Page 50 of Stray
Ella wanted to believe he was better than that. That something inside of him was still good and kind, but she knew him too well for such lofty hopes.
Knowledge of his true nature had, unfortunately, never kept her from wanting him.
“How is this possible?” another priestess demanded. It seemed even their ranks were divided over the matter. “All the candidates have been baptized. There’s no one left.”
“There is one,” Tessa corrected.
Ella froze as the woman’s eyes found her through the crowd. Those pressed in around her turned to follow the priestess’ gaze and kept looking past her, as if they were missing a more obvious candidate.
“I don’t understand,” Emily said, still at Blake’s side, performing the role of the dutiful friend. “You can’t mean Ella. She’s… she’s just a stray.”
“She is a young queen who’s come of age within the allotted time period,” said Tessa. “Any additional conditions or restrictions you’ve come up with are a product of your own prejudices, not the Fellowship’s laws and traditions.”
Ella had never seen Emily look so pale, or heard her remain quite that silent for so long.
“She’s right,” Ella finally said, once she was able to find her voice. It sounded strained and cracked, but at least it was intelligible. “It can’t be me.”
“Why don’t you come here and let the moon decide that, child?” Tessa challenged gently, holding out her hand.
The crowd was parted in front of Ella and she no longer had any excuse to wait. She swallowed hard and took a step forward, feeling as if she was walking toward the gallows. Either she refused a direct order from the head priestess herself, or she further entrenched herself in the spite of those who controlled every facet of her life.
Either way, she knew she’d been wrong about this night. Things were only going to get worse.
Ella made the mistake of glancing toward the others on her way to the edge of the water. The look of hatred burning in Marissa’s eyes wasn’t anything she hadn’t experienced before, even if it was more intense than usual, but Axel…
He’d never looked at her that way. With utter contempt and disgust unclouded by the apathy she was so accustomed to.
She almost lost her balance, and this time, she knew Bishop wouldn’t be there to catch her. An ominous song played deep within her chest, every uneven beat of her heart drumming out a funeral march in blood.
Humiliation crawled underneath Ella’s skin as she reached behind her back, fumbling for the zipper on her dress. Her hands were shaking so badly it took a few tries, and when the fabric pooled at her feet, she felt more exposed than she ever had.
At least shock had made it impossible to even think about what the others around her were saying, or whether they were watching at all. She just kept moving forward on autopilot, as if her body had relinquished control to some other force she was all too happy to give it over to.
The cool water rose over the tops of her feet and the deeper she went, the more she wished it would just swallow her whole. The water was up to her chest now, cool and soothing, but the breath in her lungs felt like fire.
She wanted to be done with it all, to pull herself out of this damn pond, grab the nearest robe, and run before the laughter could be heard over the ringing in her ears.
Tears coursed down her cheeks, burning hot in contrast to the water’s chilly caress. She shut her eyes tight and waited for the priestess’ blessing, which she would most assuredly need to get through the ride home, but all that met her ears was dead silence.
Ella finally dared to open her eyes, immediately blinded by the pearlescent sheen of the markings that had appeared on her forearms. She stared in disbelief as the markings traveled up her arms, inscribing themselves over every part of her.
She couldn’t read the ancient script any more than she could speak the corresponding words, but in the same strange way she’d understood the priestess’ incantations, each one spoke a message that soaked deep into her bones. Into her soul.
Fear soon won out over disbelief and Ella turned her hands over to inspect them as panic closed around her throat like a vice. She staggered back and found the shelf below her feet unstable.
The bottom of the pond wasn’t level as she’d expected. The earth gave way beneath her and she sank deep under the water, claimed as thoroughly as she’d so foolishly wished to be.
She should have learned her lesson about wishing by now.
She gasped instinctively and water rushed into her lungs as she struggled to reach the surface. Every attempt merely resulted in her sinking deeper and deeper. She could no longer see the silvery ripples of moonlight on the water’s surface above her, but the darkness below became even brighter, every bit as obscuring.
It seemed to be a conscious force drawing her in, deeper and deeper as the water filled her lungs and wrapped her in its cold embrace.
How was it even possible to sink this deep?
It was the last thought she had before the light, or the water, assuming there was even a distinction between the two, swallowed her whole.
Chapter 3
