Page 91 of A War of Crowns

Talia fell into nothing, plunging into a deep and fathomless pool.

Breathless, speechless, she sank deeper and deeper into that oblivion. A vast emptiness whipped by her in a silent blur, punctuated by the flutter of the simple black dress she had been adorned with for this ceremony—for her funeral.

Take me, then, she whispered into the growing darkness of her mind.Just…takeme and get it over with.

Is that what you want?the voice asked while she fell, while she existed in that narrow space between waking and one final, glorious sleep.For me to take you?

It was so close now, her death. So very close, she could nearly taste it. All she had to do was let go and let the darkness do the rest.

A tear crept its way from the corner of her eye, but it was swiftly swept away by her free fall.No,she admitted, her voice small and weak even inside her own mind. Like little more than the mewling of a kitten. Pitiful.

Far from the conviction of a powerful and fearless Seeker of the Sisterhood.

And yet, Talia didn’t want to die. She had never wanted to die. Not truly. She had always wanted so much more, though she never let herself dare hope for it.

The darkness showed her what she had always wanted in that moment, as if it pulled those long-smothered dreams directly from her heart and projected them around her in a panoramic vision of devastating proportions.

Visions ofher, gloriously beautiful and bearing those haunting, golden eyes of the Sisterhood, rose around her, larger than life.

In the visions, she was a priestess fully fledged. In her hand, she wielded a soulblade. From her mouth spilled witchfire. At her side stood a man who could be no other than a Witchsworn, given his black clothing, though there was something slightly odd about his smile…something knowing. Something amused.

Something beyond the usual vacancy she would have expected.

At their feet, nations fell and dynasties burned. It was beautiful. It was everything she had ever wanted—to besomeone. To meansomething. To have power at last.

A power no one could take away from her.

Yes, Talia whispered in answer to the question the darkness never bothered asking. That was what she truly wanted. Not for the darkness to take her away.

She wantedpower.

In the next moment, Talia’s free fall ceased so abruptly, her head snapped backward from the whiplash. For one fearful second, she thought her body might break in two from the force of it all.

But then something cold wrapped about her as tightly as any lover’s embrace, bundling her close, holding her firm. It might have been reassuring if it didn’t chill her all the way through.

And what would you be willing to do for this, Seeker Talia? What would you be willing to give for this dream?

Confusion nagged her as she hung there, suspended in the hold of the darkness. Was this truly the trial? She had expected a contest of strength and will, a battle against a demon, riddles she must solve.

Perhaps it is a test, she mused.A test of faith…or loyalty…

She was met with only silence.

Are you truly Our Lady Below?Talia questioned at last, almost afraid of what the answer might be. She had never imagined her goddess would be likethis.

But who else would be speaking to her down in the bowels of the Underworld?

Still, silence was her only reply.

Itisa test of faith, Talia realized.

How many Seekers had succumbed to doubts within the dark? How many had succumbed to fear? How many had chosen release rather than the promise of power from an unknown presence?

But Talia knew this presence.

She had prayed to this presence every day since she was first apprenticed, even though her goddess had never once blessed her with an answer.

YouareOur Lady Below.Talia named the darkness at last, no longer posing her words as a question. She was certain now. There could be no other.

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