Chapter 56

Chapter 56

SANA

T he moon in all her celestial glory watched over the Water Temple as Sana took her place at the podium.

The Temple was full. Fuller than Sana had seen in years, and she knew it had more to do with what was happening around the realm than the impending Blood Moon eclipse. People were scared, she knew. When the Crown had named a Queen's Blade, had implied that one of the realm's strongest and deadliest Witches had gone rogue, it had frightened people. And fear often led to devotion, a reliance on the hope that higher forces, like the Goddess herself, were still in control. That no matter how scary the world around them seemed, there was a plan in place that they could rely on. That they could trust.

Sana took a deep breath. They were going to need her strength to get through this. Because there was a plan, after all. One devised to hurt their fellow Witches, not protect them. A plan not of the Goddess's making at all.

And tonight, she would have to reveal it to them.

"We are in troubling times," Sana began, addressing her congregation. Silence rippled through the crowd as they settled back into their seats to hear her speak. Most of them had heard her speeches time and time again, but tonight would be different. As though they sensed it, sensed the strain in her voice, the room seemed to tense, listening to her words with an intensity beyond the norm. "And in times like this, I am thankful. I am thankful for the Goddess, who watches over us and protects us. I am thankful for all of you, for sharing your time with me and our Water Witch sisters.

"But more than anything, I am thankful for our strength as a Faction. I am thankful the Goddess has given us the strength to handle anything.

"Water is the element of healing, my children, but so often do we forget that it is also the element of strength. Persistence. Water can quell the hottest Fire, and even in the roughest storm the ocean remains just as deep and powerful as ever. Even Earth falls before the strength of Water. There is no stone in existence that will not eventually be worn away to nothing under the strength and persistence of a single steady drop of water."

Sana sighed, heavily.

"Tonight, my children, I am asking you to draw on that strength. Because tonight, I am going to reveal something to you that will not be easy to hear. But I ask that you trust me. I ask that you trust the Goddess, who watches over us all."

She held their attention in the palm of her hand, some leaning forward in their seats to hear her speak.

"My children, I am sorry. But we have been deceived."

A ripple ran through them all. Confusion. Fear. Hundreds of eyes focused on her, hundreds of lives about to be changed forever.

"My Priestesses will be handing out vials to all of you. I ask for your trust tonight, and I hope I have earned it."

Around the room, Sana's Priestesses began to disperse amongst the crowd. They carried baskets, filled near to overflowing with glass vials containing the golden antidote Fey had given her.

The other Temples—Earth, Air, and Fire—would be doing the same. Sana hoped their Temples were as full tonight as hers, hoped they had really listened to her when she had gathered all the High Priestesses together to pass on Fey's message. Hoped they had really believed her, as they had seemed to.

"The Queen's White Priestesses have been poisoning us, my children," Sana said sadly, and the murmurs in the crowd grew from a gentle stream and into a torrent. "They have stolen from some of us our most sacred gift—the powers the Goddess herself gave to us."

People were shouting, yelling, demanding answers, but Sana held up her arms to silence them.

"Please, my children, please calm."

They did, but the anger was still there, just below the surface, ready to erupt. Around the room, the Priestesses were finishing their rounds, ensuring every single Witch had a vial. Only then did one of her Priestesses approach her podium, and hand Sana a vial of her own.

Holding it high, so all might see, Sana continued.

"For many of you, the antidote in this vial will do nothing. But, for some, I hope this will restore something that you have lost. Something that has been taken from you."

Sana peeled away the wax top, all eyes of her congregation on her, and drank the antidote down.