Page 177 of A Tribute of Fire

But they didn’t.

“What does this mean?” Maia asked Antiope as if we weren’t even in the room.

“I don’t know, and we can’t even ask the high priestess.” I got the feeling that Antiope wasn’t often at a loss like this.

“Why can’t you ask her?” Ahyana asked.

“Theano became very ill this afternoon and has been confined to her bed.”

Hadn’t Maia said that Daphne had died this afternoon? Was that timing coincidental? It had to be. How could one event affect another? My mind felt hazy. The exhaustion had finally set in now that we were back and had shared everything that was important to tell them.

We all left out the part about the red dirt.

“You three need to go back to your room and sleep. Tell no one of what you saw tonight,” Antiope instructed. “I will tell Suri and Io the same thing when they wake up.”

Again, I was left with a wealth of questions that I knew wouldn’t be answered. And even worse? Two sisters who might be in danger of never waking up again.

The next morning we were awoken by Nysa. She stood with Artemisia and the remaining members of her adelphia in our room. One of theacolytes who had been killed in the attack on the temple had been part of Artemisia’s sisterhood. I wondered if they blamed me for it. I gripped my xiphos under my pillow, not sure what was happening.

“Get up,” Nysa said. “Yesterday before she fell ill, Theano said one of her keys had been stolen. It opens the treasury vault. Nothing is missing from the vault and we intend for it to stay that way. She ordered me to conduct a search. We haven’t found it so far and since you were the only ones who were gone yesterday ...”

Her voice trailed off, but her implication was clear. She was sure we had it.

And if she had searched us yesterday, she would have been right.

But now it was lying in a forest south of Troas.

Artemisia smirked at us as she tore apart our room. They ripped open bedding, our pillows, and went through all our clothing, our pouches, our knapsacks. We had to sit quietly while everything we owned was tossed into the middle of the room or destroyed.

I was relieved that the book had been stolen. Without a doubt, they would have discovered it and I would have had no explanation.

“It’s not here,” Artemisia practically growled. She had expected to find the key.

I was so glad that I’d gotten rid of it. “Of course it isn’t,” I said.

She heard the secret in my voice, knew I had done something, but she had no way to prove it. The bitter and angry frustration was etched clearly into her features.

I stood up as she stalked over to me. If she wanted a fight, I was ready to provide her with one. She would probably be able to take me easily, given my left shoulder, but I would get in a few good hits before someone pried us apart.

“You will make a mistake,” she said to me in a low voice. “And when you do, I will be there to expose you. You will lose.”

Lose what?

“And I will make certain that you are removed from this temple. You have cost me a sister. You defile this place with your very presence and you put us all in danger,” she hissed at me.

I couldn’t even defend myself. She was right. “I’m sorry about your sister.”

My pity seemed to just infuriate her further and she drew her sword.

“Artemisia!” Nysa called out. “Let’s go.”

The women left, with Artemisia glaring at me the entire way, and Zalira sighed. “Look at this mess.”

“We should get it cleaned up before Suri and Io get back,” Ahyana said, and I envied the easy optimism she seemed to have.

Kunguru flew into the window and Ahyana immediately rebuked him. “There you are, naughty boy! Where have you been? Terawolves tried to eat us. We could have used you as our warning system.”

He cawed at her in response and came over to give her a drachma. She shook her head and took the silver coin. She usually kept them in a small wooden box by her bed, but Artemisia had dumped all the contents onto the floor.

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