Page 78 of The Cerulean Sister
"I've been sent by the 99th Commander," he informs me closer to the bars. "I don't like seeing you like this, Priestess Ferren."
"99 sent you?"
Calliape and August must have panicked when they saw Lord Hollis and knew that I wouldn't be able to use any of my gifts. This is not the plan. I told them to wait, not to reach out to 99.
Calliape could not come herself, knowing she would be recognized by the wards. Commander Wesley without his Viathan armor looks like any other man in a cloak, moving easily around the Estate. It's clever but not the plan.
"It was not easy to find you, took days. I almost didn't check down here." He glances over at the creature's cell. "This is a setup similar to the capital’s prison. I can help you escape?—"
"No," I say, confused. "No, I am not leaving."
"You cannot stay here."
I hold onto the bars with both hands and lean in. "I have to."
He shakes his head, the rim of the cloak swaying a little, disapproving in a way I have seen from him before when he knows I can refuse his guidance.
"I am close. I can feel it. All this?" I wave my hand around the space in the cell behind me. "It's just part of their punishment. It's nothing. I am being fed banquet food for Mother’s sake."
"You do not sound well, Priestess." His voice makes me worry that I have not held onto my mind as strongly as I thought.
"If I go now . . . This is my only chance. There will be no others."
"What will I tell the 99th Commander?" He sighs. "My orders were to extract you if there was present danger."
"Tell him I am making progress. Remind him I have until the last days of the conjunction. I will reach out to Calliape if I can, or I will meet them at the safe house . . . like we planned."
Commander Wesley looks over his shoulder like he hears someone coming, then leans in closer. "He won't like it."
"Tell him this is part of the ritual. I won't be down here for much longer," I say, not knowing if it's the truth.
I have no idea how long they will keep me here. Crixa said I will have a chance of forgiveness but has made no mention of the atonement that was promised. She could easily take back her word and perhaps assume she would have no one to answer to. As if 99 wouldn't burst through the side of the Estate if he knew she wasn't going to go through with what their messages assured me.
"Priestess Ferren, it was an honor to serve as your guard, but I'm not sure you ever needed me."
"Commander Wesley, I appreciate the rescue, but I must dismiss you now."
I see another flash of his smile and even the indent of a dimple on one of his sharp cheeks as he turns to leave.
"Wait! You said days? How long have I been down here? How dark is Cosima?"
"August's ship touched down nearly sixteen days ago."
Panic surges through me, but my chance to reply is cut short by the sound of a patrolling guard.
Commander Wesley walks calmly in the opposite direction, toward the glowing cell and into the shadows.
I am fed three more enormous meals by the time Lord Hollis comes to my cell again. His face is pinched in frustration as his guards hold me to the chair for him to cowardly restrain me from afar.
Anything I can confess, I have. I am a lost priestess. I was tempted by other worlds. I simply lost my way.
Sixteen days of this torment.
But that is not good enough and it's affecting him, his patience running out, but so is mine.
He has me bound tighter, his guards so close behind me with their torches I can feel the heat on my hair and worry it will singe.
One of his scaly fingertips traces over my knuckles as he drains my gifts again. "I wish I could have seen what your little green lights did. I tasted it once before and savor it now, but I wish I could have witnessed you wield it yourself at its peak."
