Revealed

  The priestess went pale. “Very well. But if you won’t allow me to make anyone ill, I don’t see how you can prove your claim.”

  “I do.” Nadiah stepped forward and beckoned. “Sophia, my dear friend, come forward.”

  Sophie, who had been watching the exchange between Rast and the priestess with breathless excitement, suddenly felt her heart begin to pound. “Oh, Nadiah,” she began uncertainly. “I don’t know—”

  “I do,” Nadiah said with loving sternness. “Didn’t you say that your womb had been closed for a reason? This is the reason, Sophia. Come forward now and fear not to be healed by the Counselor .”

  Sophia looked at her in wonder. Could this really be the giggly teenaged-acting girl who used to say “Omigoddess!” all the time? The girl who had gossiped with her about Sylvan and given her a zan-daro or make-over when they first met on Tranq Prime?

  Nadiah had matured so much in such a short time. She truly was no longer a girl but a full grown female who had come into her own. And when she spoke, her words had the ring of a higher authority about them.

  “The Goddess,” Sylvan whispered through their link as Sophie made her way up the steps of the dais that held the throne. “Nadiah speaks with her power now. She’ll make a fine Lyzel to Rast’s Challa.”

  “They’re a perfect match,” Sophie agreed, as she finally reached the top of the dais and stood before the throne.

  She wasn’t sure what came next and she was afraid to touch the white marble chair—after all, she wasn’t the one getting married to the rightful ruler of the whole freaking planet. It might zap her if she wasn’t careful.

  “Be at ease dear friend,” Nadiah murmured, touching her arm gently. “And prepare yourself to be healed.”

  Before Sophie could ask any questions about what being healed entailed, Rast rose from the throne and stepped toward her. “It’s all right,” he said when he saw her frightened look. “It won’t hurt.”

  “I don’t care if it does.” Sophie raised her chin. “As long as it means I can have a baby. Sylvan and I want one so much.”

  “Of course you do.” Rast smiled at her and stepped closer. “Just hold still. It’s all in the wings.”

  Sophie opened her mouth to ask what he meant and then she was surrounded by a soft wall of iridescent feathers. She wasn’t aware of Rast at all, though she sensed he was there somewhere. Mostly she simply felt encompassed on all sides by the warm, soft, glimmering wings. “Oh,” she whispered breathlessly. “Oh, they’re beautiful.”

  “And functional.” Rast’s voice seemed to come from far away. “Just hold still,” he murmured. “And let me concentrate.”

  Sophie did as he said, holding as still as she could though at first she felt nothing. Then, a warm tingling sensation started in her toes and rushed up her legs. She gasped as it arrowed inward and lodged itself deep in her pelvis like a glowing ball of heat between her hips. “Oh, my,” she murmured as the tingling and the warmth grew and grew until it was almost overwhelming. Just as it grew so intense she thought she couldn’t take it anymore, it suddenly ebbed away, leaving her feeling shaky but more completely well than she had ever been before.

  “There, that’s it,” Rast muttered and suddenly the curtain of feathers was withdrawn.

  “Th-thank you.” Sophie took a tottering step forward and nearly stumbled down the steps of the dais. Luckily, Sylvan was there to catch her.

  “How do you feel?” he murmured, putting an arm around her waist and supporting her down the remaining steps. “Are you all right?”

  “I feel wonderful, actually,” Sophie admitted. “Just…just amazing.”

  “But are you healed?” he asked.

  “She is.” Nadiah answered the question, her clear voice ringing out in the vast, echoing space. Sophie recognized the look on her friend’s face at once.

  “Look,” she whispered to Sylvan. “She’s having a prophecy!”

  And indeed, Nadiah was. When she turned to look at Sophie, her new blue-green eyes had gone a pure emerald and her voice was deeper, richer and more authoritative somehow.

  “Sophia, my daughter,” she said, inclining her head graciously. “Your faith has been rewarded. I say to you now that your womb shall be full of life. You and your male, Sylvan, shall have sons upon sons to comfort you and bless your union.”

  “Thank you.” Sophie bowed reverently. Behind her she heard murmurs of surprise from Lissa and the other assembled priestesses who had been standing silently throughout the entire confrontation.

  “The Goddess,” they were saying. “The Lyzel is now the mouthpiece of the Goddess! Hear how the Mother of All Life speaks through her!”

  “How dare you!” The high priestess rounded on them, a snarl of hatred on her face. “It is I who am the mouthpiece of the Goddess. She speaks only through me.”

  “No longer, Priestess.” There was a caged power in Nadiah’s voice now—or in the voice which was speaking through her, Sophie thought. “You,” she said, pointing at the priestess. “Have misused the power I granted you for the last time. I hereby rescind that power and cast you down from your office as high priestess. From this day forth, you will be the lowest of the low—the meanest novice who comes to learn the ways of the temple shall be above you.”

  “No,” whispered the priestess and Sophie saw that the solid emerald hue was leaking from her eyes. It left behind two very ordinary light brown eyes with no green at all in them. Her hair also turned, from a rich green to a drab, dishwater blonde. Lines appeared on her face and she suddenly looked old. “Please,” she whispered. “Please, Mother of All Life. You…you are a gracious Goddess…a forgiving goddess…”

  “There are some things I cannot forgive,” the Goddess said through Nadiah. “You have lied in my name, you have blasphemed by speaking such lies here in my holy mountain in the very temple you were sworn to guide with humility and love. You have used the power I granted you for harm instead of good—sickening this little one I am speaking through almost to death.”

  “It was the only way,” the priestess protested. “Please, Goddess, I had to bring your chosen servant, the new Counselor , to First World.”

  Nadiah’s face drew into a disapproving frown. “You did so only because you thought you could control him and thus increase your own power over the planet. Do not lie to me—I know your heart!”

  “Please, Goddess…” the priestess began but Nadiah held up a hand.

  “And last but not least, you have laid a curse upon one I sent to you for guidance. Great was his burden and weary his load of guilt. Yet instead of granting him healing and forgiveness as he asked, you cursed him with a future filled with pain and suffering.”

  “He was a hybrid,” the priestess protested. “His blood wasn’t pure enough to receive your blessing, my Goddess.”

  “It was his humbled heart I was interested in, not his bloodline.” Nadiah said. “Now go. Get to the barracks below the mountain and begin your new duties. I will have you in my temple no longer.”

  The priestess—or former priestess, Sophie supposed—opened her mouth to reply but only a choking sound came out. Her drab brown eyes filled with terror and she turned and fled, running down the temple steps so fast it was a wonder she didn’t fall and break her neck.

  There was a soft moan and Sophie turned to see that Nadiah had collapsed into Rast’s lap. She looked faint and was holding her head.

  “Nadiah?” Rast murmured. “Are you okay, sweetheart?”

  “I…I’m fine.” She shook her head and looked up. “I just had another al’lei, didn’t I? What happened?”

  It was Lissa who answered. “The Goddess spoke through you.” She looked at Nadiah reverently and then turned her attention to Rast. “My Counselor , may I be the first to pay homage to the two of you, the rightful Challa and Lyzel of First World.” She bowed low before the throne.

  All of the other priestesses bowed as well and Sophie, thinking it was only right, copied their gesture. From
the corner of her eye, she saw Sylvan bowing too and smiled.

  “Bet you never thought you’d be bowing to your baby cousin. The little girl you used to sing to sleep at night when she had a nightmare,” she sent through their link.

  “No, I didn’t,” he sent back. “But I’m happy to pay Nadiah the respect she deserves. She and Rast have come through the fire to get here—they deserve our deference and esteem.”

  Sophie thought he was right, but they didn’t get the chance to bow for long.

  “Rise,” Rast said, smiling at them all. “Sylvan and Sophia, you don’t need to bow like that. And Priestess Lissa, you rise too. I am naming you the new high priestess, effective immediately.”

  “Me, Counselor ?” Lissa rose, looking both surprised and confused.

  “Yes, you,” Rast said firmly. “Don’t look so surprised—I think you’ll be well suited for the job.”

  “I…thank you.”

  Sophie thought the young priestess looked troubled but she only nodded respectfully. But Rast still wasn’t done.

  “As your first task in your new position,” he said, beckoning to her. “Is to perform a marriage, er, joining ceremony between myself and Nadiah.”

  Lissa’s green eyes grew wide. “Truly? You wish me to perform it now?”

  He shrugged. “Why not? No time like the present.”

  “But…but Counselor , a joining between the Challa and his Lyzel should be filled with pomp and ceremony. The candles and flowers alone—”

  “We don’t want any of that,” Nadiah interrupted her, smiling. “We just want to be one in the eyes of the Goddess.”

  Lissa swallowed hard and nodded. “Very well,” she murmured. “If that is your command, Counselor , I shall be happy to obey it.”

  “Wonderful.” Rast took Nadiah’s hand and the two of them came down from the dais. “Well, let’s get going,” he said. “And then somebody show me where the Counselor sleeps.” He winked at Nadiah who blushed and smiled shyly back. “I can’t wait to start the honeymoon.”

  Chapter Thirty-seven

  “Oh, I am so glad you’re home, Sophie!” Kat flopped down on the sofa between Lauren and Olivia with a groan. “These two pregnant ladies have been running me ragged.”

  “Oh, hush.” Lauren elbowed her good naturedly. “We’re not that bad.”

  “Well, you’re not, I’ll give you that,” Kat conceded. “But Liv is just awful. She’s all ‘Fetch me this, get me that, I need ketchup for my pickled seaweed sandwich…’”

  “Seaweed sandwich?” Sophie made a face. “That sounds terrible.”

  “It’s very good for the baby,” Liv said huffily. “And besides it really does taste amazing with ketchup.”

  “Ugh.” Lauren shook her head. “Don’t, okay? Just the smell of that nasty stuff—”

  “Well, it’s better than raw meat,” Olivia pointed out, grinning. “Which is all you seem to want, cuz.”

  “Raw meat?” Sophie said doubtfully. “Is that good for the baby?”

  “It is if the baby’s half Scourge,” Lauren said, patting her still-flat belly. “She’s a carnivorous little thing. It’s funny—I never used to want my meat anything but well done but now steak tartar is my favorite dish.”

  Liv sighed. “I’m sort of jealous of you, having a girl. I already love my little guy but I can’t help wishing that someday I could have a girl to dress up in cute little frilly dresses…”

  “And have tea parties with,” Kat put in.

  “And take for mother-daughter mani-pedies.” Sophie smiled at her twin. “Remember how Mom used to take us out on girl days?”

  “Of course I do.” Olivia wiped a tear from her eye. “Crap, Sophie, don’t make me think about stuff like that when I’m all hormonal.”

  “I’m sorry, womb-mate,” Sophie said contritely. “But I have to be honest, I don’t know that you’d want a Kindred baby girl. They seem to have a pretty heavy load to bear.”

  “Oh?” Kat raised an eyebrow. “How so?”

  “Well,” Sophie said, sinking down on the ottoman opposite the couch. “They’re so rare there’s almost no chance they’ll have sisters to play with for one. And for another, they all seem to end up being priestesses, whether they want to or not.”

  Liv frowned. “I did notice there seems to be an expectation that they’ll enter the priestesshood and serve the Goddess.”

  “I met a girl like that on First World,” Sophie said. “Her name was Lissa—she’s one of the Touch Kindred.”

  “Whoa—wait a minute.” Kat held up a hand. “There’s a whole other branch of the Kindred we’ve never even heard of?”

  “I’ve heard of them,” Lauren said unexpectedly. “Xairn told me. They were another splinter group of warriors who went against the will of the Council to form a trade—pretty much the same thing that happened with the Scourge.”

  “Oh? What else did he say?” Sophie was interested. “All I heard was that they could touch things and people with their minds.”

  “Mmm, sounds sexy.” Kat grinned.

  Lauren shrugged. “I guess, if you’re into that. I prefer to have my man’s hands on me, not his mind.”

  “No, you didn’t!” Liv laughed. “Lauren, you’re bad.”

  “No, just honest.” Lauren smiled. “But to answer your question, Sophie, I don’t remember much of what he said about the Touch Kindred. I did get the idea that the Scourge and the other Kindred feared them though. I don’t know why.”

  “Well, I have to admit that Lissa had some pretty spectacular powers,” Sophie said thoughtfully. “I mean, she could move mountains of sand around with her mind. But I felt really sorry for her, anyway. She didn’t really want to be there on First World—she said her mother had exiled her there. Her older brother spoke up for her but he was overruled. At least…” She frowned. “I think he was her older brother. The Touch Kindred seemed to have some funny ideas about familial relationships.”

  “To prevent inbreeding,” Lauren said. “I remember now—Xairn did say something about that. There weren’t enough of them to begin with and they intermarried too much. That was what caused the touch gene to become dominant in the first place. They’re trying to breed it back out again now so the Kindred High Council will accept them and allow them on board the Mother Ship. ”

  “Oh, so that’s why they’re so picky about who you can and can’t marry over there,” Sophie said thoughtfully. “Makes sense, I guess.”

  “So they want to come on the Mother Ship? I don’t know that I’d want to be in such close quarters with a bunch of guys who could reach out and ‘touch’ me anytime they wanted to, just by thinking about it.” Olivia shivered.

  “Which is exactly why they’re not recognized by the Council and banned from the ship,” Lauren said. “You know how protective and possessive Kindred men are.” She smiled. “And that goes double for Scourge.”

  “There would be fights breaking out all over the place!” Sophie exclaimed. “You know, even when Rast healed me and Sylvan knew he was doing it for my own good, he told me later that it was really hard for him to let me get so close to another male without doing something about it.”

  She’d already told them about the healing and Nadiah and Rast’s joining, but now, of course, they had to discuss it all over again.

  “All I can say, is hurry up and get preggers, womb-mate,” Olivia said when they had exhausted the topic of Nadiah’s simple but elegant ceremony with Lissa presiding. “My little guy and Lauren’s little girl are going to need company.”

  Sophie laughed. “I’ll do my best. In fact…”She blushed. “Sylvan and I have already been trying on the trip back home. You wouldn’t believe how creative he can get, even in one of those cramped little ships.” She looked at Kat. “What about you, Kat? All aboard the pregnancy express—where’s your ticket?”

  “That’s one ticket I’m not ready to get punched yet, thank you very much,” Kat said tartly. “Besides, who’s going to wait on all the pre
gnant ladies if we’re all pregnant? Somebody has to be available to make the pickled seaweed sandwiches and pass the ketchup.”

  “Don’t,” Lauren and Liv said together.

  “You’re making me so hungry,” Liv added.

  Lauren groaned. “Just the thought makes me want to puke.”

  Kat and Sophie laughed together and Kat said, “See what I mean? This is what it’s been like. And with you gone there just weren’t enough minions to go around.” She sighed. “I swear, when you get pregnant too, I’ll have to clone myself.”