The Runaways: Book 1 of the The White Goddess Series

8. Something Else Weird

"Thank you. A blessing upon you," Serafina said for what felt like the thousandth time. The standard Elder-approved greeting from the White Goddess to her worshippers and guests.

Sometimes Serafina said 'thank you for coming' or 'a blessing upon you and yours', just to mix things up. But her face was sore from fake smiling by the time she had greeted all her guests. Now she just had the special service to get through. At least she knew the big surprise wouldn't involve healings. Not with King here. It explained why the Elder Macklin had decided to combine the healings last night. Not because he was worried about tonight being too much for her, like Ian tried to say. 

Ian had to have figured it out as well. Serafina hadn't said anything to him yet. She'd give him a chance to admit he'd been wrong before she came in with 'I told you so's. Serafina would save those for tonight, back in her room when all this was over. 

Like he always did after Church events, Ian would sneak into her bedroom tonight with the music player Conrad gave him and whatever leftovers he could sneak out of the kitchen. The White Goddess was too busy to eat during these events, if she was even allowed to have whatever they were serving. 

With whatever band Ian was into at the time playing quietly in the background, they would stuff their faces and rehash their evenings. Guests were pretty much always the same people and Elder Macklin kept Serafina close, so Ian normally didn't stay by her side the entire night. Normally.

Tonight was different. There were a lot more people here, a lot more strangers, and Ian had only gotten more weird and hyper-protective as the night went on.  

Not that Serafina blamed Ian for being on edge. She blamed the Elders for keeping him in the dark about the surprise tonight. They probably thought he would tell Serafina, and to be fair, he would have. But they'd literally spent his whole life hammering it in how he was responsible for her. Responsible for protecting the White Goddess so that the prophecies could be fulfilled. And then they go and blindfold Ian with some big surprise so he could be on edge all night?

Serafina hated how they treated him, hated what the Church had done to his life. But more than anything, she hated that his whole life was focused on her. Ian had only grown more intense over the past few years as his training became even more challenging and disciplined. At seventeen he was already bigger and stronger than most grown men. But his heart and his spirit had grown heavier too. Because of her. 

She could feel Ian's anxiety at her back as King led her around the room, introducing her to more strangers in an hour than she'd met in her entire life up until now. It was usually Elder Macklin parading the White Goddess on his arm at these events and where she preferred King, Ian clearly did not.

It didn't help that Serafina had her own bad feelings about tonight, mostly centred around the big surprise. The lift in her mood at King's appearance had been steadily declining with the setting sun. 

It blazed orange through the windows, bathing the hall in pink and golden light. Services began at dark and the room was humming with an anticipation Serafina didn't understand. Church services were boring for believers, never mind outsiders. King was being his usual self, charming to her and rude to everyone else. Like, really rude.

"King!" Serafina protested as he dragged her away from a couple just as they were about to congratulate her for something. Turning twelve? Quote-unquote ascending to womanhood? Serafina would never know. 

Not that she really wanted to talk to them. Serafina wasn't used to socializing in large groups and she wasn't enjoying it. Sweat dripped uncomfortably down her back under the heavy dress and the weight and pressure of the crown on top of the noise and crowd was giving her headache.