He sliced the blade of the dagger across his hand, grimacing as red blood dripped into the bowl. Glancing back over his shoulder at the crowd with tear-filled eyes, he turned. Running and leaping into the frozen abyss.
The crowd erupted in cheers, swallowing the boy’s scream. I held my breath while I watched the water, waitingfor him to break through the waves. His head surfaced against the whitewash of the tide, and I exhaled an unsteady breath.
He made it.
His arms cut through the water frantically, swimming to the distant shores of the barracks. The waves seemed to still for an unsettling moment, the water rippling around him in an unnatural pulse.
That was the only warning that came before water exploded around him. A monstrous maw rose from the depths, snatching his body from the water and dragging him into the darkness of the Dead Sea.
A pained scream violated my ears, cutting through the cheers like a blade through flesh.
A woman with the same shade of brown hair sobbed hysterically, thrashing against a male’s arms and trying to run to the edge of the cliff.
My pulse thrummed like a hummingbird’s wings trying to take flight as I stared at the hysterical mother crying for her son.Would anyone cry over the death of their mad princess?I suppose I would never know, but I doubted it. I didn’t know what it was to be loved.
The priest and priestess were completely unfazed. The crowd only cheered louder at the slaughter, drowning out the mother’s cries.
“Move forward.” The priestess gestured to the next initiate with a curve of her lips that looked more intimidating than reassuring.
I focused on the glistening snow. The coldness sinking into my silk slippers made my feet feel painfully numb. But it grounded me, and in an odd way, the pain gave me comfort.
I tried not to listen to the names of the Sacrifices or the screams that sometimes followed, shuffling closer to my demise.
“Jump or die!” a general shouted from the sidelines.
“Come on!” someone from the crowd screamed and an onslaught of angry jeers followed. Reluctantly I pulled my gaze to a woman with dark brown hair and frantic eyes crying at the edge of the cliff.
“Please! I don’t want to die,” the woman begged.
“This one is going to be messy,” the man who had pushed in front of me, Riven, muttered under his breath. He turned towards me with a grimace, pushing his brown waves off his forehead. But I couldn’t look away. Blood curdling screams ripped from her throat as her knees crashed into the snow.
Riven leant down into my line of sight with a sly grin, dimples flashing, his voice low and amused.
“I enjoy a woman’s screams, but usually I’m the one causing it.”
My eyes shot to his, meeting a striking grey filled with mischief. If he hadn’t seen my face before, he certainly had now.
“You are disgusting,” Dreya said from behind me.
The woman’s screams rose to a feverish pitch. Her skin was turning a dark grey. Lifeless. Sinking in on itself as though it were rotting.
Riven turned back for a moment, his face darkening as he caught sight of the army generals dragging the twisted, lifeless body to throw into the Dead Sea.
I could feel my breathing become shallow.It’s nearly my turn.
“Hey, you. Eyes here.” He snapped his fingersin my face dragging my attention yet again. His easy-going smirk returned, crooked and full of reckless charm.
“Don’t worry, Princess, I’ll give you something inspiring to watch.” He grinned and turned towards the priestess, walking with a confidence I envied.
He bowed at the alter, though the gesture seemed more mocking then genuine.
He sliced his hand with a flourish, tossing the knife back onto the alter. “Riven Ashford,” his voice boomed through the clearing.
With no hesitation, he launched himself off the cliff backwards, his body flipping in a wide arc before disappearing into the mist below.
Gasps followed his fall until he resurfaced, his laugh echoing over the sound of the waves before being swallowed by the crowd’s cheers. He swam into the darkness, disappearing.
“Step forward,” the priestess beckoned me, her eyes glowing with barely contained curiosity. The air felt heavier with every breath, suffocating me as I stepped onto the alter.
