The Wicked House of Caroline

“You know if you die here, you’ll never see your wife again, right?” Beks’ deadpan voice filled the room that had all its windows open to air out. At least it smelled better than the first time she came. On the bed, Luther was sitting up with his back against the headboard, and a wooden table was placed across his lap, over the bed, with a tray of food.

A stern faced, middle-aged man who reported directly to Chamberlain Wilton stood to the side, waiting for Luther to touch his now cold food.

The man with the sunken face turned his head towards the door.

“Beks, you’re here.” He seemed to try to force a smile, but with his gaunt face, it was almost frightening.

Beks remained standing just in front of the entrance. “Is there a reason why you are refusing to eat?”

Luther turned away, avoiding both her and the plate of food. “I am not hungry.”

“You have to eat even if you are not hungry. You are not a child,” Beks replied. “You know very well that you need to eat to recover.”

He looked back at her with some wonder. “You wish for me to recover?”

I won’t be accused of bullying the weak if I wait until you’re healthy to punch you back to unhealthy. “I do.” She was sincere.

Luther seemed to notice that, and he perked up a bit. He sniffled and nodded once, his thin hand reaching for the spoon. “You want me to recover....” She heard him whisper this to himself a few times before he took his first slurp.

After he swallowed his first spoonful, she raised a brow. “How is it?”

Luther nodded. “It’s good.”

“The kitchen can make it again if you like it.” As long as you eat it, you depressing turnip.

The corners of his chapped lips pulled up a bit. “Okay.”

Beks didn’t move from her spot, crossing her arms and watching until the wide, shallow bowl of a thick soup was consumed. “Eat the bread.”

“It’s too much.”

“Just take three bites.” Wrath was less difficult to feed than Luther. He picked up one of the slices and took three bites, slowly chewing each and swallowing before putting the half-eaten slice back. Beks looked at the servant waiting. “Fill his water cup and you may take the dishes and leave.”

“Yes, Your Highness.” The servant poured water from a pitcher into a clean glass and then pushed the table to the foot of the bed before gathering the tray. He bowed to Beks before passing, leaving the two alone in the room, though the door was left open.

Luther fidgeted in place, glancing at his hands tugging the thin blanket across his lap before stealing glances at Beks.

“Why...why did you come today?” He seemed to hold his breath.

“The delegation from the Caroline Duchy will be returning at the end of the week. This includes the majority of the life biha users we have who are healers,” Beks told him. “Without them periodically strengthening you, you will deteriorate much faster if you refuse to eat. Brother is concerned for your health.”

His eyes lowered, trying to avoid her seeing the disappointment in them. “Only Brother?”

Beks clenched her jaw to keep from retorting with a cold ‘who else? Your father’s dead.’ She took a deep breath. “Laz and Lucian want you alive.”

Luther drew his head back as he knit his brows, as if unsure what to say. He drew his lips inward and bit them before looking back at her. “What about you?”

“What about me?”

“Do you want me to live?”

She narrowed her eyes. Beks fought down the strong urge to reply that he could not be punished and suffer if he were dead. Instead, she held her tongue and gave him a nod.

She caught the immediate spark in his eyes and spoke to quell any hope. “We are family now, I suppose. Title or not. I would not wish death on my own brother-in-law.” But I can wish suffering....

His new title seemed to have a strong effect. He drew back, as if she’d struck him and tensed up. A pained look graced his face and Beks wanted to physically slap it off of him. “I am just your brother-in-law....” His voice became hoarse. “I see....”

She gave him another nod. “In the coming days, try to eat more and build up your strength-”

“I told you I love you. Did you ever love me?” His sudden question cut her off and Beks snapped her mouth shut.

She narrowed her eyes. “You’re asking me this now?”

His chest rose and fell with tight breaths as he looked at her with reddening eyes. “Even after you left, after you went into exile willingly, I thought there was some part of you that loved me. Then they told me you married my brothers.” He squinted at her. “Do you really love them?”

“Yes.”

“They are not here,” Luther’s voice seemed to plead. “You don’t have to lie.”

Beks looked at him as if he didn’t seem to understand. “I’m not lying. You know that when we were children, it was Laz and Lucian who were closest to me, but they were sent away after their father passed. They would send me letters and gifts. I knew they loved me. When we met again, as adults, they not only loved me, but they were also in love with me.

“You can understand that, can’t you? After all, even after over two decades of engagement and your claim that you loved me, you bedded the first woman who had fallen in love with you. I don’t hold that against you. Hadn’t our plan always been to have a marriage of convenience; to show mutual respect to each other, and keep any affairs private?”

Luther shook his head. “I would’ve married you, too.”

“You didn’t respect me.” Her voice lowered. “When I was trying to keep control for Brother Laurence, you sided with the opposition. I was trusted to keep the kingdom running, and you allowed them to push me out. You wanted to use me to govern, but take all the credit for doing so. I couldn’t even be given the righteous honor of a Wife of Convenience. Why do you think everyone in that ballroom looked at you strangely when you introduced your Wife of Choice? Are you that stupid?”

Luther threw his hands down in protest. “But I wanted to marry her!”

“You were parading around the city with her before Brother’s accident while I was working all day doing work for you,” Beks sneered. “Everything I tried to teach you was ignored. Everything I tried to do for you was taken for granted. I should’ve known sooner that you couldn’t be depended on. Brother certainly knew. That was why he had prepared a royal order to break the engagement.”

A trembling cry came from Luther as he covered his crying face with his hands. “I didn’t want you to leave me....” His muffled cries reached her hardened ears. “I needed you there. You were supposed to be there.”

“I was not the one who had me exiled!” Beks lifted her chin and looked at him, disgusted. She gave him more chances than she should’ve, but he constantly disappointed her. Where did he get the audacity to be angry at her for leaving? “You let the court laugh at me for trying to hold power; allowed them to strip me of any influence. You let the palace; the city laugh at me for having a fiancé who was openly sleeping with another woman. You cannot abandon someone and expect them to remain at your side to support you.”

“I didn’t abandon you!” Luther told her, insistent but still upset. “I gave you a chance to stay!”

“Who would want to stay?” Beks raised an elegant brow. “You would want to stay and be humiliated and exploited? You may be as stupid as a garden vegetable, Luther, but I am not. You disappointed me, and your brothers, so much already. Don’t continue to do so.” Her gaze hardened. “Eat well and regain your strength. Remember, if you die here, you’ll never see Iris Elpidah again.”

She turned around, preparing to leave, but Luther cried out for her.

“I still love you!” She stopped in her tracks and shuddered. Luther’s voice shook as he spoke. “It isn’t the way I love Iris, but I love you. You were my only friend and the partner I trusted. I thought you’d always be there, so I did take you for granted. I should’ve paid more attention. I should’ve learned. I’m sorry.”

“You apologize so much, it’s lost all meaning,” Beks told him with her back to him. “You’re only sorry because you are where you are now. If you were still on the throne, with your wife at your side, and a child on your lap, and everything that has happened had still happened, you wouldn’t be sorry.”

Luther’s trembling, broken breath escaped him. “I don’t want us to be enemies.” There was a sincerity in his voice and a hint of fear and panic. She didn’t doubt him. His father was dead. His courtiers were gone. His wife was taking shelter in another country.

In that large, golden palace, Luther was alone.

But she couldn’t feel sympathy for him. She tried to help him. His brother tried to help him. His mother tried to help him. And he still made one nonsensical, impulsive, misguided decision after another.

“We’re not enemies, Luther,” Beks said as she took a step out the door. She didn’t see Luther’s head perk up when he heard her. She didn’t think he heard the last half. “You are not worthy of being an enemy.”

The door closed. Beks passed the two guards stationed at the door before stepping out into the hall.

A man about her height was brooding in his royal finery. His eyes downcast, appearing lost in thought. When she reached him, he lifted his eyes. “Will he eat?”

“As long as you don’t promise me to him, encourage him to eat because I don’t want to see him wasting away in bed,” Beks told the older man. “Threats won’t work well on him. He’ll only become more reclusive and starve.”

Laurence let out a low, heavy breath and lifted a hand to rub his head. “He is my blood related brother, but he is more troublesome than you who married into the family.”

“He has always been more troublesome than Beks,” Laz’s irritated voice said. Beks looked over her shoulder and turned to face him as soon as she saw him. “What is the use of telling her he loves you? Did he love you when he was inside another wom-”

“Laz.” Laurence gave him a silencing look. “None of us take Luther’s affections seriously. Even if he wholeheartedly believes it, his actions and instinct say otherwise.” He looked back at Beks and gave her a nod of gratitude. “Thank you for coming to see him, Beks. I know you’re leaving soon, but I’m worried about his health.”

“Daddy is leaving two life biha users to remain to heal him if the situation becomes dire,” Beks replied. Before, the Gilded Palace would depend on the clerics, the life biha users belonging to the Temple, but they didn’t exactly have the best record with the royal family.

Laurence nodded his head once. “I will give him my thanks. Are you still leaving tonight?”

“The rokhs are ready,” Beks said. She initially only wanted to bring one, but Laurence ordered her to bring both, as well as Rid Callan and Gerard. With Rid Callan’s official transfer to guard Beks approved, he no longer had to return to Sagittate, though planned later to organize his move to Gurani.

Beks chose him out of the three assigned to her because earth biha was particularly useful on a mountainside. Also, Efran appeared to really need a break from training. Laz had only given Gerard a look and Gerard announced that he would ride with Rid Callan on the male rokh, Cloud. No asking for permission to come or clarifying his duty. He was merely going to join, as if it were natural.

Laz held her arm in his and squeezed close to her as they walked to the inner gardens, where the rokhs had finished their meals. A small crowd was standing around, waiting to either leave or see off those who were leaving.

Near the basket tied to Cloud, a small family was particularly eye-catching.

“Gerard, as your brother-in-law, you must give me this chance.” Beks had never seen Jonas plea before, especially not to his brother-in-law. Gerard and Sandra next to him looked unmoved.

“You have been following Sister Levina since she arrived. Give her room to breathe,” Sandra smacked her brother’s arm and shot him a glare.

“No, she likes me in the room!” Jonas said, stubborn.

Beks squinted. Was this the same calm and composed man she’d spent hours with in a records room in Gurani? He didn’t even get that excited when they cracked the language.

Sister Levina was in the next basket over and nodded. She held out her slate with white words in chalk written clearly. “I do like him in the room!”

But it was too late. Those who were going had already been settled. Laz smirked as he looked at Jonas. Beks could almost hear him thinking that if he had to suffer, Jonas could suffer with him.

“Jonas.” Laz’s low voice made both Jonas and Gerard stand to attention at once. “Gerard is the one who is used to escorting my wife. His wind biha has also improved greatly.”

“Yes, what of your earth biha?” Sandra wouldn’t let the opportunity to poke her brother pass. “You stay holed up in an office all day...there are so many master biha users around you, for months, and you do nothing to improve.”

“I have a job!” Jonas retorted with a glare.

“Enough,” Beks said, raising her hand. The three went quiet and gave her a bow of their heads. “Sister Levina will be safe with us, Jonas. You are better suited to remain here and assist your Battalion Commander.”

In addition to the work pending regarding Laurence returning and the reorganization of military and royal guards, Laz was also in the planning stages of transferring out of the Legions in order to put his efforts into his role as Prince of Kadmus, who would move to Gurani with his wife and brother.

There was a lot of paperwork involved, not only for Laz, but for the Wild Dogs who wished to follow him as personal guards for him and his family. It was unheard of that the entire battalion would request to transfer, but Laurence had agreed, as he felt manpower was also needed in Gurani in order to properly join it to the kingdom.

The Archduke of Aceria had accepted the title of Governor of Aceria, with Aceria now being a province of Gurani, which itself was a territory of Kadmus. Though not announced outside, the Grand Duchy of Gurani was part of Kadmus.

Due to the nature of Inheritors being born at random, the ruling family of the Grand Duchy would share control, but mainly focus on politics, infrastructure, and trade with heavy guidance from any future Inheritors.

The Archduke, escorted by contracted Maritime Legacy ships, had returned to Aceria to prepare the handover, and to move those who wanted to resettle in Gurani.

“Everyone is leaving,” Robert said as he approached his eldest daughter with his arms raised.

“I wish I could see you off, Daddy,” Beks said as she embraced her father.

Robert sighed and nodded. “I know, but you have a job to do. As do we.” He held his daughter tight and kissed the top of her head. “I’m so proud of you, Snow Flower. Regardless of that ridiculous prophecy, you were bound for great things. Athar’an Stry; Stry’an Vena...”

“Vena’an Ul,” Beks replied. “I will miss you, Daddy. Tell Mommy I will miss her, too.”

“We will visit you on the island once we settle the duchy,” her father stroked her hair as he took a step back. “Trust your instinct.”

Beks nodded. Once her father stepped back, her two younger siblings hugged her.

“Sister, take care. We will visit the island soon,” Thad said. “I will come there for my training.”

Beks chuckled and touched the top of her youngest brother’s head. “Training in a tropical paradise?”

“I can be of use.”

“I know,” Beks assured him with a smile.

Wrath kept her arms around Beks’ waist and buried her face on Beks’ thigh. “Sister....” Her small voice was pleading, making Beks’ heart melt.

She stroked her sister’s hair back. “Yes?”

“Take me with you. I don’t want to go home. It’s boring.”

Robert took a deep breath and exhaled deeply before bending down and prying his youngest child from Bek’s legs. “Are you not going to miss your sister?”

“Of course, I will miss her! Sister does exciting things!” Wrath exclaimed. “Every time I’m with Sister, it’s an adventure!” She flailed her arms around, as if to emphasize the excitement and looked at Sunny next to them. “Right, Sunny?”

Sunny let out a small huff of smoke and jumped like an excited dog. Beks rolled her eyes.

“When we’re settled here, I will take you and Sunny to the Quartz Lake Shrine to speak to the beast speaker monk who gave me the book I gave you,” Beks said. “He can answer any of your questions-”

Wrath gasped. “I can become a disciple.”

“Don’t make things difficult for others,” Robert said in a deadpan voice.

Beks touched her sister’s face. “You and Sunny be good. Maybe Daddy can take you.”

Wrath’s wide, somewhat predatory eyes, turned to their father.

“Father-in-law.” Laz and Lucian, who had been putting supplies in the basket, came to greet them. “Little Sister-in-law, Little Brother-in-law.”

Robert gave them a small, curt nod of his head. “The safety of my daughter is in your hands.”

They clasped their fists over their chests. “We will not disappoint you, Father-in-law!”

Beks hugged Snowflake, who encircled her for just a moment in protest of her leaving. “Snowflake, you have to protect Sister Eleanor. She is with child and needs to be guarded when she’s outside, all right?”

Snowflake nudged her head and flickered his tongue in acceptance of his task. Beks kissed the tip of his nose and hugged him once more.

After she stepped back, Beks confirmed with Laurence and Laz their route and schedule before climbing into the basket. She waved as Wisp rose into the air, pulling the basket up with them.

╔═════════════════ ∘◦ ♔ ◦∘ ═════════════════╗

While traveling with the rokhs wasn’t a secret, at least not in the majority of Kadmus, in order to avoid being spotted and speculated on, they continued to travel at night. In addition, the rokhs, who were affiliated with shadow biha, had more strength and stamina at night, so though the night was short, the distance covered was greater.

Before they crossed the eastern border, they stopped at one of the Southern Legion battalions that was closest to the location they were flying to.

“Rest assured, Your Highnesses,” Battalion Commander Wyatt Gatlin said as he had them in his tent for dinner. “We will remain here and wait for your return. Dun Kadmus has instructed us to ask of your timeline.”

Beks nodded. “It will take us another two nights to fly at our current pace to the site. That will give us the following day to survey the area. The process will start on the morning of the following day.”

“The ceremony itself is an hour long,” Lucian told him. “But the procession up and down the mountain will take the entire day. Once we’re settled in, we won’t be able to leave until dark to remain unseen.”

Battalion Commander Gatlin nodded his head with a serious, attentive expression. After having seen the man interact with her other husband so informally as to argue like children on a playground, it was a bit surprising to see him react so seriously.

Then again, he must’ve gotten his rank somehow.

“Can we approximate two nights to expect your return, Your Highness?” the Battalion Commander asked.

“That’s about right,” Lucian agreed. “If we do not return within five nights, you can act.”

“Yes, Your Highness.”

Beks sipped her wine, not bothering to ask what ‘act’ meant. Whatever it was, it involved protecting them.

At sunset, the group took flight again. They remained high, with Lucian giving direction.

Beks peered over the edge of the basket, into the darkness below and wrinkled her nose. She still couldn’t adjust her sight at night with her biha. It was just one of the many things she wanted to learn on her growing list.

Her hand moved over the ring her Great Aunt gave her. Beks had spent her entire life wishing to use biha somehow, and now she had the ability to channel all known forms. She narrowed her eyes. Yet, in some cases, she still couldn’t do the simplest things.

Sister Levina reassured her that she needed time and Beks was very busy, so it was understandable that she could not fit in all the training she wanted.

However, Beks had always been a quick learner, so this was frustrating.

She sighed and crossed her arms over the top of the basket. She sighed, but before it was released completely, she felt the hairs on her arm stand. She tensed and stood up straight as she sense a faint energy in the air.

“What is it?” Lucian put his hand on her arm and gave her a concerned look.

“How close are we to Strahnroc?” Beks asked.

Lucian looked ahead of them. “I can see the mountain peak from here, and the black stone on top that is the ceremonial site.”

Beks narrowed her eyes. “So, that’s what it is....” The tingling sensation she suddenly began to feel was bihar. Strahnroc was bihar-rich, and it was spreading into the air around it.

“Dawn won’t be for another hour or two, but we still have a day and a night to survey the area,” Lucian said as he looked at her and Sister Levina, who was munching on some nuts on the bench. “Because of the angle of the mountain, people in the surrounding lower levels can’t see the peak, but we should still be careful not to draw attention to ourselves.”

“The procession won’t reach the peak until tomorrow morning, but when do the paladins arrive to line the procession route?” Beks asked.

Lucian’s lips tightened into a line and his voice lowered. “They’re already here.”

Sister Levina narrowed her eyes and frowned at this. She put the still shelled nuts in her hands into a cloth bag. Before, there had been a rhythmic cracking as she broke apart the shells to get to the meat. She lifted her twisted fingers to her lips in a sign that she understood to be quiet.

“We’ll land on the southeastern side. It’s steep, but not too steep, and the ground is firm. After the rokhs drop us off, Rid Callan will stay with you two while Gerard and I survey the area. When we assess that it’s safe, we’ll come get you,” Lucian told them. “Rid Callan will be able to help secure the ground on the northern cliff face to prevent us from falling, but he’ll have to do that at night.”

“Once we’re situated, we won’t be able to leave, will we?” Beks asked.

Lucian nodded. “Not until the procession leaves.”

Sister Levina touched her stomach and frowned. Beks nodded and looked back at Lucian. “What about food and other...biological needs?”

Lucian’s eyes widened and even in the darkness, Beks could sense that he had blushed. He leaned towards her and lowered his voice. “Beks, we’re not alone-”

She pushed him back and glared. “Not that kind of need. The need that comes after the end of eating.”

His brows shot up. “Oh! Um....we’ll figure it out. We’ll prepare before dawn.”

“Still, we’ll need to be in our spots until dark, as the northern cliff face is visible from the pilgrimage site at the base of the mountain.”

“We’ll figure something out,” Lucian told her.

The closer they got to Strahnroc, the more bihar was in the air. Beks couldn’t help but narrow her eyes and wonder if the spring was connected to an aquifer connected to the Forbidden Valley. The bihar was exceptionally rich.

The tingling she felt lingered even as her mind refocused elsewhere once they landed. Lucian helped her and Sister Levina out of the basket before tugging one of the ropes as a sign for Wisp to fly off.

Not far from them, Gerard and Rid Callan did the same. The two men stayed low to the ground and rushed towards them. It was dark, but Beks could feel the slope beneath her. Just standing, she had one foot higher than the other and had to adjust her weight to keep steady.

However, this side seemed to be grassy, and while firm, Beks couldn’t feel any harsh protrusion of rocks.

“I will stay here, Your Highness,” Rid Callan said as he crouched down. Beks and Sister Levina followed his movements and took a seat on the sloping ground.

“Remain hidden here until we return. Should there be any problems, we will come back at once,” Lucian told them before he led Gerard up the mountain side.

As the morning sun began to rise, Beks made out the details of the mountain. From where she sat, the mountain was steep, but not rugged. A simple trail zigzagging up the mountain wouldn’t be too trying, although Lucian had been right. There were no trees visible at the peak.

Along the side where they waited, there were wild grasses and low-lying shrubs, but the nearest trees were further down and in small patches.

Sister Levina wrote on her slate, or rather, drew a map of the mountain as she’d seen it when they were flying over.

She pointed behind Beks to tell her that was where the road from the pilgrimage site was. It had a gentle zigzag but on that face of the mountain. The other side, behind Sister Levina, had a continuation of the slope where they were seated, but on the other side, on the north, was the cliff.

From the diagram she drew, Beks thought that if the mountain was a cake, a slice would’ve been taken out of the northern side, resulting in a jagged cliff.

Rid Callan seemed to want to avoid speaking, so he motioned to Sister Levina’s slate. She handed it to him, and he wrote. His handwriting was surprisingly nice. “The air is bihar-rich; we should do breathing exercises here.”

Sister Levina’s eyes lit up and she nodded, enthusiastic. She didn’t bother to take her slate back and immediately closed her eyes and began to take deep breaths. Rid Callan held on to the slate and crossed his legs, sitting on the ground and closing his eyes.

Beks sighed and leaned back, crossing her arms over her chest as she lay on the grass and looked up at the clear sky above. She closed her eyes and took low, even breaths. She hadn’t slept much that night or the day before. When they landed, she didn’t feel the slightest bit sleepy.

She didn’t expect that almost as soon as she closed her eyes, she seemed to sink into the earth and have the bihar wash over her like a thick blanket. Her eyelids were heavy, and though they were in enemy territory, she was confident in who was guarding her.

Without realizing it, she stretched out her biha to extend the length of her senses.

Is that water? Her skin had bumps at the thought that she could sense the bihar-rich water of the spring before she could even see it. She searched more. The mouth of the spring wasn’t very wide, but it did come from deep below the mountain.

There was something that seemed to be obstructing the flow, but that could be expected if it was a site that was frequented for a specific use by people. They couldn’t risk sudden flooding or degradation of the site.

As she sank deeper into her senses and gradually slipped into sleep, she began to hear the wind around her.

No one seemed to be talking, although she could hear Sister Levina’s breathing and the faint, controlled exhales of Rid Callan that were almost unheard. The even sound coaxed Beks to sleep.

“...mean that you love him?” Someone sounded both shocked and disgusted.

“I’ve been thinking about it for some time....” The second voice also belonged to a woman, but it was softer, yet filled with determination. “I know I never planned to marry. To devote myself to Xeria, but-”

“What did he tell you?” The first woman’s voice became frantic. “What did he do to you?”

“Sister, you’re hurting me-”

“Tell me! A man like him isn’t suitable for you!”

“What is wrong with Cormac? He is one of us-”

“He’s a lewd man of a low background! How can he be worthy of you? You know who you are-”

“I am just an ordinary woman, Sister! I can love who I want-”

“No, the others won’t agree-”

“The others already know!” There was a pause in the argument. The second woman’s voice softened. “And I know you know that he and I are close. Closer than normal....”

The first woman’s voice grew lower. “Did you let him touch you?” There was silence. “You let him touch you...how dare he-”

“Sister-”

“I will kill him-”

“Sister, no!”

The voices in her dream became jumbled and incoherent. There was a sharp gasp and then the first woman’s voice cried out. She began to cry.

“Wake up! Wake up!”

“Beks, wake up-”

Her hand flew up and grabbed on to the first person she could. Her wide gray eyes were frantic and disoriented as they flew around, expecting to see the owners of the two voices just a few steps away.

Instead, she saw Lucian’s surprised blue eyes look back at her. One hand clasped her wrist. “Beks?”

“Are we alone?” she asked in a breathy voice.

Lucian raised a brow and glanced from one side to the other. He loosened his hold on her wrist and lowered himself against her. She felt his leg rub against hers as his smooth, low voice whispered. “We can be.”

She narrowed her eyes. “Am I not showing you enough affection? I don’t remember you being this needy.”

He chuckled and put his head against her shoulder. “We haven’t had any chance to be alone since we left.”

“When we return, I will make up for it.”

“You will make it up to Laz first, since he could not come,” Lucian said. Beks nodded. That went without saying. Lucian rose to his feet and helped pull her up. “When did you fall asleep?”

“Not long after you left,” she replied. She saw Rid Callan, Sister Levina, and Gerard further up the mountain, standing but with their backs to them, as if they were pretending that nothing was going on behind them.

“We were talking, and you didn’t wake up,” Lucian said, his brows knitting slightly. “Which is unlike you, unless you’re tired. Has the trip exhausted you?”

“Not enough to sleep through a conversation happening around me,” she replied. She was a bit surprised, too. “Did I hurt you when I grabbed you?”

“No, but you were startled. Did you have a bad dream?” he asked. “Wrath also thrashes around when she has a bad dream.” He knew this because both Beks and Thad had complained about being hit by their youngest sister when the child was sleeping.

Beks furrowed her brows and looked down. “No....” She didn’t see anything, only heard voices. “It wasn’t a dream.” She squinted. “It was just voices.”

“So, that’s why you asked if we were alone,” Lucian said. “No one has come up since we arrived. The paladins are already at their posts along the route, but they haven’t come up this high. The peak is supposed to be out of view because it is so sacred; even those paladins cannot come up.”

Beks took a deep breath and exhaled. Sacred? Those voices weren’t faint. I could hear them clearly. As if they were standing in front of me. She narrowed her eyes. They were also spoken in a noticeably clear Kadmium accent that she was used to and had. Everything was clear, as if it was set up to be heard.

Lucian took her hand and led her up the mountainside. Beks’ eyes scanned the area. They were the only five people on the mountain. Beks had heard two women and of all the women there, only she could talk, and she had been the one listening.

She drew her lips inward. The energy around them was still strong, but there was more than just natural bihar in the air.

Rid Callan had stopped ahead of them, his lips pulling into a tight line as he looked ahead. “I can see why this is considered sacred.”

“You feel something, Rid Callan?” Gerard asked. The older man nodded.

“People have died here.”

“We know that,” Gerard said, raising a brow. “The last of the original six priests and priestesses of Xeria killed herself on this mountain top.”

Sister Levina shook her head. She scribbled on her slate. “Unwilling death; like in the cells beneath the Temple.”

Despite the sun on her skin and the warm summer weather, Beks felt cold all over. Her arms rose and wrapped themselves around her.

She reached the summit and laid eyes on a shiny black slab of stone carved in a circle. It was the size of a round table large enough to seat ten or twelve people around it. It sat in what appeared to be a pool of water that extended out the length of the stone slab, and was surrounded by river plants that were flourishing.

One couldn’t hear the usual trickle or bubbling sound of moving water, but there were slight ripples on the surface, indicating that the water was moving. Beks was certain that the way it was set up now wasn’t as it always was.

“The procession will come from here.” Lucian released her hand and walked towards a worn in path of dirt coming from the side of the mountain. The patch of dirt circled the spring and stone. “The attendants, such as priests and priestesses of a lower level, will fan out around the circle,” he said as he walked around the dirt patch. He stopped across from them. “When the priests and priestesses who are facilitating the ceremony wade into the water, their attendants will stand behind them to hold towels and tools for the ceremony. They are to hand them over when needed.”

“How many go into the spring, Your Highness?” Rid Callan said as he knelt down and gently pushed aside some plant leaves to get a good look at the slab.

“Six.”

“Look at the carvings,” Beks said as she followed Rid Callan and knelt down beside the edge of the springs. The water was clear, and not as shallow as she initially thought. She could see the rocks at the bottom and estimated that she’d be up to her thighs if she waded in.

“This is volcanic glass,” Rid Callan said as he squinted and looked at the stone. “It should have been brought here from elsewhere...and it seems to be used to plug the spring and restrict water from overflowing.”

“Sister Levina.” Beks looked towards the other woman who was standing stiffly to the side, who was staring with intensity at the stone. Beks frowned and stood up. “Are you all right?”

Sister Levina’s lips pulled tight, and she wrote on her slate. “This is a sacrificial stone.”

Lucian nodded. “Yes, during the ceremony, along with prayers, they offer incense and flowers-”

Sister Levina shook her head and waved her hand in front of him to stop him. “No! This is for human sacrifice!” She underlined and then circled ‘human’.

Lucian looked surprised. “Are you sure?”

She nodded. She frantically wiped at the slate and continued. “Sacrificial stones look the same; based on the same thing. All round, all engraved with prayers, but human stones have the grooves.”

“Grooves?” Gerard asked.

Sister Levina nodded and Beks stared at the stone. Now that she looked at it, the surface appeared just like any other stone used for offerings. There were deep grooves originating from the center that appeared to separate six areas, but there were smaller, faint groves connecting them all leading to the northern point, where there was a hole the size of a coin.

Beks felt her stomach sink. “The grooves are for the blood to drain.”

Gerard sucked in a sharp breath and Lucian drew his head back. “When I was here, only flowers and incense were offered.”

“It could just be that there was an earlier purpose for those grooves that are no longer in use,” Beks told him.

“Where does the blood drain to?” Rid Callan asked as he walked around the spring. “There are no spouts around the slab.”

“Is the slab hollow or has a chamber inside to collect the blood?” Gerard asked. They looked towards Sister Levina and Lucian. Both shrugged, appearing just as confused. Sister Levina wrote on her slate.

“First time seeing one in person. Temple banned human sacrifice. No more stones; only in pictures in books,” she told them.

No wonder she’d been so stunned to see one.

“Let’s not panic,” Beks said. “I’m sure there is a reasonable explanation. This is a very sacred site where St. Myriagnus died and the stone is massive, as well as rarely used. I’m sure it wasn’t worth it to get rid of it, so it remains here.”

The others nodded, but didn’t seem to completely believe her. Beks was unconvinced and she was trying to explain it. Rationally, it shouldn’t have been nerve-racking. The stone was a relic of the past. It wasn’t as if they were caught, they would be sacrificed.

Rid Callan was the first of them to shake themselves out of their surprise. “Your Highness,” he said looking at Lucian. “Can you show me the cliffside? I may be able to create a cover for us along the edge that’s safe.”

Lucian nodded and motioned for him to follow. Beks and Sister Levina continued to study the pool. Beks knelt down close to the water and extended her hand to touch the liquid. It was cool and made her senses tingle at the amount of bihar in it.

She pulled up the sleeve of her shirt and leaned forward, sticking her hand in the water. She closed her eyes and released biha, directing it through the pearl on her finger. Her brows shot up. Beks wasn’t sure what she’d find by doing so, but the biha acted like a hand, moving around, and noting where the walls of the spring were, where the floor was, and the source of the water.

She narrowed her eyes and found that the volcanic glass that was the stone was only part of the structure. It ended about a hand’s length below the water surface, but it rested on a bed of stone pillars as thick as her leg that acted like table legs.

One of the pillars seemed to almost plug into the main hole of the spring, severely limiting the water that came out.

“Is there anything strange, Your Highness?” Gerard asked.

“This entire place is strange,” Beks replied in a droll voice. She withdrew her arm from the water. “The slab is resting on pillars, but I didn’t sense a tap where the blood would drain out of it.”

Gerard’s face twisted with disgust. “Then it drains into an internal chamber?”

Beks made a disgusted face as well. “Sister Levina, did all human sacrificial stones drain into an internal chamber?” She looked over at the other woman who shrugged and wrote on her slate.

“The book I read had few examples, but it appeared as if they drained out to the sides, to a ridge or into a bowl on the floor.”

“Your Highness, I’d like your opinion!” Rid Callan came back from near the cliff’s edge. The front of his clothes had dust on it from having laid on his stomach to crawl to the edge, in order to prevent being seen from below.

Beks stood up and followed him to the edge, then crawled down on to her stomach to get an idea of what he was talking about.

She, Rid Callan, and Lucian remained on their bellies discussing how Rid Callan would alter the landscape a bit in order to create a hole large enough for them along the edge, then cover the top with earth, leaving just small gaps close to the ground that would give them a good view of the Strahnroc with little obstruction from the low shrubs.

Since Strahnroc was only visited a few times a year by a tiny delegation, they were confident that the minor change in landscape wouldn’t be noticeable, even to a returnee.

It was agreed upon, but because he’d have to work along the side of the cliff, they could only work at night.

The rest of the day, Beks spent it trying to burn the area and the engravings on the slab itself into her head. She drew them out clearly on Sister Levina’s slab. As expected, each of the six main sections matched up with sigils of the original six priests and priestesses.

The prayers were the main prayers associated with them, as well.

“What about the engravings on the side?” Gerard asked.

Beks had spent the most time exploring around the spring, and even waded into the water, to get a better look at the engravings along the sides of the slab.

“It’s not Classic Esuser, as the rest of the engravings are,” Beks replied. “Neither Sister Levina nor I recognize it.”

An irritated look was on Sister Levina’s face after having spent most of the day trying to decode it. However, without context or something to compare it to, they couldn’t figure it out.

“Perhaps you’re looking in the wrong place, Your Highness,” Rid Callan suggested. “If I recall, your research showed that the current ritualized practices of the Temple were taken from the surrounding area. Perhaps the written language was from one of those populaces.”

Gerard perked up and nodded his head.

“Brother may recognize it,” Lucian said. “You know Brother has a heavy interest in ancient civilizations.”

Gerard nodded. “Yes, Jonas said that His Majesty learned High Berup quickly. Should we write it down and show it to his Majesty later, Your Highness?”

“No need, I have the image memorized,” Beks said. Gerard sighed. It was so convenient to have such a memory.

They ate a dinner of dried meat and flat bread. Nothing could be cooked, as smoke would be visible. At the very least, the spring water was safe to drink.

By the time the sun set, the lights in the pilgrimage site at the base of the mountain had spread out further than they had been the night before, suggesting that the visitors had more than doubled if the number of lights was saying anything.

Lucian said that every time there was a ceremony, the pilgrimage site would have an influx of visitors, as a ceremony meant that several High Priests or Priestesses would be in attendance who would bless the pilgrims.

Torches were also lit along the procession site to mark the six locations of where the paladins were guarded. The peak remained untouched, but that gave Rid Callan enough time to push out the stone by the edge and create a large space deep enough for them to stand and wide enough for them to move about freely.

It was essentially a small cave when he was through with it. The length of the hiding place almost took up the area around the cliff’s edge, which would allow them views of at least half of Strahnroc. Gerard and Lucian helped move some shrubbery around, arranging what foliage there was to melt in with the altered landscape to make it blend in.

Inside the hiding place were benches, including a piece of stone that jutted out for them to sit on when peering outside the narrow, horizontal strips that appeared as shadows cast by low stone peeking from the ground. From afar, no one would notice that these black shadows were windows.

Rid Callan needed to take his time and be precise, as he didn’t want to weaken the integrity of the stone. Roughly an hour before sunset, Lucian and Sister Levina made sure any evidence of them at the peak was gone before they all climbed into their new cave through a narrow opening facing away from the spring. Rid Callan sealed it closed.

Now they could not leave until the ceremony was over and night had returned.

Gerard sat down and Sister Levina peeked through each narrow window to check the view from each one. Rid Callan also sat down to do breathing exercises in the bihar-rich area.

Lucian and Beks decided on which window they’d take and sat in front of them. They nibbled on some food, already lapsing into silence in case anyone appeared unexpectedly.

They didn’t need to worry about being taken by surprise. When the sun had fully risen from the horizon, Rid Callan’s eyes opened.

“The procession has begun.”

Despite herself, Beks’ heart quickened. It would take some time for the procession to even reach the summit, as the health and age of the priests and priestesses needed to be taken into consideration. There was also usually the single horse drawn carriage with ceremony equipment and offerings.

Rid Callan gave them each a tap on the shoulder and pointed out the windows sometime later in a silent signal to let them know that the procession had arrived. Beks leaned forward and looked out the window.

She began to hear the steady drumming and bells ringing that preceded the procession. She expected to see attendants with instruments arrive, but at one point, the music didn’t get any louder. It seemed to linger partway down the path, meaning that whoever was playing could not come up to Strahnroc.

Surprisingly, the horse pulling the cart did.

Two young priests were leading a white horse that pulled an ornate wooden carriage behind it. It wasn’t excessively big; quite narrow with only two wheels instead of the usual four. Along with them were young priestesses, each carrying bags.

Beks watched as they moved the horse and carriage to the side. The other attendants continued walking and fanned out around the spring, just as Lucian had said earlier. Once they had taken their places, six figures in loose white robes with gilded embroidery along the hems and cuffs ascended the peak.

They kept their heads down with hoods falling over their faces.

Beks didn’t need to ask who they were. Those were the High Priests and Priestesses. Three of each. The High Priest leading them swung around a brass incense burner. He stopped in front of the spring and the High Priests and Priestesses behind him stopped as well, all standing in a neat line perfectly distanced apart.

He began to say a prayer in Classic Esuser.

It was nothing shocking. The standard asking for a blessing, explaining that they were there that day to make an offering, all the usual things.

Once the prayer was spoken, he began to chant. He’d sing a single line and all the others on the hill save Beks and her people hiding sang the same line in an echo. As they changed, he continued to swing the incense and go around the spring, from right to left.

When he reached the same place where he started, he handed the incense to one of the attendants and stopped chatting.

He made a few hand motions, repeated a prayer to bless him, and removed his leather sandals.

He didn’t remove anything else and stepped into the water. His thin white robes immediately became soaked, but he kept his hands clasped together in a prayer position as he circled the slab, wading through the water from right to left.

One by one, the other five followed him into the water.

He reached the space closest to the entrance and engraved with prayers and symbols of St. Ingrid as the last priestess stepped in and took two steps to the space dedicated to St. Myriagnus.

They all kept their heads down and their hands clasped together.

Beks counted at least six separate prayers were done, with each prayer causing the priests to move one station to the right, to the next most saint’s space. When the head priest returned to the space of St. Ingrid, he bowed, resting his head on the cool black slab, prompting the others to do the same. They lingered there for a moment.

“Raise your heads,” he said.

Beks watched, both curious at the ritual and memorizing it to be dissected later. The High Priests and Priestesses still in the spring stood up and lifted their hands to their hoods that had soaked up some water.

Beks’ eyes landed and fixed themselves on the last priestess, who had returned to the space of St. Myriagnus. Her heart shot to her throat. She didn’t expect to see that woman in a spot reserved for High Priests and Priestesses. In fact, she didn’t expect to see that woman outside at all.

Her hand shot out and grasped her husband’s forearm. Lucian furrowed his brows and gave her a look that asked what was wrong. Beks glanced at him and then back out the narrow window, at Iris Elpidah.