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SHANA
The handmaidens and priestesses escort me to the shrine hall, all of them encircling me. Every part of me feels sick, knowing something dreadful looms on the horizon regarding my fate.
Still, I dare not run. There’s no way out for me even if I tried. Right now, I may as well be a prisoner being marched to their execution. Everyone keeps their gazes pointed straight ahead. Meanwhile, I look at each of them, desperate to get a word in with anyone at this point.
Their faces are strained as if performing something they do not wish to do. I don’t want to imagine what deed they have been ordered to carry out against me. We have never been violent, but everything I’ve been learning about Karona makes me think there’s something hidden deep within this faith, something sinister and bloodthirsty.
“Calindra,” I call out. She walks to my right, the side of her face just barely visible beneath her shrouded veil. “Please tell me what’s going on.”
“We’re taking you to see Layirah,” she says, her voice cold. “I cannot say more than that.”
I gulp and try to accept my fate. Calindra is no longer someone I know, her refusal to talk with me only having grown since we returned from our kidnapping. She’s just another person I’ve lost amidst this turmoil, and there’s nothing I can do about it.”
Worse yet, the mention of Layirah is enough to make the hair stand on my skin. She is the leader of the temple, a direct descendant of Karona herself. No one in this city, not even the handmaidens, gets to see her unless it’s a serious case.
Does she know about my affair with Carus? This surely cannot be good.
The priestesses and I stop in front of marbled doors, its surface luminescent and so clean that each of us can see our own reflections on it. The two handmaidens in front step forward, each of them taking one door and pulling it open.
We step into the vast shrine hall, the epitome of luxury and celebration in the name of our deity. It looms greatly in height with a mural of artwork on the ceiling and stretches far in length, half the size of the city’s sporting arena.
Lined along the walls are magnificent stone statues of Karona’s descendants, built in commemoration of their honor upon their death. Their terrifying height makes their downward gazes ever more intimidating.
We walk toward the shrine up ahead, where a great piece of artwork hangs above all else, depicting Karona in her time of living amongst the common folk. Beneath the artwork is the shrine itself, filled with vases, jewelry, and various other gifts donated by followers.
In front of the shrine is an altar where Layirah typically stands when reciting her speeches. Normally, everything would be a sight to marvel at, but there’s no room for enjoyment when I remember the reason why I am here.
We stop short of the staircase leading up to the altar. The handmaidens break away from me and take their places against the walls, dwarfed by the statues in front of which they stand.
Layirah is nowhere to be seen, and for a moment, I hope this is all a nightmare, that I would wake up in my bed before any of this ever started. The sudden ringing of an ominous bell startles me, and I freeze when Layirah appears from seemingly out of nowhere, taking her place at the altar stand.
Her mere presence sends a shiver down my spine as she peers down past her nose at me, a look of disgust written across her face. She dons an emerald green robe lined with gold that exudes power and reminds us of her status above the rest of us.
Layirah’s deadly set of eyes narrows as if eyeing me for the kill. As a descendant of our deity, she is the most powerful and influential of us all. I fear what abilities may have been bestowed upon her by our deity, and I get the feeling that I’m about to find out.
My stomach churns in fear and regret for every decision I’ve made to get me to this point. A cruel voice in my head reminds me that this day was inevitable, that there was never truly a way to avoid repentance after I broke my vows.
You made that choice. Now you will reap what you sow and deserve every last bit of it.
“Priestess Shana,” she shrills. “I don’t think either you or I woke up this morning expecting to see you here before me.”
Unsure whether or not I’m allowed to speak, I decide to keep my mouth shut. Layirah is terrifying enough when she is calm.
“I’m sure you are keen to find out, and trust me, you will.”
Her tone is grating to the point where one wishes to turn away and cover their ears but doesn’t out of fear of what’ll happen if they do. I swallow a lump in my throat, the veins in my neck throbbing so hard that I almost can’t breathe.
“Do you know why you’re down here?” she asks.
I hesitantly begin speaking, my words starting with a stutter.
“I don’t, Lady Layirah.”
She tilts her head, a child-like sympathetic expression coming over her face. “Tell me the truth.”
The sound of my heartbeat booms inside my body, quickening as the seconds race by.
“I… I left the temple this morning. I think that is the reason.”
