The Priestess' Affair [Books 1 &2]

𝐗𝐈𝐈. 𝐚 𝐭𝐞𝐚 𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐲

-HER-

A ghostly silence prevailed in the High Priestess' office air as I waited on the granite table. While I waited, I scrutinised Vittoria's work on a stove in a corner, making tea for both of us. I couldn't see what she was doing precisely but judging her; I needn't know what she was doing. I knew what she was up to and why I was sitting here.

"Where's Matriarch?" I asked calmly.

"She's on the shore with the senior priestesses," She replied calmly as well. I nodded to myself and waited, scouring my eyes on her back. I observed her every movement as she finally turned with the cups and teapot and swayed her hips to the granite table. 

My unblinking eyes remained focused on her like a beam of the sun, making sure that not even a flick of her hair went unnoticed by me. I noticed how she poured into her cup first. When she had poured into both of our cups from the same teapot, she gently moved my teacup towards me, maintaining eye contact and... then she waited. I gave her a long lingering look, and I placed my hands around the cup. Her shoulders drop slightly.

Did she think that I was that foolish?

I didn't drink the tea yet. I waited, feeling her eyes on me. I gazed at the colour of the tea, breathing in its aroma, but I still didn't drink the tea. 

"Where did you go yesterday?" She inquired. I glimpsed at her shortly but turned to the tea again.

"I went down the mountain," I mumbled, still staring at the tea... noticing how the heat rose from it. Yet, I didn't drink it. On the other hand, I heard her sip from her cup a bit too loudly... as if urging me to drink my tea.

"After that?"

"I remained there until sunset,"

"What made you go to the dead mountain?" She asked pointedly.

"It started raining out of nowhere, so I took shelter in the hut," I answered, still staring at the cup. I hadn't taken a sip from it yet. Meanwhile, I could see that she had finished half of her tea. Her eyes lingered on me in a preying manner— she was waiting for it. An ephemeral silence descended between us as she finished her tea. At the same time, I fiddled with the cup, running my fingers over its lips, again and again, imagining rune patterns in the tea water.

"It's getting cold," Vittoria urged.

"I know," I sighed.

"You like your tea cold?" She asked cooly, though there was an unmistakable undertone of impatience in her voice. I ultimately looked up at her and deadlocked my serious eyes with her patient ones. 

"I'm a Royal, Vittoria," I reminded her.

"What does it has to do with the tea?" She asked.

"I'm not sure if you're aware of this, but..." I trailed off, tilting the cup towards her until the tea spilt over the table, "Us Royals learn about poisons the first thing as a child," She gripped her jaw as the spilt poisoned tea reached the edge of the table, dripping on her cloth. "And it would be such a shame killing me after you've spent so much time and effort on me...you've misjudged me so far," I stated grimly.

Fury flickered in her eyes; she demanded, "What did you see in the grave?"

"I saw what I saw," I responded, tacking her with my eyes. I could feel the rage running via her veins from across the table. She was almost shaking with it. All of a sudden, the cup in her hand shattered. The sound made me jump back, dispelling the tension in the air just a little. She skimmed the broken shards of the ceramic and noticed a small cut in her thumb.