Chess stood in the center of the room with her hands clasped behind her. Dried blood had settled into the fabric of her plain ceremonial dress, making her stomach protest a little when she thought about it. She didnt worry about the executioner and Elder Murray; what few blood- or fluid-borne diseases had survived the Churchs strict quarantine and eradication policies, Church employees had been vaccinated against.
Chess stood in the center of the room with her hands clasped behind her. Dried blood had settled into the fabric of her plain ceremonial dress, making her stomach protest a little when she thought about it. She didnt worry about the executioner and Elder Murray; what few blood- or fluid-borne diseases had survived the Churchs strict quarantine and eradication policies, Church employees had been vaccinated against.
But Madame Lupita disease aside, who the hell knew what sort of bacterial stew had simmered in her plaque-clotted veins? Realistically, Chess knew the risk was gone now that the blood had dried, but that didnt stop her from wanting to get the damned dress off as fast as she possibly could.
But of course she didnt have much choice. And the sooner she took the damned Oath, the sooner shed get a nice fat check. She could slip it in the night deposit on her way home.
Movement to her left brought her back into the room, back into the ceremony. The Elders had started laying out a salt line, murmuring words of power as they moved solemnly clockwise. Lauren stood against the wall, outside the circle, watching them with her arms folded and her ankles crossed. Irritation prickled Chesss skin.
It wasnt that it was so unusual for her to dislike people right off the bat. That was pretty much the way she felt about everyone. But she wasnt usually forced to work with people she disliked right off the bat. She felt intruded upon.
But then, nobody was forcing her to take the case. No, not forcing. Bribing. And she was taking the bribe, because she needed the money.
Behind the Elders the salt line erupted into shining deep purple, hissing faintly as it rose in thick lines and cast colored light across everything. Their white stockings glowed, their faces glowed; Elder Griffins pale hair surrounded his head in a corona of blazing violet that made Chesss eyes sting.
Not just her eyes, either. The energy buzzed and twirled around her, battered her skin. She was caught in it, a vortex of power swirling around her, catching her in it and twisting her inside out. She didnt know where to look, what to focus on; she couldnt bear to close her eyes.
So she looked down, focused on the dusty, blood-specked toes of her once-shiny black heels. It wasnt a good compromise. Her head swam; her feet looked vertiginously far away. But it was better than watching the Elders movesetting up their bowls and setting fire to their herbsinside the sparkling, viciously bright dome.
The only good thing was that Lauren Abrams could no longer see her. The circle would block her view. It was some relief.
Smoke filled the circle, thick, choking smoke the same purple as the circle, the same color as the fire burning in a large firedish opposite her. She didnt want to breathe it in. Breathing it in was part of the Oath, part of the Binding. Even she didnt know what some of those herbs were, but when they entered her lungs they would enter her bloodstream, locking every cell of her body into the magical oath she was about to take.
Powerful binding herbs, too. The calamus herbs, vetiver, and sweet flag, combined with the deep, throbbing energy of licorice root. She could feel them spreading through her, finding every empty place, drawing her own magic and mixing with it. She was naked, open to them; they swept through her without caring, without feeling, winding from her feet to her head and forcing her to bend to their power.
This wasnt like the oaths shed taken when she was initiated, not like the ones when she began her training. This was this was heavy, dark magic, trapping her, squeezing her with so much pressure that she thought she might implode. Like nothing shed ever experienced before. This wasnt right, it couldnt be right
Dimly she heard the Elders speaking, saw vague movement as they added more herbs to the glowing purple fire in the north end of the circle. Myrrh and cedar, bergamot and dragons blood. Her vision blurred. Shapes formed in the smoke, open mouths, staring eyes. Someone moaned. She wasnt sure if it was her.
Elder Thompson started chanting, low and slow, his voice thick with smoke and power and the spine-tingling thrust of command. She moved without intending to, bound by him. Bound by his commands. Somewhere deep down she fought against it.
She didnt want to do this anymore. Shed changed her mind. Her heart slammed around in her chest like a pinball caught between the paddles, trying frantically to escape. Her mind fought against the Elder, against what he wanted her to do, but she was caught. Trapped. Her hands rose at his words, turned so her pale wrists, veins blue-purple beneath the thin skin, faced the top of the dome.