The Fifth Minute

Swearing under my breath, I made a quick prayer to Helia, the Goddess of Wisdom, before unlocking the large lock that kept outsiders away from the Sacred Circle. The large wooden double doors creaked as I pushed them open, slowly moving to reveal the stone room behind it.

If tradition was to be believed, this room had existed before humans had ever set foot on this world, a monument that linked hundreds of planets together, creating a network of portals for those with knowledge to shift between realities with ease. When necessary. When things were dire enough for the powerful to abandon the people, their deities and their Gods and believe in themselves, instead.

Stepping into the room, goosebumps ran up my back, breaking apart behind my neck and following down my arms. The forgotten power of this place spread around me like electricity, the tension in the air making me struggle to breathe.

I’d sworn an oath I would never do this.

Adrenaline ran through me as my mind finally caught up with my body, the realisation of what I was about to do, of what would happen if I succeeded, slowly dawned on me.

The kingdom had been struggling with a drought for years now, one that had killed hundreds if not thousands of my subjects across the land. And so they’d revolted. They’d taken over our castle. They’d killed my parents at a macabre parade. And now they wanted to sacrifice me.

Stepping around the circle, I moved towards the pile of wood in the corner, my hands making quick work of it as I lit eight of them before moving around the room and placing them in the metal torch-holders anchored into the wall.

My mother had shown me this room once, dismissing it as another relic embedded in the roots of our castle. It had been my father, ever the reader, who had figured out its true meaning and taught a small group of nobles how to use it. Theoretically, anyway.

Taking a step back from the last torch, I looked down at the engraved circle in the centre of the room. Lines criss-crossing the centre of it, markings etched into the dark stone with hidden meanings, encrypted words waiting to be deciphered. I knew some - a rounded circle with two parallel lines breaking it up meant to look up, and the square with a circle in it meant to turn. The rest I could make wild guesses based on what my father had taught me, but now was not the time. Nor was it necessary. Father had been smart enough to teach me the actions as a dance, one I had been practicing since I was a mere child in case we’d ever needed to run away.

Now was that moment.

Shrugging off my thick coat, I set it down next to the main circle, pulling the sleeves of my dress up as I stepped over the lines and into the centre of the drawing. I’d pick it up later, along with the small bag of provisions I deposited next to it, but for now, I needed access to my arms.

The knife felt like fire as I sliced along the outside of my arm, my warm blood oozing out of my wound and dripping onto the floor. By the time I’d switched hands and had begun cutting through my skin on my other side, my vision was becoming blurry, my hands trembling as I finished the first part of the ceremony.

My father had hated explaining this part. He’d been too soft-skinned for a king, unable to see blood without fainting. My mother - the queen - had been entirely the contrary. She’d thrived in blood, being both good at enacting bodily harm as well as curing it. She’d been something, my mother had. Brought up in the countryside, she had pushed herself into knighthood, working hard to beat her enemies all whilst fulfilling her family’s tradition of becoming an expert physician, which I believed must have proven to be quite useful when going against stronger knights.

But I would never get to know.

Mother had spent most of my childhood away, riding on her steed across the kingdom and sorting out any disputes that might have been happening between the nobility and the countrymen. Father had asked her many times to stay, to spend time with me - one of the few times she had done so was when she had shown me this very room - but she had always said there would be more time. That we were all young, and that we could spend time together when the kingdom was at peace.

If only we had known what that peace would cost us.

Taking a shaky breath, I grabbed my coat and bag before placing the blood-soaked knife in the centre of the room, quickly finding the slit and sheathing it into the stone.

And now for the dance.

Arms outstretched, I began the chant my father had taught me, had whispered to me as a lullaby when I’d merely been a babe. Spinning in place, I gave a quick clap, focusing on my steps as I moved around the circle, careful not to step on any of the now blood-filled lines etched into the floor. A step, another, and a twirl. To the left, forward, give a bow and shift legs, before spinning again and stepping back. Circle the centre, step into the square, step out and jump.

The dance carried on, the song becoming melancholic as I focused my blurry vision on the last few steps.

By the time I finished, I was exhausted, but I stayed still nonetheless, my body shaking as I forced it to mimic the stone around me. One minute passed. Two.

Nothing happened.

I was trembling too much to stay put, tears stinging my eyes as I begged the universe to swallow me whole.

Three minutes. Four.

I couldn’t stand it anymore, my legs giving out, my body crumpling against the cold stone, limbs tangled and slick with blood.

My father had lied. Or he had been wrong. I wasn’t sure which was worse. This room was no more than a pit in the ground, with no more power than that of common stone.

I’d sacrificed myself. The thought came to me so suddenly I couldn’t help but chuckle at the irony, coughing as I struggled to breathe. I could only hope my sacrifice, as involuntary as it had been, gave the kingdom what it wanted.

A new start.

Closing my eyes, I relaxed my aching body against the cold and humid floor. This was where they would find me in the morning. This is where they will have to tend to my body. Where they will realise the parade they had set up for my finale had been ruined.

This is where I will die.

Five minutes.