Page 18 of The Amber Sunburst

“Right,” Alexander replies. He spots a history book lying near his pillow, but he’s too hungry to put off dinner. He can read it later.

“Wow, the cracks in your pendant are so cool—” Zeno starts.

“Let’s go,” Eudoxos interrupts.

The spiral stairs to the dining hall are torturous for Alexander’s jelly legs, but the room at the top is worth it—it’s embedded into the same cliff as the dorms, but with no window or wall at all on the opening facing the sea. Instead, columns connected by ropes line the cave’s mouth, but they do nothing to obstruct the view.

The three of them are still late for food despite sprinting, but, thankfully, two of the three girls serving food seem sweet on Zeno, and they smile and fill his plate anyways.

All three wear long cloaks, one with orange shimmering fabric sticking out from cuffs and hems, one with chainmail, and the last with pink flower petals. They have the symbol from his necklace on the center of their cloaks, but only one of the three sections is filled in.

Semi-translucent face coverings block their noses and mouths: one of gold tassels with small coins attached, one with shimmering pink fabric, and one a stiff iron mask with three rectangular openings. Even through their coverings, Alexander can see their smiles become more coy when they see him next to Zeno. The girl in orange and gold shoots him a wink, and he shoots one back, along with a raised brow he has on good authority is very sexy.

While the orange and pink girls giggle, the one in the chainmail rolls her eyes and scoops food onto his plate, ushering him away so she can do the same for Eudoxos. No one seems particularly perturbed by her antagonism.

“Those are the Priestesses,” Eudoxos explains as they walk to a table by cliffside. “I don’t even know how to describe them. In short, they worship the Forms, offer up sacrifices, make amulets, that kind of stuff.”

“They don’t talk?” Alexander questions.

“Not here, no. Technically they’re not supposed to speak anywhere except for the temples. Their voices are too connected to the Forms to exist anywhere other than in buildings of worship.”

“But?”

“But they tend to break that rule as often as they can. When they’re not in the view of any Guardians or Mother Priestesses, of course.”

Forms. Priestesses. Temples. Mothers. Guardians.

Lord, he’s going to have to write all this down soon or he’ll forget it.

They sit at the oak-wood table nearest to the sea, and he breathes in the salt air deeply. He’s surprised that the smell of the ocean isn’t horrifying to him after, oh, right, almost drowning, but the sea is still the comfort it has always been.

He lets Eudoxos and Zeno chat amongst themselves and, with great effort, chokes down his bland meal. That’s not to say food in the HAE was especially flavorful, but his mother raised them on the Brazilian food of her home state—one of a few dozen states inside Ivi Maraei, each clinging to whatever it was before the Fall. This stuff though? It’s nearly inedible.

His gaze turns from the ocean when he sees that streak of gold from the hallway again. But this time the gold is connected to someone’s head, which is connected to someone’s body, which is…

Oh, Jesus Christ.

Alexander is gawking. He can’t help it.

That is undeniably the most beautiful man he’s ever seen in his life.

Like, not just hot. Or pretty. Or even angelic.

Perfect.

The boy walks up the spiral staircase in no rush, despite being late for food. It seems he already knows that missing dinner won’t be a problem, because the Priestesses, who had packed everything up, are pulling it all out again eagerly. They may like Zeno, but they love this guy.

Alexander doesn’t blame them.

“Don’t worry,” Zeno says. “It’ll wear off eventually.”

“What?” he asks. He doesn’t particularly care about the answer. Not if it means he has to look away from him.

“It’s the ‘Kallias Effect,’” Zeno responds. “The first time you see him you want to gouge your own eyes out because he’s so beautiful. And then you realize he’s a bit of a dick, honestly. Mostly he’s just quiet. Doesn’t really interact with people.”

“That’s his name, then: Kallias?”

“Is that all you got from my speech?” Zeno laughs, turning to Eudoxos. “What are the odds of Kallias beating the shit out of him when he inevitably makes a move, do you think?”