The weight of the presence though…
It was heavy. Loaded. I tasted the wrongness in the air.
“We have a new idea,” the Koron spoke, finally breaking the silence. “Our High Priestess has spoken with the Goddess. Based on her conversation, we know She wishes for there to be more…happiness among her most gifted.”
The abrasive scoff slipped out of me before I could smother it. The three pinned me with their attention. I lifted my chin in return.
Muscle ticking in his jaw, Stadiel tore his gaze away from me, flicking it over every gathered individual.
“Those of similar eye color will pair up for the remainder of the day,” he continued.
“For what?” a female called out, sounding jaded and the barest bit scared. “I am not sharing power. Not after what happened.”
I held my breath, waiting to see how the monarchs would react.
Our bond tightened as Vaeron’s presence in my mind grew. I sensed him, almost like he rested upon my shoulder, watching the events unfold. I kept no barrier between us, allowing him access. Because I had no idea where he actually was, and if the anxiety in his plea for me to come here this morning was any indication, he was ignorant to his sister and her husband’s plans.
The High Priestess stepped forward, expression alight with her connection to our deity. “There is no higher vibration than when two bodies become one. When we couple in Her name, we shift the energy in this room. We welcome in divinity.”
Shards of fury scraped down our bond.“Do not fucking move, Sylaira. Do not engage in whatever birdshit Iaoth is trying to pull. I’m coming.”
A few female Seers exchanged nervous glances. The one beside me murmured, “This isn’t right.”
Another across from us snatched bravery and spoke up. “And if we don’t wish to?”
The High Priestess gestured for one of the male Seers to step forward. In his hands, he carried two chalices glittering with diamonds.
“Then you will drink this draught,” she said simply, like it was anything but complicated.
There was no real choice here. They were going to wring something out of us one way or another.
“Where are you?”I asked Vaeron, trying to keep the desperate edge of fear from my tone.
“Still in Sivy. Iaoth sent me away this morning,”he ground out.
A knife slid between my ribs. Desperation bled from his side of the bond. His frantic movements, the sense of his wings snapping out, his primal urge to come to me, battered me.
But he’s still so far…
“I’ll drink it,” one of the more eager Seers volunteered. “And I will couple. Anything for our Goddess. Anything to prevent more precious lives from being lost.”
A grin spread across Iaoth’s face. “A true believer. A loyal disciple. You could all take lessons from her.”
Beaming, she rose and approached the center of the room. The male carrying the cups met her there. He handed one off to the High Priestess.
And as fate would have it, both Seers had irises the color of the hidden sky.
Servants spread cushions around them. Dread churned nausea in my gut as they sat across from one another.
The female looped her arm through his so their elbows connected. He took a small sip, then passed her the chalice. She did the same, all the while remaining joined with him.
The lights dimmed, but did not disappear entirely. They blurred, smearing the edges of reality, and all I could see wasHeraphia and Iaoth, pouring their blood into a bowl. Marking themselves with runes. Waiting for a radiant thread to snap between them.
The buzzing in my body overtook all other senses. My heart thundered against my ribs, as I stared, unable to tear away from the scene before me.
One moment, the couple was slowly removing one another’s clothes. The next, a pulsing white glow stretched between Heraphia and Iaoth.
The two scenes overlapped, mind refusing to separate past from present, body primed with horror regardless.
