AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Tempest rose and kneeled once again in front of the now sobbing woman. She placed a hand on her knee. “I know. This isn’t an item that would be able to be stolen easily. It will always find its rightful owner. Do you know what this is?”
Sylvia shook her head.
“This is Vesper’s token—the god of stars and time.”
Tempest gently took Sylvia’s hand and laid the necklace in her palm. It began to glow with a warm golden light.
Tempest forced a smile to her face. It seemed that at least one of the other gods had found her. If he hadn’t known before, Vesper would have been notified when she came in contact with his token.
As she watched Sylvia’s wide-eyed face, she couldn’t help but approve of Vesper’s choice. While she hadn’t spent much time with the woman, her ability had been clear in its judgment that Sylvia was a woman of honor. Tempest was intrigued, though. It wasn’t often that Vesper joined in Dei Electi. He was a busy and reclusive god, rarely joining in matters dealing with mortals directly.
“It appears we’ve found another participant of Dei Electi,” Aiden said, startling both women. “Congratulations.”
Sylvia stared at her emperor with a slack jaw. “Excuse me?”
Tempest chuckled. “That’s what the necklace means. Vesper has claimed you as his representative.”
“It’s true. For the duration of Dei Electi, you will be relieved of your responsibilities, and you will move into one of the rooms in this wing. We will, of course, assist in providing anything you may need for any of the events. I’m not privy to the specific details of each event, but it is something we do to level the competition, so all participants can compete fairly.”
“Oh no, this must be a mistake. There’s no possible way I could have been chosen for this.”
Tempest felt panic and a pang of deep sadness from Sylvia, as well as a small but surprising sense of relief.
Aiden motioned one of his guards forward. “Lin will escort you to your room. No need to be nervous.”
Looking back and forth between Tempest and Aiden before standing, Sylvia muttered thanks and followed Lin out of the room. The other guards followed closely behind and, with a last glance as they took up their post outside, closed the door behind them. Tempest slid off her knees and sat fully on the floor, her mind racing.
“I will send someone to clean the rest of this up for you.”
She’d forgotten that Aiden was still in the room with her for a moment. She looked up at him.
“Thank you. I appreciate that.”
“I initially came to let you know that the other women should be arriving tonight. Tomorrow will be the claiming ceremony to prove that all participants are representatives of their intended gods. We need to come up with a plan.”
“A plan? What for?”
“You weren’t actually chosen by the goddess of the broken. It’s been so long that no one remembers what her sign usually is, but we need to figure out something.”
During the claiming ceremony, the participants of Dei Electi showed their tokens as proof they were chosen by the gods. The god who sponsored each of them had the opportunity to give an additional sign if they chose to do so. Tempest’s abilities weren’t flashy, so when she’d shown a sign for her representatives in the past, she often called out a criminal in the room and their victim. Of course, she’d had to use a little leverage to get them there in the first place, but her mark appeared on them as her representative spoke, and nothing could remove it until she willed it.
“Ah, that. I have a few ideas.”
He eyed her with doubt. “Such as?”
She smirked. “Now, what fun would it be to give away all of my secrets?”
“Like how you had her token at the gate?”
While many responses were at the tip of her tongue, she decided silence and a smile would disturb him the most. Usually, tormenting someone wasn’t her idea of fun—it didn’t sit right with mending broken hearts—but something about bothering Emperor Aiden was amusing to her. They held each other’s gaze, a challenge of wills to see who would give first.
Aiden cracked first with a laugh. “Fine, keep your secrets. I’m watching you, though.”
She laughed in return. “Promises, promises. I will be ready, though. No need to worry.”
Chapter 8
Tempeststoodinthehallway outside the ballroom with the eleven other women. All of them were dressed in highly embroidered gowns; matching jewelry adorned their arms and necks, and was even woven into their hair. The women’s anxiety made Tempest want to empty her stomach. It was almost suffocating to be so near to them.
