Page 192 of Scourged
“Gods, you know what would be great, though?” Quentin leaned forward, palming the hilt of a throwing knife strapped to his chest. “If our bonds gave us the ability to use some of your magic. I mean, we each carry a piece. Why can’t we cut people in half with some light magic, like you can?”
Sebastian snorted, Andrian grinned, and Mariah laughed.
“First of all,” Mariah said, “I have neveronceused magic to cut someone in half.”
“Yeah, but you could. You put a cut in a mahogany table and stopped a lord’s heart with just a flash.” Quentin shrugged. “I’d like to do those things, too. That’s all.”
“I’m sure you would.” Mariah rolled her eyes, chuckling. She took a long sip of ale, the cool bite of the hops welcome on her tongue. “Unfortunately?—”
A familiar woman walked into her line of sight.
She was dressed in a simple gray tunic and black pants, a far cry from the strange silver robes she’d worn the last time Mariah had seen her. But Mariah would recognize her distinct features—and telltale violet eyes—anywhere.
The Leuxrithian priestess who’d first found Mariah at herPorofirat. Who she and Andrian had seen fleeing through the game park, escaping a pack of Shawth’s soldiers. Who had appeared in the palace library before the Winter Solstice and given Mariah so many answers but left her with just as many questions.
The priestess stood in the center of the tavern, glancing around as if searching for someone. Mariah laid her palms flat on the table and slowly stood from her chair.
“Mariah?” Sebastian stood with her, alarm in his voice. Even Andrian straightened in his chair, hand dropping from her back.
But Mariah ignored them. The priestess met her gaze across the sea of crowded tables. A slow smile spread across her ageless face, slightly up-tilted eyes twinkling with mischief in the warm tavern glow.
“You,” Mariah murmured breathlessly. So quiet, it should’ve been impossible for the priestess to hear her.
But the priestess’s smile stretched wider, and she wove her way through the tables to where Mariah and her Armature had settled in the back. She halted across the table from Mariah, standing between Drystan and Sebastian, the latter still standing as her Armature watched her warily.
The priestess dutifully ignored them. Instead, she met Mariah’s gaze, dipping her head in the smallest of bows. “It is good to see you again.”
The confusion that pummeled Mariah through the bonds she’d left open had her sucking in her breath. She slammed the mental doors closed; all but one.
But Andrian was not confused or suspicious. From him, Mariah felt only pointed curiosity.
“What—what are you doing here?” Mariah’s shock coursed through her. Bluntness was all she knew.
The priestess shifted, smile faltering. “That is a complicated question.” Her eyes darted quickly around the crowded room before returning to Mariah. “The gods make strange requests of their servants.”
Mariah scoured the priestess’s face. She clawed back through her memories; something the woman said was familiar.
The revelation struck Mariah like a blow.
The gods… The priestess chose her words carefully. Because she served no Onitan god but one from Leuxrith. Callamus, God of the Night Sky.
A god no one in Onita knew. The knowledge this priestess carried—that there were other gods who kept to other kingdoms, hidden behind closed borders and centuries-old embargoes—could shatter the foundation of many Onitan’s beliefs.
But Mariah couldn’t help but wonder if that foundation needed to be destroyed.
“Mariah,” Sebastian said, his controlled voice cutting through the thick silence. “Care to introduce us to your … friend?”
Mariah frowned, still holding the priestess’s stare. “I would, but?—”
“You can call me Signe.” The priestess turned her smile to Mariah’s Armature. “And fate has crossed our paths before,though most of you do not know it.” Signe lingered on Andrian, her violet eyes flashing. “Except for you,madr.”
Andrian chuckled softly. “I thought you looked familiar. Glad to see those woods didn’t give you too much trouble.”
Signe dipped her head again.
“It’s great to see you again, Signe, and to finally make your acquaintance,” Mariah said, voice slightly sharp. “But why are you here?”
Signe’s humor fell away, something depthless creeping into her face. “As I said, the gods make strange requests. But I am hardly one to question them.” She sharpened her gaze on Mariah, that same scorching stare that peeled back too many layers.