The Sister nodded. “Mother Superior did mention that we might have new Sisters showing up. Especially with the new extraction quotas delivered by the Empire.”
Xenia had no clue what the Sister was talking about, but played along.
“Yes, just that. I arrived this morning. A bit late, unfortunately. The Abbess was rather curt with me. She directed me here then shooed me away.”
The Sister huffed a knowing laugh. “Don’t take it personally. Curt is her default setting. I’m Sister Jorina.” The woman extended a creamy white hand, her tattoo peeking over her cuff.
Xenia blurted the first name that rose to mind: the fierce princess from her favorite series of books. “Sister Arelinn. Nice to meet you.”
Xenia stared at the Sister before her, wanting to warn her of the danger. But lingering visions of Cael’s battered face, his groans of pain, and his bent and twisted wing kept her mouth clamped shut.
“Welcome to Meridon.” Sister Jorina inclined her head, the friendly smile never leaving her face. “You can view and classify the extracted memories after I pull them.” Xenia nodded quickly, remaining quiet. She could hardly believe this ruse had worked.
Xenia wondered what Maksym’s henchmen were doing while she was in here attempting to lure innocents into danger. They hadn’t specified how much time she’d be given, merely instructed her to lead the four dosed Sisters around the back of the Temple where they’d be waiting. Had they seen her come into the extraction rooms?
A soft knock followed by a mellow female voice informed Sister Jorina that her first supplicant was ready. The Sister padded to the door, gesturing for Xenia to have a seat in the viewing chamber at the back of the room. The woman whispered a warning about the state the supplicant was in. Something about an accident she’d suffered the night prior.
Sister Jorina left the room, returning moments later with a disheveled young woman who was quaking like a leaf.
Sister Jorina guided the young woman to lie prone on the stone extraction chair. “Relax and close your eyes,” she hummed, low and calming. “Take a deep breath and focus on the memory you wish to sacrifice to Letha the Stranger, Goddess of Oblivion.”
She placed her fingers at the woman’s temple and massaged in slow circles, chanting the words that would pull the memory from the woman’s mind. “Lui ganeth, lui cathona. Lui ganeth, lui cathona.” Out of body, out of mind.
Pale gold light leaked from the woman’s temples and into Sister Jorina’s awaiting palms. Undulating her fingers, the Sister coaxed the memory into the still air of the extraction room.
The young woman exhaled a long, slow breath, signaling the end of the ritual. Sister Jorina guided the light into a small glass vial, then corked it to keep the memory intact.
Since Sister Jorina did not repeat the process, Xenia suspected payment was not this supplicant’s motivation. She must have come to sacrifice a painful or frightening memory. The Sister left the young woman breathing deeply in the chair and walked the glowing, golden vial back to Xenia.
“You know what to do Sister, yes?” Sister Jorina whispered, handing Xenia the cool glass. “View the memory and determine if it’s potent enough to flavor the Delirium. I will check your work once you’ve viewed it. Take your time. I’ll need a few minutes to wake the supplicant and escort her to the waiting room.” Sister Jorina’s kind brown eyes swept over Xenia’s face, misinterpreting her anxiety. She tenderly squeezed Xenia’s hand. “Don’t worry, Sister. You can do this. I’ll return to help you soon.”
Sister Jorina closed the door, leaving Xenia alone in the dim chamber. Xenia dipped her head into her hands, wondering what the fuck she was going to do?
What would Cass do? Stop sniveling, for starters. Play along, look for advantages. Perhaps she could sneak out of the chamber once Sister Jorina and the supplicant left? But that wouldn’t get her any closer to the task that Maksym had set for her.
She took a deep, bracing breath, figured she might as well view the memory while waiting for Sister Jorina and the young woman to exit.
Xenia uncorked the vial and closed her eyes, then pressed the opening to her tattoo as she whispered the second half of the chant. “Mei ganeth, mei cathona. Mei ganeth, mei cathona.” Into my body, into my mind.
She bolted upright in a hard bed to shouting and an acrid, choking smell that burned her lungs. An orange glow and tendrils of smoke crept into the small berth from underneath the door.
“Wake up, Theo.” She gripped her new husband’s shoulder, shaking him as icy fear sluiced through her veins.
Something had gone terribly wrong on this ship.
Not a great start to their blissful honeymoon week in Meridon.
The pair tumbled out of bed and threw on their traveling clothes.
She reached for the doorknob, but Theo shouted, grabbing her wrist to halt her. He tapped his palm against the brass knob, testing to ensure it wasn’t skin-melting temperature before he whipped the door open into absolute chaos.
A crowd of mortals and Fae streamed down the cloudy hallway, bleary-eyed and panicked as they scrambled towards the back of the ship.
Theo tugged her into the rush of bodies, and an unnatural, blazing heat coated her back. She glanced over her shoulder just in time to see a pair of red wings widen across the hallway. A booming, accented voice shouted at everyone to take cover.
She crashed to the ground, Theo curling around her body, and a rumbling explosion nearly blew out her ears before the world went black.
She was re-awakened by a hand on her cheek, a voice shouting in her ear.
