“Rachel. Bring the Prime Minister and his family close.” Lena looked at Eos closely. “You and your sisters shall be my voice among the soldiers of the south. When you are purified, you’ll become guardians. Then you will purify your sisters.” Lena closed her eyes.

‘Nicci. I will speak through you and Rachel.’ Lena whispered in her mind.

“Is it too much, Empress?” Nicci asked her softly at her ear. The tendrils took firm hold of her upper body and bit into her breasts without breaking the skin. She heard Lena sigh a bit.

‘No. I use more energy to speak. Steals my air fast.’ Lena said within her mind.

“I speak for the Empress as she speaks to me. Eos, guide the Prime Minister, his concubine, and his child.” Eos bowed deeply, and went to the first carriage. “Second in command, step forward. Speak your name.” Nicci spoke as the Empress instructed her inside her mind, even as Lena groped her relentlessly.

“I am Hebe, second in command of the Death Squad.” Another dark sister stepped forth, not quite as endowed as Solange, or Nadya, though her eyes were bright like a polished black onyx gem, and her lips were plump and wide.

“Hebe, I am sure the Empress has already spoken to the Seer, though she is unsure of that. Her strength is put to other matters of Haven, so send a message to her. Stay inside her carriage until the Prime Minister and his family have left. Once they are escorted to their new residence, she will be guided inside the temple for her purification. Not her Offering. The Empress will then meet with her in her office. The Seer’s attendants will remain with her for the time being. There have been no male presence here for centuries. She will remain pure.” Nicci said with a loud voice. Hebe bowed.

“I understand, and obey.”

 

*****

 

“Sami, you are no longer the Prime Minister of the Southern Empire.” Nicci said. He could not use his skills to find out other information from Nicci as she was one of the Others. He could not hear a tremor, a modulation of tone, or an increase of speed, or a decrease. She was even all the way through. He sighed.

“I understand. What is to become of us?” He asked carefully.

“The Empress had a residence built for you, and your family. Not far from here. You will take your family to reside there. In one month, you will bring Jaana to the temple. You must be married to her mother by then. After that, you will receive your post.” Nicci took note of the strange look that went through Sami’s eyes, the shock in Delia’s, and the joy in Jaana’s. Jaana grinned wide.

“She didn’t lie!” Jaana said as she jumped up and down in happiness. Sami chuckled a bit, but didn’t shake his head in reluctance. He had wondered why he didn’t marry Delia long ago, but now that decision had been taken out of his hands, along with the ability to decline, or accept.

It was an order, not a request.

“Hebe. Take half the soldiers with you. Rachel, guide Sami and his family to their new home.”

 

*****

 

The Seer stood in front of Lena, and right at the threshold to the gatehouse. Her attendants stood around her, the gauze they wrapped around her to isolate her from the world still within their hands. As soon as she stepped over the threshold, Lena’s eyes turned black.

She looked at the attendant to the Seer’s left. Nicci hissed, while the platoon of Others immediately turned. Their claws came out.

“SILENCE!” Lena said. The ground trembled and started to rock. Faster then any eye could see, the Yglathria snapped out, and severed the gauze. One wrapped around the attendant’s neck that she singled out.

“Spies will always be found by the goddess, foolish one.” The Seer said with a small smile.

“You are not worthy to shed your blood upon the temple’s grounds.” Nicci said through clenched teeth. “Sol. Return her to the sands. In the middle.” Solange grinned and nodded. “Return to Haven first, Sol. You must be at full strength.” Solange sighed happily, knelt upon the stone and laid her forehead upon the stone.

“Thank you, Empress!” She disappeared into a mist, while Lena moved the attendant to the outside of the temple.

“Soldiers. Bind her with her own gauze. Beware the knives hidden in her dress. The Empress says they are poisoned.” The tendrils dropped the attendant outside the temple, and though there was hatred in her eyes, in the time she was able to recover her breath, the soldiers had already disarmed her, and bound her arms behind her back.

Lena smiled a small smile, and extended her tendrils forward. The Seer smiled, and extended her arms outward. The Yglathria wrapped around her middle, her arms, and her upper thighs. She was lifted gently into the air, and put on Lena’s lap.

“Seer.” Lena said softly. The Seer felt her heart beat faster.

“I knew the whisper sounded softer. When will I be Offered, Empress?” Lena pursed her lips.

“After your first daughter.”

 

*****

 

“Seer. Servant of the goddess of death, and life through death. Do you offer your heart to the goddess willingly?” Nicci spoke in a clear and gentle tone.

“Yes.” Nicci tore open her cream colored robe.

“The oil of consecration.” Hanna poured the oil onto her chest.

“We now expose your heart to the goddess.” Nicci and Hanna massaged the oil onto her flawless skin, over her breasts, and let their fingers curl around her ribs. They pulled gently, and watched as the skin tightened on the middle of her chest.

“Next.” Lena said softly.

“The sword now sears your sins.” The heat from the forge heated sword sizzled as it touched the oil. It was removed quickly so that it did little more then redden her skin.

“We now take the burden of sins your eyes have witnessed upon ourselves.” Nicci kissed the Seer’s right eye, while Hanna kissed her left.

“We now take the burden of sin your tongue may have spoken, known, and unknown.” They each gave her a deep kiss.

“You are now purified.” Lena spoke and grimaced.

“The Empress grows tired, Seer.” Nicci said softly. “Hanna will take her back to her room while I tell you the details.” The Seer watched as she was wheeled away.

“She’s in agony.” She said softly.

“Yes.”

 

*****

 

The Seer sat on one of the padded benches in the temple, with Nicci not far from her.

“It lessens every day, and what she did, while she uses the shoots of the godseeds, eases her pain and helps her to gain control.”

“I see. So I helped in a small way. Good. But why can I not be Offered yet?” The Seer asked. “I am at the proper age.”

“True, but you are a special existence. The Empress has arranged for a sample from the south to be preserved in Haven. Herself, and the goddess, will make you pregnant.” The Seer felt surprise, though she hid it well.

“When you have your first daughter, and your breasts have suckled a child, you can then be Offered. It is preferable that a guardian already have given birth close to the same time so that they can take over for you. The Empress must remain the Empress. That means the Temple needs a High Priestess, and Temple Priestess.” Nicci explained the details, as not only was Nicci from an era where this was common, but the goddess also gave Lena additional information.

“Why this level, and not a virgin?”

“You must have lived before you taste death. The death that follows your life is not permanent. It’s just a different form of life. When you’ve given birth, and still wish to be Offered, you’ll be qualified.” The Seer tilted her head at Nicci’s words.

“Still wish?”

“The Offering is not a death sentence. It is willing. If you wish to go early, after you have a child, you may. If you wish to raise your child for ten years, you may. After that ten years, and your daughter undergoes her own purification, and attends an Offering, then it will be your time.” Nicci said firmly.

“I see. My time. Now is not my time, even though I have been alive for so long.” The Seer sounded a bit confused.

“Are you not only thirty?” The Seer sighed. “Did you think that the goddess didn’t know? She chose you. You were not given eternal youth, or extra long life. Your mother died at thirty, but that was not the goddess who did it.” The Seer tilted her head.

“I don’t understand.”

“She was violated by an unbelieving aristocrat, and your attendant’s mother poisoned her.” The Seer closed her eyes.

“And the other attendants?”

“Their hands are clean, but their hearts are heavy. They can still be purified, but their fear kept them silent.” Nicci said gently.

“I see. I can understand. The Empire was a machine that ground the people into dog food, my mother included. Though I do not wish to feel their kiss again, I do not wish to rip out their hearts.” She said, though her white eyes still reflected a hint of sadness.

‘You can’t blame them, Celeste. Your mother’s ancestor was stolen from her home centuries ago. She heard my whisper because she was to be an acolyte.’ A familiar voice sounded. She was used to the voice of the goddess, but the next one was also familiar, but softer.

‘Goddess? This happened to them because they were exotic?’ Lena asked angrily.

The Seer’s eyes went wide as she heard both the goddess and the Empress speak inside her mind.

‘Yes.’ The goddess was blunt, and preferred not to hide things that should not be hidden.

‘Come to my room, Celeste. I may be asleep, but you and Rachel shall keep me warm tonight.’

‘Empress, it was my turn!’ Hanna whined at the last word of the Empress, and felt her heart lighten.

Celeste’s melancholy lifted enough for a light laugh to escape her lips.