Elizabeth made Simone sing the ritual name of the Isle of BastBula with her. It wasn't a quick or easy process and involved long periods of frustrating silence.
Simone fidgeted. "What's that? It looks like a rosary."
"A paidirean. Celtic prayer beads"
Simone stared at the gleaming gold spiral hanging from the string of precious stones. "It's pretty. Can I have it?"
"Simone, be quiet." Elizabeth sounded exasperated. "We have to get you back."
"How does it work?"
She sighed. "The same as your data crystal but more sensitive and with greater power. It has 150 beads split into five sections. You work it out. Now concentrate."
Simone did. As they sang in harmony with eyes closed she could feel the sound waves moving through her body. They became waves crashing against black sand beaches. She could hear birds and the familiar rat-tat-tat of waterfalls. The smell of giant fern rain forests, orchids and banana trees engulfed her. The towering extinct volcano that was Sanctuary welcomed her.
Simone felt a cool dry kiss on her forehead. As if it had broken a seal of silence a bubble of voices surrounded her, with her mother's loudest in her ear. "Open your eyes. You're back. I must go now. And Simone... try not to get into trouble. You've just got to get through Winter."
Then Elizabeth was gone, leaving Simone in the middle of the teeming Mecca to try find her clutch.
Slightly, raised, round granite tables had replaced Autumn's formal, high backed wood and leather chairs, and matching banquet tables. Small stools, made more comfortable with plumped red and orange cushions, surrounded each, protecting posteriors from the chill. Finally, the lovely wisps of gauze shielding skin from the sun had transformed into large komodo skin pagodas, to protect diners from any sudden squall or snow.
Simone darted through groups of gossiping girls, catching fragments of conversation. "Did you really get possessed?"; "What was it like?"; "Were there any cute boys on the other world?"; "What are you wearing?".
The last question was from Nada as Simone threw herself on a stool and leant over to give Joli the biggest hug. She noticed the dolketian didn't return it.
"Long story," said Simone, adding: "Joli, you look fantastic! I can't believe it actually worked."
Alexia was less than forgiving. "No thanks to you. Where were you? I thought you couldn't wait to abandon us. Why did you come back?"
"Easy Alexia. Maybe I was just possessed like you."
"But you weren't."
"How do you know?"
"Your clothes." Then she looked over at Bloduewedd and nodded. "And Due. We were worried so we asked her to flash for you."
Simone was outraged. 'Due! You told me you'd never do that. You know what, never mind, I'm famished."
Simone stared greedily at the food on the table. There was creamy porridge slowly simmered with some type of sweet dried fig, wild honeycomb and rice milk made only on the Isle. A hint of nutty spice topped it. Next to that were stacks of steaming freshly baked, toasted bread; butter and an assortment of jewel-coloured jams made from exotic fruits.
She rebuffed their questioning stares with an open hand. "Food first, then answers."
"No. You owe us an explanation Simone." Alexia's mouth was thinner than Simone had ever seen it.
She swallowed a mouthful of hot porridge that melted in her mouth then ticked off the questions on her fingers.
"Where was I? Good question. About to assassinate my family.
"Why'd I return? I don't have a home anymore so I may as well be here. At least they feed me.
"And I apparently have some secret power. Good porridge don't you think?"
"Simone!" said Nada. "How could you say that? That's not funny."
"True though," she said, reaching for another mouthful of porridge but before she could get there, Alexia shoved the bowl into her lap. It felt disgusting, the thick clumps of oats dribbling sticky warm milk through her leggings.
Simone had never seen Alexia lose control like that. True, the odd outburst had cracked her prim facade, but never like that. Simone looked at her clutch, meeting the same expression in each of their eyes. Distrust.
She didn't have a choice so she told them everything. About the Guild of Destroyers, Amira's condition of entry, her father and her little brother. She even told them how she felt the Goddess move through her and how, for the first time, she felt she might have the potential to be the fabled Sarsaura.
"She hired someone to kill you? A man?" Nada was scandalised.
"I know, shock horror. Much better a woman don't you think?"
"That disgusts me." Jolie didn't add her customary 'cherie' to the comment.
"I know, right. Talk about betrayal. I thought Amira was like family."
"No Simone," Joli didn't sound her usual relaxed self. "You were willing to slay your own blood. An innocent child and a sleeping man. That disgusts me."
Simone could see exactly what Jolie would be like on a battlefield. There was no mercy within those blue within black eyes. As one, her clutch stood up and walked away. Simone stared at the cooling mess in her lap, blinking back tears.
Joli is right, she thought. I'm scum. It doesn't matter that I didn't do it. I actually agreed to kill a little boy, my own brother. There's no excuse for that, none. A dirty tear turned the porridge pale.
"If it isn't Little Miss Sarsaura, crying over, oh look, classic, she's crying over spilt milk."
Great, it was Janie and Amanda. Just what she needed. Simone pushed off the granite bench and stumbled past them, scattering pancakes and globs of porridge as she walked. Through the roar of tears she could hear fragments of conversation. "Look, it's her." "She thinks she's so special." "I heard she ran away from Metta." "She wasn't even supposed to be there, her mother pulled some strings."
That got through to her. With porridge dripping off her hands like blood, she stepped onto one of the little tables, crushing bone china with her big London boots.
"It's okay for you lot," she screamed at the open space. "I didn't ask to be here. It's not my fault."
"Well go home then," a voice shouted out in the silence. It sounded like Janie. The wasp buzz started again, leaving Simone standing like an idiot on the table, completely ignored. At the back of the room, near the exit, she could see the shocked, pale faces of her cluster mates.
Bet I embarrassed Alexia, she thought bitterly, as she jumped off the table and ran out of the Mecca to take refuge with the Komodos. With luck, their sulphuric aroma could cover the stench of her shame.
***
Over the next three moons Simone had a lot of time to think. She was effectively in coventry. Since her outburst, no-one spoke to her directly, except for her clutch, who kept interaction to a minimum. Even her teachers gave her nasty looks.
She'd spent most of the first moon wondering how everyone knew what was supposed to be a secret. Amira. It had to be. Who else would want to discredit her mother and make Simone's life a living hell. Amira knew exactly how lonely Simone felt at each new school, she'd been the one to comfort her when she cried on the first day - every time.
The routine of Sanctuary carried on and the Benediction loomed closer. The Isle of BastBula was in the full clutches of winter and although Sanctuary itself was nice and toasty (with the exception of the open-air Mecca), the daily run had become frigid, even more so than the attitudes of her former school mates.
Everyone was on edge as the all-important final exams loomed; the Benediction, the cross-year event that happened in the moon-length season between Winter and Spring; Spirit. Nada was cleaning the Snug obsessively, offering a hundred cups of tacho a day to everyone except Simone and Alexia was really ratty, enforcing study session times and early bedtimes ("You know Lady Godiva will mark us down if we look tired.").
Nada brushed an imaginary crumb off the wooden table in the Snug. "It feels like we were never away. I love Metta."
"You just love dressing up and having the excuse to run around doing outrageous things in the heat. It's not me, it's the Goddess," said Simone in a high-pitched falsetto, fluttering her lashes. She was tired of being ignored.
Bloduewedd looked up from the tiny flower pots she was sculpting. Simone could have sworn she hid a grin.
"That's not true," said Nada blushing, then realised she'd reacted. "Simone! You're such a slob. Look, you've left ring marks on the table again."
"That's because I'm still drinking, see, drink, put cup down, sip, put cup down. What do you want me to do, wipe after every sip?"
"That's enough," said Alexia. "Have you finished your assignment?
"I'm stuck," said Nada. "Please explain again Lexi, I just don't get it."
The clutch had to each make a sculpture that represented the concept of loyalty. It was part of the Snake stream and Lady Godiva's deputy, a priestess by the name of Angel ("really where do they get these names," said Simone), was harsh when it came to art standards.
"Right. Focus." Alexia's voice took on that regal tone that annoyed Simone so much. Swallowing a sarcastic comment, after all she had asked for this help, Simone tried to concentrate.
"Within the sanctuary of BastBula, your first priority is to the Goddess. Obviously it helps if you believe in her first."
Her eyes flicked to Simone before she smoothly moved onto the next point.
"Your clutch is like blood."
"Hmph," said Joli, discarding her sculpture making and stalking to the little niche where she journalled. Simone couldn't help but take it personally.
"You alright?" she called after her. A violent flick of the curtain was her only answer. Completely healed, Joli still hadn't revealed the secret of her offspring's parentage to the rest of the clutch. She'd briefly told Simone they were being cared for on Metta by the hand maidens as they had a better life there, then acted as if her and Simone had never had the conversation. Joli spent a lot of time journalling with her jelly or doing extra training with Lady Brody then was silent and stormy for days after.
"Right. Pay attention," said Alexia shortly, nodding at the still moving curtain. "Your next loyalty is to your clutch, that's the five of us."
An even louder snort came from behind the curtain. At that Simone couldn't help herself. "Call yourself a warrior priestess. If you've got something to say just say it." The curtain didn't even twitch.
"Keep quiet Simone. No one asked for your opinion," said Alexia and continued in a louder voice. "Your first clutch is always the most important and known as full-blood. Some may move on after the first term of 13 moons. If new acolytes join an existing clutch they are known as half-bloods."
Nada sagged. "I'm still so confused."
One deep sigh and Alexia tried again. "Okay, imagine at the end of our naming rite Simone and you decide 13 moons is enough. After all, she's made that pretty clear. Do you understand so far?"
Each comment hit Simone like a barbed fish hook. She bit her lip so hard she could taste iron in her mouth but she refused to rise.
"As a clutch is always made up of five, two replacements will be found, usually from within the same hearth."
"What about their clutches?"
"From another shell, another broken clutch," Alexia hurriedly explained. "But that's not important right now. You're going to get confused again.
"Those two replacements will be my, Due's and Jolie's half-bloods. Although they are from the same hearth they will not have shared that important magical bonding that we all discover in the first cycle. That is why clutches that stay together for the entire five cycles of advanced training are so powerful. They move as one unit."
"Shame that," said Simone. She knew that if she failed she would have to spend another 13 moons re-doing Earth Year, with people who hated her. Great. It was only now that she'd lost it that she realised how much she had started to enjoy Sanctuary. Sharing a room had its own perks, like talking long into the night and swapping homework notes. She could even say, for the first time in her life that she had friends. Had. Past tense. Either way, failing was not an option. So Simone tolerated the barbed comments, Nada's endless spiced frothy drinks and paid attention to Alexia's lecture.
Alexia continued through gritted teeth. "Loyalty to clutch is followed by that to one's hearth, then to your art and sub-sect. Not that I expect you to understand that Simone. Your art is the specialisation you will eventually follow: warfare, lore or illusion."
"Okay," thought Simone, "That's dragon, cat and snake." An image was starting to appear in her mind but she wasn't sure if she could pull it off.
"Within each of these are multiple sub-sects and groups you may join to increase your knowledge. For example, within warfare, you may have a particular delight in assassin-harem skills, drawing on warfare and illusion; or if you choose illusion, healing by song could be a sect. Think about Lady Hazel. She's the highest trained healer and thus has specialised in lore, however, her sub-speciality is assassination through poisons. That falls under warfare and illusion."
"Just like the Guild of Destroyers. I wonder what they're up to now?" said Simone.
Alexia lost patience. "Honestly Simone, you have the attention span of a particularly slow-growing mushroom not to mention the loyalty of a spore. If you'll excuse me, I have an errand to attend to."
With that, she whirled and rapidly exited the Snug, leaving Simone and the others to find a way to represent what she had described using the rough clay they had been given. Alexia's sculpture was already complete.
***
Lessons didn't go much smoother. Every teacher seemed to have it in for her, even Lady Brody, whose lessons she usually loved, and the harder she tried, the worse she seemed to get.
Simone held up the latest new weapon. "What's this? It looks like a saucepan. Is it a type of club?"
"It looks like a saucepan because it is a saucepan," said Lady Brody. "An army marches on its stomach and you need to learn to gut, skin and cook what you have hunted, no matter how important you are. Even you Simone. Why don't you come give the class a demonstration?"
Cooking was never one of Simone's core strengths. Once dismissed from that disaster Simone stank of offal and trailed behind Joli on the way to Healing and Herblore. Not that the dolketian was talking to her, the sum total of what she had to say being: "you stink even more than usual."
They slipped into the back of Lady Hazel's healing class as she was starting the preparatory meditation.
"I breathe and with this breath calm my autonomic nervous system. I breathe out and my blood vessels dilate". A low thrum of voices repeated the phrase.
Alexia, Nada and Due sat lotus-style on a reed mat close to the front. Arching an elegant eyebrow at them to show that she was aware of their tardiness and would deal with them later, the tiny Priestess moved into the next stage of the meditation.
"I visualise and give thanks for the major systems in my body," here she paused to allow the class to do so. Simone squeezed her eyes tightly shut and tried to visualise the charts she'd memorised. It wasn't too difficult, just like remembering words and diagrams in books. She'd always been good at that. What was harder was figuring out how each bit worked together. She was particularly struggling with the more esoteric aspects of the healing lessons that tracked chakras and invisible energy channels.
Briefly losing concentration, Simone tried to remember the strange internal systems Due and Alexia had, with hearts in odd places and other crucial bits simply not there.
"Focus," Lady Hazel cautioned, as if she could read Simone's mind. She was started to circumnavigate the class; her voice rose and fell like the tide around them.
"I am in complete and total control of my body, from the smallest cellular division to the rudest bowel movement." Someone snickered and was quickly poked by a neighbour, Natsuki or was it Natsumi? Simone never could tell.
"I am uniquely possessed with a full understanding of me, I and myself as reflected in the shining light of the Goddess. She is within the temple of my body."
The class closed the mantra with a vibrating om.
"Welcome acolytes. I am glad to see you are a lot calmer now," Lady Hazel greeted them. "You are making good progress and I am pleased. Healing is a vital part of your training here on your journey to serve BastBula. As with everything there has to be a balance. You cannot learn to fight and maim without learning the arts of diplomacy and healing.
"Soon you will be able to visualise every aspect of your internal system clearly in your mind's eye, allowing you to remove obstructions, track what ails you and streamline your abilities exponentially. The next step is to be able to do that with others. But first, let's see how you all are doing with the assignments I set you. Alexia," she said, "come forward."
The petite girl glided forward, bowing correctly in greeting. "Yes Lady Hazel".
"Identify this, its primary uses and side effects."
Simone was disappointed it wasn't a mushroom. She watched Alexia closely. It looked like the cave dweller was rifling through her extensive memory banks for a trace of it.
"I'm sorry Lady Hazel. I don't know it".
The priestess looked at her sternly. "It is somewhere in your mind. Access it."
Alexia shook her head in embarrassment.
"Very well. This will reflect on your clutch negatively unless one of your clutch mates can answer for you". She scanned the back of the cave to see if Bloduewedd or Nada would volunteer any information.
Nada hesitantly put up her hand. "If I may?" she asked shyly.
"Yes, come," said the Priestess.
Nada walked to the front of the class, doing a fairly good job of emulating the priestess glide. Simone would have tripped over the scented grass mats in the process. Nada picked up the shrivelled, indigo tinted plant, gave it an experimental squeeze ("spongy"), inhaled a deep breath ("pungent") and even delicately placed the tip of her tongue on the root (once she was mostly certain she knew what it was).
"Dogwort," she said triumphantly. "Used mainly for staunching the flow of blood rapidly, can assist in reducing bruising and accelerating healing. However, if it's used too often the body simultaneously both builds up a resistance and craves it, reducing its effectiveness".
"Very good," said the Priestess, making a mark on her data crystal.
Simone was next, correctly identifying five different types of mushrooms, some deadly and some benign. Ha, she thought, feeling a bit better about herself.
Lady Hazel sniffed pointedly. "There's clearly nothing wrong with your memory so kindly remember to purify yourself before attending my lessons. This is healing and herblore. I'm sure you'll find something in the stores that will suffice. The Goddess appreciates a clean body temple."
More sniggers followed and as Simone returned to her mat some of her classmates pointedly shifted away from her, wrinkling their noses for affect.
The rest of the class couldn't go fast enough for Simone. Nada proved herself quite gifted at remembering the names and uses of various herbs. Due was also unerringly accurate, due more to her ability to simply ask the lingering spirit of the plant what it did. She was so good at it, some of the acolytes complained to Priestess Hazel about her cheating.
"Using one's innate abilities is not cheating," she chided them. "Rather than allowing jealousy to cloud your vision, focus on how you can harness your own unique strengths to perform better".
Much to Simone's delight, this was one of the few things Alexia had only a basic skill in, leading her to mutter "stupid plants" from time to time. Fortunately, she did have a good memory and helped by her clutchmates, didn't do too badly.
By the time the class was over, the clutch was in the lead.
"See Alexia, we're not so bad," said Simone.
The girl fixed her with a cold silver stare. "Says the one who was publicly told off for poor hygiene. You should be ashamed."
"Yeah, thanks for reminding me," muttered Simone. She did stink but she was pretty sure the smell had started to fade, or maybe she was just getting used to it. It no longer made her want to gag.
"Before you roll up your mats, I need to brief you on the Benediction."
Simone groaned. "Not more exam nonsense." It seemed every priestess was delighting in hyping it more and more.
Alexia whipped a notebook out of her little sling bag. It suited her ambitious plans if the entire clutch made it through so Simone was sure they'd be re-briefed back at the Snug, even her, the resident pariah. She let her attention wander.
"The trial will last for one moon. During that time you have to survive, complete all the challenges and complete a circuitous journey back to Sanctuary. There are nine stages and every acolyte from Earth Year to Aether Year must get through."
There was a buzz of voices. A hand shot up.
"Yes Natsuki."
"Excuse me Lady Hazel but if the Aether Years are also doing it how will be ever pass?"
"Each of you will have your own unique nine challenges to surmount. The Isle will shift and change around you.
Nada shivered. "That's creepy," she whispered.
"You will be tested on all three streams, dragon, cat and serpent. Each discipline, warfare, lore and illusion, will have three components making up each. Remember, the way you move is as important if not more so than the action itself. Our bodies are temples, a blessing from the Goddess".
Simone refrained from rolling her eyes. This bit she knew from daily lessons. She risked raising her hand.
"Lady Hazel, could you please explain the course to us – simply." She wondered if she'd pushed it too far.
After a searching look, Hazel obliged. "Very well. Stage one is physical: swim, run and skill. Lady Brody will give you the details in the morning. Stage two is learning and the hearth. I hope you have paid attention in my lessons. Laziness," she paused and looked at Simone again, "is not tolerated. Stage three is art, diplomacy and music. Remember acolytes, that these may not be so clearly defined. Two challenges could be tied into one. And you cannot use your clutch mates to help you."
"But Lady Hazel, why not? Why have we been training together so closely?" Janie looked upset. She was used to Amanda doing most of her work for her.
"Because this will test your greatest fears and hopes. This is between you and the Goddess. She bowed. You're dismissed."
The five rolled up their mats and headed for the door.
"What have we got now?" Simone asked Nada, purely from habit.
Nada glanced at her crystal. "Two free study periods before dinner."
"Nada." Alexia frowned. "Simone is more than capable of checking her own timetable. She doesn't need the likes of us to help her."
To calm herself Simone stared at the crystal hanging around Nada's elegant neck.
"Purple Sage chalcedony, mined only in Nevada on Gaia, used to relieve depression and bring emotional stability. Also a bringer of miracles, healed heavy metal toxicity and stabilised chakras."
"What?" said Nada surprised.
"Sorry, just revising exam notes in my head. If we've got two frees I think I'll head to the library. I'm keen to find out more about the Sarsaura."
"That's no surprise. What's the matter? Run out of convincing lies to get you through the Benediction?" said Alexia.
"Well if none of my loyal clutchmates are going to help me figure out what's going on, I may as well," spat Simone.
They stared at her, shocked into silence.
"I'll come with you," said Joli. "I'm doing some research of my own."
"Ok Joli, see you at the Solstice party," said Nada with a nervous faux wave, looping her arm into Alexia and Due's and giving them a little tug to draw them into the throng of students.
"Thanks Joli. I appreciate the support."
"I'm not doing this for you," she said. "I just don't trust you."
Simone and Joli were heading against the current of students, practicing bouncing off the rocks and obstacles in their path. Simone was sick of being ignored but the activity made her feel more positive. When she thought back to how unfit she was when she had arrived at Sanctuary it made her cringe.
There was no way she'd be able to run up the side of a wall and flip over a boulder or somersault through a narrow gap. After her failed fight with Amanda she'd sworn to become a "fighting machine" and by the goddess she just may have achieved it.
Just as she was congratulating herself someone knocked hard into her, sending her slamming off a tall boulder and into a tapestry lining the rough wall. Joli hesitated before coming to help her up.
"Here," she grunted, holding out a pearly tipped hand.
Simone paused. There was something about the tapestry that didn't feel right. It should have hurt more.
"Well princess, are you getting up or not?" Joli snapped.
"Joli, wait. Look at this."
The tapestry hung at the branch of two corridors, slightly behind another tall obstructive boulder.
"What? The tapestry? It's pretty I guess. There's no point delaying the inevitable Simone. I'm going to find out you're a fraud and a liar whether you're with me or not." She frowned at the intricate image.
The door-sized weaving showed what looked like an aerial view of the island. The closer you looked the more you could see; the splash of a tail in the surrounding water, sabre-tooth cats leaping over rocks and brilliantly coloured birds disturbing the forest leaves.
"Look again." The heavy tapestry rippled, as if a current of air had disturbed it but there was no one around. As it did so Simone felt a surge of heat in her chest. Joli reached out and flipped a corner over. Behind the tapestry yawned another hidden corridor.
"Joli, this is important. I can feel it. Please. Come on."
Her mouth tightened, drawing her face tattoo into rigid lines. "Fine. But don't think this means I've forgiven you or that anything's changed."
The two cautiously snuck down the curving corridor. It was very similar to the others in Sanctuary, with carved floor tiles, hanging larva lamps (which Simone had discovered were actual larvae, that of the spirit jellies) and detailed tapestries lining the walls. Here and there a life-like statue or sculpture was set into a nook, its eyes tracking them.
The difference lay in a strong sulphuric smell, like the bathhouse or komodos, coupled with a buzzing feeling that made them feel hot and over-excited. They could hear a low murmur of voices that sounded suspiciously like chanting.
"What are you doing?"
"Looking for a service tunnel. I've got a weird feeling about this," said Simone. Nerves jangling, she finally spotted one, partially concealed by the shadow of a giant plumed stone bird.
"Come on." Simone lightly jumped onto the bird's shoulder and used its plume to lever herself into the narrow duct.
"Not all of us are skinny like you," panted Joli, sliding her broad shoulders and long body into the tunnel.
"Quit your whining and keep up," said Simone, duck walking along easily.
"I'll remember that when we're back in the water." It almost felt like things were back to normal.
"Shh," the chanting was growing louder.
They inched their way along until they reached another of the spy holes Simone had found so many moons ago. With each girl stretched out on either side they peered through to see an inner sanctum dominated by the shifting and shuffling of an enormous loom, weaving the vastest tapestry they had ever seen.
They were right above it. The brilliant hues and diminutive detail of the finished sheafs reminded Simone of a museum in Spain she'd visited, where she'd wondered at works by an artist called Hieronymus Bosch, "Earthly Delights or something like that," she thought. The paintings were filled with thousands of tiny pale figures, each meticulously detailed in their activities, both good and bad. She was lost staring at it for what seemed like hours until her tutor had crossly reclaimed her.
The strangest thing, which they discovered when the chanting lulled briefly, was that instead of the usual din found in a factory, the loom wove silently, with only a whisper of air displaced, the sound a knife would make if it was slashed through the air. With each slash, an acidic burning smell popped into the air. As the heavy swathes of material were completed they were strung up on a sequence of whip-thin but sturdy rods so that a complete scene could be viewed at any one time.
Behind these forty-odd, concertinaed scenes the remainder of the tapestry was passed through an entire cave ceilinged with gently breathing jellies, before being rolled onto a giant reel. A small number of dove-grey clad priestesses attended the tapestries - it looked like they were singing them into existence.
Simone froze. "Look over there," she mouthed at Joli.
The three dark figures making up the Principal analysed a wall-size scene approximately halfway through the hanging curtains, although this was rapidly moving towards the jellied room.
"So fast," mouthed Joli back. They couldn't believe the speed with which the loom created its vibrant imagery. Simone trembled as she pointed to a spot in the middle of the most recently created tapestry.
Amongst the thousands of tiny, leaping, dancing, active figures she had been drawn to an image of a young priestess in a scarlet outfit similar to that worn on Metta; riding a beast with the head of a sabre-toothed cat, the broad scaled chest and wings of a dragon, and the plumed body and tail of a sea serpent. The priestess had long, chocolate brown curls, amber eyes and broad cheekbones, just like Simone.
She recognised the symbol for Sarsaura she had seen in the library, embroidered above the figure in gold. The loom continued weaving and as the figure raised higher you could see it was floating on a sea of blood. What had at first looked like squiggles became recognisable as a giant fist. A dreadlocked figure with a tail and tattoos perched above the index finger, followed by a gently waving green tree, a small silvery cave dweller and a gazelle-like Bedouin making up the pinkie.
Joli normally brown skin looked pale, her face tattoos standing out in the dim light. "Cherie, what does it mean."
"Quiet, they're coming."
The Principal was walking toward them. They stopped right underneath the space where Simone and Joli crouched. Lady Godiva's mouth moved as if she was agitated but they couldn't hear what she was saying. Lady Brody waved her hand impatiently at one of the priestesses. The chanting stopped abruptly.
"It's true. She is the Sarsaura," breathed Lady Godiva. 'The tapestry can't deceive."
Lady Brody frowned. "But this could easily be the Diplomat, not her daughter. The image is alike."
"No. Then they wouldn't show the Warrior-Princess, Desert Flower and the others. And look, it's showing them as the prophesied Fist. The Fist and Sarsaura. In our lifetimes."
"Did you see the girls's sculpture? It's like she knew."
Simone started. She'd almost forgotten about her assignment, modelled on Giacomo Balla's sculpture, Boccioni's Fist.
"I still find it hard to believe. She's shown so little promise. What of the signs?"
"Gee thanks a lot ye of little faith," thought Simone.
Lady Hazel spoke as if reciting from a book: "She will have a strange affinity with animals as a child and be able to reach the minds from others afar. She will be impervious to common harm and shall rule the spirits. She will being about the age of the dragon."
"There was that broken leg that healed so rapidly," Brody reminded them. "If you'd let me test her properly to her limits we'd know for sure."
"It is as before, the Empress must be told."
"Yes."
Lady Godiva sniffed. "What's that nasty smell?"
Simone could feel herself blushing crimson.
"It's just the spell work. It's always potent this close to the loom," said Lady Brody.
"No, it smells... earthier somehow." She sniffed again, pert nose pointed upwards. Simone didn't dare to move. She could feel Joli stiffen next to her.
"Godiva. We have more important things to concern ourself about than smells. I wouldn't be surprised if the girl's presence at Sanctuary has upset all manner of things, including the smell of spell craft."
Lady Hazel looked up suddenly but didn't seem to see them and Lady Godiva bowed to Brody's logic. They lingered for a while, talking about other Sanctuary matters. Joli and Simone didn't dare move. They learnt that magic determined the challenges they'd receive during the Benediction, pre-determined and woven on the giant loom the Principal controlled.
Finally they wandered off and the chant-driven weaving continued. Simone didn't want to go back the way they came in case they dropped into the corridor as the Principal were leaving so she motioned for Joli to follow her. She was fairly sure...
After about ten minutes of crawling Simone recognised where they were, hovering over the oily black pool where she'd first encountered the Principal, which meant they were a short distance from the BastBula sculpture.
She smiled at Joli, who was looking scratched and dirty. "Come on," she said softly, "I know where we are. It's this way."
Then she heard two voices she never thought she'd hear together again and realised with growing horror that she'd never told her mother about Amira sending Manu to kill her. There simply hadn't been time.