Page 94 of The Half King
“How do I fish it out?” she asked Nero.
“I doubt that you can,” Nero said. “That would be too easy. If I had to guess, I would say you have to go in and get it.”
“Go in?” Cerise asked. “To a pool of acid?”
Father Padron joined them at the pool’s edge and extended a hand as if to will the blade into his grasp. His energy flared, but nothing happened. He tried again. His power surged like an electrical storm. And then from the depths below, the acid bubbled. He smiled in victory, but as he flattened his palm to accept his prize, acid splashed the front of his robes, instantly dissolving the gilded fabric. He staggered back, ripping away the tatters to protect his flesh.
“Magic won’t work here,” Daerick reminded him.
“Yes, thank you, Lord Calatris,” Father Padron snapped. “I can see that now.”
“So what do we do?” General Petros asked.
Nero pointed at Cerise. “You’re the one who seeks the blade, so you’re the one who has to be tested. I think you should start by making an offering.”
“What kind of an offering?” she asked.
Nero shrugged. “Blood, maybe?”
“A blood ritual is sorcery,” Father Padron warned.
“But I have nothing else to give,” she said.
Kian handed her a small knife. “Try a lock of hair.”
She pulled a section of hair from her twist and cut it before tossing it into the acid pool. Several moments passed. Nothing happened.
Father Padron cast a glance at Blue and then arched an eyebrow at Cerise, silently reminding her that she did have something else to offer.
“No,” she told him. If the goddess wanted Blue, then Shiera would have to come down from the heavens and physically remove him from Cerise’s arms.
“Very well,” Father Padron said. “Then offer your blood, if that is your wish. But any consequences that arise will be yours to suffer.”
Cerise held her breath, silently praying that the fire in her blood would remain invisible as she nicked the pad of her fourth finger with the knife. She extended her hand above the acid. A single red droplet hit the surface.
The group approached from behind to watch.
Like brandy to boiling wine, her blood caused the surrounding acid to froth. She drew back to keep a safe distance until the bubbling ceased, and then she leaned in again to see if anything had changed. Now cutting through the yellow-tinged acid was a path of pure, clean water, and below it, a stone staircase leading down to the blade.
“It looks like your offering was accepted,” Nero said.
Kian squinted at the pool. “How can you tell?”
“Because there’s a staircase.” Cerise traded places with him and pointed. “See?”
“All I see is liquid death.”
“Me, too,” Daerick added.
General Petros and Father Padron shook their heads. They didn’t see the stairs, either. Then a male voice rose from the water. Low and clear, it commanded, “Two must enter.”
“Two?” Nero repeated, sharing a glance with Cerise while the rest of the group stared at the pool as though nothing had happened. “Did anyone else hear that?”
“Hear what?” Kian asked.
Cerise told him what he and the others had missed. “I think the voice was talking to Nero and me. We’re the only ones who heard it, and no one else can see the staircase. The voice wants us to go inside.”
“But why?” Nero asked, shaking his head. “I didn’t come here seeking the blade. I didn’t make an offering. Why would I be called to enter?”
