Page 17 of The War and Deceit Series omnibus

“Grayson?” Trying to sit up, I realise that my upper body is resting on his knee, my head cradled in his arms. I think I hear him utter a prayer of thanks to the Mother, but as I painfully turn my head to look at him, his expression is blank. “What happened?” I inquire as I sit upright, pulling away from Grayson’s warmth, fighting the shiver racking my body that I tellmyself is from the cold and not from the lack of a certain man’s arms.

“I was hoping you could tell us that,” the high priest spits as he steps closer, his whole presence giving me the heebie-jeebies. The words the Mother whispered to me ring in my ears—don’t trust the priest.Did She mean the high priest? Priest Rodrick who lurks behind the high priest with a sickening smirk on his face? Or all priests?

“Give her some space,” Grayson orders, and I’m surprised when the high priest does so, although not without his upper lip curling in disgust. The magician ignores him and turns back to look at me. He’s still sitting on the floor next to me, letting me take my time, not rushing to make me stand or worrying about getting his clothing dirty like many of the nobles would. “After you accepted the blessing, your body arched back and your skin began to glow before you collapsed. I managed to catch you before you hit the floor. Just before you woke up, your skin started to glow again and symbols appeared on your wrists. Then you woke up.”

There’s something he’s not saying, and I get the impression he doesn’t want to say it in front of our current audience. Frowning, I lift a hand to my throbbing head only to touch something wet, and when I remove it, I see that it’s blood. Before I can even open my mouth, Grayson is handing me a handkerchief and I lift it to my ear, dabbing at the small trail of blood before switching to the other side. In the…vision, I had felt my ears bleed when thatcreaturehad screeched before the Mother saved me from him.

It was real.Whatever had happened in the darkness, it wasn’t a dream or a delusion, it had been real. The Mother blessed me.

“What are you?” The words are vicious, and I look up to see Priest Rodrick has snuck past the high priest and is leeringdown at me with hatred in his eyes. And I know that despite the disguise, he knows who I am.

“What do you mean? You know who I am.”

A humourless laugh leaves his twisted lips as he takes another step closer, the promise of violence in his every move. “I do, you’re a disgusting traitor.” His words are loud, and I look around to see if anyone overheard, but they are all too busy involved in their own gossip to pay attention.

“Shut your mouth, priest.” Grayson spits the word like it’s a curse, his voice venomous as he pushes up to stand, taking a few threatening steps towards Rodrick.

“You can’t talk to me like that!” The priest’s face turns red with anger, so used to being respected and feared that his hands shake with his rage, aching to punish the magician for his insult. However, he would never lay a hand on a magician, let alone a high magician, and Grayson knows that. Rodrick, to his credit, stands his ground as Grayson takes another threatening step towards him so they’re almost chest to chest, the magician lowering his voice.

“You know I can, or need I remind you and the rest of this chapel?” He stares down the priest, waiting to see if his words hit their mark. I don’t doubt that he would do exactly as he threatens.

Gulping, Rodrick turns pale but just shakes his head, gesturing towards me to make his point. “She doesn’t deserve the blessing. She should be executed.” His voice is strong despite his obvious fear.

“You don’t get it, do you?” Grayson whispers to the man before stepping back and making his voice louder so all gathered around can hear. “You think the Mother would bless her, especially in such a dramatic way, if She didn’t want the girl to survive for Her purpose?” Gazing around the room, I can see people nodding and leaning together to whisper as they lookover at me, still in a puddle of lace on the floor as I watch the exchange.

“It’s not right. There’s nothing in the scrolls about a blessing like that. She’sdifferent. How can we trust her?” Rodrick turns to the high priest, waiting for his agreement. However, the high priest just shakes his head grimly before gesturing at me.

“You saw the marks on her arm. The Goddess has claimed her.”

“Claimed me?” I cry out. If I knew what was good for me, I’d keep quiet, but I’m unable to hold back the exclamation and all heads turn back to me. I fight the urge to drop my head and hide behind my hair under all the attention, and my skin tingles as their eyes run over my body, my face, as if trying to figure out my secrets. Grayson must see my discomfort, as he steps away from the priest and moves to my side.

“I’ll explain later,” Grayson murmurs as he crouches next to me, his hand reaching out to cup my chin. His expression is sympathetic, as if he knows exactly what’s going through my head. Offering me his hand, I shift my legs beneath me, and with his help I stand, reaching out and gripping onto his cloak as a wave of dizziness runs over me. “Steady, blessings can make you feel a bit light-headed, the bigger the blessing the stronger the after effects.”

Now he tells me,the voice inside me whispers, and I find myself smiling slightly at the snarky comment. Taking a deep breath, I steady myself and let go of his cloak once my head clears, the tingling still running over my skin, albeit it’s far less intense since I “woke up” from the blessing. It’s a strange feeling, not painful, but like I have an electrical current flowing along my body. I feel powerful.

Raising my arm up, I study my skin. I can’t see anything different apart from the new mark that appeared when I woke from the blessing. “How long will this feeling last for?” My voiceis quiet, my question mostly to myself, but Grayson gestures for me to follow him as we leave the chapel. The sound of the high priest’s echoing voice follows us as he continues with the blessing now that I’ve left. “And shouldn’t we stay for the rest of the blessing?” My question is half-hearted, an oppressive feeling that I hadn’t noticed before lifting from my chest the farther we walk away from the chapel. Peering over his shoulder, Grayson gives a small shrug, the corner of his lips pulling up.

“No, there are some benefits of being friends with a high mage,” he jokes, before he continues, “What feeling is that? Freedom?” His interested expression tells me that he truly wants to know, but I’m still caught on what he said previously.

There are some benefits of being friends with a high mage.Friends. Is that what this is? What we are? I’ve never had a friend before and I’ve never felt the need for one, so this feeling is foreign to me. Sure, there have been times when I’ve been lonely. Even when you are surrounded by others you can still feel alone, but nothing is ever going to change that, so there is no point mourning something that isn’t going to happen. Grayson slows his pace so he’s walking by my side and raises his eyebrows in expectation.

“No, that’s not what I…” Trailing off, I look around as we stroll through the Queen’s Courtyard, soaking up as much of the calming, fresh air as I can before we walk back into the castle. Grayson remains silent as he waits for me to finish my explanation. Raising my hand, I wiggle my fingers in his direction. “I meant this tingling sensation.”

“What do you mean?” Something about the tone of his voice makes me turn to look at him as he speaks. His brow is furrowed as his eyes lock onto my raised hand.

“My skin feels…alive.” Trying to explain the feeling that is so alien to me is difficult, and I struggle for the words. “I feel strong, stronger than I have in years.” My body feels better thanit has in a long time, the exhaustion, aches, and pains of hard, physical labour and sleeping on a cold stone floor has vanished, replaced with this strange, exhilarating feeling.

I’m so focused on my body and trying to find the words to explain that I don’t realise he’s stopped moving until I hear his hushed voice behind me. “It’s not possible.”

Concern runs through me when I see his expression, and I take a step towards him. “Grayson—” I don’t know what I was going to do, what I was going to say, but something in his face hardens. Rushing forward, he grabs my arm, his eyes wide and urgent.

“Show me,” he demands, his voice different than the Grayson I was beginning to know, and it reminds me that I don’tactuallyknow this guy. The barriers I usually keep so tightly around me had begun to slip. Frowning, I pull my arm away from his tight hold, wrapping it around myself.

As if that would protect you,my inner voice says snidely. I don’t want Grayson touching me with that look on his face. “Show you what? What’s going on?” I demand as I shift into a defensive position, my voice tightening, but Grayson doesn’t seem to be paying attention as he starts pacing the corridor we just entered, our voices echoing along its length.

“It can’t be, she didn’t show any of the signs…a different type of blessing altogether...” I don’t catch everything he says as he mutters to himself, pacing the short width of the corridor. Muttering strange words under his breath, the fingers on his left hand start moving in complex patterns, and the familiar feeling of magic falls over me, wrapping around me and making all my movements more difficult. It doesn’t stop me from moving, but whatever he’s doing is making me edgy.

“Grayson! Whatever magic you’re using on me, stop it!” My voice is sharp like a whip and his head shoots up, his dark eyes meeting mine.

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