She turned to the window; it was a moonless night. Had she lost her chance? It wasn’t like Liane to give up so easily, but they were also worlds apart from one another. Maybe it was simpler to let go of him and focus on the destiny in front of her.
A sudden knock at the door startled them both.
Clutching the front of her gown, Luzie opened the door and discovered a group of veiled priestesses standing there.
“The hour is upon us. The oracles have summoned the avatar. She must be prepared for the ceremony.” They spoke in unison, their voices carrying a hollow, eerie tone that sent a shiver down Liane’s spine.
“The hour for what?” Luzie asked.
But they didn’t answer and pushed their way into the room. “The avatar must be purified before being presented to the oracles,” the leader said.
Ludwig followed them, an apologetic expression on his face.
“Can someone please explain what’s going on?” Liane asked.
“Some sort of ritual, I think,” Ludwig said.
The priestesses surrounded her, and this many bodies around her caused the bile in her throat to rise. “You must bathe before you enter the sanctum.”
They pulled at her clothes until Liane pushed them away, covering her body with her arm.
“I’ll bathe, but you can’t just paw at me like this.”
They stepped back, their faces impassive. They reminded her of the porcelain dolls she’d had as a child that she and Mathias would line up as their audience for their childhood plays. When it became apparent they weren’t going to leave, she turned around to strip out of her clothes. Luzie held up a sheet for privacy and wrapped it around her.
They brought in a bronze tub and buckets of steaming water, which they poured into it as one priestess stood over it, whispering prayers and sprinkling fragrant oils into the water.
Liane stepped into the scalding water and flinched, but the threat of them forcing her into the water made her sink in, little by little. The scar on her back pulsed, and her head pounded. Luzie hovered out of reach, blocked from approaching by the priestesses who’d created a barrier between her and Liane.
Two priestesses took up positions on either side of Liane and roughly scrubbed at her arms and hands before moving to her back and then legs. They were not as gentle as Luzie would have been. In fact, they seemed to be using the roughest cloth and were determined to take off layers of her skin.
“Is this necessary?” Liane asked while flinching.
“It is essential that you are scrubbed of all impurities before entering the holy sanctum.”
“What holy sanctum? Why wasn’t I warned about any of this?”
“Because they did not know the hour was upon us until the constellation of the ox entered the house of the raven in the sky tonight.”
They might as well have been speaking another language to her. Liane knew that the Avatheos and the oracles divined prophecy from reading the stars, but she couldn’t imagine what those things meant. She was curious to find out and endured their rough ministrations.
Once they were satisfied and her skin was pink, Liane got out of the bath. The priestesses rubbed her skin with fragrant oils, as well as her hair, which they then braided into a coronet. The robes they presented were heavy, gilt, and glittering with semi-precious stones. And what was worse, they placed a gilded headpiece on top of the veil. It was reminiscent of her mother’s crown—a series of sunbeams across her brow, three gold chains on either side of her head hanging down below her ears, and star pendants and pearls. She wasn’t sure she’d seen her mother wear this much wealth at one time.
Like her other veils, this one was sheer enough to see through, but the weight of the headpiece made her neck compress painfully. And she imagined if she wore it for too long, she’d have a roaring headache. Her back was already aching, and she was starting to regret playing along.
“You are ready. Let us head to the inner sanctum.”
She gestured for Liane to lead the way, as if she had any idea where this inner sanctum was. It hadn’t even been on her tour.
“Where is that, exactly?”
“Within the temple. You’ll know it when you see it.”
Liane waited for further explanation, but when there was none forthcoming, she reasoned she’d figure it out on the way. She walked out the door, but when Ludwig and Luzie attempted to follow them, the priestesses blocked their path.
“She must go on her own, and even then, only those of the inner sanctum may view the ceremony.”
“I’m her guard,” Ludwig protested.
