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"When did the Aldermaston of Muirwood first corrupt you with the Medium?" he asked

"He did not corruptto keep the treht or so? The roots are deep inside of you It will be difficult to pluck the weeds out He should not have perth, child You are powerful You will becoer hetaera"

Lia clenched her teeth "I will not"

He srazed one, stroking the iron tenderly "No ouelle will destroy any irl can enter It is the hetaera’s test Like the maston test, there are oaths If you do not make the oaths, you will die You will die to be reborn When we next speak, child, you will be one of us"

The feelings in her heart made her tremble with dread She had never felt so terrified, so alone, so abandoned They were feelings, but they were not real Yet they were real They slithered through her defenses

Lia stared at him "I am already reborn I died at Muirwood You cannot kill ht in his se a kystrel It is the only thing that will save you when the light of the torch burns out The light is the only thing that will keep the serpents fro you If they bite you, you will die Take her to the garden"

As the Alderlanced down at the thing Colvin had pressed into her hand It was the ce she had worn as a child since the stor to the thread of knowledge that the ring represented

"They brought Lia to the Leering stone at dusk tonight We could see it froe maze I remember how it felt The anticipation and dread Colvin was upset but I soothed him He watched as the Aldermaston handed her a torch and she was lowered into the pit The stone was pushed to cover the opening She will be there all night Colvin says he will hold vigil instead of dancing I will keep him coht He does not understand where we are or what is happening I whispered in his ear that I wanted to leave Dochte Abbey I whispered that we needed to find a way to escape He believesI tell him It will all be worth it, when he is mine"

- Ellowyn Demont of Dochte Abbey

CHAPTER TWENTY SEVEN:

The Fear Oaths

As the stone lid of the Leering scraped into place, Lia experienced the sense of utter abandonrave, a narrow slit of a tunnel that stank of rot and decay Long wriggling centipedes twisted in the exposed earth There were y broith black splotches The air was stale and fetid Lia wanted to cover her mouth, but the shackles on her wrists and ankles prevented her She wore the ring beneath her bodice and felt its firainst her skin The walls were pocked with holes and as Lia began to walk, she could sense the eyes staring at her from within the holes There were hundreds of holes and she could hear the sound of slithering co frohtly, swinging it as she walked to illuminate the path ahead The narrow crooked shaft opened to a small round room A power fros, vast in power and centuries old

Leaving the narrow shaft, she entered the roo of blackness intensified The roos, carved into the pillars It was like the Apse Veil at Muirwood, except the is, all human-like faces, all woe, tortured There were no doors or archways, only the six pillars on the walls But there was so she could not see with her eyes, but she could see it in herwith the sy with fire It ake, eager for her presence A deep longing filled her andaround, scattering light down the shaft The ground was thick with snakes, sliding towards her, tongues testing the air When she turned with the light, the black coiling serpents hesitated Some hissed at her and it was as if she could understand theal

Know us,sound of the Myriad Ones filled her senses and she shuddered with the nuzzling of theain, walking around the set a better look at them Six faces, each with a different expression – none of the expressions were good She realized that they were the guardians of the last She would not be able to visit the final Leering until she had mastered these The Medius carved by an Aldero – anciently They had been assembled to this place by the hetaera, but they were not crafted for evil They were each unique, different It re