Page 23 of Dark as the Cursed Abyss

Acacius stepped closer to Farah and reached for the hem of her night gown.

“What do you think you’re doing!” she hissed under her breath.

“Unfortunately, it was not a metaphor. You need to disrobe before crossing. I am sorry for that. When I participated it was summer, not that this thin garment was protecting you much from the winter’s chill anyway.”

Wonderful. Farah was not expecting to be naked around Chloe anytime soon and most certainly did not think the first time in years would be in front of a group of cloaked men and women, many of whom she did not know. Reluctantly, she held her hands up, letting Acacius peel the white cloth up and over her head until her bare skin was kissed by the chill of the evening. Goosebumps inched her way up her arms and legs and Farah crossed her arms over her chest, shielding her pebbling nipples from the gazes of the acolytes.

Glancing briefly to her right, Farah took in Chloe’s bare form, pale and glowing as the moon. Still, stripped to nothing, she seemed unburdened. A twinge of jealousy crept into Farah’s heart for how the Nexian woman could be so comfortable in her skin.

“Does this not bother you?” Farah whispered out of the side of her mouth.

“When I shift I am essentially naked, so no, actually.” Chloe paused and turned her gaze toward Farah, traveling from her feet slowly up until their eyes met. “Nor should it bother you. This ritual is not sexual by nature but even if it were, no one here could deny how beautiful you look laid bare.”

Farah swallowed hard, her body heating in places despite the crisp air swirling around her. It was the first genuine thing Chloe had said to her since they left the shores of Nexos. The first words not shrouded by fear or duty.

The flames grew higher with a crackle that whipped Farah’s attention back to the task at hand. “Before,” continued Avra, “you lay a pathway across the river. You must make your way across together, and be wary, the river below is spelled to symbolize the Lethe. It will take from you, willingly or not. May the Fates bless you both.”

Avra lowered her hands and with a whoosh of wind the fires above the stakes went out. “Begin.”

Chapter Seventeen

Farah

Every acolyte began to chant in a low tune, something Farah did not understand, but Chloe mouthed each word in time. Had Markos shared more than Acacius had about what to expect below the mountain? Had he taught her whatever spell these unknown people wove into the night’s air? Or was it a protection? A prayer?

“We must go,” Chloe declared, reaching out her hand, but Farah swatted it away.

“I am perfectly capable of walking across a stone pathway. It isn’t even that long.”

Farah shoved any inkling of fear down deep in her gut. If Avra was correct, and the river was made in honor of the Lethe, it would cause them to forget their very being, every desire of their soul, if touched. She would need to be quick across, the acolytes could be coming after them with knives and swords for all Farah knew.

She stepped first onto the path across and a deep pain seared through her temple. An image began to form in the water below, a vision so clear Farah could hardly believe what was happening.

Farah was eighteen, hidden behind the throne room at court. Beside her stood a young woman about her age with the blondest of hair pinned back in braids in the most intricate of patterns. Her eyes were a crushing amber that glittered next to the firelit hearth. The woman inched closer, brushing back a piece of Farah’s hair, before allowing her finger to trace a path to Farah’s lips.

“Tell me you do not want this. That I am imagining things. That…”

The vision—memory—began to blur.

“What is happening?” Farah gasped.

That pain in her head turned to a monster, digging its claws into the first time she let herself be close to another. It would not take that from her, not without a fight. Farah pushed back, striking the pull of the river away. She took another step, but with that step, the ground beneath her began to fragment.

“My aunt said the river would take things from us, willingly or not. It wants our memories,” Chloe shouted over the crumbling stone. “If you fight it, it will claim you itself.”

“I do. Gods, Celene I have wanted nothing more in my life, but my father will never allow it.”

“Your father does not need to find out.”

“My father always finds out.”

“Then be with me despite him. Do not let him dictate who you love.”

“And do you? Love me?” Farah asked, her eyes welling with tears.

“From the very first day.”

Farah leaned in, letting her lips press delicately to Celene’s.