My heart beat faster with each step I took toward the natural arch. Seven symbols were carved into the white and brown granite. Symbols eerily similar to the ancient language of the Gods, a language forgotten, save for the symbols carved on our temples.
A symbol of the sun sat in the center of four lines, beside it, a small circle with a strange swirl. Then three crashing waves and a large flower inside a small triangle. Next to them, three water droplets were grouped close together, and a collection of lines and crosses historians believed to be a kind of numbering system. All of them surrounded a carving of a small lamp. It was different to the others, not a part of the language but a drawing on its own.
When I reached his side, Terym gripped my hand and placed it palm down over the strange symbols. When my skin touched the stone, a rush of static flooded me, and my hair stood on end, the small strands floating around my face.
The king sucked in a sharp breath; wide eyes filled with a strange gleam. Had this not happened with the others?
I stiffened when he withdrew a knife from within his coat. A small delicate blade that was easy to conceal despite the flash of deep-blue sapphires in the hilt. He pulled my hand from the stone to meet the sharp point so fast all I could do was gasp at the sting of pain when it pierced my skin.
He raised my bleeding hand toward the stone. I recoiled, but the king held firm.
It wasn’t a symbol of three water droplets but reference to a blood sacrifice. And the brown marks weren’t a different strain in the stone but where the women before me had bled.
My blood smeared against white, and static flooded me instantly, so intensely my back bowed and my eyes rolled back.
Vivid pictures flashed behind my closed eyes.
Clashing metal. Sprayed blood. Bursts of bright light and waves of lethal shadow.
Screams of death.
I forced my eyes open with a gasp, and the visions disappeared. The stone beneath my hand rumbled, a feeling, not a sound. A loud groan followed and then the stone separated.
I jumped back in alarm, bumping into Terym’s chest, who barely noticed my presence. He stared open-mouthed at the rock parting before us. The movement and groaning ceased, leaving behind a small staircase leading deep below the earth.
The king pushed past me, and I barely stopped myself from stumbling to the ground. When he reached the open archway, he bounced backward, like he’d hit an invisible wall. He pushed forward, struggling against nothing, then let out an impatient snarl when he couldn’t pass the rock’s edge.
He stepped back, inhaling deeply while straightening his jacket. Then calculating blue eyes met mine. “It seems you must travel into the tomb alone.”
“Tomb?” My voice took a high-pitched edge. I wasn’t prepared to disturb someone’s resting place, particularly not someone so obviously magical. It would only bring me bad luck, and I didn’t need any more in my life.
Terym’s features calmed at my hesitation, eyes unreadable when he returned to my side and cupped my hands in his. “There’s nothing to fear, this is the destiny for which you were born.”
The urgency in his words confirmed my earlier suspicions—none of the other women made it this far. While relief filled me at the realization, apprehension continued to gnaw. I still knew far too little about the curse and what would be required of me. The only way was forward since I couldn’t deny the king, especially not now. He wouldn’t come this close and allow me to back out. I had to see it through. Not for Terym, but for Eleanor.
“Bring a torch!” He demanded of his men when I gave my agreement. He pulled a navy handkerchief from inside his vest and wrapped the cut he made on my palm. Shuffling sounded, then a flint sparked and the clearing lightened, dancing flame flickering against the trees. A guard handed me the torch, and I took it with shaky hands.
“W-what do I need to do?” I asked, praying to all four Gods it didn’t include opening a coffin. I didn’t have the stomach or mental fortitude forthat.
“It’s all quite simple,” Terym stated, gaze intent on the cave’s entrance. “A lamp lay within the tomb, like the one drawn on the stone. All you must do is retrieve it, and I shall do the rest.”
Not sure how a lamp was supposed to break a curse, but I didn’t dare question him. I inhaled once. Twice. Willing the deep breaths to calm my nerves. Then I approached the entrance and the dark steps beyond.
I sensed a slight humming from deep within, and when I passed through the threshold and onto the top step, another bout of static pumped through me. Where the king had bounced back, unable to pass, I slipped through without resistance.
Pausing, I glanced back at the king, who sent a small smile.
Right. I could do this. Just go down the steps and grab a lamp.
Easy.
With careful feet, I started down the white granite steps. The smooth stone had clean edges, as if carved by the finest craftsman—my father would have fallen over with excitement had he seen it.
The torch’s firelight danced along walls of the same white granite, the surface carved with more of the Gods’ language, and I found my attention drawn to the symbols. Though I didn’t understand most of them, some were familiar, having seen them in temples or my earlier schooling years before I was forced to work to support myself and my sister. They were difficultto decipher, our history’s knowledge of the language limited to what our temples still held, but they appeared to read like a story.
The air cooled with each step I took, every breath misting in front of my face. A humming emitted from beneath my feet, growing louder the longer I descended until a loud buzz filled my ears and I couldn’t think past the sound.
A strange tingling along my skin joined the consistent sound, and still, I continued down the steps. The longer and deeper into the earth I went, the louder and stronger it became, so overwhelming I had to stop and rest against the smooth granite wall.
