Page 29 of Hallowed Games

Panic twined around my heart. “No,” I said sharply. “He doesn’t belong here, and he doesn’t have anything to do with anything. He’s just an ordinary boy.”

“I won’t bring him here.” He finished buttoning his robe. “I will only make sure that he’s safe so you’ll agree to eat. Can he write?”

My heart was racing out of control, and I didn’t answer. Surely the Raven Lord would never find him. Not unless Leo went back to the Briarwood manor. But without me there, the Baron would surely turn him away. Not in a million years would I tell the Raven Lord where to find Leo.

“I think he’s in the weald,” I lied. “Somewhere in the forest.”

“If he can write,” said Maelor, “I’ll bring back a note. You’ll recognize his handwriting, I assume. You clearly won’t trust me otherwise.”

I arched an eyebrow. Did he honestly think I should trust him? He must be out of his mind.

He buttoned his stiff black collar. “I will leave him where he is or get him to safety. But if you are unable to focus during the trials, if you are unable to eat or sleep, you’re going to die here. And they will either burn you alive or throw your carcass in the fields to rot.”

“The weald,” I repeated. I wondered if he could hear the sharp edge of panic in my voice. “And aren’t you sweet to care about a little boy?”

He stalked closer and peered down at me. His body went completely still. “Am I sweet? No.” His deep voice was unnervingly quiet. “I am a monster. I crave things I should not. I hunger, Elowen, like you could never imagine. It’s the discipline of the Order that helps me stay in control. It keeps me from indulging in my worst desires. And maybe it was a coincidence that lightning struck your tower after you arrived, but maybe it was a sign. Perhaps you have a greater purpose here, and it’s my job to keep you alive.”

I stared at him. I had no idea what to believe anymore.

He walked purposefully across the room. With his hand on the doorknob, he called over his shoulder, “You will be locked in here. One of the Silent Sisters will help prepare you for meeting the other Penitents later today.” He glanced back at me before opening the door. “Don’t try anything stupid while I’m gone.”

He closed the door behind him, and I heard the bolt sliding over. His words rolled around in my mind like curses. A monster. At least we agreed on something.

I lifted my hand, staring at my fingertips. I hunger. Like him, I lusted after the sweet escape of a passionate kiss. But I also craved the creeping shadow of death.

Like him, I was something of a monster, too.

CHAPTER 15

Three armed Luminari marched in front of me and three behind. At the head of the procession, a woman with a white cloth headdress led the way, draped entirely in thin white fabric. In this part of the castle, the vaulted ceilings dwarfed all of us. I felt tiny under their soaring, peaked arches.

My mind roared with worries for Leo. As I walked, I glanced out the windows, squinting at the bright light that slanted in. The dark mountain loomed in the distance.

What had Leo done all night? There was no way he’d slept in a dark cave in unfamiliar woods.

My jaw tightened. They’d separated me from Leo when he needed me. My anger was a toxin sliding through my veins, threatening to corrode me from the inside out.

After Leo’s parents died, I’d been the worst possible choice to look after him. But then slowly, day by day, I’d grown irrevocably attached to him, and it felt like the Archon had given me a single gift after so much darkness.

The veiled woman stopped before a doorway and motioned for me to enter.

I stepped into a room of white tiles and columns where the sun spilled through windows. In the center, steam coiled from a round bath. A dozen Luminari stood around the perimeter, watching me. The veiled woman stood by the door—she still hadn’t said a single word to me.

This all seemed like a great deal of effort just to bathe an accused witch. Supposedly, it served a spiritual purpose. Purification. But I think they were trying to send a message to us. They were forcing us to strip down in front of a group of armed soldiers, to remind us that we had nothing and that they had all the power. Just like Maelor had said, I was here at Ruefield under the control of the Raven Lord, and I would do whatever he wanted.

Then again…

With the right mindset, it could be more uncomfortable for them than for us. The Luminari were warriors and monks. Maybe my nakedness would be far worse for their vows of chastity than it would be for me.

I let my cloak drop to the tile floor. I pulled off my shirt, then my trousers. The cold air of the castle whispered over me, and I stripped off my camisole, my underwear.

I took a few steps closer to one of the Luminari—a man with dark eyes and thick eyebrows. His body went completely rigid, eyes locked onto the ceiling. His jaw tightened.

“Something wrong?” I asked. “Are you thinking about the Archon, as you should be? Or are you imagining what it would be like to finally have the touch of a woman?”

They might be armed to the teeth, but all it took was a woman’s nipples to scare the life out of these virgins.

The veiled woman stomped on the tiles, and she pointed at the bath emphatically. Barefoot and naked, I crossed over to it. I lowered myself in, feeling my skin heating. The barracks didn’t have a bath, and I’d almost never had the luxury of a proper soak in a tub. Instead, the soldiers and I usually washed ourselves in a large metal tin of cool water. This? This was glorious. At this point, I didn’t even care if it was all some kind of manipulation.

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