Page 76 of A Kiss of Flame

She couldn’t help herself.

She followed a shadow of herself down the stairs and along another corridor, and then down again, down and down, into the cellars below the house. Into the darkness.

It was like a dream. Or a nightmare.

But she had to follow the song and the shadow. And that vision of herself.

Herself as she might be, or as she might one day be, herself as someone else might see her.

The figure moved like a queen, like a goddess.

It stopped in an open doorway and Wren reached out to grab the shoulder, to turn this dark-haired woman around and finally know for sure who or what she was.

But the moment she did, the figure dissolved into shadows which slid away and Wren found herself staring into a dark, cave-like room, lit with tiny flickering candles.

In the middle of the chamber, another woman was kneeling in prayer or meditation. Head bowed as if waiting.

Wren tried to step back and her foot scraped on the floor.

Hestia looked over her shoulder at Wren, as if woken from a dream, her pale eyes wide in surprise.

‘Your highness?’ she said. ‘What are you doing here?’

There was nowhere to go, nowhere to run. The woman knew it was her and Wren had clearly interrupted her. Whatever she was doing here in the almost dark. She was witchkind as well, a member of the Sisterhood of the Nox. One of their highest priestesses.

‘I-I’m sorry,’ Wren gasped, suddenly embarrassed. ‘I didn’t mean to – I’ll go back.’

But Hestia smiled gently. ‘No. Please, you can join me if you want. You would be more than welcome here.’

Wren glanced around again. ‘What… what is this place?’

‘Our household shrine, nothing sinister, I promise. It simulates the caves of the Nox in Sidonia, our holiest of places. I was praying for balance, and patience, I’m afraid. It doesn’t come naturally to me.’ The diplomat seemed so completely at peace with herself that Wren frowned and Hestia gave a small laugh. ‘I mean it. Sometimes I want to scream at everyone and break some dishes rather than sit down and discuss things calmly.’

The comment made Wren smile in return. ‘I wish I could learn that. Elodie always said—’ The thought of Elodie cut her off. Was she all right? Had she been hurt?

‘Word came to us this morning that she is safe and unhurt. The maidens are tending her and she wears her crown once more. There’s no need to be afraid for her.’ Hestia rose to her feet and held out her hands to Wren. Her touch was gentle and comforting, in the way Elodie could be comforting. Not soft or mawkish, but reliable. The type of strength on which you could depend. ‘They were looking for you. We assured them of your safety and that we would bring you back to them as soon as you were ready.’

As soon as she was ready? How could Wren ever be ready to set foot back in the Sacrum? The Aurum would destroy her. It knew her now. And she had let the Nox take control in that courtyard. She’d seen the destruction, the remains… Finn might not be willing to tell her what happened but that spoke volumes about what he must have seen, what she had done. She was a threat to him. A threat to all of them. Even someone like Hestia.

Before Wren knew what she was doing the words came rushing out. ‘I was so afraid. I couldn’t… I couldn’t get to her. I couldn’t stop it. And I couldn’t control the darkness in me. The shadow kin were everywhere. I couldn’t keep them in, or make them obey. I couldn’t help myself. I would have done anything, hurt anyone to get to her. But I… I wasn’t in control. And I didn’t know what to do. It was only afterwards that I… that I knew who I was again.’

To her surprise, rather than being horrified, Hestia drew her into an embrace, her hand soothing her trembling form, and it seemed like a pulse of peace rippled through her. Almost the way Finn calmed her. Nothing sexual, but it was almost like love.

Again, like Elodie. It was disconcerting.

‘You are so very young, my poor dear girl. And there is so much magic in you that…’ she sighed. ‘No wonder it spills out when you’re scared. It’s all right. It’s perfectly natural. And it is not your fault.’

Wren drew back, staring at the woman. ‘But you… you serve the Nox.’

Hestia nodded. ‘All my life.’

‘But it… it’s…’ She couldn’t say evil. Not to her face, but it was. Wasn’t it? All her life she had been warned against it, had felt it trying to lure her into its traps.

‘Wren,’ Hestia said calmly, still holding her hands. ‘You have only ever been told about one side of the old magic. To us the Aurum is just as dangerous, as we saw at that farce of a trial. If you stare into the fires of the sun you go blind, after all. Light can drive a person mad. But in darkness there is peace and calm. The darkness of the womb, or the grave, the darkness of the night…’ She released Wren and lifted her hands up to indicate the small room in which they stood. ‘The Nox and the Aurum went to war, we know that. But we don’t know why. A madness overtook them both perhaps. I don’t believe in war, religious or otherwise, not humankind and not for gods. I’m a diplomat. I believe in peace. And that is why I’m here. Will you help me?’

‘Help you?’

‘I need to speak to your mother. I believe between us we can help you and come to an accord. You’re a daughter of two worlds now, a meeting point. You can bring balance. You are one of the few who can.’