by Jayne Faith
I’d expected them to take me along the usual route from the harem quarters to the corridor that led to Lord Toric’s bedchamber. My pulse jumped when I realized we’d veered off into different hallways.
I looked around at the faces surrounding me. I recognized most of them as Lord Toric’s elite guards, his most trusted men. I tried to let that knowledge reassure me, but my chest didn’t unclench until we passed through a doorway and I saw Lord Toric.
He was waiting for me within a room that looked like a servant area. There were stacks of linens, and the air held the fresh scent of laundry soap.
Tullock set me on my feet. He was breathing hard, as were the other men.
Lord Toric gave them a nod, clutched my hand, and silently pulled me around a few tall shelving units filled with folded towels.
Once we were out of sight of the guards, his arms engulfed me.
“The Return has come,” he said into my hair. With my face against his upper chest, I could feel the rapid beat of his heart.
“Is everything in place?” I asked, after allowing myself only a moment to revel in his warm embrace. “I didn’t have time to make sure my sister . . .”
I glanced back toward the side of the room where the guards waited.
“I’ll take care of everything,” he said.
I wanted to press him for more details, more reassurance, but he was pushing a bundle into my hands.
“Change into these. We must hurry,” he said and then went back to his men to give me some privacy.
I unfurled the fabric to find it was a flowing silvery-white gown. It reminded me a bit of the robes the High Priestess always wore, except my gown had straps instead of full sleeves. Two shoes dropped softly to the floor—silver flats—and another object. I picked it up and discovered it was a simple silver headband.
I quickly shed my nightgown and stepped into the dress. Underneath the flowing layers of fabric was a tight-fitting bodice. It was snug and structured enough to require no additional undergarment. I felt for the shoes with my toes, slipping my feet into them while I finger-combed my hair back away from my face. I quickly donned the headband, pushing it back and settling it into my hair.
When I took a few steps forward, the gauzy top layers of the dress seemed to lift and flow around me on the currents of air created by my movement. I felt like a heavenly being dressed in threads made of stardust.
I went to meet Lord Toric, and he sucked in a breath when he saw me. “More beautiful than I imagined,” he whispered.
He took my hand, and I realized he wore loose pants and a tunic made of the same fabric as my dress. He also wore his metal crown, wrist bands, and ankle bands.
Then we were off again, stealing quietly through servant hallways with a contingent of guards around us. Two of the guards carried things—I glimpsed squarish bundles that looked like stacks of books wrapped in fabric.
Everything seemed to blur as we ran, and then between one breath and the next, we were outside.
I gasped and ducked reflexively as sparks streaked down toward us. For a moment I felt as if I were back on Earthenfell, standing on the ground as the airborne attacks far above sent explosives detonating harmlessly against the shield the Calistans had constructed to protect us.
But it wasn’t an attack.
“The sign,” I breathed. Just as Hera had described, the sky was full of shooting stars.
We hugged the sides of the palace, passing what appeared to be large trash bins and vehicles that hauled supplies. There wasn’t another soul around, which meant Lord Toric must have had his route cleared in advance of our arrival. Normally, I knew, palace operations continued around the clock.
A couple of guards sped up and ran ahead so they could open a set of unmarked doors.
Back inside, we took a few turns and then we entered a hallway that descended at a gentle angle.
Lord Toric glanced toward me. “A tunnel to the ceremonial site,” he explained.
I could only nod. I was breathing too heavily from exertion to speak.
The hallway began to slope up again, and then we reached a marked exit. Instead of going through, everyone stopped.
One of the guards—Calvin—came to us and put one arm out and swept it to one side, indicating that Lord Toric and I should wait against the wall. Another guard slowly opened the door, then slipped through, followed by two more men.
I looked questioningly up at Lord Toric, but his eyes were intent on the door.
He touched his earpiece and seemed to be listening. I noticed Calvin touch his as well.
“The High Priestess hasn’t mobilized yet,” Lord Toric said.
I wasn’t sure whether he was repeating a report for my benefit or announcing it to the men nearby. Perhaps both.
“That’s good, right?” I whispered.
“Yes.”
He let go of my hand, and the two men with the cube-shaped bundles came forward. They let the cloths fall away, and I saw that indeed they carried two stacks of books. The volumes were slim, and there were maybe a dozen or fewer total.
The men set the books in Lord Toric’s hands.
The sudden sounds of footfalls behind us made me jump. I drew closer to Lord Toric as they approached, though he didn’t seem alarmed.
When I realized it was more guards, I relaxed a little.
But it wasn’t just more men. There was a tall, statuesque woman with them.
She strode through the men straight toward us, and she wore a dress that was identical to mine.
My mouth went dry. Even without being told, I knew who it was.
The woman who would stand at Lord Toric’s right. The one he called Jade.
Her gaze passed over me with cool detachment. Even in the poor light I could see the vibrant green of her eyes. Something about them seemed reptilian and for some reason reminded me of Belinda. She’d been the Obligate Elect for my clan, the woman who was supposed to come to Calisto to compete in the Tournament. On the day of the Selection, a snake bite had killed her. That had set in motion the events that had forced me to walk through the portal from Earthenfell to Calisto. That fatal accident had pushed me here and to this moment.
I turned to Lord Toric to observe his reaction to Jade’s arrival. He gave her a glancing acknowledgment but quickly returned his attention to the doorway. He was aware of her presence but clearly was still fully in command of himself.
Seeing his innocuous reaction loosened something within my chest. I wasn’t sure what I’d expected, but I’d definitely feared something—that she still held power over him, that he would look at her with desire.
That in her presence his love for me would fade, and I would become irrelevant.
Perhaps there were feelings within him that weren’t reflected in his face, but I knew him well enough to be sure he wasn’t covering anything too significant.
I turned fully to face Jade. I wasn’t about to cower or pretend she wasn’t there. I had to tip my chin up to meet her eyes. I gave her the slightest of nods.
“I am Maya Calderon,” I said.
The corners of her lips twitched slightly wider, but it wasn’t a smile exactly. More of an answer to my nod. She placed one hand on her chest. “Jelique Mazor.” She let her hand drop.
I moved back to where I’d been, at Lord Toric’s side. Jade, or Jelique as she was properly called, moved forward a few steps. She stood at Lord Toric’s right, but left a respectful amount of space between them. Still, I couldn’t help glancing over at her out of the corners of my eyes.
The door swung open and I squinted in the sudden bright light. I could have sworn it was the dead of night when we’d stepped outside only minutes ago, and I’d looked up to see the shower of falling stars streaking through the dark sky.
A guard’s wide-eyed face appeared in the narrow rectangle of the open doorway. “The way is clear.”
“Stay right with me,” Lord Toric said, glancing first down at me and then over at Jelique.
I
nodded and swallowed hard.
Several guards went ahead of us, and the rest gathered behind.
When the door opened fully, I threw up an arm to shield my eyes. They still teared in reaction to the light, and I glanced up at Lord Toric. He couldn’t hold a hand over his own eyes because he carried the stack of books. I saw his eyes watering and for a moment wondered if it was due to the light or welling emotions.
He blinked hard and set his jaw, and I realized the only emotion he was feeling at that moment was determination.
When I was able to move my arm away and look at our surroundings, I realized the brightness was from two sources: a ball of pale orange fire lighting up the sky and, to a much lesser extent, the blue-white light of a portal that had opened a few hundred feet away. Squinting at the portal, I thought I saw something—people maybe?—moving on the other side.
I vaguely recognized the area before us. It was a large promenade, or perhaps some sort of park, defined by a circle of columns. There was a large raised dais in the middle with several smaller ones around it.
The glowing portal was on one of the smaller raised circular platforms. I couldn’t be positive, but I thought the open portal was at about the location where I’d arrived on Calisto. This was not a promenade, I suddenly realized. It was some sort of sacred space.
Lord Toric had stopped at the edge of the columns and was looking over to the left. I followed his gaze to find Jeric jogging toward us.
“Why is the Obligate portal open?” Toric asked as soon as Jeric was close enough to hear.
Jeric shook his head. “I don’t know. The Obligates weren’t due here until tomorrow night. I fear Akantha might be up to something.”
Lord Toric pressed his lips into a grim line. “I can’t wait to see what it is. I must begin the Sequence now.”
My heart jumped. I glanced across him at Jelique. Her chin was lifted and her eyes were far away.
Jeric nodded. He reached out to squeeze Lord Toric’s arm and then stepped back. “I’ll see you on the grounds of the homeland, brother.”
An unexpected lump formed in my throat. Was it really happening? Were we truly going to Earthenfell?
Lord Toric stepped forward, and I kept pace with him, as did Jelique. The three of us walked between the two nearest pillars, and once we were inside the ring of columns, the air seemed to heat and thicken.
Lord Toric’s lips were moving, but it was as if a buffer of air kept the sound of his voice from reaching my ears, and I couldn’t make out his words.
I had the dizzying sense that we were hurrying toward the middle of the ring, to the largest dais, but at the same time moving in painfully slow motion.
It was so disorienting, panic gripped my insides. “Lord Toric?” His name seemed to die just beyond my lips, and I was sure he didn’t hear me.
I lifted my hand to touch his arm, but he stopped abruptly. We were just at the edge of the largest dais, though I couldn’t remember traversing the dozens of feet from the columns.
He seemed to be waiting for something. I looked around wildly, my breath coming faster.
A flame sprang up at the far side of the largest dais. I watched with growing trepidation as it spread, first zipping around the circular platform.
The two lines of flame seemed to be racing each around the large dais straight toward us.
“Run!” I wasn’t sure if I shouted the word aloud or only screamed it in my head.
But my feet were rooted by terror to the smooth, alabaster floor beneath us.
I squeezed my eyelids closed and held my breath, tensing in anticipation of the searing heat. Seconds passed, and it didn’t come.
I opened my eyes. The three of us were standing in the middle of the flames. Aside from swirling eddies of air around our feet that lifted and stirred the hem of my dress, there was no sensation from the fire. Another row of flame was forming an outer ring, too, just inside the circle marked by the columns.
I let myself breathe again, and the noise was loud in my ears. Somehow, I was in my own little insulated pocket of sound, as if the rest of the world was on mute.
Lord Toric’s lips had stopped moving, and he still appeared to be waiting for something.
We were much nearer the open portal, the one he’d called the Obligate portal. The center of it shimmered and gyrated, like looking through the surface of a pond, but I was certain there were people on the other side.
I looked up to see Lord Toric’s head swiveling left and right. His face was tense, focused.
Without warning, the ground bucked, and I threw my arms out to keep my balance. A huge thunderclap seemed to burst right overhead. I pushed my palms over my ears and squeezed my eyes closed against the sudden sound and pressure.
When I opened my eyes, the flames around us had flared so high I couldn’t see over them. But as I watched, they died back down to the level of my knees.
My breath caught in my throat. We were no longer alone among the columns and flames.
13
Toric
MY ARMS TIGHTENED around the sacred texts I held, as if some part of me sensed the presence of the High Priestess before I even saw her.
When the flames died down enough that I could look around, High Priestess Lunaria stood at the edge of the ceremonial ring. Her lips were moving, and I could hear her voice as if it came to me through a long, echoing tube. She was screaming at me, demanding the sacred texts.
My heart lurched, jump-starting me back into the Sequence. I launched into the incantations, calling out the words. I could not allow her to take control.
It seemed to be working. She hadn’t yet attempted to move past the columns.
I realized she had gone quiet and was looking past me, and I turned to see what had caught her attention.
Akantha stood next to the Obligate portal. My recitation of the sacred words sputtered and then died on my lips.
How had she breached the circle? The fire should have burned her up when she attempted to enter the ceremonial ring.
She was not part of this. She shouldn’t be here. Impossible . . .
My head whipped back to Lunaria. Had she done something to provide Akantha safe passage into the ring?
I squinted. No. The High Priestess looked every bit as confused as I felt.
I looked back at Akantha. Even from so far away, I could see the smirk twisting her lips.
I blinked hard, pulling myself back into the Sequence and the words I needed to speak. She wasn’t part of the Return. I had to push on.
I took up where I’d left off, letting the words flow from my heart. Soon I would reach the part of the Sequence where the fires would allow the High Priestess to enter the ceremonial ring. But first, the Guardian Lord of Calisto and Earthenfell, with his heart and his heartbreak alongside, would step up onto the large dais.
I flicked a quick glance at Maya. Her lips were parted, her eyes darting nervously, but she held her ground. On my right, Jelique stood impassively, her arms relaxed at her sides. Only the slight flaring of her nostrils in time with her rapid breaths gave away any inner excitement.
As I concluded chanting the current step of the Sequence, the fires all around us sent up bursts of sparks. The flames turned from yellow-orange to cobalt blue. At the same moment, the ball of fire in the sky extinguished, plunging us into darkness except for the light of the portal and the two concentric circles of fire.
My breath caught as I was temporarily blinded by the sudden change in light but quickly adjusted to the low light of the blue flames and the pale, cool glow of the Obligate portal.
I looked to my left and right to catch the attention of Maya and Jelique. Then I nodded and stepped forward. Without hesitation, they moved with me. We walked through the blue fire to the dais and, with perfectly synchronized paces, stepped up onto it together.
I turned so the Obligate portal was off to my left and Lunaria with her cadre of priestesses and harem women were positioned to my right.
With a
deep breath, I began the next step of the Sequence, the one that would allow the High Priestess to enter the ceremonial ring.
I watched Lunaria as I chanted, trying to discern whether she would charge at me for the sacred texts.
My attention was so fully trained on the High Priestess I didn’t notice that Maya had left my side until Jelique touched my arm. She pointed to Maya’s fleeing form.
She was running toward the open portal, her arms aloft.
My heart stopped. Earthens were spilling through the portal into the ceremonial ring.
14
Maya
EVEN AS I walked at Lord Toric’s side through the blue flames and up onto the raised circular platform, my gaze kept jumping over to the Obligate portal.
There were Earthen faces on the other side. Many of them. My stomach began somersaulting as the story of the field mice and the flying rats whirled through my mind. I looked up at Lord Toric, suddenly wishing I could say something, some sort of warning. I shouted his name, but he couldn’t hear me.
I shook my head. I could not allow bloodshed.
My heart thumped painfully in my chest as I checked the portal again.
The portal had opened. Earthen men were pouring through.
Terror ripped through me. I had to stop them. I raced to the edge of the platform and leapt off. Plunging through the blue flames, I raised my hands, screaming at them to stop.
But they kept coming. Dozens and dozens of Earthen men bearing crude weapons—knives and clubs—charged toward me.
My soft shoes skidded on the smooth surface as I stopped abruptly. I had to stay between the Earthens and Lord Toric. For suddenly I knew exactly what they intended. They would kill the alien Lord.
I gasped as I recognized the face of the man leading the charge. It was a face that had been boyishly rounded when I’d left Earthenfell only six months before. But now, that face was hardened into determined planes.
