Plenty of eyes still burned with hostility, but Orson's presence was too heavy to challenge. As he stepped into the sanctified pool, mist curled around his waist and the crowd unconsciously parted to make way.
"This water was filled by my forebears. This mountain was hewn by my forebears," he said with an easy smile. "I walk through today. Naturally, everything returns to me."
Every word landed like a thorn. The line was so brazen it scraped the limits of everyone's patience.
He stood in the center of the pool, water cold against his skin. All eyes fixed on him, curious to see what a godchild of such pure blood would stir.
"How strange," Estrella murmured. "There's no response at all. No ruleforce manifesting. That shouldn't be possible."
Time stretched. On the bank, Darulunina and Nuhachit were a bundle of nerves, pacing grooves into the snow. Others had completed their rites and climbed out. Only Orson remained, the waters around him quiet to the point of dread.
