Page 93 of Scourged

“Gods, that was so good.” She pressed a hand to her bloated stomach, the food settling there like lead. She probably shouldn’t have eaten so much, not when she was still recovering and adjusting to being fed again.

But with her friends around her and the breakfast looking so tantalizing, she’d indulged herself. Just this once.

“With that, I would have to agree,” Ciana murmured from the floor below Mariah, her head tipped back against the couch, feet stretched in front of her. Delaynie sat as poised as possible at the other end of the couch, and around the bend of the plush furniture lounged Kiira, her eyes closed. Rylla sprawledface down on the pillows beside her sister. She carefully pushed herself up to her elbows, turning to the side.

And belched. Loudly.

“Bhagini!” Kiira grabbed a discarded pillow from the floor, chucking it at her grinning sister. “That was disgusting! Apologize!”

Rylla opened her mouth, but a sound cut her off.

Not just any sound. A laugh like spilling water, a dam breaking.

Mariah was laughing. It was not a soft chuckle or a light giggle. But true, deep laughter, the kind that started in her stomach and worked its way up her chest until tears streamed down her face and she couldn’t breathe.

The sound made everyone in the room freeze before breaking into laughter of their own. Joy peeled through the room of marble and glass, and before long, they were all wheezing and snorting and gasping for air. Mariah doubled over, slipping off the edge of the couch, her hand landing on Ciana’s shaking shoulder. Even Delaynie had tucked into a ball, holding her side as she dissolved into stitches.

Eventually, the laughter slowed and eased down to a few lingering chuckles and giggles and hiccups. Mariah wiped the tears from her eyes, cheeks burning from how long she’d held that smile.

“I am sorry,” Rylla said, her accented voice still carrying a hint of merriment. “That was rude of me.”

“No,” Mariah said with a shake of her head. “Please, don’t apologize. I haven’t laughed that hard in … well, I don’t think I’ve ever laughed that hard.”

The other women shared a glance, amusement still on their faces, but the joy dulled from their eyes. Just a touch. Mariah backtracked.

“No, please, don’t look at me like that.” She chuckled again, rolling onto her back. “I just mean … even before that happened, before I even came here, I never really had friends. At least, not the kind who would just have breakfast with me.” She looked around the room, meeting each of their gazes, and smiled.

“It’s nice.”

Ciana twisted, looking at her with those sharp amber eyes, and rested her hand on Mariah’s. “I never really had friends, either. But I’m glad we all have each other.”

Murmurs of agreement swept around the room. Mariah smiled at Ciana before turning her attention to the Kreah sisters who lazed upon the couch, much like the big cats who shared their skin.

Which, speaking of …

“So,” Mariah started, “shifters?”

Kiira and Rylla both snapped their gazes to her, one brown and one hazel. And nodded.

Mariah watched them shrewdly. “I’ve seen a lot of what I used to consider impossible these past few months. Had a lot of world views shifted. But I’m going to need a bit more of an explanation than that.”

Kiira looked at Rylla, who pushed herself off her stomach and sat up on the couch, her legs still curled beneath her. Mariah could almost picture the black tail of the cat beneath her skin swishing idly around her legs, the feline comparison to the movement so uncanny.

“Yes, we are shifters,” Rylla said. “In Kreah, we do not have magic of the elements like you do here in Onita. Also, not just our men are blessed with such gifts.” Rylla cut a glance at Ciana for a split-second, so fast Mariah almost missed it. “Not everyone is gifted, but it is equal. Men and women.”

“And the magic—it’s from their goddess, Rulene!” Ciana interjected excitedly, turning up to look at Mariah, who couldn’t stop her grin.

“I’ve heard of Rulene,” Mariah said, nodding. “A priestess from Leuxrith once told me of the continent’s other gods.”

Kiira cocked her head. “A Leuxrithian priestess? By the skies, what was she doing in Onita?”

Mariah’s smile hardened. “Let’s just say she wasn’t exactly supposed to be here.”

“Do you know where she went? Is she still here?” Rylla asked.

Mariah glanced toward the balcony, frowning slightly. “No … no, I don’t think so. I have no idea where she went.” She turned back to Rylla. “Tell me more about your magic and your goddess.”

“Well,” Rylla started, adjusting her feet. “Rulene is the Goddess of the Day Sky. And the day sky changes more than any other—sometimes clear and blue, sometimes dark and gray. She blessed Kreah with her magic of change, mixing with its people. We were brought closer to nature, and with it … the power to shift.”

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