Sapient Salvation 3: The Divining (Sapient Salvation Series)

by Jayne Faith

  “Is it an urgent matter, my Lord?” Camira asked.

  “Important, but not urgent enough to interrupt her.”

  “Yes, my Lord.”

  When I reached my quarters, Camira’s voice came in my ear. “I have High Priestess Lunaria for you, my Lord.”

  “Connect us on a secure line, Camira.”

  “My Lord,” said the High Priestess.

  “Something came to me earlier while I was in the Office of Royal Social Affairs,” I said, cutting right to the topic at hand. “We’ve all but verified that there was some manipulation in the selection of at least one previous Queen, and it occurred to me that such a thing might happen more than once.” I kept my comment purposely vague, knowing the Priestess would understand my implications.

  “Ah, yes I see.”

  “In a few moments, I’m going to send you a list of names. I’m thinking it would be wise to see if there are any similarities between any of them and previous candidates.”

  “Very good idea, my Lord. I will put a small team of researches on this immediately.”

  The tension in my chest loosened a little. “Excellent. I’ll be in touch with you soon.”

  As I went into my dressing room to change into more comfortable clothes, I mused over how much time the Priestess and I had spent together in recent months. I couldn’t help thinking it was a good thing, in spite of the reasons that brought us together. In the event of the Return, she and I would be in charge of reclaiming Earthenfell. She as spiritual guide and me as figurehead and leader.

  I went to my office to get back to the job of culling the list of women from twenty-five to ten. Unlike with the prior cuts, I planned to make deliberate decisions. I read and re-read the profiles, looking for anything suspicious, though I realized after an hour or so that I did not really know what I was looking for. It would have been helpful to get information from the Temple researchers before making my decision, but I had promised Yauna that I would make my decision that evening, and I knew it was a promise I had to keep.

  I finished narrowing down the list and sent my selections to the Office of Royal Social Affairs. My stomach was grumbling, as I’d delayed my dinner in order to finish the task, and I went to my private dining room with a small sense of satisfaction.

  I activated the monitor on the wall and turned to a news channel with the volume muted. My meal had already arrived, and I was relishing the idea of a few moments of relaxation.

  Just as I spooned my first bite of fragrant, steaming stew, something on the monitor caught my eye.

  It was Maya’s face.

  My heart in my throat, I dropped the spoon and scrambled for the volume control.

  “. . . not yet substantiated, but several sources are claiming this Offered, the woman currently in the lead in the Tournament, has breached the sacred divide between Calisto and Earthenfell.”

  A whirring noise seemed to fill my ears, drowning out the broadcaster’s voice, as I stood frozen in horror.

  It had happened. Despite warnings from me and the Priestess, Akantha had leaked the information.

  Several things happened at once. Three of my guards pounded into the dining room. Calvin was in the lead, and he started speaking just as Camira’s urgent voice came in my ear.

  I blinked several times, trying to listen to Calvin, Camira, and the broadcaster all at once.

  I touched my earpiece. “Put me through to the Priestess immediately.”

  “My Lord,” Calvin was saying for the third time. He’d come over to me and stood blocking my view of the wall monitor. “Quickly, come with me.”

  I ran after him as he led me to the main entrance of my quarters.

  “The Monitors are here. So are the police. Both are demanding to take Maya into custody,” he quickly explained.

  My thoughts spun frantically. I had to find a way to put them off. If I allowed anyone to imprison Maya, it would be extremely difficult to get her released, and I could lose control of the situation completely.

  Just before we reached my atrium, I slowed for a moment to catch my breath and compose myself. When I faced the small crowd that had gathered there, the sight of Akantha’s face caused a spike of anger to burst through me. Had she really dared come to my quarters to gloat in my face?

  I ignored Akantha and faced the Monitors first. “Has an alarm been triggered?” I demanded.

  One of the Monitors, the one in charge by the way he stood in front of the other two, gave me a startled look. “Ah . . . no, my Lord, but—”

  “Then you have no business here,” I cut in. “I know the law. You may take a foreigner into custody only if an implant alarm was tripped.”

  He opened his mouth, but only blinked rapidly a few times.

  “You have no business here. You and your men are dismissed,” I said crisply. I gave him an unblinking, hard stare until he finally swallowed and then gave a curt nod to his men. They turned, but weren’t in any hurry to leave, obviously wanting to see what happened next.

  I faced the Calistan police officers. I recognized the Master of Domestic Law Enforcement himself among the half-dozen officers present.

  “You have no authority for arresting an Earthen,” I said to him. “Earthens are not subject to the Calistan criminal and penal system; you know that as well as I.”

  “My Lord, in this case I must disagree.” He flicked a glance at the slowly departing Monitors, and continued in a slightly less certain voice. “I believe we must suspend certain rules for the safety of Calisto’s future. The quest for the homeland depends on it, and I think we can assume the sacred texts would support the arrest of the Offered named Maya Calderon.”

  “Careful where you tread, Master,” a woman’s stern voice called from the back of the crowd.

  I looked up to see High Priestess Lunaria striding toward us, her robes billowing behind her arms and ankles like an opalescent wake. She gave the man a pointed look, and he moved aside so she could make her way to me.

  “I can assure you that the sacred texts do not support the arrest of an Earthen,” she continued. She stood beside me, giving each man a steely look. I noticed she avoided acknowledging Akantha, as I had done.

  “The Priestess has spoken. Disperse under your own power, or I will have my guards forcibly escort you away.” I allowed my voice to thunder through the small space. “Do not even think of proposing an arrest unless you can show proof of a law that gives you that authority.”

  The Master of Domestic Law Enforcement—I still could not recall his name—stood perfectly still for a moment, his chest still puffed. Then his shoulders dropped in defeat. He bowed and wordlessly turned on his heel and stalked away with his men.

  Only Akantha was left.

  “I suggest you depart as well, Mistress of Tournament.” My voice was deadly quiet.

  Akantha was standing with her arms crossed. Her eyelids lowered ever so slightly, and the corners of her mouth twitched as if she held back a smile.

  “Happily, my Lord. There is nothing further for me to do here.”

  She held my gaze as she sank into a slow, exaggerated curtsy, and then took her time straightening and strolling away.

  Calvin closed the door behind her, leaving only me, the Priestess, and a handful of guards.

  She turned to me with true fear shining in her eyes as she moved close to me and clutched my forearm.

  “The masses will call for her sacrifice. We won’t be able to hold them off forever.” She barely whispered the words.

  I swallowed hard as my insides knotted. “We’ll have to figure out something. We must.”

  The Priestess was already moving to the door, and I wasn’t even sure she’d heard me.

  “Stars help us,” I whispered to myself as I hurried out and turned toward my quarters.

  The news was out, and that could not be undone. I had to find a way to calm the nation before citizens began clamoring for Maya’s sacrifice.

  9

  Maya

  I
KNEW SOMETHING was very wrong when Lord Toric seemed surprised by Akantha’s announcement of another Tournament delay. Coupled with the threat she’d made when I’d stood with the other Obligates before going into the throne room, I couldn’t ignore the possibility the delay had something to do with me.

  The certainty took root in my mind: it could not mean anything good.

  After I and the other Obligates filed from the throne room back through the alcove, one of Akantha’s assistants directed us to return to our dressing rooms.

  I stood with my ear pressed to the door but heard nothing until my guards released me over an hour later.

  “What’s going on?” I asked Tullock, hoping that some news had come while I’d waited. “Why is the Tournament delayed?”

  He shook his head. “No one knows yet.”

  I held my high-heeled shoes in my hand as they escorted me back to my apartment within Lord Toric’s quarters. I wanted to move as quickly as possible, and I didn’t care how it looked.

  I went straight to the little desk in my library, hoping there would be a message, but no tablet awaited me.

  I quickly changed out of the slinky garment and into my pale green dress and then went to the door. Opening it a few inches, I stuck my head out to get Tullock’s attention.

  He came closer and bent his head over me when I beckoned to him. “I need to speak with Lord Toric as soon as possible,” I whispered to him. I didn’t want the other guard to hear. He was an older man who was only occasionally on duty outside my door, but he was none too friendly. I got the sense he deeply disapproved of my presence within Lord Toric’s quarters. Or maybe he just didn’t like Earthens.

  “I’ll let him know of your request,” Tullock mumbled.

  I placed a hand on his muscled arm and gave him a smile of gratitude and relief. “I appreciate it.”

  When there was a knock at my door less than an hour later, I expected Lord Toric, but it was Clarisse who stood there.

  I swung the door wider. “Please come in.”

  I led her to the sitting room. “I wasn’t expecting you, but I must say I’m glad to see you. Do you have any idea why Akantha has postponed the next challenge?”

  Clarisse’s mouth dropped open. “I thought you knew.” Her eyes flicked toward the doorway, as if she wished she could escape.

  My heart thumped with alarm. “Knew what?”

  She groaned and squeezed her eyes closed for a moment, swearing under her breath. “I certainly didn’t intend to be the one to tell you—”

  “What?” My voice took on a shrill edge.

  Her fingers fiddled with the folds of her skirt. “On the news, well . . . they’re saying that you breached the division between Earthenfell and Calisto. Some are calling for your sacrifice.”

  I stared at her in horror and then sank to a settee.

  “But you don’t need to worry,” she rushed on. “Not too much, anyway. I’m sure it will all get straightened out. Odd that such a rumor got started, but there can’t be any truth to it so you don’t . . . need to . . .” She trailed off, peering at me curiously.

  I covered my face with my hands.

  “Maya?” I felt the settee cushion shift as she sat down next to me. “You didn’t actually go back to Earthenfell . . . did you?”

  I pulled my hands down my face and let them fall limply in my lap. “Not exactly.”

  “What does that mean?”

  I finally looked at her. “I communicated with someone on Earthenfell—my sister. I spoke to Lana through a portal.”

  Clarisse’s face went from confused to shocked to grim in the span of a second or two. “Oh,” was all she said.

  “How bad is it?” I asked.

  Her forehead creased, and she shook her head once. “It’s hard to tell. The news is definitely stirring up a lot of agitation. I don’t know how serious it is, honestly. It could be something that will blow over. Calistans do love their gossip. If not, well . . . worst case, they’ll probably want to toss you in the sacrificial fire.”

  As horrifying as her news was, for once I was glad for Clarisse’s blunt way of speaking.

  I wrapped my arms around my waist and slumped over them. “Has anything like this happened before?”

  “Not while I’ve been here.”

  We sat in silence for a long moment.

  She tentatively touched my wrist and then pulled her hand back. “I’m sure Lord Toric won’t let them throw you in the fire.”

  I looked up at her from the corners of my eyes. “Don’t do that,” I said. “Please, no matter what happens, don’t ever say things just to appease me, Clarisse.”

  She pressed her lips into a tight line and then nodded. “Okay, I won’t.”

  “You didn’t come here to tell me about . . . that,” I said. “And I can’t image you came just for the enjoyment of my company.”

  She straightened. “I wanted to let you know that I passed your message to Sir Jeric. He’s already responded, and he said he would help.”

  I brightened just a bit. “Really?”

  “Yes. So there’s that, at least.”

  We sat in silence for a few seconds.

  “Thank you very much for that favor,” I said. I rose to my feet and turned to her. “Don’t feel as if you need to stay for my sake.”

  She drew a deep breath and stood. “I’ll find out what I can, and I’ll return if I learn anything useful.”

  I nodded my thanks and then saw her to the door. As soon as I closed it behind her, the strength seemed to drain from my legs. I slumped against the wall, my head swimming and my limbs shaky, and then slid down to the floor.

  Part of me wanted to storm through Lord Toric’s chambers and demand to know who exposed me, who leaked to the public that I had spoken to Lana through Sir Jeric’s portal. I wanted to scream that it wasn’t my fault, that Jeric hadn’t said a thing about any breach. But I knew it didn’t really matter who spread the information or whether I was really at fault. All that really mattered was what happened next.

  When someone knocked, I was still sitting against the wall in a dazed, jumbled heap.

  I stayed where I was, not caring how it appeared. “Come in,” I called.

  The door swung open, and Lord Toric stepped in.

  “Maya?” He peered around for a second before spotting me on the floor. He knelt swiftly, his hands clamping around my shoulders. “What’s wrong? Are you hurt?”

  I shook my head. “Clarisse told me that all of Calisto thinks I violated your sacred laws,” I said, my voice small and dull. “People want to see me burned to death.”

  His face hardened, but worry swam in his eyes. Instead of responding, he scooped me up into his arms, rising easily and pulling me against his chest.

  “You’re cold,” he said. “Let’s get you in bed.”

  “No.” I shook my head vehemently. “I’m not sick. Don’t baby me, Lord Toric.”

  He glanced down at me and then backtracked in the short hallway that led to my bedroom, instead taking me to the sitting room where I’d been with Clarisse not long before. He gently put me down on an overstuffed chair, and wrapped a throw tightly around my shoulders, tucking in the corners.

  He sat on the chair’s ottoman, close enough that his knees bumped against the chair. He held both of my hands in his.

  “It’s bad, isn’t it,” I said, not bothering to phrase it as a question. “If it weren’t, you’d already be reassuring me, telling me that I have nothing to worry about.”

  He looked down at our hands and then into my eyes. “It’s not good.”

  “What’s going to happen? Please, the truth.”

  He reached up and tucked a strand of hair behind my ear. “I will not let you die, Maya.” He spoke quietly, but so fiercely his voice shook a bit. “No matter what happens, remember that I will not lose you. No matter what. I’ll find a way. The Priestess will help. Understand?”

  I nodded and touched his cheek with my fingertips, and he pressed my hand
to his face and then turned to kiss my palm. He pulled me closer and lowered his mouth to mine. For one long, sweet moment I lost myself in the taste of his lips and the heat of his skin.

  “I need to go,” he said. He tipped his forehead against mine. “Eat, sleep, and keep your spirits up, my dark angel. I won’t let them take you from me.”

  He kissed me again, a brief urgent pressure in contrast to his tenderness of a moment before, and then rose and left.

  That day and the next passed more or less as normal. A tight knot had grown in the center of my stomach, but I began to think that perhaps the danger was fading away.

  Just before dinner, Lord Toric burst into my quarters with Tullock, Calvin, and two other guards at his heels.

  He found me in the library. The alien Lord’s aquamarine eyes had turned dark and wild, like the sea during a summer storm.

  The book I was holding slipped from my fingers, plunked to the floor, and fell open. I glanced down at its fanned pages and then up at Lord Toric.

  “What’s happened?” I asked, my mouth suddenly dry as a sunbaked stone.

  Behind him, more people crowded in. I recognized Monitors in forest green uniforms among a dozen official-looking men.

  My pulse seemed to die for a moment.

  Lord Toric sprang to my side and grasped my hand so hard I winced. He bent and pressed his cheek against mine. “Do not lose faith,” he whispered vehemently, his mouth next to my ear. “We will not let you die.”

  A Calistan man with pale gray skin and moss-colored eyes was grasping roughly at my other arm, pulling me away from Lord Toric.

  My heart kicked and hammered like an alarm bell, and a rush of white noise filled my ears as a Monitor took me by the shoulder, helping the moss-eyed man push me toward the library door.

  I glanced up at Tullock, and the despair on his usually stoic face cleared my senses like a sharp slap and sent jagged panic racing through me.

  “Who are you? Where are you taking me?” I demanded. I tried to plant my feet, but I was no match for the strength of the towering Calistan men dragging me forward. They didn’t even pause.