Quest (15 page)

QUEST Shannah Jay 53

'I shall require an oath of you,' she said. 'Taken upon the altar of your god.'

'What?'

'An oath. Else my sacrifice could be in vain. And I had much rather die than do this, make no mistake.'

'You may find that your "sacrifice" becomes a pleasure, Fiana. We are kind to those of our women who do their duty to their God. Most of the time, anyway.' He smiled at some memory.

'It will be no pleasure to me.'

Her voice was calm and sure. The bitch was challenging his power, even now. His eyes narrowed for a moment, and he stared unblinkingly at her face. Reading only quiet determination there, he shrugged and his sharp white teeth gleamed briefly. 'Very well. I accept your challenge, for pleasure you shall surely find. What must I promise first?'

'Swear that you will let me go back to the temple alive and unharmed the moment this obscenity is finished.'

'I swear.
If
you still want to leave.'

'Swear by your god, touching his altar.' She knew how those of the Serpent revered the main black marble altar in each shrine.

He laid his hand lovingly upon the cold stone, stroking it in a suggestive way that would have sent colour to her cheeks, had she not prevented it. Above them the gilded wooden serpent hung from the ceiling and cast its shadow across the altar. Sen-Sether made the promise she had demanded, then asked, 'Now, is everyone here?'

At a gesture of his hand, the black curtains that screened the holy shrine were drawn back. A gasp echoed around the murky blackness of the shrine.

Through a haze of nausea, Fiana saw that the place was filled with spectators. Many bore the apprehensive expression of people dragged unwillingly in from the street, others had an expression of gloating anticipation on their faces. So Sen-Sether was making her humiliation public, was he? Was it still worth submitting to this in order to carry his message? She debated briefly yet again whether she should kill herself instead of submitting, but something within whispered that she could not escape so easily. For some reason, her Brother required this sacrifice of her. Her body was steady as she finished removing her clothes and turned to her tormentor, waiting in silence for his instructions.

But he was not ready yet to start. 'My God requires pain as part of the sacrifice.' He eyed her body thoughtfully.

'Now, how shall we provide that?'

'I will not let you maim or mark me,' she said flatly. 'If that is attempted, I shall kill myself. Will these people like to see that? Especially here, on your altar?'

He glared at her for a moment, madness flickering at the corners of his eyes. 'So.' His voice was a gasp of fury, then the cold mask of indifference returned to hide his face. 'Then it must be a simple whipping. No, I will not take less, Fiana! Some pain there be, to spice the act. We are not in your temple now, are we? My God requires more than a few dances.' His tongue ran quickly over his lips and left a trail of moisture there.

He saw her hesitate. 'We can find other Sisters,' he reminded her quietly. 'Many other Sisters.'

Their eyes met briefly, and she sighed once. 'Very well.'

'A pity you will not let me be more creative! So ordinary, a mere whipping!'

She shook her head.

Sen-Sether shrugged. 'So be it.' He snapped his fingers and the Servants of the Shrine moved forward. 'Tie her to the triangle!'

'There's no need to tie me.'

'On that, too, I insist. I prefer my women under control. And it makes a much better impression on the crowd.'

'It makes no difference to my ability to kill myself,' she warned him, as she allowed the Servants to clamp her to
QUEST Shannah Jay 54

the metal frame they had slotted into the altar.

He inclined his head to acknowledge that then turned to the Servants. 'I, too, shall offer pain, but you will have no need to bind me. The metal-tipped whip for me, I think.'

Two Servants, carrying thin, many-thonged whips came forward silently. 'Are you sure, Lord?' one of them asked.

'Your back is only just healed.'

'Do you question me?' Sen-Sether hissed.

'No, Lord, no. I think only of your welfare. The Serpent needs you.'

You will submit to the same whip after me for doubting my command.'

The man sucked in his breath, but said nothing as he inclined his head in agreement. Few sought the caress of that particular whip. He continued the preparations.

Fiana pressed her lips together tightly and willed herself to endure what she must in silence. Incense billowed suddenly out across the room in a thick reddish cloud. As she inhaled it, she became aware of how it was affecting her body. She had heard of this drugged incense, but never smelled it so closely before. As she began to run through a Discipline to control her body's reactions, she saw Sen-Sether breathe it in deeply. Heard the crowd breathing it in, too.

More incense billowed out. Somewhere a drum began to beat, with a soft, insistent rhythm. A low moan of anticipation came from the spectators.

The sacrifice was worse than Fiana had expected, far worse. The pain of her lacerated back she was able to tolerate, but the main sacrifice went on for much longer than she had expected and it took her a while to realise that Sen-Sether was working very hard indeed to break down her defences and make her enjoy the experience.

When he stopped for a moment, she thought it was all over, but he gestured and someone placed a hood over her head. Then it became much more difficult, for she had no warning of when pain would descend upon her back, or Sen-Sether's hands touch her body with great knowledge and skill. He came very close to infecting her with his madness, but somehow she clung to the thought of the God her Brother and found the strength to resist him.

In the end Sen-Sether was forced to acknowledge defeat. As he stood up, his manhood still proudly erect, his back dripping blood, he ripped the blindfold off her eyes and slapped her face hard. 'I shall keep my word, but I shall not forget you - Sister - Fiana.' Slaps punctuated his words. 'One day you shall make a true sacrifice to my God and he shall become your God. That I vow.'

'I shall die first,' she said, still quietly, though her body was laced with pain and her head rang with the blows.

'I have just proved that you can be induced not to die. One day I shall prove the rest. There is always some method to be found.'

She ignored that. 'Your message, Lord Sen-Sether?'

'Tell your Sisters that I want the boy whom they took from me delivered to this shrine - alive or dead - within the month, or I shall grow angry. That will give you plenty of time to bring him from his hiding place. I know now that he is not in any of your secret crèches.' He saw puzzlement on her face and said savagely, 'Your Elder Sister will understand which boy, even if you don't.' As he stood back and snapped his fingers, the Servants stepped forward.

'Take her to the door and let her go.'

'My robe!' Fiana tried to resist the hard hands that were pulling her along.

'I'm keeping my promise to release you after the sacrifice. We said nothing about your robe. It shall stay here as an offering to the Serpent. We've often wondered how you make that fabric. Now we shall find out.' As Sen-Sether turned away, chuckling, Fiana shook the Servants' hands off her and followed them to the door, head up proudly.

The sight of a naked woman with a bloody back being pushed out of the Shrine of the Serpent was too common nowadays in Setherak to excite much attention. And the fear of what might happen to anyone who offered help to a Sister was so strong that the spectators leaving the shrine dared not even look in her direction.

QUEST Shannah Jay 55

But before Fiana had gone more than a hundred paces, one of her Sisters appeared from behind a street corner and flung a cloak around her. Stony-faced, the two of them walked to Temple Setherak. Not as massive as the one in Tenebrak, this temple was nonetheless large enough to dominate the buildings around it, and again, it was stone to their wood. The mere sight of it made Fiana want to sob with relief. But she waited until the heavy wooden doors that had once stood open day and night were closed behind her, before she allowed her control to slip. As she stumbled, her Sister put out an arm to support her.

'Touch me not! I am filthy.'

'You're still our Sister.'

'Am I?'

'Of course. Now and always. Come, let me help you to wash your body and tend your wounds.'

'First I have - a message to deliver,' Fiana managed after a moment to control the dizziness that swept over her.

'It's for that reason only that I endured that - that - ' She turned and vomited acid bile at the memory. 'I had to buy the right to bring the message, or he would have taken other Sisters and killed them. I watched Nerrill and Danna die, and submitted only to spare the rest of you.'

She lapsed into silence until she reached the Hall of the God, where she repeated Sen-Sether's message, word for word, with every intonation exact. When she had finished, she gave way to her body's weakness and sank to the floor, laughing hysterically. 'There! I've delivered the message. And I don't even understand what it means. What boy is he referring to? I hope - I do hope - ' her voice cracked for a moment, 'that the message is worth it, Elder Sister, for the price was very high. They will boast of this for years in the Shrines. And I,' her voice faltered, 'I shall be unclean for as long as I live.'

'Sister, please - '

Fiana was clearly not listening. '
One day
,' she whispered, ‘
I shall kill Sen-Sether. That is my destiny
.'

The way her voice echoed made her Sisters stare at each other in amazement. Was the God really speaking through her? Was their Brother really sanctioning violence?

The news of what had happened was relayed immediately to the God and passed on to all the other temples. And after that grim warning of what was to come, the Sisters worked hard to place those who wished to leave the temples in what they hoped would be safe refuges, after training them in the chill Disciplines of Death, Disciplines they had hoped, after the last struggle against Discord, never to need again.

* * *

'Disgusting!' said Robler. 'How can anyone stomach such bestialities?'

'And you still insist, Davred, that the inhabitants of Sunrise have special talents.' Mak had been shaken by what happened to Fiana. 'What can we learn from
them
?'

'Have the Sisters not got special talents? Could you kill yourself merely by exercise of will?' Davred had grimly kept the long-distance holo-beam focused on Sen-Sether and watched with sorrow the sufferings of those whom he was, in truth, beginning to regard as his Sisters.

'Would I need to?' countered Mak. 'We of the Confederation do not kill one other.'

'Don't we?' asked Davred softly, speaking almost to himself. 'Have you seen the latest bulletins? The interplanetary wars are escalating again. The Age of Discord is not limited to Sunrise. We of the Confederation share the Sisters' problems and have done for several decades.'

Robler looked at him with concern. Davred was starting to behave strangely at times. The Exec had exaggerated this in his report to Confex, when asked to comment further on Davred's request for approval of Full Commitment.

Just lately, however, the strangeness seemed to be increasing to such an extent that there was no need for him to exaggerate.

His lips tightened as he stared at Davred. The Confederation could not afford to lose a potential Cathartic Agent
QUEST Shannah Jay 56

at a time of dire need. They had recently lost a couple of newly-colonised planets, and some very strange things were happening on other worlds - things not published in the staff info-bulletins.

* * *

The reply from Confex Central arrived two standard weeks after Fiana's ordeal. Robler let out a sigh of relief at the decision. It had taken years to convince Central, but now he had won the chance to salvage Davred Hollunby's much-needed skills. He put out a call for Davred to come and see him in the admin area, and told the computer not to disturb him for any reason other than a Class 1 Emergency.

Within minutes Davred was there. 'Well? Has the reply come through?'

'Sit down, will you, Davred.' Now that he had won, Robler could afford to be generous and sought to cushion the blow.

Instead of obeying, Davred stood motionless, staring at him. 'How in hell's name did you manage it?' he asked through teeth clenched to hold in the bitterest disappointment of his life. Without realising it, he began to use one of the Disciplines of Self-Control, which he had watched Herra teach Katia several years previously and had practised ever since. 'What lies did you tell in that report of yours? I demand to see it.'

'I told them the truth. That you've been behaving strangely of late, almost as if you do believe yourself to be the God they call you.'

'I see.' Davred's voice became expressionless. After watching Robler's triumphant expression for a moment or two, however, he deliberately sat down and covered his face with shaking hands, as if overwhelmed. His brain was racing furiously. He would not accept their decision. He
knew
what he had to do.

Robler continued gently, 'That's not all.'

'Oh?' Davred looked up, his expression bitter. 'Don't keep me in suspense, damn you! What else have you arranged?'

'You're to be transferred. First back to Confex for a check-up, then to another posting.'

'Transferred? Leave here?' Davred's shock was not feigned.

'I'm afraid so. I think it's for the best. You've let yourself become too involved.'

'How - how soon?'

'Next week. There's a supply ship due. You'll have to travel in stasis, but I think that might be better for you. It'll stop you worrying. They'll take you to the nearest nexus point and shunt you back to Central from there. Confex has experts in this sort of thing, people who can help you to readjust.'

Davred's face was white but the outburst Robler had expected didn’t come. After a moment the younger man covered his face again. 'I can't - I just can't take it in,' he stammered, making his voice tremble slightly.