Chapter 7
CHAPTER SEVEN
Briar
Hours passed, but my steps never faltered as I continued toward the harem. The sun was low in the sky and barely above the horizon when we arrived.
Since I’d never seen it before, I hadn’t known what to expect, but the towering, three-story building before me wasn’t it. Each of the stories got a little smaller than the one below it, so the structure resembled a pyramid with a rising, cylindrical tower directly in the center.
From the very top of the tower, two flags waved. The black flag contained a moon, while the other had a sun. Each flag represented the night and day casters as the building straddled the boundary between our lands. If I walked all the way through, I’d emerge in the kingdom of Luminaire.
The entire structure, including the tower, was constructed from tiles of various colors, including reds, yellows, oranges, blacks, grays, whites, dark blues, and deep purples. They swirled together to create colorful patterns, but a moon featured prominently on the wall before me.
Surrounding the building was a clear protective barrier that allowed only night or day casters through it. Other eternals could only enter if accompanied by one of our kind.
The towering, beautiful building gave no hint of the horrors it hid. A lump formed in my throat; I dreaded entering this place of suffering, but I didn’t have a choice.
Besides, Seth was within. It had been ten years since I’d last seen him, and while I was sure time and the degradations he endured here would have changed him considerably from the sweet, loving, wonderful man I once knew, I would not leave him here.
I’d do whatever it took to get him out of there.
“It is time,” one of the priests stated. “Her Needing is drawing nearer.”
The priest stood with his arms crossed before him and his hands tucked into the sleeves of his black robe. From beneath the hood covering his head, his brown eyes glittered as he watched me. The hunger in his gaze sent a shiver of apprehension down my spine.
I’d been off-limits to all of them before this, even though they all knew I’d had sex with Seth. I hadn’t followed our ways, but they all had when it came to me. I was sure some of them would have at least tried with me if my mother hadn’t locked me away.
Until I left this harem to bind myself to one god or another, I remained off-limits to my kind. That would change once I exited this place.
Despite my earlier transgression with Seth, they all expected me to return to Nightshade when this was over. I was Marina’s daughter after all, and I already knew the pleasures of the flesh. None of them expected me to withstand the frenzy of my Needing and the temptations locked within.
They would soon learn how wrong they all were. Not only did I not see any of the eternals within as a temptation, but I would walk out of the harem and never return to any of my kind.
I would also withstand the fervor of my Needing. They all said it was impossible not to give in to at least masturbation, as that was how the day casters got through it, but I had no intention of being like any of them.
Of course, I had no idea how intense the Needing would be, but I was sure I could get through it. When I found Seth, I’d find some way to get him free of this building, and we’d run as far and as fast as we could before my Needing hit, and then I’d have to bear it alone.
I knew the ecstasy Seth could give me and yearned for him for ten years. Throughout that decade, my love for him had never wavered, but I knew what they’d done to him here and doubted his love for me had withstood so easily.
I was his mate, and he’d marked me as such, but my kind… my mother… was the one who put him here. She’d imprisoned him because of me, but even if he hated me, I’d free him.
I certainly didn’t expect him to help me through my Needing, and if he rejected me, I didn’t want any others. And if he offered to help me through my Needing, I’d refuse him. I still loved him, and always would, but we no longer knew each other.
Besides, I was determined not to be like either of my kind. I had to get through my Needing on my own, away from these walls, and without binding myself to a god afterward.
It was the only thing I could think of that would separate me from the rest of the casters. I had no idea what it would make me afterward, but I’d find out.
My fingers clenched as I resisted touching the sacred scars from where Seth marked me as his mate. He may hate me now, but something more than love bound us together, and it always would.
Many times over the years, my fingers had traced the faint, white punctures as I recalled our dreams of a better future. They’d torn those aspirations away from us, but nothing could take my memories of our time together.
And soon I would see him again. My heart raced with excitement while dread twisted through my stomach. I couldn’t blame him if he hated me, but it would devastate me.
“Are you ready to embrace your future?” the priest inquired.
I managed to keep my lips from twitching into a sneer as I stared unblinkingly back at the priest. They held a position of power in our kingdom and performed the monthly ritual of worship for Mond and Lune, our moon god and goddess.
Since I was unbound, I couldn’t attend the meetings, but I had a good idea about what happened there, as their moans and cries often traveled down the mountain. I didn’t give a shit about their special position in our society; I hated them all.
My mother’s eyes held mine as she stepped forward. Leaning close, she whispered in my ear, “If you embarrass me, I’ll make the rest of your life a living hell. Do you understand, sweet daughter?”
I understood perfectly well and had no doubt she’d hunt and torment me for the rest of my days, but that wasn’t any different than what she’d done to me for the past ten years.
Even if I did leave the harem and return to Nightshade, I had no hope she’d finally treat me with kindness. She never had and never would.
“I would never do such a thing, Mother,” I murmured.
When she pulled away, her icy eyes glinted with malice. I suspected she was the only one who believed I might not return to Nightshade, and she was right.