Mistress of the Night - Don Bassingthwaite [103]
Julith knelt in prayer before a broad silver font as large as a tub. At the sound of the opening door, she looked up in fright then gasped with relief.
"Feena!"
Her eyes were red from weeping. Feena rushed across the chapel and swept her up, setting the book of the New Moon Pact aside to more fully embrace the younger priestess. Julith trembled in her arms.
"Oh, Feena! It was terrible. What Keph said-did you know he was a Sharran? And to return and find Mother Dhauna…"
"Be strong, Julith," Feena urged, rocking her gently. "What happened to you? What's going on?"
Words poured out of Julith like wine from a pitcher. Her flight with Keph at her side. The unrelenting pursuit by Velsinore, Mifano, and the clergy of Moonshadow Hall. Keph's fall, their capture, the discovery of Shar's disk. Their imprisonment-and Keph's sudden change. His taunts, his rage, and his threats against Moonshadow Hall. His escape into Shar's own darkness.
"I was so afraid, Feena," Julith moaned. "For the longest time, it seemed like there was nothing I could do-then I just screamed and screamed until Mifano and Velsinore came." She slid out of Feena's arms to crouch back down at the base of the font. "They questioned me. Mifano worked out the riddle of Keph's threat: the moment of Selune's weakness is the new moon. Tonight.
Velsinore didn't-doesn't-believe him, but he forced us all back to Yhaunn anyway. And when we got here, Mother Dhauna…"
She covered her face with her hands, and Feena brushed her dark hair gently.
"I know," Feena said. "I was the one who gave her into Selune's arms."
Julith choked and stiffened, looking up with wide, terrified eyes. Feena forced back tears, or at least tried to. She felt wet warmth on her cheeks.
"The madness had taken her, Julith. She'd given herself over to the wolf. If there had been something else, if there had been some way to redeem her…" She reached out to squeeze Julith's hand. "Selune holds her. Remember her as she was, and mourn her later." There was a hollow in Feena's stomach, a dark misgiving. She clenched her jaw and continued, "Something is very wrong here. Keph and I talked. I knew he was a Sharran-" Julith gasped, but Feena shook her head-"He said he was trying to escape from Shar's cult. I know he was telling the truth. I can't believe he'd have such a change of heart or that he was even capable of escaping the way you say he did."
"But I saw him vanish," protested Julith. "And if you'd heard what he said to me… He was vile. He mocked us all for thinking we'd kept Shar's cult out of Yhaunn and he called me a fool for trusting him."
"He called you a fool," said Feena, "but he didn't mention me?" Her eyes narrowed. She stepped back from the other priestess and touched her medallion. "Bright Lady of the Night, reveal the secrets that darkness hides!"
Selune's soft power surged within her, then reached out toward Julith. Feena's eyes widened. All around the younger woman, the tattered remnants of magic flickered like shadows.
"What?" asked Julith. "What is it?"
"You're under a spell or something a lot like one."
Feena stepped forward again and put her hands on Julith's head. Taking a deep breath, she reached out with her faith. For a moment, it seemed as if she could feel the chapel around her, its ancient sanctity a warm and comforting strength. She drew on that strength, weaving it together with her own.
"In Selune's name," she prayed, "let this magic be ended!"
Dismissing the spell of moonlight that Dhauna had conjured in the infirmary had been nothing, just Selune's power turned against itself. The magic that swirled around Julith was darker, more alien. Feena gasped as the shadows gave way before the bright lance of her prayer-only to seize