No one would recognize me here. None could sense what I really was beneath the Glaith.
And yet, I hesitated, eyes fixed to the merchant conducting his business. Fingers tight about my pendant, keeping myself firmly in check. My father had given everything to keep me free. Free to live and make mistakes. It was a debt I could never even begin to repay, and yet, in this, he was wrong. The man was blinded by his need to protect and coddle. Couldn’t see the raw potential simmering in my veins… desperate to be set loose…
I grinned.
If it were possible to harness my birthright, I alone would decide how it would be used. Not my beloved father. Not a faceless, tyrannical High Priestess, moored in tradition and secrets, who would claim me for the temple simply because of what I was.
Me.
Alone.
And if I failed? Consequences were only for those foolish or weak enough to get caught.
Finished with his sale, the merchant kissed his customer’s wrist and tucked a handful of coins into his purse, setting pale eyes to scan for his next conquest before he’d finished with the last.
This was it, then. My moment. I let the pendant fall. Let it settle above my shift, separating its numbing influence from my skin and leaving myself vulnerable—for in its absence, the rest washed in.
Ki.
My accursed birthright.
Awareness burst inside my skull. The ki of every man and woman in the market—of Tritan blood or otherwise—called to me, whispering their secrets all at once. Begging me to reach out and touch, to drink until I’d filled the bottomless, ravenous void. There was no bracing for it. No way to prepare for the kiss of the Divine. And here, in an overcrowded market separate from the Glaith for the first time in four years, I swayed, staggering under the weight of their ki. Knuckles white and jaw slack, suffering an endless, blazing inferno writhing just out of reach, I struggled to master it before it swallowed me whole.
The stone in my pendant was warm now, working to consume the flames I’d fed it, to store the ki I couldn’t contain alone. I could feel the heat through my shift, knew it would need time to cool before I could feed it again, lest it overheat and sear my skin. Four years, my pendant of Glaith had protected me, shielding me from any consequences my existence might provoke. Numbing.
Too long.
Knuckles white, I forced the whispers back, straining to bank the flames of their ki without reaching for the Glaith. And then, taking even, measured steps, I merged with the busy foot-traffic, letting my country-folk carry me toward the jewelry merchant. On my lips, a practiced smile. Careful to evade skin-to-skin contact with the press of the crowd, I focused on the pendant swinging between my breasts. Glaith was the only guard and escort I needed. A safety net giving me permission to meet the merchant’s eye and dance with a viper.
“Goddess be with us,” the merchant trilled, stepping into my path. “Such a beautiful young lady! My dear, you simply glow with youth! Come,” he said, butter-soft fingers finding purchase on my elbow, guiding and hustling me into his shaded tent. “I have just the thing to complement those striking eyes.”
I blinked, straining not to look at his fingers upon my skin. Swallowing a groan as his ki blazed through me, my focus narrowed to him and little else. Both a relief from the roar of the crowd and a painful, intimate burden, but I allowed him to lead me into the shadows. Listening to his ki whisper tales of false smiles and sharp instincts as that thumb traced a trusted pattern on my skin.
“It’s a pleasure to make your acquaintance, miss…”
Insincerity oozed through my skin, and I knew he didn’t care. Knew it was a tactic to lure me into a false trust so he could relieve me of more coin. But my first name held no power, gave him nothing that could bring my father into this or lead the merchant to realize who I was, if my efforts here went sideways. So I smiled, and said, “Mila,” tapping two fingers to my temple. My tone light. Carefree.
“Mila,” he breathed, returning the gesture of respect. “Beautiful name for a beautiful girl, but”—he hooked a single, slender finger beneath the pendant’s chain, tsking—“oh, no. No no no! This simply won’t do. I cannot bear such an outdated, battered piece distracting from your radiance, my dearest Mila.”
“It—” I cleared my throat, taking a tiny conservative sip of his ki. Looking for deception, only to find genuine distaste for an outdated, battered piece worth more than everything else in his shop combined. “It was my mother’s,” I said, letting him taste old sorrows.
The grip on my elbow tightened, light eyes widening. “Ah. Well. The Goddess can be cruel, for all her wisdom. I’m so sorry for your loss, child. Come,” he said, fluttering bejeweled fingers. “Sit. I have the perfect piece to soothe such pain. Why don’t you take your dear mother’s pendant off, and I’ll have it cleaned? Perhaps we can replace the jewel in the center. How about a nice sapphire to match your eyes, hmm? I happen to have a selection of loose stones for just such an occasion.”
Pushing my ki through the pad of his dewy thumb, I trapped his hand on my elbow and directed his attention away from my pendant. Toward the case I’d seen a week prior while perusing the markets with my father, for I’d already chosen what I’d be leaving with today. “You are too kind, sir, but I couldn’t. I haven’t enough coin to—”
“Nonsense,” he breathed, pulling me deeper into the tent. Something akin to fatherly instinct lit up my senses when he dropped the hyper-cheerful sales pitch and said, “Everything is negotiable, darling. Everything. Remember that lesson, and you’ll do well in life.”
A tentative, fragile smile spread across my lips, no less effective for all that I’d rehearsed. “Thank you.”
“I won’t hear it,” he said, patting the back of my hand. Each pat landed with a burst of ki behind my eyelids. Dazzling. Enthralling. “Now let’s find the piece with ‘Mila’ written on it.”
I smothered the grin begging to be set free, allowing him to guide me around the tiny shop, hand in hand. Flitting from one display to the next, the merchant remained unaware as I slid beneath his skin. Drinking just a little deeper to learn him from the inside out, while he filled my every cell with power and confidence.
I’d been right.
This was right, this Divinity thick in my blood was mine.
The light shifted, signaling the arrival of another patron, but I didn’t spare the newcomer a glance, instead driving my merchant to stop before a display of brooches. It took little more than a tiny push to make it his idea to open the case.
“Oh, darling, yes. This is it.” He lifted the brooch, letting it catch the gloomy half-light. “It’s far from the most valuable piece in my collection, but it was made for you. I feel it deep in my bones.”
Did he now? The Glaith hung heavy about my neck, the most innocent expression I’d rehearsed fixed to my lips. “It’s beautiful,” I whispered, inspecting the savage likeness of a snarling wildcat with tiny amber eyes.
“Isn’t it? But I’m selfish.” He winked. “I simply cannot go another minute without seeing it against your skin, my dear.”
I returned his smile, tilting my chin back as he pinned it to my shift. And yet, my fingers lingered upon his skin, maintaining the connection with that which had become mine. “Thank you,” I breathed, meeting his eye. Watching his pupils dilate. “It’s beautiful. It must also be… expensive?”