by Maya Daniels
“Oh, get out of there. You have nothing that I don’t have myself,” she says, rolling her eyes and slapping her butt with her free hand.
“Right!” Awkwardly, I snicker, climbing out of the pond and snatching at the towel just as she yanks it away from me. Giggling, she finally throws the towel my way after what seems like forever.
“Come now, shy girl, you need to dress.” She turns on her heel and steps away. Wrapping the towel around me, I run to catch up.
“Now I understand why she picked you,” Remi says, I think more to herself than to me.
“Who picked me? And for what, exactly?” I ask.
“Never mind, you’ll know soon enough if you hurry and get dressed. Almost everyone is at the temple.”
Shoving at my back, she pushes me through a set of double doors and straight into a huge room with a four-poster bed in the middle big enough to fit a family. Silky curtains cover the floor-to-ceiling windows, and plush pillows in greens and blues are spread around the floors. I stare in awe.
“You can look at it after, shy girl. We need to go. Your clothing is on the bed. If you need help, call out for me. I need to grab something from my room across the hall.”
Remi disappears, and I remain standing in the entrance like a statue. Dress first, stare later! Right! Dropping the towel, I pull on a pair of turquoise pants in the same style as Remi is wearing, only in a different color. I don’t know why I’m surprised that they fit perfectly. Even the shampoo and body wash I used had my favorite scent. It’s like they can read my mind here.
Inspecting the scarf top, there’s no logical way I can figure out to wrap it around me and cover all my bits. Luckily, Remi chooses that moment to return, sneaking up behind me and grabbing the scar. Twisting it around my torso and over my breasts like it’s completely normal that I’m standing bare chested in front of her, I have no time to react before she fastens it and moves on to my hair.
“Your hair is beautiful, like a waterfall,” she says as she untangles the knots.
“Says the woman with the shiniest hair I’ve ever seen in my life,” I mumble under my breath, inciting a bark of laughter from her.
“The grass is always greener on the other side, sister.”
“Why do you call me sister? Are we nuns in this temple or something?”
Throwing her head back, she guffaws so hard the brush drops from her hand, clinking as it bounces on the marble floor.
“Nuns?” she barks.
Annoyed I bend down and snatch the brush from the floor. “Well, we’re not sisters, so if we’re not nuns, stop calling me that. I have a name. It’s Al,” I snap at her.
Trying to look serious, she eyes me, but I still see the humor painted behind her eyes. “We are sisters, Alexia, but I guess it’s been a long time and you have forgotten, just like all the others.”
She says the last part with such sadness that I feel like a bitch for snapping at her. It’s not her fault I’m all messed up. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to act like a spoiled brat, but all this is stranger than anything I’ve ever seen or lived through in my life—and I know strange, believe me.” Then it hits me. “You know my real name!” I look at her wide-eyed. I changed my real name everywhere on official papers after my grandmother died. Absolutely no one knows my real name, and that makes me narrow my eyes at her.
“Of course I know your real name. You’ve had it through many lifetimes. All right, not exactly the same, but variations of it. Alexandra, Alexandria, Alexia, Alexis …” She continues listing even more names, and every one she speaks sends a jolt of electricity through my body that travels from my feet to the top of my head and back. When her eyes land on mine, she must see something in my expression because she closes her mouth with a snap, silencing her never-ending list.
“I do have a big mouth, as I’m sure you’ve noticed by now,” she says, shaking her head. “Come on, turn around so I can fix your hair. We need to go.”
She spins me around, holding my shoulders with her vine-filled hands. She twists them around my hair and the most beautiful smell hits me, forcing my eyes to close on instinct. Jasmine. It has been my favorite flower as far back as I can remember, and my favorite scent as well. Inhaling loudly, I let it calm me.
“I knew you’d like that,” Remi says, and I can hear the smile in her tone.
“Thank you, Remi.” I turn and give her the hug I’d wanted to give her since I first saw her at the beach. She hugs me back.
“You’re welcome, sister,” she whispers in my ear. Then she pushes me away. The girl is much stronger than she looks. Stepping towards the door, she shouts, “Let’s go!”
I hurry after her. We walk through corridors I don’t notice until now—thanks to me acting like a five-year-old embarrassed because Remi saw me naked at the pond. Even here, the walls are covered with the same cone mosaics, creating shapes all around us. If I gaze at them long enough, the scrolls and pictures pull me in as if they are coming to life. As we move, the sound of voices chattering and chortling in the distance grabs my attention, making me slow my steps. Remi has no patience for my hesitation, seizing my hand and dragging me behind her, giving me no option but to follow.
The first thing I notice as I exit the sleeping quarters are the pillars stretching from one end of the forest to the other. They my eyes move to a beautiful garden sitting between the two buildings, but it pales in comparison to the temple in front of me. Between the sky-high pillars, a statue of a goddess stands tall and proud, her eyes trained on whoever dares to approach. It’s as if she’s telling them to think twice because there is no turning back, and I sense that deep inside, knowing if I cross the threshold and enter the temple, I will never be able to turn back. My mind goes into overdrive at that thought, and my heart speeds up. Even while my mind is in panic mode, my body moves forward like it has a mind of its own. Anticipation entices each step I take, like my body knows something my mind doesn’t. What’s wrong with me? Even dead, I’m still weird and strange. Why can’t I be normal, at least here? My internal dialogue will have to wait, however, because when I glance up, we are in front of the temple doors.
Remi pauses, her gaze finding mine. “I know you don’t remember and I know you’re worried, but I need you to trust me, please. When your name is called, I want you to walk all the way to the middle of the temple where the drawn circle is. The rest of us will be at the front of the lines, but you, sister, need to stop only once you are inside the circle.” The stern tone she uses makes my head bob up and down to show my comprehension, although panic is making me dizzy.
“You’ll be fine, Alexia, I promise, but you must do as I tell you, understand?”
“Yes,” I squeak.
She grabs a cloak from some hooks behind her, which I don’t notice until now. Wrapping one around my shoulders, she brings the hood over my head, then does the same for herself. Taking me under the arm and holding one of my hands with her free one, together we walk into a wide-open temple. I don’t have time to see the beauty of it because as soon as I walk through the door everything vanishes and I’m standing in the middle of a fog all alone.
Chapter 5
Thick fog swirls around me like a living thing. With the heart in my throat I swivel around looking for something, anything really to calm the panic down.
“Hello? Remi?” I call out but my voice only echoes in the silence. A faint light in the distance gets my attention, and while I’m dragging my feet, I start moving slowly towards it. It’s better than standing here freaking out, that’s for sure. I inch forward, hoping I’ll see Remi any second, but I have no such luck.
Suddenly the fog in front of me clears, and the most beautiful woman I have ever seen stands before me. Her hair is reddish blonde, like wheat fields before harvest, and it reaches all the way down to her ankles. Her nakedness is only covered by a cobweb-thin, baby-blue scarf around her hips and chest, but I can clearly see her beautifully-shaped body. I gape at her with my mouth open until I catch myself, a
t which I jerk my eyes up from her body to her face. Geeze, what the hell is wrong with me? I think. Then that thought leaves as fast when my eyes land on hers. This is what love looks like, my mind supplies. And it’s true. Love shines from her star-filled eyes, and I’m so sure I will be my life on it. The color of them … well, it’s something I don’t know how to describe. If I must pick a word, it will be they are like the universe.
She smiles at me and reaches for me with her left hand, her palm inviting me. I don’t even have the chance to think before I lift my arm and place my hand in hers. She leads me to a small oasis in the middle of the fog and points at the rock for me to sit on. I do. I don’t think I can do anything but obey. I think if she asks me to jump head-first into an abyss, I will do it without a question and with a smile on my face. So, I sit where she points, and she curls up next to me.
I can’t be quiet anymore. “Who are you? Please, I need to know. Why am I here?” The questions rush from me, but she lifts her hand to stop me, smiles again, and reaches with her other hand into the pool. I follow her movement like a hawk. She gestures with her chin, indicating the pool where her hand is making tiny ripples in the water. Automatically, I extend my same hand into the water, and as soon as it is submerged, memories flood in like a dam has been opened in my brain. I see past lives, some happy and some said, and even though several last longer than the others, they are all mine. They might be different places, different civilization, but there is one constant in them all: me.
It’s all too much too fast, and I think my head may explode, so I rip my hand from the water, my eyes falling to her an making my heart break. Sadness fills her features. Sparkling like a diamond, one tear trickles down her cheek. As it hits the grass where she’s sitting, a flower blooms. With an outstretched hand, she caresses my cheek.
Leaning towards me, she touches her forehead to mine. We stare into each other’s eyes for a moment before she lifts her forehead, pressing a gentle kiss right between my eyebrows. Pulling away, her eyes search my face like she’s expecting something to happen. And it does. A pressure so intense floods my skull, like something trying to shove its way out from inside, only in the process it’s about to split my head in half. With a strangled cry, I take my head between my palms, about to push against the pain to drown some of it out, but instead she takes them in hers and holds me still.
Whether it lasts a second or a year I can’t say. I can only say it’s like an eternity of pain before it dissipates, as if it has never actually been there.
Teary-eyed, my eyes plead with her, bouncing every which way in my frantic need to find answers. “Why did you do that? Why did you hurt me?”
I can’t believe this being—whatever she is because she is not human, that’s for sure—will hurt a fly, let alone me. What did I do to deserve it? My mind tells me to run as far and as fast as possible, but my heart tells me to stay, that she hasn’t actually hurt me.
All of this tells me I’m just as crazy as I think.
“I didn’t hurt you, child, I only gave back what was taken from you.” Her gentle, melodious voice drifts to my ears, calming me. If she wants, she can stand at my side and speak to me for the rest of her life and I won’t grow tired of hearing her. Only … her lips aren’t actually moving. Her words are coming through my mind and I can hear her clearly, so I will try to do the same.
“What was taken from me?” I ask with my thoughts. A bright, pride-filled smile shines back at me, like she’s looking at her child who has just spoken her first words.
“Your gift. You see, by trying to protect you, Margaret, I believe did more harm than good with her talents, but there will be time for that. You must go back now. I’m sure my sister will not be happy if we keep her waiting.” Humor lacing her words, she helps me up and leads me back where she found me, giving me a hug. Before I can say a word, she disappears, making me a little dizzy.
Someone is shaking my arms, so I open my eyes, irritation swirling inside me. It’s Remi, and she has her eyebrows pinched in annoyance. “Are we walking in, or you are going to measure the pillars first? Move!”
Wondering what just happened and how long I was standing there, I shrug it off because I don’t have the time to dwell on it. Remi guides me inside where we line up with the rest of the cloaked figures inside the temple, rows and rows of them standing on each side. She deposits me at the front of the third row, and just as we take our places, the hum of voices stops. It’s so silent I think I can hear the temple breathing. Spooky. A figure appears from the front of the temple, prowling towards the biggest altar I’ve ever seen, like a sure and powerful panther. Two huge lions walk on either side. My eyes widen, unable to find any leashes or chains binding them. The fact makes a tremor start in my hands. Maybe I’m in hell and these beasts are to be tasked with eating my flesh as punishment for whatever crimes I’m charged with. Shaking my head to dispel my thoughts, hoping I hurry so I don’t have a heart attack, I almost laugh at how stupid I am being.
The silence is deafening. Trying to get a good look at the figure, who turns to us after she stops in front of the center altar, I realize I can’t get a good look at anyone in this room. The cloaks we wear not only cover our bodies, but our faces as well.
One of the cloaked figures from the front row steps to the altar, a stack of papers in their hands. Facing the crowd, a woman is revealed when she removes her cloak, and she’s dressed just like Remi. She’s curvy and very tall, so beautiful with her full lips and her ebony skin glowing like oil in the light of the candles strategically placed all around us. Her hair hangs in braids that reach her hips while her eyes sparkle with excitement. Lifting the stack, she starts reading in a language I’ve never heard before, although somehow I understand her.
“Welcome to the temple of heaven and netherworld, sisters. Let us pray first so that the Mother can give her blessings to those ready to leave the realm.” Her voice rings clear and bounces off the temple walls. Everyone drops to their knees and leans their forehead to the floor, so I follow, but not before I see the cloaked figure still standing in front of the altar, not moving. I guess it’s the high priest or priestess since they aren’t joining us. Maybe they are above kneeling on the ground.
The husky female voice laughs in my head.
“Well, I’m glad I can at least entertain you,” I say in my mind, sarcasm dripping from my words because it really does annoy me that they aren’t on their knees with the rest of us.
“Oh, you do, love, you always do,” says the voice, and after another low chuckle, it fades.
I shake my head and realize the woman reading at the altar is now staring daggers at me, so shaking off my distraction, I hit my knees on the ground and press my forehead to the floor. The prayer goes on forever. We speak our gratitude for our hearts, our minds, our bodies, and our essence. Everyone speaks at the same time, but since I don’t know the prayer, I stay silent and repeat the words in my mind. After the final words are spoke, quiet encompasses the room, but nobody moves, staying in the praying position on the ground. One by one, the woman calls names. Since my head is down, I can only hear their footsteps as they move towards the altar, each whispering “Thank you, Mother.”
So, I was right. It’s a high priestess.
When they call Remi’s name, I jump as she climbs to her feet and steps away. Forcing myself to stay down is hard because I desperately want to follow her. She is the only person I know here, but after a short minute, her voice rings out louder than the rest when she says, “Thank you, Mother.” A few seconds later, she returns to my side, but she remains standing this time.
About to turn to see what she’s up to, the woman at the front shouts my name. “Alexia Semiramis.”
I freeze.
I try to move, trust me, but for some reason my body likes staying here in a child pose, like in yoga class or something. Too bad I am shaking so much internally, otherwise I might laugh at that thought.
The woman repeats my name again and Remi kicks
me in my ribs, making me jump up like I’m being electrocuted. One quick glance at her face tells me she’s trying hard not to laugh. She’ll pay for this later. Her cloak is gone, too, but I don’t have time to ask her why as I turn, walking towards the altar. Remembering what Remi said about moving to the enter, I have a quick image of me being eaten by lions before I push forward. When I pass the line, the woman who called my name sucks in a sharp breath. I hope this isn’t some back attempt at a joke to upset this woman, but there’s no turning back now—not when I’m almost at the center. My eyes down, I stare at my feet, the first part of the circle coming into view. I speed up before anyone realizes what I’m doing, stopping in the middle. Now what?
Before I have too much time to think on that, someone is in front of me. Assuming it’s the woman, I lift my head, shocked to see the person is cloaked, too. Hands grab at my clothing, ripping the cloak from me. It’s the high priestess.
“Kneel,” the woman says in a husky voice—the same husky voice I hear in my head so often. And if I kneel, that puts me at eye level with the now-prowling lions, so that’s a big no from me. When the figure in front of me laughs, my jaw falls open. “Kneel, love. Do it. They will not harm you; you have my word,” she says.
I drop to my knees in front of her, craning my neck to stare at her wide eyes. The two lions curiously come up and circle me, shaking their big manes of hair around their heads and making sure whoever sees them remembers why they are called kings. I wonder if they’ll pounce any second. My eyes don’t leave their giant paws, which are at least as big as my head. After a minute, I meet their yellow eyes, which look more human than animal, and it seems like they know a secret I don’t. Closing my eyes, their heads slanting towards me, their chins each take up one of my shoulders, as if approving of my presence here.