Rora dreamed. At least, she thought it was a dream. It didn't really feel like one; it lay heavier on her than dreams usually did, as if weighed down with...something. Something that ensured she would remember every detail when she woke up.
If she did wake up. The dreams came quickly, one after another. Vivid, strangely real, though filled with people and places she didn't recognize. It was like a fever dream, over which she had no control. The first dream was short, and she thought, at first, that it was a nightmare. She floated in nothing, and it was cold. There was darkness all around her, above, and below. She couldn't see herself, not her feet as they drifted through the inky black, or her hand as she held it in front of her face. She thought she should have been afraid. She looked for that fear, for the pounding of her heart, the rising tide of panic. But it wasn't there. She looked upward, and at last saw a faint, watery light. It was then that she saw the trail of silvery bubbles rising from below. She was in the ocean. The darkness faded, and suddenly she could see again. She could feel something besides the cold damp of the deep sea. She stood on a beach. She had never seen one before, but she knew what they were called, and what they looked like. Her feet were bare, and she had sand caked to her damp toes. Her back was to the sea, but she could hear it crashing behind her. She thought she could hear words in it, calling for her to come back. But she didn't listen, instead taking a step forward - toward a long line of dunes that had grass growing from them like hair. The wind lifted her hair from her shoulders, and it was almost as cold as the sea itself had been. She lifted her gaze, and peered beyond the dunes. Ridges of stone, wild and sheer, rose behind like a wall. The jagged cliffs rose so high they looked like they could scrape the gray sky. A patter of chill rain scattered across her face, and then this, too, faded. The next dream was such a whirlwind of motion that she struggled to identify what was happening. At first, it was the cold and darkness she associated with the depths of the sea. But she wasn't floating, she was racing through it, straddling something that twined and writhed beneath her. There were flashes of light from above, but she had barely even noticed these before her head broke the surface, and she was thrown from the back of whatever creature she had been riding. The cold air slapped her face, and the rain hit her like pebbles. But the fear still didn't come. She launched from the water, and spun into the air, a defiance of the laws of physics. The wind, cold, wet with rain, and howling with a fury that sounded like it could level houses, caught her. She was lifted higher, above the roiling darkness of the sea, toward the sky. The clouds were almost as dark as the water, glimmering with lightning and roaring with thunder. Getting closer should have been frightening - the lightning could kill her. Would kill her. But it wasn't fear that coursed through her veins. She wanted to enter the clouds, to experience the lightning up close - The wind spun, tugging at her clothes and hair, spiraling her upward toward the undersides of the clouds. A moment later, she was through, and the clouds surrounded her like a thick fog. She could feel the electricity, crackling all around her. The lightning sparked and ran all around like pulsing veins. She laughed, and the part of her that knew she was dreaming thought it sounded mad - - and then that faded, too. Then she was swooping, still carried by the wind, over a land like she had never seen before. It looked nothing like the beach she'd stood on only moments - or was it hours? - ago. This land was strangely flat. Or at least, it appeared flat. She couldn't really tell, as it was completely covered with thick, lush vegetation. Tropical. She didn't know the word, but it came to her as if she did, as if she'd learned it long ago, and just forgotten. It seemed to fit. The air here wasn't cold, it was warm, and cloying against her skin. Even the rain was warm, though it still pelted against her skin with the strength of pebbles thrown from a slingshot. The forest flashed by beneath her, and she laughed again, a slightly insane sound, as the winds that carried her rushed across the trees. The weaker trees collapsed, falling in a crash that she couldn't hear over the thunder. The stronger trees bent, looking almost like a wave of the sea as she passed over them. This, too, faded. The next dream was slower. It came into being around her like a slow mist, rather than the sudden crack of the storms. She was in the water again, but this time she could feel cold stone beneath her thighs. That was the first sensation she noticed. The second was the gentle tugging of her garments in the current. The scene took shape around her. Her hair was loose, and flowing around her head like a pale cloud. Pale? Her hair was dark. The thought was fleeting, however, and her dream self ignored the question of why her hair had changed color. She was sitting, cross-legged, before what could only be described as a nest. There was a crater in the stone, perhaps the size of a large room. And nestled in the crater were eggs, so large that she would have had to hold them in both of her hands, and strangely jelly-like. She could see the unborn creatures inside, squirming like snakes of silver and steely-blue. Sea dragons.
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Arasha woke to the brightness of midmorning sun shining through her eyelids. She opened her eyes, and squinted up at the hard blue shell of the sky. There were no clouds to be seen, but she could feel a slight breeze. She sat up and groaned. The rowing from the day before had caught up with her. Her shoulders, arms, and back were so sore that she simply sat there for a long moment before attempting to stand.
It was when she'd finally managed to get upright that she noticed. The boat was moving. The wind had died, and the sails hung limp, but the boat was moving. She scrambled toward the side, and looked down into the water. She squinted, trying to see down into the depths, but the glare of the sun and the motion of the water made it difficult. They must have hit a current, she reasoned. There shouldn't have been one here - but with everything else that had been happening, why not? She checked to make sure they were still on course, and then went to see if Rora had awakened yet. The cabin was so dark after the sunlight she had to pause in the doorway and let her eyes adjust. When she could see, she was able to make out a lump in the cot. Rora was still in bed. She strode across the floor, and gave her friend's shoulder a shake. Rora didn't stir. She didn't even twitch. "Rora?" Arasha said, giving her another shake. Rora rolled limply, heavy, deadweight. Something tightened around Arasha's chest. She dropped to her knees, and fumbled with the blankets for a moment, moving them away from Rora. She saw with relief that Rora was still breathing. She tried again to wake the sleeping priestess, yelling her name inches from her ear. But Rora still slept. Arasha sat back on her heels. What was she supposed to do now? Something was wrong with Rora - she was still alive, but this was clearly not sleep. A trance of some kind, maybe? She remembered that Rora had mentioned falling so deeply into the trance that she struggled with coming out of it. Except she had been wakened, eventually. Arasha shook her again, more roughly. "Rora, wake up!" she said. "You have to wake up! What are we supposed to do once we get to the Trench?" Rora slept on, oblivious. The only sign she hadn't died in her sleep the lifting of her chest as she breathed, and the moving of her eyes beneath her lids. Wait. Eyes didn't move during the trance. Arasha threw her hands up, and stalked from the cabin. "Ridiculous," she muttered to herself. "I had to get involved in things I don't understand. This is what I get for my trouble." It wasn't a trance, and that meant it was something else. What, Arasha didn't know, but she had a decent enough guess. She scowled down at the ocean. "I don't know what you're doing," she said quietly. "But it sure would be nice if you'd explain yourself." That didn't sound very respectful, she thought sourly. "Thank you for getting us moving," she added halfheartedly. "I suppose this must be part of whatever plan you have, but it sure would be nice if you'd let us in on it." Rora didn't wake up that day, or the next. She slept on, not tossing or turning. She lay as if drugged, her eyes moving, sometimes wildly. Arasha knew enough to be thankful that there weren't two of them suffering through the misery of the journey. The water was completely gone, and so was the food. Arasha, who was used to regular meals and had never, in her memory, gone hungry, felt weak and lightheaded after the first day. She moved as little as possible, except to follow what precious shade there was on the boat. Sitting in the sun would be a terrible idea, she guessed, and dehydrate her more quickly. The only luck she had was midday on the second day, when a scrap of seaweed got caught in the current with them. She fished it out with a fishing pole, and saw with relief that it was fresh water pods. They normally grew along the sea bed, but something must have broken it loose. It was only two pods, but that was more than she'd had before. She rationed it carefully, using as little as possible. She used some to wet Rora's lips, but her friend didn't seem to notice. Arasha didn't try it again; if Rora wasn't responsive, then pouring water down her throat could drown her. It was a fine mess to be in, Arasha thought. But they were making good progress, at least. The strange current seemed to be driving the boat straight to where they wanted to go. A gift from the goddess, she thought. What else could it be? At least they hadn't been completely abandoned. Too bad no answers to her questions had come. The first day on the open ocean passed in a haze of sunshine and heat. And hunger. They had been in such a hurry that they hadn't stopped for either food or water. There were still some provisions on the boat from when Oksay had prepared it for their trip to the mountains, but there was very little. Only the food that had been intended for Oksay on the return trip – the return trip he’d never made.
Halfway through the first day, the wind died, leaving them bobbing in the ocean, unmoving. "What are we going to do?" Rora asked, squinting through the glare of sun on water. "Wait for wind," Arasha said grimly. "Unless this thing has oars stowed somewhere." This pronouncement was followed by them scouring the boat, looking for oars. Arasha found them in the cabin. Rowing was more exercise than either of them was used to, but the thought of the priesthood following them pushed them onward. By the time night fell, Rora's mouth was sticky with thirst, and her arms, shoulders, and back ached fiercely. Her stomach was another ache, a hollow, in her belly. She curled up in the same cot she'd used with Oksay and Thead, and fell at once into a deep sleep. Arasha, however, found herself tossing and turning. Eventually, she climbed out of her own cot, and moved out onto the deck, where she sat down, and stared up at the sky. The stars winked down at her, and she pulled her knees to her chest, where she rested her chin on them. She didn't regret coming with Rora. She'd meant what she said - Rora was her sister. Maybe not by blood, but having been abandoned by her parents she knew that sometimes blood meant nothing. The ties you chose sometimes meant more than the ones you didn't. But she wasn't sure what they were going to do. Rora was always anxious about something. It was why she'd been so good at her job; she could anticipate problems before they arose, and her detail-work on the shell tokens turned out so beautiful because she was so detail-oriented. It had its uses. Arasha knew this. But it also had its drawbacks, like the times when Rora would be so anxious that she was almost paralyzed. Arasha had spent a lot of time distracting Rora from her fears, and calming her down enough that she could function. A lot of the time, Rora simply wasn't worried about things that needed to be worried about. But this time? This time, Rora was right to be worried. There was a fishing line on the boat, so they could, in theory, still have food. Neither of them had really done any fishing, but it was possible. Far more concerning was the lack of fresh water. There was some in a drum, and while it had started to smell funny, it was still drinkable. Arasha had shifted the drum enough to know how much they had, and it wasn't enough. If the wind didn't pick back up, and send them sailing swiftly to the Shuushan Trench, they wouldn't have enough to get them back to the city. They might not even have enough to get them to the Trench in the first place. And she thought that perhaps they couldn't go back to the city. If they couldn't go back, then they were likely to die out on the open sea. From dehydration, from starvation, one or the other. Arasha knew that dehydration was far more likely; it would kill them much faster than a lack of food. She fumbled inside her pockets, and her fingers closed on a cool disc. She didn't remember putting the shell token in her pocket, but it was there all the same. She rubbed one thumb over the painted surface until the shell warmed to the temperature of her flesh. Then, decision suddenly made, she lurched to her feet, and walked to the edge of the boat. She rested one hand on the railing, and held the other, with the token out over the water. "Shuusha," she whispered "we need your help. We're going to die out here. I don't know what's going on, or if you're even listening. But please. Do something." She released the token, and it hit the water with a soft plop. It spiraled out of sight. The tightness of her shoulders eased, and the worry lessened. She knew Rora didn't find it so easy to let go of the things she worried about. But the problem had been handed over to someone who could do something about it. There was nothing more Arasha could do except sleep. Instead of returning to the cabin, where she knew Rora slept, she curled up on the deck, and let her eyes drift closed. She woke only once, in the darkest part of the night. The air was still and close, but the rocking motion of the boat told her they were moving. How, she was too sleepy to wonder. She fell asleep again almost at once. The boat slid out onto the glassy surface of the sea, and Rora watched the docks grow smaller, wondering if her last look at the city would be of people swarming the docks in search of her. Surely they knew she'd escaped by now? They would come after her, of that she was sure. The only question in her mind was if it would be Shuno or the figures in black.
After perhaps twenty minutes of Arasha bustling around on the deck, she came and sat down beside Rora with a sigh. "Where did you learn how to sail?" Rora asked quietly. "My parents taught me," Arasha said. "But..." "I wasn't always an orphan," Arasha said. "Although, technically, I might not actually be one now. My mother gave me up," she explained. "I learned how to sail before that. But it's been a long time, so honestly, we lucked out." In spite of their years of friendship, Rora hadn't known that Arasha's mother had given her up. "Your mother might still be alive?" Rora asked. "Could be," Arasha said with a shrug. "Did you try to find her?" Rora pressed. "No," Arasha said. "Why would I? She didn't want me. At least, not enough to deal with whatever she was going through and me at the same time. The temple wanted me, so they were my family." Rora noticed that Arasha used the past-tense. "Were?" she said. Arasha shrugged again. "I realized, just a few days ago, that it wasn't really the temple I thought of as my family. When they turned on you, I didn't even have to think about who's side I was on. You're my family, my sister." Rora's eyes pricked unexpectedly with tears. "Don't you get all weepy on me," Arasha said sternly. "I love you, and Jusho, and the girls. I'm even fond of your father." "And Debriss?" Rora asked quietly. Arasha muttered angrily to herself, and Rora chuckled, though there was no humor in it. "I know you were never her biggest fan," Rora said. "But it turns out, you were right. She drugged me, and that's how they…got me." "She what?" Arasha demanded. "She spiked my stew," Rora said. She brought Arasha up to speed quickly, and by the end of the story, Arasha was shaking her head. "I knew I didn't like that goody-two-shoes," she said. "I thought I was the goody-two-shoes," Rora said. "I don't know what you are anymore," Arasha said. "But goody-two-shoes isn't it." That probably should have bothered her, Rora thought. Instead, she found herself smiling at Arasha's grumpy expression. "Well, now you have a good reason to dislike Debriss. Congratulations," Rora said. “Far be it from me to rejoice about actually having been right about that hussy the whole time,” Arasha said. “Right now, anyway,” she added in undertone. “If I ever see her again I’m booting her off the docks.” Rora chuckled, and they were silent for a few minutes as the boat bobbed along. "Did Jusho know?" Arasha asked quietly, breaking the silence. "He can't have - that can't be true. He would never-" "I don't think he did," Rora said, shaking her head. She thought back to that night, which was more difficult than she expected. Probably from whatever Debriss had drugged her with. "If he’d known what was happening, he wouldn’t have asked why he couldn’t taste what I did in the stew." Arasha still looked troubled. "You said that Debriss was gone when you got there, right after you were chased, right?" "Yeah," Rora replied. "At the temple looking for her medallion." "Or dressed in black and chasing you through the streets," Arasha said darkly. "If she wasn't at home when you got there, and she only showed up after those creeps were gone, then she might have been one of them." "But-" Rora stopped. Her first attacker had been about Debriss' size, now that she thought of it. Too small and slight to be a man - she remembered thinking it could have been a woman before. "You don't really think that she was in on it from the beginning?" Rora asked, trying to smother the dawning horror. "Why not?" Arasha asked. "She drugged you!" "Maybe she was trying to protect the girls and Jusho," Rora protested. "And maybe she's just a horrible person," Arasha snapped back. "She never was very friendly after it got out I was hearing voices," Rora said slowly. "Jusho said it was her pregnancy, but..." "There you go," Arasha said, as if that settled it. Rora frowned, and laced her fingers together. "The first attacker," she said. "Had that weird distortion around them. I never saw anything like that around Debriss." "So?" Arasha asked. "So, maybe it wasn't her," Rora said. "You're trying to defend her," Arasha pointed out. "Maybe there's an explanation," Rora said. "Does it matter why she did it? It was wrong, and messed up." "Motives matter," Rora said. "Sometimes, yeah," Arasha said. "But that's with things that are borderline. Things that are morally gray. Things that are wrong are always wrong, even if your motivation is good. You know that." Rora sighed. Arasha wasn't wrong. She couldn't bring herself to admit that her friend was right, but she could say she wasn't wrong. "What are we going to do?" Rora asked, leaning back against the side of the boat, and staring up at the sky. "We're going to the Shuushan Trench," Arasha said promptly. "We'll figure out what to do after that once we get there. One step at a time." "One step at a time," Rora agreed. She sighed, and took a moment to be thankful. Thankful that she wasn't alone. Thankful that her friend had come on her own, and that Rora hadn’t asked her to do it. The responsibility for that decision wasn’t on her - not this time. "What are you doing here?" Rora asked.
"Saving you, of course," Arasha said. She was staring down at the figure on the floor, a look of surprise on her face. But she shook it off quickly. "Come on! We've got to get you out of here." Rora didn't need to be told twice. She stepped over the crumpled form of the figure in black, and joined Arasha at the door. Together, they raced through the temple, skidding around corners and avoiding all the high-traffic areas. "How did you know where I was, and that I needed help?" Rora gasped in a whisper. "I eavesdropped," Arasha replied, no trace of shame or embarrassment. "I heard your name. They were going to kill you, you know." Rora's heart almost stopped. "Thank you," she said fervently. "What are friends for?" Arasha asked. "No, don't go that way - they're using that classroom to store donations." Rora turned away from where she'd been heading, and tagged along after Arasha. They went for the secret second entrance, and slipped out into the open air. Rora gulped it in gratefully, blinking in the sun. She was free. But - "What am I supposed to do now?" she asked. Go to the Shuushan Trench. Rora jerked. "Did you say something?" she asked. "No," Arasha said, frowning. Her expression cleared. "Is it the voice again? What did it say?" she asked eagerly. "It said to go to the Shuushan Trench," Rora replied. "Then let's go to the Shuushan Trench," Arasha said at once. "You're not coming with me," Rora said. "Of course I am," Arasha said. "I've been shut out of this adventure long enough. And besides - they'll know. They'll know that you had help to escape, and they'll know it was me. I wasn't exactly circumspect as I went looking for you. At least one person saw me running after you and…whoever that was. There’s nothing left for me here." Rora stared at her friend. "You shouldn't have done that," she said. "Arasha, this is going to ruin your life-" "Oh, shut up," Arasha snapped. "I never wanted to do this temple stuff anyway, and besides that, it's done. Now let's go." "No one is going to give me a boat," Rora said. "Then we'll take one," Arasha said. "We're already fugitives." "I'm not stealing," Rora said firmly. "Then jump in and start swimming," Arasha said, waving one hand in the direction of the sea. That was a very dumb idea, which, Rora knew, was Arasha's point. "Oksay's boat," Rora said suddenly. "We can take Oksay's boat." “There we go," Arasha said. "Come on, we don't have much time. They're probably already looking for us." Together, they left the alcove that hid the entrance, and ran for the docks. They got some funny looks as they ran, but no one chased them. Word hadn't spread yet, Rora thought. That was something. A bit of good luck at last. When they arrived at the docks, they slowed, and tried to look as if they belonged as they walked down the line of boats, searching for Oksay's. "Do you know how to sail?" Rora asked in an undertone. "Yes," Arasha said. "Well, sort of." That wasn't very reassuring. But she would have to worry about that later. Right now, they needed a boat. She spotted The Wind of Fate a few minutes later, and they clambered up inside it, relieved. "Can you get us out of here?" Rora asked. "I think so," Arasha said, eyeing the boat. "Go untie us, and I'll see what I can do." Rora did as she was told, and threw off the lines that held the boat secure. Then she returned to the deck, where she could see Arasha bustling around. She didn't know what her friend was doing, but some of it looked familiar. She'd seen Thead and Oksay do some of the same tasks. She chose to take this as a positive sign. "This is meant to be sailed by at least two people," Arasha said. "I don't know how to sail," Rora said. "Then follow directions," Arasha said. The next few minutes were a flurry of work, trial and error, and the constant checking to see if they’d been followed yet. But finally The Wind of Fate slipped from its moorings, and out into open ocean. "To the Shuushan Trench," Rora said. She wasn't entirely sure she actually wanted to do that, but she also realized she didn't have much of a choice. Someone, or something, was guiding this process, and Rora had been swept up in it for whatever reason. She couldn't see a way to get out of this master plan other than to cooperate. At least for now. "To the Shuushan Trench," Arasha echoed. She, Rora noticed wryly, sounded excited. Rora sat in the dark for what seemed a very long time. The only breaks in the silence were the occasional arrival of food and water, slipped through the door so swiftly that she had no chance of forcing her way out.
She counted the times food arrived, and the times she'd slept, and thought that perhaps she'd been there for three or four days. But it was hard to tell. Weeks might have passed – she stopped counting. It seemed pointless. What were they going to do with her? She assumed that Shuno was looking for some other way to deal with her - the exorcism had clearly failed. But what were they going to try next? And how long was she going to be trapped here while they figured out their next move? She huddled on the floor, wondering if Jusho knew what had happened to her. If Arasha had wondered where she'd gone. Would any of them attempt to help her? She didn't know. It would be better for them if they didn't. And she’d told Jusho that she would leave before any of them awakened – he probably thought she’d done as she’d planned. He wouldn’t know she’d been taken against her will. It seemed an age before anything changed. The door creaked open, and she turned, expecting a plate to be shoved through on the floor. But the plate didn't come. Instead, a pair of feet appeared, and Rora looked up. A figure in black stood there, staring down at her. He - she? - stepped in the room, and Rora leaped to her feet. She didn't hesitate, but launched herself toward the door, which still hung slightly open. The figure grunted in surprise as Rora rammed into them, and then slipped past. There was a clang, and Rora turned to see the figure had dropped a knife. Adrenaline shot through her system, and she ran. She knew these halls - she knew she did. But the stone walls flashed past, and she found herself disoriented. She didn't know where she was, or where she was going. She only knew that she was running away from the figure in black. Someone sent to kill her? But why? She was weak, and tired quickly after being locked up with little activity for so long. She paused to catch her breath at a place where halls intersected, and heard the unmistakable sound of pursuit. This sent her off again, and she took the first turning. It was a dead end. The only thing this way were classrooms. She flung open the nearest door, and dashed inside. She slammed it shut, and looked around frantically for something to barricade it with. It was a futile attempt - she couldn't resist for long. If these figures in black were working with the temple, then all they needed were reinforcements. This time of day, the temple would be full of priests and priestesses. A sound caught in her throat - a sob, maybe? She didn't know. She backed away from the door. There were no locks - not in the classrooms. And this was a regular classroom. Filled with wells, it held no furniture save for the mats students sat on. Rora was trapped. Again. Still. The door flung open, and the figure in black stepped inside. They'd retrieved their knife, and it gleamed in their hand as they stepped closer. Rora backed away. Then, improbably, impossibly, someone else appeared in the door at the figure's back. Before Rora could properly grasp what was happening, the second arrival had dashed into the room, holding a heavy clay pot, and cracked it against the black figure's head. The figure collapsed. "Rora!" It was Arasha. Rora drifted in and out of consciousness for an unknown period of time. She would awaken briefly to the voice urging her to wake up, sounding more and more frantic with every attempt, and she would try to do so, only for the drugs swimming through her veins to pull her under a few seconds later.
But one of her flashes of consciousness lasted longer than the others. When she opened her eyes, it was to see Shuno, bending over her. "I don't know if this is going to work," he said. She heard the words, but struggled to make sense of them. She lacked any proper context, so it sounded like gibberish. "We have to at least try," came another voice. Rora lolled her head to one side, to see that Shuno wasn't alone; there were two other priests there with him. "It's been a very long time since anyone tried an exorcism," Shuno said. "It may fail. If it does, we'll have to figure out what else to do with her. She can't be allowed to simply wander free. Her lies are so seductive they've even begun to tempt Jusho." There was a murmur. "Jusho is one of our best," said one of the other priests. "It's bad enough we lost her, but him too?" "Shall we begin?" She drifted again, but woke when something cold touched her forearm, and the chill was followed by a sting. Something hot and wet dripped down her arm. Shuno was still there, and a moment later, raised his hand. He was holding a knife, and something scarlet stained its blade... They were cutting into her. That was her blood. This offered her the jolt she needed. She moved her arm, and for the first time since she'd gone to sleep that night, it obeyed with speed and force. She kicked her legs, and one of the priests yelped. "Hold her down!" Shuno ordered. She jerked one of her arms upward, and heard a snap. One of her arms was free. Had she snapped a rope? How? But she was distracted from that possibility. She could feel the ocean, far below, churning angrily. It could tell she was in trouble, but for some reason wasn't coming to her aid like last time. The drugs, she thought. They were affecting her ability to commune with the sea - She snapped the rope that bound her other hand, and sat up, a flinging motion that caused Shuno to jerk backward, and drop his knife with a metallic clang. She didn't know what he saw in her face, but there was no mistaking the horror and fear in his eyes. "I will not forget this," she said. It was her voice, but the cold, dead tone was unfamiliar. "Quickly!" Shuno cried, waving desperately at his assistants. A moment later, both priests had tackled Rora, pinning her to the table. Shuno reappeared, a cloth in his hand, and he pressed it over her mouth and nose. He held it there, no matter how Rora struggled, and slowly, her ability to stay awake bled away. Only darkness was left, darkness and the faint calling of the voice. ~*~ When Rora came to, it was to a stinging pain in her arm, and the less immediate sensations of cold and damp. She opened her eyes, wincing at the pain in her arm, and sat up. Her head throbbed, and she rubbed at her temples with her good hand. It was dark. She didn't know where she was, but could sense the ocean not far away. She pressed her hands against the stone floor, and tried to think back. Tried to remember. She'd eaten Debriss' stew, and it had tasted sweet. That had been some kind of drug. Debriss had drugged her. And when she'd gone to bed, the figures in black had entered the house, and carried her away. To the temple? She remembered seeing it. And then Shuno. A startling burst of anger so fierce she wanted to howl and tear down her prison brick by stone brick flooded her chest and stomach. An exorcism? She almost laughed. She wrapped her hand around the wound in her arm. The voice had tried to awaken her, tried desperately to get her to wake up. It hadn't worked. Not until the knife. Something occurred to her, and her something lurched sickeningly. Had the exorcism worked? Had the voice been taken from her mind by force? And if so, why was she locked up? She tried not to think about the expression on Shuno's face. He'd been afraid - of her. She slammed one fist against the stone floor. She should have done something different. Anything. Not gone to her brother's house. Fought back. Not eaten the stew. But what else could she have done? It hadn't occurred to her to question Debriss. To think that her sister-in-law might betray her in this way. Did Jusho know? Rora slumped until her forehead pressed against the stone. He couldn't have. He wouldn't have - he would never have agreed to help with this. She couldn't afford to believe otherwise. What was she going to do now? They'd tried to exorcise her, and she had to assume it had failed - if they'd been successful wouldn't they have paraded her out for everyone to see? To talk about Shuno's power and wisdom? So it must have failed. But then what were they going to do with her now? Rora moved to the kitchen with her brother and Debriss. Debriss went directly to a pot of stew on their stove, and bustled around, heating it up and getting a bowl and spoon.
"I'll have another bowl, too," Jusho said. "Do you want help?" "I've got it," Debriss said. "You figure out how we're going to handle this." "Right," Jusho said, looking at Debriss with a strange expression on his face. "Is everything all right?" Rora asked cautiously. "Yes, everything is fine," Jusho said, turning his attention to Rora. "Or, as fine as it can be, considering the circumstances." He gestured for them to sit at the kitchen table, and pulled out a chair. Rora did the same, and sank into it. "You’re staying here the night," Jusho said, rubbing his forehead. "Debriss is right - we can't just kick you out if you're being followed. But we also can't afford to let you stay much longer." "I know," Rora admitted. "I'm sorry." "No, we’re sorry," Jusho said. "I wish we could help more." Debriss walked over to the table, a bowl in each hand. She set them before Rora and Jusho, and then settled into a seat between them. "Thank you," Rora said quietly. She gazed into the bowl, the stew thick with chunks of fish and vegetables. She took the spoon that Debriss had put into the bowl, and scooped up a bit. "I'll leave first thing in the morning," she added. "Early, before anyone is up. Hopefully I can get out without drawing attention." Only then did she place the bite of stew in her mouth. "That would be good," Debriss said. She folded her hands on the table in front of her, and looked as if she were thinking very carefully. "I do wish we could help more," she said at last. "Everything has been so...topsy-turvy. And with this pregnancy, I've been a little...touchy. I'm sorry." She forced a crooked grin at Rora. "It's all right," Rora said. "I understand. Thank you for this. I don't know why they wanted me here, but..." she trailed off, and shrugged. "They vanished when I knocked on the door." Debriss nodded, and watched as Rora took another bite. Debriss' cooking was always delicious, and Rora was fairly certain she'd eaten this particular stew before. But this time it had a strange sweet taste to it. It was faint, but not unpleasant. “Did you experiment with spices?” Rora asked. “It’s good.” “A little,” Debriss said. “I’m glad you like it.” “I didn’t taste any difference,” Jusho said. “It was only a small change,” Debriss said. “Rora’s palate is more sensitive than yours.” Jusho rolled his eyes, but he smiled, and Debriss smiled back. Rora felt the muscles in her back relax as they ate, until, after perhaps an hour, she found that she was having difficulty keeping her eyes open. She hadn't slept the night before, she reminded herself. "You look exhausted," Jusho said. "I am exhausted," Rora replied, stifling a yawn. "I'll make up a bed in the living room," Debriss offered. She stood and went to do so immediately. Rora followed, more slowly, and stifling a yawn. She almost stumbled on the way to the living room, but Jusho caught her. “You must be more tired than you thought,” he joked. “I guess so,” Rora said. Once the bed - which was layers of blankets and pillows piled on the floor - was arranged, Rora said good night to her family. They went to bed, and she curled up on the floor. She was awake long enough to tug a blanket up to her chin, and then dropped at once into sleep. She woke when it was dark. At least, she thought it was dark. She couldn't open her eyes. They felt heavy as shutters, thick and hard to move. There was movement in the room - too much to be from only one or two people. She tried to sit up, but her body refused to obey. This should have alarmed her, but instead her mind drifted, her thoughts like puffs of cotton on the wind. She should be frightened, awake and warning her brother that there were intruders… Were there intruders? Or was she just sleeping? Maybe it was just a dream. The movement in the room coalesced around her, and she forced her eyes open for one brief moment before sleep again claimed her. Three dark figures, bending over her. Her next flash of wakefulness came with the cold slap of night air. She was slung between two of the dark figures as they maneuvered her out of her brother's house. This also should have awakened her with a jolt, but she couldn't even stop her head from lolling limply on her neck. Dimly, she knew something was wrong, but then it all went black once more. She didn't know how long this period of nothing lasted. It seemed a long time, and her next bit of awareness revealed the temple looming up ahead. Groggily, she wondered if they were going to throw her into the sea. That somehow didn't seem frightening - almost like it might be nice, to drift into the blackness of the deep... She didn't even notice that she'd lost consciousness again until something cold and hard met her back. Her eyes fluttered open, and she saw the familiar stone of the temple - a ceiling - above her. But it wasn't just the cold of the table she had been placed on that awakened her. As if from far away, a voice was whispering in her ear. Wake up! She blinked slowly. That voice was familiar. She'd heard it before, but couldn't think of where. Get up, Rora, you must get up! She opened her eyes again - she hadn't realized she'd let them close - and shifted her arms. To her vague surprise, one of them actually obeyed her command - until the ropes that bound her to the table snapped tight. She was tied? That didn't seem right... The room was empty, she thought. But her thoughts were sluggish, and she didn’t know if she could trust them. She turned her head, an unusually difficult task, and saw that the tiny room was, in fact, empty. She twitched her legs, and discovered they, too, were tied. Why was she tied up? And why to a table? Her mouth was sticky, and had a strange sweet taste... The stew. Debriss had put something in her stew. That thought came from...somewhere else, she was fairly certain. It was vital and alive, in the way most of her own thoughts simply couldn't be at the moment. But why had Debriss spiked her food? Were there more than one? She wondered, anxiety spiking. It made thinking things through difficult; she wanted to run as fast and far as possible. But now that she was aware there wasn't just the one figure, she spotted the others.
One on top of a building to her right, watching her passage. Another through the dirty glass of a destroyed building. She tried to turn down an alley, planning to make another run for it, but there was one at the end, waiting for her. They were surrounded with a distortion, and her stomach turned slightly queasy. What was happening? Why were there so many? She returned to the main street, where the others waited. She tried, more than once, to slip down an alley, to get away, but always there was one of them there, waiting. Only one road remained open to her - one way to go. She was being herded. She didn't know where that answer had come from, but it fit. The only questions left were where they were trying to take her, and why. A few heart-pounding minutes later, she realized she recognized the street. She was in the holy quarter. She glanced over her shoulder, and saw the figures in black, spread out like a net. They had gotten closer, but were still keeping their distance. The same voice that had informed her she was being herded told her something else: they had gotten closer to ensure she went where they wanted - a change they had made because they were close. Because any change in her trajectory would be more difficult to fix now. But why would they want her in the holy quarter? If she'd taken the time to think, to wonder, she would have noticed that her fear had somehow lessened. She knew what they were doing, and the thought of having to defend herself wasn't as terrifying as it should have been. As if she knew that was a fight she would win, even though she had no reason to believe that. She tried again to turn to the side, and noted with a detached sort of curiosity that her shepherds were moving her along the street where Jusho and Debriss lived. Why? No answer was forthcoming, but when she stepped up to Jusho's door and knocked, she looked for the figures. They had melted into the shadows, as if she had arrived where they wanted her to be. It was a strange place to try and maneuver her. Her strange detachment evaporated as she heard the sound of someone coming to the door. Her breathing picked up, and a trembling started in her hands. When the door swung open, she had to resist the urge to throw herself through it. "Rora!" Jusho exclaimed. He took in her pale face at a glance. "What happened? Are you all right?" "I was chased," she said through chattering teeth. "Can I come in? Please?" He opened the door wider, and pulled her inside. He scanned the street beyond, and then shut the door firmly behind them. He didn't lock it, however, and this made Rora wrap her arms around herself, trying, and failing to stop the shaking. "Aren't you going to lock it?" she asked. "They're still out there." "Debriss is out," Jusho said shortly. "Stay here. I'm going to go find her." "But-" "The girls are in bed. Lock the door behind me, and don't let anyone in until I get back." He vanished through the door before she could gather her scattered thoughts into something resembling order. But she did as she was told, and locked the door. Then she walked through the house, locking every window, and checking on her sleeping nieces. She paced when she had finished, wringing her hands. She didn't think the figures in black would attack anyone else - she was clearly their target. But why? And why had they wanted her here? Was she endangering her family? She considered leaving the house again, but that would leave her nieces alone. She couldn't very well do that, not without leaving the door unlocked, and that would allow anyone to get in. Jusho was only gone for a few minutes, but it felt like an age before she heard his knock. She flew to the door, and pressed her ear against the wood. "It's me," Jusho said. "I've got Debriss." She flung the door open. Jusho herded his wife inside, who looked flustered, and shut the door. He locked it, and then sighed. "I didn't see anyone, Rora," he said. "Neither did I," Debriss said, eyeing Rora. "Are you sure you were being chased?" "Yes," Rora said. "I tried to get away, to turn down an alley or something, but they herded me here." Jusho frowned, and then shook his head. "Well, whoever they were, they're gone now." Debriss sighed. "You may as well stay the night," she said reluctantly. "If it's not safe out there then we can't just kick you out." "Did you find it?" Jusho asked Debriss. "No," Rora's sister-in-law said, with a sour twist to her mouth. "It wasn't where I last remember seeing it. I'll have to look again tomorrow." "What were you looking for?" Rora asked. "She lost her medallion, she thinks somewhere in the temple while she was working before the storm," Jusho explained. "I didn't notice it until half an hour ago, and it was a gift, so I really need to find it," Debriss added. "Are you hungry?" Rora's stomach gave a growl. Now that she was safely with her brother, other, less urgent needs than running for her life were reasserting themselves. "Yes," Rora admitted. Arasha closed the door with a click, and then leaned against it with a sigh.
"That was a nightmare," she said, running her hands through her hair. "I didn't get any sleep at all," she added. "The air felt alive, and every time the storm changed I felt it like someone was tapping me on the forehead. Not that I could have slept anyway, what with all the wind..." she shuddered. "I'm glad you're all right," Rora said. "When I saw..." she gestured vaguely, and then paused, shaking her head. "It's a mess out there," Arasha said. "Worse than I've ever seen. You shouldn't stay long, Rora." "I hadn't planned to," Rora said. But she frowned. Hadn't Arasha been determined to get her to stay just the day before? "Shuno's been here," Arasha said, lowering her voice. "We're all being called into service. I have to leave soon - we're going to tend the wounded and help with clean up. Someone's going to recognize you - you need to go." "Right," Rora said. She'd known better than to think she would be able to stay, but it still struck at her like a dart. "What's wrong?" Arasha asked. "Everything," Rora said simply. "I couldn't sleep either - it was like..." she paused, searching for words. "I could feel the storm," she said. "And Debriss was acting strange. This man that looked like Oksay chased me out of the building - everything has gone wrong. Nothing is right anymore." Arasha's face creased into something resembling pity. "I'm sorry," she said. She stared at Rora, biting her lip as if thinking, hard. “Stay here,” she said finally. “I'll...make sure no one shows up here tonight." Rora scoffed. "Shuno was here, you said? Why would he come himself? He has an army of priests to do his bidding. He was checking to see if I was here. He knows you’re my best friend. I can’t stay here." Arasha blinked in surprise, and Rora realized that she had sounded very much not like herself. Her tone had changed into something alien and unfamiliar. "What's happening to me?" she asked faintly, touching one hand to her forehead. "I don't know," Arasha said, watching her closely. The sound of voices and footsteps interrupted them, and both of their heads swiveled toward the sound. "Far side of the building," Arasha said at once. "You have to go - now." She shoved Rora back toward the door, but paused to poke her head out – checking that it was clear. "Go, go - quickly!" She shoved Rora out into the hall, and Rora saw that there was a group of priests exiting a doorway further down the hall. None of them had glanced her way, but she turned her back on them quickly; it wouldn't do for them to recognize her face. She hurried out of the building, and left the area as quickly as she was able. She kept her head down all that day. People came out in force, to clean and repair what the storm had damaged. She pitched in to help when she didn't recognize anyone, but spent the day wandering the city, and ducking into corners when a priest or priestess came near. When night fell, she found herself without a place to stay. Shuno clearly had expected to find her sheltering with Arasha. She didn't have any proof of this, and couldn't explain how she'd come to that conclusion - there were any number of other reasons he could have done it - but she was certain all the same. Shuno was making sure that she stayed away from the people she knew and loved most. She continued to wander the city, a pit of hunger in her stomach. She'd found a few bruised pieces of fruit at the side of the road that had taken the edge off earlier that day, but that hadn't been nearly enough. Her stomach rumbled, and she pressed one hand to her belly, trying to silence it. Perhaps she could find more discarded food in the market, she reasoned. And maybe there would be a dark corner where she could curl up and go to sleep without drawing attention. So she turned her steps that direction. When she passed under the arch from the business district into the market, it was to find it strangely deserted. Everyone must be working at home – living places were of higher priority than business. She could see where a few vendors had come to make stop-gap repairs, but no one was there now. A scrap of seaweed paper blew across the road, scraping loudly in the silence. The sky was dark blue, fading to black as the sunset vanished. She found that she didn’t want to stop moving - not to sleep. Everything here had changed, too. Even Gera’s stall, which had always had Gera in it, cutting up sunset fruit, was empty. She was staring blankly at the empty stall when she heard it. Footsteps. She whirled, and her heart immediately took off at a gallop. A figure in black stood in the middle of the road, staring right at her. She turned without thinking, and ran. Was it the same person as before? She wondered wildly. The one that had attacked her with a knife? She dashed out of the market, and wondered if she was being followed. Her own breathing and footsteps covered any sound of pursuit, and she had no intention of slowing down to check. Not until her lack of food that day caught up with her, at least. She was forced to slow sooner than she wanted, a stitch in her side, and feeling lightheaded. She whirled, and found the street behind her empty. But as she scanned the area, the figure in black stepped in view. She staggered backward, but the figure didn't come closer. It just stood there, watching. Rora stepped backward again, and when the figure didn't pursue, turned and walked away, checking over her shoulder as often as she could without danger of running into something. Why weren't they chasing her? They had followed her this far, but weren't getting any closer. The next time she looked back, and black figure was gone. Her heart leaped into her throat, and she looked everywhere, scanning alleys and storefronts. She should be happy that they were gone, but found that not knowing where they were was somehow worse. The street was empty, and so silent she thought she would hear anyone approaching, but the sudden appearance of the dark figure to her left still sent her scrambling away. It took her a few minutes of running to realize that the dark figure she'd seen to her left had been taller than the one she'd seen in the market. |
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