eyes and sharp, pointed teeth. Not human at all, but–
Shifters .
I jerked back from them, imagining their daggers carving into my body and their teeth biting into my flesh. Killing me outright was one thing. But this – this was a fate worse than death.
‘Shh,’ Velanthe crooned, and the moment she touched my skin, my muscles went limp and boneless.
‘I thought–’ It was a struggle to form words. Even to think . ‘I thought you said the blood must be given willingly–’
‘It’s more powerful that way,’ Velanthe murmured, stroking my hair with sharp fingernails – wickedly sharp, and curved.
Like talons . ‘But this isn’t about your blood.
We’ll harvest what we can now, and when you’re dead, I will use it to resurrect you – ensuring that you’re bonded to me.
Consider it my insurance against Zandri. ’
Horror gripped my stuttering heart. If she did that, I would never be free. I would be tied to Velanthe until she died. And she would be able to control me utterly, shaping me in her image–
For the first time, I was jealous of Aella and Severin. Jealous of the freedom they had found in death.
Because there would be none for me. Blood and power and control. That was all there was and all there ever would be.
Except that hadn’t been entirely true. I thought of the companionship I had found with Aric and Lillian.
Then I thought of the symmetry I had once noticed between myself and Mira, when we had first met in the Ravalian Court.
The way we had both clawed to shape our own destinies against all the odds.
What would have happened, I wondered, if I hadn’t betrayed her? If I had chosen to trust her instead?
I felt a brief spasm of regret at the thought.
What sorry fools we are , I thought as I watched Aric leave, off to hunt down the woman he still loved. The cousin I had never really had the chance to know. What sorry, sorry fools.
My eyes fluttered shut as the first dagger bit into my skin, but instead of pain, I felt a tiny flicker of surprise.
I had never imagined that Mira would be my final thought.