Page 111 of A Light So Blinding
Forty-Two
Astrid
The amount of priestesses startled Astrid. Sable, the priestess who had taken her place, had sent a message out to the sisterhood. She’d told Astrid to trust her and allow her to pen the message that would potentially change all of their lives, so Astrid had done just that.
Deep inside her gut, something said that priestesses could be trusted. The sisterhood had perhaps never been particularly kind to her, but they had only been preparing her for a life they knew she could control if she had the strength to do so. None of them wished to be in the position they were in. But they made the best of what life had given them, and they would do whatever it took to grasp some semblance of power.
This was a chance for them to grab a lot more of it.
Now she stood within the labyrinth itself, in the room where the nobles had gathered, and was shocked to see so many of her sisters here. There were more than she had even thought were still in this city, considering the priestesses were also sent outinto the wilds and to other kingdoms that sometimes worked with King James.
Clearing her throat, she tried to think of something to say when they all turned their attention to her. She felt like this was a pivotal moment, and she wasn’t sure how to use that to her advantage.
“Most of you know this place,” Astrid finally said, feeling the words deep in her heart. “You have come here just as I have. With a sour stomach and the knowledge that no matter what you did, you couldn’t stop the horrors from happening here. Like me, you turned your face away from the gore and violence and told yourself it was better that it happened where it was contained. I thought the same as you until they put me in the games.”
One of the priestesses still wearing her face covering murmured, “So it is true. She was here.”
“My lord traded me to clear away gambling debts, like I was nothing. His slate was wiped clean, and all I had to do was give up my body and life. I will not lie to you. I went willingly. I had heard that my sister had been taken by trolls and that I needed to free one to get her back. But what I did not know was that my sister had been held in this labyrinth as well, for ten years.”
The shocked gasps that echoed throughout the room mirrored her own feelings. Because it was so incredibly wrong.
“My sister was training to be one of us. She was a good girl, who said no to being raped by a lord. She did what she could to fight them off, and they put her here, where even worse happened to her for years on end. The trolls took her away. They gave her a safe place. She is happy there. Or... Well, as happy as a woman could be after what she has suffered.” And that still made her heart bleed. “Now I am asking you to help me.”
“How can we help?” Another priestess asked.
“We will show this underbelly to all who live here. We will reveal the horrors that have persisted right under their noses fortoo many years. I want this entire kingdom to know what has happened.”
An older priestess, one Astrid vaguely remembered from her training, pushed to the front of the crowd. “They won’t care, Astrid. They won’t. The nobles who make their money here will continue to turn their faces to the sides, and therefore so will the rest of their people. Money and power has always run this hideous place.”
She’d been afraid of that. She’d been so terrified that she wouldn’t be able to do anything to change what had happened here. But then something settled in her mind.
Something whispered there was more she could do. More she could force if she had to.
“Then we tear it down,” she said. “We make it so they can never rebuild. This place is unique and hidden. We make it impossible for them to continue after we release everyone in here.”
More murmurs bubbled up from among her peers, but they weren’t murmurs of disapproval. She could see there were plans forming from all the women who surrounded her. Each of them bundled into groups, perhaps women who regularly worked with each other as they served the many ranks of noblemen who made this kingdom prosperous.
The older woman turned back to Astrid and nodded. “And so we will. The sisterhood has been tired of this royal line for a while, and it is long past time we send the nobles of this kingdom a message. We are the ones who rule. Not them.”
Astrid felt her spine straighten. Because this old woman was right. They did rule this kingdom. The priestesses always had. And maybe Astrid hadn’t been very good at controlling her lord in the end, but she had affected more than anyone would ever give her credit for.
Now, they were all going to do even more together. They were going to turn this entire kingdom upside down.
“Does anyone know where they keep the women?” she asked, clarifying as she settled into what the plan was. “I know they must be somewhere around here. They wouldn’t keep them in the cells with the others, considering they were always clean when I saw them.”
“They’re in some other cells,” another priestess said. She’d ripped off her mask, revealing pretty features underneath blue eyes. She almost looked a little similar to Astrid and her sister, strangely enough. A powerful priestess, then. “My lord... borrowed one, once. We had to come here, and he went into the cells with a guard for a while before coming back.”
God, it made her stomach turn. “Do you know which way he went?”
“No. But my magic is in memories. If you give me but a moment, I can pull it from him.” The woman walked out of the room, and Astrid had to wonder if she’d brought her lord with her. A rather strange thought indeed.
The older priestess walked up to her as they all waited. “You have to know that this could all fail. I’m not wishing that it does, or advising that it will. But the king is a wily one.”
“Then why are you helping?”
“Because someone needs to stop him. And I believe that you are uniquely capable of doing so. A woman scorned is a dangerous beast indeed, but be careful, Astrid. The king is many things, but a coward is not one of them. The moment he finds out that we are here is the moment we should all run.”
It was a warning she would take to heart. They all gathered together when the missing priestess returned, looking more than a little troubled. She didn’t answer any of their questions as they asked why she looked so pale. Instead, she just took them down a corridor and into the darker parts of the labyrinth.
