Page 71 of Spirit Rites
“Yes. Thank you for everything.”
She smiles, but I can see the worry there. “Of course. You’re going to be fine, Kinsley. Remember that.”
She walks away, leaving me with Taren and Mae. I face the building. “Let’s get this over with.” Taren and Mae walk on either side of me. When we get to the entrance of the building, several guards step out of our way. We walk through the large entrance and through a covered area. The sound of voices gets louder and louder. I see the opening up ahead, but Taren nods his head to a door that two guards are standing in front of. They step out of his way, and he opens the door for me. I can feel the heavy gaze of the two guards, but I don’t look back at them. I follow Taren into a long-covered walkway that curves, and I figure it follows the length of the dome. When we get to another door, the guard standing there opens it without a word. Then we climb a set ofstairs, and then another one. Aaand another one. My thighs are screaming at me, and I remind myself that I should get back to the training and exercising like Rysden had me doing. Taren isn’t even breathing hard, and I kind of hate that. I glance at Mae and realize she’s not either. There’s another door and yet another guard, and yep—another set of stairs.
Taren glances back at me from the stair above me. “This is the last set of stairs.”
Great. So much for acting like I’m in shape.I push myself and hope I’m not a sweaty mess when we finally make it inside.
Taren stops at the top of the stairs and waits. “You good?”
I wait until I get to the top, very aware that I’m the last of the three of us. “I’m great.”
“You’re breathing heavy,” Mae so graciously points out. “You should probably add stairs to your workout. Wait, do you exercise?”
I take a deep breath and remind myself that Mae is my friend. “Yes.”
“Ready?” Taren asks. I nod, and he starts down yet another walkway. He stops in front of two guards.
They part for him, and he opens the door. Immediately, the sound of the crowd fills my ears. I hesitate a moment, but then Mae puts her hand in mine and gives it a squeeze. “You’ve got this.” Her words and confidence are exactly what I need, and I step forward. Taren steps through the doorway first, and I follow, unsure what to expect. I squint as my eyes adjust to the sun. I hadn’t realized the dome was open at the top. I follow Taren and frown as we come to a set of steps; this time they’re descending.
“What’s the point of going up all those stairs if we’re only going down?”
Taren gives me a tight smile. “It’s called making an entrance. Ready?” He puts out his arm to me, and I only hesitate asecond before slipping my arm through his. A longing for a different arm, attached to a different man hits me. I swallow and concentrate on not falling down the stairs. A hush has come over the crowd, and I think that makes me more nervous than all the noise. I wonder absently if Mae is following us, but I don’t look back. I’m glad Rakel made this outfit the way she did, because I don’t trip over the dress. It parts easily for me, so I can walk. When we get to the bottom step, Taren turns us and I see two rows of chairs. Five in the front row, and two behind them on a raised platform. We take a step forward and abruptly stop. Evren stands in front of us, and I go still. Knowing what I know about him now makes him so much more intimidating.
He smiles down at me, but it’s not kind. It’s cold, not unlike his father’s smile. “I’ll take it from here.”
I feel Taren’s muscles in his arm tighten, and his body stiffens beside me. Knowing the eyes of...well, everyone in the kingdom are on us, I pull my arm from Taren’s. “It’s fine,” I mutter softly. Taren steps back, and Evren takes his place, offering me his arm. I force a smile to my face and take his arm, being careful to stand as far from him as possible while still holding his arm. We walk over to the first row, where the five elders that approached me not long ago, sit.
Vaelor stands when we get close, and he gives me a cold smile. “Welcome.” Evren stops, so I stop as well. Then Vaelor turns to the now silent crowd. “Welcome, this is a momentous occasion we have all gathered for today. You may notice that our king’s seat once again remains empty. Apparently, he had more pressing issues to deal with than our kingdom.” My body gets more tense with each disrespectful word that comes out of his mouth. The need to defend Kaldar rises, but I bite my tongue when I remember Taren’s words about not being emotional. I do my best to keep a blank expression on my face. Evren turns so that we are facing the crowd as well, and I smile at thefaceless people all around us. “Members of the Jaguar Kingdom, may I present to you, Kinsley Ritchey. She’s from the banished community.” I stiffen at his words and do my very best to keep a smile on my face. I absently wonder how he knew that, but I guess it’s common knowledge. Well, now it is anyway. “She survived the Spirit Rites with the help of our king. We are still looking into the matter to see if that is lawful.” With every word that comes out of this man’s mouth, I get sicker to my stomach. “In the meantime, we are going to proceed with the Jade Ceremony. You know how important this ceremony is to our kingdom. Jade does not lie. It tests the inner parts of us, and it will not fail us today. If Kinsley is not worthy, it will be proven right here and right now.”
I’m going to throw up.I swallow and try to suck in oxygen, but it feels impossible.
Veyra’s voice suddenly sounds in my head.What’s wrong?
I grasp on to her voice like a lifeline.Veyra.
I can feel your panic. I’m coming. What’s the threat?”
You can’t come here,I argue.And I’m okay.
You’re terrified.
I try to calm myself.It’s okay. I just have to do this ceremony thing.
Why are you so scared?
Because if I don’t pass, the jade will burn me from the inside out.
There’s a different sound to her voice now.That’snotgoing to happen. I will stop this.
Now there’s a different kind of fear vying for my attention, and that’s the fear that Veyra will come here and endanger herself.No, it’s what has to be done. I’ll be fine.
I am almost to you.
No, Veyra.
“Kinsley?” The sound of my name yanks me from my conversation with Veyra. I turn to look at Vaelor and realize I have no idea what the question was. He lifts his eyebrows and turns back to the crowd. “Well, I guess she has nothing to say.” There’s a hushed whisper that runs through the crowd, and my stomach knots. Anger at Vaelor, at this whole situation burns through me.
