The Priestess and the Thief

by Evangeline Anderson

  “You…you admit you’ve been poisoning her?” Elli asked, feeling stunned.

  “Of course I admit it—why shouldn’t I?” The Ascending Priestess sneered. “After all, it’s not like you’re ever going to get a chance to tell anyone.”

  As she spoke, she drew a blaster from her robe pocket and pointed it straight at Elli’s chest.

  “You’re never going to tell anyone anything ever again, Novice,” she spat, her finger tightening on the trigger.

  Fifty-Five

  Elli stared at the muzzle of the blaster, feeling numb.

  “You…you won’t shoot me,” she said, her voice shaking. “You wouldn’t dare! How would you explain what happened to me?”

  “Why should I have to?” the Ascending Priestess Superior asked coolly. “After all, you’re not supposed to be aboard the Mother Ship at all. As far as anyone knows, you’re back at the Priory of Extreme Atonement. I’ll just dispose of your body and tell everyone I decided you ought to stay there for the good of your soul.”

  “You can’t…can’t fool everyone, you know,” Elli protested.

  “Why not?” The Ascending Priestess Superior shrugged. “I’ve fooled them about everything else—including the illness and death of my predecessor.” She nodded at the old Priestess Superior, who was blinking uncertainly, still curled on her side in the bed. “I could shoot her right now and then hide the blaster wound and nobody would know the difference.”

  She aimed the blaster at the old Priestess Superior, as though deliberating a much quicker and more violent ending for the old woman than she had originally planned.

  “You won’t kill her—you can’t!” Elli exclaimed, a protective rage rising over her. She felt as though her own grandmother was being threatened! She ran to the bed and put herself between the old woman and the Ascending Priestess Superior. “You can’t!” she repeated.

  “You stupid little bitch, move away from her!” The Ascending Priestess was beginning to sound annoyed. “You can’t save her now—you can’t even save yourself. The minute I blast you, I’ll make her drink the rest of the Dreaming Drops in the bottle and she’ll drift quietly away while I blow your body out of the airlock!”

  As her finger tightened on the trigger, Elli closed her eyes and said a final prayer that the Goddess would forgive her for all her sins. She was trying to brace for the burning sting of the blaster’s deadly ray when—

  “Stop!” a low, angry voice growled from the doorway. “Drop your blaster, Priestess or you’re going to be very, very sorry.”

  Fifty-Six

  Looking up, Elli saw that the speaker was none other than Commander Sylvan—the head of the Kindred High Council himself—and he had a blaster of his own and two armed guards behind him.

  But her attention was soon pulled back to the Ascending Priestess who was still holding the blaster pointed at Elli.

  “I’m afraid I can’t drop my blaster, Commander Sylvan,” she said calmly. “You see, I caught this rogue Novice here trying to assassinate our beloved old Priestess Superior. I’m afraid if I let her move an inch, she’ll finish the job.”

  “What?” Elli couldn’t believe her ears. “What are you talking about?” she demanded. She looked at Commander Sylvan appealingly. “The Ascending Priestess is the one who’s been trying to kill the old Priestess Superior—not me!”

  “Lies.” The Ascending Priestess’s voice never rose or wavered a bit. She was perfectly calm as she accused Elli. “She’s been poisoning the old woman for months. Look—I caught her with this.” And she held up the bright green bottle of Dreaming Drops for the Kindred commander’s inspection. “She was tasked with taking care of the old Priestess Superior when she first came aboard the Kindred Mother Ship,” she told Commander Sylvan. “But all this time, she’s been giving her these drops which simulate a wasting sickness when given in too large a quantity.”

  “That’s not true!” Elli protested. “Please, Commander Sylvan—I’m trying to save the old Priestess Superior! I even went to the Tenebrian palace to get a piece of the Healing Lattice to heal her! If you’ll just let me show you…” She reached for her pocket where she had stuffed the linen handkerchief with the tiny piece of Lattice wrapped in it.

  “Shoot her!” the Ascending Priestess shouted. “She’s going for a blaster!” She trained her own blaster on Elli again and started to pull the trigger.

  “No!” With a cry of long pent up anger and frustration, Beedra jumped out of the closet and knocked the blaster out of the Ascending Priestess’s hand.

  “No!” she shouted again, in the other woman’s surprised face.

  “Beedra?” the Ascending Priestess said blankly. “Whatever do you think you’re doing?”

  “I’m doing what I should have done from the beginning!” Beedra gasped. “You’ve bullied and belittled and frightened me from the minute you stepped on board this ship but I won’t let you lie about poor Ellilah and then shoot her in cold blood. I won’t, I won’t, I won’t!”

  “Oh, Beedra, thank you!” Elli exclaimed.

  “I should have done it before.” The other priestess burst suddenly into noisy sobs. “I’m just s-sorry it t-took me so l-long to get enough c-courage to confront her!”

  The Ascending Priestess was clearly astonished by this surprise attack by her assistant, but she recovered her composure quickly.

  “What in the name of the Goddess are you wailing about, Beedra?” she snapped. Turning to Commander Sylvan, she shook her head. “Commander, I must apologize for my assistant. She’s been acting rather erratic lately but I had no idea she had gone completely crazy. I really think the best thing for her is to be locked safely away and sedated for a while.”

  “I don’t think so.” Commander Sylvan’s voice was hard as he frowned at the Ascending Priestess. “You’re the one who’s going to be locked away, Priestess.”

  The Ascending Priestess widened her eyes innocently and put one skinny hand to her chest.

  “Me? But Commander, I assure you—”

  “Save your assurances—and your lies,” he snapped. “I heard what you said to Novice Ellilah before I came through the door. You’ve been up to no good from the moment you stepped aboard the Mother Ship and may the Goddess forgive me for not noticing sooner.”

  At last the Ascending Priestess’s cool veneer cracked and she shot Commander Sylvan an ugly look.

  “If you heard everything I said, why didn’t you say so earlier?” she snapped.

  “I wanted to see how far you’d go with your lying,” Commander Sylvan said calmly. “Now I see that your duplicity in the search for power knows no bounds.”

  “Why shouldn’t I want power?” the Ascending Priestess demanded. “You have it—why shouldn’t I?”

  “The Goddess assigned me to my position—I never sought it,” Sylvan said quietly. “And I certainly never tried to kill anyone for it.” He motioned with his blaster. “Get up—you’re going with these guards to be locked up until your trial.”

  “My trial? So you can get rid of me and put someone else in my place? I’d rather die!”

  And the Ascending Priestess raised the bottle of Dreaming Drops to her lips.

  “Stop her! She’ll kill herself!” Beedra gasped through her tears.

  Commander Sylvan charged forward, seized the bottle, and threw it against the wall. It exploded in a shower of green glass and purple liquid which oozed sluggishly down the wall in long, thin streams.

  “Guards!” he shouted as the Ascending Priestess tried to run. “Take her away!”

  The armed guards grabbed the struggling priestess and dragged her out the door, shouting and swearing in a most un-priestess-like way.

  Commander Sylvan turned to Elli, who was still reflexively shielding the old Priestess Superior from harm.

  “It’s all right, Ellilah…” His voice was gentle this time. “I know what you’ve been through to try and save the life of the old Priestess Superior.” He shook his head. “I’m just ashame
d that I was taken in by this ruse. I examined her myself, when she first fell ill you know—and I didn’t catch the Dreaming Drops at all.”

  “They’re almost impossible to detect, Commander,” Beedra offered in a watery voice. She had stopped sobbing but her eyes were still red and she still looked terrible. “My own mother was addicted for years before we found out she’d been taking them.”

  “I still consider this whole situation at least partially my fault,” Commander Sylvan said heavily. “I should have tried harder to find out what was wrong with her.” He looked sadly at the old Priestess Superior.

  At last Elli found her voice.

  “Commander, do you mind…can I still try giving her this piece of the Healing Lattice?” she asked, pulling out the handkerchief and opening it to show him the shining piece of rainbow crystal. “I know she doesn’t really have wasting sickness but, well, this is supposed to cure just about everything, I think.”

  Commander Sylvan examined the piece of Lattice for a moment and then nodded.

  “I don’t see why not. I’ve read about the Healing Lattice of the Tenebrians—it’s supposed to be excellent for all kinds of internal ailments.”

  “All right—thank you.” Gently, Elli lifted the old Priestess Superior’s chin and looked into her faded eyes. “Priestess Superior, do you remember me?” she asked softly.

  “Of course I do, dearie.” The old woman smiled. “I’ve missed you—where did you go?”

  “To find something to make you feel better,” Elli told her. “All you have to do is let it melt under your tongue.” She showed the piece of Lattice to the Priestess Superior. “Do you think you can do that?”

  “I suppose so,” the old Priestess murmured. “Though I hope it won’t be so bitter as that other medicine they’re always giving me.”

  “It won’t be, I don’t think,” Elli said cautiously.

  Actually, she had no idea what the Lattice would taste like but when she brought it close to her nose and sniffed, it smelled a little like a ripe krisper.

  “Open up now,” she told the old Priestess. “I’m just going to pop this under your tongue and hopefully you’ll feel better soon.”

  Obediently, the old lady opened her mouth and lifted her tongue. Elli placed the tiny rainbow piece in her mouth and watched anxiously as she sucked it. She was hoping for an instant result but for a long moment, nothing happened.

  Then, just as Elli was beginning to give up hope and feel that she had broken her vows for nothing, the old woman’s eyes—which had been half closed—popped wide open.

  “Oh!” she exclaimed. “Oh my goodness!”

  “Oh my goodness!” Elli echoed her words and Beedra shouted,

  “Look!”

  For the old Priestess was changing in front of their eyes. Her long white hair, which had been so dry and brittle, suddenly became jet black with emerald streaks again. Her faded eyes were suddenly bright and alive and her pale, sunken cheeks filled out and flushed pink with health.

  She sat up suddenly in bed, moving without help for the first time since Elli had known her.

  “Ellilah, my dear,” she said, turning towards Elli. “Whatever did you give me? Why, I feel thirty cycles younger!”

  “You look thirty cycles younger too!” Impulsively, Elli threw her arms around the older woman who no longer looked like an ancient, sick grandmother—now she might have been Elli’s aunt.

  The Priestess Superior hugged her back tightly, surprising Elli with her grip. When she pulled back, her eyes were filled with tears.

  “Thank you, my dear,” she said to Elli. “Didn’t I tell you the Goddess would bless you? I prayed for a miracle and she sent me one in you.”

  Elli was crying too, now—with happiness.

  “I’m so glad you’re better,” she told the Priestess Superior, swiping at her eyes. “You’ve been so sick for so long.”

  “Well, I feel better now.” The Priestess Superior blotted her tears and lifted her chin resolutely. “What did I miss?”

  “Quite a lot I’m afraid, Priestess Superior.” Commander Sylvan bowed his head to the senior priestess reverently. “But nothing you can’t catch up on, I’m sure.”

  “Well, thank goodness you came when you did, Commander,” the Priestess Superior said. “My memories are pretty foggy, but it seems to me that if you hadn’t, young Ellilah here and I would have been gone for good!”

  “Yes, thank you, Commander,” Elli said, ducking her head shyly. “But there’s something I don’t understand—how did you know to come here? Did the Goddess tell you?”

  Commander Sylvan shook his head.

  “Not exactly. Though she did tell me to listen to someone who was certain you were in danger.”

  “Really? Who?” Elli’s thoughts finally caught up with her mouth and she put a hand to her lips. “Not…not Roke?” she whispered.

  Commander Sylvan smiled.

  “Why don’t you go up to the Sacred Grove?” he said gently. “There are several people there who are very eager to see you.”

  “I’ll go but first…” Elli turned to the Priestess Superior. “I…I broke my vows,” she confessed to the older woman. “All of them. I know that was wrong but I’ve already taken a sip of the Mortem Amore elixir so please don’t send me to the Priory of Extreme Atonement like the Ascending Priestess Superior wanted to do!”

  “My dear, I would never send anyone to such a place!” The Priestess Superior cupped Elli’s cheek gently. “It sounds to me like you’ve already punished yourself enough for your indiscretions with your grief and remorse. But if it makes you feel better, I recommend that you go up to the Sacred Grove and confess your sins before the statue of the Goddess. That’s where I always go when I need absolution.”

  “All right.” Elli nodded. “Thank you, Priestess Superior. I’ll do as you say.”

  “Do that my dear—go now, for I can tell your heart is heavy.” The Priestess Superior gave her cheek a fond pat and then turned to Commander Sylvan. “Now then, let’s talk about what I missed…”

  Elli left them talking and Beedra—who was happy to be working for her old mistress again—taking notes. She let herself out of the suite and found the lift to the Sacred Grove.

  She just wondered who she would see there when she went to confess her sins to the Goddess.

  Fifty-Seven

  “There she is! Ellilah! Over here!”

  Elli looked up at the sound of the voices and was surprised to see the human doctor Liv and the human girl named Sonja coming towards her through the green and purple trees of the Sacred Grove. Both of them were barefoot, since the Sacred Grove was holy ground, which made Elli realize that she still had her riding boots on. Hurriedly, she took them off and went to greet her friends.

  “Hello,” she said tentatively, putting out her hands to them. “What are you two doing here?”

  She didn’t know them very well—Sonja had been the one who had gotten her to admit what had happened during the Christmas party and Liv had been the doctor who had examined her—but both of the human women were kind and sweet.

  “We’re looking for you!” Sonja exclaimed, taking Elli’s offered hand and squeezing it.

  “We heard you were back on the Mother Ship,” Liv said, taking her other hand. “We’ve been trying to get to see you for days but the Ascending Priestess Superior just kept telling us you were in ‘seclusion’ whatever that means.”

  “In fact, we were in a meeting with Commander Sylvan, complaining that we couldn’t get to see you when the man who drugged the punch at the Christmas party got dragged in by the guards,” Sonja continued.

  “And he told us that you haven’t even been on the Mother Ship for the past week—he said the two of you were on Pok on some kind of quest,” Liv went on. “Of course, Sylvan didn’t believe him at first—”

  “But then this booming voice came out of nowhere saying, “The warrior speaks the truth! Go to the suite of the Priestess Superior where you will fin
d the novice is in danger,” Sonja finished. She shivered. “Whew—I was scared to death! I’d never heard the Goddess speak out loud like that before!”

  “She certainly makes an impression,” Liv agreed. “But are you all right?” she asked, looking at Elli anxiously. “You’re not hurt, are you? Sylvan got to you in time?”

  “I’m fine,” Elli assured her. She squeezed both their hands. “Thank you both for coming, it’s very kind. But…”

  “But the person you really want to see is your man, right?” Sonja looked at her shrewdly. “I take it you’ve forgiven him for drugging your punch?”

  Elli nodded.

  “That seems like a lifetime ago. He and I can’t ever be together but…but I’d still like to see him one more time.”

  “Of course, you do,” Liv said gently. “Go on—he’s waiting at the other end of the Sacred Grove. Sonja and I are just glad to see you’re safe.”

  ”More than glad!” Sonja gave her hand another squeeze, then let her go and gave Elli a gentle push on the shoulder. “Well? Go on—go talk to him. He’s waiting for you.”

  Elli thanked them once more and then went in the direction her new friends had pointed. Though she knew it could be nothing but a bittersweet meeting, she wanted to see Roke one last time and tell him that they had succeeded in their quest and the old Priestess Superior was healed.

  Fifty-Eight

  Roke was pacing back and forth in front of the statue of the Goddess. The Goddess’s face was calm and serene and her statue was placed on a slightly raised dais. A woven arch laden with flowering vines curved gracefully over it. It reminded him of the arch he and Ellilah had passed beneath during their formal introduction to the Tenebrian Court.