Page 84 of Somnium

They continued to ignore her, and Cadi scoffed. She wasn’t sure if they actually couldn’t hear her, or if they just thought that their status as acolytes made them exempt from common decency. Either way, she had some choice recommendations for what they could do with their robes.

None of which she said, of course.

Instead, she gripped the metal rack, straining against its weight as she tugged it back toward the last corridor she’d seen branching off. She would just have to find a way around.

The chaos of their conversation faded behind her as she trudged down the unfamiliar hall. She had been in most areas of the temple during her previous stint, but had never been given a reason to venture into this particular section. The stone walls seemed to go on forever, curving endlessly around the building without branching off back toward one of the main arteries. She stopped, giving the cart a sharp tug to keep it from continuing on its path as she looked around for any indication of where this hall may go.

For all she knew, she was one misstep away from falling into an Order oubliette, never to be heard from again. She chuckled to herself in the silence. Given what she now knew, the idea of the Order building secret disposal sites for unwanted visitors into the architecture of their temple didn’t seem all that far-fetched. She decided to turn back.

With a resigned sigh, she moved to the other side of the cart to begin the journey back the way she had come, but stopped when she noticed a single door embedded in the wall across from her. She looked left, then right, noting the distinct lack of other doors in this particular stretch. A tiny pulse of excitement thrummed across her skin.

Leaving the cart where it was, she stepped forward and studied the door. The silver sigil of the Order was emblazoned across the top, catching the flickering light. That alone was enough to pique Cadi’s interest. All the other doors she had seen in the temple were adorned with placards that gave some indication of what the room beyond contained. All doors, that is, except the priest chambers. If that similarity hadn’t already been enough to convince her that whatever was on the other side of that door was worth exploring, the black security pad fixed to the wall beside it sealed the deal. Clearly this room was important enough to require special access. Now, only one question remained—did she have it?

Casting another look in both directions to ensure she was alone, Cadi crept closer. She fished her new sigil necklace out of her shirt, held her breath as she pressed it against the black pad, and waited.

Her heart was beating so loudly in her ears that she almost didn’t catch the soft tone that sounded through the hall, followed by the light shifting from red to green. With shaking hands, she moved to push the door open, but stopped with her fingers wrapped around the metal handle.

Clarity crept back in through the flurry of excitement, and she remembered the robes behind her. If she didn’t get those to the sacristy, someone was going to come looking, and an abandoned cart of freshly steamed robes right outside of a restricted room might as well have been a neon sign with the word “snoop” next to a flashing arrow.

She would just have to come back.

Jogging back to the cart, she left the mystery room behind her and continued on her way to the sacristy.

Luckily, the crowd of acolytes had thinned by the time she reached them again, and it only required some minor maneuvering to avoid taking any of them out. Though, she couldn’t say she would have felt very bad about that.

With the robes delivered and ready for the rite, Cadi crossed to the attendant closet and slipped out of the itchy fabric of her own robe. She was beyond ready to be out of there. Her tiny detour had taken longer than she’d realized, and some of the dedicants had already begun to gather at the temple steps. There was still time to sneak back to that quiet corridor, but she had to make it quick.

“Cadi!”

She jumped, a hand flying to her chest at her name being shouted from the doorway. Polly stared at her with a frantic look, then charged into the sacristy and gripped her arm. Cadi’s eyes went wide, adrenaline spiking in her veins. Polly knew, somehow she knew what Cadi was planning and she had come to confirm the existence of an Order oubliette when she tossed her in.

“Thank Oneirios you’re still here. We have a problem.”

Cadi forced a look of confusion to her face, praying it masked her panic. “What’s wrong?”

“The attendant scheduled for tonight’s rite just called in; she caught something viral that her kid brought home. I need you to stay.”

Cadi’s blood ran cold. That was the absolute last thing she wanted to do. She had spent the entire evening counting down the seconds until she could leave, had fastidiously avoided any run-ins with Damon or Celine, and now Polly wanted her to help facilitate the very rite they would be participating in.

“Um, I …” she stammered, clawing for any excuse other than simply not wanting to be there anymore. “Isn’t there someone else who can do it?”

Polly shook her head, a few strands of hair falling loose from her bun. “No one that I trust. All the other attendants are still new and being trained and each of the acolytes has their own part to play with logistics and crowd control so they won’t be able to step in; you’re the only one who knows their way around enough not to derail the entire thing.”

Cadi’s mouth opened, then closed, her words crumbling before she could get them out.

“Please, Cadi.”

Something cracked in Cadi’s chest at the look of desperation on the poor woman’s face. She couldn’t just abandon her without a valid reason, and something told her that “I know that the Order has been siphoning power and that their god is corrupt” wouldn’t go over too well.

Fuck.

She nodded. “Okay, yeah, I’ll help.”

Polly let out a breath, and Cadi wondered for a minute if the woman was going to pass out or kiss her. Possibly both.

“Thank you so much,” she breathed, turning to leave. “Go ahead and put your robe back on and meet in the hallway in ten minutes for the reception.”

Cadi’s brows pinched. “What reception?”