Page 123 of The Cerulean Sister
He brings his hand back to his side, clenching it and trying so hard to remain still. He knows the reason for my withdrawal. His touch would have been soothing. I wanted it. But I was not paying enough attention and my body defaulted back to protecting itself, and now he thinks I am afraid of him too.
"Sorry, I am just tired . . . but I am fine. I promise. Will I see you tonight?"
He nods and struggles to turn away from me but picks up speed when the guards tell him they found the weapon I threw across the temple with my light.
I lose track of time watching them, and they eventually take the woman away with another set of Estate guards, likely to the dungeons to be interrogated more.
Emperor Matthias comes with his guards and stomps around the temple like he has never been inside. It feels very strange to watch them in a place they are not allowed to be.
"Where is she?" a concerned voice calls out behind the line of the emperor's guards. "Make way!"
They part as Crixa pushes past. Her expression is frantic and searching as she stands in the temple, head moving in every direction until her eyes meet mine. Actual relief crosses her face as she walks toward me.
I stand from my seat, confused and wondering why she looks so upset. She does not have the same tolerated disgust she has had painted on her face since I returned. There is real emotion there now, a crack into the affection she once had. She walks quickly over to me, as if I have returned from a long journey and she is seeing me for the first time.
It's overwhelming and confusing. I erased my love for Crixa, but something in me still feels moved somehow.
My body betrays me the moment she reaches out and hugs me. I melt into her arms, needing the contact to fully calm myself after what happened. I hate that it's from her.
She holds me like she still cares, like she will never truly stop loving me. How I imagine mothers love children even when they do awful things. How it is written that First Mother would forgive her most wicked of children, First Son, if he would simply come back to her loving arms.
Chapter
Thirty-Three
Another round of commanders comes to replace the ones who left to take the woman away. They bring technology with them, data pads and strange equipment.
99 briefs Emperor Matthias on their plan to move forward and where the prisoner is now. He gestures to the strange box left over from the attack and introduces a commander who crouches down next to it. Everyone but the Viathans look nervous as he presses some buttons on the side.
It activates with blinking lights, taking the shape of a transparent glass cube below the metal square.
The commander types into a data pad and explains the intention of its use, that anything placed in the box will be destroyed. When he is met with confused looks by Crixa and the emperor, he then places a handgun into the cube-like chamber, and with a puff of smoke and flash of light, the gun is broken down into dust.
The realization spreads across the room that the intent of this person was to place the stones inside, destroying them.
My gut churns when I catch a few people glancing my way, knowing I was the one to stop it from happening, as if I had planned to help and was not thrust into the situation.
When they are done, I am questioned several more times by Crixa, who pulls me to the side and actively listens to me recount what happened, then again when Emperor Matthias asks almost the exact same questions.
"You have served your temple well, High Priestess. Retrieving the stones and now protecting them. We are truly blessed that you returned. Had you not been praying . . ." Emperor Matthias glances at Crixa. "The thought of the fanatic being successful because we have not been diligent enough . . . We need Viathans at the temple entrance temporarily, Highest Priestess."
Crixa looks like she will finally revert to her hostile self, gawking over at the group of commanders who scan the remaining weapons and technology the intruder left behind.
"It is unheard of. Even now, First Mother weeps with Viathans in her domain." She sighs and glances back at me. "I will have high priestesses stationed here as well, elders who are still fit. The Viathans remain outside the entrance, just like our own guardsmen."
The emperor nods as if he could not have the final say.
Crixa pulls me toward the exit of the temple, wrapping her arms around me as if I need her to hold me up. "The three worlds are fortunate you were here praying when you were. Your ascension gifts are strong. Lord Hollis spoke of difficulty in holding them."
My face blanches at the sound of his name. "They are unrefined. First Mother came to my aid, worked through me. I could not have done that alone."
A lie.
She presses her mind to mine, lowering her thick, mucus-like ward and calling me in.
"I get such head pain. I never like to use it," I answer her beckoning call aloud, lying once again to her prying, snaky branches testing me.
She hums and nods. "I want you to know that I am hard on you because I know the kind of priestess you can be. You just need direction, and your atonement period is working. As for your daily duties, we will put them on hold under the current circumstances. You have proven you are willing to protect the stones. I do see your restored devotion, Ferren."
