Page 81 of A Lie so Pretty and Poisonous

When I heard the door shut, I went out to the sitting area, the stupid pink roses mocking me. I plopped down on the sofa next to Anya. “Thank you for covering for me.”

She gave me a sad smile and stood. “I must tend to some errands for the queen, but I will be at the Temple with my mother, Lady Gloria. She’s been dying to meet you and Cora. You won’t be there alone.”

I blew out a breath and nodded.

I would endure this display of power and importance to appease Gabriel, and in the evening, I resolved to seek out Darragh. I refused to let him walk away from me. He was distancing himself, hiding behind his own stone mask so that he couldn’t be hurt like he was so used to. I only had to break through it. Like he did mine.

Incense hung thick and heavy in a cavernous temple of dark marble. It smelled of calamus root, poppy, and sage. Deep throaty hums reverberated from the acolytes of Themis, echoing off the walls as we took our seats around a vast pool of dark crimson. A marble pillar rose out of the center of the macabre water, reaching hundreds of feet in the air and peaking at the domed shape of the rafters. Chains hung from a marble block etched with an image of weighing scales and positioned on the outside of the cache of bloody liquid. Two large fire pits burned on each side of the front platform. The electric energy of the room made the hair on my arms stand on end.

The aristocracy, most of whom were at the previous evening’s ball, filled the seating around the pool, facing a marble platform. The prince and princess sat in the front row with their governess and nanny. Percie gave Cora a little wave as he passed by. Thankfully, Anya and her mother sat a row behind us. Her mother was a lovely seraph with big, bouncy curls, freckles, and warm, deep brown eyes. She couldn’t stop smiling at Cora.

“Mom,” Cora whispered, “what is this place?” I detected a soft wavering in her voice.

I whispered back to her, “The Temple of Worship of Themis, God of Justice. Stay quiet out of respect, sweet girl. This is a holy place for the seraphs.”

Gabriel sat on the other side of me, his thigh pressed against mine, and he took my hand into his, threading our fingers together and pulling our adjoined hands to rest on his lap. I gave him a sweet smile, but deep down, I cringed at his touch.

“I hope the roses were to your liking,” Gabriel said into my ear. His lips barely grazed the lobe, and I instinctively pulled away.

“Yes. They were lovely, Your Highness. Thank you.” I probably didn’t say that with enough feeling.

He smiled wolfishly and gently squeezed my hand. I locked my focus on three robed priests walking across a platform that also seated King Torrish and Queen Mollah, dressed in blue and gold. Both the priests and royals wore open golden eye emblems on their garments. The eye of Themis, as I had come to learn. All-seeing. All-knowing. A god who doled out punishment to those deserving as much. At least, that was what they believed.

An hour of preaching passed. Sermons filled with praise for King Torrish and his hard stance on blasphemy and false idol worship. Devotional hymns on how Themis freed seraphs from lives of debauchery, war, and violence. I tried not to make any facial expressions to give away my disgust, but I wondered why they couldn’t see how hypocritical this all was and how, to the detriment of both humans and seraphs, their refusal to acknowledge and worship all other deities was causing suffering.

My own thoughts on this would be considered blasphemous, a punishable offense that would send me to the atoner. I just hoped I could keep myself out of trouble and play into Gabriel’s feelings for me long enough to get Cora out of here. I had been getting too sloppy and too loud in my convictions. Gabriel’s patience would only go so far.

The three priests finished their sermons and walked off the raised platform. King Torrish rose from his dark marble throne. “Today we have an atonement to bring forth in celebration and worship of Themis.” An oily smile slid across his face. “Will the Captain of the Guard bring in the seraph who needs to be cleansed of their wrongdoing?”

The nobles murmured in excitement. My heart fluttered rapidly as Darragh led a seraph by his arm from the back of the Temple up to the marble block with chains. As they both turned to face the crowd, I stifled a gasp. There, being pushed prone on the marble block, was the merchant seraph who sold me the pastries in the market the day I went into the city with Darragh. His eyes were wide and darted around the crowd of nobles, who were positively elated about watching an atonement.

Darragh kept a stony expression as he bound the seraph’s wrists in silver cuffs, blocking whatever enchants he may have. An outward appearance of indifference, and his chestnut eyes were hard to read. The frightened seraph’s arms were splayed out wide, his head hung off the edge of the marble block, covering the carved scales of justice.

“Russtoph Fornix!” The king’s booming, deep voice echoed in the chamber. A velvet bag the size of a melon dangled from his clenched fist. “You have been found with a false idol of worship, hidden in your merchant cart. The false goddess, Hestia!” He opened the bag and pulled out a wooden statue of the goddess. Several angheals gasped dramatically like he just pulled out a severed head. I couldn’t tell if they were being performative to get into the king’s favor or were genuinely affronted by a statue.

In Edenalee, Hestia was known to be the patron goddess of nourishment, and many bakers and cooks had altars to her to make their food safe to eat.

The king continued his dramatic display, holding the statue away from him like it would bring about a plague. “I have consorted with Themis and have been told the atonement that he desires out of Russtoph for his blatant disrespect to the one true and just God. Ten lashings with a silver-tipped whip. May the scars be a reminder that we do not tolerate the idolatry or worship of lesser divinity.”

My breathing quickened. King Torrish tossed the wooden statue of Hestia into the fire. Flecks of glowing ash rose into the air as the wood crackled and burned. “Oh, yes, and one more thing,” the king continued with a vicious grin. “Today, the honor of delivering the atonement will be given to none other than our own Captain of the Guard. For his excellence in service to the crown. Word came to me that he even saved our new human noble from a thief in the city. A blessing from Themis that he was there to protect her.”

Oh, FUCK!

I tried to pull my hand from Gabriel’s, but he held it in place. I leaned close to his ear. “Your Highness, I cannot have Cora watch such brutality. Please, let me take her outside.” I tried to keep my voice even and quiet. Cora watched Russtoph struggle against his chains, eyes big as saucers. I turned to Anya, who looked at me with bulging eyes, and her hand covered her mouth. Both she and her mother looked at Cora and then at each other.

Gabriel squeezed my hand to grab my attention. “Aurora, you both must watch. It is part of this man’s atonement to witness his punishment so that he may be cleansed of his wrongdoing. It is a beautiful thing. He will walk out of here free from his sin.”

Gabriel seemed downright excited about the cruelty, but his smile went widest when Darragh was announced as the seraph to dole out the punishment. Darragh didn’t even react. Has he given lashings before?

A young acolyte approached Russtoph and snapped his fingers, making Russtoph’s tunic rip completely down the middle, exposing his trembling back. A second acolyte handed Darragh a black whip with a viciously pointed silver tip.

I pulled Cora’s face into my side, covering her ears with my arm and ribs and shielding her eyes with my hand. She didn’t fight me to watch and went slack against me, gripping my thigh with both hands. I didn’t care what Gabriel said; I would not subject Cora to watching or hearing this.

Darragh stepped up behind Russtoph with a threatening presence. The incense swirled around him, making him look like a deity about to smite everyone in the Temple. His chestnut eyes darkened to blackened embers, and the light from the lanterns created shadows along the planes of his chiseled features. He looked every bit as formidable as he did the day he killed my attackers. That same rage burned in his eyes.

Darragh didn’t hesitate and cracked the whip, slicing open Russtoph’s tender, exposed flesh. Blood splattered into the pool, and Russtoph screamed. Flecks of spit flew from his mouth.

I closed my eyes as Russtoph whimpered, and my body stiffened, but Gabriel pulled my hand and whispered, “Watch, darling. You must watch.”