Page 133 of Between Soul and Vessel
“Sage ismymate,mywife, andyourqueen. You will treat her as such. This is not negotiable, nor is it something I will ask again.” Von’s voice was a steel blade, his words cutting so precisely, it was like watching her skin being flayed open, leaving her vulnerable and bloodied. “You will show her respect, or you will find yourself on the wrong side of my sword. Am I understood?”
Fallon dropped onto bended knee, her head bowed in subservience as she stammered, “Yes, yes, my king.”
I had never seen her so humbled before, so obedient.
I’d be a liar if I claimed it did not please the immortal side of me to see her like that.
“Good. Now—” He looked at me. “There is something else we need to discuss with the rest of you.”
I breathed in, knowing this topic wasn’t going to be an easy one.
After everyone returned to their places, we told them. About how I died. About how our child died.
It wasn’t easy.
Some parts were like taking a knife and pressing it to my scars, slicing them open again and showing them all how my body wept for my loss—ourloss.
Throughout it all, Von stood by my side, his handlocked in mine.
When we finished, Harper stood. “We’ll help you find them. Then, we’ll all go home together.”
I shook my head. “We can’t ask that of you all.”
“We aren’t leaving anyone behind, and if your child is here, that includes them too. Besides, having more eyes and ears will be helpful,” Ryker interjected.
“Or we might be slowing them down,” Soren piped up from his spot in the corner. I’d all but forgotten he was here. “Perhaps we should concentrate on finding a way home and then take it.”
Ignoring Soren, Harper looked to Artemesia. “The Goddess of Knowledge would probably be able to help us find out what happened to the child’s soul, or at least point us in the direction of where to look, right?”
“She’d give us more of a lead than the mining town would,” Kaleb added.
The group nodded—well, everyone except for Fallon and Soren.
“So, we’re going to the desert then,” Ryker stated.
“There is a third option,” Artemesia suggested.
“Which is?” I asked.
“We split up and do both,” she answered. “Vatara knows these lands better than I do. She can fly some of the group to Viscourt so they can speak with the miners. I’ll take the other group to the desert.”
“I’m not fond of the idea of splitting up again,” Von stated, a muscle feathering in his jaw. Green eyes roved over mine. “But I also know the sooner we can leave these lands,the better.”
Artemesia glanced at the rest of us. “What do you all think?”
“I think it sounds like a plan,” Kaleb said.
“Agreed,” the twins concurred.
“Alright then. Von, Sage, Folkoln, and Kaleb—you four will come with me to the Naftiah Desert while Vatara, Harper, Ryker, Lyra, Soren, and Fallon go to Viscourt,” Artemesia said, and the rest of usnodded.
Avriel
Warm blood trickled down my fingers as I raised the heart, freshly carved from a male goat’s chest, above my head, for all to see. The throne room was filled to the brim with attendees, everyone wearing their finest clothes for today.
On the first day of every month, we offered a sacrifice to the empress on behalf of the people. It was a tradition that began shortly after she defeated the emperor. Originally, a heart was offered from an immortal male’s chest, but as time passed and those became less easy to come by, priestesses had resorted to animals instead.
I looked at the heart in my hands and then at the poor creature lying by my feet. His pale tongue had fallen out of his mouth, eyes bleak and lifeless. The knife I had used lay beside his slit abdomen, entrails leaking out of him. It was a bloody mess.
