Sapient Salvation 2: The Awakening (Sapient Salvation Series)

by Jayne Faith

  “Ah, Lord Toric has you under watch.”

  My cheeks heated, and I couldn’t help an embarrassed smile.

  I linked my arm through Orion’s and angled him away from the guards. I headed toward where the Obligate women were gathered in a loose circle but angled away from them so that they wouldn’t overhear us. Kalindi gave me a sharp look as Orion and I passed, and Cheytan turned and stared at me, too. I gave them only the briefest glances. Britta was the only possible friend I had in that group, but I didn’t feel I could really trust anyone except Orion.

  “I need your help,” I said. “There’s supposed to be a door behind that weeping willow to our left. I need to go in there without drawing Akantha’s attention and without the guards following me. I’ll only be gone for a few minutes.” I didn’t actually know how much time Jeric would need, but I didn’t plan to stay in there for long.

  “Why? Are you meeting someone?” he asked doubtfully.

  I shook my head. “It’s better if you don’t know. But it’s important.”

  He looked worried, but he finally nodded. “Okay. Just play along.”

  Before I could ask what he intended, he swept me up into his arms. I squeaked in surprise, and he answered with a good-natured laugh.

  “Put your arms around my neck,” he whispered.

  I did as he said, and still carrying me, he elbowed through the branches of the willow tree that trailed to the ground in a curtain.

  Once we were concealed, he set me on my feet. He tilted his head in the direction of the others. “We’ll let them use their imaginations about what we’re doing back here.”

  I giggled. “Good thinking.” I spotted the service door behind the tree’s trunk. “I’ll wait a second to make sure the guards and Akantha don’t come after us. Sit against the tree, and if anyone comes in, act like you’re asleep. Tell them you have no idea where I went. I don’t want you to get in trouble, Orion.”

  He looked down at me with soft eyes, and his gaze darted to my lips before angling down at the ground. “I’m happy to help. Just be careful, okay?”

  I squeezed his strong arm. “I shouldn’t be long. No matter what, don’t come in after me.”

  He nodded and then sat down at the base of the tree trunk.

  With one last glance at the willow branches, I went to the door, opened it, and darted through.

  Inside, the air was cool and a bit musty. When I closed the door, I was plunged into complete darkness.

  My pulse sped at the shock of feeling suddenly blind. I whirled and reached for the door handle, but my hand caught only air. Disoriented, I twisted around, waving my arms in the dark, unsure which direction the door was.

  “Maya, I’m here,” came a voice.

  I clapped both hands over my mouth to stifle a scream as sharp fright made every muscle in my body go rigid.

  Light flooded the space, illuminating Jeric as well as a bucket and mop, some rags, and other cleaning supplies. He held a glowing lantern.

  I pressed one hand to my stomach, my heart racing. “Sir Jeric,” I breathed.

  He set his lantern on the floor, his eyes glued to me. He walked toward me and then his shoes scuffed abruptly to a halt a couple of feet away.

  “There is . . . yes . . . something about you. I thought maybe I’d imagined it, dreamed it . . .” His voice and eyes were far away, as if he didn’t realize I could hear his words.

  I swallowed, my eyes flicking toward the door. “What do you mean, Sir Jeric?” My breath came faster, and my muscles tensed as I readied myself to spring at the door.

  He blinked a few times and then stepped slowly closer. I backed up, gasping when one heel hit the wall. I was out of space.

  His face clouded, and he shook his head vehemently. “No, don’t be afraid of me. I would never harm you, Maya.”

  I steadied my nerves and leveled him with a stare, as well as I could considering our height difference. “I’d be a lot less nervous if you’d back up a few paces. Why did you want to meet me?” I asked in a firm voice.

  I thought of the sharp pins hidden in my dress. I should have pulled one out before I opened the door. Stupid.

  To my surprise, he obliged and moved away. Like a contrite child who’d been reprimanded for touching things he shouldn’t have, Jeric clasped his hands tightly together in front of him.

  I stepped away from the wall and crossed my arms, giving him my stoniest look.

  He drew a breath, and for a moment he reminded me so much of Lord Toric I nearly swooned.

  “You know that the Lord of Calisto and Earth will lead the Return?” he asked.

  Feeling less threatened, I softened a little. “I know the gist of that part of your sacred texts. Harem women are to bear children to the Lord on Earthenfell, or Earth as it will be named after the Return.”

  “Did you know that, for a time, I was to be Lord?”

  I narrowed my eyes at him, my pulse skipping. I wasn’t sure exactly what he was driving at, but the tightening in the center of my stomach told me to beware. “You mean when Lord Toric was abducted?”

  He nodded, and although his face was calm, something dark and fiery lit behind his eyes. “It should have been me. It should be me. Lord Toric came back broken. He is not fit to lead the Return.”

  “He is not broken,” I said, my arms rigid at my sides and my hands tightening into fists. “He is strong and noble.” I wasn’t even sure where the words came from, but my need to defend Lord Toric was overwhelming. “He was always meant to be Lord, that is very clear to me. And I still do not know why you needed to meet me here. Tell me now, or I’m leaving.”

  I stalked toward the door, but Jeric was at my side in a flash, his huge hand curled around my arm. I raked my nails across his knuckles. “Let go of me!”

  His grip didn’t budge, but there was suddenly such hurt in his eyes I wondered for a split second if I’d actually injured him.

  “It’s not supposed to be this way,” he said softly. “I need your true loyalty. Your affection. I thought that by allowing you to speak to your sister, I might . . .” His face brightened. “Would you like to speak to Lana again? Would that make you happy?”

  My face twisted as I looked up at Jeric in the soft blue light of the lantern, and it occurred to me that he might not be completely sane. My heart hammered so hard in my chest, I was sure he could hear it.

  “So that’s what this is about?” I asked, trying to match his tone. His grip on my arm was becoming painful, and I didn’t want to agitate him more. “You want my loyalty and affection?”

  “More than you know.” He was bent over me, looking down into my upturned face. He swallowed, and his eyes flicked to my lips, my neck, the exposed part of my upper chest.

  No. If he kissed me I would be sick. I tried to wrench my arm out of his grasp. “Let go of me. You’re hurting my arm.” I pulled away, but he just crowded closer.

  The door from the garden banged open, and I shrieked. Jeric loosened his grip just as I jerked my arm back. Off-balance, I stumbled and crashed against the wall.

  There was a low growl and a blur of motion, and suddenly Jeric was on the floor. Someone was on top of him, trying to pummel him.

  “Lord Toric!” I pushed off the wall and started toward him but then stopped short. His fists were flying, and if I got any closer, I risked getting struck.

  Someone stepped in front of me, blocking my view. It was Tullock. “Are you okay? Did he hurt you?” The guard’s eyes pinched with genuine concern.

  I just stared up at him in shock.

  He left me where I was and went with the other guard to try to pull Lord Toric off his brother.

  I gasped and jumped as another person tore through the doorway. Jeric was on one knee, trying to gather himself to stand, when Akantha flew at him. He shielded his face as she smacked at him.

  “I knew you were lying to me. You and your sick obsession with Earthens.” Akantha wasn’t screaming. Instead, she spat the words at him with as much
venom as I’d ever seen. “It’s too late for your disgusting fantasies. You’re marrying me.” She let fly a string of curses.

  Then she abruptly stopped hitting at Jeric and whirled, her eyes narrowing on me. She stalked toward me, drawing one arm back. “And you—” The guards let go of Lord Toric and lunged to catch Akantha before she could strike me.

  Lord Toric rushed to stand in front of me and faced Akantha and his brother. “If you touch her, I will kill you. Either of you.” His voice was deadly calm and steady, the violent rage of just a moment ago vanished. “Get out of my sight.”

  Jeric pushed himself unsteadily to his feet. There was a bloody gash over one swollen eye. Bruises were already forming on his cheeks.

  Without waiting for Jeric, Akantha stalked back through the door. Jeric followed more slowly.

  “Take Maya to my chambers,” Lord Toric said to the guards. “I’ll send someone to get her things. She stays with me now.”

  I watched, open-mouthed, as he strode away. He hadn’t even looked at me. Did he think I’d encouraged his brother’s attention? That I wanted it?

  “He’s not angry with you,” Tullock whispered to me. “He’s angry with us. We shouldn’t have let you out of our sight.”

  I shook my head. “It wasn’t your fault; it was mine.”

  With a guard at each of my shoulders, we left the service corridor. Tullock held the willow branches aside so I could walk through.

  My eyes widened when I stepped into the courtyard. The Obligates had gathered in a half circle, and as a group, they backed up a couple of steps at the sight of me and the guards.

  “Were they actually fighting over her?” Cheytan whispered to Kalindi.

  I looked frantically for Orion, terrified that he’d gotten in trouble because of me. I spotted him off to one side.

  “Please, can you wait?” I said to Tullock. “I need to speak to one of the Obligates before we leave.”

  His jaw tightened, but he nodded once and stopped.

  The other Obligates didn’t even pretend not to stare as I skirted around the group and went to Orion. I grabbed his wrist and towed him out of earshot of the others.

  “Did Akantha . . . ?”

  “She started to go after me with the wand,” Orion said. “But then she heard the voices and took off through the doorway.”

  I let out a relieved breath. “With any luck, she’ll forget you were there.”

  “Are you okay?”

  “I’m fine. Lord Toric is moving me to his chambers, though. I’m afraid my poor guards are the ones who are going to get punished for what I did.”

  Orion scanned my bare arms and examined my face as if not quite convinced I was unharmed. “What happened in there?”

  I shrugged a shoulder, suddenly feeling weighed down and weary. “Lord Toric’s brother wanted to speak to me. But it obviously turned into a big mess. I think he might be crazy.”

  “Then stay away from him.”

  I nodded.

  “Promise?”

  “I promise,” I said. “I won’t fall prey to that again. And I’m so very, very sorry that I put you at risk.”

  I squeezed his muscled arm affectionately and turned to go.

  In spite of Tullock’s attempt to reassure me about Lord Toric, my stomach seemed to shrink into a tight ball of worry as my guards took me up through the palace.

  My legs quickly grew tired, as the day had brought more activity than I was used to and it was a long trek to the royal apartments. I finally had to ask the guards to stop and let me rest. I sat on a bench for several minutes, chewing my lower lip. I wasn’t nearly as strong as I’d hoped, but at least I still had a few more days to recover before the Tournament challenge.

  And until then, apparently I would have new quarters. I suspected this stay in Lord Toric’s chambers would be quite different from my last one but hoped that it would provide us with more frequent time together. My chest and cheeks warmed as I remembered laying in his huge bed. What would it be like to be in that bed . . . with him?

  I pressed my palms to my cheeks, trying to cool their flush, but it didn’t help. My insides were aflutter, and my heart was tapping away in my chest. What would the next few days bring?

  14

  High Priestess Lunaria

  I LEANED BACK in my chair, stretching my sore neck. I had the secret volume of the sacred texts open before me, and my temples throbbed from so many hours poring over its pages.

  Just for some relief from sitting hunched over at my desk, I stood and went to the cabinet where the standard volumes of the sacred texts were stored. A press of my thumb unlocked the cabinet, and I reached for the second volume, which described the Sacred Signs of the Return.

  The First Sign was the advent of the ability to move through portals, which had occurred so long ago no one commented about it anymore. The Second Sign—the resurrection of a young hero—had been disputed among Temple scholars and in society in general. The use of the word “resurrection” in the text was usually the epicenter of the debate. Some scholars took it literally—that the sign would only be fulfilled when a hero arose from the dead—but I, along many others, did not believe that to be the correct interpretation.

  There was a marked division when it came to the Second Sign. Some believed it had not yet occurred. Others, myself included, believed that young Prince Toric’s return to Calisto after his kidnapping fulfilled the Second Sign. After he’d been gone for two years, his own mother had declared him dead and insisted on a royal funeral. Toric’s father, Lord Alec, had refused to attend, but the funeral was still held.

  With the announcement of the Third Sign, many had come around to accept Toric’s survival of his abduction and his return to Calisto as the Second Sign, but of course there were still holdouts. Some of the more vocal ones were calling for my resignation. The most fervent of them accused me of blasphemy for accepting a false Third Sign and demanded my head.

  Every High Priestess in the history of the Temple had dealt with enemies, naysayers, and opposition, but a High Priestess had to learn to persevere through disapproval and adversity. The grumbling and even threats were not what kept me up at night. No, I worried more about division in the Temple and among the general population. I did not believe we could return to Earthenfell if we were at war among ourselves. Not that we were on the brink of civil war yet, but dissent could rapidly ignite and grow to a blaze under the right conditions, especially when fueled by religious fervor.

  Still standing, I opened the second volume of the sacred texts, intending to read again the Sacred Signs of the Return. But as I fanned the pages with my thumb, something caught my eye. I flipped back a few pages to where there was a mark in the margin.

  My heart thumped.

  I’d have dismissed it as just a smudge, but something registered in the recesses of my memory. I’d seen that smudge before.

  I sat down at my desk with the second volume open to the page with the faint mark and rapidly turned the pages of the secret volume.

  There it was. An identical smudge in the margin.

  In the second volume, the smudge was right next to the Second Sign of the Return—the one I believed was fulfilled by young Toric’s return home after his captivity at the hands of our enemy.

  In the secret tenth volume, the smudge was beside a one-sentence paragraph in the section titled “The Sacred Sequence,” which listed the events that must occur in order for my people to reclaim Earthenfell as our rightful home. It said:

  The Lord shall step onto the ground of the homeland with his heart at his left and his heartbreak at his right.

  It was one of the many steps in the Sequence I had not yet fully deciphered.

  I opened a desk drawer and pulled out a small magnifier tablet. With the tablet’s camera eye trained on the smudge, I enlarged the image on the magnifier screen. The markings were very faint. I tapped through enhancement filters, selecting various ones until the lines of the image were darkened and the crispn
ess enhanced.

  It was some sort of seal or emblem. The shape of an outstretched wing? Yes. A wing with a patterned loop around most of it. The circular pattern was broken by the tip of the wing, as if it had poked through the circle.

  I took a capture of the enhanced image. I switched to the other volume and found exactly what I expected: the smudge was identical to the one I’d just photographed.

  I set the magnifier down and leaned back in my chair, my gaze distant.

  What did the symbol mean? And what was the significance of the emblems’ placement in the two texts?

  I’d not felt it wise to let others know of the secret volume—if its existence was supposed to be widely known, I would have heard of it, most certainly after taking the highest office in the Temple and becoming privy to all of its secrets and innermost workings—but it was becoming more and more obvious to me that I might have to let others in on the secret. I’d told the Oracle already. Events seemed to be accelerating, and my questions were piling up. I needed to analyze every line of the sequence as thoroughly as possible, and I had to know the meaning of the strange symbols in the margins of the texts.

  It was time to engage the help of the Temple’s scholars.

  My insides tightened at the prospect. The Temple’s top scholar, a woman named Novia, had been my fiercest competition for the High Priestess seat after High Priestess Atria’s passing. Since I’d assumed the office of High Priestess, Novia had always been my most outspoken critic. But she was also the Temple’s most accomplished historian and scholar, due in large part to her rare gift of perfect recall. She could see or read a thing once, and thereafter it was perfectly and completely stored in her memory.

  I tapped my earpiece. “Celestia, please clear the first three hours on tomorrow’s schedule.”

  There was a pause. “Hmm . . . okay, Your Holiness. I see you had the first two hours reserved for prayer and reflection. Important these days. I’ll schedule those for later in the afternoon. Oh! And the third hour was recently canceled anyway. Isn’t that terribly convenient. Mmm hmm. Yes, you’re all set. What should I enter as the topic of this meeting, and who are the invitees?”