The Fourth Ceremony: The Sacrifice Trilogy (24 page)

Camden could
n’
t pretend that he was
n’
t having a wonderful time. Alessa was radiant and she spent the entire evening on his arm. He grasped every opportunity he could to touch her casually. He thrived on her small smiles and big laughs. They danced, ate, talked, and joked their way through the night. As midnight approached, Camden pulled Alessa aside.

“
Hey, how do you feel about missing midnight with everyone else
?”
Camden wanted to get Alessa alone, but did
n’
t want to ruin her evening.

“
I think that would be wonderful
,”
she replied, smiling sweetly up at him. Camden guided her out into the courtyard where the full moon was blazing in the sky.

“
We have three minutes until midnight
,”
Camden stated plainly as they sat on a bench facing the giant moon.

“
Yeah, three minutes until Leap Year
,”
Alessa said softly. Camde
n’
s chest squeezed. He could hear the fear and doubt in her voice.

“
What if you did
n’
t have to
?”
He asked as he turned to face her.

“
What do you mean
?”
Alessa responded. Camden hesitated. He was
n’
t going to tell her tonight. It was
n’
t right, it was
n’
t the time.

“
What if you were
n’
t the Sacrifice? What would you do
?
”

“
I do
n’
t know, Cam,
I’
ve never let myself think about it. I ca
n’
t afford to think like that. For me, the world just stops turning on Leap Day
.”
A sadness settled over them. Camden did
n’
t know how to break the spell. He did
n’
t want to appear insensitive by changing the subject and he knew that he could
n’
t tell her yet. Finally, he turned towards her. Her eyes sparkled in the moonlight with tears he was sure she was stifling making them brighter than ever. He stared into her eyes for a long moment, then silently closed the distance until he was kissing her.

Alessa leaned her body into his and wrapped her arms around his neck. He pulled her close with his arms wrapped all the way around her. After a moment, he pulled back from their kiss and rested his head on her forehead.

“
There are so many things to say that I ca
n’
t quite find the words for, Alessa, but I promise I will soon
,”
he whispered.

“
Yo
u’
d better, yo
u’
re running out of time
,”
Alessa said, barely audible. He brought his hand to her face, pulling her chin until she looked him in the eye.

“I’
ll create time if I have to
,”
he said forcefully and kissed her again, this time with all of the emotion and vehemence that he could not express through words just yet. After a few minutes, he pulled away from her stood to his feet
.“
Le
t’
s finish the party, Princess
.
”

“
Are you sure
?”
She said curiously. Camden was hoping he had
n’
t killed all of her party mood and grabbed her hand.

“
Of course, the night is young, le
t’
s dance
!”
He exclaimed as he pulled her to her feet and moved quickly back to the Great Hall.

The rest of the evening passed in a blur of dancing and laughing. It seemed that Alessa had gotten back into the party spirit quite quickly and Camden was glad for that. He did everything she suggested and kept up with her until her eyelids drooped and the sun threatened over the horizon.

“
You think i
t’
s time for bed, party girl
?”
He asked her after the third time he noticed her leaning extra heavily on him during a dance.

“
Yeah, I think
I’
m pretty beat
,”
Alessa answered with a yawn.

Camden immediately escorted her back to her room, bidding farewell to the Minister and Aless
a’
s parents. He did
n’
t miss the loathing look Alessa gave the Minister once his back was turned and mentally patted himself on the back for not allowing the Minister time alone with Alessa during the night. His ridiculous speech about the Year of the Sacrifice was enough.

When they reached Aless
a’
s door, Camden found that he did
n’
t want to leave. Khi was due to arrive within the hour for his shift and Camden knew that he would
n’
t spend the day with Alessa, which made him slightly sad.

“
So, do you need any help getting out of that thing
?”
He asked, only halfway joking.

“
Nice try, Cam, but yo
u’
re going to have to do better than that
,”
Alessa laughed. He started to banter back and then Alessa yawned.

“
Get some rest, Alessa
,”
he said quietly as he gave her a lingering hug.

“
You, too. I had a really great time tonight, Cam. Thank you so much
,”
Aless
a’
s words against his neck sent shivers up his spine.

“
I had the time of my life, Sweetheart, even if it was a Government event
,”
Camden pulled back, placed a chaste kiss on Aless
a’
s lips, and smiled as brilliantly as he could manage before he turned to walk away. He turned at the corner of the hall, as he always did, to look back. Alessa was still standing at the door watching him walk away. She gave a small wave when he glanced back and disappeared into her room.

Camden proceeded to his apartment. Once away from Alessa, exhaustion overtook him. He had been awake and busy for almost 24 hours. He needed the full day off that he was about to get, although he knew he would miss seeing her. Camden shook his head as he walked. He had no idea how he was going to pull this off. So many people were counting on him. So many people who would suffer if this went poorly. So many people had already suffered to see this come to fruition. When he thought about everything everyone had done to bring the mission to this point, his task overwhelmed him. What was he doing this for? Was he doing it for the SDL? For himself? His Family? For Alessa? Or did it even really matter anymore?

Chapter 9-

Weeks flew by. Camden watched the time race in horror. He was thoroughly enjoying every moment with Alessa. He was disgusted to see the time march on so quickly. He had yet to bring himself to talk to her and his situation was becoming desperate. One day, he found himself turning to Mars for help.

“
I just ca
n’
t do it, I ca
n’
t tell her. I
t’
s going to rupture everything that we have
,”
Camden said miserably.

“
Look, boy, I get it. Yo
u’
re going to tell her and sh
e’
s going to question you and i
t’
s going to burst the pretty little bubble that you have created. But you do
n’
t live in a bubble. That girl is due to die in 3 weeks whether you tell her about the mission or not. Tha
t’
s the reality of your situation, boy. This thing is going to end as you know it within the next three weeks no matter what, but you do have the chance to make something different happen
.
”

Camden sat in silence. Of course Mars was right, he was always right. Camden sat watching Mars and slowly nodded his head. Without a word, he stood and strode from the room. It was time to talk.

Camden returned to the Manor and began his search for Alessa. He ran into Khilyn and asked where she was.

“
I
t’
s training day, sh
e’
s with Evan. Is everything okay
?”
Khilyn asked suspiciously, reading the stress in Camde
n’
s body.

“
Yeah, i
t’
s fine, i
t’
s just time to tell her
,”
Camden replied. He did
n’
t wait for Khily
n’
s response. He just set off towards the training room.

Camden was glad that Alessa was with Evan, after all, Evan understood and would
n’
t question Camden pulling her away. He strode into the training room.

“
Hey guys, how goes the workout
?”
Camden tried to inject some lightness to his voice. Alessa smiled at him, but Evan scowled. Camden was sure that he did
n’
t like having his workouts interrupted.

“
Just fine, Cam, what are you doing here
?”
Alessa asked sweetly.

“
Well, I was dying to see you and I thought that I did
n’
t want to wait any longer, so I came down here hoping that Evan would
n’
t mind me cutting your session a little short today
,”
Camden smiled brightly at Alessa and gave a pointed look to Evan. Evan rolled his eyes but nodded.

“
Yes, of course, I have somewhere I need to be anyway
,”
he responded sounding annoyed
,“
w
e’
ll add thirty minutes next session, Alessa
.”
And without a backwards glance, he stalked out of the room.

“
Well, now that
I’
ve busted you out, le
t’
s go to the Cliffs
!”
Camden tried to sound carefree and spontaneous despite his racing heart.

“
Okay, sure, le
t’
s go
!”
Alessa responded exuberantly with a laugh.

Once they sat on the giant rocks looking out over the Great Cliffs to the Sacred Ocean, Camden was at a loss. He sat silently watching the waves crest, unsure of how to begin. In his head, he had this conversation a thousand times over the past few months, but he never quite knew where to start it.

“
Alessa, what if you did
n’
t have to do it
?”
He blurted out. Then, he shook his head at himself for his bluntness.

“
Did
n’
t have to do what
?”
Alessa asked with suspicion. Camden turned to face her.

“
What if you were
n’
t the Sacrifice? What would you do with your life? Just pretend for a moment that three weeks from now is just another birthday and you were that much closer to being an adult, what would you do
?
”

“
Cam, I told you, I ca
n’
t think like that
,”
Alessa shook her head and looked back out over the Ocean.

“
But what if you could
?”
He said quietly, as gently as he could.

“
I ca
n’
t Cam, I ca
n’
t think like that.
I’
ll go crazy if I try to think of it,
I’
ll lose my nerve
.”
Aless
a’
s sentence tapered off at the end, as if she was already losing her nerve. Camde
n’
s chest squeezed and he hated the painful thoughts he was putting in her head. He put his arm around her stiff shoulders.

“
Alessa, what if I told you that you could go past it? What if I told you that everything did
n’
t have to end in three weeks
?”
Camden spoke as softly as he could.