The Priestess' Affair [Books 1 &2]

𝐗𝐗𝐈. 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐚𝐬𝐬𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭

"Good," She remarked before putting the pouch away. Meanwhile, I fought the awful flavour that still lingered on my tongue, threatening to make me see my lunch for the second time. I sat there awkwardly and anxiously while Vittoria seemed to have forgotten of my presence because she got on with her work as if I wasn't there.

A few more moments passed, and I waited for her to say something, but she continued to act oblivious to my presence. For a moment, it didn't feel like I was at my test at all, but this was more puzzling. Sensing the absurdity of the situation, I kept my patience. I waited for her to address me with a second task or quiz me on some spells before sending me back to my room, but as far as I knew, this test wasn't supposed to be easy. Neither was it the same for any two priestesses, hence adding more to the absurdity and unpredictability of this test.

"I'm still here," I reminded her while she was busy sorting some of her books on one of the shelves with her back facing me.

"I know," she responded, half turning around. Suddenly, her voice sounded more profound than usual, and her eyes were completely dark when I looked at her. A sinister look shrouded her face. I blinked my eyes rapidly, unable to believe what I was seeing.

As I blinked, Vittoria moved closer to me. Her eyes were utterly pitch black now. I reminded myself that I must be having those same reactions from the substance she had given me.

"What is happening?" I managed to speak with my breaths turning ragged all of a sudden. I was in a fix. Everything around us seemed to be melting like wax... even the granite table before merging with the floor.

"Your test has now begun," Her voice had turned another octave deeper. As she closed the distance between us, an unknown force paralyzed me. The only thing I could do was stare into her sinister and inhumane pitch-black eyes as she continued to move closer to me.

Just like the other night, I couldn't blink. My eyes were instantly burning with tears, but this was just the beginning.

"What—"before I could ask, the black in her eyes bled out to her face and thence to her body and thence to everything around us. Fear gripped my heart, but I couldn't move and even blink. I had only one option— stare into the abyssal slowly encompassing me. With it, the temperature dropped to a freezing threshold, pricking my skin with goosebumps.

I tried to make a sound, but it got stuck in the back of my throat. I was losing control over everything again until it felt like nothing was left to be controlled. I was floating at the bottom of the abyssal, surrounded by the serenity that felt like the prelude to a devastating storm.

When I was getting used to nothingness, I felt my surroundings change. Suddenly, I felt the pressure on my knees. I was kneeling somewhere. When I straightened up, I found myself in the High Priestess' Office, but something felt different. I looked around until my eyes fell on a woman. I could see it wasn't Vittoria right away even though that woman was wearing the High Priestess' clothes. The woman was busy working with something on the stove with her back facing me. I could only hear the sound of delicate dishes clattering.

My heart stopped when the woman turned around. Her eyes held me captive in a burning cage of terror and shame. In her hands, she had a tray with a teapot and teacups. She gave me a cunning smile that almost reminded me of Vittoria as that woman walked towards the granite table.

"Good to see you again," she welcomed.

"We-we haven't met before," I stuttered, feeling claustrophobic as I looked at her.

"Are you sure?" She asked with an uncanny smile playing on her lips. I didn't realize I was shaking until I looked down at my hands.

"I-I'm ashamed of what I did," I admitted. The frequency of my breaths raced with my heartbeats. Suddenly, there wasn't enough air in the room for me to breathe.