Verna embraced the trembling woman as she wept softly while clutching at Verna’s cloak. Verna still had the dacra in her fist, behind Janet’s back.
Verna eased her away to smile at the tear-stained face. She wiped away some of the tears, and smoothed back Janet’s dark locks.
Janet kissed her ring finger—an ancient gesture beseeching the Creator’s protection. Even though she had been reasonably sure Janet was loyal to the Light, Verna was relieved to see such confirmation.
A Sister of the Dark was sworn to the Keeper of the Underworld, and would never kiss her ring finger. It was an act that represented a Sister’s symbolic betrothal to the Creator.
It was the one thing that a Sister of the Dark could not do. A Sister of the Dark could not hide her loyalty to her true master, the Keeper, by kissing her ring finger, for kissing that finger would invoke her dark master’s wrath.
Verna slipped the dacra back up her sleeve as Janet glanced back at Warren. They exchanged smiles.
Both Verna and Warren took in Janet’s bizarre garb. She was barefoot. The baggy garment, cinched at the waist with a white cord, covered her from ankles to neck to wrists, but was so sheer that the woman might as well have been naked.
Between a thumb and finger, Verna tugged out some of the diaphanous material. “What in the name of Creation are you doing wearing this?”
Janet glanced down at herself. “Jagang makes all his slaves dress like this. After a while, you don’t even notice anymore.”
“
I see.” Verna could see that Warren was doing his best to avert his eyes.
“
Verna, what are you doing here?” Janet asked in a demure voice.
Verna grinned and pinched Janet’s cheek. “I came to get you out of here, silly. I came to rescue you. We’re friends—did you think I’d leave you here?”
Janet blinked in astonishment. “The Prelate let you come after me?”
Verna lifted her hand, showing the woman the sunburst-patterned ring of the Prelate. “I am the Prelate.”
Janet’s jaw fell open. She dropped to the floor and began kissing the hem of Verna’s dress.
Verna gripped Janet’s shoulder and urged her to her feet. “Stop that. There’s no time for that.”
“
But—but, how? What happened? How can this be? What has happened?”
“
Verna, those webs won’t hold for long,” Warren cautioned in a thin whisper. “We’ve already overstayed our welcome.”
“
Janet, listen to me. We can talk later, after we get you out of here. The things we had to do to get in here only give us a brief time to get back out. It’s dangerous for us to be here.”
“
I should say so,” Janet said. “Prelate, you must—”
“
Verna. We’re friends. It’s still Verna.”
“
Verna, how in Creation did you ever get into Jagang’s stronghold? You must get out at once. If you are found—”
Verna frowned and touched the ring through Janet’s lower lip. “What’s this?”
Janet paled. “It marks me as one of Jagang’s slaves.” She started shivering. “Verna, save yourself. Get out of here. You must get out!” she whispered urgently.
“
I agree,” Warren whispered through gritted teeth. “Let’s go!”
Verna pushed her cloak back over her shoulders, out of the way. “I know. Now that we’ve got you, we can go.”
“
Dear Creator, you have no idea how much I’d like to go with you, but if I did—you can’t imagine what Jagang would do to me. Oh, dear Creator, you can’t imagine.”
Her eyes flooded with tears at the very thought. Verna embraced her for a moment.
“
Janet, listen to me. I’m your friend, you know I wouldn’t lie to you.” She waited until the other nodded. “There is a way to keep the dream walker from your mind.”
Janet clutched Verna’s dress at the shoulders. “Verna, don’t torment me with hope that I know is false. You have no idea how much I’d like to believe you, but I know—”
“
It’s true. Listen to me, Janet. I’m the Prelate, now. Don’t you think Jagang would take me if he could? Why do you think he hasn’t taken the others? He can’t, that’s why.”
Janet was shivering again, tears running down her cheeks.
Warren put a hand to her back. “What Verna says is true, Sister Janet. Jagang can’t get into our minds. Come with us, and you will be safe. Hurry.”
“
How?” Janet whispered.
Verna leaned close. “You remember Richard?”
“
Of course. Trouble and wonder in one person.”
Verna smiled at the truth of that. “He has the gift, that’s why I went after him, but there is more to it. He is born with both sides of it. More than that, though, he is a Rahl.
“
Three thousand years ago, in the great war, Richard’s ancestor created a magic to block the dream walkers of that time from his people’s minds. That magic was passed down to his descendants who have the gift.”
Janet’s fists tightened on Verna’s dress. “How? How does it work?”
Verna smiled. “It’s so simple that it’s hard to believe. The most powerful magic is sometimes like that. All that is necessary is to be sworn to him, in your heart, and his magic protects you from the dream walker. As long as Richard is alive and in this world, Jagang will never again be able to enter your mind.”
“
I swear allegiance to Richard, and I’m free of Jagang?”
Verna nodded at the woman’s stunned face. “It’s true.”
“
What do I have to do?”
Verna held up a finger to forestall Warren’s objections. She went to her knees, pulling Janet down with her.
“
Say the words with me, and mean them in your heart. Richard is a war wizard, and leads us in our fight against Jagang. We believe in him, in his heart, with all our hearts. Say the words with me, and believe, and you will be free.”
Janet nodded as she clasped her hands prayerfully. Tears coursed down her cheeks. Verna whispered the devotion, pausing so Janet could repeat the words after her.
“
Master Rahl guide us. Master Rahl teach us. Master Rahl protect us. In your light we thrive. In your mercy we are sheltered. In your wisdom we are humbled. We live only to serve. Our lives are yours.”
Janet’s whispered words echoed Verna’s until she was finished.
Verna kissed Janet’s cheek. “You are free, my friend. Now hurry, let’s get out of here.”
Janet snatched Verna’s sleeve. “What about the others?”
Verna hesitated. “Janet, I would like nothing better than to rescue the rest of our Sisters, too, but I can’t, not now. We will try to get them later. If we try, now, Jagang will have us.
“
I came to get you because you are my friend, and I love you. The five of us all swore to always protect each other. Phoebe is with us already. There is only you left.
“
As much as I want to rescue the rest of our Sisters, it must be left until later. I promise you, I won’t forget them, or leave them, but we can’t do it all now, all at once.”
Janet’s head lowered, and she stared at the floor. “Jagang killed Christabel. I saw him do it. Her screams still haunt my nightmares. Her screams, and Jagang.”
Verna felt as if she had been punched in the gut. Christabel had been her best friend. She didn’t want to know the details. Christabel had turned to the Keeper.
“
That’s why I have to get you out of here, Janet. My fear for you, and for what Jagang has done to you, haunts my nightmares.”
Janet’s head came up. “What about Amelia? She was one of us five. We can’t leave her.”
Verna gave Janet a level look. “Amelia is a Sister of the Dark.”
“
Was,” Janet said. “No longer.”
“
What?” Verna whispered.
Warren leaned over. “Once you’re sworn to the Keeper, you can’t change your mind. You can’t trust what she says, Sister Janet. Now, let’s get out of here. She’s sworn to the Keeper.”
Janet shook her head. “No longer. Jagang sent her on some sort of mission, involving magic, and in order to accomplish her task, she was forced to betray the Keeper.”
“
Impossible,” Verna said.
“
True,” Janet insisted. “She’s back. She has re-sworn her oath to the Creator. I’ve talked to her. She sits and weeps, kissing her ring finger half the night, praying to the Creator.”
Verna leaned closer, looking into Janet’s eyes. “Janet, listen to me. Have you seen her kiss her ring finger? Have you seen it with your own eyes? Are you absolutely sure she wasn’t kissing another finger?”
“
I’ve sat with her, trying to comfort her. I’ve watched her.” Janet kissed her own finger with a whispered supplication that if she wasn’t telling the truth she would be struck dead.
“
Just like that? She kisses her finger just like that?”
“
Yes. She kisses her finger and cries and prays that the Creator will kill her for the horror of what she has done.”
“
What has she done?”
“
I don’t know. When I ask, she practically goes crazy with screaming and weeping. Jagang won’t let her kill herself. He has control of her mind, as he does with the rest of us. He wouldn’t let any of us kill ourselves; we must continue to serve him.
“
Verna, we can’t leave Amelia here. We have to take her with us. I won’t leave her here. I’m the only comfort she has in this world. The things Jagang does to her …”
Verna turned away. Her stomach roiled at the thought of leaving Amelia if indeed she had abandoned the Keeper. The five of them had been best friends for close to one hundred fifty years, since they were young novices.
The life of a Sister of the Light was a difficult one. They had sworn oaths always to protect one another.
“
Verna, she is one of us, a Sister of the Light, again. She is one of us five. Please, Verna, I’d rather stay with her than leave her here alone.”
Verna glanced back to Janet’s haunted eyes.
“
Verna, we must call him Excellency,” Janet said in a shuddering whisper. “If we displease him for any reason at all, we have to serve a week in the tents.”
Warren spoke Verna’s name with rising inflection. Verna waved him to silence. “The tents? What are you saying?”
Janet’s eyes flooded with tears again. “He gives us to his soldiers for a week. We have gold rings, so they won’t kill us, because those with gold rings belong to Jagang, but they can do whatever else they want. They pass us from tent to tent for a week. Even the old Sisters are sent to the tents. Jagang calls it a lesson in discipline that all must learn.”
Janet fell to her knees, convulsing in sobs as she covered her mouth with both hands. Verna sank down beside her and hugged her.
“
You don’t know what Jagang’s men do to us,” Janet cried. “You don’t know, Verna!”
“
I understand,” Verna whispered. “Hush now. It’s all right, now. We’ll get you away from here.”
Janet shook her head against Verna’s shoulder. “I won’t leave Amelia here. I’m all she has. I’m a Sister of the Light. The Creator would never forgive me if I abandoned her. If I leave her, I’d be leaving my duty to the Creator. She’s my friend. She came back to the Light. She came back to the Creator.
“
Jagang sent her to the tents, again. If I’m not here when she comes back, she’ll go crazy. No one else will tend to her. The Sisters of the Dark won’t go near her, and the Sisters of the Light won’t forgive her. I’m her only friend. I’m the only one who forgave her and accepted her back to the Light.
“
She’ll be a bloody mess when she gets back. You don’t know what Jagang’s men are like. Except for broken bones, Jagang won’t allow us to use the gift to heal one another when we come back from the tents. He says it’s part of the lesson, that our souls may belong to the Creator when we die, but in this life, Jagang owns our bodies.
“
We can have our broken bones knitted by the gift when we come back, but until then, we have to suffer the agony of that along with everything else. If I’m not here, no one else will heal that much for her, or comfort her.”
Janet was nearly hysterical. “I won’t leave without Amelia.”
Verna felt dizzy and sick to her stomach. Her heart pounded in terror. Bile rose into her throat.
Verna’s voice broke. “How do you endure it?”
Janet held her fists to her heart. “We are Sisters of the Light; we must endure for the Creator.”
Verna shared a long look with Warren’s troubled eyes. “Do you know where we can find her? Maybe we could go find her and take her with us.”
Janet shook her head. “We’re passed among the tents. She could be anywhere. The army is spread out for miles and miles in every direction.
“
Not long ago, more captured women were sent back here. The screams are everywhere, so you can’t simply follow the sounds of screams. Besides, if we went out among the tents, we wouldn’t last five minutes before we were dragged into one of them.”
“
How long?” Verna asked. “How long until Amelia is back?”
“
Five days, but she won’t be able to walk for at least a day after that, maybe two.”
Verna held a tight grip on her rage. “There’s nothing saying I can’t use my gift to cure her once she’s back.”
Janet looked up. “That’s true. Five days, then. Tomorrow night is the full moon. The fourth day after the full moon.”