Pitch black, but for a twist of gold and silver running down the center of each petal.
“The darkness is my birthright,” I whispered, setting the damning Truth back in its pot, then cracked my neck, watching her from beneath the fan of my lashes. “It shall be oursalvation. The things I can do… the things Iwilldo once I’m free of that fucking parasite… I’ll teach you everything.” Extending my hand, I let my blood-lust shine. “The darkness is not a thing to be feared, but embraced. They’ll kneel at our feet and weep for the memory of mercy.”
“They’ll do no such thing, you deluded little fool.” She pulled the Lotus toward her, inspecting the tri-colored swirls with a critical, crinkled sneer. “You’re going to get yourself killed. Probably take us all with you.”
“But I won’t die a slave,” I said, fiddling with a trinket on her desk, eyes narrowed at my once-mentor.
“You’re no good to anyone dead. With you and Asher bound—”
“No,” I hissed, baring teeth, “I’m no goodhere,bound to the man who’s hunted me for the better part of a decade. The man who pulls my ki from my veins at will.” I scoffed, tearing at my wrist with dull claws, trying to crawl free of my skin. “He canheal.Did you know that?”
She swallowed, her throat working though no sound passed her lips.
“Do you understand the sort of power he now wields?” I took a step toward her, reaching for the darkness and missing. “He is not bound by the usual consequences,” I said, hiking my skirt to reveal the ends of Kas’ marks on my hip, heedless of baring myself before her. “I was never easy to kill, but now? What’s to stop him from beating me senseless when he can be rid of the damage in minutes? He can keep me alive indefinitely. Make the torturereallylast, if he so chooses.”
“He wouldn’t,” she whispered, tearing her eyes away from my scars. “Asher is a good man.”
“You Priestesses and your good fucking men.” I bared my teeth. “You’re all the same. What would you have me do, Mistress? Hold the course? Tend to their sick and wounded as he goes out to createmoreon the battlefield? Killing withmypower? How long shall I wait for a good man to lead the way when I have the power to build new paths from nothing?”
“The Goddess’ plan is never clear—”
“Your Goddess isdead,” I snarled. “I watched her fall beneath the boots of Caledonian soldiers as the city burned. I watched your Temple crumble to dust, and you’ve the gall to speak to me of the dead Goddess as if she’s the one laying invisible clues in the rubble that remains? Waiting for her faithful to return?” I laughed, low and cruel. “Trust me. There’snothingleft. Tritan’s refugees came tome, Mistress. I sent them across the sea with the little I could spare. What have you done? Spread your legs for General-fucking-Tilcot and wait for a good man to save you?”
Her beautiful face paled further still. “How dare you”—she pulled a breath between her teeth—“you have no idea what I’ve been through.”
I shrugged, belatedly trying to leash my unstable temper. “We all have our war stories.” Taking a step toward her, I tried again, reaching for her hand. “We alone have the power to be free of those parasites. Help me. Help me gather the Priestesses and ready them to fight. Get these chains off me, High Priestess. Free the darkness in my soul and I will open the door for—”
“Goddess, don’t you see? The Priestesses are no more. The Trila-Glís are no more,” she said, her touch cool, absent the majesty she was born to wield. “With your capture, there are none of us free of the Empire. The Caledonians hold all the power, but with you and the young lord Rawlings bound”—she grinned—“everything has changed.”
Something cold slid down my back. “What do you mean?”
“Two of the Goddess’ chosen, bound as you are? Such a thing has never happened before,” she said, reclaiming her seat and urging me to do the same. “The power that boy can wield is—”
“Nothis,”I said, stiff on my feet, resisting her and the secret glint whispering of something unknown. “Why… why are you championing him…” I trailed off, gooseflesh rising as the cold spread.“You,”I whispered, taking a step back. “You taught him to heal.Yougave him that power.”
She sighed, opening a desk drawer and withdrawing an overlarge, iron ring. “I have been a slave of the Empire a long time, girl,” she said, and donning the jewelry, the High Priestess stood, eyes fluttering closed as if euphoria cascaded through her blood.
It was a look I knew well. One that sent jealousy to pinch at the back of my throat.
Hands braced on her desk, the High Priestess continued, saying, “I’ve been a slave long enough to hear of the wood’s menace, even in the capital.” She sighed, straightening. “I’ve been here long enough to knoweverythinghas a price.”
Swallowing the terror before it clotted at the back of my throat, I gave a voice instead. “What have you done?”
“I’ve always suspected you’d succumb to your weakness. Become an Empath.” She rounded the desk, spinning the ring on her thumb. Her strides slow. Measured and sleek with a confidence she shouldn’t have possessed. “I wasn’t sure until I saw what’s become of that forest. All the anguish, all the hurt and sadness of this war? You fed it to the earth. That forest is twisted with it. Dark, like the petals of your Flourishing.” She stopped before me with a crooked smile. “It’s a thing of pure, raw beauty.”
Heart in my throat, I said nothing. Watching her twist that ring, my branded knuckle tingling with memories of fire and betrayal.
“But here I am. Left with the worst version of us. An Empath,” she spat, venom dripping from her lips as she circled me. “While my true prodigy is wasted on an unexceptional Elite like Colonel Viridian.”
I followed the soft footfalls without turning my head, committing that name to memory. “Do you think I’ve come to challenge your successor for a throne of ashes?”
“No.” She smiled. I felt it on the back of my neck. “I can’t remove your chains, and I wouldn’t if I could.” Coming to a stop directly before me, she added, “Not for you. To do so would be to condemn us all to death.”
That ring.
The stone spit glittering flames that needed no introduction.
Glaith.
