The Wedding Shroud by Elisabeth Storrs

Author:Elisabeth Storrs [Storrs, Elisabeth]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Lake Union Publishing
Published: 2015-04-27T23:00:00+00:00

The haruspex led her outside to a podium with a stone altar scored with deep grooves to collect libations. There was blood upon it. Fresh. Its smell mingled with that of candle wax and sanctity. A lamb was tethered next to it. It was not bleating; instead it kneeled, quietly waiting, its beady yellow eyes dull. Caecilia examined it. It was for her alone—a mere woman. The private augury made her skin prickle.

The lamb’s ears flicked lazily as Artile bent and tickled its head. “I usually find that when someone asks me to look into their future it is because they are not prepared for death. Is this so with you, Sister?”

“Tulumnes’s threats frighten me.”

“I think your visions of Tuchulcha should terrify you more.”

Butterflies stirred in Caecilia’s belly. How did he know her secret? Mastarna and Cytheris knew she had nightmares, but she’d told no one of the night demon. It was both the guardian and author of her fears. “How do you know of my dreams?”

He made her wait for his response as he donned his sheepskin cloak and pointed hat. “Because you have the look of one haunted by a demon. I know the signs and I fear for you, Sister. And for your parents. All of us must face Aita, king of the Beyond, but salvation is possible by discipline and devotion. Follow the Book of Acheron and you may become a lesser god.”

Scared to face him, Caecilia watched the young cepen cleanse the stained altar. Was it always to be her fate for the weight of Tuchulcha to lie upon her? If Tata lived in Acheron, was he trapped in agony now that she could no longer leave food and wine and honey at his tomb? Resentment stirred, not wanting her religion criticized, not wanting to believe his truth. “I pray to my gods and pay my parents due honors.”

“I am sure you are most pious, Sister, but are you sure they are not hungering in winter or thirsting in summer while you are absent?”

Caecilia shivered.

“Because it is sobering,” he continued, “to think what lies ahead if you are not one of the Blessed.” He pointed to a frieze of beaten bronze that decorated the altar. “Here is the passage to the Beyond, a journey that extends across both land and sea, strewn with pitfalls and monsters. Where Vanth lists the names upon her scroll of only those who have gained salvation.”

Caecilia studied the carving. A demoness, holding a ball of thread in one hand and scissors in the other, beckoned to a dead man from behind a half-open gate. Next to her, Vanth, wings arched high above her head, held a torch and scroll while six horses with stamping feet and snorting breath pulled a chariot toward the sea. There, as though marooned in air, a dreadful sea serpent coiled toward a ship and a dolphin scythed through water. Beyond this Tuchulcha lay in wait to trap the journeyer. Finally, another decomposing fiend with his hammer and tongs guarded a door behind which the dead man’s ancestors were seated at a banquet.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.