Elli wanted to laugh but she was afraid it would turn into a sob. Her broken vows of chastity to the Goddess were what had landed her here in the first place. Well, that and the fact that the Ascending Priestess Superior wanted to make it look like she had sent someone to ask about getting a piece of the Tenebrians’ Healing Lattice without actually doing so.
The thought stuck in her head as she bid farewell to the pilot, who nodded sympathetically again as she climbed out of the ship. She brought only a small case which contained a single extra robe and nothing else. Apparently she wouldn’t be needing much of anything here at the Priory of Extreme Atonement—everything was going to be provided for her—from the bitter milk to the beatings, she thought dismally.
She thanked the pilot again and watched as the ship took off and disappeared into the pale purple sky. Then she was left, standing on the dusty road in front of the Priory, trying to summon the courage to approach it.
Taking a deep breath, she plodded over the hard-packed dirt road, which hurt her bare feet, and stood in front of the vast arched doorway. It was made of some black wood, which matched the dull black stone the Priory was constructed of, and it rose at least ten feet above her head. There was an enormous metal knocker on the front of the door, shaped like a humanoid head.
Elli couldn’t tell if the head was meant to be male or female but one thing was certain—it was in terrible pain. The eyes were rolled up in anguish and the carved metal mouth was open in a silent scream. The sight of it made her shiver and for a moment, she couldn’t bear to raise her hand and grasp the knocker.
I can’t! she thought wildly. I can’t turn myself in to be beaten and starved and kept in isolation for most of the day, every day for a year—or maybe two! I’ll go crazy. I know I was bad, breaking my vows, but surely I don’t deserve this. The Ascending Priestess Superior only sent me here so it would look like she was trying to get a piece of the Healing Lattice for the old Priestess Superior, even though she’s not. The poor old Priestess Superior is going to die because nobody cares enough to try and save her!
As it had before, the thought stuck in her brain. And then she remembered the words of the old Priestess Superior when Elli had last seen her.
“You take care now, child,” the old woman had said. “And don’t worry about what to do—the Goddess will guide you. She has promised me she will.”
But how will she guide me? Elli wondered. Guide me to what?
Slowly, an idea began growing in her mind. Could it be that it wasn’t the Goddess’s will for her to go into the Priory and be punished? Could it be that she was here for a different reason altogether?
“Maybe I should try and get a piece of the Healing Lattice for the old Priestess Superior,” Elli whispered to herself. If the Goddess didn’t mean for her to be punished, why else would she have allowed Elli to get sent to Pok?
But how could she go about it? She didn’t know anything about Pok—or the Tenebrian palace. She was barefoot and the dusty dirt road seemed to stretch out forever in front of her. How would she even get there?
“Goddess,” Elli whispered, squeezing her eyes shut. “If you truly mean for me to go on this quest and try to get a piece of the Healing Lattice to save the old Priestess Superior’s life, then you have to give me a sign. Give me a way to get to where I need to go. Please, I just—”
Her prayer was interrupted by the sound of a woman shouting.
Seven
“Gee-up, Looney. Gee-up there, now!”
Opening her eyes, Elli saw a rickety wooden cart being pulled by a large, ornery looking zorel. Its front end was a patchy gray and the hind quarters were brown—a mismatch if Elli had ever seen one.
Must be a cross breed, she thought, her eyes roaming over the large beast. Its front claws were clumsily shod with iron, which looked heavy and bulky, and its arching back was bowed as it pulled the heavy load of thunder melons the cart contained.
Apparently the zorel wasn’t moving as fast as the hard-faced woman who was driving the cart wanted it to. She was whipping up the long leather reins, and shouting for “Looney” to “Gee-up, I said!” continuously.
Elli saw what the trouble was at once. The zorel was shying every time she put her left hind foot down. There was probably a stone in the heavy iron shoe nailed to her left hoof, pressing into the soft interior sole and causing her pain.
“Excuse me.” Elli stepped away from the foreboding door and its agonized knocker and back into the dusty road. “Excuse me,” she said again, waving at the woman. “But do you know how far it is to the Tenebrian palace from here?”
“Going to the palace, are you?” the woman sneered, yanking on the reins to slow the plodding pace of the zorel. “And what business might the likes of you have there?”
“I have to see the Crown Prince,” Elli said, lifting her chin. “Do you know how far it is?”
“As to that, it’s in Capital City, only about ten pikes that way.” She nodded down the dusty road. “I’m off that direction myself—gotta sell these thunder melons afore they get too ripe and start crackin’ open on their own.”
As she spoke, one of the round, pale pink melons—each about as big around as Elli’s torso—suddenly cracked open and a sound like late-afternoon thunder split the air. The zorel shied at the sound and shivered in her traces.
“Goddess damnit!” the woman swore, turning her head to look at the ruined melon. Its sweet, pale green flesh, flecked with purple was exposed. Elli knew—since thunder melons came from her home world—that in a matter of about an hour, it would go bad.
“Bad luck,” she ventured to say, nodding at the melon. “I’m Elli, by the way.”
“Laziness is more like it!” the woman said, glaring at the zorel, which had come to a complete halt now with its left hind leg raised so it barely touched the road. “I’m Tully and this blame animal here is Looney—and she won’t go no matter how hard I whup ‘er!”
“She’s got a stone in her shoe, I’ll bet,” Elli said. “Just get it out and she’ll go fine, I’m sure.”
The woman shook her head.
“Ain’t nobody but my mate able to touch Looney’s hind feet. She’s no flamer and she ain’t got much more than a puff of steam in her but she’ll kick and bite like there’s no tomorrow if anyone but him tries.”
Elli had a sudden inspiration.
“Give me a ride to Capital City and I’ll get the stone out for you—I have a knack with zorels.”
“Give you a ride, eh?” The hard-faced Tully gave Elli a measured glance. “Don’t you belong in the Priory, there? I ‘ent about to steal one of theirs—no, I ‘ent! I hear the screamin’ and wailin’ that comes outta that place and I don’t hanker to try any of whatever it is they’re dishin’ out if they find out I took a girl from them.”
“Then I guess you’ll be stuck here and all your thunder melons will split like that one did and you’ll lose an entire growing season’s profit,” Elli shot back, nodding at the melons piled in the back of the cart. “That would be a shame and I’m sure your mate wouldn’t be too happy about it either.”
“He’ll beat me, he will,” Tully muttered unhappily. “He’ll blame me for it, though it’s none of my fault.”
“Just let me try to get the stone out,” Elli coaxed. “Then we can both get to Capital City in no time.”
“Well…” The other woman seemed to consider for a moment. “All right,” she said at last. “But don’t blame me if she kicks the life out of you. Looney is a testy one, she is.”
“Let’s just see about that.” Putting her small case down on the side of the road, Elli came up to the zorel’s head. It was clear the animal hadn’t been well taken care of. Looney’s feathered gray mane was matted and tangled and her long muzzle was spattered with mud.
But to Elli, who had gone so long without seeing one of her favorite beasts, the zorel was a sight for sore eyes.
“Hello there, sweetheart,” she murmured, looking into the slitted brown eyes. Zorels had v
ertical pupils, much like the Earth creature called a cat.
It was clear that Looney wasn’t exactly a thoroughbred, but she seemed to be from good draft stock—hardworking and dependable. Elli had the strong feeling, as she ran her hands down the arching neck, that the doe was doing the best she could, despite the pain in her hoof.
“Whatcha doin’ pettin’ her like that?” Tully demanded. “Thought you were supposed to be getting the stone out of her shoe?”
“I will soon.” Elli didn’t break eye contact with the zorel as she spoke. “Just give me a moment to get to know her and let her know I only want to help.”
She stroked the zorel’s neck gently and looked into the long-lashed brown eyes.
“You’re a good girl, aren’t you, Looney?” she murmured. “And you’re going to let me help you, aren’t you?”
She felt some resistance at first but then the zorel shook her long head up and down and Elli sensed trust from her. She didn’t know if anyone else could sense these feelings she got from zorels—she had asked her youngest brother, Brill, about it once, and he had looked at her like she was crazy. But they came through clearly to Elli and she knew when she felt Looney’s trust, it was all right to touch her hooves.
“Good girl,” she said, stroking the zorel’s neck again. “Now just be still and let me look at that hoof.”
The zorel snorted, a faint puff of steam coming from her flaring nostrils, and nodded her head again.
“Good.” Elli ran her hand lightly over the long flank, stroking the rough scales—each as broad as her palm—that became feathery fur on the hindquarters.
When she got to the left hind leg, she took a moment stroking and soothing it. She could feel the heat and pain from the strained muscles—Looney had been favoring it for quite some time. Then, gently but firmly, she lifted the back hoof and looked inside.
The soft inner part of the hoof was called the “sponge” and Looney’s was clogged up with packed-in dirt. Sticking out of the left side of the dirt clod, and no doubt digging into the tender sponge, was a hard piece of purple quartz about twice as big as Elli’s thumb.
Finding a stick in the road, she dug quickly and carefully, clearing the dirt and muck and getting the quartz to come free at last. Looney shivered but held still for the operation. Elli finished clearing her hoof and then set it down gently on the road.
“Now try it,” she said, speaking to the zorel, not the woman driving the cart.
Looney snorted and took one tentative step, then another. She tossed her head and stamped hard on the dirt road—clearly the pain was gone.
“Good girl! That’s better, isn’t it?”
Elli smiled in delight and came up to stroke the arching neck again. When she touched the doe, she felt a rush of relief and appreciation coming from Looney.
“You’re welcome,” Elli told her, looking into the big brown eyes. “Now you should be able to pull this heavy cart to town with no problem because you’re such a strong, brave girl—aren’t you, Looney, my love?”
The zorel snorted and gave a little prancing step, as though she couldn’t wait to get started.
“There—she’s all ready to go.” Elli looked up at Tully, who was staring at her with something like awe on her face.
“Can you talk to animals, then?” she asked as Elli retrieved her small case from the side of the road and climbed up into the wagon to sit on the narrow wooden bench beside her.
“Well, anyone can talk to them,” Elli said as the other woman shook the reins and Looney started off at a brisk trot. “The question is, will they listen to you. Zorels mostly listen to me,” she explained. “They have since I was little. I just…understand them, I guess.”
“I guess you do,” the woman said, still looking at her wonderingly. “Why, I ‘ent ever seen that beast behave so! Quiet as a lambkin she was when you touched her, though I’ve seen her kick a grown man across the stable yard for even getting close to her hind quarters!”
“You just have to be kind to her,” Elli recommended. “Talk to her—let her know you only want what’s best for her. Look in her eyes and let her feel your love.”
“Ha! Feel my love indeed,” Tully snorted. But she didn’t make fun of Elli and she was willing to trade half the split thunder melon for the piece of purple quartz that had been clogging up Looney’s hoof.
As the wagon moved briskly down the dirt road and she ate the sticky-sweet melon, Elli felt her heart lift to the pale purple sky. She was leaving the awful Priory of Extreme Atonement behind and even better, she was on an adventure!
No, not an adventure—I’m on a quest, she told herself. A quest to save the old Priestess Superior’s life.
She was going to get a piece of the Tenebrian Healing Lattice no matter what she had to do to get it, she decided. But for now, she was just going to enjoy the ride—enjoy being outdoors and near her beloved zorels again. Truly, the Goddess was good.
Elli just hoped she would help her in the rest of her quest. But only time would tell about that…
Eight
They made brisk time now that Looney was no longer in pain. She was able to jog along, pulling the heavy cartload of thunder melons as though it was a load of feathers. As she ate chunks of the sweet, sticky thunder melon, Elli talked to Tully, trying to find out everything she could about Capital City and the Crown Prince of the Tenebrians and his palace.
“Don’t know much about ‘em but the rumors I’ve heard, to be honest,” Tully told her, taking a chunk of melon for herself. “They keep to themselves, mostly, which suits all of us. They’re humanoid, same as we are, but they’re strange, ya know?”
“Strange how?” Elli asked, licking juice that had run down her wrist. She was going to have to change to her clean robe before she presented herself at the palace—the one she had on was covered in dust and pale green thunder melon juice.
“Well, they’re odd about rain for one thing,” the woman told her. “The minute it starts to even sprinkle, they scatter like it was liquid fire rainin’ from the sky ‘stead of a few raindrops. Don’t know why that is.” She shrugged.
“Maybe it has something to do with a custom from their home world,” Elli suggested.
“Could be.” Tully nodded. “I hear tell they come from a planet that’s mostly dessert and Pok ‘ent like that—thank the good Goddess. Couldn’t grow thunder melons without rain!”
Elli had to agree with that. The reason thunder melons were so heavy was the fact that they were mostly water inside. Pok must have a fairly wet climate—or at least a wet growing season—to make them a feasible crop to grow here.
“But then, for all their fear of rain, I hear the lot of ‘em take baths together,” the woman continued. “I mean all of ‘em at once—the whole Court! ‘Ent that strange?”
“It certainly is,” Elli said, digging out another chunk of melon.
“And then, they got all these high falootin’ manners,” Tully said, frowning. “Always bowing and prancin’ around dressed up with gold and silver lace at their cuffs and collars.”
“They sound fancy,” Elli offered and the other woman nodded.
“Fancy—there’s a word for ‘em,” she said. “Stuck up is another. But listen to this—I’ve heard tell that for all they wear their fine clothes around the city, on the inside of the palace, they wear a lot less—especially to their fancy balls. They—” She stopped short, eyeing Elli. “Well, maybe I ought not to tell you what they wear and do at those parties of theirs. I don’t want to ruin your innocence.”
Elli wanted to protest that she wasn’t as innocent as all that—not after breaking her vows of chastity. But she thought she ought to keep that to herself. So she only said, “They sound like very…interesting people.”
“Interesting, my eye!” Tully snorted. “They just think they’re too good for everyone else. Why, they ride all over town on their fine bred zorels and they won’t hardly even look at one of us poor folk. It’s like we don’t even exist!”
That didn’t sound too promising to Elli. What if she couldn’t even get into the palace to see the Crown Prince? How could she possibly get the sliver of Healing Lattice if they wouldn’t even acknowledge her?
But the Goddess had brought her this far, she reminded herself. She had sent Tully with her lame doe and her cart full of thunder melons to give Elli a ride to Capital City. Surely, if she meant for her to succeed, she would send more help once she got there.
Have faith, Elli told herself. And no matter what happens, remember that at least you’re not back at the Priory of Extreme Atonement. Thank the Goddess for that!
The next step would be revealed once she got to the city—she was sure of it.
Well, almost sure…
Nine
Capital City was bigger than any city Elli had ever been to, back home on Torl Prime. The closest thing she could compare it to was Yamden town, where the annual zorel fair was held. She’d gone with her brothers and father the past five years to help sell their trained and broken zorels and buy new, unbroken ones to work. Of course, the Mother Ship was a huge place too, but it was laid out differently than a planet bound city and besides, Elli hadn’t been allowed to see very much of it.
As Tully drove the rickety wooden cart through the arching gates of the city and up the winding cobblestone road, Elli looked around eagerly. There were shops lining the main thoroughfares and clusters of houses down the side streets. At the very top of the hill the city was built on, sat the Tenebrian palace but she couldn’t see much of it yet, except as a dark shape far in the distance, rising into the sky.
Capital City was divided into districts, according to Tully. They went through the Silk District first, which was strung with lines, each displaying rich, colorful fabrics flapping in the breeze.
Looney was inclined to shy at these until Elli jumped down for a moment and talked to her. Once she had made the zorel understand there was no real danger from the flapping fabrics, they were able to proceed.
The Priestess and the Thief Page 4
