Chapter 32

Chapter

Thirty-Two

T he priestess stands perfectly still, her head bowed, obscured by fabric. It's more than a temple gown, more than a standard veil. It looks wrong. The style is similar, but the material is different, like the one Lady Anne made for me. It could not be replicated completely because Viathan did not have the same fabric the temple has access to.

"Blessed evening, Priestess," I call out.

No reply.

Alarm bells toll in my head. There is no reason for her not to reply to the greeting or even bow her head to me, simple manners which are imprinted on lesser priestesses.

Then she shifts slightly, walking out into the aisle but never fully turning to the side, like she is trying to hide her face.

"Are you alright, Priestess?" I stand and shuffle around my gown into the aisle as well.

Again, she ignores me.

Instead, she steps closer to the altar, large billowing ribbons of incense smoke wrapping around her as she passes the last pew.

I press into her mind's eye with greater force, mucking through whatever ward that keeps her intentionally empty. I bend it into submission, finding a tiny crack to penetrate and sink my claws into.

She can sense me now, body stiffening to the change in pressure. A tense panic runs through her system. I follow it, spreading to every nerve ending in her mind and fully invading her thoughts that were previously kept so tightly behind a thick wall.

I can hear a small echo she is trying to hide, one that gives away her actions.

" Quickly, do it now. Reach for it now," she recites to herself.

I brace, planting my feet, ready for whatever she is preparing to do.

She shouts to herself, not knowing I can hear the echoes of each word. " Gun! Kill her! Now!"

My light fills the space, calling itself forth in automatic reply.

The woman spins toward me, the fabric of her veil wafting with her.

A green orb blooms, shielding me from her attack, veining and strobing from the light in my extended hand.

She shoots her weapon at the barrier that separates us, and the beams of blue bounce off but leave tiny stinging insect bites on my palm.

Her expression is furious, but there are no other discerning features. She looks like any other young lesser priestess.

I push my light forward in a forceful shove.

She yelps and her gun falls to the stone floor, and with another wave of my arm, I throw it across the temple.

She uses that tiny moment to pounce on me, sending me falling back into the aisle. She is stronger and clearly trained in close physical combat, bringing me down so fast I cannot even scream or think quickly enough to shoot my light at her.

My head is slammed against the floor, her feral grunts cutting out with a new, sharp pain in my ear.

In my dazed, throbbing vision, I can see her body on top of mine, her face turning red with exhaustion as she holds me down, a vein on her forehead bulging.

I try to take in a breath, but I can't with her hands so tightly around my neck, crushing my airway.

I grab at her arms, trying to free myself, but my eyes are so heavy. They want to close, my body needing to sleep. I scratch at her with dull fingernails as she pushes down more.

"Priestess bitch," she spits through gritted teeth.

She is going to kill me. My guards allowed this woman in, thinking we were both here to pray.

No one is coming for me this time.

I summon everything I can, all the fractions of myself and the small amount of energy I have left. I hold onto her arms, digging my fingertips into the fabric and squeezing as hard as I can, pouring myself into each point in one last chance to save myself.

Green light illuminates between us like a candle being held, lighting up her face, her angry, watery eyes looking down on me.

I loosen my hands when I feel the twining snakes in my fingertips wrapping and twirling up her arms.

Her grip relents on my windpipe, and she looks down in horror as the vines of light scale upward to her shoulder.

I gasp, breathing freely for the first time, my vision coming back to me but the ache of my head keeping me in the same position on the floor.

She stands over me, desperately trying to pull my light off her body but only spreading it around.

It travels up her neck, down her torso, and straightens her arms out to either side as she steps away from me.

My full power surges through me again. I rise into a sitting position as I lift her inches above the floor, my green tendrils of light twisting around her, doubling back, and covering every surface.

"Guards!" I shout for them so loud my throat rasps from the sharp vibrations.

Finally, I hear them opening the thick wooden door of the temple that muffled our fighting exchange.

The woman screams, but the moment her mouth opens, thin, green, glowing strands of light slither inside, holding her mouth open and full to keep her quiet.

Estate guards run in at full force, as if the battle has not already been won, and stop short where I am still sprawled in the aisle, holding this intruder still.

"Find the nearest Viathan commander!"

They both look sickly pale and stare at each other, wondering if they should listen to me.

"Viathans cannot enter the temple. We?—"

"Do it now, guardsmen! She had a gun. She could have more."

The idiots stare at each other for another long moment, and then the younger of the two runs out, hopefully to do as I commanded.

"Are you hurt, High Priestess?" the guard asks with his hand on the butt of his sword, as if he could have done anything to help me even if he was doing his job correctly.

"Be quiet."

"Beg your pardon?" His patience snaps.

"You let a follower of First Son into the temple. What do you think she was after?"

He blanches an even more pale shade, his eyes flicking up to the altar where First Mother's stones are laid out.

He starts a few nervous sentences and then quickly walks to the entrance of the temple, looking for help.

Three commanders come running in with their guns drawn. The one at the back scans the room, and the two in the front walk right up on me.

The woman's eyes go wide as she looks back and forth between the Viathans and me, and I can feel her intent to struggle, but I hold her still as they surround her.

"This woman was let in. The wards did not affect her or keep her out because she was already here," I tell them without worrying they will recognize me.

"Can you hold her, High Priestess?" the muffled voice of a commander asks me.

"I can. Have you notified the Estate? The 99th Commander?"

"We have. The 99th Commander is on his way."

My Estate guards return to my side, looking a little lost and useless with their swords drawn.

"Why isn't the fucking bell ringing?" I snap at them.

"You have her, High Priestess. There is no need," the Estate guard stutters.

"The people in the coup were dressed as workers. How many of them may have put those clothes back on when the attack was over . . . or a priestess gown?"

They all look at the woman I am holding, the small amount of her veil still visible through my light. "We cannot give that order. The emperor or the highest must."

I get to my feet, disgusted with them, holding my hand firmly outward, my elbow locked and unyielding.

Everyone remains in place as we wait for more people to arrive. I can feel myself draining, bottoming out from exhaustion. I have never held my light open for this long, never restrained someone who was actively trying to free themselves.

The moment I hear footsteps coming toward the temple's entrance, I know it is 99.

He enters, his helmet slightly turning as he looks around the room to the glowing green orb I have the prisoner in, and then he locks onto me as he storms up the aisle.

The woman tries to squirm at the sight of him, at how much larger he is compared to all the other commanders with guns pointed at her. Her eyes bulge and water, her mouth still held open, jaw locked.

"Release her." His tone is so cold I do not think he is talking to me until he looks over his shoulder in my direction.

My light withdraws from her body slowly enough for the commanders who came in with 99 to take over.

99 looms over her as her arms are held. She spits and curses at him as he pulls her long veil to the side and a strange metal square strapped to her hip falls to the ground.

The Estate guards recoil like the square will attack them.

99 squats next to it, observing it silently. "We need a weapons specialist here," he says into his forearm.

"Exalt me, First Son, most wicked of children. Find me to be worthy of The After when death comes for me! See that I serve you!" the woman says with her head tilted up toward the ceiling.

The prayer sends chills across my skin.

"Question them." 99 rises and gestures to the other commanders. "Both of them."

A commander comes next to me, guiding me away from the others.

"What are you doing?" I pull my arm away from his hovering palm.

"This way, High Priestess. It will only take a moment."

My head snaps at the sound of the familiar voice. Commander Wesley repeats himself softer so I know for sure it is him.

99 is making it seem like he does not trust anyone in this room, that I have no special treatment in front of the Estate guards. I know he is doing it to protect me, but it physically hurts to hear him speak like he does not know me.

I follow Commander Wesley off to the side until I reach a pew along the back wall. I sit and watch the other commanders question the woman whose arms they hold, their voices hushed as 99 listens and asks his own.

The Estate guards keep their eyes on the floor of the aisle where the mysterious square still sits. They look out of their depth, their embarrassment over the Viathans taking charge making them furious.

"You are shaking," Commander Wesley says, standing with his back to the others.

"I am fine."

"Your lip is bleeding too."

I run my tongue over it and taste the metallic blood there.

"I have never seen anything like that." He shakes his head and huffs. "There is a weapon of Viathan that sends out an energy field, stunning the person for a moment, but nothing like that."

I stare up at him, too angry and drained to be polite.

"Apologies, we can't just sit here in silence in case they notice." He puts his hand on his belt and taps his fingers in sequential order, drumming them three times before he realizes and lowering them quickly, as if someone has told him it was rude before but he can't break the habit.

"No apology needed. I am shaking because of shock, I believe."

He shifts on his feet. "Can I get you anything?"

"No." I cross my arms across my stomach, hugging myself tightly, hoping it will calm the trembling. "The thing I need right now is not available."

I watch 99 lean in closer to the woman and say something that makes her eyes flare and her pull back as if terrified.

If I were tethered to 99, I know I would feel how calm and collected he is, and my body would level out to match his. And if I could hug him, he would squeeze me just tight enough that I would relax.

"Wait here," Commander Wesley says and walks back toward the others, placing his hand by his gun as he approaches the group.

He gets 99's attention, and I cannot hear what he says but his tone is serious, like he is delivering bad news.

99's helmet snaps to me, and he starts walking over before Commander Wesley has even been dismissed. He weaves through the pews until he reaches my little spot, looming over me in silence.

Inside, I feel him opening his mind to me, preparing himself for my tether to connect us again. He knows something is wrong, that I cannot say most things aloud here. My light was on full display when they entered the temple, but using my gift of mind's eye is different.

Protecting the stones was a necessity, but connecting myself to a loved one when I do not fully know how strong and complicated Crixa's wards are could put him in harm's way and blow our entire plan.

I shake my head to answer his soft plea for connection.

"My commander said you were not cooperating, High Priestess." He crosses his arms, making the already massive bicep muscles bulge under his armor.

I glance over at Commander Wesley, realizing what he did.

"There is not much to say. I was in prayer when she came in."

"Were you?" He tilts his head, his act breaking a little. I can tell hearing me say that I was praying is startling when he knows it has been so long.

"That's what high priestesses do here." I sigh. "Then I noticed her acting strange, and she attacked me with a weapon of First Son, and I . . . restrained her with my light and called for help."

"She attacked you?"

"Yes."

"Touched you?"

"Yes, she choked me, hit my head. I am fine, 99," I say, softer at the end, noticing he is not asking as a Viathan commander but as the version who is fiercely protective of me.

He nods, trying to stay calm.

"I will heal."

"Good," he whispers.

I look into his visor for a long time, hoping he will reach out and touch me, pleading for him to secretly brush his thumb against my lips. But he doesn't.

I know logically he does not mean to be cold, but my body feels it. It cannot be convinced that it is not being rejected and withheld from affection. Old wounds find patterns that are not truly there and convince me of them anyway. I do not have the reassurance of feeling his emotional affection toward me and it is maddening.

I look over at the group of commanders and feel his hand brushing over my white knuckles as they grip the pew in front of me. I pull back at the sudden gesture toward the wounds Lord Hollis inflicted. My body jerks away on reflex, like a habit playing out even when I know the act was done with care.

His response breaks my heart.

He brings his hand back to his side, clenching it and trying so hard to remain still. He knows the reason for my withdrawal. His touch would have been soothing. I wanted it. But I was not paying enough attention and my body defaulted back to protecting itself, and now he thinks I am afraid of him too.

"Sorry, I am just tired . . . but I am fine. I promise. Will I see you tonight?"

He nods and struggles to turn away from me but picks up speed when the guards tell him they found the weapon I threw across the temple with my light.

I lose track of time watching them, and they eventually take the woman away with another set of Estate guards, likely to the dungeons to be interrogated more.

Emperor Matthias comes with his guards and stomps around the temple like he has never been inside. It feels very strange to watch them in a place they are not allowed to be.

"Where is she?" a concerned voice calls out behind the line of the emperor's guards. "Make way!"

They part as Crixa pushes past. Her expression is frantic and searching as she stands in the temple, head moving in every direction until her eyes meet mine. Actual relief crosses her face as she walks toward me.

I stand from my seat, confused and wondering why she looks so upset. She does not have the same tolerated disgust she has had painted on her face since I returned. There is real emotion there now, a crack into the affection she once had. She walks quickly over to me, as if I have returned from a long journey and she is seeing me for the first time.

It's overwhelming and confusing. I erased my love for Crixa, but something in me still feels moved somehow.

My body betrays me the moment she reaches out and hugs me. I melt into her arms, needing the contact to fully calm myself after what happened. I hate that it's from her.

She holds me like she still cares, like she will never truly stop loving me. How I imagine mothers love children even when they do awful things. How it is written that First Mother would forgive her most wicked of children, First Son, if he would simply come back to her loving arms.