Even in plain clothes and without adornments, High Daughter Sha’Nedya commanded the eye. She lowered her hood, exposing long waves of dark, glossy red over pink-white skin and plump, kissable lips. She stood with her back straight and shoulders squared, the living embodiment of the Daughter. Though she stood in a cluster of people—Second Aide Gaalown, her teen assistant Preeth, and six of the tall, broad-shouldered Fasler guards—they gave her space.

They respect her importance more than fear crowding.

A quick glance around revealed an additional ten Fasler guards, these in plain clothing to blend in. They formed a loose protective cordon around the tight closer circle, starting on the street above and reaching down to the water's edge.

Saupher murmured, “I expected Gaalown and Preeth, not High Daughter.”

Keridee shifted. “She bade us farewell at the temple three days ago. That fancy feast, all those speeches. Why is she risking life and limb to see us off?”

Lake-Ellen thumped Singe. “Let’s go ask.”

She led the way down a nearby flight of twelve steps and turned toward the approaching crowd. Palms together, she bowed head and shoulders. Her friends did likewise.

Sha’Nedya raised a hand. “Defender, please.” Her tone floated, a husky melody much like a happy finger-keet—though she could speak loud and commanding when necessary.

“High Daughter, always a gift to be in your presence.” Lake-Ellen straightened with a giggle. Warmth flooded from her chest, seeping to fingers and toes. “But I thought we said our farewells in our last cuddles.”

High Daughter stepped close. A beam of the rising sun glinted in her crystal blue eyes. The breeze teased strands of hair from her unbound, simple yet elegant coiffure. “We did, when we caught our breaths,” she murmured. A light blush colored her cheeks. “I realized a quarter into a restless night, though, too much was left unsaid. I cannot let you depart without giving voice to my… concerns.”

Lake-Ellen resisted the frown wanting to crease her face. Still in the beam of sunlight, her dear friend’s visage bore the stress of the past three weeks since the Daughter’s triumph. Wrinkles previously unseen etched the corners of her eyes. Her brow never seemed as smooth or untroubled as before. More lines at her lips and the rounded turns of her nostrils.

She inclined her head. “You need but to speak.”

Sha’Nedya twined her arm around Lake-Ellen’s. “Adherent Keridee, Attending Saupher, if you’ll pardon us? I believe my Second Aide and her assistant desire to speak with the two of you.”

Both Keridee and Saupher bowed, palms together at their breastbone. “We expected them, yes,” Saupher said.

Movement drew Lake-Ellen’s attention. Around them, the close cordon of guards spread out, polished bone-breakers at their hips catching the rising sun. No doubt those above fanned out as well, watchful and wary. Foot, cart, and wagon traffic remained steady. Very few cast their gaze down, though—while she looked, anyway.

Fingers between Lake-Ellen’s, her grip light, High Daughter led them north with slow measured steps. Her gaze lingered on the street’s weathered planks. Lake-Ellen remained content to simply be at her beautiful friend’s side, a place granted to so few.

Their faith dictated High Daughter Sha’Nedya was the Daughter’s representative, chosen by the goddess Herself.

And I’m Her hand-picked Defender. The Daughter’s Daughter. Blessed One—though no one calls me that anymore.

When do I mention the... outburst in the hotel?

Not a question of if...

After a quartet of steps, Sha’Nedya said, “Our first meeting, the morning you were ejected from the Daughter’s Pool. You remember?” Her low husky voice hung between them. She squeezed Lake-Ellen’s hand.

“I’ll never forget it. How could I? Threw me about as far as I’ve ever been tossed.”

Only hurled a greater distance by the lightning strike that blasted my devil into me.

The Daughter’s Pool integrated it evenly throughout me, at the same time silencing it.

A pang thumped in her gut, deep and hard.

Will we ever speak again? Thorns, I hope so.

She blinked away the unexpected watering in her eyes.

“I was so happy you arrived,” Sha’Nedya said. “Relieved the Daughter sent the answer to our prayers. And you did it, Lake. You discovered the cure to those wretched tainted sprites. Saved so many Companions from their horrible fates.”

Identified by their sickly red hue, the tainted sprites had been a gift from the Father to the Son. A tacit encouragement the Son’s Discipline should assault the Companionship and claim her temple.

A tainted sprite infection proved fatal after a prolonged, three or four season-long suffering. Once coerced into a victim, their fate was sealed—such sprites could not be ejected. With the help of her devil, Lake-Ellen discovered the animal imprint hidden within the sprite that made it lethal—this after she allowed herself to be infected during an ill-advised attempt to obtain one for study. A careful flick with her ability dislodged it and returned the sprite to normal.

 She collected each sprite from the afflicted she healed, adding to her already massive haul and catapulting her into the ranks of the Jinx kingdoms’ truly wealthy.

Society’s growing hostility came from how easily she saved the afflicted, despite their being poisoned against their will, simply for belonging to the Companionship.

Lake-Ellen said, “Thorns, yes. I remember that morning all too well.”

Sha’Nedya squeezed her hand again. “You were so bewildered.” She chuckled, deep and throaty.

Lake-Ellen shivered. That sound pulled at her. Too bad it came so little in recent days.

High Daughter added, “How it vexed you, what happened in the Pool.”

“I was more bothered by all that prophecy stuff. Integration. Amplification.” She bit her tongue on nonsense. Like her two traveling companions, Sha’Nedya held great faith in a benevolent, protective Daughter. “In my contemplative moments during my temple cleansing tour, I’ve given it some thought.”

“Oh? You’ve not mentioned such.”

Lake-Ellen squeezed her regal friend’s hand. “I preferred to spend our time together discussing less provocative topics. We’ll have time enough for any deep heart-to-hearts when I return.”

“Mmm. What then are your thoughts on the prophecy? That when the Companionship faced such dire threats, one would arrive speaking those words?” After a pair of paces, Sha’Nedya leaned closer. “Please. Indulge me.”

They continued along the street. On the third, nearest the water, a large wagon trundled up, stopping at the open space where the water taxi was positioning itself to dock. Ropes flew between the crew on board and a pair of dockhands waiting on the planks. A flock of ocean gulls wheeled overhead, scrawing, gray and white feathers bright in the rising sun. The various sounds from the busy berths and piers rose in time with the day’s arrival.

Lake-Ellen breathed deep. “What I think happened is a Kelpri female—you called her a golden-haired prophet, yes? From a distant land?”

Sha’Nedya murmured her assent.

“She arrived, walked the Pool, and got tossed out, like me. Perhaps she was demon-possessed by one with a great many sprites—or even devil-possessed. Not out of the realm of chance, that.”

“You claim to be the first,” High Daughter said, still close. “That no other devil-possessed lived until you and your… Brother-sister-beloved in this pink rock.”

Lake-Ellen nodded. That pink rock and its possessing devil were her long journey’s destination, starting within the next bells.

Unless she and the pink rock arrived at a mutual understanding that it would not devour her world, Lake-Ellen meant to decohere its devil, Brother-sister-beloved. Rid her world of the threat it represented through the flames of purification. Doing so would obliterate the pink rock—and much of the peninsula along with it.

And her, if she didn’t get far enough away in time. With luck, the barrels of oil included in her passage would provide a long-enough delay.

“I’m the first possessed by a devil with as many demons as mine,” Lake-Ellen said. “Perhaps this golden-haired prophet was possessed by a lesser devil. Say six demons. Still a devil, and a fair number of sprites. I’m thinking that triggered the ejection from the Pool. For both her and me. You’ll recall my touching the temple stone during my defense of Daz’Drim revealed how the structure itself amplified my abilities.”

They walked in silence before Sha’Nedya slowed. “My guards ask we reverse course.”

“Of course.”

Hunched close, giggling, they spun around.

Lake-Ellen asked, “What would they do if we took off running?” The question earned her another husky laugh.

“Now, now. Let’s not stress them so. My insistence on this meeting was worrisome enough.”

“I imagine so. Surprised Captain Okkos allowed you here on such short notice.”

“The dedicated captain is away on official business.” She squeezed Lake-Ellen’s hand. “Else I wouldn’t be here.”

Lake-Ellen chuckled with her. “We could’ve spoken through void-talk.”

“Not this. It is too important.”

A surprising distance ahead—had they really walk that far?—Keridee and Saupher peered into an open satchel held by Preeth. Second Aide Gaalown talked while lifting items one at a time—small ledgers, scrolls, parchment tubes. While Keridee smiled with apparent glee, Saupher’s frown and down-turned lips spoke of a different enthusiasm.

Two streets below, the large wagon had stopped a short distance past the docked water taxi. Like ants attending their hill, a line of burly men and women transferred the stacks of crates, barrels, chests, folds of fabric, and bulging sacks from the wagon bed the waiting boat.

Her focus fell on the two teens handing cargo into waiting hands. Their steady movements slowed and scowls darkened their expressions when they glanced at her.

The trio of guards on the road between the wagon and High Daughter also noticed. They made certain the teens saw, standing tall and crowding close.

Lake-Ellen tensed, ready to throw herself in front of Sha’Nedya should either of the teens throw a dart. It helped she already stood between her and them, with Singe another layer of defense. Wouldn’t take much effort to lean it just the right way…

I wonder how much muscle ice a body can suffer before the poison turns fatal.

More than a single dart’s worth, at least. The dose Okkos threw into me knocked my legs out from under me for a full day, but I survived.

If they each landed darts into me…

Then an older Trous beside the wagon snapped at them. They both flinched before refocusing on their tasks.

High Daughter Sha’Nedya giggled. “Don’t mind them. The guards won’t let them get close to throwing darts.”

Lake-Ellen turned. “You saw them? You gave no sign.”

She sighed. “I’ve grown numb to the stares. The gestures, the muttered slurs.”

“Blight! I’m so sorry.”

They held the squeezing of hands for a trio of steps.

“Anyway,” Lake-Ellen said, continuing. “A result of the Pool is my many demons became one. My sprites—all eight hundred—were spread evenly through me. Well, so I’ve been told. That explains the integration part.”

“Hmm.” More steps. “And the amplification?”

Lake-Ellen waved at the stone-and-wooden plank street. “The temple. At some point, the Kelpri placed bare skin on its stone for the first time. Maybe not during a fight for her life—or, well, perhaps it was. Whatever the circumstances, it would’ve been quite the jolt.” She smiled at the memory.

Darts raining down. Exhaustion weighing her limbs beneath her leather armor. Her ankle stinging from those sprites that got through before she BEGONE’d them away. Saupher and Keridee frantic on the step above protecting her with their broken and crumbling shields.

She’d fallen and smacked a bare palm to the temple stone, touching it for the first time.

Blight and bracken! Thorns and thistles!

Such an amplification of her abilities!

The discovery proved decisive.

Sha’Nedya murmured, “Hmm.”

“As for those words, who knows how and when they were turned into prophetic signs the Defender had arrived. Saupher tells me the historical records of the time are sketchy.”

“Yes, they are, but the prophecy said the Defender would arrive in a time of great need. You certainly did.”

Lake-Ellen grunted. “I’m still mulling over that bit. My gut tells me that was embellished over time as well. I mean, why have a prophecy like that unless it offered hope for a vexing problem?”

“I can see the wisdom in that,” Sha’Nedya murmured. “Still, a question remains. Why did you speak those particular words when you were ejected from the Pool? When you were still dizzied by your landing?”

Lips pursed, Lake-Ellen thumped Singe. She waited until they walked past the wagon two streets below before exhaling in a huff. “That is the one part of this I cannot explain. I simply don’t know why I spoke those two words. I doubt I’ll ever know.”

Integration. Amplification. Lallen first whispered them to her before she stepped into the Pool, as though alarmed by something she couldn’t feel—wouldn’t have been the first time. Though the exact moments remained fuzzy in her recollections, she believed her devil even forced her steps into the Pool. Like it wanted her—no, needed her to step into the frighteningly cold, shin-deep water.

Later, as she recovered from her brutal landing, forehead bleeding from the shallow  lacerations produced, her thoughts still swimming, she repeated those words to Gaalown, who was at the Pool that morning and, thrilled to have a green-skinned True Daughter at the temple, had taken Lake-Ellen under her wing. The Second Aide knew the history of those words, the arrival they prophesied. Lake-Ellen sure had not.

High Daughter Sha’Nedya arrived soon after.

After a trio of steps, Sha’Nedya squeezed Lake-Ellen’s hand. “This is why I so enjoy our chats, Defender. You offer such a unique point of view.”

Lake-Ellen returned the gesture. Warmth continued to course through her. “Helps not being so deep in a belief that I’m blind to other possibilities.”

I refuse to believe the Daughter put those words on my tongue. To speak them before someone who knew their significance. Had to have been Lallen, the way it repeated them so much.

Of course, I have to then wonder why Lallen chose those words.

High Daughter chuckled. “That you are.” Then she sighed. “And that brings us to the second part of the prophecy.”

Ahead, Second Aide Gaalown moved the group onto the steps leading to the street below. Another street down, the workers continue to unload the wagon. Maybe a third of the cargo remained. They seemed in no particular hurry.

The guards adjusted positions, keeping pace. Two still kept careful watch on the teens.

Lake-Ellen grunted again. “Yes. The part that foretells that though the Defender may save the temple, she’ll also bring about societal calamity.”

“And that, my dear Defender, you certainly have.”

A cold dread blossomed in Lake-Ellen’s gut, adding to her churn of anxiety. Dribbles seeped down into her thighs and tightened her chest. “Yes. By saving those suffering tainted sprites. That was my true blighted crime.”

The next many paces passed in silence. Lake-Ellen gave High Daughter Sha’Nedya time to wrestle with her thoughts, the clenching of her jaw, tensing of shoulders, and tightening of her grip giving her away.

She doesn’t want to say what she means to say next. Perhaps those hard words are what kept her from sleep and prompted her to leave the temple’s safety.

She must’ve decided to come before the turn of the day. The temple’s a good five bells travel down the Inholli—four if the current’s strong.

“Sentiment toward the Daughter is turning,” Sha’Nedya murmured, gaze on the planks. She remained leaning close, though. “The temple cleansing tour was maybe a mistake. Parading you on the streets…”

Lake-Ellen said, “The people wanted to see. To meet the True Daughter brought from far away.” She extended her free arm, exposing her green hand and wrist, angling Singe to keep it from skidding the planks. “Thorns knows I stand out in a sea of ginger whites and Fasler browns.”

“Yes, yes.” A pair of paces and she added, “In hindsight, I should have kept you at Daz’Drim. Had the afflicted daughters brought to you.”

“Not all would’ve survived. I cured over a dozen within hours of dying. Such horrible torment, too.”

“I know, I know.” She squeezed Lake-Ellen’s hand, harder this time. “Losing a handful of daughters, terrible as that might’ve been, I think now may have been a price worth paying.”

Chill spreading, Lake-Ellen swallowed. Many daughters closer to death than not had been brought to her as she traveled their way. Those precious hours saved them.

For Sha’Nedya to confess such thoughts…

Would... would you have counted Keridee among those sacrifices?

Her inner chill spread tentacles deeper, to fingertips and toes. Her heart thudded.

In a burst of insight, she said, “My leaving on this journey is necessary. For more than settling the pink rock’s ambitions. Blight.” She breathed deep. “You came to say goodbye.”

“Not forever,” Sha’Nedya blurted. “Never forever, dear Defender.” She raised the back of Lake-Ellen’s hand to her cheek—much the same way she leaned into Lake-Ellen’s palm the morning they met, in a dorm room off to the side of the Pool. Finding comfort and reassurance in the touch.

“Just long enough for society to forget,” Lake-Ellen murmured. “If they ever will.”

“It doesn’t have to be that long. Just enough so that… People die again from red sprites. For everyone to see the cure was temporary. A gift from the Daughter to Her loyal followers.”

Blight and bracken.

The chill in her gut ascended to press her heart. She forced a swallow.

“Oh.”

Lake-Ellen looked up at Sha’Nedya’s mutter.

“The guards ask us to turn back once more.”

“Yes, of course.” Have we really walked that far again?

They reversed course like before. Lake-Ellen huffed and thumped Singe. Indeed, they had.

Preeth had surrendered her satchel to Saupher, to Keridee’s amusement, her smile bright in the rising sunlight. Gaalown stood with hands clasped in front, saying words too soft to hear. Lake-Ellen’s attending looked her way, as though expecting help.

While Saupher knew Gaalown would see them off, she didn’t seem to much like their meeting’s resolution.

The final pieces of cargo left the wagon bed, traveling from hand to hand to the water taxi. Many on the street followed, descending to where the boat bobbed, likely using rungs mounted in stone stained green by the water.

The same older Trous who’d waved earlier raised his arm again.

She said, “I think they’re awaiting their last bit of cargo.”

Sha’Nedya glanced over. “Seems so.” Still holding Lake-Ellen’s hand, though, she kept their steps measured.

Bells clanged. Gulls scrawed. Wagons on the planks trundled. The salt-laden breeze kicked for a breath before calming again.

Lake-Ellen asked, “Do those deaths include any Daughters?”

“Graces, no.” Sha’Nedya laughed. It sounded forced. “I doubt any Daughter gifted with containing ability would even approach a sprite for a long time. Adherent Keridee there insists she’ll only do so under extreme need, and only for you.”

“She told you this?”

“During a cuddle.”

They continued their slow walk, Lake-Ellen tapping Singe with every other step. Keridee had reason to avoid sprites—she’d been afflicted with a red sprite when they first met.

After discovering the cure, Lake-Ellen ended the tall Jinjer’s torment moments later, solidifying their growing friendship.

She sighed. “Well, then, I hope to not need a reason.” The only one that came to mind was for void-talk communication. High Daughter Sha’Nedya carried a dimmed, double-imprinted sprite of hers, just as she carried one with Sha’Nedya’s imprint.

Despite being an ocean’s expanse apart, they’d still be able to talk.

I just have to get comfortable with the shell tap. So dangerous, that.

“Your need to confront this pink rock is most fortuitous,” High Daughter whispered. Her grip tightened for a pace.

Lake-Ellen glanced over to see cheeks blossoming crimson. Sha’Nedya kept her gaze on the planks, as though ashamed of voicing her thought.

It held a kernel of truth.

Lake-Ellen arched her eyebrows. “You don’t believe the Daughter...”

The silence stretched a pair of paces.

“Arranged this?” Sha’Nedya asked. “Is it too far out of the realm of possibility for you?”

Jaw clenched, Lake-Ellen frowned at the distant street ahead, clogging with man-powered carts and wagons drawn by a single horse, warehouse doors open now. Older Trous in blue robes directed traffic, waving pennants to garner attention. Whistles blew. Men called out, were answered. Horses whinnied.

The timing fits too well. Could She have had a hand in this? Maybe stirred up the pink rock’s antagonism toward me? Force me off to confront it? Right now, I might be the only person able to defy its devil’s protection and keep it from growing so large it devours the world.

“You’re saying She brought me all the way down here, put me through all my recent trauma, forced me to kill my dearest friend, only to send me away? If you believe that...” The chill in her turned so cold it burned.

Such foolish beliefs! Gods do not exist. Hurion was a god. It caused the Pyross Conflagration. Killed hundreds of thousands. More. Stripped away all the old gods of the crumbling Northern Krykos Empire. That deserves worship? And here, in Jinx, the Family squabbles amongst itself and hundreds perish in the flames of the pyre or the down the gullets of the rhanah. Are gods who put their followers through such vicious folly worth the adoration? The... the cost of following?

She whispered, “Maybe I should leave, then. Confront the pink rock. Reconsider my next steps down my Path in life.”

High Daughter Sha’Nedya groaned. She squeezed Lake-Ellen’s hand tight. “No, dear Defender. Don’t speak of that. You’re welcome here, I promise. Return, and you’ll have Daz’Kran all to yourself. All the Daughter’s precious cash crops under your control. I promise. Your time away need not be permanent.”

Harvest master of the society’s most important plants. What Lady of the Leaves would turn down such an opportunity?

She said, “I was told once a cell made of golden bars is still a cell. Were I to return, would I have to sneak in under cover of darkness? Remain cloistered within Daz’Drim? Blight. Just the sight of my skin will remind your society what I can do.” She stopped where steps leading down would carry her to the lowest street, where Keridee and Saupher waited, along with two younger members of the taxi’s crew. Second Aide Gaalown and Preeth stood paces away on the second street, tucked safe with the cordon of guards.

Sha’Nedya winced. “It’s not ideal, I know. I hope that by the time of your glorious return, matters will have calmed. That tainted sprites will resume balancing the scales. Society will accept your presence.”

“If I stay quiet and out of sight.” Lake-Ellen sighed, her grip on Singe tightening. “That’s not the life I intend.”

“It’s not the life I would allow for you,” Sha’Nedya replied, gaze steady. “I would make certain you are as free as you wish.”

Lake-Ellen grunted. “Well, I may have to stay away for a long time. There... um...” Warmth flushed her cheeks. “A confrontation in the hotel you sent us to. The clerk there this morning, she refused to accept our payment. Threatened to delay our arrival here and miss the Horizon’s departure.”

High Daughter’s shoulders sagged. “Oh no. What did you do?”

“I... um... Well, I broke some of their fancy decorations. And I may have choked the clerk a bit while getting her to see reason.” She lowered her gaze. “I know. I lost control. Shouldn’t have. But... she wanted to hinder my journey and we both know how important...” She winced. “Anyway, she wasn’t budging and I was tired of her unprofessional behavior. So I... well, took matters into my own hands. We paid, she signed the attestation ledger. In the end it’s all well.”

“Well?” Sha’Nedya’s eyebrows rose. “Lake, that hotel is known for its decor. Travelers from all over make the journey just to claim a night in its rooms. It’s a treasure!” She sighed. “How much damage?”

“Just the end of the desk. A few glass and wooden bits. Maybe the lock to gate beside the desk.” She thumped Singe. “I kept the damage to a minimum, given my anger.”

Sha’Nedya closed her eyes. Her lips moved as though in silent count. “Very well. I’ll initiate an investigation before the authorities come calling. We may have to have a void-talk sooner than the planned five days from now.”

Lake-Ellen nodded. “You have my sprite. Saupher witnessed everything, in case you need another point of view.”

“Have her write what happened. You, too. So there’s no confusion later.”

“As soon as we settle.” She drew a breath. “Keridee and Saupher explained why you sent us there. I wish you hadn’t, though.”

High Daughter grunted. “Seemed a good idea. Pretty sure now it won’t happen again.”

A whistle blew, coming from the direction of the water taxi. She and Lake-Ellen turned. “I guess you better go.”

“Guess.”

Sha’Nedya placed a hand on her arm. “Lake, trust yourself. You’ll be fine. Keridee and Saupher too. I wouldn’t send you off alone otherwise.”

Gaze lowered again, Lake-Ellen forced a nod. “I know. It’s just... I’ve traveled so much. I hoped to finally settle. Find somewhere to belong.” She lifted her head. “I’ll be all right. We all will. After all, what can the sea throw at us besides storms and pirates? We can ride out the first and I’ll see to the latter.” She thumped Singe. “We’ll be fine.”

The guards on the streets above all stiffened and glanced north, the direction the cab had traveled. Those across the street shifted close, dodging the traffic to cross the packed dirt, while half of those above hurried down.

“High Daughter,” the one in charge said, voice strained.

Lake-Ellen searched the street above but found no threat. Maybe it was on its way, a large group of men and women wearing red sashes, bearing cudgels or darts. “You need to go,” she told High Daughter.

Lips pursed, Sha’Nedya nodded. “Time’s run out.” She pulled Lake-Ellen into an embrace. “Don’t worry, Defender. My guards have mapped a way to safety, and you have yours.” She placed fingers to Lake-Ellen’s cheek then drew her close. Their lips met, followed by the tips of their tongues.

High Daughter drew away. “That was for the Companionship and all those you saved.” Then she leaned close and with a hand to the back of Lake-Ellen’s head, pressed them together. Hungry, aware this might be the last, Lake-Ellen leaned into the kiss, letting their tongues play. She ran palms over Sha’Nedya’s back as High Daughter brushed her leaves through her shirt.

The kiss lasted long enough that at its end, Lake-Ellen gasped for breath with sparkles dancing in her vision.

“And that,” Sha’Nedya whispered, her cheek against Lake-Ellen’s, “was for me. Thank you for saving my life, Defender.” She stepped back, arms outstretched, hands on Lake-Ellen’s shoulders. “Now go. Find your pink rock and second devil. Bend them to your will, or do what you must. The Daughter watches over you.”

Before Lake-Ellen drew breath to reply, High Daughter Sha’Nedya ran off, away from whatever approached on the street above. Her guards surrounded her. Gaalown and Preeth joined the rush.

Dizzied, Lake-Ellen breathed deep, found her balance, thumped Singe, then hurried down the steps and rungs to her friends and the waiting water taxi. Within moments, they were aboard, the vessel’s steam engine chugging hard as it pushed away.

She refused to look at the crowd on the main street, turn at their shouts and stomping of boots, or bother with their curses and laments.

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