Page 122 of The Cruel Dawn
“They were either destroyed or jailed in the abbeys on their realms.” Elyn pauses, then adds, “There are some who argue that total destruction of these fanatics is for the best.”
“Who is ‘some’?”
“Your father. The Mera leadership. The majority of the Mera people.”
“Why hasn’t someone stopped Orewid Rolse?” I ask.
“Because he never swings the murdering blade himself. Because he can’t make someone do something that’s not already in their hearts or minds. Because he’s never around long enough to be caught.”
Elyn and I don’t speak again as we rush toward the Misty Garden. Our breaths catch as we enter this beautiful yet mortal place. Mist curls around our ankles like hands pulling at us to slow down. I want nothing more than to give in and enjoy the quiet, the aroma of plums, the pristine waters, but we need to hurry. The Sea of Devour awaits.
We reach the temple, and our first task is retrieving Jadon.
A discarded ochre robe with embroidered sleeves lies rumpled at the temple’s entryway.
I hold out my arm. “Don’t move.”
Elyn stops in her tracks. “Shit.”
Wrapped in that robe is a body, lying motionless on the tile floor—one without an amber or blue glow. The only light on this body comes from a torch reflecting off the robe’s thread.
“Oh, no.” Elyn kneels beside the dead Sister.
I scan the empty chamber before us. Panic sets in as my eyes track slow-moving amber figures throughout the temple. They’re sick, dying.
“This doesn’t make sense,” I whisper.
The Gashoans had been blessed again. They should be carrying offerings to the altars in the courtyard and up to the belltower. They should be preparing for nighttime prayers, lighting candles and replacing old fruit and flowers with fresh ones. These amber figures should be blue. These amber figures shouldn’t be this still.
“What’s happening, Kai?” Elyn whispers.
I shake my head and tiptoe ahead because we must retrieve Jadon. “I don’t know.”
Elyn and I come upon another crumpled Sister, pale-faced with blank eyes, slumped against a wall. She doesn’t move; she doesn’t glow.
My nerves flutter beneath my skin as we approach another body at the base of the alabaster columns. Another sister has collapsed at the entrance, and one more against the temple’s golden-brown walls.
Elyn gasps as we discover more new dead.
I’m shaking and shaken by the time we reach Jadon’s temporary quarters.
At the chamber’s threshold, I cry out, “No!” and run to the open door of the small room.
Ancress Mily Tisen lies on her back with a bouquet of water lilies and orchids clutched to her chest. A teardrop still glistens on her cheek. She’s now a hollow shape without the warmth of life, lightless.
I fall to my knees beside her and pull the young woman into my arms.
Elyn whispers, “Oh, no.”
I free Mily Tisen’s curly hair from her headscarf. Unlike those flowers in the meadows, my tears falling on her face don’t bring her back to life.
“I’m so sorry,” I whisper into her hair. No harm should’ve come to her or anyone in Gasho. This town, this temple, was supposed to be safe.
Elyn crouches beside me and touches the young woman’s face. She whispers, “Thu lojh if shos rualum haus faukuk fir hur.”The light of this realm has faded for her.Then she leaves me to mourn.
I shake my head, unsure of what to do with her. I can’t justleaveher here.
“But you must,” Elyn says. “There’s no time, Kai.” She points to the chamber where we stowed Jadon. “You must see this.”
