Page 77 of A Tribute of Fire

Io turned her gaze away, as if to confirm my suspicions. “She has been here for a few years. They say that she killed six girls during her race to join the temple.”

“Is that typical?” I asked, horrified.

“No. I know of no other priestess who eliminated fellow racers, even though the law allows for it.”

Why slaughter people if you didn’t have to? A pit started forming in my stomach. Artemisia was definitely dangerous and I was going to do my best to steer clear of her.

I did not intend to end up as one of her victims.

We entered the main room of the temple, the one I had dropped into five nights ago. I glanced up at the ceiling, but the hole had already been repaired.

As if it had never happened.

And I was sure that there were people in this temple who wished for exactly that—that I’d never joined them.

Io led me over to a back staircase. It was located in exactly the same spot as the one in the Locrian temple and my heartbeat sped up.

The goddess statue should be downstairs. This could be it. I would see if she had the eye and then it would just be a matter of planning how to grab it and escape without alerting anyone.

But we didn’t go down. “Wait here,” Io said, and she opened a door to a room I hadn’t noticed before. I reached out to touch the wall closest to me. There was no question that it had been built from Pyroneanmarble. It was a pure, translucent white with a fine grain and sparkling veins of silver.

Io returned with three girls behind her. Two of them were obviously related. They were nearly as tall as me and had dark brown skin with dark brown, braided hair that reached down to their waists. One had ribbons intertwined with some of her braids.

The third girl had medium brown skin and black hair that looked so much like Quynh’s I felt my heart twist in pain.

All three were in the same pale green tunic that Io wore and looked to be close in age to me. Eighteen, nineteen maybe.

“This way. Maia is waiting for us,” Io said, and I was surprised that she wasn’t going to make an introduction. I wondered if I should, but all four of them went down the stairs. I sucked in a deep breath and followed.

“Who is Maia?” I asked from the back and Io stopped, letting the other three pass her while she waited for me to catch up.

“She’s been here for ten years. Maia is our instructor and mentor and is so kind. Much kinder than Theano.” Her eyebrows shot up her forehead, as if she’d only just realized what she’d admitted. “I shouldn’t have said that.”

One of the girls with braids shook her head. “You should always speak the truth. And that is the truth.”

I wanted to ask what was happening but got the impression that I was about to find out.

We entered the lower room, and again, I recognized the woman waiting for us by the goddess. She had been the third person with Theano the night I’d come to the temple. The one who had gone from the room to find people to get my tunic and bring in a razor.

I reached up to feel my stubble again and tried to tamp down the anger welling up inside me.

Stupid girl! Look around you! Stop focusing on your petty grievances and search for the eye!

The room was lit by torches that hung from sconces. The walls were constructed from the same Pyronean marble, and in the center of it was the statue of the goddess, although unlike the one in Locris, it was intact and at least ten feet high.

The statue stood in a pool of dark, iridescent oil, and the colors of the rainbow on the surface seemed to shift and bend under the torchlight.

Then I noticed that the goddess was veiled with a cloth, like the high priestess. Her body was turned toward the east.

I couldn’t see her face.

So I took a step forward. If I stood on my tiptoes, I could reach the veil and lift it up to check.

But Io’s hand went onto my upper arm, holding me back. “You’re not allowed to approach the goddess yet,” she said. “That won’t happen until much later.”

How much later? I didn’t have time to wait.

Maia had a bag in her hands and smiled at us. “Welcome, everyone. And a special welcome to you ...” She let her voice trail off as she glanced at Io.

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