Excerpt #1
Much like the swirling black in Nastasya’s white gem on her neck, the questions spiraled through her head at a rapid pace, unending until she realized several silent seconds had passed and the priest awaited her answer with narrow, eager eyes.
Lina shifted beside her as Nastasya struggled to find any words that might satiate the priests, whose five sets of deep crimson eyes like blood pierced through her.
“I, uh…” She looked around nervously as the air in her lungs stilled.
“You have…?” The priest’s gem shone brighter as he leaned toward her, a nasty smirk spread wide across his long, thin face.
The person behind Nastasya pushed into her, and for the briefest of moments, Nastasya thought every person in the street wanted to know her response to the question she did not know how to answer. But a second later, a scream shot through her ears and ricocheted off the narrow street’s tall, stucco walls.
The priest stepped forward with a mischievous grin.
The lines, which had once been neat and orderly, dissolved into chaos as everybody turned to run from the fire that was quickly spreading to the next booth, which sold rugs and bristled brooms. The goods went up within seconds in a poof of black smoke.
Nastasya stumbled backward as the priest reached for her scarf. She jumped back another two paces, trying to stay out of his grasp.
Lina stepped away from the fire and between them. “Run!” she screamed at the same time someone else behind Nastasya screamed, “Fire!”
An overwhelming warmth pressed into her back, and Nastasya jumped forward, turning for a moment to see a fire had caught on the booth donned with beautiful silk scarves. Flames erupted from the stall behind her, and a soft hand tugged her into the nearest shop.
Lina’s eyes were teary from the smoke, but she scanned the market for several quiet moments. “Stay hidden, Nas. No matter what happens, no matter what you see… don’t follow me.”
Fire burned the drapes of each booth, and fumes plumed into the area before billowing upward into the open air. Nastasya crouched low to avoid as much as she could and pressed her mouth and nose into her scarf. That damned scarf, she chastised herself. If she had just stayed home, none of this would have happened. The market wouldn’t be on fire, Lina would have gotten the things for both of their parents, and Nastasya could be safe at home. Not in the middle of a burning city, with Order priests searching for her—and without Lina.
Nastasya scanned the haze, through the chaotic crowd for Lina, but all she saw were endless clouds of black smoke. The nerves reaping her that morning now pumped through her body. Emotions high, she took three long, steadying breaths to calm herself. She would need every wit if she was going to make it out of there unscathed.
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