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I glanced down at my body and found it to be Charh, belted by several golden cords at hts

How is this happening?

I exaolden, buffed to a soft sheenI knew that we had used sea salt as a scrub to attain that perfectionGlistening gold bracelets adornedfroe as it seemed to be thrust back into it, I was still perfectly comfortable in this body because it had once been iveyou here, Char next to my feet

"I don’t understand it,"I murmured"Why are we here?And why are you here, priest?Where is Ahis priest skilled inmy seventeenth year in every life to present inTo isI had only known hiht ?

As I stared at him, I knew that all of my panic and confusion was easily visible on my faceI could feel itAnnen smiled a tiny smile

"Charmian, surely you re and self-assured, he stared down his long, crooked nose at me

"No, I don’t re back yet I still only reis?"

Annen shook his head"No, isThey do so taht"

Confusion cloudedaway his words and focusing on ers ine,"Annen replied mysteriously"But I need to speak with you first It is of utotat him both curiously and apprehensivelyThis was all newAnd I didn’t like itSoht here I could feel it as the hair on the back of my neck stood up I laid my bloodstone down on the bed and turned back to face him

"Of courseBut first, Charmian, would you like to knohat happened to Hasani? I know that when you and Cleopatra barricaded yourselves in her toWould you like to kno?"

He stared at me with a kindly expression and my heart stoppedIt was forbidden to knohat happened to our loved ones One of the many rules for Keepers But I suddenly had the coardless of the rules, regardless of the consequences for breaking the heavy pit in But I had to know

"Yes,"I whispered"I would"

Annen held his wrinkled claw-like hand out tofingernails curled around until they scratched my palmI shuddered, but didn’t have tian

Soldiers were , swords were drawn, blood was everywhere Cleopatra eeping, people were runningEverything was so vivid that I could smell the blood and taste the dust in the air as the people scattered Tattered and torn warships filled the harbor and mutilated bodies lined the street And suddenly there was Hasani, rising up in odMy heart stopped as I watched his bronzed face glea orders to his soldiers, looking this way and that as uish and haunting sadness of war, I couldn’t help but admire his abilities He was a born leader… tall, fierce and co

But suddenly, out of the chaos, the top of a Roman helmet appeared behind him- silent and stealthyFlat brown eyes were fixated on Hasani, filled with deadly intentEvery fiber of , but obviously, he couldn’t hear meMy hands shook as I watched helplessly, ied and forcefully ran his sword through Hasani’s back He yanked it out and sneered down as blood dripped froround, his beautiful dark eyes clouding over, his strong hands falling limply to his side as he dropped his iron shieldHis head fell back and blood gurgled fro from his chin to his metal chestplate in fat drops

Absolute horror iht to breathe as I stared at his lifeless body, the body that I knew every inch ofTears silently streamed down my cheeks and my chest was frozen, like it rapped with steel bands It wouldn’t constrict or expand and I struggled to inhale

Once I was finally able to take a ragged breath, I reacted in the only way I kneI screa my hand free from the priest’sThe moment my hand left his, the visions abruptly stoppedI drewmy knees toto convince myself"It’s not real"

"But it was real,"Annen confirmed and my heart shattered into pieces"You can feel itYou knoas realJust as you also know that so similar to this happens to you in every lifeti it in theory and actually seeing it are two different things"

"Which is why the Order prevents you frolittering strangely"There is a reason why they wipe your ain specific ones- such as what you are Knowing the other details would only h with their plans for you"

I glared at hiain, let me ask what is it to you?Why are you so interested in this…and in me?"

Annen stared at ives the Fates the right to control destiny?"