by Jayne Faith
“You are Maya,” the Priestess said, her voice quiet but solemn, as if she were making a ceremonial pronouncement.
17
Maya
SINCE I’D AWAKENED in Lord Toric’s chambers, part of me suspected that I had never actually woken up at all, and my mind had spun me into a strange, vivid dream. How could I possibly be resting in the alien Lord’s bed while he fetched water for me, carried me to the bathroom, and hovered over me like a worried mother hen?
It all seemed unreal. And yet, there was something, an unspoken zip of energy between us that made this unexpected situation feel less outlandish than it should have. It made no sense, but maybe I could blame it on the knock to the head I’d suffered.
When the Priestess came in, I felt my face flush out of embarrassment that I couldn’t curtsy. “I apologize for my condition and my inability to greet you properly,” I said. “I mean no disrespect.”
“You are forgiven, of course,” the Priestess said. She glanced at Lord Toric. “Do we know who is responsible?”
“She says her abductor did not reveal himself. Or herself,” Lord Toric said.
They both turned to me. “Could you tell us exactly what happened, from the beginning?” the Priestess asked.
I shifted under the covers. I’d been dreading this since I woke up. How could I explain without revealing that Jeric had allowed me to communicate with Lana? I did not believe he was responsible for what happened afterward—it made no sense that he would allow me to speak with my sister only to then abduct and drug me. And he’d made it very clear that if I told anyone what he’d allowed me to do, we’d both suffer extremely grave consequences.
“I had fallen asleep in my room,” I said. “I woke to a bag pulled over my head and a hard bump to my head followed by a pinch at the back of my neck. A shot or a shock, I’m not sure which, but immediately after I passed out.” I tensed, half-expecting that my implant would somehow alert them to my half-truths.
“And the light was still on?” she asked.
I nodded. “Yes, but the bag was slipped over my head before I fully woke up, so I didn’t see who was in my room.”
“Did it sound like one person? More than one?” Lord Toric asked.
“Possibly two, but it happened so fast I can’t be sure.”
“Did you hear anything that might indicate your abductor was male or female? Even just a grunt?” he asked.
“I’m sorry, I don’t recall anything like that.”
He and the Priestess exchanged a glance. I wondered what interest the Priestess could have in my situation—it seemed more a concern for the palace guard or even the Mistress of Tournament than the highest-ranking religious leader of Calisto—but it wasn’t my place to demand an explanation.
“If you remember any other details, report them right away,” the Priestess said and then beckoned to Lord Toric. The two of them moved to the balcony to converse in private.
Did they see through my fabrication about where my abduction had taken place? It felt terrible to lie, but I didn’t want to cause trouble for Sir Jeric after he’d done something so risky for me. And I didn’t want to get in trouble, either. It wasn’t my fault that someone had taken me against my will. If that hadn’t happened, I would have returned to my room and fallen asleep and no one would have been the wiser about Lana and the portal in the tower.
I looked around the bed chamber, feeling free to stare a little while no one was watching. It was a rounded room larger than my entire house on Earthenfell but contained few furnishings. A wide cabinet or wardrobe against one wall and a drink and food service stand near the balcony. Other than some plush, colorful rugs around the bed, there wasn’t much to look at.
Was this where Lord Toric brought women from his harem? Or was there a different bed chamber for such . . . activities? I glanced at the pillows piled up at the head of the large bed, and then over at the small bedside stand, which held only a lamp and the glass of water Lord Toric had brought me.
After a few minutes, he and the Priestess came back in, their heads bent together as they whispered. When they parted, she went straight to the door without a backward glance.
Lord Toric returned to the chair he’d brought to the bedside and scooted it close.
I shook my head and clasped my hands at my waist. “I’m sorry I’m not more help,” I said. “I wish I remembered something.”
He regarded me silently for a few seconds, and at first I thought he was irritated that I wasn’t more useful. But his breathing had slowed, and his blue-green eyes were soft. He wasn’t irritated. He was concerned.
I pressed my lips into a faint smile. “You are not at all what I expected.” I sucked in a breath and my eyes widened. I hadn’t exactly meant to speak that thought aloud. “I mean—I don’t know what I mean. I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have said that, my Lord.”
“No apology needed.” He chuckled. “But I’m curious. What did you expect?”
I clenched my hands together. “Someone far more . . . stern, perhaps? You’ve been terribly kind to me, and to be frank I find it—well, I find it difficult to reconcile.”
“How so?”
I paused for a moment, my heart pounding as I considered what to say next. But since I’d already opened my mouth, I figured I might as well tell him what was on my mind.
“You take Earthens from their homes and bring them here to send some of them to their deaths. I did not expect such kindness from someone who subjects Earthens to such brutality,” I said.
When his eyebrows rose and his face clouded, my heart lurched as my courage faltered. I’d overstepped. And now I’d have to face the consequence.
“You do not believe that the Tournament of the Offered is a fair payment for the protection of Earthens? For the very survival of your people?” he asked, his voice calm but chilly.
I took a breath and looked down at my hands, trying to summon back some courage. “I used to think it was fair, to be perfectly honest. Or maybe I just never really questioned it.” I looked up at him. “Until I became one of those who might die.”
A wave of great pain passed over his face, and he leaned forward and looked intently into my eyes. “You cannot die, Maya. I need you. I need you to win, to stay here with me.” He spoke so softly for a moment I wasn’t sure I’d heard correctly.
I could barely breathe. “My Lord?” I tilted my head in question, but I was hypnotized by his eyes, by the deep emotion etched on his face.
As if observing from outside my body, I watched as he gently covered my hands with one of his. The fingers of his other hand reached out slowly to trail across my cheek.
At his touch, I closed my eyes and a soft sigh escaped my lips. When I opened my eyes, my body was brimming with a heady rush of adrenaline. In spite of what I’d just said, I could not deny how deeply and intensely I was drawn to this man.
“I know I should not put this burden on you, but you must win,” he said, his eyes turning passionately fierce. “You must.”
As if pulled by an invisible force, I leaned toward him just as he moved toward me. My breath stilled as our lips met, and it was as if every emotion I’d ever felt surged through me on a hot tidal wave that cleared my mind of every thought except the sensation of his Lord Toric’s lips against mine.
Time stretched out as he pulled me deeper into the kiss. As in the moments just after I’d awakened with my implant, my senses seemed to explode. I could hear the movement of the breeze across the balcony, feel the vibrations of the soft yellow-taupe color of the walls, smell the subtle earthy scent that had been sprayed over Lord Toric’s hair and skin. Sensations thrummed through my body, welling up like a storm building on the horizon.
When we parted I saw only his blue-green eyes.
Slowly, as if surfacing from deep water, I realized that a new truth had taken root inside me. He was right. I had to win the Tournament. With every fiber of my being, I knew that it was my destiny to become his. Even as I fiercely disagreed wi
th his sacrifice of Earthens, I could not deny this truth.
The rush of emotion that had momentarily brought a surge of energy now drained me of strength, and I leaned back against the pillows, trying to catch my breath.
Lord Toric kept a hold of my hand, and we gazed at each other in silence as seconds stretched out.
“I will find a way to win,” I finally whispered.
He swallowed and blinked several times, as if coming out of a trance. “I’m sorry,” he said. “I should not have said those things to you. I should not have kissed you.”
“I don’t regret either your words or your kiss,” I said, suddenly feeling bold. My pulse was still racing.
He smiled faintly but let go of my hand. “I should not have done it, and I take responsibility.” He drew a sharp breath and looked down. “I will try to delay the next challenge to give you more time to recover. It will be up to Akantha to agree to it, and she is not exactly my biggest supporter.”
The next challenge. I’d forgotten it would come very soon. Tendrils of fear began twisting through me, reaching cold, rigid fingers through the heat of passion that Lord Toric’s touch had lit up through my entire body.
“I will do what little I can for you,” he said. “But I must warn you that I am forbidden from actually helping you to win the Tournament. For more reasons than you know, and reasons that I cannot speak of, you must win on your own.”
I squinted, trying to read the subtext of what he was telling me. I knew to my very soul that he meant what he said—he wanted me to win—but I had the same prickling sense in the back of my mind that I’d felt when Iris had tried to hint to me about the fate of the Tournament losers. There was much more to all of this than I understood.
Somehow, I’d become part of something larger than I could imagine.
Movement near the door drew my attention. One of Lord Toric’s Earthen servants stood just inside the chamber.
“My Lord,” he said. His eyes flicked to me and then away. “The master of the guard wishes to speak to you.”
Lord Toric stood. “I’ll be there in fifteen minutes. Arrange for Maya to be transferred to her quarters under guard and to have a guard stationed at her door at all times. And send Calvin in.”
The servant bowed and backed through the door.
Lord Toric turned to me. “I would have you stay here, but with servants constantly coming in and out, it is less secure than your locked room under guard.”
I nodded. I was sure it was not just the lack of security, but also the attention I would draw if I continued to stay here, camped out in Lord Toric’s bed.
He looked down at me, his body stilling as if he were listening, or maybe reading something in my face that only he could see. “I regret that we must part ways now, Maya.” Raising his hand, he reached out as if to brush my cheek but pulled back before his fingers touched my skin. He turned as someone else arrived.
“My Lord.” A guard stood there—Calvin. I recognized him as the one who’d stayed behind to watch over me in the ballroom.
Lord Toric went over to him, but spoke loud enough that I could hear. “She must remain under constant protection. I will not have another incident.”
Calvin nodded smartly, touched his earpiece, and said a few words I couldn’t hear. He stayed where he was, obviously waiting to escort Lord Toric to his meeting.
The alien Lord cast a long look at me before turning and following his guard out the door.
I couldn’t imagine when Lord Toric and I might have a moment alone again, and disappointment gripped my heart as I watched his retreating back. I shook my head and touched my fingers to my lips, wondering again if I were trapped in a strange dream.
A contingent of guards and medics soon arrived. The medics pushed a gurney to the bed and helped me onto it, and then we trooped through the corridors of the palace and down to the Obligates’ quarters, drawing curious stares from servants and nobles alike.
After depositing me in my quarters, the medics left with their gurney. All of the guards, but the one to remain stationed outside my door, departed as well.
I settled myself into bed, trying to focus on resting but instead alternating between fretting over the next challenge of the Tournament and replaying the heat of Lord Toric’s kiss. I touched my lips again and closed my eyes but then forced my thoughts to my own survival.
I would need every bit of energy to do well in the Tournament, even under the best circumstances, but I could barely walk across the room under my own power. I sent up a prayer that Lord Toric would convince Akantha to delay the challenge, but I wasn’t hopeful.
There was a soft rap at the door. “Maya, it’s Iris.”
“Please come in,” I called.
My heart lifted at the sight of my guide’s face. If I’d had the strength, I would have raced to her and wrapped my arms around her slim shoulders.
“I’m so glad to see you,” I said. I blinked back unexpected tears and shook my head. “So much has happened, I don’t even know where to start . . .”
She sat on the edge of the bed and placed her hand on my forearm. “Are you okay? I was told of your ordeal.”
“I was drugged, and I still haven’t fully recovered my strength. Lord Toric—” I faltered, unsure of what to say about what had happened between me and the alien Lord. Unsure if what I remembered had actually happened at all. “He found me, and he—he took care of me. He showed me great kindness.”
I felt heat rising to my face as she tilted her head and gave me a curious look. “So I was right. He does indeed favor you in ways that extend beyond the Tournament.”
I gave a short laugh. “Orion tried to tell me exactly that and I didn’t believe him, but . . . perhaps there is something to what you say.” I shook my head again. “But I—well, I don’t really know what it all means.”
I buried my face in my hands as a rush of emotion churned through my chest.
“Something like this happened once before,” Iris said, her voice so soft I barely heard the words.
I dropped my hands. “What do you mean?”
“It was in Lord Alec’s time, just before I arrived here on Calisto. One of the Obligates in the group just before mine. I’ve only heard the stories, but . . . there was a young woman that Lord Alec was deeply drawn to. But the tide of the great battles took a sudden turn in the favor of the Calistans and Lord Alec was called away. While he was gone, the Obligate was murdered. Lord Alec plunged into a terrible depression and the Calistans lost their advantage in the war.”
“Was the girl’s murderer ever brought to justice?” I asked.
“No.” Iris gave me a long look. “Lord Toric is wise to keep you under protection.”
I grimaced. “It’s not going to matter much if I don’t survive the next challenge. I don’t know what I’m going to do. Lord Toric said he would try to convince Akantha to delay the next challenge, but she doesn’t seem to have much generosity of spirit, especially toward Obligates.” Fear edging on panic began to take over again. “Iris, I can barely walk.”
She squeezed my arm with gentle pressure. “Try to summon calm and courage, Maya. You have something now that you didn’t have before. You know that Lord Toric wants you to win. He wants you. He is a clever and powerful man, and if there is any way he can shift things in your favor, he will. You must keep your head about you.”
I took a deep breath, recalling the way he’d looked at me. The tenderness in his touch. The passion in his kiss.
“But he is not allowed to help me win,” I said. “He told me so outright.”
She nodded. “Yes, that’s true. But there may be things he can do that don’t violate the sacred texts. If so, I’m certain he will find a way.”
When I’d been selected to leave Earthenfell for Calisto I’d believed it was a fluke, a terrible turn of fate and the worst possible thing that could happen to me. But a new certainty blazed up inside me. I knew my fate was irrevocably tied to the alien Lord’s.
&n
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Next in the series:
Sapient Salvation Book 2: The Awakening
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Interview with Author Jayne Faith
Question 1: What inspired you to create Maya?
Jayne Faith: I wanted to write a character who started out very innocent—sheltered and sexually inexperienced—and show how she grows and leaves innocence behind, partly out of her own desire to do so but more so because of her circumstances. Early in The Selection, Maya’s reality and her expectations for her future get completely rocked, and she’s forced away from everything she knows. We love to see what characters do when they’re shoved out of their comfort zones, and that was my aim with Maya.
I chose my Maya’s name very deliberately—it’s a name and word that appears across many languages and cultures, sometimes with slight variations in spelling. Just a few examples: “Maia” is the Greek variation, “maya” means “love” in Nepali, Mya is a Muslim name, “Maija” is the Finnish variation of the name, “Mayu” is a Japanese name that means “truth,” and “Maya” appears in Hindu mythology and means “illusion” [source: Wikipedia]. I love these various definitions that come from such disparate cultures—combined, they describe Maya as a person as well as hint at her role in the story. Symbolically, I wanted Maya to be universal, a young woman who simultaneously belongs everywhere and nowhere, and her name captures this, too.
Question 2: So many questions still remain at the end of Book 1: Who was behind Maya’s abduction? Who delivered the secret volume of the sacred text to the Priestess? How close are the Calistans to their Return to Earth? What does Jeric want from Maya? Will Maya survive the next challenge? Will she and Lord Toric be able to explore their new bond under so many watchful eyes?