by Bridie Blake
“Do you ever regret it?” He asked. “Leaving Fenella? Leaving me?”
“I can’t.” She shook her head, trying to find the right words. “It doesn’t mean I love you less than my people. I couldn’t have stayed.”
“Do you ever wonder what would have happened if you had? We’d be ruling the kingdom by now.”
She sighed, surprised that after all this he still believed in that. She kissed him softly. “We’d both be dead. Let’s be grateful that things turned out this way.”
“You’re right. You did the right thing, leaving when you did.”
She squeezed her arms around him. “Don’t give me all the credit. You chose duty over love too. I didn’t see you chasing after me on horseback.”
“You think too highly of me.” He turned away from her. “I didn’t choose my duty. I chose pride. I expected you to come back begging my forgiveness.”
“And I hoped you would come after me, begging for mine. I guess we were both foolish.”
“I don’t know if I can promise that my pride won’t get in the way again.”
“And I can’t promise that my duty to my people won’t win out again.”
“I do love you though.”
She gripped his shoulders and rolled him back over to face her. “And I love you. We’ll have to remember that next time we stray off our path.”
“Shall we work on remembering that now?” He kissed her hard and pulled her on top of him, sliding his hands under her shirt.
They set out before dawn the next day. Tempani had a growing sense of unease in her stomach. Something didn’t feel quite right yet she couldn’t put her finger on it. Her Power normally gave her an insight into matters that affected her, but she wasn’t receiving anything. She hoped that meant there was nothing to be concerned about.
When they were no more than an hour from the convent, Helio pulled up alongside her.
“Our camp is not far from here. We will take the tribes there and rest the horses. There will not be room for all of us at the convent. You go rest and see your friends. Tomorrow we’ll start training.”
She nodded and pushed Mincha towards the left, her friends following her as she headed in the direction of her former home. She longed to see Teddy and Mother Chennai again. To tell them everything that had happened. How she was now the Shiasa, how she’d mended the relationship with her father and that she’d married Nic. She wanted them to share in her joy. But then she also had to tell them that they were preparing for war. She would convince Teddy to stay at the convent, where he would be safe. Thara and the baby would stay there with him.
She found herself getting giddy in her saddle the closer they got. She hadn’t realized how long it had been since they’d left. And now they were coming home. They were finishing what was started all those months ago.
They rounded the bend, and she froze. In the distance dark, thick smoke rose into the clouds. She turned quickly to Nic and saw her own fear reflected back in his eyes. She kicked Mincha into a gallop, ignoring their protests and flew down the road.
The smoke grew thicker the closer they got, and she was forced to slow down as it choked her lungs. The ground was charred. Bare of all form of life. Then the smell of burnt flesh hit her. She swallowed the bile rising in her throat and pushed Mincha on. She sensed the circle tighten around her, closing in on her so she was protected. Safe. It angered her. While she had been tucked away safely with the tribe, people who had helped her were attacked. She should have been here, protecting them. That is what she had pledged to do, and she had failed them.
They reached the gate and came to a halt.
Madoc and Chae dismounted. “We’ll go in,” Madoc said. “We’ll signal if it’s safe.”
Tempani ignored them and pulled herself off Mincha, her eyes stinging with tears as she glared at them. Nic was no more than a heartbeat behind her. “We’re coming with you.”
Chae shook his head. “Not until we’ve assessed what’s inside.”
“I’m going in,” she said through clenched teeth.
“Tempani, you don’t need to see what’s in there.” Madoc’s voice was soft, caring, but she shook her head as if to force it out.
“Don’t!” She cried. “They are my friends!”
Madoc bowed his head and stepped aside, allowing her and Nic to pass. They stopped in front of Chae.
“Get out of my way or I will make you,” she threatened. “Right now I don’t care that you’re my brother.”
“Teddy’s in there,” Nic pleaded.
The smoke was thick in the empty grounds. The fire in the stables still burned. Tempani forced down the lump in her throat as she remembered all the beautiful horses that lived there. A tear rolled down her cheek, but she ignored it.
She pushed on through the courtyard and let out a scream when her foot nudged what she thought was a pile of rags. The priest’s body was burnt beyond recognition.
Nic’s hand gripped her arm. “Gods, what happened?”
She shook him off when she saw more bodies ahead. She ran, her feet pounding the blackened soil, as she moved from body to body. Burned to death. All of them. She knew they were all gone, but she couldn’t help checking each one. Just in case. She was stony faced as she did, refusing to weep while there was still the smallest glimmer of hope.
She turned over the body of a fellow sister. She had not been kind to Tempani. Had gone out of her way to shun her. But she didn’t deserve this fate. No one deserved the fire that would have engulfed their bodies, scorching their clothes and burning their flesh. No kind or forgiving ear to hear their screams as they died a most painful death.
Someone screamed her name. Again and again. Darby. She ran after his voice and let out a strangled cry when she saw them. Mother Chennai’s body was limp, but she was still breathing. Barely. Tempani knelt at her side and ran a gentle hand over her. She had been spared the flames but was covered with bloodied marks that stretched the length of her body.
“They spared no one,” she muttered. “They made us watch as they violated…” her voice trailed off.
“What have they done?”
“Stoned her,” Otto whispered, his voice thick with disgust.
“And lashed with a whip,” Madoc muttered.
Darby looked up at her through tear filled eyes. “Save her.”
“Tempani!” Nic screamed as he staggered towards her, bearing an unconscious Teddy in his arms. Chae rushed to his side and helped him carry the younger man.
“Oh Goddess,” she cried as she looked him over. He had blood oozing out of a deep gash in his belly, his right leg was sticking out at a weird angle, and he had been beaten savagely. His wrists and ankles bore the marks of ties.
He whimpered as she touched his face.
She had to think fast. Decide which one needed healing first. Why wasn’t her niska with her? She would be able to help. Dahlia and Bhatia weren’t strong enough healers to do anything. She had to think. But everyone was talking at her. Telling her what to do. Asking her to help. She covered her ears and closed her eyes. Think, she told herself. Teddy was bleeding badly and that needed to be stopped quickly. Mother Chennai wasn’t bleeding as badly, but her breathing was shallow. Her internal injuries may be more severe.
Her eyes flickered open as a warm hand rested on her knee.
“Heal him.” Mother Chennai’s voice was weak but firm.
“But…”
“Trust me,” she muttered.
Tempani nodded and turned back to Teddy. She went inside herself and opened her mind to Teddy’s wound. It was deeper than she thought. He had gotten a second cut higher up and it had pierced his lung. She worked on that first, mending the puncture and trying to rid the wound of any infection. When that was done she worked on his belly cut.
Her head span as she moved onto his leg. The break was clean. It would take time for it to heal completely. She wouldn’t be able to fuse the bones back together on her first try. She had to save some of h
er Power to mend Chennai.
Once she had done the best she could with his leg she began to pull herself back to the surface but she sensed a sliver of darkness in his being. Something unnatural. She checked over his organs, and they seemed fine. He had no other breaks, just some bruised ribs. She explored his neck for any wounds and inched higher. She gasped and found herself jerked back to reality.
She ignored their questions as she cupped Teddy’s face in her hands. “Open your eyes,” she instructed.
He obeyed, and she knew right away. They were still blue, still intact, but gone was the sparkle that was always there. They were lifeless, empty. He had been blinded, and it had been a sorcerer who had done it.
She went back inside herself and tried to mend them but she couldn’t. She tried to force the darkness from him, but there was no point. She couldn’t undo what had been done. She rocked on her heels, her body swaying as she hit the ground.
“Tempani!” Nic cried and scooped her up, wiping her sweat soaked hair from her face. He trickled some water into her mouth.
“I’m fine,” she murmured. “Chennai.” She bolted upright and crawled over to her mentor. Her breathing was laborious.
“Please,” Darby whispered.
She hovered over the older woman and ran her hands over her body. She braced herself to go once more into herself but stopped at Mother Chennai’s touch.
“Open your mind to me,” she croaked. “Go on,” she said when Tempani hesitated.
Tempani did as she asked and felt a jolt run through her body as her mind connected with Mother Chennai’s. Flashing before her was the journey of each abbess before Chennai. Their knowledge and Power passed along to the next one upon death.
Her mind screamed from the sudden rush of information that was now present. Every spell, every oath, every name that had crossed the lips of each abbess.
And then she heard the one voice that she did not want to hear. Not now. Not for her.
Chennai’s hand was blazing hot in Tempani’s as they stood before the God Tritus. Gone were her injuries and pain, and now she was just a woman. Her gray hair fell to her waist, her green eyes sparkling with the warmth that was so familiar to Tempani.
“Do not cry, my daughter,” she said. “You chose right. My path in life was at an end.”
“I could have saved you,” she wept.
She smiled sadly. “I am where I belong. My daughters were ripped from me, and I am meant to join them in the afterlife. Now our legacy lives on with you, and you will impart our wisdom on the next abbess.”
She shook her head and clung to her. “You can’t leave me. Not now. We’re about to change things.”
“Listen to those around you, but know that your instincts are often right. You will do great things in this world.”
“No,” she cried. “I can still save you.”
“You cannot save everyone.” Chennai reached out her hand and stroked Tempani’s cheek. “I am so proud of you.” She turned to Tritus. “I accept the afterlife. I go to it with my journey in life now complete.”
Tempani opened her eyes, her hand still clutching Chennai’s. She heard the sobs of Darby as he realized that she was gone. Dahlia wept freely as she tried to comfort him. Nic, Madoc, Chae and Rando all had tears swimming in their eyes. Only Otto and Bhatia remained stoic. Teddy moaned in pain. She still smelt the burning flesh of her former sisters.
It was senseless. First the tribe and now this. Hallam was behind the decision. Of that she was sure. But why attack the most sacred place in the kingdom? The people here were harmless. They devoted their lives to the very God he worshipped. She would kill him. She would make him pay. He would know nothing but pain in the last moments of his life, and he would regret the day he was born.
The anger bubbled in the pit of her stomach. She felt its strength as it grew. It forced all memories of happier times from her until all she saw was darkness - a darkness so consuming that her eyes darkened until they were almost as black as her hair. It ran through her veins with such ferocity that she trembled.
She had lost her ability to calm herself, to control the flow of her emotions, and they needed a release. She opened her mouth and released a scream so powerful that around her, people covered their ears. The earth under their feet shook. Gently at first and then with such vigor that the buildings, already damaged by the fire, began to crumble. Her friends screamed as the ground rolled underneath them. Thara fell to her knees, covering the baby’s body with her own. Nika threw his body over the two of them.
Nic tried to grab her arm, but it was so hot that he yelped at its touch. Otto’s eyes moved frantically, searching for something he could use on Tempani that would stop her but wouldn’t hurt her. They screamed her name, begging her to stop, but she couldn’t hear them. All she heard were the mutterings of Mother Chennai, the whimpering of Teddy. There was nothing beyond that.
Bhatia struggled to her feet and was hit by a falling tree branch, knocking her back down. Madoc staggered over to her. Blood gushed from her forehead so he ripped the sleeve from his shirt and held it to her head. She pushed him away and crawled over to Tempani. She didn’t know if it would work, but she had to try.
She grabbed Tempani’s hands in hers, screaming as the searing heat scalded her palms. She bit her lip and tried to ignore the pain. Someone tried to pull her away, but she struggled against their grip. She opened her mind up and in doing so allowed herself to connect with Tempani’s. She saw the pain in her, and she wanted to cower from it. Break their bond. But she couldn’t. The anger coursing through Tempani moved into Bhatia. She felt it crawl into her being and try to take over her mind. Its darkness was crushing and threatened to suffocate her. Her back arched as she tried to fight it. It was pushing every good thought from her mind. She forced it back, trying to focus on a moment of pure joy so it wouldn’t consume her the way it had Tempani. Slowly she got the anger under control. It was still there, but its power had dulled.
She fell backwards, panting as she broke free of Tempani’s hands. The ground had stopped shaking. Tempani lay in a heap, her face drawn, her body trembling. Nic rushed to his wife’s side and swept her up in his arms, weeping as he checked her pulse. She was alive. But she had almost allowed herself to be drained of her entire life force.
Madoc was beside Bhatia now. He brought his flask to her lips, and she gulped at the water until it was empty. Dahlia limped over to check Bhatia’s injury.
“She is strong,” Bhatia croaked, her throat roared with the effort to speak.
“You are strong,” Dahlia told her. “You saved her.”
She shook her head. “Her feelings… they are… they take control. She must be fighting them every moment. I had no idea.”
“What did you do?” Madoc asked.
Dahlia looked up at him, her eyes filled with an awe that unnerved Bhatia. “She shouldered some of her anger. Took it from her so she could break free of the hold it had on her.”
“She’d lost control,” Bhatia muttered. “I had to do something or we’d all die.”
She clambered to her feet. They were all watching her, and she didn’t like what she saw on their faces. It was the same look Dahlia had. She shook her head and winced at the pain. She’d only done what she had to do. If Dahlia had thought of it first, she would have done the same thing. Any of them would.
Nic looked up at her. “If we win this, whatever you want will be yours. I am forever in your debt.”
She felt a warm hand on her arm. “She needs to rest,” Madoc told them.
A wave of gratitude washed over her as she allowed him to lead her away from adoring eyes. She only managed a few steps before she tripped over her feet, too tired to lift them off the ground. He scooped her up in his arms and carried her to the chapel, the only building that lay untouched. The soulless cowards who had done this had not wanted to slight the Gods by burning the temple that housed their statues. Yet they had no problem destroying the lives of those who pledged their
lives to worshiping them. He tried to calm his anger as he lay her down in one of the pews, resting her head in his lap.
“How did you do it? She could have killed you.”
“I just focused on the first time I met her. The first time I ever felt safe.” She closed her eyes.
It was the only time he’d seen her face at peace.
—
Tempani slept for two days. Otto stayed by her side, along with her niski and niska, the older woman putting aside her hatred of the man who had stolen her daughter. Nic spent half of his time by her side and the other half with his brother.
The Kalaowins had not known the members of the convent, but they had travelled there and buried each and every one of them. They had left the damaged buildings as they were, to remain as a constant reminder of the inhumane act that took place on such innocent lives.
When she awoke on the third morning since the earthquake, it was to find everyone grieving. The mood at the Ikra’s camp was somber, and it made no sense to her. They should be angry. Thirsty for action. For revenge. The Kalaowins had lost a tribe, and the Kamaris had lost their spiritual home.
Nic rushed over to her the moment she stepped out of her tent. He wrapped his arms around her and kissed the top of her head. “How are you?”
“Why are people just sitting around?” She asked. “We should be training.”
“Tempani,” Nic started, but she cut him off.
“Madoc!” She called out. “Madoc!”
He came rushing over, panic on his face. “What’s wrong? Are you all right?”
“I want training sessions twice a day,” she said. “Where’s Keer? And Nika? I want them working with you.”
Nic turned her back to face him. “You need to take it easy. What you’ve been through is going to take time to recover from. You need time to grieve.”
“There’s no time to grieve. We’re at war.”
“Tempani, you need to rest.”
She brushed him off and spotted her niska. She trotted over to her. “I’m sending a call out to the women. If they have the Power, they will feel me and they will come. Will you help me train them?”
