Enslaved (Brides of the Kindred Book 14) (51 page)

“Sounds
perfect,” Charlie said. “When can we see her?”

“She’s
in the Sacred Grove now, giving thanks for a safe trip. Go there and I’ll
bespeak her and send word that you’re coming. I’m sure she’ll be glad to help.”

“Thank
you,” Charlie nodded. “We’ll try it.” She looked at Trin. “Come on,
sweetie—we’re going on a little trip.”

Chapter
Thirty-eight

Naturally
Trin protested that she didn’t want to go anywhere. In fact, she didn’t even
want to leave the couch. It was warm and safe and comfortable—she wanted to
stay curled up there forever…or until the curse killed her.

But
she lacked the energy to fight so she finally allowed Charlie and Becca to bathe
her and brush what was left of her hair. Then they dressed her in a clean,
simple white shift dress and dragged her out of the visitor’s suite she’d been
staying in ever since she’d gotten to the ship.

They
took the public transport down to the grassy, park-like area in the center of
the Kindred ship. It was filled with families having fun, playing and
picnicking on the smooth green and purple grass and basking in the light of the
small but incredibly strong artificial green sun which, according to Becca,
also powered the ship.

At
any other time, Trin might have been interested in the things she saw all
around her. She had always loved delving into other cultures and visiting new
places—it was one reason she’d become a ship’s captain in the first place. But
now the picnicking families seemed too loud and the sunlight seemed too bright.
She felt tired and hopeless and utterly alone, even though she was surrounded
by people.

“Please,”
she muttered as they reached the edge of a grove of green and purple trees.
“Please, can’t we just go back? This is all too much—I just want to sleep.”

“If
you’re not careful you’ll wind up sleeping your life away,” Charlie remarked
tartly. “That’s what my mama used to say when she came banging on my door to
get me up out of bed as a teenager,”

“That’s
what I want,” Trin said softly. “That’s
all
I want—just to sleep until I die. Why won’t you let me do that, Charlie?
Why?”

“Because
you’re my friend!” Charlie took her by the shoulders and shook her lightly.
“Because I know who you really are inside! You’re brave and loyal and sweet and
caring and smart and I am
not
giving
up on you, Trin! Now get your ass in the Sacred Grove and stop talking about
sleeping. It’s time to wake up and start
living.”

To
Trin’s surprise, Charlie turned her around and gave her a firm push in the
shoulder blades. She stumbled forward and nearly fell but she caught herself
with one hand against the trunk of a large, graceful tree. Looking up at it,
Trin saw it had purple bark and leaves that were every shade of green
imaginable.

It’s beautiful…
The
thought drifted into her head and it occurred to Trin that this was the first
positive idea she’d had in weeks. She continued to stare at the tree in wonder,
watching the patterns of sunlight falling through its leaves.
Truly beautiful…

When
she finally looked away from the tree, she found that she was face to face with
a slim, blonde girl with extraordinary greenish-blue eyes. She was wearing a
simple white gown, not much different from Trin’s own, and a friendly smile.

“Hi
there,” the girl said. “You must be Trin. I’m Nadiah.”

“Hello…”
Some of Trin’s tiredness was fading—affected perhaps by the fresh, clean scent
of the trees all around her. But it was replaced by confusion. Why was she
here? What did Charlie and Becca think this woman could do for her? What did
they think anyone could do against the blood curse?

“Sylvan
tells me you’ve been having some problems back home.” Nadiah took Trin’s hand
in her own smooth, cool one and led her deeper into the small grove.

“I…guess
you could say that,” Trin murmured.

They
had come to a small stone bench and Nadiah settled upon it. She still had
Trin’s hand and she drew her down to sit as well. Then she was silent. For a
long time they simply breathed, drinking in the pure, clear air of the grove,
inhaling the fresh scent of the trees. At last Nadiah turned to her.

“Tell
me,” she said simply.

“I…”
Trin cleared her throat. “I was blood cursed by the high priestess of my temple
and disowned by my mother.”

Nadiah
made a sympathetic sound.

“What
happened to cause all that? You fell for the wrong male?”

“In
my case it was falling for any male at all.” Trin didn’t know why she was
telling Nadiah this. She didn’t even know the female. But somehow the touch of her
soft hand and the delicious, clean scent of the trees all around them made her
want to talk. But she couldn’t…not quite. She couldn’t seem to find the words.

Nadiah
seemed to understand her problem. She placed her other hand on Trin’s face and
the cupped her cheek gently.

“Be
thee unbound,” she murmured and passed her fingers lightly over Trin’s lips.
“Speak and tell what you must.”

Trin
drew in a deep trembling breath and somehow found she was able to tell what
needed to be told.

The
words came haltingly at first, then faster and faster until Trin’s words were
tumbling over themselves as she tried to get them all out. She told about
buying Thrace
at the Flesh Bazaar and saving his life, then how he had returned the favor
when he followed her into The Demon’s Eye. Then their fateful business trip to
Lady Tam-tam’s estate and the way they had been drawn closer and closer
together. Then their encounter with Two and the way he had forced her to drink
the passion berry wine. And then…making love with Thrace. She blushed with shame as
she spoke of it—admitting what she had done to a complete stranger wasn’t easy.
But Nadiah only nodded and there was no judgment in her face.

“And
you bonded to him then?” she asked softly.

“I
think so…yes…yes, I did. We did bond,” Trin admitted. “But…I didn’t want to be
bonded to him. To any male. So I…found a way to block the bond.”

“And
that was because of your belief that it is wrong to love a male?”

Trin
nodded and explained about the religion she’d been raised in and how loving a
male and especially making love to one was a slap in the face of the Goddess of
Judgment.

“But
it’s not just that,” she finished. “It’s the blood curse—it’s going to kill me.
I
had
to push him away so I wouldn’t
drag him down with me.”

Nadiah
nodded sympathetically, still holding Trin’s hand.

“I
understand,” she said quietly. “But tell me more. Tell it all—you need to.”

Trin
knew she was right. But when she got to the part about what had been done to
her in the temple of the Goddess of Judgment, she found she couldn’t look at the
blonde girl as she spoke. Instead, she looked down at her bare feet in the
purple-green grass and tried to tell the part about Swift and Silk quickly.

When
she finally explained how she had been blood cursed and her mother had disowned
her, she was almost afraid to look at Nadiah again. When she did, she saw, to
her surprise, that the other girl’s greenish-blue eyes had turned completely
green—a pure, brilliant emerald that seemed to blaze from her face.

And
the pure green eyes were filled with tears.

“Uh…”
Trin wasn’t sure what to say—was this normal? “Nadiah…your eyes,” she said
hesitantly. “Are you crying?”

“Daughter…”
The
voice that spoke from Nadiah’s lips was soft and kind but it was not Nadiah’s. It
was warm and feminine and filled with such power it filled Trin with awe to
hear it.
“Daughter,”
said the voice again.
“I weep for thee. Your pain and
shame is mine. I take it on myself and I absolve thee.”

“You
what?” Trin asked hesitantly. “I don’t understand.”

“For
the sins you have committed and the ones you think you have committed, you are
forgiven,”
said the voice.

“Oh…”
Trin whispered. Though she still didn’t fully understand, she suddenly felt
filled to overflowing with some vast, profound emotion she couldn’t even name
to herself. Somehow she knew she was in the presence of a deity—a being far
wiser and infinitely older than herself. All around them the entire grove
seemed to have hushed itself in a kind of holy reverence.

“Your
holiness…Goddess?” Trin shifted a little. There was something she wanted to
know, but she was almost afraid to speak to the presence that was talking to
her through Nadiah.

“Do
not fear. Speak your question.”

“Are
you…the Goddess of the Kindred?”

“I
am.”

“But…it
was the other Goddess—
my
Goddess that
I offended,” Trin explained haltingly. “The Goddess of Judgment. So how can
you
forgive me when she is the one I
sinned against?”

“You
are hers no longer, for I claim you as my own, daughter,”
the
voice assured her.
“Fear not—all your wrongs are made right.”

“But,
well…I was undergoing a…a cleansing ceremony,” Trin tried to explain. “I had to
pay for my sins and I tried but…I couldn’t. Nothing I did was enough.”

“My
forgiveness is freely offered—you have only to accept it. And then forgive
yourself.”

Forgive
yourself. It was exactly what Becca and Charlie had been telling her for days
but somehow it seemed to make sense now. Trin felt something begin to loosen in
her chest—a knot she hadn’t even known was there, pulled tight around her heart—was
slowly being untied. The dullness that had consumed her—the wish to lie down
and sleep and never wake up—suddenly blew away.

Trin
took a deep breath and felt fully alive as she hadn’t since before she entered
the temple of the Goddess of Judgment. It was as though she’d had a dark cloud
surrounding her for days and a fresh, sweet wind had swept it far out to sea
where it could never bother her again.

“I…I’ll
try,” she whispered. “I’ll try to…to forgive myself.”

“You
must go and be healed.”
Nadiah’s soft fingertips brushed lightly
over her welted arm.
“When you are healed without, you will also
be healed within.”

“All
right.” Trin wasn’t quite sure she understood that but she was willing to go
with it. Still, she had one more concern. “But…what about the blood curse?”

Nadiah’s
slim hand passed over her cheek slowly.

“There
is no curse,”
the voice promised.
“I lift it from you. There is now
no shame or fear or condemnation. There is only love.”

“Love,”
Trin echoed softly. Suddenly she was able to name the emotion that was filling
her—it was joy. A joy so pure and sweet she hadn’t felt anything like it since
childhood. “Thank you,” she whispered. “Thank you so much…”

Suddenly
Nadiah closed her eyes and took a deep breath. When she opened them again, they
were back to their normal color of greenish-blue.

“Um…Nadiah?”
Trin looked at her uncertainly. Was she back?

“Yes.”
The other girl smiled. “You’ve spoken to the Goddess, haven’t you?”

“I
did.” Trin looked at her in wonder. “I really
did.”

“And
what did she say?” Nadiah asked, pressing her hand.

“That
she forgives me and that…she loves me and claims me for her own.” Trin felt joy
welling up in her soul again. “She lifted the blood curse! And told me that that…that
I didn’t have to pay for my sins. She forgave me freely.”

Nadiah
smiled gently. “That’s the way the Goddess works. She loves her children so
much—she never wants to see them hurt or in pain. Sometimes we face difficult
trials and seemingly impossible situations but the Goddess is always near and
she always makes sure we get through it.”

“I
believe it,” Trin said. “I believe in her. She spoke to me through you.”

“That’s
part of my job—I’m the Mouthpiece of the Goddess.” Nadiah smiled. “She chooses
many different ways to communicate with her children. I’m glad she chose me to
communicate with you.”

“I’m
glad too.” Trin smiled and realized it was the first smile she’d had in days.
She raised her fingers to her face and traced the curve of her lips. “It’s so
surprising…I felt like…like I’d never smile again. Never be happy again,” she
said wonderingly. “And I felt so guilty for…for letting myself love Thrace
and express that love physically.”

“The
Goddess approves of the love between those she has brought together. She has
restored your soul.” Nadiah squeezed her hand. “You are healed—on the inside,
anyway.” Her eyes traced the welts that still marred Trin’s skin.

“She
said something about that—she said that if I was healed on the outside, I’d be
completely healed on the inside too.” Trin frowned. “But I’m not sure what she
meant by that. Maybe just that I should go to a doctor and do what he tells
me?”

“Maybe,”
Nadiah agreed.

“I
didn’t want to before,” Trin confessed. “I didn’t want to do anything but sleep
until…until I died. Until the blood curse killed me. But now I want to live.”

“You
will
live…a long and happy life.”
Nadiah smiled at her. “You’ll have some hardships along the way but always
remember the Goddess is watching out for you. And that she has a very special
purpose for your life.”