“Not yet. I wanted to confirm with you first before word reaches her.”
Liane exhaled with relief.
“I’m sorry to tell you this, but there is no suitor. A man at the masquerade intervened to help me escape that wretched Duke Licht...”
“What did he do? I’ll have him pulled apart by wild horses if he laid a finger on you…” Father said, turning as if he would hunt the man down that instant.
Grabbing his arm, she slid her hand into the crook of his arm, and he instantly relaxed. “It wasn’t anything I couldn’t handle. You don’t need to try the man for treason…”Yet. She added silently to herself.
“Ah, I see. Well, it was one unsuitable match. There will be others.”
“I’d rather there weren’t.” That wasn’t the first poor match, and she knew it wouldn’t be the last either. Until the Sun Ceremony passed, Liane would likely have to dodge even more “fortuitous encounters,” as her mother put it.
“We just want you to be happy, that’s all.”
“I am happy,” Liane said.
Liane knew they worried, but she was happier without a husband to hold her back. Besides, after Elias, she wasn’t sure she could.
“Then I suppose I can rest easy then.” But there was uncertainty in his gaze.
They went to join their family in the courtyard and climbed into the waiting carriages. Once they were settled, guards opened the gates. Two rows of guards marched out in front of the carriage, clearing the way through the crowd of gawkers gathered outside the gates. They crowded them, hands grasping, reaching out to brush against the carriages. There were more than usual, with a flood of pilgrims coming to the city for the Sun Ceremony. Artria was usually densely packed during the festivals, but the arrival of the Avatheos had brought even more pilgrims to visit.
They waved and tossed coins to them as they made their slow progress down the Temple Street. Premature summer humidity drenched Liane in sweat and plastered her hair to her brow even before the sun had risen. On the seat across from her, Mathias looked cool and comfortable. Unbothered as he waved to the citizens and pilgrims. Neither of her siblings seemed to wilt in the heat as she did. At times it felt as if she absorbed it into her body, storing it up, a theory she’d posited to the Vice Premier as her fevers were worst in the summer months. But there was no explanation for whatever illness Liane suffered. It had never been seen before.
They were nearing the temple, and the guards had to push back more crowds at the temple steps. It was overflowing with worshippers coming to participate, as was their weekly duty. Those that could not fit inside would give reverence to the sunrise outside. When a path was cleared, they pulled up against the steps, and servants rushed over to open the carriage doors. Mother stepped out first, and the crowd roared when they saw her.
She mounted the temple steps and stopped at the top to turn and wave to the crowd. Sunlight reflected off her golden sunbeam crown, and the people upturned their hands as if they might capture the rays of light she cast. To them, she had ascended to near goddess. No ruler before had harnessed the power of Cyra’s Golden Blade.
Attention given to the common people, they headed into the temple proper. The statue of Cyra greeted them as they entered, standing twenty feet tall, her golden sunbeam crown brushed against the painted arched ceilings of the temple. Distant and serene, her marble face gazed down at Liane. In her hand, she grasped a giant replica of the Golden Blade, with which she had vanquished the Nameless Goddess, sending her beyond the veil. At her feet, the Avatheos waited, and Cyra’s imposing figure loomed over him like a gilded shadow.
Each member of her family knelt before him in turn, receiving the oil anointment and murmured blessing.
“May Her light shine upon you,” the Avatheos intoned as Mathias received his blessing.
“And banish the darkness from within,” Mathias replied by rote.
Then it was her turn, and Liane bowed her head, awaiting the blessing. When the Avatheos touched her forehead, a small jolt ran down her spine, strange, electric. Though it wasn’t appropriate, Liane glanced up and caught a glimpse of his face beneath his veil and saw his storm-gray eyes. Had he sensed her discomfort and eased her pain? A priest could soothe injuries and sickness, but even the Vice Premier couldn’t take her pain away. A brief touch from the Avatheos and it was gone completely; she felt lighter than she had in a long time.
“May Her light shine upon you,” the Avatheos said after an overlong pause.
Dropping her gaze, she scolded herself for her blasphemy, none but Cyra could look into the eyes of her chosen. To do so in her temple must be a terrible sin.
“And banish the darkness from within,” Liane replied before getting up to scurry away as quickly as possible.
She joined Mathias in the front pew and felt the Avatheos’ stare follow her across the room. He must be angry at her for daring to look at his face, but it was impossible to read his expression under the veil. Liane lowered her gaze, chastely, to not draw any more of his ire.
With the blessing finished, the Avatheos held up his hands, and a hush fell over the temple.
“Darkness gathers.” He paused, letting the echoing reverberance of his voice fill the room. And it seemed to come from all directions, as if spoken by multiple mouths at once.
The hairs on the back of her arms stood on end. The threat of death and destruction were often on priests’ and priestesses’ lips, but after seeing the elves in the ruins, the danger felt palpable and near.
“A dragon star rises in the evening sky, and the Nameless One is closer than ever.” Another dramatic pause. Then with a sharp inhalation of breath, he continued, “If we are not vigilant, darkness will return to our world!” The Avatheos’ head tilted toward the heavens, and his voice cracked of thunder.
Audible gasps rippled around the room.
“Every thirteen years, the Nameless Goddess gets another chance to escape from beyond the veil, and the Sun Ceremony is not merely a celebration of light. No.” He turned ever so slightly in Liane’s direction, and she felt that allover body shiver once more, and her stomach twisted. “We must protect the light, or else the darkness will consume us…”
