Page 6 of Unlikely Omega

Can’t forget what I haven’t experienced. Sure, reading about it gives me an idea. They were cruel, indeed. They killed and raped and pillaged, fought like the dragons they are said to be descended from, claw and tooth, bathing in blood.

So did we. It was a bloody war.

We arrived and took over their lands, their cities. Their temples. We did that. Why shouldn’t they be angry with us? What did we expect?

Am I the only one reading history that way?

Finishing with the patio, I drag my steps up the spiral stairs to the High Priestess’ apartments, hauling my broom with me. It’s time for my ritual dances and it grates at me that I’ll be late, all because of that pain-in-the-ass priest with the white, blind eyes, the downturned mouth and the stiff attitude. I bet he has a stick as long as my broomstick up his ass.

Nice mouth, though. And his ass…

“Who cares about his ass?” I mutter to myself as I let myself inside the priests’ quarters. “You haven’t seen his ass, Ari. And how can you ask your goddess to forgive and guide you when your mind seems stuck on one thing?”

The one thing you shouldn’t want.

As I lift my hand to knock on the priestess’s door—pure formality, as she should be in the Temple right now, preparing for the mass—I hear her voice, and hesitate.

And then I hear another familiar voice.

Councilor Kaidan? What is he doing here? The members of the Council don’t mingle much with the Temple people, let alone priests and priestesses.

As for myself, I have never had a conversation with the high clergy ranks unless it was for them to tell me what I should or shouldn’t do—much like the blind priest did today.

My thoughts are torn away from the priest, though, when Kaidan speaks again and close to the door, so that I hear every word:

“What if the prophecy proves to be right, Arleth?”

Arleth. That’s the high priestess’s name, one of goddess Losna’s epithets, yet one never used unless it’s by another priest or priestess in an informal context.

Very informal.

That’s a lot of familiarity with the high priestess of Losna, one of the highest ranks in the Temple, for a councilor from the provinces.

“The prophecy is a fucking ball of horseshit,” the priestess says and I blink at the closed door.

I’m not used to such language from the priesthood. Or such treatment of prophecies. A small grin tugs at my lips.

“The prophecy came from the Temple,” Kaidan argues.

“It came from the accursed Fae,” she corrects.

I blink again, my grin fading. Wow.

“It is a Fae prophecy, so I don’t see why Mazarine, or you for that matter, got so bent out of shape about it.”

“The planets are aligning with—”

“The planets will always align with something,” the priestess snaps. “That doesn’t mean shit.”

I almost whistle through my teeth, but catch myself at the last moment and let out a breath instead.

Holy crap, that was close, I think, and lean on the door for support.

In swings inwardly and I find myself stumbling into the room, my heart banging in my chest.

Shit!

“You,” Councilor Kaidan hisses, thick brows drawing together, lips pulling back in a snarl. “Again.”

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