Mistress of the Night - Don Bassingthwaite [10]
Feena, however, stopped just inside the gate. Julith stood at the back of the crowd, and Feena slipped in beside her.
"I'm sorry for what happened in Dhauna's bedchamber," Feena whispered.
The young priestess sighed and shrugged. "I'm getting used to it," she murmured back. "Some days she's better than others."
Her eyes were fixed on the other end of the courtyard. Dhauna had set aside her cane and was standing in front of the sacred pool, her back to the crowd. Overhead, the moon was almost perfectly aligned with the courtyard, the high priestess, and the pool. Dhauna raised her hands. "Selune," she called, "Moonmaiden, Bright Lady of Night, Our Lady of Silver-tonight we honor your fullest aspect and pray for your blessing of strength…"
As Dhauna continued her invocation, Feena leaned in closer to Julith.
"Some days?" she whispered. "Getting used to it?" She pressed her lips together, then asked, "The dreams?"
Julith started, then nodded.
Selune's warnings were taking their toll on more than Dhauna's body, it seemed.
Feena leaned back toward Julith and asked, "How long has she been having them?"
Julith's gaze darted to her. "Feena!" she hissed and nodded at Dhauna and the sacred pool.
Feena rolled her eyes and said, "We're not novices, Julith. No one is standing over us to make sure we follow the ceremony. How long?" Feena nudged the other priestess. "Gome on."
"A little bit less than a month." Julith managed to speak almost without moving her lips. "Since the waning gibbous moon."
The night she had first sent for me, Feena thought. She winced.
"Do you know what happened?" Feena asked.
Julith gave an almost imperceptible shake of her head. "I found her barefoot in the courtyard in the middle of the night, almost at moonset. She's been barely eating since then. She's developed an obsession with the archives. And her moods…" The priestess fell silent for a moment, then added, "There are only a few of us in the temple who really notice the lapses of her mind, but it's clear that her health is failing." She glanced sideways at Feena. "If you're her friend, you should probably know that there's pressure on her to step down."
Feena's eyebrows rose. Dhauna Myritar had led Moonshadow Hall for well over twenty years-it was hard to think of the temple without her at its head.
"Pressure?" she asked. "Who from?"
Before Julith could answer, the High Moonmistress lowered her arms. On cue, a chorus of novices began to sing a hymn. After a few bars, the crowd joined in as well, a sweet roar of sound that would have been impossible to hear over. Julith and Feena dutifully added their voices to the song, but Julith caught Feena's eye and nodded toward the sacred pool again.
Four figures had stepped forward from the crowd. Two were acolytes bearing silver pitchers. Dhauna took the pitchers and poured their contents-milk and pale wine-into the sacred pool as a sacrifice to Selune.
Flanking the acolytes, however, were Mifano and Velsinore. Feena's eyes narrowed as another piece of the rivalry between the two fell into place.
The hymn ended. Feena leaned toward Julith once more as they knelt along with the rest of the crowd to receive the High Moonmistress's benediction.
"Dhauna hasn't named a successor yet, has she?" Feena guessed. Julith nodded. "But Velsinore and Mifano are the prime candidates?"
Julith nodded again. Feena grunted and straightened, her suspicion confirmed. Dhauna wanted her to help, but dodging the two rivals wouldn't be easy.
"In the face of darkness," called Dhauna from the front of the courtyard, "be strong, for the Bright Lady of Night gives you her blessing." She folded her hands. "May Selune guide your steps in the night and bring them to a new dawn."
The crowd rose in a rustle of fabric and a murmur of voices, the ceremony complete. Feena rose as well, turning to Julith. Dhauna's voice, however, brought the attention of the entire courtyard back to her.
"Friends!" she shouted. "Friends!"
When silence had fallen again, she spread her arms and smiled.