“Are you serious?”
I remained quiet, watching the shimmering ripples on the surface of the water. I checked every face in the crowd, looking for the high priestess, as we moved along, following the direction of the current. One of the sisters placed a wreath of flowers on my head.
I adjusted the skirt of my dress remembering how I had protested against wearing the feminine clothes. But since my only alternative was my flying suit, I did not really care about how I looked. The skin on my face stung from exposure to the sun that I had to endure on the surface.
There was nothing I could do if Victor wanted to return to his regular routine of sleeping with multiple women.
So, why was I so upset about it?
He was exactly the same, he never changed. It was me, and only me, who somehow placed my own expectations on him. I ground my teeth together.
“Frid?”
“What?”
“Are you jealous?” His eyes took in my face, my hair, my stupid dress and I was ready to punch him in the face just to make him stop looking at me like that.
“No, I’m not.”
I stopped, staring back at him. People behind me complained and I took a step.
“If you’d just let me explain... I did nothing wrong,” he continued talking.
His voice was laced with hidden meanings, with thousands of undertones. But still, what I saw back in the room was more than enough for me.
“Victor, please.” I exhaled. “Don’t try to cover it up. I was there.”
“I know how it looked, but it wasn’t—” he suddenly cut off.
I followed the direction of his gaze. Ahead of us, people paused to throw the flowers they carried into the water, and then separated into two lines returning the way they came.
“What is it?” I moved forward, trying to see ahead.
Victor did not respond. From where we stood, I could distinguish that the sound of running water had turned into a muffled roar. The humid air brushed against my cheeks, playing with the locks of my hair. When it was finally our turn, I moved to step closer, but Victor wrapped his hand around my elbow. And only then did I look down.
There was blackness in front of us, just a giant gap of nothingness that was impossible to see where it ended. The water seemed to disappear into the darkness far below. The current accepted the flowers that were placed in the water,lazily circling around until they dropped over the edge with monumental tranquility.
On the other side of the channel stood the high priestess, she looked almost pale in the shadows. Her arms were raised, eyes closed and her lips were moving. The light fabric of her dress swayed in the air, and the fumes from the water rose up, nearly swallowing her entire figure.
“What the fuck?” Victor mouthed beside me.
“We found it. The Fall,” I whispered.
CHAPTER FORTY
ALINA
Alight breeze was blowing into the room from an open window. The bright sun was creeping slowly across the floor while I paced from corner to corner not finding even a moment of peace. My thoughts were spiraling out of control, without letting me get a better understanding of what I needed to do. Tynan was still away and I had no idea what was going on since neither clan wanted to discuss the whereabouts of their clan leaders.
“Milady?” May peeked into the room.
“Yes?”
“You wanted to know if Sage was back. I just saw him walking to his room.”
“Can you take me to him?”
Several minutes later, I followed my maid down the stairs and through the winding corridor. I no longer noticed the woodensculptures and crystal chandeliers, encrusted mirrors and art on the walls.
