“Rarely do I find people that dream as loudly as you do,” Sarah was saying to William, cutting her food. “I'd been scrying for girls who had been Chosen by the Goddess, and then I found myself in your dream. It took me a moment to realize that you were someone close to a girl, not the girl herself. I was surprised you took my message seriously, most people wouldn't.”
“Well,” he replied. “I've had an encounter with a group of the Order before, so I recognized what I saw.”
“Oh?” she asked, looking at him curiously.
“When I was a student, at Oxford,” he explained. “I was there studying Philosophy. I had a theory about alternate realities that ran parallel to our own, and I was testing it out, and I supposed I managed to cross halfway over because I followed one of your members back to where she was staying. I was sent back by another woman, who I believe tried to erase my memories of it, but didn't succeed very well.”
“Sorry about that,” Sarah said. “We're not much good at deception, as it runs contrary to our very nature. I suppose it's a good thing for us now that she did a lousy job of it though.” She laughed. “Destiny. It's a funny thing.”
“That it is,” William agreed.
Silence fell on the table while the four of us ate quietly. After a while, Sarah spoke. “Eric?”
“Yes?”
“I understand you're Elizabeth's father?”
“Not by blood,” I clarified. “She's actually my brother's daughter, but he died with his wife in an accident when she was only an infant. I was the one named in his will to take care of his children if anything happened to him, I don't know why. But anyway, that's how it happened.”
She nodded. “Okay. Well, you're still her legal guardian, at any rate. You're the one who we have to convince to let us have your daughter.”
“You're going to let me decide? I was under the impression that you were going to take her, like it or not?” At least that was the impression that William had given me, with his story. Was there another option that he hadn't known about?”
“Well, we're not going to take her from you, as you put it, like it or not. That would run contrary to our nature and our laws. Of course, you have free choice. But realize that as her Transformation grows nearer – think of it as puberty, it comes at around the same time – she's going to be in more and more danger. Almost all girls who undergo Transformation without protection are killed by the Dark.”
“What prevented them from kidnapping her years ago?” I asked. “Don't tell me they can't somehow feel that she's one of the girls who are going to be transformed, if you can.”
“We don't understand it completely, but they used to try that. What happened was, the girls who were taken by them never underwent Transformation. Perhaps the taint of the Darkness was too strong, and the Light couldn't touch them, we don't know. But the end result is that they watch them until the day they undergo Transformation, and then they kill them and feed on their magical energy.”
“So why don't you hear about girls being killed left and right over this? You can't find every one, I'm sure. And what about the ones whose parents are strongly religious or something, and wouldn't give up their daughter to a pagan society?”
She looked pained, and I wished I could take back my words. “Do you know what the suicide statistics are for teen girls?”
“Uh,” I said, taken aback. “I'm not too familiar with them. Why? Is that what...” I trailed off, not really wanting to finish my phrase.
“Yes,” she said, nodding. “The attacks are seen as suicides. Whenever you see someone talking about a girl who was reported as killing herself, and you hear them say something like 'But she was so happy, she'd never do something like that!', well, she wouldn't. But something else would.”
I looked at Elizabeth. She was only seven. Was it true that in a few years she could become such a target for an attack?
“I'm not trying to fear monger you,” Sarah said suddenly. “Please don't think that I am. It's not a fate set in stone, and I'm sure there are girls who have survived. But it's very unlikely, and the odds are low.”
“So, if she joins you here now, she's stuck here for the rest of her life?”
“No, of course not. I haven't gotten to explaining how it works, but when she comes of age in our society – which may or may not be eighteen, it depends on the girl – she can go do whatever her calling is in the Order. Most stay with a temple to serve, teach or defend, but some find other callings such as traveling to disaster areas to heal or studying lore at one of our libraries. So no, she wouldn't stay here forever, just until she's reached a level of maturity that she can defend herself fully.”
I nodded. “Funny thing is, a day ago I was packing my bag and thinking I would humor an old friend by spending the afternoon sitting in the park. And now I'm here, being told about all sorts of danger and reality-bending concepts. And I don't want to accept it. I want to just reject it all and go back to living normally. But it wouldn't just hurt me to do that, it would hurt other people. So you've kind of got me on that one.” I sighed. “Would she have to stay here alone?”
“Novices – girls who have just arrived – live together in a dormitory, supervised by some of the older girls. So you wouldn't be able to stay with her. But we have guest quarters in the main temple where you can stay for as long as you want, until you feel comfortable leaving her alone. Most parents aren't okay with it at first, and for some it takes years of weekend stay-overs until they feel comfortable.”
“So what's the exact requirement for the coming of age you mentioned?” I asked. “Just so I know, because it sounds pretty different from how normal society does it.”
She chuckled. “I love how you call the government normal society. But anyway, our coming of age. Well, it's easiest just to explain the five ranks of organization. The lowest rank, as I mentioned earlier, is a Novice. All girls start as Novices, and stay there until they finish their training. They may or may not undergo Transformation while they're a Novice – most do, but some who have it late and come to the temple early become an Initiate before they've gotten their wings.
“The second rank, Initiates, are responsible for helping to teach Novices, helping to perform temple duties, and generally just assisting full Sisters and the temple Mother. The Sisters, formally called Senior Sisters, are girls who have come of age. The exact process is actually fairly simple. The girl has a vision, and then the temple Mother dreams of them that night. Then she is promoted to a Senior Sister, and can carry on with whatever her calling is.”
“If you don't mind me asking,” William butted in. “What's their vision of? Can it be of anything, or is it of their calling?”
“No,” Sarah said, frowning. “It's actually...” she trailed off, pausing for a second. “Of how they'll die.”
Well, that was morbid. “So,” I said into the deafening silence. “All adults in the Order know how they'll die?” I regretted asking it as soon as it left my mouth. It was probably a bit of a touchy subject for most of them. I couldn't imagine knowing exactly how and when I would die, or what I would do if I knew I was in my last weeks on the Earth.
There was another long silence. “Yes,” she said eventually. “Though traditionally,” she added, almost defensively. “We don't discuss it with anyone.”
“Of course,” I said quickly. “I understand that. Um, what were the other two ranks you spoke about?”
“Council Leaders and temple Mothers, chosen from the temple Mothers and the Senior Sisters respectively. The council is made up of temple Mothers and any independent Sisters in the region. They're our government, as far as we have one.”
A bell sounded, and she looked up. “Ah, evening bell. Did you have any other questions?”
“You said in my dream for us both to pack clothes,” William said. “But you only mentioned Eric staying. Does that mean I have to go home, or...” he trailed off.
“Of course you can stay,” she said, smiling again. “I want to talk to you. You're also welcome to our library.”
“You have a library?” he said, brightening up.
She laughed. “Yes. But not tonight, tonight you should sleep. If there's nothing else, I'll call Jenna to come take you to the dormitory to get Elizabeth settled in.” She turned to Elizabeth. “Are you doing okay? You're not too talkative.”
Elizabeth shook her head. “I'm okay, just nothing to say.”
“Alright.” Sarah stood and twisted a piece of paper into a bird shape, then whispered something into it and held it out of the window. I didn't see it take flight, but I assumed it probably had.
A few minutes later, a knock came at the door. “Come in!” Sarah called.
A teenage girl opened the door. She was tall with long, straight light brown hair and a few freckles on her face. “Yes?” she asked, bobbing her head slightly in what I supposed was a sort of informal bow.
“This is the new Novice, Elizabeth,” Sarah said, putting her hands on Elizabeth's shoulders and pushing her in front of herself. “And this is her father, Eric, and a friend of the family, William.” She turned to us. “This is Jenna, an Initiate here.” She turned back to Jenna. “Will you take them to the Novice dormitory, and find a place for her to stay?”
“Sure,” she replied, smiling at us. “Come on.”
We left her room and went back down the hallway and the staircase. When we reached the bottom, we turned left back into the big room. It was filled with women and girls now, most of them eating, but we didn't stop in there. We went through the room and out through glass double doors in the wall of windows on the far side. The gardens were very tranquil, lit by a few hanging globes, the almost-full moon overhead and some ambient light from the main building behind us. The sound of conversation was abruptly cut off as the door shut behind us, and the result was almost claustrophobic in its stillness.
There were two houses across the gardens from us. They looked identical, but Jenna led us towards the one on our left. “This one over here is for the Novices and Initiates. The Sisters get to live in the one to the right, and they get single or double rooms. The rest of us have to live like dormitories. It kinda sucks.” She laughed. “I mean, it's not really bad, but it's sometimes hard to get time to yourself when you're sharing a room with three or more other people, you know?”
We reached the front door of the house – which on closer inspection appeared to be the back door of a house facing the street – and she pushed it open. “It's an old house, so the hallways are a bit cramped, so why don't you guys wait out here while I ask and find out which room you'll be staying in. I'll be right back!”
She dissapeared inside, and true to her word she came right back in about thirty seconds. “Alright,” she said. “You'll be upstairs in the big room, under Allison. She's really nice. Pretty, too.”
She led us in the back door and through a hallway and then up a flight of stairs. “This used to be the master bedroom,” she said, rapping on a door. “Your bathroom is that door right to my left.” The door was opened by a young black girl. “Hi Kianna,” Jenna said. “Allison's here, right?”
“Yeah,” Kianna said. “Allison!” she turned around and shouted deafeningly. “Jenna's here with some other people. I think she's got a new girl!”
“A new girl? Where?” I heard another girl's shout from within. A second later, the door was pushed the whole way open by another teen girl. She had her blond hair pulled back, and smiled at Elizabeth as she opened the door.
“Hi! I'm Allison, I'm in charge of this room. What's your name?”
“Elizabeth,” she said.
Allison pushed a stray bit of hair back behind her ear. “Alright. Thanks Jenna, I can get this organized now. Did Sarah send a trunk down with her?”
“Not that I saw.”
“Okay, I'll find one later then. See you later.”
I bent down and gave Elizabeth a hug. “See you soon.”
She hugged back. “See you tomorrow?” It was phrased as a question.
“Sure,” Allison said. “I'll make sure you guys get plenty of time together tomorrow. You won't start classes for a few days, anyway.”
“Okay.” Elizabeth brightened up some. “See you later alligator!”
I grinned, and shot back the usual reply. “After a while, crocodile.”
We walked in silence back to the main building and back up the spiral stairs. This time, however, we only went up one floor, though if I hadn't been counting I wouldn't have been able to tell this hallway from the last.
William echoed my sentiments. “Is the possibility of your enemies getting hopelessly lost your first line of defense here?”
Jenna laughed. “It's pretty crazy at first, but you get used to it. Most of it, at any rate. Even most Sisters won't wander around the underground levels alone. Here, you guys are staying in these rooms here. See, they've got numbers on them, so no getting lost.”
“I can see the numbers on them,” William chuckled. “I'm more concerned about finding my way here than walking into the wrong room. Oh, speaking of finding my way around. Sarah said something about a library, if I'm not mistaken?”
“Oh, yes, I'll show you where. Eric, are you okay? The door's unlocked, and you can pull a deadbolt for privacy once you're inside. The bathroom is down the hall if you need it.”
I nodded. “Yes, I'm fine. Goodnight.”
“Goodnight,” they said, and I entered the room.
It wasn't a tiny room, but it wasn't as large as Sarah's room either. It contained a dresser, a wardrobe, a full bed, a desk and a window overlooking the street out front. I supposed that William's overlooked the garden, as his was on the opposite side of the hall from me. I dropped the duffel bag that I'd been carrying around all day on my bed, then realized that I'd forgotten to give William his things. I quickly sorted through it and removed my items from the bag, then slipped across the hall and put the bag in his room. As I'd suspected, his window showed the gardens out back, but otherwise our rooms were identical. I went back into mine, and put my few changes of clothes in the dresser. I found my toothbrush and toothpaste, and went down the hall to use the bathroom.
It was odd that the bathroom didn't have any showers. They must bathe somewhere else. I hoped they'd let me in on the secret tomorrow, or else I'd start to smell bad if all I could do was splash some water on my face and brush my teeth. I changed into a t-shirt and boxers – standard bedtime apparel – turned out the light, and slipped under the covers. I only realized how exhausted I was once my head hit the pillow, but didn't have much time to reflect on that sudden insight because I was out like a light.
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