I averted my gaze, for I did not need my gifts to know he’d relent, unable to resist the chance to see the temple for himself.
Neither, it seemed, did the High Priestess. “Information is a valuable commodity, Senator, and one I’m unwilling to risk exposing. Especially in this particular political climate.”
Valuable indeed, or so the secret weight in my right pocket would have me believe.
“A sentiment we share, Your Grace,” my father replied, and opened the courtyard door, flooding the hall in bright, afternoon sunlight. “And though the notion of a private tour of your facilities—byyou,no less—is tempting, I would be remiss in failing to note the convenience of it all. You’ll have my daughter on temple grounds, whereyouhold all the power.”
Well… notallof it. Something defiant fluttered in my chest, setting my fingertips tingling with the memory of that wild, impossible ki.
“We could just as easily meet at my estate. Or on neutral ground,” he continued, arms crossed over his chest, blocking the exit. “But then you wouldn’t be able to figure out how you’re going to use Mila to your advantage.”
The High Priestess smirked, showing teeth. “Much as you’d like to think otherwise, my intention is not to steal her from you. But neither can I allow her to go untrained after what I saw in that alley. What I sensed.”
I scowled at the floor, at my feet perched on the edge of light and dark. How, with all her Goddess-given power and control, could she be so blind? That he had managed to evade her at all was ridiculous. The most powerful living Trila-Glís duped into namingmepredator and swaddling the poor, mistreated Captain Rawlings in a victim’s cloak? Absurd.
“For now, she’ll be tested for Priestess aptitude.”
Stepping back, I clutched at the ring through a fistful of bunched skirts. “Tested?”
“Nothing painful or barbaric, I assure you.” She squeezed my shoulder, her ki pulsing through my blood, urging calm I couldn’t begin to understand, let alone feel in light of what I stood to lose. “Every Priestess who has come before you has taken this test. It’s a marker of our truest nature and scope of potential, nothing more.”
I swallowed, hitching a practiced smile to my lips as sweat dampened my nape, laboring not to reach for the Glaith hanging heavy in my pocket and flee before this test took what I was unwilling to give.
And yet, it came as no surprise when my father adjusted his collar and said, “Very well. We accept your offer. On one condition.”
A single, fine brow rose. “Oh?”
“We’re taking my coach.”
“Whatever for?” she asked, free hand planted on her hip. “The temple is little more than a ten-minute walk from here.”
“You spoke of valuable information, Your Grace,” my father said, whistling for the attention of his personal aid on the street below. “Even went so far as to conceal Mila from that other Priestess and the senate until you know how you can use her. So yes, we’ll accept your offer of a guided tour of the temple. We’ll even submit to your little test, though I imagine it’s something of a formality at this point. But until today”—he shot me a cutting glance—“there were two people who knew our secret.”
Lips pursed, the High Priestess hummed. “And now there are three.”
“I intend to keep it that way,” he agreed, and turned, descending the steps of the Senate in a swirl of blue robes. “Nothing more will be left to chance. Not if I can help it, Your Grace. Come along.”
Kneading my thigh with balled fist, I followed, unable to bring myself to correct my father’s assumption. Unable to tell him that until today, there had been onlyonewho knew what was truly hidden beneath the Glaith.
And now there were two.
“Oh, youcan’tbe serious,” the High Priestess said, hand on hip, though she reluctantly followed in his footsteps. “That vehicle is positively garish.”
The coach glided to a halt before us, Glaith engine powering down with naught but a slight hum. All four rails of the elegant,garishcoach touched the ground as one, and before we could take a step, the pilot exited his chair and opened the double doors with a flourish. His Eloran accent rolling over his greeting. “Your coach, Senator.”
“Thank you, Josh. Ladies.” Pressing two fingers to his temple, my father held the door. “After you.”
With a huff, the High Priestess gathered her skirts and accepted Josh’s hand, settling herself on the forward-facing bench. But I avoided my father’s man. Bunching my skirt around the secret weight in my pocket, I settled at the High Priestess’ side, once more wearing the skin of a demure senator’s daughter.
Obedient. Poised.
Sweating through my shift, I held the bundle of fabric and forbidden secrets balled tight in my fist.
Taking the spot directly opposite, my father said, “To the temple, Josh. The High Priestess and I have business.”
Josh made a strange sound as his eyes landed on the High Priestess’ face, cheeks flushing a charming rouge. “H-High Priestess? Oh, aye. At once, sir. Your Grace,” he stammered, then hurled his lanky body into the pilot’s chair without another word, dropping the privacy partition between pilot and honored guest.
As the coach lifted off the ground, my father steeled himself. Spine straight, jaw set. “Mila is free of her curse with the Glaith. What the Caledonians offer can—”
