“I told you—Einar Brandrson, my grandfather, was the most powerful priest the Old Ones created. I carry his blood, too. He has taught me the words and the sounds since I was a boy. I only realized it when I saw those words carved into the walls of the broch. ‘One to open, one to close’ he would say as he sang them to me.” Silence filled the chamber as he waited for a reaction.
Hugh leaned his head back and screamed, making the walls shudder and creak. Throwing his hands into the air, he began calling out words Soren did not recognize. He heard the goddess’s name several times and he watched as de Gifford changed into living fire.
Ablaze, no longer man but creature of the evil one, he was terrifying to watch. Only the eyes and mouth appeared like those of a man. The heat of it knocked Soren back a few paces and he worried that the house would burn. Then, an instant later, he was human again.
“I will want to see you use your powers,” de Gifford ordered. “Then I must see to tasks undone.”
“The priest?” Soren asked.
“He has little will but much heart. So far, he has refused my offers. Now. Now I have so much more reason to bring him into our fold, as the good Christians say.”
“I want him alive,” Soren said. “When this is done.”
“Alive? Alive can mean so many things.”
Soren crossed his arms over his chest and waited. “Very well, the priest alive. Svein alive for your use. The woman to pay for her sins.” De Gifford laughed under his breath and then spoke. “They will all wish they were dead.”
“So, are we agreed then, my lord?”
De Gifford stopped and stared at him. “You do not trust me, Soren Stormblood.”
“And you do not trust me, my lord. This will be an interesting arrangement.”
He followed de Gifford outside to the training yard his men had set up and for the next hours, he allowed the fireblood to guide him to using the powers he held. Surprisingly, never did he feel endangered or threatened. Instead, Hugh de Gifford was a patient instructor, showing him all manner of things he could do with wind and storm and lightning.
Which made Soren very ill at ease.
They parted, each with tasks to complete and agreed that they would attempt to open the circle in two days’ time during the fullness of the moon. Two days during which Soren must play his part as a willing accomplice, convince Ran to trust him enough to play her part and fool the most dangerous man, or creature, on earth.
And yet, as he rose into the sky, searching the island below him, Soren was invigorated. And hopeful. For the first time since the changes within him began, he felt hope.
Twenty
Hugh enteredthe stairway and followed it down under the old, round church to the portal below. He’d left both the Christian priest and Ran’s father chained there, allowing them to witness more than their human minds could probably comprehend. Hugh had found that torture along with deprivation made most men more amiable to his demands.
But he also knew that most Christian priests were subjected to various practices that were or were very close to torture during their religious training. Oh, they’d be horrified to think of it as such, but the Church understood very clearly how to break men down and rebuild them into the fanatical, ruthless priests needed to carry out their duties. This Father Ander would have suffered such treatment and might be harder to break. Though neither he nor his father and grandfather before him had been believers in the Roman Church, he’d learned their teachings and carried out their ceremonies of worship while waiting for the time when he could act on his true beliefs. Waiting until their wealth and power andpowerscould keep them safe from censure . . . or worse. Now was the time for his rise and with the goddess’s help, he would be successful. First though, the goddess demanded her due.
As Hugh approached the door to the chamber, the walls began to shake and the ground rumbled beneath his feet—Chaela was hungry. Lifting the latch, he pushed open the door and entered. Father Ander was conscious and saying those damned prayers. Relentlessly, the priest murmured the same one over and over again. Hugh knew it and knew it well, for part of his preparations. His fingers moved as though holding his beads and his lips unceasingly whispered the word. Only a slight hesitation occurred when the roar came from below the stone floor.
“Hail Mary,” the priest began again, closing his eyes. His words faltered when Hugh approached him. Hugh waited for him to finish this rendition before stepping closer and laughing at his efforts.
“At the hour of your death. Amen,” Hugh offered the last words, mocking the priest. “How many times have you said that prayer, Ander? One hundred? Two? A thousand?” Crouching before him, Hugh leaned closer even as the priest tried to lean away. “Mayhap your prayers have been answered?”
Father Ander’s words came to a stuttering stop. “Aye, good father,” Hugh continued. “Your savior has arrived to help you.” He laughed then. “Oh, I see your confusion. NottheSavior, but yours. Soren Thorson has claimed your soul and your life.”
“Soren?” Father Ander asked, his dry lips bleeding as he tried to speak aloud.
“Soren Stormblood has seen the right path and will open the gateway for Chaela.”
The shrieking that came from below them at his declaration made the chamber quake. Ander tried to press his arms against his ears to block it.
“He cannot,” Ander whispered. “He will not.”
Hugh grabbed the man’s hair and slammed Ander’s head back against the wall over and over until he was almost unconscious.
“A pity you feel that way. With this kind of devotion, you could be the new high priest to Chaela. You could begin your own new church, choose your own supplicants.”
Hugh walked to the door and opened it. Motioning to Eudes who stood waiting outside, Hugh stepped aside and watched as he dragged the chosen sacrifice and tossed him on the floor. Ander began to struggle to turn away and began his prayer again.
