Amelia PoV
"More than disquiet," I admitted, my hand still pressed against my stomach. "I had a vision when I looked at it. A man, with dark hair, covered in thorny vines, golden bull horns, one golden eye, one crimson. And a look of terrible sadism. He... he impaled me with his vines." The words tumbled out, raw and unfiltered, driven by the lingering horror.
A ripple seemed to pass through the High Priest's posture, a subtle stiffening, but his voice remained perfectly calm. "A vivid imagination, my Queen," he said, and for the first time, I detected a faint, almost imperceptible edge in his tone. "The Waters of Origin are known to provoke powerful, even unsettling, visions in those with a deep connection to the divine. Raw creation can be chaotic, even frightening, to a soul accustomed to order."
I nodded weakly. It truly was.
