Two more days passed, and Cannoli settled into her classes with a comfortable rhythm. She remained wary of Muzhira, but Rozalyn’s demeanor softened from loathing to a cold neutrality. At least when they cooked dinner together on her third night in the temple, Rozalyn didn’t reel when Cannoli asked her a question.
The studies were vigorous, and Cannoli often collapsed with exhaustion at the end of each day. It wasn’t just the Spells she practiced or the prayers she learned that sapped her [Energy]; it was the constant supervision of her own footsteps, the careful balance of hiding Buttons from wandering eyes, and the sense that Muzhira was always waiting for her next opportunity to strike. But showing weakness wasn’t an option, and Cannoli remained determined to leave Saoirse’s halls a [Priest].
Cannoli shivered against the morning chill. She wasn’t wearing anything outside of her sleeping silks, and she felt uncomfortably vulnerable. “Should I switch to [Combat Mode] now?”
Cora shook her head. “No. Sister Frejya says that we should cleanse ourselves while we clean our gowns. Which means more skin showing than usual, I guess.”
They stood alone in the dorm room just after Sister Allegra’s morning instruction. Cora had reminded her that morning prayer was replaced every third day with washing their gowns, and Cannoli carefully folded hers on the bed while Cora watched.
Buttons pawed at a corner of one of the sleeves, then licked the smooth white fabric.
Cannoli stroked his head with her fingertips. “I can’t hide Buttons dressed like this.”
“I know! That’s why I’ll take him now and then go wash mine when you’re all done,” Cora replied brightly. “We have a full hour, and you can change into [Combat Mode] while your robes dry.”
Cannoli sighed with relief. “Thank you, Cora.”
“Of course! I’m sorry I haven’t found a safer place for him yet. I really want him to be okay.” Cora held her palm out flat, and Buttons hopped into it without hesitation. She grinned. “He’s just so cute I could die!”
“He likes you a lot.” Cannoli giggled and ruffled Cora’s hair. “You’re a wonderful friend.” Satisfied that Buttons was in good hands, Cannoli collected her robes and strode to the door. She was surprised by how quiet her footsteps had become in just a few days’ time. “I’ll be back as quickly as I can.”
“If Sister Sahzi comes in, I’ll be here, um…praying.” Cora touched her chin and winked.
Cannoli nodded and slipped out into the hallway. Dozens of other initiates in their sleeping clothes streamed from the dorms, holding their robes to their chests and speaking in whispers. The halls were always so quiet, filled only with practiced footsteps and gentle voices. Sometimes, she found it calming; other times, when the whispers vanished, it felt like a cemetery, and it froze her heart.
She followed the flow of initiates outside, where more of them knelt by a crystal clear body of water overseen by a silver statue of Saoirse herself. Sister Frejya stood beneath the goddess’s likeness, reciting a single prayer repeatedly as each new row of initiates approached the pond.
Rozalyn stood from the water’s edge and turned to face Cannoli as she approached. Her eyes flashed, then flickered to Cannoli’s hands. She took three steps and was just about to pass when she hesitated.
“Did you bring your soap?” Rozalyn whispered.
Cannoli blinked, then looked from side to side. Glass vials caught the sunlight in the other initiates’ hands, and empty bottles rested in the grass beside the girls kneeling on the bank. “N–no.”
Rozalyn shifted the damp garments on her arm, then pulled a bottle filled with clear liquid from a small pouch on her hip. “Here. They’re in the box by your bed.”
“Oh! Goodness, thank you!” Cannoli squeaked as she accepted the bottle.
Without another word, Rozalyn made her way back to the temple.
Cannoli took the place Rozalyn had occupied moments before and watched how the others gingerly submerged their robes, then lifted their vials of soap and allowed one or two drops to ripple on the water’s surface. She followed their lead and did the same, listening to Sister Frejya’s rhythmic chanting.
“Lady Saoirse, bless our hands as you have blessed our waters. Cleanse our flesh and our spirits as we wash away our trials and tribulations to begin anew. Guide us in your light and wisdom, and help us remember the purity of your ways. May we return but a crumb of the gifts you have given us.”
After a few swirls of her hands, Cannoli lifted her robes from the water and furrowed her brow. The fabric should have been heavy and soaked, but they were little more than damp—as if she’d already laid them out in the sun for a few hours. The breeze carried the sweet scent of the soap, and the ivory fabric gleamed as brilliantly as the morning she’d received them.
She puzzled over the magic of the blessed waters until she reached her dorm room once more.
Rozalyn perched on the edge of her bed, fingering the pages of a leather-bound book. She wore a deep violet gown with a black cincher around her waist.
Cora skipped up to Cannoli with a grin. “Sister Sahzi didn’t come. We’re all clear.”
“Thank you again, Cora,” Cannoli said, then murmured, “[Combat Mode].” Once her armor had settled, she accepted her blazard from Cora and tucked him away in her top.
Rozalyn’s gaze remained fixed on the pages throughout the blazard exchange and when Cora left the room. Cannoli fretted at her lower lip and rolled the glass vial between her fingers. With a deep breath, she approached Rozalyn and held the bottle forward.
“T–thank you so much, Rozalyn.” She tried her best to keep her hand from trembling, but the glass still shook between her fingers.
“I thought Cora would have told you.” Rozalyn looked up to accept the bottle, and her eyes widened. “Is that your [Combat Mode]?”
“Yes.” Cannoli smoothed the long silks beneath her armor and blushed. The intensity of Rozalyn’s stare was too much, and Cannoli searched the floor for her response. But she found her tongue too tied to say anything.
Rozalyn broke the silence. “What did…? Mm.” She hesitated, then pocketed the bottle. “Don’t worry about the soap. Just remember to bring it next time.”
“Right. Of course.” Cannoli nodded vehemently and turned to march back to her bedside.
Neither of them spoke another word.
“Today will be a difficult lesson for all of you,” Sister Allegra announced.
Cannoli and Cora exchanged worried looks. Muzhira grunted. Rozalyn nodded, always staring straight ahead.
“Truly, you are the quietest initiates I have ever had the pleasure of teaching.” Allegra sighed. “Perhaps it speaks to your listening. However, I digress. Today, the four of you will perform [Beseeching Chant] while under pressure.”
Cora slowly raised her hand and murmured, “Under pressure? Like from Encroachers?”
“Perhaps. But not quite.” Allegra moved to the far right of the room and pulled one of the songbooks from a small bookcase. The wall beside the bookcase quivered, then vanished, revealing a pitch-black passageway. “You will enter this room one at a time under my observation, and you will have half an hour to attempt to cast [Beseeching Chant] without being interrupted. Yes, Rozalyn?”
“Apologies, Sister Allegra, but how do we cast a Spell outside of our Class?”
“This chamber is Enchanted to allow you to cast [Beseeching Chant].” Allegra narrowed her eyes. “Should anyone attempt to cast any other Spell, I will have you removed from this temple immediately.”
Cannoli nodded in tandem with her peers.
“What’s inside?” Muzhira asked.
Sister Allegra shook her head. “It is best if you find out for yourself. Cannoli?”
“Yes, um, what happens if we can’t cast it?” Cannoli squirmed in her chair. The fear of failing her first real test slithered down her back.
“Another excellent question. This is an exercise we will repeat every day until all four of you can successfully cast [Beseeching Chant] without being interrupted.” She looked pointedly at each of them in turn. “It would behoove you to lend a comforting shoulder to one another in the interim. Perhaps share what you found most successful in your trial.”
Cannoli swallowed against the building lump in her throat.
“Who will go first?”
Muzhira stood. “I will.”
“Very well, then. As for the rest of you, I ask you to choose one of the prayers we’ve learned and rehearse it until it is your turn.” Sister Allegra gestured to the passage. “Come with me, Muzhira.”
They vanished into the darkness, and the others waited in silence. Rozalyn opened her songbook and mouthed the words to one of their recent hymns.
“What do you think’s in there?” Cora whispered.
“I don’t know.” Cannoli thumbed through her book until she found one of the hymns that had resonated well with her. “I think it’s best to listen to Sister Allegra and practice, though. It’s all we can do right now.”
“Right.” Cora nodded and opened her book.
Saoirse, guide my hands to good. Guide my heart to pure, Cannoli read silently. Cleanse this vessel within and without so that we may continue forth in your name.
The hymns used for [Beseeching Chant] felt shorter than the incantations Cannoli heard Ravyn use when casting her Spells. However, she’d learned that even two seconds in a battle felt like a lifetime. When she imagined trying to heal their Parties through the fight with the [Necromancer] Defiled, her stomach turned.
When Sister Allegra returned, Muzhira stood at her side with trembling hands clutched to her chest. Her gaze searched for something far, far away, and a thin line of blood trickled down her chin where she bit her lip.
Cora gasped. Cannoli’s heart skipped.
“We will try again tomorrow, Muzhira. Do not worry.” Sister Allegra touched Muzhira’s shoulder, then looked at the other three. “Who will go next?”
Waiting and dreading whatever awaited her inside the room would only make it harder to control her focus. Cannoli stood up before Cora or Rozalyn could. “Me. I’d like to go next, please.”
“With me, then, Cannoli. Muzhira, you may return to your dorm for the remainder of this lesson.”
Muzhira nodded and slowly lowered her hands. She glanced at Cannoli, her red eyes soaked with fear. Cannoli wanted to offer consoling words, but Sister Allegra ushered her into the dark hallway before she had the chance.
“[Illuminate],” Allegra murmured as she extended her wand. A soft glow lit the stone pathway as they walked, and Cannoli did her best to keep her breathing steady and even.
At last, they reached a room of…mirrors? Cannoli blinked. An unbroken circle of glass wrapped around the circular room. Silver metal wrapped and twisted around the glass’s top edge in an elaborate design, imbued with dozens of glittering sapphires that returned the glow of Allegra’s wand. However, while Cannoli could see the blurred reflections of their hair and robes in the silver, the glass remained empty.
Allegra guided Cannoli by the shoulder to the center of the room. “Kneel here.”
Cannoli did as she was told and sank to her knees. “Can [Beseeching Chant] be cast while standing?”
“Yes. But, for your first test, kneeling is less…strenuous,” Sister Allegra said.
“Okay.”
“Whatever you may witness in this room will remain with me in confidence.” Sister Allegra stepped back. “Are you ready?”
“I believe so.” Cannoli worked to keep her voice calm. She clasped her hands at her chest.
“Begin casting.”
“Saoirse, guide my hands to good.” Something in the glass moved. Cannoli focused her gaze on the ground. “Guide my heart to pure.”
“Cannoli,” a voice that crawled down her spine and raised the hairs on the back of her neck crooned. “Playing at [Priest] like Mommy again?”
Kirti. “Cleanse this vessel within and without…” The warmth of Cannoli’s Spell surrounded her being. She just had to concentrate.
“Do you really believe you can save people? Even though you refused to save one of your closest friends?” Kirti laughed. “Pathetic.”
“S–so that we… So that we may…” The words evaded her, replaced by Kirti’s mocking. The warmth vanished, and Cannoli gasped.
“Start again,” Sister Allegra said calmly.
Cannoli hissed in a breath and restarted her prayer. “Saoirse, guide my hands to good. Guide my heart to pure. Cleanse this vessel within and without—”
“I didn’t want to come back for you.”
The words locked in Cannoli’s throat. Her toes curled, and a cold panic slid from her ears to the tip of her tail. “S–Saoirse, guide my hands to g–good—”
“I wanted to stay with him.” Aurora sank to one knee, and her voice projected as if she were inches from Cannoli’s ear. “Other kittens do just fine raised by their nyannies, but not you. No, you sent Elona after me.”
Tears welled in Cannoli’s eyes. Fear, panic, anger, and frustration clutched her chest, and it was impossible to breathe. “S–Saoirse… Please…”
“You’re the reason Keke lost her mother.”
Cannoli buried her face in her hands and screamed.
