Page 16 of The Scarlet Star

Ryn almost turned and yelled at Heva for bringing her here. This wasn’t what Ryn had expected when Heva spoke of Geovani.

Geovani grinned like she could read Ryn’s mind. “Trust me, this is the most important moment since the day you were born, Estheryn. Or should I call you,Adassah?”

Ryn’s lips parted. She tried to move back again, but Heva’s hand found her shoulder and held her still. “Just wait,” Heva whispered.

Geovani sighed. “There was once a great battle between the gods,” she said. “Someday, I’ll tell you what really happened, and it’ll change your mind. But don’t worry—I won’t tell you now. I know you have somewhere important to be.” A strange twinkle lit the old woman’s eyes.

That was it. Ryn shook off Heva’s hand and turned to face her guardswoman. “Take me to the Hall of Stars,” she said. “Let’s go.”

But Heva shook her head. “I’m loyal to Geovani,” she said. “I’ll do what she says.”

Ryn stared at her guard in disbelief. Nothing since the moment she’d entered the palace was normal, but this encounter was the strangest of all. Was this really the revered Geovani that even the Priesthood knew about? Ryn once learned from Kai that there was only one Adriel representative left on the King’s council—one single soul of the Adriel religion; a priestess. And apart from her, any Adriel who set foot on the palace grounds would be executed on the spot.

Ryn glanced back at the woman. Suddenly, all those things Kai mentioned in their candlelit conversations returned to her mind. He’d said the High Priestess was ignored, that she had no voice on the council, that she was just there for show so the Adriel citizens of Per-Siana would feel represented in the palace, obey the Weylin order, and never revolt. She didn’t even have a vote in kingdom affairs anymore; only the Weylin councilmen and the Intelligentsia had ballots. Kai once said the High Priestess shouldn’t have bothered staying in the palace when she was invisible and never heard, and all the priests wondered why she was still there. How humiliating it must have been for her to exist and not be treated like she was alive.

“Sorry,” Ryn said. She wasn’t even sure why she was apologizing to the woman. Maybe because she knew the feeling of always staying quiet in public, never raising her voice, never objecting to anything.

The wrinkled corners of Geovani’s mouth turned up. “I’m a tired old woman, Adassah. I know my ways are considered ancient for the current times. But if you won’t listen to me, at least listen tohim. And then decide.”

Ryn’s face fell. “You should call meRyn,” she said, fighting the temptation to look toward the temple entrance to see if anyone was eavesdropping. “And who should I listen to, exactly?”

And decide what?

Geovani stepped toward her, and Ryn ducked a little when the old woman raised her hands and placed them over Ryn’s ears. “I pray that you would have eyes to see and ears to hear, Adassah.”

A net of warmth tangled into Ryn’s stomach, and she tore away from Geovani, blinking. A flash of light burned over her vision, and she winced as heat popped in her ears.

What did this crazy old woman just do?

Ryn placed a hand over her stomach. “Are you a witch?” she asked. “Or a Jinn?”

Geovani burst out laughing, startling Ryn more than the heat in her belly. The old woman took her shoulders and turned her toward the arch. “Not at all. Go now. You can’t be late.” Then to Heva, she said, “Take her quickly.”

Heva tugged Ryn out of the Abandoned Temple and back into the hall.

Ryn’s hand remained on her stomach the whole walk to the Hall of Stars.

6

XERXES

Xerxes’s room was so dark, he could hardly see himself in the mirror as he pulled on his blue coat of nobility, sliding his arms through the sleeves, and positioning the shoulders where they ought to be. He’d forgone the assistance of servants today, wishing for quiet he’d never find. The servants vanished after some threatening persuasion, leaving the King to get ready for the Introduction Ceremony alone with his voices. He shovedthings around on his dresser in the dark, searching for the last piece of his outfit he was expected to wear before the court. By the Divinities, he couldn’t remember where he’d put his ring.

He glanced over to the water glass beside his bed, recalling how his signet ring had drowned in the middle of the night. The royal ring was a heavy boulder on his hand, and he couldn’t stand how it kept him awake. He’d watched it sink to the bottom of the glass, and there, he’d stared at it for hours.

With a sigh, he headed over, fished the ring out of the water glass, and slid it onto his forefinger where it belonged. It was a shiny, gold thing with star runes of royalty and prosperity. Not his style, but certainly his father’s sort of thing. Xerxes hadn’t inherited his father’s plain features, his ruthless confidence, his control over the kingdom, nor his peaceful, care-free slumbers. The only gifts the former King had given Xerxes before he died were a wife he never wanted and this lump of gold that rested heavily on Xerxes’s hand.

He took in a deep breath and exhaled through his nose. It was the time he’d been dreading. The time when the Heartstealer maidens he’d been avoiding all morning would get to see his face. They would like it, too—he didn’t have to look in the mirror to know he was handsome. Grovellers on his council informed him of such things all the time even when he wished they wouldn’t.

He tugged open a curtain before he left, eyeing a rising bout of smoke far in the distance. The smoke had appeared behind the mountains at daybreak, and it was only increasing. The mountains weren’t a part of Xerxes’s land, but still. He had men out there, enforcing the kingdom boundary. His chest tightened when he thought of them. If his boundary men were attacked, he wouldn’t get word until it was too late.

“Just let them die,”one of the voices said.

“Don’t trouble yourself with such trivial things,”another agreed.

“Quiet,” Xerxes snapped through his teeth. He released an exasperated grunt. It seemed he needed to visit his tree before the Ceremony began. The last thing he wanted was anotherincidentbefore all the watching eyes in the Hall of Stars.

As the thought crossed his mind, a deep hunger boiled within him. A hunger that could not be satisfied by any food, apart from one. Xerxes rushed for his door and ignored the questioning looks from his room guards as he flew past.

---