Desert Rose

by Marie Brown

stood, hands clenched into fists, keeping herself still and in the temple with an extreme effort of will. The kneeling person made a gesture of respect, bowed her head, then rose to greet Lorrine with a smile.

  "Hello, and welcome to the house of Biao Tanu," the priestess said, then paused, blinking in sudden confusion as she took in the sight of a road-weary traveler standing in the entryway with clenched fists and desperate eyes. "Who laid this geas on you?"

  "I don't know," Lorrine said, through gritted teeth. "Shadow-things. Help me, please! Tie me up, I don't care, just make it so I don't have to walk anymore!"

  "No need to go to that extreme," the priestess assured her, then ruined it by adding, "I hope. Come, over here. I need you by the altar."

  Lorrine fought her way to the altar, with the priestess's encouraging hand on her arm, helping her move farther away from the golden path.

  "There. Now, here, we stand in the circle of my goddess's greatest influence on the public world. Can you kneel? Or is that asking too much?"

  "I can try."

  Lorrine fought herself down into a kneeling position, although with her weight off them, her feet twitched uncontrollably in a walking pattern. The priestess pressed down on her shoulders, helping her stay in place.

  Lorrine tried to listen to the invocation of the goddess. She'd never heard of Biao Tanu, and had always been rather curious about other people's religions. Her parents had been opposed to all forms of religion. At least, the parents she'd known. If her blood father had religion, it wasn't something that had come out in her brief stay with the Dargasi. In fact, she'd never gotten a Dargasi to admit to any kind of religion at all. Did they have any? What would they think of the blasted shadows that had set her on the road with no regard for her health? Or her sanity, for that matter.

  "Biao Tanu, hear me now," the priestess said, increasing her downwards pressure as she felt Lorrine start to rise. "Biao Tanu, come to our aid. There is a supplicant before you, in dire need. . . "

  The invocation and prayer continued until an amazing thing happened. The altar, a chunk of milky white quartz chiseled into a mostly rectangular shape, lit with a searing beam of white light.

  "Hail, Biao Tanu! We welcome you, and ask your aid!"

  Lorrine truly lost track of the words the priestess used then, although she did hear the woman's voice shouting something. White light engulfed her, burning away the shadows, causing and then relieving huge cramps in her legs. As the light faded away, she slumped forward, suddenly all but asleep as the compulsion faded from her legs.

  She heard the priestess thanking the goddess, and mumbled her own thanks. Lack of knowledge of a particular goddess didn't excuse rudeness. Then the priestess prodded her into a mostly upright position.

  "Come along, now. I'll put you up in our wayfarer's bed. But you have to help. You're far too big for me to carry."

  Lorrine stumbled along, barely able to keep her eyes open, leaning heavily on the smallish priestess. But she made it to a bed. The wayfarer's bed. Nothing special, just a rush mattress on a leather lattice frame, but it looked like heaven. Lorrine fell into the bed and unconsciousness without even removing her boots.

  Biao Tanu

  Lorrine woke slowly. First she became aware of her bladder. It intruded into her dreams, making her realize that peeing in the dream didn't help. Then she started feeling her aching feet and legs. Then she recognized that she was dreaming, and if she didn't quit trying to pee in the dream, she was going to wet the bed. And she hadn't wet the bed since she was tiny. Oh, how her mother would beat her if she wet the bed now!

  Lorrine woke fully with the sheer ridiculousness of that thought. And once awake, she realized that her bladder really was full, and if she didn't find a place to void it immediately, she was going to have a problem. So she got out of the bed and looked underneath it, heaving a huge sigh of relief when she saw a proper chamber pot. Whew. No peeing the bed for her!

  Bladder empty, Lorrine looked around herself curiously. She could barely remember her arrival here. She remembered a huge temple that looked like an Ancient relic, and a priestess, and a whole lot of white light. But she had no clear memories, and no real notion of where she was now in the immense structure she remembered seeing. From the looks of the light spilling into the small, plain room from outside, it was late afternoon. She must have slept a tremendous long time.

  Lorrine found her boots and put them on, wincing as they came in contact with the raw spots from blisters. She felt reasonably certain she hadn't been the one to take them off. Good thing that priestess was kind. Sleeping in one's boots was a miserable thing.

  She ventured out of the room and found herself in a small, plain hallway that didn't match with her fuzzy recollection of the grandeur of the main temple. But that made sense. After all, many religious folk lived a simple, humble life.

  She smelled food. Mouth watering, Lorrine followed the smell of the food through the hallway, past several doors, around three corners, and into a kitchen.

  "Ah, perfect timing," the priestess said, as she lifted a big pot pie out of the oven on an ovenboard. "I was wondering when you'd wake."

  "Thank you for helping me," Lorrine said. "I was beginning to think I'd die on the road, and my corpse would keep on walking."

  "Entirely possible, with a geas of that strength," the priestess nodded. "I'm surprised. Normally I wouldn't help a Dargasi infidel, but normally a Dargasi infidel wouldn't be out and about, walking the outside lands with a hideously strong geas. Will you tell me what happened, while we wait for supper to cool?"

  "Certainly, if you'll tell me why you think me an infidel. After all, we've only just met."

  The priestess laughed. "Which reminds me. I am Adele. What's your name?"

  "Lorrine. So? Why term me infidel, knowing as little of me as you do?"

  "Easy enough answer. You are Dargasi. All Dargasi are infidels, for not a single one of you recognizes the power of Biao Tanu. Although you just might break that mold, as the power touched you directly."

  "Believe me, Adele, I acknowledge the power of your goddess! She touched me in a way no other ever has, or most likely ever will. And I thank you once again for breaking the hold those damned shadows had over me."

  "You are most welcome." Adele moved the pot pie from the counter to the sill of the open window. "Now. What happened? How did you come by that powerful geas?"

  "It was the strangest coincidence I've ever experienced," Lorrine replied, finding a stool to perch on. "I was walking through a miserable storm, when I spotted a strange depression in the ground. It led to a door. I broke the door open, went inside, and made a sort of camp. While I was sleeping, these shadow things woke me up, and demanded that I take a message to. . . an old friend of mine."

  Adele noticed the hesitation immediately. "Oh? These shadow beings knew about a friend of yours? What sort of friend?"

  "Never mind about that. They called her the Golden Lyrebird, but I know they were talking about my friend Kama, from Eirian. They told me to go tell her about them. And they meant now. Right now. Not later, not at my convenience, now. So I began walking, and walked until I reached your door. I thought I was going to die."

  "Very peculiar. I wonder what these shadows want with your friend. Is she a mage?"

  "No," Lorrine shook her head. "Nor is she a singer, for all that they called her a Lyrebird. I have not the slightest idea what the connection is between the best damn needlewoman in the west and a bunch of crazed shadows from an underground tunnel."

  "Very interesting. These shadows of yours are definitely old. The aura clinging to you had a feeling of great age. I wonder what they were? Underground, you said?"

  "Yes. Behind a solid metal door."

  "Truly interesting. Your story is nearly enough to make me go to Eirian myself, to dig about through the libraries, looking for mention of your ancient shadows."

  "If you do, let me know what you find. I'd dearly love to know. Is that pie ready yet?"

&nbs
p; The priestess laughed. "I could cut you a piece of it now, I suppose, but it would fall to pieces, and you'd most likely burn yourself trying to eat it."

  "I don't care. I haven't eaten in days."

  "Oh, you poor thing. I can't even hold your blood against you, not in the state you're in. Fine. It won't be pretty, but I'll carve out a portion for you now."

  The pot pie was indeed too hot to eat, and it fell apart into a shapeless, runny blob, sprinkled with bits of crust. But Lorrine couldn't possibly care less. The thing smelled and tasted like heaven, although she did indeed manage to burn herself. But her stomach welcomed the arrival of hot, tasty food, and she ate more than she probably should have.

  "Thank you," she said, much later, when she'd finished her second generous portion. "I need to repay you somehow. What can I do to help you out, and repay your kindness in caring for me?"

  "I doubt you carry much cash to drop in my donation box," Adele said, with gentle humor. "I will ask you to help with chores, instead. You are young and strong, and may be able to do things I cannot. I am too old, for example, to cut my own wood. Winter approaches, and the village nearby lost its woodcutter to a vicious summer ailment that swept the countryside this annum."

  "I can do that," Lorrine nodded, keeping her dismay to herself. She'd cut lots of wood for her mother. She hated it, but she certainly knew how to do it without destroying herself. And repaying a debt wasn't supposed to