The Fourth Ceremony: The Sacrifice Trilogy (7 page)

“
Be real with me, Less
.
”

“
I mean it.
I’
m scared, but I suppose tha
t’
s pretty normal. I am really okay. Promise
.”
She wanted to scream. She absolutely hated lying to Khi, but if it would protect him from an ounce of the hurt she heard in her parent
s’
hushed argument that she had witnessed after her birthday she would walk to the end of the earth.

“
Okay
,”
he gave her one last squeeze and then released her, careful to keep his hands on her arms until she was steady
,“
I will let Cam know what his assignment is for tomorrow. And I will tell him to behave himself. I want you to have a good time
.
”

“
Oh I am sure it will be just fabulous
.”
She said sarcastically.

Khi smiled at her and turned to continue walking. They finished their afternoon walk in contented silence and, without speaking a word, sat down together on a bench to watch the sun set. Everything about being with Khilyn was comfortable and easy. Alessa was thankful to be able to have a person like him in her life. She nestled her head on his shoulder and he wrapped his arm around her. She loved how she could disappear under his protective embrace. He dropped a kiss on the top of her head and they shared the silence together as the sun sank beneath the Sacred Ocean.

Alessa awoke early the next day, the excitement of getting away from the Manor for a day coupled with the anxiety of spending the whole day with Camden was enough to rouse her before daybreak. She got ready to go slowly, taking extra time in the shower and applying her makeup more carefully than she typically did. She told herself it was to waste time. She stood in her closet and looked around it as if she were a lost child. She certainly had no shortage on clothes. She was always able to get anything she wanted. Alessa was disappointed on many occasions, however, when she had asked to go shopping and had been refused by the Government. Most of the time they would have anything she wanted shipped to the Manor. The few instances when she was allowed to go to a store to shop, the Government had closed the store for the day. In her mind that drained the activity of all of the fun, Alessa wanted to be surrounded by people in a busy shopping frenzy. As she thought about it, she was becoming increasingly aware that she truly did not get anything she could ever want from the Government like she had once believed.

Her thoughts were interrupted by a sharp knock on the door. Alessa was stunned, no one ever knocked on her door. If she was allowed anything, it was to live her life at her own pace. Alessa worried for a brief moment if there was some sort of emergency. That was the only logical explanation for the knocking. She threw on her pajamas and hurried across her room to throw open the door. Standing on the other side with an infuriating grin on his face was Camden.

“
Just what do you think yo
u’
re doing
?”
Alessa demanded. She was still slightly thrown off track by the abrupt interruption. As she composed herself, she was becoming angry that he had not only injected himself into her morning ritual, but now he was seeing her in her pajamas while he looked perfectly styled in a simple fitted t-shirt and a pair of jeans.

“
You are
n’
t ready yet? Man, why does everyone always let you do anything you want? The carnival is going to be packed before we even get there
!
”

Alessa had practically begged Khi to not tell the Government that she wanted to go to the carnival. When she had gone two years ago, they had only allowed it after shutting it down for the public for the day that she wanted to go. Alessa wanted to experience the crowd and the excitement of the carnival the way everyone else in the Empire did. Finally, after reminding Khi it was her last year, he agreed to not telling the Government.

Camden snapped his fingers in her face. She jerked back to reality and mustered the most hateful look she could and shot it directly at him.

“
Oh no m
a’
am, do
n’
t give me that. Today yo
u’
re normal, right? No special Sacrifice, no special person, just another face in the crowd going to the Carnival with your incredibly good-looking friend. Brother? Cousin? What am I
?
”

She could
n’
t help but crack a smile. He was infuriating, but he was also as witty and beautiful and charming as anyone she had ever met.

“
Friend. I think friend is fine
.
”

“
Alright, less than five minutes in and
I’
ve got a smile, I told Khi this would be a breeze
.”
He tipped her chin with his finger and the simple touch sent a shock through her body.  She pulled back from him slightly.

“
I need just a couple more minutes to get dressed and I will be ready to go
.”
She hoped that he did
n’
t hear the slight shake in her voice or notice the flush she felt burning in her cheeks.

“
Sure
.”
He said as he breezed past her and threw himself down on her favorite couch.

“
Umm, exactly what do you think yo
u’
re doing
?”
Alessa could not believe the liberty he was taking. He was certainly playing thi
s‘
normal gir
l’
thing to the extreme.

“I’
m waiting on you to get dressed. Hop to it, Lessie, le
t’
s go
!
”

Alessa was
n’
t sure whether she should be indignant or amused so she showed neither as she sauntered past him into the closet and closed the door behind her. She hoped that her march had been reminiscent of Eva
n’
s easy glide. She leaned heavily against the door. She was
n’
t sure how she was going to handle an entire day with him. They had
n’
t even made it past her room yet and he had her heart pounding out of her chest and her emotions so confused that she almost could
n’
t see properly.  She was equally attracted to and suspicious of him.

In an instant she had made her decision. This was her last year, her last time to the carnival, and potentially her last time to really have fun. She was going to have all the fun she could get, and that started with the incredibly beautiful man sitting on the couch just on the other side of her closet door. She put on a pair of white shorts that showed off most of her athletic legs along with a jewel blue wide necked long-sleeved t-shirt that she knew complimented her eyes perfectly. A pair of strappy flat sandals completed her look. She examined herself in the full-length mirror at the end of the closet. She shook out her long waves of hair and turned to the door. She felt beautiful. And when she felt beautiful she felt confident. And when she felt confident, she could take on anything or anyone in the world. That included the simple boy sitting on her couch.

“
Alright Cam, le
t’
s go
.”
She emphasized his name as she had
n’
t used the shortened version of it before. She could
n’
t be positive, but she thought that she saw his eyes widen the slightest bit when she walked out of the closet.

“
Uhh, yeah, alright, here we go
!”
He collected himself quickly and walked with her to the door. He opened the door to her room with a flourish of his arm and pulled the door closed behind them as they walked out of the Manor together.

Alessa could not believe the number of people milling about at the Carnival. She was both stricken with fear and energized with excitement. As they drew nearer to the entrance, Camden placed his hand on the small of her back to help her navigate the crowd. A shiver of excitement shot through her just like when he touched her in her bedroom. She hoped that he had
n’
t noticed the physical movement the shiver caused in her body.

“
Cold
?”
He asked, annoyingly beautiful smirk in place.

“
Oh, uhh, no, of course not
.”
There was no way she could be cold. The spring air was warm around them threatening an early summer.

Camden removed his wallet from his pocket and pulled out some bills as they approached the front of the line.

“I’
ll take an all-pass band, please
.”
He smiled at the girl behind the counter. Alessa could see the young girl blush and could
n’
t quite identify the emotion that caused her heart rate to rise. Then, she realized what he said.

“
Wait, just one
?”
Alessa looked at Camden, shocked.

“
Normal, right
?”
Camden responded with a sickening gleam in his eye.

“
Wait, but, I do
n’
t have any money
.”
Alessa could not believe he was going to embarrass her like this. She was quickly becoming furious.

“
Kidding! Kidding, kidding
!”
Camden winked at her and threw back his head in a rich belly laugh
.“I’
ll take two all-pass bands, please sweetheart
.
”

Alessa finally identified the emotion, it was jealousy. Camde
n’
s flirting with the Carnival attendant was making her jealous. Alessa mentally kicked herself. She was
n’
t even sure that she liked Camden. Sure he was delicious to look at, but he infuriated her and sparked her wariness. There was no way she was going to allow herself to be jealous.

Alessa stuck her arm out for her band and marched past Camden into the main thrill of the Carnival. She stopped just inside the entrance and looked around her. She saw hundreds of people all smiling and shouting exciting news to one another. There were lights everywhere and the energy was pulsing through her very body. This was
n’
t like her Birthday Celebrations where the crowd sent energy up to her from the streets to her balcony. In those moments she felt that the energy reached her as a secondary. This energy was live and pulsating and using her as an instrument to travel around the Carnival. For the first time that she could remember Alessa was a part of the energy, a vessel for it, and she was ecstatic about it. She turned around and grabbed Camden by the arms.

“
By the Gods, this is amazing
!”
Alessa exclaimed. Then, she turned and hurried off towards the first ride that she wanted to try. Alessa knew that she was leaving Camden behind, but the excitement of the Carnival overwhelmed her as she took off to explore it. She could faintly hear Camden calling her name as she ran away. He caught up to her while she stood in line for her first ride, a dizzy looking contraption that spun three different ways at once.

“
What the hell are you doing
?”
Camden asked her. His eyes were wild and it was a rare moment where true emotion was etched all over his face.

“
I wanted to get started. I wanted to act like a normal girl at the Carnival
.”
She put her best innocent face on as she gazed up at him through her lashes.

“
Listen, Alessa
.”
Camden lowered his voice, which forced him to put his face up close to hers
.“
I will treat you as normal as I can, but I am still charged with protecting you. I ca
n’
t do that if you run away from me. You know that Khilyn would absolutely kill me if anything happened to you today
.
”

He seemed so serious. Alessa immediately felt chastised.  She guessed that he was taking his job seriously for the day even if she was not sure of his ultimate intentions.

“
I understand. I wo
n’
t run off anymore. Bore
!”
She felt the need to add the tease at the end so that she did
n’
t simply give in to his demand. Alessa was sure that having the upper hand with Camden was going to be a constant battle and she was not going to give up on it easily. She won a smile out of him for her quip.

“
Move it or lose it, missy, i
t’
s our turn
!”
he shot back.

They climbed into the seat of the ride together and Alessa felt all of the nervous and excited energy of anticipation. Alessa grabbed for Camde
n’
s hand without thought as the ride started to spin. The spinning and rushing of the air whipping her face made her gasp for breath and she squeezed harder on his hand as the speed of the ride quickened. He returned the pressure of her grip, much to Aless
a’
s satisfaction. When she took an instant to glance over at him, he smiled and laughed as she did while the ride spun on.