Revealed (32 page)

Sophia shook her head firmly. “Don’t be silly, Lauren. I’m happy for you and Liv. I just…I wish I had good news too. But when I went to ask the high priestess about it—”

“The high priestess who died?” Olivia asked, interrupting her.

Sophia nodded miserably. “She had some kind of a fit or a vision. Talked about how my womb had been…had been closed for a reason. She said I must go and stand before the Empty Throne.”

For some reason her words gave Nadiah a strange tingle along her spine.
The Empty Throne,
she thought.
What is that? Something I forgot?

“I don’t understand,” Kat said, breaking her train of thought. “How can an empty throne heal you?”

“Not the throne itself, whoever sits on it,” Lauren corrected. “But who sits on it?”

“That’s just it, I
don’t know.”
Sophia looked unhappy. “And she never even promised it would heal me—she just said I had to go stand in front of it. It’s somewhere on
First World
—the Kindred home planet, that’s all I know. So Sylvan and I are planning a trip there as soon as…as… Oh my God, Nadiah,” she exclaimed suddenly, looking at Nadiah. “Are you okay?”

Nadiah, as it happened, was
not
okay. From the moment Sophia had said the words, “empty throne,” a strange feeling had been coming over her. A tingling sensation that started at her fingertips and grew to encompass her arms, head, and face.
An al’lei,
she thought, beginning to feel panicked.
I’m going to have an al’lei. A waking dream. Oh, Goddess, please…

Suddenly Sophia’s suite and the coffee table with the girls gathered around it disappeared. Nadiah found herself standing in a vast, empty space with rounded white marble pillars rising to the sky. A flood of pale green light seemed to be coming from somewhere overhead but when she looked up, all she could see was an immense stone chair made of the same white marble as the pillars. It was empty and unadorned but somehow it seemed to emanate with a strange power she could feel humming in her bones.
If I got too close it would kill me!
she thought and then a voice began to speak. A voice which Nadiah heard in her head…but also coming from her own mouth.
Goddess, help me,
she thought wildly.
It, no
she,
is speaking through me!

“He comes. He comes and the Empty Throne shall be filled again,”
Nadiah heard herself say but the voice that came from her throat was not her own. It was deeper, filled with authority and power.

“Who…who comes?” Sophia quavered. “Nadiah, please…”

“He who is to fill the throne. There.” Nadiah turned, or rather, a force outside her body
made
her turn, and pointed at the doorway of the suite.

As if on cue, the door opened and Rast stepped in.

“Hi,” he said, smiling tentatively. “Excuse me. I hope you girls don’t mind but I came to get Nadiah. I think I’ve found someone who might—”

“She is not for you, warrior,” the voice coming from Nadiah’s throat proclaimed. Helpless to stop it, she felt herself rise from her place at the table and stalk slowly toward that male she loved. “We have felt your energy across the vast reaches of space and believe you are the one. You must relinquish your claim in the female, Nadiah, and come to
First World
to be tried.”

“What?” Rast frowned at her. “Is this some kind of joke? Why are you using that weird voice?”

“It’s no joke.” Sophia hurried to stand beside her. “She’s having a vision,” she whispered to Rast, her eyes huge and frightened. “Oh God, I hope it doesn’t kill her!”

“Kill her? What are you talking about?” Rast demanded. He took Nadiah by the shoulders and shook her. “Enough of this now, Nadiah.
Enough.
Snap out of it!”

Nadiah only wished she could. But the
al’lei
wasn’t over yet and the entity which had taken over her body was not ready to let her go.

“Take your hands from this female, for she is
not
for you,” she heard herself saying—or someone saying through her. “You are meant for greater things, Adam Rast. A higher purpose calls you.”

“What higher purpose? What are you talking about?” Rast demanded.

“You will come to
First World
,” the commanding voice insisted. “You will come to be tried. If you take the oath and pass the trial, you will sit upon the Empty Throne.”

“Look, you…whoever you are,” Rast said evenly, staring into Nadiah’s eyes. “I don’t know who you are or how you got inside my girlfriend but you get out and leave her alone
right now
or so help me God—”

Nadiah heard a strange, hollow laugh issue from her mouth. “It is in the name of the Goddess, the Mother of All Life, that we call you. We are finished arguing. You
will
appear before the Empty Throne in
First World
before this solar week is out. If you do not, this female will
die.”

Suddenly, whatever or whoever it was left Nadiah in a rush. The room spun around her and she felt herself falling to the ground. Strong arms caught her.

“It’s all right, sweetheart. I’ve got you,” Rast murmured in her ear. “Are you okay now? Is that thing gone?”

“Yes…yes, I think so. I just feel so weak.” Nadiah put a hand to her cheek. “And so
cold.
Why is it so cold in here all of a sudden?”

“It’s not.” Sophia was biting her lip with worry. “Rast, feel her forehead. She looks flushed.”

Rast pressed a hand which felt like a block of ice to her forehead and pulled back cursing. “She’s burning up! Was she sick before this happened?”

“No.” All the girls shook their heads. “She was fine,” Lauren said. “Perfectly fine.”

Sophia put a hand to her temple. “I’m calling Sylvan right now. We’ll find out what’s wrong with her, I promise.”

The next few minutes were a blur to Nadiah as Rast carried her to the couch and sat down, still holding her. Her head throbbed and her eyelids felt very hot and very heavy, as though someone had tied burning lead weights to them. The world greyed out for a few minutes and when it came back into focus she saw Sylvan looking at her with worry.

“
Vashan
fever,” he was saying to Rast, who also looked upset. “A rare disease on Tranq Prime which only affects virgin females. I’m afraid it usually kills its victims within a week. But I don’t see how Nadiah could have contracted it so quickly when—”

“A week,” Sophia interrupted. “That’s how long she said Rast had to get to
First World
.”

“What?” Sylvan demanded. “Who…”

But the world greyed out again and this time the grey turned to blackness.
The Blackness,
Nadiah thought.
The Blackness which Eats the Stars. It’s coming…

And then…nothing.

“I’m sorry to have to leave you so suddenly like this, old friend.” Sylvan had a harried look on his face as he rushed around the med station, collecting equipment to bring on his journey.

“Don’t worry about it. Nadiah is your kin—of course you have to take care of her.”
Merrick
watched his friend with worried eyes. Sylvan didn’t seem like himself. Of course, it wasn’t every day that a much beloved younger kinswoman was suddenly and mysteriously stricken with a fatal, fast acting disease.
Vashan
fever, much like Blood Fever, infected only young, virgin females but it was even faster acting and more deadly. “Did she contract it on Tranq Prime?” he asked as Sylvan stuffed more instruments into his pack.

“She must have.” Sylvan shook his head. “Of course, the symptoms don’t manifest at once, but…” He broke off and put a hand over his eyes. “Oh Goddess, if only I hadn’t warned Rast off her. The fever cannot attack females whose eyes have been changed. If only—”

“Stop.”
Merrick
gripped his friend by the shoulder. “Stop beating yourself up over this, Sylvan. You were only doing what any Tranq Prime kinsman would do—protecting her virtue.”

“I know.” Sylvan looked up, his ice blue eyes anguished. “But it’s her virtue that is allowing the fever to kill her.”

“What were you supposed to do?”
Merrick
said roughly. “Offer her up to him on a silver fucking platter? You were doing what you thought was right. No one can blame you for that.”

“I
can,” Sylvan said bleakly. “And I will, for the rest of my days if we cannot get her help.”

“And you think the priestesses on
First World
hold the answer?”
Merrick
cocked an eyebrow at him.

Sylvan nodded. “They must. They are the only ones who serve beside the Empty Throne and that is where Rast was commanded to go. It’s also the subject of the other prophecy—the one Sophia received. So we’re all going together and bringing Nadiah to be healed.” He clenched his hands into fists. “If she
can
be healed.”

“Is there nothing you can do?”
Merrick
asked. “I thought if you caught the fever in its first symptoms—”

“That’s the thing.” Sylvan ran a hand though his hair. “There
were
no first symptoms. The fever came on her full blown. It was almost as though…as though she’d been cursed with it.”

“Cursed with it? By the high priestess, you mean?”
Merrick
frowned. “How very fucking unsurprising.”

Sylvan’s eyebrows shot up. “
You
met the High Priestess of the Empty Throne?”

Merrick
shrugged. “I told you I went on pilgrimage there—to
First World
—before I got attacked by the Trissies, right?” He scowled. “I was trying to, I don’t know, get my mind right before I had to participate in your ceremony. Didn’t want to bring you bad luck.”

“What did she say to you?” Sylvan asked, looking at him intently. “Was it anything important?”

Merrick
ran a finger down his scar, rubbing it where it bisected his eyebrow. It was a gesture he had when deep in thought. Actually, it was strange that he hadn’t remembered the priestess’s prophecy—or rather curse—until just now. But the deadly fight with the pirates, the worry over missing his friend’s ceremony, and the excitement of finding Elise in the abandoned life pod had driven it all out of his mind.

“You shall find the bride you seek on your journey to help a friend seal his love. She who is meant for you waits wrapped in darkness—waits for your kiss to awaken her, warrior.”

Yes, that was what the High Priestess of the Empty Throne had said to him. And then she’d gotten angry because he hadn’t believed her. Angry enough to curse him, although she had denied it and said that he had cursed himself…

Merrick
looked through the open doorway to the small room where Elise had been moved, stasis chamber and all for constant observation. Could the priestess have been talking about
her?
Hell no, that was ridiculous. Besides, she said he would find the bride that he sought and he wasn’t seeking any damn bride. The whole thing was just a coincidence. Still…

“Well?” Sylvan demanded and
Merrick
realized he had been caught up in his own thoughts too long.

“I’m sorry, Brother,” he said, shaking his head. “But I don’t see how what she told me can help you. I will tell you to watch out for her though—she doesn’t like being contradicted.”

Sylvan sighed. “All right. I’ll keep it in mind.” He followed
Merrick
’s gaze to the room with the sleeping Elise. “Don’t worry about her,
Merrick
,” he said, reassuringly. “I’ve programmed the stasis chamber for a controlled exit. That means when her body is ready, she’ll come out of it on her own.”

Merrick
nodded. “I understand it could take a little while. I’ll wait.”

“More than a little while,” Sylvan cautioned him. “It could be weeks or even months before she emerges. In fact, I think it’s likely to be a
very
long time because of what she went through at the hands of the AllFather. Her brain isn’t going to want to come to and deal with those memories.”

“I’ll wait,”
Merrick
repeated stubbornly. “I’m acting as her protector. I swore to be responsible for her.”

“I can relieve you of that duty at any time,” Sylvan said. “No one would blame you
 
if you wished to leave. As you said, you don’t even know her.”

“I
said
I’ll stay,”
Merrick
growled. “And that’s fucking final.”

Sylvan studied him silently for a moment and then nodded. “All right, old friend. I’ve instructed everyone at the med station on what to do and Olivia has promised to pay special attention to Elise every day. She’s an excellent nurse—you can ask her if you have any questions.”

Merrick
nodded. “Understood.”

Sylvan seemed to hesitate for a moment. “There’s just one more thing,” he said at last. “If—and it’s a very big if—she starts to come out of the stasis before I get back, don’t touch her.”

“What?”
Merrick
frowned. “Why not?”