Page 3 of Viking

“Did I like them forcing themselves inside me? Did I like the pain and bleeding, and how my cheeks burned with shame afterward?” I hiss. “No. None of us have ever enjoyed the rites, but you probably know that already.”

“Ariella, what have you done?” Sister Attina asks.

I glance up at the Sisters in shock, my hands trembling.

Attina is pale as a sheet, and she collapses to her knees on the dais. The rest of the Sister’s faces only show fear and terror, but there is one who breaks formation and kneels by my side.Adella. She’s younger than me, by a full two lunar years, but I’ve always felt a closeness with her. We’ve spent years huddled together at night, to keep warm, always remembering to put some space between us before the sun rose and the guards found us embracing.

“Ariella, you must go.”

I reel back from my sister. “What?”

“You killed the Prophet. You must leave before the guards come back.”

“No,” Attina says. “She must stay and pay for what she has done. She must—”

Adella slaps Attina across the cheek. The sound rings off the great walls and she hisses quietly. “Do you wish to see our sister put to death?”

Attina cups her red cheek and shakes her head. “But the prophet ...”

“Would kill her or put her aside, eventually. Haven’t you noticed he only likes them young and simple?” Adella turns to me. “Ariella, you must run now. Through the briar forest, run and don’t look back.”

“What will I do? What will happen to you and the rest of the Sisters?”

“It doesn’t matter. You’re free, Arie. You can escape this place, like we always talked about. She bundles up my dress from the floor and slips it over my head, and then she gathers together the left-over meat and cheese in a kerchief and tucks it into my hand. “It is dark, thank the Mother, so you will be harder to spot. Keep to the trees and once you’re in the briar forest, keep moving until you find the cliff face.”

“How do you know all of this?”

“It does not matter. Listen to me, Arie.” She cups my face in her hands until I meet her gaze. “It’s a long drop into the ocean. You will need to run as you fling yourself from the cliff. Have faith, Sister. The Mother will not let you dash yourself upon the rocks below.”

“But ... the mother does not wish us to dive into her sacred sea ... It is forbidden.”

“Would you rather dive into the devil’s flame? For that is what they will do to you for killing the prophet. Run, Arie. Be free.”

I wipe the tears from my eyes with one hand and nod. Adella opens the door at the back of the hall, the ones the guards had escorted the serving girl through, and pokes her head into the darkness.

She grabs my shoulder and pushes me out of the building. “Go. Be free, Arie.”

I run along the stone path, the cold ground biting into the soles of my feet. I dart behind trees and cabins to avoid being seen. Everywhere, my people are reveling in the celebration, drinking spiced wine and dancing to the Prophet’s songs of exultation. I dodge a group of Brothers around a fire, but the mournful cries of a woman stop me dead in my tracks. I press my back flat to the side of the building, and slowly peek around the corner. The serving girl struggles as she’s held over the flame, her skin bubbling with the heat, her cries swallowed by the inferno.

Oh, Mother. A quiet sob tears free of my throat, and Brother Ulf spins in my direction. I pull back, huddling against the wooden cladding. The gravel path crunches under his boot as he comes closer and I close my eyes tightly, trying not to make a sound.

From across the town square, a horn sounds. The guards have returned and found the Prophet. Shouts go up and the sounds of many boots crunching over stones lead away from me. I dare a glance. Brother Ulf is gone. They all are, all but the poor serving girl who lays at the foot of the fire, tiny wisps of smoke curl away from her face and hair. I run to her side, but she jerks away from me.

“It’s okay, they’re gone.”

“Y-you k-killed him?” His voice is a cracked whisper.

“Yes.”

“R-run.” She says and struggles to her feet. I help her up, but she shoves me, hard.

“I’m not leaving you.”

“Go, you fool! I-I’m already dead.” The girl leaps into the fire. I scream, but she doesn’t make a sound. Her lips mouth the word, “run” and in a daze, I do just that. I run for the tree line and disappear. Branches sting my face as they slap against me. Exposed roots, try to trip my feet and I stumble more than once, but I run until my breath saws in and out of my lungs, until my heart beats impossibly fast and my chest feels as if it too has been consumed by flames the way the serving girl was. I run until my dress gets caught on the thorny brambles of the dark forest and my feet are raw and bleeding. I run until I see the edge of the cliff face and the Mother’s Sea below. I’m just about to leap when I hear Adella behind me. “Run Arie, run!”

I stop and turn. Several of the guards stand with my sister. Her gown is covered with crimson splotches, as if she smeared the Prophet’s blood over her skirts to protect me.

Brother Ishtar holds a flaming torch aloft, and I can just make out her broken face in the firelight.

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