Page 131 of The City of Zirdai
Even though she was frozen in place, Shyla could still speak. “Why? Because you need to be stopped. You just murdered a bunch of people. You say you speak for the Sun Goddess. Do you really believe she would have wanted you to kill hundreds of innocent people so you can gain power?”
“Shedirectedme to this course of action. She’s upset with how this city is being run. She wantsmeto have control of The Eyes and the city.” The priestess’s gaze lit with an inner fervor.
The woman believed all the nonsense she’d just spouted. Her faith was rooted deep in her soul. Shyla would get nowhere appealing to the priestess’s morality or sense of decency. Instead, she focused on the seers. The ten of them concentrated on keeping Shyla locked down. She fought to deflect their magical commands, but their combined power overwhelmed hers.
“And you are all mindlessly following this woman?” Shyla asked them. “Did you not see the bodies? Feel the vibrations? She risked the entire city with that attack. Your Blessed One is insane.”
“Do not listen to the sun-cursed. She lies.”
“I’ve woken the power of The Eyes. I see your soul, Bakula.”
The priestess jolted at the mention of her given name. Her hand flew to the torque around her neck. “You can’t—”
“I can.Youdo not speak for the Sun Goddess.Youearned your position by poisoning the previous leader, the Heliacal Priest Uri. A very kind man who trusted you. And you got away with his murder. When you add in all the bodies under the rubble, how many more people have you murdered, Bakula?”
“Stop.” She backed up a few steps. “Timin!”
An Arch Deacon pushed the physician into the circle. That made thirteen people. Where were the last two?
“Cut her eyes out,” the priestess ordered Timin.
Although haggard and disheveled, he appeared to be uninjured. Blood and dirt stained his ripped tunic, but Shyla suspected the blood wasn’t his own.
“I can’t. You confiscated my tools.”
She growled and sent the Arch Deacon to fetch them. He hurried through another doorway. Thuds and curses abruptly sounded from outside the main entrance, which gave Shyla a surge of hope. But the glass doors seemed to be thick enough to keep her rescuers from breaking through. Unless the noise was from the fighting. Had more deacons joined the fray? Did anyone know about the Water Prince’s special access?
While they waited, Shyla didn’t waste the opportunity. Appealing to the seers, she said, “Imagine how many more people will die if the priestess wakes the power of The Eyes. Think about how she will rule. Before her term, going to confession meant seeking forgiveness. Now, it means torture and—”
“That’s enough. Someone shut her up,” the priestess said.
“She wants to silence me because she knows I’m right. I—” A force clamped on her throat, preventing speech. Scorching hells.
When the Arch Deacon returned with Timin’s bag, Shyla knew she couldn’t count on being rescued. She focused on the closest seer, making eye contact with the young man. His power glowed inside him. It wasn’t a crack, but it wasn’t wide open either. Odd. Obviously, the seer could wield magic, but did that mean Jayden hadn’t had enough magic to complete the process? Would the man be stronger if he had been opened all the way?
“I won’t do it,” Timin said. “Shyla’s right, giving you more power is insane. You should be locked up for the rest of your life.”
The wordlockedtriggered a faint memory. It danced at the edge of her thoughts. Something with Mojag and—
“I’ll be happy to do it,” a terrifying and all too familiar voice said.
Yates stepped into Shyla’s view. He dragged the Water Prince with him—they were the last two people she had sensed in the room. The prince’s hands were tied behind his back. And he’d been gagged. Blood dripped from his nose. His fine clothes were ripped and stained. Hatred lit his gaze. Yates forced him to kneel beside the priestess. The reek of the black cells emanated from him. Now Shyla understood why Yates had a torque and the prince didn’t when they had all been in the professor’s room. He’d been working for the priestess.
The woman grabbed the prince’s hair and yanked his head back so he looked up at her. “You’re about to witness a historic occasion, whelp,” she said. “When I become both priestess and princess of Zirdai.” Then she turned to Yates, gesturing to Shyla. “Be careful. Don’t damage The Eyes.”
“I won’t, Mother.”
Son of a sand demon! Or, in this case, son of aninsanedemon. If she wasn’t in massive trouble, Shyla would have laughed. Instead, tiny barbs of fear dug into her skin. Yates took the scalpel from Timin and approached.
If only she could move or break the magical hold or shut the seers out! Then it hit her. Not shut them out, but close them like a druk! When Mojag had gotten upset as she opened his magic, she had started to reverse the process before he stopped her. In theory, she could close them, but she didn’t have any magic to do it.
Yates knelt next to her—an all too familiar and horrific situation. So much for The Eyes being so powerful; the seers just had to trap her in a bubble of magic and—
Seven hells.
Therewasmagic. All. Around. Her.
She glanced at the seer, reached with the man’s magic and closed his power with a mighty slam. The man cried out and crumpled to the ground. Yates paused, glancing about in confusion. Shyla did three more before the rest lost their concentration. She could move!
