Page 20 of Queen
She didn't want to believe it. She had to push it out of her mind just to keep putting one foot in front of the other, but when she saw someone moving up ahead, she froze.
She should have run, but there was something about that figure… Something familiar. It was the first sign of a woman she'd seen since they had brought her down to the dungeon. Natalia? But what was she doing roaming free? Unless she’d found a way to escape, too.
Ella crept forward, turning the corner where the woman had disappeared. There was a fork in the corridors, and she wasn't sure which way to go. She chose right, and walked quickly until she caught sight of what she had been sure was a hallucination brought on by stress and whatever drugs were lingering in her system.
"Natalia?" she called in a whisper. She stared at the woman in disbelief. Natalia was wearing a dark red robe, and when she turned to face Ella, she looked far from distressed or injured. There was something in her gaze that instantly put Ella on edge. Something she had never seen in it before--a hardness.
"Well, look who's up and about," Natalia said in a strange tone, taking a step toward her. Ella instinctively took a step back. "I really shouldn’t be surprised. It takes about ten toms to do one job, and they can’t even manage that."
"Natalia, what are you--?" As Ella took another step back, she hit something solid that hadn't been there a second ago. She turned to find herself being watched by a tall man in the same dark robes Natalia was wearing. He grabbed her before she had the chance to even scream, and a needle pierced her neck.
The same fuzzy, heavy feeling that had overcome her on the balcony washed over her again. As Ella sank into his arms, feeling a mixture of betrayal and rage, she realized it all went so much deeper than she'd ever imagined.
Chapter 12
Bishop
It was actually happening. It was finally time for the ritual, and while the moon was far from visible through the layers of concrete and stone above the attic room they had moved to, Bishop still couldn't help but feel like it was watching them.
Not for much longer. He'd grown up seeing the moon not as some benevolent goddess, but rather the meddling force that kept him and his family out of their rightful place. Being the seat of power in the colony for one generation was nothing. Just enough to keep the colony subjugated and under the illusion that they had any control over their own fates.
Natalia was right. They had been waiting for this for such a long time. Since before Bishop was even born. It was time for him to fulfill his role in things. It was his only purpose. No matter how much the role he had taken on in order to win Ella's heart had gotten into his head, he just had to remember that.
It wasn't real. None of it was.
Neither were the instincts that had him straining against his willpower as he watched them bring Ella into the ritual chamber. She was unconscious, an ironically peaceful look on her face. She herself looked like a moon goddess, her pale skin aglow in the candlelight, the pristine white gown falling over the rounded shape of her pregnant belly.
As Natalia swept into the room, he jolted back to attention. His brother and father were already there, hard to distinguish from the others in the dark robes of Felidae. It was time, so Bishop pulled his own hood up over his head and went to join them. His role was done now. And he was going to be able to keep Ella. Even if she hated him forever, at least he would have her.
There was no reason to feel this way.
"There have been enough distractions tonight," Natalia announced, her head held high as she addressed her cult. "We have to act swiftly. Selene will only be vulnerable for a matter of hours, and once we call her into this human vessel she has chosen, there will be no turning back. If any of you are having second thoughts or doubts, you can leave now."
She paused, and Bishop felt her gaze linger on him before continuing past. "Good," she said, nodding for her servants to gather the ritual materials. Ella had been placed on a stone altar, and there were candles surrounding it like a shrine. The glow made her look even more ethereal, and she was beginning to stir.
As a large book Bishop had only seen on a few occasions in his life was placed in Natalia's hands, he felt even more surreal. He'd been preparing for this day for so long. Now that it was actually here, he didn't know what to feel. None of the things hewasfeeling made any sense.
As Natalia began to chant the sacred ritual text to summon the goddess, the room seemed to grow electric. Those around him, including his brother, were mesmerized, as if they were witnessing something beautiful and magic. The magic was accurate enough, but this moment was nothing like Bishop had imagined, and he certainly wouldn’t say it was pleasant in any way.
He flinched as his mother held out her hand over Ella's stomach, continuing to chant faster until the words blended together. The candles on the wall flickered, but there was no breeze or draft in the room to explain it.
It was happening. Bishop watched without breathing as Natalia continued, and finally ceased chanting as abruptly as she had begun.
She closed the book and handed it to another cultist before placing both hands above Ella's stomach. Bishop had read the ritual rites enough times to know what she was doing. She was beginning to siphon the lunar energy that should already be flowing into its vessel. The ritual would hasten the process that had already begun, making it more concentrated and lessening the amount of time Selene would have to adapt to the material world. She would be trapped within her vessel, but weak, the perfect target for the energy vampirism at the heart of the ritual.
Natalia gave a startled cry and stumbled back suddenly. Bishop's father rushed out to catch her, but she shoved him off. "Something is wrong," she said bitterly.
"What do you mean?" Bishop's brother asked. "You recited the ritual perfectly."
"This isn't Selene’s energy," she said, staring at the unconscious woman on the table. "It's the wrong vessel."
"It's not possible," Bishop protested. "It has to be. You said it yourself, it's within Ella. It’s the baby."
Something about Natalia's silence put him on edge. Something wasn't right.
"No," she breathed. "No, that’s impossible. It can't be her after all this."
Dread filled the pit of Bishop's stomach, but all he could do was watch as Natalia took the book back into her hands. She began reciting the chants, her voice a rapid whisper as she flipped through the pages violently enough to tear them. When Natalia raised her hand over Ella's forehead, she froze suddenly, and when she opened her eyes, they were filled with the same white light that had been in Ella's during the choosing.
