Page 141 of Scourged
A glance around the table, at the rest of the confused glances she found, told her he was not alone.
“Mariah,” Delaynie spoke slowly, icy blue eyes sharp and calculating. “What do you mean, you received a visit from the goddesses?”
“I mean,” Mariah said, her tone even, “that Qhohena and Zadione appeared in my bedroom. Both of them. And they spoke to me.”
More silence. So silent that Mariah swore she could hear wingbeats in the air around her. She whipped her head up, scouring the skies.
Nothing.
“But that is …” Delaynie pulled Mariah’s attention back to the table. Her friend’s face was still contorted, watching Mariah too closely. “That’s impossible. The goddesses … they don’t have a physical form. They exist on a different plane, and no queen has ever recorded a time when they appeared to her. Inthisworld.”
“There have been over five thousand years of queens, Delaynie,” Mariah said softly. “Who’s to know what didn’t get written down in Xara’s day or in the centuries after? Who knows what knowledge has been lost to time?”
The group settled back into silence. Mariah could almost feel them thinking, the churning of thoughts, the unsettled feelings filtering to her from the six bonds she normally kept closed.
From the seventh bond, though, she felt something different.
Instead, it was something like …awe? She locked her stare on Andrian, and while his features were carefully schooled, that usual icy mask in place, she could see it.
He believed her, and he wasn’t scared or bothered or worried.
He was awestruck.
“Mariah.” Drystan’s soft voice pulled her attention away from Andrian. “What did the goddesses say?”
Mariah inhaled a steadying breath. “They told me that whatever I’d found … whatever had happened … I needed to find out what. Someone did something on the night of the Solstice. Something so terrible it could be felt in the realm of the gods, something that shook the foundation of the world. Somethingthat poisoned ourallumeso thoroughly it caused our lights to flicker and go out.”
Silence met her words. She took a sip of her wine and sat back in her chair.
The group was quiet for several heartbeats. Quentin fidgeted with his daggers, and Kiira cocked her head like a cat, the gold jewelry in her hair tinkling. Drystan rubbed his chin, and Ciana took a deep sip from her wine.
A breeze picked up and lifted the strands of Mariah’s hair, brushing it across her collarbones. It had grown, just a bit, aided by a healthy diet and sleep. It was also shining again, catching her subtle golden highlights in the setting sunlight.
She was feeling more like herself for the first time in months. Herself, but … harder. Tempered, like steel.
“Mariah,” a soft voice said beside her. Calloused fingers gently brushed her forearm, heat blazing across her skin. She jerked her head to Andrian, meeting his brilliant blue gaze.
“What do you propose?”
“For what?” Her mind was blank. The feeling of his fingers on her skin … Everything had emptied.
Two nights ago, she’d told him she wasn’t ready for him to touch her.
But now, she didn’t feel even the slightest hint of fear at his caress.
Could things truly change so quickly?
His answering grin was too wicked and carried too many knowing promises. “A solution, princess. How do you propose we deal with all this?”
“Oh.” She pulled her arm back, setting her wine glass on the table. “Well,” she started, fidgeting with the stem. “That’s why I brought you all here. For ideas. Because while I know I must do something, I don’t exactly know what.”
“I might have an idea.”
Mariah turned to Matheo. He was leaned back in his seat, half-empty bottle of wine in front of him, a contemplative expression on his face. He scratched his chin. “What about that priestess? The one who told us where you were being kept? She spent so much time with Ksee and the others; perhaps she might’ve heard something.”
Mariah sighed. “I’ve already spoken to her. She wasn’t privy to the conversations about the Solstice.”
“And you trust her?” Andrian’s voice was quiet. “You believe she was telling you the truth?”