by Laura Abudo
Before Coral could tackle the Sister, she saw the Sister stiffen then get yanked with such force she flew over Kel’s head and into a tree behind him. Unfrozen with her death, Kel spun to see the sister slowly slide down the trunk. He rushed to Glory to protect her from the sight of blood and other mess the Sister left on the tree. The girl should never know what she had done.
Glory immediately started crying but it wasn’t fear. It was anger and determination. She looked around her, searching. “Pearly,” she yelled, dashing off toward the barn. Coral and Kel took up the call as well. They found her atop a horse, her nightdress flying in the breeze as she chased down a Sister who appeared to be trying to outrun her. The woman fell but stayed down with Pearl standing guard from horseback. Two Marshalls took her from Pearl’s custody and dragged her back to the door of the hall, where two more Brothers and a Sister were also being held.
The barn still blazed but the horses had been freed in enough time to get safely away. A bucket brigade was set up and soon the last of the flames were extinguished. Coral searched for Krisa and Pat, who had disappeared completely with the Siri. She worried they had taken the two without consulting her first.
Soon the five Siri, Krisa and Pat walked up the road. Two of the men had slung fully covered Sisters over their shoulders. They were later told those sisters were responsible for the storm. The Siri had surrounded them and silenced them. They were alive but would not be conscious for a long while.
Coral hugged Krisa tightly. She demanded to know that she was ok and the girl smiled and nodded. Coral thanked the Siri for helping and Pat for sticking with her. They all returned to Kel who was now barking orders. Glory had returned to the barracks to grab her cloak, as she felt uncomfortable standing around in her night dress. She stood tall and proud, overlooking the clean-up with a look of confidence Coral had never seen in her before.
She smiled to herself and truly believed, for the first time, that Glory would be the powerful Queen the gods had told her she’d become.
Chapter 12
Home
The Sisters and Brothers of the Faold were handed over to the King’s guardsmen waiting at the garrison to the east. It was a substantial military holding, due south by a day of the city of Danyc, the King’s seat. Main roadways to the east and west met another running north and south to create the most important crossroad in the land.
It was there they learned about the attack on the King by the Sisters and Brothers and how all over the land they were being brought into custody. There were reports that this had forced some of the Faold into hiding. The soldiers worried this would be difficult to control.
Coral knew the very foundation of faith in the land was about to be undermined. Would people believe the king? Would they believe the Faold? They had seen the fear in the people. Were they already aware something was wrong? As a Brother she was not aware of any mysterious Sister movement plotting or using sorcery. How had they hidden it? She hadn’t exactly been around the Sisters. She was required, as a Brother, to stay with the men. She was sent with Brothers to deliver messages, bless new Sanctuaries, served at retreats, she spent an entire season tending gardens and grounds at an all-Brother retreat several years before. She’d never heard of any of this. Coral was baffled.
The gods told her the Faold had corrupted the true faith. Coral now questioned what that true faith was. What had she been taught that was wrong? The life she had lived was fraudulent, in more ways than one. No, she hadn’t been raised a believer, she had read and studied, had forced herself to believe for the sake of those she served. But she was a normal woman. She lusted, she longed, she dreamt of stepping out of the robes into a different life. She had known she couldn’t…until that day. Until the Well.
That day changed everything. Her faith crumbled, her dreams blossomed, her purpose intensified. And all of this because the gods she hadn’t believed in really did exist and had come to her. She was to serve them. They didn’t demand her devotion, they didn’t threaten her, and they just expected her to protect and care for those she loved and to make sure they lived up to their potential.
The world had turned upside down that day. The faithful turned demons and the faithless became disciples.
Sign posts along the highway westward were marked with X’s as the Marshalls, Coral and the girls passed trails and lanes leading off to farms along the main road. Paths were marked forcing them to detour around villages. The stench of burning met them at three villages as black smoke billowed from a spot in the fields. Coral would turn away and attempt not to retch thinking about what they were burning. The girls looked on curiously but did not question aloud. Perhaps they knew but in their innocence couldn’t truly know. The men stared ahead, stepping into danger in the call of duty. Their families were suffering. Each one of them thought of people at home, wondered if they would survive to see them. Several had wives and children.
“Did the Sisters make the fever?” Pearl asked. She asked the question everyone seemed to want to ask but were afraid of the answer.
“I don’t know,” Coral told her truthfully.
“Why would they?” Glory asked.
“Fear,” Kel answered. “They want people afraid so they can convince them to do things. Do you remember when the storm came? The people wanted to believe the Brothers and Sisters could save them.”
“What do they want?” Krisa asked.
“There must be a purpose,” Coral agreed.
“They are angry the gods don’t talk to them,” Glory told them.
Startled, Coral turned in the saddle toward Glory. “How do you know?”
“That Sister,” Glory said, remembering the one she had faced. “Her eyes told the truth. They were evil and scared. She knew the gods talked to me. Someone is talking to her but it isn’t the gods. And she knows.”
Dread ran down the spines of half the men. Coral shuddered trying not to think of who or what the Sisters could be following.
They rode on in silence only to stop at mid-day for a meal and rest. Kel sat next to Coral as they ate and drank hot tea. He looked at her as though he wanted to say something but didn’t. He took another bite of bread. He looked up at the sky then out to the road and into the distance. Again he looked at her.
“What is it, Kel?”
He smiled and looked down at his food. He took time answering, scratched at his overgrown beard. He kicked a rock out from under his boot. “When we get you home we have orders to report to the King.”
“Yes, I know,” she told him, looking into her dish of food.
“The men need to go home to their families. For a time anyway.”
“Yes, they do. They must be worried about fevers. I pray they will be fine.”
“Thank you,” he said smiling. With a squint he said, “I am going to go to my home for a short time but I’ll come back if you want me. I don’t have a wife to stay for. I can be here for you and the girls. Until I get more orders, I mean.”
“Oh, Kel, you don’t have to. You have your life. You have no obligation to us beyond getting us there.”
“I do.”
“Did they tell you that?”
“No. It’s in my heart. It is not an obligation to the gods but to you and the girls. You are all in my heart and I can’t abandon you.”
She put her hand on his shoulder and leaned her head against him. “Thank you.”
He kissed her forehead then got up. Pearl stood nearby making kissy noises at Kel so he grabbed her up into a hug and smothered her face in kisses. She screeched and laughed.
Before they set off again a rider appeared from the west. He increased the pace when he saw them, waving as he approached. One of the scouts went out to meet him and they returned. When the rider saw Coral he grinned.
“Lady!” he called. “We had news of your arrival soon. It is a blessing.”
“Thank you,” she responded, only half recognizing the older man who must have worked for her father for years.
“I was on my way to the post to get word but here you are! I will go back and prepare them.”
She nodded. “Is everyone well?”
“Oh, we’ve had fever but the worst is past,” he said sadly. “There are no new cases.”
She was thankful for that. Maybe they had missed the worst of it. “I got word of Ruby.”
He shook his head sadly. “The poor dear. But we can’t be sad right now. You are home. I’ll go straight back. Ride like the wind,” he told the Marshalls. “We are anxious for our girl to come home.”
Kel saluted the older man as a sign of respect as he turned and galloped off from the direction he’d come.
“Lady, huh?” Kel chuckled. “Guess he never saw you in your Brother robes.”
“Men,” she called out to everyone, “…a feast and warm beds await us.”
A cheer rose among them and they set off once more, the last leg of their trip ahead of them. Coral imagined life at her parents’ home in the days to come. She wanted nothing to do with a horse for a very long time. The men would leave them but they’d just have to carry on without their companionship.
The arrival of Coral, the Marshalls and the girls was met with joy. Uniformed housekeepers and butlers, farm managers and groomsmen waited at the gate. Kel whistled in admiration at the sight of the house, which turned out to be a large columned stone manor with outer wall and gate.
“I thought your father was a farmer,” one of the men said.
“He is,” she called out and galloped ahead.
Their reception couldn’t have been better. Mother rushed forward for hugs all around, tears streaming down her face. Father shook hands with all the Marshalls thanking them for their dedication to his daughter. The girls were introduced and treated like princesses. The household staff was a-buzz getting rooms ready for their stay and a feast was planned for that evening.
Coral was surprised at how aged her parents looked. More lines, more grey. Mother was thinner and Father thicker in the middle. Sadness still clouded their eyes.
The girls were brought to a large room with bright sunshine streaming through huge windows, a massive bed to share, and a wardrobe full of dresses preserved from when Coral and Ruby were their age. The windows looked out over the gardens and lake off in the distance. A servant appeared at the door with an invitation to bathe before dinner.
“No one wants to smell like horse for dinner,” Coral called out, ushering all three girls to their own waiting servants.
She had missed her home. It had been so long, but seeing the house, the grounds, her parents, made her thankful. The Faold was now behind her. She could be Coral again.
“You two look so worn down,” Father said through his pipe smoke.
Kel nodded. “It has been a long journey. We are thankful for your kind welcome.”
“Of course,” he said. “What’s been happening then? Tell me.”
“We came into it not long ago,” Kel admitted. “Maybe Karl should tell the story.”
“Karl? He calls you Karl?” Father questioned her.
She nodded. Kel looked at her as though it hadn’t occurred to him that she had another name. She’d never mentioned it even after she’d discarded the Brother robes.
She turned to face him in her seat, held out her hand gently in greeting and said, “My name is Coral Estel Teres Marden.”
Kel looked into the distance and repeated, “Coral Estel…you?”
She nodded and blushed. He stood up and walked to the window to look out on the nothingness of the dark of night.
“He doesn’t know,” Kel stated.
“No.”
“He was angry because he thought you…what a fool.”
“We agree then,” she laughed, finally breathing a sigh of relief after having kept the secret between her and the girls.
“I am confused,” Father said, relighting the bowl of his pipe.
“So am I,” Kel laughed.
“Papa, I was sent to get those three darling girls from Brynntown to take them to Mount Sestra for training to be Sisters. We had an accident on our journey north leaving us stranded and in danger. The Marshalls came upon us and like the true gentlemen they are, they escorted us to safety. Their commander offered, upon hearing we were going a further distance, to continue riding with us.
“Along the way we discovered that the Faold was behaving strangely and they tried to take the girls from me. We were also blamed for the storms. Did you have them here?”
To his nod she continued, “I will tell you something we haven’t told anyone else because I need you to understand what has happened. I know it will sound strange but we…we met with the gods, every one of us, and were given instructions to help the girls and get us all to safety here at home. They explained to us that the Faold was corrupt. From that time we’ve had the Sisters trying to take the girls.”
“Why do they want them?”
“They have bright futures we must secure. They are special.”
“All children are special and have bright futures. Why these three? How do the Sisters know?
“We don’t know,” Kel answered.
“This household has never been the most faithful in regard to the gods…”
“Yes, papa, and I was never the most devout Brother either. But when I faced the nine gods and they spoke to me I became a believer and nothing can convince me otherwise. But we must not follow the Faold. They crave power, they have strayed.”
He nodded then told them, “You can stay here as long as you want. But there is something I need to tell you. I heard you were coming home so I didn’t send a message.”
“What is it?”
Father hesitated and looked at Kel.
“Would you like me to go?” Kel asked. “Is it private?”
“Do you have intentions toward my daughter?” he asked Kel.
“Papa?” Coral asked in surprise. “What are you saying?”
“It was Ruby…Ruby’s duty to be married soon. And now that she’s gone those duties have passed to you.” He looked so sad and guilty it broke Coral’s heart. Her eyes started to tear up, which made it worse. Her Father now believed she was upset. “If there is something between you, you must give it up now. I can’t bear to see another daughter suffer.”
Coral jumped up and hugged him with laughter and kisses on his cheeks.
“There is no suffering here,” she told him. “Kel is my good friend. That is all.”
“I have had word from the King that he expects the wedding to be soon, within the fortnight. You will want to rest after your journey? I will try to delay if you’d like. The fellow, Amias Natan Filbar Doran, as I’m told is on duty for the King and has also been away. When he returns the King will notify me and Mr. Doran will come for you.”
“Won’t that be a surprise,” Coral laughed and Kel chuckled.
“Pardon?” her father asked, looking from Kel to Coral as they seemed to share a private joke.
“I am familiar with Mr. Doran already, Father. And I believe we should call him Captain Doran.”
“You know him?” her father questioned in great surprise.
Kel lit his own pipe and sat back. “He is my commanding officer. He rode with us the entire trip until recently.”
“So you’ve met! The King assures me he is a good man. I wouldn’t have agreed if I thought Ruby…er…you were in poor hands.”
Coral smiled gently and told him, “He’s a good man, Papa. I am happy.”
He breathed a huge sigh of relief. “I wasn’t sure how I’d tell you. Your mother has been preparing everything. We just await his arrival now.”
“He left us not long ago,” she told him. “He was going to the King then his home. His father had the fever. I wouldn’t expect him soon.”
He nodded and contemplated through his pipe smoke. Kel did the same. Coral tried to calculate days when he could arrive. She had no way to know how he would react when he saw she was the one. Would he still be angry with her?
Would he blame her for not telling him when she first learned the truth? Would he actually be pleased and they would laugh about it when they were alone in the dark and privacy of their wedding night? She feared yet also longed for that first understanding look that would pass between them.
Chapter 13
Becoming Ladies
Within two weeks of their arrival the Marshalls rode off to report to the King and take a well-earned rest from the road. Kel promised to come back when he was able, at the protest of Coral, who felt he shouldn’t feel obligated to. He insisted. Pat remained behind as the Siri were expected to come for Krisa within the week.
The girl seemed excited to go but Coral often caught her staring at her and then would look sad. She told Krisa often it was ok to miss them but they would see her soon. And she’d learn all about her mother’s people. She could bring them back stories of the forest. Krisa seemed to brighten after those chats but then she’d get down again. They came for Pat and Krisa at the end of the third week. There were tears all around, especially between the three girls and Coral, and they waved for ages as the two left with their Siri escorts. They would be gone several months. Coral prayed for their safety but she knew the gods would keep them safe with the Siri. That’s where she was meant to be right now.
Another two months passed and there was still no sign of Amias. Coral was getting anxious and nervous that he’d met with bad news or danger but the King had sent messages assuring them the union was still planned but had been delayed. They even got a letter from Captain Doran introducing himself and apologizing for the delay but he’d be arriving soon. His scrawl was confident and it just made her miss him more. She missed his straight back as he rode at the lead of their caravan. She missed him looking back at her and his smile.
The girls occupied themselves by swimming at the pond, touring the grounds and gardens. Glory and Mother had become fast friends. They served tea together and played cards while Pearl spent more time with the horses, dogs and out in the fields. Both had lessons with Mother and Coral in reading and working with numbers. Glory complained, feeling it was beneath her but Coral insisted. Even with her resistance they soon found she had taken to it easily. Pearl struggled at first but then soon caught up in both subjects. They started to branch out in their interests so Father’s library was opened up for their pleasure.