Goddess of the Rose (14 page)

The other three women nodded, but Mikki thought they did so less than enthusiastically.

“And do not forget,” Gii added, looking sternly at the other handmaidens, “Mikado awakened the Guardian. That is something only Hecate's Empousa has the power in her blood to do.”

At the mention of the Guardian, Mikki felt a chill move across her skin. She'd almost forgotten about it—
him
—she corrected herself. The statue. Only he wasn't a statue anymore. He was out there somewhere, alive again because her blood had touched him. What part did he play in all of this? Why had he visited her dreams? And suddenly she was truly sick of unanswered questions.

“Gii, you said Floga didn't get burned by the fire because she is Flame. Please tell me what you meant by that.”

But Floga didn't give Gii a chance to answer her. Instead the fire-haired handmaiden stepped forward so she stood beside Mikki. She raised her hand, palm up, and then, smiling, Floga blew a small breath, much like she was blowing a kiss, onto the palm of her hand. Mikki felt the unusual heat of her breath even before the rust-colored flame spouted from her palm.

“Gii meant what she said literally, Empousa. Your personal handmaidens are carefully chosen by Hecate from all other women in the Realm of the Rose. Each of us was selected because we carry within us a special affinity for one of the four elements. My element is Flame. I can conjure it; it will never burn me; when the thread of my life has been followed to its end, I will return to it.”

“Unbelievable . . .” Mikki breathed. Hesitantly, she reached a finger to the fire that burned steadily in Floga's hand. It was like touching the flame of a candle. She could bear it for an instant, but she knew it would burn her if her finger stayed too close for too long. Then Mikki's gaze slid to the other three women.

“I am—” Gii began but Mikki shook her head sharply, interrupting her. “No, don't tell me. If I am really Hecate's priestess, I should be able to figure out some things for myself.” She squinted her eyes, thinking . . .
The four elements . . . Floga already said she is Flame. So what's left?

As she considered, her eyes remained on Gii, at first unconsciously, and then more purposefully. She took in her moss-colored robes that matched the rich green of her eyes, accenting the thick length of her mahogany hair. And she knew.

“Earth!” Mikki said. “You have to be Earth.”

Gii's smile was a brilliant reward. “Yes, Empousa. Floga is Fire. I am Earth . . .” She paused and nodded encouragement.

Mikki turned her attention to the two remaining handmaidens, Nera and Aeras. Nera was wearing blue and had hair so light it could be reminiscent of clouds, but Wind just didn't seem to fit her. Nera was too voluptuous. Her body was lush; the blue silk lapped around her like translucent waves. Petite Aeras wore butter-yellow robes that seemed to move gracefully around her in time to a secret breeze of their own. Her long, straight hair was the golden color of summer sunlight.

“Nera is Water, and Aeras is Wind.”

The handmaidens clapped their hands happily, making Mikki feel inordinately proud of herself.

“You see, Empousa,” Gii said. “You did recognize your handmaidens.”

“With your help I did. Now with your help maybe I can figure out how to cast a circle, too.”

“You have everything here you need to cast the sacred circle, Empousa,” Gii said. “You have the spirits of the four elements, and you have your own affinity.”

“My own affinity? But there are only four elements. What could I represent?”

“You represent the heart of the circle—its spirit,” Gii said. “That is why you wear sacred purple. It is the color of Spirit. And that is why your position will be in the center of the circle.”

“We will show you, Empousa,” Aeras said, skipping up the stairs into the temple. “We each have our positions.”

Mikki squared her shoulders and moved with the handmaidens into the temple. Aeras walked purposefully to a place a few feet away from the ever-burning flame which was in the center of the temple. She turned to face Mikki. “Wind is always positioned in the east.”

Floga moved around an invisible circle to Aeras's left. “Flame is allied with the south.”

“Water prefers the west,” Nera said, taking the position directly across from Aeras.

“Earth's place is always in the north,” Gii said, completing the circle. “And your place—Spirit's position—is in the center of the circle near the heart of the goddess's flame.”

Not giving herself time to hesitate, Mikki moved into the center of the circle made by the elements personified and stood beside Hecate's flame. Then, feeling a little lost and a lot foolish, she moved her shoulders restlessly. “I don't know what to do next.” She whispered the words, but her voice carried eerily in the stillness of the temple.

“It is a simple thing, really,” Gii said gently.

“A natural thing,” Nera added.

“A wondrous thing,” Floga said, with barely suppressed excitement.

“You always begin with me,” Aeras said, smiling brightly. “Greet me and call Wind to you, welcoming my element. Then move deosil around the circle and call the other elements to you.”

“Deosil?”

“This way,” Floga said, moving her hand in a clockwise motion.

Mikki nodded. “Okay, I've got that.”

“As you call each element, think of the energy you beckon forth to protect and support you, Empousa,” Gii said.

“Will a circle really appear?” Mikki asked tentatively.

“That depends on you, Empousa,” Gii said.

Mikki's stomach fluttered with nervousness.
Just do it!
she told herself. Mikado Empousai lifted her chin and approached Aeras.

CHAPTER ELEVEN

“
H
ELLO, Aeras.” “Empousa.”

The handmaiden sank to the marble floor in a graceful curtsey, and Mikki's mind frantically searched for something, anything, to say. She was supposed to focus on the elemental power as she called it. She drew another breath to calm herself. She drew a breath . . . air . . . which was really wind . . .

“I call to the circle the element Wind,” she said, mentally crossing her fingers that she wasn't totally messing up. “It is what we breathe in when we are born. Without it we would all die.” As Mikki had begun speaking, Aeras had risen from her deep curtsey. The handmaiden lifted her slender arms, closed her eyes, and tilted her head back. Mikki swallowed around the nervous dryness in her throat and continued. “When I think of Wind I think of movement and invisible power. It is a contradiction—a paradox. It cannot be contained, but it can be harnessed. It can gently fill a newborn's lungs, and it can destroy cities.” Suddenly, the ethereal yellow silk that clothed Aeras began to lift and stir, and then, in a rush of white sound, wind whipped around the handmaiden like she stood in the vortex of a magick tornado. Wind moved against Mikki's skin, too, but not as violently. It felt caressing, causing her bare nipple to harden in response. Surprisingly, Mikki didn't feel embarrassed or exposed. Instead, the nakedness of her body seemed natural, and the fact that the element had come at her call and touched her body so lovingly, bolstered her confidence. She smiled and met Aeras's shining eyes. “Welcome, Wind!”

Then she turned to the right. Her steps were much surer as she approached the scarlet-clad handmaiden.

“Hello, Floga.”

“Empousa,” she said. And she, too, sank to the floor in a respectful curtsey.

“I call to the circle the element Flame.” As Aeras had, Floga stood, lifting her arms and closing her eyes. Mikki thought the handmaiden's face look rapturously expectant, as if she was prepared to greet a lover. Inspired by the element's personification, Mikki continued, “Fire is passion and heat. It consumes, but it also feeds and warms. Without fire our nights would be dark and cold.” Floga's glossy scarlet hair began to lift, and in a whirl of heat the girl's body became outlined by a luminous glow. Mikki could feel the heat radiate from Floga. It licked against her skin, too, causing a fine sheen of dewy sweat to glisten over her body. “Welcome Flame!”

When she turned to her right again she thought she caught a glimpse of a delicate silver thread of light stretching between Aeras and Floga.

“Hello, Nera.”

“Empousa.” Nera dropped to the floor. Her thick, blond-white hair covered her face like a wave.

“I call the element of Water to the circle. It surrounds us before we are born, and it nourishes us during our life. It cleans and purifies, feeds and soothes.” Nera stood slowly, and Mikki watched as the voluptuous outline of her body appeared to liquefy. And then her hair really was sea foam and waves, and the blue of her silk robes rippled like the changing tide. Mikki was engulfed in a misty coolness that smelled of spring rains and warm, tropical beaches. “Welcome, Water!”

Mikki's feet felt incredibly light as she hurried to where Gii waited. And this time she clearly saw the sparkling silver ribbon that connected Aeras to Floga and now also Nera.

“Hello, Gii.”

“Empousa.” She curtseyed as had the other handmaidens.

“I call to the circle the element Earth.” Mikki smiled fondly at Gii as the handmaiden stood, lifting her arms and awaiting the approach of the spirit of her element. “Earth is really our mother. It's as fertile and nurturing as farmland, as moist as soil and as dry as sand. It's home for all the other elements.” Gii's mossy robes shifted and changed until they were more ivy than silk. Her dark hair seemed to lengthen, blanketing her shoulders and falling down her back with the richness of a newly ploughed field. Mikki's senses were filled with images of Earth. She smelled the sweetness of cut hay. She tasted ripe fruit and berries. She felt cradled in warmth and security, as if her mother's arms were once again around her. With a catch in her voice, Mikki said, “Welcome, Earth!”

“And now, Empousa, you must greet your own element,” Gii said, pointing to the place at the center of the circle beside the sacred flame.

Mikki moved to the center of the circle. She closed her eyes and raised her arms, mimicking the other women.

“I call to the circle the element Spirit.”

Then the handmaidens' voices flooded her thoughts and senses until Mikki couldn't tell if they were actually speaking or if they were only voices within her soul.

“Spirit is present everywhere,” Aeras said in her sweet, clear voice.

“It is the great alchemist.” Floga's voice was filled with passion.

“Spirit is the element that unites all others.” Nera spoke with the sound of a cascading stream.

“It has the power to shape the very nature of all things,” said Gii, in a loving mother's voice.

“Welcome, Spirit!” Mikki cried. There was a crackling snap, and the air within the temple sizzled with energy. Mikki opened her eyes to see that she stood in the middle of a circle ringed by four women who were bound together by dazzling gossamer threads of silver woven to create a boundary that pulsed with light and power. The flame burning beside her had taken on a lovely violet tint.

“Wow! It worked!”

The handmaidens laughed, filling the temple with sounds of feminine happiness. Their laughter was like music, and Mikki wanted to twirl and dance.

The silent words settled into Mikki's mind like a remembered dream. She didn't stop to question her next impulse or hesitate until she could second guess herself. Mikki danced. Within the circle she twirled and swayed. The handmaidens took up the tempo of her movements and began humming a seductive melody. She felt beautiful and powerful and utterly joyous. And she knew what her decision for the rest of her life would be. She would choose this world—this magickal life—and not because she was afraid of snapping out of it and finding out she was crazy. She chose this life because it had awakened a joy deep within her that she had never before experienced. Reality be damned! This was real enough for her.

Speak the words that will bind you to me, Empousa
, commanded the voice within her head.

Automatically, Mikki answered the goddess. As she spoke, her own voice grew stronger and more confident.

“Hecate, Goddess of Crossroads, Beasts, and the Ebony Moon, I have cast your sacred circle and been given a chance at a new life—a new destiny. I stand on the threshold between my old life and my new . . .” Mikki hesitated, but only long enough for her to turn to face the violet-tinged flame. “My decision is that I am willing to become your Empousa.”

“What two perfect words do you offer your goddess to bind you to me?”
Hecate's somber voice hung heavy in the midst of the sacred circle.

Mikki stared into the spirit flame. She had no idea what words to speak. What could bind her to Hecate? What did her instincts tell her? She wasn't sure, but she knew what her heart was telling her. There were only two words that should ever bind one person to another . . .

“Love and trust,” Mikki said.

The violet flame leaped, shooting almost to the ceiling of the temple's dome.

“Blessed be your feet that have brought you on this path,” Aeras said.

The Wind spirit held her hands out to her Empousa. Mikki grasped them, feeling a surge of energy swirl into her.

“Blessed be your sex, source of love and power,” Floga cried.

Mikki retraced her path inside the circle to the spirit of Flame. When she took Floga's hands, power filled her with a rush of heat.