Young Writers Society

Previous Chapter Summary: Kadence is a priestess in the Temple in Kelir. Cassandra is Kadence's superior. There have been rumours of a girl escaping the heavily fortified walls of the city. 

Kadence burst through the door, clutching the book still.

“Gods, Kadence, you’ll stop my heart,” her father exclaimed, brushing crumbs off his shirt from where he had dropped them as he jumped.

“Sorry, Papa,” Kadence said. She dropped the book on the table and headed for the kitchen. “Tea?”

“Please,” her father said. “I’m afraid there was bad business today. We have only bread.”

“Don’t worry,” Kadence said, retrieving the bread. She laid it out on the table, and checked to see if the water was boiling. She poured it into the two least-chipped cups, and added the leaves.

“Let them soak,” she said, setting one down in front of her father.

Her father toasted her, and took a great sip. “Haven’t the time for soaking.”

Kadence chuckled. She reached for a piece of bread, watching as her father deliberately looked away. “Papa,” she said firmly. She pushed the plate to him. “Eat.”

“I don’t want to take any away from you.”

Kadence frowned. “What happened?”

“King Nikolai favours the blacksmith across the square. It’s not good for me or my shop. They think I upset the King.”

“Why?”

“I don’t know. It’s all very strange,” her father said. “That smith — he’s only a boy. Shop’s only been open a few months. Hardly any business. We all thought they were about to close. And the good King’s —”

“Don’t,” Kadence said. “You don’t have to pretend here.”

Her father sighed. “All right. We thought the boy would close down, and the King has always come to me. You would think he would keep coming, I don’t believe I’ve offended him. And nobody seems to know anything about this order. All I know is that there was a lot of gold.”

“A gag,” Kadence said.

“Kadence,” her father warned.

“All I’m saying is that it’s suspicious.”

“Strange, not suspicious. The King has always kept his secrets to himself.”

Kadence raised her eyebrows. “Did you hear about the girl who escaped? Do you think maybe —”

“I did hear,” he father said. His voice had turned stern. “It’s a fairytale, Kadence. Don’t waste your time on it.”

“You didn’t see how the guards reacted,” Kadence sniffed. “I don’t trust the King.”

“No one trusts the nobility,” her father said carefully. “They lie. That’s how they find their fortune.” He looked at her. “Don’t try to change it. You’ll end up without a head.”

“I’ll try anyway,” Kadence replied.

Her father looked to the door worriedly.

“D’you think someone could get into the castle?” Kadence continued. “Hypothetically, of course. And what could the bring in? Do the guards even —”

“Kadence, please!” her father snapped. “Enough of this talk!” He muttered to himself, words like preposterous and dangerous and you’ll get yourself killed.

Kadence sighed and resigned herself to the stale bread, although her appetite had been chased out of her mind. Her gaze traced its way through the dusty kitchen and out the window. There, the wall loomed high, blocking out the mountains. She couldn’t imagine life without it. It had always been a steady protector in her life — now, it felt like it was suffocating her.

Kadence spent the rest of the afternoon in silence poring over the book. The words began to blur together, the pages blending into each other. Finally, after what seemed like an age, the sun started to dip below the wall and the sky darkened.

Kadence stood. “I’m going to bed,” she said, pretending like it wasn’t far too early to sleep. Her father waved her off and she headed to her room.

Kadence slept in the next morning. She hurriedly threw on her robes and ran out the door, before running back in to retrieve the book. She sprinted through the streets of Kelir, dodging random chickens that were to be sold and little children running amok.

“You’re late,” Cassandra snapped as Kadence leapt up the stairs of the temple.

“Sorry,” Kadence said. She didn’t miss the way Cassandra’s lips were pressed thin, and the sharp crease between her eyebrows. “What’s wrong?”

“King Nikolai is visiting this morning,” Cassandra said. “I don’t want you to ruin anything.”

“I promise I won’t,” Kadence said truthfully. If she really cared, she could do things properly.

“Good,” Cassandra said. “Because you’re attending to the ceremony.”

Kadence groaned internally. “Must I?” she asked. “I’m afraid I’m awfully tired —”

“The fourteenth commandment?” Cassandra cut in.

“Do not lie,” Kadence recited dutifully. “All right, I’m not tired. I have no excuse. I’ll do it.”

“And do it well,” Cassandra said. “You have before.” She paused. “They were present at your last ceremony.”

“That was last summer,” Kadence said.

“Nothing has changed,” Cassandra replied, but her voice wavered slightly.

“Not for the King,” Kadence said. She quickly composed herself, brushing her hair out of her eyes. “I’m going to get ready.”

Kadence felt Cassandra’s eyes on her back as she weaved her way through the other priestesses and into the temple. She shivered. She wasn’t ready to put on the show again, not so soon…

There was a sudden silence that spread throughout the temple. Kadence didn’t bother turning to see what caused it. She knew what it was. Even from here, she could make out the King’s voice as he talked to Cassandra.

Kadence took the candles and the cloth and forced her legs to walk back towards the front. The King had not visited for months, not since that awful winter. She took a breath, steeling herself, and then began to place the candles into the specific pattern, using the breadth of her hand to measure. The King’s guard had lined up against the wall, watching the priestesses with unpleasant expressions. Kadence did her best to ignore them, to block out the little murmurs they passed between themselves. There was no reason to fear them, she reminded herself. They could do no harm here, and they probably weren’t involved, anyway. Kadence knew the faces of the men who had committed the acts, but still…

She shook herself out of her thoughts. She was safe here, and there was nothing that could harm her beside her own damn self if she wasn’t careful with these bloody candles. She focused on the first thing she heard, which wasn’t much better to her previous thoughts.

“I am terribly sorry for winter. I’ve had them all punished,” the King was saying.

Punished. Disciplined. But not executed. The King would never execute any of his own, not even the worst kinds of criminals.

“We thank you for your justice,” Cassandra said. Only Kadence caught the bitterness that came with it.

“It was an awful thing. I’d never have expected it from them,” the King continued, as if he was merely discussing the weather. “Your loss was not too great, I hope?”

“We only lost one,” Cassandra replied, her voice tight. “A great tragedy, but the Temple has seen worse.”

Only one. But the other girls involved still hadn’t returned to the temple. Kadence had seen one begging in the streets. The girl had rather starve than come back.

The King smiled, as if he was satisfied. One person was nothing to him, Kadence supposed. “Right, then,” he said. “Shall we begin?”

Cassandra looked pointedly at Kadence, who hurried to finish lighting the candles and pretended she didn’t see the older woman wipe at her eyes. The King watched Kadence carefully, like a predator might look at prey. Kadence ignored the way the hairs on the back of her neck stood up.

“Axylia e mozhin atheta, te wendisq nei zekri esh lejnet,” Kadence said, her eyes closing and lips forming the harsh sounds of the Old Language. An ancient prayer for Axylia, for peace and justice. “E lejn us besqet.” She stepped back, palms raised to the sky. “Lisq eh besqet.”

Kadence stepped back and allowed the King to kneel at the altar. He murmured the words of the prayer, but his eyes were open. He might as well have shouted I’m better at the gods. Kadence felt loathing rise up in her, for this man, for everything he stood for. For his regime of terror, and his knights clad in black.

The King turned his head slightly, and Kadence quickly rearranged her scowl into an expression of serenity. The King’s eyes narrowed, and her stomach lurched unpleasantly. But then the King stood up, and he crossed the floor back to Cassandra.

“Thank you for this service, High Priestess,” the King said. “I will visit again soon.”

As he and the guards left, the whole temple seemed to exhale in relief. Kadence watched the guards push their way through the crowd.

“Don’t make me do that again,” she said quietly to Cassandra.

“You have my word,” Cassandra said, her eyes following the men.

Note: The prayer Kadence says translates to "Axylia the Queen of Gods, we pray for peace and justice. Grant us this prayer. We give our thanks." It's pretty pathetic at the moment but I'm still working on vocabulary for the Old Language :)