Page 18 of Threaded

“I have been blessed beyond measure to have spent the last three hundred and fifty years of my long life in service to Onita. Qhohena chose me long ago to lead this kingdom, and just like the nine queens who preceded me, I serve this kingdom at her whim and her mercy.

“While it is true that some queens have sat their thrones for far longer than I, their reigns sometimes stretching beyond five hundred years, the Goddess has decided for my fate and reign to be different. A little over twenty-one years ago, early in the morning on the day of the autumnal equinox, my magic slipped from my grasp. It was a sign from Qhohena, an abdication of her power. I will never abandon my people, but the will of the Goddess is law.”

Ryenne paused again in her speech, her words settling over the amassed crowd. Mariah’s mind moved too slowly, as if trudging through thick mud, as she processed the queen’s words.

Did she say the morning of the Autumnal Equinox? Twenty-one years ago?

Mariah had been born that very same evening. But she knew her mother began her labor early that morning, struggling all day to bring her stubborn daughter into the world.

A mere coincidence. Mariah would not—couldnot—consider anything else.

Survive this Choosing. Board a ship. Finally leave.

The mantra again spun through Mariah’s mind like thread on a loom.

Ryenne’s soft, strong voice pulled her back.

“Now, today, we complete the process that began not so long ago, on a warm autumn night. The drop of my magic that slipped from me now resides in one of you. Today, I will let the rest of my magic seek out and find its missing piece, that single morsel guided by Qhohena herself to find her next Chosen. Have no fear; the magic is harmless. It belongs to the Goddess, and to her people offers only life and light. Open your hearts, your souls, and let her power wash over you.”

It might be considered by some to be blasphemous, but opening her heart and soul to this was the absolutelastthing Mariah wanted to do at that moment.

Ryenne lifted her arms just as her words finished ringing out through the throne room, and droplets of golden light began to pour from her fingertips, dropping to the dais floor before coiling, twisting in the air, beautiful as it danced in the sunlight of the throne room, a shimmering stream of gold. Mariah gazed at the golden light in a daze, and for a moment everything slipped from her mind. It was enchanting, intoxicating in the way it moved through the air. She forgot where she was, too enraptured by Ryenne’s—Qhohena’s—magic to notice thatthingstirring in her gut once again.

Not until she felt a firm hand grip her arm.

Ciana’s tight grasp snapped her back to the earth, her hiss in Mariah’s ear making her blood run cold.

“Mariah,” Ciana whispered, “how are youglowing?”

Mariah’s blood pounded in her ears as she spared a glance down at her body, her own hiss of surprise slipping through her teeth as she saw that Ciana’s words were true—shewasglowing. Faintly, subtly, but it was there: a subtle glow coated her entire body, the light refracting off of the gold material of her dress.

“Fuck,” she hissed frantically through her teeth. She clenched her jaw and shut her eyes, forcing her attention back inside herself where thatthingcontinued to wind and twist around her gut. Athingvery quickly beginning to cause her blood to boil into her anger, athingfar too close from ruining every plan she’d dreamed of for herself.

Deep breaths, M. Mariah inhaled once and let it out again, slowly. On instinct alone, she reached invisible hands within herself and slowly, too slow, grabbed hold of that mass, noting for a distracted moment how it all looked so distinctly silver. With a desperate push, she wrapped her consciousness around that mass of silver, forcing it back into the great pit in her soul where it had crawled out from. She struggled for a moment, a battle of wills taking place on some other plane of existence, but soon felt the foreign tickling in her veins begin to subside, felt Ciana’s tight grip on her arm began to relax. She cracked an eye open, and relief washed over her as she saw she was no longer glowing; the only light coming from her was the sunlight above reflecting off her shimmering dress. Her hands shook slightly as she released them from where they were clenched into fists at her side.

What in the name of the Goddess was that?

Ciana’s sharp intake of breath beside Mariah ripped her thoughts away from her inner turmoil, wishing with raw desperation that this could all be over and she could leave this damned throne room. She was so close,so closeto getting what she wanted, from putting as many leagues as she could from herself and the town that had broken her. Slowly, she widened her eyes, lifting her head up to take in her surroundings.

What she saw made her heart freeze into a block of ice.

The golden stream of magic from the queen had been winding its way through the amassed women, dipping in and out of rows, playfully grazing cheeks before moving on. Searching for its missing drop, the single piece it had waited so long to see again.

It was now only five rows in front of where Ciana and Mariah stood.

Mariah stood as still as a statue, her heart thawing and pounding incessantly in her ears, her hands shaking.

Calm yourself, Mariah. There is no way it’s you. Just stay still, and let it move on, and then you can leave.

That golden stream kept coming, twisting and turning gracefully in the air above them. Mariah held both her breath and her body completely still as it passed directly overhead, not seeming at all to recognize her presence. The second it passed, Mariah let out a shuddering exhale, her shoulders sagging at least six inches in relief. She felt a grin twist at her lips, and she turned to Ciana, ready to whisper her relief to her new friend.

But then. It stirred. Not that silver mass she’d fought since the morning of her twenty-first birthday, the power that had lit up her skin no more than a few moments earlier, but something …else.Something warmer, softer, gentler. A delicate golden flower hidden amongst a mass of silver vines all knotted together in the core of Mariah’s being.

Before Mariah could realize what was happening, shock slowing her reaction, that delicate golden thread snuck out of the tightly wound ball it was concealed within, rising into her veins and filling her with a warming, soothing power.

As if lightning bolted into the throne room, the shimmering golden magic above whipped itself back, retreating from the rows behind Mariah with asnapthat sounded like a pebble being tossed into water. It jolted itself back to Mariah, growing taunt before drawing up and staring at her from above like a Vathan viper poised to strike. Mariah felt the threat, her instincts screaming as she let the challenge rise in her blood.

But that calming, golden thread within her again appeared, melting into Mariah’s emotions, wrapping her soul up in a gentle, soothing embrace. The sudden tenderness caught Mariah so off guard she felt her wariness drop, her walls fall, her guarded nature broken.

---