Page 35 of Sanctifier

No, not that…she didn’t want these memories, or anything real. She wanted the fantasy of him. She wantedFen.

But as the haze of lust cleared further, she felt increasingly disgusted with herself. She let him in so easily, even in her fantasies. Taryel, D’Luc, Bellenet… all three were her enemies.

But her body, it seemed, had its own ideas.

CHAPTER 12

Agrandfather clock ticked somberly in the corner. Ru watched its pendulum, latching onto that predictable movement as Regent Sigrun spoke.

“Miss Delara,” said the regent, her tone as dull as the night before. “Are you listening?”

“Yes,” Ru lied. She had been thinking about the clock. And her hunger. She had been awake since dawn without so much as a sip of coffee, and it was almost half past eight. And she was trying not to wonder why the regent was holding an audience here, in her study, rather than the throne room. Perhaps the lack of personality had made the regent averse to her usual pomposity.

“Good.” The regent sat at a desk, which was the obvious focal point of the room. A King's Guard stood at the door, and a white-robed figure was seated to the right of the desk, holding a parchment — Inda.

“Agenda,” said the regent.

Inda glanced down at the parchment. “You’ve done introductions. The schedule is next. Then, expectations.” Her voice and manner were just as dull as the regent’s. Ru felt as if she were meeting with a pair of automatons.

“Thank you,” said the regent, exhibiting no hint of gratitude whatsoever. “Miss Delara, now that your work with the artifact has relocated to the palace, we are pleased to inform you that every resource, intellectual, academic, philosophical, or otherwise, is at your disposal. Your sessions will begin each morning at breakfast, led by Lord D’Luc. Demonstrations with the artifact will recommence when Lord D’Luc deems it necessary. Demonstrations may cease upon the achievement of your goal, which is…” Sigrun paused, and Ru thought she saw a hint of confusion cross that distant expression.

The regent had always seemed so strong, Ru thought. A powerful, empathetic woman. To see her mind erased like this was sickening.

Inda lifted her head. “Control of the artifact, and subsequently, the Great Cleansing.”

“The Great Cleansing,” said Regent Sigrun, never once acknowledging Inda’s presence. She continued, her words an unending drone, “The Cleansing will be a joyous celebration of Festra’s heart and his will. The heart shall, at last, achieve its full potential. Fire. Cleanse. A new world. It…” she blinked slowly. “It will take place on the winter solstice. No sooner, no later. You will wield the artifact as Festra has foreseen and decreed. You will fulfill your destiny at last.”

Ru ground her teeth. “And if I refuse?”

Inda’s gaze drifted to Ru, but she said nothing.

“You won’t,” said the regent. “You’ll be under guard. You will not leave the palace grounds without an escort. You will not come and go without my knowledge. You will continue your studies as ordered. Your friends, I’m told, are here with you. And exceedingly loyal.”

There it was, the threat. The same words Lord D’Luc had spoken back at the Tower. Ru deflated. She was a prisoner here, just as she’d been at the Tower. But now, she was watched bymore than just Lyr, more than a handful of guards. The eyes of an entire court were trained on her. A smart move, she thought bitterly, if Lady Bellenet had planned it this way. Even if Ru slipped past the guards, every courtier in the palace would be aware of her comings and goings. They were obsessed with her. One of them had even fainted as Ru passed him on the way here.

“Where are you keeping the artifact?” Ru asked, grasping for anything that might give her leverage, any information that could help her.

“Safe,” said the regent.

There was a long silence in which Ru wondered whether either of the women would react if she leapt at them with a burning ember from the fire. Instead of testing the question, she said, “Is that all?”

Inda blinked serenely.

“That is all,” said Regent Sigrun. “You may go.”

Ru needed no further prompting. She rushed from the room, aching for somewhere to vent her emotions. The artifact, thankfully, did not overwhelm her senses, though it boiled right alongside her.

“Hungry, Delara?”

The voice stopped her short, just outside the regent’s study. Lord D’Luc leaned against the wall, arms crossed, watching her with a lazy smile. His cravat hung open, the top button of his waistcoat undone. Some distant and traitorous part of Ru reacted to the sight, wanting more of it. But she was used to pushing it away, dismissing her base instincts.

As she approached the lord, it occurred to her that he seemed different, somehow. His bearing was altered, more tense. The same man in a new mask. His smile just a bit strained, his body unable to lie still. He repeatedly tapped one elbow with a finger.

Refusing him might have been satisfying, but Ru was too hungry. She sighed. “You know that I am.”

Whatever weak andminuscule piece of Ru’s heart that had softened toward Hugon at dinner last night, had seen him as a sense of unwanted comfort, was now completely gone.

After her meeting with the regent, she had walked with him through a maze of corridors and opulent, yet frigid, courtyards. He seemed content to breeze through these halls, his gold buttons catching the light and his hair moving pleasingly about his ears as he went. But when they finally arrived at his rooms, with breakfast waiting, he broke the worst news of all to her.

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