Page 14 of Somnium

“Oh good, you’re still here,” she said between inhales. “I completely forgot to tell you, but Meredith had to leave early tonight so I’ll need the two of you to clean the priest chambers. I know it’s last minute, but with both of you on it, you should be done in no time!”

Without another word, Polly disappeared back into the hallway, her footsteps quickly receding into the distance. Celine groaned from the corner, tossing her head back in a dramatic show that only served to compound the irritation already stewing in Cadi’s gut. As if she would be doing any of the work. Still, she reminded herself that Celine was Zoe’s friend, so she wasn’t going anywhere. It was best to just keep her head down and let it go.

Crossing to the supply closet, Cadi quickly gathered the bottles and rags they—she—would need to complete their task. Even though it had been dropped on them out of nowhere, she had to admit it was a little exciting. Cleaning the priest chambers was a duty typically reserved for higher level attendants, those with more experience that Polly knew and trusted not to snoop through the Order leader’s personal spaces. This was a fair concern considering Cadi could already feel her own curiosity growing as she stepped out into the hall, hypothesizing about what she may find behind the secured doors.

The electric sconces lining the corridor cast an eerie glow against the walls in the hall, their custom bulbs mimicking the flicker of candles to send Cadi’s shadow dancing along the red stone. She hadn’t expected to be so disappointed to learn that none of the candles lining the halls were real, but something about the Order receiving a bill from FG Power every month pulled back the curtain just a little too far.

As they approached the corridor that housed the priest chambers, Celine suddenly set down her armful of cleaning supplies and veered off, heading toward the door that led to the upper level.

“Where are you going?” Cadi asked, already irritated.

“I have to pee,” Celine called over her shoulder, just as she slipped into the stairwell and out of sight.

Cadi waited until the door fully shut before she let out a loud grumble that bordered on a growl as it echoed off the stone walls. Figures.

She gathered up Celine’s discarded supplies, squeezing them into her already overfull arms, and quickly shuffled down the hallway. Each step jostled the bottles, making them slip against her robe and forcing her to hold her arms at awkward angles to keep from dropping them. She could see the priest corridor in the distance and picked up her pace, determined to make it without dropping anything.

Around the next corner, she found herself at a dead-end. Two doors lined either side of the hallway, each one adorned with a small golden symbol. Cadi approached the first room to her left, gently running a finger along the raised edges of the elaborately crafted sun. After a quick scan of the other doors, she realized each one was different. There was the sun in front of her, but also a moon, a flame, and a crown.

Slipping a hand into the front of her shirt, she pulled out her silver sigil and pressed it to the black pad mounted on the wall beside the door. The small red light at the top of the pad shifted to green, followed by a high-pitched beep, letting her know the door was open.

The chamber was small, with a single sconce throwing shadows across the narrow wardrobe that stood to the right and the small desk pressed against the opposite wall. A low chaise sat directly across from the door where Cadi stood, its golden threads shimmering in the low light. She pulled in a deep breath, savoring the mix of earth and spice that still hung in the air.

Gathering up the few items left on the already tidy desk, she set them gently on the chaise before setting to work dusting every surface. A small beep from the other side of the door snared her attention, and she stuck her head into the corridor just in time to see Celine slipping into the chamber across from her. Cadi honestly hadn’t expected to see her again, and wasn’t entirely convinced she had come back by choice. It seemed far more likely she had run into Polly on her way to the exit, but at least Cadi wouldn’t have to clean all four rooms by herself anymore.

As she worked her way through the first chamber, she tried to let her mind go blank again, searching for the peace she had found earlier, but instead her brain decided this was the perfect time to flood itself with thoughts and theories about the mystery that was Elias Masterson.

In the short time she had been attending Somnium, everyone she had encountered had been nothing short of lovely. Sure, Damon had some work to do in the personal space department, and Celine was…well Celine, but otherwise there was nothing she could see that would push someone away like that. It had taken almost a full week, but Cadi had finally managed to summon the courage to press Zoe for more answers, but her questions were quickly shut down when the nymph had declared that she had no interest in discussing “that bartender”, then strongly suggested that Cadi leave it alone. A suggestion that only served to bolster her interest.

What Cadi found even more confusing to her than Elias’s reason for leaving, was his sudden silence about the whole matter. From what little she had heard, it sounded like he had made repeated attempts to convince others to do the same, then out of nowhere he just stopped.

She supposed it was possible that he was just selfish and power hungry, but that didn’t align with what she knew about Sera. While their friendship was still in its infancy, something told her that Sera wasn’t the type to put up with one of her friends throwing a fit fueled by entitlement and greed. Besides, from the brief glimpse she’d had, Elias seemed kind and magnetic, the type of person other people wanted to be around.

The image of him leaning across the bar the first night at The Crow’s Nest flashed across her mind. His face was lit by a smile as he conversed with customers, his brown eyes shining with quiet laughter. Cadi gasped, nearly dropping the rag in her hand when a flutter stirred in her chest, almost like a strange tug just behind her ribs, not unlike the one she’d felt at the bar after her first Somnium.

At the time, she had assumed it was a lingering effect from whatever was in that weird smoke that poured over the congregation, but it had been a week since the last ritual, there was no way it was still affecting her. At least that was what she hoped.

Cadi rolled her shoulders and pushed her focus back to her task. Hopefully getting lost in her work would be enough to keep her from dwelling on the possible long-term impacts of the mystery chemical compounds she and hundreds of other people willingly inhaled every week.

With her first room thoroughly cleaned and organized, Cadi stepped back out into the hall, making sure the door latched securely behind her before moving on to the next. She eased the door open, and let her eyes linger on the golden crown as she stepped through.

Instantly, Cadi knew this room was different. Not only was it larger, but where the first room had been modest and functional, this chamber felt alive. In addition to the standard wardrobe, a small chest of drawers sat against one wall, its surface littered with a colorful collection of trinkets and rings. The desk showed signs of use as well. The chair was askew as if someone had just stood to step out of the room, leaving a teetering stack of paperbacks piled on one end, several of their worn pages marked with colorful tabs.

She ran her fingers over the smooth spine of the top book, unable to resist prying into the reading habits of the Order’s priests. The first title sparked immediate recognition, as there was a similarly worn copy currently resting on her own nightstand. Cadi’s smirk grew as she shuffled the stack and realized that every one of the books belonged to a very specific, and increasingly popular, genre, giving the colorful tabs an entirely new meaning.

Apparently, even sacred servants had personal lives.

Cleaning that chamber was astonishingly difficult, as she found herself hesitant to disturb the comforting disarray of personality that made the space so inviting. She couldn’t help but wonder about the person who had been there before her, the one so unafraid to leave small pieces of himself behind.

When she got to the wardrobe, she paused. The thin wooden door hung open, offering the barest glimpse of what lay inside. She moved to push it closed, but stopped with her hand resting on the small metal handle. She knew she shouldn’t pry, but her own curiosity had always been worse than any peer pressure she had encountered over the course of her life, and at that moment it urged her to ease the door further open instead. So, of course, she did. As the curling light of the chamber streamed through the widened gap into the dark interior, a small gasp slipped from her lips when she found herself staring into the hollow, unseeing eyes of a mask.

She didn’t even notice that she had leaned forward until the dark artifact was mere inches from her face, revealing a multitude of swirls and symbols carved into every inch of its surface. From her place in the crowd, she had never noticed the subtle beauty of its design, but now she doubted she would ever be able to see anything else.

A soft glimmer from the shadows caught her attention, and her mouth fell open at the gathering of midnight blue fabric that hung beside her. The silken fibers of the high priest’s robe shifted as if moved by an unseen breeze, catching the soft light like stars in an endless sky. She couldn’t look away, the need to feel the fluidlike cloth against her skin nearly consuming her.

The sound of movement in the hall sent her heart slamming into her ribs, and she quickly pulled herself away from her admiration and back into the reality of what she was supposed to be doing. As quickly as she dared, she pushed the door to the wardrobe shut with a soft click, and stepped away just as Celine appeared at the threshold of the chamber with her usual look of annoyance already in place.

“Are you done yet? I wanna go home.”