The golden priestess stands on the blood-soaked platform, her feet painted red. “Tonight’s event will decide your fate. We have so many worthy roles to be filled. Will you join the cook staff or carvers? Will you become a companion or a feeder? Or the greatest honor of all?—”
She steps forward slowly, palms out to us. The crowd hushes.
“Will you become one of us?”
There are gasps and whispers.
The warriors on the platform behind the woman stomp their feet in unison. The mob around the fire joins in, their shouts and cheers ricocheting off the stone walls above.
“Are you worthy?” she cries out over the noise.
Everything stops. Silence drops over the clearing in an instant, as if?—
Magic tingles against my skin.
“Let’s find out.” The woman’s hushed voice is the only sound in the unnatural silence.
She blows, and glistening dust rises up into the air above the clearing. We all watch as it dances in the darkness, fluttering down, down, down.
The fire puffs out, leaving only a plume of smoke and smoldering embers.
My breath trembles as we wait for this magic to reach us. To choose our fate.
A soft glow rises from the mass of bodies in front of us. A woman's face is alight.
“Chosen,” someone whispers.
More light shines. One by one, faces flicker to life, looking up into the sky, glowing with magic.
The golden flecks reach me, and I cower from them, but they cling to my forearms. They sizzle against my nose.No.No, I don’t want to be chosen!
Then, the burning begins.
Much like the sand of the Morteres, the golden flecks dig into my skin, burrowing deep.
The pounding of feet restarts, throbbing through my bones.
“Doubters. Betrayers. Heretics.”
Pain doubles me over. I’m on my knees, holding my head in horrible pain.
“We will weed you out.”
I’m screaming now. I need to fight this madness. These terrible people. But I can’t see beyond the pain.
Hands are squeezing my upper arms, whispering frantically into my ear. “Calm down; you were chosen. They chose you!” the old woman’s voice tells me. “But you have to accept it. Accept the magic!”
“No,” I grit out through my teeth.
I feel it down to my bones, how this magic sinks too deep. Too far. It’s trying to reach my very being. My spirit. My soul. And I do not consent.
You cannot have me!I tell it.
I don’t care if this is how I’m supposed to survive. Supposed to save her. I can’t let this thing inside of me.
You could be great,a voice hisses in my mind.Lovely. Beautiful. A soul worth savoring.
“Let it in,”Lorraine repeats. A far away sound now. “Let it in. Let it in.”
