The Obsidian Temple (20 page)

Nabil looked at Kadar, then down at the girl.

“What is she saying?” he asked.

“She hears the Voices at the Temple,” Kadar said, then shook his head as the realization came to him. “No, she's actually hearing the deities as they speak to their Voices!” He looked seriously at Nabil. “Tell no one.”

Nabil nodded, his brow furrowed. “They wouldn't believe it anyhow,” he said. “I'm going to visit some friends who are guards at other houses. See if they have more news.”

Kadar nodded, frustrated. “We need to be really careful if Voras is blaming this on Southerners.”

T
HE
C
RONE RUBBED
her forehead as she walked through the devastation of the Children's Home, her anguish a physical ache. The chair she sat in to read stories to the children was smashed, and there were blood smears across the floor. Most of the furniture was overturned, and the rugs had dark stains. There were blankets pulled over seven still forms that had been carried to the main room after the attacks. Two guards and three
feli
had lost their lives, along with two of the invaders. Mercifully, there were no small forms, no children. None of the maidens had died though the healers were tending several women, some for cuts and bruises, and some for shock.

The Templar was there, striding around ordering his soldiers in the investigation. Both Counselors of the One were there, speaking quietly to the grieving women. When the Templar saw the Crone, he strode over.

“You didn't have any fatalities though I lost two soldiers here and the two watchmen that guard on the street below,” he said.

The Crone looked around. “Did they get all the children?” she asked. Her voice broke. “Who was it? What do they want with them?”

“The infants and toddlers are safe,” the Templar said. “Your women are tending them. We've confirmed it was Forsaken who took the rest though they wore black clothes. Your maidens said that about two dozen children were taken in all. I assume they want to use them to bargain with, to get concessions. We're doing a search of all the houses in the Forsaken district, turning everything upside down. I don't expect they'll hide the children there, but someone might get scared enough to tell us where they went to ground.“

“Monsters,” the Crone said, clasping her shaking hands. “I'm surprised they didn't take the babies, too.”

“They tried,” the Templar said. “They were fought off by one of your own maidens, believe it or not. She rallied her
feli
, got a sword off a dead soldier, and blocked the hallway. Her
feli
was killed defending her, but the other maidens saw what she was doing and started lobbing things at the invaders. It was a quick grab and run, so they left with the rest of the kids when it started taking too long.”

The Crone looked around at the weeping women, trying to picture any of them swinging a sword and beating off Forsaken. Her eye snagged on a tall, straight blonde, cradling a baby to her breast. The maiden seemed to sense her gaze, turned, and gaze back at her, lifting her chin proudly. It was Joaquil, the newest acolyte.

“Yes, that blonde, that's her,” the Templar said.

“I'd ordered the Mother Superior to send her south, after she'd weaned the baby,” the Crone said, not taking her eyes off the girl.

“Good thing she was still here,” the Templar said impatiently, “or we'd have infants to worry about as well as the older kids. I'll send a report to your office as soon as we learn something. I'll convene a Curia if we get demands from the kidnappers.”

The Crone nodded and skirted a broken table as she walked over to Joaquil.

“It seems we owe you a great deal,” she murmured to the girl. “I am grateful you knew how to defend your charges and did so faithfully.”

“Dani, one of Voras's soldiers, showed me how when I was pledging,” Joaquil said. “I didn't realize I even remembered. I was afraid they'd take my little boy, so I grabbed the sword and did what I had to.”

The Crone reached and pulled the blanket from around the baby's face, and he blinked pale blue eyes at her and smacked his tiny lips. The Crone placed a finger in the center of the baby's forehead and gave a blessing. The fingerprint glowed once, then was absorbed, showing that Ivanha was taking heed of the events. Joaquil kissed her son, seeming to take courage from the blessing.

“I have a request,” Joaquil said.

The Crone nodded. “Anything that is in my power,” she said.

“I want to leave, with my son,” the maiden said. She jerked her chin up defiantly. “My
feli
is dead. I don't wish to serve the Temple any longer. I know you were going to take me away from him. Now that I don't have a
feli
and can't serve Ivanha, I just want to be a mother, his mother.”

The Crone stepped back, surprised. “But where would you go?” she asked. “If I recall, both of your parents are in ser­vice of the deities. What would you do? Your training has all been in ser­vice to the Temple.”

“My mother's family is in town,” she said. “If I have to, I'll go there. I just want out of all the scheming and hatred. Ser­vice isn't what I thought it would be. I want my own life, and I want my baby to be a part of it.”

The Crone hesitated, looking around at the destruction. It had happened before,
feli
dying from an accident. Usually, the maiden was sent back to the Temple of the One to see if she could be paired again. If that did not happen, she took a position with Ivanha that didn't involve channeling energy. This was the first the Crone had encountered someone wanting to completely leave Ivanha's ser­vice. Her eye snagged on the Counselors of the One, speaking quietly in the corner, and she waved them over.

“How may we serve, Crone?” Counselor Elida asked.

“Maiden Joaquil has lost her
feli
,” the Crone said. “She has requested not to be re-­paired and wishes to leave Ivanha's ser­vice. Is there a precedent for this? She fought off the invaders to save the baby and toddler wing from kidnapping, which is how her
feli
was killed.”

Counselor Elida turned her gaze to Joaquil. “Yes, there is. You may leave ser­vice, but your child was born in ser­vice, and fathered by a soldier, and must remain unless special dispensation is given by both the Crone and the father.”

“The father was the Templar, and he's dead,” Joaquil said. “I'm his mother, his only parent. You can't take him from me!”

Counselor Elida raised her eyebrows at the Crone, who didn't bother to think. Too many children had been stolen from their mothers today. Perhaps it was a sign of her weakness, but she would not let another be stolen, even for Ivanha.

“I will allow you custody of your child on two conditions,” the Crone said, turning a stern eye on the girl. “The first is, if you find your relatives will not take you in and you cannot take care of your son, you will bring him back here and willingly give him to us for his own protection. You would be allowed a position in ser­vice as a paid ladies' maid or cook if you desired to stay close, but you would not be of the Temple, and you would no longer be his mother.”

Joaquil thought a moment. It was a serious class demotion. At last, she nodded.

“The second, you will bring him to the Temple the year after his sixteenth birthday to be presented at the Temple of the One. This child has a strong Temple heritage on both sides of his family and must be permitted to pledge if the
feli
find him suitable. We will put him on our rolls, and will send someone out to collect him if he does not show up.”

Joaquil nodded. “Yes, I can do that. The Temple is the best path for most ­people. Especially ones with talent. His father was Templar, and he could rise in the Temple.”

Counselor Elida nodded, seeming pleased by the exchange. “An excellent compromise. If you'd like, Crone, we can record this and give her a small retainer for her ser­vice to Ivanha, so you can finish ministering your maidens and organizing the household.”

“Double what you would normally give,” the Crone said. “I want the child taken care of.”

The Counselor's eyebrow's rose again, but she merely gestured Joaquil in front of her. The Crone could hear them talking softly as they walked away.

“Have you thought about where you will go if your relatives do not take you in . . . ?” was the last she heard as they walked to the baby-­care wing, presumably to get the boy's supplies.

The Mother Superior approached. “What will we do?” she asked, wringing her hands. “They're saying it isn't safe to keep the babies here.”

The Crone nodded. “I want you to go to Ivanha's temple and gather some of the maidens to help make arrangements. With a bit of moving around, we can have enough first-­floor rooms to house the remaining children. Make certain the elderly and those who cannot walk the stairs still have rooms on the bottom floor. I will ask the Templar to put a heavy guard around us as we transfer the infants to within Temple walls.”

The Mother Superior bowed and headed off as the Crone looked around, searching where the Templar was now. Dawn was just breaking, and the Crone could tell this would be one of the longest days of her life.

T
HE CURFEW
ON
the Southerners was lifted quickly. Aunt Raella gathered with other women in the street to talk about leaving Illian as a group and where to hire guides and guards. Kadar ranged farther out, into neighborhoods closer to the Temple, listening to the crowds of ­people who gathered.

There were guards and soldiers everywhere, and Kadar searched for a familiar tall, dark-­haired noble among the crowds. The Forsaken district was off-­limits, the houses being torn apart by soldiers hunting for clues about the kidnappings.

“I blame the Southerners,” Kadar overheard a townsman say. “They're the ones who encouraged the Forsaken, paying them too well, giving them notions above their station. Southerners don't belong in our city. I hope Voras drives them out.”

“Voras better do something, soon,” a woman added. “None of our children are safe if they can't guard the Temple's children. We'll all need to hire guards.”

Kadar heard the sentiment echoed many times. The Illians wanted someone to blame. The Forsaken were already penned up and guarded. So any crime by them pointed to outside help, and the only ­people they could think would help Forsaken were Southerners. They didn't want to believe that the soldiers had gotten careless, or that the Forsaken themselves were smart enough to escape on their own.

As Kadar headed back home, he finally caught sight of Severin on horseback. The man turned into an alley, alone for once, and Kadar ran after him. He dodged into the alley, turning the corner as Severin was reaching the end.

“Severin!” Kadar yelled. “I need to talk to you!”

Severin jerked his horse's head around, startled. He frowned and looked around as Kadar walked up the alley, then dismounted.

“Where is she?” Kadar hissed, when he came close enough to keep his voice low.

“You're out of it, Kadar,” Severin said. “She doesn't want to see you.”

“You are mad if you think this will work,” Kadar said, furious. “I can't believe Farrah would go along with such stupidity.”

“This was her idea,” Severin said. “And her choice.”

“Don't try to tell me you didn't encourage her,” Kadar said. “She would have told me about it otherwise.”

“And you would have tried to talk her out of it,” Severin said. “Face it, Kadar. You don't understand what it's like to lose everything and have to fight to get it back. Farrah needs someone who does.”

“This is suicide!” Kadar said, incredulously. “Stealing children is abhorrent. She's turning into a monster, and you're encouraging it.”

“If that's how you judge her, you don't deserve her,” Severn said coldly. “She found someone she can depend on. She doesn't need you anymore.”

“She abandoned her own sister, gave her to me to protect.” Kadar gave a short laugh. “You think she depends on you? She didn't trust you to protect her sister. Clearly, she doesn't think she'll make it out of this alive. You need to tell her to give up. Return the children, escape with her sister to the desert.”

Severin shook his head. “You really don't understand her, do you? She and I want the same things—­respect and our rightful place in society. She wants that here, not the desert. She doesn't run from her duties.”

“I'm talking about saving her life,” Kadar said, just as contemptuously. “She can have freedom with both her sisters in the desert. She doesn't need to throw everything away.”

Severin turned his back on Kadar, who resisted an urge to grab him and start punching. The man remounted.

“It's too late, even if that were what she wanted,” Severin said, gathering the reins. “I will keep her safe, and I'll get her the freedom she needs at the same time. Stay away from the Forsaken, Kadar. You'll just bring suspicion down on your family.” He smirked. “I've heard your aunt is desperate to flee to the desert. Maybe you should run away with her, wrap yourself in a cocoon, and stay safe.”

Severin spurred his horse out of the alley, as Kadar attempted to unclench his fists. He spun and surprised a scrubby itinerant who was creeping up the alley. The man flinched, as though he expected Kadar to strike him.

“Sorry,” Kadar said. He tossed the man a coin and walked back home.

 

Chapter 18

SULIS AND ASHRAF
walked the perimeter of the forest hand in hand, getting a little alone time. Ashraf had just finished a session with the healers, learning about blocking their bond.

“It's fascinating,” Ashraf told Sulis. “The healers showed me how to block, but they also showed me how to link to you and expand.”

“I wondered what was making me so uncomfortable in scriptures lecture,” Sulis said ruefully. “Ava whispered that I needed to dampen my glow. Why was I glowing?”

Ashraf chortled. “So it did work!” he said. “The healers said I wouldn't know unless we were together. I was expanding your energy to create a psychic shield. I guess when you're pulling energy from the earth, I can use some of that energy to stop ­people from attacking you with their energy. I need to get Clay to work that into the morning sessions. The healers said that if I do it enough, it'll be as automatic as guarding you with my weapon.”

“Could you warn me first before you do that stuff?” Sulis asked. “That's the second day in a row scriptures was interrupted. Kadar reached out to me yesterday, and today I was glowing. Master Ursa is going to give me extra work.”

“Have you heard from Kadar again?” Ashraf asked, unrepentant.

Sulis shook her head. “No. I didn't tell Ava about it either. She thinks of Kadar as another brother and doesn't need to know about her sister's cheating.”

“I wouldn't tell her. I'd say I can't believe it of Farrah, but she always was determined to the extreme, ruthless about her cause. If she felt she needed to, she'd give herself to Severin to forward it. She'd hate herself for doing it, but she would anyway.”

“Don't defend her,” Sulis scowled at him. “She was killing
feli
for her precious cause. And she doesn't deserve Kadar if she can't understand how much better he is than Severin.”

Ashraf gestured ahead of them. “Is that Djinn? I thought he was back at the house with the kittens.”

Sulis frowned at the lithe form that slipped out of the forest and between the buildings. “That's not Djinn, though it has similar coloring.”

She picked up her pace, curious about this new
feli
. She and Ashraf stepped into the shadows as a man came out of the dormitory, and the
feli
bumped its head against the man's thigh. The man gave the
feli
some food, which it ate greedily. When it was done, the
feli
slipped back into the woods, and the man returned to the building.

“Odd,” Ashraf murmured. “I thought only you and Palou had a bond with the
feli
.”

“Even odder,” Sulis said. “It had that different coloring, unspotted like Djinn and his kit. Why wouldn't he tell someone about it if he had a connection with the One?”

“That's just Palou's theory,” Ashraf reminded her. “It might just have been a runt he saved or befriended. It seemed smaller than most
feli
. A lot of the fighters don't want anything to do with energy or mind powers and wouldn't admit if they had it.”

“Still, I want to know who he is,” Sulis said. She couldn't shake the feeling of unease the scene woke in her.

“I'll ask around,” Ashraf said. “He wasn't familiar to me, so he must have come in with the newly pledged fighters.”

Sulis nodded, and they continued walking until they found their place, a fallen log sheltered by some trees where they could sit and enjoy each other's company in privacy. Ashraf turned her head to his and kissed her, and the other
feli
slipped out of her mind as she kissed him back, then kissed his neck. They kept control, but things were starting to get very interesting when Sulis felt a sort of nudge inside her mind, like one of her links was being plucked.

Sulis cursed and straightened as she felt the tug again inside her mind. Ashraf sighed heavily as she stopped and closed her eyes, focusing on who the link was, and where. It seemed to be some sort of summons, from Grandmother. She focused more on the bond.

“I think Grandmother wants us, either at the eating hall or main hall,” Sulis said. Her brow furrowed as she tried to get a better sense of direction from her link with her grandmother. “It seems to be important, not just her and Anchee testing our bonds.”

“Eating hall's on the way to the main hall,” Ashraf said, reaching out and smoothing down Sulis's hair and cloak.

It was still before last meal, so the eating hall was empty. But Sulis had to push her way through a crowd in the main hall to find her grandmother and Anchee, toward the center of a circle. In the circle stood Master Ursa, the healer Rana, the warriors' training master, and two elite guards.

“Where's Ava?” Sulis asked her grandmother.

“Clay took her back to the house. She doesn't need to hear this,” Grandmother said, fury evident in her straight bearing.

“What's going on?” Ashraf asked.

“The warriors are questioning Ava's fitness,” Anchee said calmly, but his shoulders were tense.

“I heard her say it,” one warrior said to the crowd. It was the warrior Turin, who'd been guarding them last week when Ava made her announcement. “She said she was damaged. Doesn't know who ­people are and mixes them up with ­people from her past. If she's crazy, then she's not the Loom after all!”

“You heard a private conversation between the Chosen. And you were ordered to keep that knowledge to yourself,” Master Ursa reprimanded him.

“We have a right to know!” one warrior shouted from the crowd. The other warriors murmured in agreement. “This is our cause as much as theirs. We train as hard as they do and will lay down our lives for them.”

Ashraf nudged Sulis and jerked his chin toward the edge of the crowd. The man whom they saw earlier with the
feli
was talking with another warrior.

“This does not concern you,” Healer Rana said. “This is a private matter that a young girl is struggling with. And she is gaining control over those aspects of herself, so there is nothing to fear.”

Anchee spoke up, and the warriors turned to him. “Ava has been confirmed as the Loom by Master Clay and the One himself. A crowd witnessed that acceptance.”

“That was before she admitted she had all these problems,” Turin said stubbornly. “She should be replaced.”

Anchee cocked his head, a small smile on his face. “Are you saying the One cannot see into our hearts and souls?” he asked. “Ava came to the desert with these difficulties, and was still chosen by the One as his Loom. Do you question the One's judgment?”

Sulis watched, fascinated, as the warrior stuttered, not wanting to commit heresy and say the One was wrong but not wanting to back down from his opinions.

Grandmother stepped forward and addressed the crowd in a contemptuous tone. “We cannot be replaced. There is only one Loom, one Weaver, and three Shuttles in a lifetime.” She leveled a glare at the training master. “Which you should have been taught in your training. That this rumor got this far points to a lack of knowledge and discipline in the warrior ranks.”

The training master bowed to Grandmother. “Which will be remedied.” He stepped forward and glared over the crowd. “Since you have so much time for rumors, we will be on double-­training schedule. This will include a recitation of the prophecy and twelve laws of the Chosen every evening before rest since you have clearly forgotten them. You are dismissed to eat, but will return to the training hall directly after your meal instead of free time.”

Sulis winced. She'd learned those in scriptures class. The prophecy was short, but the twelve laws were long and tedious, and the whole thing would take over an hour each evening. She saw the more experienced warriors grimace.

As the warriors turned to go, the training master held up a hand. “Not you, warrior Turin. You are, first, in violation of orders of silence from a master. Second, you are in violation of your oath to come to your superiors with any rumors and fears rather than spreading them to others. These are primary offences. You are cast out from the warriors of Kabandha, which requires detainment until such time as our mission is accomplished. Guards, take citizen Turin to his new quarters.”

Sulis winced again as the elite guards stepped forward to flank Turin. His expression turned from shocked to resigned as they marched him toward the guarded quarters. She didn't feel sorry for the man. He couldn't be trusted to keep his tongue here in Kabandha, and he certainly couldn't be left free to spread rumors outside the city. She glanced at the crowd and found the man they'd seen earlier staring straight at her. He looked away when she caught his eye, turned, and ducked into the crowd that was leaving.

Sulis shivered, and her grandmother looked at her.

“That man felt like Voras,” she told their group. “We saw him feeding a
feli
, earlier, near the woods.”

Grandmother shook her head impatiently. “You're just feeling paranoid from this ordeal. It should never have gone this far.”

Anchee nodded. “No human who has been touched by a deity can go through the shields without our knowing.”

“I went through the shields, and Voras had a
geas
on me,” Sulis protested.

“But you had defeated it, and shaken off his influence,” Grandmother said.

“But what about the
feli
?” Sulis asked, irritated at her grandmother's dismissal.

“Palou told me the men were all trying to lure a
feli
to them after seeing his.” Grandmother said dismissively. “He probably found a runt and befriended it with food. Stop shying at shadows.”

Sulis raised her chin stubbornly, but Ashraf spoke, cutting off her sarcastic reply before it left her lips.

“What will we tell Ava?” Ashraf asked, changing the subject.

“As little as possible,” Healer Rana said, joining them. “I'll go speak to her now. In a short amount of time, she has gained much confidence and control, and I don't want this to sabotage her recovery.”

As the others moved on, Sulis hung back, still uneasy. Ashraf noticed and waited for her.

“You really think you felt Voras,” Ashraf said, concerned.

Sulis thought about it a moment. “I don't know,” she admitted. “Grandmother could be right. It was more a sense of something not right, like I'd felt around soldiers of Voras.” She looked up at him as he took her cold hands in his. “I do know that I don't want Ava to be unguarded, ever. No more sneaking off. No more letting her walk from class to class by herself.”

“Why?” Ashraf asked.

“There can be no other Loom while Ava is still living,” Sulis said. “But if Ava had an accident and died . . .”

“Maybe another Loom would be born? You think the warriors will think of that?” Ashraf nodded slowly. “Agreed. The same goes for you. Where you and Ava go, I will be. We don't need to be alone to bond.” He sent a feeling of love through their link, and she threw her arms around his neck. He held her close, enveloping her and making her feel warm and protected. Sulis had a pang of sorrow for her twin, who'd lost this connection even as she was gaining it.

“And Sulis,” Ashraf added, beside her ear. “I adore you, but try to get along with your grandmother. It makes it tense for all of us if you fight.”

Sulis glared at his back as he turned to go, warm feelings dampened. She followed him to the eating hall, muttering under her breath.

C
LAY
S
T
O
P
P
E
D
S
P
E
A
K
I
N
G
and looked up from their energy work. He sat back on his heels and closed his eyes. He was motionless a moment, then opened his eyes and looked around at the Chosen.

“The Tribune is in deep sleep, close to death,” he told them. “I predict it will be about a week before he dies. This will unbalance Illian. Southerners will begin to come home, threatened by the deities. More Guardians and the Weaver will come to the desert. We need to move our base closer, meet them north before the summer heat closes the Sands to travel.”

“I know the new Voice,” Sulis said. “Jonas won't let Parasu attack Southerners.”

Clay looked at her with sympathy. “When the Tribune dies, Jonas will be no more; there is only the Voice. Your friend will change, having contact with his deity. He will become less human, less compassionate. And he is too young to lead yet. They will not heed his advice.”

“Where will we go?” Anchee asked. “If we go closer to the edge of the desert, that will put us in more danger from the soldiers and Voras's army.”

“Your family owns property,” Clay said, speaking to Grandmother. “Just north of where the Sands begin. If I recall, it has large empty buildings to store goods in, as well as the herds of humpbacks and mules for the caravan business. Your family is constantly switching out the caravans and goods, so a large party coming and going wouldn't be noticed as much. “

Grandmother nodded. “All who work for us are loyal to the cause. I will notify the family to prepare space for us and a large group of warriors.”

Clay nodded. “The Obsidian Temple will be our first stop. I want to show Ava the way the frozen deities will fit into the drawn patterns and allow the Shuttles to dance the energy to understand better how little there is in that space.”

“When do we leave?” Anchee asked.

“A day's time.” He held up a hand at their protest. “It is a long trip. The bulk of the warriors can go directly north to the depot when they are ready to leave, as we will be moving slowly compared to them.”