Clouded Purity - Book 2 of The Trial

Clouded Purity: Chapter 12

"Ghayle?" the woman said, her voice hoarse from exhaustion. "I've made it . . ." she gasped, trying to stand and walk toward her goddess, but she stumbled and fell to her knees again. Continuing forward at a crawl, she closed the distance, taking Ghayle's hand in hers. "You're here, but . . . what is happening? What is this?" she reached toward the metal stake in Ghayle's heart her eyes filled with horrified wonder.

"Don't . . .!" Tagren said, making himself visible as he dashed toward the woman, catching her arm and holding it steady in the air, poised over the stake. "Don't touch that."

The woman tried to pull her arm away, her eyes wide with fright. At this proximity, Ghayle could feel the woman's pulse as keenly as her own, and her heart thundered in her chest. She finally calmed as Tagren let her go, and she moved several feet away, clutching at her wrist. "Who are you?" the woman asked.

"My name is Tagren," Tagren said tersely.

The woman's eyes widened in astonishment. "Tagren? As in . . . Thalgruen?"

"Yes . . . that is what the Gor call me in recent times," Tagren replied.

"You're real?" The woman asked. "And this is really Ghayle . . ."

Instead of answering her question, Tagren asked one of his own. "Who are you?"

"Marhys. Marhys Elrhanadan," the woman replied.

"That's a Northern Gor name," Quay said, stepping into the visible realm. "What are you doing here in the South?"

"My husband is of the Northern tribes, but my home is here," Marhys replied. "I came, as a new mother, seeking the Mother of All. Who are you?"

"Quay."

"Quay . . ." Marhys shook her head. "Your name is also familiar to me, but I can't remember why. Have I stumbled upon the home of the gods?"

"Home?" Quay laughed. "No . . . none of us would choose to live here, except maybe the brothers." She nodded toward the Elrok brothers as they made themselves known to Marhys.

"What is going on here?" Marhys asked.

"We cannot tell you. You should not be here," Tagren said urgently.

Drawing on Marhys' purity, Ghayle forced a sound to escape her long disused throat. "Let . . . her . . . stay."

"Ghayle!" Tagren said, forgetting Marhys to turn toward his lover. He took her hand and stared lovingly into her eyes, glad for some response from her at last. Ghayle spared him all the time she could, squeezing his hand weakly before turning to Marhys.

"Come here, Marhys," she said. "Let me feel your touch."

"Ghayle . . ." Marhys said as she resumed her position by Ghayle's side, taking her other hand. "I am humbled by your invitation."

"There is something wrong. You're ill. You've come a long way despite your sickness," Ghayle stated more than asked. She could sense everything about Marhys now, from her broken body to her faithful soul.

"Yes," Marhys replied.

"And you've been with child recently," Ghayle said. "You said you are a new mother? You've come for the ancient rite?"

"Yes," Marhys answered.

Ghayle smiled, her first in over a year. "No one has sought me so diligently in centuries. What drove you here?"

"The world has lost its way, my people have forgotten their heritage, both the Gor and Incarian no longer honor their ancient traditions," Marhys explained, her eyes filling with tears even as a hopeful smile graced her face. "My mother died in childbirth, but my father taught me her ways, filled my head with stories about Gor traditions. He called them myths and folklore, but after he died I went searching for meaning, and found it in those ancient stories."