The Priestess and the Thief Read online

  The food prep area was important, since the priestesses weren’t allowed to eat what everyone else ate aboard the Mother Ship. All the food prepared and served to them was extremely plain and dull, without a hint of spice.

  To Elli, who had been raised with four big brothers who liked to try and outdo each other in pepper eating contests, the bland food was a punishment. She missed the spicy veronie stew of her home world and the tangy, brine-shrup, so sour they made your mouth pucker with every bite.

  Of course, not all the food on the Mother Ship was like the plain laba wafers and ualla bread soup served to the Priestesses, she thought resentfully as she knelt for meditation—wincing as her bruised knees connected with the hard metal floor. The humans who lived here ate all kinds of things—like the sugary, multicolored cookies they’d had at the Christmas party. Those had been delicious.

  She sighed, reminding herself that she was supposed to be meditating on her recent sins and transgressions, not critiquing the food. But sometimes she wondered if she was going to be stuck here forever, trimming trees and singing hymns and eating bland paste for First Meal, Mid Meal, and Last Meal with never a break in the endless monotony.

  There weren’t even any animals here to train and love! Elli thought with longing of the magnificent zorels she and her brothers had worked with on their ranch on Torl Prime. It wasn’t considered ladylike for a female to be good with such large animals, but her oldest brother, Pern, had defended her right to help in the family business.

  “Elli’s got the lightest touch and the sweetest voice of all of us,” he’d said, when their stepmother had complained that it wasn’t right for a girl to be out riding and breaking the huge animals. “She can get even the most savage buck to do what she wants when the rest of us have to run lest we get trampled or clawed or steamed. It’s not her fault she’s a female.”

  Elli sadly missed her lovely zorels—especially Thune, their best stud buck who responded to anyone else with savage kicks and hissing but who was as tame as a lambkin with her. She wondered how her brothers were managing him without her—he could get into a terrible temper if he wasn’t treated just right…

  She had heard that the Earth people had animals called “horses” that were a little like the zorels of her home world—well, the back end of them was like a zorel, anyway—having powerful hind legs and hooves. But the front part of a zorel looked more like the mythical Earth creature called a “dragon,” with claws and scales and the ability to snort hot steam or even flames, in the rarest bloodlines.

  Elli had never seen a ‘flamer’ but Thune could scald the skin off you if he was angry—not that he’d ever worked up a head of steam near her. They had been friends from the moment she looked in the buck’s golden eyes and touched his proud, arching neck with its long, feathered mane…

  She sighed again, wishing for animal companionship. The priestesses were forbidden to have pets and even if they had been allowed, she doubted anyone would let her bring a zorel buck or even a zorel doe aboard the Mother Ship—they were too large and scary.

  She had seen no animals since she arrived here but the Earth animals the humans sometimes brought to the parklands surrounding the Sacred Grove. Elli longed to go talk to them and pet the strange creatures, which wagged their tails and panted a lot, as though they were hot. She thought they might be called “cogs” or “bogs,”—but she was forbidden from interaction with the humans, as well as the Kindred warriors until after she had partaken in the Shriving ceremony and drunk of the cup of Mortem Amore.

  Supposedly one sip from that cup would kill all the wrong and illicit desires that had been plaguing her all her life. Then she could put the shame of her past behind her and look forward to a serene existence, free of any lusts of the flesh.

  From what Elli had heard, this used to be a voluntary ceremony—an extra step some of the senior priestesses took in order to make them be able to “See” into the minds of the warriors who came to them for help, without being infected by the scenes of sexual lust and pleasure they often witnessed during the psychic connection. But the Ascending Priestess Superior had decided that it ought to be mandatory for all novices before they could interact with the general population of the Mother Ship.

  Thoughts of the Ascending Priestess Superior made her shiver and reminded Elli that she was supposed to be meditating. She tried again to fix her mind on the Goddess and closed her eyes.

  Oh Mother of All Life, she prayed. I’m so sorry for what I did at the human’s Christmas party. I know it was wrong to want that male to touch me—though in my defense, he had given me the drugged punch.

  Then she realized that sounded like she was trying to excuse her shame and she felt guilty all over again.

  Not that it’s any excuse, she prayed on hurriedly. I have always had wrong desires—I admit this, Goddess. I crave spicy food and I love to work with zorels instead of sewing and baking as a proper female should. I am not ladylike enough and I am lacking in the social graces. I—

  A loud chime sounded, letting her know that meditation time was over. But she had barely gotten any meditation done at all, Elli thought, feeling dismayed. She’d spent the whole time thinking of home and missing her old life, which was wrong.

  But there was no time to berate herself more—she had to get to the Sacred Grove for the Veneration of the Goddess. If she was late, her punishment would only increase.

  Two

  Elli hurried through the plain white hallways with the other novices and priestesses and took the winding stairs up to the level with the Sacred Grove. As she stepped barefoot onto the cool, damp grass, she reminded herself that she was lucky to be allowed out of the lower quarters at all.

  For an entire week after the incident at the human Christmas party, she had been in seclusion—forced to stay only in her cell doing endless meditation on the wrongs she had committed. By contrast the rustling green and purple leaves and the warm rays of the green sun above were a welcome relief.

  But you’re not in the clear yet, whispered a little voice in the back of her head. The Ascending Priestess Superior has yet to pronounce your final judgment. Who knows what awful duties she might assign you or what punishment she might meet out when you finally come before her?

  Elli tried to put that ominous thought out of her head and concentrate on the Veneration but it was difficult, especially since it was the Ascending Priestess Superior was leading the service.

  “Let us venerate the Goddess, the Mother of All Life, who made and shaped us all,” she intoned in her chilly, distant voice. “Let us beg her to cleanse us of our sins that we might be worthy of her worship.”

  The Ascending Priestess Superior was a tall, thin, cold woman whose hair and eyes were completely green from years of serving the Goddess. She was a cheerless person who absolutely never had a smile on her narrow lips and her sharp green-within green-eyes seemed to see right into your soul when she looked at you.

  Elli had heard that life in the Sacred Grove had been lighter and less solemn under the Descending Priestess Superior and she could well believe it. Though she was dying of an incurable wasting disease, the old woman still had a twinkle in her eyes and a kind word for everyone. Elli had tended her as part of her novice duties until the Christmas party incident. Then she and the two novices who had sneaked out with her had been reassigned to “scut” assignments like cleaning the communal freshers and scrubbing the huge pots the gluey, bland ualla bread soup was made in.

  But maybe I’ll get to see her again today, Elli thought hopefully. The old priestess reminded her of her grandmother, who had died when Elli was only nine cycles old. She missed the old lady—the two of them had really taken to each other in the time they’d had together.

  I never should have sneaked out to the Christmas party, Elli thought as the Veneration ended and they all bowed to the marble statue of the Goddess, who had a benevolent look on her stone face. But she’d been curious about the new world she was now in—curious about th
e rest of the Mother Ship and its inhabitants. She was especially curious about the human custom of Christmas, which included bright decorations, delicious foods, and the giving of gifts.

  Elli wished she had someone special who would give her a gift. And she wanted to sit and look at the twinkling lights of the Christmas tree and eat more of the sugary-sweet cookies with their bright green and red toppings. She wanted to know all about the human holiday which included some very odd details about a strange, portly male dressed all in red sneaking into your house at night to leave presents for children all over Earth.

  How did he manage to get to all the houses in time, Elli wondered? And how did he know what gifts to bring? She had heard that this male—called “Santa”—kept a list of everyone and he had divided them all into two categories—“naughty” and “nice”. This was how he determined who got presents and who didn’t.

  I suppose I wouldn’t get any gifts, even if I was allowed to celebrate Christmas with the humans, Elli thought sadly as the Veneration ended. I certainly would be on Santa’s naughty list, the way I’ve been acting lately.

  Well, she was paying for her sins now, she thought as she went to the food prep area. It was her turn to scrub the soup pots—which was, admittedly, better than scrubbing the freshers—but not by much.

  She just wondered if this was going to be her life forever. If only she could leave the Mother Ship and go back to her home planet or at least do something interesting and exciting. If only—

  “Novice Ellilah, you’re wanted in the suite of the Priestess Superior.” The voice of the Head Cook, a priestess with doughy slabs for cheeks and small, critical eyes, spoke right in her ear.

  “Oh!” Elli jumped in surprise, which splattered greasy dishwater from the sponge she’d been using all over her robes and the robes of the Head Cook.

  “Now look what you’ve done!” The Head Cook’s eyes narrowed as she glared at Elli.

  “Oh, I’m so sorry!” Elli gasped, dropping the sponge back in the half-scrubbed pot. “I didn’t mean to, I swear! I promise it won’t happen again, Head Cook!”

  “No, it won’t,” the Head Cook said flatly. “Because you’re not coming back in my food prep area again—not even to scrub pots! From now on, you’re on fresher duty every day.”

  “Oh, but—” Elli began.

  “Let’s see if you’re better at scrubbing toilets than you are at scrubbing pots,” the Head Cook continued. She sneered at Elli. “I didn’t want you here, anyway. I heard what kind of filth you got up to with that warrior at the humans’ party.”

  Elli felt as though the other woman had punched her in the stomach.

  “I…he…he drugged me,” she managed to get out at last.

  “A likely story.” The Head Cook’s words dripped with sarcasm the way her ‘special of the day’ dripped with grease. “Two other novices snuck out to that party, but they didn’t act like hoydens, did they?”

  “They…they didn’t drink the punch,” Elli whispered.

  Shame rolled over her again. If only she hadn’t told anyone what had happened to her with the mysterious stranger in the closet at the party! But she’d been so upset and frightened and the human doctor had told her it was all right to talk about it. Everyone in the Med Center had been so nice—not like the other priestesses at all. They seemed to think it was all Elli’s fault that the male had touched her—her fault that her body had reacted to his touch.

  “Please, you don’t understand. I—” she began, desperate to explain herself. She was dismally aware that all activity had stopped around them and everyone in the whole food prep area was watching.

  “I know your kind, missy,” the Head Cook interrupted, shaking a condemning finger at Elli. “You’re not fit to serve the Goddess—not even scrubbing pots or toilets! But here you are, so we’ve got to put up with you. Now, go see what the Priestess Superior wants, you miserable girl!”

  Hot words rose to Elli’s lips, but she knew from experience that fighting with authority figures only ended in more punishments. She didn’t want to scrub toilets every day, but it was better than being assigned endless, monotonous meditation in her plain white room.

  Also, at the moment all she wanted to do was get out of the spotlight. So instead of talking back and giving the other priestesses even more grist for their gossip mill, she turned and fled, going as quickly as she could to the suite of the Priestess Superior.

  Never should have told, she thought, swallowing down tears of rage and shame as she ran along the corridors. Never, ever should have told!

  Three

  The suites of the Priestess Superior and the Senior Priestesses, who were her direct subordinates, were located on the level above the Sacred Grove. They had their own private lift-tube which ran from the main area, with the communal living space and the food prep area, right up to their small, private wing of the Mother Ship.

  When she’d first come to the Mother Ship, Elli had come up this lift every day to tend the Descending Priestess Superior. But she still felt awe when she rang the chime and the door to the Priestess Superior’s suite slid open, revealing an opulent setting.

  To start with, there was carpet on the floor instead of the bare, cold metal of her own little cell. It was a thick, rich pile in a deep blue and green swirled pattern that you sank into when you stepped inside. (Barefoot, of course, since none of the novices were allowed to wear shoes.) Then there was the furniture—the couch in front of the fireplace was huge and plush and overstuffed, covered in some kind of suede-like leather in deep blue that matched the carpeting.

  On the walls were works of priceless art in gleaming gold frames and there were a few tables that had expensive-looking vases and knick-knacks scattered here and there. Elli made certain to stay well clear of those—she didn’t want to be accused of breaking anything.

  “I was told to come and see the Ascending Priestess Superior?” she said to the priestess who had opened the door, making it a question.

  The priestess scowled at her.

  “Oh yes—you’re the novice who snuck out to the human party and shamed herself with a male, aren’t you?”

  “I…” Elli felt the shame roll over her again but she decided not to let the priestess—who was only the maid of the Ascending Priestess Superior—see it. “I was told to come see her,” she repeated doggedly, not answering the other woman’s question.

  The priestess maid’s scowl deepened.

  “Come this way—she’s out at the moment but you can wait in her audience chamber.”

  She jerked her chin at the hallway leading off from the living area—one that Elli knew well, since it also led to the bedchamber where the Descending Priestess Superior was slowly dying.

  Elli said nothing and simply followed her down the hallway. The maid took her to the end of it and opened the door on the left, revealing a room with a large, gleaming wooden desk and several straight, uncomfortable looking wooden chairs in front of it.

  “Wait there,” she said sharply and pointed to one of the chairs. Then she turned and bustled back down the hallway, not waiting to see if Elli obeyed her or not.

  Elli waited until she was out of sight and then, instead of going into the left-hand door and the office, she carefully opened the right-hand door and let herself into the bedchamber opposite it.

  The room was dominated by a large, richly decorated bed. Lying in the middle of it, looking shrunken and ancient, was the Descending Priestess Superior. Elli knew that she had led the Order of the Sacred Grove here in the Mother Ship for over fifty cycles. It was only recently, in the past few months, that she’d gotten too ill to go about her duties.

  Her illness had begun shortly after the new Priestess Superior had been sent to help her because of her age, but until her predecessor died, the Ascending Priestess Superior wouldn’t truly hold the title. In the meantime, she was running everything anyway, since the old Priestess Superior was too ill to do anything but lie in bed.

  “Hello, P
riestess Superior,” Elli said softly, going towards the bed and leaning over the shriveled figure.

  “Elli, my sweet—is that you?” The old woman’s eyes opened. They were bright as new buttons, though somewhat clouded by pain, Elli saw.

  “It’s me,” she said, taking the withered hand that was seeking for hers gently. “How are you today, Priestess Superior?”

  “I’m well, child—as well as can be expected until the Goddess takes me home to be with her. But where have you been? I’ve missed you.”

  “I missed you, too. Who’s been taking care of you? They aren’t doing a very good job.” Elli got the soft bristled brush from the bedside table and began to gently tease the tangles from the old woman’s long, dry hair. It had once been a vibrant black but now it was silver with emerald green streaks.

  “The maids come and mind me every now and then,” the old priestess murmured. “And of course, the Ascending Priestess Superior comes to give me my medicine. They’re all good enough girls but they aren’t as sweet as you.”

  “Maybe they’ll let me come back and see you again more often,” Elli said. She finished tidying the old woman’s hair and smiled as she put the brush back. “Do you want a sip of water?” She knew the Priestess Superior’s mouth got dry from the pain medication she was on.

  “Bless you, child—yes, please!” the Priestess Superior whispered. “I’ve been laying here thinking how thirsty I am but I don’t have the strength to hold the glass.”

  “They ought to be checking you more often!” Elli said indignantly, picking up the half-full glass of water with its glass straw. Carefully, she lifted the old lady’s head so that she could sip as much as she wanted and then laid her gently back down again.