by Robin Roseau
“I already told you. We’re going to distract you.”
Then she moved closer and began caressing my body.
* * * *
It was some time later as we lay in a pile on the bed that Juleena said, “That seemed rather like a reward.”
“For which of us?” Alta asked with a laugh. “Oh, that felt good.”
“I thought that’s what those noises meant,” Juleena replied.
“I missed you,” I admitted. “I missed this.” I cuddled closer to Juleena, and a moment later, Alta pressed into me from behind.
And soon, we were all asleep.
* * * *
Our arrival in Marport was similar to all the others over the years. They had toned down dramatically from that first homecoming, of course, but we still found ourselves surrounded by an informal escort of townspeople as we approached the palace.
The queen met us, as she always did, and gave a little speech. And then she called out to Malta, “Court in one hour.”
And no one would tell me a thing.
We bathed, and then I let my maids dress me the way they wanted, with a little help from Xiella, Juleena’s maid. Juleena and Alta also dressed for court, as did, it seemed, half my household. And then it was time.
Ralalta opened the proceedings with thanks for everyone attending and expressed pleasure her household was again whole.
“We keep a combined household here in my palace,” she explained. “My household. Princess Juleena’s household. Lady Yallameenara’s household. The queen’s household. The household of the high priestess.” She stepped forward and caressed Juleena, then Alta and me together. But then she offered a touch to Larien and Terél. “I consider all living within the palace walls a part of my household. And my household appears to have grown. Isn’t that so, Lady Yallameenara.”
“Quite so, Your Majesty,” I agreed.
“And you don’t know the half of it,” said Ralalta with a short smile, but I saw Juleena grinning, hastily hidden.
The queen turned away and paced the room for a moment. “High Priestess Yallameenara, I have taken a liberty.”
“As you are our queen,” I said, “I am sure I welcome any liberties you may take.”
She laughed lightly. “During our recent travels, I spent time with King Tradódid and Queen Mesenorié.”
“So you did,” I agreed. “I believe Alta’s parents enjoyed your company immensely.”
“And I theirs,” she said. “It was not a state visit, but one of family.”
“Of course, Mother.”
She inclined her head at that for a moment, then said, “However, whenever people such as the three of us gather, you can imagine the topics.”
“I was in attendance for some of those conversations. They were quite weighty.”
“And at times spirited, but we were able to discuss issues. One recurring theme in our discussions I found quite fascinating. We discussed the ways in which Framara and Alteara are different. Sometimes those were discussions of the physical differences, such as how their homes must be built to be warm, and here we must be aware of the summer heat, especially nearest our southern border.”
“Even the least of their homes is well-built,” I said. “It is quite different from the homes of my childhood.”
Ralalta laughed. “Quite so,” she agreed. “Clothing styles are different, although one can find Framaran influences, especially in the larger towns.”
“One can also find Arrlottan influences,” Alta said. “Our high priestess has had a significant influence on styles in Alteara.”
“And in Framara,” Juleena added.
“Just so,” agreed Ralalta. “Mesenorié, Tradódid, and I also discussed differences in our leadership styles, how we make laws, and also in the different nature of those laws.”
“I bet that was fascinating,” I said. I thought the first part would be, but I had little interest in laws.
“It was,” said Ralalta. “I learned of a law in Alteara, and I liked it so much, when I returned, I suggested a similar law here in Framara. Can you guess which law?”
“I’m sorry, Your Majesty. I know little of such things.”
She moved closer. “I believe you are familiar with this law,” she said. She’d been pacing this entire time, but when she came to a stop, it was in front of Mandi and Nissi. She reached out and fingered their hair for a moment. “There was significant discussion, but it is now the law in Framara that if a girl’s hair should turn this color, she is to report to the nearest temple to the Goddess, and all Framarans are required to offer any assistance she may require.”
I stared for a moment, shocked, but then said, a whisper really, “Your Majesty...”
She turned to me and flashed a grin. “And just in time, it appears.”
She must have coordinated with Malta, because just at those words, there was a small commotion in the back of the room. The doors opened, and several people entered. As soon as I saw them, I could tell they were girls, and they were dressed nearly identically to how my own daughters had dressed several months ago when I took them to see Ralalta.
They wore long, hooded cloaks, and their heads were bowed.
Of course I knew instantly who they were, but my awareness of them flared suddenly, and then I felt the Goddess laughing before she withdrew from me.
There were eight arranged in two lines, and they followed Lady Malta as she led them up the aisle. She gestured, and they spread about her like two arms. And then the eight curtsied.
But not to Queen Ralalta.
To me.
I hated it when people curtsied to me, and Malta knew it. I locked gazes with her and gave her a little glare, but she had her own grin for me.
But I gestured, and then Malta said something, and the eight rose, but they stood with their heads bowed, an attempt to hide their hair, I was sure. As if I couldn’t guess what I’d see.
“Larien,” I said quietly. I stepped forward, and she joined me. I came to a stop in front of Malta, Larien just off my right shoulder, but then I turned to the first in line on the left, and Larien turned to the right.
I didn’t think it was accidental that the girls were lined up with the shortest closest to Malta, and I thought the oldest to the left, which is why I had taken that side. But I came to a stop in front of the first girl then raised my hands and carefully lifted her hood, dropping it to rest against her back.
She was young, but older than my daughters. I guessed her age at about ten, and she continued to look down. But I reached out and lifted her chin. She looked a little frightened, but I smiled then leaned forward and hugged her lightly. “The Goddess loves you, Belle,” I whispered into her ear.
“How do you know my name?”
“Magic,” I said. “I know all your names. We’ll talk more.”
I looked over, and Larien had also hugged her first girl. But she was keeping a half eye on me, and so when I moved one further to the left, she moved one further right. And in that fashion, we uncovered the heads of six of the new acolytes, exposing their hair for all to see, and greeting them besides.
I reached the last on my side, and I knew immediately I had been mistaken. This one was older than the others I had greeted so far, but she was not eldest. “Larien,” I said. “Wait.” She nodded, and so I greeted the last in my line, a tall, willowy girl of perhaps ten and eight, much older than would normally become a priestess in Alteara, but I was sure the Goddess had ideas for these eight girls.
“I am so pleased to meet you, Gressa.”
“Thank you, High Priestess,” she said.
I looked over at Ralalta. She was grinning widely. When I turned, Juleena carried a similar expression.
The audience was talking, but it wasn’t intrusive, and I imagined this was quite a lot to take in for them, although perhaps not as much as it had been for these eight girls.
I stepped past my four and Malta, coming to a stop at Larien’s first. I hugged and greeted three, and
then I came to a stop in front of the final one to the right, her head still hooded and bowed. I studied her for a moment then reached out and dropped the hood.
This was no girl. She was a woman of perhaps twenty and four, perhaps a little older. I hugged her and, like I had the others, said, “The Goddess loves you, Tyreen. Are these all your charges?”
“I hold no authority,” she said.
I stepped back, but I collected her hands and looked at them. They were stained in ink, as I suspected they would be. “If I look at their hands, will they look like yours?”
She snatched them away and hid them in her sleeves.
“No, Tyreen,” I said. I reached forward and gathered them again. “To be a scribe is a noble profession, and these are the marks, just as the hands of a carpenter might be marked and rough. You can be proud of these hands, and I am so very pleased to see you.”
“I-” She smiled hesitatingly. “Thank you, High Priestess.”
I nodded and stepped away, climbing back to the dais. Ralalta beat me to the center, and we turned to each other. “I had enough hints,” I said. “But I did not see this surprise coming. I am not quite sure what to say.”
“Then perhaps I will speak for you, High Priestess,” suggested Ralalta.
“Of course, Your Majesty.” I stepped back to stand between Juleena and Alta, and then Ralalta gave a speech welcoming the new acolytes and expressing her pleasure.
* * * *
My new acolytes were offered seats, and then there was other business to handle before court could adjourn, but it was brief. Then Ralalta declared court adjourned and whisked from the room.
But Juleena whispered into my ear, “Mother wants all of us. We’ll meet in your parlor.”
My parlor. I hated it when she called it that. The room next to our quarters was set up as a comfortable meeting room with seating sufficient for perhaps ten and five, if they were cozy. It was a good meeting room, but I wished she’d call it “our parlor”. I nodded.
“Larien,” I said. “Upstairs. The new acolytes, too.”
“Yes, High Priestess,” she said.
* * * *
We were quite the troop passing through the corridors. Juleena threw her arm around my shoulder, which felt nice, and I wrapped mine around her waist. Alta chatted with Malta. Larien and Terél shepherded the newest acolytes. Reaching our floor, Juleena steered us past our quarters and to the parlor. Once there, I realized things had been orchestrated further. Mandi and Nissi were sitting on the floor playing a game with Lamarta and Radímaroosh, Maráestára and Peralianíta watching them. They stood as we entered, Lamarta and Radí offering curtsies, to whom, I wasn’t sure.
“Let’s start with that,” Juleena said. “Girls, in private, curtsies are limited to one per day.”
“Where did they come from?” Mandi asked, pointing to the new acolytes.
“Our Prestainamatta made a surprise for us,” I replied. “Let’s start with introductions.”
I handled that, which didn’t take long, even as many as there were. All the girls eyed each other warily, but I didn’t worry about that right now. “Tyreen, when did your hair change?”
“Two weeks ago,” she said. “My master was not pleased.”
“Did he know what it meant?”
“She,” Tyreen corrected. “We had printed the new proclamations just three days previously.”
“All right. And these other girls are with you?”
“Belle is my cousin.”
“She is an apprentice scribe?”
“We all are,” Gressa offered.
“Apprentices to the same master? I imagine she isn’t pleased with me.”
“Not the same master,” Tyreen said. “Master Berandi was irked, but she was kind in arranging our transportation here.”
“You and Belle?” Tyreen nodded. “Transportation from where?” I asked.
“We’re from Puebla.”
“Where is that?” I asked.
“South central Framara near Balstead,” Juleena offered.
“Gressa, how about you?”
“Thera and I are from Wallarty. That’s in the east.” She pointed out a girl of ten and four.
“A nice town,” I said.
The rest told me where they were from. Three had been apprentices in or near Marport, but the other five were from further afield in Framara. I turned back to Tyreen. “Why did a scribe so far away print the queen’s proclamations?”
“They didn’t print all of them,” Juleena answered for her. “We sent one to each duchy, and then it is the responsibility of each duchy to print enough to spread the word. So Tyreen’s master would have printed for Puebla.”
And that was when I discovered each of the girls had been apprenticed to a scribe who had been involved in such printings.
I didn’t think that was at all accidental.
I turned back to Tyreen. “When did you arrive in Marport?”
“Yesterday.”
“Princess Juleena, if she arrived yesterday, how did you know about this?”
“I didn’t know of eight. I knew of five.”
I considered that. “There could be more still coming?”
“You should ask our Prestainamatta.”
I froze at that and smiled broadly. Juleena didn’t use to call her that. I smiled, and then I felt, deep inside, wondering if there were other connections I should notice.
I could feel my priestesses still in Alteara, Féla and Naddí the strongest, but I felt each of them. There weren’t any sudden new acolytes. Within Framara, there were those close to me, of course, plus Hallámierté, and I thought she was with the queen. Somewhat further were the acolytes and two priestesses at the boarding school, two hours away.
And then, faintly, I felt others in separate directions. I turned to Juleena. “Three more.”
“Do you know where?”
“It’s not that precise,” I said.
That was when the door opened. Ralalta stepped in, Hallámierté on her heels. And about half the women in the room dropped into curtsies. Ralalta stepped past them, waving a hand. “You’ve all done that today. Let us sit. We have things to discuss and decisions to make. Sit. Sit.”
She made her way to one of the sofas and said, “Mandi and Nissi, please sit here with me.” She patted to either side of her, and so my daughters rushed over and plopped down next to the queen. “There are more acolytes, Grandma,” Mandi said.
“Why, yes, there are,” Ralalta replied with a grin.
“And three others enroute,” I added, taking my own seat.
Larien and Terél stood back, waiting to see what places Juleena and Alta would claim, but it was Juleena who said, “You two should sit there. Alta, perhaps this looks comfortable.”
The others filled in, although some of the acolytes ended on the floor. I decided that was fine.
“I want to finish catching up. Let us start with Lamarta and Radí. Where are you living?”
“At home with Mama,” Lamarta said. “It’s crowded now.”
“Radí too?”
“Yes,” she said. “We share a bed.”
“And what about all of you?” I asked, gesturing to the newest acolytes.
“They’ve only just arrived,” said Ralalta. “We made room here.”
I nodded. “What else do I need to know?”
“I’ve been in discussions with two of the schools here in Marport,” the queen said. “Discussions have been overtaken by recent events.” She glanced at the newest acolytes. “I thought we should start from the beginning.”
“Perhaps we should summarize,” Alta said. “We have ten and four Framaran acolytes plus one Altearan acolyte we wish to keep close. This is in addition to the seven other from Alteara all overseen by those of us in this room plus two priestesses at Rotaren Boarding School.”
Ralalta began counting girls, and I said, “Plus three more. I’m not sure how soon they’ll arrive, or even if they’re traveling, but if th
ey don’t appear to be drawing closer, I’m going to have to go get them.”
“Ah. Now I understand,” she said.
Alta continued. “The Framaran acolytes are all new, although ages range from Nissi to Tyreen.” She paused. “Do any of you speak Altearan?” She gestured to those we met just a half hour previously. They all shook their heads. “All right,” she continued. “Mandi and Nissi speak fluent Altearan along with their Framaran, and they have a start on the Words of the Goddess, but it is only a start. Lamarta is beginning to learn Altearan and the Words of the Goddess, and of course for Radí it is just the opposite. The newest acolytes, of course, only speak Framaran.”
“And the students at the boarding school are of mixed ages and knowledge,” I added. “Does Rotaren have room for so many more?”
“I believe,” said Ralalta, “that we are best starting with fresh decisions. And, of course, I do not believe Tyreen needs to attend boarding school.”
“Rotaren has been good for us. I do not wish to abandon them now,” I said.
“Rotaren has been good for us,” the queen said, “but you have been very, very good to Rotaren. What are your long-term goals, High Priestess?”
“Long term? I can barely think past dinner.” That generated laughter, although not from Ralalta. She simply waited, and no one spoke. Finally, I said, “We should have had this conversation with our Prestainamatta.”
“Perhaps,” she said. “Do you have a view of what you would like to see in five years? Ten? Twenty?”
“Twenty?” I squeaked.
“Is our temple here our only temple, twenty years from now?”
“I hope not,” I said. “I see what you’re saying. I don’t know what our Prestainamatta intends.”
“I might guess,” said the queen, “that she may intend to provide you with new acolytes as quickly as you can absorb them. So. Long term vision, High Priestess?”
“Long term,” I said. “Temples throughout Framara. Abbeys like they have in Alteara.” I paused. “None of the current Framaran priestesses will have enough experience to operate an abbey that soon.”
“And what exactly is an abbey?”
I hadn’t really thought about it, and I didn’t have an immediate answer. And so I paused. “It’s a place,” I said slowly, “where the priestesses live.”