Chapter 7

The sunlight shone through the temple office windows, and Yosefa let herself enjoy the view: the dark wood of her desk, the comfortable chairs and couches scattered across the carpeted floor. She had a moment before she had to go downstairs to start the meditation.

Thirty minutes. She still did not know exactly what the message should be. She knew it would involve the Keeper, the Creators, and the promise of their return. The fullness of it wasn’t there yet, but she had faith. It always came to her. In twenty-five years—first as a Dedicated of one temple and now as a Warden of temples scattered throughout the world—it always had.

“The Keeper always provides,” she recited.

She looked through the large windows at the well-manicured grounds.

Matthias was out there, working the flower bed near the wall, on his knees in the grass. Even from here she could see how careful and methodical he was. Adam Softstep stood near him, saying something that made the pantherkin sit back on his heels and answer at length. Adam did that, she had noticed. He listened to the gardener the way the devotees listened to her, like a man gathering pearls of wisdom.

Adam had been one of the faithful for a long time.

She found herself smiling at Matthias.

She needed to talk to Jeanette soon, during her meditation. She had received another vision, the Keeper’s will flowing through her the way it had since she was a child. This one showed her that her daughter would be vital.

Down in the garden, Matthias laughed quietly at something Adam said.