The door to the room stood ajar, as if it were waiting for my entry.
Dread swiped a chill down my spine.
With one last look at my mate, who offered me a subtle nod, I dragged my feet onward.
Smoke curled in my nostrils, bringing bile to my throat. For a flash, it wasn’t the herbal concoction they used to heighten our power—it was the pyre upon which my best friend burned.
White lights floated dim and low, barely revealing the hunched figures in the rows ahead. A few of the females slumped in their chairs, arms crossed over their bellies. Others curled in on themselves, bracing their head in their hands.
Exhaustion simmered within the Seers. Only one glanced up at me as I approached my seat. Even then, she said nothing, too drained for her lips to move.
Attendants bustled about, offering enhancements to each hollow shell. Lyriasthe appeared at my side, her tray brimming with everything I could possibly use to wield my power. Heraphia’s aquamarine was among them.
I sucked in a sharp breath as I lifted it from its cushion. It was heavy enough to rival the grief in my heart and cool like her forehead had been when I kissed it goodbye.
“How are you?” Lyriasthe asked under her breath.
“Alive.” I clutched the stone to my chest and settled against the cushions on my chair.
It wasn’t quite time for us to begin, and yet I couldn’t wait to leave. Tension held my muscles moments from leaping and racing away from this place. The air thickened, and I drowned in smoke.
A hand on my arm had me looking back to the Elessarum member. “I’m right here.”
I nodded, forcing myself to relax the muscles in my shoulders.
The door slammed shut, making me jump. The other Seers barely seemed to register the sound.
Until Iaoth’s shrill voice pierced the air.
Rage stormed inside me. I’d heard Vaeron arguing with his sister through a foggy haze, and I’d figured it was about my lack of presence here. So when her gaze landed on me and she smiled, my suspicions were confirmed.
“Ah, Sylaira,” she cooed like we were old friends, “So glad you have finally rejoined us. All your rest should have you primed to See today. I wonder what the Goddess will offer you?”
I stuck my tongue in the side of my cheek. There was no chance me opening my mouth would result in anything other than barbed words.
When I didn’t respond, she let out a heavy, disappointed sigh and addressed the other side of the room. “Now, my darlings, I know you’re tired, but saving our people is paramount. I trust that you will all open wide for our Goddess.”
No one replied.
Iaoth frowned. Then, she shook her head, the silver circlet on her brow glittering in the low light. “Well, let’s begin with a prayer then.”
She bowed her head. Not many others had to move to dothe same from their current posture. I kept mine aloft and glared at the Korona.
“Radiant Mother, creator of all life, hear my prayer. Cleanse this world with Your holy light. I walk in your truth, illuminated by your divine will. Let Your justice flow through my hands,” she began.
My nostrils flared as she continued with her adulation. Each false word that slipped between her teeth twisted a whirlwind of anger tighter inside me.
By the time she finished, it had grown too furious to contain.
If she wanted us to be pious, I’d give her the kind that set her ambitions ablaze. “Goddess, burn away all hatred so that we may find peace within our realms.”
Gasps bloomed from seeds of silence.
Iaoth’s gaze snapped to mine. My lips curled back from my teeth in a vicious grin. Let her swipe her claws at me in front of all these people. They all knew who I was. What my power was supposed to be. Who Heraphia had been to me.
For once, I was not afraid of the Korona.
That hatred I’d asked the Goddess to remove hadn’t been for me.
