QUEST Shannah Jay 1

Quest

Shannah Jay

At fourteen, Katia is chosen to serve at the Sisterhood's temple in Tenebrak. But violent Discord engulfs the planet threatening the 20,000-year-old Sisterhood's existence. In a satellite far above Tenebrak, Davred, brilliant xeno-anthropologist, studies the Sisterhood, and risks everything by deciding to help them. But neither Davred nor the Sisters know all the secrets of this mysterious planet.

Published by Shannah Jay

Copyright 2010 Shannah Jay

Cover Copyright 2010 David Jacobs

Shannah Jay Edition, License Notes

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QUEST Shannah Jay 2

Chapter 1: KATIA-FIRST CHOOSING

The girl crashed blindly through the wildwoods, her breath coming in agonised gasps, her heart thudding with fear of pursuit. Once she tripped over a tree root and rolled winded on the ground, but she clamped her teeth against a moan and was up again running within seconds. When she could push herself no further, she leaned against a tree, listening carefully. She could hear nothing but the faint noises made by the animals she had disturbed in her wild headlong flight and the rustling of foliage in the evening breeze.

She’d done it! She’d got away!

‘Brother, don’t let him notice I’m gone till after dark,’ she prayed. ‘Don’t let him notice!’ And it was ironic that she called upon the Brother of the World, for she was fleeing from her god, as well as from Kensin.

Dusk was gathering round her, but fear drove her to walk on again. She tried to leave no sign of her passing, but knew Kensin too well to think that he wouldn’t be able to read her footprints.

By the time the first two moons had risen, she’d left the tangled growth of the wildwoods behind and was up among the sparse, spindly trees that clung to every crevice in the high rocky country. It would be difficult even for Kensin to track her across such terrain. Here, surely, she would be able to find a refuge until the Choosings had ended. After that, it wouldn’t matter. She’d be disgraced, but safe.

She wished it were a three-moon night, for then she’d be able to continue, but the second moon lingered in the sky for a bare hour before sinking rapidly in the west, leaving her in the near darkness of a single pale crescent. She shivered. Always, the Choosings were held at the time of the Spring Darks. The day before she’d climbed a tree and seen the great temple wagon carrying the Sisters moving across the valley below her home towards the town of Danak, seen it and known a fear that crawled along every bone in her body. It was then that she’d decided to flee.

She didn’t dare not offer herself to their Brother the God.

It was a long time before she slept in the windy crevice that was too small to be called a cave, and even then her sleep was restless and unsatisfying. She woke and slept, woke briefly again, fear churning within her at every noise.

* * *

Just before dawn Katia woke to an unnatural stillness. Even before she opened her eyes, she guessed he was there. There were no animal sounds and besides, she could sense his presence. A groan choked to nothing in her throat as her eyelids fluttered open. There, outlined against the brightening sky, was a figure she knew all too well.

‘So. You’re awake.’ His voice was as chill as an icicle breaking in winter sunlight.

It was a moment before she could form a word. ‘How did you find me?’

‘I’ve lived in the High Alder for sixty years. Were I blind, I could still track you, Katia. This is my land.’

‘Mine, too.’ But even to her own ears, her voice sounded childish and sulky.

‘Not until after the Choosing. You can own nothing, be nothing, until after the Choosing.’

‘Grandfather, please don’t make me go! I know something terrible will happen to me if I go down into Danak. I just know it!’

‘Then something terrible must happen to you, Katia, for you will go to Danak, even if I have to carry you there myself, trussed like a fowl for the market.’

Before she could move, he had clipped the chain he normally used to restrain injured animals round one of her wrists. She stared at it in horror, then raised her eyes pleadingly to a face whose lines seemed no less hard than the rocks around them.

‘Grandfather, please! Not that!’

He tugged her to her feet. ‘Come. We have a long walk before us if we’re to reach Danak today.’

QUEST Shannah Jay 3

‘Please - don’t chain me!’

‘If you behave like a wild animal, you shall be treated like one. Maybe it will remind you of your duty.’

With that he refused to speak to her further, so she could only stumble along in misery at the other end of the chain. When Kensin the Verderer set his mind to something, there was no moving him away from that path.

Outside the town, he stopped and stared at her coldly. ‘Can I trust you to wash and change from your forest leathers, or must I give you to the Elders chained and filthy?’

‘I’ll w-wash.’

‘No running away!’

‘No, Grandfather.’

He rummaged in his pack and pulled out a long blue gown and embroidered headdress. ‘Today, you must wear this. My sister’s second daughter sent it specially.’

She stood staring at it.

When she didn’t move, he added softly, ‘Your mother wore this very gown, once. Wear it for her sake.’

‘I hate gowns. And I hate the town!’

He lost patience again. ‘Hate this, hate that! If you wish to live with hatred inside you, then get you to Kelandrak and join Those of the Serpent! We do not follow that path of pain and darkness in the High Alder.’

She gulped back a sob and he laid a hand on her thin shoulder. ‘Would you really shame me before our kinfolk, child? Prove that they were right, that I was unfit to rear you when your parents were killed?’

She burst into tears then and turned to burrow into his chest, snuffling wetly into the sharp smell of the leather she had helped him cure. The robe fell unheeded to the ground.

His voice echoed above her head. ‘Well, Katia?’

‘I w-wont shame you. I won’t! But oh, Grandfather, I feel so afraid.’

‘You’ve been to Festivals of Choosing before, child. What is there to fear about them? The Sisters are good women. It’s always a joyful occasion.’

‘I wasn’t an offrant before.’

‘We must all offer ourselves to the God before we can take up our adult lives.’

‘But boys don’t get chosen! They can only be named as town Elders. Girls who are chosen are taken away. I couldn’t bear to leave the High Alder!’

‘Most girls think it a great honour to be called to serve our Brother the God.’

‘I’d die if I had to live in a city.’

He shook his head and his voice was stern again. ‘I doubt our Brother would choose someone as unwilling to do her duty as you, Katia. I’ve failed him somehow in the way I raised you.’

She could only hang her head, her throat too full of tears for speech.

‘Well,’ he pushed her away from him, ‘go and wash yourself now, child, and then put on your festival robe. We mustn’t be late for your night’s vigil.’

Sighing she picked up the soft blue material and went over to the stream. She shivered as she washed herself, but not from the coldness of the mountain water, for she was used to that. Something was wrong; she knew it.

Something was threatening her peaceful life.

When she was ready, she presented herself to her grandfather for inspection and he checked her over carefully.

His Katia took little interest in her appearance, and had been known to wear a tunic back to front before this. Thin QUEST Shannah Jay 4

and leggy, like all young animals, he thought, but she’ll be a beauty one day. His dead daughter had had the same cloud of dark hair, but her eyes had been grey, not green. The resemblance always twisted his heart. He didn’t tell Katia that, of course; he merely nodded, put the chain and her leathers away, and picked up his pack.

Just before they reached the first houses in Danak, he stopped and looked at Katia sternly. ‘You’ll not shame me tomorrow, child? You’ll do your duty?’

She threw herself into his arms and hugged him convulsively. ‘No. I w-won’t shame you, Grandfather. I promise.’

* * *

Long before the sun rose the next morning, the townsfolk began to filter into Danak’s only square, gathering in groups on the paved pathways around the green. Not a word was spoken, not a child cried out, yet the excitement was as tangible as the stone walls of the houses. Music and laughter would fill the later stages of the celebrations, but the Festivals of Choosing always began in solemn silence.

Slowly the darkness lightened and faces turned expectantly towards the east. A brightness crept across the sky until finally, rosy fingers of light touched the rooftops and gilded the garlands on the walls.

There was a drum roll, then the doors of the Meeting House were thrown open and two Sisters of the God emerged, dressed in long full robes of glittering blue and silver, with tall, elaborate headdresses covering their hair.

Even their faces were hidden behind jewelled masks. At this ceremony the Sisters had no individual identities, serving only as channels of communication with the God their Brother. When the fourteen-year-olds were offered to him every year, he would speak through his Sisters to call the chosen girls to his Sisterhood, or to name any young person as Elder-Elect.

Kensin stood motionless, not part of any group. He leaned against an angle of the wall and waited with a hunter’s patience, his eyes on the sacred enclosure where the young folk from the district would be offered to the God. He had slipped out of town once he had delivered Katia to the Elders the previous day, and had spent the night beneath the stars, for he could not abide the crowded houses of his kinfolk. But he had slept little. The child’s anxiety seemed to have communicated itself to him, and his dreams had been troubled. Well, he sighed now, the God’s will be done, whatever it is.

‘ Brother, look down upon us! ’ The taller Sister’s voice rang out clearly, signalling the start of the ceremonies.

Her call was echoed by the crowd. ‘Look down upon us all!’

When the last murmurs had died away, the second Sister clapped her hands sharply together and the two women moved to stand on either side of the doorway of the Meeting House. The drum began to beat out an insistent throbbing rhythm, then one of the town’s Elders appeared in the doorway, resplendent in his red robes of office and moving in time to the pulsing sounds. A sigh rippled through the crowd. The Choosing had begun.

The Elder was followed by a single file of solemn-faced young people. All were fourteen years old and all were clad in richly-embroidered garments, gowns or tunics of ceremonial blue, most of which had been handed down in their families for generations. They showed the nervousness natural to those facing a turning point in their lives, but most also betrayed their pleasure at being there, at being almost an adult, at last.

Last night the youngsters had sat vigil in the Meeting House, and today, long before dawn, they’d prepared themselves for the ceremony. They hadn’t broken their fast, except to drink a full measure of festival wine. The secret of this dark, sweet concoction, drunk but once in a lifetime, was known only to the Sisters, for it was blended with special drugs which heightened consciousness.

Katia had deliberately placed herself last in the line of offrants. Her head was spinning from the effects of the wine and everything had taken on a nightmare quality - sounds echoing, actions slowing down, colours beating at her eyelids, dawnlight tearing at her skin. Her urge to flee grew stronger, but her limbs were strangely lethargic and she stumbled once or twice as she moved across to the centre of the green.

The townsfolk lining the square swayed like reeds in a breeze and without prompting the adults began humming the introduction to the festival song, while young children strewed white festival flowers and scented fern leaves in front of the offrants. The crushed petals filled the air with a perfume like no other for these flowers only bloomed in QUEST Shannah Jay 5

the Spring Darks.

Katia seemed unaware of the stares of disapproval from the crowd as she broke tradition by pausing at the entrance to the enclosure. She threw a terrified glance back towards the Sisters, who were still standing like glittering statues in front of the Meeting House, then her eyes raked the crowd in a desperate search for a tall, silver-haired old man.

When her eyes caught his, Kensin frowned, shaking his head in disapproval, so she took a deep, sobbing breath and tried to pull herself together. She must not shame her grandfather before the townsfolk. She must not.

As she entered the enclosure, it seemed to seal around her like a trap, and she shuddered as she took her place in the circle of offrants and bowed her head. A semi-circle of girls faced a semi-circle of boys. Katia was oblivious to the encouraging smile from the Elder who had led the procession and the friendly nod of the girl next to her. In fact, she was oblivious now to everything except the terror churning within her.

When all was ready within the enclosure, the Sisters began to dance their way across the green, their complex steps at one with the rhythm which wove in and out of the melody like a live thing. The glittering figures paused in front of the enclosure and the music changed its beat. Four hundred adults began as one to sing the Great Chorus of Choosing.

The music seemed to pluck at Katia’s nerves as if she were a stringed instrument. Its rhythm was strange, hypnotic, repeating the archaic cadences until they controlled her very heart beat. This chorus was never performed at any other time, and never rehearsed. It was only sung by those who had already been offered to the God. No one, save those who had heard it through the mind-enhancing haze of festival wine, could remember its complexities.

And today it felt to be vibrating into Katia’s very bones.

The chorus stopped abruptly. Katia swallowed hard and stared at the ground as she waited in numb misery for something dreadful to happen.

The Sisters stood for several interminable minutes at the gates of the low enclosure, then one called out in a voice which blared in Katia’s ears like a trumpet call, ‘ Brother, look down upon us! ’

This call was again echoed by every spectator. ‘Look down! Look down upon us all!’

If she could have moved, Katia would have fled, in spite of her grandfather, but she couldn’t even twitch a muscle.

Both Sisters clapped their hands in unison and an intense silence fell upon the crowd, a silence which seemed much louder than the singing, and which still echoed the rhythms of the song. The Town Elder left the enclosure to stand outside its entrance. Then, and then only, did the taller Sister begin.

Walking slowly round the circle, she paused in front of each offrant, gazing deeply into eyes glazed with tension, weariness and festival wine. Each time she closed her own eyes for a moment to allow the God her Brother to speak within her. When he didn’t whisper in her ear, she reopened her eyes and nodded in dismissal. At this, each new adult took a step backwards, not knowing whether to be relieved or sorry not to have been claimed by the God.

Once, halfway round the circle, the Sister spoke. ‘I name you, Steflin. One day you shall be Elder of this community.’

The young man beamed with pride and remained where he was. In the crowd outside, his family’s faces reflected his pride and joy, but the silence still held.

The slow walk continued. To Katia, time itself seemed to pause and curl in on itself, as if waiting for this part of the ceremony to finish before it could start rushing on again. Nearer and nearer the Sister came, and still there was no hand outstretched to signify that the God had chosen one of the offrants to join his Sisterhood. It had been many years since a young woman from Danak had been called, and some of the townsfolk were saying that they had strayed from the God’s path and must live more strictly in future.

The glittering robe stopped in front of Katia. She looked up obediently into the eyes behind the mask and gasped aloud. It seemed as if she was falling into a dark tunnel, as if a thousand lights were exploding inside her mind. To QUEST Shannah Jay 6

her horror, she saw a hand stretch out to rest on her head.

‘You are chosen by our Brother, dear child,’ intoned a melodious voice. ‘Welcome to the Sisterhood, Katia!’

Katia could only stand and stare into two implacable eyes while waves of terror washed through her. She heard her own voice say haltingly, ‘I shall serve our Brother with joy all the days of my life,’ even as her mind rejected the words and her spirit screamed for release.

She could do nothing but turn and follow one who was henceforth her Sister in God.

A murmur of surprise ran through the crowd as the Sister led Katia out of the enclosure, followed by Steflin.

Who would ever have expected the wild grandchild of Kensin the Verderer to be chosen by the God? However, a shout of joy erupted spontaneously from them as they realised what this meant. Once again, Danak had been found worthy. They burst into the Song of Rejoicing.

Katia stood motionless in front of the Meeting House while the joyful music beat around her aching head. The Sister must have done something to her, because she had only enough freedom of movement to swivel her eyes around desperately, searching for her grandfather. When she found him, she saw grief warring with pride in his face and she cried out mutely for him to come and rescue her, but he shook his head and stepped backwards.

One of the Sisters looked round quickly, ready to place another Compulsion upon this wayward and ungrateful young woman if she did anything to disrupt the rest of the ceremony.

But Katia had come to her senses. The thought of her grandfather’s humiliation if she brought shame upon the way he had raised her stiffened her spine, as did the years of training in the ways of the God. It was beyond imagining that anyone could ever want to refuse this, the greatest of honours. Katia’s lips curved into a parody of a smile.

The Sister guided her towards the wagon. There were some frowns when it was seen that Katia was not dancing the ritual steps, merely stumbling along between the Sisters. Children continued to throw their flowers at her feet and adults called out, ‘Remember Danak in your prayers.’

Someone helped her up into the wagon and a soft voice indicated where she should stand and told her to wave until they were out of sight of the townsfolk. She still couldn’t move freely and her vision was blurred with tears.

‘They are doubly blessed who do not have the conceit to aspire to our Brother’s service,’ said one of the Sisters loudly, and the townsfolk nearest nodded to one another as they repeated the words ‘doubly blessed’.

Then the wagon jerked forward and the huge grey deleff who pulled it settled immediately into their steady walk, a walk which would devour hundreds of kloms and which would separate Katia for ever from her grandfather and home. She blinked the tears away and strained around for one last glimpse of him. Didn’t he even want to say farewell to her?

Sinking down onto the wooden bench she bowed her head in anguish.

Hidden behind a tree, Kensin watched them go. The God had accepted his unorthodox way of raising the child, and for that he was glad and proud. But he had lost his little Katia, and that was a sorrow deep in his heart. For a moment, even his loyal spirit rebelled. Was he to lose everyone he loved? Wife, child, grandchild - all gone before their time. How could the God ask so much of him?

Then he squared his shoulders and prepared to endure. And what supported him most in his personal pain was the knowledge of how important the Sisterhood was to the world in the struggle against Discord, the evil generated by Those of the Serpent. For Kensin had seen them and their unclean ways with his own eyes when taking the five-yearly tribute from the High Alder to Kelandrak. They must be stopped, at whatever cost. The Lord Claimant of Kelandrak was wrong, so wrong to allow them to build a shrine. Was he, too, turning away from their Brother the God?

* * *

While Kensin walked back alone through the wildwoods, Katia sat inside the swaying wagon, her eyes downcast.

It was so large that she could keep her distance from the others who’d been chosen. The beautiful painted canvas sides QUEST Shannah Jay 7

were rolled up to let the fresh air in, and the green light of the forest filtered down around them. She’d seen the previous year how the provisions and camping equipment were stowed neatly in the rear compartments.

One Sister sat on the high bench at the front, though the deleff needed no guidance. They simply walked in and out of their harness themselves. At any other time, Katia would have been fascinated by the great draught beasts used for all long-distance travel, but just now she couldn’t see beyond her own anguish.

After a while one of the Sisters turned and asked, ‘Are you all right, Katia?’ and she choked out a ‘Yes, Illustrious Sister.’

‘Best leave her be,’ said the other Sister. ‘Sometimes it’s a shock to them.’ She turned to stare at Katia. ‘What were your kinfolk doing to let you offer yourself so unprepared, child?’

Katia drew a deep breath. One must respond when a Sister asked a question. ‘No one thought I could possibly be called to serve the God, Illustrious Sister,’ she managed to whisper.

‘It is for the God our Brother, to choose, not for others to decide for him.’ Then the stern face softened. ‘Take heart, child. It’s a richly satisfying life in the Sisterhood.’

The thought of living inside a great stone temple in a city crowded with people filled Katia with sheer panic, but she managed to hold it back. What was the point? She was trapped now.

* * *

After two days on the road they arrived at another small town for another Festival of Choosing. Before the ceremony began, Katia stayed close to the wagon and refused to be drawn into conversation with the townsfolk; afterwards, as they rolled away down the narrow mountain road, she drew her misery around herself like a cloak and even the Sisters left her in peace.

By the end of ten days, they had left the High Alder completely and were winding across grey-green grassy uplands where herds of meat nerids grazed and the herders were already settled in their tented summer camps. The landscape was alien and bare to the eyes of a girl raised on the borders of the wildwoods, and Katia sat uneasily, feeling totally vulnerable as the great wagons rumbled along rutted tracks beneath a vast blue sky.

One day she plucked up the courage to ask, ‘Where exactly are we going, Illustrious Sisters?’

‘Far away, child.’

‘But where?’

‘To one of the great temples. You must undergo years of training before you can take your place in the Sisterhood.’

‘We’re going to a city,’ Katia whispered, her worst fears confirmed.

‘Where else do they build temples?’

Katia swallowed hard. Kensin had told her about the city of Kelandrak, with its dirty crowded streets, its constant noise and its Shrines of the Serpent. How would she bear to live among such things?

Whenever they made camp, Katia took her share of the chores without being bidden, but still the knot of misery inside her did not loosen or the desolate look leave her eyes. The other girls eventually decided that she was just too stupid to bother with. They were still in a state of wild euphoria at being called to serve their Brother the God.

Nothing seemed to dampen their joy, but their high spirits grated on Katia’s nerves.

They travelled for several weeks, taking part in so many Festivals of Choosing that Katia lost count. Every now and then they would meet another great temple wagon at a prearranged spot. Each time some of the girls would be exchanged, for the novices were always scattered widely, and could never return to their families, or even to their own claims. In this way Katia was passed from one wagon to another and travelled ever south through several of the Twelve Claims.

The first city that she saw was Kelandrak, but its details passed almost unnoticed during her early acute stage of misery. The only thing that really registered was her first glimpse of a Shrine of the Serpent and its guardian Servants QUEST Shannah Jay 8

with their black robes and serpent staffs. The twin wooden poles at the shrine’s entrance bore the black and gold triangular banners of the Serpent. The snakes that wound up the poles were so realistic that even though one of the girls whispered that they were only carved wood, Katia could hardly believe it.

She had heard tell of such places, but had never seen one. They were not permitted in the High Alder. She shrank back in horror from the evil she could feel emanating from the shrine and gasped in outrage as the men standing outside it dared to sneer openly at the occupants of the temple wagon.

The next claim was Garshlian, with its river-borne commerce, so strange a place that even Katia forgot herself for long enough to marvel at the great barges that plied along the wide slow rivers. The river families spent their whole lives on the water, one of the Sisters told them.

After that came the plains of Netheron, with their huge herds of milk and meat nerids, and their equally plump farmers and herders who lived in painted wooden houses set in circles in cosy little villages.

Once in a while they would meet a family of traders, the only others to travel the land in wagons drawn by deleff, though traders’ wagons were not so marvellously carved and their canopies were much simpler. They would stop briefly to exchange news with each trader family. A few times they stopped unexpectedly. One of the Sisters in this new wagon was a healer and people came to beg her help for someone seriously ill.

When they came to the Claim of Setheron they kept away from settlements, travelling along remote tracks and keeping out of sight in the daytime. This seemed to Katia to set the final seal of horror on these months of misery.

In Setheron, Those of the Serpent were strongest of all and the Sisterhood was scorned, its very existence threatened, and Festivals of Choosings strictly forbidden.

What sort of depravity drove folk to attack the Sisters who healed them when they were sick and who interpreted for them the wishes of the God their Brother? Katia wondered. In the High Alder, no one would have believed this possible and they would have cried out against such heresy tainting their land, even given their lives to prevent it, if they had to.

The Sisters exchanged worried glances sometimes when Katia seemed unwilling to join in the tale-telling and singing, or when she performed poorly in the preliminary training exercises.

‘No wonder they’re sending her to Temple Tenebrak,’ said one Sister after a particularly fraught session which had ended with Katia in tears yet again. ‘I’ve never seen a novice so unhappy.’

‘Yes, but Cheral will know how to deal with her. There’s no Novice Mistress to equal our Sister in Tenebrak.’

They exchanged grins. Cheral’s sharp tongue was a byword in the Sisterhood, yet those she had trained remained fond of her ever afterwards.

So Katia was exchanged again and found herself among another group of strange girls, one of three wagonloads now travelling together on the last stage of their journey. She couldn’t help noticing how lush the fields and woods of the Claim of Tenebron were. Tenebron, first of all the claims, the history books said. Tenebron, the place of beginnings.

Even here Those of the Serpent had gained a foothold, the new Sisters admitted over the camp fire, but their shrines were few and had had little effect upon the life of the Sisterhood.

When the wagons entered the ancient city of Tenebrak, Katia was relieved to see no sign of black robes or serpent staffs in the streets, only cheering crowds in brightly-coloured festival garments, who greeted them and showered flower petals in the path of the proudly-smiling girls.

Katia couldn’t return their smiles. Tallest of the novices, very thin now, with dark-circled eyes, she let the flowers strike her body and fall to the floor of the wagon unheeded. Her green eyes were feverishly bright, like jewels in her pale face, and her dark hair cascaded to her waist unbraided.

Not until they were entering the huge grey mass of Temple Tenebrak itself, did Katia stir. She raised her eyes to the high walls that were about to swallow her up and shuddered visibly as the tall bronze gates clanged shut behind them. The other girls had to push her from the wagon, for she seemed unable to move.

QUEST Shannah Jay 9

When the Novice Mistress bustled out to take charge of the new girls, one of the Sisters whispered in her ear for a moment, and as Cheral’s shrewd eyes flickered over Katia, she nodded in acknowledgment before leading the girls into the temple where they would live for the next few years.

First, Cheral took them into the Hall of the God for their welcoming ceremony. The Sisters and older novices were all waiting, arrayed in ceremonial robes and headdresses. This was a time of rejoicing. Their singing was of such piercing sweetness that it brought tears to Katia’s eyes, and their dancing was more graceful than she would have believed possible.

Then the Circle formed, and for the first time the newcomers took part in a Gathering, that mystical communion of Sisters with their Brother the God. As its peace and joy washed over them, even Katia’s grinding misery abated for a few precious minutes.

Afterwards Herra, the Elder Sister, went to the foot of the legendary Statue of the God and spoke kind words of welcome. Behind her, the strange forms carved into the stone showed the wondering novices the Seven Manifestations of the God their Brother, whom he had sent down among them. To the rear of the statue was a darkness that twisted your eyes in another direction, however hard you tried to look at it.

Katia stared at the Elder Sister, who had been heard of even as far away as the High Alder. An awesome person, Herra, and famous throughout the land, for she was over two hundred years old and wise, they said, beyond belief.

But today Katia could not help noticing how tired Herra looked, how dreadfully bone-weary, and her welcome speech was brief.

Ceremonial over, Cheral showed the novices the long, narrow dormitories where their cohort would live, then the hall where everyone ate and the day-chambers in which they would meet to learn and practise the Disciplines. By now Katia was not the only girl drooping with weariness, so the Novice Mistress hurried them into the bathing chambers, fed them a light meal and sent them to bed.

‘That one is going to be a problem,’ Cheral thought to herself as she walked briskly down to the Sisters’ chambers afterwards, ‘or ninety years have taught me nothing about novices.’

But she soon forgot Katia in her worry over the Elder Sister, who was failing daily. Herra, who had lived longer than any other Sister in their long history must soon risk another Renewal of her ageing body, and they all feared to lose her. Indeed, we cannot survive without her, thought Cheral for the hundredth time. And even with Herra’s skills and wisdom, who knows if our Sisterhood will survive? Those of the Serpent grow ever stronger, even in Tenebrak.

She shivered and forced her thoughts into more cheerful avenues. It was not for her to doubt their Brother’s power and wisdom.

Cheral watched over the Elder Sister’s health like a fussy grandmother during the next month or two, for she was one of the few who dared to chide Herra and scold her into resting. The Novice Mistress was herself becoming something of a figure in the Sisterhood, though she scorned to pay attention to that. What were a mere hundred and sixty years of life, compared to over two hundred and thirty? What were her mundane Gifts, compared to those of Herra?

Cheral knew better than anyone that she had never demonstrated any exceptional Gifts; she just excelled in supervising the everyday tasks without which no community could exist, and also in first-stage training of novices.

Such Gifts as she had were in the small things in life, not prophecy and healing. Well, and why not? Such things were as necessary as the more exotic Gifts and powers.

During the next few weeks Cheral worried because she could not give Katia’s cohort as much attention as usual.

But there were so many things to do and so few Sisters to do them nowadays, and Herra must come first. Without Herra, their world would be lost to the evil spread by Those of the Serpent.

#####

Chapter 2: HERRA - THE PROPHECY

QUEST Shannah Jay 10

The wind sobbed around the fretted stonework of Temple Tenebrak and shook showers of petals from the garlands hanging by the gate. In the novices' quarters Katia shivered and huddled under the thin coverlet, which was all each girl was allowed. At home when the wind shrieked around the houses like this, they called it demon's weather. She had used the expression when they were getting ready for the final Gathering of the day, and the other girls had laughed at her. They were always laughing at her country ways here in Tenebrak. Kelandra Clod, some of them called her, though only when the Novice Mistress was out of earshot.

Katia had stopped telling them that she didn't come from Kelandra. Why bother, when most of them had never even heard of the High Alder? Why, oh why, had she been chosen? She muffled a sob in the pillow and curled into a tight ball on the hard mattress. Who wanted to wear a long grey novice's gown that tripped you up if you tried to run? Who wanted to live enclosed by thick stone walls, even if they were beautifully carved? One real flower was more beautiful than a hundred stone ones! And who wanted to spend long hours indoors learning the Disciplines and the temple rituals, when they could be outside in the lush green beauty of the wildwoods? She stuffed the side of her hand into her mouth to stifle another sob. She mustn’t wake the others.

In the small chamber behind the statue of the God, the Elder Sister of Temple Tenebrak was also wakeful. Since her last Renewal a few months previously, Herra needed very little sleep, so she often took the night watch. In spite of her great age, her short russet hair showed no grey and her limbs were almost as supple as a girl's. She sat comfortably cross-legged on the mat, her blue robe spread around her, outstretched palms resting easily on her knees in the position seemly to one who listens to the God. In her headband, one kushlan flower gleamed silver-white and its delicate perfume wafted around her every time she moved her head.

In front of her, on a low table, stood the farspeaker which their Brother, in his new Manifestation, had sent down to Temple Tenebrak. This strange box showed them pictures of many wonderful things, as well as pictures of this Manifestation of the God himself. Herra was a little disappointed at his appearance, if truth be told. She had dreamed of beings with great golden wings, like the Lord Terraccalliss, who had been the Second Manifestation of their Brother. Instead, she found herself speaking to a young man, not even particularly good-looking, and dressed in the most ugly garments she had ever seen.

The farspeaker began to hiss and Herra focused all her attention on it. At first her Brother didn’t tell her what he wanted. He showed her some pictures instead, and told her to speak her thoughts about them aloud. As she did this, she automatically memorised every detail of what she saw, to review later at her leisure. 'A birth chamber . . . In Setherak . . . The High Lady, is it not?' She gasped and stretched out a hand. 'Brother, what are they doing to her?

Brother, stop them, or she will die!'

The image vanished, and another scene took its place. 'Another birth chamber . . . Peneron . . . The High Lady again . . . Brother, stop them! They're killing her, too! Why do you not stop them?'

When he spoke, his voice was bitter. 'I can't stop them, Herra. I'm too far away. Can your Sisters help?'

She rocked to and fro in anguish. 'We can't get there in time. Both High Ladies are dying now!'

'The babies, then? Couldn't you try to save them?'

She sat motionless for a moment, then nodded. 'Perhaps. I must use the farspeaker, though.' Unlike some of her Sisters, Herra didn’t flinch from the use of machinery. The God's Wonders were there for just such an emergency as this, though not to be used in their everyday life. He had explained this to her the previous year, when he first manifested himself and placed farspeakers in all the temples.

She stood up and moved the little stick on the side of the box. With the faint hissing sound echoing around the chamber, she spoke to her Sisters on watch in the great temples of Setherak and Penerak. Before the echo of her voice had faded, her faraway Sisters were running through the streets of those cities, using the Disciplines to speed their footsteps. Those Sisters would give their lives, if necessary, to do the bidding of the God their Brother.

Herra continued to watch the pictures and pray for a peaceful next life for the two beautiful women who lay dying, in spite of their great wealth, in spite of their high rank. Their beauty seemed to fade before her eyes as the attendants worked their evil.

QUEST Shannah Jay 11

When it was over and the two women lay dead in pools of blood, the attendants turned their attention to the babies, strong, healthy little creatures, who lay kicking by their dead mothers. Their faint wailing cries tore at Herra's heart. As the attendants started to smother the royal infants, working carefully so as not to mark the tender flesh, Herra thought for a moment that her Sisters had failed. But no! While the babes were still squirming, the draperies moved and her Sisters entered each birth chamber.

Herra watched as they stilled those who mocked the art of healing. The attendants stood there frozen, unable to move, while her Sisters wrapped the infants in soft cloths and carried them away to safety. She sighed in relief, but stayed on in front of the screen to keep watch.

As the farspeaker showed first one, then another of the birth chambers, Herra saw both sets of attendants recover the use of their bodies and discover that the babies were missing. She smiled grimly as they panicked and conferred frantically. Such was their fear of their secret masters that each group sent one of their number to buy a newly-dead baby from the Shambles. You could buy anything in the Shambles and babies died there every day. The poorfolk lived close to desperation in these hard times, with the Serpent gaining power in the slums that had begun to fester like sores on the flanks of every great city of the world.

Later she saw dead babies with the same colouring as those recently borne by the High Ladies smuggled in, washed and dressed in embroidered silk. They would be presented to the two grieving Lords Claimant as the stillborn children of their wives, though to Herra it showed in their faces that these were the ill-fed offspring of the poor. Strange to see identical responses from murderers separated by days of travel. How fear controlled those who served the Serpent!

To fear for one's life is to lose it a hundred times.

Herra had often paused at those words in the Book of Sayings of the God. Fear paralysed people, made them forget what they knew, led them to act foolishly. Sisters were taught not to give way to it. Yet that was the least of the things they learned. The Disciplines trained the Sisters to use the Gifts born in them and made them strong beyond other people's wildest dreams - strong enough, it was to be hoped, to survive this Age of Discord.

Such Gifts were mainly bestowed on those born of the bloodlines nurtured by the Sisterhood, and had been passed down the generations by careful marriages. They ripened at puberty, at which time the most gifted of the girls were chosen to enter the Sisterhood and continue with the great Quest which would become the purpose of their whole lives.

But sometimes, in spite of the Sisters' watchfulness, Evil grew stronger in the world and an Age of Discord like this one developed. Throughout Herra's long lifetime Those of the Serpent had multiplied in number and spread their poisonous ways across claim after claim. It had taken a while for the Sisters to realise how the Servants of the Serpent were working on men's minds: the drugged incense, the hypnotic chants and the special blood-wine drunk by those men initiated in the ways of the Inner Shrine. What sort of god wanted his followers to offer him pain? It became a point of honour among some of the younger men to endure in smiling silence the first whipping on the black altar of the Shrine, above which hung a huge carved serpent.

First the land of Setheron, then Garshlian had fallen to the Serpent, just before she reached her hundredth birthday. Setheron had been an easy conquest, with the first Sen-Sether, the Lord Claimant's own brother, lending Those of the Serpent his support. And when that Sen-Sether died, his son carried on both his name and allegiances.

Now the grandson was proving himself the most evil of all.

Garshlian had taken a little longer to fall, but patient infiltration had gradually won the Serpent a place there, and after that the same methods had worked in Jan-Halani, then Beldrian.

The Evil had been held in check for a time at the borders of Tenebron, where the Sisterhood was strongest, but Those of the Serpent had learned to bide their time, to infiltrate any group who resisted them, then re-establish themselves years later. But they had never managed to infiltrate the Sisterhood - and never would, she vowed.

But the Lord Claimant of Tenebron had grown old and weak, his elder son had died in an accident and now Benner, the younger son, had become Lord Claimant at a young age. Now he openly encouraged Those of Evil to settle in Tenebron and convert his people. And he refused to receive Those of the Sisterhood at his court, claiming QUEST Shannah Jay 12

them to be evil.

We should have killed Benner at birth, thought Herra, with a fury foreign to her training. We allowed this to happen. We knew that he was mind-twisted and yet we were too permissive at a time when strong action was needed. We even allowed shrines to proliferate across the Twelve Claims in the name of freedom and did nothing to stop this Evil. Yet how could we have known that this cult would flourish so strongly when all others over the centuries had been as ephemeral as the seasons?

And now Benner was an Initiate of the Inner Shrine, a man who revelled in pain and torture. He hated the Sisterhood but did not yet dare openly attack them. His hatred for her personally was well-known.

We of the Sisterhood, Herra thought bitterly, have become too gentle, too tolerant. It is time for a change, time to find a new turning in the path we follow. Oh, my Sisters, what shall we do? she cried silently, rocking to and fro in anguish. If we defend ourselves by learning to kill, as others do, shall we lose our own souls? Yet, if we do not defend ourselves, Those of the Serpent will surely destroy us.

But it could be no coincidence that a new Manifestation of the God had appeared at this time. In that lay her greatest hope.

Herra remained on watch, replaying in her mind's eye the horrors she had just seen. The babe from Setheron was a boy, golden-haired, strong-limbed. He should have been raised as Heir-Claimant to Setheron. Now he must be raised in hiding by the Sisterhood. And what would happen to the Claim of Setheron if Danver did not remarry and died without issue? His half-brother, Sen-Sether, was far worse than Benner.

The infant born in Peneron was a girl, dark-haired, rosy-cheeked, also destined to be tall and strong. And there, wait! Herra had nearly missed it. She replayed the image in her mind. The child had a birthmark, a white crescent on the right hip - the mark of the God! It was seen very rarely, and always in people of exceptional promise. Herra caught her breath as she realised that the boy had it, too.

At that realisation, Herra experienced a welling of hope and certainty such as she had never felt before. She knew suddenly that if they persevered, the Sisterhood would eventually triumph over Those of the Serpent. She stood up and raised her arms in a fierce surge of joy, then fell into a holy trance and began to prophesy, shouting out the words the God had placed in her mouth so loudly that the Sister who waited outside the little chamber heard them almost as clearly as those who listened in the sky above the planet.

When Herra fell silent again, the other Sister on duty beat hard on the great gong, striking the emergency cadences that summoned all who dwelled in Temple Tenebrak to assemble in the Hall of the God. The Sisters ran quickly up from their quarters below. Though newly awakened, they were alert and watchful, ready to face danger or joy. The novices stumbled in haste down the shallow worn steps from their dormitory. Many of the younger ones were heavy-eyed, disturbed in their first deep sleep, not yet skilled in controlling their bodies.

Katia stumbled along in a daze, last of all the novices. She had only just managed to fall asleep when the gong summoned them, and she was having difficulty in shaking off the mists of sleep. Not till they were assembled in the Hall of the God did she realise that something momentous had happened.

The Elder Sister swept into the hall from the Chamber of the God to stand before them, eyes alight with wild fire. In awe, everyone sank to the ground. No one could doubt that the God was speaking to them through her.

First Herra repeated her prophecy in a clear, ringing voice:

'Though spawned of death, redeemed in birth,

Twin destinies unfold.

For many souls on many an earth,

The saga long foretold.

QUEST Shannah Jay 13

Strong guardians shall monitor

The pathways of their youth.

And the wisdom of an ancient lore

Shall lead them to the truth.

When God comes down to join the Quest,

His chariot fast shall fall,

But lo, in his person Manifest

He shall redeem us all.

Two Sisters to the rescue bent

Shall weave the arts of Mind.

And in the younger, as was meant,

The Lord his mate shall find.

Like tempered steel, those two shall learn

Through hardship, pain and woe.

No ease, no peace, though they may yearn,

Small respite from the foe.

Their early steps shall guided be

By one whose power enhanced

Shall save them all in glade and tree

Till her last glad steps be danced.

Then Sunrise shall awake with joy,

To banish Serpent dire,

And Wisdom's Looking-Glass employ

To set all Space on fire.

On all the worlds where Discord shows,

The need shall rise and call

To Sunrise, where the God's truth grows

And wisdom's flowers blow tall.

A thousand Chariots shall ascend

QUEST Shannah Jay 14

To start a second quest,

And the Children's Children shall contend,

To make Truth manifest.

Thus peace shall spread to every world,

The Quest to every heart,

And Wisdom's banner now unfurled

Shall fly in every part.'

When Herra finished speaking, she clasped her hands together and allowed her Sisters a little time to think on what she had said.

Katia stared wide-eyed at the glittering figure of the Elder Sister. Herra, normally so quiet and stern, was radiant with something that had no name, but which must come from the God, their Brother. Her face seemed young and radiant, and the flickering lights of the filigree metal wall-lamps made the jewels in her headdress sparkle like tiny stars and her lustrous robe gleam softly. She stood there alone on the steps below the great statue of the God, then spread her arms wide, as if she would gather them all to her.

The girl caught her breath in a sob at the beauty of the scene. Around her, murmurs of surprise came unbidden from the lips of the other novices.

'Another step!'

'A new turning in the path!'

'The Quest for Wisdom!'

At a signal from Herra, the chimes rang out to indicate that the Sisters should gather. Full Sisters were the only ones who could achieve complete union with their Brother; novices merely sat quietly, meditating and sharing in the sense of joy and peace. With practised grace, the blue-robed women formed a circle in front of the flower-ringed statue of their God. As the tone of the chimes changed, they sank to the ground to sit cross-legged, hands touching.

The musicians turned from their instruments to join them. The novices bowed their heads.

When all were ready, Herra set her hands in place to form the last link in the Circle. 'We gather before you, Brother,' she said softly, then silence crept across the hall and settled in their hearts.

Thought was suspended, and all the Sisters became, for a few moments, part of a loving whole, a composite consciousness that knew and loved all its human components. Even Katia was caught by the wonder of this special night, and when that vibrant voice commanded them to gather, she bowed her head and, for once, began to slip easily into the deepest levels of Meditation - and then on beyond that, her soul flying freely like a bird towards something wonderful, something which she had never experienced before.When Herra gave the signal for the Gathering to end, Cheral bustled forward to escort the girls back to their dormitory.

Katia, oblivious to her neighbour's nudge, remained cross-legged on the polished stone floor. She was staring straight at the statue of the God like one in a trance, showing no signs of understanding what was happening around her.

Frowning, Cheral started to move towards her, but the Elder Sister realised what was happening and, eyes alight again, signalled for everyone to remain in their places. Cheral stopped in her tracks, mouth open in surprise.

Although she now realised what was about to happen, she could not believe it. It was not possible! Not this novice!

Silence fell in the hall. The new novices were puzzled. What now? All eyes followed Herra as she walked across the petal-strewn floor towards the novices, moving with a slow, rhythmic half-dance step. The Sisters who rang the QUEST Shannah Jay 15

chimes automatically turned back to their instruments and began to punctuate the Elder Sister's graceful progress with soft threads of sound. Cheral continued to watch in sheer disbelief.

The older novices stared in astonishment at Katia, for though they had seen this happen before, it had never happened to such a new novice. The younger ones continued to crane their necks and gape, first at Herra, then at Katia.

* * *

When this final and unexpected part of the ceremony was over, the temple messenger, who had been spying on the Gathering through a carved slit high in the wall, climbed hastily down to the ground, wincing as he tried to force his stiff limbs to move quickly. This must be reported to his master at once!

In the other eleven temples, the main events of the evening werealso being discussed. When Herra had begun to prophesy, the watcher in the sky above had touched the master control that broadcast her words through all the farspeakers in the Twelve Claims. Thus Herra's prophecy had been heard clearly by those Sisters on duty in every temple on the planet, a planet they knew only as the world, but which the exploration teams, who had been circling it for nearly five standard years, called Sunrise, because the dawns were so beautiful, with at least one of the three moons always lingering to greet the rising sun.

#####

Chapter 3: DAVRED – THE SATELLITE

High above the cloud level of Sunrise's skies, a wheel-shaped mass of metal hovered in a position convenient for observing the Twelve Claims. Inside the satellite, life was comfortable enough, with artificial gravity, individual quarters and bio-hydroponic management and production areas.

Smaller satellites, uninhabited, circled above the two land masses on the other side of the planet, recording the weather patterns and monitoring activity there. It was just one of the many puzzles of Sunrise that nature had endowed one continent so well and the other two so poorly. There were no rich deposits of metal anywhere on Sunrise, though in the Twelve Claims there was enough for people's simple needs. The other two land masses supported little life of any sort, plant or vegetable, and none that could be classed as intelligent, even though one of them had a land link to the Twelve Claims. They were misty places, in parts swampy and sultry with thermal activity, and in other parts covered by great stretches of arid rock and desert.

When Davred Hollunby, on watch in the satellite's com-room, realised the significance of the happenings in Temple Tenebrak, he called for others of the exploration team to join him. As the ceremonies drew to a close, he threw a challenging look at his Exec Commander, the last to arrive. 'This time werecorded a prophecy. Incontrovertible proof of what the Sisters can do.'

'Only if it comes true,' Robler pointed out. 'Which we shan't know for many years.'

Mak frowned. 'How did that Elder Sister do that, Davred? That woman has never left her planet, the culture has no form of aerial transport, let alone space travel - so how can she know about other worlds? Or that we cal her world Sunrise?'

'Pure coincidence!' scoffed Robler.

Mak shook his head. 'Unlikely. Too many truths in those verses. She even seemed to know about the violence that's spreading throughout the Galactic Confederation.'

'That's only your interpretation of her words. The art of prophecy is to choose words that can mean all things to all listeners.'

QUEST Shannah Jay 16

Mak frowned and shook his head again. 'I don't think so. We'll have to agree to disagree on that until we obtain further information.'

Robler swung back to Davred. 'Perhaps you've been passing on forbidden information?'

Soo, watching them, shook her head in dismay. Robler did not even attempt to conceal his irritation with Davred nowadays, and Davred was glaring at the Exec in a most unprofessional manner.

'Of course I haven't, Robler.'

'Wel , if we're to take Herra's performance at face value, it would seem that your pets share your obsession, Davred,'

jeered Lenlin, who had also been in a strange mood lately. 'Or should I call it your Quest, as they do? Strange, isn't it?

The very same search for peace as obsesses you. And it's those savages who are to find the answer and save us all. You must have let something slip.'

Davred's voice was quiet and his expression betrayed his hurt as he looked at her. 'You should know me better than that, Lenlin. And however much you mock, you'l admit that Herra did describe other worlds and space travel, concepts she should know nothing about.'

Lenlin shrugged. 'A vivid imagination. Even savages have that.'

'Will you stop using that term! That attitude towards the objects of our survey goes right against the ethos of Confederation exploration. And besides, the people of Sunrise are not savages, least of all, the Sisters.'

Mak intervened. He disliked quarrels as much as Lenlin seemed to enjoy provoking them lately. On his world they were unknown, as was the display of strong emotions. 'Are you absolutely sure you didn't reveal something to them inadvertently, Davred? You're responsible for all the direct communication with the Sisterhood now, and you certainly speak to them often enough.'

'I've told them nothing I shouldn't have.' Davred repeated. 'Do you think I don't understand my own role? I’m a fully-trained xeno-anthropologist!'

'Then how do you explain what happened just now?' Robler snapped. 'I still think you were premature in making contact. It would have been better to plan for an initial trading link and pretend we came from somewhere else on the planet. As I suggested in my report to Confex. Those wood carvings from the Twelve Claims would fetch a huge price anywhere in the Confederation, and as for the filigree work and woven hangings, well, they're priceless.’

But he didn’t intend to raise that issue again. Davred had sent in a contradictory cultural analysis on Sunrise which had been accepted by Central, and that still rankled with Robler. 'You do still remember that it's forbidden to tell inhabitants of primitive planets about the Galactic Confederation, don’t you?'

'I haven't told them anything I shouldn't,' Davred reiterated wearily. 'How many times do I have to say that? And I had to do a full probability analysis before I was given permission to make contact, because it's such an unusual step to take. I wouldn't have done it if you and Lenlin hadn't been pushing so hard for a trade link. Trade would have raped the Twelve Claims of their treasures. It always does.'

'Let's not go over that again,' said Mak.

Davred held back his anger. 'Look, The people of Sunrise only see me as the Manifestation of their God, not as an off-worlder. Every young culture has its gods, and here, where the religion is so very special, it's the perfect ploy for initial contact. It'll save us years of observation.'

Lenlin snorted. 'Well, I still say they're primitive savages.Virtually no machinery, not nearly approaching the industrial phase, and given to loathsome behaviour in those shrines of theirs. Perhaps they're basically vicious, as well as stupid.'

'Those of the Serpent are a temporary aberration, that's all.' Davred's whole body was taut with suppressed anger.

'They're not representative of Sunrise as a whole.'

'Huh! Even I can see how much ground they've gained in the past year or two. If you had to run that analysis for Confex now, Davred, your contact plan wouldn't be accepted. Those precious Sisters of yours are on the way out QUEST Shannah Jay 17

and as for this prophecy, it’s just a load of rubbish.'

Davred prayed for patience. 'Herra's an extremely wise person by any standards, Lenlin. This isn't the first time she's shown flashes of - of - Oh, call it foresight or prescience or ESP, whatever you like. I've reported the occurrences to Confex, but they said the incidence was not statistically significant until we had further data. Which I intend to get.'

'Well, Confex ought to know just a little about such things, after all the centuries they've been in charge of space exploration,' Robler said sarcastically, 'Even you will have to grant them that.'

'I don't have to agree with their conclusions about this planet.' Davred was determined not to give an inch against what he saw as an unjustified attack. 'Herra's predecessor was just the same as she is, according to what they've told me. She, too, made several accurate prophecies and each was noted down in their Archives. That ought to have given the recent prophecy more significance.' Except that Confex had refused to consider what it called hearsay evidence.

Why was Confex so convinced that ESP was impossible? Why did Central automatically assume that the Sisters were deluding themselves and their followers?

'Confex is right,’ Robler said firmly. ‘Those Sisters can claim anything they like. We can't possibly know whether they're telling the truth or not about what happened in the past. The proof for ESP must be incontrovertible - as you're well aware, Davred - and it's not been proven anywhere in the Confederation so far.’ He lost his temper suddenly. 'Why will you persist with this stubbornness, you young fool? You know the requirements for observation missions like ours as well as I do!'

What the Sisters write is the truth! Davred didn’t even bother to say that aloud. Turning away from Robler, he stared hungrily at the image. 'I'd give my pay for this whole tour of duty for the chance to go down to Temple Tenebrak and read their Archives myself. The few extracts they've shown me have been tantalising. But even for me, whom they believe to be the Manifestation of their God, they won't bring the whole manuscript up to be holographed in the Chamber of the God. They just show me a few extracts here and there, whenever the mood takes them.'

Why, he wondered yet again, were the Sisters so obedient to his wishes in some things, and so intransigent in others? He still wasn’t sure he understood what they meant by a Manifestation of the God. Something less than the God himself, that was certain. There were times when Herra seemed to be humouring him, as if he were a child or a novice, and others when she treated him with extreme deference.

'Well, go down and live with them, then! That's the logical thing for you to do.' Lenlin's voice was bitter, but her eyes were bright with unshed tears. ‘Your obsession with the Sisterhood is making you spend less and less time with

- with your friends.

Davred didn’t even notice her sarcasm. 'I wish I could. But it'll be years before we know enough of their culture to risk a visit.'

'In the meantime, they certainly bear watching,' said Soo.

'Don't they just!' Davred's was almost vibrating with excitement as he looked at the scene in the temple. How lucky thatHerra had agreed to wear a tracer herself and to install another, with a broader radius, at the foot of the statue of the God! How infuriating that she had refused to let him view the statue itself! The tracer should have picked it up anyway, since it was set to give a 360 degree scan, but it didn’t. Perhaps it was just too dark in that corner of the temple, or perhaps the tracer was malfunctioning.

In the cube-shaped three-dimensional image of the temple, the flickering lamps shone upon the finely-crafted gold and silver ornaments on the walls, and the tiny figures moved gracefully about their business.

In contrast, the satellite was ugly and its occupants clumsy. Davred glanced around with distaste at the omnipresent brightness and the metal walls. Service pipes and air conduits ran along the corridors for ease of access.

Metal bulged to accommodate machinery without any consideration for the aesthetic consequences. He understood that space was in short supply on a satellite, but still, why did things have to be so very ugly? Thank goodness he was allowed to arrange his personal quarters as he chose.

He glanced down in disgust at his jumpsuit, made in a brilliant colour that could be seen easily both in space and QUEST Shannah Jay 18

on the ground. Lately its garishness had started to annoy him. He looked around. All the members of the exploration team wore similar garments. He wondered what Lenlin would look like in a Sister's soft flowing robe, but couldn’t quite imagine her dressed like that. Soo would look good in a robe, though. He could see her in one quite easily.

With her ancestry - what the history books called Oriental - she'd look marvellous in bright embroidered silks that contrasted with her sleek dark hair and pale ivory skin, silks such as the rich wore in Tenebrak.

Davred's eyes returned to the three-dimensional image. He couldn’t keep his attention away from it for long and had spent many more hours in the com-room than his duty watches required, observing the Sisterhood and their planet. Herra claimed that Temple Tenebrak had been founded over twenty thousand years previously - their longer planetary years, not standard years. The buildings were still being added to and improved in minor ways. Many of the stones on the massive walls was carved in bas-reliefs of flowers and foliage; all the temple's necessary functions were concealed or beautified. Each bench, each hanging lamp, each statue was a work of art, and in his opinion, the skill of their makers was unparalleled in all the worlds of the Galactic Confederation.

Even Robler had admitted as much, though the Exec only seemed to consider the beautifully crafted objects to be suitable for trade. Perhaps, Davred mused, that was why he found Robler so irritating, so ponderous and unleavened in his nature. Lenlin could be irritating too, at times, for she had a similar mercenary bias, though she could be fun to be with. And she was very beautiful, of course, with her fine blonde hair and elegant curves. He loved to watch her eyes sparkle with pleasure when she was in a good mood.

Of the other observers on the satellite, only Soo shared his love of art, and the two of them had become good friends, though nothing more. Strange, how he had never been attracted to Soo as a woman. Maybe it was because she didn’t encourage that sort of attention. She’d had a short liaison with Robler when she first arrived, very short.

After that she’d steered clear of any relationships, although they were encouraged among long-term personnel on satellites and her total abstinence was highly unusual. He exchanged rueful smiles with her across the com-room, then turned to study the image again.

On no planet that he'd ever heard of, Davred thought, was there so much beauty, both natural and created by humans. If there had not been the problem of outbreaks of violence in this sector, Confex would have done something about Sunrise before now, sent a bigger cultural expedition, an ambassador, perhaps. Beauty like that was a precious commodity everywhere.

When the planet was eventually opened up to trade, art dealers and collectors would swarm in to rape it of its wares - and in the process would ruin its culture, as they had so many others, for all the so-called fair trading safeguards. As a xeno-anthropologist, Davred intended to fight that. There were a lot of things about the way Confex was run that he would like to change.

'I think we of the Confederation could learn a lot from the Sisterhood,' he said, speaking his thoughts aloud. 'One day, somehow, I shall get permission to go down and attend a Gathering, really attend, not just watch it second-hand. What do you suppose they feel? What happens to them when they ?'

'Why did you pronounce that word so strangely?' asked Mak, always a stickler for correct details.

Davred blinked in surprise. 'Because - well, because that's how it should be pronounced. Can't you hear the difference?'

'Not really. But about this gathering business,' Mak tried to imitate Davred's pronunciation, but failed to get the correct tone, 'I, too, would like to know what they feel. The act resembles meditation, but it's clearly more than that.

There's something I've never seen before in their expressions. It would merit investigation, I think.' Mak had medical training, among his other skills.

'What I'm wondering is why Herra chose to prophesy now.' Soo spoke quickly, before Lenlin, who was still looking sharp and unhappy, could say something else provocative. 'Why at this particular time? What sparked it off, do you think, Davred? And did you notice that Herra linked the prophecy openly to the two babies they'd saved?

Why did you arrange to save them, anyway? Even in your role as Manifestation of the God, should you be interfering that much in minor local politics?'

'He enjoys playing God to the savages,' sneered Lenlin. 'He can't resist tampering.'

QUEST Shannah Jay 19

Davred ignored her jibe. 'I don't know, Soo. It just seemed, well, the right thing to do.' He couldn’t explain his actions, even to himself, though he’d have to find reasons to justify them later in his report. It had seemed at the time as though something was urging him to intervene, something too important to ignore. It had felt right. He sighed. The more he studied Sunrise and the Sisterhood of the God, the less he felt he knew about anything.

'What babies are you talking about?' asked Robler. He was more interested in the mineral analysis of the planet and its moons than in the ways of its inhabitants.

Davred explained. 'It was Herra who arranged the rescue, really. She doesn't like using the com-units, but she has a remarkable grasp of the capabilities of machinery for one from a non-industrialised culture. The Sisters set a lot of store upon the family bloodlines of those matings, so it was extremely important to them to save the babies.'

'Well, the infants certainly looked healthy.' Lenlin's anger was dying down a little. 'I worked in a crèche once, you know, when I was a student out on life experience. I like babies.' Her tone was yearning.

Soo sighed with relief. Lenlin's recent moodiness seemed to have communicated itself to everyone on the satellite, and they'd all been a bit on edge - everyone except Davred. Davred was as immune to Lenlin's moods as he was to her love for him, though he was kind to her in his own way - when he remembered. But when he became engrossed in a project, he hardly noticed what was going on around him, let alone Lenlin's hunger for his company as her shorter tour of duty drew to a close.

'You'll have to keep an eye on what happens to the babies and the prophecies, Davred,' Lenlin went on. 'You'll be here to play God to them for a few years yet. I'm glad I'll be leaving soon. I can't get to grips with the people of this planet. I'd never sign up for a long tour here. I think you three are stupid, extending your contracts.'

Soo shrugged. Mak ignored the jibe and Davred said nothing. Lenlin added loudly, 'In fact, I don't know why the Galactic Confederation decided on Minor Intervention and Wardship instead of opening the planet up for trade, and I'll tell them so in my final report. Two-thirds of the land surface isn't even inhabited yet. We could have settled that part of the planet ourselves and used it as an R and R base. The natives wouldn't even have known. They're nowhere near developing air travel yet.'

'These worlds are not ours to rape!' snapped Davred. 'We have a duty to protect them.'

'What's so special about this backward mudball that it must be protected? I've seen a dozen primitive planets that are more interesting than Sunrise!' She flung the last remark at Davred, and stood with her hands on her hips, trying to goad him into a response. Anything to get that dreamy look out of his eyes.

'It's got outstanding beauty.' He frowned at her. 'And it's very unusual to have three moons circling so close to a planet without disturbing the ecological balance. They're in a fortuitous meshing of orbits, well worth observing.'

'It's not the only planet with three moons, and though I will admit that some of the flowers are spectacular,' she said grudgingly, 'you can't say that's of vital importance to anyone. I mean, there are flowers everywhere in the Confederation, after all. And if we wanted to, we could breed flowers just as beautiful as those on Sunrise, even up here on the satellite.'

'We never have, though, have we? We don't have their hunger for beauty. And besides, Sunrise has the Sisterhood.' Davred nodded in the direction of the image, as if this clinched the argument.

Robler rolled his eyes. Davred was still incredibly naive for a man of his age. He didn’t interrupt, though, because he was finding it interesting to study Davred's responses to Lenlin's baiting.

She groaned aloud. 'These primitive planets have all got Sisterhoods or Brotherhoods, Davred, or some other sort of religious clan. There's nothing unusual about that. Besides, Sunrise has the Serpent cult as well. That religion will take over eventually, the way it's spreading, so you should be dealing with them, not the Sisterhood.'

She had his full attention now. 'Deal with Those of the Serpent! Never! They sicken me. Have you seen what they get up to in those shrines?'

She shrugged. 'Sex.'

'And sadism.'

QUEST Shannah Jay 20

'They don't seem to mind, so why should you?'

'I wouldn't deal with Those of the Serpent,' he stated. 'I'd quit my contract first. Besides, the Sisterhood is special.

None of the other inhabited planets we've found, not a single one, has a religion that's lasted for more than a few thousand standard years. I've checked it with Central Records. The Sisterhood's Archives go back for twenty thousand years, at least. Their longer years, not ours.'

'So they say.'

'I think they're telling the truth about that. And Those of the Serpent have only been in existence for about four hundred of their years. I'd stake my life on it that they'll go the way of all the other cults which have opposed the Sisterhood.'

'Not without causing a lot of trouble for your precious Sisters in the process,' she jeered.

'No. That's becoming obvious. I must see how I can help them. We are allowed Minor Interventions now, after all, if we can prove need.' Davred frowned, forgot about Lenlin and stood up abruptly. 'Which reminds me, there's something I want to check out. Excuse me, everyone.'

Lenlin watched him go, her eyes full of unhappiness and her mouth drooping. 'He'll make a Commitment at this rate, and spend the rest of his life down there with that bunch of religious freaks. He'll probably be the first man to join the Sisterhood!'

'Commitment isn't a thing to mock.' said Soo. 'Some very noble things have been done on Commitment.'

'There've been some very noble wastes, you mean! What about that woman on Hapsell II, who died in the Shreel Wars? She was one of the greatest musicians the Confederation had ever produced and she just threw it all away.'

'She saved a whole culture from annihilation.'

'Another bunch of primitives! And she was both stupid and irresponsible to play the game on their terms. The Confederation lost fifty years or more of her work. Have you ever taken part in one of her sensoral symphonies?

Well, you should just try it. You'd never forget the experience, I promise you. The first thing I'm going to do when I get home is to attend one, to prove to myself that I'm back in civilisation.' She switched her attention to the Exec.

'Davred'll go the same way as she did if you don't watch out, Robler. Can't you do anything to stop him making a fool of himself? Yousupposed to be in charge, after all.'

'You and I both know that he's gone overboard about the Sisterhood, but he's not made enough of a fool of himself for me to do anything. Yet. He's been very careful in his role as Manifestation of their God, and he's only sent down a few simple com-units, not crucial machinery. He went through all the correct official channels before he did even that. Minor Intervention has been allowed here, as he just pointed out to you.'

She was not to be appeased. 'He's getting positively unbalanced about Sunrise.'

'Beautiful probability chart he drew up for sending down the com-units, though,' Robler said, professional admiration temporarily replacing his irritation with Davred. 'It's been incorporated into the Confex Training Manual now.'

He looked around, saw that everyone except himself and Lenlin had left the com-room, and decided to try to offer her some consolation. 'Don't underestimate Davred Hollunby, Lenlin. And don't cry for the impossible. No woman will ever hold him in a relationship.' Robler hesitated, then took the plunge. It was bound to come out eventually, and perhaps now was as good a time as any. 'You see, Davred has the potential to become a Cathartic Agent. He won't waste himself on one planet, not permanently, and if he tries, well, it just won't be allowed. Though he needn’t know that yet.'

Lenlin was shaken out of her self-pity. ' Cathartic Agent! I knew - well, we couldn't help guessing that he was rather special from the way you've babied him, but - a potential Cathartic Agent! Are you sure?'

'Yes. That's why Confex sent me here, asked me to postpone my retirement. And why I agreed to come, though heaven knows, I've had more than enough of planet-watching and I don't need the money. Still, supervising the development of a potential Cathartic Agent is another thing entirely. It's not everyone who gets a chance to do that.'

QUEST Shannah Jay 21

'A Cathartic Agent,' she whispered, still awed at the thought. 'That means genius level plus - if the potential develops.'

'Yes. You can tell the others, if you like, but don't say anything to Davred. It's about time the rest of them knew, so that they can make allowances for him. He's changing rapidly. It can't be long now until he comes into his potential. Only a few years to breakthrough point, I should think, if we're lucky.'

'Yes, but why is he here at all? Why didn't Confex locate him somewhere important? There are enough major trouble spots in the Confederation to develop the talents of a hundred Cathartic Agents. There's an outbreak of interplanetary violence in the next sector, for a start.'

'We can't use him yet in a major crisis situation. It could push him the wrong way. Davred's talent is still immature. As are his emotions, for a man of his age. It often takes Cathartic Agents decades to reach breakthrough point, though I don't think it will in his case. There have been certain signs lately - his growing resentment of my authority is one of them. But some CAs never develop their potential, so we have to be careful.'

'I wondered why a man like you had accepted such an unimportant assignment.'

'It's fairly safe to have him located here, but convenient for the Confederation as well,' said Robler, ignoring her last comment. 'When Davred's ready, they'll transfer him - or he might work out for himself where he'll be needed.

In the meantime, I watch and wait. And I shall continue to protect him - even from himself, if necessary.'

'Will he really be able to do something about the violence in the Confederation?'

'We hope so. It's growing worse. I haven't said anything to the others yet, but another warring frontier planet was barred to traffic only last week in Sector Four, and the trouble is spreading to more advanced worlds. It'll lead to outright interplanetary war, if we don't do something to stop it - war on a major scale.'

'We haven't had a major interplanetary war for hundreds of years. Surely you're wrong.'

'There have been several small outbreaks of interplanetary warfare recently, but luckily they were quickly contained. It's classified information, so don't tell anyone. Only Confex Central knows about most of them.'

Lenlin stared at him in horror for a moment, then managed a twisted smile. 'I see. Well, thank you for telling me about Davred. It does help to know about his potential.'

He patted her shoulder. 'You'll find someone else, Lenlin. After all, Davred hasn't tried to deceive you, has he?

He's never offered you more than a short-term, temporary liaison. I don't think he'll ever form a permanent attachment. You've lasted longer than anyone else, if that's any consolation. I've seen his personal records. He's too engrossed in his work to look for a semi-permanent union, let alone a full term liaison contract with child-bearing rights.'

'He hasn't even mentioned the fact that I'll be leaving soon,' she said in a strained voice. 'He doesn't care for me at all.' She sniffed and rubbed her eyes. 'I'm behaving like a primitive myself. I'll be wanting a ritual wedding and a lifelong union next! Sorry.'

She went across to one of the booths and logged into the library circuit. Shoulders hunched against the world, her long blond hair falling from its clasp to veil her face, she immersed herself in a treatise on oleo-leaf transformation strategies. But her thoughts were far away. If Davred was beyond her reach, maybe his children weren't. She'd persuade him to give her that, at least. He owed it to her. And Confex would approve. The more children a CA had, the better. She'd have enough money when she left the satellite to buy into a good cohabitation group where any children she had could be carefully reared.

Robler watched Lenlin for a moment, then shrugged and went back to his own tasks. As Exec, he was responsible for the day-to-day administration of the satellite, but was not particularly interested in the feelings of its personnel. His responsibility for Davred's development was much more important than Lenlin's troubles. Or his own. But dammit, why had Soo turned against him? He needed a woman. None of the substitutes was half as satisfying as a real body in your arms. He took a deep breath and resolutely turned his thoughts away from that. Best not to think about it. He had an important job to do.

QUEST Shannah Jay 22

The Confederation Planetary Exploration Bureau, Confex to its staff members, had given Robler a very detailed watching brief over Davred Hollunby. In an emergency, Robler had permission to take any steps he considered necessary to foster and preserve Davred's person and his rare talent. That was another thing no one else on the satellite knew.

Once, Robler himself had been tested to see if he were a potential Cathartic Agent, and he had failed the tests by only a very small margin. That thought had never ceased to gall him, and he should have reported his feelings at his medicals, but he hadn’t wanted to expose a weakness like that to others. Although he’d had what most would consider a very successful career, he’d had no chance to do anything of real consequence in the Confederation, no chance to demonstrate how talented he was. Now, however, he was involved in something important, and nothing, absolutely nothing, was going to spoil that.

Today's display of emotion had made him come to an important decision. He must try to guide Davred into taking a more detached view of the Sisterhood. It was necessary to empathise with those over whom you held wardship, but the feeling mustn’t be allowed to dominate your reason.

Lenlin was right. A request from a potential CA to make a Commitment to one planet would never be approved by Confex. However, a refusal would upset Davred, and might even slow down his development. Better that he never faced a refusal. Robler decided to find Davred a few urgent jobs to distract him from spending so much time playing God to that damned Sisterhood. Lenlin wasn't the only one who was beginning to develop a dislike for those silly women and their tedious rituals.

#####

Chapter 4: THOSE OF THE SERPENT

When the temple messenger later reported to his master what had happened in Temple Tenebrak, his awe at what he had seen was all too obvious.

'Lord, when the Elder Sister had finished, there was joy everywhere. Even I could feel it.'

'Mass hysteria,' said his master sourly. 'Be careful they don't fool you with their play-acting. The Serpent doesn’t forgive those who betray him. Go on, fool! What happened next?'

The messenger shivered and took care to deliver the rest of his report in a calm, factual manner. 'She - the Elder Sister - spoke the prophecy again to everyone in the hall.' He repeated it to them, word-perfect. The Sisters were not the only ones to train the memories of their followers. 'Then they gathered.'

'A form of meditation. We can all do that. Go on! Was that all?'

The man hesitated. 'No, Lord, not quite all. When the ceremony was over, the Elder Sister clapped her hands again and walked among the women, as if looking for someone. Then she touched a girl on the head - one of the novices -

and named her Sister-Elect.'

'Did you find out who the girl was? Is there something special about her?' The voice came from the shadows, but the messenger knew better than to stare at his master's friends.

'She is no one, Lord. A peasant from Kelandra. Not even a good novice. Always in trouble. We servants hear the gossip about her. I knew who she was and laughed to think of her named Sister-Elect.'

'Never mind some stupid novice, I want to know what's got into those damned women to make them start prophesying.' his master interrupted. Benner, Lord Claimant of Tenebron, was famous for his irascibility. 'Haven't I got trouble enough without that old hag starting another foolish rumour? The poorfolk won't do any work for days now.

They never do after a prophecy. The lazy scum seize any excuse to celebrate. And once they start drinking, they start fighting. The Shambles ran red with blood last time and they set light to one of my warehouses.'

QUEST Shannah Jay 23

The dark-haired man sitting so quietly behind the table leaned forward and murmured something to Benner, who tossed a coin to the messenger. 'You can go now, fellow. You were right to come to me quickly with this. Get a scribe to write that hag's rhyme down before you leave.'

When the two were alone, the stranger said sarcastically, 'The Sisters are not often given to prophecy. A rare treat.'

'Not for me,' said Benner sourly. 'I have to run this city and col ect the taxes. There'll be trouble tomorrow. There always is.'

'Yet never, I think, has one of the Sisterhood's prophecies failed to mean something.'

Benner scowled. 'No. Mind, I can't see what this one means. Can you? It doesn't make sense. And it might be years before we find anything out.' He sat brooding for a moment, then growled, 'I wish we could keep an eye on what goes on in that damned temple of theirs. It's nearly impossible to discover what that demon-spawned Sisterhood is planning to do - that dolt of a messenger is one of the rare people to infiltrate the temple, the Serpent alone knows how. Those whores seem to be able to recognise a spy on sight.'

'Pure chance. They've been lucky.'

'I'm not so sure. Serpent save me, I'd give a year's taxes to find out how they always know what's going on in the other claims before anyone else does. Lately they've been weeks ahead with the knowledge. How do they do it? Even a chain of home-birds couldn't get the information through as quickly as the Sisterhood does. I've tried it and those stupid birds are more trouble than they're worth.' He slammed his fist down on the tabletop, ignoring the silver goblet that splashed its contents across the floor and rolled under his chair. 'Those she-devils! Always those she-devils! All my life, they have . . . ' He broke off and regained control of his temper. 'Have you any idea how they do it, Sen-Sether?'

'No. And I leave such fruitless speculation to those with nothing better to do. Stop worrying about the Sisters and start doing something about them.'

'It's easy for you to talk. You don't have Herra as Elder Sister in Temple Setherak. The trouble that hag has caused us here in the Claim of Tenebron, one way or another! And since before my grandfather's time, too. It's not natural! She should have died years ago.'

'You should have killed her off years ago.'

'Do you think we haven't tried?'

Sen-Sether shrugged. 'You'll find a way, if you work at it for long enough. But don't do anything for the moment.

We must wait in patience, as we decided. Precipitate action could ruin everything. The Serpent is attracting more followers every day, especially among the younger men. If you follow my suggestions, the membership in this claim will soon catch up with that in Setheron. Men are easily led when it comes to their own pleasure, and we've perfected a stronger sort of incense that makes them most amenable to suggestion.' His dark eyes gleamed with a lust that had no relationship to sexual gratification. 'And our Inner Shrine has worked out some new rituals, too. We're bringing pain right out into the everyday rituals now.'

Benner was startled. 'Surely they won't accept that? And the women will kick up a fuss if you treat them like that.'

'The ordinary worshippers are accepting it. I told you. We have a new sort of incense. I've written down the mixture details.' He reached inside his belt pouch and pulled out a roll of paper, which he tossed on to the table. 'There. You'll see how well it works. And as for the women - they're fools when it comes to the men they love. They deserve all they get.'

Sen-Sether rose to his feet and smoothed the rich material of his tunic with one elegant, well-manicured hand. His fierce features softened into a smile which didn’t reach his dark, hooded eyes. 'I must leave now, my friend. I want to get back to Setheron. Are you sure that fool reported what happened accurately?'

'He usually does. He has a few small talents, one of which is his memory. That's why he's employed as a messenger.

But you'll have no trouble checking what he said. The prophecy will be all over the city by tomorrow. Even the beggars will know it by heart. Those stupid bitches never keep anything secret.'

'I shal be far away by then. I intend to travel through the night. The High Lady is due to whelp soon. I must get QUEST Shannah Jay 24

back to make sure no little nephew or niece survives to spoil things for me. If that prophecy was talking about Shiaran's child, I'll make very certain that it doesn't come true!'

'This will be the first child she's carried to term, won't it?' asked Benner, not without a hint of maliciousness.

'Yes. And the last she'll ever carry!' snapped Sen-Sether. 'I don't know how she managed it. I keep her food well laced with a special ingredient.' He shrugged. 'Well, it was only a matter of time before I had to get rid of her. I real y can't have her producing an heir for my dear brother, Danver.'

'Not when you're waiting impatiently to step into his shoes.'

'Oh, not impatiently. I haven't completed my training yet. I intend to become Lord of the Inner Shrine before I become Lord Claimant.' His expression made even Benner shiver, so vicious was the cold light in his eyes. 'And I doubt that my brother will ever wed again, once we've disposed of Shiaran. He dotes on her like some callow, love-sick youth.

A man's happiness should not depend upon a woman. They are there to give us pleasure and sons, nothing more.'

'Especially the pleasure, eh?'

'Especially that, in whatever way we choose. But I shall arrange to have sons in due course. As you have. How is your wife, by the way? And how fares the little Lord Evren?' It was Sen-Sether's turn to be malicious.

Benner scowled. 'As ever. Margarel doesn't change. And she doesn't bear living children easily. For all my efforts, she's only produced a soft-heart of a lad, one who takes after her. If it weren't for her family connections, I'd get rid of her and try again. As it is, I've had to send her to live in the country,' he grinned, 'for her health. That'll stop her from spoiling Evren. I've put a tutor in charge of him now, someone I can rely on, a full Initiate of the Inner Shrine. We'll soon knock that squeamishness out of him.'

'I pray you succeed.'

'As I pray for your success,' Benner returned smoothly. Sen-Sether might guess how deeply the sickly fancies of his only son galled him, but Benner was admitting nothing. 'I shall look forward, then, to the day when I can drink the health of the first man to be both Lord Claimant and Lord of the Inner Shrine,' he said, and swept Sen-Sether a mocking courtier's bow.

'That day won’t be too long in coming, Benner, my friend.'

By the following morning, as Benner had foretold, Herra's prophecy was humming around the streets of Tenebrak and was already being called the Great Prophecy. And not only in that city. Reports gradually came in that the prophecy had been proclaimed in every large city on the very same day. How did those unnatural whores do it? Benner wondered for the thousandth time. How did they get news to each other so quickly? He'd give a fortune for such a rapid communication system.

The prophecy was still buzzing around Setherak three days later, when Sen-Sether arrived, and that didn’t please him at all. The reference to the babies worried him more than he would admit, even to himself. He had kil ed several mounts in a wild ride back to Setheron, and was not satisfied with what he found at the castle. Was there something just a little shifty-eyed about those who had tended his sister-in-law? Not being a man to neglect details, he sent a servant he trusted to get hold of one of the midwives and wring out of her exactly what had happened to the High Lady the night she died.

As he waited for the fellow's report, Sen-Sether paced up and down his bedchamber, his thin face dark with fury.

Shiaran was dead and the grieving Lord Claimant was vowing eternal celibacy, so that part of the plan at least had worked as it was supposed to. But although Sen-Sether had scotched any possibility of his brother fathering a son and heir, the first words of the prophecy still kept coming back to him: Though spawned of death, redeemed in birth.

'When I have taken claim to Setheron,' he vowed, 'the first thing I shall do, the very first thing, will be to ban the Sisterhood completely, kill all those hel -spawned bitches and pull down their temple stone by stone.'

When torture revealed that the baby had been spirited away by two Sisters, Sen-Sether's fury was careful y controlled, but terrifying in its intensity. His servants crept round his chambers in a constant state of apprehension, dreading to share the fate of the midwives, who had been disposed of slowly in the Inner Shrine. Sen-Sether's servants QUEST Shannah Jay 25

had a habit of disappearing if they displeased their master and no one served him voluntarily.

This time it was several days before his fury abated, for no trace could be found of the child. He personally whipped two of his servants on the slightest of pretexts before sending them to tend the meat nerids on his estate, a much-despised task, for the animals were utterly stupid and hard to manage, and slaughtering them was a stinking task.

Gradual y, Sen-Sether's temper began to mend, but his determination to find out what had happened to the infant did not fade, in spite of his lack of success, and he set several men on the trail. He debated capturing the temple and wringing the information out of the Sisters, but the time wasn’t yet ripe for such an open move against the Sisterhood.

He was also in some doubt as to whether any of those women could be forced to reveal information, even by a skilled torturer. The whores were most carefully trained to control their own bodies. One day he’d have the pleasure of finding out, however.

Sen-Sether continued to mourn publicly for the death of his nephew. He was quite prepared to silence his brother if word of the baby's rescue leaked out. Though that would be a pity, because he’d prefer to inherit the claim peaceably later, when he’d finished his training in the Inner Shrine.

A long illness, Sen-Sether decided, would be the most credible method of disposing of Danver, and would be quite easy to arrange for one who had access to the secrets of the Inner Shrine. Danver had always been rather delicate. Sen-Sether took to fussing gently about his brother's health, fostering the illusion that it was deteriorating. The Serpent would guide him to the end of that path when the time came, but it would not hurt to lay the foundations now. In the meantime, he was breaking new ground in his training as Lord of the Inner Shrine, and even the other Initiates were starting to fear him, something.

which gave him great satisfaction.

#####

Chapter 5: KATIA - SISTER-ELECT

Life improved considerably for Katia after the momentous evening of the prophecy. When the Ceremony of Rejoicing was over, she followed Herra out of the Hall of the God into the Sisters' chambers below it, shivering uncontrollably. The novices were not allowed down into the levels below the temple, and rumours about what went on there were rife among the more foolish of them.

Why had she been chosen again? Why? Why? Why? Bad enough to be a novice in the temple; worse, far worse, to be a Sister-Elect. Before, she had had some faint hope of failing the training, but she would never escape now. She stared around her in near panic as she followed Herra down the stairs that led to the chambers below the temple. What she saw surprised her. Bare stone wal s, few carvings, no rich hangings. At least the novices' quarters had windows in them.

This was like being trapped in a cave.

If only she had escaped that day in the mountains. It would have been better to live alone, shunned by others for failing to do her duty, than to suffocate in this stone prison. Only - if she had escaped, her grandfather would have been shamed and shunned too, and Kensin hadn’t deserved that of her.

In the Sisters' eating room, Katia stumbled to a halt and stood waiting, eyes lowered to hide her fear. What would happen to her now?She wasn’t quite sure what they did to a Sister-Elect.

'Have you run mad, Herra?' demanded Cheral. 'This one is the least suitable of all!' She cast a scornful glance at the visibly-trembling Katia.

Was there a chance that there had been a mistake? 'Indeed, Illustrious Sisters, I'm not worthy!' Katia said earnestly, risking a reprimand.

There was dead silence in the room.

QUEST Shannah Jay 26

'Who told you to say that?' demanded Cheral.

'No one, Illustrious Sister, no one! I meant no harm. But indeed and indeed, I'm not worthy!' The enormity of what might lie before her made Katia suddenly feel weak and she fel to her knees, clasping her hands together at her breast.

'I meant no disrespect,' she sobbed, terrified by the way they were looking at her. The flickering light of a badly-trimmed lamp cast menacing shadows of the robed figures on the walls. 'The God knows I meant no disrespect, but I am not worthy to hear His words!' Her voice rang out hysterically.

There was silence in the chamber, except for Katia's sobs.

'No one told her and yet she has thrice denied her worthiness,' said Herra quietly. Her voice was once again that of an old woman - and a very tired old woman at that. 'Say you still that I chose wrongly, Cheral?'

The Novice Mistress shook her head. 'No. But the ways of our Brother are sometimes beyond my comprehension.'

She became worried by Herra's air of exhaustion and said with rough kindness, 'Well, you'll not be fit to listen again tonight, that's for sure, Elder Sister. Someone else had better go up and finish your turn on watch.' One of the women slipped away.

Cheral became aware that Katia was stil kneeling on the floor, sobbing. 'Get up, child. We're all Sisters of the God together. If he has chosen you, then he must want you for a purpose.'

When the girl made no attempt to move, Cheral clicked her tongue in exasperation and pulled Katia to her feet, stroking back the dark tangled hair from the tear-streaked face. 'Come and sit down here, next to Herra, and I'l go and get you both some hot milk. I don't know which of you is the more exhausted.'

The other Sisters drifted off to their own chambers and Katia was left sitting next to the Elder Sister at a small, well-scrubbed wooden table, even plainer than those the novices used. 'I - I'm sorry.' she gulped. 'I keep d-doing the wrong thing.'

Herra patted her on the shoulder, startled by the way the girl winced at the touch. 'Child, you did as our Brother willed. No one can do more.' And because she had never forgotten her own Choosing over two hundred years previously, she added, 'Are you afraid?'

Katia nodded and two tears rolled down her cheeks.

Herra clasped her hand. 'I was, too, when I was your age. Ididn't want to be chosen.'

' You didn't want to be chosen? '

'No. I was fond of my family. I had no desire to leave them. Do you miss your family?'

More tears spilled down Katia's cheeks. 'There's only my grandfather. But I miss him dreadfully. Every day.'

'What happened to your father and mother?'

'They died in a rock fall. I was about two then, so I don't remember them. I'd been ill, and I was staying with Grandfather, so he just kept me there. He was lonely. Grandmother had died a while before. My aunt, who lives two days' journey away, already had a large family and there was no one else.'

'It was allowed? A man on his own to bring up a girl-child?'

'There was no one else. Oh, someone in the town would have taken me in, if necessary, but people have large families in the High Alder, Elder Sister. Only Grandfather real y wanted me. And I couldn't have had a better upbringing! He taught me everything.'

She hadn't seen Cheral come in with the drinks and she jumped when the Novice Mistress spoke just behind her.

'Not quite everything, Katia, or you wouldn't have been such a poor pupil here.'

'Well, everything about the forests and even about the wildwoods. We used to go there sometimes in summer.' Katia cast a glance of loathing at the grey stone walls, but didn’t dare voice her hatred of the temple.

Herra turned to Cheral. 'Would you bring Katia some blankets, please? She needs comfort for a while.' She made a sign to Cheral to leave them alone together and picked up the beaker of hot milk, cradling it in slim, shapely hands. She QUEST Shannah Jay 27

hadn’t missed the way the girl had looked around her, and had guessed more from that brief conversation than Katia would have believed possible.

'You'd better drink up your milk before it grows cold. Cheral gets annoyed if one doesn't do as she says when she's in one of her fusses.'

Sullenly Katia picked up the beaker. 'I prefer mountain nerid's milk,' she said defiantly. 'We always drank that at home.'

'I prefer it, too. But it's hard to find in Tenebrak. And there's nothing wrong with ordinary nerid's milk.'

You could never get the better of a Sister in an argument, thought Katia bitterly. She concentrated on her milk, which was nice and hot, at least.

Afterwards Herra herself took Katia to a small room at the end of a narrow corridor. Being underground, the room had no window, and it contained nothing that was not strictly essential. At one side was a ventilation shaft, which gave a little light in the daytime, and at the other side, a narrow bed and a chest. She saw how the child shivered at the sight of this stark chamber and said gently, 'When you become a ful Sister, Katia, you'll be able to have a chamber with a window. We use these chambers for Sisters-Elect to spare them the distractions of normal temple life.'

Katia said nothing. She had given up hoping for anything good to happen to her. She shivered and hugged her arms around herself.

Herra looked at her sympathetically. Poor girl! How very unhappy she was. She tried to cheer the child up a little.

'Since I was the one who chose you, it's up to me to take responsibility for your training . . . ' she began.

Cheral bustled in with a pile of bed linen and thick fleecy blankets, followed by another Sister carrying the things from Katia's bed and chest in the novices' dormitory. 'You're spoiling her already,' she scolded Herra, ignoring Katia.

'You always spoil them! How will she learn to control her body if you give her a pile of blankets?'

'She's not capable of control ing anything tonight. She's cold and afraid, and she needs the extra warmth.'

'And what about tomorrow? Is she still to join the others for lessons? She's learnt almost nothing so far, though she's been here for over six months.'

Herra ignored the sharp tone in her Sister's voice, and spoke cheerfully, for Katia's sake. 'No. Tomorrow I shall go on retreat for a week, to the crèche, and Katia shall come with me. She needs a rest, too. She can help Rianna with the children. After that, we shall see.'

'Well, I hope you know what . . . '

'Enough. Our Brother, the God, has chosen her, and we are his servants. You forget yourself when you question his choice.'

As she spoke, the air around Herra seemed almost to crackle with power. Katia could only gape as Cheral turned pale, bowed her head slightly and left the room.

Herra hung the lamp Cheral had brought on the wal hook and turned the wick down low. ' Go to sleep now, child. Be ready to leave in the morning at Third Gong.'

There was enough power in her voice to make the new Sister-Elect climb obediently into the narrow bed, snuggle down among the beautiful soft blankets and fall asleep.

Katia almost panicked the next day when she woke up in a dimly-lit chamber which she didn’t at first recognise.

Then memories flooded back and she tried to come to terms with her new status. She wasn’t left long with her thoughts. The First Gong sounded and she tumbled automatically out of bed and went to perform her ablutions. She met Sister Laliran in the corridor outside and shyly asked the way to the Sisters' washing room.

'Welcome to the Sisterhood, Katia.' Laliran gave her a hug. 'May you find happiness in the service of our Brother.'

'Thank you.' Katia usually spurned all attempts at friendliness,but who could take offence at gentle Sister Laliran, who played the temple chimes and led the music?

QUEST Shannah Jay 28

At least the Sisters' washing room wasn’t crowded. There seemed to be room for far more Sisters in the lower levels than currently occupied them. For the first time since her arrival in Tenebrak, Katia hurried through her toilette, eager for the day to begin. Herra had said that she was to be allowed outside the temple. Outside! And for a whole week!

When she went back to her chamber to pack her things for the journey, she nearly panicked at the sight of the clean blue Sister's robes on the bed. She pulled herself together and put on her underclothes, then slipped a robe over her head, twitching its folds into place with fingers that shook a little. The robe wasn’t as heavy as she’d expected, though it was much fuller than the grey ones the novices wore. The material was soft, shimmering slightly even in this dim light, and reminded her of the petals of the shannalin blossoms. In the temple ceremonies, the robes of the Sisters seemed almost iridescent in the light of the many lamps which hung there. Katia stroked the gleaming material with one fingertip. It was so beautiful.

Packing her things wasn’t an arduous task and Katia hummed as she worked. The thought of going outside made her feel much more cheerful than usual. She’d always sung until she came to the temple, but there unhappiness had made her reluctant to join in the choruses, let alone take a solo part.

Cheral came in as she was finishing, ready as usual to criticise and find fault. But this time the folds of Katia's spare robe were ritually accurate, and no error could be found in the packing of her other belongings. Cheral picked up the old grey robe. 'Well, at least you didn't tear this one. It can be used again.'

Katia plucked up her courage. 'Do I - do I have any duties?'

'You will have duties normally, but the Elder Sister has excused you this morning.' Cheral lifted Katia's chin, and her eyes were not unkind as she scrutinised the pale face under its cloud of dark hair. 'Hmm. I hadn't realised how thin you'd become.' I’ve been at fault myself in not noticing that, she thought guiltily. May our Brother forgive me. 'Just look at those shadows under your eyes! Though you do seem a bit more cheerful today, I must say.'

'Am I - are we really going outside?'

'Yes. But before you do, listen to me, and listen well, for once! You must look after Herra most careful y. None of this hedging around, doing things half-heartedly.'

Katia flushed and Cheral continued, 'The Elder Sister is a very special person, unquestionably the most important person in the whole Sisterhood, and in our whole world too, come to that. If necessary, you are to give your life to save hers.' She smiled grimly at Katia's open-mouthed astonishment. 'Oh, yes. That's a distinct possibility nowadays. It's not all gongs and temple ritual when one is a Sister, you know. Those of the Serpent have tried several times already to kill Herra, but our Brother protects his own.'

Katia gulped. 'I didn't know. But I will look after her, Illustrious Sister, I promise.'

'My name is Cheral. And you're a Sister too, now, remember - Sister-Elect, anyway.'

'Yes. I keep forgetting.' Katia took a deep breath. 'Er - Cheral, where exactly is Herra taking me?'

'To the crèche. It's outside the town, to the north. It's one of our largest crèches.' She saw Katia's puzzlement.

'Haven't you been listening to anything I've been saying for these past six months?' She saw the green eyes fill with tears.

'I was so homesick, I couldn't think properly.'

'Well, you'd better start listening now. And thinking properly, too. Your very life may depend upon it.'

'I'll try. Really, I will. But whose babies are they?'

Cheral sighed in exasperation. 'Sisters are women, just like any others, and women have children. If they don't, their bodies become unbalanced. Most of us don't choose to have more than two or three children, and we pick the fathers rather more carefully than other women do.' Her eyes softened momentarily. 'Some Sisters don't return to the temple straight away.' She sighed and her thoughts wandered elsewhere for a few moments, then she shook her head and continued, 'But eventually we all return to our tasks here.'

Katia's eyes blazed with sudden hope. 'People leave the Sisterhood? They're allowed to leave?'

'No one who is chosen can ever leave the Sisterhood,' Cheral said flatly. 'But some decide to reside for a while in the QUEST Shannah Jay 29

outside world, to marry and raise their own and other Sisters' children. They return later, though, when their husbands die.'

Katia looked puzzled. 'But what if their husbands don't die first?'

Cheral sighed in exasperation. 'You know that most of us live longer than other people. It's not just the Elder Sister who has that privilege. No, I can see that you hadn't thought about that. Wel , think about it now. You're likely to live for nearly twice as long as an ordinary person.'

She smiled grimly at Katia's gasp. 'In the meantime, it's very useful to us to have some of our Sisters out in the community. Our Brother needs servants everywhere, if the Quest is ever to succeed. And what, might I ask, were you doing last month when I explained all this?'

Katia flushed. 'I - the stone dulls my thoughts. And last month, I could smell the riala-blossom in the garlands. It made me remember my home. I'm sorry, Illus- . . . Cheral, really I am.'

'See that you remember it this time, then,' said a voice behind them.

Herra was standing in the doorway. How long had she been there listening?

'Are you ready, Katia?'

'Yes, Elder Sister.'

'We aren't taking part in a ceremony, now. My name is Herra. Al are equal in the Sisterhood, though some of us have benefited from our long years to acquire more knowledge than others- and sometimes, even, a little wisdom.'

'I've felt so stupid since I came to Tenebrak,' Katia confided. Herra smiled at her, and after her kindness of the night before, she no longer seemed so terrifying.

'You have different knowledge from the other girls, that's all.

‘All things that pass

Are wisdom's looking glass.'

Herra smiled again as she spoke, as if at a pleasant memory. 'The present Manifestation of our God told me that verse once and I have taken it for myself, to help guide my soul through these days of darkness. The words were written in times long ago by a woman with the Gift of Poetry. Only fragments of her work are now known. Our Brother is very fond of beauty, you know, whether in words or in objects.'

'You make him seem - real.'

'He is real. Never doubt that. Now, enough gossiping. Come and join the morning Gathering, then we'll break our fast and be off.'

The other novices were already in their places and several cast envious looks at Katia as she self-consciously followed Herra and took her place for the first time in the front of the great hall with the other Sisters. Then the chimes rang out. All bowed their heads in acknowledgment of the God's presence as they gathered.

For Katia, this communion was again a thing of bewildering joy. She felt the life force flow more swiftly in her veins and the pain of her separation from her grandfather begin at last to wash away as she gathered with her Sisters. She raised wondering eyes to the statue of the God as they concluded the ceremony. Was he indeed her Brother now? And what lay behind the impenetrable darkness at the rear of the statue? Was it true that a new part of the statue appeared every time another Manifestation of the God came down to the planet? She screwed up her eyes and it seemed for a moment as if she could see the shape of a head there, but afterwards she decided she must have been mistaken.

When the Morning Gathering was over, the Sisters returned to their big communal chamber in the lower level to break their fast and discuss the day's tasks. Katia, with the prospect of going outside before her, could eat very little. She didn’t join in the conversation, but smiled shyly when spoken to. Without its sulky expression, her face was like that of QUEST Shannah Jay 30

any other girl on the verge of womanhood.

The other Sisters, remembering their own Second Choosings as Sisters of the God, and the wonder of their first few Gatherings, didn’t press her to speak, and Herra deflected Cheral's attention without the latter realising it.

The Elder Sister quickly finished her own bread and fruit, drained the glass of glowberry juice, a tonic which Cheral had insisted she and Katia both needed, then stood up and turned to say. 'Fetch your things, child. It's time to leave.'

#####

Chapter 6: HERRA'S GIFTS

Katia was quivering with anticipation as she and Herra walked through the temple compound towards the great bronze gates that were only closed at night. Novices were rarely al owed outside the temple during the first two years of their training. This would be her first outing since her arrival.

The gatekeeper bowed to Herra as they approached. Katia's breath caught in her throat at the sight of the street beyond him. She was sure that something would happen to stop her leaving. She watched Herra walk outside and could not, for a moment, force her stiff legs to follow. Then she panicked and stumbled forward at a half run, afraid the gatekeeper might try to stop her. But he merely cal ed out, 'Our Brother go with you, Sisters!'

Katia came to a halt in the sunlight of the open street, breathing in uneven gulps and gazing around wide-eyed at the bustle of a populous city going about its daily business. The storm was over now. The wind had dropped and the air was fresh after a light morning shower.

She lifted her face to the sky, like a flower seeking warmth. Her dark hair was a riot of tangled curls, barely held in check by the blue Sister's bandeau which, child-like, she had tied for comfort, with no thought of adding to her attractions.

Herra made no attempt to move on, just stood and allowed this most unhappy of novices to gain some control over her emotions. After a moment or two, Katia gave a deep sigh and some of the tension went out of her shoulders. Then she noticed that the Elder Sister was watching her and managed a wobbly smile that made Herra want to hug her.

'It's so wonderful, Elder Sister - being outside, I mean.'

Cheral should have noticed the state this child was in, Herra decided. She should have sent her to Lara for help long before now. What have we done to our little Katia? I shall reprimand Cheral about it. She’s too concerned with making the girls fit into her pattern, and too little concerned with their individual needs - though she’s a fine teacher of the preliminary skills, none better.

Aloud, she only said, 'Take your time, child. When you feel ready, we'll move on. I'm in no hurry, myself. It's good to be out in the sunshine, isn't it?'

Katia nodded. 'I don't like to be shut in. I can't seem to breathe properly, or to think clearly. I'm sorry, Elder Sister.'

'What for? Being Katia?'

'Being a nuisance.'

'You're not a nuisance to me. But if you're breathing properly now, perhaps we might start walking?'

Katia flushed, but Herra's smile was so warm and her hand was so gentle upon her younger Sister's shoulder, that the girl took heart. Her grandfather had sometimes walked with her like this, in the cool green tunnels of the forests back home.

As they strolled down the wide avenue that led down from the top of the ridge, below which the ancient city of Tenebrak sprawled, Katia stared around, wide-eyed. She looked so alien and bewildered amid all the bustle that Herra's QUEST Shannah Jay 31

heart went out to her anew.

The streets were full of people hurrying about their daily business. Katia kept shrinking out of their way. Carts of fresh produce from the nearby villages, pulled by slow-moving draught nerids, rolled along the avenue, churning the remaining storm-puddles to mud. An occasional rider picked a fastidious way through the mass of vehicles. Some rode the larger white nerids, a sign of wealth. Few could afford the time and expense of looking after these fussy beasts.

Most rode common brown nerids, which needed no fuss or grooming, and ate almost anything. Hard-working as a nerid, people said, and clumsy as a nerid, too. They were like a child's drawing of an animal, with coarse brownish hair covering their backs, a beard under their lower jaws, and stumpy tails with a tuft of hair on the end.

Once or twice a huge trader's wagon pulled by deleff passed them, and people drew back to make room for it. The canvas sides were rolled down for protection against the recent showers, but usually these would be rol ed up under the fringed top awning. The wagons rumbled along slowly and it always seemed impossible to Katia that even deleff could pull such heavy loads with ease.

She had grown more used to deleff during the long journey from the High Alder, but the great creatures still seemed strange to her. Deleff, which refused to breed in captivity, came out of the wildwoods to pull the wagons voluntarily for the traders, or to pull the temple wagons for the Sisters every spring. They looked, Katia thought, eyeing them now with more interest than she had felt on the journey, a bit like the giant lizards that lived in the temple courtyard and eaves, but the deleff had longer legs upon which they stood upright, and they had ruffs of thin loose skin round their necks, which seemed to give them a well-dressed appearance, especially when the ruff was raised. They had thick tails that hung nearly to the ground and they looked as if they ought to have wings sprouting from the stumps on their shoulders, but that was silly, she thought, a child's fancy, and she wasn't a child any more, but a Sister-Elect.

As she walked along the street next to a wagon, she wondered what was in it. In the High Alder, the wagons brought knives and other pieces of fine Kelandra steel, or bolts of soft wool en material from Garshlian. What sort of goods would a city like Tenebrak need? It was the capital of Tenebron, the first and richest of all the Twelve Claims, a centre for silversmithing and woodcarving, not a struggling new territory like the High Alder. Would Danak one day become a busy city like this? Katia hoped not. Perhaps, she thought, as an astringent smell drifted behind the wagon, those traders were carrying herbs from the high forests, or salted sea fish from Fen-Halani, or musical instruments from Dyandra, where the tight-grained lereth wood was found in the High Reaches.

On the pavements, prosperous merchants in rich silks and gold-embroidered headbands were attended by obsequious clerks and servants in darker, more serviceable clothes. All goods pass through Tenebrak, the saying went. Katia could believe that now, as she watched the bustle around her.

Children and younglings on errands darted in and out of the crowd, sometimes earning themselves a blow for bumping into one of their elders. Some of the younglings carried heavy baskets, others only message tubes. There seemed to be fewer women around, which was a little puzzling, for at home the women of the small towns conducted just as much business as the men. Perhaps things were organised differently here. It seemed very different, so strange it made Katia's head spin.

The temple stood at the higher end of the Lord's Avenue, while the castle of Lord Benner stood at the lower end on a lesser ridge. Katia remembered Cheral once telling the novices that this was the tenth castle to have been built on that site in Tenebrak, and that all the other buildings in the city had been built and rebuilt over the centuries. Most of them were made of wood, which grew old and crumbled away, however much you painted it, though the castle was built of stone, as were some of the grander houses. But even stone crumbled in time, except for the stone of the temple which had endured since the Founding, defying wind and weather as it crouched there on top of the ridge.

Katia turned to stare at the temple now. She seemed to be seeing everything with new eyes today. 'Temple Tenebrak's very old, isn't it, Elder Sister? How old, exactly?'

'Ancient. It's over twenty thousand years since the Sisterhood was founded and the temple built, though it wasn't a Sisterhood then. Both men and women served our Brother at first.'

'It looks as if it's put down roots into the rock.' Katia frowned, remembering that Cheral had said she would live nearly twice as long as other people. She shivered at the thought. What was it like to be so old? She turned to stare at Herra. The Elder Sister was over two hundred years old. How must she feel? Even her own grandchildren would be QUEST Shannah Jay 32

dead by now, if she had had any.

Herra touched the child's shoulder again, and with a sigh, Katia moved on, unaware how long she had stood gazing at the temple.

Occasionally a voice would call out, 'Bless you, Sisters!' Once a countrywoman in homespun clothing reached out to touch Herra's flowing blue robe, and Herra stopped to clasp the trembling hand. After a moment she said softly, 'Go to the Temple and ask for Sister Lara, the Healer. Tell her Herra sent you.'

Tears filled the woman's eyes. 'She can help?'

'She can. You will be blessed with what you desire by this time next year.'

The tears were falling fast now. 'Thank you. Oh, thank you, Elder Sister!' The woman stumbled away in the direction of the temple.

Katia stared at Herra. 'I don't understand. What did she want?'

'A child.'

'But how did you know? She never said anything about a child.'

'Her hunger for a child showed in her eyes. It's a very common thing, if you know what to look for.'

'I saw nothing.' Katia's voice was sullen, almost disbelieving.

'That's because you're not a trained Healer.'

'But you promised her a child.'

'Sometimes, with the God's help, I know these things. Our Brother has blessed me with that Gift.'

They turned right halfway along the avenue, into a street which was even more crowded because of its narrowness.

Katia shrank closer to Herra. On the left, part-way along the street was a shady, cobbled alley full of shops sel ing food, with tables set outside each one.

'We have a call to make here,' said Herra, and grinned mischievously at Katia.

Bewildered by this change of mood, the girl followed her into a shop and waited.

'Have you any mountain nerid's milk, Liyanna?' Herra asked the plump woman behind the counter.

'Yes, Il ustrious Sister.'

'Could we have two large glasses of it, please, and some of your honeycakes?' There were some tiny wooden tables in one corner and Herra went over to one of them, rather than sitting outside. 'You did say you liked mountain nerid's milk best, didn't you, child?'

Katia could only gape at her.

Herra laughed aloud. 'A small treat, child, to celebrate your Second Choosing. Ah, thank you, Liyanna! No one makes honeycakes like yours.'

'And no one enjoys them quite as much as you, Il ustrious Sister.'

Herra grinned and turned to the girl. 'Now, Katia, I command you to eat and drink. You ate very little this morning and we have a long walk ahead of us.'

Cautiously Katia took a sip, then another. Ah! Nothing tasted like mountain nerid's milk! She drained the glass, then blushed as she realised that the Elder Sister was watching her. 'It was good,' she admitted, licking the milky moustache from her upper lip.

Another glass of milk was brought, and when the honeycakes were gone, Katia drained that too. Her face had lost its pale pinched look, and her cheeks were now tinged with colour. 'Thank you, Illu- er - Herra, I mean.'

'It was a pleasure to see you eat.' The grin was stil hovering. 'And an excuse to indulge myself.'

QUEST Shannah Jay 33

When they stood up to leave, the shop's owner came to the door with them.

'How much do we owe you, Liyanna?' Herra asked. 'And would you prefer payment in temple tokens or in the Lord Claimant's coin?'

'Neither, Illustrious Sister. It's an honour to serve you. And Sister - if you're thinking of leaving the city, don't follow the main highway. The poorfolk in the Shambles are restless today. They've set up blockades.'

'Oh, dear! What's wrong?' The amusement vanished from Herra's face.

'They're upset by the latest taxes. They say the new decree will stop them getting fair payment for their labour. And then there's the prophecy. Is it true that a Manifestation of the God is going to come down and save us?'

'So it seems.'

'May he come soon, then! Times are bad. And Those of the Serpent only make things worse. My young cousin joined them last month, and now he'll barely give me the time of day. Says I'm only a woman. Fetch me this, give me that, he said when he delivered the milk from the farm. I soon showed him I wasn't having any such nonsense. Get it yourself, I said. You've got two arms and two legs, haven't you? He said a woman should know her place and that I'd regret my insolence, so my husband clouted his ears for him. The cheek of it! Why, I remember the day that boy was born! Who does he think he is, a youngling like him telling me what to do?'

'And the trouble in the Shambles?' prompted Herra, as Liyanna paused for an indignant breath.

'Benner's guards are out in force today, and there have been a few disturbances. They say there are injured who need tending, but the guards won't let them leave the Shambles to get help at the temple. And you were fol owed here. Did you know that, Illustrious Sister? Two men. They're stil waiting outside. My husband saw them from upstairs.'

'I sensed it. But they won't stop me. They wouldn't dare to lay hands on the Elder Sister. Still, I thank you for your warning, my friend.'

Katia listened to this exchange in astonishment. What was happening in Tenebrak that a Sister must fear for her safety? Cheral's warning about protecting Herra came back to her and she shivered. This would not, could not have happened in the High Alder.

Serenely, as if she had not just been listening to a warning of danger, Herra led the way out and set a brisk pace along the narrow street. At the corner she turned and snapped her fingers. Two men stopped dead, looking bewildered.

Herra smiled grimly and continued on her way.

Katia glanced over her shoulder once or twice, but the men didn’t attempt to follow them.

People didn’t look prosperous and busy in this part of the city, nor were they as respectful to the Sisters. No one touched the two women, but a few people scowled at them and muttered threats. Katia's head was reeling. How dared people show disrespect for a Sister? They would have been stoned for that in Danak.

Once they passed an alley from which Katia shrank in horror. 'What is it, Elder Sister?' she gasped, clutching Herra's arm.

The Elder Sister's expression also showed distaste. 'There's a Shrine of the Serpent down that alley, child. You can't see the banners from here.'

'It feels,' Katia shuddered, 'evil. As if - as if it's surrounded by pain.'

Herra looked at her thoughtfully, but said nothing.

Eventually, they came to the edge of the Shambles.

'This isn't a good place either, Herra,' Katia said, staring around her. 'How can people bear to live here?'

That quarter of the town lay decades deep in filth, and the houses seemed to be leaning against each other for support. Some were no better than animal sheds. There was not a single plant or flower to be seen, only debris piled in corners by the wind, and a tangle of narrow alleys.

After a while Herra stopped. 'Look around you, Katia. We in the Sisterhood work hard to develop our Gifts so that QUEST Shannah Jay 34

we can help people such as these. Wisdom isn’t an easy thing to acquire, dear child, but we are doing our best. Some people are only interested in acquiring wealth, usually at the expense of others. Places like this are the result of that greed.'

Katia had never real y considered how much good the Sisterhood could do. It was a comforting thought.

Suddenly, to one side, they heard the sound of shouting and the clatter of fighting nerids' shod hooves. The few people in the street slid away and melted into doorways. A man with a bloodstained arm rushed around the corner and nearly knocked them over.

'Turn back, Sisters!' he gasped. 'Back for your lives! Benner's men have their swords out.' He was gone before they could reply.

Herra did not move. 'This is the result of unjust laws, Katia. The poorfolk have made the prophecy an excuse to stop work and protest against the new taxes. I wish they wouldn’t use our words against Lord Benner. It only fuels his hatred of us. I wish, too, that he would put more curbs on his men. His guards are becoming over fond of drawing their swords. That needs a sharp lesson, or this violence will escalate.' Gone was the gentle mischievous companion. In her place was a thin, steel-boned Elder Sister, whose very robe hung differently and whose eyes flashed a cold fire.

Katia followed her around the corner, remembering her promise to protect Herra with her life, if necessary. In a cul-de-sac to their right, a crowd of poorfolk had been trapped. Raggedly clad and gaunt of face, they were spitting shrill defiance at men riding nerids, men clad in black with the red hawk insignia of the house of Benner on their saddlecloths. They wore steel breastplates and brandished short, pointed swords, some already stained with blood. Katia gasped in horror at the sight.

Herra took a deep breath. 'This must be stopped. Child, can you stand beside me and show no fear?'

'I'll try, Elder Sister.'

' Think of the forest and do not flinch. Not even once. Do you understand?' Herra's voice changed tone for a moment and became softly persuasive. 'Such men would harm trees for sport, slash their bark and tear off their branches. They would trample on the flowers and kill the birds.'

Katia stood taller.

'Remember that your troubles are as nothing to what wil befall the poorfolk of Tenebrak if this rioting is allowed to get out of hand.' She looked searchingly at the girl, then nodded. 'So, come, child. We shall try to restore some Balance.'

Herra moved purposefully out across the space between the two groups, and Katia followed, determined not to let the Elder Sister down. The poorfolk saw them first.

'Keep back, Sisters! We don't want you to get hurt!'

'It's those cruel bastards we want, not you, Sisters!'

The leader of the mounted men moved forward and the crowd muttered angrily as he shouted, 'Hey, Sisters, or whatever you foolish women call yourselves, get out of our way! These fools have been rioting and need to be taught a little law and order.' His fingers were caressing the hilt of his sword as if it were alive, and his eyes were moist with anticipation.

Herra moved forward swiftly to stand right in front of his fighting nerid, which whickered fretfully and rolled its eyes at her. 'Allow me a few moments, Captain, and I can disperse these people for you without trouble.'

'Get out of my way! I don't need a woman's help to do my duty!'

Herra did not stir.

'If you won't move back of your own accord, I'll have you moved by force, you old hag!'

' Stop! ' Herra's voice was a hiss of sound, for his ears only.

As he turned to summon his men, he froze in his saddle. A wind whistled suddenly around them, whipping dust into people's eyes and whirling the rubbish from the alley's corners into the nerids' faces. The animals began to sidestep QUEST Shannah Jay 35

nervously and their riders were too busy control ing them to move against anyone. The captain was stilled, frozen halfway through his gesture.

Herra turned now to the crowd and her voice lashed out like a whip, for they too needed to be controlled. ‘Go home!

Now! ' She took a step forward, pointing with one hand, her gown blowing behind her in a wind that blew for her alone.

The crowd fell back before her, muttering.

'The God abhors bloodshed!' Herra's voice rang out again. ' Go home now! And stay at home today. ' The poorfolk began to move, stumbling down the alley and slipping around corners. The wind howled again and when it died down, only the riders and the two Sisters were left.

Herra walked back to the Captain and snapped her fingers. His arm fell to his side. 'How did you do that, you She-Devil?' His voice was hoarse with fear.

'My God sometimes works through me. Can yours do as much? Or does he hide in the darkness of his lair, waiting for the blood and pain you bring him? Now her voice sounded like ice fracturing. She moved nearer to the nerid and it backed away from her. 'Can you call forth the might of the Serpent against me now? Try it!'

He flushed with anger at her tone. 'The Serpent is too great to concern himself with me, but I can serve him well by ridding him of two evil witches.' He pulled the sword out of his scabbard in one swift gesture, but as he raised it, his arm froze again. 'Help me!' he cal ed to his men, his voice thick and slow. But Herra cast one fierce glance at the men, and they shuffled backwards, avoiding her eyes.

She turned to the Captain. ' My God loves his followers and wills evil to no man. Yours kills the innocent and spreads Discord.' She snapped her fingers and the sword fell from the Captain's hand, shattering into pieces on the cobbles, its steel as brittle as glass.

Then her arm fell and she turned away from him. She took one deep breath, then spoke in a more normal voice,

'Come, child. We have finished here.'

Without a backward glance she left the alley. 'You did well, Katia. I'm very pleased with you.'

'I did nothing!' Katia's legs felt shaky, but she tried to walk as steadily as Herra did.

'You held your ground, in spite of your fear. That was all I required of you.'

Katia couldn’t help looking nervously over her shoulder. 'Won't they try to fol ow us?'

'No. It'll be an hour or more before that Captain can move again, and his men are dull brutes, without the wit to take any action on their own.'

'Oh.' After a minute Katia ventured another question. 'Elder Sister, how did you do that?'

'It's a Discipline, like the others. If one has a Gift, one can learn to use it.' Herra smiled at the doubt on her young companion's face. 'Some few of us can do these things; most cannot. And yet, all the Sisters have some special Gift. If not that one, then another. That's why we are chosen.'

'I have no Gifts.'

'Of course you do. But you won't know where they lie until you've finished your training, maybe not even for a few years after that.'

'Cheral said I was the worst novice she'd ever had.'

'How hard were you trying to prove her right?'

Katia flushed. 'I am stupid,' she insisted, but forgot herself to ask anxiously, 'Are you all right?' For Herra had stumbled and caught hold of the girl's arm.

'Just tired. We must find somewhere where I can rest for a few moments. It's exhausting, control ing so many people.' And I'm growing old, Herra thought bitterly. Brother, you see me failing! Once, I would have had no trouble keeping your peace.

They found an empty barn on the edge of the city. Herra staggered inside it and col apsed on the ground. 'Let no QUEST Shannah Jay 36

one enter for a while, child. I must replenish my energy.' She began the Discipline of Minor Renewal, slipping easily into its physical and mental exercises, the strain melting from her face like wax down a candle.

Katia sat hunched by the doorway, pondering on what she had seen.

* * *

In the satellite above the planet, consternation reigned.

'It's impossible!' insisted Lenlin.

'But she did it,' said Davred in a hushed voice. 'Herra did something that ought to be impossible and we recorded it.

We have real proof at last.'

'We'll report the incident to Confex and let them decide if it was an illusion,' said Robler.

'Illusion!' exclaimed Davred. 'You know very well it was no illusion.'

'They won't believe it at Confex,' said Lenlin. 'I saw it happening and I still don't believe what I saw.'

'I believe it. And I also believe that this is the most important planet we’ve ever had under observation.' Davred turned to Robler. 'I wish to register my Commitment to Sunrise.' He hadn’t needed to think about it. He knew instinctively that it was the correct thing for him to do.

'You can't. You're too important to the Confederation.'

'Submit my application to Confex, Robler. It's not for you to approve or reject it. And start the tests. I shall pass them al easily. This planet is my destiny. I've known that since the day I arrived.'

'You're speaking like a primitive,' wailed Lenlin.

'Who was primitive today?' Davred countered, his eyes focused on other horizons. 'Could any citizen of the Confederation have done such things, for all our complex technology? I knew I was right to ask Herra to wear a tracer.'

He forgot Lenlin and turned back to his Exec. 'Robler, submit my application to Confex.'

'You'd better come to my office. There are things you should know before you take such a step.'

Davred sighed, but followed him. In the office he spoke first. 'I know what my potential is. I know why you postponed your retirement.'

'How? They tell no one.' Robler had only found out about his own near miss of being a CA by accident.

'I just know. Hints here and there. It's not hard to piece things together.'

'Then you must also know that I can't allow you to commit yourself to one planet. The Confederation has need of you.'

'It's my right.'

'I can override that right.'

'No, you can only delay my being granted permanent Title of Commitment.'

'Then I shall do that. You'll come to your senses after a while. You're bemused by those women.'

'I am indeed. And so should you be. I shall file another parallel report on the potential of Sunrise. And this time, they won't be able to deny the facts, because we recorded what Herra did.' He forgot his surroundings. 'It's like the magic the old Earth legends speak of. But this is real. We saw it! We recorded it!' He blinked and looked at the older man. 'As you must now record my application for Title of Commitment, Robler.'

Impatiently Davred went through the formal procedures, then vanished into his quarters to start researching the old tales of magic and sorcery. So little information on these was held in the satellite's library that he had to put in a special request to Central to send more material over the priority com-band. And that involved furnishing proof of the need for such expense. It was a while before he had finished. He completely forgot that he had arranged to join Lenlin in her quarters.

QUEST Shannah Jay 37

What with that, monitoring Herra and taking his normal stints of duty on watch, Davred was very busy for the next few weeks. Too busy to see much of Lenlin. Too busy to join in the normal social life of the satel ite. Once or twice he acceded to Lenlin's requests that they spend some time together. And at her pleading, he provided her with a frozen sample of his sperm so that she could later bear his child.

He did this without thinking of the child or caring about what would happen to Lenlin after she left the satellite. She was becoming a nuisance, and giving her the sperm was one way to stop her pestering him. Only because he had asked the com-system to remind him did he emerge from his room for her farewell party, and even then he was very absent-minded.

Watching them, Robler felt sorry for Lenlin, but most of all he felt angry that Davred was trying to throw his talents away on this unimportant planet. He was angry, too, that Davred was not on his way back to Central. He had recommended a transfer, though reluctantly, because that reflected badly on him, but it had been refused. The reason given was that a provisional Commitment would be one way of keeping Davred busy and happy for the next few years as his potential continued to develop.

Robler felt he had failed in his duty, and the thought galled him. He should have prevented Davred from growing too attached to this planet. Potential CAs didn't turn up often enough to waste one on a backward world like this.

The only safe thing would have been to send Davred back to Central with Lenlin, if necessary under stasis-restraint.

But Robler didn’t dare disobey orders. Nonetheless, he got a stasis cube out of stores, just in case. The cubes were sometimes used for preserving life in emergencies, such as an accident that destroyed a space drive, but they were also used occasionally for confining people who were disturbed enough to exhibit antisocial behaviour, just until they could be treated. When switched on, the cubes suspended the life of all living organisms within their radius, suspended it indefinitely, until someone turned the stasis off.

Robler eyed the smal cube, which fitted easily into his hand. He grinned, a skull's grin. He was beginning to think that Davred had run mad and needed treatment. Commitment indeed, and to a primitive planet like this one! Even Central was making poor decisions nowadays. Robler decided that he would need to be on his guard from now on. He didn’t intend to be found lacking.

#####

Chapter 7: THE WILDWOODS

Herra emerged from the barn an hour later and smiled tiredly at Katia, who was sitting on a pile of hay near the entrance. 'Thank you for watching over me, dear child. I'm sorry if you were bored.'

'I wasn't. I've been practising one of the Disciplines Cheral showed us.'

'That's excellent. Now, shall we move on? It's going to rain later and I have no mind to get wet.'

'Are you all right now, Elder Sister?' Katia stared at Herra, who looked utterly exhausted.

'I'm well enough to reach the crèche. I shall find better help there. At my age, one's powers of recovery become weaker.'

As they moved into open countryside, Katia's spirits rose. Of course the country was quite flat, not nearly as pretty as the High Alder, but still there were plenty of trees around, and beneath them were shrubs with blossoms fluttering in the breeze. Best of all, the air smelled fresh and untainted by the filth of the city.

They followed a little-used track for an hour, and the open countryside gave way to woodland. Eventually they left the track to follow a narrow path. At no time did they pass through a village or even see a habitation. They had met one or two country folk near the main highway, but from the turning onwards, they met no one. Katia, after six months shut up in the temple, even with daily dancing and exercise, was beginning to feel a little weary herself and Herra's face QUEST Shannah Jay 38

was almost grey with fatigue. The ground underfoot was soft, and the Sisters’ sandals were not nearly as comfortable as the soft leather boots Katia had worn at home in the High Alder.

After a time, they came to the wildwoods, and Katia drew in her breath in sheer delight. The trees here were far taller and the leafy canopy much higher. The very light was different, a sun-speckled dimness that wrapped warm fingers around you. It always seemed to Katia that the plant life in the wildwoods was twice as lush as that growing in woodlands frequented by humans. Beneath the tall trees, shrubs and bushes fought for space. Huge dark leaves turned upwards to catch the rain, plant crept across plant to gain a small advantage. Behind the tangled screen of foliage, rustling sounds betrayed the small shy animals which lived there.

Town-dwellers insisted the wildwoods were near impassable until you'd hacked away the undergrowth and cleared things up, and that idea always made Katia smile. She knew which types of plants could be pushed gently aside to allow passage and which were to be avoided as likely to bear thorns or acid sap. This place was not so different to the wildwoods of the High Alder. Even if there had been no path, she could have found her way through this green world.

But there was a path, a narrow thread of beaten earth upon which nothing grew, and that in itself was highly unusual.

Here and there, in the transition area between forest and wildwoods, shy trellis vines with their drifts of pale yellow blossoms crept undisturbed across the ground. They were the first to vanish when a tract of woodland was claimed for human use, so Katia was very careful not to step on them now. Other vines and creepers looped down from the trees, and stray petals drifted down gently from them. Birds sang above them and insects hummed and twittered. Life was there in an exuberant abundance.

Katia was entranced. Ah, how she had missed all this! Without thinking, she ran to press her cheek against the rough bark of the first giant tree they came to. She closed her eyes for a moment and sagged against it, breathing in deeply that special smell, at once tangy and musty, that only existed among trees whose leaves have lain around them for years, rotting into the earth, to be reabsorbed into its dark richness. Somewhere above her a silverbird was calling, its voice the purest and sweetest of all the bird cal s. No one had ever caught a silverbird. Katia wouldn’t want to. A creature which sang with such joy belonged in the woods, not in a cage.

'Can you manage for another half hour?' a voice asked gently behind her.

'Oh! I'm sorry, Eld- Herra. I forgot myself.'

'It's always good to greet a friend.'

'How did you know - that I feel the trees are my friends, I mean?'

'A Sister's training teaches one to use one's eyes. Now, child, can you manage for another half hour?'

'Yes, of course, Sister. But what about you? You look exhausted. Would you like to lean on me?'

'Yes, I think I shall need to. Once, I could have quelled a riot then walked all day. Now . . . ' She shrugged.

Half an hour's walk, mostly uphill, brought them to a place where the wildwoods thinned out. Subtle signs told Katia that this terrain was being carefully managed by someone. There were no hedges or barriers to mark the edge of the occupied land, only a slight difference in the foliage and animal life that city-dwel ers wouldn’t have noticed.

'This land is different,' she said idly.

'What do you mean?'

Katia told her and Herra looked at her strangely. 'You seem to have a Gift there, that none in the Temple can duplicate.'

'A Gift? Me? It's not a Gift; it's just country lore.'

'I have it not. Nor anyone else in Temple Tenebrak. Nor have I seen such fine perception among the country folk I know.'

'Oh.' It seemed impossible to Katia that she should know more than Herra about anything, or that she could have any sort of Gift.

They walked on silently, then Katia asked who claimed this land.

QUEST Shannah Jay 39

'No one. This is unclaimed land. There's quite a bit of it around still, you know.'

'I thought everything so close to Tenebrak was under claim.'

'Technically we're stil within the Claim of Tenebron,' Herra allowed, 'but Benner can't check every inch of his land personally, can he? Somehow, no one's ever taken much interest in this bit.' She smiled. 'And by the time anyone does, we shall have gone further out, into the unexplored reaches.'

'Is there really nothing out there? Is it true that the world comes to a stop at a cliff so tal that you can't see the bottom?'

'No, Katia. The world is as round as a child's ball. If you travelled far enough, you'd come back to where you started.

But there are great oceans to cross and no roads through the unexplored territories, so you'd probably die long before you found your way back. It's a very large ball, you see.'

'I can always find my way back.'

'What do you mean by that?'

'I don't get lost. I always know which direction to take.'

'Always?'

'Yes, of course.'

'That sounds like another Gift to me.'

Katia laughed. 'It's not really a Gift. Town folk can't do it, but many of the country folk in the High Alder can.

Grandfather trained me how to feel direction when I was very small.'

Herra filed this information, too, in her memory. It would later be recorded in the Archives. The child was full of surprises. She was beginning to think that the Sisters had lived in the city temples for too long. Maybe Katia had been chosen to teach them about the countryside. Maybe they all had new horizons before them.

'Herra - how do you know the world's shaped like a ball?'

'I know because my Novice Mistress told me.'

'Is that - is it because of the Forebears?'

Herra raised her eyebrows. 'Where did you hear such tales?'

'From my grandfather. He used to tell me tales in the evenings. He said our Forebears crossed the sky and then their flying ship was broken and they couldn’t return home. He says that's how the land of Tenebron was first claimed.'

'Possibly. We have such tales on record. But it's so long ago that no one can tell the truth of it all. The old legends persist in and around the city of Tenebrak as well.'

'It sounds a strange thing to do. I can't imagine a ship that flies, can you?'

'I've never seen one myself. But how else can our Brother live in the sky?’

'Are there tales of the Forebears in the Archives, then, Herra?'

'Yes. And of many other wonders. The Sisterhood has always sought and guarded knowledge - though we lose parts of it at times when Discord sets in. You'll learn about that in your training. Ah.' She pointed ahead down a steep rocky slope. 'There it is, our crèche. That's where we look after the children until they can be placed in suitable homes.'

The crèche was a long sprawling set of buildings made of rough wood. Some of the wood had faded into silvery greyness; some was new and still dark with sap. The buildings lay among a stand of very tall trees and the foliage soared over them, making the area shady.

A plump Sister stood waiting for them, as if she had sensed their approach. 'Herra, my dear, how delightful to see you! We had no word of your coming.'

'It was a sudden decision of mine, a whim, if you like. May we stay for a week or so? This is Katia. She's not been QUEST Shannah Jay 40

well. I've brought her out here to rest. Katia, this is Rianna. No one knows more about the ways of children than she does. That's one of her Gifts.'

Rianna nodded to Katia, then looked closely at Herra. 'What happened? You're even more tired than this child.'

'I had to stop a riot.'

'Which Disciplines?'

'Stilling, Compulsion, Breaking of Metal. Oh, and I was so angry that my wind blew strongly as well.'

'You did all that unprepared? With no help?'

Herra was meek as a child. 'I'm afraid so, Rianna. There wasn't time to send for help.'

'Oh, Elder Sister! What did I tell you last time?'

'There was dire need, my dear. People would have been killed, had I not intervened.'

'Well, now you have dire need of help, so you can just put yourself in my hands.' Rianna bustled them inside, ringing a bell on the wall as she passed. She found a chair for Herra and gestured to Katia to take another, then waited, tapping her foot impatiently, for someone to answer her summons. 'At your age!' she threw at the Elder Sister. 'You must learn to leave such tasks to others now.'

'It was necessary. Many lives were saved.'

'Oh, it's always necessary!' Rianna gave up trying to reason with such a stubborn woman and looked at Katia. 'And have you been ill, child? You look distinctly peaky.'

Herra answered for her. 'Katia's only been with us for six months. She isn't finding it easy to adjust. She's a child of the mountains and not used to being shut up indoors. She had her Second Choosing last night. She's a very special young woman to be chosen so young.'

Katia blushed hotly.

'Welcome to the Sisterhood, my dear.' But Rianna's main attention was on Herra. 'Ah, there you are, Sisters! Herra's been exhausting herself again.'

Two women joined them, greeted Herra and extended a warm welcome to Katia. At a sign from Rianna, they moved to form a small Circle around Herra and gestured to Katia to join them.

'You haven't joined in a Healing Circle before, child?' asked Rianna.

'No.'

'Just gather with us, then. Don't try to do anything else. Herra needs our help. Your presence will add to the strength of the group.'

Katia nodded. Already she looked forward to Gatherings and the wonderful peace of mind they brought.

Within seconds the air around them seemed to a bemused Katia to be flickering. She saw Rianna bow her head as they began, so she did likewise. For the first time she deeply regretted her lack of skills.

After a while the flickering stopped and Rianna became very brisk again. 'Well, that should start your recovery, my dear but foolish Elder Sister. Now, let's get both of you fed and you at least into bed.'

They went into a long low room with great open window spaces along each side. It was almost like being outside.

Katia sank down on one of the benches, more conscious of tiredness than of any desire to eat. However, once a bowl of savoury vegetable broth was set before her, she rediscovered her appetite. Even the bread and sharp cheese she had with it tasted better than food at the Temple. And the drink was fresh glowberry juice. Her favourite!

After the meal, Katia let out such a long happy sigh that Herra and Rianna both laughed at her.

'Better now?' asked Herra.

'Very much better, thank you.'

QUEST Shannah Jay 41

'Then I'll ask Berna to look after you. I must rest now. Help the Sisters where you can, child.'

As she showed Katia through the long low buildings of the crèche, Berna, who was a Healer-Elect, explained how things were run there. Most of the Sisters were engaged in looking after babies who were waiting for placement with families. The Sisters' well-known care for orphans gave them the chance to place their own babies in foster-homes, hard as that sometimes was for the mothers.

'Why are the houses built so - so huddle-muddle?' she asked Berna.

'To facilitate escape. Each house has its own tunnel.'

'Escape? From what?'

'It's not unknown in our history for rash lords, or lately for Those of the Serpent, to kill our babies in retaliation for some imagined offence, or even merely as a display of strength.'

'Kill babies!'

'And worse. It's against such Evil that we fight, my dear.'

Again there was the wrenching realisation that the lessons Katia had not bothered to learn in the temple had a very serious purpose. 'I didn't know. I really didn't know such things could happen. Not nowadays. Where I grew up, they didn't. People still followed the old laws absolutely.'

'You were fortunate. Most of us were raised in the midst of Discord.'

Katia loved helping with the babies. Living in the forest with her grandfather, she had had little to do with small children and nothing whatsoever to do with babies, and she found them fascinating. She was so ignorant of their needs and capabilities that several times the other Sisters burst out laughing, kindly laughter that brought her into their circle in a way she had never belonged to any group before.

A few of the Sisters there were very old and too frail for Renewal. All were around a hundred and fifty years old, and had been brought to live their last years in softer comfort than the temples could offer, helping with the children. Other Sisters were recovering from accidents or some exhausting ordeal - Sisters rarely fell ill. Two were there because they had been attacked and injured by mobs.

Of the younger Sisters, only Rianna, as Healer in Charge, and two others with the Gift of Nurture were permanently resident at the crèche. Berna had come to extend her training there. After a year or two, she would move on to another temple, to study with another Healer. Healing was a complex Discipline to learn. It was difficult enough to manage one's own body, let alone help others to manage theirs. It needed very special Gifts. People of all degrees came to the Sisterhood to seek the help of Healers and this was one of the things for which they were most loved.

Not until noon the next day did Katia see Herra again. 'Are you feeling better, Elder Sister?'

'Much better, child. And you? Can you think properly here?'

It was hard to believe this gentle, teasing person was the same one who had routed a group of Lord Benner's notorious black guards. 'Yes, I can. I feel so much better. This is a good place.'

'One of the best we've ever set up. Such a shame that we'll have to leave it in a few years' time. We're already searching for another site.'

'How do you know that you'll have to leave it?'

Herra looked into the distance, seeing her own thoughts, not the room she was in. 'They suspect that it exists, though they can't find our path, of course, because it has hidden wards along it. This Lord Claimant is beginning to grow too demanding of his possessions. He has a hunger to possess more and more land. He won't allow the Sisterhood to exist in peace much longer if he can help it. He is of the Serpent, an Initiate of the Inner Shrine. Our enemy. This is the worst Age of Discord on record, child.'

'We didn't realise that in the High Alder. Not really. Those of the Serpent seemed so far away and the Sisterhood so strong.'

QUEST Shannah Jay 42

Herra's eyes were pools of sadness. 'The Sisterhood is strong and it has survived many Ages of Discord, Katia, but often at great cost. Yet when these episodes have forced us to change, they have usually led to further progress in our Quest. Only a few Sisters know all the details of our history. With you - the God has put it into my heart that you must learn about our history too, and learn it quickly.'

It was as if her voice had a echo behind it, Katia thought, awestruck. Then she gaped openly as she heard Herra's next words.

'You are a Key Life, my dear child. I know not how, but you are involved in the prophecy.'

'Me? A Key Life! But I don't - I'm not - Why me?'

Herra's voice became stern, her eyes piercing. 'Let that be the last time you say that, Katia. You cannot shirk your burden, child. You've been chosen by the God, and you're essential to the Quest. You must do whatever our Brother asks of you.' Her eyes softened and she reached out to clasp Katia's hands in hers, as if to share her strength and her wil with the girl. 'But for the moment, enjoy this time of respite. When we go back, you must work harder than the others, harder than you've ever worked in your life.'

'I'll try, Herra.'

'I know you will, and I'll help you by seeing that you come here regularly to restore your spirit and that you spend as much time as possible out of doors. That'll make things easier, I promise you. Even after you've met the God and become a ful Sister, I'll still try to see that you don't spend your life enclosed in stone temples. More than that I cannot promise. Now, in return, will you promise me your co-operation, willingly and honestly, or must you still fight against our Brother's will?'

'There isn't really any choice, is there? Not when you see what's happening in Tenebron.'

'No, Katia, there isn't any choice at all. You can only delay your involvement by your resistance. In the end, you must accept your fate.'

Katia looked so young and vulnerable to be shouldering such a heavy burden that Herra gave her a hug. It was not easy to be a Key Life, as she herself knew only too well.

'Well, I'll do my best, Herra. But please - don't expect miracles. I won't shirk my burden, but I still can't understand why I should have been chosen. There's nothing special about me, really there isn't.'

#####

Chapter 8: KATIA - SISTER OF THE GOD

'No, Saryn, like this. Try again.' Gently Katia showed the newest of the novices how to feel and regulate her own heartbeat.

There was a titter from someone at the back of the class and Katia swung round. 'How perfect your skills must be, Vandrael, for you to be able to mock those of others. But you will need an extra hour of meditation tonight, I think, to consider whether you have the right to feel scorn for those less skilled than yourself.' She turned back to Saryn. 'That's better, Saryn. Just keep practising till you can do that every time.'

That evening, Katia went for a stroll in the gardens which Herra had given her the task of creating inside the temple five years ago, after they had come back from that first visit to the crèche. That task and the gardens themselves had, she often felt, saved her sanity, because she still found the stone walls stifling.

Herra had expected everyone in the temple to benefit from a better knowledge of plant and animal life, but even she hadn’t realised what a boon the long, plant-filled walks between the temple buildings would be to them all. Arbours and seats and little tinkling fountains had been created one by one, and any spare piece of ground, however small, had been QUEST Shannah Jay 43

filled with good soil and carefully stocked. Katia had utilised her extensive knowledge of plants to create miniature ecosystems that were easy to maintain. Nowadays groups of people could always be found in the garden walks of the temple complex, enjoying the green fronds or the sudden drifts of blossom in what had been stone alleys, bare courtyards and blind corners.

'Is something wrong, Katia?' Herra was sitting in her favourite niche, a small triangle of greenery with a fountain and a tiny pool.

'Wrong in general, or wrong in particular, Elder Sister?'

'Either. And don't prevaricate!' Herra's face shone palely in the light reflected from the water, which was rendered almost luminous by some phosphorescent fungi that nestled in miniature rock caves behind the pool.

'Both.'

'Come and sit beside me and share your burdens.' She patted the seat and Katia went to join her.

The bond between them was now more that of mother and daughter than leader and acolyte. It was Herra, not Cheral, who had guided Katia through most of the Disciplines and coached her patiently in those first months after their return from the crèche, until Katia's learning had acquired a momentum of its own, which carried her along faster and faster.

Cheral had grumbled audibly about the amount of time the Elder Sister was spending on one Sister-Elect, and the other Sisters had watched in puzzlement, but Herra had gone her own way, as ever, leaving more and more of the daily administration of the temple to Lara, the senior Healer, and pleading old age when they tried to draw her back into a more active involvement in their affairs.

Katia had more than repaid Herra's efforts by becoming the most skilful of her cohort of Sisters-Elect, acquiring the basic Disciplines more rapidly than anyone would have believed possible. Now she took her turn at instructing the novices and was almost ready to Meet the God, the ceremony which marked the transition from Sister-Elect to full Sister.

'What's wrong, child?' Herra prompted.

'Among other things, the new novices,' Katia sighed. 'There may be fewer of them this year, but they seem to dominate the classes. They're more unruly and more unkind to each other than any other group we've had in the past few years. I can't bear to see the gentler ones hurt, and I have to wonder why some of them were chosen in the first place.'

'Novices have always been troublesome.'

'Not to such a degree.'

'Wel , I hear you have a very sharp way with offenders.'

Katia looked up, startled. 'Oh! Does that mean I'm being too sharp?'

Herra chuckled. 'No. It means that the girls' meditation skills are improving with unprecedented rapidity.'

Katia smiled for a moment, then sadness crept over her face again. 'It's Discord, isn't it, Herra? It's spreading all the time. Even trying to creep in among us.'

'Yes. And it will grow worse before it grows better.'

They both fell silent, then Herra said, 'I think it's time you Met the God, Katia, don't you?'

Katia drew in a sharp breath. 'Are you sure, Elder Sister? Am I worthy?' Some Sisters waited many years before the Elder Sister judged them fit to Meet the God.

'Yes, child. I've been watching you carefully of late. You're ready.'

'When?'

'Tonight, after the Gathering.'

'But - I've made no preparations -'

QUEST Shannah Jay 44

'You've been preparing for this for several years. What other preparations are necessary? All you need is an ability to sit in peace, to listen and to answer him. Sometimes this Manifestation of our God asks many questions.'

'Is he - very awesome?'

'No, child. The God is also our Brother, who sends his Manifestation down among us in times of trouble. You've seen the statue of the God in all his Manifestations. Do you find the sight of them frightening?'

'No, of course not.'

'Nor will you find this Manifestation anything to fear.' She hesitated. 'Can you see the new shape forming in the darkness behind the statue?'

'Yes. Though not clearly.'

'I thought so. Most cannot even bear to look at that darkness.'

'Tell me about those other Manifestations, Elder Sister.'

'You can find out for yourself. The full tale is recorded in the Archives. After you've Met the God, you'll have the right to read them at will.'

Katia's eyes glowed. 'I shall enjoy that.'

Herra looked at her, trying to judge whether she might go further, and decided to risk it. 'My child, the God has spoken within me about you.'

'About me?'

'Yes.' The Elder Sister took a deep breath. 'I know not how, but I know with certainty that yours is a Key Life in our Quest. I said that several years ago, did I not?'

Katia's head bent. 'Yes.' Honesty impelled her to add, 'I’ve sensed this too, Elder Sister, but I've hardly dared believe it.'

'Is that al you've sensed?'

'Not quite. I'm waiting - I don't know what for, for something to happen, I suppose. I know that. Sometime soon, I think our Brother will reveal his wishes to me.'

Herra laid her hand upon Katia's head in a benediction. 'I, too, have been waiting, child. I know there are other tasks ahead of me before my time runs out. But these quiet years teaching you have been a delight to me.'

Katia took a deep breath. 'It's a great responsibility, butI'll do my best not to let our Brother down, Herra.'

'Who among us can do more?'

That evening the Gathering focused on Katia. She could feel the warmth of her Sisters' support and encouragement as she stood, clad for the first time in the beautiful ceremonial robes and jewelled headdress of a full Sister. Some of the novices looked at her with envy, others with relief that they didn’t yet have to undergo such a terrifying ordeal.

Afterwards, while the chimes rang out and the other Sisters sang softly, Herra led Katia, using the ritual dancing steps, into the Chamber of the God. At the threshold Katia paused briefly and looked around her in awe. The tiny circular chamber was very simply furnished, with just a few beautiful pieces, but each was a masterpiece in its own right, even in a world as beauty-conscious as Sunrise. Soft hangings of embroidered silk swayed gently in the whisper of air from a ventilation shaft. Although there were no windows, lamps shed a clear light, which was reflected back by the pale polished stone of the floor.

Katia sank to the ground next to Herra. She had to make a conscious effort to keep her breathing steady and to regulate her pulse, for this was a momentous occasion.

'Brother, if you're listening, I've brought a new Sister to meet you,' said Herra.

There was a faint hissing sound that made Katia look up nervously. It came from a box, made of a strange, shiny material. It was the least beautiful thing in the room and like nothing she'd ever seen in her life before. Katia looked at it QUEST Shannah Jay 45

in puzzlement.

Then her Brother's image appeared on the side of the box and she forgot everything else as he spoke to her. In this Manifestation, their Brother was like any man of her world. He was even rather diffident-looking, with a lean, scholar's face, deep-set eyes and dark smooth hair. She began to lose her fear of him because he looked tired, just as anyone might look, but he smiled and spoke to her gently.

'Welcome, little Sister. Katia, isn't it? I've been watching with pleasure as your special skills have developed.'

'I’m honoured that you should notice me, Illustrious Brother.'

'Just "Brother" is enough. How are your plants today?'

'They're flourishing, Brother.' How did he have time to concern himself with her small deeds?

'I should like to see them.'

'Can you not, Brother?'

'Only from a great distance. I see a kind of reflection of them when Herra walks among them. It isn't the same.'

'No. Nothing can replace touching them and smelling their perfume.' How strange that the God understood such things! How blue his eyes were, how kind the light in them! She listened carefully as he spoke to the Elder Sister.

'Herra, how are things in Tenebrak?'

'Worse, Brother. We must guard our gates now. Discord grows daily more widespread.'

'It grows everywhere, like a ravaging disease. Do your Archives help you to understand why this happens?'

'No, Brother. They only tell us about the times when it’s happened before and how we survived it. And every time it happens, it's worse.' How she hated to admit that.

'This time Discord is everywhere, Herra. In all lands and upon all worlds. Those of the Serpent are just one of the many manifestations of Evil.'

The God was silent for a while and the two women waited patiently. When at last their Brother spoke, he sounded weary. 'I've been considering how best to help you, Herra.'

'Help us? Are you going to come down to us at last?’

Davred paused, wondering how to explain what he wanted them to do in words that the Sisters would understand.

'No. But I have another device for you. I know you don't like devices, Herra, but sometimes they're necessary.'

'They stop people from developing their own skills, Brother. I'm not even sure I should wear this one for you.' She touched a little embroidered pouch at her waist.

'It's important,' he said.

'Yes. I know. So I shall wear it for a while. But not for ever.'

'Thank you.'

Katia suppressed a gasp. Was Herra real y daring to deny the God his wishes?

'Sometimes, devices are necessary,' he said mildly. 'I couldn't speak to you without the farspeakers, and I can't see what's happening unless you wear the tracer. And,' he added sombrely, 'I can't protect your temples without using the stasis cubes.'

'What are stasis cubes, Brother of the World?'

'Devices which still everything around them for a certain distance until someone turns the device off. It's similar to when you still a person, but the machine does it for you, and can hold that person in stasis for as long as you choose.

But there are some disadvantages: no one can get inside the stasis field once it's switched on and no one can get out of it, either. Anyone inside is helpless; anyone outside is unprotected. So there must be some people from the Sisterhood left outside, in order to switch off the device when times are safe again. And the worst part is - I have only six of the QUEST Shannah Jay 46

cubes. So I can only save six temples. How shal I choose which ones, Herra? How shal I give life to some and leave others to die?'

Katia looked at him surreptitiously. She had thought the God would be awesome, but he seemed just a man, a rather attractive man, quite young and with a delightful smile. His body, what she could see of it, seemed only lightly muscled, and his co-ordination was definitely less sure than her own. When he grew sad, she could hear his breathing deepen, and it didn't sound control ed at all. How could that be? She spoke without thinking, for she could never bear to see anyone suffer. 'Il ustrious Brother, to save even some is a miracle.'

'Thank you for that comfort, Katia.' His smile was warm upon her. She smiled shyly back, then lowered her eyes, afraid of her own presumption. Davred turned again to Herra. 'So, Herra, you are the oldest and the most powerful Elder Sister of al . Advise me. Tel me what I must do. No other Sister has your experience or your wisdom. Where shall I send the devices? Which six temples shall I save?'

'I can't make this decision for you or for my Sisters, Brother. Such a decision doesn't belong to one person.'

'How shal we decide, then?'

'We must hold a Great Gathering of all the Sisters - it's been done before in times of crisis. If all choose together who shall be saved, none will resent the decision, or blame you for their fate. And some can still be saved in other ways.

Your machines are not the only method we have of protecting ourselves.'

'Herra, what do you mean by a Great Gathering?'

'A Gathering of all the Sisters in all the temples, Brother.'

'Do you mean by using the farspeakers?'

'No, Brother. We shall gather. All at once.'

'You mean you can link your minds together across the whole world?' He sounded startled. But not more so than Katia. How was it possible that the God didn’t know such things? The Great Gatherings were legendary. Every novice learned about them as a matter of course.

'Yes, Brother. Your fifth Manifestation showed us how to do it. We rarely use the technique, though, because it can be dangerous for the one who leads it. But I've studied how to do it in the Archives, just in case. I knew it might be necessary.'

Davred drew a deep breath. 'Tell me about it.'

'You know about it already, Brother. You yourself taught us the skill.'

Davred bit off the questions he longed to ask. He mustn’t betray himself and spoil the delicate balance of their trust in him, nor must he transgress Confex rules. This night had given him information he still couldn’t believe. The Sisterhood continued to surprise him.

'How soon can you arrange this Great Gathering?'

'It'll take about twenty days to make the preparations. It's not a thing lightly undertaken.'

* * *

It was not until he’d finished his turn on watch that Davred had time to think through the implications of what Herra had said. Your Fifth Manifestation showed us how to do it. Who had these other Manifestations been? Not for the first time, he wondered whether he and his colleagues were the first group of space-travellers to visit Sunrise. He hadn’t dared suggest this to Robler yet, for he and his Exec were barely speaking to one another. After Davred had been granted Provisional Commitment to Sunrise, things between them had gone from bad to worse.

As each of the mandatory five years of Provisional Commitment passed, Davred had applied for permission to visit the planet. His desire to commit himself permanently to Sunrise had grown stronger each year. If his current request for approval to visit was denied by Confex, he had decided to appeal to Galactic Central.

At that night's weekly conference on the satellite, Davred again mentioned his intention of using the stasis cubes QUEST Shannah Jay 47

to save the temples.

'No!' Everyone stared as Robler thumped his fist on the table. 'I've told you already that it's dangerous to tamper with primitive cultures. You're allowing your obsession with those women to warp your judgment. I thought you'd dropped the idea.'

'I can't drop it. I'm just waiting for Confex to give me permission,' Davred said wearily. He was so tired of these arguments and iterations. And he had already promised Herra that he would save some of the temples. He would keep that promise, at whatever cost to his relations with Robler.

'I've strongly recommended that they don't!' snapped Robler. 'It'll only cause trouble and bitterness among those not protected. It could break up the whole stability of their religion.'

'You've done what?' Davred half rose in his seat.

'I've recommended that your request to use the stasis cubes be denied. Strongly recommended.'

'You said nothing to me about that!'

'I'm the Exec, not you. There's no compulsion for me to tell you everything I do.'

'And I'm the xeno-anthropologist. The expert, remember? I'm also the one who's been granted Provisional Commitment to Sunrise. You could at least have told me what you were doing.'

'I did as I thought best. Such a move will cause more trouble than it's likely to prevent.'

'Not, surely, if it's the Sisters themselves who decide which temples to save,' said Soo. She had shown more interest in the Sisterhood than any of the others and was now quite familiar with their ways and was learning to use their language more skilfully than the basic hypno-learning provided. Other watchers had come and gone on short-term contracts to the exploration team. Now only Soo, Davred, Robler and Mak remained of the original eight who had first staffed the observation satellite.

Like Davred, Soo and Mak were on a long tour of duty, and the three of them had become close friends. Only Robler had stayed aloof, growing more and more bitter as Davred failed to achieve his potential as a CA.

'That Great Gathering sounds interesting, Davred,' Soo said thoughtfully. 'I'll observe it with you next month, if I may. If the Sisters really can do what they say, it'll mean that they have a form of planet-wide telepathy, and that could put them into a Class 1A Total Intervention category.'

'It mustn't!' Davred's voice was so sharp with fear that everyone stared at him. 'I'd fight such a decision in every way possible, Soo. Total Intervention would destroy their culture and with it, over twenty thousand years of careful planning - not to mention any hopes of future development of their powers. If we intervened, they would become just another Confederation planet, however carefully we worked. We don't have the skill to leave a delicately-balanced culture such as theirs unharmed. Even as the Manifestation of their God, I try very hard not to interfere as I continue to learn from them. Their Disciplines may work for us too, one day. Their wisdom may help us to end our own violence.'

There was dead silence in the room, then Robler cleared his throat. 'Twenty thousand years of planning, Davred?

Have you been keeping information from us? I've seen nothing to suggest such specific long-term planning.'

Because you were too interested in what minerals you could pillage from this planet's moons, and in watching over me, thought Davred bitterly. Aloud he merely said, as mildly as he could, 'I'm still gathering evidence about that.

At present, it's merely a hypothesis that the Sisters have been working for twenty thousand years at least on this Quest, possibly under the guidance and intervention of - of someone else. The Precursors, perhaps.'

He had everyone's full attention now.

'Are you serious about that?' asked Mak. 'We've seen no sign of them on Sunrise, surely?'

‘No. But there's some other force at work here. I've had tantalising hints.'

'Wishful thinking,' scoffed Robler.

QUEST Shannah Jay 48

'We've discovered traces of them in many sectors of the galaxy. Why not here?' Davred's smile was scornful.

'Besides, I was waiting until I had proof before I told you. You always insist on proof, don't you, Robler? But I might have had to tell you al soon anyway, in order to get your help to make certain investigations.'

'It's mere conjecture, then,' snapped Robler.

'Not to me. Haven't you noticed the anomalies? This is the only planet we've ever found with one shared language at this stage of its evolution. Did you never consider that strange? And . . . I think the Sisters have had a selective breeding programme going ever since Temple Tenebrak was built, tostrengthen those genetic lines with certain skills - call them what you like, prescience, ESP, telepathy, precognition, clairvoyance, second sight. Even people as civilised as members of the Confederation have many names for those talents and believe in their existence. But we don't often develop them ourselves, do we, Robler? Except for the occasional potential Cathartic Agent, that is.'

The small group erupted into argument. After years of working together, everyone knew of Davred's potential, but it was rarely referred to openly. And he had never shared his speculations about Sunrise with them before.

Indeed, over the past year or two he had become very withdrawn and Robler had ordered Mak to keep an eye on him in case he was becoming mentally unstable. But Mak had seen no signs of that. What he had seen was a young man becoming more sure of himself and his skills, and more attuned to another culture. Which did sometimes happen with xeno-anthropologists. But Robler refused to accept that diagnosis.

When he could make himself heard again, Davred asked, 'If I can prove all of this, will you agree to recommend keeping up only a Minor Intervention and Wardship, as we have now, Robler?'

'I'd have to inform Confex. But you can be sure that I wouldn't disobey their directives.'

'Thank you. I'm sure they’ll have enough sense not to interfere.'

Robler flushed and glared at him.

'I'll find the proof for you, Robler, never fear - when I deliver the stasis cubes.'

'Deliver?'

Davred nodded, excitement lighting up his face. 'Yes. When my Commitment has been fully approved, which it should be any day now, I'll be able to go down to the planet. It's been five years, you know, since I was granted Provisional Commitment. After my latest reports have been analysed, Confex is bound to grant me Full Commitment, and then I shall definitely make a visit to my planet. I shall have to, if I'm to devote my whole life to its welfare, shall I not?'

'You can only go down in a case of extreme emergency - and with my permission.'

'This is an extreme emergency. And I shall go as the Manifestation of their God. Little danger of damage that way.'

'Minor belligerence between primitives is not an extreme emergency! And what if Full Commitment is refused?'

Robler's expression was one of sneering contempt. 'You're too sure of yourself, Davred. Full Commitment isn't always granted. That's why there's a five-year provisional period.'

'They can't refuse. You saw the last report and the probability charts I sent. I was commended on them. Confex can't possibly refuse me.'

Robler smiled, and Davred eyed him narrowly. 'I see. Another recommendation from you, I suppose?'

Robler nodded.

'Well, we shall have to differ on that point. I still believe Full Commitment will be granted. Confex cannot be so stupid as to deny the wishes of a CA.'

'Potential CA,' corrected Robler.

'Full CA now,' Davred said quietly.

Mak stared at him. Again, there was no sign of mental instability, just that quiet confidence.

QUEST Shannah Jay 49

Robler snorted. 'You're not a full CA, Davred. That claim, too, will have to be investigated and confirmed.

Confex will do nothing unless they believe you've really achieved your potential. And for that, you might have to return to Confex Central for testing. Until then, you're not a CA in my book, and your wishes will not necessarily be granted.'

He smiled triumphantly and walked out.

Soo came over and laid her hand on Davred's shoulder. 'Confex won't deny you, Davred,' she said quietly. 'Not after five years and three Official Commendations on the high quality of your work here.'

Davred was standing very still, his face expressionless. 'They may do. If someone listens to Robler, they just may.

I'll have to allow for that in my plans. Please excuse me, Soo, Mak.' He walked out of the com-room without another word.

#####

Chapter 9: FIANA'S ORDEAL

A few weeks after Katia became a full Sister, one of the crèches in Setheron was attacked. Since Sen-Sether had become ruler on the death of his brother, Discord had escalated in his claim, and the power of the Serpent had spread rapidly. New shrines were sprouting everywhere like dank weeds. Sen-Sether planned the raid on the crèche with great care, and it came as a complete shock to the Sisters, who hadn’t expected trouble to start at such a well-hidden crèche.

However, every community in the Sisterhood was always partially prepared for trouble, and the group at the crèche swung into its Scatter and Flee routine with such practised rapidity that in spite of Sen-Sether's careful planning, some were saved. It wasn’t possible to still a whole crowd of attackers, but key people were stopped in their tracks, and that slowed the others down.

The aged Sisters willingly used the last of their life energy to combat the horde of armed men battering at the doors of their inner chambers, and this allowed many of the children and all but three of the younger Sisters to escape. The older women died of their efforts; the three captive Sisters, all badly beaten before the captain bothered to stop his men, were taken to the city.

Bound, gagged and blindfolded, the three Sisters were paraded through the streets of Setherak as traitors to the Lord Claimant, always surrounded by too many Initiates to make rescue by their Sisters feasible. While Those of the Serpent celebrated this coup by stoning the houses of a few known Sister-lovers, the three captives were taken to a dark chamber below the castle and put to the question by Sen-Sether in his role as Lord of the Inner Shrine.

The gates of Temple Setherak were locked against the mob, and the Sisters there gathered. They managed to augment the powers of their Elder Sister enough for her to locate the captives, but a rescue was still impossible.

At the castle, the questioning was conducted with brutal rapidity by Sen-Sether, attended by a fellow Initiate of the Inner Shrine who was almost as skilled as his Lord in the arts of torture.

'Where is the boy?' Sen-Sether demanded, playing with a sharp knife. When no one answered, he prodded one of the Sisters with the knife tip till blood dripped down its handle. But still the Sister shook her head.

'What have you done with the child you took from this castle nearly five years ago? He wasn't in the crèche.'

Three pairs of clear eyes looked at him sadly and the Sisters all shook their heads. The eldest replied for them. 'We know nothing of this. Which boy are you talking about?'

'You know which boy.'

QUEST Shannah Jay 50

'Indeed, we don't.'

Sen-Sether stood thinking for a moment, then pointed to the Sister who had spoken. The time had come to find out how vulnerable to torture the Sisters were, a thing he had been itching to do for years. He could feel the soft prickling of a thrill start to run along his veins. It was already obvious that these women had no magic which would allow them to escape. Were their other skills also exaggerated?

'Take that one!' he ordered his fellow Initiate. 'Dismember her slowly. I wish to watch her die - but not for a long time. The others may watch and listen.'

The three Sisters all gasped at his words, but the first victim of his obsession straightened against her bonds. 'The God calls me,' she said clearly, her face showing nothing but joy, 'and I'm ready, Sisters. When I'm gone, do not betray our Brother.'

'Gone!' sneered Sen-Sether. 'You'll not be gone for a long time, and I shall enjoy wiping that sickly expression off your face.'

She shrugged slightly, but her smile didn’t falter.

Sen-Sether was frowning at his first victim. 'Well, what are you waiting for, Fenther? Gag the other two, but leave this one's mouth open. I want to hear her screaming. I want them to hear her and see her pain.' Sen-Sether’s eyes devoured his victim and he was oblivious to the pleas of the other two women as the gags were thrust into their mouths.

Fenther fastened the Sister to a frame, ripped open her robe, picked up a sharp knife and drew a thin bloody line down her body. 'Just to show me where to cut,' he joked. She made no sound, but as he began to press the knife more deeply into her flesh at the spot where he would make the first deep incision, she sagged against her bonds.

'Wait!' said Sen-Sether hoarsely. 'No need to rush things.'

Darkness twisted around the torture chamber, evil crawled up the walls. Tears ran down the faces of the two women watching. They knew what had happened.

Fenther caressed his knife and smiled. How well Sen-Sether understood this art. What a privilege it was to be trained by such a master.

'Now. Just one deep incision,' said Sen-Sether, and for all his efforts at self-control, his voice was unsteady.

With a quick thrust, the Initiate made the first deep incision that should have started the woman screaming for mercy. When there was no response, he looked at Sen-Sether with a puzzled frown and lifted her head by the hair. He slapped her face, then felt her pulse in a panic. 'She's dead. Lord of my Shrine, she's dead!'

'What?' Sen-Sether jumped out of his chair and pushed the man aside. 'You clumsy fool! She must have taken poison. Search the others more carefully! And pull their gags out. I want some answers from them.'

'No need to search us, Lord Sen-Sether,' said one Sister calmly as soon as the gag was removed. 'These are evil times and while Discord has been fomenting we've been preparing ourselves by reviving ancient skills. All the Sisters are now trained to kill themselves at will. If that man tries to torture us, my Sister and I will escape from your evil in the same way.'

Sen-Sether gestured to Fenther and the man picked up a knife, making a play of testing its sharpness against his fingertip. 'I'll go more slowly this time, Lord of my Shrine.'

Sen-Sether smiled at the Sister. 'I don't believe you, I'm afraid. Your Sister there must have died of fright. I’ve seen it happen before.' He nodded to Fenther, who set the knife tip into the next victim's flesh.

'Feel it can you?' asked Fenther. 'Nice bright blood you've got there, Sister.'

After a very short time, the second Sister exchanged farewell glances with Fiana and proved to Sen-Sether that she too could kill herself at will.

'Do you wish me to follow her example, Lord Sen-Sether?' asked the remaining Sister, and though there were tears in her eyes, her voice remained calm and her breathing even. 'I shal certainly kill myself if you try to torture me.'

QUEST Shannah Jay 51

Fury pulsed within his skull like a living creature. Who could ever have considered this possibility? What other secrets did those damned hags have in their repertoire? 'Leave her for the moment,' he said to Fenther. 'I have other approaches to consider.'

When he returned to the chamber an hour later, Sen-Sether's eyes were again glowing with confidence. 'We shall have to try something else with you,' he said, casually flicking his fingertip against his remaining prisoner's cheek. 'In fact,' he slapped her face with his full strength, for he had decided to allow himself one blow against this maddeningly calm face, 'you still have your uses to us, you unnatural bitch.'

'I will not co-operate with you in any way.' Her voice was flat and stil calm, although her face stung with the sharpness of his blow. She did nothing to minimise the bruising, reserving all her energy for the main struggle with this monster.

'You might just co-operate a little, if I am persuasive enough. What's your name, whore?'

She stared at him in amazement. 'What does that matter, if I am to die?'

'I wish to know it.'

'My name is Fiana.'

'Well, Fiana, I will give you a chance to live and act as messenger from me to your Elder Sister.' A smile twisted one corner of his finely chiselled mouth. 'I'm sure she would like to know exactly why I’m doing this, what it is I'm trying to find out.'

'I will take a message to her, certainly,' she allowed.

‘A smile crept across his face. 'You must first earn the right to take the message for me.'

'I don't understand.'

'It's quite simple. I have a message for your Elder Sister. If you wish to act as messenger, then you must earn that privilege by doing my will. If you refuse, then I shall find someone else.'

'Why should I bother?' How she kept her voice steady, Fiana never knew, for the gloating look in his eyes warned her that the price would be high. 'We wish no communication with such as you. I believe I had rather die, after all.'

'I can't stop you from dying, it appears. But if you won't do as I ask, then I must search for another messenger.

I'll capture as many Sisters as necessary, until I find one who is willing to pay the price, for I'm very determined to send this message to your Elder Sister.' He paused again and added gently, 'Many of your Sisters will suffer because of your cowardice, Fiana. Just think about that.'

For a moment she looked at him, frowning, and he had to admire her courage. The thought of bending a Sister of the God to his will was intoxicating, especially one like this woman. As was the thought of removing the one thing that he feared. If those demon-spawned Sisters ever produced his nephew then the group of well-born soft-bellies who consistently opposed his methods of rule would have a perfect excuse for rebellion. And even he couldn’t kill them all.

'What is the price?' Fiana asked finally.

He knew then that he’d won, at least in this small matter.

He moved very close to her, so close she tried to draw back. 'Before I give you the message,' he whispered, running one fingertip down her bruised cheek, and admiring the splendid way he had discoloured her face without breaking the skin, 'you must first pay homage to the Serpent.'

She was unable to control the horror on her face. The only homage the Serpent craved from women nowadays was public sexual abasement on his altar, usually accompanied by pain of some kind. 'I will not. I'll die gladly, rather than do that.'

Sen-Sether chuckled and ran his hand over her body with the air of a connoisseur. 'Oh, but think of your other Sisters, Fiana. How many do you think I'll have to capture and put to the test before I find my messenger? And you could save them - save us all a lot of trouble.'

QUEST Shannah Jay 52

He took a step backwards and waited, then threw back his head and laughed as he saw doubt hovering in her eyes. 'I'll give you ten minutes to make a decision. Ten only. If you refuse to co-operate, I shall enjoy watching you kill yourself, then I shall send my men out to collect more of your Sisters, and more still, until we find one willing to pay the price to carry my message.'

He allowed another silence to do his work for him, then said very softly, 'They cannot all be inside that temple of yours, and I have a great many men eager to lay their hands on a Sister or two.' He stood up and Fenther bowed to him, smiling broadly. This was a refinement of their art! Not a hair of her head touched, only one bruise on her cheek, yet she was ashen pale and almost ready to submit.

Fiana studied Sen-Sether. He meant exactly what he said. His body signs showed that clearly, and also that he enjoyed inflicting pain. She could see his sexual arousal, which he made no attempt to hide. At that moment, she knew her duty. She looked across the room, meeting Sen-Sether's dark eyes without flinching. 'I don't need ten minutes. You leave me no alternative. But what sort of a god enjoys unwilling homage and demands pain of his followers? What kind of path do you follow, Lord Sen-Sether?'

He walked back to stand body to body with her. 'I follow the Serpent's path, of course. It suits me well. My God demands everything of his followers, their lives and more. And I follow his path gladly, for he is the God of this claim and one day all will worship him - and do his bidding.'

'We of the Sisterhood shall not, under any circumstances, follow the Serpent's path.'

'You of the Sisterhood can always choose to die instead. You do indeed have that choice.' Sen-Sether spoke as pleasantly as if he were discussing the weather. He moved towards the door of the chamber, then turned to look down at the two bodies and back at her. 'These can still be used in the Inner Shrine. Send them there, will you, Fenther?'

Fiana gasped in horror at the implication of this, and Sen-Sether's smile grew even broader. 'Not all will wish to die, Fiana; some of your Sisters will turn to my God. Even as you are beginning to bend to his wishes. I think I shall enjoy teaching you obedience to him.'

She gazed levelly at him. The only way she could defeat this monster was to keep calm and not allow him to stir her senses in any way. Could she manage that? Sen-Sether was beautiful in a dark, dangerous way. Beautiful, but filled with more evil than she had thought possible in one person.

'Release her!'

Fiana stood while the bonds were removed, calling upon all her strength and courage.

Sen-Sether snapped his fingers. 'Come, whore! I shall myself help you to pay homage.'

Fenther coughed to gain his attention. 'Permission to watch, Lord?'

'Certainly, fellow. Watch and learn. It shall be an open display, on the black altar.'

'Aah.' The man's face lit up.

As Fiana followed him, she began to run through a Discipline of Self-Control in her mind. If she must do this to prevent further futile deaths, then she would. Sen-Sether never made idle threats. That was well known throughout the claim.

In the shrine which adjoined the castle, the Servants of the Serpent began to prepare the altar for Sen-Sether while Fiana stood waiting, surrounded by black-clad servants. One licked his lips as he eyed her. The others stole furtive glances at her as they brought out some equipment. Nonchalantly Sen-Sether took off his clothes and gestured to Fiana to do the same.

Her face expressionless, she did as he bade her. Only with great effort was she able to control the aversion she felt, not only to the place, not only to the deed, but also to the man. As he turned, she saw the marks of many whippings upon his back. A devotee indeed, to offer so much pain to the Serpent! Fiana would have infinitely preferred death to a public parody of mating with this man. She stopped in the middle of removing her robe, struck by a sudden idea.

QUEST Shannah Jay 53

'I shall require an oath of you,' she said. 'Taken upon the altar of your god.'

'What?'

'An oath. Else my sacrifice could be in vain. And I had much rather die than do this, make no mistake.'

'You may find that your "sacrifice" becomes a pleasure, Fiana. We are kind to those of our women who do their duty to their God. Most of the time, anyway.' He smiled at some memory.

'It will be no pleasure to me.'

Her voice was calm and sure. The bitch was challenging his power, even now. His eyes narrowed for a moment, and he stared unblinkingly at her face. Reading only quiet determination there, he shrugged and his sharp white teeth gleamed briefly. 'Very well. I accept your challenge, for pleasure you shall surely find. What must I promise first?'

'Swear that you will let me go back to the temple alive and unharmed the moment this obscenity is finished.'

'I swear. If you still want to leave.'

'Swear by your god, touching his altar.' She knew how those of the Serpent revered the main black marble altar in each shrine.

He laid his hand lovingly upon the cold stone, stroking it in a suggestive way that would have sent colour to her cheeks, had she not prevented it. Above them the gilded wooden serpent hung from the ceiling and cast its shadow across the altar. Sen-Sether made the promise she had demanded, then asked, 'Now, is everyone here?'

At a gesture of his hand, the black curtains that screened the holy shrine were drawn back. A gasp echoed around the murky blackness of the shrine.

Through a haze of nausea, Fiana saw that the place was filled with spectators. Many bore the apprehensive expression of people dragged unwillingly in from the street, others had an expression of gloating anticipation on their faces. So Sen-Sether was making her humiliation public, was he? Was it still worth submitting to this in order to carry his message? She debated briefly yet again whether she should kill herself instead of submitting, but something within whispered that she could not escape so easily. For some reason, her Brother required this sacrifice of her. Her body was steady as she finished removing her clothes and turned to her tormentor, waiting in silence for his instructions.

But he was not ready yet to start. 'My God requires pain as part of the sacrifice.' He eyed her body thoughtfully.

'Now, how shall we provide that?'

'I will not let you maim or mark me,' she said flatly. 'If that is attempted, I shall kill myself. Will these people like to see that? Especially here, on your altar?'

He glared at her for a moment, madness flickering at the corners of his eyes. 'So.' His voice was a gasp of fury, then the cold mask of indifference returned to hide his face. 'Then it must be a simple whipping. No, I will not take less, Fiana! Some pain there be, to spice the act. We are not in your temple now, are we? My God requires more than a few dances.' His tongue ran quickly over his lips and left a trail of moisture there.

He saw her hesitate. 'We can find other Sisters,' he reminded her quietly. 'Many other Sisters.'

Their eyes met briefly, and she sighed once. 'Very well.'

'A pity you will not let me be more creative! So ordinary, a mere whipping!'

She shook her head.

Sen-Sether shrugged. 'So be it.' He snapped his fingers and the Servants of the Shrine moved forward. 'Tie her to the triangle!'

'There's no need to tie me.'

'On that, too, I insist. I prefer my women under control. And it makes a much better impression on the crowd.'

'It makes no difference to my ability to kill myself,' she warned him, as she allowed the Servants to clamp her to QUEST Shannah Jay 54

the metal frame they had slotted into the altar.

He inclined his head to acknowledge that then turned to the Servants. 'I, too, shall offer pain, but you will have no need to bind me. The metal-tipped whip for me, I think.'

Two Servants, carrying thin, many-thonged whips came forward silently. 'Are you sure, Lord?' one of them asked.

'Your back is only just healed.'

'Do you question me?' Sen-Sether hissed.

'No, Lord, no. I think only of your welfare. The Serpent needs you.'

You will submit to the same whip after me for doubting my command.'

The man sucked in his breath, but said nothing as he inclined his head in agreement. Few sought the caress of that particular whip. He continued the preparations.

Fiana pressed her lips together tightly and willed herself to endure what she must in silence. Incense billowed suddenly out across the room in a thick reddish cloud. As she inhaled it, she became aware of how it was affecting her body. She had heard of this drugged incense, but never smelled it so closely before. As she began to run through a Discipline to control her body's reactions, she saw Sen-Sether breathe it in deeply. Heard the crowd breathing it in, too.

More incense billowed out. Somewhere a drum began to beat, with a soft, insistent rhythm. A low moan of anticipation came from the spectators.

The sacrifice was worse than Fiana had expected, far worse. The pain of her lacerated back she was able to tolerate, but the main sacrifice went on for much longer than she had expected and it took her a while to realise that Sen-Sether was working very hard indeed to break down her defences and make her enjoy the experience.

When he stopped for a moment, she thought it was all over, but he gestured and someone placed a hood over her head. Then it became much more difficult, for she had no warning of when pain would descend upon her back, or Sen-Sether's hands touch her body with great knowledge and skill. He came very close to infecting her with his madness, but somehow she clung to the thought of the God her Brother and found the strength to resist him.

In the end Sen-Sether was forced to acknowledge defeat. As he stood up, his manhood still proudly erect, his back dripping blood, he ripped the blindfold off her eyes and slapped her face hard. 'I shall keep my word, but I shall not forget you - Sister - Fiana.' Slaps punctuated his words. 'One day you shall make a true sacrifice to my God and he shall become your God. That I vow.'

'I shall die first,' she said, still quietly, though her body was laced with pain and her head rang with the blows.

'I have just proved that you can be induced not to die. One day I shall prove the rest. There is always some method to be found.'

She ignored that. 'Your message, Lord Sen-Sether?'

'Tell your Sisters that I want the boy whom they took from me delivered to this shrine - alive or dead - within the month, or I shall grow angry. That will give you plenty of time to bring him from his hiding place. I know now that he is not in any of your secret crèches.' He saw puzzlement on her face and said savagely, 'Your Elder Sister will understand which boy, even if you don't.' As he stood back and snapped his fingers, the Servants stepped forward.

'Take her to the door and let her go.'

'My robe!' Fiana tried to resist the hard hands that were pulling her along.

'I'm keeping my promise to release you after the sacrifice. We said nothing about your robe. It shall stay here as an offering to the Serpent. We've often wondered how you make that fabric. Now we shall find out.' As Sen-Sether turned away, chuckling, Fiana shook the Servants' hands off her and followed them to the door, head up proudly.

The sight of a naked woman with a bloody back being pushed out of the Shrine of the Serpent was too common nowadays in Setherak to excite much attention. And the fear of what might happen to anyone who offered help to a Sister was so strong that the spectators leaving the shrine dared not even look in her direction.

QUEST Shannah Jay 55

But before Fiana had gone more than a hundred paces, one of her Sisters appeared from behind a street corner and flung a cloak around her. Stony-faced, the two of them walked to Temple Setherak. Not as massive as the one in Tenebrak, this temple was nonetheless large enough to dominate the buildings around it, and again, it was stone to their wood. The mere sight of it made Fiana want to sob with relief. But she waited until the heavy wooden doors that had once stood open day and night were closed behind her, before she allowed her control to slip. As she stumbled, her Sister put out an arm to support her.

'Touch me not! I am filthy.'

'You're still our Sister.'

'Am I?'

'Of course. Now and always. Come, let me help you to wash your body and tend your wounds.'

'First I have - a message to deliver,' Fiana managed after a moment to control the dizziness that swept over her.

'It's for that reason only that I endured that - that - ' She turned and vomited acid bile at the memory. 'I had to buy the right to bring the message, or he would have taken other Sisters and killed them. I watched Nerrill and Danna die, and submitted only to spare the rest of you.'

She lapsed into silence until she reached the Hall of the God, where she repeated Sen-Sether's message, word for word, with every intonation exact. When she had finished, she gave way to her body's weakness and sank to the floor, laughing hysterically. 'There! I've delivered the message. And I don't even understand what it means. What boy is he referring to? I hope - I do hope - ' her voice cracked for a moment, 'that the message is worth it, Elder Sister, for the price was very high. They will boast of this for years in the Shrines. And I,' her voice faltered, 'I shall be unclean for as long as I live.'

'Sister, please - '

Fiana was clearly not listening. ' One day,' she whispered, ‘ I shall kill Sen-Sether. That is my destiny.'

The way her voice echoed made her Sisters stare at each other in amazement. Was the God really speaking through her? Was their Brother really sanctioning violence?

The news of what had happened was relayed immediately to the God and passed on to all the other temples. And after that grim warning of what was to come, the Sisters worked hard to place those who wished to leave the temples in what they hoped would be safe refuges, after training them in the chill Disciplines of Death, Disciplines they had hoped, after the last struggle against Discord, never to need again.

* * *

'Disgusting!' said Robler. 'How can anyone stomach such bestialities?'

'And you still insist, Davred, that the inhabitants of Sunrise have special talents.' Mak had been shaken by what happened to Fiana. 'What can we learn from them?'

'Have the Sisters not got special talents? Could you kill yourself merely by exercise of will?' Davred had grimly kept the long-distance holo-beam focused on Sen-Sether and watched with sorrow the sufferings of those whom he was, in truth, beginning to regard as his Sisters.

'Would I need to?' countered Mak. 'We of the Confederation do not kill one other.'

'Don't we?' asked Davred softly, speaking almost to himself. 'Have you seen the latest bulletins? The interplanetary wars are escalating again. The Age of Discord is not limited to Sunrise. We of the Confederation share the Sisters' problems and have done for several decades.'

Robler looked at him with concern. Davred was starting to behave strangely at times. The Exec had exaggerated this in his report to Confex, when asked to comment further on Davred's request for approval of Full Commitment.

Just lately, however, the strangeness seemed to be increasing to such an extent that there was no need for him to exaggerate.

His lips tightened as he stared at Davred. The Confederation could not afford to lose a potential Cathartic Agent QUEST Shannah Jay 56

at a time of dire need. They had recently lost a couple of newly-colonised planets, and some very strange things were happening on other worlds - things not published in the staff info-bulletins.

* * *

The reply from Confex Central arrived two standard weeks after Fiana's ordeal. Robler let out a sigh of relief at the decision. It had taken years to convince Central, but now he had won the chance to salvage Davred Hollunby's much-needed skills. He put out a call for Davred to come and see him in the admin area, and told the computer not to disturb him for any reason other than a Class 1 Emergency.

Within minutes Davred was there. 'Well? Has the reply come through?'

'Sit down, will you, Davred.' Now that he had won, Robler could afford to be generous and sought to cushion the blow.

Instead of obeying, Davred stood motionless, staring at him. 'How in hell's name did you manage it?' he asked through teeth clenched to hold in the bitterest disappointment of his life. Without realising it, he began to use one of the Disciplines of Self-Control, which he had watched Herra teach Katia several years previously and had practised ever since. 'What lies did you tell in that report of yours? I demand to see it.'

'I told them the truth. That you've been behaving strangely of late, almost as if you do believe yourself to be the God they call you.'

'I see.' Davred's voice became expressionless. After watching Robler's triumphant expression for a moment or two, however, he deliberately sat down and covered his face with shaking hands, as if overwhelmed. His brain was racing furiously. He would not accept their decision. He knew what he had to do.

Robler continued gently, 'That's not all.'

'Oh?' Davred looked up, his expression bitter. 'Don't keep me in suspense, damn you! What else have you arranged?'

'You're to be transferred. First back to Confex for a check-up, then to another posting.'

'Transferred? Leave here?' Davred's shock was not feigned.

'I'm afraid so. I think it's for the best. You've let yourself become too involved.'

'How - how soon?'

'Next week. There's a supply ship due. You'll have to travel in stasis, but I think that might be better for you. It'll stop you worrying. They'll take you to the nearest nexus point and shunt you back to Central from there. Confex has experts in this sort of thing, people who can help you to readjust.'

Davred's face was white but the outburst Robler had expected didn’t come. After a moment the younger man covered his face again. 'I can't - I just can't take it in,' he stammered, making his voice tremble slightly.

'It's harsh, I know, but a clean break is best.' Robler looked down at his chrono-implant. 'Look, I have some things to do. Why don't you stay here for a while? I'll see you're not disturbed.' The wretchedness on Davred's face prompted him to add, 'I'll leave the com-serv open. Order yourself a stimulant - alcohol, drugs, hel-gas, whatever you like. Confex will pay.' He pressed some buttons and uttered a low-voiced command to the computer to give Davred Hollunby whatever he asked for.

'I might do just that.' The words came slowly and Davred's voice sounded strained. 'I've not got drunk for years.'

'Do you want some company?'

'No. I'd prefer to be alone. Thank you for the offer, though. Later, perhaps.'

Robler nodded and quietly left the admin area. He had what he wanted. No need to rub salt in the wound. He was the one who had saved this situation, even if he was not a potential CA.

#####

QUEST Shannah Jay 57

Chapter 10: THE GREAT GATHERING

As the evening of the Great Gathering approached there was an air of suppressed excitement in Temple Tenebrak. Katia sensed its undercurrents eddying around her all through the day, and didn’t try to teach the novices anything new. She ran through the few Disciplines they had already mastered and concentrated on calming the overwrought girls.

At the end of the last lesson one of them asked her shyly, ‘What does the Manifestation of the God look like, Katia? Could you - would you tell us what he said to you when you met him?’

She had refused to discuss it before. It hadn’t seemed right to talk about their Brother as if he were any chance-met acquaintance. However, she gave in now. They needed something to distract them from thoughts of tonight.

‘I only saw his image on the side of a box. He isn’t there in person, you know.’ Katia looked at the ring of eager faces. ‘He’s fairly young and - not handsome, but,’ she struggled for words which were respectful, yet did not mask the truth, ‘pleasant in looks. Serious and dependable, perhaps.’ She saw that this meant nothing to her young audience and tried again. ‘He has dark brown hair, worn very short, and he looks a bit like the people from Garshlian. His eyes are blue and his face is pale, as if the sun never touches it.’

‘Is he tall?’

‘I couldn’t tell. He was sitting down.’

‘What was he wearing?’

‘The strangest garment I ever saw, very close-fitting over all his limbs, and I could see no way of fastening and unfastening it. It looked soft yet was very shiny, like blue sky reflected in water.’ She laughed at their disappointment.

‘That’s all I can tell you.’

‘Are you sure he’s not handsome?’ persisted Terilla, a bold-eyed girl from the back country in Setheron.

Katia couldn’t like her and felt guilty about that.

‘How closely did you study him?’ persisted Terilla.

‘As closely as was seemly. One doesn’t stare at our Brother’s Manifestation.’ The gong sounded. ‘There! It’s time to eat, then we must all prepare for the Great Gathering. It’s probably the only one that will happen in our lifetimes.

I hope you’ll remember all that Cheral’s taught you over the past weeks.’

They were distracted, as she’d hoped they would be, and scattered like a yardful of feather-fluffs. She sighed, then determinedly began a minor Discipline of Relaxation. For some unknown reason, discussing the Manifestation of the God with them had made her feel uneasy. By the time she joined her Sisters for a light, energy-laden meal, she was as cool and collected as ever.

Later, as everyone began to assemble in the hall, the Sister on watch outside the Chamber of the God came hurrying over to Herra. ‘Our Brother wishes to speak to you - now.’ Her voice was awed.

Herra stood for a moment, trying to sense what this summons portended, then beckoned to Katia. ‘Come, child.

Our Brother wishes to speak to me and I feel that you should be present too.’

‘He only asked for you,’ the other Sister said anxiously.

‘He won’t be displeased, I promise you, Elira.’

They entered the Chamber and stood before the Manifestation of the God their Brother. The image was different to the usual one, showing him in a chamber Herra had not seen before, a very small chamber indeed.

QUEST Shannah Jay 58

‘I’m here, Brother,’ said Herra quietly. ‘And if it doesn’t displease you, I’ve brought Katia with me. I feel that it’s important for her to be here as well.’

‘As you wish, Herra.’ Davred took a deep breath, conscious of his pulse racing. ‘Herra, this is a hard thing to tell you, but - the Age of Discord has reached my people as well as yours. It’s spreading everywhere. There are those who would send me away from your world, away from my Sisters. That would be very wrong. I cannot, must not leave!’

Katia’s face registered shock at this admission. ‘Discord among the Gods?’ she blurted out.

‘No, Katia, Discord among another people similar to yours,’ he corrected gently.

Herra looked calmly at her Brother. ‘You mustn’t leave our world,’ she agreed. ‘You must leave your own people, instead. You’re a Key Figure in the next stage for us and without your help, we shall not survive this Age of Discord.’

‘How do you know that, Herra? How can I be sure that I’m not merely indulging my own wishes?’

He’s speaking like a novice seeking reassurance from the Elder Sister, thought Katia, shocked again. This was indeed Discord, if even the Manifestation of the God their Brother was unsure what path he should tread.

‘I am sure, Brother,’ said Herra, in what Katia thought of as her special voice. ‘Very sure. It’s my Gift to know such things.’

‘My people don’t know how to seek the truth within themselves. I don’t know whether we’ve lost the Gift, or whether we never developed it.’ He sounded sad.

‘Some of your people once knew, Brother, for it was they who came here from other worlds and their descendants set us on our Quest.’

Davred’s face registered his astonishment. ‘What did you say?’

Herra remained calm. ‘I mentioned the Forebears, Brother. We have some meagre knowledge of them. They came here long ago, when the world was young and there were no people living here. This was long before we started to build Temple Tenebrak or to record our history in the Archives.’ A gong sounded from the temple and Herra broke off. ‘Brother, we must speak quickly if I’m to lead my Sisters into a Great Gathering. This is not the time to share our histories.’

‘Yes. You’re right. I’m sorry to hold things up, Herra. What I wanted to tell you is that I’m about to leave my people, to escape from those who would send me away from your world for ever. I’m on my way down to join you in a - a flying wagon. I wish to live among you, to learn your Disciplines, to help in the Quest. If you’ll have me?’

‘We’ve been waiting many years during these troubled times for another Manifestation of our God to come down among us. How could we not welcome you?’

‘Among my own people I’m not a God, Herra. I have no magical powers to share with you. Indeed, none of my people have Gifts like yours. But I am what we call a Cathartic Agent. That means someone special who can help bring about needed change.’ And that change has started, he thought exultantly. I’ve achieved my potential and can see my next steps more clearly. ‘Which is rather like your Key Figures,’ he continued aloud. ‘I may be able to help you in your fight against Discord. I wish to try, anyway. It would be,’ he hesitated, ‘I feel it would be right.’

Herra bowed her head briefly, seeking to understand the truth of this, then she raised her eyes to meet those of Davred. ‘Yes. The time is right. And more - Katia is a Key Figure too. That’s why I brought her with me to speak to you tonight. I know not how this will all unfold, for I cannot see the path ahead clearly, but I know that in her and in you lie our hopes for the future.’

Davred glanced briefly at Katia, and as their eyes met he felt a sense of recognition which shocked him. It was a moment or two before he could look back at Herra. ‘We shall pursue the Quest for Wisdom together, then, Elder Sister. But first I need to distribute the stasis cubes to the temples you choose tonight. After I’ve done that, I shall fly to Tenebrak, to bring your cube myself. There’s no question about saving the first temple your Sisterhood ever founded. So as soon as the Gathering is over, use the farspeaker to let me know your choice for the other five QUEST Shannah Jay 59

temples.’

Herra smiled. ‘You won’t need that device, Illustrious Brother. You’ll know our choice as soon as we make it, for you will be a part of this Gathering, whether you wish it or not.’

‘I will?’

‘Did you not know it?’

‘No. But Herra, I . . . ‘

She smiled. ‘You wish to tell me that you are not a God. I’ve always known that, Lord Davred. But you are his Manifestation. So you are our Brother - and therefore a part of us. And you will devote your whole life to our Quest.’

He could only stare at her. ‘Why do you say that?’

‘Because I know it; I feel its truth. The God within me has spoken.’ She gave him a motherly smile. ‘What must happen, will happen.’ Then she took a deep breath and became brisk again. ‘May I leave now, Brother of the World?

It’s time for us to begin.’

‘Yes, of course. And - good luck.’

‘May light shine in your present darkness, Brother,’ she replied, somewhat enigmatically.

Katia followed Herra out of the Chamber in a daze, unable to take in all she had heard. Was it possible for their Brother’s people to be affected by Discord, too? Only, he had said he was not their God. And Herra had said that he was the Manifestation of the God their Brother, as if that were something different . . . Katia shivered and gave up attempting to puzzle it all out.

When they’d left the Chamber of the God, Herra gestured to those on watch. ‘Come and join us, Sisters. There’s no need for you to stay here. Our Brother will be a part of this Gathering.’

The Archives had explained very clearly how a Great Gathering was held, so she went to put on the special robes, while the other Sisters finished making ready the Hall of the God. The doors to the hall must be locked, and all the windows covered by special silken hangings, so that no outsider might watch or disturb them. Next, all lights were to be extinguished, save one special torch, which was to be held aloft by the Elder Sister in the centre of the circle.

When all was ready, music began, special melodies that some Sisters had been practising for days. The strange rhythms and throbbing sounds had made those who heard them shiver and the musicians go glassy-eyed.

‘ Let the Great Gathering begin,’ called Herra, and led her Sisters to form a circle. The novices made another around that. They moved into the slow stately rhythms of one of the dances they performed to honour the God, but this time they found themselves stepping as if their feet were pushing through fast-running water, water that threatened to tug them away. Then the music changed and strange new rhythms and melodies began to weave in and out of the dance, drawing them all along with it.

After a few moments Herra broke away and moved into the centre of the inner circle, standing alone there, dressed in the special ceremonial robes which had been stored in a raas wood chest for untold years. With a flick of her fingers, she lit the Torch of the God, which had been found stored with the robe, then signalled to her Sisters to extinguish the last of the temple lamps. Holding the torch aloft, she turned slowly round, swinging it from side to side.

The torch was made entirely of crystal, delicately cut and faceted. Its long stock was hung with chains of tiny prisms, which reflected every flicker of light. The oil for the torch was heavily perfumed and burned with a brightness never before seen in a single torch.

Herra’s movements slowed down, but whenever she moved the torch, even slightly, its prisms sent shimmering waves of light flickering hither and thither across the walls. Herra’s robe further multiplied the fragments of light. It was the most beautiful garment Katia had ever seen, soft as gossamer, yet embroidered with silver thread and thousands of tiny beads and jewels which glittered in the light of the torch and sent miniature reflections dancing across the faces of the Sisters.

QUEST Shannah Jay 60

‘ We shall concentrate upon this light. ’

The tone of Command rang in Herra’s voice.

Obediently all eyes focused on the torch she was moving in the prescribed patterns, gazing steadily as they had been instructed.

‘Now,’ Herra called softly and the music ceased. The Sisters who had been playing the chimes moved to join the circle, their steps echoing the now-silent rhythms. The moving torch wove a nimbus of light around Herra.

‘ We shall gather at this light. ’

As she held the torch high, everyone in the temple became very still. The temple messenger, trying to see what was happening through an imperfectly-covered slit high in the wall, found a veil of darkness before his eyes and knew no more till he awoke hours later, suffering from a blinding headache.

Within the hall, the novices in the outer circle went from deep meditation into a cataleptic state that left their eyes open, fixed blindly on the torch. The Sisters also found themselves enmeshed in its shimmering web.

‘ We shall make a bridge of light. We shall go forth across the darkness to join our Sisters. ’

Few could afterwards remember what happened next, save that they were gathered into a stream of coruscating light that somehow swept them out of themselves and launched them up into the black and silver shadows of the night sky. Katia was one of the few to retain some sense of individual consciousness throughout, but even her memories of what happened were blurred, like a vision seen through tears.

Did they really float with the moons in the sky and watch the world turning beneath them? Did they explain the God’s dilemma to their other Sisters in a swirl of sparks that flew off into the wild darkness on Herra’s wind? Did those sparks rain down upon other columns of light like a shower of molten fire? And could it have been so quickly decided that the temples in the southern claims of Tenebron, Setheron, Peneron, Netheron, Garshlian and Jan-Halani were to be saved by the God’s stasis cubes? For it was there that the Serpent was strongest.

And when that was done, did the God himself speak to them and share his sadness at the escalation of Discord?

Did he say he would now send his Manifestation down to share their struggle?

Then it ended and the threads of communication became as insubstantial as gossamer. Herra’s voice came gently through the warm night air.

‘ We shall drift back slowly through the darkness and gather again at our own beacon. ’

A soft, comforting darkness seemed to envelop them now, after the brilliance of the light and the turbulence of Herra’s wind. Through it, the beacon of light that marked Temple Tenebrak gleamed like a window at nightfall, welcoming weary travellers to its cosy safety.

‘ We shall form a circle around our beacon and slip down to find ourselves again.’

The temple came suddenly into focus, clear and sharp after the darkness, and they were back in their own bodies, but no one in the circle could move or speak, save Herra.

‘ Practise now the Discipline of Deep Relaxation.’

Heads bowed. Time stretched around them like a soft cloak. It seemed an eternity later that Herra spoke her final command.

‘ We shall now break the circle.’

Gasps and soft moans. They were like people waking from a deep, drugged sleep. Some fell to their knees where they stood; some staggered to the nearest seats; others crumpled senseless to the ground. Katia, fighting her own dizziness, saw what was happening in the centre and rushed forward just in time to catch the now guttering crystal torch as Herra gasped and sank to the ground.

Lara stumbled across the hall, terrified that their beloved Elder Sister had used too much of her life energy in guiding them. She fumbled for Herra’s pulse. Katia waited, hardly daring to breathe, not even aware of the torch she QUEST Shannah Jay 61

was clutching to her breast.

‘She’s still alive.’

Katia let out a ragged sigh, resisted the temptation to burst into tears of relief and went across to lay the torch carefully at the feet of the statue of the God. She stared up for a moment in shock, for the darkness at the back of the statue had changed and receded a little. An indistinct form that had been building there for months was now clearly visible, and it bore the same face as that she had seen on the farspeaker. So the legend was true! Another Manifestation of the God was about to come down to them, and the statue was reflecting that, even before he arrived.

Some inner compulsion pulled her away and she turned to enter the Chamber of the God.

Cheral tried to bar her way. ‘What do you think you’re doing, Katia?’

She answered impatiently. ‘Herra cannot , so I must. Our Brother will need my help. I was there before and I understand what is happening to him. Let me pass!’

But Cheral still hesitated, barring the way to this presumptuous young Sister, of whom she was always slightly suspicious.

‘ Move aside! ’ It took Katia a moment to realise that she had spoken in the tone of Command, and that Cheral, of all people, was obeying her. But then necessity took over, and she forgot everything else in the knowledge that her Little Brother needed her.

The image showed the Manifestation of their God slumped in his chair, unconscious.

Katia didn’t wait to kneel before him, any more than she waited for him to address her. ‘Brother, wake up! You are in danger!’ The Chamber of the God seemed to waver around her, but she concentrated on him, for she had to save him.

‘Brother, wake up!’

Now he stirred a little and took a deep breath.

‘Brother, wake quickly! There is no time. Your flying wagon is falling.’ She didn’t understand how she knew that, but she did, she knew it beyond any doubt.

With a groan Davred raised his head. ‘What - what’s happening?’ Then he remembered the Great Gathering. ‘It’s over!’ His mind was coming quickly back to life now. ‘The ship!’ Ignoring Katia, he began feverishly to press buttons, enter voice commands and set off calculations.

Katia allowed herself to sink to the floor in a crumpled heap. She was far too exhausted to assume the correct position or care how her robe fell around her. Her body was screaming for rest, but she knew that she could not let herself slip into the comfort of the Discipline of Deep Relaxation until the Manifestation of their God was safe. His words came to her with a sort of echo behind them and the chamber around her seemed unreal and slightly out of focus. She heard the words the God’s people spoke to him, as if from a great distance.

* * *

‘Robler, I’ll ditch this lifeship and kill myself, rather than return!’

‘Have you run mad, Davred? What do you think you’re doing?’

‘Joining my Sisters.’

‘Somebody get a tractor beam locked onto that lifeship. Sim, help me bring him back. Kerem - ‘

Davred interrupted. ‘I’m too low for that, Robler.’

‘Sir, we shouldn’t . . . ‘

‘Do as I order, Sim! Full power.’

After a few moments of feverish struggle, Davred shouted, ‘Damn you, Robler, let me go! You’re damaging the QUEST Shannah Jay 62

lifeship. It’ll crash!’

‘I’m not letting you go! You’re coming back here, even if I have to bring you back in pieces and resuscitate you.

We need you here. Stop fighting me!’

Davred could hear Soo’s voice in the background. She seemed to be arguing with Robler. The tractor beam slipped for a few moments and Davred took advantage of that to dive down towards the planet at a dangerous speed.

‘Davred, what the hell are you doing?’ There was panic in Robler’s voice now.

‘I’m doing what I have to. I’m needed on Sunrise. It’s there that I can be of most help - to them, to you, to the Confederation.’

‘Davred, you’ve run mad. I mean what I say! And if you touch that control again, Soo, I’ll put you on a disciplinary charge and ship you back to Central with that young fool!’

Davred’s fingers flickered over the controls with a speed he had not known he possessed. His mind was quite clear now. ‘Get it into your stupid, hidebound skull, Robler, that I’m doing this because I’m a Cathartic Agent. I’m not denying my potential; I’m achieving it. I know where my path lies. The Catharsis must begin on Sunrise.’

Soo’s face replaced Robler’s on the screen. ‘Davred, please come back. At least, come back and discuss it with us.’

‘No. If I come back, he’ll never let me go again.’ Davred’s fingers finished their feverish dance. ‘Five stasis cubes expedited and well beyond your reach,’ he said aloud.

Robler’s face returned to the screen. ‘What do they matter? It’s you we want The Confederation needs you. Have you no loyalty?’

‘Yes. But not to you.’ Davred’s smile was so haggard that Katia’s heart ached for him. ‘There remains only one cube - and me. The two of us are going to Tenebrak, Robler, whether we land safely in the lifeship or whether we crash to the ground and die there.’ He leaned forward and pressed a final button. ‘Your choice. My course is set. Do you intend to kill me?’

* * *

Katia knew then why she was there. She must pour her remaining strength into the Manifestation of their God and his flying wagon. Other people were pulling at him, trying to drag him back up into the sky again. She was barely aware that Herra had staggered into the chamber to join her, with Lara and Cheral following, or that the four of them had automatically formed a circle and were gathering, a dreadful agony, for it was too soon - too soon - far - too

- soon . . .

* * *

In the sky above Tenebron, Davred was sobbing aloud with the effort to remain conscious and retain control of his fingers. Then he felt a strength join his. Through blurred, burning eyes, he watched the screen and saw the lifeship steady on its downward path, doing the impossible and overriding the messages from the satellite.

‘He should be unconscious by now, Robler,’ said Mak’s voice. ‘Let him go. Heaven only knows what this is doing to his body.’

‘Never! He’s coming back here, alive or dead.’

Soo was beside them. ‘How can the lifeship hold out against that beam? It’s not possible. And - why is the image flickering? You’d swear that Davred had an aura.’

‘The com-unit must have been damaged. It’s a transmission fault.’

‘There’s no sign of a fault,’ said Soo. ‘No sign at all.’

Mak moved forward a step. ‘Let him go, Robler, or he’ll crash. Robler, please!’

‘Never.’

QUEST Shannah Jay 63

Soo and Mak exchanged glances, then reached out together and swept Robler’s hands from the control board.

Though he struggled wildly and threatened them with every sort of disciplinary action, they held him away from the controls for long enough to allow Davred to regain control of the lifeship.

For a moment the ship seemed to steady into a proper flight path, but it was too late. Leaving a blazing trail behind it in the night sky, it plummeted towards the ground at a speed that should have rendered its occupant unconscious. Somehow, struggling until the very last minute, Davred held on and managed to slow the ship down so that he would crash into an area of tall trees. The impact might just be cushioned by them.

‘Near the crèche!’ he yelled just before the lifeship came down. ‘Herra, come and find me!’ Then he knew no more.

* * *

Herra croaked, ‘Enough! We can do no more. The Manifestation of our Brother has come down to join us.’

Only then did Katia allow herself to sink down into the warm pool of velvety blackness that had been sucking at the soles of her feet.

#####

Chapter 11: ‘TWO SISTERS TO THE RESCUE BENT’

When Katia awoke, she lay in her bed stretching and yawning, feeling vaguely that she should remember something important. Suddenly it all fell into place. The Manifestation of their God! He’d come down to join them, but his wagon had been damaged by his own people and had fallen from the sky. And she’d tried to help him, but he’d still fallen. She could remember him saying, ‘Herra, come and find me!’

‘Awake at last.’ Herra was standing in the doorway. ‘Well, you look better than you did last night, anyway, Katia.’

Herra herself didn’t look well. Her complexion was a muddy colour and there were dark circles under her eyes.

Katia scrambled out of bed. ‘Why didn’t you wake me up sooner, Elder Sister? Our Brother needs help. He’s fallen. He may be hurt!’

‘We didn’t wake you because you’ll need all your strength in this venture. You drained yourself last night, to help our Brother - and after a Great Gathering, too. It would have been dangerous to wake you.’ Katia felt less guilty when Herra added, ‘I was allowed to continue sleeping too, dear child, and for the same reason. These bodies of ours can only do so much, then they must rest. But now that you’ve awoken naturally, we must set off as soon as possible.

Cheral has emergency kits packed for us, so if you’ll wash and eat quickly, we can leave.’

‘Leave?’

‘To rescue the Lord Davred, Manifestation of our God. He needs us.’

‘Us? Are you coming too? Should you?’

‘I’ve spent over two hundred years in the God’s service. Do you think I would not go to the Lord Davred in his hour of need?’

‘But - won’t it be too dangerous for you?’

‘It won’t kill me. My time to die is not yet come. That I know. But I must have you as a guide, child. His flying wagon came down in the wildwoods beyond the crèche. It fell too quickly, I think, though we were able to slow it down. But now - he may be injured, he may even be dead. Ah, that we too could fly as he does! We should be with him now.’

‘Do Gods die?’

QUEST Shannah Jay 64

‘All creatures die. How else can a species change or grow wiser? How else can our souls climb the ladder of life?

Now, enough talk, Katia. Get ready as quickly as you can.’

This time they left the temple by a tunnel which was known only to a few of the older Sisters - and now to Katia.

It led to the garden of a house in a quiet street near the outskirts of the city. Just to think of the effort required to build the tunnel filled Katia with awe, for it was at least two kloms long, dry and smooth-floored, with concealed resting places where drinking water and emergency stores were cached. The passage came out at the bottom of an overgrown garden which gave on to a quiet laneway. When Katia looked back, she couldn’t see the entrance to the tunnel at all. It was so well concealed that it was hard to believe there was anything behind the tumbledown shed.

And somehow, she didn’t like to look at that area.

‘There are strong wards embedded in the stones,’ said Herra, as if reading Katia’s mind. ‘Your power is growing if you can bear to look at them for even that long.’ Growing apace, she said to herself, faster than I have ever known.

‘Herra, what is my Gift?’ Katia blurted out.

‘Don’t you know?’

‘Is it - like yours?’ Katia hesitated to make such a presumptuous claim, but the suspicion had been growing in her for nearly a year - and then, last night, she had known that the God needed her. Last night, she had also used the tone of Command on Cheral - and Cheral had obeyed her. Cheral! Today, that thought terrified her.

Herra laid a hand on hers. ‘In many ways your Gifts are like mine. But no two people can ever be exactly alike.

You have some Gift of Foreknowledge, of Compulsion, some minor ability to Heal, and who knows what else? One day, I think you will be an Elder Sister.’

‘Why me?’

Herra threw back her head and laughed. ‘Will you ever stop saying that, my Katia?’

‘It’s a heavy burden - and one I never wanted.’

‘ Those who hunger for power cannot be trusted with it. And anyway, you won’t be alone.’ Herra’s eyes lost their candour, as if she knew more, but didn’t wish to reveal it yet.

Katia didn’t press her to continue. She had enough to think about already - enough to terrify her.

The road which led to the crèche was normally deserted, but now bore signs of recent usage by many people. The two women exchanged anxious glances and walked on very quietly, alert and ready to hide. When they were part way along the path, Herra paused. ‘There’s trouble ahead - and behind. Benner’s men, I think.’

‘Ahead? At the crèche? Oh, no! Not like Setheron!’

‘I fear so. Why must they always deal in death and violence? Oh, my Sisters!’ For a moment Herra’s shoulders bowed and her eyes filled with tears, then she straightened her back. ‘Enough of that. We have no time to grieve.

Can you lead us to the crèche by a roundabout way? One that keeps us out of sight in the wildwoods? I would prefer not to meet Benner’s men, and there seem to be a lot of them ahead of us.’

‘Yes, of course.’ Katia stood still to get her bearings, then set off confidently over the rough ground, choosing always the easiest path for Herra among the bushes and lesser growth of the wildwoods. They spoke little and concentrated all their energy on walking as quickly as possible.

Once they were out of sight of the road, Katia stopped and taught Herra one or two ways of moving with less noise. She was not surprised when Herra instantly applied the lessons with a skill which would not have disgraced a verderer in the High Alder. Katia breathed deeply of the tangy air and blushed when she caught Herra’s amused gaze. What a time to gratify her senses, with the crèche in danger and their Brother waiting for them!

‘Don’t feel guilty, child. It isn’t wrong to enjoy our world - even in an Age of Discord.’

Two hours later they stood looking down on the smouldering remains of their crèche from the top of the small hill whose steep rocky side overlooked the site. From here it would once have been hard to see the crèche, for the buildings were of unpainted wood and nestled snugly under the trees. Now the buildings were clearly signposted by QUEST Shannah Jay 65

columns of black smoke and the woods below Herra and Katia were being quartered by groups of Benner’s guards, easily visible as they crashed noisily through the undergrowth and beat at the bushes.

‘May the God look down on our Sisters!’ said Herra automatically, her expression old with the weight of her sadness. ‘To die before one has followed one’s true path or used one’s Gifts properly! And those poor children. The waste of it all!’

‘Did any escape, do you think?’

‘Probably. We always build escape routes when we build our crèches, even after so many years of peace - and we practise using them, too.’ She bent down and opened her bundle. ‘We must pause and use the device the God gave me. He calls it a tracer, but if I press the controls differently, it’s also a farspeaker. With it, I can talk to our Sisters at the temple and direct them to help the survivors. We mustn’t linger here, though. Two of us can do little to help them, and our path lies beyond the crèche.’ She pulled a small flat oblong from her pocket and pressed one corner. A faint hissing issued from it.

‘Is that you, Brother?’ Cheral’s voice was faint and thin.

‘No, Cheral. This is Herra. Benner’s men have attacked the crèche. Send a rescue party for the survivors. Path Three would be best, I think.’

There was a crackling in the undergrowth behind them. Katia had been so engrossed in what Herra was doing that she had not heard anyone approaching.

‘Look here! Two of those she-devils who got away from us!’ roared a voice suddenly.

Two men erupted from the undergrowth, brandishing swords. One ran at Herra and the other turned towards Katia. Herra stilled her opponent and Katia vaulted over a log to get out of reach of hers. She did not yet have the ability to still anyone fully.

Herra called, ‘This way, coward!’ and as the second man turned, he, too, froze in his tracks. As the two women ran from the clearing, she said, ‘We cannot get far, Katia. They’re all around us. We must make ourselves invisible.

Oh, to have to waste my energy on concealment! And there are so many of them to deceive!’

‘Why not hide in the cave?’

‘What cave?’ Herra’s voice was as sharp as a whip crack.

‘I can sense one over there, a sort of - emptiness in the ground. Can’t you feel it?’

‘No. Show me!’

They heard more people crashing up the hill and men’s voices shouting. Katia led the way rapidly to where the cave seemed to be, but they found themselves at the edge of the cliff where the rock fell in a nearly sheer drop for a hundred paces.

‘Oh, no! It’s down there, and it’s a hard climb! We shan’t be able to get down in time. Oh, Herra!’

‘Don’t panic.’ Herra spoke sharply. ‘Hold my shoulders and trust me. I can control our fall.’ Her wind blew from nowhere and she stepped confidently off the edge of the cliff, with Katia clutching her shoulders. In seconds the two women were falling slowly as feathers down the sheer rock face. Then, as Katia had said, they came to a narrow ledge with a cave at the back of it, a mere crack in the rock filled with the wind’s sweepings, but large enough to hide the two of them from anyone above. They had to bend double to crawl inside, but there was room to lie down quite comfortably within the crevice.

‘I’m sorry,’ said Katia. ‘You had to use your powers, after all.’

‘But it took far less energy than I would have had to use to keep us invisible from a hundred questing men. Shhh!’

Fragments of conversations drifted down from above.

‘Look what those whores have done to Farrol and Evin!’

‘When we find them, Lord Benner’ll see that they pay homage to the Serpent, Sisters or not. He’ll make ‘em QUEST Shannah Jay 66

squirm all right!’

‘ . . . like they’re frozen. Will they die?’

‘No. Saw it happen to the captain of our troop a few years ago. Came out of it in . . . ‘

‘Any signs of . . . ‘

Herra put the fingertips of her left hand to her brow and gestured twice with her right hand. There was a shout of triumph from above.

‘Over here! There are some broken twigs. Sly devils! They got away down this side. Come on! They can’t have gone far!’

‘What about these two?’

‘Leave ’em. I want the reward Benner promised. They say Sen-Sether got hold of a Sister and forced her to pay public homage to the Serpent. Benner’s dying to do the same thing, but he daren’t take the whores prisoner in the city yet. Some stupid people take a lot of persuading about what’s good for them.’

‘Aye. Those women are a devil’s brood. The things they do in their temples! Unnatural perverts. But if we caught one, quietly-like, our Lord Benner would splay her out good and proper on the altar. Seen him make sacrifice with women a few times. Now that’s what I call doing a thorough job! The bitches begged for mercy before he was through. All honour to the Serpent! Wish I had his stamina. And blood - he likes ‘em whipped hard, he does. Blood everywhere when he’s in that sort of mood.’

‘Shut up, will you? How can we track those whores down with you two shouting your mouths off like that?’

The crackling of broken twigs faded slowly away.

Katia whispered to Herra. ‘They were talking about Fiana, weren’t they?’

‘Yes.’

‘Does everyone know?’

‘Sen-Sether has broadcast the news as widely as possible.’

‘I would die rather than do that. How could she bear it?’

‘It was the price she chose to pay to save many of her Sisters from death or a similar fate.’

‘I still couldn’t do it.’ Katia shuddered.

‘One does what one must when the occasion arises. One finds the strength if something is really necessary.’

‘Not for that! Death would be preferable!’

‘Sometimes death is the easy way out.’ Herra judged it time to change the subject. ‘Now, I think we’ll have to wait here until darkness. Let’s enter the Discipline of Minor Renewal and gather more strength to ourselves.’

‘But our Brother?’

‘We cannot reach him yet.’

There was silence for a few moments, then Katia asked softly, ‘Are you all right, Herra?’

‘Yes, child. Finding this cave has saved us a lot of trouble.’‘I’m glad of that, at least.’ But Katia could see that the Elder Sister was near exhaustion. Impulsively she laid her hand on Herra’s and squeezed it gently.

‘Don’t worry about me, child. I shall manage. Just husband your own strength. I’ll set watch and ward at the entrance.’ She gestured and there was a slight flickering over the opening. From outside the cave would appear empty, and people would be disinclined even to look at the entrance.

Soon the breathing of the two women slackened and their pulses slowed down. The wind ruffled their robes and blew tendrils of hair across their faces, but they didn’t stir again until dusk.

QUEST Shannah Jay 67

* * *

As the two women sighed into sleep, the observers on the satellite, who had been following them carefully, stared at each other in amazement.

‘Just look at that tracer reading!’ exclaimed Soo, who was on duty in the com-centre. ‘Are those two Sisters all right, do you think?’

‘They said something about a Discipline of Minor Renewal.’ Mak looked in awe at the life monitor’s reading. ‘I’m beginning to think Davred was right. They have skills I’ve only read about in ancient mythology or in fiction tales.

Did they really float down that cliff?’

‘We saw them do it. There’s no way they could have been tricking us.’

‘I still can’t believe it, for all that. We must study them more carefully.’

‘Don’t let Robler hear you saying that, Mak. He’s still furious with us. He seems to hate the Sisterhood and blame them for Davred’s defection. He only wants this com-watch kept so that he can prove they’re tricksters.’

‘His behaviour is unprofessional, to my mind. An Exec has no right to give way to his emotions.’ Hesitantly Mak laid his hand over hers, almost as if he were afraid to offend her. He cleared his throat, ‘I’m glad we saved Davred’s life, Soo.’

‘Yes. I hope he finds happiness down there. Do you think he was right about Catharsis for the Confederation taking place on Sunrise? He seemed so sure of what he had to do.’

‘He said he’d achieved his potential.’

‘Perhaps he has, but will it make him happy? He’s always been a strange person. A lonely one, too.’

‘You’re not too upset that he’s gone, are you, Soo?’

‘Upset? In what way?’

Mak looked at her earnestly. ‘Emotionally. You were fond of him.’

She turned her hand within his and pressed it slightly. ‘No, I’m not upset in the way you mean. Davred and I were never more than friends, Mak. He’s like a brother to me. I shall miss him, of course, but I’m not emotionally attached to him.’

Mak cleared his throat again. ‘I thought not, but I wanted to make sure. And Soo,’ his face flushed slightly, for he was not a man used to expressing his feelings, ‘I’m glad of it for personal reasons.’

Soo removed her hand from his, raised it for a moment to touch his cheek, then caught sight of Davred’s life monitor and became brisk again. ‘Davred’s pulse rate has slowed down, too. It’s not as slow as the Sisters’, but if a Confex medic saw readings like that, he’d have Davred in an analysis rig before he could blink. He must be badly injured. I wish there was something we could do, but those woods are full of people. Anyway, I’m not sure it’d be right to bring him back into Robler’s power again.’

It was neither the time nor the place for personal conversations or intimacies, so Mak didn’t return to the subject of his feelings for Soo. But he intended to as soon as the moment was opportune.

In the com-centre, Soo continued to watch and record what was happening down on Sunrise. Mak returned to the lab, but couldn’t settle to work. He kept remembering the warm feel of Soo’s hand on his cheek and the beauty of her hair. Never had a woman had this effect upon him. Indeed, he’d decided years ago that he was not the sort to form long-term relationships.

Everyone seemed to change when they came to observe Sunrise, even Robler.

* * *

As dusk crept up the hillside, the two Sisters increased their pulse and respiration rates, and began to exercise their muscles as best they could in the cramped space.

QUEST Shannah Jay 68

‘Can you find the way for us in the darkness, child?’

Katia smiled. ‘Oh, yes. I’ve always loved the woods at night. And it won’t be all that dark. Two of the moons are up and nearly full, even if they are low on the horizon. It’s you I’m worried about, Elder Sister.’

‘I shall do very well. I feel quite refreshed.’

She didn’t look refreshed. Even in the dimness of the moonlight she looked drawn and haggard. ‘Well then, you’re in charge of this part, Katia,’ she said cheerfully. ‘Just tell me what to do and I shall follow you as meekly as a nerid calf.’

They both smiled at the image. Baby nerids only let go of their mothers’ tails to suckle.

The two women made their way through the wildwoods, passing several encampments with very watchful sentries guarding them. Katia’s nose wrinkled in disgust at the men’s filthy habits and the way they had destroyed the plant life around them. Several times she found a sheltered hiding place and a green watercup or two among the low growth.

Herra obediently stopped and took a drink, resting for a few moments, well aware that her younger Sister was being particularly watchful of her safety. She was quite happy to let Katia pace them and didn’t even protest when Katia took her bundle from her and carried it with her own.

As the night passed, it grew chill and the two Sisters had to make adjustments to their body functions to compensate. All these were registered by the tracer and noted with intense interest by Soo, who had chosen to remain on duty above.

In the grey light just before dawn, Katia stopped and for the first time seemed hesitant. ‘We’re close now, I think, but I can’t tell precisely where our Brother’s Manifestation is. Can you feel his presence?’

Herra stood still and cast her senses ahead. ‘Yes. In that direction.’

A faint smell of burned undergrowth drifted towards them. He’s alive, at least, thought Herra. I can sense him quite clearly. Let him not be captured now by Those of Evil. It will take so long to get our people to this turn of the path again. The tip of the sun touched the horizon, the last of the dawn mist drifted away, and the light turned from grey to the soft pink of a blushbell bud. Ahead of them, they could clearly see a stretch of charred woodland and at the end of it . . .

‘The flying wagon of the God!’ exclaimed Katia. ‘How large it is!’

‘And damaged by fires hot beyond our imaginings. Look at the scorch marks. And look at the way the metal is twisted.’

‘Is he - can he still be alive in that?’

‘Yes, but let’s try to get to him as quickly as possible. He’s hurt.’

When they stood next to the flying wagon, dwarfed by its battered metal walls, they could see what looked like a door, but it was high up in the blackened metal.

‘I think I must lift myself into the air to inspect that,’ said Herra reluctantly.

‘Save your strength, Elder Sister. I can climb up there quite easily.’ Katia took off the long robe she had worn kilted up in the wildwoods and stood in her shorter undershift, squinting up at the battered metal. She took a long thin rope from their survival kit. Testing its strength, she nodded in satisfaction, then twisted it into a loop. With casual expertise, she cast this up towards a projecting piece of broken metal. She missed the first time, for it was long since she’d used this skill, but she caught it easily on the third throw and pulled it tight. After that, it was the work of only a minute to climb up.

But there was no handle on the door, and Katia swung to and fro next to it in the bitterest disappointment. Even if there had been an obvious way to open it, she wouldn’t have been able to, for one side of the door was badly buckled. Just as she was about to slide down again to confer with Herra, she caught sight of what looked like a crack in the metal a little higher up. She pulled the trailing end of rope up after her and managed to loop it over another QUEST Shannah Jay 69

metal projection higher up. With less hope than before, she dragged herself up to inspect the crack.

‘There’s a square piece here,’ she called down to Herra. ‘It fits in tightly, like a small door. I’m sure it’s meant to open.’ But however she worked on it, she couldn’t open it.

Finally she lost her temper and banged on it with her fist. ‘We can’t wait any longer! He needs us. Open up! You’ve got to open!’ The metal stirred beneath her fingers like a live thing. ‘Ah!’ She began to focus all her energy on it. ‘ Open! O-pen! O-pen! ’ She was unaware that she was chanting the words loudly as she continued to beat the metal with her clenched fist.

Herra, watching anxiously from below, didn’t dare to speak. Under stress, another of Katia’s Gifts was ripening swiftly. It might be dangerous to stop her in the middle of an incantation, however primitive the method she was using to support her actions and move the metal. Biting her lip, Herra watched, prepared to intervene if Katia were in danger.

‘ O-pen! O-pen! O-pen! ’

A breath of wind whirled up the charred leaves around Herra’s feet. Oh, child, she thought, take care! Your wind is blowing, and you’re scarcely ready for it yet.

Above her the hatch yawned slowly inwards, and Katia tumbled through it, her strength momentarily drained by the effort she had made.

She will be the greatest of us all, thought Herra. To do that, untutored! Even I couldn’t have managed it at her age.

She waited below for some sign from Katia, but none came. After a while she could bear it no longer. Gathering her forces, she laid the emergency kit on the ground and used her own Gifts to twitch another rope up over the first projection. She began to climb it slowly and carefully.

At the top she rested, casting her senses around the flying wagon to check that Those of the Serpent were not close, then nodded in relief and entered the wagon. Inside the hole she found no sign of Katia, but there was a second hatchway leading down into a curved metal passage. Presumably Katia had gone that way. Herra prepared to follow her.

#####

Chapter 12: THE BONDING

When the door in the side of the strange metal wagon opened, Katia tumbled into the hole behind it, too surprised to control her body properly. She lay for a moment near the edge of the hatchway, still panting from her exertions, then lifted her head like a dog questing for a scent. She could sense their Brother.

Lowering herself into the passage behind the main door, she crept forward, her heart pounding with excitement. As she turned a corner, she came upon the little room which they’d seen on the farspeaker image. Now there were no lights winking on the walls and her Brother lay motionless on a long chair.

She moved swiftly to his side and felt for his pulse. Ah, good! He’d slowed down his body processes, though it would have been better to have gone still slower. At her touch, the pulse began to speed up again. She watched consciousness return to his face as his breathing quickened. His eyes flickered open.

'Katia!' he said in a tone of wonder. 'It real y is Katia.' He reached out to touch her cheek.

When she saw Davred lying there as vulnerable as a child, Katia forgot he was the Manifestation of their God, for she sensed a deep pain, not only in his body, but also in his mind. His own people had hurt him. She forgot her state of undress, forgot about herself entirely, and took his cold hand in her warm one. Carrying it to her cheek, she cradled it QUEST Shannah Jay 70

there for a moment, then reached out to touch his face. 'Oh, my dear Brother, how they have hurt you.'

Herra paused in the doorway, then retreated silently to the outside entrance. This bonding between Katia and the Manifestation of their God must take place without any interference from her. She’d made the prophecy herself, not realising it was Katia who would become the God's mate. How quickly events were sweeping them along! If only she could see more clearly the path they must tread. But it was hidden in a shifting mist and the God only occasionally granted her glimpses of the way ahead.

Inside the cabin, Davred reached out his other hand and stroked Katia's cheek with one fingertip. 'How soft your skin is!' He had enjoyed healthy relationships with several women, but not one of them had filled him with this aching desire to hold her in his arms and just stay close. Not one of the wel -educated women he had known had possessed a cloud of soft hair that made you long to bury your face in its perfumed depths.

Katia gathered him in her arms, knowing instinctively that he needed cherishing. She wondered a little at her presumption, but she that he needed the comfort she could give him, also that this was right.

They pulled apart and stared at each other shyly. Before they could blunt their feelings with words, Herra made her presence felt in the passageway, walking with a noisy step foreign to her nature and even, solemn and important though this moment was, with a slight smile curving the corners of her mouth. Those who could not remember their first loves were sad souls.

'Thank you for the comfort you gave me, Little Sister,' said Davred formally as Katia stood up.

Herra could see the bond between them as if it were a ribbon of light. Katia had a look of innocent wonder glowing on her face and their Brother an expression of puzzled tenderness.

Davred turned to Herra. 'We meet at last, Elder Sister.' He stretched out a hand to clasp hers and as she touched it, she could feel the fever throbbing in his body.

'You're hurt, Brother.'

He tried to move and winced. 'My leg's broken, I think. As is this ship.' He gestured at the damaged control panels.

Herra ignored the inert metal and knelt to examine her Brother's injured leg. First he had to show her how to open the strange fastenings on his garments. She blocked out most of his pain so she could concentrate. The leg was indeed broken, and the skin was badly bruised, but it was a clean break and the bone had not pierced the flesh.

'I haven't used my skill as a Healer on broken bones in many years, Illustrious Brother, but if you will permit me, I can pull the bones together so that healing may begin.'

'Can you? That's a start, anyway, but it'll be weeks before I can walk on it.' He moved fretfully in his chair. 'And Herra, you of all people know that I am no God. I'm a mere man, and one who has failed in his task. I came down to try to help you, not to be a burden to you.'

' You are the Manifestation of our God, come down in our time of greatest need, and you will be of great help to us,' Herra said in her special voice. ' Though the task will take the whole of your life.' She blinked and went on in a more normal tone, 'If you are not prepared to pay such a heavy price, there is yet time to call your friends and ask them to rescue you.'

'I'l stay gladly. I feel quite sure that my destiny lies on Sunrise. But how can you speak so surely?'

Herra closed her eyes and shivered slightly. 'It's one of my Gifts, Lord Davred. Foreknowledge. A very painful Gift, sometimes. One pays a price for everything, does one not?' She sat breathing slowly and deeply for a few moments.

Katia knew better than to interrupt her after a Speaking, and Davred correctly interpreted the younger Sister's gesture to keep silent. He lay back, lost in his own thoughts, relieved that the pain had eased.

Herra's breathing changed.

'She's now preparing to start the healing, Lord Davred,' Katia whispered. 'She was a Healer before she became the Elder Sister, one of our greatest Healers, people say. Let me help you to lie more comfortably. Does this - this chair thing move?'

'It's fastened to the floor, but it will lie flatter than this - if the mechanism isn't broken. Ah, that's it.' With a whirring QUEST Shannah Jay 71

sound, the couch straightened itself. Katia watched curiously, but showed no sign of fear. It's we who are primitive, Davred thought. The control they have over their own bodies and emotions puts our so-called medical knowledge to shame.

Herra sank to her knees beside the couch and Katia helped Davred to straighten out as much as possible, wincing in sympathy at the pain his leg gave him. She could sometimes feel the pain of others. That was another of her Gifts.

'What must I do, Katia?'

'Why, nothing, Lord Davred. It's for the Elder Sister to do the healing.'

As Herra opened her eyes again and turned to Davred, Katia wondered whether she should leave the room.

As if she read her youngest Sister's mind, Herra spoke, 'No, Katia. Stay with me, to enhance my powers. Lord Davred, give me your hand. Yes, that's right. Hold me tightly. Feel my fingers. Feel my strength. Yes, that's it. Now, try to think of your leg as whole. Yes. That's right. Concentrate all your thoughts upon it. Your leg – whole and healthy, healthy and whole. No pain. No pain . . . no . . . pain . . . at . . . all.' Her free hand began to stroke his leg and he showed no signs of pain as it passed lightly over the bruised flesh. He gave a long sigh and closed his eyes, his breathing becoming very slow and deep.

' No pain. No pain,' Herra chanted, like a litany. Then her chant gradually changed to ' Healthy and whole,' and Davred's breathing began to speed up again.

After a while his eyes flickered open.

'There, Lord Davred, how does that feel?' Herra let go of his hand and smiled, the gentle, satisfied smile of a Healer who has been successful.

Davred stared at his leg as if it were an alien thing. The swelling had gone down, the bruising had turned to a faint yellow and the pain had subsided to a mere ache. 'How did you do that?'

Herra rose to her feet with the grace that was peculiarly her own. 'I am a Healer. I exercised my Gift, as I was taught, that's all. And you, Lord Davred, are a very responsive patient. That's because you share some of our Gifts. I shall be honoured to help you discover and develop them.'

'I thought men didn't share our Gifts,' Katia exclaimed before she could stop herself.

'Many men do not. They've given themselves too much to conflict and violence. But Lord Davred wil be one of the Fathers of the next Stage, as will the infant son of Danver, about whom I shall tell you one day. And there are other men like them, too, scattered about our world. The gifted ones increase in number, in spite of Discord. Though few are as rich in Gifts as you two, yet the others will be vital to our Quest.'

Davred looked puzzled.

Herra tried to explain. 'The Gifts are inherited, from parent to child. We not only keep track of the families endowed with such Gifts, we try to encourage them to bear children. We call them our Gifted Lines. Upon their descendants rests the success of the next stage.'

'What is the next stage, Herra?' It was one of the most important questions he had ever asked in his whole life.

'The next stage, Lord Davred, is the banishment of Discord from this world for ever. For that, we must learn to know ourselves and to develop our powers. It'll be a hard struggle. Your earlier Manifestations helped set our feet upon the Path of Wisdom. You shall help us to take further steps towards our goal.'

Davred stared at her. At times she treated him as the Manifestation of the God to whom she had devoted her life, at others as a lesser being who was the Manifestation of that God, and at others still, as Davred Hol unby, representative of the Galactic Confederation. 'I find all this rather confusing,' he admitted.

'We all do, Lord Davred, we all do. It's never easy to follow the Path of Wisdom. It's taken the Sisterhood a very long time to walk a short way along it. I think your people lost a great deal when they became so reliant upon machines.'

She gestured around her. 'If things like this do everything for you, why should you bother to find your own Gifts, let alone work hard to develop them? But I speak too much. Even now, Benner's men are searching for your wagon. No -

QUEST Shannah Jay 72

you call it a ship, do you not?'

'A lifeship.'

'Lifeship,' she repeated, enjoying the strangeness of the word. 'We must be gone before they arrive. You won't be able to walk very far on that leg today, but perhaps our Katia can find another cave for us, where we may lie hidden for a few days. What do you need to take with you?'

But Davred hadn't heard her last question. 'Walk? You mean my leg is healed enough to walk on already?' he whispered, staring down at it as if it did not belong to him.

'I wouldn’t normally advise that. You should real y exercise it by swimming, and not walk on it for more than a few paces. It will be a day or two yet in the healing and walking on it will give you pain. But the bones have knitted together well enough to bear your weight in an emergency like this, and the pain will be bearable. Katia, go and find us another cave, a bigger one this time. Lord Davred, what do you need to take with you?'

Katia slipped out of the room and slid down the rope. You didn’t argue with Herra when she used that tone of voice.

Her robe still lay on the ground where she had left it and she blushed to think that Lord Davred had seen her in her undershift. She hesitated beside the robe for a moment, then shrugged and flitted away through the woods with it slung around her neck. Robes weren't at all practical for walking through undergrowth. What you really needed was soft boots like her grandfather made, and leather leggings and tunics like the foresters wore.

* * *

'Still watching that renegade? I thought your watch was over. 'Robler's harsh voice made Soo and Mak jump.

'Oh! I didn't hear you come in,' Soo said, feeling foolish. ‘I was so interested, I decided to stay on watch.'

'All night?'

'I took a couple of stims.'

'You always did have a soft spot for that traitor.'

As Robler stretched out his hand to switch off the com-unit, Soo put her hand out to protect the switches. 'It's too important that we watch this, Robler. Things are happening fast down there. Let me tell you what we've just seen.'

'Davred Hol unby has made his bed. Now he must lie in it.' But Robler didn’t move towards the switches again and he watched the image carefully.

Soo's voice was quiet and sure. 'I was about to come and tell you what we've just seen. We'll have to apply to Confex for a change of status for Sunrise now. Full protection and close observation, I should think, even if we only exercise minimum intervention, as Davred insisted. I really believe, from what I've heard and seen lately, that the things which happen on Sunrise, things which ought to be impossible, according to our knowledge of the universe, are significant to the whole Galactic Confederation.'

'You're fooling yourself, Soo. And I shall forward no such application. Your evidence is merely based on the play-acting Davred's putting on for our benefit. Did you see anything? Were the visuals working, even for one moment?'

'Not in the ship. We could only hear what was happening at first. But Davred's life monitor was still broadcasting, and he couldn't have been faking that. When Herra arrived, we began to receive pictures from her tracer. Davred's leg was most definitely broken - and as definitely healed.'

Robler snorted in disbelief.

'I don't know how Davred survived the crash,' Soo went on, refusing to let the Exec bully her, 'or how he managed to slow the lifeship down so much at the end. Do you? Most of the instruments were smashed. It should have been impossible to control it at all.'

'Sheer chance. Favourable malfunction.'

Mak joined in. 'I have to back Soo in this, Robler. Some improbable things have been happening and we've recorded QUEST Shannah Jay 73

most of them. That's proof enough for me - and for Confex, I don't doubt. We formally request that you put through an application for a change of status for this planet.'

'Definitely not!' Robler slammed out of the com-room.

Soo gaped after him. 'But he can’t refuse!'

Mak's expression betrayed his shock. 'What's happening to him lately? Has he run mad?'

'I don't know, but I no longer trust him.' Soo mouthed the words softly, afraid Robler might be eavesdropping.

'Nor I.' Mak's hand grasped hers for a moment.

After a few moments, she sighed and moved away. 'I'd better bury these recordings in a few deep holes. Stand behind me, so that what I'm doing can't be observed.' Her fingers were dancing over the control panel as she spoke.

When she’d finished, Mak nodded in satisfaction and relief. Communications and computers were not his speciality.

If Soo had hidden a copy of the recordings in the computer's memory banks, then only she or another expert of her calibre would ever be able to find it again. And Robler was not an expert. 'Can you try to . . . ?' he began, but she gestured to him to be silent.

Sim came into the com-room. 'I've got orders to relieve you two. What's up? Robler's in a fury. He wants to see you in his cabin.'

'We've made a formal request for a change of status for Sunrise. Total wardship. No intervention. Play back the recording we made and see whether you think Davred is faking, as Robler claims.'

'Is it ready to go?' Sim looked shifty.

'Yes.'

'I'l just have a quick look at it, then.'

I bet you will, thought Mak. Robler's almost certainly told you to wipe it. Aloud he said, 'Come on, Soo, let's go and beard the lion in his den. He can't stop us from forwarding the evidence to Confex, if we insist on our rights. He can only put in a dissenting report.'

He held out his hand to her and she took it, leaving Sim gaping at them. Mak was notorious for his lack of feelings and Soo for her reserve. Now they were holding hands openly, like young lovers. What had got into those two? And what had they done to put Robler in such a fury? He decided that he would definitely look at the recording himself before he wiped it, whatever Robler said.

#####

Chapter 13: THE CAVE

Davred stood up and very tentatively put his full weight on the leg which had been broken. As Herra had predicted, it was painful to walk on, but not too painful to bear. He stared at her, then down at the leg. 'I can't believe it!'

'How not, when you see for yourself that it's so?' she countered. 'Your fixed beliefs about the world around you prevent you from even trusting your own senses.' She smiled and softened the rebuke by adding, 'Even the Sisters suffer from this problem at times, when they're developing new Gifts. They have to overcome what your people might call logic before they can do the things we of the Sisterhood know to be possible. But enough of that. We must leave this place quickly. We'll have time later to share our thoughts. What do you need to take with you?'

Davred indicated a bulging pack and a small box. With Herra's help he managed to get out of the hatch and slide carefully down the rope, taking care to land on his sound leg. Herra lowered his pack, then the precious box of QUEST Shannah Jay 74

equipment which contained the stasis cube for Temple Tenebrak and some other bits and pieces he thought might be useful, then she followed him down the rope. Her movements were slow and tired, but it was hard to believe that she was over two hundred years old: she still moved lightly and with perfect balance.

Davred's eyes watered at the brightness outside, so different from artificial light. At first he sensed, rather than saw the beautiful morning as he lifted his face to enjoy the warmth of natural sunlight on his skin for the first time in years.

In fact, it had been a rare treat in his life to be out of doors like this. He took a deep breath, and then another, blinking away the tears. He couldn’t believe he was really here at last, on the planet he’d wanted to visit for so long. Yet even as he wondered at the strangeness of the scene, beneath everything he felt a sense of homecoming.

He smiled at Herra, standing beside him patiently, as if she knew instinctively that he needed a few moments to accustom himself to his new surroundings. The scents of the morning were wonderful, in spite of an occasional whiff of burnt foliage. The breeze was gentle on his skin, the colours subtle. Yes, he was home at last. He knew that in every cell of his body.

He had realised ever since he finished his studies and left the university planet that something was lacking in what the Confederation had to offer him. He had found himself work as a researcher, and had tried, very briefly, the drugs, exotic foods, sexual fantasies, and parties to which his colleagues had invited him. Group indulgence in such pleasures had been a shock to him. It had offended some sense of fastidiousness that most of the others didn’t seem to possess.

When he stopped taking part in the normal recreational activities, he had been left with his work - and a sense of loneliness, a loneliness nothing seemed to assuage.

His research had led him to join Confex. A random choice, he’d thought at the time, but he’d come to realise that someone, perhaps the authorities, had been guiding him, because of his potential as a Cathartic Agent.

In Confex, his early postings had been to a series of testing but minor projects. After a few years, he’d volunteered for this assignment on a newly-discovered planet. His senior advisers hadn’t wanted him to come, but he’d pressed so strongly that in the end they’d permitted the assignment.

Well, he’d broken his contract with Confex by disobeying Robler, and who knew what lay before him now? He didn’t intend to waste time worrying about Robler and Confex, not now that he was actually here on Sunrise.

Turning his back on the ugly swathe of burnt vegetation near the lifeship, Davred stared at the wildwoods, which resembled those that long-dead artists used to paint on Old Earth. He’d had several high-quality reproductions of his favourite paintings, as wel as other more modern multi-dimensional artworks, programmed into the ship's computer, and had screened them on one wall of his quarters, changing them every few days. But the reality here was far more beautiful than the images he had lived with and enjoyed.

How lush the foliage was! He touched some leaves gently, afraid of damaging them. He wasn’t used to such a riot of unprogrammed plant life. When Lenlin had enthused over the beauty of Sunrise's flora, he’d paid little attention to what she said. Little attention to her, either, he suddenly realised. Poor Lenlin! She’d been as unsatisfying as everything else he had tried. He wondered if she was carrying his child yet, and hoped that would console her.

Perhaps one day he’d meet that child. He hoped so.

'Are you ready to leave, Lord Davred?'

'What? Oh, yes! I'm sorry, Herra. I was just thinking how beautiful all this is.' Over to the right was a bush cut in two by the landing blast of the damaged lifeship. One half was covered by brown shreds of leaf and seared bal s of shrivelled blossom; the other half was a riot of foliage, dark green leaves crowding round fluffy balls of flowers in the most subtle shadings of pink he’d ever seen. Next to them, his blue shipsuit looked garish. In fact, it looked most dreadfully out of place here in the wildwoods. He looked down at it with distaste. 'Come, Lord Davred,' that quiet voice urged. 'Benner's men will be here soon.'

He turned and limped after Herra. When they’d gone a hundred yards into the woods, he stopped.

'Is your leg hurting too much to walk on, Lord?'

'No. But I need to switch on the stasis gear in the lifeship, so that no one can tamper with it.' He pul ed a com-unit from his pack, and spoke into it. 'There. It's tuned to my voice. Nothing else wil remove the stasis.' As if to QUEST Shannah Jay 75

demonstrate that the stasis was working, a brightly-coloured bird flew into the invisible wall around the lifeship, screeched in shock as it started falling, and veered away.

They walked on for a little way, then Herra stopped. 'Let's sit down on this log, Lord Davred. We can do nothing more until Katia returns.'

He limped over to join her, sighing with relief as he took the weight off his leg.

'Lean back against me and close your eyes. The more you rest your body, the better it will respond to your needs.'

Katia rejoined them five minutes later, breathless from running.

'Benner's men are getting near! Hurry! They'll be here soon.' She pulled Davred to his feet, forgetting protocol, grabbed one of his packs and led them at a half-run through the undergrowth. After a few minutes they had to stop again to let Davred rest. When he tried to speak, Katia and Herra both shushed him.

'There's someone coming!' whispered Katia. She looked around, then gestured to an outcrop of rocks. 'We could try hiding behind those.' She looked disapprovingly at the bright blue shipsuit.

Davred collapsed on the ground in the shade of the rocks, his face pale, his breathing ragged and sweat standing in beads on his forehead. He had never before had to endure pain of this magnitude. Herra laid a hand gently on his leg and Katia could see him sag against her with relief as the pain eased. But she could tell that Herra was nearly as exhausted as he was. Footsteps crunched across the woodland floor towards them.

'Could have sworn I heard something.'

Herra made a swift gesture. One of the men turned and sniffed loudly. 'Something's burning over that way.'

'At this time of the year? It's not high summer, you know. Things are too damp to burn.'

'I can smell burning, I tell you!'

Arguing loudly, the two of them headed off through the woods.

'It's another klom,' said Katia anxiously. 'And it's rough terrain towards the end. But there's a lovely cave, big and dry, with a spring at the back.'

'I'll be all right,' said Davred.

'And you, Elder Sister?'

'I, too, child. Lead us there as quickly as you can.' But the strain on Herra's face belied her cheerful tone.

They had to stop another three times to conceal themselves while Benner's men blundered past. Once a man came upon them unexpectedly as they were crossing the open space in a grove of ceradon trees, and Herra had to still him and block his memory of the encounter.

After that, the Elder Sister's face lost every vestige of colour and she made no more attempts to ease Davred's pain.

The climb up the exposed rocky surface that led to the cave was an ordeal for both her and Davred. Katia's back crawled with apprehension the whole time in case they were seen.

Once inside the cave, Davred dropped to the ground and just sat with his face hunched over his outstretched legs, rocking slightly as the waves of pain began to subside. Herra leaned against the rough wal at one side of the cave, panting a little as she studied their surroundings.

With a nod of approval, she sank to her knees. 'It’ll do very well, Katia, all except the entrance, which is too large. I shall need to set watch and ward over it. But after that, I'm afraid I shall be able to do no more. I shall have to go instantly into the Discipline of Renewal. And I think that it will take several days this time. Child, it's a heavy burden to put on you. Do you think you can manage? Can you look after Lord Davred until I recover?' She was swaying with dizziness as she spoke.

'Of course. But Herra, won't it be dangerous for you? A Renewal is difficult at any time. You'll have no one to help you, no Healer. You shouldn't . . . '

QUEST Shannah Jay 76

'I must. I shall manage, child. My body knows the way by now. Just leave me to awaken in my own time. On no account try to rouse me.'

'No, Herra.' Katia was thinking rapidly. 'I must be able to leave the cave, though.'

'Yes.' Herra studied the entrance thoughtfully. 'I can leave you a small exit over there. Will that do? You'll have to crawl in and out, but you must be able to go out to look for food. You will be careful, won't you? You mustn't be seen and - Katia, listen, you must kil , if necessary, to protect Lord Davred.'

Davred looked up. 'I won't have that! I know how you feel about killing. I'm not worth it.'

'Knowing how we feel, you may therefore judge your worth to us, Lord, if we're prepared to face the thought of killing for your sake. We've worked for twenty thousand years on our Quest. Now that you're here, one of our Key Lives, this time must not pass unfruitfully. In your children's children lie the hopes of our world.'

'Do you regard me as an animal to breed from?'

She managed a tired rasp of a chuckle. 'Oh no, Lord Davred. That wil be only one of your duties. We shall work you hard, I'm afraid. Now, I must rest . . . ' With slow, painful gestures, she laid wards across the cave mouth till nearly all of it was covered by the slightly-flickering screen. Then she embraced both Katia and Davred before lying down.

Within minutes, her breathing had slowed to almost nothing, and her face had become a tranquil mask.

'Shouldn't we . . . cover her with something?'

'No, Lord. She won't feel the cold. She must renew her powers. We've had to call on them too many times in the past few days.'

'What exactly did she do to the entrance, Katia?'

'She laid wards across it. Look, you can see the barrier flickering from time to time. From outside, the cave will appear empty, and those approaching it will have a compulsion to turn away.'

'I can't believe that's possible with only the powers of the mind.'

'Much is possible, but the cost is heavy. She couldn't have gone much further today without killing herself.'

'May I tell my people of your skills? It will make a difference to what they feel about this planet.'

'Surely, Lord, that is for you to decide. Will . . . ' she fumbled for words, 'the . . . the other Gods not know these things already?'

'There are no Gods up there, Katia, just people like me. We - they live in a - a sort of lifeship, one as big as a whole village.'

'Why?'

'To study other worlds, to see how other people live. This world of yours is round, like a ball . . . '

'I know. Herra told me.'

'How in the name of infinity could she have known that?'

'It's in the Archives, Lord. We can't hope to remember everything, so we record such things carefully. Please continue.'

'Wel , this world is a bal , which is - floating in a vast space, and there's no air in the space, so we - my people must live inside something and provide their own air and food.'

'Would it not be easier for them to go down to the worlds they wish to study and live among the people there? Then they would have as much air and food as they needed. And surely they would learn more that way?'

'Their presence would change the way the people lived - and not always for the better. It's been found best to let people live in their own way until they've learnt to make - er - flying ships of their own. Then they can fly up from their world to meet us on more equal terms.'

QUEST Shannah Jay 77

Her head on one side, Katia considered this. 'Hmm. So, your people aren't Gods, just scholars?'

'No! We're definitely not Gods.' An image of Robler in a rage prompted him to say, 'Don't ever believe them if they tell you they're Gods. They are not.'

'No, but Herra says you are our Brother's Manifestation come down among us.'

He shook his head. 'I let you believe that so that I could study your ways without upsetting you.' He saw the shock on her face and added quickly, 'I'm sorry. I meant you no harm. But my people don't believe in the existence of Gods.'

She sat thinking for a moment, then shook her head decidedly. 'Then they're wrong. Manifestations of our God have visited our world several times. That too is described in detail in our Archives. Herra showed me.'

'Perhaps they were just space travellers like me?'

‘No. Some weren't formed as we are. One was - the Archives say that the Lord Terraccalliss was covered in golden fur - and that he had wings. And that's how he's shown on the statue of the God.'

Davred looked at her in breathless excitement. 'It - he sounds like one of the Precursors. My people have seen traces of them on other planets. But they aren't Gods, either, Katia, just another sort of creature - a very advanced sort, we think. Some of them were definitely winged.'

'The Manifestations of our God have borne several different forms, Lord. Not just like the Lord Terraccalliss, who was the winged one. You'll see their images in our temple. The statue shows them clearly. And there's still darkness behind the statue, where other Manifestations lie hidden, waiting for their time. One has formed recently in your likeness.'

'It can't have!'

'It is. I've seen it. It's very like you.'

'Someone must be doing it.'

She was shocked and it showed in her face. 'No one would touch the statue of the God. And even if they wanted to, no one could touch it. Lord Davred, I think the images must have been true Manifestations of the God, for it was they who set our feet on the Path of Wisdom long ago, when the world was young. No one but a God could do that. When Herra recovers, ask her to tell you about it. I don't know enough to explain it to you properly. I'm still learning myself.'

She nodded her head, the argument settled to her satisfaction, then smiled at him. 'If Herra has said that are a Manifestation of the God, then that's what you are, believe me. You're our Lord Davred, whether you chose it or not. I didn’t choose to become a Sister. It just – happens.'

'I'm not worthy. I haven't half your skills, let alone your Gifts.'

She stiffened. Was it possible that she would be the only witness to his Triple Denial? She spoke careful y. 'I said that, Lord, when I was chosen to be a Sister.'

'Well, you couldn't have meant it more than I do! What if I let you down? You Sisters have worked so patiently for so long. All my skills depend upon machines. You couldn't choose anyone less suitable.'

' Choose,' she said, gently correcting the way he pronounced the word. The look she gave him was filled with understanding. 'I think one can only follow the path of life to the best of one's ability, Lord. No one is, or can be, perfect.'

'But you've been training for the Quest since childhood! I don't even know your language properly. I'll just be a liability to you. I can't bear the thought of letting you down. I'm so inadequate.'

Three times. Her face was radiant. 'No. You are the one, Lord. You've just given the Proof of Worthiness. Our leaders never choose to lead. Anyone who seeks power is a danger to the community. Three times now you've denied your worthiness, as I shall bear witness in the Circle. We cal it the Triple Denial. Lord, you are indeed chosen by the God to dwell among us in his name.'

He shook his head wearily, as if he didn’t have the strength to argue. She saw how tired he was and let the matter QUEST Shannah Jay 78

drop. 'Shall I get you a drink now, Lord? There's a spring of sweet water at the back of the cave. In fact, why not soak your leg in it for a while? That would further ease the pain. I'm afraid I don't possess Herra's skil as a Healer, but I think I can ease the pain a little.' She laid a hand upon his leg and concentrated. Very gently she drew her hand along it and could feel him relaxing beneath her touch.

'There. That's all I can do. Was it any help?'

'Indeed it was. Katia, how did you do that? Our healers work with machinery. And they don't succeed as well as you do.'

'It's a Gift - but one which must be developed and honed over many years.' Shyly she added, 'That's the first time I've ever tried it. The Gift isn't strong within me yet, but it's there, ripening. Oh, those Gifts are such a joy to us!'

She looked so beautiful and radiant that his heart lurched. He had never seen a woman like her, with the direct sunny innocence of a child, yet behind it the wisdom of an adult.

'Come, Lord Davred.' She helped him to the rear of the cave and produced a soft cuplike object, made of woven material, but waterproof. When he’d drunk, she helped him to suspend his leg for a while in the pool that had formed below the spring, laughing as he tried to get comfortable.

'Lean against me, Lord.'

'The water’s so cold!'

'Just a little longer, then you shall rest.'

When he was lying down again on a special airmat from his pack, he gestured to the space beside him. 'Come and share my comforts, Katia.'

'No, Lord. It wouldn’t be seemly.'

'I wasn't intending to touch you!'

She smiled to take the sting from her words. 'It really wouldn't be right, Lord. Besides, we're trained to adjust our bodies to heat and cold - within certain limits, of course. I shall be comfortable enough here on my own blanket.' She found a level place between him and Herra, and sank down, cross-legged. 'We should try to sleep, I think. We're both tired. I don't dare go out to hunt for food today, because they'll be combing the woods for us. Shall I teach you one of our minor Disciplines, that of Sleep, Lord?'

He was diverted, as she had hoped he would be. 'Do you have a Discipline for everything?'

'Not for everything, but one should have control over one's own body, should one not? Else how is one better than an animal? See, this is the way to breathe . . . '

He fel asleep in the middle of her instruction and she smiled. Most novices did that at first. It made the lessons occasions of great hilarity. Still, he was very apt at learning. She stared at him thoughtfully, her expression unguarded and tender. She was attracted to him, and he to her. Why try to deny that? But it would have been dangerous to share his mat. Who knew where that might have led? She was not ready yet for intimacy with a man. She hadn’t even begun to come to terms with her own Gifts. She wished Herra were awake, to take charge of things.

Katia guided her own body rhythms into a light sleep. More she dared not allow herself, for there was still that corner of the entrance unprotected, and the woods were full of Benner's men.

It was night when she awoke. Only one of the moons had risen, but its light was strong enough to show her that Lord Davred was awake too, and that he was suffering some discomfort.

'Is anything wrong, Lord?'

'No. The moon woke me, I think, or perhaps an animal calling. Do you have dangerous animals on Sunrise? I'm ashamed at how little I remember of the general ecology of the planet. I went through the usual briefing before I came here, but I've forgotten most of it. I was concentrating on the Sisterhood.'

She ignored the words she didn’t understand and responded to those she did. 'There are many small animals, but QUEST Shannah Jay 79

not many large ones, and certainly none that are dangerous if left in peace. There are lenrils in the high forest where I come from - a wild animal larger than a meat nerid. They have tusks, but they don't attack people unless someone attacks them or tries to take their prey from them. If you live near them, they grow used to you, and learn to recognise and avoid you. My grandfather found a wounded lenril once and sewed its leg together.'

'It let him?'

'Not quite. He had to give it slumberbane first to make it sleep. Afterwards he took it food and water until it could move properly and hunt for itself. One cold winter it came to him again for food. We have snow sometimes in the High Alder, you know, and it's never as warm there as it is here in Tenebron.'

'Your grandfather sounds to be a remarkable man.'

Tears filled her eyes. 'He is - maybe was. I don't even know if he's still alive. That's the hardest thing about joining the Sisterhood. We're cut off absolutely from our families. They won't even tell us if our relatives are alive and they send us to a temple far away from our homes.' She dashed a hand across her eyes to wipe away the tears. 'So little control! Will I never learn? I am unworthy to be your Sister, Lord.'

'I think you're wonderful.' He heard her draw a sharp breath. 'Katia, do men and women fal in love here on Sunrise?'

Her voice was guarded. 'They grow to love one another, Lord.'

'Even Sisters?'

'All women are capable of love, Lord Davred. But we Sisters cannot give our whole lives to it. Some give a few years, then return to the temple; others live outside until their husbands die. But each one returns to the Sisterhood in the end. And even when they live out in the world, they always remain Sisters and must return to a temple every few years for Renewal.'

'I knew all that, but it meant nothing to me until now. All except for the Renewal part, that is. I haven't heard that word before. What exactly do you mean by Renewal? What is Herra doing to herself?'

Was she allowed to tell him? It was one of the most carefully guarded secrets of the Sisterhood, one that must never be shared with an outsider. But he was the Manifestation of the God, and Herra had said he would spend his life with them, sharing their Quest. It must surely be right to answer his question.

'We live longer than other people, Lord, because we renew our bodies as we grow older. Not many live as long as Herra, though, or remain so youthful.' Elder Sisters usually live the longest, she thought in sudden panic. Will I live long enough to see everyone I know and love die before me?

'What's the matter, Katia?'

'I have suddenly realised - how long I might live!'

She sounded so young and vulnerable that his heart ached for her. 'Can you know that?'

'Yes, barring accidents. Herra confirmed yesterday - was it only yesterday? - where my Gifts will lead me. I haven't grown used to the idea yet.'

'You will become an Elder Sister, like her?'

'Yes. One day. When I'm much older and wiser.'

He shivered; he didn't know why. 'Come and sit here by me, Katia. It's hard to talk to you across the cave. I can't even see your face.'

'I must not.'

'I wish I were indeed your God, for then I should command it.' He shivered again, and it was with apprehension, not cold. 'What will happen to me, now?' he murmured, suddenly overwhelmed by his fears. 'Katia, come here! I need you - need to touch another human being.' He had never made such a plea before in his whole life.

'I must not.' But her voice was less adamant. He was lonely and afraid, far from his people and the world he knew.

QUEST Shannah Jay 80

How would she feel if she suddenly found herself in one of his sky wagons, whirling through empty space? She remembered how desolate she had felt when first brought to Temple Tenebrak.

'Please. I need to touch someone. I feel lost. Come and sit by me, Katia.' Davred, who had never shared his thoughts and needs with anyone, found it natural to do so with Katia.

Silence. Then he heard her moving. She sat down beside him, careful at first not to touch him. 'Lord . . . ' she began.

Hesitantly he stretched out his hand and took one of hers, feeling its warmth against his cold fingers. 'I’m not a lord.

I'm just a friend and my name is Davred.' The hand trembled slightly in his. 'If the thought of becoming an Elder Sister is troubling you so much, should you not share your worries? Can you not discuss it - with a friend?'

Was she comforting him or was he comforting her? 'Lord Davred, I've never had a man as a friend. How should I know the ways of such a friendship?'

'Never?'

'No. Except for my grandfather, and Herra, I've had no friends, and with those two it's not the same, I think. I lived in the forest of the High Alder with my grandfather when I was young. The town was several kloms away. We rarely went there. My grandfather, Kensin, didn't like crowds. We just attended the festivals, which everyone had to do.

Sometimes we went to buy things at the market. The greatest celebration was in Spring, the Festival of Choosing.

Everyone had to attend that, unless illness prevented it.' A tear fell on his hand, but her head was bent and he was afraid to move closer, afraid she might move away again if he startled her.

'I never thought that they might choose me, Lord Davred, though I knew there was something wrong that day and tried to flee from it. I was paralysed with terror when the Sister laid her hand on my head. My grandfather moved back into the crowd, away from me. He had to, in case I ran to him. They would have shunned me if I'd refused to go with the Sisters. Shunned him, too, if he'd tried to interfere. But he didn’t try to stop me leaving. He believed in the Sisterhood, so he knew that I had to go.'

'They would have shunned you?'

'Yes. The High Alder is - it's not like Tenebron. They still live strictly by the old laws there. They revere the Sisterhood and there are no shrines of the Serpent. Or there weren't then. I don't know what it's like now, of course, but the Serpent isn’t as strong in any of the northern claims. And for us Aldrani, well - it's a great honour there to be chosen as a Sister of the God. You don't even think of refusing it. I ran away the day before the Festival, you know, but my grandfather brought me back. And the Sisters had to still me once I was chosen, or I'd have fled in terror. It's taken me a long time to grow used to the idea of becoming a Sister, a long time to accept the path I must tread.'

Gently he put his arm around her. 'You must have been very unhappy when you came to Tenebrak.'

'Very. I didn't know anything about other girls, or about city life, either. They laughed at me and cal ed me Kelandra Clod. They didn't even know the High Alder existed, you see, let alone where it was or what it was like. And they wouldn't listen when I tried to tell them about my home. So I stopped telling them. I wanted to die. But my body went on living.'

'Poor Katia.'

'Stupid Katia! When something is inevitable, it's foolish to fight against it.'

'How did you adjust? You seem very much a Sister now.'

'Herra helped me. A few years ago she prophesied one night in the temple.'

'I remember that. You call it the Great Prophecy now, don't you? I'd only been on the satellite for a few years at the time.'

'After the prophecy, Herra chose me again. Second Choosing, we call it. I even made the Triple Denial without realising what I was doing. So I became a Sister-Elect. After that evening, Herra took me in charge and taught me to accept my fate.' Katia sighed and succumbed to the temptation to lean against Davred's shoulder. 'She's not only our Elder Sister in Tenebrak, you know; she's the Elder Sister, the oldest person in the whole world - and the wisest. I'm QUEST Shannah Jay 81

very lucky to have been in her charge. I couldn't have had a better teacher.'

Davred was stroking her hair. It was madness to stay next to him, but she couldn’t move, didn’t want to move. 'Tel me about yourself,' she begged, in an attempt to stem this madness.

'I come from an advanced world. That's what we call them. Advanced! I don't consider them advanced now. The word means only that people have a lot of machines to serve them and that most of them live in great comfort. The machines don’t make people any wiser. I was tested as a child, a bit like your Festival of Choosing, but it's done by machines. The results showed that I had exceptional intelligence, so I won a place on a very special programme on a university planet. I left my home planet when I was eight. I haven't seen my parents since, except on message cubes, though I met one of my brothers once, quite by chance.'

'What is a university?'

'A sort of advanced school where people learn many things - the history of the Confederation, how to make new machines, how to terraform a planet . . . '

'Terraform?' She had to stop the flow of incomprehensible words, which were building wal s between them.

'Reshape the surface of a whole world, to make it more suitable for people to live there - flatten the mountains, change the air and vegetation and so on.'

'Flatten mountains?' she whispered. 'Can you really do that?'

'Yes. Mountain terrain isn't usually very productive. And we need all the land, because we have too many people.'

'Why do you not limit your families, instead?'

'We do, but only half-heartedly. As a consequence, we're continually having to search for new worlds where the children's children can live. That's how we discovered Sunrise. But then we found we couldn't use it. If a world is inhabited already by sentient beings, our laws say that we must leave it alone. And usually, suitable planets are already occupied. That's why we have to terraform the unsuitable ones.'

'And you leave no mountains. How sad! Herra was right. Your people have stepped aside from the Path of Wisdom.'

'Because we level mountains? We have to do the most good we can for the biggest number of people. On University Planet there was almost no open land left. There were layers of tunnels below the ground as well. I rarely saw real daylight. By the time I left, they were trying to find another planet where they could set up yet another university.'

She shuddered. 'It sounds dreadful. One day, if it’s allowed, I'll take you to the High Alder, Lord Davred, and you'll see for yourself what you've missed. People need beauty and distant horizons, as well as food.'

He abandoned his attempts to convince her of the need to terraform mountains. 'I'd love to see your home, Katia.'

She sighed. 'I'm just dreaming. I shall never be allowed to return there. Tell me about your home instead. What was your university planet like?'

'Just buildings and people. Food was grown hydroponically - that means in water - under the ground, and almost the whole surface of the planet was covered in buildings. But it was exciting, Katia, so exciting! There was so much to learn.

I wasn't unhappy there.'

'It sounds a bleak life to me. I grew up in the forests. I can't imagine life without trees and plants and animals. Even Temple Tenebrak was difficult for me. When I lived with my grandfather, I was truly happy.'

'You were fortunate. But I wasn't unhappy, so you needn't pity me. I worked through my studies joyfully and after I'd finished, I applied to join Confex - the Confederation Planetary Exploration Bureau's Research Branch.'

'I can't even begin to understand what that name means.'

'The Confederation is - oh, call it a Sisterhood of advanced planets.'

'And Bureau?'

QUEST Shannah Jay 82

'A bit like one of your temples. A community of people with a special purpose. My bureau sends people across space in search of new planets.'

'Mmmm. And Research Branch? What is that?'

'Another group within the Bureau - a group of people who try to discover new knowledge in as many areas as possible.'

'What sort of new knowledge?'

'Knowledge about other planets, or about making new machines, or about curing illnesses.'

'You have Healers like us?'

'Not like Herra. Our healers work with machines or with drugs. We call them medics. It takes them much longer than you to heal a broken limb. I still can't believe what Herra did to me.'

'Then our Healers are better than yours, are they not, Lord Davred? Your people should research our ways - not continue in your own.' She tried to use the new words and concepts correctly.

'I'm beginning to think that. Even your methods of training students would be of great value to Confex. But who knows if Central would ever listen? I'm still surprised to find myself here on Sunrise, Katia. I could give no reason that my people would understand for coming here. I just - I just knew that I had to come, knew that I couldn't let Robler send me away.'

'You knew,' she corrected. 'Perhaps that's one of your Gifts, as it is Herra's. Those who are chosen always have special Gifts.'

'My people call me a potential Cathartic Agent - one who is capable of finding solutions to major problems. That's why they didn't want me to leave, why they tried to pull my lifeship back to the satellite. Well, one of them did. Robler, the man in charge.'

'So - you are from a community of people who seek new planets - and from a smaller group within that community who seek new knowledge of all kinds - to take back to a sort of Sisterhood of worlds.'

'You have excellent understanding.'

She chuckled. 'No. Just a well-trained memory. I shan't understand it properly until I know more about your ways, perhaps not even then, not truly, for I'll never see your worlds. And now,' she finished firmly, standing up in one fluid movement, 'we should go back to sleep.'

* * *

The next day they continued to talk. There was nothing else to do in the cave. They quickly became like old friends, falling silent when they had nothing to say, and not feeling the need to force conversation. Davred shared his emergency rations with Katia, but she pulled a face at them and said they were dead food. She shared her dried fruit, and its taste alone suggested that there was truth in her criticisms.

'This is wonderful,' he said, savouring each mouthful.

'That? It's only emergency stores. Wait till you've tasted fresh glowberry juice!'

That night she woke again to find him restless, unable to sleep. 'You're worse than the newest novice,' she scolded, but she went to sit beside him. She knew he was finding things strange and at times frightening. Again he put his arm round her; again she tried to keep the talk to light, impersonal topics. But eventually she succumbed to the pleasure of leaning her head against his shoulder.

After a while he turned her face towards him. 'Katia - I think I've fallen in love with you.'

She gasped and tried to pull away from him. 'Love is a thing which must grow between two people.'

'Knowledge that one loves a person can come at first meeting, like what you call foresight. Didn't you feel it too, when we first met?'

QUEST Shannah Jay 83

She could not lie to him. 'I felt something, an attraction.'

He stroked the line of her cheek. 'May I kiss you? Do your people kiss with the lips to show their love, my Katia? I want very much to show my love for you.'

She gave a shuddering sigh and stretched out a hand to touch his hair. 'Yes, Davred, they do. But I will do no more than share one kiss with you. I'm not ready for more. I am - I must be - a Sister. Your Sister.'

The kiss was lingering and sweet. Afterwards they stayed close together without speaking for a long time. As before, it was Katia who moved away. 'Now the Discipline of Sleep, Lord Davred. Or your leg will be slow in healing.'

'You're very strict, my Katia. And I don't like it when you call me Lord.'

'Go to sleep - my Davred.'

#####

Chapter 14: KATIA AND DAVRED

The next morning Katia awoke, as usual, at dawn. After meditating, because she couldn’t gather alone, she sat dreamily contemplating the flame-tinted sky, lost in thought.

'It's beautiful, isn't it?'

Davred's voice made her jump. 'Oh! You're awake.'

'Indeed I am. Good morning, my Katia.'

She blushed a fiery red. 'Lord, you mustn't cal me that. It means - surely you know what it means.'

'I do. It means I consider you my permanent partner. On Sunrise, you would say 'wife'. And last night, you called me

"my Davred". Didn't you mean it?' His voice was light and teasing, but the warmth in his eyes made her catch her breath suddenly.

'We can't - I'm a Sister! I have other duties - I've not even finished learning the Disciplines.'

'We'll learn the rest of them together. Stand up, my Katia. I want to kiss you.'

'No! We mustn't.'

But when he pulled her up, she did not resist. And when he kissed her, her arms crept around his neck, almost as if they had a life of their own, and she could not resist kissing him back.

They turned to watch the dawn glory pass. As the last moon faded from sight in the now bright sky, he asked suddenly, 'Do you remember the exact words of Herra's prophecy?'

'Yes. Of course.'

'Say the fourth verse for me. I can't get it quite right in my mind.'

She moved slightly away from him, closed her eyes and cleared her mind for Recall.

Two Sisters to the rescue bent

Shall weave the arts of Mind.

And in the younger, as was meant,

The Lord his mate shall find.

QUEST Shannah Jay 84

She broke off and her eyes flew open in shock.

'I think that means us, my Katia.'

Hope crept into her eyes and colour surged again into her cheeks. 'If only I could be sure - I wish Herra were awake to advise us.'

'Can you not love me unless she approves?'

'Davred, you know it's not like that. I can - I do love you. But I've been a Sister for long enough to know that my own feelings and happiness must come second to our Quest.' As she said the words, she was astonished at how much she meant them. How very much she had changed since her own Choosing.

'Listen again, my Katia.' He repeated the fourth and fifth verses of Herra's prophecy slowly: Two Sisters to the rescue bent

Shall weave the arts of Mind.

And in the younger, as was meant,

The Lord his mate shall find.

Like tempered steel, those two shall learn,

Through hardship, pain and woe.

No ease, no peace, though they may yearn,

Small respite from the foe.

'What better way to learn the Disciplines than as man and wife? Katia, I've paired with other women, but I have never, ever felt like this. It feels right - natural - predestined. The people I worked with would call my feelings primitive.

I didn't believe in this sort of romantic love before, either, but I must believe in it now. I feel that you are, in truth, the other half of me, that I was incomplete before I met you.' He held out his hands to her.

But Katia stood back from him and wrestled with her conscience, though it was the most difficult thing she had ever done in her life. She weighed not only the facts, but also the way she felt, and she tried to see the implications of becoming wife to the Lord Davred. Other Sisters had mated with some of the Manifestations of the God, especially another Herra, the third of that name, who had become the wife of the Lord Terraccalliss, the most beloved of all the Manifestations. But was it the right thing for her to do now?

She had come so reluctantly to the Sisterhood, but thanks to Herra's training she was now committed heart and soul to the Sisters' Quest. And the more she saw of the violence of Those of the Serpent, the way they treated women, the more fervently she believed that the Quest was the only hope for her world. She would, she now realised with a shock, give her own life, if necessary, to end Discord.

'You do love me?' His voice was soft, hesitant.

She sighed. 'Yes. You know I do. The love between us seems as natural and right to me as it does to you. But I can't just gratify my own desires. Davred, can you not wait for a few days? We only met properly the day before yesterday.

When Herra wakes up . . . ' she looked at the marble-still figure at the front of the cave and paused.

'Always Herra! She has you in thrall.'

'She is the Elder Sister, the wisest of us al .'

Anger made him unreasonable. 'Even Elder Sisters can make mistakes, can demand too much of those who follow them.'

QUEST Shannah Jay 85

'Davred, no one, least of all Herra, has me in thrall. Like all Sisters, I give myself willingly. I share Herra's beliefs, but she doesn't force me to do anything now. I think my very soul is bound to our Quest. Without it, we’d have savagery too vile to contemplate in this world of ours, and that would lead in the end to its destruction.'

She saw him start to open his mouth and shook her head at him. 'Davred, I've told you how reluctant I was to become a Sister, but that was because I had no idea what Those of the Serpent were doing. I hadn't even seen them before I left Danak. When I realised how evil they were, how happily they could kill and maim, I began to accept my fate. How could I not?

Think, Davred, think how many years have gone into the first stages of our Quest. The difficulties of keeping the world to one language. The problems caused by our strict insistence upon the Festivals of Choosing, and the way we take the girls away from their families afterwards. Because it is necessary. We are at war against Evil. And think of the Ages of Discord through which our Sisterhood has already lived, over which we have triumphed.'

He stared at her in wonder, so beautiful was she in her vehemence. Then his eyes widened as he realised what she had said, how she had confirmed some of his theories about the anomalies on Sunrise.

Her voice faltered. 'Think what Those of the Serpent would do to our world if they had free rein, Davred. Those of Evil, they should be cal ed. Their leaders take over men's minds so that they have no will of their own. Some embrace evil willingly, but most don’t know what's happening to them. Herra suspects the incense. She thinks it contains substances which cloud the brain.'

'A mind-numbing drug? She never said anything about that to me.'

'She isn't sure. We've never been able to get into their Shrines. We don't talk of this openly. Not yet, anyway. It was a suggestion made by Fiana after - after her ordeal.'

His expression was thoughtful. 'So you think Those of the Serpent are drugging their followers, then brainwashing them?'

'Brainwashing. That's a good word for what they do to people.'

'What is this God of theirs? Why the Serpent?'

'Herra thinks the leaders have no belief in a Serpent God, only a desire to manipulate people and a warped hunger for power. But she thinks if things continue like this, they may even manage to create a God, as they've created an image of a God.' She saw his puzzlement and added, 'It's hard for me to understand, but she says their combined wills will affect the balance of life forces and will empower an embodiment of their evil. As you are the Manifestation of our belief in good.'

He could only stare at her. The sophistication of this reasoning sat ill with the Confederation's estimations of the cultural level of the people of Sunrise.

'So,' Katia ended, 'I must be strong, even about you. But if Herra approves, if I am the one in the prophecy, and if it's right for the Sisterhood, well, then you shall be my Davred for as long as you choose.'

He reached out to clasp her hand. 'I shall hold you to that promise, my Katia.'

'I'll keep it willingly. And now,' she changed the subject firmly, 'we must consider more mundane matters. I'm hungry. Aren't you?'

'Yes. Is there any way of buying something to eat? Are there any villages nearby?'

She laughed. 'Villages! When the woods are full of food! If it weren't for Benner's men, I could gather you a feast.

But I daren't set traps, or wait to catch fish. I must go warily and leave no trace of my passing. But we shall eat, never fear, my dear,' her voice caught in her throat as her lips formed his name, 'my very dear Lord Davred. And since you've expressed a desire to acquire our Disciplines, I shall teach you one to suppress hunger - and then leave you here to practise it diligently!' The smile that lingered on her lips was as warm as a caress.

'I'm yours to command, my Katia.'

'Then I command you to stop calling me that! You don’t yet have the right.'

QUEST Shannah Jay 86

'I'm yours to command in all save that. For you are my Katia. I know that.'

'The Discipline, if you please. First, you must . . . '

Once she left the cave, Katia's smile faded and she became very alert. She moved with great caution, using all the forest-dweller's skills her grandfather had taught her. Several times she saw signs that someone had been here recently.

Once she had to hide while a group of Benner's guards went past. They were grumbling so loudly about this prolonged stay away from Tenebrak that she heard them long before they came into view. They were obviously town-dwellers, for they moved awkwardly and complained bitterly of the rough going, not to mention the futility of their search.

She found some nuts in the ceradon grove, some edible young greenstuff by a stream, a few fruits and even a few early glowberries here and there in sheltered spots. When she had as much as she could carry in her bag, she turned back thankfully towards the cave. Her nerves had been stretched taut during every minute in the woods.

Another group of men sent her diving behind some bushes. She watched in disgust as they stamped past, gratuitously breaking off branches and tossing them at each other, tearing up young shrubs and joking that no misbegotten whore would ever hide under that bush. What she didn’t see was the man following silently some distance behind them.

He was a wood-dwel er, this one, like Katia, but more used to these particular woods, which had been half tamed by someone. He was clad in grey-green clothes that blended with the foliage and the dappled shadows, and he was so skilled that even she didn’t notice him trailing her. Only when she reached the rocky slope leading to the cave did he break cover and whistle to catch her attention.

When she saw him, her heart began to pound and she nearly dropped her bag of food.

He didn’t bother to run after her, just walked steadily up the slope, crying out in a hoarse voice that he’d found one of the she-devils and Lord Benner would reward anyone who helped him capture her. No one came out of the wildwoods to help him, but he kept on shouting, as if he knew that his words added to his victim's fear.

Katia tried to head away from the cave, but there was only one real route down the hillside and the man was on it, cutting off escape from below.

'Got you now, little Sister, haven't I?' he gloated. 'And I don't lose my prey, once it's within range.'

Silently she backed away from him. Oh, for the ability to still him! She couldn’t flee, so she would have to try to fight him off, and he was much stronger and heavier than she was. The Sisters were taught self-defence tactics, but she had never excelled at them. To hurt someone, even the minimum amount necessary to disable an attacker, was quite alien to her nature.

The pursuit sent her nearer and nearer to the cave, try as she would to avoid it. She prayed Davred would stay inside.

As the man closed the distance between them, he began to taunt her and what he said filled her with terror for her companions. 'There's a nice cave up there, Sister. I've used it before. I always like a bit privacy when I take a woman.'

'You'll not take me! I'll die first,' she called out, in case Davred had been asleep and needed warning.

'I'l have you, dead or alive. Bodies don't cool down that quickly.' He roared with laughter at the horror on her face and gained more ground. Disgust kept her frozen to the spot for several seconds.

'Tasty piece, you are,' he went on, 'though a bit tall for my liking. Virgin too, I'd bet. I can usually tell. Those old witches keep their younger Sisters shut right away from men. Perverts, they are. And such a waste of firm young flesh, too! I'll help you change that, though. We'll make sacrifice to the Serpent together here and now. I've helped quite a few to lose their maidenheads in my time, but never a Sister. Ah!' He lunged forward and caught her off balance. Locking his fingers in her hair, he swung her around, knocking her off her feet and thumping the side of her head so hard on the ground that she cried out in pain.

Even though Katia managed to kick him several times before he turned her onto her face and pinned her down with his body, she was easily bested, for he was a ruthless fighter.

QUEST Shannah Jay 87

'You'll be sorry for that, you foul bitch!' he grunted, beginning to tie her arms behind her back. 'You'll scream out your apologies for that, I promise you!' He pulled the knot viciously tight, clouted her again on the side of her head, then lowered his trousers. 'Here it comes, you whore. You'll learn to know your duty before I'm through with you!' His voice throbbing with anticipation, he reached for her skirt, and she gave a strangled moan as she felt him begin to lift it.

Suddenly there was a grunt and he fell forward across her, a heavy weight that didn’t move again.

She lay perfectly stil , head spinning from the blows. Was this a trick? She could hear an insect buzzing, sense her own heartbeat, feel the warm sun on the backs of her legs. But the body across her still didn’t move.

After an eternity another voice spoke. It seemed to come from a long way away and the ringing in her ears made it hard to understand the words. Footsteps came round towards her head and someone pushed the heavy weight off her, then took the rope from her wrists. When she saw Davred's face leaning over hers, she gasped in relief.

'My darling, are you all right?'

This time the words made sense. Katia let him help her to her feet and clung to him, shivering. 'Davred! Oh, Davred!'

But after a very few seconds she straightened resolutely, ignoring the pain in her head. She was afraid the man might regain consciousness and attack them again. 'I'm sorry. I have control of myself now.'

But Davred wouldn’t let her go. He stroked her hair back from her face. 'There's blood on your cheek. Are you sure you're all right?'

'Yes. But we can't stay here. Is he still unconscious? What did you hit him with?' She forced herself to turn and look at her attacker. Only then did she see the knife sticking out of the man's back and the sticky redness around it. She turned chalk white. 'You killed him!' She whispered the words, as if she couldn’t bear to say them aloud, then flung herself on the body, testing it for signs of life. But the man was most definitely dead. 'The God preserve us from violence!' she moaned. 'Oh, dear Brother, forgive me! What have I done?'

'Katia!'

She did not hear him. 'To take a life! And it's my fault, all my fault! I should have been more careful. I should have noticed someone was following me.'

'Katia, listen to me!' But Davred had to take her by the shoulders and shake her before she would do that.

'Katia, I had to kill him.'

'Had to?' Her voice was a hysterical shriek, which the rocks bounced back at them. 'No one has to kill anyone else!

They choose to!'

'Then I chose to kill him. It was necessary, believe me, Katia.'

'No! No, it was wrong. It's always wrong to kill.'

He took her by the shoulders. 'You're not thinking clearly. I'm a weakling compared to him, and I'm still limping badly. If I'd tried to overcome him, I'd have been captured like you were. He was not only as strong as an ox, but cunning with it. I watched him herd you up the hill. I listened to his obscenities. I had to stay here and watch. I longed to come to your help, but I didn't dare leave the cave until his back was turned. The Sisterhood teaches its women self-defence tactics, I know, and look how quickly he overcame you. I've never fought anyone in my life, Katia. Personal physical combat is extinct on all our advanced worlds, or it was until recently. Those who crave such things go out to settle new planets. I'm not that sort of person.'

Katia swallowed and looked across at him. She hated the fact that his words made sense. She did not want to be convinced.

He pressed his advantage. 'Herra said you must kill to save me, if necessary. She said I'm important enough to the Quest to justify killing. She made a point of it.'

'In that case, you should have stayed in the cave and let him take me. I'm not important and I don't want anyone to be killed for me.'

QUEST Shannah Jay 88

'You're wrong. We're both Key Lives in the next Stage, according to Herra. Doesn't the Quest come before everything? And would you have stayed safely out of sight if it had been me who’d been captured?'

She gazed at him numbly, then slowly shook her head. A tear trickled down her cheek and she brushed it away. 'No.

No, I couldn't have. But oh, to kill him! To take a life!'

'Katia, you must pull yourself together. I can't hide this body on my own. We must move it now then get back into the cave. It's a miracle no one's come along. We're in full view here. Katia, are you listening?'

She shuddered, but the blankness had left her eyes. She looked around and swallowed her nausea, running through a quick Discipline of Self-control. 'We can't bury him in this rocky ground,' her voice was dull and flat, 'so we'll have to find a crevice and cover the body with rocks.'

'Where?'

'I don't know. I'll look round. You'd better go back into the cave until I return.'

'And him?'

'We'l pull him behind this rock. They won't be able to see him from below.'

'Will you be all right?'

'I must be.' Her voice was toneless, her cheeks ashen.

Katia found a crack in the rocks, not large enough to call a cave, but large enough for their purpose. With Davred's help, she rolled the body into it and they covered it with rocks. She tried to say the words of passing from this life, but couldn’t. In the end she gave up trying, whispered, 'I'm so sorry!' then went to retrieve her bag of food before rejoining Davred in the cave.

'Would you like something to eat?' she asked, looking dazedly at the food.

'Not yet. Would you like to talk about it?'

'No.'

'Come and sit next to me, then.'

'No. Please - just leave me alone for a while.'

'Do you have a Discipline to deal with this?' he asked gently, still worried about her ashen face and stricken expression.

'Yes. But I can't do it now. I need to stay alert, to keep watch. Over you. Over Herra.' She gestured to the Elder Sister, still lying near the front of the cave like a serene marble statue.

'How long will she be like that?'

'A few days. You can never tell. She's so old she's a law unto herself. Since she's well over two hundred years old, her body will take longer to regenerate than others would.' She didn’t tell him how worried she was about Herra, who ought to have had a Healer's help.

'Well then, I think I’d like something to eat. I practised your Discipline, and it helped, but the hunger is still there.

Am I such a poor subject?'

'No. But when you're hungry, it's best to do something else as well as run through the Discipline. If you continue to think about your hunger, then you'll stay hungry.' Listlessly she stood up and went over to the bag of food. As she looked down at it, she suddenly sobbed, cast an anguished look at Davred and crumpled to the ground.

'He's dead! We killed him! We took a life!'

Davred gathered her in his arms and let her cry against him. Gradual y her tears lessened and she stopped her bitter self-recrimination. When she was quiet, he said in his most gentle voice, 'Say the fifth verse of the prophecy, my Katia.'

'What?'

QUEST Shannah Jay 89

'Say the fifth verse. The one after our meeting.'

She took a deep breath and recited quietly,

Like tempered steel, those two shall learn,

Through hardship, pain and woe.

No ease, no peace, though they may yearn,

Small respite from the foe.

'It's coming true already! My Katia, shall we be strong enough to face such a future? Hardship, pain and woe?'

'We must be.'

'Then we can't let this death, which we both hate, overset our reason and imperil the Quest. Can we?'

Her eyes were brimming with tears again, but she didn’t allow them to fall. 'No. No, we can’t, my Davred.' She sighed and leaned against him for comfort.

'And who knows how many lives we've saved by killing such a man?' he said, thinking aloud.

Katia jerked abruptly away from him. 'That's their reasoning! It justifies the killing. We must never do that.'

'What would you say instead, then?'

'I'd say - I'd say we lost the chance to save that man - his soul, his - whatever your people cal it. There was an evil in him that I've seen occasionally before in Those of the Serpent. Herra can sense them because of it, you know.' She looked at him sternly. 'Say, rather, my Davred, that you saved me by a most abhorrent expedient, because I'm vital to the Quest. But even that sort of reasoning does little to heal the pain I feel at being responsible for someone's death.'

'You aren't responsible; I am. And I'd kill him again without hesitation. I couldn't have left you in his power. The way he taunted you . . . ' He pulled her fiercely into his arms. 'You're my Katia! And twice in the last few minutes you've called me your Davred. Come to me, Katia! Let us become man and wife now.'

'At such a moment?' Horror etched shrillness into her normally soft voice. 'It would ruin our love.'

'It would make us whole again.'

'I can't. I must not.'

He jerked away from her and went over to stand at the front of the cave. As he turned to gaze out at the hillside, the shadow of a cloud crept towards the cave. Katia shivered. Davred stood motionless, staring blindly at the rocky slope.

Gradual y, the conviction grew in him that this was a special moment. The sensation of knowing crawled up his spine and made his temples tingle. Unconsciously, he straightened up and threw back his head. ' The God whispers within me,' he said, and even his voice was different. Power was lambent within him.

A cold breeze whirled round the cavern. Katia stared in amazement at the rigid figure silhouetted against the returning brightness outside.

Davred raised his hands in a salute to some invisible presence. ' The God speaks through me.'

Katia filed what was happening into prime memory, every nuance of every sound. She would record this later in the Archives. The first prophecy of the Lord Davred. She was filled with awe.

Slowly Davred turned to face Katia. His face seemed slightly luminous, although it should have been shadowed, since his back was now towards the light. 'I know the rightness of what I’m saying. I speak the words of the God of our Quest.'

She bowed her head. 'I hear you, Lord Davred.'

QUEST Shannah Jay 90

'My Katia, now, in this cave, we must begin our life together. We shall be as one, body and soul, linked in the service of our God. This is our time. Go and wash your body! From this day shall our first daughter spring – a life to replace the life we took.' His voice echoed back from the fractured surface of the rocky walls. His eyes glowed with certainty.

Katia recognised the look in his eyes. It was the same as that in Herra's whenever she prophesied. The God in him had indeed spoken. She bowed her head as his certainty washed over her and began to cleanse her of guilt. A life created for a life taken. It was right.

He led her to the back of the cave and helped her to remove her robe. With gentle hands and almost ritual gestures, he washed her bruised body. Her pulse began to beat more rapidly and her breathing quickened to match his. When he had finished, she helped him to remove the blue suit and wash his body in turn. His limbs gleamed palely in the darkness.

When they were ready, they lay down on her robe beside the spring, and she closed her eyes with a sigh, for she too was now caught up in the hands of the fate they were to share. This was their time for union. It wasn’t passion, but destiny, which drew them together this time. The power of the God was within them. But from their union, passion grew. At Davred's touch a fire began to burn in her body and a trembling made her cling to him. His kisses drowned her in such sweetness that she began to forget the evil of the day.

At the front of the cave, Herra smiled slightly in her sleep, as if she could sense that things were happening as they should.

* * *

Soo had kept watch on Davred every moment she could, though Robler had decreed that she and Mak were not to be trusted alone with that duty.

'Is that our Davred, our cold logical Davred, who has always made it quite clear that he isn't interested in even temporary pairings?' Soo stared at the tiny com-screen area in her quarters, wishing the visual radius of the tracer Herra carried allowed her to see what was happening at the back of the cave, instead of broadcasting only the voices of Davred and Katia. 'He doesn't even sound like the same person!' she said. 'I know it's his voice, but . . . ' She couldn’t put the difference into words.

'He doesn't look the same, either,' said Mak. 'He’s always seemed - I don't know, a trifle colourless. Special only in his intellect. Pleasant, but detached. Now he's vibrant with life. And if that prophecy about a daughter comes true, then we'll have further proof of the powers of the Sisterhood to send to Confex.'

'Robler will call it coincidence. Mak, I'm glad we're not able to record what they're doing. It would be wrong. It would spoil the beauty of the moment.'

Soo took Mak's hand and began playing with his fingers, wondering if he would ever suggest that they become permanent partners. It seemed to her now that the two of them had wasted several years together on the satellite.

Davred had not been the only cool and logical person in the group. Mak had been notorious for his lack of emotion, and Soo herself had been so engrossed in her work that she had kept her colleagues at arm's length. Now it seemed that they were all changing, coming to life. Was it the influence of this planet?

'Robler spoils everything he touches nowadays,' said Mak. 'He's become sour and twisted, and he's spreading that sourness over us all. He's taken Davred's defection as a personal insult and I'm beginning to believe that he's become unsuited to manage this project. Has he found out yet that you've rigged up your own private com-board in here, Soo?'

'No. He hasn't enough technical knowledge to check things like that. And the privacy laws forbid him to enter anyone's quarters, unless invited - except in emergencies. Even then, he couldn't get in here. I've made myself a very special lock, keyed by several things, impossible for anyone else to open, except by brute force.' She reached out suddenly and switched the transmission off. 'I think this is one time when Katia and Davred deserve total privacy, don't you?' She erased the last few moments of the recording.

Mak put his arm round her. 'They aren't the only ones to deserve a little privacy.' He kissed her, and though his eyes were soft with affection, his expression was even more serious than usual. 'I'm becoming very fond of you, Soo. I've never been able to enter into even a short liaison lightly, but I think I'm coming to love you in a permanent way. I didn't QUEST Shannah Jay 91

believe such love was possible, let alone desirable, but now . . . '

She smiled at him. 'And I love you, Mak. Is love contagious, do you suppose? Does it come from the Sisterhood and their ways?' She spoke without thinking, but the idea made them both stop and wonder.

He looked down at her, so fragile and tiny against his chest, and he frowned, his sandy brows a straight line across his pale freckled skin. 'I don't know. But then, love is something we in the Confederation don't know much about, isn't it? No one teaches our young about it. It's rarely mentioned at all. Only sex is taught. Love is something I've never experienced before. On Delta Macros, it didn't seem to occur.'

'No. Nor on Tiangan.' It was her turn to frown. 'In the Confederation, everything else is carefully researched - but not love. We know only about satisfying our physical needs, and I'm beginning to think that sexual gratification is not nearly enough.' She stood on tiptoe and kissed the beautiful lean planes of his face gently. 'I think we can learn a great deal from the people of Sunrise.

And in the meantime, I would like very much to research the topic of love with you - my Mak.' She used the words of Sunrise deliberately, and he echoed them.

'I too, my Soo.'

#####

Chapter 15: HERRA RENEWED

It wasn’t until early in the morning six days later that Herra began to show signs of recovery, by which time her attendants were extremely worried. It was Davred who first noticed the change in her. 'Katia, come and look! Herra's breathing has speeded up, and she's got some colour in her cheeks. Is she going to wake up, do you think?'

Katia came rushing from the back of the cave to join him, her hair still dripping wet. She knelt by Herra, felt her pulse and checked the Elder Sister's body signs carefully. 'I think it'l be at least an hour before she regains consciousness. She has to speed up her body functions first, and exercise her internal muscles.'

What the Sisters thought normal would be considered miracles of self-control by the scientists of the Confederation, thought Davred. One day he hoped to pass on this rich fund of knowledge to Confex. He felt no disloyalty about his dual allegiances, either to his old col eagues or to his new allies. He now considered himself a part of both worlds and he intended to unite them both in the struggle to stamp out violence. He knew that was his destiny. As Herra would say, the God within him had spoken. 'How shall we tell her about us?' he asked.

'I think she'll know without telling, my Davred.' A week of enforced seclusion had made them grow together more quickly than ever they ever could have done under normal conditions. Briefly Katia's hand went out to touch his. 'So, there is time for your leg exercises while we wait.'

'You're a hard taskmistress.'

'First exercise. We have a long walk ahead of us.'

But as Herra's muscular movements became more marked and some colour returned to her face, Katia went to sit by her with water and glowberries ready on a big leaf. Davred fidgeted around, first looking out of the cave, then coming to stand by Herra, then fiddling with his pack.

Eventually Herra's eyes fluttered open. She saw Katia, looked around for Davred, and sighed with relief. 'Ah, you're both safe! Well done, child.'

Katia helped her to sit up and drink the water, then proffered the fruit. As Herra began to eat slowly, she beckoned to Davred. 'Come and sit with us, Lord Davred.'

QUEST Shannah Jay 92

He sat down next to Katia and the look that passed between them made Herra's hand pause on its way to her mouth. Katia flushed under her searching scrutiny and Davred automatically put his arm round her shoulders.

'The prophecy is being fulfilled quickly, Elder Sister,' he said with quiet confidence. 'It was the right time.'

'You're able to feel such moments, Lord Davred?'

'It seems so. Since I came down to your world, I am, at any rate.'

'It isn't usual for a man to possess that Gift, even here.'

'Davred is different from other men, Herra. He's long been practising the simpler Disciplines, after watching us do them. I've begun correcting his efforts and teaching him the next steps. He learns quickly and has a distinct aptitude.'

'I used to try out your exercises in my quarters on the satellite,' Davred admitted, 'but you really need someone to check your breathing for you and correct the tiny details of posture and muscle control, especially in the early stages.

And the pseudo-gravity would probably have made a difference, too. I didn't make progress then the way I'm doing now.'

'Satellite?' queried Herra.

Together Katia and Davred explained about Davred's people, taking over smoothly from each other at points one was better able to explain than the other, in a way that astonished Herra. Already they were a couple, rather than two separate people. The tale led inevitably to a ful explanation of all that had happened since Herra began the Discipline of Renewal, including the confession of how Davred had killed Katia's attacker. This left Katia in tears, as usual.

'Stop! Why have you not Cleansed your Spirit?'

'I didn't dare leave Davred alone. I - I estimated that it would take me at least a day, if not two.'

'You were ever the most tender-hearted of my Sisters. Well, now that I'm awake and feeling in excellent health again, we shall attend to your needs. Do you also feel burdened with guilt about the killing, Lord Davred?'

'No. It was the only thing to do. We couldn't have kept a man like that prisoner with the few amenities we have here. I hated to do it, but it was necessary.'

'The minor Discipline, then, will be enough for you. You shouldn't leave a killing to stain your soul, however necessary it was. Katia, how do we stand for food?'

'I'll need to gather more before I begin.'

'And I'l need better exercise for my larger body muscles than is possible in this cave. I'll come with you, in case of trouble, and we shall leave you here, Lord, in the minor Discipline of Cleansing the Spirit. This is how . . . '

They left Davred semi-conscious. He was breathing slowly and looking very relaxed. Herra set further wards across the entrance gap to keep him safe, then breathed in the air with great appreciation. 'Ah, the air never smells this good in Tenebrak!' As they walked down into the woods, she began a series of exercises using the trees and running across level stretches until she was glowing with health. She looked ageless again.

The gathering of food went smoothly, and although Herra sensed the presence of other people in the woods, none came near them.

'Shal I be able to sense such things one day?' asked Katia. 'Is it a Discipline or a Gift?'

'Both. All Gifts can be enhanced by the correct training. You'll be gifted in many ways, but your Gifts won't ripen all at once. They never do.'

'Yes.' Katia raised troubled eyes to the Elder Sister's face and took a deep breath. 'Herra - before we go back - you must tell me. Have I done wrong to become Davred's wife? Wil it affect the Quest and my duties to the Sisterhood?'

'Of course it will affect them . But it will also enhance your contribution to the Quest. If you were a fully-committed temple Sister - like Cheral, for instance - you couldn't love him as you do. I think, child, that you will spend the greater part of your life outside the temples.'

QUEST Shannah Jay 93

'I don't want to - to shirk my responsibilities.'

'It won't stop you from serving our cause, or from being a true Sister. I think - no, I know that it's vital for you and Davred to have children. That's very important. In your descendants lies the future of our world.' She scrutinised Katia, then gave a little nod, as if satisfied at a correct prognosis.

'He said we'd created our first daughter - the first time we shared love,' Katia confessed.

Herra studied Katia's face and body carefully, then nodded again. 'It could be so. Time will tell.' She nodded. 'He is indeed the Manifestation of the God, if he can sense that. And first daughter,' she repeated with satisfaction,

'means you'll have others.'

Katia's sigh of relief echoed across the clearing.

Herra touched the younger woman's cheek briefly in a caress. 'Child, why do you worry so? Trust our Brother to help you find your path.'

'I'll try. But it feels selfish to have found such joy at a time of trouble.'

'Revel in it! Our Brother doesn't ask us to be miserable when we serve him. And now that you've rid your soul of part of its burden, and gathered some food as well, we can return to our cave and complete your healing.' She suddenly froze in her tracks. 'Wait. Someone's coming.'

A few minutes later a man entered the clearing and paused to pick some fruit. At the sight of him, Katia turned a ghastly white. 'It's the man we killed! How can that be?'

Herra's hand came across her mouth too late. The man turned towards the sound. He pulled out a dagger with the swiftness of long practice. Carefully he moved towards the bushes behind which they were hiding and reached out to pull them aside.

Herra stood up, but to Katia's surprise, she didn't still the man. 'What are you searching for, friend?'

'Such as you!'

'And?' Herra's voice was compelling.

'And my twin brother, who vanished several days ago. Have you seen him, you witches? He looks very like me.'

Katia drew in a painful breath that was more like a sob and the man's eyes narrowed. 'Your young companion would seem to know something. If you've harmed him, you she-devils . . . '

' Put away your knife, friend, and we shall discuss the matter.'

As his hand moved of its own accord to sheath the dagger, sweat stood out on the man's brow, but he couldn’t stop the movement, or even slow it. When he looked back at Herra, fear was behind the loathing in his wide brown eyes and his tanned face had taken on a paler tinge. 'Serpent watch over me!' he exclaimed. 'I didn't believe their tales of what you devil's spawn can do!'

'Shall you sit down of your own accord, or do you require my help?' Herra asked, her voice more menacing for its sweetly reasonable tone. Katia remembered that voice chastising novices who had committed misdemeanours, and the way they had writhed under it. Cheral's loud scolding had been as nothing compared to Herra's soft reasoning.

The man sat down reluctantly and the two Sisters followed suit.

'What's your name, friend?'

'I'm no friend of yours, you . . . '

Herra raised one hand and he flinched. 'We haven't offered you insults and we don't merit them from you. If you prefer, I'll put a compulsion upon you to speak to us with respect . . . '

'My name's Berno,' he snarled.

'And you are . . . ?'

QUEST Shannah Jay 94

'A gamekeeper. On Lord Benner's estate. Brought here recently to help the search for you.' Sweat was standing out on his brow and his fear was like an aura. His shoulders were hunched as if to protect himself.

'My name is Herra. I'm Elder Sister at Temple Tenebrak.'

His breath hissed inwards in shock.

'My younger Sister's name is of no concern to you. And it's my sad duty to tel you, Berno, that your brother is dead.

May he find a better path in the next life.'

A spasm of anguish twisted the man's features briefly, to be replaced by a look of hatred. 'So you did kill him. I felt a sharp pain in my back and knew he was hurt. I'll make you pay for that one day.' He spoke hoarsely, forgetting his fear for a moment, then shrank back as he realised how rash he’d been.

'I think such retribution will be beyond your power.'

'I suppose you're going to kill me too, now.'

'Of course not. Why should we?'

The quiet certainty of her response made him goggle in astonishment.

'We killed your brother only because there was no alternative. And the pain of having to do such a thing is still with us.'

'You surely don't expect me to believe that! Everyone knows how you Sisters torture and pervert the girls you steal from their families. Yes, and worse! Else why would normal women give up the company of men?'

'An interesting way of twisting of the truth. But we neither torture them nor make them give up men. My younger Sister here has a husband whom she loves dearly.'

Grief and desperation made him reckless. 'I don't believe you! It's well known that you Sisters deny your normal instinct of satisfying men's needs. The Serpent knows why women were created, and it wasn’t to live away from the world and tell men what to do! And a normal woman wouldn't kill herself at the prospect of making a sacrifice to the Serpent, like those Sisters did in Setheron. No, it's plain that you do something to those girls you steal from their families. Something disgusting. But we're putting an end to this Choosing of yours, ending it once and for all. I'd kill my daughters, rather than have their minds and bodies warped by such as you!'

He spat on the ground to emphasise his disgust and Katia flinched. 'How did he die?' he flung at her abruptly.

'Did kill him?'

'Tell him, little Sister. Tell him exactly how his brother died and with what he threatened you. It will help you both.'

In a low voice, using Recall, Katia did as she was bid and Herra ensured that the man didn't interrupt her.

When Katia had finished, Berno said angrily, 'I don't believe you! Metz wouldn't even threaten such a thing, let alone do it! Not to a dead woman! He was just trying to frighten you.'

'I won't use my arts to make you believe us, Berno, but I will assure you that my young Sister isn't lying. She's just told you precisely what happened.'

He swallowed. He would rather not have believed the young whore - except that she had used words and phrases that rang so clearly of his brother. Even her facial expressions had parodied those of Metz in the telling. And his brother had lately been admitted to the Inner Shrine. Metz had hinted at sexual perversions in which Berno, with straightforward tastes and a well-behaved wife who suited him, would not have wished to participate.

Those who were admitted to the Inner Shrine gave up wife and family to serve the Serpent - a very laudable thing in the battle against those hell-spawned witches of course, but Berno would not, could not have done it. He had five sons to rear, of whom he was very proud, and two daughters, who gave him no trouble, and who were responding well to his wife's training in women's duties and skills. They would be worthy mates for men of his choosing one day, when they were older, and he meant to make sure that they made their first sacrifice to the Serpent with the most adept of the Servants of the Shrine, the ones trained to deflower decently-raised virgins, so that they were not QUEST Shannah Jay 95

damaged or spoiled for pleasuring their husbands. No, he could never leave his family like that to serve the Serpent in the Inner Shrine. He looked at Herra. 'It was just a threat,' he repeated lamely. 'Metz didn't mean it.'

'You will know the truth of that better than we can,' Herra said, stern and unsmiling, awesome as no woman had a right to be. 'But my Sister and her friend believed him. And such practices have been known. How do you think men become Initiates of the Inner Shrine?'

There was silence, during which Berno avoided her eyes. Herra looked at Katia. 'There remains the question of what to do with our friend here.'

'Stop calling me your friend!' Berno's wife would have recognised and sighed over the way he blurted out his thoughts. It was that which had prevented him from obtaining the same degree of advancement as his brother in the service of the Lord Claimant.

'We are the enemies of no one. I will tell you, friend, what we shall do with you, since you offer no suggestions.

First, I shall heal that stiff shoulder which has troubled you for years. The Servants of the Serpent have not our healing skills. Then I shall - just temporarily - remove your memory of this day. You will remember these events again in two weeks' time, but you’ll not be able to tell anyone about them for a month after that. When that month has passed, you can decide for yourself whether to speak of what has happened here. I give you my word that no memory shall be tampered with. However, during that month you shall study the ways of the Serpent, especially those in the Inner Shrine, and think whether you would have your wife and daughters subjected to such indignities as are now practised in Tenebrak.'

'It's women's duty to obey men and to serve their needs. And it's the duty of all to serve the Serpent in whatever way is needed.'

'Women's duty to obey any man, at any time? Suppose a stranger ordered your wife to make sacrifice to the Serpent with him. Should she do that? Would it please you? Or one of your daughters, perhaps, young as they are?

Would you like to see their backs raw from the scourge?'

'No one would do such a thing to them! They're decent women, properly brought up, not Sister-loving whores.

They dress modestly and they keep their eyes down. Only whores are used like that in our shrines.'

'In Tenebrak even modest women dare no longer pass near the shrines, for Those of the Serpent heed only their own desires, which grow daily more depraved.' As he was about to burst into hot denials, she held her hand up.

'Don't take my word for it, Berno. Go and look the next time you visit the city. Watch the women stagger weeping out of the shrines. Look at their bloody backs! Think of it happening to your daughters and your Immela. She's a good wife, isn't she? Would you stand by and let them hurt her?'

'I don't believe you! No one would touch my family. I won't listen to your lies.'

'You can soon find out the truth of that for yourself. Now, enough.' With a slight gesture she stilled him, then moved to massage his shoulder. Afterwards she laid her fingers lightly on his brow and his eyes became glazed. That finished, she stood up. 'Come, Katia. We must cleanse your spirit.'

Without a backward glance, Herra led the way through the woods. Since her Renewal she seemed younger, with more authority in her voice and a spring to her step.

'If only I had known how to still someone,' Katia mourned.

'Vain regrets! You waste yourself upon them. Is it your love for the Lord Davred which is making you lose your self-control, or is it your own weakness that makes you wallow in self-pity? Gather your inner forces together, Sister.'

Katia gasped at this stern rebuke, and followed Herra to the cave without saying anything else.

While Katia lay recovering in the Discipline of Cleansing the Spirit, dreaming her way through her guilt and troubled ideas, Herra took Davred firmly in hand. Every moment of the next two days was filled either with activities such as exercising his leg, so that the weakened muscles would lose their final stiffness; with increasing his overall fitness, which she said was poor; or with practising and perfecting some of the basic Disciplines of the Sisterhood.

She was an even stricter taskmistress than Katia, and a superb teacher. During his rest periods they would talk, she QUEST Shannah Jay 96

finding out about his people and the Confederation, he about the Sisterhood and how she felt he could help in the Quest.

'You can help in two ways, Lord,' she said on the second day. 'And neither shall be to your taste. First, there will be an actual Quest, a journey to make, tasks to fulfil. I cannot say when, but I know that.'

'It doesn't sound too bad.'

'When you've walked for weeks across rough country and every bone in your body is aching, tell me how you're enjoying it. When you must fight, lie and steal to keep yourself and your companions alive, tell me again of the pleasure of such a Quest.'

Even Davred flushed when Herra spoke in that tone. Her words could be as swift and as penetrating as arrows.

And she didn’t even try to spare the Manifestation of the God, who was young and unskilled as yet. It was part of her task to help him discover and develop his Gifts.

'And the second way I can help?' Davred asked after a pause.

'The second way will be to leave your seed in the bodies of as many Sisters as possible, so that we may bear your children and breed them with our other lines. You are to be one of the Fathers of the next Stage, a literal title, believe me!'

'I can't do that. I have a wife whom I love, and I want no other woman. I'll not betray my love for Katia!'

'Did I ask you to love these women, Lord?' Herra was meticulous in giving him his title, even when she was forcing him to do as she wished.

'No, but . . . '

'We shall choose their fertile time. You need see each of them only once - and in a darkened room, if you prefer, so that you won't recognise them and feel shame if you meet them afterwards.'

'That's horrible! It's treating them like - like breeding animals. Anyway, I don't think I can do it I'm not . . . ' he squirmed in embarrassment, 'I've never been a man who can take a woman at any time. I need to feel affection -

respect.' He took a deep breath. 'I not only won't do it, I can’t!'

'They'll be skilled enough to help you to respond, Lord. Don't worry about that. And I can't allow you to monopolise Katia if you don't help us in every way within your power. If your love for her prevents you from doing what needs to be done, then it were better to end the love now, painful as that would be for you both.'

Davred shivered at the mere idea. 'I couldn't live without her now, Herra. And how do you think she'd feel about it? She loves me too.'

'You judge her by your own people's standards, Lord. Just as you judge us. You're on Sunrise now, not a Confederation planet. We of the Sisterhood have been working towards true peace for millennia. We're proud to bear children of the gifted lines. It's not a forced duty. It's a privilege. Do you think we shall allow one man's squeamishness to jeopardise our Quest? After all this time?'

'But . . . '

'Katia is a Sister and will know her duty, even if you shirk yours. How can we risk you having children by only one woman? There wouldn't be enough of them for safe assimilation of your line. We've been breeding carefully for thousands of years and it shall not stop now.'

'That seems very - cold and ruthless.'

'Should we be any less careful of ourselves and the kind of children we produce than we are of our animals? Or do you wish Katia to produce all your children and carry a baby every year till her body is worn out in a desperate attempt to ensure the safety of your line?'

'No, of course not, but I . . . '

'Always I, I, I! Can you think of nothing but yourself and your own desires? You are not alone in this world as QUEST Shannah Jay 97

you were on the satellite. You must do your duty by the Sisterhood here if you wish to be part of it. Moreover, if I know my Katia, she will count the sharing of your seed a fair price to pay for the privilege of being your one wife, of indulging herself to such an extent. Generations of Sisters have not had such a privilege. Generations of Sisters, myself included, have had to renounce happy marriages for the sake of the Quest. Already Katia's conscience is troubling her.'

'You're as ruthless as Those of the Serpent!'

'I am as determined, Lord. Indeed, we of the Sisterhood are far more determined. Such as they have come and gone during our history. We alone have endured. And shall continue to do so.' She turned away. 'We'll discuss this again, Lord, after you've seen what Discord does to people - to the weak in particular. Women, children, the old, they're all beginning to suffer under the rule of the Serpent. Sen-Sether in Setheron, Benner in Tenebron, and other Lords Claimant of that ilk - these are the apostles of evil in our land, who would lead people down a wrong turning in the path. We of the Sisterhood have fought such as them before, and have always defeated them. But this will be our hardest struggle.'

'How can you abandon your gentleness, your tender ways, to fight them?' For he’d come to Sunrise seeking a different way of life, one that avoided conflict.

'Because there is dire need, Lord, the most dire need ever known. And do not think that we go unscathed. Next time I’m born, I very much fear that I shall be no Elder Sister. I'm afraid that my soul will require a cleansing before it can again climb the ladder of life.'

He frowned. 'What do you mean by "next time you're born"?'

'Death is but a gateway into a new life. Surely your people acknowledge that?'

'It has been a belief of some sects at various times in our history. Few give it credibility now.'

'Then they're mistaken.'

'There have been religions on Old Earth with similar beliefs about reincarnation. They died out a long time ago.'

She nodded. 'When your people took a wrong turning on the path. Nothing is wasted in nature, and certainly not souls. Some creatures climb the ladder of this cycle of lives and pass through the final gateway to a new level; some fall, to be reborn and try again. I was, I think, nearing the final gateway of this level. To move on to the next level would have been very sweet to me, too sweet, perhaps. I may have been in danger of growing complacent. Perhaps the whole Sisterhood has become too complacent. Well, that complacency is being shaken out of us now, is it not?'

Davred was finding it hard to come to terms with the ideas she had expressed. 'Herra, do you really believe in reincarnation?'

'Believe in it? I know it to be true.'

'How can you be so sure?'

'I can't offer the sort of proof that your people require. But I am sure, nonetheless. I feel the rightness of that knowledge inside me.' After a pause, she spoke in a more normal tone. 'Now, that's enough of such talk. I expect too much of you. It takes years to train a Sister. Can it take less to train a Manifestation of the God?'

'Herra, I'm not . . . '

'My friend, must you doubt everything? You are the Manifestation of our Brother the God. And when we return to Temple Tenebrak, you'll see that the darkness behind the Statue of the God has slipped back to reveal your likeness.'

'It can't have!'

'Can it not?'

He stared at her. 'But I'm not a God!'

'Did I say you were? You are his Manifestation come down among us - his messenger, if you like, or his vessel.

QUEST Shannah Jay 98

Accept that fact, for I know it to be true.'

'Herra, I'm just a . . .'

She sighed. 'You are not just anything. You are Davred Hollunby to your own people, Lord Davred to us. You were a potential Cathartic Agent to your own people; you're the Manifestation of the God to us. You've already prophesied the birth of a daughter and you're learning to listen to the God within you. Let this be the last time you doubt your own abilities or mine.'

He bowed his head, unable to contradict such certainty.

'And don't expect too much of yourself,' she added more gently. 'You'll learn our inner secrets in full, Lord Davred of the Satellite, but not all at once. Now, apply yourself, if you please, to the Discipline of Pulse Control. A minor one, but vital, nonetheless, in the control of the whole body.'

Herra closed her eyes and went into meditation so rapidly that Davred couldn’t question her further. He stared at her for a moment. She was tiny, compared to himself and Katia, but regal in bearing, with an aura of power that was almost tangible. He’d already begun to believe that if she said a thing was so, then it was so.

Katia woke the next morning at dawn, refreshed and clear-eyed.

'Good,' said Herra. 'Now we can get back to Tenebrak. We're desperately needed there. We shall leave as soon as you're ready, Katia.' But her eyes softened as she looked at the two of them, for all her brisk words.

#####

Chapter 16: TENEBRAK - THE ARCHIVES

Davred bowed to the Sister on duty and took his place in the Chamber of the God. How he loved this room!

Twenty thousand years of the Sisters' patient listening for the God to speak, either to them or within them, seemed to have left tranquillity ingrained in the very stone of the walls. He smiled as he thought of how Robler would scoff at that idea.

With muscles made supple by over a year of training with the novices, Davred sank gracefully to his knees in front of the transmitter, sat for a moment to gather his thoughts, and then spread his precious bundle of parchments out on a rug that the richest art collectors in the Confederation would have sold their souls to own.

At the appointed hour there was a crackling and Soo's face appeared on the screen. 'Davred, thank goodness you got my message! Mak is keeping Robler occupied, but he won't be able to keep him out of the way for long. Whenever I'm on duty, Robler comes in and out all the time. He keeps an eye on any contacts I make - not that there are many now, with so many temples locked in stasis. He said yesterday that we should stop keeping watch on the temples, that it's a waste of time when Central can't send us any more personnel.'

'I thought they'd already agreed to send a replacement for me.'

'The latest bul etin said there was no chance of any new staff getting out to this sector until things settle down.'

'So the violence is still escalating?'

'Yes. We've just lost another planet.'

'Which one?'

'Stavreth VI.'

Davred closed his eyes for a moment in anguish. He had enjoyed a rec-leave once on that planet, noted for the friendliness of its citizens. 'May the God in His Wisdom preserve us all!'

QUEST Shannah Jay 99

'It's a miracle that any consignments of supplies are getting through at all,' Soo went on, trying not to show surprise at his exclamation. 'That last one took twice as long as usual to get here. Of course we can live on the emergency hydroponics, but only as long as the equipment functions and we don't run out of spare parts.'

'The God be praised, then, that you managed to get the new consignment of stasis cubes and send them down to us.

Al the temples are now safe, at least. Confex must have listened to your report and not Robler's.'

This time Soo let her surprise show. 'Davred, you're beginning to talk like the Sisters. You say "The God be praised"

as if you mean it!'

'I do mean it.'

She stared at him, thinking: and you smile knowingly sometimes, just as Herra and Katia do. 'Don't you mind the way you're changing?'

'Why should I? It was my own choice to come down here, after all. I couldn't expect to stay the same, could I? I’m fortunate that they've made me so welcome - and even more fortunate that I met my Katia.' He gave her a wry smile.

'But I will admit that it's been hard at times, a bit like going back to pre-university studies, especially having to learn the Disciplines with the novices. That's no small task, I can tell you. They've got young, supple bodies. Mine ached for weeks when I first started!'

'Is the planet as interesting and the knowledge as valuable as you thought it would be?'

'The knowledge the temple offers is far more valuable than I'd expected, but I haven't been able to get outside much to see the planet. It's becoming unpleasant, and sometimes dangerous, for anyone connected with the temple to go into the city. There's even danger now for any person who openly supports the Sisterhood.'

'Do you really believe in this God of theirs, Davred?'

'Not in the sense of a primitive deity, no, but as a focus for gathering together goodness and wisdom, yes, Soo, with all my heart. And I think Herra and Katia see it that way, too.'

'What! Are you sure? That's far too sophisticated a concept for people at their stage of development. I thought they simply believed that their Brother the God was somewhere in the sky, keeping watch over them.'

'The more ignorant of their followers do, and the less gifted of the Sisters, but most don't have such simplistic beliefs.'

'But that sort of sophisticated reasoning doesn't fit in with the stage of development of this planet at all. Even I know that!' She stared at him in bafflement. 'Sometimes I think that nothing seems to fit on Sunrise.'

'That's what I keep telling you - the stages of development here can't be judged by any previous standards we set up.

People may seem primitive in some ways, but there are glaring anomalies, aspects in which they're far more advanced than the Confederation worlds. Take the Gift of Healing, for instance. I've seen them repeat their "magic" times without number since Herra healed my broken leg.'

'I can't believe some of the reports you've sent up.'

'Believe them. There's no need to invent wonders here on Sunrise. They happen all the time. I hope you're keeping my evidence to you safe, now that I'm out of direct touch with Confex. We of the Sisterhood are rather relying on you, Soo.'

'I'm doing my best, but I'm no anthropologist. I'm only a com-engineer.'

He made a fluid gesture of dismissal with his fingers. ' To do your best is to do all.'

When he spoke in that tone, she knew he was quoting another of the Maxims of the God. Soo never knew how to answer such remarks, so changed the subject. 'Are you happy down there, Davred? This is one of the rare times I've seen you on your own. I didn't like to ask in front of your wife.'

He smiled. 'Very happy, Soo. And you can ask anything you like. I keep no secrets from Katia. She's an integral part of me. I wish you two could meet properly. I'm sure you'd like each other. As for the Sisterhood, I believe that they have something which the Confederation has lost, something which gives a meaning to my life.

QUEST Shannah Jay 100

And Soo . . . I still think the key to stopping the violence and discord in the Confederation is to be found here. I haven't stopped being a Cathartic Agent, you know, nor have I lost my loyalty to Confex, whatever Robler says. In fact, being a CA is rather similar to being a Manifestation of the God - two sides of the same coin. So if I can help the citizens of the Confederation back to their true path, as well as pursue the Quest for Wisdom here, then of course I shall . . . '

Again Soo could not think what to say. Sometimes this warm, friendly man seemed so different, so alien to the cool, withdrawn Davred she’d known on the satellite. When she spoke to him she could recognise the power growing in him. And that wasn’t just her imagination. Mak, too, sensed it, and people from Delta Macros were not at all prone to imagining things.

Davred indicated the papers in front of him. 'Soo, I've brought some of the history of the Sisterhood to show you. Herra gave me permission to bring up a few pages from the Archives for you to microscan. It's a very great honour, the first time these pages have been allowed out of the Archive Cellars in centuries. I'll hold them up to the screen one by one. Will you put them under the finest microscan there is? I know it takes a bit longer, but this is important. You can send copies of the scan back to Confex Central afterwards for expert analysis. Don't let Robler stop you. I can't emphasise too strongly how important it all is. There won't be another chance to do this. Discord is spreading, and soon, even Temple Tenebrak will have to go under stasis.' And then, he thought, we shall have to leave its shelter and start our journey, our personal quest.

Soo nodded. 'Don't worry. Robler hasn't the power to stop us sending transmissions to Confex, though he can send adverse reports on what we're doing. But Mak's keeping careful watch now and he'll give me warning if our dear Exec so much as pokes his nose outside his quarters.'

She smiled as she added, 'And if Robler has anyone else monitoring what I'm doing, that person will be very bored, I promise you. I arranged for another recording to be played while we were talking. It will look as if I'm sitting studying a screen of calculations. It was very tedious making the recording, I can tell you.'

'What if Robler tries to deny you access to the com-room?'

'I've also set up a direct com-link in my quarters, so there's no chance we can be prevented from keeping in touch, as long as you keep your com-unit safe. Robler doesn't know about my personal com-link and he couldn't touch it, even if he did. He's no engineer. But I couldn't run a microscan from there, or magnify parts of the images, so I'll use the main com-room whenever I can.'

'Only you could manage to fool Robler like that. You're the best com-engineer I've ever heard of.'

'Don't waste time. Let's get on with this scan.'

'Very well.' Davred's smile was warm. Compliments always embarrassed Soo. He’d often teased her about her awkwardness when being praised. 'Soo, the first of these manuscripts is over twenty thousand years old. We must find the secret of their paper. It would be perfect for permanent art prints. It outlasts anything we can make, yet it's fine and silky, a pleasure to handle. And the ink hasn't faded at all. It's another anomaly that a civilisation allegedly more primitive than ours can produce something we can't.'

She nodded, then looked at her chrono-implant. 'We'd better hurry. Running a microscan takes a while. '

Reverently Davred placed the pieces of parchment in front of the viewer one by one, explaining as much as he could about each while it was being scanned. 'I didn't have time to be very selective, so Herra helped me. I've hardly begun to read through the manuscripts. There are so many! The Archive Cellars are enormous. The Sisters not only keep their Archives down there, but the Encyclopedia and the Memoirs as well, not to mention the Portrait Folios, and who knows what else.'

He smoothed a piece of paper out gently. 'You'll notice that the language has changed a little, but not nearly as much as one would have expected. This is the very first entry of all in the Archives. If it's genuine, as I believe, then it's priceless.'

TENEBRAK:YEAR 1, SPRING,DAY 1

QUEST Shannah Jay 101

This day was chosen for the consecration of our first temple, built on the ridge above the town of Tenebrak.

From this day forth, we have decided to start a new calendar. Thus we look ahead, not behind us.

Our Brother the God has seen fit to end the troubled years. After her sad losses in the Discord Wars, our Sister Karialla and her husband Deverith dreamed of the temple we would one day build, a home for our novitiate and a centre of learning for all people, but especially a place for training healers. It is important that knowledge not pass away as time sweeps our descendants along the path of life. Since the Ingress, so much has been lost. Blessed are those who live in this time of peace!

The townsfolk have made us a feast to celebrate the end of the long years of toil on the temple. Tonight we shall sing and dance together. Tomorrow the last group of those who came to help with the building will start their journey home, happy to have served the God our Brother.

Best of all, we now have a real home. For this, we are grateful to the Illustrious Deverith. Without him, it would not have been possible. Though he did not live to see the temple finished, we have not forgotten his words and teachings, and this Sister will write down all she remembers of his wisdom, so that everyone shall benefit from it.

How delighted we are to welcome to the shelter of these walls the incoming novices and healer-apprentices.

Three years has Karialla been away in search of others to join us, and during that time she has gathered together a fine group of young people - though some of them have been travelling with her for so long that they are truly beyond being called novices.

When people across the claims heard of the building of Temple Tenebrak, and of Karialla's quest for novices, every village brought forth its young people, that she might choose the ones who have the Gifts to learn our skills. For it is her own Gift to recognise such people.

Great is the love between us and the people of this, the land of Tenebron. Some healers once resident in the former Healers' Courts and then sadly scattered across the countryside by danger have come back here to join us; others have sent their good wishes and gifts of all kinds. Tenebrak-trained healers are again respected everywhere and we remember the Illustrious Deverith with joy for preserving so much of the lore of healing. And we are grateful for the other Gifts passed on through his line. May the God our Brother continue to preserve them in us.

This Sister is one who has travelled all over the land. Great were the dangers to face when Discord ruled. It is recorded elsewhere what sorrow Discord brought, so that we may learn from it and not tread that path again.

The special vellum upon which these Archives are written was brought here by Garia, a gift from her family. The secret of its manufacture did she bring also, and that is precious knowledge indeed.

This Sister was honoured to receive a vision from our Brother the God that she should be Keeper of the Archives, and that one day our Archives would help to turn this world and many others from the path of Discord.

All of this vision we cannot understand, but it has been written in a Book of Prophecies, so that it may be preserved for those who will one day have the wisdom to fathom its meaning.

All honour to Tiannik, the carver, who came here from the Plains of Peneth. He, too, wandered for many years while Discord stalked the land, and he gained greatly by it in wisdom and knowledge. After much travel, he found refuge with the stoneworkers of Garsh and there learned to develop his finest Gift, the art of carving. He has vowed his life to the temple in order to create beauty in the stone of our walls, so that we may feed the eyes of our souls and praise our Brother the God in joy, as our Forebears decreed. But, like this Sister, Tiannik is growing old, for the temple was many years in the building. We must all pass on our skills to our novices now, lest we lose the Disciplines. None who dwell in our temple shall be allowed to live in unlettered ignorance. This Sister has had the honoured task of writing down for posterity all knowledge, all wisdom and all the histories of our times that she could garner. And that task shall pass from one to another, the Honoured Keepers of the Archives, so that all who come after us may know the path we have taken, and not turn in ignorance down a false trail.

Most precious of all is our Elder Sister. Great wisdom has been given to her, as well as the Gifts of Choosing, Healing and Prophecy. Never has a novice chosen by Karialla failed to develop a Gift or a Skill. Old she is now, far beyond the years of other people, but carries her years lightly. With her this time she has brought back a great-granddaughter, recently chosen, one Herra, a child of great promise. Thus shall the line of Karialla and Deverith QUEST Shannah Jay 102

continue to serve our Brother.

Niam, Keeper of the Archives

'I wish I could understand what it all means.' Davred looked longingly at the cream-coloured parchment. 'Who were these Forebears and what was the Ingress? Did they come here from some other planet, do you think? That would explain the unsettled continents. How could one find out after all this time? You might ask Confex to research spaceships lost in this Sector, Soo.

And what was that first Herra like? There have been eight Herras recorded in the Archives, you know, all of them exceptional women. Ours is the ninth of that name and line.'

Soo shook her head. 'No use wasting your time on speculations, Davred. You'll have enough trouble getting Central to believe the things which you can prove.'

'What I desperately want to do is find out what the Archives have to say about all the Manifestations of the God -

when I have more time - if I ever do have time to spare! But Herra insists that I develop my skills first and allows me only occasional visits to the Archives. She won't let me investigate the Manifestations of the God. She says it is not now the time.' He laughed. 'Don't think I'm having an easy life here, my friend. I'm not! Herra works everyone to the utmost limits of their capacities.' His joyous laughter was stranger than any other change in him. She couldn't remember Davred laughing aloud like that in all the years they had worked together on the satellite.

'Don't you miss the comforts of civ- I mean, of the satellite?'

'No. In a climate as mild as Tenebron, the physical side of life is pleasant enough. And now that I've seen what Discord does to people, I'm even more committed to the Quest. I think, I hope, that I shall never have to leave this planet again.'

'You can't mean that!'

'I do. I'm needed here so desperately. It isn't the same to see things on a screen. You can't feel the hurt caused by Those of the Serpent from so far away. Or see the beauty of a three-moon night, when the kushlan flowers are in bloom. It is my Quest as well, now, Soo.'

'How can you base your life on something so nebulous?'

Davred shrugged, another slightly alien gesture, accompanied by a flutter of the fingers, then smiled at Soo. 'The Quest is a search for everything that's good. Wisdom, love, beauty - and most of all, for those who live in this age, for a way to end of Discord. Is that so different to the knowledge we were seeking in Confex?'

Soo didn’t answer. She was studying Davred's eyes, which seemed to glow with an inner serenity, a thing she greatly envied him. Life on the satellite in the standard year and a half since he'd left had been anything but serene.

Robler made the atmosphere unpleasant and contact with the Sisterhood very difficult. She kept the microscan on Davred's face. The differences in expression should surely reveal something to a probing analysis.

'In fact,' Davred went on, 'the true title is not the Quest for Wisdom, but the Quest for the Path of Wisdom.

Perhaps the searching itself is important, as well as the goal. Perhaps there isn't a finished, final state of wisdom.

Perhaps the wisdom needed changes with circumstances down through the ages.'

'A permanent process of change, you mean? Or - a permanent quest?'

'Both, perhaps. Anyway, we don’t have time for a philosophical debate now, do we?' He held up the next manuscript. 'I did find reference to one of the other Manifestations of the God for you, Soo, the second one, the Lord Terraccalliss . . . He's the best known and the best loved of them all.'

TENEBRAK:YEAR 829, SUMMER,DAY 50

This Midsummer's Day departed Lord Terraccalliss, beloved Manifestation of our God. He is of the Precursors, who were here long before us. He disappeared into the sky in his flying chariot, which had lain in the wildwoods to QUEST Shannah Jay 103

the west of Tenebrak for over two hundred years. Great is our grief. No more will he fly around our temple like a golden bird dancing in the sun. No more will his wings beat out the rhythm of our dances.

This Sister is desolate that she must henceforth live her life outside his shadow. He has been with us ever since the year 607, before this Sister was born, and has left us with much new knowledge and many Disciplines which are hard indeed to learn, but which bear rich fruit. Greatest of all, however, was the joy of his presence, which filled us all with happiness. This Lord of the Sun helped to bring an end to Discord, though the struggle was onerous, and then taught us to rebuild our lives.

Henceforth we must continue our Quest alone. But the days are dark and the way not clear without the Lord Terraccalliss. This Sister will not weep, for he forbade that, but she will miss the joy of his presence more than anyone else will, for she was honoured with the precious gift of his love, out of which she bore him a son and three daughters. Oh, that they had their father's wings and could dance in the skies! But alas, like their mother, they are earthbound.

Priannar, our Elder Sister, will guide our steps now. Once more we have reverted to a Sisterhood. The long years of struggle against Discord have left their mark upon us. Even those men of constancy have now been sent to live in the town. A hard decision, but the balance is not right for both men and women to unite in the Quest. Why do men take so much longer to discover their Gifts? Why does violence still flourish more easily in their souls?

The married Sisters shall pass freely between town and temple, living where the God calls them. Since our Brother granted us the Gift of longer life than other people, our Sisters will be able to return to the temple when their husbands die.

This Sister will never leave the temple again, nor seek another husband. One who has flown in the arms of the Lord Terraccalliss cannot feel love for an earthbound man. It may be that this Sister will bear another child or two, for the sake of the bloodlines, for her line is an honoured one, fruitful in Gifted offspring. However, foster-mothers will raise the children with their own families, until the time of Choosing.

It is a joy to us all that already the daughters of Lord Terraccalliss show promise and that the boy has a nobility of character far beyond his years. Their marriages and breeding must not be chance matings, but must be most carefully selected, as they are already aware. In them are vested Gifts essential to our prime lines.

This Sister will devote the rest of her life to the Archives. More paper needs fabricating, and there are many collections of memoirs and skills which need to be carefully classified and bound into books. Surely this will be a task worth the undertaking! Though the joy is gone from this Sister's life, she shall not waste her days, nor sit weeping for what cannot return.

Herra III

The third Herra was known as the Beloved of the God, Soo. And as she was an ancestor of our Herra, that means that our Elder Sister is descended from an alien, the Lord Terraccalliss. Wouldn't you like access to a hospital planet to run some nano-grid tests on their DNA? Even in the Sisterhood, our Herra is longer-lived than usual.

There must be something special in her genetic inheritance. It was Herra III who designed the beautiful bindings which they still use for the Archives, as well as the whole system of information storage. I wish you could see the Archive Cellars.'

'I wish I could too.'

They were both silent for a few seconds, then Davred laid the second parchment reverently to one side.

'I think most of the Manifestations of the God were aliens, Soo. There are carvings around the Statue of the God in the temple here of eight different Manifestations, some of them not human, and one of them with wings.

Apparently they're exact portraits of the Manifestations of the God, but no one can tell me how the carvings appear.

I never saw such skilled carving in my life - you could almost stroke the fur of the Lord Ebrlk - and the stonework hasn't deteriorated in the slightest even after all these thousands of years.'

He hesitated, then added, 'Soo, it's incredible, but when we got back here after I landed, the darkness at the back QUEST Shannah Jay 104

of the statue had receded to reveal an eighth form - mine. It was only starting to appear when they left to find me, but when we got back, it was fully finished. I still can't believe it. The honour overwhelms me. How do they do it?'

Her voice was vehement. 'I'd sell my soul to come down and see such things for myself! '

'Not your soul, Soo. That's too precious. The God wouldn’t welcome such a sacrifice.'

He meant that. Every time she spoke to him, he seemed more attuned to another way of thinking, as if he saw life through a different lens to her. He was lean and tanned now, and had lost his diffident, boyish look. He wore a short-sleeved tunic and loose trousers of fine temple cloth in the same soft blue as the Sisters' robes. He even moved differently, like a well-trained dancer, which he actually was now, for he’d had to spend long hours learning the ritual dances of the temple.

Soo wondered suddenly what kind of dancing could cause such a rapid and visible change in a person's body. It’d have been good to record it from close quarters and then analyse the muscles being exercised by each movement.

Oh, there were so many things she wanted to know! Damn Robler and his interference! Why had he not been replaced as Exec? Had no one read the reports she and Mak had sent in to Sector HQ?

To see Davred with Katia was to see two people so completely bonded that Soo would have envied their closeness had she not found deep satisfaction in her own evolving relationship with Mak. They had trouble keeping quiet when Robler sneered at the way Davred had 'gone primitive' and 'pair-bonded himself to a native'.

Like Davred, Soo had begun to wonder which was, in fact, the more primitive of the two cultures. The Confederation might have sophisticated machinery, but the Sisters seemed to have found their own inner peace and meaning in life in a way the 'civilised' citizens of the Confederation might well envy. Was that why the art forms on Sunrise were of such a high calibre, far superior to anything crafted elsewhere in the Confederation? As for the Sisters' personal skills, they were like the magic of ancient history. Why hadn't someone authorised a full-scale Research Project to study Sunrise, as she and Mak had recommended? There was so much to be learnt from this planet!

Smiling, Davred held up another parchment to be scanned. 'This one is slightly more modern. It's remarkable, Soo. I don't think I've ever heard of a culture which can so easily accept outsiders and aliens. Look at all the problems the Confederation’s had in reconciling some of the different planets! And yet most sentients are descended from Old Terra and physically very similar.'

'Is Discord bred in us?' she wondered.

He shrugged. 'One wonders. Anyway, you may find this one amusing.'

TENEBRAK: THE SPREAD OF DISCORD YEAR 22,542, AUTUMN,DAY 34

This day did the God honour our temple after an absence of 2,201 years, by sending us His Eighth Manifestation.

His name is Lord Davred and in this Manifestation he is a being very like ourselves in appearance, though he was raised on a different world and flew across the heavens to join us. So does the God keep his promise to send his Manifestation to help us in times of direst need. (Ref: Encyclopedia - Manifestations of the God, Galactic Confederation, Confex, Satellite, Cathartic Agent.)

This day there returned to Tenebrak with the Manifestation of our God, Herra, our Elder Sister, and our young Sister, Katia, both of whom had travelled into the wildwoods to bring him back to safety. A Ceremony of Rejoicing was held, in spite of the continuing Discord in the city, and the tale of their deeds was told to all who dwell in the temple.

The Lord Davred descended to our world in a flying wagon called a lifeship, pursued by enemies who caused him to fall across the sky too rapidly. The lifeship was damaged and the Lord himself sustained injuries, so Herra and Katia went to rescue him. Herra healed his broken leg and discovered that in the Galactic Confederation, which is what his people call their union of many worlds, they have inferior knowledge of healing. His people place their trust QUEST Shannah Jay 105

in machinery and have little control over their own bodies.

The Lord who claims Tenebron, one Benner, a servant of Evil, sent out large parties of men in pursuit of the Lord Davred, forcing him and his Sisters to take refuge for a time in a cave. What sad times are these! Herra's life force being badly depleted, she was obliged to enter the Discipline of Deep Renewal without the help and guidance of a Healer.

As this was her tenth Renewal, the danger was immense, but she succeeded. The God was looking down upon her, as she so richly deserved. And upon us all, for we have great need of her wisdom. She has no equal, and is now the oldest Sister ever known, a direct descendant of Karialla and Deverith. How true that line breeds still! And the blood of the Lord Terraccalliss also flows in her veins. How fortunate we were to be given the Blessing of his line!

While the Elder Sister was in Renewal, Katia was left to guard the Lord Davred and had to leave the cave to find food. On a sad day, she was attacked by one of the Serpent's followers, an Initiate of the Inner Shrine. I shall not write in this book the threats he made against her, for they do not deserve to be remembered, but he was sunk deep in depravity. The Lord Davred had to kill this person, such need being confirmed by the Elder Sister. (See Memoirs: Katia, Herra IX, Davred I.) How sad that even we of the Sisterhood should be forced to violence!

During Herra's Renewal, the Great Prophecy (Herra IX: 25) was further fulfilled, in that the Lord Davred and Katia our Sister vowed themselves as man and wife. Of their issue, and that of our other Gifted Lines, shall come those who will lead us along the next stage of our path. The Lord Davred is to be one of the Fathers of the next Stage. Of his seed shall great progress be made, as always happens when we are granted a Manifestation of our God.

So, in the midst of Discord, does our Brother yet give us hope.

It is further confirmed that Katia is with child, a daughter (prophesied Davred I: 1). Like the others, this Manifestation of our God will also leave his seed among the bodies of those of our Sisters whose lines are judged most compatible. Thus all shall not be lost, whatever the outcome of this unhappy age, and our Gifted Lines shall be scattered and preserved.

* * *

It is confirmed with sadness that the Temple at Penerak had to go under stasis a short time ago. This is an effect of a machine brought down by the Lord Davred for our protection. It can still life and set up a barrier over a whole temple. Violence as being perpetrated against the temple itself and this was the only way to save it.

Surely the greatest Discord ever known is rife among us! Shall Temple Tenebrak also need to seek refuge under such machinery one day? Cold comfort, that! And what of the townsfolk we shall have to leave behind to face Discord alone?

In many areas the Emergency Scattering is now complete, and the opportunity has been seized for spreading the Gifted Lines more widely, and for moving all the children into families, including our two special charges (Herra IX: 18). These we shall retrieve when better times are won. Then we shall help them to make claim to their holdings so that they may assist us in driving out Those of the Serpent.

Diona IV, Keeper of the Archives

'You see, they're able to accept outsiders and aliens and welcome them into their culture, just as they accepted me and fitted me in. And Soo, I did prophesy that Katia and I would have a daughter, before we even lay together. And have been proved right, as you know.' He held out a final manuscript.

TENEBRAK:YEAR 22,543, SPRING,DAY 90

This day was Katia, beloved wife of the Lord Davred, delivered of a daughter, who is to be named Siri-Soo, a name partly of her father's people, and therefore new for a daughter of our Sisterhood. Her two names signify her double ancestry and the promise it holds.

QUEST Shannah Jay 106

As always, extra care was taken with the birth preparations, for the melding of two species is not an easy task.

Herra herself was in attendance, with Lara, but no problems were encountered, and Katia was safely delivered amid great rejoicing. We welcome Siri-Soo to our world - first of the line of Davred.

* * *

This day had its dark side, also. There arrived in Tenebrak our Sister Fiana, whose act of bravery saved the lives of many of our Sisters in Setheron. (Verified by Sherin, Elder Sister in Temple Setheron, as a necessary sacrifice, loathsome as it was.)

When her temple went under Stasis, Fiana was one of those who chose to stay outside and continue the fight against Discord. The God put it into her mind to travel, and she made her way across the land.(See Memoirs of Fiana.)

She arrived here in time to share our rejoicing. But, to our great sadness, she is marked by the sacrifice she made.

Since that day she has been unable to gather fully with her Sisters, for she carries vengeance in her heart and will not abjure it. She has not only vowed to kill Sen-Sether, but insists that this task is her destiny, set upon her by our Brother.

Even our Elder Sister has not been able to move her from this vile intention. Herra has decreed, however, that she shall not be less our Sister for that, and so we wait for our Brother to unfold Fiana's destiny.

Diona IV:Keeper of the Archives

'I still feel very honoured that you named your daughter for me, Davred.' Robler had just roared with laughter when he heard about it.

'For you, and for a long-dead Elder Sister of Herra's line, who looks a bit like you. She came from Mer-Halani, where the people could be relatives of yours. Pictures are drawn at each temple of all the Elder Sisters, you know -

well, it's not drawing exactly, because they do it with brushes - and they don't treat their subjects pictorially, but somehow they seem to catch the essence. You feel that those women could step off the paper and talk to you. You should see the one of Herra!' His face became suddenly sad.

'What's the matter?'

'Elder Sisters only have their portraits recorded when they feel they're nearing the end of their lives. I can't imagine this temple, or even this world, without Herra. She is its very pivot.'

'Has she chosen a successor?'

'She has chosen an Elder Sister Elect,' Davred corrected.

'Who is . . . ?'

'Lara, the chief Healer. Healers become Elder Sisters more often than others. Healing is one of the highest-level Gifts. Herra has also prophesied, by the way, that Katia will one day become Elder Sister at Tenebrak, which means,'

he said steadily, 'that my Katia will outlive me, for which I thank our Brother. She couldn't stay married to me if she were Elder Sister, and I know that the God wouldn't ask her to leave me were I still alive.'

Soo shivered. 'Don't talk like that, Davred! It's - unnatural - morbid!'

His eyes were luminous and his smile was unshadowed. 'I meant it joyfully, Soo. Death is the twin of life, and one cannot hide from it. Those of the Confederation are wrong in that. We shun the very thought of death. We even force our tortured bodies to live on in cages of machinery to escape it. My hope now is to climb the Ladder of Life -

if I can grow wiser and earn that privilege. I no longer believe that death is a final ending and it's a wonderful comfort in such times.'

Soo opened her mouth to speak, then make a quick gesture of farewell and broke the contact.

Davred sat with head bowed for a moment, as he had been taught, fixing the scene in his memory so that he could recall it at will. He was never word and gesture-perfect, like Katia, but he could fix the essence now, without QUEST Shannah Jay 107

any blurring of events. Herra said that because he had been dependent upon machines for so long, his memory was impaired and it would take many years to recover; yet if he were back with Confex, they would marvel at his present capacity for remembering things.

In the other Disciplines he did better. Soon he would move to the final class of novices. His speed of learning was, he knew, creating a legend of its own. To him, the process seemed slow. He had not been brought up with the habit of patience, though he was acquiring it.

He was the first man to be trained inside a temple for thousands of years, the first since the Second Age of Discord. The other Manifestations hadn’t needed training - they’d brought new Disciplines and Gifts with them - but he was different. He considered himself lacking in so many ways, but every now and then the God would whisper within him, and he would be reassured that he was here for a purpose, because the things he prophesied always came true. Always.

His presence caused many anomalies for the Sisters, though. How do you treat a Manifestation of the God when he is the most ignorant of the novices? How can you bow your head to him one minute and chide him for inattention the next? Only Cheral had no trouble chiding him. She didn’t hesitate to scold anyone, Herra included, and Herra was a far more awesome figure nowadays than the Lord Davred. Since her last Renewal she seemed to have distanced herself from her Sisters and had become an autocrat, working everyone in the temple, Davred included, to their utmost limits.

Remembering which, Davred stood up, rang a chord-chimer that was a masterpiece of the silversmith's art, and waited for the Sister on duty to resume her place. He was late for Meditation practice with Herra.

Herra waited patiently for Davred to arrive. She’d decided to help him to perfect his skills herself. It was of vital importance that he learn to hear clearly the words of the God who had sent him to join their Quest.

It was also of vital importance, though she did not explain this, that she watch for signs of what the Lord Davred's Gifts would be. He was an unknown quantity, this latest Manifestation of the God. A hard puzzle even for the formidable Elder Sister to unravel.

But then, the Path of Wisdom had never been an easy one to tread.

#####

Chapter 17: TENEBRAK - DISCORD RAMPANT

It became more and more difficult for Soo to communicate privately with Davred, thanks to Robler's increased vigilance, and she could only watch in sorrow as Discord escalated and violence spread across the beautiful planet.

Some of the carefully-planted tracers stopped working, for no obvious reason; others worked only too well, and what they showed sickened her.

Robler ordered that the random sweeps made by the satellite's observation devices should focus on the shrines of the Serpent until they could plant permanent tracers in some of the major shrines. He frequently came to watch what was happening in the shrines, and although he expressed disgust at the barbaric practices, Soo couldn’t help feeling that he was excited by what he saw. Afterwards his eyes always gleamed and the way he looked at her, though he did nothing but look, made her shiver.

* * *

Tenebron, alone of the older claims, was not yet so totally dominated by Those of the Serpent that the temple was in danger of assault, but even there, Sisters wearing the distinctive blue robes had been attacked in the streets.

Little by little, people became afraid to seek the services of the Sister Healers openly; women not wearing the drab, all-enveloping garb which Those of the Serpent deemed appropriate for outdoor wear found it risky to walk the streets QUEST Shannah Jay 108

without male protectors; little girls were stopped by their parents from playing outside; and families found that they had to protect their older daughters most carefully from Those of the Serpent. Unless a woman was visibly of the Serpent, as shown by her dress, she was considered fair game. Bands of young men not only roamed the streets of the poorer quarters nowadays, but had started attacking the homes of those known to be sympathetic to the Sisterhood. Devout followers of the Serpent could obtain tokens from the Servants of the shrines, which would protect their persons and their homes; others were at risk every time they went out. Benner's guards just stood by and watched, making no attempt to help the victims. If anyone sought justice against their attackers, Benner's judges refused to convict Those of the Serpent, whatever their crimes.

A few months after Davred's conversation with Soo, Herra summoned her Sisters to a special Gathering in the Hall of the God. After the ceremony, which seemed to carry with it undertones of sorrow, she stood on the steps below the statue of the God.

'Dear Sisters, we must now begin preparations to enter stasis,' she said quietly. 'All the other temples lie in its protection, and we cannot expose Temple Tenebrak to any more danger.'

A wave of shock ran around the hal , and with it, murmurs and exclamations. Women clutched one another or sobbed openly.

Herra waited quietly for the murmuring to die down before continuing. 'As most of you know, the God has brought down a stasis cube to protect us, but although the device locks our enemies outside, it also locks inside those it shelters until it can be switched off. I therefore intend to give you free choice whether you stay here, or leave. But if you go out into the community, you must leave your Sisters' robes behind.'

She bowed her head for a moment, then looked up with tears in her eyes. 'Let it be written in the Archives, my Sisters! This time shall be known as the Great Diaspora. Never, in all the long years of our recorded history, have our enemies so beset us. Never has Evil gained such a hold on our world. But we shal prevail, as we always have. You must never doubt that.

In every time of trouble our Brother, the God of our Quest, has sent us help, and he has not failed us this time.

Discord shall be brought to an end with the help of Lord Davred, beloved Manifestation of the God. This I know, for the God has spoken within me. But it wil be a long and hard struggle and many of us won’t live to see its end.'

She looked at the sparse ranks of sobbing novices with the greatest sorrow, for in them lay the Sisterhood's hopes for the future. Few girls had been offered for Choosing in recent years, and those mainly at secret ceremonies. As a result, over three-quarters of the novices' rows were empty. The Sisters in the front rows bowed their heads or tried to dissipate their grief and anger by running through a Discipline, but their sorrow was still a tangible thing.

The following weeks were fil ed with unrest. The Sisters stayed mainly inside the temple, going out only in disguise, some of them never to return as they dispersed to places of refuge. One group of Sisters and some of the more devoted families from the city went out to found a new settlement south of Tenebron. They would brave the wildwoods in a region which no one had ever managed to tame.

'Why has no one been able to settle that part of our land, Elder Sister?' asked one of the men.

'No one knows. It's one of the great mysteries. People setting off in that direction find themselves walking round in circles and returning to their starting point.'

'If that happens, then we'll make our way westwards,' said the Sister to whom he was married. 'We'll not return to the rule of the Serpent.'

'May our Brother go with you,' murmured Herra. 'And may your path be straight.'

'Straight or crooked, it can’t be worse than staying here,' one of the other Sisters said. 'Better to perish free than to give up all we believe in.'

As the biennial Festival of the Great Serpent approached, crowds began to gather in the city, and it was hoped that those who were to remain in the temple could enter stasis before the festival orgies began. This was not to be. Al through the previous week, refugees from the city had come stumbling into the temple by side gates or had been smuggled in through hidden entrances, guided by Sisters who still lived outside. These people had to be taken to safety QUEST Shannah Jay 109

and that further delayed the plans to enter stasis.

On the day of the festival itself, before the sky was fully light, crowds gathered in the streets around the temple, and it became clear that mischief of some sort was planned.

At first the rioters amused themselves by smashing the windows of the houses of known supporters of the Sisterhood. Slogans were daubed on wal s decrying 'perverted old hags' and 'sick whores who prey upon decent young women'. Crude pictures accompanied them showing what would happen to any Sister caught that day. The pictures were spattered with the real blood of the day's first victims.

Anyone found on the streets was either drawn into the mob to join the depredations, or severely beaten or even torn to pieces, according to the whim of the leaders who claimed to 'know Sister-loving-ghouls' by their auras. There was no middle ground, no staying aloof. People were either of the Serpent or of the enemy.

The mob leaders were, of course, Initiates of the Inner shrine. Benner had orchestrated the violence as carefully as any campaign in an outright war. Incense burned thickly at every street corner and loyal followers of the Serpent carried sticks of it. Black robes and serpent staffs were everywhere. Servants of the shrine had been brought into the city from all over the claim to help stir up the turmoil.

All day long the womenfolk of families accused of having even the remotest connection with the Sisterhood were dragged from their homes and hiding places and driven to the shrines in carts for the Great Sacrifice. Jeering onlookers pelted them with refuse, stones and even broken shards of glass, howling with glee when they drew blood. At the shrines, the victims were dragged inside and men queued up to make sacrifice to the Serpent. To spice the entertainment, the women were also publicly lashed or tortured.

The first death in a shrine occurred around mid-morning. An older woman of known frailty cheated her captors by dying under the whip. This incident seemed only to inflame the worshippers and spur them on to further savageries.

Within Temple Tenebrak order still prevailed, and there was a quiet bustle of last-minute preparations. Katia and Davred helped to tend the last of the refugees, under the direction of Lara. It wasn’t possible to heal everyone - no Sister would have had the inner forces necessary to heal so many at once - therefore the wounded could only have their outer hurts tended and be offered refreshments or clean clothing before being helped on their way. Most were numb with shock or sunk in grief.

It was a problem now to know where to send them. In desperation, Herra had them guided to the old crèche, where there was enough equipment hidden to help them found another settlement deep in the wildwoods far to the west.

Lara's assistant, Diazann, went with them, which further weakened the ranks of those able to care for refugees.

The last group of Sisters who had chosen to live outside left through the subterranean passages at mid-morning.

They were led blindfold through the passages by two older Sisters who were to return to the temple, and the blindfolds were not removed until they were a long way from the tunnel entrances, so that they would not be able to reveal where the secret passageways were located. The wards set by the builders of these tunnels were still as strong as ever and, even if the passageways were found, intruders would soon run into a wal of stasis before they got anywhere near the temple itself.

Herra, who was in charge of these operations, was showing signs of severe exhaustion by now, but refused to rest.

Everyone was worried about her. She had given too much of herself in the last year, disregarding her age and forcing others to do the same. Indeed, without her to drive them, morale could not have been kept up or the necessary preparations made so smoothly.

Until almost the last moment, Katia continued to direct the few novices who had chosen to remain inside. The girls became more and more subdued as the sense of being under siege increased. Katia and Davred worked with their usual quiet competence, directing the girls to gather the equipment necessary for their own escape. As Key Figures, they couldn’t take shelter in stasis. Not even Herra was quite sure what Katia and Davred's future role in the Quest was going to be, but it was presumed that, through them, an end to Discord would somehow be brought about. Or so the prophecy said.

Siri-Soo had been sent out to a foster-mother in a new settlement several weeks previously, and although the parting had grieved Katia, she knew it was the best hope her daughter had of surviving. Many Sisters were unable to raise their QUEST Shannah Jay 110

own children and it was a great sadness to them. Fortunately, Katia and Davred had been kept extremely busy since Siri-Soo left, which helped ease the pangs of separation a little.

Al through that dreadful day the stasis cube stood ready in the Chamber of the God, a matt black cube so small it hardly seemed possible for such a device to save the whole temple and still everyone within a wide radius. Davred would activate it as they left. The Sisters on duty eyed it with awe and refrained from touching it.

By early afternoon enough momentum had been generated in the city outside for the mob to be turned on Temple Tenebrak itself. Katia, taking a much-needed rest, joined Davred in one of the lookouts hidden in the carvings of the outer walls. She shivered at the sight of the hate-filled faces below them.

'Why?'

Davred put his arm around her. 'Benner's been working towards this for a long time. He sees the Sisterhood as a threat to his power. It's very easy to generate hatred among the ignorant.'

'That's not quite what I meant. Why would anyone want to behave like this?'

'Who knows why anyone would wish to follow such a path?'

She stared down. 'I wonder where the women are, Davred. Are they waiting eagerly at home for the violence to destroy us, or shivering behind locked doors. And what about the women of the poorfolk? They're probably cowering in cellars.'

'Those of the Serpent keep their own women safely locked away. Such seclusion has been known occasionally on other planets colonised in the early days. There was even one planet where the men were kept locked away, because for some reason fewer boy children survived. It's never lasted, though. Once people have access to education and learn to control their own lives, they usually begin to live more freely.'

'We would call it learning to achieve a better balance,' said Katia quietly.

'As for the women of the poorfolk, I pray they’ve found safe refuge somewhere.'

They watched the faces surge to and fro, then Katia said softly, 'I hope our Sisters out there have also found safe hiding places. May our Brother look down upon them.'

'May he protect us all,' echoed Davred. 'And if I am indeed his Manifestation, may he guide me along the next steps of my path, so that I may help our people to find peace.'

' If! Surely you don't still doubt that, my Davred?'

'I doubt only my own adequacy. How can I not? I'm still so ignorant of your ways, still a novice in so many of the Disciplines.'

'I have no doubts about your destiny, my Davred. I can sense the God within you.' She caressed his face briefly, and he kissed her hand as it touched his lips. But the noise from below beat upwards and prevented any further demonstration of affection. Katia shivered and gazed anxiously down at the screaming twisted faces. 'Will the gates hold?'

'For long enough, I think. I'd love to analyse that metal. It looks like bronze, but it's not. It's something far stronger.

When I activate the stasis cube, some of those howling maniacs will be trapped in its field. That should provide a salutary lesson for the rest.'

'Will they still be visible, then?'

'Oh, yes, completely visible. You can't see the stasis at al , but you can feel it if you try to enter a stasis zone.

Remember how the birds bounced off the stasis protection around my lifeship? The sight of those trapped will terrify the ones left outside. They deserve to be terrified, too.'

'Don't be glad of that, my Davred. They also have their lives to live. We have no right to take their freedom away from them.'

'Yet they try to take ours!'

QUEST Shannah Jay 111

'They know no better. They've strayed from the Path of Wisdom.'

They turned by unspoken agreement and made their way back down to the main courtyard, pausing briefly to look at the main gates from ground level. The gates were twice Davred's height, made of the hard wood of the jarulan tree, and they were clad on the outside with burnished bronze-like metal. The secret of this metal had been given to the Sisterhood by L-Sher-Nsh, the Fourth Manifestation of the God, during another Age of Discord. But the metal hadn’t been put to the test until today, because Temple Tenebrak itself had never been attacked.

The metal was proving its worth now, however. Although stones had been flung at the gates all day long, the shining surface was unmarked. It was the walls around the entrance which had suffered, as stones ricocheted off them. Every bit of damage to the priceless carvings had been cheered loudly and was fol owed by further volleys of stones and other projectiles.

As the afternoon passed, fresh contingents of wild-eyed men from the surrounding villages, joined the besiegers, egging them on to more mischief. The mob surged backwards and forwards, dashing itself in futile fury against the massive grey walls, and shrieking threats and defiance at the Sisters inside. The howling rose in volume and pitch, a constant chorus of dementia. The ululations grated on the nerves of those still left in the temple. From time to time a Sister would pause to run through a minor Discipline of Relaxation before returning stoical y to her duties. Even Herra was obliged to stop at regular intervals to discharge her tension.

The howling was punctuated by the screams of an occasional victim, some of whom were dragged up to the temple and tortured at its gates. At one stage Lara abruptly left the child she was tending, to run up to the top of one of the lookout towers. She stood in the shadows as the mob below her started tearing a woman to pieces, rather than just beating her and dragging her off to a shrine. With tears coursing down her cheeks, Lara made a complicated series of gestures. The screams cut off abruptly, and as the victim's torn body relaxed into the welcome arms of death, Lara staggered backwards, shaking.

'Are you all right?' asked Davred, who had followed her quietly. He put his arm round her shoulders.

She took a few deep breaths and gave him a wan smile. 'I shall be. That poor woman's mind was beyond repair and the one directing her torture was vile beyond belief. I couldn’t let such terrible anguish continue. But it's very hard to kill someone, even as an act of mercy.'

Davred helped her down the steps and handed her over to one of the other Sisters with instructions that she rest for a while.

Cheral came to stand beside him. 'Lara can't take much more of this. None of us can.'

Davred looked through her as if she did not exist, and when he spoke, it was to himself. ' One day, the God will help me put an end to this mass insanity, and if I must give my life to help do that, then I shall, and gladly. ' His eyes were as dark as ice within a cave and his face was set in grim lines that added decades to his age.

Cheral watched him carefully, but he spoke no more, and gradually his face relaxed into its normal gentle expression.

'I think, Lord Davred,' she said after a while, 'that you have just spoken a prophecy.'

'I've made a solemn promise, Cheral, and I shall keep it. The world on which I grew up and learned so much useless knowledge didn’t teach me about Evil like that which surrounds us, nor did it give me a true purpose in life. But now that I've found my path, I shall follow it to the end.'

Afterwards Cheral slipped down to the Archive Cellars to scribble his words in the daybook.

A little later Herra mounted the steps below the statue and clapped her hands to gain their attention. The noise echoed forlornly in the near-empty hall. 'It will soon be time,' she announced, 'so I shall speak my farewells. I think I shall not see most of you again.' One of the novices sobbed aloud, and this day no one chided her for her lack of self-control.

The gong was beaten and all who dared leave their posts did so. In a very quiet voice, but one which carried clearly, Herra bade them say farewell to each other. Then she turned to Davred. 'Bring out the device, Lord Davred. We shall set it at the feet of the God, so that he may guard our sleep.'

QUEST Shannah Jay 112

' Our sleep?'

'I've decided to stay here.'

He drew her to one side. 'Herra, you can't stay! We need your help outside, in the Quest!'

'My powers are failing again, Lord Davred - failing daily. I daren’t try for another Renewal so soon after the last.

And I can sense no guidance from the God as to what I should do. Always, before, I have known my path, or at least known how to wait in confidence for our Brother's guidance.'

It was the first time he’d seen her so near to despair. 'Elder Sister . . . ' he began.

She shook her head stubbornly. 'I shall be but a hindrance to you all. I’ll help most by staying here.'

Davred stood motionless, letting the God speak within him, as she had taught him, then he shook his head. 'No! In that you're wrong, Herra. I'm sure of it.'

'The future lies with you and Katia, Lord. I shal keep to my decision and stay here.'

'I won't let you.'

She was stung out of her misery. 'You dare not try to stop me! And you cannot.'

'I can certainly try. You know that I have a Gift for some of the Compulsions, Herra.'

'You haven't the power to compel me!' She glared at him. 'And I forbid you even to try! I am still Elder Sister of this temple.'

Katia stepped forward to join them. 'Davred will not be alone in the attempt.'

Herra's eyes began to sparkle with anger. 'You too?'

'I too. Herra, my respect - yes, and my love - for you is in no way diminished, but I walk the same path as Davred in this. We need you with us.'

'You have no Gift for Compulsion, Katia. You can't even still a child. I say again, that unless you are sure of the God's will, I shall not come with you.'

Before it could be put to a test, there was a scream from the direction of the Chamber of the God. 'Help! Elder Sister! Cheral! Someone's killed Neralin!'

Davred was the first to reach the chamber and he stopped in shock at the sight of the body on the floor. Neralin was one of the youngest and most beautiful of the Sisters. Now her face was purple, her open eyes staring in horror, her head twisted at an unnatural angle. He could see at a glance that she was beyond help. A quick look round the chamber revealed that the stasis cube was missing.

Herra pushed past him to kneel by Neralin and close her eyes with gentle fingertips. She began to murmur the words of the Passage Between Lives, but Davred interrupted. 'Leave that for someone else, Herra. The stasis cube has gone!'

He felt a surge of power, and in a voice which held as much authority as that of the Elder Sister, he began to give orders. ' We must retrieve the cube, at whatever cost. Katia, you'l have to stay here and help defend the temple. You must keep the mob from getting inside, even if it means hurting people.'

He stared at her sternly for a minute and she nodded reluctantly. 'I'll do whatever is necessary.'

He turned back to Herra. 'I'll need you to go outside with me to retrieve the cube, Elder Sister. Do you think you can manage that?'

Herra looked at him strangely. 'The God is speaking through you, Lord Davred, and I hear his words. Of course I can manage. One does what one must. Saving the temple is of more importance than anything else.'

'Can you disguise yourself as an old woman from the Shambles?'

'It would be safer to dress as an old man.'

QUEST Shannah Jay 113

'Yes, of course. Now, where will the thief have taken the cube, do you think?'

Herra spoke without hesitation. 'To Lord Benner. Where else?'

'At the castle?'

'Yes. There or to the main shrine, which lies next to the castle.'

'Can we get inside the castle?'

'We can try. There used to be a way.'

Davred's eyes held Katia's for a moment, then he followed Herra down to the hidden exits in the cellars. He had no need to say anything. His wife knew what he was feeling and how much he loved her.

Katia stood and watched him go, then squared her shoulders, like a person carrying a heavy burden. Mounting the steps of the Statue of the God, she began to organise the defenders, giving orders in a calm clear voice.

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Chapter 18: THE TRAP

The city buildings were badly scarred by the rioting, and the streets were littered with corpses and debris of all kinds.

Scavengers peered out from doorways, but made no attempt to stop two men so poorly dressed. The inhabitants of the Shambles didn’t attack their own. They’d crept out of their quarter to forage, and were looting the shops and houses of the richer quarters with a desperate frenzy. It wasn’t often they had ful bel ies and soft clothes against their skin.

'Lean on my arm and try to look as if you're injured,' commanded Davred, trying not to show the horror he felt at the sight of the ravaged city.

For a while neither of them spoke, then suddenly Herra pinched his arm. 'Yes, boy, I think I can make it,' she whined, her voice that of a weary old man. 'Take me back home and the Serpent will smile upon you.'

A man stepped from a doorway and barred their passage. He wore the black robes of a Servant of the Serpent and he carried a rod of office, with which he continued to bar their path as he scrutinised them.

What he saw appeared to satisfy him. 'It's good to see that some stil know their duty,' he intoned. 'See him right home, lad, then go back to a shrine for the Serpent's blessing. Those who serve the Serpent must look to each other in the struggle against those hags.'

'I'l do as you say, Honoured Servant,' said Davred, trying to make his voice sound young and afraid. 'But there are some who care only for loot and murder. I fear I shan't get my grandfather home in safety.'

The man held out a token. 'Here. Show this to anyone who accosts you.'

'We thank you, Honoured Sir,' quavered Herra.

'Serpent save you!' He made the writhing gesture of blessing with the thick incense stick he was carrying and for a moment it was as if darkness spread over them.

'Save you, Honoured Servant,' quavered Herra. One gesture of her hand and the darkness faded.

They limped on. 'What was that?' Davred shuddered. 'It felt unclean.'

'That was their incense. It's a powerful drug, but one I don't recognise.' She took a deep breath. 'The whole city seems to reek of it today. Can you control your body's reactions to it?'

'Yes.'

A little later Davred commented, 'So much for their ability to sniff out Sister-lovers!'

QUEST Shannah Jay 114

'Stay in character,' hissed Herra. 'There are ears everywhere.'

They made slow progress through the city. All along the Lord's Avenue they were jostled by bands of looters, but either their ragged appearance or the token they carried saved them from attack. Once, when a group of drunken young men surrounded them, ready to torment anyone they could catch, token or no token, the matter hung in the balance for a moment or two. Then one of the men suddenly collapsed, groaning that the wine must have been poisoned, and by the time his friends had tended to him, Herra and Davred were safely out of sight down a side street.

'I must learn that trick,' said Davred, noticing the beads of sweat on Herra's brow. 'I can't leave it all to you.'

They made their way down to the lower end of the smaller ridge where the castle stood, and walked round it to a side gate, where the guards eagerly demanded news of the siege. Davred invented a tale of some minor assault on one wing of Temple Tenebrak, which seemed to satisfy them, and Herra pleaded for a drink of water.

'No one allowed in! No one to leave their post!' declared the sergeant. 'Get on your way, old man. What do you think this is? A travellers' rest house?' There was another outburst of ribald comments and laughter.

'Secret entrance further along,' mouthed Herra, hanging heavily on Davred's arm. 'Go slowly. I need to look for the signs. I've never had to use this one before. I'll pretend to fall when we're near it, and you can drag me inside.'

When they found the place, Herra used her powers to shield them from the eyes of those at the guardhouse, but at the last minute a man approached from the other direction. He stopped dead at the sight of Davred and the opening yawning in the wall. 'Here! What do you think you're . . .?'

Herra had just stepped inside and could offer Davred no assistance. Before the man could shout for help, or draw the dagger whose hilt lay ready beneath his hand, Davred twisted him around, slammed his head against the wal and hit him in the neck. Unlike Katia, who hated even to pretend to fight, Davred had taken full advantage of the temple lessons in self-defence, though he was stil not as good as Herra and some of the older Sisters. As the man sank towards the ground, Davred caught him and dragged him inside.

'Don't kill him!' cried Herra.

Davred bent over the man's body to check his pulse, then jerked backwards. 'I - I think I already have.' He stared at the corpse in horror. Easy enough to defend yourself in a class, more difficult to make fine judgments of how hard to hit an opponent when you suddenly had to fight for your life.

'I didn't have time to think, just hit out. He'd seen us, seen the opening. I must have hit him too hard.'

'To take someone's life!' She brushed a shaking hand across her brow, and he realised that her physical weakness was affecting her powers of reasoning.

'Herra, it won't be the last time we have to kill. Even you haven't the strength to still all our enemies. We can't let evil prevail, so you must accept the fact that we have to defend ourselves.'

For long seconds they glared at each other, then Herra turned away with a muffled sob. 'Violence has never been our path.'

'You surely don't think I killed him on purpose?'

She stared at him, as if trying to read his soul. 'Then it did - hurt you - to kil him?'

He put his arms around her shaking shoulders. 'How could it not?' he asked gently. 'You trained me yourself in the ways of the Sisterhood, and I didn't grow up with violence in the Confederation. I was a scholar there.' His face became grim. 'But I think now that I must learn to fight more skilfully than your Sisters can teach me, and learn to attack as well as to defend myself.'

'Attack!'

' This Evil will not be driven from our world by gentle pleas. ' His voice echoed in the narrow passageway.

'Our Brother speaks through you, but such ideas are hard for me to accept,' she murmured.

After Herra had said a few words over the body, they began to feel their way along the narrow, dark passage with its QUEST Shannah Jay 115

many twists and turns. In some places the wal s were damp; in others, rustlings and chitterings spoke of small animals living in the crevices. Herra led the way, having memorised their route from the maps in the Archives.

Sometimes they seemed to come to a dead end and she would fumble along the wall until a doorway opened in it.

Whenever this happened, another wall of rock would appear to close the passage behind them.

This was not primitive technology, thought Davred, examining one new 'wall' and finding no sign that it was not solid rock, permanently joined to the other walls. However did the Sisterhood manage such feats of engineering? Or magic.

Occasionally a little light would filter in at an intersection, and they would see seeping streaks of moisture and animal droppings among the debris of centuries. Mostly, though, Davred followed the Elder Sister blindly through the darkness, stumbling on the uneven ground and scraping his hands on the rough wal s.

When Herra stopped and laid her fingertips lightly across his mouth, Davred stood still. 'We are near, I think,' she breathed in his ear. She moved forward again, and he followed as quietly as he could, heart thudding.

Around the next corner, a pinpoint of light showed in the wall of the tunnel. Herra stopped and stood on tiptoe to peer through the hole, then gestured to Davred. For him, it was below eye level.

What he saw made him draw in a sharp breath. In the room beyond the spy-hole stood three men. One was an Initiate of the Inner Shrine in full black and silver regalia, his hands pressed together at his chest, his staff leaning against the wal behind him. The other two men were castle guards, and although they stood motionless, their eyes betrayed their fear, darting nervously from the object on the table to the door and back again. Clearly, they were expecting trouble; clearly, a trap had been set. In front of them lay the bait, the stasis cube. Tools around it spoke of fruitless attempts to open it, but the matt surface was unblemished, though the table it lay upon was gouged and scarred.

On the floor in one corner lay the blood-spattered body of a man, terror still written across his dead features.

Herra moved closer to Davred to murmur, 'That's one of the messengers from the temple.'

'Probably our thief.'

'May our Brother guide his steps nearer to the Path of Wisdom in the next life!'

Davred frowned. 'It's a trap, isn't it?'

'I fear so. And we have no choice but to enter it.'

Herra took a deep breath and Davred recognised the cadences of gathering one's inner forces together. 'Shall I still them?' she whispered after a moment.

'Can you manage three at once?'

'I can. But you must get the cube, for I shall have to concentrate on holding them.'

'Wait. Can you tel whether there's anyone else around? How do they intend to spring the trap?'

'That I cannot tell, Davred. The castle is so full of people that I can't pick out clearly where they all are.' She bent her attention to the three men in the room. Beads of sweat stood out on her brow by the time she’d finished, but the men were all standing rigidly, and no alarm seemed to have sounded.

Davred, turning to nod his approval, saw that Herra was swaying slightly on her feet. 'Are you all right, Herra?'

'I'll manage. The important thing is to get the cube. Look - this is how to open the panel - and when we do that, other doors close behind us, so the passage seems to lead nowhere but to the cellars.' Her eyes never left the men, and she spoke jerkily.

'However did your Sisterhood manage to build all these secret ways?'

'Time, Davred. Time and patience. One stone at a time.'

As the wall swung noiselessly aside, she led the way into the room. While she paused to reinforce the Compulsion QUEST Shannah Jay 116

on the motionless figures, Davred moved towards the cube.

' Stay where you are! If you move, my men will kill you. ' The voice echoed from somewhere above them. Panels in the wall crashed open to show two bowmen, arrows nocked to their bows, flanked by two guards with drawn swords.

Herra tried to focus on the direction of the sound, but the voice seemed first to be coming from one side of the room, then from another.

Laughter mocked her efforts. 'Do you think I'd risk going near a room with one of you she-devils in it? I know too much about your vicious arts. And even if you did manage to still me, Elder Sister, I have a dozen bowmen carefully positioned around the room who could put an arrow through your throat in seconds. It's a very special room, this one.

We've known about your passageway for centuries, though not how it connects to the outside. I shall let you show me that yourself. Later. Once we've persuaded you to be more amenable to reason. For the moment, just stay where you are. Stand very, very still.'

'Who are you?' asked Davred.

'Tut! Tut! It's a disloyal fellow who doesn't recognise his own Lord Claimant.'

'Oh!' Davred allowed fear to show in his voice and stance, and was rewarded by a further chuckle, always from a different direction.

'Oh, indeed! We have you nicely trapped, have we not, Brother Davred? I really can't address you as Lord Davred, you know. And as for you, old woman, if you're thinking of killing yourself, go right ahead. I'd be delighted to be rid of you. But he can't kill himself, can he? As the Manifestation of your so-called God, his life is too precious. Anyway, I'd guess that killing oneself requires quite advanced training.'

Herra said nothing. Her body was motionless, but her mind was busy analysing the situation. The more Benner could be encouraged to talk and delay further action, the better.

'Your young friend must have learned a lot, though, in the year you've had him bottled up in your stinking lair. We're going to have a great deal of fun learning your secrets from him- one way or another. But we might be just a little kinder to him - refrain from blinding him, for instance, or leave his manhood intact - if you were to stay alive and help us, Elder Sister. After all, you wouldn't want your precious Manifestation of the God displayed on our altars in pieces, now would you?'

'So be it. For the moment.' Herra's voice and face were expressionless. Benner seemed unaware that she could have killed both Davred and herself almost instantaneously, but Davred was only too conscious of it, and was surprised at how much he wanted to go on living.

'Stand very stil , then. My men are somewhat nervous. And just to make sure that you do as you're told, I have a few more persuaders at the ready.' The doors of the room opened to show another group of bowmen, arrows already nocked and aimed at them.

'And there are even more men behind them,' warned Benner. 'I've learnt a lot from you bitches. Not least to look for secret passages in my castle walls. Your day is passing, Elder Sister, passing very rapidly. Temple Tenebrak will be in my hands before nightfall. Sen-Sether forced one of your precious Sisters to make sacrifice to our God. I'll have every last one of you splayed on the altar of our shrines - dead or alive!'

Herra betrayed no emotion, but Davred's shudder wasn’t feigned. After casting a frightened look at Herra, he allowed his shoulders to droop and panic to show in his face. This set Benner chuckling again.

'Fine brave fellow, this Godlet of yours!' he mocked. 'See how he trembles! However, I'm sure I shall find some use for him. Later on, he can show me the purpose of that box. The messenger knew nothing at all about it, only that it was precious in some way.'

Davred looked at the cube. If the worst came to the worst, he would activate the stasis and deprive Those of the Serpent of their leader in Tenebrak. But only as a final resort, because he would be trapped by the field of stasis, too. In the meantime, he could tell by the rhythms of her breathing that Herra was gathering her inner forces.

'Where are the children?' snapped Benner suddenly.

QUEST Shannah Jay 117

'Which children?' Herra's voice was cool and polite.

'Don't play dumb with me, you old whore! You know which children I mean. The ones you stole from their fathers five years ago. Sen-Sether would pay well for that knowledge. Or even do my bidding if I had a hostage.'

'I know nothing about any children.'

'Right arm.'

An arrow thumped into Davred's arm with a suddenness that took both him and Herra by surprise. He gave an involuntary cry of pain as the blood began to trickle down his arm and his nerves screamed out at the wound, then he blocked the pain and focused his attention on what was happening, although he pretended to rock about in agony.

'Nice shot! Reward that man, captain, when this is over. Well, witch, shall I try his other arm next, or are you persuaded that I mean what I say?'

'No more!' begged Herra, her voice cracking in precisely the way a distressed old woman's would - but which hers never did. 'I can find out where the children are, but I don't know now. It was thought safer that no one in the temple know.'

There was a moment's silence. Davred first swayed, then staggered forward, as if dizzy. Before anyone could stop him, he'd snatched up the cube. 'If anyone shoots me, my fingers will set this off!' he yelled.

'Wait!' Benner commanded. 'Don't shoot yet, anyway. They can't escape, after all. Let our young friend tell us what it does.'

Davred tried to keep his voice as calm as Herra's had been. 'This is a stasis cube. Ask Sen-Sether why he can't enter Temple Setherak, Benner. He has told you that it's closed off behind invisible walls, surely?'

'I've heard something of the sort. But you don't expect me to believe it's done with such a little thing as that box, surely? Do you take me for a fool? And if either of you try to leave that room, I'll not hesitate to risk whatever your box can do. My God will protect me.'

Ignoring the pain in his right arm, Davred let his fingers slide slowly over the surface of the box, setting it for one of its minor functions. 'As will mine,' he said quietly.

'If you are the best Manifestation your God can send, he's a poor sort of deity. My God is young yet. His strength will grow. And his powers. Especial y when we unlock those bitches' secrets. You'd do better to join us, lad.'

'I - couldn't.' Davred let the slightest amount of hesitation creep into his voice. His fingers moved again.

The voice became warm and soothing. 'Why don't you give me a chance to show you our ways? It pains me to see a fine young fellow like yourself doing the bidding of these women. With us, it's the other way round. The women do as we command. Think of the pleasures to be had in our shrines.'

'They - the Sisters have been good to me.' Davred coded in some more instructions. Almost. Just another few digits to go. Keep him talking.

'Surely you don't call that being good to you? What fun is there for a young man like you in praying and studying?

Why don't you at least give our ways a try?'

'He's fiddling with that thing, Lord Benner!' called one of the bowmen suddenly.

'Shoot his other arm!'

But Davred had pressed the final sequence, setting the cube in a stunner mode. Before the arrow could be launched, he was aiming the box in a circle around him. One man got as far as drawing his bowstring back before the narrow beam of stasis-stun could reach his side of the room, but Herra stilled him. Then the stasis swept over the man and he froze where he stood.

A roar of rage came from above. 'Call the reinforcements!'

Davred stepped backwards and whispered, 'Can you lead us safely out of here, Herra? This will only hold them for a few minutes.'

QUEST Shannah Jay 118

She nodded and led the way back into the tunnel, but this time she ran in a different direction. 'They'll expect us to leave by what they think is the tunnel entrance,' she panted. 'So instead, we'll go up through the cellars and leave openly, by the gate. Stop for a moment.' She laid her hand on his arm and broke off the arrow, leaving the head embedded.

The pain lessened at her touch and Davred sighed with relief.

'It's the best I can do until we get back. Can you manage like that, Lord Davred? ''Yes.' He avoided looking at the wound. He’d never been injured before, and the sight of his own mangled flesh and the dark trickle of blood sickened him. He concentrated instead on following Herra as quickly and quietly as he could.

From the cellars they made their way rapidly up into the kitchens. In their ragged clothing, they looked little different from the other scullions. Twice someone shouted orders at them, but Herra pretended an urgent message for the gatekeeper. At the gate itself, she showed the sergeant illusory orders to bear a message into town to one of the smaller neighbourhood shrines, then stood waiting humbly for permission to leave the castle. The sergeant nodded at her and Davred. 'Off with this message quickly, then!'

Davred saluted smartly. 'Yes, sir!'

'And don't you be lingering to make sacrifice, lad! Unless they're desperate for a bit of help!' He nudged Davred in the wounded arm without seeming to notice the blood and the arrowhead, and then chuckled nastily. 'Just wait till I get off duty! I'll play my part right willingly. Haven't had a woman for days. Been saving my strength. Best Festival of the year, this is.'

Davred fought to stay upright as the waves of pain from the nudge washed over him, but the man was too immersed in his own sick fantasies to notice that anything was wrong with the messenger. There was incense burning, even here in the gatehouse.

Once out of sight of the guardhouse, Herra sagged against the wal , her face shrunken with fatigue. 'I'll only slow you down, Davred. Leave me here and get back to the temple!'

Davred shook his head. 'I can't move quickly either, Herra. Besides, you're still needed. We'll help each other. What's the best route back?'

She tried to turn a Compulsion on him.

'Don't waste your time on that, Herra. You yourself taught me how to elude a Compulsion. And I won't go without you, so save what little energy you have left for our walk across the city.'

She looked fiercely at his face, saw how determined he was, and sighed in exasperation. 'Very wel , but if we're stopped, promise you'll leave me and escape.'

'If I must, I’ll do that. I know that our Quest is more important than either of us. But I see no need at this time.

Now, lean on me. Same story. You were wounded in the siege. Which way do we go?'

Staggering, breath rasping in her throat, Herra clung to his arm and gasped out instructions. There was no need for her to feign weakness. Anyone could see how exhausted she was.

It was late afternoon now, and there was a promise of rain in the smoky air. They kept to the shadows as much as possible and let drunken groups pass them.

At one point, in the full light of a burning house, they came face to face with one of the former temple servants.

Davred braced himself to deal with the man.

The servant stepped back. 'God save you, Sister! I see you not. The Tanners' Alley is nearly deserted.' Then he ran off in the other direction.

'May our Brother protect him,' whispered Herra, and changed direction.

In the Tanners' Alley she directed Davred to turn into a house, a sacked half-ruin like all the rest. There she stopped, checked that no one was inside, and led Davred through a hidden doorway at the back of a cupboard into a very narrow, low-roofed tunnel. Twice she stopped to remove and reset wards. Twice they stood still for no reason that Davred could see. Finally she led him through another doorway into the Archive Cellars, and when he turned around to QUEST Shannah Jay 119

look for the entrance to the tunnel, he saw only a wal of books, which felt solid to his touch.

'I am becoming - too old - for adventures.' Herra collapsed at his feet.

He couldn't lift her with his injured arm, so he ran to find Lara. Within minutes Herra was being tended, but Davred refused to let the exhausted Healer do more than wash his arm. 'We must leave as soon as possible,' he told Lara,

'before Benner can get a new assault launched against the temple. Herra must come with us, even if she has to be carried. My arm can wait. I have to find Katia. Tell Fiana to get our things.'

He found Katia in the temple compound, directing the defenders to douse a blazing storehouse.

'You're hurt!' She turned pale. 'I thought I felt something a while back, but with so much pain around, I wasn't sure if it was really you.'

'The arm's nothing. The main thing is, we managed to get the cube back.'

'But your . . . '

'There's no time now, my Katia. We must leave at once, and activate the stasis before they get in.'

She turned to a smoke-blackened man, hardly recognisable as the gatekeeper. 'Will you take my place now, Shel?

May our Brother watch over you!'

'And over you, Sister.'

From outside came shouts and a constant noise of people milling around. Occasional missiles flew over the walls and crashed to the ground. The savagery of the attackers' feelings was clear, even when the words were not. From time to time a voice was loud enough for the defenders to make out the threats that were being offered against those who supported the Sisterhood, as well as the vile suggestions about what would happen to the Sisters themselves.

'They are unclean,' said Shel sombrely. 'It's as if a madness infects Those of the Serpent. I shal be glad to wait here in safety until gentler times.' He looked at Davred. 'How long before the cube stills us, Lord?'

'A few minutes only.'

'The God be thanked! They're using battering rams on the gates, and we can't keep them out for much longer. Will it - will the stasis hurt, Lord? I worry not for myself, but I have three young daughters with me here.'

'You'll feel nothing. I've been in stasis myself - it's sometimes used by my people for travelling long distances. One feels nothing at all. It merely seems as though time passes instantly.'

As they re-entered the great hall, Fiana came over to join them. 'We're ready. I've taken our things down to the cellars.'

'Thank you.'

Davred turned to Cheral. 'The God be with you all! Good luck, Cheral!'

'Don't think you're leaving me behind!' she snapped. 'Look what happens to the Elder Sister when she's left in your care! Besides, you'll need another person to help carry Herra.'

'But . . . ' Davred looked helplessly at Katia. A spark of amusement flared briefly in her eyes and she shrugged. No one could stop Cheral when she was in that sort of a mood.

'Well, what are you waiting for, Lord?' demanded Cheral. 'Get that nasty box thing set up and join us in the food cellars. Can you manage with only one arm? Or do you need someone to help you?'

'I can manage, thank you, Cheral.' He placed the cube at the foot of the statue and began to program it.

'Katia and Fiana, come with me!' Cheral's voice had a peculiarly carrying quality and every syllable floated back up the stairs to Davred. 'Hurry up, Lord! How long do you think they can hold those gates? We haven't got all night to do this, you know!'

#####

QUEST Shannah Jay 120

Chapter 19: ESCAPE FROM TEMPLE TENEBRAK

Katia led the way down the underground passage, holding a lamp above her head to guide the others. In its flickering light, her shadow seemed to weave along the wal beside her like a living thing. But it was a shadow she didn’t recognise. Gone was the soft flowing robe and the tumbling mass of curly hair. Instead, her hair was twisted into a tight knot at the nape of the neck and then covered in a thick net snood. Gone, too, was the graceful gait, because she was hampered by clothing suitable for a wealthy merchant's wife. The full-skirted, tight-waisted gown was of stiff dark brown material and it had a high neckline and long tight sleeves, quite unsuitable for Tenebron's warm climate.

She sighed and hefted the heavy bundle she carried into a less uncomfortable position. It contained Davred's clothes and a few personal items, and it was the reason why she was wearing her own disguise, which was easier to carry on her back. She turned her head to smile encouragingly at her husband, who was plodding grimly along behind her. She could see he was in pain, but they didn’t dare stop to heal him until they’d left the zone where stasis would fal .

Since Herra was incapacitated, Katia decided that once it was safe to stop, she herself would have to try to help Davred. Her healing skills were still very limited, and she might not be able to heal his arm properly, but she was sure she could speed the healing of the flesh and reduce the pain emanating from him. Even if she only managed to get the arrowhead out, that would help.

'Not far now,' Davred called, looking at the small box he carried in his left hand.

Behind him, Cheral grunted something which could have been relief or fatigue. She and Fiana were carrying a litter on which Herra lay. The Elder Sister had been unconscious when they entered the tunnel, but her eyes were open now.

'Let me walk,' she begged, but Cheral shook her head. Herra sighed and let her head loll back. She knew she wouldn’t be able to keep up with the rest of them. She had felt so strange lately, unlike herself. Perhaps her end was drawing near.

Cheral stumbled along behind Davred at the head of the litter, grumbling occasionally under her breath about the unevenness of the passage floor and the bulky garments in which she, as Katia's supposed maidservant, was clad.

Fiana was dressed as a man, the servant of Davred, and she had the most practical clothes of anyone. They were neither heavy with ornamentation nor composed of cumbersome layers. With her stocky body and strong face, she made a convincing man, with a wickedly-curved dagger displayed prominently.

'That's far enough! We're well out of the stasis zone now.' Davred held out the com-unit to show them, but its lighted display made no sense to the four women. The instrument fitted neatly into the palm of the hand, but was, Davred told them, capable of doing several things. It was so different from the tracers that had been sent down to them that he wasn’t sure whether they understood that it was permanently broadcasting pictures of what was happening within a radius of four paces around it. He’d thought it better not to elaborate on that point.

He held out the com-unit towards his wife. The red light that had appeared on it when he activated the stasis cube in the temple had vanished. He entered the correct code to confirm his earlier command. 'The stasis has now been activated,' he told the women. 'Temple Tenebrak is safe.'

'Well, thank goodness for that!' Cheral's sharp voice brought him out of his reverie and back to the pain of the moment. 'I thought we were going to walk for ever! Just set the litter down, Fiana. That's right.' She touched Herra's pulse briefly and shook her head at the Elder Sister's pallor. 'What you need, Herra, is a good long rest. I shan't let you leave the safety of this tunnel, nasty dark place though it is, until you have more colour in your cheeks and can move without dizziness. Two days' recuperation, at least.' She stood up, brisk and authoritative. 'Now, just let me get my bearings. Mmmm. Right. I see. The rest of you stay where you are. I'll go and find us an emergency chamber.'

She took the lamp from Katia and walked slowly along the passage, muttering to herself the identification signs she’d memorised. As she vanished from sight around a corner, darkness settled on the small group.

QUEST Shannah Jay 121

Davred sighed wearily, and Katia's hand touched his shoulder, briefly easing the pain.

After a minute or two an exclamation of triumph floated back to them, and the light began to move towards them again. 'There's an emergency chamber only a couple of hundred paces ahead.' Cheral put the lamp back into Katia's hand and went to pick up her end of the litter. 'Well, what are you all waiting for? There's no need to tell you which way to go, surely?'

When Cheral called to them to stop, Davred could see no difference in the rocky wal s. He sagged against the rough stone and closed his eyes, knowing that the unevenness of his breathing was betraying to Katia how much his arm was hurting. It was taking all his willpower to keep himself upright.

Herra raised her head. 'I'll loosen the wards, Cheral.'

'You've done enough today!'

'Cheral, you have small gift for the setting and removing of wards, and well you know it! These are permanent and set at maximum strength. Do you even know where the doorway is?'

'Well, it's somewhere over there, but . . . '

'Don't argue, Cheral. Just help me to sit up.' It was a brief return of the old Herra. With Cheral supporting her body, she concentrated her attention on the wall. A part of it began to flicker, then dissolved into a shimmer of cold light, before vanishing completely, leaving an opening about two paces wide. 'Quickly now!' Herra commanded. 'It'll start to re-form in one minute. This is a permanent ward.' They hastened to get inside.

Sure enough, almost as soon as they were through, the hole began to shimmer again, and within a minute the wall had re-formed.

Fiana touched it. 'It feels solid enough.'

'The Seventh Manifestation of our God set these wards himself,' said Herra. 'Permanent ones such as these are beyond our skill, as yet. From inside, any of us can activate the opening controls, as I shall show you.' She made a gesture with her hand, and light filled the chamber. 'You may extinguish that lamp now, Katia. Illumination was also provided by the Lord Ebrlk. It will shine here until I cancel it.'

The chamber was large enough to hold several times their number. It had been hacked out of the rock, with bays left around the walls to give an illusion of privacy. The roof was quite low and the surface of the walls rough. Only the floor was smooth, as if the stone had been fused by heat.

'There are emergency food supplies, money and clothes of all types at the back,' said Herra. 'We change them every few years, but these will be from before the Serpent gained control. There should be waste disposal facilities there as wel , and a spring of fresh water. The Lord Ebrlk was very thorough in his provisions.' She lay back with a tired sigh and allowed Cheral to make her more comfortable.

Fiana went to explore the recesses of the cave and came back with a drink of water for Herra and confirmation that the emergency supplies were indeed there and fit for use.

Davred was the next focus of Cheral's attention. Katia had helped him sit down with his back against the wal , but Cheral found some blankets in the stores, and put together a makeshift pallet for him. He lay down on it and closed his eyes, relieved to be able to give in to the pain.

A hand was laid across his forehead and the pain receded. 'Katia,' he murmured, knowing the lightest touch of her fingers.

'Lie still, my Davred, and I'll try to help you to heal the wound.' She began to remove the stiff garments she was wearing, for it wasn’t cold in the chamber and they wouldn’t be going out into the city for a while. It was a relief to put on a simple robe again. She shook her hair out of its tight knot. She would work best if she was comfortable.

Davred opened his eyes and smiled at his wife. 'I like you better out of those stiff dark things.'

Her smile was a caress. 'It's a ridiculous form of dress they're wearing now, isn't it? So hot and impractical. And the snoods are itchy on the neck. Would leaving my hair loose really inflame men's passions, do you think?'

QUEST Shannah Jay 122

'Only if they'd been sniffing that incense. Herra doesn't recognise the drug, but it even affected us a little until we took firmer control of our bodies.'

'Hmm. Well, no more talking now, my love. I must do my best to heal you. It'll be a poor effort, compared to Lara or Herra, but I'm fairly sure I can get the arrowhead out.'

'Good. It hurts like hell. What do you want me to do?'

'Close your eyes and go into the Discipline of Deep Relaxation. Do you remember how it was when Herra healed you in the lifeship?'

He gave the slightest of nods and surrendered himself to the Discipline, knowing that the more he could relax, the easier it would be for Katia to heal him. He closed out all the sounds in the chamber, the breathing and the rustling of clothes. He was soon so immersed in control ing his own body's activities that he didn’t hear Katia's own breathing slow down to match his.

'Lie very stil and work with me.'

Katia's voice, as she went careful y through the first stages of the Discipline of Healing, seemed to come from further and further away, and to permeate Davred's mind and body. As the pain vanished completely, he gave an unconscious sigh of relief.

* * *

As Davred’s breathing slowed down to a rate that set an alarm ringing on the satellite, watchers came rushing from their cabins to the com-room. All members of survey teams had minute internal monitors surgically implanted, linked to the main computer of their base, in this case, the satellite, and set to sound an alarm if something was wrong.

'What's happened? Is Davred in danger?' Robler flung the question at Soo, who was the last to enter the com-room.

She pushed past him to the control panel and switched on the tracer transmission. 'N-no, I don't think so. This has happened before. Oh, I see! It's a healing! Robler, we're about to record another healing! Thank goodness Davred's carrying a tracer. ' Her fingers flew over the control panel as she spoke, coding in instructions to record this on a permanent file, as well as on her secret files.

'A healing?'

'Yes. Be quiet and watch. It's started already. Shards! Look at Davred's arm!'

Robler ignored her. 'Only primitives would attack each other like that. It's disgusting!' He fidgeted as he watched. At first it was too alien for him to believe what he saw. He glared at the image. 'What are they doing to him? If he sustains any serious injury because of those . . . '

'Shhh! They're helping Davred to slow down his body processes for a healing. That's why the monitor alarm sounded.'

Soo made a further adjustment to the controls and the centre of the com-room was filled with a square image, fully three-dimensional, of the area around the holocube tracer. The figures were slightly transparent, and a little smaller than life, but every detail was clear.

Soo increased the sound and Katia's voice filled the room, low and compelling. It had an almost mesmerising effect even on the crew of the satellite. Soo found herself relaxing involuntarily and, stealing a glance sideways, she was amused to see that even Robler had been caught by it and had lost his usual tight frown. She coded in instructions that moved the full scene to one side and provided an enlarged close-up of Davred's arm in the centre of the display area.

'That's a nasty wound,' said Mak, his professional interest aroused. 'Knowing the skill of their Healers, I'm amazed they’ve left it untreated for so long.'

'Escaping must have been their top priority,' said Soo, who was the most habitual watcher now that Davred had gone. 'The Sisters can be single-minded about things, when necessary.'

Robler squinted at the image. 'I wonder where they are? That's not the temple, is it?'

QUEST Shannah Jay 123

'I think they were going to escape through a tunnel. By the look of those walls, they must be underground.'

Robler frowned and pointed to the enlargement of Davred's arm. 'I can't believe that! It's got to be a trick!'

The arrowhead slowly pushed itself out of the torn flesh. No blood came with it. Then the torn skin on Davred's arm began to knit together, taking on a raw new pink colour.

'They must be faking it!' Robler looked accusingly at Soo. 'Are you sure that thing's transmitting properly?'

'How could they be faking it? It's our own tracer which is recording this. I don't think they even know about the way we're observing them. Davred is still loyal to Confex, whenever possible.'

'Whenever it doesn't conflict with his new obsession, you mean!'

* * *

Herra, propped up on one elbow, watched carefully as Katia lost herself in the healing. She nodded with satisfaction when the arrowhead fell to the ground beside Davred's arm. Only once did she have to lend slight mental guidance and support to Katia's efforts, but no one else, least of all Katia, was aware of it.

The other two women sat motionless throughout the healing, simply lending their support. They knew as well as Herra how hard this must be for Katia, how it would strain her powers to the limit. When the hole began to close and new skin formed, Cheral's face registered surprise. This was success indeed for one who was not yet a properly-trained Healer!

As soon as the torn flesh had sealed itself with, Katia began to relax her hold on Davred. His breathing speeded up a little, but she left him in a deep sleep so that his body could continue to heal itself. She raised her head and looked at the others, her voice shaking slightly. 'I didn't think I'd manage so much. Oh, Herra!'

'You did well. Even Lara herself could have done little more. You have a greater Gift than we’d thought, child.'

'I couldn't let Davred go on hurting like that!' Katia closed her eyes, needing time to recover.

Cheral nudged Fiana and they began to organise food and drink for everyone, though it was only emergency rations and cold water from the spring.

Herra drank a little water, but barely touched her food. She lay back on her pallet. 'I'm nothing but an added burden for you. I shouldn't have allowed you to bring me with you.'

Dismay kept Cheral and Fiana motionless. To hear the Elder Sister speaking in tones of despair like that!

Katia opened her eyes and stared at the Elder Sister's ravaged face. She realised suddenly that Herra was suffering from delayed shock, as wel as the depression due to her low physical state. It must have torn the Elder Sister apart to see Temple Tenebrak under siege, and then to have to abandon it. No wonder Herra was unable to think clearly - she who had helped so many now needed help herself.

Katia moved closer and clasped Herra's hand in both of hers, oblivious to the disapproval on Cheral's face at the familiarity of this gesture. 'We needed you, Herra, needed you desperately, or we wouldn't have driven you to such a low ebb.' She put one arm around the Elder Sister's shoulders. 'You've been an inspiration to us for so long. It's time, I think, that we began to look after you a little better.'

Herra swallowed to clear away the lump that this tender speech from the daughter of her soul had brought into her throat. 'But I'm so weak! Child, it was the wrong decision to bring me.'

'No. It was the right decision. You aren't thinking clearly because we've pushed you too hard.' Inspiration came suddenly. 'Cheral! Fiana! Let's hold a Gathering!'

'Now?'

'Why not? If ever we needed to renew our faith and our sense of purpose, it's now.'

'There are only four of us . . . ' Cheral began doubtful y.

'It only takes two to gather!'

QUEST Shannah Jay 124

Neither of them noticed the bleak look that came suddenly to Fiana's face.

'Well, why not? I'm feeling a bit low myself.' Cheral wasn’t sure she liked the way Katia had taken charge, but the idea made sense. 'Just let me clear away these things and get the rest of the beds ready.'

Incurably neat, even in such circumstances, Cheral tidied up the few utensils they had used, while Fiana and Katia helped Herra to make herself more comfortable. Then, one by one, they moved to form a circle.

* * *

'What are those primitives doing now?' Robler asked sourly as silence fell in the cave.

Soo gritted her teeth but said nothing. She knew she mustn’t let Robler goad her in any way, though lately it’d been very difficult to keep her opinions to herself. He’d taken it into his head that she was following Davred’s example and had warned her to be very careful or he might be obliged to suspend her from her duties and send her back to Central.

She banished that thought and continued to watch.

Davred's tracer was faithfully replicating the scene in the shadowy rock chamber. Soo turned down the lights in the com-room so as not to detract from it. The picture cut off sharply at the edges of the cube's power, but was large enough to include the four women sitting cross-legged in a circle, their hands touching. Three of the faces were calm and serene; the fourth, Fiana's, wracked with sadness.

'I'm going to enlarge the image to life size,' whispered Soo.

'Why the hell are you whispering? Do you think they can hear you?'

She ignored Robler. 'Fiana's weeping. I wonder why?'

'Who understands anything that those women do?' Robler snapped. 'This is just another of their ways of relaxing, I suppose. Though why it should make that one cry . . . '

'It's not relaxation. It's a Gathering. Davred tried to explain it to me once, after the first time he'd done it. He called it achieving gathering. And he was ecstatic about it.'

'Hyper-ventilated, more like.'

'Why will you not listen, Robler? Why will you not even trust the evidence of your own eyes? And why will you never give any credit to Davred? He's still reporting in regularly, still doing the job he was sent to Sunrise for, isn't he? And doing it better than he ever could here on the satellite.'

'He was not sent here to make a Commitment to one backward planet! He was sent here to gain experience so that his potential could develop. He was only supposed to get some experience of violence, not go down and join in their struggles. And he will be needed any day now - needed quite desperately, by more people than that little ball of mud down there could ever support, even if it were fully populated, which it isn't.

Soo sighed and gave up attempting to make Robler see sense. She and Mak exchanged a glance, then she shrugged slightly and bent forward to adjust the image. Where Davred was concerned, Robler was totally unreasonable.

Robler surprised her, however, by continuing the conversation. 'What else did Davred say about this Gathering thing?' He waved a hand scornfully at the four women, who were still sitting motionless.

The slight transparency of the image lent them an ethereal quality. How beautiful they looked, Soo thought, not responding immediately to Robler's question. Sometimes she felt that it was the beauty of Sunrise which had entrapped Davred - and which was slowly entrapping her. But she had no intention of making a Commitment. What could a computer/communications expert with her skills do on a technologically backward planet which lacked even self-propelled vehicles, let alone mass communication systems?

And yet - she couldn't bear the thought of leaving. She could fully understand why Davred had flown down to Sunrise rather than allow Robler to send him back to Central. What would she do if Robler ever tried to carry out his threat to transfer her?

'Well - what did he say about it?'

QUEST Shannah Jay 125

Soo raised her eyes to meet Robler's, trying not to betray her inner turmoil. Her eyes were dark pools in an ivory-yellow face, and her hair was also dark, straight and sleek, drawn today into a knot high on the crown of her head. She spoke with calmness and dignity, not allowing Robler's sarcasm to upset her.

'Davred said that it was a meshing of souls - not minds, but souls. It's definitely not telepathy, though the Sisters do show traces of ESP sometimes. He said . . . ' Soo tilted her head sideways, a trick she had when trying to recal something, and her long eyelashes fluttered down over her gracefully-slanting eyes. 'He said that gathering brought a sure knowledge of love and purpose, as well as comfort in times of trouble, a heightening of joys and - and - oh, yes, a sense of shared commitment, such as we of Confex could never know.' Her soft voice was in contrast to Robler's harsh tones, and she wouldn’t have looked out of place had she put on the robes of a Sister and joined the group of women whose image filled the centre of the darkened com-room.

Mak looked across at her and smiled, excluding Robler.

'Is that al ?' Robler snapped. He felt his exclusion from their wordless communication, and the knowledge that he was missing something they could see galled him. After all, he too had been - Daxos! he stil was nearly a potential CA.

And one day he’d prove his worth, make them regret not choosing him. 'It sounds like a load of mumbo-jumbo to me.

Al very wel for primitives, but it wouldn't fool civilised people for a moment.'

Soo's voice was stiff with scorn. 'Davred also explained that it usually takes years of training before a Sister can

achieve ful gathering. You have to acquire a certain attitude first, a state of mind. He was so happy that he’d achieved gathering within his first year with the Sisterhood. I don't think I've ever seen joy like that in our so-called civilised society.'

Robler snorted. 'It's as I said: hyperventilation, a self-induced euphoria. You can get the same feeling with hel-gas shots.'

'Does that explain the Great Gathering that we recorded, when every temple on the planet was linked to make the decision about which temples to save? We never did work out what caused the emissions of light from each temple,'

Mak commented.

Robler couldn’t deny this, so he ignored the remark and changed the subject. 'Do they all do that?' He pointed a contemptuous finger at the motionless women. Only the tears trickling down Fiana's cheeks were moving. He had never seen such stillness of body over such a length of time.

'Only the Sisters can gather. That's why they're chosen. The novices have the potential, and when it develops they become Sisters.'

'And how do those women know which ones to choose? Magic?'

Soo shrugged. 'How should I know? But the system's been successful for over twenty thousand years, so it can't be that bad.'

'Twenty thousand years! Don't tell me you've been taken in by that nonsense as well.'

Mak's hand grasped Soo's, and she didn’t rise to the bait. Robler scowled at them and fell silent.

They watched until the four women stirred again. The change in Herra was quite visible, even to alien and hostile eyes. She was tired stil , but the stress and self-doubt had gone. None of the three women made a move towards Fiana, who went and lay down on her pallet with her face to the wall.

'Send a copy of this, and a recording of the Great Gathering to Confex - mark it ESP Branch,' Robler ordered after a moment. 'They like to collect such oddities. Tell them what Davred said about gathering. When it's ready, let me know, and I'll check it through. I can't add my endorsement to something I haven't seen, can I?'

He had checked everything that went out from the satellite to Central since Davred's escape, and although he was unable to stop their reports, he made sure that any with which he disagreed were accompanied by an adverse report of his own. Once or twice, especially in the early days, Soo had managed to send transmissions without his knowledge, but he’d tightened up since then. To send anything without his seal of approval now would be to risk bringing out into the open the conflict that was simmering beneath the surface on the satellite.

QUEST Shannah Jay 126

Although Soo and Mak supported what Davred had done, they were the only two team members openly on his side, so felt themselves to be in a vulnerable position. There was nothing concrete on which they could pin any complaint about their Exec, so there was nothing they could do but hold their peace and try to build up evidence to call in a Confex Sectoral Supervisor to investigate the situation. But it wasn’t easy. Proof had to be incontrovertible that something was wrong, or Soo and Mak would themselves be dismissed from Confex.

Of the others serving tours of duty on the satellite, which now carried a full crew, Sim and Kerem had remained strictly neutral and kept to their own areas of research or documentation. Both of them were from Hareth-III, a planet noted for the stolidity of its inhabitants, and its lack of and scorn for creative ability. People from Hareth-III made good technicians or librarians, could be brilliant in maintaining records and machinery, but were poor at innovation.

Jarna and Donnan had also kept neutral, but more because they were sceptical of what was happening, than to support Robler. They were from an ultra-sophisticated world, and had a rather disdainful attitude towards Sunrise.

Even after Mak had returned to his cabin, Soo sat on in the com-room, deep in thought. Robler occasionally showed glimpses of his old self, but that merely served to underline how much he had changed lately. Before Davred's defection he had been an absent-minded Exec, not particularly interested in the planet, but pleasant enough to work with and good company socially. At one time she had even seen some personal attraction in him, a thing of which she was now ashamed. Had she been blind to his defects or had he changed so greatly since then? She rather inclined towards the latter.

What Soo couldn’t decide now was whether Robler was growing used to the idea that he’d lost their Cathartic Agent for good, or whether he was hatching up some scheme to lure - or perhaps force -Davred back. Somehow she couldn’t trust him. She had therefore hidden various key recordings of Davred and of events on the planet in her own personal files. She could easily have retrieved the recording of Davred explaining about a Gathering for Robler, and sent that back to Confex, rather than explaining what he’d said, but she wasn’t going to reveal to Robler how carefully she was documenting what she was beginning to think of as her Quest, too.

When she passed on her message and the recording of Davred's healing for him to send, Robler didn’t bother to hide his disappointment.

'Why don't you send them the actual recording of what Davred said about this gathering business?'

Soo looked at him, her expression inscrutable. 'What recording?'

'I'm aware of what you're doing, you know, Soo. I'm not a good enough technician to prove it, but I know what's going on.'

'Oh?' Her voice was calm and polite.

'What do you think I might do - alter the records?'

'You might.'

'You're being very stupid about this.'

'Just cautious.'

'Mentally unstable, even. I must keep an eye on you.'

Soo gasped. Mental instability was a serious accusation in a small, close-knit group, entailing instant return to Central.

'If there weren't such difficulty in getting replacements at the moment, I'd have suspended you before this.' Robler's eyes were sharp with triumph, and his voice was even and controlled.

Soo pulled herself together. It was not she who was mentally unstable, but Robler. 'Well, you'd better report me to Central, then, hadn't you? But I warn you I shall put in a counter-claim.'

Now it was his turn to look surprised. A counter-claim from a subordinate had better be very good and immaculately documented. A frivolous one could earn instant dismissal from Confex, with total loss of al accrued benefits. 'We'll have to see how you go,' he said grudgingly. 'At present I'm just considering the idea. But you'd better be QUEST Shannah Jay 127

very careful what you do, Soo. Very careful indeed. You're here to work for Confex, not for Davred Hollunby, and certainly not for those primitives.'

'Davred thinks that it amounts to the same thing, their Quest and ours.'

'Well, he's wrong. And he definitely is mentally unstable, as I have already reported. It happens sometimes - even to potential CAs.'

'Then why hasn't Confex sent someone to investigate? It's been well over a standard year now since Davred went down to the planet.'

'They'll send someone eventually. The minor wars in this sector have left them short-handed for the time being. But if I report another case of mental instability on the satellite, we'll all be whisked back and Sunrise will be quarantined. So you had better be very careful what you say and do in future.'

'I will be most careful. And I'l make sure that I document everything that happens very carefully too - Exec.'

'It was "dear" once, Soo. And not my fault we parted.' His gaze was hot on her body. How dared he look at her in that way! She glared back at him, and after a few moments his eyes fell.

It was after that conversation that Soo took some specific steps to protect herself. She and Mak registered a permanent lifelong liaison. There was nothing Robler could do to stop that, although it was rather unusual nowadays. It had the advantage of taking some of the commander's powers over Soo away, as it gave Mak custodial rights over her if she was declared mentally unstable. It also made Mak the automatic inheritor of everything she owned if she were killed. And that would include certain recordings.

And of course, she and Mak continued to carefully document Davred's participation in the Sisters' Quest. This was relatively easy as long as nothing happened to the tracer he was carrying.

'If it does,' Soo said thoughtfully one day, 'we should consider sending him down another, or I could even take one down to him myself.'

Mak gave her his lazy smile. 'In that case, dear one, I might just be tempted to go with you. I'd rather like to see Sunrise for myself. As a physical scientist and a trained physician, I'm itching to run proper tests on the Sisters when they're going through the various Disciplines - particularly the Discipline of Healing. Do you think they'd allow that?'

'Who knows? But Minor Interventions are allowed, after all. Sunrise isn’t under Restriction.'

'I wouldn't put it past Robler to ignore that.'

'He'd have to have some very strong evidence that the planet represents a danger to the Confederation if he wanted to impose full restrictions.'

'Then we'll have to see that we gather enough counter-evidence, won't we?'

#####

Chapter 20: THE AFTERMATH

When the stasis cube was activated, its effect was instantaneous. The horrified rioters saw those nearest to the temple suddenly freeze where they stood, as if trapped in an invisible net. Some men stil had their arms raised to throw stones; some of the stones were suspended in mid-flight; and other people had their mouths open in a voiceless scream of defiance. The sudden silence in the affected area was most unnerving of all; there was a total lack of sound, as if the very breeze couldn’t pass through.

The Sisters had obviously worked some deadly magic that had trapped hundreds of victims and left them immobilised in full view of everyone. Many fled in panic within seconds of realising this.

QUEST Shannah Jay 128

A few unfortunate folk were trapped half in and half out of the stasis zone. Those whose heads were inside became still, except for an occasional twitching in the parts of their bodies still outside. Those whose heads were outside became frantic with fear at their inability to escape. Some started screaming in terror. One man, after a violent struggle to free himself, drew his dagger with his free hand and killed himself there and then by slitting his own throat. Though his body slumped lifeless and blood dripped down his chest, the arm held by the invisible force kept him upright still, and no one dared touch him.

Not everyone fled for their lives immediately; some stayed, drawn by morbid curiosity. Two full moons and the torches many carried gave enough light to see that the victims were caught in a total paralysis and didn’t appear to be breathing, even. It was a sight to remember all your life - if you lived to tell the tale. A fearsome experience to relate to your descendants or to earn drinks in an alehouse - if you survived to have any descendants, that was, or to drink ale again.

After a while it became obvious that those half-trapped by the magic were being gradually expelled from the perimeter of the zone. Within an hour they had all fallen out. Most were helped to a safer place by their friends, but the body of the man who had killed himself was left lying where it fell. Those fully inside the magic zone didn’t stir by even a finger's breadth the whole time.

No one knew what was happening inside the temple. The gates were still locked and the stone walls guarded their secrets, but since Temple Tenebrak towered over the city, it was impossible either to forget about it or to ignore its existence. For all anyone could tell, the Sisters and the other fugitives who had sought shelter there were sitting inside, laughing in triumph at what their fearful magic had achieved.

'It's that new Manifestation of the God,' whispered one man to his brother. 'It's his doing. They said he'd come down to save them, and save them he has. He must be more powerful than the Serpent.'

'Shut up, you Sister-loving idiot! What if someone heard you?'

The first man turned pale and looked over his shoulder. Those of the Serpent carried sharp knives and passed summary judgments. But there was no one near enough to overhear them. 'But it makes you think, though, doesn't it?'

he said stubbornly, jerking his head towards the brooding mass of the temple. 'I mean, you can't ignore that, can you?'

'It might make you think. It might make me think, too. But it's best to keep such thoughts to yourself. You always did talk too much, Lerrin.'

As Lerrin opened his mouth to protest, his brother poked him hard in the chest and growled, 'You hear me, lackbrain? Just keep your thoughts to yourself! I don't want any trouble. I've got three daughters to look after, and you've got four.' He shook his fist towards the temple, shouted 'Long live the Serpent!' and took his brother home.

Word of what had happened spread rapidly across the countryside, only to meet the news that the very same thing had happened to the rest of the temples. Now there was not one single temple to which people who were ill could go for help.

For the first time in many years the power of the Serpent was shaken, and doubt began to creep into the minds of men who had followed the new religion blindly, drawn back to the shrines time after time, though they couldn’t always understand why. They had enjoyed its obvious benefits and not paid much attention to what it actually taught - or to what it did to other women as long as their own were safe. But now some began to wonder about their new allegiance.

Benner rode out to see the invisible wall for himself, and he alone was brave enough to test it, first with his sword, then with a battering ram. Nothing would pass through it.

All three moons had risen by this time and their cold light illuminated the scene clearly - showing both Benner's failure to penetrate the shield and the motionless figures who seemed to mock him from inside the stasis zone.

He returned to view the temple area again in daylight, glaring at the figure of one of his most useful captains, who was trapped only a few paces away from the periphery, caught in the middle of urging his men on. Horse and man looked as rigid as a stone statue. Whatever the magic was, it had caught Hamsor so quickly that he hadn’t even had time to look surprised.

'Damn them!' said Benner aloud. 'Damn those misbegotten whores!'

QUEST Shannah Jay 129

His men sat their horses stolidly around him. They knew better than to show the slightest flicker of emotion on their faces when attending their Lord.

A Sister who had chosen to stay outside the temple saw Benner from the window of her attic refuge, and seized the opportunity to send a wind whistling around him and his men, a cold wind that filled the men with dread. Benner shook his fist at the temple, thinking it came from there. 'You'll not win, you warped she-devils!' he screamed. 'You'll never win!'

Rewards were posted for anyone who could remove the spell from Temple Tenebrak. No one volunteered to try, so some learned men were conscripted. Not one of them succeeded, and a few of them expiated their failure by shedding their lifeblood on the Serpent's black altars. The God was growing hungry for blood, it seemed, and no one was immune to his wrath.

Furious at his failure to capture Temple Tenebrak, Benner ordered people to make sacrifice in even greater numbers to lend strength to the Serpent, so their God could fight his foes. Respectable men had to bring their own wives and take them publicly on the altar every few days, for fear that if they didn’t make this offering themselves, others would do it for them, or accuse them of shirking their duty.

The great majority of the married men bitterly resented this public humiliation and whipping of their wives, though they dared not say so. They wouldn’t have admitted to loving their womenfolk, for that was to betray weakness, but they did grumble that virtuous women shouldn’t be penalised for the sins of the Sisters.

For the first time, Discord began to creep into the ranks of the Serpent's followers.

The gamekeeper called Berno, whom Herra had once healed, and who lived in one of the outlying villages, came home one day from a long journey on his Lord's behalf to find that his wife and virgin daughters had been taken without his permission and forced to make sacrifice at the local shrine. He was furious, but his wife begged him not to protest for fear of worse happening.

Over the next few days, the unhealed weals on his wife's back reminded Berno of Herra's words. Immela had always been a good and modest wife, and she didn’t deserve this. He couldn’t bear to hear her weeping when she thought him asleep. The nightmares of his younger daughter also kept him awake, and the bruises on the pretty face of his elder daughter reminded him hourly of what had been done to her. In no way could he reconcile his soul to such demands being made of virtuous women. What was done to temple whores had left him unmoved, but this - this was unjust . . .

Although he dared say nothing, doubt was spawned by his anger, nourished by the memory of Herra's words, and grew daily stronger within him.

When a chance occurred to leave the Lord Claimant's service and move to live with his uncle, who was without an heir to his farm, Berno took it. The uncle lived in a quiet village far away near the border of Kelandra, a village which didn’t even have a shrine.

Two of Berno's sons chose to come with him; the other three refused to leave the shrine, of which they were now full members. The northern claims were notoriously lax. Berno hardened his heart. Three of his boys had been tainted by their uncle Metz. If he could save the other boys from that, he would.

In Kelandra, Berno and his family found life calmer. Women walked the streets freely and people could admit that they were not of the Serpent without fearing the metal-tipped whip. Although few went so far as to express support for the Sisterhood, it was known that some of the witches were still around and no one did anything about it. Sleepy Kelandra did not breed revolutionaries, and its greedy Lord didn’t wish to unleash destruction upon his productive populace.

Besides, he was growing old and not in the best of health. He might need the services of a Healer himself one day.

Berno and his family settled happily into the quiet little village in the northern foothills. After much agonising, Berno found out how to obtain the services of a Sister-Healer for little Hannis, who was not well at all.

He made sure his sons knew nothing about it, but Immela's face lit up when he whispered his news to her and she agreed to drug the child and take her to see the Healer after dark.

QUEST Shannah Jay 130

When Hannis lost the baby, Berno didn’t ask whether the Sister had had a hand in this or not. The child was too young and too undeveloped physically to bear a child - anyone could see that - you wouldn't even breed a nerid that young. And if any other man tried to touch Hannis for a good few years, Berno would knock his teeth down his throat.

* * *

In the city of Setherak, life was almost back to normal. Sen-Sether had found the rioting expensive. Most people were too stupid to become Initiates of the Inner Shrine. He was content to leave the fools in peace and let their monetary offerings support him and his followers in luxury, so that he could cater to his own more refined tastes. He allowed the rioting to die down, relaxed the requirements on those making sacrifice and continued to experiment with his own dark powers.

Temple Setherak was not so obvious a monument to the Serpent's inability to obliterate all traces of the Sisterhood as was Temple Tenebrak, because it wasn’t central. People grew used to the frozen figures around it whom rain did not wet, nor sun burn. Everyone who could avoided the area as much as possible.

The poorfolk began to move in nearby. Life had to go on, after all. A family had to work much harder nowadays to pay Sen-Sether's new higher taxes and still feed itself. What couldn’t be cured must be endured. The Sisters hadn’t come out of their invisible cage to cause more trouble, had they? So why worry?

But the Sister Healers were sorely missed, so when one was known to be in hiding nearby, the secret was closely guarded by the womenfolk, who crept out under cover of darkness to seek her services. You didn’t watch your children die when they could be saved. The young ones were drugged to make sure they knew no secrets that could damage anyone, and if some of the men suspected what was happening, well, even the Serpent couldn’t prevent a man from loving his wife and children.

As in Tenebrak, the public sacrifices, which Sen-Sether had been the first Lord Claimant to institute, created a lot of secret enemies for the Serpent, and forcible sacrifice of virtuous women was soon abandoned, as were some of the harsher innovations, unless Sen-Sether personal y insisted upon some variation to the usual routine at the main shrine.

The Lord liked to show off his exceptional prowess from time to time, and demonstrate to his fellow Initiates how to get the best out of their victims.

When he wasn’t there, things went on more peacefully. Visits to the shrines must be made, especially by the wealthier people, or one risked being denounced. But if a bribe to one of the Servants of the Serpent could buy privacy, or buy the knowledge that Sen-Sether wouldn’t be there at a certain time, it was paid willingly. If an even bigger bribe could cause the attendance figures to be doctored and could al ow a man the convenience of using his own bed, then that, too, was paid by the richer folk.

#####

Chapter 21: TENEBRAK-CARRYN

After two days of almost continuous sleep, Herra had recovered enough to discuss what they would do next. 'We shal start the day with a proper Gathering,' she said firmly, 'and you, Fiana, will join us.'

'Why torment me? We've already tried that and I didn't achieve gathering. Leave me alone!' Fiana spoke harshly to hide her agony.

Cheral glared at her. One didn’t argue with the Elder Sister. And now that Herra had recovered, she was very much the Elder Sister again, imperious in her actions and quick in her decisions. They had all noticed the change in her and rejoiced in her recovery.

Herra signalled to Cheral to remain quiet, and Katia and Davred followed suit, though they couldn’t help exchanging worried glances.

QUEST Shannah Jay 131

Herra laid a hand on Fiana's arm. 'Child, we're a very small group. We can't afford the slightest hint of Discord among ourselves. You may not be able to gather, and you shouldn't try if it upsets you, but you can still practise Deep Meditation, as the novices do. Thus you will remain a part of us.' She stared at Fiana until the latter bowed her head in acquiescence.

Afterwards, when they broke the circle, each person in turn clasped Fiana's hand and she gave them a tremulous smile. Her cheeks were wet again, but there was some measure of peace in her eyes.

'Now,' said Herra, eyes gleaming, 'we shall make our plans.'

'Teach us, Elder Sister,' said Cheral, using the formal temple phraseology.

'We shall teach one another,' said Herra, deliberately using the more personal mode of address. 'These are new times and we must find new paths through them. But I wil suggest our first move. Some of us must go outside and contact our old friend Aharri Bel-Ashkaron, who should be able to furnish us with supplies and a wagon, with, I hope, deleff to pull it. Then, when we leave Tenebrak, we shall appear to be a family of travelling traders, as we had planned.'

'Who is Aharri Bel-Ashkaron?' asked Davred.

Herra's eyes softened. 'He's the husband of Merryan, who is of the Sisterhood. She has the Gift of Healing and is a distant relative of mine.'

Cheral sniffed. 'But she committed herself to full marriage.'

Katia and Davred exchanged involuntary glances.

'She loved Aharri deeply,' said Herra quietly, 'yet would have given him up if we’d asked. We didn’t ask. The bloodlines were a good mix. It met with full approval, Cheral.'

Another sniff was the only reply.

'And has she borne children?' asked Katia, thinking of Siri-Soo, whom she was still missing dreadfully.

'Oh yes. She has a body most apt for childbirth. She bore three sons and three daughters, as we had planned, then sought permission to have another daughter. As all her children showed great promise, and she herself was in excellent health, we gave our permission. The new baby made it less painful for Merryan when we dispersed the others, for safety. That last daughter is now thirteen, and she, too, is a most promising child. She will attend her Festival of Choosing next year, but I know now what the result will be.' Herra smiled to herself.

'It's an unusual name, Aharri Bel-Ashkaron,' said Davred.

'Aharri is from Fen-Halani. He used to be a trader. When he was passing through Netheron many years ago, he was injured. Merryan was the Healer who helped him. They grew to love one another, but she was too well known in Netheron to make it wise for them to settle there. As he was a younger son, stil to make his fortune, his family didn't object to him leaving their business. He's been in Tenebrak ever since, running a trading concern, and has done well for himself and his family. Theirs is an important line for the Sisterhood.'

'Do you often disperse whole families like that?' Davred was frequently surprised at the far-ranging scope of the Sisters' activities.

'When it's necessary.' Herra bowed her head briefly, thinking of her own origins, in Peneron. Like Merryan, she’d had to leave that claim when she married, and had then spent a few precious years in Garshlian, with her husband.

She’d borne six children. How sad she’d been when the time came to leave them and Parin! But she hadn’t shirked her duty. She’d always known that with her Gifts, she could have but a brief respite from temple life.

She’d feigned illness, 'died' and come to Temple Tenebrak as Healer. Parin had been desolate, but had eventual y remarried and been happy again. They’d assured her of that. He’d died long ago; she’d sensed when it happened. As for her, two decades after their parting, she had been chosen as Elder Sister-Elect and her life had been full ever since. How long ago those family days all seemed now.

'Wel , then,' she said aloud, putting the memories resolutely aside, 'some of us must go outside and contact Aharri.'

'I'll go,' said Fiana at once.

QUEST Shannah Jay 132

Herra shook her head firmly. 'You don't know Aharri, my dear. And I don't care to risk Katia and Cheral, neither of whom could pass easily for a man.'

Cheral didn’t attempt to hide her relief; Katia shrugged and raised no protest. She was again carrying Davred's child, conceived just before this crisis, and she knew it was too precious to risk. She suspected that Herra had guessed her secret, and of course, Davred knew, but she’d told no one else.

'Which leaves you and me again, Elder Sister,' agreed Davred. 'If I knew the city better, I'd volunteer to take the message myself, but I don't. When do we leave?'

Herra didn’t argue. She might resent the weakness which kept overcoming her if she did too much, but she would never pretend to herself about it. She was feeling distinctly uncomfortable at the moment, but couldn’t understand her own symptoms. She felt no hint of impending death, and still felt sure that she had a part to play in the Quest. She did not, she felt certain, need another Renewal, but these bouts of bone-aching weariness and tingling in the head puzzled her. She would need someone younger and stronger to help her on this excursion, and Davred was the only one available.

'We'll leave at first light tomorrow. Cheral, could you find Davred some clothes - something shabby, suitable for a very minor clerk, perhaps? And Katia, could you do something about his hair? We need to change his appearance.'

* * *

The two of them left as soon as they had broken their fast the next morning. With Herra's help, Davred ran through some muscle movements that subtly changed the planes of his face. Katia had streaked his hair with grey and Herra had caused a wart to grow on his nose overnight. This made Katia pull a face and say teasingly that she wasn’t sure she wanted such an ugly husband. Davred also managed to control some of the blood vessels to his face, to give it an unhealthy pallor. This strained his body-control to the limit, but he thought he could hold it for long enough to serve their purpose.

Herra was once more dressed as an old man, but this time her skin seemed more wrinkled, with a weather-beaten, countryman's appearance. She too had changed the muscular substructure of her face, and she didn’t even remotely resemble the old man she had seemed when they recovered the stasis cube. Confex, thought Davred, not for the first time, would be able to keep medical research teams busy for years, just investigating the body control possible to the more accomplished of the Sisters.

Herra and Davred came out of the tunnel complex into a grove of dereela trees, whose heavy leaves and tangled branches made an effective screen. The wards were very strongly embedded at the entrance - Davred felt uncomfortable in the grove and even Herra breathed a sigh of relief when they left it. At the edge of the wall of foliage they paused, but no one was in sight, so they slipped quickly out on to the main pathway that led from the garden to the street.

'This is a large family domain,' said Herra quietly. 'Several families live here and yet there is so much space that this end of the garden is rarely visited.'

The garden was so overgrown near the tunnel entrance that they could see nothing of the street until they reached a small gate in the wall. Once through it, they both stopped dead in shock.

'Brother, look down upon us!' exclaimed Herra, who knew the district well. With a shaking hand she pulled Davred back into the shelter of the gateway.

'The rioting must have spread all over the city,' said Davred, looking at the smoking ruins of the family domain opposite. A long, low, two-storeyed structure, it must have been beautiful once. A few unburnt sections showed the wooden walls to have been painted white, while the carving on the balcony rails and gables was exquisite.

Even before he’d come down to the planet, when he was relying on long-distance observation, Davred had fallen in love with the wooden houses of Tenebrak and the huge variety of building styles possible in such a mild climate. The domains of the rich were large, with gracious flower and vegetable gardens, little groves of trees and even fish pools.

More ordinary people lived in group domains, where a dozen families might share a smaller piece of land. The poorest of the poorfolk lived in the Shambles, where wooden shacks were crowded into any spare corner, often QUEST Shannah Jay 133

between businesses and warehouses.

Herra's voice made him pull himself together. 'Looting!' she exclaimed. 'In Tenebrak! Tenebrak of all places! Are the Sisterhood's teachings so easily overthrown? Is Discord so easily spread?'

'Would you like to go back to the tunnel, Herra? The city looks dangerous still. Perhaps we should wait a little longer, allow things time to settle down properly.' He would have liked to put his arm around her, to give her a hug of reassurance, but he didn’t quite dare. There was something awe-inspiring about her today.

'No. We must find Aharri and Merryan. We cannot hide in the tunnels for ever. We have a journey to make. Come, Davred.'

Their walk was heartbreaking. This was one of the better quarters, yet in every street, one or two of the houses were damaged and sometimes whole domains had been destroyed. Several of the ruins were still smouldering, and once they had to detour to avoid a newly-lit conflagration surrounded by shouting, jeering figures.

The Claim of Tenebron had long been famous for its beauty and for the lush magnificence of its plants. Now most of the gardens they passed were trampled into deserts, both flowers and vegetables wantonly destroyed. Sad heaps of shrivelled brown leaves and flowers lay everywhere. Gates hung askew at the entrances to the large family domains and nearly every fence or hedge had gaping holes in it. Buildings of all sizes, even on the smaller domains, had windows broken, all except for those places which displayed at their entrances a large carved serpent.

'What worries me is that no one is trying to repair anything,' said Herra, her voice tight with suppressed emotion.

'Look at that domain over there!' She pointed to a graceful structure on their left. 'It's a large complex. Single storey, too, so the family must be a rich one. There ought to be several family members living there, with many servants, yet not one person is in sight.'

'Most of the windows are smashed.' Davred scanned it carefully. 'That's not chance. The owners must have fled.'

Herra paused to consider. 'No, there are several people inside at the far end. I can sense them - and their fear - quite clearly.'

The few people they encountered in the streets hurried about their business and seemed determined not to catch each other's eyes. Even the shade trees which lined the gravel and earth streets looked battered and bruised, with broken branches hanging down over the walkways and gouge marks in their bark.

'We've seen no women at all,' Herra observed after a while. 'Not even the women of the poorfolk, who usually serve those living in this quarter.'

'And no children,' added Davred, glad he’d sent Siri-Soo to a hidden crèche where she wouldn’t have to face such dangers. At least, he and Katia hoped she wouldn’t. Brother, watch over her! he prayed fervently, remembering his little daughter's mischievous grin.

After a while Herra suggested that Davred let her lean on his arm and that he stop pretending to limp, which he wasn’t doing well. Feigning weakness, she hobbled along beside him, close enough to whisper in his ear.

'They've still got spies out,' she murmured as they rounded a corner. 'There was a man hiding in the garden we just passed. I wonder why? They can't know that anyone has escaped from the temple. It's three days since you activated the stasis cube. Do they not even trust one another?'

'Obviously not. Or perhaps they're just keeping a general watch. They won't be able to understand what stasis really involves,' Davred said thoughtfully.

'You may be right. Though they have seen us still people, so it won’t be completely strange to them.' Herra's voice suddenly became louder. 'Turn right along here, son. Nice little neighbourhood shrine, that one. Wish I could still take part. You'll have to do my share now, as wel as your own.' She cackled loudly at her joke and dug Davred in the ribs with such force that he winced. 'Say something!' she hissed.

'I'l do my best, Dad. Do my best. Never be as good as you, though.'

'That you won't!'

QUEST Shannah Jay 134

They walked past a gateway overhung by undamaged foliage and edged by two black triangular flags on their snake-twisted poles. At this shrine, serpents were also carved in the stone capping of the wall. Beyond the gateway, half hidden, stood two Servants of the Shrine in black robes and silver Serpent wristlets. They made no attempt to conceal the scrutiny they were giving Herra and Davred.

'Pass in the name of the Serpent,' said one of the men. Obviously what they’d overheard and thought they’d seen had convinced them that the two were followers of their God. 'Serve the Serpent faithfully, and you shall have pleasure for your reward.'

Pleasure! Herra thought scornfully, what sort of an aim in life is that? But she thanked the men for their blessing and continued slowly along the street.

She led Davred across the city by a circuitous route. Twice she pulled him into private domains and waited for men to pass; once they slipped right through the garden of a small domain, past a burnt-out house and into the next street.

Each time they changed direction.

It took well over two hours to reach their destination, the Street of Bellflowers, named for one of the loveliest of trees, which bore giant bell-shaped blossoms for most of the year. Although the lower branches of the trees which lined the street were denuded of foliage and the trunks hacked and slashed, the damage there didn’t seem too bad at first sight and there was stil a froth of blooms wafting to and fro above them. As they followed the twists of the street, however, they saw that the windows of several houses were smashed, though no house was burnt down.

'Pickings too rich to resist. I only hope . . . ' Herra's words ended abruptly as they followed the curve of the road.

'Brother, no!'

Aharri's house was a smoking ruin, the only one in the street, and much of his domain had been trampled into a muddle of earth and brown plants.

'Why?' asked Herra. 'How did they know about Merryan?' She scanned the domain. 'There's no sign of any spies hiding in the grounds. We'll go and have a look round. Get through the hedge quickly, before someone comes.'

When they were screened from the road by a clump of bushes, whose dark green foliage showed jagged gaps, she released her grip on Davred's arm. 'Wanton destruction! They are insane!' She briefly cradled a lone blossom on a drooping branch hanging from its tree only by a sliver of bark and fibres. The pounded earth beyond the bushes must once have been a flower bed, but now it was stamped flat. Only a few half-shredded plants still stood around the edges.

Herra stopped again to scrutinise the remains of the house she had loved to visit. She didn’t allow tears to come into her eyes, but concentrated on the facts. 'One end of the building is still upright. Let's go and inspect that. Merryan wil have created a place of safety somewhere, of that I'm sure. Those of us who live outside the temples have been doing that for a while now.' Her own safe place had been under a courtyard, reached both through the cellars or from the outside, but she’d been lucky. She’d never had to use it. After she had 'died', Parin had turned it into a wine cellar. How he had loved his wine! She must stop thinking of him - and her children. They, too, would be dead by now – unless they’d been chosen.

Cautiously slipping through the remains of the shrubbery and moving from cover to cover, they crossed what seemed to Davred an endless expanse of garden that lay between them and the house. It was a very large domain, his back felt naked and vulnerable, and at any moment he expected to hear a shout behind them.

'Hide!' snapped Herra suddenly, freezing in her tracks.

As they took cover, a man came strolling round the corner of the ruins, a smal man with a thin sharp face and worn clothes. A cut on his dirty cheek was half healed, and one of his hands was heavily bandaged. In the other hand was a long stick, with which he was poking about in the rubble. Over one shoulder was a sling bag of rough sacking, its few bulges showing that he had found some pickings, even in these ruins.

'He's just a looter,' whispered Davred.

'Is he? I'm not sure. He doesn't somehow fit the pattern of poorfolk. His clothes may be torn and dirty, but they fit too well for someone from the Shambles. And he has an air of- I don't know - confidence, cockiness. But he’s not of the Serpent. I think we'll speak to him.' While Davred was still opening his mouth to protest at her rashness, she QUEST Shannah Jay 135

stepped forward from behind the bushes. 'Have you found anything worth having, friend?'

The man stopped dead and cast a quick glance around, as if about to flee. Seeing no one but an old man and a rather weak-looking young one, he relaxed slightly, but Herra could see that his muscles were still tensed for action.

'There's not much to be had,' he replied. 'Either the owners hid their stuff, or someone else has been and taken it.'

'Someone's certainly made a mess of the place,' agreed Herra. 'But I was hoping there'd be a few bits and pieces left.'

'You're crazy to risk searching a big domain like this. There's nowhere to hide and you're too old to run. Benner's men are out trying to stop the looting today - except for what they do themselves, of course. You're taking a big risk, old man.'

'So are you.'

'I can run - and faster than you'd think, too.' He nodded to Davred. 'You want to get grandpa here home, young fellow - if you're fond of him, that is.' He flashed them an impudent grin and began to walk on, whistling tunelessly through his teeth. 'Good luck!' he called, as he turned the corner.

'Is it safe to let him go?' Davred worried aloud.

'He may be a thief, but he is not of the Serpent. I can sense the corruption in their souls as easily as I can see your face. I wonder what he was doing here, though?'

'More to the point, I think we'd do well to take his advice and move on. There's no one left here who can help us.'

But Herra shook her head and remained where she was, head on one side, as if listening carefully. At last, she said,

'There's someone inside that end bit of the ruins. One person, I think, and hurt - or desperately afraid.' She turned to scan the garden behind them. Sensing no one around, she abandoned her cautious advance and stiff old-man's gait to scramble over the rubble, balancing like a cat on the larger pieces of masonry. The lower storey of the house had been solidly built of stone, not lath and plaster like the upper level. She turned to beckon to Davred. 'Over here!'

He set off after her, wobbling on the loose stones, grazing his ankle on a jagged piece of wood, wishing that he had the Elder Sister's effortless balance. As he came to a halt in front of the scorched wall, Herra vanished through it. He blinked. He could see no sign of a break in the wall.

'Walk through after me!' Herra called.

Davred took a deep breath and did as she bade him. The wal , which looked solid enough, felt as if it were made of a thick gluey substance, which just al owed him to pass, if he exerted all his strength.

Inside, he paused to blink and wait for his eyes to adjust to the dim light. Backed into a corner was a young girl.

Beside her on the ground lay a woman's body, the head and shoulders covered by a bloodstained cloak. The girl had a dagger in her hand.

'If you come any nearer, I'll kill myself!' she threatened, seeing only their outlines against the light.

Herra uttered one sharp phrase and the dagger fell to the ground.

Hope warred with the fear in the girl's red-rimmed eyes.

'It's me, child. Herra. There's no need to be afraid.'

The girl's defiance gave way to tears, but she kept her distance, hurling words at them, words laden with anguish.

'She said you'd come. She promised someone would find me if I stayed here. Why didn't she wait inside with me?' She was sobbing wildly. 'You're too late! They've killed her!'

'Calm down, child, and tell me what happened.'

'How can I calm down when they've killed her?'

'Come here, child.' Herra's voice was soft and low.

The girl stood stiffly where she was, but sobs still shook her thin body.

QUEST Shannah Jay 136

Herra walked across and held out her arms. Only then did the girl stop resisting and rush forward into those arms.

After allowing her to weep for a moment or two, Herra pushed the girl gently away, wiped her tearstained face and said in her tone of Command, ' Enough! We have no time for grief now. You must try to calm down. Tell me who has been killed.'

'Merryan. My mother. They set a trap, an injured man. She couldn't leave him lying out there in pain, so she went outside after dark to heal him. They were waiting. When she wouldn't reveal her hiding place, they killed her. There were too many of them for her to still. And I couldn't help! I couldn't even move! She'd made me promise not to come out. Under Compulsion. I could only stand there and watch. She called on our Brother as she died.' Her voice ended on a child's wail of pain.

Herra sucked in her breath and the sound was spiky with agony. She bent to lift the cloak, then gasped at what she saw. Davred, behind her, reeled backwards in horror. The body was laid out very neatly with its arms crossed over its chest, but Carryn had not been able to hide the fact that her mother's head had been completely severed.

'Merryan!' whispered Herra. 'Oh, my Merryan, may the God our Brother give your soul the peace it has earned!' She touched the cold cheek fleetingly in a gesture that spoke of deep affection, then covered the body tenderly again.

'Did you bring her back here yourself, child? That was bravely done.'

'I had to. They just left her lying there - afterwards. At first they kept watch, so I waited. By the time they left, the Compulsion had worn off.' She shuddered. 'I was s-sick afterwards. I feel sick just to think of what they did to her.

How can the God let such things happen, Elder Sister?'

'I know not, child.’ She put her arm round the girl's thin shoulders and looked at Davred. 'Will you go out and dig a grave for Merryan, Lord Davred, while I comfort this child? We can't leave the body here. It must be given a seemly burial. She deserves that of her Sisters.'

In the carefully-organised university world where Davred had grown up, robots removed the dead swiftly. He gritted his teeth, forcing himself to nod and ask, 'Where?'

Herra turned to Carryn. 'Did your mother have a favourite part of the garden, child?'

'She - she liked to sit under the big pandelara tree. She loved its perfume.'

'Then dig the grave there, Lord Davred.'

He went outside again to the desolation of the ruined gardens. First he must find something to dig with. He began to search and was lucky enough to find a battered spade with a splintered handle among the rubble of a garden hut. He had enough skill now to compel the metal of the blade back into a semblance of its old sharp line. The earth was soft after a light overnight rain and he inhaled its rich odours as he turned it over. Such physical labour was another new experience, and one which, with a body strengthened by the Sisters' Disciplines, he would have enjoyed in other circumstances. Now he just felt sickened and dug rapidly, trying to forget the sight of poor Merryan's mutilated body.

'You must know about some good pickings, to dig a hole as big as that,' said a voice behind him.

Davred jumped at the sound and dropped a spadeful of earth over his feet.

'Tut! Tut! That's not the way to do it.' The thin-faced man was back. He spoke lightly, but his expression wasn’t unkind. 'Don't kill yourself with the first half of a job, or you'l not have the strength to finish it. Here, let me show you how to dig. You've never done such work before, have you?'

While Davred was still trying to decide what he should do, the man took the spade from him and began to dig. The pile of earth grew steadily, at twice the rate it had when Davred had been wielding the implement.

'Thank you, friend,' said Davred. After all, Herra had assured him that the man was not of the Serpent.

'It's a grave, isn't it?'

'Yes.'

'Someone kill a friend of yours?'

QUEST Shannah Jay 137

'Yes.' Oh, God, let him not think of her bloody neck, raw as a piece of kitchen meat! 'Yes.'

'Bastards've kil ed a lot of people in the last few days. Run mad, they have. Got a coffin?'

'No.'

'Then this should be deep enough. Unless he was a big fellow.'

'No. She was - not large.' Davred had to swallow hard to hold back the nausea that had been threatening to overwhelm him ever since he had seen what they had done to Merryan.

'There. That should do it, then.' The man stuck the spade into the pile of earth. 'Want a hand with the body?'

'Yes. Thank you. But - I think I'd better warn you. They cut her head off. So . . . ' He had to turn aside then and vomit.

The man came over and patted his shoulders awkwardly. 'A Sister, was she, eh?'

Davred struggled against the after-effects of his nausea. 'Why do you say that?'

'They're doing that now to anyone they say is a Sister - to stop them casting their spells.' He spat into the hole, his expression bleak. 'Not nice, that. Not nice at all. They're frightened of whatever's protecting the temple. How do you suppose the Sisters built that invisible wall?' He stared suddenly at Davred. 'But if you're of them, perhaps you know.'

Davred shook his head and used his sleeve to wipe the cold sweat from his forehead. 'How should I know?'

The man needed no prompting to continue. It was as if he were starved of conversation. 'Anyway, I reckon folks've run mad here in Tenebrak. Never seen anything like it. I was in Setherak when the temple there fenced itself off, just the same as here, and there was some rioting. But they never started cutting women's heads off there. Sen-Sether's got the people under better control than Benner has. Sen-Sether was starting to imprison strangers, though, or use them in the shrines.' The man shuddered. 'So I took myself out of Setheron quick as I could and came here, thinking it'd be safe. I mean, it is the oldest temple. But now I have to get out of Tenebrak too. People from other claims are always the first to suffer if there's any trouble.'

'We all suffer from Those of the Serpent.'

'Aye. Not so fond of them myself. Wouldn't trust one as far as I could spit. If Benner goes on at this rate, he'l let them destroy the whole city, and what use wil it be to him then, eh? If I hadn't been knocked senseless and had my things stolen, I'd have been long gone from Tenebrak, I can tell you.'

Davred nodded and made a non-committal sound to encourage the man to continue.

'I deal in jewellery, carving and ornaments, by the way - fine stock I had. I’ve an eye for a true craftsman, if I say so myself. And al my stock was stolen by those bastards! Fair breaks your heart to think of it. You wouldn't credit what I had to pay out in bribes when I first got here, either. You'd think that'd be enough to protect an honest trader from being attacked.' He shook his head gloomily. 'Then my deleff ran off and I was stuck.'

'Bad luck, that.'

'The worst. I could have used draft nerids to get out of the city, though, and then waited for more deleff to come to me out of the wildwoods. They always have before. But those greedy devils impounded my wagon. Now, since the temple wal ed itself off, they won't let anyone out of the city who hasn't got a pass and a token from a shrine. And how am I to get the money for that now - or for more trading goods - let alone a token from one of those pits of hell? Have you ever been inside one?'

'No.'

The man shivered. 'Fair makes your flesh crawl, it does. All that stinking incense makes me want to throw up, and I don't like to hear women scream. Don't like to hear anyone scream. There's no profit in torturing people, no sense in it, either.'

'I share your feelings, as any decent person would.' Davred tried to study the little man as Herra had taught him, noting the body signs, looking deep into the eyes, trying to catch the essence of the inner self. This one wasn’t easy.

QUEST Shannah Jay 138

Underneath all that friendliness and volubility, there was something more complex. However, Davred shared Herra's feeling that the man was not of the Serpent. There was something too wholesome and likeable about him. A bit of a rogue, perhaps, but not evil.

'Well, can't stand here all day nattering, can we?' His companion set the spade down. 'Where's the body? I'll help you with it, if you like. Best get it all over with.'

'This way. Oh - I'll have to - to blindfold you, or something.'

'No need.' Herra's voice made them both jump. 'He'll not betray us, will you, friend?' Her arm was stil around Carryn's shoulders, but Davred thought the child looked more in control of herself. 'Will you two fetch Merryan now, please?'

Davred took a deep breath to steady his nerves and led the way across the rubble. To his surprise, he found that there was now a visible doorway opening into the hidden chamber. He went inside and hesitated before reaching for the cloak.

The man pushed past him. 'Here, let me take the head end. I didn't know her. And I'm used to the sight of death.

Where have you lived so sheltered from violence in this day and age?'

Davred flushed.

They carried the body outside and laid it gently in the hole. Herra was already by its side, holding the spade. She held it out to the girl. 'The first three spadesful, Carryn, if you please. You are the only member of her family here.'

The girl swallowed hard, but did as she was told. With trembling hands she dropped some earth into the hole.

Without being prompted, she murmured the ritual phrase over each spadeful.

‘May light shine in your darkness!

May your lives draw ever nearer to wisdom!

May the God bless your next coming!’

At Herra's nod, Davred took the spade from Carryn and cast three more showers of earth on to the still body, repeating the phrases softly, then Herra nodded to the stranger. 'You too, my friend.'

He looked surprised, but did as he was asked, stumbling a little over the words. 'Haven't said that for a while,' he muttered afterwards. 'I'd forgotten how comforting it is.'

Finally, Herra took the spade from him and laid it aside. ' Go gently through the interim darkness, Sister of the God. May our Brother send you comfort in your griefs and solace in your troubles throughout all your lives.' A swift gesture and the ground beneath them shook slightly. When they looked at the grave, the earth above it was smooth again, as if it had not been disturbed for years. 'They will not desecrate this ground,' she said grimly.

The man gulped. 'That's a potent spell.'

She sighed. 'I hope so. What are you called, friend? '

'Jonner.' He blinked in surprise. He hadn’t intended to tell these strangers his real name, and couldn’t understand why he’d been so foolhardy.

'Well, then, friend Jonner, I think we must all leave quickly now, because I can sense the approach of evil. Do you know of somewhere safe we could go? Somewhere to talk?'

'I might. If you have the money to buy a few drinks.'

'I have the money for both food and drink. And you seem very hungry.'

Jonner's face brightened. 'I am. This way, then.'

#####

QUEST Shannah Jay 139

Chapter 22: JONNER

They went to the back of Aharri Bel-Ashkaron's house and out through a hole in the fence. 'Pity there was no loot,'

Jonner said, looking back regretfully. 'I'd surely like to buy a seat on one of Savareth's trading wagons. Terrible high prices he's charging these days if you want to get out of the city. But it's not safe travelling the countryside on your own.'

'Perhaps we'll be able to help each other,' suggested Herra. 'We too have plans to travel, and to trade a little, perhaps.'

'Is that so? Well, if you let me come along, I'll certainly earn my way,' Jonner offered at once. 'I always have, ever since I was ten. And this is the first time anyone's caught me off my guard since I turned fifteen.' He squinted at Davred. 'You'd better limp or put your arm in a sling, my squeamish friend, or they'll be hauling you off on one of their work gangs. Here!' He watched Davred for a minute, then pulled a piece of dirty cloth out of his sack. 'You're a rotten limper. Better try a sling.'

He tied up Davred's other arm. 'There! Real pitiful you look now. Good job I didn't wash the blood off that cloth.

Have you three got names, by the way?'

'Call me Shan and him Dylin,' said Herra promptly.

'Well, I suppose those names are as good names as any. What have you picked for her?'

Herra smiled. 'Susra will do.'

'Susra's a nice name too,' he agreed.

Herra led them to a dimly-lit eating house with tables set in little alcoves all round the walls. Only a couple of them were occupied.

Behind the counter sat a fat man with small, pale-blue eyes set deep in folds of heavy flesh. 'So you're back, are you?'

he said sourly to Jonner. 'Got some money this time?'

'My friends have.' Jonner nudged Davred. 'I owe him ten pieces, Dylin.'

Davred thought it best to grumble before handing over the money.

The owner of the eating house examined the coins carefully and put them in his pocket.

'We'd like one of your booths, friend, a nice quiet one,' said Herra.

'Five pieces for drinks and you can sit there all day.' The money vanished with astonishing speed.

'And we're all hungry. What do you recommend?'

'Stew. It's all there is. And lucky to get that. Not many supplies getting through.' He pointed to Carryn. 'She can't sit with you. New law. Women not to eat in public places.'

'She's not a woman; she's only a child.'

'Well . . . maybe for five more pieces I could grow a bit short-sighted. But she'd better keep quiet and behave modestly. Keep her out of sight at the back of the booth.'

A voice called to him from the kitchen and Harrol yel ed back that he'd got some new customers to settle first. 'Go and sit down. I'll bring your stew when it's ready.'

'He's frightened,' whispered Jonner, when they were sitting in the booth. 'I bet no one's ever seen Fat Harrol worry about the law before. Go on at this rate and a man won't be able to get himself a woman at all unless he goes into a shrine.'

'Yes,' said Herra thoughtfully. 'Yes, indeed.'

QUEST Shannah Jay 140

The stew was good and no one left any of it. Another four pieces bought them a large tart, though the fruit in it was preserved, not fresh. Jonner ate more than anyone, then sighed and loosened his belt. 'That was good! Now, what were you wanting to discuss - er - Shan?'

'First we need some information,' said Herra. 'This child has a father, who may still be alive. His name is Aharri Bel-Ashkaron and he . . . '

'Shhh! Not so loud!' Jonner looked round anxiously, but the other customers were all engrossed in their own affairs.

'The man you're interested in is definitely still alive. I didn't tell you before, but he's the reason I was there in the Street of Bellflowers. There's a reward out for information about his wife and daughter. I was trying to earn it . . . but it was you who found her, so it's for you to claim.'

Carryn's face lit up. 'My father's still alive?'

'Quiet, lass! And keep your eyes down, even when you speak to us, or you'll betray us.'

She obediently lowered her eyes, but not before Davred had seen the tears in them. 'But he is alive?' she pleaded in a whisper. 'He is, isn't he?'

'So I'm told,' said Jonner. 'Mind, I haven't seen him myself. Fat Harrol's the one who suggested I earn the reward.'

'Is that man to be trusted?' asked Davred.

'As long as he's well paid.'

'But he could betray us afterwards for more money.'

'Not him. He gets a good extra income from arranging such things. He'll accept a commission from anyone, including Those of the bleedin' Serpent, but once he's accepted it, he'll not betray anything. But I suppose he's sticking to the new regulations now, because if those devils close this place down, he'll lose everything. Not that he couldn't afford to retire if he wanted to, but he's got a great passion for money, has Harrol.'

'We don't need that reward money,' said Herra. 'You can earn it by dealing with this for us. We just want to see Aharri. Try to arrange a meeting with him, will you?'

Jonner sucked air through his teeth thoughtfully. 'It'll cost you. Fat Harrol does nothing for love, not even for his family.'

'We'll pay whatever it takes.'

Jonner still hesitated. 'My health would be improved by a bit of travel,' he said pointedly.

Herra grinned. 'I thought that was already agreed. Aharri's the one who can get us a wagon, then we'll need a driver who knows how to trade.'

Jonner smiled. 'I'm not a bad driver, but I’m a better trader. I'll get you top prices for your goods.'

'We have no goods till we've seen Aharri. Go and arrange it.'

Within minutes Jonner was back. He just had time to hiss at Carryn not to be afraid, but to go where she was told, before Harrol came over to the table.

'My wife's cleared a space in the kitchen now. The girl can go and sit there. It makes me feel uncomfortable to see a woman flaunting herself in a public place like she is.'

'You should have had the place ready, then,' Herra flung at him. 'You surely don't think I wanted her sitting at table with her betters! But make sure she's looked after. She's a virtuous girl and I'm saving her maidenhead for the Serpent's altar. You, girl, off you go!'

'I'll look after her as if I were her own father,' promised Harrol. He lowered his voice. 'She'll be with him in two hours. He's left word to send her to him straight away. I'l let him know about you at the same time.'

Herra nodded.

Carryn followed Harrol from the room, not daring even to thank those who’d rescued her. This time she kept her QUEST Shannah Jay 141

eyes lowered and her clothing drawn tightly around her.

When their host came back, he was carrying another jug of ale. 'There it is, then,' he said loudly, adding quietly as he refilled their beakers, 'About those lodgings you were looking for. Try Ridge Lane, the last building before the temple.'

'You mean Temple House?' asked Herra.

'It's changed its name to Ridge House now. Not very popular at the moment, the word "temple". Not good for trade, either, being so near to that place. People are frightened to get too close to that invisible wall in case something reaches out of it and grabs them. So you should be able to get rooms cheaply and not be disturbed. I'll send any messages on to you there.'

'Thank you, friend. Have a drink with us?'

'I never drink with customers. Business is business.' He walked away saying loudly, 'Got a party of regulars coming in soon. Have to see that the wife gets everything ready for them. Fussy people, those Initiates of the Inner Shrine. But they do like my wife's cooking.'

As quickly as they could without looking suspicious, they drained their mugs and left. They were not the only ones to leave.

The newly-named Ridge House wasn’t far away. It had thrived in the old days on the trade of those from outside Tenebrak who came to consult the Healers at the temple, but Herra had never been inside it. The sick had always been brought inside the temple for healing. One corner of the inn was within a stone's throw of the stasis line. Jonner shuddered at the sight of the motionless bodies and led the way quickly past them into the guesthouse. 'Poor sods!' he said. 'Dunno what's caught hold of them, but it fair makes your blood run cold to see them standing there.'

'They'll come to no harm,' said Davred without thinking.

Jonner shot him a startled glance, but said nothing. Inside the guesthouse they took one of the group chambers, preferring to stay together for safety's sake. Besides, Herra said with a chuckle, she was far too old to worry about modesty.

As soon as the chamber lad had left them alone, Davred turned to Herra. 'The others wil be worried.'

'Yes.'

'I could - Katia and I, we can sometimes sense each other's feelings. In Deep Meditation I might get through to her.'

Herra stared at him. 'So soon?'

'What do you mean, so soon?'

'It’s been known before, this closeness, but not usually until people have lived together for many years.' It would have developed between Parin and me, she thought, if it had been allowed the time, but she didn’t burden Davred with her own sadness.

Jonner looked from one to the other, baffled by this cryptic talk. When they made no attempt to explain, he left them to it and lay down on one of the narrow beds.

Davred stared at Herra. 'That verges on telepathy. Is it common? I thought Katia and I were unusual.'

'What do you mean by "telepathy"? It's not one of our words.'

'I don't know your word for it. I mean transmission of thoughts, the ability to read another person's mind.'

'Mindlinking,' she said automatically. 'It's one of the things we've been striving to foster among our people, one of the reasons we favour certain bloodlines. Those whose minds are linked cannot fight one another because misunderstandings are impossible.'

'You do have telepathy, then!'

'Sometimes. It's one of the more recent Gifts, not well known yet, and the training to foster it is still being developed. But we're wasting time talking. Try to communicate with Katia while I heal Jonner's cheek.'

QUEST Shannah Jay 142

Jonner sat up. 'Heal! Did you say heal?'

'Why do you doubt your own hearing?'

'But that means that you're a S- ' He broke off and gulped, before adding, 'I thought you were a man!'

'Yes. I'm a Healer and a Sister. Do you wish my services, or not? If we leave that cheek as it is, you'll be badly scarred. But it's your choice, of course. If you don't trust me, just say so.'

'Well . . . all right, then. But I don't know what to do. I've never needed . . . '

* * *

When Davred and Herra started talking about telepathy, Soo felt obliged to inform Robler.

'It's not possible,' he scoffed, storming into the com-room. 'Telepathy has been proved impossible time and time again. And besides, a race that had telepathy couldn't be so primitive. It's got to be an advanced function. That's been proved too. As a race, even we aren't ready for it yet.'

'Shhh! Let's watch.' Soo turned up the magnification on Davred and slid the image of the room at the guesthouse to one side of the com-room. She watched in fascination as Davred went into Deep Meditation, seeing the lines of worry smooth themselves from his face as if by magic, and an expression of utter peace take their place. An echo of a smile, a very tender smile, flitted across his face, but, to Soo's intense frustration, they couldn’t tell what was happening. The only thing his life monitor readings showed was a slowing down of body processes and slightly increased mental activity.

When Davred opened his eyes and smiled at Herra, Soo held her breath. 'They're quite safe,' he said. 'And they know that we are too.'

'He's turning into a damned good actor!' Robler observed with heavy sarcasm. 'I never thought I'd see you taken in by such things, Soo Chen.' He turned and left the com-room noisily.

She ignored him and watched for a little longer, but the three people in Ridge House merely went to sleep, so she recorded a few close-ups of the newly-healed scar on Jonner's cheek, and went off duty to share a glass of euphorion with Mak.

#####

Chapter 23: AHARRI BEL-ASHKARON

Just before dawn Davred jerked awake as a hand covered his mouth. Herra's voice breathed 'Quiet!' in his ear and he relaxed. In the dim light he could see Jonner standing by the third bed, flexing his arms and legs.

'What is it?'

'I don't know. I just feel - unsafe. Don't make any noise, but get up. I think we should leave.'

Davred eased himself off the bed. Herra stiffened suddenly and stood motionless, listening. Davred followed her example, but it took him a moment to make out what the noise was - the faintest whisper of footsteps coming towards them along the corridor. The footsteps stopped outside their room.

Jonner drew out a knife and padded over to stand behind the door.

As the handle began to turn very slowly, Herra and Davred moved apart and stood facing the door.

'Psst!'

Davred relaxed a little. Someone coming to harm them was not going to advertise his presence like that.

QUEST Shannah Jay 143

The intruder pushed the door open. Jonner stayed out of sight behind it, his knife held ready.

No-one moved or spoke, then the intruder said in a sibilant whisper, 'Thank goodness you're awake!'

'Who are you?' asked Herra quietly.

'My name doesn't matter. I come from my master, who is known to you. You helped his daughter recently.'

'Oh?' Herra's voice was cool and non-committal.

'You're to come with me. Your enemies have found out where you are. My master sent me to warn you and lead you to a safe place.'

'I don't like going off with strangers in the middle of the night,' growled Jonner, stepping out from behind the door and closing it. 'I think we should wait until it's light - al of us.'

The man looked nervously behind him, then turned back to plead with Herra. 'It'll be too late by then.'

'Indeed it will,' said Herra very cordially. At the same time she moved forward one pace and snapped her fingers.

The intruder froze where he stood. ' Who is your master?' she asked.

'I serve in the shrine,' he said woodenly, obeying her command. Only his eyes reflected the panic he was feeling.

Jonner hissed through his teeth, but Herra signalled him to keep quiet. She laid her hand on the man's arm. 'I don't want you to get hurt.' Her voice was soft and soothing. 'Why don't you wait in the corridor, my friend?'

Though her tone was quiet, Davred could hear the Compulsion. Would he ever be able to apply it so precisely?

' Wait for us there – wait till an hour after dawn – the door will remain open – you will be able to see us all the time. That's it. Just there. Stay there! '

Herra watched as the man moved stiffly to the place she had indicated. He stood unmoving and glassy-eyed, staring at the doorway. She nodded in satisfaction and reached out to close the door. Jonner was startled into exclaiming, 'But you told him . . . '

Herra smiled. 'He wil see the door as open, just as he will see us inside the room. But I prefer to close it. Don't you?'

'I certainly do. Maybe his friends will kill him when they find out he's let us go,' he added hopefully.

'I doubt it. They're used to the sight of someone stil ed by now. And why,' she frowned at him, 'would you want him killed for no reason?'

Jonner swallowed the words that leaped into his mouth. What was the use of telling a Sister that the only good enemy was a dead enemy? They were just too soft for their own good, the Sisters.

Herra shut the heavy wooden door in front of the man's staring eyes and gestured towards the window. 'We must leave that way.'

Jonner paused only long enough to jam a chair under the door handle before joining the other two at the window.

'Oh, no!' He gazed down in dismay at an unbroken drop of three storeys. They had thought themselves to be only on the first floor. 'Why didn't I take a good look round last night? This place is built on a bleedin' hillside!' He pounded his fist on the windowsill.

'Why didn't any of us check? I, of al people, should have known.' Herra's voice was sharp with annoyance and her eyes glittered like faceted crystal in the moonlight. Then she shrugged. 'Well, we're not yet lost. Waste no time on vain regrets, my friend. I can get you both down safely, if you'l trust yourselves to me.'

'How?' Jonner felt dizzy merely looking at the drop and the hard cobblestones of the alley below. 'I - I'm not much good with heights and climbing.' A sudden babble of voices in the corridor caused him to add, 'But I'm even worse at being killed!' He flung the shutters wide. 'That door won't hold for long. I'd rather break my own neck than fall into their hands. How do we get down, then, lady?'

'Let me go first,' said Herra, 'then I'l soften your fal s. Trust me! ' The last remark was for Jonner rather than Davred, QUEST Shannah Jay 144

who would have walked into fire at her command. She jumped lightly on to the windowsill and stepped out into space before Jonner could do more than gurgle in panic. He leaned out of the window in time to see her float gently to the ground. As she looked up and gestured to Davred to join her, Jonner exclaimed, 'May the God look down!' under his breath, and swallowed to moisten a throat dry with panic.

'She has very strong powers, you know,' Davred said gently, 'though few of us are able to extend our control of our own bodies to control of the matter around them as she does.'

'I'd not have believed that, if I hadn't seen it myself!'

Davred smiled. Without hesitation he stepped out from the windowsill. His fall was faster than Herra's, but not fast enough for him to hurt himself.

Jonner gulped and laid shaking hands on the window frame, then hesitated, sweat beading his brow. Even standing on a chair made his stomach churn. Then someone shook the door to the room and a voice cried, 'Open up! In the name of the Serpent, open this door!'

Jonner jumped on the sill, but still couldn’t bring himself to launch forward into space.

'You might as well save us the trouble and open this door! You'l not get away! We've guards all around this building.' Something crashed against the door and splintered one panel.

Eyes tightly closed, Jonner muttered another prayer and stepped out of the window. His arms flailed as the air rushed past his ears, but within a few seconds he’d landed. He immediately fell over backwards. 'Am I down?' he gasped, opening his eyes again. 'Am I still alive?'

'Oh course you are! Why didn't you keep your eyes open? You might have hurt yourself.'

Words failed Jonner, for one of the few times in his life.

From the open window above came the sound of heavy blows and splintering wood.

'Come on!' Davred hauled Jonner to his feet.

'There are guards all round the building. They shouted it through the door,' Jonner gasped, looking along the alley anxiously.

Herra half closed her eyes and tilted her head sideways in a listening position. 'Not many. I can deal with them.'

Jonner stared first at her, then towards the end of the little cul-de-sac, which was hidden behind a corner of the rambling old inn. 'How can you know who's there?' But he was addressing empty air. His two companions had started running away from the building. Muttering another fervent plea to the God to look down and protect them all, he followed suit.

At the end of the alley two of Benner's black-clad guards stood brandishing swords. As they opened their mouths to shout a warning to their companions, Herra stilled them, pausing only to check the road ahead.

'Brother of life, I'm glad she's on my side,' muttered Jonner.

'Shhh! Save your breath!' Herra commanded, peering around the corner at the road. It was still barely dawn, too early for there to be people around. Only a night watchman was in sight, drowsing in his little shelter at the gateway to a large domain.

They slowed their pace to a rapid walk. As they drew level with the watchman he spoke rapidly, without changing his position or appearing to wake up. 'Turn left into the next gates.' He made a swift gesture with his hand, forming a circle briefly with his forefinger and thumb.

Herra immediately turned left.

'Hey!' said Jonner. 'Are you mad? How do we know who he is? Where are we going? Stop! It might be another tr - '

' Quiet! '

Jonner clutched his throat as his voice cut off in mid-syllable, and slowed down for a minute in panic, but shouts in QUEST Shannah Jay 145

the distance, heralding fresh pursuit, caused him to increase his pace again. Trying to keep up with Herra was difficult, for she ran with the lithe grace of a young athlete and never missed a step, however rough the terrain. Davred was in better condition than Jonner, but even he was showing the strain as they pounded along the deserted driveway of the house. Jonner, heart thumping and sweat pouring down his face, could only stumble along behind them, gasping for breath and unable to articulate a complaint or plead for Herra to slow down.

As they drew near a huddle of outbuildings, a door opened and Herra turned into it. Davred vanished after her into the darkness and Jonner, with a last despairing glance over his shoulder, followed them. The door was instantly closed behind him and as he flattened himself against the nearest wall to protect his back, he heard a bolt sliding into place.

It was a moment before Jonner's eyes adjusted to the darkness of the shed. By then, Herra was exchanging quiet words with the woman who’d opened the door. She was a cook, by the look of her, with grease-spotted clothes and a big stained apron around her ample middle. With a curt, 'Fol ow closely!' she led Herra through another doorway.

They might at least have explained what was happening, thought Jonner aggrieved. He looked at Davred, but the younger man seemed happy to follow unquestioningly wherever Herra led, so Jonner had no option but to move off after them. 'I don't like this . . . ' he began, then stopped, realising that he’d got his voice back again.

'Keep quiet!' snapped Davred. 'Must you always make so much noise?'

Jonner, who had complete faith in no one but himself, and who liked to know exactly what he was getting into, glowered and loosened his dagger in its sheath, as wel as checking that one or two other smal stilettos which he carried concealed in sundry parts of his clothing were ready for use. He'd save the sharpest one for himself, he vowed, rather than fall into Benner's hands in company with a Sister. But he'd not die without taking an attacker or two with him. He let his hand rest loosely on the haft of his dagger and kept a suspicious eye on their rear, peering into all the doorways they passed.

After a few twists and turns the woman led them down a flight of chill stone steps and through a series of cellars.

The two men had to follow the shielded lantern she carried as best they could, and several times Jonner tripped over things, which made him curse fluently under his breath. At last they came to a wine cel ar and the woman bade them stand stil for a moment. With her back to them, she fiddled with the tap of a huge wine tun. The whole front of the tun swung outwards with a dull click and Jonner, stil keeping a suspicious eye on their rear, saw their guide start back the way they had come without another word.

Before Jonner had time to protest at possible treachery, Herra had stepped into the empty interior of the wine cask.

He hesitated, but Davred pushed him in behind her, and as soon as they’d crossed the threshold, the door swung shut behind them.

Ahead of them another door swung open, and as someone turned up a lamp, Jonner blinked in the brighter light and moved forward after the others. They seemed to be in a hidden cel ar and a cool draught suggested that somewhere there was another exit into the open air.

A tall man with dark skin and grey-black hair smoothed straight back from his brow, moved forward to greet them.

He bowed deeply to Herra. 'Welcome, Elder Sister. I'm honoured to give you shelter.'

Jonner's eyes nearly started out of his head. Elder Sister! Elder Sister! He goggled at Herra as if she had suddenly sprouted wings.

'I thank you, Aharri Bel-Ashkaron.' Herra held out her hands to the man and he took them reverently in his.

'Have you seen my Merryan?' he asked at once. 'My people have searched everywhere she might have taken refuge, but they could find no trace of her.'

Davred twitched Jonner's sleeve and nodded towards the farthest of the benches. Reluctantly, Jonner followed.

They sat down, trying to look as if they weren’t listening.

Herra laid her hand on the man's arm. 'She's dead, my dear friend. I buried her myself yesterday.'

Jonner expected an angry outburst or a display of grief, but the tall man received the news almost impassively. He bent his head for a while and when he raised it again, only a suspicious glitter of moisture beneath his eyes betrayed his QUEST Shannah Jay 146

emotions.

'I had suspected it, but hoped I was wrong. I couldn't sense her, you see.' A few deep breaths, a minor Discipline of self-control, recognised as such by all but Jonner, and Aharri was able to continue. 'And Carryn?'

'But - ' Herra broke off, then continued grimly. 'Carryn should have reached you by now, Aharri. We left her in the care of a man cal ed Harrol. He said he’d send her straight to you and let you know we wanted to see you at the same time.'

'She hasn't reached me. And I've had no message of any sort from Harrol. I heard about you from another source.

We didn't know exactly who you were, but we knew you were of the Sisterhood and in trouble.'

Herra couldn't hide her fear. 'Aharri, this is terrible! She ought to have reached you by now, surely?'

'Yes.'

'May the God watch over her!'

Aharri shook his head, as if to clear it. 'I'l send out messengers. Fat Harrol has been trustworthy in the past, so we’l see what he has to say. But if he's betrayed us . . . '

'Harrol's frightened,' put in Jonner, unable to keep silent for long, however august his company. 'Those devils are keeping a pretty tight rein on things in the city. He might not have had any choice in the matter.' He walked across the cellar and bowed awkwardly to them.

'We need no obeisances,' said Herra quietly. 'We're companions in misfortune this night.'

'Sorry, Sister - er - Elder Sister. Er - what do I call you? I haven't had much to do with the Sisterhood. Been too busy travelling around and I don't often get ill.' He turned to Aharri. 'We were in Harrol's eating house. He took your daughter off to the kitchens, seeing as they don't let women eat in public places any more. The understanding was that he'd get her to you. I didn't think he was lying to us, either.'

'No, he meant what he said at the time,' agreed Herra.

Aharri bowed his head. 'I'll try him first.' He had to pause for a moment before he could continue. 'If those devils have her, and if I cannot help her escape, I must try to kill her myself. I can't leave my little Carryn in their hands.'

Herra laid a hand on his arm, not surprised to find the muscles quivering under his rigidly-imposed self-control. 'If you can get me some different clothing, Aharri, I'll go back to the eating house and question Harrol. I shall know whether he's speaking the truth. You won't be certain. And I can compel him to answer, if necessary.'

'No!' said Davred sharply. 'We daren’t risk you again, Elder Sister.'

'Not much risk,' said Herra. 'If I know Aharri, he'll be able to take me there safely and get me away again afterwards.

Besides, it's my fault for leaving the child there. My mistake, my atonement.'

'No! The risk is too great. The world needs you too badly, Herra.'

Her eyes seemed to be glittering oddly, though there wasn't much light in the cellar. The expression on her face made Jonner shiver. He wouldn’t have liked to try opposing her.

'Do you think you can stop me, Davred?' There was genuine amusement in Herra's voice.

'I must try.'

Aharri looked from one to the other anxiously.

'Let me talk to my young friend, Aharri.'

Another courteous bow and Jonner found himself being shepherded back to the far corner of the cellar, this time by their host. His mind was reeling under a second shock. Davred. She'd called the young chap Davred! He gawked over his shoulder at his companions in misfortune. The Elder Sister of Temple Tenebrak and the Manifestation of their God! Just walking about the streets and dodging Benner's guards like anyone else! And he along with them. What had the world come to?

QUEST Shannah Jay 147

Jonner was aghast at the realisation of how he would suffer if he was captured with them. Why, there was a huge reward posted for the capture of the Elder Sister of Temple Tenebrak, and an equally high sum offered for anyone who apprehended the imposter the Sisters called the Manifestation of their God. Not that Jonner or anyone else with any sense would risk betraying either of them! Some things were just too dangerous. What good was a reward if you weren't alive to enjoy it?

Besides, the Sisters were all right. They didn’t go round hurting people.

Davred looked at Herra, his concern visible in his face. She seemed almost feverish. 'Is something the matter, Herra? You seem - different.' She was different. This night's adventures had not worn her out like the others he’d shared with her. Her eyes were sparkling and now that he examined her in the light, he could see that she seemed radiant with energy.

'We would say, The God has breathed into me, Davred. Can you not see it?' She saw his lack of comprehension and laughed aloud. 'Sometimes I forget how much you have yet to learn about us, dear friend. I think I may be allowed to call you friend now. When I say The God has breathed into me, it means my body is entering its last phase in this life cycle.'

He turned pale and she laid a hand on his arm. 'This is nothing to fear. Our Brother is very kind to some of us. He doesn't let our powers fade away and our eyes dim. Those of us who are adepts at my level sometimes sense what is happening and enjoy our last years most of all. We cal it attaining Enhancement.'

'Years?'

'I could have as many as ten years left - or as few as one. But for the rest of my time, my powers will be at their height. I shall even know when my end has come, and shall go to meet our Brother joyfully. However, there can be no more Renewals.'

'I can't imagine Sunrise without you. You are the pivot of our Quest.' How natural it was to align himself with the Sisterhood. Davred felt he belonged completely to this planet now. Its troubles were of far more import to him than those of Confex.

'It may be years yet. You won't be so easily rid of me, Davred. And,' she hesitated, 'will it comfort you to know that my attaining Enhancement gives me great joy, even in this time of trouble, for itmeans that my soul has not been tainted by the deeds forced upon me. I shall not have to retrace any of my steps on the Ladder of Life. This time, when I die, I think I may even rise to the next Level of Existence. So you see, my friend, my very dear Davred, you must rejoice for me, as I rejoice for myself.'

'I shall also rejoice for every day that you're still with us and grieve when you're gone. We are as children, compared to you. And Katia and I aren’t fit to carry the burden of the Quest.'

She touched his cheek with a motherly gesture, and the unsightly wart disappeared beneath her caress. 'I shan't leave you yet. But you needn’t fear to be inadequate, for you're learning and growing fast in your mastery of our Disciplines.

When I'm gone, the next stage, which you and Katia will lead, will be different. Not, I think, an echo of this one. Each person brings something new to the Quest.'

Giving in to an impulse, she stretched up to embrace him. 'Ah, Davred, I had six children, but I couldn't stay with them, not even to see them grow up. I wish I'd known their love for longer! Leaving my family was the hardest thing I’ve ever had to do. I think our Brother understands this and has sent you and Katia to be the children of my old age.'

He bent his head and kissed her in the formal manner, first on one cheek, then on the other, but afterwards he hugged her closely. 'I left my mother when I was eight, Herra, heedlessly, not caring. I was annoyed when she wept over me. And I've not seen her since, except on holocube recordings. The university world was too far away, and I never made the time to return - or she to visit me. It wasn't until I came to Sunrise that I learned how to love.'

'You couldn't do what you will have to, without love as a foundation. Hatred builds no towers.'

He hugged her again. 'You and Katia are teaching me wel .'

She nodded, stroked his cheek briefly, then pushed him away. 'It's settled, then.'

She walked over to rejoin Aharri. 'So, my dear friend, Davred and I have agreed that I shall go and question Fat QUEST Shannah Jay 148

Harrol for you. In the daylight would be best, and as soon as possible. They'll expect us to wait until after dark. I shall need richer clothes - something more flamboyant, I think. I shal seem an older man, the sort who must make a final flourish before age claims him, whereas they will expect us to go about quietly, seeking to remain inconspicuous.' She chuckled. 'I shall flaunt myself in front of them - and I shall enjoy it.' The smile faded and she laid a hand on Aharri's shoulder. 'If anything can be done, Aharri Bel-Ashkaron, then be sure that I shall do it.'

'I know.' He held the hand for a moment, then became brisk. 'My people and I will accompany you to the end of the street where the eating house lies, and we'll await you there. If you don't return within the hour, we’ll follow you inside and force Harrol to tell us where my daughter is.'

'Give me two hours. It may take a while to get him on his own.'

He hesitated. It was agony to think of his daughter in danger. But Herra turned her glowing eyes upon him and he nodded. 'Very well. Two hours. But not a second longer.'

* * *

There were few people in the littered streets. Most of those who had survived the riots were stil keeping to their homes for safety. Herra, her hair no longer grey but a dull brown, like fading leaves in autumn, strode along with a distinct swagger, drawing the eye.

When accosted, she showed her interrogators a token given by the Servants of the Shrine only to those who had served wel and long at the altars, and she smirked knowingly as she held it out.

Aharri didn’t say how he’d obtained this token and Herra didn’t ask. She hated the piece of metal, which seemed heavy with suffering, but carried it because the less she had to use her own powers, the stronger they would remain. She didn’t yet know how much of an Enhancement she would attain. It happened so rarely it wasn’t well documented in the Archives.

When she entered the eating house, she complained loudly that the entrance steps needed sweeping. Hand conspicuously on dagger hilt, she strutted over to the counter, slammed her other fist down on it, and demanded the best, the very best wine they had - and two glasses, clean glasses, mind! Harrol didn’t recognise her, and hurried eagerly to serve such a free spender.

With great condescension Herra allowed him to lead her to a choice seat at a highly-polished table near the fire.

When he brought the wine over, she smiled wolfishly, insisted that he share a glass with her, and wouldn’t take no for an answer. The lightest of Compulsions set a gleam of fear in his eyes, and he subsided willy-nilly on to a stool next to her. His hand shook as she forced him to pour himself a drink.

'You betrayed us, my friend. Remember to smile as you drink! We don't want anyone to think you aren't enjoying my company, do we?'

His eyes flew open in shock. 'Who are you?'

'I was here yesterday with a few companions - and a girl whom you led away. Her father would like to know where she is.'

The glass would have fallen from his grasp had she not steadied his hand around it.

'Where is she?'

Stark fear was in his eyes and he could hardly breathe, let alone utter a word.

' Where? ' The Compulsion was strong. She was angry.

'Th-they took her.'

' They? '

'Those of the Serpent.'

'You betrayed us!'

He shook his head. 'No! Never! Not wil ingly, at least. They just came - I knew nothing, believe me - but one of my QUEST Shannah Jay 149

kitchen drudges was spying on me. He is of their kind. I swear I didn't betray you! He must have overheard me telling my wife about it.'

'Continue. And speak the truth! '

'When the drudge told them about her, what could I say but that I was about to hand her over to them myself. I - it was all I could do! Nothing to gain by losing life over it, was there?'

She motioned with her hand for him to be silent and he obeyed, sitting in mute, sweating misery next to her. Then she snapped her fingers and looked deep into his eyes. After a moment she sighed. 'I believe you, but you realise, surely, that this forces you to a decision.'

'A decision? Me? What do you mean?'

'Hitherto you’ve tried to serve many different masters. And managed - just - to honour your promises to each of them. Now, Harrol of Yannersee, you must make your choice. Either you must join Those of the Serpent, or you must help the Sisterhood in its struggle to overcome this Evil. You cannot remain apart. Which shall you choose? Evil - or the Path of Wisdom?'

'I am an old man . . . '

She chuckled. 'I'm old too - much older than you. What has that to do with anything?'

'I . . . '

' Can you serve the Serpent? Have you ever made sacrifice in the shrine?'

He turned bright red. 'Once. Once only. And I nearly didn't succeed. I felt dirty for weeks afterwards. Some things are not for public display! When I found myself unable to complete the sacrifice the next time, they laughed at me.'

'And they let you stay away from the shrine?'

'I pay a fine instead. I'm not the only one. As long as you register as impotent and pay the fines on time, they don't bother you much. And I am impotent! In the shrine, anyway. The God our Brother knows it's the truth. I couldn't do it again in that place!' Panic twisted his face as he realised whose name he had invoked aloud. He cast a terrified glance around to see if anyone had heard him, but no one appeared to have noticed his lapse. His hand tightened on the glass of its own accord and he drained it suddenly. 'I cannot serve the Serpent. I must, I will help the Sisterhood.'

'I thought as much. But you're afraid, are you not? Afraid of death and pain.'

He nodded and paled at the mere thought, licking his lips as if they had gone suddenly dry. His protuberant blue eyes were those of a terrified child.

'It's natural to fear death, my friend,' Herra said gently. 'And pain. Most people do. It's a healthy, normal reaction.

Your fear is greater than most because you haven't lived many lives yet. Your soul doesn’t know it to be the truth that you will be born again - and again, until you find the Path of Wisdom.'

'Do you - do you really believe that? Do you remember your other lives?'

'Not remember, exactly. But I sense sometimes that I’ve been in a place before, and I know the truth of the lessons my lives have taught me in a way I can't explain.' She reached out and patted his arm in a comforting, motherly way.

He sighed and sagged on his stool suddenly. 'Yes. I know you're right, however hard it is.' He looked at her with still-frightened eyes and swallowed hard. 'So be it. I'l try to help you. But I'm weak. I can't guarantee to . . . Well, may the God aid me to serve him as I should!' There was relief in his voice, as wel as fear.

Herra nodded, satisfied. 'Even to take that decision makes you stronger, my friend. Now, tel me where I must go to find the girl.'

He did not meet her eyes as he said, 'To the shrine. But - you're too late.'

'Too late? What do you mean?'

'They've made an example of her already. They knew who she was, you see. Someone recognised her as Aharri's QUEST Shannah Jay 150

daughter. My kitchen drudge told me what happened. He even boasted of what he’d seen. It was - it was Benner himself who did it first.'

' First! ' Herra controlled the fury that surged through her. Her expression was grim as she asked, 'Is the girl still alive?'

'The lad says so. She's to be offered for public use every evening - until they tire of the game - or kill her with overuse. That's one of their newer tricks.'

Herra found it difficult to slip back into character and her attempt at a smile made Harrol shiver. As he escorted her to the door, with much bowing and flourishing, he muttered, 'There's a little-used side entrance to the shrine on the Shambles side. Not many know of it, and it's not as well guarded as the main entrance. You might find it easier to get in

- or out - that way.'

'Thank you for that information.'

'Aharri will have me killed. I know it. I don't blame him, either.'

'No - he'll just have you watched carefully. Until you've earned his trust again, my friend. And I think you’ll do that, will you not?'

'I'll try. I really will.'

'No one can do more,' Herra said quietly, then slapped him on the back, commended his wine in a loud slurred voice, and told him to clean his steps properly in future. Whistling tunefully, she swaggered off.

#####

Chapter 24: INSIDE THE SHRINE

Aharri and his men were waiting for Herra at the corner of the street. They led her into a nearby building and as soon as the door had closed, he clutched her arm, forgetting all the respect due to the Elder Sister. 'What did you find out? Tell me!'

It was another unpleasant task. Aharri had suffered so much already. The God was testing him to the limits - or perhaps strengthening another soul to help win the fight against Those of the Serpent.

When she finished speaking, he was silent for a few moments, then looked at her bleakly. 'I must go there tonight and try to kill her!' His voice broke on the words, but he drew a long, shuddering breath and continued. 'At least she shall be spared further pain and public humiliation! They are bestial savages! I would that I could burn that festering sore of a shrine to the ground!'

'You shall not kill her! We don't kill.'

' You, of all people, would have me leave her there?'

'No. I’d have you rescue her. And I'll help you.'

'She will be - damaged - insane, perhaps. Some lose their minds under their savagery. Carryn's just a child, a child who’s been dearly loved.' He caught back a sob but it turned into a groan of agony.

She grasped his arm. 'If her mind isn’t damaged beyond repair, I can heal her body, and time will heal her soul. We must allow her that chance. Your daughter is no weakling. And besides - would not Merryan wish us at least to try to save her?'

Hope flickered briefly in his eyes, then faded. 'We couldn't get inside, let alone bring her out again.'

'I can get us in. And out again, I think. It will be unpleasant for me - but I shall survive.' Her eyes became unfocused. 'A week ago, I couldn’t have done it. Since then, I have attained Enhancement.' She saw by his awed QUEST Shannah Jay 151

expression that he understood what that meant. He’d been married to Merryan for over thirty years, after all. The husbands of Sisters learned many things.

'Aharri, my friend, it's all part of the pattern. Even your daughter's pain, perhaps. Slowly but surely our Brother is forging new weapons to fight Those of the Serpent. With their help we shal put an end to Discord. People who have gone through the fires of agony and survived become very strong. We of the Sisterhood aren’t immune to the need to change, you know. I believe we've gone too far along one path, become too gentle - gentleness is not wisdom and isn’t always the right way to behave.' As a Healer, she should know that better than anyone.

Aharri bowed his head. 'What must we do, then? I’m yours to command, Elder Sister.'

'First, Aharri, you must acquire the uniforms of one of Benner's captains and of two guardsmen, as well as the services of another man, a strong man, to wear the other guardsman's uniform with you and maybe fight at our side.

Then we shal go into that place to find Carryn. An escape route must also be planned. Once we come out again, we must get away swiftly. They'll leave no stone unturned to avenge such an insult.'

'I can arrange the escape. And if we succeed, it'll put new heart into those who still serve the God.'

'We shal succeed. The God is with us. I feel his presence very close to me today.'

Within the hour Herra had been transformed into a smart captain, and had acquired a guard of honour in the persons of Aharri and a taciturn giant of a man named Benjan, whose borrowed uniform stretched tightly across his muscular shoulders. When he was presented for Herra's inspection, she frowned. 'Do I know you, my friend?'

'No, Sister. We’ve never met.'

'Strange. I thought I recognised you. Well, there's no time to pursue that now. Let's leave. The sooner this is over, the better.' She led them swiftly and openly through the streets towards Tenebrak's main shrine, where Carryn was being held.

Once there, they entered through the main doorway with all the arrogance of Inner Shrine Initiates, and the common people fell back before them. Herra was a consummate actress and looked magnificent in black and silver. She strode forward to the altar, and if the other worshippers thought they saw her and her escort make the writhing gesture of obeisance to the Serpent, it was a simple enough illusion to create.

Being inside such a place was far worse than Herra had expected. Great waves of anguish seemed to wash from wall to wall, and the agony that had been inflicted there seemed embedded in the stones. The screams of countless victims echoed silently in her head and the sickly smell of the incense made her feel as if she was choking.

Aharri and his companion, although cushioned by her aura, still felt the vibrations of agony and had to endure them as best they could. The effects of the incense were minimal, thanks to Herra.

As they walked across the grey marble floor they saw a woman being pushed towards the main altar by her husband.

They were country folk, by their clothes. It was not yet the hour of the Evening Sacrifices, when all the side altars would be in use. A bored Servant stood by the largest altar; another guarded a rear entrance.

At the sight of the shrinking woman, the Servant's jaded eyes brightened a little and he shook free the thongs of the whip he carried. He stepped forward and began admonishing her for her reluctance to remove her clothes and do her duty in public.

The husband, anxious not to be taken at fault, pulled at her clothes. When the wife began to weep and plead for a little privacy, the Servant rang a small gong. She screamed for mercy then and tore the rest of her clothes off, but it was too late. With a gloating smile the Servant ordered a light whipping and an hour's public service. He himself chained her trembling body to the altar tripod and began to make the first sacrifice while the husband, white to the gills, whipped her back, knowing it to be the only way to save both their lives.

The sounds of the lash and the woman's screams fol owed Herra and her companions as they pushed through the red velvet hangings behind the long black altar. Herra made sure that the Servant on duty at the rear did not notice them pass.

Once they were out of sight, Herra paused for a moment to drain her own and her companions' pain. 'I can do QUEST Shannah Jay 152

nothing for that poor woman without betraying our presence,' she said, white-lipped. 'All I can do is dull the pain and make sure she faints soon.'

'She's only one of many,' Aharri said through gritted teeth. 'We manage to save a few of them afterwards, but not enough.'

'I'm sure you do your best, my friend. But we mustn't linger here. Your daughter is a Key Life at this stage of our Quest. We can't afford to lose her.' Eyes unfocused, Herra tried to cast her consciousness ahead to sense where Carryn might be held, but she had to desist almost at once. Not only were there a great many people in the shrine, but the emanations of misery were too much for an unshielded mind.

Determinedly Herra led the way forward until they came to a long hallway. Here they saw one or two of the black-clad Servants going about their business, but none of them accosted the little group, or seemed to notice anything amiss in their presence there at the very entrance to the Inner Shrine.

Herra waited until the corridor was clear of all but one man, then, as he moved towards them, she snapped her fingers. He froze for an instant only, then began to squirm, as if able to fight her Compulsion. His dark silver-edged robes were damp with fresh bloodstains and there was a smear of blood across his forehead. With reluctance Herra reached out to touch his brow, and he stopped struggling, but the hatred in his eyes was unquenched.

' Take us to the girl Carryn! ' she ordered, and her voice was harsher than Aharri had ever heard it before.

The man's lips mouthed a refusal, but he was unable to give voice to it, and his limbs began to obey the command of their own accord. Jerkily he turned and led them along a dimly-lit side passage. Like a badly-controlled puppet, he staggered to a halt outside one of the heavy doors.

' Open it! '

'No - key.' For a moment triumph replaced the hatred in his eyes.

Herra turned to the lock, and as her attention focused on that, her control over the man slipped enough for him to make frantic gurgling noises and lurch away from them. Without hesitation Benjan chopped him very hard in the side of the neck, and he fel to the ground unconscious.

Herra whirled. 'You haven't . . . '

'No, lady. I know you don't allow killing. Pity to lose such a good opportunity, but this one will live to harm other innocent folk.' The hatred in Benjan's voice was undisguised.

Herra laid a hand on the door. As it swung open a girl's voice screamed from inside. 'No! No! Not again!' and a chorus of pleas and protests joined her from the nearby cells. The Elder Sister slipped inside the chamber and Carryn's screams stopped. Aharri followed her, motioning to Benjan to remain on guard outside.

As they vanished into the darkness inside the doorway, Benjan grinned and went over to the prone figure in black.

He kicked it hard, several times, in the groin. 'You may still be alive, but you'l have difficulty playing your part in the sacrifices for a while,' he murmured with a look of fierce satisfaction.

Inside the cell Herra stilled Carryn, who had become hysterical at the mere opening of the door, and who was half insane with fear. She gestured to Aharri to carry his daughter out.

'Wait!' she said, and moved swiftly up and down the corridor, touching every lock on the cell doors. 'They'll open of their own accord just after second moonrise,' she whispered softly to the inmates. She turned to Aharri. 'Let us hope some of those poor women manage to escape. Can you have men waiting outside to help them, just in case?'

'It'll be our privilege.' He showed no sign of impatience now, merely stood cradling his daughter close and waiting for Herra's instructions.

She set off again, taking a route which led towards the side of the building, trying to find the entrance Harrol had spoken of. The shrieks from the altar in the public shrine grew fainter behind them and cut off abruptly as Herra made a sign with her hand. The darkness of this passageway seemed impenetrable. As they waded through the fetid air, a white-haired man in the robes of a Master Initiate stepped out from behind a pillar and stopped dead at the sight of QUEST Shannah Jay 153

them.

'Who are you?'

Herra snapped her fingers and he stumbled, but didn’t freeze. Never before had she encountered people able to resist her powers. Again her fingers clicked, to focus her will. Slowly he struggled to move away, only partly held by the mesh of her Compulsion. As he opened his mouth to give the alarm, she could only watch in horror. Just as it seemed that they must be discovered, a knife flashed through the air and sank into his chest. Still he defied death for long enough to mouth a hoarse curse at them as he fell.

Herra stood like a tree struck by lightening. 'How could he?' she whispered. 'How could one of Evil resist the power of Good?'

It was Benjan who urged her forward through the doorway into the side alley. Not until they were outside did she regain her colour and begin to think more clearly.

'Hurry!' Aharri urged. 'We must be off the streets as quickly as possible.'

'You lead, now.' Herra fell back, Benjan gently lifted the girl's motionless body into his massive arms and they set off at a run.

#####

Chapter 25: BENJAN

Aharri's people led the fugitives swiftly away to yet another hiding place, this time in the Shambles. The route led through narrow terraced houses in the central district, over roofs and across an occasional patch of bare earth. At one stage the group had to wade through a muddy underground drainage tunnel, ankle-deep in slimy, stinking water. Even if someone had noticed them passing, the trail would soon have been lost again, for at every change of direction a watcher waited behind them to check that no one was following.

Eventually they were led by a side door into a lean-to hovel that sprawled along the side of a cookshop. The wood of the hovel's walls was warped, and its two small windows were stuffed with rags where the glass had been broken.

Traces of light showed at one of the windows, but there was nothing unusual in that. Folk who lived in the Shambles didn’t usually go to bed at dusk. The roof of the lean-to was of mouldy grey thatchgrass, sagging and trailing rotten fibres. It was the sort of place a farmer would hesitate to use to house a milk nerid, but which poorfolk were often glad to call home.

Waiting inside their new refuge were Davred and Jonner. Aharri slipped some money into their guide's hand and the woman left quietly. The inside of the hovel was lit by two smoking candles. By their flickering light Benjan saw a pile of rags in a corner and laid the unconscious girl down on them. Aharri knelt beside his daughter and smoothed the matted hair back from her forehead. Herra joined him.

'Can you help her?' he asked, his voice breaking. 'Look what they've done to her back! And - what about the other -

thing?' He could not bring himself to put into words what had happened. 'She's so young!' He rubbed a hand across his tear-fil ed eyes. 'You will be able to help her, won't you, Elder Sister?'

'Of course we will, Aharri. But I can do nothing now. Best we keep her asleep until I have more time and can form a healing circle around her. Can you get me some slumberbane?'

'Yes, of course.' He grimaced. 'You can get anything in the Shambles, as long as you have money, and of that at least I have plenty.' He went out of the room and was back very quickly. 'It's on its way.'

Herra laid a hand on Carryn's brow. There was fever there. Well, she could remedy that easily. The girl's temperature came down so rapidly that it took Herra a moment to realise that the Enhancement had also improved her powers of QUEST Shannah Jay 154

healing.

Aharri stood over them like a pillar of anguish. 'Can you - will she recover, Herra?'

'If our Brother wills it.'

A man came in and handed Aharri a bottle filled with a thick, oily liquid. More money changed hands. Herra managed to coax Carryn into drinking some of it without al owing the girl to regain full consciousness.

'Don't tear yourself apart with worrying, my friend,' she said to Aharri as they waited for the slumberbane to take effect. 'If anyone can help her to accept what has happened, we can.'

He sighed and put aside his worries about his daughter by concentrating on what must be done. 'So, Elder Sister, how may I serve you?'

'My companions and I must leave the city. For the moment, Tenebrak is too much under the control of Those of the Serpent. Besides, our next task doesn’t lie here. My Brother has whispered into my ear that we must leave the Claim of Tenebron completely and travel a long way, though he hasn’t said where. We of the Sisterhood must prepare ourselves, change our ways, so that we may win this struggle.'

Her eyes were veiled and she spoke in the tones of prophecy. If they’d been in the temple, the Sisters would have written down her words. Aharri didn’t dare to prompt her when she fell silent, but exchanged awed glances with Davred as they waited for her to speak.

'Ah, Brother, you stil walk with me,' Herra said after a moment or two. She blinked and looked at Aharri, standing patiently by her side. Filled with compassion she laid her hand on his arm and pressed it gently. Never before, in all her long life, had she felt such an overwhelming need to touch other people, to exchange comfort with them.

'I'd like to leave the city disguised as traders, Aharri. For that, we'll need wagons and trading goods. And could you find some deleff to draw them, do you think? We have far to travel.'

'I can find you some deleff. They come to me for temporary refuge during these troubled times. They're unhappy where there's violence, and it often makes them return to the wildwoods. I can't guarantee that the deleff will draw the wagons for you, however. You must meet them and ask for their help. Have you any experience of deleff?'

'No, but Jonner has travelled with them before. He's a trader.'

'Ah. That may be all right, then.'

'Yes, the God guided him to us. I have access to plenty of coin if you need it, Aharri.'

'I don't need your coin, Elder Sister. I'll help you gladly. I'm still a man of power in this city, although I shall have to work in secret now.' A wry smile creased his face. 'Fortunately, I haven’t done all of my trading openly. There can be great profit in certain goods and Benner's city taxes have ever been excessive. That smuggling will stand me in good stead now. And I shan’t be working alone. There are many others upset by this senseless mayhem.'

His expression grew sombre again. 'Elder Sister, will you take my little Carryn with you? You could leave her with one of her brothers or sisters. They're scattered about the various claims. Once you're away from Tenebrak, there should be no difficulty in finding a trader going near one of them. Or you could keep her with you and train her - if she's worthy of being chosen. Merryan would have liked that.'

I've known for years that she’d join the Sisterhood. Merryan's is a prime line and your own line enhances its Gifts.'

'I thank you for that comfort. We shal continue to serve our Brother here in Tenebrak, doubt it not. Benner shall not have things all his own way.' He looked down at his daughter. 'The God knows,' he said harshly, 'that I would rather keep her here with me, but I dare not! I can’t bear to think that they might capture her again.'

'They won't. I shan't let them touch her again. But I agree it's best she leaves. Her destiny doesn't lie here; it lies with us. We'll teach her the Disciplines and see that she doesn't fret too much.'

He fixed eyes burning with pain upon her. 'Elder Sister, tell me the truth! Am I making the right decision? Should I not rather leave Tenebrak and make a new home for Carryn myself? Is my desire for vengeance against Benner wrong?'

QUEST Shannah Jay 155

She clasped his hand and closed her eyes for a moment, then spoke very softly, for him only. 'You've made the very best decision, Aharri. No one else could do as much here as you will. But don’t act for vengeance and try not to kill except in self-defence. Do what you must do for the sake of justice. For truth. Or simply to help those whom Benner oppresses. The God will walk with you every step of the way.'

She paused and nodded at him. 'Our Brother has need of you in Tenebrak at this time, Aharri, but if it makes you feel better, I can promise that you won’t die without seeing your daughter again, and holding her children in your arms.'

She could feel his pain lighten as he clasped her hands.

'Thank you for that comfort, Herra. You’ve given me hope, a beacon in this time of darkness.' His voice faltered then he became businesslike again. 'The first thing is for you to meet the deleff. If you're acceptable to them, we'll get you and your companions out of the city one by one, using people I trust. Benner has set up barriers on all the roads, but we have our ways. How many of you are there?'

'We are six, with Carryn. I might be able to help you when it comes to getting out of Tenebrak, but I must rely on you to find a wagon - no, two wagons would be better - and trading goods.'

Jonner, who had sat down on the floor with his back against the wall and his eyes on the door, watched them.

Deleff, eh? He’d missed travelling with deleff. Nothing as reliable as them, once they'd made up their minds to help you. He sighed wearily, glad to sit and rest.

Benjan, who’d been standing near Carryn, looking down at her, came and sat down, closing his eyes with a tired grunt and leaning his head against the rough wood of the wal .

Jonner looked across at Herra, still engrossed in her planning, and nudged Benjan. 'They don't tell you much, do they? Just, "We'll go and fish her out of the shrine. You stay here." Then it's "Come here!" and "Go there!" and "Wait around for your next orders". They'll be telling us when to fart next!' He looked at Benjan. 'What happened tonight?

How did you get her out of the shrine?'

Benjan spat on the floor. 'Who wants to talk of what happened? Festering pesthouses, those shrines. They scorn the poorfolk, but Those of the Serpent are carrion. I'd rather have a giant lenril come at me head on than one of those Initiates. I killed him, though.'

'Who?'

'One of the Masters of the Inner Shrine.'

Jonner whistled in admiration. 'Tonight?'

Benjan nodded, his expression fierce and triumphant.

'How?'

Benjan took a knife out of his jerkin. 'With this little beauty.' Jonner examined it with the eye of a professional, whistling again as he caught sight of the crest punched onto the top of the blade.

'You can't beat a throwing knife made in Jan-Halani,' Benjan said, in the tone of a lover. 'Took me months to save for this little lady, it did, but she's saved my life three times now.' He grew angry at the memory of the shrine and words burst from him. 'It sickened me, that place! Most animals only kill for food, and you don't find poorfolk torturing one another for sport, however hungry they get. Have you seen that girl's back? Have you seen what those devils did to her?'

Jonner shuddered eloquently.

'An' how old would you say she is - fourteen, fifteen?' It wasn’t often Benjan was moved to speak in more than monosyllables; now the words poured out of him like bile.

'She's thirteen, actually. Heard her father say so.'

'Thirteen! What's the world comin' to? Me, I've lived in the Shambles all my life. I've stole things, aye, an' killed folk too, but I've never whipped a little girl's back to shreds, let alone egged a crowd of men on to rape her!' Benjan beat his clenched ham of a fist on the floor, scowling over to where Carryn lay.

QUEST Shannah Jay 156

'She been sacrificed in one of their shrines, then?' queried Jonner, trying to find his way through this torrent of vituperation.

'What do you think?'

Jonner shivered. 'No one said for sure.'

'Who'd want to talk of it? How must her father feel, poor sod?'

Silence lay heavily between them, then Benjan growled, 'You leavin' with them?'

'I reckon so. Why?'

'Think they'll need another guard? I'm strong an' I’d not ask for much, not if I had a chance to fight against them.

Once I've made my promise, I stick to it. I'm a Hashite, Third Rank.'

'Third, eh? Don't you fancy assassinations? That's where the money is these days.'

'No. I don't like killin' for no reason. Anyway, it's too dangerous. I had a young sister to look after, so I stuck with bodyguard assignments.' He changed the subject before Jonner could ask what had happened to his sister. 'So, d'you think they're going to need anyone else?'

'You'll have to ask them. I never know what they're going to want next.' Jonner stared at the three leaders with a rather hostile expression. He disliked being kept on the edge of things.

The conference finished at last and Davred asked the two men to join them. Herra and Aharri were now arguing about whether it was safe for Herra to rejoin her companions or whether she should be got out of the city at once.

'It's not safe for you to stay anywhere in the city,' insisted Aharri. 'The sooner we get you out, the better.'

'I will join my companions first, I think.'

'But . . . '

'Enough! I have made my decision.' She turned to smile at Benjan. 'I haven't thanked you properly yet, my friend.

We'd have been lost without your help tonight.'

Benjan seized his opportunity. 'I was hired to do a job an' I did it.'

'As your promise was made,' said Aharri, almost chanting the words.

'So my promise was kept,' finished Benjan in the same tone.

'You've truly earned your silver and upheld the honour of your guild.' Aharri handed over a pouch.

Benjan tucked it away quickly then turned back to Herra. 'Did I hear that you was thinkin' of leaving the city, lady?'

'We are to take some wagons and go as traders.'

'And - are you plannin' to do somethin' about them devils?'

'We intend to continue our fight against Discord, if that's what you mean.'

'Discord? What does that mean? I want to do my bit against Those of the Serpent, if that's your Discord. Maybe I can't do much - one man, like - but I'll get rid of a few of them before I'm through!'

Aharri judged it time to re-enter the conversation. 'Benjan's younger sister vanished a few months ago, taken by Those of the Serpent. She's not been seen since. That's why I knew we could trust him today.'

Herra patted Benjan's arm. 'I'm sorry to hear that, my friend. And yes, we shall be continuing the struggle - though our way will not necessarily be to kill our enemies. If you joined us, you would have to follow our ways.'

'As long as we're doin' somethin', not just sittin' on our arses, prayin'!' His eyes lingered for a moment on the still figure of Carryn, then he looked straight at Herra. 'So am I to come with you, then? You'l need guards, surely?'

'You must fol ow your own heart in that, my friend.'

QUEST Shannah Jay 157

Benjan swore and slapped one great muscular fist into the palm of the other. 'Riddles! Bloody riddles! Why can you Sisters never give a straight answer to a straight question? How's a plain man to understand what you mean?'

He had caught her full attention. 'In truth, friend Benjan, I meant to set you no riddle, only to say that you must make your own decision. If you wish to join us, we shall be happy to have you, but it is, it must be, by your own choice.'

He was determined that there should be no misunderstandings. 'Even though I've been a thief?'

'Even so.'

'And - even if I've killed a few people here and there?'

'That's harder to accept, for we of the Sisterhood do not kill, if we can help it. Have you killed in malice, or in anger, taking pleasure in the act?'

'Pleasure! Where's the pleasure in it? I've killed to save my own skin, lady. It's as simple as that. I'm no assassin. I hire out to protect people, not kill them. I've stayed in the Third Rank of the Guild on purpose. There's no pleasure to me in kil ing.' He breathed deeply and scowled at Herra. 'You Sisters have it easy. You can still people if you're in trouble. I've seen you do it. And you don't have to worry about food. People give things to you. In the Shambles, in the hungry years, it's kill or be killed. And I'm still alive.'

'Speak with courtesy to the Elder Sister!' exclaimed Aharri, shocked by his tone.

Benjan looked him squarely in the eyes. 'I speak the truth. I'm of the poorfolk, but I'm also of the Hashite Guild.

I've had no time to learn your fancy ways of talkin', but I have my pride. Hashites don't lie.' He gave Herra an awkward bow. 'Not that I meant any disrespect, lady.' He hesitated, then said in a rush, 'I served you well tonight. You said so yourself. I went into that place with you and stuck by you, didn't I? So I've earned the right to say my piece, haven't I?'

'I wish more people would speak to me as honestly as you do, my friend. I think I've been cloistered for too long behind the walls of the temple.'

Benjan's gaze was that of a pet seeking to understand its master's wishes, but puzzled by the complexity of the orders. 'So am I to come with you, then?'

'Oh yes, my friend. If that's what you truly wish to do, it wil please me greatly. The only condition is that you continue to speak honestly to me.'

He looked at her sideways from under heavy brows, not sure whether she meant this. 'People like you don't usually want poorfolk like me to say things straight out to 'em.'

'I've been shut up inside a temple for most of my life. I had,' Herra smiled reminiscently, 'a very brief period out in the world, but even then I was most lovingly protected. And after a few years, it was necessary to return to the Sisterhood. I need you to speak honestly to me now, Benjan, so that I will understand what ordinary people are thinking.'

He shrugged. 'That's all right with me, lady. Makes it easier, if you mean that.' He smiled at her, though his smile only briefly lifted the serious expression that sat upon his heavy features as if chiselled there. 'So long as I can get a few pokes in at them murderin' devils an' have a bit of fun now an' then, I shan't complain.'

Davred looked at him curiously. Benjan was a new type to him as well as to Herra. 'Is that all you seek in life?'

'What else is there for a man like me?'

'We're seeking wisdom. That's the purpose of our Quest, to find out how to make a better world for everyone.'

Benjan laughed openly. 'Who am I to look for wisdom? What's this wisdom of yours, anyway? I'd not know it if it stared me in the face. Though I try to do right by folks. That I do try. No, I'll leave the wisdom and the thinking to you an' the Sisters, an' I'll serve you with my body.' He went to stand squarely before Herra. 'I'll make my promise now, if you please.'

'It's a small ritual,' Aharri explained. 'They have certain customs in the Shambles. If a Hashite is promised to you, then he or she will guard you faithfully, even unto death.'

Herra stood quietly in front of Benjan, a tiny figure of immense dignity. She smiled slightly as the large man took her QUEST Shannah Jay 158

hand, raised it briefly to his forehead and said simply. 'I make you my promise. I will be your man.'

Something seemed to be expected from her. She concentrated and words came to her. 'I accept your promise. It's more binding than silver, more precious than gold.'

He raised her hand again. 'I am your man now, lady. To the death, if necessary.'

Aharri leaned towards Davred to whisper, 'That makes it the most binding oath possible, on both sides. How did she know that response?'

Davred shrugged.

Herra was stil clasping the large hand in both hers. 'I welcome you to our group, Benjan the Hashite.'

He released her hand and nodded as if satisfied, then his face settled into its former stolid expression and he stood back to await orders from his new mistress.

#####

Chapter 26: KINDRED OF THE GOD

As the small party made its way across the city all three moons were shining in the sky and there was more light than any of them would have wished. Benjan was again holding Carryn, seeming scarcely to notice the extra weight of the slender body lying against his chest. She was breathing with the long, slow rhythms of slumberbane. He could see how her lashes curved on her cheeks, just as his sister's had. He hoped Delly had died quickly and painlessly. He hoped she hadn't suffered as this child had. He vowed to himself that if he could help Carryn survive, he would.

Those of the Serpent were still searching desperately for the desecrators of the shrine. Several times they had to wait in the shadows for one of Benner's patrols to pass by. Twice Herra deflected guards who would have blundered into them. A curfew had been imposed on the city following the riots, a measure greatly resented by the populace, Aharri told them. The few people they saw breaking curfew betrayed only panic at the sight of their group, and made haste to get out of sight and hearing.

Within an hour they were approaching the entrance to the secret tunnels. Here Herra took over and cast a few moments of oblivion over all her companions save Davred. Under it, the others stumbled along like automatons, obeying her instructions as to when to turn or stop. She didn’t lift the oblivion until they were deep in the tunnels.

Aharri whistled in surprise. 'Merryan never spoke of these.'

'The tunnels have always been a closely-guarded secret.'

'A wise precaution. You're right to keep people in ignorance of your hidden ways. I’d have found it hard to resist taking advantage of so spacious a shelter for some of my less respectable goods, if I’d known of them.'

By the flickering light of the candle they’d brought with them, Herra led the group towards the emergency chamber.

'As soon as I give the word, follow me inside the cave,' she ordered. 'The entrance won't stay open for long.'

Jonner gasped aloud as the wall shimmered, but Benjan nodded in satisfaction, proud to be protected by Herra's magic. The stronger the powers of the group, the greater the chances of them overcoming their enemies.

Then they were inside the chamber and the wall was forming again behind them.

Katia ran forward and threw herself into Davred's arms, totally ignoring protocol and earning a glare from Cheral.

As always, the world seemed to shift into a truer focus when the two of them were together. 'I missed you,' she said softly in his ear.

'And I you.'

QUEST Shannah Jay 159

Cheral started to fuss over Herra, exclaiming over her dirt-streaked face and begging her to go and wash herself in the pool. 'If only we had some way of heating the food!' she mourned. 'There's nothing like a nice bowl of soup for soothing the spirit.'

Benjan stepped forward into the light and Cheral saw the burden he was carrying. She was at his side in an instant.

'Who's this? How is she hurt?' She gasped as she uncovered Carryn's back. 'Brother of life!' Then her practical nature took over. 'Lay her down over here, on my pallet. Gently! Gently! Whatever happened to the poor child?'

'Those of the Serpent captured her and used her in the shrine,' Benjan explained, seeing that no one else was paying much attention to him and this old dame.

'A young child like that!' While Herra was arranging the final details with Aharri, and Davred was engaged in a low-voiced conversation with Katia, Cheral deftly began to strip the bloodstained rags from the girl's back. By the time Aharri came to say farewell to his daughter, the Novice Mistress was gently bathing the torn flesh.

'Easier to do a healing on clean wounds,' she told him. 'You won't recognise her by tomorrow, Aharri Bel-Ashkaron.'

Eyes brimming, he bent to kiss his daughter, laid a hand very briefly on her head in benison, then stood up. 'I thank you for your care, Sister,' he said formally.

'We who serve the God also serve his people.' But Cheral's response was automatic, her attention all for her patient.

'Fiana, get me some more clean water, will you?' She barely noticed Herra deactivate the wal and take Aharri outside again.

Davred introduced Benjan and Jonner to the others, and by the time Herra returned, food had been found, beds made up for them and, most important of al , Carryn's back was ready for healing.

Cheral transferred her attention to Herra. 'I must say you don't look too exhausted, for all that you've been gone so long,' she admitted grudgingly. 'They must have looked after you properly. Now, when do you wish to heal this poor child's back, Elder Sister? Or shall you leave that to Katia? She's not bad at healing now, you know, and it would give you a chance to rest. You must be exhausted.'

'I'm not.'

Cheral looked sceptical.

'The healing will not exhaust me, Cheral.' Herra looked round the cave and clapped her hands for attention.

Everyone turned to look at her.

Using the formal mode of speech and chanting the words, Herra said, 'Rejoice with me, my Sisters, for I have attained Enhancement.'

Three gasps, then her Sisters began to murmur suitable responses.

Jonner plucked at Davred's tunic. 'What's all that mean?'

It was Herra who answered him. 'It means, my friend, that I am nearing the end of my life, but that the God has blessed me by increasing my powers. We call it attaining Enhancement.'

'You mean - you won't get weaker as you grow older, like everyone else?'

'No. Some of us get stronger towards the end. It's a very joyful thing, but not common.'

'How's that possible?' demanded Benjan, whose experience of life had taught him that things only got worse the older you became. He’d always dreaded the day when his great strength would begin to fail. 'Is it your magic?'

'Partly.'

'Why don't you let other people learn it, then? Most of us could do with a bit of that - what do you call it? -

Enhancement.'

Cheral breathed deeply at this impertinence, and waited in vain for the Elder Sister to reprimand Benjan.

QUEST Shannah Jay 160

Herra only smiled gently. 'We're still learning about it ourselves, my friend. It's one of the newer Gifts.'

'Most folk'd be willing to take a gamble, given the chance.'

'It takes a long time. Our "magic", as others call it, is a rigorous training in difficult Disciplines. It takes many years to learn it.'

'It takes a long time to learn any skill, lady. How long do you think it took me to become a good swordsman, or to learn to throw a knife? Are these Disciplines of yours just for women, or can men learn them too?'

Herra looked at him thoughtfully. 'Men haven't usually been trained in our Disciplines, but they can sometimes acquire the skills. Lord Davred here is one who is learning them successfully, and Aharri exhibits a few Gifts.' She looked at Benjan. 'Would you like to try to learn them too, my friend?'

Cheral's mouth fell open in surprise.

Benjan ignored the old dame. 'Is that possible for someone like me? I've no schooling, except in using weapons. I've never even had time to learn to read. Too busy earnin' my bread.'

'I don't know whether it's possible, but we could try to teach you.'

'Well - I wouldn't mind tryin'. Why not? What've I got to lose?'

Cheral spluttered with outrage.

'Why should he not try, Cheral?' Herra asked, her displeasure evident in her voice.

'But - Elder Sister - he's a man! We're a Sisterhood.'

'The Lord Davred is also a man.'

'He was chosen! That's different.'

Herra stood stock still for a moment, then spoke in a wondering tone. 'Then I choose Benjan now. Times are changing, Cheral. We must change with them, or our Sisterhood will die. No, do not argue! The God is speaking through me, showing me how I must start to make the changes.'

'The God?' whispered Cheral.

'Yes.' Herra raised her voice, 'The God speaks!' One by one the others fell to their knees, and the Sisters realised that Herra was making another major prophecy as her voice began to echo from the cave walls.

'The God has whispered in my ear:

It is time to change this world.

The God has offered us salvation,

With a new turn in the path,

Which shall lead us to distant horizons.

The God has granted me Enhancement,

A strong staff for our Quest.

The God has brought us Brothers once more.

The balance is shifting

And they shall henceforth share our Quest.

QUEST Shannah Jay 161

We shall change, my friends, we shall change,

change in our bonding,

change in our questing.

We shall become kindred, the Kindred of the God.

Rejoice, my Sisters! My Brothers, rejoice!

For our God will surely bless,

will always bless,

The Quest of His Kindred.’

Herra began to move around the circle in a ritual, half-dance step, and it seemed as if temple chimes accompanied her movements. She wove in and out of the kneeling figures, caressing the shoulder of each one lightly as she passed.

Last of al she came to Benjan.

'Little Brother, I salute you, in the name of our God, in the name of our Quest, for you are now to tread a new path.

Little Brother, dance with me, in honour of our Elder Brother, the God.'

She pulled him to his feet and led him around the outside of the circle. Bewildered by the strangeness of the ceremony, and uncertain of his part in it, Benjan stumbled after her, gathering pace until his steps began to match hers.

Suddenly, they were dancing together in perfect harmony. She was grace and lightness; he was strength and counterbalance. The steps changed, took on a new pattern, but Benjan didn’t falter once.

The watchers were held spellbound, and even on Cheral's plump face there was wonder, for this is a new turn in the path, a man chosen as Brother of the God, a man joining the temple dance.

* * *

Up on the satellite, time was passing slowly for Soo. It seemed as if something was hovering near, about to happen, but for the moment all she and Mak could do was wait. Observing Davred and what was happening to him fascinated her. Less and less did she feel inclined to join in the social life of the satellite.

Robler wondered whether he should allow Soo to spend so much time watching Davred, and for a time he had tried to keep her busy on other tasks, but in the end he decided that it kept Soo out of other mischief, and after all, someone must keep watch. Besides, he could always find her in the com-room, if he felt like it.

As she slid into place at the com-console, Mak came to stand behind her.

'So Herra and Davred have returned to the cavern,' he said.

'Yes. Isn't it beautiful?' she breathed, almost afraid to speak in case she broke the spell. Before them, the image of the cavern lay in a soft half-light, the figures in it seeming to have a special blurred beauty. In a world of sharp, clear light and smooth, shiny plastics and metals, the scene in the cavern seemed a thing of rare gentleness, a relief from the bright asepsis around them.

Mak leaned forward. 'What are they doing, Soo? I don't think I've ever seen anything quite like this before. I didn't know they allowed men to join in their rituals, except for Davred, that is.'

'I don't know everything that's happened lately. For a time Robler kept me so busy on other things I didn’t have time for much monitoring. Then our dear Exec suddenly changed his mind and said I might as well take my full share of the watches.' She stared at the image. 'I must have missed something important. I wonder who that new man is, the one dancing with Herra. Isn't he graceful, for someone so powerfully built? He must be a trained dancer.'

'He doesn't look like a dancer. He's wearing poorfolk garb.'

Soo touched the controls and the full scene moved to a corner of the com-room while a magnified scan of the QUEST Shannah Jay 162

details was slowly played through at the other side of the room. 'What's that?' She stopped the picture and increased the magnification still further. Carryn's motionless body came into focus. 'Daxos! Just look at that poor child's back!'

Mak swallowed hard. The raw, striped flesh of Carryn's back made him feel ill.

Soo's voice broke on a sob, 'That can only have been done by Those of the Serpent. And we're supposed to remain neutral, to observe and record their filthy practices! I can’t do it!'

'Look! Something's about to happen.'

Glad to take her mind off what she’d seen, Soo returned the whole scene to the centre of the com-room.

* * *

Herra led Benjan back to his place in the circle and came to a swirling halt in the centre. 'Now you are one of us,'

she intoned. 'Our Little Brother in God.'

'Lady, lady, I'm not worthy of that! I seek only to serve you.'

A hiss of indrawn breath from Cheral.

Benjan tried desperately to find the words. 'I'm of the poorfolk. I'm not good enough to be your Brother!'

‘I have chosen you.’

'How can you choose someone like me serve your God? I'm not worthy!'

There was a sigh from Those of the Sisterhood.

'You've just proved your worth, Little Brother,' said Herra with a warm smile. 'Three times you denied it. That's how it always happens with us, though you knew it not. It's called the Triple Denial or the Proof of Worthiness. Now you are indeed one of us. And we rejoice in that.'

He bowed his head and let the sense of belonging wash warmly around him. Kindred of the God, she’d said. Like the Hashite Guild, vowed to help one another. He could understand that. It was a good path to tread.

'Now,' said Herra, her voice low and vibrant with strange energy, 'now we shall heal the child. It shall be the act of us all, here in the circle of our love. Benjan!'

Like a sleepwalker he moved forward.

'Fetch Carryn to lie here.'

Slowly, with a step that still echoed the rhythm of the dance, the large, bear-like man moved across the chamber.

The others changed their positions and were sitting cross-legged, fingers touching, by the time he laid the girl at Herra's feet.

Even Jonner obeyed Herra’s gesture and joined them in the circle, imitating the actions of the others.

'Cheral!' called Herra.

She arranged Carryn's body so that the lacerations on her back were uncovered and her head was pillowed on one arm. Then she sat down, to form the final link in the circle around the Healer and the patient.

'This healing we shall perform together,' began Herra, kneeling by Carryn and laying a hand on the girl's shoulder. 'It is a fit first task for the Kindred of the God. We shall become a mesh . . . a web . . . a cluster of fruit on one stem. We are the petals of one blossom . . . the ripples in one stream . . . the branches on one tree.'

Jonner, with a sense of wonderment, felt a vibration in the fingertips on either side of him, and recognised the power of that circle.

Benjan, eyes bright with the tears he hadn’t allowed himself to shed since he was seven years old, saw only Herra and Carryn, but was total y aware of the mesh of living souls around him.

To Katia and Davred, this melding was an extension of what they already shared, and they gave themselves up to it joyfully, their expressions radiant.

QUEST Shannah Jay 163

Even Cheral's face lost its alert, do-it-now look, and became serene and smooth.

To Fiana, it was a homecoming, a rejoining of her Sisters such as she had not expected to experience again and tears rolled like slow pearls down the taut planes of her face.

'Think of her back as it should be,' chanted Herra. 'Young unmarked skin, firm healthy flesh. This child - unmarked.

This skin - made whole. Think of it so! Think of it so! Flesh be healed and skin be smooth! Think of it so, and only so!'

Benjan was not the only one to feel a shiver run down his back as he realised that before their eyes, because of their joining, Carryn's flesh was healing, the skin knitting together. More than that! He shared the near rapture of the others as they wil ed the healing to continue. This healing was not only the fruit of Herra's Gifts, but of their joining.

He sighed with deep satisfaction. His sister had vanished without a trace and he’d been powerless even to find out what had happened to her. But this child he’d helped save, so Carryn had at least survived. His pulse beat slowly and strongly; his fierce concentration tuned in to a rhythm in his brain, a rhythm that beat to Herra's slow chanting. He was unaware that the task was almost over and that Herra's eyes had flickered in his direction more than once. He didn’t notice that Katia and Davred had also begun to steal glances at him.

As Carryn began to recover consciousness, she whimpered once or twice, a child's cries of pain and fear. Benjan's gaze remained locked on her, deeply tender, and his face was the first thing she saw as her eyes flickered open. His love reached out to still the scream of panic that started to rise in her throat. Letting go of the hands on either side of him, he moved to her side. His voice, deep and rich, penetrated her terror and his broad, callused hand was gentle on her shoulder. 'You're safe now, child. Safe. Quite safe.' He wasn't even aware that he’d moved, for all their minds were still enmeshed.

With a sigh of relief, Carryn closed her eyes again and settled into a deep sleep. The stripes of new skin were pink and shiny across her thin shoulders, and the lines of pain were gone from her face.

'Let her rest now,' said Herra, her voice reaching them as quietly as a smooth pebble slipped into a still pool. ' Release the mesh. '

Cheral sat up and took a deep breath, ready to minister to the Elder Sister, who in recent years had been exhausted by such healings. But Herra's movements were steady and her colour was normal. Only her eyes seemed different. It was as if she were fil ed with light and was holding it back, lest it shine too strongly upon those around her.

* * *

'What've those primitives been doing now?' Robler's voice was like cold water dashed into Soo's face. She gasped and looked round. He was standing at the entrance to the com-room, arms akimbo, expression scornful.

Mak's hand pressed her shoulder briefly.

'They've been healing the child,' she said defiantly.

'That rubbish again! I wonder you believe in such things. They're putting on a performance especially for you. It's not possible to heal wounds so fast, or our scientists would have found out how to do it long ago.'

'I believe what I see.'

'More fool you. Anyway, I thought I told you to cut down on the time you waste watching those women. There are other things to study on Sunrise. The Sisters are not the only inhabitants of this planet, you know!'

'Maybe we should concentrate on Those of the Serpent instead?'

'It'd make more sense. They're in charge of things down there now. I'm wondering how to get fixed com-units down into their shrines without alerting them to our presence. We might be missing things on our random sweeps. I want you to work on that.'

'You don't mean it.' Soo turned pale. 'You wouldn't have dealings with them!'

'Tut! Tut! Where's your oath of impartiality now?' Robler taunted. 'That remark won't look well on your record.'

Mak's fingers gripped her shoulder with sudden force.

QUEST Shannah Jay 164

Soo pulled herself together. 'No. You're right, Robler.' She kept her face and voice expressionless. 'I accept your rebuke and I hope your entry in the records will also contain my acknowledgment of my error.' Head on one side, she challenged him to carry this any further.

Robler found himself thinking longingly of the way Those of the Serpent dealt with women, and wondered how it would be to have a woman so subservient that one could do what one wanted with her. Not just any woman, but this one. His eyes burned over her body. It was Soo who had ended their relationship, not he, and now she was permanently married to Mak, a lifetime contract! What was there about this planet that affected people and made them revert to primitive customs like permanent marriage?

Robler scowled at Mak, who was standing closely and protectively behind Soo. He’d never liked that cold fish of a man. You could never tell what he was thinking and he never seemed to make an error. Even though Robler suspected that the fellow was developing sympathies with that damned Sisterhood, he had no proof of Mak's feelings. Unlike Soo's, Mak's expression was always carefully neutral.

'There'll be no need to make a report, as long as you acknowledge the error.'

Soo watched him leave the com-room, shaking her head sadly. Robler had changed so much in the past year that she sometimes felt she no longer knew him. To put fixed com-units in the shrines! How could he even think of doing it? Having seen what Those of the Serpent had done to little Carryn, Soo was reluctant even to look at the recording of the rescue, let alone take up regular monitoring of the loathsome practices of the Inner Shrine. When she found no recording of any rescue, and realised that no one involved could have been carrying a tracer, she felt only relief.

She signalled to Mak that she wished to return to their quarters, the only place on the satellite where she could be sure Robler wouldn’t eavesdrop on them.

'What shal we do?' she whispered as soon as the door was locked behind them. She threw herself into his arms.

'Oh, Mak, he’s getting worse by the day.'

He stroked her hair. 'We must do what we can. And what we must. It would be illogical to support Those of the Serpent, for their type of lifestyle usually leads to annihilation of that society. It’s been observed before on other worlds.'

'Who cares about observations? I just can't bear them! They're evil! Insane.'

'They’re definitely insane,' he admitted.

'Mak, I couldn't monitor what goes on in a shrine!' She clutched him in panic. 'I couldn't bear to do it!'

'You must do as he orders. The behaviour of Those of the Serpent will add to the evidence against Robler. No civilised race, and no sane person, could offer support to a cult with such practices. When we do get someone from Confex to listen to our protests against Robler's irrational methods of directing this project, we must have as much evidence against him as possible.'

'You think - you really think he’s becoming irrational?'

'I have no doubt whatsoever. But we can’t take any steps to deal with him until we’ve got evidence to offer to Confex. As Robler is always telling us, there must be incontrovertible proof.'

#####

Chapter 27: THE BATTLE

The two huge trading-wagons creaked and bumped their way along a little-used track, poising on the edges of ruts then diving into them with elephantine grace as they left Tenebrak behind. Jonner was nominally driving the leading wagon, but deleff need little direction, especially on a track with no crossroads and few side turnings, so he was QUEST Shannah Jay 165

spending most of his time discussing the finer points of trading with Herra, who was sitting beside him, and doing a lot of boasting about some of his more spectacular bargains.

When they’d been introduced to the deleff, there had been no hesitation. The creatures had walked across to Herra and given her a kind of salute, unfurling the ruffs of skin around their necks and making low crooning noises. Then they’d walked over to Jonner and snuffled spice-tree scented breath in his face before going to stand by the wagons, as if anxious to leave.

The minute he’d taken charge of the wagons and deleff, Jonner had regained his confidence, which had been shaken by the series of misfortunes. Now he was in his element and looking forward to exercising his trading skills again.

Herra let him talk. She was enjoying a respite after the dreadful events leading up to and following the siege of Temple Tenebrak, and she was also learning a lot about trading from Jonner. She had a sneaking suspicion that she might rather enjoy trading and be good at it.

Davred, sitting on some boxes in the rear of the wagon, lost interest in the obscure point of trading law which Jonner and Herra were arguing over and allowed his attention to wander. He couldn’t yet bear too much sunlight on his pale skin, for his time on Sunrise had been spent mainly indoors, but he didn’t mind riding in this shady nest beneath the trading wagon's gaudy canopy.

It was surprising how comfortable these wagons were, when you considered their primitive design. Iron-rimmed wheels and springing dependent upon spongy pads of raas root were a far cry from the floaters used on most Confederation planets to transport freight and people, but still, the wagons had their own charm.

He watched the deleff plodding along in front of him. Animals interested him far more than trading, for he’d had virtually nothing to do with them before coming to Sunrise. Oh, there had been the usual compulsory visits to simul-chambers, where farms and woods were displayed to the young - these things were part of everyone's education on a totally urban planet - but such experiences had in no way prepared him for the sheer personality and presence of real animals.

Take deleff, for instance. If you’d viewed their habits on holocubes or walked among them in a simul-chamber, you might have learnt that a deleff looked like a cross between a lizard and the mythical dragons of Old Earth, though without wings; but you still wouldn't appreciate how clever Sh'el en, the leading deleff, was, or how he smel ed of grass warmed by the sun. You'd not realise that he flicked his left ear to acknowledge you when you spoke to him, or that if he stamped around in a certain way, it was because he considered it time to set off in the morning.

One deleff in any group was always the leader and was referred to as the deleffal. Jonner said that if you wanted to pass a deleff on to someone else, you had to explain what you were doing to the deleffal and introduce the prospective new owner to him or her. If the deleffal approved, the transfer could happen, but if you tried to force a deleff to do something against its nature, it simply walked back into the wildwoods, and no deleff would ever come to serve you again.

How was all this possible if they were only unreasoning animals? Davred had seen for himself that no one was needed to drive the second wagon, or even the first one, really. Sh'ellen always seemed to know where to go and the two deleff pulling the second wagon just followed their deleffal and his mate, stopping when Sh'ellen did, starting off or turning in his wake, all without any visible signals passing between one animal and another.

Katia called the deleff creatures, not animals, because she said it was the more accurate term. 'Deleff are just deleff,'

said Jonner easily when Davred questioned him, but then, Jonner had grown up with deleff and he accepted their vagaries without question.

Davred wasn’t satisfied with this answer. He wanted to know how deleff knew things and how they communicated with each other. There was no doubt they did this, and it was surely not by their strange bugling calls, which sounded only rarely. He was puzzled by the structure of their bodies, too, for they looked as if they ought to have wings, and they even had bony protuberances that might once have supported wings on either side of their spines.

Jonner had laughed at him when he had said this. 'Just be thankful you haven't seen their wings, Davred, because if you do, it'll mean we're in danger.'

QUEST Shannah Jay 166

'What on earth does that mean? Have you seen deleff with wings?'

'No, and I never want to, either! They only use 'em in self-defence.' And beyond that, he refused to be drawn.

Davred watched Katia return from one of her foraging trips, her bag laden with ripe fruit, flowers twined in her hair.

From time to time she would vanish into the wildwoods through which they were passing, and reappear laden with mushrooms, or nuts, or some other delicacy for their evening meal, always with a deeply happy expression on her face.

When Davred offered to accompany her, she laughed gently and said he must first grow used to the sun on his cheeks.

In truth, he suspected she enjoyed being alone in the woods.

Davred helped her store the latest gleanings in the wagon, then got down to stroll by her side. He breathed in deeply, enjoying the smell of the woods. Did those who ran Confex know how rich the smells of untouched nature were to nostrils bred on deodorised and sterilised air? Or was it only on Sunrise there was such a rich variety of perfumes and musky wood odours to give one pleasure?

Everything had its own smell. Even the wagons were redolent of the aromatic wood from which they were constructed. So many new things to learn! Wagons, he had found, were put together like a child's puzzle box, easily assembled and disassembled once you knew the trick, but a bewildering array of planks if you did not. Wagons were simple to repair, too, for wooden planks were a standard commodity on Sunrise, cut to specific widths and lengths throughout the claims.

How was this possible on a primitive planet? Standardisation was surely a development of more mature civilisations?

He turned to stare yet again at the crude vehicles. Each of these wagons carried a couple of spare wheels, although wheels of standard sizes could be purchased anywhere, Jonner said. And when the raas-root spring plates wore out, new ones could be inserted in a few minutes. If you ran out of spare plates, you just found a raas bush and cut some more, leaving the shreds of the bush dug into the earth to sprout into new plants. So simple, yet so effective!

Davred looked around him. You could usually find a raas bush, he had learned, wherever you were. They thrived in every type of soil and were as common in the wildwoods as in the cultivated areas. Yes, there was one on the right, heavy with unripe fruit. What useful plants they were! You could eat the fruit, use the huge broad leaves for thatching your house, if you preferred that to thatchgrass, burn the dead raas wood on your fire and cut spring plates for your vehicles from the roots.

Confex would consider Sunrise a rich find because of the plants alone, if only they would let the inhabitants tel them how to use things. Lenlin, studying plants from a distance with samples picked up by small robo-probes, hadn’t learned about raas bushes; Robler, immersed in his metallurgical surveys, hadn’t the faintest idea that a civilisation could manage perfectly well without the rarer metals he sought - without much metal at al , in fact. Davred wished he could get a raas cutting to the Biobureau at Confex, together with full instructions on its uses. Maybe one day, when peace was re-established, he'd be able to share the treasures of Sunrise with the citizens of the Confederation.

As Davred and Katia strolled along, their conversation turned into an informal lesson on the flora and fauna they saw. Katia knew most plants and smal animals, but there was an occasional plant which even she didn’t recognise, for the vegetation was slightly different from that in the High Alder, though most things were common to the whole planet. She never emphasised Davred's ignorance, though he felt it keenly, nor did she pressure him to learn; she simply answered his questions and shared her knowledge. Davred, remembering the gruelling schedules of his university training, whether with live tutors in the simul-chambers, or with the computers, realised now how sterile the knowledge was that he’d gained there.

One of his specialities was sociometric xeno-anthropology, which dealt with overviews of people and societies. Yet he’d been raised on the artificial, narrowly-focused university planet, and had only begun to properly appreciate the complexities of natural societies once he came to Sunrise. Now, using the memory-training techniques of the Sisterhood, he was rapidly digesting all his wife could teach him, comparing it with his former knowledge and trying to analyse the society around him at the same time.

None of the hypno-learning of his youth had been quite as effective as the Sisters' training methods. His memory hadn’t been such a finely honed tool then, because he’d relied on computers. Nothing had ever been quite as vivid as life on Sunrise. In fact, before this, he’d lacked true understanding of other peoples, for all his learning, for all his potential.

QUEST Shannah Jay 167

How could you do a true analysis of what you didn’t understand, hadn’t experienced? How could someone thinking like an automaton understand people's feelings? He’d needed to come here to develop his potential. But he prayed he’d never have to leave.

Benjan, who’d never been far from the city before, and had certainly never ventured into the wildwoods, edged forward to join them. He was still diffident about participating in their activities and lessons and seemed to expect to be treated as an inferior being, occasionally betraying his surprise when he was made welcome and spoken to courteously.

Katia smiled warmly at him now and Davred made room for him to walk between them.

'I didn't know you were interested in nature, Benjan,' Katia teased.

He turned an unblinking stare upon her. 'I'm interested in staying alive - and in keeping you people alive. So, the more I can learn about these woods, the better.'

'Don't you enjoy the beauty of the flowers?'

He shrugged. 'There's no time for that now.'

Benjan wasn’t aware, though Davred was, that Katia was teaching him some basic techniques of memory as wel as giving him knowledge of plants and animals. And Benjan was proving a very receptive pupil.

'I've never had two such willing and eager pupils,' she joked.

'If I work hard, is it permitted that I continue to learn with the Lord Davred, Sister?'

Katia nodded, vowing to herself that she would one day coax a real smile out of him.

A brightly-coloured bird fluttered out of the undergrowth in a large hol ow ahead of them. It flew up to the treetops and stayed there, scolding loudly. Katia stiffened and called out in a low voice to those in the first wagon, 'Herra!

Jonner! Something must have disturbed that bird!'

'Show no signs of anxiety,' warned Herra, and closed her eyes in concentration. She spoke rapidly, 'There are people hiding on each side of the road down in that hollow. Quite a lot of people, too many for me to still at once, even with Enhancement. Benjan, I'll have no killing! Try to do no more than disable anyone who attacks you. Jonner! Be careful where you throw those knives of yours. I want no permanent injuries - preferably no injuries at all.'

Fiana, who had been sitting on the tail of the first wagon, dropped off at a dip in the road and ran round to the back of the second wagon where Cheral was keeping an eye on Carryn. As she ran, Fiana loosened her sword in its scabbard, a sword which she, as a Sister, should not have been wearing, but which she had learned to use with considerable skil .

Whistling softly between his teeth, Jonner checked his knives and used his foot to edge the cudgel on the floor beside him into a more convenient position. 'When have I ever looked for trouble, Sister? I'm a simple trader, that's all.

I don't go round attacking people. There's no profit in dead people. I just defend myself from some of the live ones.'

He caressed the hilt of one of his favourite throwing knives as he spoke.

As the wagons jolted down the hill, Benjan moved forward, ready to protect Herra. Davred touched Katia's arm, to try to reassure her. He could sense her tension and he knew how any violence would upset her. She had grown to hate the eating of animal flesh as she grew older, and disliked even helping to catch animals or fish for her companions'

evening meals.

Davred's own tension was rising as well. He al owed his heart to beat faster and made no attempt to check the adrenalin that was beginning to pump through his body. His distaste for violence grew each time he encountered it or was forced to use it, but it didn’t upset him as it did Katia. This attack wasn’t of their seeking and couldn’t be avoided, so he felt no guilt. He was determined only that Those of the Serpent should not win. It must be they who were waiting in ambush, for who else on Sunrise would attack innocent travellers minding their own business? Who else would risk attacking the precious deleff?

They drew nearer to the hollow. Davred's throat was dry and Katia's face had lost every vestige of colour, though they were still pretending to chat and laugh together.

Suddenly, armed men leaped out upon them from the bushes on each side of the track. All except two of the QUEST Shannah Jay 168

attackers were wearing either the black and red of Benner's guards or the dark robes of Servants of the Shrine. The other two wore forester's green. The hatred which emanated from the attackers was tangible, as was their fear, which made each man reluctant to move far from his companions as they attacked.

'They're afraid of us,' Davred had time to think. 'Why are they so afraid of us?'

'Devil's spawn!'

'Unnatural whores!'

'Death to the witches!'

Benjan was the first to meet the onslaught. He ran forward and took the first attacker off his guard, felling his opponent with a quick blow to the temple from one clenched fist. The man dropped like a stone. Benjan growled in his throat as he swung round to face a second man. In one hand he brandished a large cudgel, which he’d made, together with the one for Jonner, when they first entered the wildwoods. In the other hand, he held a gleaming knife. His grin was quite as fearsome as the weapons he carried, and he continually taunted his opponents, a characteristic of the Hashites. 'Come on, my bully! Not frightened of one man, are you? There! Sleep you wel !' He spun round again, light on his feet, for all his bulk. 'Who's next? I'm only poorfolk scum, you know. Surely you're not afraid of me?'

Four motionless figures lay on the ground near the first wagon, witness to Herra's skill. She was choosing carefully whom to still next, in order to help anyone in difficulty, while Jonner and Benjan kept attackers off her. Katia and Davred each managed to slow down an assailant, but neither of them had yet acquired the skill necessary to still someone completely.

The deleff were making sounds of distress and bugling, which only added to the confusion around the wagons.

Suddenly blurs of light flared around the deleff, like glowing wings, and one attacker who blundered into this light screamed and fell to the ground, twitching and unconscious.

As another man jumped forward to attack Katia, she tossed an illusion at him, a cloud of swooping birds. He began to beat at the empty air around his head while she forced herself to hit her attacker in the neck with the minimum force necessary to render him unconscious.

Davred, with no ability to create illusions, was hard pressed to deal with the slashing sword of a second opponent, and suffered a cut on his arm before he managed to hit that certain spot on the neck. He began to think he’d have to learn to use a stave or a cudgel in future, so that he didn’t have to get so close to disable his attackers.

'Jump back, Lord Davred!' yelled Benjan. As Davred obeyed instantly, the Hashite whirled to his side and thumped another black-clad figure into oblivion. Laughing, he turned to face the next attacker.

Behind the second wagon, Fiana was struggling desperately to fend off two men at once. Jonner leaped off the first wagon and ran back to help her, sending a knife ahead of him. All Fiana saw was a glint in the air, then one man fell, yelling in pain, blood pouring from a knife wound in his thigh. The second hesitated a moment, then thrust at Fiana again while edging around to face Jonner.

At the same time a third man rounded the wagon from the other side, howling a stream of abuse. With a gasp of outrage at his accusations, Cheral seized a frying pan and clanged him on the side of the head with it.

'How dare you!' she panted.

He yelled in pain and began to threaten her with obscene and agonising sacrifice in the Inner Shrine, so she flung a minor illusion at him. It was poor, as were all her illusions, but it was enough like a raas wasp to distract him while she clouted him on the other side of the head. He fell to the ground with a grunt, and the wasp winked out of existence.

'Forgive me, Brother!' Cheral gasped, but she kept a firm hold of the pan, and used it again on another attacker who was unwary enough to present his back to the wagon.

Carryn began to whimper, as if she could sense the violence around her, even through the slumberbane. Seeing that most of their attackers were disabled one way or another, and the rest fleeing down the track as fast as they could, Cheral put down the pan and leaned over to soothe the child and check her pulse.

QUEST Shannah Jay 169

As quickly as it had begun, the tumult was over and the last attacker dropped his sword in token of surrender.

Benjan kicked it out of the way immediately in case this was a trick, and shoved the man around to the front of the wagons, where Herra wanted all the prisoners to be gathered. 'If you make one wrong move, I'll knock the sun out of your sky!' Benjan threatened.

Sh'ellen bugled loudly and the other deleff stopped making their whining noises of distress. The aura of light around them faded and they began to shuffle restlessly in their places. They seemed very upset, but when the deleffal bugled again, they stood still and sighed through their nostrils. As Benjan's prisoner passed by, Sh'ellen stretched out his neck and hissed in the man's face, causing him to stumble.

Benjan laughed. 'Even the deleff can tell what unholy scum you are!' He thrust the man among the other prisoners and went to scratch Sh'ellen under the ruff of scales, telling him what a fine discerning creature he was. The great head leaned briefly against him and the ruff opened and closed. Sh'ellen sighed wearily.

'It's not our fault,' murmured Benjan. 'I know you don't like violence, but it's over now.' He looked a little puzzled at his own words. Now, how had he known to say that to the deleffal?

Herra waited until thirteen sullen or unconscious men were gathered before her, then clapped her hands for attention. ' Go and sit under that setheresh tree! Carry your wounded with you. ' She waited until they’d obeyed her, then with a flick of her hands, she set wards around them.

Cheral dropped to her knees, which had begun to tremble now that the crisis was over. 'Elder Sister, I hit a man!' she wailed, then corrected herself. 'Two men! My soul is lost!'

'Nonsense!' said Herra. 'You did what you had to, that was al , not in viciousness, but in self-defence.'

'But Elder Sister, I hit them in anger! They were saying such dreadful things about us.'

'I see nothing wrong with that feeling. There was no reason for anyone to attack us. We've harmed no one. If we can’t feel angry at that, then we’re not normal.' She gave a half smile and added, 'We did well, too. We managed to fight off an ambush without killing a single attacker. We should rejoice that our Brother is still with us.'

'Rejoice!' Katia's voice was full of pain and she slid to the ground in a faint.

Herra turned to their captives and her voice lashed them with scorn. 'This Sister, whom you attack and revile, has so gentle a nature that she doesn’t willingly hurt even a spider. It's the pain of defending herself against your attack which has made her faint. Look well upon your handiwork, ravishers of the innocent. Take pride in your bravery!'

'Close your eyes and ignore the witch!' yelled one of the prisoners. 'She’s trying to snare you with lies and sorcery.'

He pressed his hands together at his breast in the writhing motion Those of the Serpent used when praying to their God, and began to intone, 'Serpent, save your Servants! Serpent, save your Servants!' in a loud whining monotone.

Before any of the other prisoners could take up the chant, Herra snapped her fingers and he froze into glassy-eyed immobility. 'Beware my wrath if you invoke that name again in my presence!' she warned in a voice that chilled the air around them. After waiting for a minute to make sure they’d obey her, she continued, 'You may judge for yourselves our evil intent, for we shall now heal the wounded before we leave you.'

'Herra, is that wise?' asked Davred in a low voice. 'None of them is seriously injured, and we ought to leave here as quickly as possible. There may be reinforcements already on the way.'

'I couldn't leave them in pain I had helped to inflict, and it's unworthy of you even to consider it, Lord Davred. We search for the Path of Wisdom, not the path of violence.'

He stepped back and bowed his head, accepting the rebuke.

'We shall heal Katia first,' commanded Herra. 'She's in the greatest pain.'

Watched open-mouthed by the eleven conscious prisoners, they formed a circle and performed the healing together.

As they did so, Davred could feel the anger seeping out of him.

'Don't watch them,' one of the prisoners mouthed to the man next to him. 'It's too dangerous.'

'None of us has ever managed to see one of their filthy rites. It's our duty to watch. How else can we learn to defeat QUEST Shannah Jay 170

them?'

'Not much to watch, if you ask me,' said another man. 'They must save the real filth for inside those hel -pits of theirs.'

Once free of the pain, Katia took her place in the circle, while Benjan, at a nod from Herra, went over to the prisoners. He thought it a sheer waste of time to help such as these, but if the Lady Herra wished it, then he’d do as she asked. A part of the fence warding the prisoners shimmered and he stepped through to pick up the man with the deep slash in his thigh. The other men muttered, but none dared move against the witch's henchman - not with the example of their paralysed leader before them.

As he laid the injured man down in front of Herra, Benjan realised how terrified the fellow was. 'Peace, friend! If we were going to kill you, we'd have done it by now, word of a Hashite.' He grinned at the expression of relief on the man's face.

Herra snapped her fingers and Benjan resumed his place in the circle. She knelt beside the man and laid her hands on his thigh. 'He's telling you the truth, you know. We do not kill.'

'Who knows what sorcery you'll lay upon me!' the man said, his voice hoarse with fear. 'I'd rather keep the wound.

Truly I would. It's nothing. It'll heal in a few weeks.'

'Tel me that after it's healed today. Hush now. Lie quiet. Think only of your leg. Think of it whole . . . '

Sweat broke out on the man's brow as a crawling feeling in his leg was followed by the edges of the wound knitting together of their own accord. A furious itching heralded the formation of new pink flesh. The pain went and stillness reigned for a few minutes over the dusty patch of track.

'You've been fed with lies about the Sisterhood, you know,' Herra told the man, speaking softly, for his ears alone. 'I don't ask you to believe me now, only to watch what happens around you when you go back to Tenebrak. Think of what you're doing, how you're hurting people. Are you married?'

'What business . . . ' he began, then caught Benjan's eye and muttered, 'Yes.'

'Does your wife enjoy being whipped?'

'She does her duty.'

'Then why must she be whipped? Has she been a bad wife to you?'

'It's her duty, and mine, to do as the Servants tell us. She's only a woman. The pain is the proof we offer of our devotion. It gives strength to the Serpent.'

'Do you enjoy watching them whip and humiliate her? Does that make you both happy?'

A vision of Jannel's terrified face each time he took her to the shrine made him swallow hard, so he threw at her,

'What's that got to do with you? Why don't you just kill me and be done with it? Stop filling me with your lies!'

'Certainly, friend. But think about the questions I've asked you, won't you? Think of them every time Jannel weeps in fear or whimpers in pain. And remember that we killed no one today, and healed your wound. Now, stand up and walk back to your fellows.'

He did as she asked, too terrified to ask how she knew his wife's name. When he sat down under the setheresh tree, his companions shrank away from him.

'You should've stopped them healing you, Maren!' snapped one of the Servants of the Shrine.

'Oh, yes?' he replied fiercely, as afraid of the ideas Herra had planted as of what had happened. 'You try to stop them, then! They're coming for you now. Show us how to stop them healing you.'

'Like this.' The Servant plucked a concealed dagger from his belt and in one swift movement plunged it into his chest, where it stood vibrating as his nerveless fingers loosened their grip. But only a thin trickle of blood ran down the blade, and he continued to breathe, as the knife was ejected from his body.

'No!' he screamed. 'No! Foul sorcery! I'm dead! I'm dead!'

QUEST Shannah Jay 171

He started to scream, as hoarsely as a li-bird mating, on and on and on until his voice broke. Nothing Herra could do would stop him. Though she stood over him and willed him to stay sane, his mind broke into shreds and shards which his screams threw out until there was only a yawning emptiness left in his skull. With tears running down her face, Herra touched his forehead gently and the dreadful cries ceased. 'Why will you reject life, poor soul? Why will you choose oblivion?'

She let the body roll back on to the ground and turned to the rest of the prisoners. 'Who is next?' And though her cheeks were still wet with tears, her voice was implacable. 'I shall not bewitch you, or harm you in any way, but the God within me will not let me leave behind pain that I have caused without attempting to heal it.' She scanned the prisoners and was thankful to find no darkness in any of their souls like that which had lain within the dead man. 'If it wil make you feel more secure, we shall heal you two at a time. Thus you may watch over each other carefully for witchcraft.

You! And you!'

With the Servant's body lying before them, they dared not refuse. One minor fracture. A strained tendon. The cut on Davred's arm. Two cases of concussion, thanks to Benjan's strong right arm. One lacerated arm and cheek. One sprained ankle. One black eye and grazed forehead. Nothing escaped Herra's sharp eyes; nothing was too small. One man, who had had headaches for years, she worked on for longer than the others. Another, who was older and whose back was getting stiff, she admonished about lifting things carelessly and sent away with the aching gone.

Davred, his newly-healed arm still throbbing slightly, glanced anxiously up the track once or twice. Jonner was visibly itching to leave and had to be removed from the circle because he was distracting the others. Even Benjan was rumbling with unease, but Herra insisted on healing every injury, even the slightest bruise, and the other three women obeyed her without question.

At last, however, it was al finished. Sh'ellen began to stamp his feet and whistle through his nostrils the minute they stopped, and the other deleff rattled their harness.

'You'd think they knew,' muttered Jonner.

'Those of the Serpent will send more men against us. How shall we avoid them, Elder Sister?' asked Davred as the wagons began to roll down the track.

'I think we must turn from the track and travel through the wildwoods.'

'With these wagons?'

'If we can. If not, we shall have to leave the wagons behind.'

'Do you know of a turning?'

'No. But our Brother is watching over us,' she said serenely.

Two kloms along the track, with no signal from Jonner, the deleffal moved smoothly into the undergrowth and the other wagon followed. Jonner started to pull on the reins and shout at Sh'ellen to stop, but Herra laughed aloud. 'Stop shouting, Jonner. We need to get off the track, don't we?'

'But not to get bogged down in the wildwoods.'

'We shall not get bogged down.'

The wagon tilted and rol ed about as it moved over the rougher ground, but it didn’t get stuck. Katia slipped down from the second wagon. 'I'll go back and cover our tracks.'

Davred made as if to join her, but she shook her head. 'You’d make more tracks than you obliterated, my Davred.

Leave it to me.'

It was agony to him to acknowledge that she was right. In the wildwoods they must all follow her instructions, even Herra.

Katia rejoined them a while later, as they continued to creak through the undergrowth. She waved at Herra. 'No one can now see where we left the road, and I set minor wards over the beginning of the track. I haven't the ability to set major wards yet, unfortunately, but they won't want to look in the direction we took.'

QUEST Shannah Jay 172

Herra looked at her quizzically. 'Since when have you been able to set any wards at all, child?'

Katia looked stunned. 'I - never have before. I just - did it. It was necessary to guard our tracks. I’d done the preliminary exercises for that Discipline before we left Tenebrak, though.'

Herra bowed her head for a moment. 'Brother, you move swiftly,' she whispered, and only Sh'el en's sensitive ears caught her words. 'Well done, Katia! I must give you some more tuition when we have time.' She grinned at Jonner. 'So, Jonner, are you happier now? Who can tell where these faithful creatures are taking us, or how they knew we needed to turn off the track?' She raised her voice and called, 'Thank you, my friends!'

Sh'ellen flicked an ear and blew through his nostrils, then bent his head into the arduous labour of pulling a great trading wagon through the wildwoods. Although the vegetation looked too dense to allow them passage, the leaves and branches were pushed easily aside and sprang back just as easily after the second wagon had passed. Yet no one would have known from a casual glance that there was any way through the woods.

Jonner hunched his shoulders, fiddled with his favourite stiletto and continued to scan the vegetation around them as if he expected an ambush at every turn. It was no use talking to Sisters, especially the Lady Herra. They were so trusting, it was a wonder no one had cut their throats in the cradle.

Not that he didn’t believe in the God's powers, he added, with a mental apology to the deity. It was just - well, it stood to reason that a God would have a lot of things on his mind, so it was better to help him by watching out for oneself wherever possible.

#####

Chapter 28: DEEP IN THE WILDWOODS

They spent the next three hours rolling slowly forward through the undergrowth. Twice it was necessary to clear fallen trees from the route. Sh'ellen and the other deleff simply moved out of their harness to do that.

'It's not likely this easy passage is here by chance,' Katia observed. She was walking next to the leading wagon and studying the undergrowth. 'Elder Sister, I just cannot understand why larger trees and bushes haven't grown in earth so rich. Or why the plants seem to be only of the sort that can easily be pushed aside.'

'Then we must be grateful that someone has kept the way clear,' said Herra.

Jonner gaped at them. 'Are you saying we're on a track that's been made on purpose?'

Katia nodded. 'It must be. Though it's not a track exactly, or not at first sight, anyway. I've been watching the deleff.

At first I thought they were feeding, but they're not. They pull up certain plants as they pass - the young trees and larger shrubs. I think - I really do think - that's how the track stays clear enough for a wagon to pass.'

Jonner swallowed hard. 'Then it's true! I thought - everyone thought - it was just a tale, the sort you tell over a camp fire to entertain the children.'

Herra stared at him. 'Are you saying that you know something about this track and the deleff? If so, Jonner, you had better tell us immediately. And if, in future, you think of something else, do not keep it to yourself!'

He wriggled uncomfortably. 'Well, it's just that we say, we traders, I mean, that the deleff live in the Lands of Nowhere. We begin children's stories with "Far beyond the wildwoods, in the Lands of Nowhere, where the deleff dream their dreams . . . " It doesn't mean anything. At least, I thought it didn't mean anything. But maybe, just maybe, this track leads to the land of the deleff. '

'The Lands of Nowhere, ' murmured Herra.

Sh'ellen lifted his head and bugled loudly. Jonner nearly fell off the seat of the wagon. 'He knows.'

QUEST Shannah Jay 173

'Who knows what?'

'The deleffal - Sh'ellen. He knows what we're talking about.'

Herra's eyes narrowed and she looked at the huge greyish back before her, a back covered with tiny iridescent scales that made the deleff looked blurred in some lights. 'We are not yet talking about anything pertinent. Tell us what you know, Jonner, and without any further circumlocution!'

'It's said among us Traders,' began Jonner, 'that they have secret tracks - the deleff, I mean. They sometimes walk away from their owners, you know, and they rarely get found again. So where do they go? They can't just vanish! And they don't breed in captivity - not ever - or die in captivity. There's no such thing as a dead deleff. So where they go is a mystery, and that’s why say the Lands of Nowhere.'

Katia was listening intently, but at the same time watching the track ahead. 'One moment, Elder Sister,' she said suddenly, and ran forward. She slowed her pace to match that of the deleff and watched as Sh'ellen pulled up a small tree that was in his way, not eating it, but tossing it aside to die. The deleffal several times turned his head to look at Katia. After a minute or two he slowed down and came to a halt, shaking his head and whistling through his nostrils at her.

She reached out her hand to him, and as she laid it on his head, he raised the ruff of scales around his neck and stared into her eyes. Gently, she laid her other hand along the far side of his head.

Herra signalled for silence.

Katia stood like one mesmerised, staring into the deleffal's eyes and breathing very slowly. The rest of the group waited anxiously, not knowing what was happening. Long minutes passed. Jonner started to fidget, until Herra laid a hand on his arm. Carryn whimpered in her drugged sleep. A bird cal ed. Insects buzzed around them.

At last, Katia spoke. 'It is - hard. I am - unskilled. Your pardon, deleffal, but I can speak no more now.' She took her hands away and bowed her head slightly to the great creature before returning to the side of the wagon like one in a trance.

Davred jumped down from the second wagon. Cheral moved forward to stand behind its driving seat, where Fiana and Benjan were sitting.

'I was communicating with Sh'ellen,' Katia said slowly, seeming to have trouble speaking. 'He told me thisa track known only to the deleff. Sh'ellen is taking us to his - his land, his soul-haven. There we can meet the High Deleffal, who is also called the Giver of Words. She is very old and very - peaceful. It's hard to put it into words - Sh'el en used images - anyway, it will take us several days to get there. '

She frowned. 'We have to go through a kind of - a portal. I couldn't understand what he meant exactly by that. But Those of the Serpent can't follow us through it. We must hurry, not stop again.' She turned and again bowed slightly to Sh'ellen. 'Do I speak your thoughts correctly, deleffal?'

Sh'el en blew softly through his nostrils and twitched his left ear, then pawed the ground, signal ing his desire to leave.

As they started to move along the track again, Jonner whispered to Herra. 'The Lands of Nowhere. Who'd have thought it of a bunch of animals?'

Sh'ellen tossed his head and snorted.

'Speak with more courtesy to one who is helping us, Jonner!' Herra rebuked. 'Your pardon, deleffal! My friend meant you no offence.'

'No offence at all!' said Jonner hastily. 'I was just - er - just surprised.'

The ruff rose and fell, but the deleffal did not stop moving forward.

'Tell us all you know about our friends the deleff, Jonner.'

Jonner wiped his brow on his sleeve and wished he’d kept quiet, but Herra was looking at him expectantly, so he thought it best to continue. 'It's said that the deleff have their own land - west of the wildwoods, wherever that may be -

QUEST Shannah Jay 174

and that they return there to mate and breed their young when they tire of sharing our travels. Great ones for travelling, the deleff. They seem to like new experiences. We're taught always to explain to them what we're doing, always to talk to them.'

He kept an anxious eye on the two creatures, but they showed no signs of taking offence. 'Older traders - those who've worked al their lives with deleff - say the deleff were here in the world before we were - and that they've found the way of peace. But you should be very careful about making them angry, and especially careful if you see their wings.

And we did see them today, didn't we? That fellow who walked into them screamed and dropped down unconscious.'

Herra didn’t break the silence that fell after he’d finished speaking. She reviewed Jonner's halting explanation, mentally testing its truth. Yes, it had the feel of truth.

The shadows were getting longer now, and the warmth of the day was past. They moved between light and shade at the fastest pace the deleff could manage over the rough ground. None of the group spoke. Birds sang in the trees around them, and insects danced along low, slanting sunbeams. The only other sound was the crunching of leaves and twigs beneath the feet of the deleff, or the occasional snapping of a branch.

Then Herra sat bolt upright. Something was flickering at the edge of her consciousness. 'Quiet! Sh'el en, stop moving, please!'

Both wagons immediately came to a halt and everyone, people and deleff alike, waited for Herra to speak.

'We're being followed.'

'By whom?'

'By Those of the Serpent.'

Katia sighed. 'I've let you down, then, Elder Sister.'

'In what way?'

'The wards I set weren't strong enough.'

Herra laughed bitterly. 'Child, I know of no way to set wards along the whole length of a track not yet followed.

Should you have known more than I did?'

Everyone was listening intently.

'Shal I stay here and buy you more time, lady?' asked Benjan, hefting his sword.

'Certainly not! It would be a useless sacrifice. But Katia, could you scout behind us, see how many are pursuing us -

and perhaps set more wards to delay them?'

'I'll try.'

'Take no risks, child. I wouldn't send you had we anyone else skil ed in woodcraft.'

'I'll take the time first to change into men's clothing, if you don't mind, Herra. A long skirt is impractical for this, impractical for any travelling in the wildwoods, really.'

'I've got some spare clothes that should fit you,' volunteered Fiana. 'I've done most of my travelling dressed as a man.'

Davred helped Katia to change into Fiana's clothes, kissed her briefly and watched her vanish among the trees. How useless he was on Sunrise! He looked at Herra, but the Elder Sister's face was expressionless. In the end he went to walk behind the second wagon and practise a heartbeat and pulse control Discipline, anything to keep his mind occupied. At least here he was best placed to help Katia if she came back closely pursued and he had to do any fighting.

An hour later they were still travelling. Dusk was closing in on them rapidly and Katia hadn’t returned. Jonner kept twitching his head from side to side, peering into the undergrowth and muttering to himself about the dangers of ambushes. Benjan had taken up a position at the rear with Davred. Herra's expression had grown grim and her head was bent to one side most of the time, as if she were listening.

QUEST Shannah Jay 175

'There are many of them, more than I thought when I sent Katia to scout,' she said, 'and they're coming nearer.'

Jonner hissed between his teeth.

'What about Katia?' asked Davred.

'I can't tell. Can you?'

'She's alive. More than that I can't sense.' Davred broke off and started searching in the edges of the undergrowth.

Eventually he found a length of dead branch. 'Let me borrow one of your knives, will you, Jonner? I want to trim this.'

He hefted it in his hand. 'Will it do for a stave, do you think?'

'What? Oh, yes. Yes, it's a nice handy size, that. Who taught you how to choose a fighting stave?'

Davred smiled grimly. 'I've been watching you and Benjan.'

'Cudgels are better when they're dried out properly, of course,' Jonner went on, 'but there's no time for that now, and yours is a good shape, nicely balanced. Here, this'll do the job of trimming it.' He tossed Davred one of his larger knives, which had a broad wickedly sharp blade.

In the second wagon, Cheral deliberately set the frying pan near her. They would harm that child again only over her dead body. The God would surely want her to defend them both if they were attacked. After all, the Elder Sister has assured her that violence used only under extreme provocation wouldn’t be wrong.

The deleff turned abruptly left, and although this side track was stil passable for the wagons, it was much narrower.

The vegetation pressed more closely in on them, brushing the sides of the wagons and hanging in their faces. The deleff all had their ruffs raised to protect themselves from the dangling branches, and were moving as quickly as such ponderous creatures could, almost as if they could sense danger.

Herra wished she could set wards on the track, but she didn’t dare do so until Katia rejoined them.

'I don't like this place,' said Jonner. 'Too easy for someone to creep up on us with all this green stuff crowding in on us. Isn't there a better track than this, Sh'ellen?'

The deleffal ignored him. The track widened out abruptly into a circular clearing with a pool on the far side. The water looked as black as obsidian and its surface was quite stil , with not a single ripple to be seen. There were no birds drinking from it, and no tracks of animals around its edges. It just lay pooled there, dark and menacing. There weren’t even insects buzzing around the clearing, just the ring of huge trees, a semi-circle of beaten earth and a silence that was almost tangible.

'It's a dead end!' exclaimed Jonner. 'They've led us to a dead end!'

Sh'ellen half turned towards him and snorted through his nostrils, tossing his head and making his anger plain.

'Wel , I'm sorry!' snapped Jonner. 'I don't want to upset you, deleffal, but it looks to me as if you've led us into a trap. How can we possibly escape from here?'

Sh'ellen and his mate began to drag the wagon forward across the clearing, even their huge muscles straining to pull the heavy vehicle over the soft ground. In spite of the slow steady pace, in spite of the strength of the deleff, one of the rear wheels sank deep into the loam and the wagon stopped moving.

'Everyone off the wagons!' ordered Herra. 'Come here and push!'

They got the wagon going again, and when it drew to a halt at the very edge of the water, the second wagon began to move forward, exactly in the tracks of the first.

Jonner hit himself on the forehead. 'Where are my wits?' He rushed to the edge of the clearing and tore off an armful of small branches and leaves. He tossed these onto the soft patch where the wheel of the first wagon had got stuck. The second wagon moved forward, the rear wheel started to sink, then it found purchase on the leaves and twigs and jerked forward, pulling up at the edge of the pool next to the first wagon.

Sh'ellen whistled urgently through his nostrils, tossed his head and looked back towards the forest.

'Are you waiting for Katia, friend Sh'ellen?' asked Herra slowly and clearly.

QUEST Shannah Jay 176

The massive head tossed up and down, the ruff furling and unfurling. There were tiny flickers of light coming from the bony stumps on Sh'ellen's back and all the deleff were twitching about. Time stretched with agonising slowness across the clearing, with everyone trying to listen for the sound of people approaching.

'They're coming closer,' said Herra at last. ‘I can sense them more clearly.’

Sh'ellen pawed the ground, shook his head to and fro, then began to walk slowly into the water.

Davred jumped off the wagon. 'I'm going no further without Katia! She's alive and unhurt. I'd sense it if anything had happened to her. I'm not leaving her to face them alone.'

'Can we not wait a little longer, Sh'ellen?' asked Herra.

The deleffal ignored her and continued to pull the wagon into the water. When it was in the centre of the pool he stopped, and the other team of deleff began to follow with the second wagon.

' Wait! ' commanded Herra, but this had no effect on the deleffal. Eyes narrowed in concentration, she snapped her fingers and tried again. The second pair of deleff continued to tug their wagon towards the centre of the pool, as if she were not there. The dark water rose higher up the wheels. 'What are you?' she whispered, shaken to find herself total y helpless to control them. Even the Initiates of the Inner Shrine had not been able to resist her completely, as these so-called animals could.

A running figure burst into the clearing, followed by shouts and crashing in the undergrowth. Katia's face and arms were scratched and bleeding; her clothes torn. She ran towards Davred, sobbing for breath. When she was only a few paces away from him, there was a whining noise and an arrow slammed into her thigh. She screamed and crumpled to the ground. Herra gestured and one of the men following Katia froze in the act of nocking a second arrow to his bow.

Davred ran to help his wife and Benjan fol owed him, sword drawn. Sh'ellen bugled imperatively. The other deleff echoed his cal . The clearing rang with sound as the deleff began to bugle loudly, one after the other, not letting the reverberations die away. The sounds sent shivers run down the spines of the listeners. Arcs of light began to flicker from the deleff's backs.

'Get into the wagons!' shouted Herra. 'Something is about to happen! Quickly!'

Another arrow, fired from the cover of the trees, slammed into Katia's shoulder, and she couldn’t hold back the cry of agony. Davred flung himself between her and the forest, scooped her into his arms, and began to carry her towards the pool. An arrow whistled past his ear and another thumped into the earth at his heels. Herra stopped a third bowman in his tracks.

Shouts came from the wildwoods as the water in the pool began to bubble. It seemed as if it were alive, alive and menacing. Wading through it took a massive effort. Even Benjan was staggering as he reached out to help Davred carry Katia. The two men could hardly move at times as the water surged up around them.

Davred heard another arrow zip past him and sucked in more breath to fuel his failing muscles. Never had he found it so difficult to move forward, or even to breathe. The chill water was seething like a boiling cauldron. Spouts began to erupt all over the pool. They were soaked to the skin, half blinded with spray. Their wet clothes dragged at their bodies and their feet caught in the gluey mud of the pool bottom.

Moving slowly, like one in a trance, Benjan reached the second wagons and used one hand to haul himself on to the tail piece. As he turned to take Katia's semi-conscious body from her husband, Davred stumbled again and slipped right under the water. He flailed around, losing his sense of direction, then Benjan was there pushing him up on to the wagon next to his wife.

As Benjan lurched over to the other wagon, which was less crowded, he hauled himself up on its tail only just in time. Spraying water began to hiss up around them. The wagons' canopies were of little protection from the deluge.

Each minute the waterspouts rose higher, spraying them from every direction and veiling the scene round them. Even breathing was difficult, for the air was a thick mist of droplets. The eerie blue light flickering from the deleff's wings showed a nightmarish picture in which all the colours seemed wrong.

The pursuers had stopped loosing arrows at them.

QUEST Shannah Jay 177

'We've got them trapped!' someone yelled.

'The Serpent has triumphed!'

'They're bogged down in the Vespertine Pool!' shouted a man in green. 'They'll never get out of there alive!'

Ignoring the motionless figures Herra had stilled, a plump officer ran panting to the edge of the water, beckoning his men. 'What are you waiting for? Go and capture them, you fools! There's a big reward to be earned.'

The man in green shook his head. 'Not me! There's thick mud on the bottom of that pool and geysers spout when you least expect them. Those who get bogged down in it vanish without a trace. Their bodies don't even float to the surface. It's a dangerous place.'

'Superstitious nonsense! I command you to go in after them.'

'Look, Captain, you brought me with you because I know the forest. The Serpent wouldn't thank you for sending me to my death for no reason. How would that serve him?'

'Are you daring to tell me my business?' But the captain was tugging at his lip and he didn't repeat his command.

'I serve in the Inner Shrine, Captain,' said the man in green. 'You've no reason to doubt my loyalty. Believe me, we've only to stand here and watch them sink. They won't reappear.'

'What are they waiting for, do you suppose?' Fiana whispered to Benjan. 'Why haven't those men followed us into the water? Can you see what they're doing?' She stared through the mist of spray at the blurry at the edge of the pool.

'Can’t see anything clearly.' Benjan hefted his sword in his hand, turning occasional y to look towards Herra in the front of the wagon, though in truth, most of the time he could hardly see her for the cascading water, let alone hear her commands. The livid light dimmed a little and a darkness seemed to creep over everything.

Jonner, a sodden cloak over his head, fretted away next to Herra. 'Why doesn't someone do something? What are they waiting for?' It wasn’t clear whether he was referring to the deleff, the Kindred or Those of the Serpent.

Before anyone could ask Jonner what he meant, the deleffal trumpeted shrilly again, the other deleff echoed his cries and even bigger geysers erupted all over the pool, this time rising higher than before, then crashing down on the wagons till they rocked wildly and the wooden joints screeched in protest.

Continuous walls of pulsating water now hid the two wagons completely from each other. The people inside could only cover their faces and cling to the struts lest they be thrown out.

The deleff now began to call in unison, their voices rising above the sound of the water, blue light flickering from them like lightning with each call. Even Herra could do nothing but huddle down and endure the deluge.

Davred, with Katia lying face downwards across him, braced his legs against a box, holding her with one hand and a strut with the other, as the water lashed at them like stinging flails.

The wagons began to rock even more violently from side to side. At first Herra thought it was because of the force of the water, but after a moment or two she realised they were moving forward again, creeping at a very slow pace through the pounding deluge.

After what seemed an interminable time to those cut off from every sensation save the noise of the water and the rocking of the wagons, the force of the water started to lessen and the blue light died away completely from round the deleff. The liquid walls around them grew lighter and the droplets of water on every projecting surface of the wagons began to sparkle with reflected light. Gradually the space around them widened and the water sprays became finer and finer, revealing . . .

'Where in the God's name are we?' Jonner gasped, always the mouthpiece of the group. 'Where have the woods gone?'

'Dear Brother, thank you!' breathed Herra.

'Katia, we're safe!' exclaimed Davred. 'Lie still, but rejoice! The deleff have saved us.'

'Where are we?'

QUEST Shannah Jay 178

'We're - we're somewhere else. I don't know where. However did they do it?'

'Well!' exclaimed Cheral. 'That's a relief, I must say! But of all the uncomfortable journeys! If we don't get this child into dry clothes soon, she'll take a chill. We all will. And Katia needs our attention urgently.'

The deleff had pulled the wagons out of a rocky tunnel, and were now splashing through a sandy pool. It was surrounded by jagged rocks and sparse vegetation. The evening sun was higher in the sky here and still held some warmth. The air around them was bone dry. The wagons jolted through the shallow water slowly, making for a gravel ramp at one side.

Benjan smiled and bent to wipe the moisture from Carryn's face with the tips of his huge fingers. 'Sleep well, little one,' he rumbled. 'You're safe now.'

Her eyes fluttered open. After a moment's panic, they focused on Benjan's face and she relaxed. 'I'm glad you're stil there,' she murmured, as her eyelids closed. 'I feel - safe - with you.'

'But where are we?' fretted Jonner. 'I've been to all the claims and I've never seen a place like this. And how can you have desert so near to the wildwoods? And how did we get here?'

Around them was an arid landscape with a dusty track leading away from the pool along a narrow valley. Sparse, dust-coloured vegetation did little to soften the heaps of whorled sandstone. There was no sign of any habitation.

Sh'el en made the sighing sound that showed pleasure and moved across the last stretch of pool, tossing his head.

No plant or animal life could be seen in the water, though the pool was fringed with grasses and a clump of narrow-leaved shrubs overhung one side of it.

Jonner opened his mouth again and Herra cut him short. 'If you ask me again where we are, and how we got here, I'll strike you dumb!' she threatened with mock anger. 'I don't know the answers, but we've escaped our enemies and the deleff seem pleased to be here, so I presume we're no longer in danger. I can discern no trace of any other people nearby, whether of the Serpent or not, so I'd guess that we still have some travelling to do before we reach a settlement.

Now you know as much as I do so no more questions!'

Jonner closed his mouth firmly. You didn't anger the Elder Sister, even when she was joking.

The wagons splashed out of the water and the deleff drew them over to the bushes, where they abandoned their walk-in harness and began, with not the slightest sign of concern for those they had rescued, to crunch great mouthfuls of the tough leaves.

Herra jumped nimbly down and made her way to the second wagon. It was stil warm enough for her to feel no discomfort from her wet clothes. 'Get a fire going, Jonner,' she tossed over her shoulder. 'It'll grow cooler soon. I must tend to Katia and Carryn. Come on, man, move.''

He scrambled down from the wagon and took some of the emergency store of wood, still muttering under his breath about it being impossible, just impossible.

Benjan and Davred lifted Katia down from the wagon and Cheral bustled forward to lay a cover upon the ground.

'It's a bit damp, Elder Sister,' she apologised, 'but it's the driest we've got. Everything got wet on the wagons. Did we come through a tunnel, do you think? We seem to be a long way from the wildwoods yet it only took us a short time to get here. How do you think those creatures did it?'

She broke off to scold Davred and Benjan, who were moving Katia. 'No, set her down with her head at this end.

Can't you see that I've doubled the cover at that side? Though it's impossible to make her really comfortable on these pebbles. Don't try to move yourself, Katia. I'll pull you into position. There. You'll soon be feeling better.'

* * *

The next day Soo decided to stay in her quarters, rather than join the others in the rec room. She started viewing the previous day's recordings and watched for a while, yawning, as nothing seemed to happen, then cried aloud as the drama near the pool unfolded. What she found made her summon Mak from the lab.

'See - they went off the track into the woods. I'll skip the next bit. It's just woods, hours of tracking through woods.

QUEST Shannah Jay 179

I've put a marker at the next point of interest. Just a minute. Now, there! They've stopped in a clearing. That's a dark pool, isn't it? You'd think the water would reflect some of the sunlight because it's not dusk yet. I must run a spectral analysis on it later. Perhaps there are natural chemicals in it which inhibit its reflective capacity.'

She stopped speaking for a moment as the scene unfolded, then said in a hushed voice, 'See, now they're driving into the pool, but Davred's staying behind. What are they fleeing from, do you think? That settles it! I must somehow send down a tracer with a variable radius, and never mind what Robler will say if he finds out. How frustrating this is!

There! Katia suddenly comes running across to join them and - '

'Oh! That must hurt!' exclaimed Mak. 'Who would be shooting at her, do you think? It must be Those of the Serpent.'

The picture blurred for a moment as Davred rolled over to protect Katia. 'How he loves her!' said Soo softly.

Mak squeezed her hand.

She smiled at him, then turned back to the screen. 'Look! The water starts rising now and everything goes dark.

They must have got absolutely soaked. Where did al that spray come from? Now, here it comes, wait for it . . . '

Mak jerked bolt upright. 'Daxos! That's impossible! Play that bit again, Soo, where the water dies down.' They watched carefully, slowing down the recording and enlarging the image, but there was no clue as to how the group had moved so rapidly from one terrain to another so totally different.

A light began to blink on a small readout screen and Soo hurriedly checked the results. 'Mak!' Her voice came out only as a shocked whisper. 'Mak, they moved over five hundred kloms! Instantly. Eight people and four animals. Just -

moved.'

'Not to mention two huge wagons loaded with trade goods.'

'We'll have to report this to Robler. No one in the Confederation has instantaneous transportation. How did they manage it? Confex has been trying to find it for aeons, without success.'

'Let's watch it through a few times ourselves before we tell Robler, just in case there's something we want to conceal.'

'Are we being disloyal to Confex?' Soo worried, leaning against him and slipping her arm round his waist.

'No. Just being wary. We can't prove it yet, but we know he’s become unbalanced.'

* * *

The healing of Katia's wounds proceeded rapidly, but afterwards, before they could disengage themselves from the mindmesh, Herra held up her hand. 'Wait. Katia is with child. I must check that the foetus hasn’t been injured by the mother's shock.'

She laid her hands on Katia's still-flat stomach and frowned. 'Katia! You didn't tell me you'd planned for twins!'

'I didn't, Elder Sister. And I didn't conceive twins!'

There was a moment's silence. 'Are you sure?'

'Of course I am!'

'Well, there are two babies here. Most distinctly. Twin sons.'

'But there weren't two! Elder Sister, I know my own body. There can’t possibly be twins.'

'Well, there are. Our escape was impossible also, yet we are here. When you're feeling better, we'll try to find out from the deleffal how they moved us. I can't communicate with them like you do.'

Katia nodded, but her mind was still on her body. 'The babies - are they all right? They weren't harmed by our escape were they?'

Herra turned back and concentrated on the emanations from the unborn children. 'They're healthy,' she said, after a few minutes.

QUEST Shannah Jay 180

'But?' Katia insisted. 'There is a "but", isn't there? You're hiding something. Tell me, Herra! I have a right to know.'

'Yes, there is a "but". Your sons - one of them, at least, is different from any unborn child I've ever sensed before.'

'How do you mean, different?'

'I don't know. Just - very different.' She laid her hand on Katia's. 'I can tell you no more. You’re carrying two sons and they're both healthy. In the fullness of time we shall understand this difference.' She looked around the circle and spoke slowly. 'We must offer love and warm acceptance to these children when they're born. I know not why, but they must be bound to us by the deepest ties of love. Twin sons! The God has blessed his Manifestation with many, many children.'

'You never told me that before,' said Davred, who still resented her insistence that he share his seed with as many of the Sisters as possible, though Katia accepted the necessity without demur.

'It was not the time. And you never asked. Your seed, Lord Davred, flourished in every case. And as the mothers were dispersed throughout the Twelve Claims immediately after conception, whatever may happen to us, your line is safely assimilated. We haven't wasted our Brother's Gifts.'

'The God be praised,' said Katia very softly, 'for all his Gifts.' She put her hands on her stomach protectively.

Cheral interrupted, 'I can hear Carryn moving, Elder Sister. Will you tend her now? And Benjan, you may help Jonner prepare some food. There must be something on the wagons that isn't spoiled by the water. Katia, you must rest. Lord Davred, you should take more care of your wife and not worry her with unimportant matters.'

The spel was broken - and perhaps it was as wel .

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Chapter 29: DESERT TREK

The night was cool, and although the Sisters and Davred had enough body control to minimise their discomfort, Jonner and Benjan, missing their still-damp blankets, found it harder to sleep. They ended up huddling against each other for warmth.

When morning came, Herra decided to allow Carryn a limited period of full consciousness in order for the slower process of healing her mind to begin. She asked Benjan to carry the girl to the centre of their group, so that the morning Gathering could focus on her.

Jonner, still shivering slightly, hunched over the fire, his sharp face drawn and unhappy. Herra paused for a moment to lay her hand on his brow, then stooped to clasp his hands in hers. She concentrated on speeding up his circulation, and soon his face regained some colour. His embarrassment at these ministrations changed to voluble gratitude as he began to feel more comfortable.

Benjan, who had gone out to scout the area as soon as it was light, had warmed himself by running up and down the valley. When he got back, he let Jonner's flood of words pour over him for a moment or two, then poked the small man in the ribs.

'Shut up!'

'Who do you think you're talking to?'

'You. It's time to gather, so shut up!' A light tap on the chest by Benjan's massive fist cut short Jonner's protestations, then the same fist hauled him to his feet and pushed him in the direction of the others.

Davred followed Katia into the circle, smiling at the exchange between the two men. Benjan took the Gatherings very seriously, but then, Benjan took everything seriously. The smile faded as Davred looked at the slight figure of QUEST Shannah Jay 181

Carryn lying in the middle of the circle, cheeks pale, amber hair dull and lifeless. Cheral, greying hair neatly drawn back and robe as smooth as if she had just taken it from a temple coffer, settled down opposite him. She immersed herself in her preparations as though they were still in the Great Hall of Temple Tenebrak. Fiana, quiet as ever, sat down beside Benjan. Davred took a deep breath and began to clear his own mind, feeling the tensions drain away and peace lap around him.

Only Herra noticed that the deleff had stopped browsing and were staring at the circle of cross-legged figures. She turned towards them and inclined her head in a gesture of greeting, which was returned by the deleffal. Then, ignoring the breeze which was moulding her robe against her body, she adjusted her breathing and settled into the familiar ritual.

Silence descended on the small valley. The deleff remained as motionless as the humans. The sun caressed the still figures and even the breeze dropped. Jonner was now able to ignore his surroundings and clear his mind for meditation.

He enjoyed the morning Gathering almost as much as Benjan did, though he wouldn’t have admitted it.

'We shall gather.' Herra's voice was a warm thread, tying them all together.

Eventual y she brought them back to ful consciousness, but didn’t let them separate. 'We shal now focus on our young friend, Carryn. Today she must begin to face the world again. Benjan, will you move to the centre and sit next to Carryn? She feels more secure when she sees you.'

Without hesitation Benjan moved over to the girl and took her hand in his. 'Wake up, Carryn. Wake up. You're safe now.'

Herra looked at him in surprise. She hadn’t asked him to speak.

Carryn's eyelids fluttered, then her eyes flew open and she gasped, 'Don't let them . . . Oh!' Her hand clutched Benjan's convulsively. Her breathing came in painful gasps that could have easily turned to sobs.

'You're safe,' repeated Benjan. 'We rescued you. We've left Tenebrak.'

Herra sank to the ground and took the girl's other hand in hers. 'Look, Carryn. Look around you. We've travel ed far beyond the wildwoods. You're safe, quite safe - safe with us - far away, beyond the wildwoods.'

The gasps slowed down into a near-normal breathing pattern, though Herra could sense the underlying tension and panic that threatened to surface at any moment. She automatically surveyed the functioning of the girl's body. The skin on Carryn's back had completely healed and the marks were fading. The girl's life processes were beginning to speed up to a more normal rhythm. Herra's sudden intake of breath as she sensed something else went unnoticed, and she quickly masked her surprise. No time now for that. No need for the poor child to face anything but the problems of her own recovery for the next few weeks.

'Where are we?' Carryn struggled to sit up.

Benjan put his arm round her for support. 'We're in the Lands of Nowhere, home of the deleff.'

'Where’s that?'

Herra laughed, a laugh exactly calculated to dispel the tension in the circle. 'That's what Jonner keeps asking. We're not quite sure where we are exactly. The deleff saved us by taking us along a secret trail and through a sort of tunnel. All we know is that we're far away from the Claim of Tenebron. Quite an adventure, is it not?'

Carryn leaned her head against Benjan's broad chest. 'I thought it was just a trader's tale. About the land of the deleff, I mean.'

'It seems not.'

'I must thank the deleff, if they saved us, Elder Sister. One should always thank them for a service. Father says they're the most courteous of creatures. Oh!' Carryn's eyes filled with tears as the memories flooded her mind.

' Calm yourself. You cannot spend your life grieving, child. Your father has sent you with us. He's now engaged in undermining the Evil that rules in Tenebrak, and the God has whispered in my ear that he will be very successful. Also, that you will see him again one day.'

'Are you sure of that?'

QUEST Shannah Jay 182

'Yes. So if Aharri Bel-Ashkaron can set aside his grief for his beloved wife in order to fight Those of the Serpent, can you do less?'

A long sigh answered her, followed by a soft, 'I'll try. Though it's hard. My mother and I were very close.'

'Then you'l have many good memories of her. Concentrate on those. Now, enough of that. We're all hungry. Let Benjan carry you over to thank the deleff, then join us for breakfast. Set your troubles aside.' Herra nodded to Benjan, who scooped up the lightweight figure and strode across to the line of deleff.

'That augurs well,' said Cheral to Katia. 'Taken quite a fancy to Benjan, hasn't she? I'll wash her hair for her before we leave. That’ll make her feel better.' She looked round, automatically taking charge of the daily routine. 'Now, we need to prepare some warm food. Fiana, will you help me? Jonner! That fire needs tending. The flames are too high for cooking. Katia, you need to rest. You aren't fully recovered yet.'

Katia went through a series of gentle exercises to tone up her newly-healed muscles, then sat in the rapidly-warming sun and allowed the others to break up the camp. Cheral fed them all with her usual efficiency, then directed the loading of the wagons, for the deleff were beginning to show signs of impatience.

Carryn begged to ride with Benjan, and later Herra found her sleeping naturally, with her head on his lap.

He stroked the now-fluffy amber hair. 'She's only a child, Elder Sister. One day I'll kill that man for doing this to her.'

'I shall not allow you to soil your soul with that type of violence.'

'When I've got you all to safety, I shall do as I please.' His eyes smouldered with suppressed anger. 'Those of the Serpent killed my sister as well as Carryn's mother. How many others are they going to kill? What does my soul matter, if I can rid the world of such as Benner, who lead men into this evil?'

'Such negative thoughts are destructive to your soul. And if you speak like that in front of Carryn, you'l impede her recovery.'

'Yes, lady. I'll be careful with her.' But the muscles around his mouth were stubbornly set, so she stayed to reason with him. She didn't know why, but he was valuable to their Quest.

'Who said anything about this job finishing when we reach safety, Benjan? We shall, I fear, need to spend many years on our task, and I shan’t live to see it completed. And safety - where is that in a world shared with the Serpent cult?'

Ah, now she had his attention deflected from the dark, destructive urge for vengeance. 'I shall require your services up to and even after my death, Benjan Starborn. Never forget that. You chose to join us in the Quest, to fight with us against Evil, and you are now bound to our ways. You made me your promise and I shall never release you from it.

Never.'

With that she fell back to chat to Fiana, then began a series of running and jumping exercises that would have daunted most people two centuries her junior.

Benjan stared after her. How had she known his secret name, the one given to him when he joined the Hashite Guild? How could she have known that? And how could a woman of her age remain so supple? He eyed her body with approval. Would the Sisterhood's teachings do the same for him as he grew older?

'Is that really your name? Benjan Starborn.' Carryn's drowsy voice brought him out of his reverie. 'How can you be starborn?'

'I didn't know you'd woken up, little one.'

'I'm only half awake. I keep dozing. But is it really your name? I never heard a name like that before.'

'It is, but you must keep it a secret, for it's not a name to be told. How the Lady Herra knew it is a puzzle to me. I thought only the Prime Craftsman knew that name, for he gave it to me.'

'The Elder Sister knows everything. You can't hide anything from her.'

QUEST Shannah Jay 183

Can you not? he thought, smiling down at the piquant little face. Then pray the Elder Sister keeps some very personal secrets to herself. 'So it seems,' he said aloud. 'Well, I hope you'll remember to keep my name secret, little one.

I should be dishonoured if it became known.'

'I won't tell, but I'm glad I know it.'

'I am, too. Friends may share each other's secrets. Now, I wish to take a nap myself, so I would be grateful if you would either lie still or find yourself another pillow.'

'You're a nice pillow,' she joked, then shivered. 'Can I - do you mind if I stay here? I'll lie still, but I feel safer when I'm with you.'

'A light weight like you is no trouble, as long as you stay stil . I slept badly last night, because of the cold.'

'All right.' She snuggled down against him. 'It's nice and warm in the sun, isn't it?'

Herra, watching, was pleased with the way Benjan was handling Carryn. Natural sleep would heal the child's mind far more quickly than the unconsciousness induced by slumberbane. As to his secrets, they were safe with her, as long as he kept his feelings about the child under control.

For three days they trekked across the hot rocky land, learning to rise early and to rest in the shade of some rocks during the middle of the day. The contrast with the wildwoods couldn’t have been greater. But although this land didn’t teem with life, as did the Claim of Tenebron, it wasn’t completely uninhabited. Lizards scuttled for cover as they passed; an occasional flight of birds wheeled across the sky; and insects with large, multi-coloured wings hummed around them, as if curious about those who had invaded their territory.

Katia ranged the countryside as they went, studying its flora and fauna. As Herra could sense no other human life, and the deleff made no objection, it was deemed safe for Davred to join his wife on most of her explorations.

Benjan joined them once, but Carryn fretted when he was out of her sight, so he didn’t repeat the action. To keep himself fit he started to learn some of the Sisters' running and jumping exercises, adapting them to his needs instinctively, for he knew his own body well, it being the main tool of his trade. After the first day he persuaded Carryn to begin some simple exercises too, for her muscles were weak and wasted after her days of unconsciousness.

Jonner, pale face now tanning rapidly in the sun, mostly rode in the first wagon. The lack of habitations seemed to irritate him, as did the heat. Herra spent time patiently listening to his tales, and set Fiana the same task to keep his spirits up. And hers. For being out of the direct struggle against Those of the Serpent irritated their flawed Sister. The peace of the journey was broken on the third morning. The com-unit, which Davred always carried with him, woke them al before it was ful y light, buzzing loudly.

'Answer your friends, Lord Davred,' called Herra. 'It would seem they urgently desire to speak to you.'

He looked at her, surprised she understood what was happening, then pressed the necessary recognition pattern on the featureless surface of the slim black box. He was uneasily aware that all his companions were awake and listening.

* * *

'Davred! Is that you?'

'Soo! Are you all right?'

'Never mind me. I've been a bit busy, but I have a few free minutes now. Davred, did you realise that you moved over five hundred kloms westwards two days ago - instantaneously?'

'I knew we’d moved. Not how far.'

'Robler found out - wel , we had to tel him - and of course he reported it back to Sector HQ. They took the news very seriously. You know how long Confex has been searching for a method of instantaneous transmission. Al of a sudden they want Full Surveillance on the planet and - and possibly Full Contact.'

'No! That would ruin everything. You must stop them.'

'There's worse.' Soo paused, hating to tell him. 'Robler is claiming that Those of the Serpent are the governing QUEST Shannah Jay 184

powers, and therefore the ones to negotiate with, now that the temples are all out of action.'

' Brother, look down in our hour of need! Soo, you have to stop them. It's not just a planet that's at stake; it's a whole new field of knowledge, a unique way of life. It may even provide an answer to the waves of violence in the Confederation, an end to Discord everywhere.'

'Do you really think so?'

'Oh yes. It's why I came down. I am the Manifestation of the God our Brother, who acts through me, and I am also a Cathartic Agent for the Confederation.'

'Still a Cathartic Agent?'

'Of course. That didn't end when I flew down planetside.'

'But how do we prove what you say? How do we persuade them not to meddle?' Soo glanced at her chrono. 'I haven't much time. Look, I don't know if it'll help, but we've got some of the new broad-range, variable tracers. If I can persuade Robler to send them down, will you all wear one?'

Herra's voice interrupted them. 'What exactly are they, Little Sister in the sky?'

'Just a more complex form of the tracer you've already worn for us.'

'Hmm. Machines might impede us. There are new forces developing within us. I wonder whether we should risk anything which might weaken our inner forces.' She tried to listen for that hidden voice. Would her Brother want her to allow this?

'Elder Sister, we have to have more information about your planet if we're to protect it. Otherwise, the Confederation might deal with Those of the Serpent in matters concerning Sunrise. The broad-range tracers could play a vital part in gaining information. Besides, the tracers you're carrying aren’t working well. There seems to be a lot of interference.

You need stronger units.'

'We don't follow your path and we can't all wear your machines.' Herra's voice was flatly emphatic, the tone of an Elder Sister who was not to be argued with. 'I shal wear one of the new tracers for you, and Davred will, but certainly not Katia or Carryn.'

Fiana now chose to enter the conversation. 'Elder Sister, would it hurt if I wore one of them? I’m not fully of the Sisterhood now.'

The image was clear enough to show Soo the sadness on Herra's face.

'But not fully lost to us, either, Fiana.'

She shrugged. 'I'll wear one, if the Lord Davred thinks it'll help our Quest. He takes no harm from the one he carries.'

'He is special. Of both worlds. You are not. And I am in Enhancement, so I may venture what others should not.'

Mak joined in. 'What about Benjan, then? He's not a Sister.'

'No.' Herra's tone was sharp. 'Not Benjan. He is of the Kindred and he is in a state of transition to our ways. Those who tread a new path cannot risk contamination.'

'Contamination! Why do you use that word?'

'Because that's how I see things.' Herra looked across the smouldering ashes of the camp fire at Jonner. 'My friend, you've devoted your life to material objects and are unlikely to change. Would you carry one of the tracers for our friends in the sky?'

'I don't understand what's going on, Elder Sister. Who are you talking to? I can't see anyone.' Jonner had been nearly bursting with curiosity, but hadn’t dared interrupt.

Davred held up the small black box. 'Before I came down as the Manifestation of the God, Jonner, I lived in a - a sort of village in the sky. My people come from far away, from another planet - er - world across the sky. We have QUEST Shannah Jay 185

special ships that travel across space.'

'Traders?' Jonner was trying hard to understand this new magic.

'Of a sort.'

'Do your people want to trade with the Twelve Claims?'

'Possibly. They want to observe this world first. The machines they’re sending will allow them to do that in safety, from a distance.'

Jonner asked the two questions nearest to his heart. 'Would I get first trading rights if I helped? Is there any danger in that thing you want me to carry?'

'No danger in the box itself. I shall carry one too. And yes, if you help us, we can give you priority, if we get as far as trading. But we can't guarantee that we will.'

'Who can guarantee anything?' Jonner shrugged. 'I'll chance it! 'Bout time I tried something new. It may be my turn to get lucky.'

Soo interrupted them. 'Davred, I must go now. I'll arrange to drop some tracers as soon as Robler gives permission.

I'll include both personal and fixed ones. Perhaps you could leave some of the fixed ones behind as you go along -

when you get back among settlements, that is.'

'Of course.'

'Right, then. There's quite a large area of flat ground ahead of you. We can drop them there. Now, Mak and I really must go. Robler will be round to check up on me soon. He doesn't trust me any more. I should have been on the job he set for me five minutes ago.'

'Five minutes! Does he time you so closely? What's the matter with him to fuss like that? It's unprofessional!'

Mak joined in. 'Robler's changed greatly. He's become very dangerous, so dangerous, Davred, that Soo and I took out a permanent marriage contract to make sure he has no rights of wardship over either of us, just in case anything goes wrong.' He gave one of his wintry smiles. 'But also, I will confess, we did it because it seemed the right thing to do, given our feelings for one another. One of the effects of Sunrise, do you think? My people gave up permanent contracts of marriage centuries ago and we've never endorsed the idea of romantic love. The permanent contract is an anachronism, really, but still - it seemed right for us.' And his smile spoke of his love even more clearly than his words did.

'Break contact!' said Soo urgently.

* * *

'The God speaks within us al ,' murmured Herra. 'He's working on your friends now, Davred, teaching them to love.'

Davred shook his head in disbelief. 'Mak is the last person I would have expected to understand such things. He doesn't believe in anything he can't see.'

She smiled. 'How little we understand each other's souls! Your friend seeks the truth in life, does he not?'

'Yes. In his own way.'

'Is that so far removed from our Quest for Wisdom?'

'No, but - wel , I’m surprised that Mak would enter into a permanent marriage contract!'

'And Soo.'

'Yes, Mak and Soo.' Davred shrugged. 'Well, may our Brother watch over them.'

Two hours later an object hummed across the sky and arced to earth somewhere ahead of the two wagons. The deleff stopped dead in their tracks at the sight of it and bugled loudly, then began to stamp their feet and snort through their nostrils. It was a few minutes before they were willing to move onward again.

QUEST Shannah Jay 186

Jonner gulped and fingered his throwing knife. Benjan grew watchful, and Carryn clutched his arm in panic.

'There's nothing to be afraid of,' called Davred.

'Would that thing be carrying the tracers Soo spoke of?' Herra asked him.

'Yes. The thing is cal ed a transcap. It's a sort of flying container. You might liken it to a smal flying wagon.'

'I had thought your friends would come themselves in one of your flying wagons to give us the tracers,' said Herra.

'No, you cal them lifeships, do you not. We must try to use the correct names.'

'We only use lifeships for transporting people. We use transcaps with dropjets for sending goods.'

'Dropjets?'

'Machines which push the transcap in the direction needed. They're only made to take the transcap from space to a predetermined point on a planet, with enough extra fuel to make a few adjustments on the way. We can make return transcaps, but they're a lot more expensive to manufacture. Simple transcaps are a very economical form of transporting goods.'

'I wish I had some of those things,' said Jonner feelingly. 'You wouldn't credit the percentage of profit we traders have to allow for loss of goods in transit. If things flew through the air, who could steal them? I've had whole consignments taken or lost more times than I care to remember, especially in recent years.'

'People would become too dependent on physical equipment, if it were easy to obtain such machines,' said Herra.

'Instead, we need to concentrate on developing our own skills. The memory, properly trained, is an excellent recorder.'

She saw that the deleff had walked out of their harness for a rest and turned to Katia. 'While the deleff are resting, Katia, would you relate the events which led to your Second Choosing? And create an image of them, if you can.

Deleff, may we pray that you'll allow us to stay here for long enough to finish this? We wish to show our friends something.'

The deleff tossed their heads, moving round so that they were facing the group and positioning themselves to watch what was happening. Less and less did they seem like unthinking animals; now, everyone had learnt to speak to them, explain things and ask their help, rather than giving them orders.

Katia settled into Recall, then began to concentrate on one of her emerging skills. A small shimmering image of Herra flickered into focus by the side of the track. The simulacrum raised its hands and spoke again the words of the prophecy. Towards the end, the image became markedly fainter and beads of sweat began to form on Katia's forehead.

When the prophecy was over, the image vanished abruptly.

'I can’t hold it any longer, Elder Sister. Shall I just recite the words and events which followed the prophecy?'

'No. That will suffice as a demonstration of what we can do, the skills that we mustn’t lose by allowing machines to perform them for us.'

Katia's eyes were sparkling. 'I love to create images and illusions.'

'So do I.' Herra snapped her fingers and a drift of blossoms fluttered to the ground, where they lay for a moment before vanishing.

Sh'ellen bugled loudly, but made no sign of wishing to set off. His eyes were fixed on Katia.

'I think they wish to communicate with me again.' Katia walked forward, bowed to the deleffal and placed her hands on either side of Sh'ellen's great head. She closed her eyes to aid concentration. When she opened them again, she looked slightly puzzled.

'I - it's hard to be sure - but I think we shall arrive at their - their home, city, nest, council place - I can't find a single term in our language which corresponds adequately - but we'l arrive there quite soon. The deleffal wishes us to make the pictures again, when we get there, for the High Deleffal.' The great head tossed up and down, as if to reinforce what she’d said, then Sh'ellen nudged Katia gently out of the way and began to paw the ground.

'Well, that message is clear enough to anyone,' said Cheral. 'They want to leave now. I must say, I'll be glad to arrive somewhere and stop for a while. There's not much pleasure in travelling across a flat plain covered in rocks and sand, QUEST Shannah Jay 187

going towards hills which never seem to get any closer!

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Chapter 30: ROBLER'S TRANSCAP

An hour later they reached the transcap. The deleff halted next to it and Sh'ellen stretched his head forward to examine the casing of the long slim object.

Davred moved forward, for this was his province.

'Tell the deleff what you're doing,' Katia reminded him.

'The dropjet, which pushed this transcap through the air, was attached here.' Davred indicated a charred area at one end.

The ruff furled and unfurled, then Sh'ellen bent his head again to sniff the object.

'Once it's launched from the satel ite, the transcap fal s very quickly. The dropjet is used mainly to slow it down, so that it doesn't get too hot. It also adjusts the direction, if necessary.' As he ran his finger along the side of the featureless capsule, the casing began to split into two pieces along its length, the lower half resting on the ground, cupping the contents.

A soft grey nose poked the contents of the transcap and a rough bluish tongue flickered tentatively along the matt creamy surface. The blueness of the deleff's tongues always seemed slightly incongruous to Davred, as if they had been dyed. Sh'el en moved his head from side to side, seeming puzzled, then leaned forward to sniff and lick the box again.

More tossing of the head, then the deleffal sneezed violently and took a few steps backwards. He moved forward again, this time to nudge Davred.

'I think he wishes to communicate with you,' suggested Katia.

Davred frowned down at the transcap, then moved over to lay his hands on the sides of the deleffal's head, as he had seen Katia do. He closed his eyes, then they flew open in shock before closing again.

'It feels very strange, talking to the deleff,' Katia whispered to Herra.

Everyone watched in fascination and the silence stretched for several minutes before Davred opened his eyes again and shook his head, as if to clear it. Katia moved quickly forward to support him as he staggered.

'He'l be all right in a minute. One feels dizzy and disoriented after an attempt at communication.'

'I'm all right. The deleff would like one of these new tracers to give to their High Council,' said Davred. 'They want to observe my people. They also want to travel the wynds of heaven with us.' He frowned. 'Some of the concepts they use are strange to me. What's a wynd?'

'A wynd is a narrow track,' said Cheral, always eager to instruct. 'It's an old-fashioned term, not much used nowadays. It's from the times when there was only one claim and very few good tracks. Are the roads narrow in the sky, Lord Davred?'

Davred took a deep breath to give himself time to think. How was he to explain space travel to such an audience?

'There are no roads. It's mostly - well, just empty space between the worlds. One flies across this space inside a spaceship. It must be an airtight vehicle, because there isn't even air to breathe out there. Equipment for making air has to be taken inside the ship. And to grow food for long journeys. So, deleffal, we shal not need help, even such powerful help as you can offer, to pull the spaceships.'

Sh'ellen bugled loudly and tossed his head.

QUEST Shannah Jay 188

Katia stretched out her hands towards the creature and was shaken off. Davred was nudged until he placed his hands on Sh'el en's head again. The contact was brief, but when he broke it, Davred's face was white with strain. 'It's so hard,' he whispered. 'Why is it so hard to communicate with them?'

'What did the deleffal say, Lord Davred?' asked Herra quietly.

'He wishes me to tel it all again to the High Deleffal and - and to the Conclave of Chroniclers. Sh'ellen says it's too hard for him to understand properly in his early life cycle.'

Sh'ellen began pawing at the ground. Hurriedly, those who wished to ride got back into the wagons. The deleff had now taken complete charge of the journey.

Benjan and Jonner picked up the half shells of the transcap and slid them and their contents on the back of the second wagon. For once Jonner abandoned his seat in the leading wagon to sit in the rear and inspect not only the contents, but the fabric of the containers. He seemed fascinated by the smoothness of the ceramoplast, which was like no material he’d ever seen.

Davred laid his head on Katia's lap and closed his eyes, letting her body cushion him against the jolting of the wagon while he allowed himself to recover. 'Why does it hurt so much to communicate with them?'

'I don't know.' She sat for a moment, idly running her fingers through Davred's hair. 'And what did Sh'ellen mean by

"his early life cycle", do you suppose? I thought he was full-grown. I've never seen any deleff larger than him.'

'Jonner, how long do deleff live?' Davred called.

'No one knows. But they have been known to stay with families for two generations. Usually, though, they stay for one generation at most.'

'Then they might be very long-lived?'

'They might be anything, really. All we know is that they're friendly and helpful to Traders if you treat 'em right. So we do.'

Herra, sitting in her usual position on the driving seat, shook her head. Why have we not questioned this before? she wondered. Over all the centuries, we've just accepted the deleff. And that's not like us.

* * *

The wagons set off again next morning as soon as First Gathering was over. The deleff didn't even allow their passengers time to heat or consume any food. Feet were stamped, heads tossed, ruffs raised and lowered, until no one was in any doubt that the deleff intended to move off, with or without their passengers.

Everyone rushed to and fro, preparing the walk-in harness and loading the wagons. No sooner had they finished than the deleff set off, leaving Benjan still tidying the camp site and Carryn shrieking his name in fear.

Cheral snapped her fingers in front of Carryn's face. 'Control yourself, girl. There's absolutely no danger of Benjan being left behind for more than a few minutes. The deleff travel much more slowly than he can run.'

Carryn gasped, and for a moment it was touch and go whether she would calm down without help. Then she gulped and fought for control. 'It - he makes me feel safe,' she explained in a shaking voice, her eyes fol owing Benjan, who had now caught up with the wagons and was striding alongside, watching her anxiously.

A shake of Cheral's head prevented him from climbing on board. 'You need more exercise, Benjan,' she said in her novice-mistress voice. 'You can do your muscle-toning exercises, then Carryn may join you for a brisk walk before we break our fast.'

Benjan nodded and ran forward along the track, beginning some of the jumps and movement patterns that Herra and Cheral had taught him. His ears were alert for any sign that Carryn had let panic overwhelm her and he was quite prepared to brave Cheral's wrath and run back to help the girl if necessary.

'Now, Carryn,' said Cheral firmly, 'first exercise! And let that poor man keep his muscles in trim. The sooner you get yourself fit, the sooner you'll be able to join him in his morning runs.' Til you become too large, she thought. The Elder Sister had not mentioned Carryn's condition to anyone, but Cheral had the Gift of Nurture and could recognise a QUEST Shannah Jay 189

pregnant woman or girl when she saw one. It was just to be hoped that the unknown father of this poor baby had had no hereditary taint to pass on to his offspring. Whoever he was.

She demonstrated to Carryn a new exercise designed specifically for a woman in the early stages of pregnancy and ignored Katia's shocked recognition of its purpose. The Elder Sister would have to explain to Carryn soon that she was with child, thought Cheral. They were too small a group to keep anything secret for long.

'No!' Cheral said loudly, automatically repositioning Carryn's body. 'Like this. Feel it. A very small difference in posture, but a big difference in effect. Yes. That's better.'

When the muscle-toning exercises were over, she nodded. 'Your mother taught you well. You learn a new exercise quickly. That makes a difference!' She saw that Carryn's attention was on the large bearlike figure of Benjan and sighed.

She was surprised that the Elder Sister had allowed that dependence to continue.

Really, the sooner they found somewhere to settle down and establish a civilised way of life again, the better it would be for them all. This was no way to live in harmony with oneself, always scrambling off along some new path. 'Go and have your walk now,' she said at last. 'Further than yesterday and be sure to remember the breathing patterns for efficient movement.' She watched Carryn, moving extremely inefficiently, rush to join Benjan, then went over to the other wagon, shaking her head.

'You'll have to tell her soon,' she said to Herra. 'She'll need to start preparing her body. She's too young, really, but she's a well-developed girl, so it'll not harm her to have the baby. No reason to intervene.'

'I shan't tell her quite yet. She's not ready.'

'And if she guesses?'

'That's a risk we must take.'

Jonner's eyes flickered from one to the other. 'Tell who what?'

'None of your business!' snapped Cheral. 'And isn't it about time you started to exercise your body? You're becoming positively flabby.' She poked him in the midriff. 'Look at that! Disgraceful! Now, where did you put the flatcakes and dried fruit? Such a scramble to leave. Why we couldn't eat first, I don't understand. Whatever's got into those creatures lately?'

The deleff continued to pull the wagons at their top speed, even though the ground was beginning to slope upwards.

'I think our friends are eager to be home,' said Herra softly to Cheral. 'Surely we can put up with a little inconvenience for their sake. We do owe them our lives, after all.'

'Well, I suppose it won't hurt us to break our fast with flatcakes for once. After all, they're there for emergencies,'

Cheral admitted. 'Jonner, that's not enough exercise!'

'But I'm hungry.'

'You'll get nothing until you've finished all the exercises!'

Jonner scowled and Herra hastily intervened. 'You'll need to get fit once we start trading, Jonner. We'll all be relying on you then.'

He saw the determination on her face and sighed. 'Oh, very well.'

The sun rose higher in the sky, but the deleff showed no signs of stopping to rest. By now everyone was riding in the wagons in the shade of the awnings. Heat lay like a prickly blanket around them and again, it was Jonner and Benjan who suffered most. Carryn wasn’t in a much better state, and wilted visibly as the sun rose in the sky.

They were climbing quite steeply now, heading towards a blunt-edged crag that dominated the foothills. The heat made the air waver around them, distorting the rocks and lending the arid landscape a false sense of life and movement.

Large birds wheeled above them on the currents of rising air. The few flying insects to brave the heat darted from shadow to shadow.

QUEST Shannah Jay 190

About an hour past noon, a whine in the air marked the passage of another transcap. Davred frowned. 'Soo said nothing about sending a second shipment.'

'Perhaps she's found some more tracers,' said Katia, fanning his face gently.

They reached the transcap only ten minutes later. It was very much larger than the first one, nearly as big as the wagons. It began to split open of its own accord as they approached it and a black cylinder rolled out onto the sand.

As Benjan moved towards it, Davred yelled, 'Get back! Back! It's dangerous.'

Benjan jumped away. The wagons came to a sudden halt and the deleff started pawing the ground uncertainly.

Davred rushed around to their heads in a futile attempt to pull them in the other direction. They resisted his attempts and continued to stare at the black cylinder.

Without warning there was a blinding flash of light and they all found themselves caught by some invisible force that made movement almost impossible. Benjan began to struggle and Jonner to mouth slow curses.

Robler's voice came from the cylinder. 'A convenient stopping place, Davred Hollunby. You've had your wish and visited your precious planet. Now it's time to come back and do your duty by the Confederation, to whom you are contracted for another three years.'

'No!' Davred's forehead was covered in beads of sweat as he struggled against the netwaves. His words came slowly, distorted by the force that held his body. 'Robler - it's here that I can - help the Confederation. You've got to - believe me! The Catharsis has already started here.'

'Come back and persuade us of that, then.'

'There isn't time! Herra has - only a few years to live. I need - to spend them with her - to learn the Disciplines from her. There isn't time, I tell you!'

Herra, too, was struggling against the invisible bonds, and did not at first know how to work against the strange force that was holding them all captive. 'Davred, how do we - get to him?' she asked, forcing the words out of her half-paralysed lips. 'How do we - make that man - stop this?'

'He's too - far away,' gasped Davred. 'We need to destroy that cylinder. Katia, join with me. Perhaps together, we can . . . '

'I had intended to give you time to say farewel ,' Robler's voice cut in sharply, 'but if you're going to waste my time resisting, maybe it'l be better to make this break swiftly.'

Davred's body stirred and began to slide slowly across the ground towards the transcap. 'No! Robler, no! Brother, look down upon me!'

Suddenly the deleffal and his team-mate began to move, stepping away from their harness, but slowly, as if they were still partly held by the hidden bonds. With ponderous steps Sh'ellen led the way towards the cylinder. Davred's body also continued to slide towards it. After a while it became obvious that Sh'ellen could go no faster and Davred would reach the cylinder first.

'Katia!' he cried out instinctively.

She was too helpless even to raise her hand towards him, and could only whisper, 'Davred.'

'Everyone concentrate on pushing Sh'ellen!' said Herra urgently. 'Now! All together! As if - we were - enmeshed.'

As one they began to do as she asked. Beads of sweat stood out on Benjan's brow, and even Carryn made an effort to add her limited strength to theirs.

The deleff began to move at a slightly faster pace. An exclamation of annoyance came from Robler, but there was nothing he could do to move Davred more quickly than science told him was possible. Even controlling one object in a netwave field was a difficult task. Gradually Sh'ellen began to gain on Davred. He moved closer and closer to the black cylinder.

With Davred a bare two paces behind him, Sh’ellen reached it first. He raised one great foot and smashed it down QUEST Shannah Jay 191

on the shining black ceramoplast, bugling at the top of his voice. An explosion of light blinded them all, and the two deleff staggered backwards.

When everyone's eyes had cleared, they found Sh'ellen shaking, like one drunk or il , and Davred lying stunned on the ground.

'Brother, aid us in our hour of need!' gasped Cheral, rushing towards them. 'What happened?'

'Sh'ellen destroyed that thing. Once again, we owe him our lives.' Herra bent over Davred, who had begun to stir.

'Take things gently, my friend. Are you hurt?' She felt his forehead.

He took a long, quivering breath. 'No. Just shaken by the explosion. It seems to affect one's balance.'

Reassured, she turned to Sh'ellen and bowed. 'Thank you, deleffal. Without you, Davred would be lost to us.'

Sh'ellen tossed his head and whined through his nostrils. He too seemed to be shaken, and his mate kept rubbing her head against his.

Davred struggled to his feet with Katia's help. 'I thank you, deleffal,' he said formally, bowing to the two great creatures.

'So,' said Herra. 'Can Robler try this again?'

'Yes. As soon as he can get another transcap down. And I don't see how we can stop him. Netwaves are very hard to deal with. I've never heard of anyone resisting them at all before.'

'Isn’t there anything we can do to prevent this from happening again?' Fiana asked, looking nervously at the sky and fingering her useless sword.

Davred shook his head. 'Not that I know of. It's illegal to use a netwave trap on intelligent life without the permission of Central. I doubt if Robler's had time to get that, but he's taking the risk of a reprimand for the sake of recapturing me. He must have run mad!'

'In that case,' said Herra, 'if you're sure there's nothing we can do, we might as well continue our journey. The deleff seem impatient to move off.'

Sh'el en seemed to have recovered fully. He’d started stamping his feet while they spoke. Now he bugled loudly and moved into harness, pulling the wagon along before they had even got in again, showing more impatience than ever before.

'He saved us once. We must trust him again,' Herra decided. 'Come on, everyone.'

'Davred, my Davred, there must be some way we can stop him.' Katia had not let go of her husband's hand since the cylinder had released him.

'I know of nothing else that we can do,' said Davred, clasping her to him. The thought of being separated from Katia filled him with horror. 'My world has things called rules of science. I think I'm more bound by them than you because I was taught to believe them. Herra's right. So-called civilisation affects one's capacity to do things. We build our own limitations and rules into our children.' He’d never realised this before.

The deleff moved at their top speed. About an hour later they turned a corner between some high rocks and came to a halt next to another of the small pools that punctuated the track. Thirstily the great creatures slurped up mouthfuls of the water and the humans followed their example. It was icy cold, a delicious shock to a parched mouth, though how a shallow pool could remain so cold in all the heat was a mystery.

A whining noise in the sky marked the approach of another transcap. Sh'ellen bugled loudly and the other deleff joined in. They got back into harness and began to pull the wagons into the water.

'Get on board!' yelled Davred. 'This could be another portal. It's our only chance of escaping the netwaves. Hurry!'

There was a scramble to obey him and he found Carryn tossed up beside him by Benjan, while Katia jumped into the other wagon, sending an agonised glance in his direction.

Benjan jumped in and flung himself across Davred's body as the transcap burst open and the netwaves clamped QUEST Shannah Jay 192

down on them again. 'Might help,' he grunted.

Davred could feel the netwaves focusing on his body, tugging at it. He could feel, too, Benjan's great muscles straining to hold him on the wagon.

Carryn began to whimper.

The deleff were pulling the wagons forward more slowly now, as they too fought against the invisible netwaves. The water grew deeper, rising up the wheels, covering the axles, but this pool didn’t bubble up around them like the one in the wildwoods. Rather, they moved into deeper water, shaded by the opaque black shadow cast by the rocky outcrop.

In spite of Benjan's efforts, Davred could feel his body jerking little by little towards the rear of the wagon.

'Damn you, Robler!' he shouted.

There was a chuckle. 'Your primitive friends can do little against sophisticated technology, properly applied.' The voice seemed to come from the air above them. 'And this time I have another transcap hovering nearby, in case your pet destroys this one.'

'I won't co-operate with you,' Davred yelled. 'Not ever!'

'Oh, but you will - given the right drugs.'

'Concentrate - everyone!' commanded Herra. 'Try to keep - Davred's body - on the wagon.'

The tugging movement slowed down, but was stil marked enough to terrify Davred. He felt one of his feet slip over the tail of the wagon and the leg start to follow.

The deleff were moving with agonising slowness across the pool towards the rocky cliff wall. Davred's right foot touched the water, then the left one. As water lapped up his legs, the deleff started to bugle, a pulsating cacophony of sound that hurt the heads of the people in the wagons.

'What are those stupid animals of yours doing? They're pulling the wagons towards a wall of solid rock! Have they run mad?' shouted Robler, hands hovering over the controls. As soon as Davred was free of the wagon, and that big lout's body, he would whisk him over to the transcap and lock him under stasis. But he could do nothing until Davred's body was clear of the others, or they too might be caught up in the focused netwave. He wanted no complications, no charges of abducting protected indigenes from their own world.

The noise from Robler's transmitter became even shriller, a maddening whine at a painfully high frequency whose harmonics hurt the ears. Davred felt his body jerk and twist to free itself from Benjan's legs. His trunk was now beginning to slide over the edge. He caught at the side of the wagon, but his fingers scrabbled helplessly against the wood, unable to grasp anything tightly, so weakened were they by the netwaves.

Ahead of them, the rock started to shimmer. Davred's body was slipping off the rear edge of the wagon into the water as the deleff strode towards the flickering light. 'Katia!' he called desperately. 'Katia, I love you!'

Robler's laughter was loud enough to punctuate the deleff's intermittent bugling. 'Love a primitive! You're a fool, Davred Hollunby.'

The deleff's eagerness was clear to see. They began to toss their heads and pick up speed. At the very last moment, just when it seemed as if they were going to collide with it, the wall vanished, and the dark mouth of a tunnel gaped in the sunlight. So dark was it that nothing could be seen of the inside.

With half his body hanging over the tail of the wagon, Davred felt the netwaves abruptly slacken their hold on him.

With more speed than grace, he scrabbled towards the front of the wagon, where Benjan again threw his own body across him.

'Davred!' Katia called sharply from the darkness ahead. 'Are you all right?'

'Yes. The netwaves seem very faint inside here.'

'Brother be thanked!' murmured Herra.

'Where are we going now, do you think?' Carryn asked.

QUEST Shannah Jay 193

It was Herra who answered. 'The Lands of Nowhere, I should think.'

'May the God look down upon us!' muttered Jonner. 'What in the name of all the Manifestations is going to happen to us next?'

Steadily, with no slackening of pace, the deleff moved on into the utter darkness of the tunnel. As it closed in around them, the rocky wall behind them shimmered into existence again and the faint lingering trace of the netwaves vanished completely.

'I don't think I like this tunnel very much.' Jonner's voice echoed in the darkness. 'I feel - dizzy.' Herra felt him slide sideways and when she touched him, she found he was unconscious.

'Jonner's fainted,' she called sharply. 'Is everyone else all right?'

'No!' came Fiana's voice. 'Carryn's also fainted. And I - I feel . . . ' Her voice tailed away.

One by one the people in the wagons lost consciousness, till only Herra was left awake. She struggled against the drowsiness that threatened to overwhelm her. 'Deleff! What are you doing? Sh'ellen, we trusted you!' she shouted.

A strange voice replied in the darkness. 'Sssafe, Elder Sssisster. Sssafe now.'

'Who are you?'

'Friend.'

'I won't let you . . . ' she began.

'Musst! Musst ssleep! Cannot pass through portal awake. Pleasse, Elder Ssisster! Pleasse let body ssleep! Will be ssafe in land of deleff. Pleasse!'

Herra fought against it stubbornly, but eventually she too slipped into unconsciousness. The last thing she heard was the sibilant voice calling, 'Ssafe now. Ssafe, Elder Ssisster.' It was a strangely comforting sound.

The two wagons rolled forward. The heads of the deleff were high, their eyes eager, their ruffs unfurled.

Even after the rocky wall had reformed behind them, their eyes gleamed in the darkness like living jewels. Soon, a faint light showed ahead of them, but none of the passengers in the wagons was awake to see it.

* * *

In the exec cabin Robler sat like one stunned. 'How did they do it?' he whispered. 'And - what did they do?'

Soo, monitoring what was happening in the com-room from her quarters, but helpless to intervene, was just as bewildered. She stared at Mak. 'I don't understand. They've just - vanished. And their tracers are only transmitting very faintly. Mak, what could have happened? Where are they?'

'Safe, I hope. Safe from Robler, anyway.'

'Davred's still alive. The signal's very weak, though. It's as if he's a long way away.'

'Look at it, though! Did you ever see such a low reading?'

'All his body processes have slowed right down.'

Mak put his arm round her. 'Put this latest incident on file with the rest of the evidence. I think from now on I'm going to watch Robler even more closely. It's illegal to use netwaves without permission. I believe - I really believe - that it's time to risk sending an emergency transmission to Sector HQ. We can't let this go on.'

######

About the Author:

Shannah Jay, who also writes as Anna Jacobs was born in Lancashire and now lives in Australia and Wiltshire.

QUEST Shannah Jay 194

Discover other titles by Shannah Jay at Smashwords.com:

The Chronicles of Tenebrak

Book 2. Lands of Nowhere http://www.annajacobs.com/book.asp?pageID=19

Book 3. Shadow of the Serpent http://www.annajacobs.com/book.asp?pageID=19

Book 4. The Price of Wisdom http://www.annajacobs.com/book.asp?pageID=21

Also

Envoy http://www.annajacobs.com/book.asp?pageID=22

About the Author:

Shannah Jay, who also writes as Anna Jacobs was born in Lancashire and now lives in Australia and Wiltshire.

Connect with me online at

http://www.annajacobs.com