Praetorian Rising, стр. 75
"You stopped walking, then you collapsed." He paused, assessing her. "Praecollection?"
She nodded, rubbing at her face. It had been one with Metus, she was sure of it. "I'm fine. Let's keep moving."
Regaining her feet, she took several wobbly steps, though Theo didn't seem convinced of her strength. He kept time with her as she plowed down the hallway, the warming Praetorian response trickling back into place beneath her skin.
Neeko waited for them at a wide wooden door painted a deep blue, his yellowed stare assessing her as she approached.
"I'm fine," she whispered to the cat in a tone she wasn't certain sounded confident. Theo approached just behind her, the torchlight dancing across the weathered door, sprinkling the aged wood with bits of golden light. Dead center of the door was a brass knob larger than Camille's fist. Theo grasped the knob and turned, pressing the door open with a groan of age and neglect. A blast of fetid air assaulted Camille's nose, and she coughed in response.
"What's that smell?" She held a bent arm in front of her nose trying to block out the dank intensity. It reminded her of the heavy scent of mold and decomposition: sour yet extremely rich.
"Time," Theo replied, moving into the dark space and lighting several candle sconces along an arched wall as he walked. As he stepped further into the space, Camille saw high, arched beams expanding across the ceiling in a crisscross of support. Several stone benches in front of them created a sitting area facing a raised platform at the end of the room.
"Where are we?" Camille said in a hushed whisper as they moved through the narrow pathway of benches. She couldn't be sure why, but she felt surrounded by a sea of lingering souls. Her breath came out in short puffs of steam, the cold stone seeping the warmth straight from her core.
"The Worship sanctuary, but we don't often use this entry," Theo said as he moved toward the head of the room, apparently not feeling the same sense of thrumming power. "We came through a back entry of the vault. Vesyon requested we use a pathway Acher wouldn't. The worship sanctuary gives some people the creeps," Theo said with a grin, but she noticed the casual flick of wariness spark from the corner of his eye as he watched her.
"I can imagine why." Camille kept in line with Theo, not wanting to stray too far from the gentle warming glow of his torch. "I thought the compound was new, the underground an addition to the village up top."
"Oh no," Theo replied as he moved up the platform and past a flat stone table laden with dusty stone plates, cups, and several simplistic candle lamps. Ducking under a thick blanket of cobwebs surrounding the table, Theo led Camille toward the back of the room through a high arched doorway. "The compound has been here for quite some time. From what I know, Langhorn's great-grandfather helped build the original underground when he was a boy."
"Langhorn, the physician?"
"Yep, he grew up here in the reign of High King Lucas, High King LeMarc's father."
Glancing around the darkened hall, Camille shuddered with the creepy sense of unease as they exited the sanctuary room. They slipped into another vaulted ceiling room just off the main hall, with tiny alcoves lining either side of the room resembling small stone sleeping quarters. "So, Langhorn grew up in a dungeon?"
Theo chuckled lightly as they moved through another archway into a low ceiling space lined with wooden shelves. Neeko continued before them, his light-footed steps padding in silence across the stone floor.
"No, they didn't live in dungeons. Romeo Village was a place of worship for the Daeites. This was their temple for daily worship."
"Worship?" Camille asked, not understanding his meaning as she shuffled to keep up with his quick steps through the confined space. "Worship to what, the crown?"
"No!" Theo said sharply, stopping mid-step to glance back at Camille in shocked bewilderment. "You are so literal sometimes." The corner of his lips tilted downward with a glint of shock lurking in his deep-set sapphire gaze. She couldn't be sure if he was disappointed that she didn't remember basic history or that he was beginning to see the immense depth of her memory loss.
"Worship of the Mother Ma'Nada," Theo clarified. "The room we entered was a sacred Daeism burial ground."
"Oh," Camille replied as a shudder ran down her spine.
Theo turned away from her with a slight shake of his head before moving down a curved flight of stairs. Reaching a small square landing leading to another long extending hallway, Camille noticed a cobweb-covered statue nudged in the corner of the space. It was weathered with age yet so perfectly molded that its pristine artistry wasn't lost beneath the layers of dust. "Do you believe in the Mother?" Camille asked as she ran a single finger over the curved form of Ma'Nada's upturned cheek.
"Cam, we need to keep moving." Even as he pressed her to move, he stood next to her, his hand brushing gently against hers. She couldn't explain the reasoning behind it, but she felt a strong urge to link her fingers through his. Instead of giving in to the desire, she tucked her fingers against her body and crossed her arms over her chest.
"I don't believe a woman sprouted daughters from nowhere," he replied at last in the close press of dim light surrounding them, "but I do believe in the spiritual connection to the Mother. The stories are just stories, but their origin stems from something—a beginning."
Theo continued, "I don't know the first chapter, but I do know many tales at the center of the story to be true."
"Like what?" Camille asked, her voice soft yet insistent. Theo pulled her gently away from the ivory stone statue and led her down another dizzying number of hallways.
"The two cursed daughters Buvona stole for