Chapter 1

Part 0

Felana's sentinel no longer knew what year it was.

He had once been Felana's high priest, but when She was overthrown, he had volunteered to tend to the last of Her business. For this duty, he had forsaken everything - even life and death - until his purpose was fulfilled.

His wizened body showed every century of starvation and abuse that he suffered at the hands of Chara's followers. He sat, his unkillable body shivering in the freezing, forgotten ruin.

His eyes jerked wide open when he sensed the birth. It was the eighth potential to appear during the countless years of his watch.

This time was different though, for he had sensed the birth of a mate three years earlier.

It was only a slim chance, he knew, but without him there would be no chance at all. He roused himself from the pile of rags that he had been using as a bed and went in search of food. It would take him years to regain his strength.

Fortunately, time was something that he had plenty of.

Part 1

Balelak, a senior priest in Chara's temples finished his preparations for the upcoming ritual and looked over at the throne, nodding to indicate that everything was ready.

'Prince Felood looks bored', thought the priest. An evil smile crossed the his face as he contemplated the Prince and the upcoming ritual. Felood wouldn't be bored for long - satisfying Chara and the Prince with quality sacrifices was his job - and he took it very seriously.

Why shouldn't he? This was his favorite of all of Chara's Rites.

Despite what Balelak thought, boredom was the least of Felood's problems. This was the part about being the Queen's second son and, consequently, Chief Sorcerer, that he really hated. Why couldn't he be more like his Uncle Berouk? Berouk had always loved these ceremonies.

Felood had very strong, personal feelings about this particular rite, but with Chara's attention focused directly on what was happening, allowing even a hint of those feelings to show would be exceptionally dangerous. He couldn't afford even the slightest slip, so by pure force of will, he projected a mask of boredom onto his face.

The first candidate came forward with her mother. Bowing to Felood and then Balelak, she began.

"Chara, Mother and Goddess, accept the sacrifice that we offer You here today."

With the first word of the Declaration of Intent, his sorcerer's vision detected the unmistakable signs of the Goddess' attention. Numerous tendrils of powerful magical energy quickly coalesced onto Chara's Presence - a man sized, smooth, black stone situated prominently on one corner of the alter. Unfortunately, Her mood, clearly visible to him in the colors of Her aura, radiated dissatisfaction. She undoubtedly heard the same reticence that he noticed in the candidate's voice.

"We pray, Dearest Mother, that You may find this sacrifice worthy of You and that through it, we, Your children, may be found pleasing in Your eyes."

She stood in her place in front of the priest and waited. When he decided that her Declaration was adequate, he leaned over and grabbed the handle of the ceremonial robe and pulled.

Sudden nakedness unnerved the candidate slightly, but she knew that the pain and humiliation of this rite had just begun. With a deep breath to steal her nerves, she continued.

The candidate then began the Act of Cleansing, but not well - not well at all. The Prince was saddened as he contemplated her failure. Knowing what was to come, he clamped down on his emotions, allowing nothing but extreme boredom to radiate from him.

The priest moved next to the girl, stopping her hands and bringing her into a comforting embrace. There was very little surprise from the audience when her lifeless and disembowled body slumped to the floor. The priest stooped to wipe the blood from his daggar on her robes and then returned it to its hiding place in the sleeve of his robe. He called for the next candidate.

Immediately, everyone could tell that this young woman was different. She breezed through the Declaration of Intent with a strong, steady voice. Her sudden nakedness when the priest performed the Revelation did not rattle her in the least. She went through the Act of Cleansing without ever breaking eye contact. Step by step, she worked her way through the Rite, not once exhibiting any hint of fear, doubt or even pain.

The power of her sacrifice and the beauty of her work moved Balelak to rejoice - surely Felood would enjoy this one! Chara, he knew, would honor the young girl well.

Finally, as the girl completed the Blessing of Sacrifice, the priest glanced around the room. Few candidates ever completed the full Blessing. Even fewer did so with the strength and beauty of this girl and the courtiers were rightly impressed. The priest glanced at the Prince, who was regarding the successful candidate with well deserved respect and admiration.

Everyone's attention was diverted by unexpected movement from the site of Chara's Presence. Up to now, it had been brightly lit, indicating that Chara had been watching the proceedings. The assembly stared as the light from the stone increased to near blinding. When it dimmed, they could see that the stone's form had changed into that of a girl.

She appeared to be young - no more than ten years old. She was completely naked making the bulge of a near-term pregnancy very difficult to miss. She smiled sweetly as the assembled audience prostrated themselves before their Goddess.

Waddling in the fashion of very pregnant women, Chara moved over to the second of the day's candidates. The Goddess gently stroked the young woman's hair. "Honoring me, you have honored yourself and your family." The voice was soft and sweet, but reverberated powerfully throughout the large room. With a sudden pop, She vanished - the Presence stone reappearing in its accustomed spot.

With the Rite successfully concluded, the crowd of other candidates and spectators dispersed. As the Prince left, he gazed inscrutably at the bodies of the two girls where they lay on the floor. His soul screamed with sadness and outrage, but he did not allow it to show on his face.

Balelak waved his young apprentices in to clean up. The youngest, a lad of 8, had never seen this particular rite before and was unprepared for the sight of the disemboweled body of the unsuccessful candidate and the beautifully mutilated body of the successful one. The priest was very irritated with the boy who was both crying and vomiting. There was no helping it - Chara would not permit this weakness. His daggar quickly found itself buried in the boy's heart.

He instructed the remaining apprentices to throw the bodies of the first girl and the boy into the offal pit outside the city. There would be no mourning them and their failures.

He called to his senior assistant. They gazed upon the other girl's form, drinking in the beauty of her body and the carefully placed symbols, each carved into her skin by her own hand with the ceremonial knife, all glorifying Chara. They carefully and reverently gathered her breasts, clitoris and head, reuniting them with her body and placed her into the ceremonial coffin. Her remains would join the remains of the other successful candidates on the Tower of Chara's Love.

No one saw, minutes after the priest and his staff left, as Felood reentered the room and strode quietly over to the pool of blood in the center of Chara's altar. Strong feelings welled up inside of him as he stared at the mess. He brutally suppressed them and left as soundlessly as he had entered.

Part 2

Feldor, the palace slave recruiter, carefully looked over the slaves of the small farm. It wouldn't do to just pick them at random. Life at the palace was a brutally dangerous place. Mediocre slaves tended to die too quickly, making his life harder than necessary. No, smart, healthy slaves - survivors - that was the way to go.

At the beginning of the next row, he halted, his eye caught on a young woman - a very healthy young woman. As he looked her over, she kept her head down, but regarded him nervously. He could feel her analyzing him. Will he pick me? he could almost hear her thinking.

"Girl," he asked her, "how do you like working here, on this farm?" He gently put his hand under her chin, tilting her face up so that he could see her better. Looking more closely, he realized that, under the caked on grime from the fields and the hideous utilitarian clothing, she was very beautiful.

"My Lord," she begged, "how can an unworthy such as myself even hope to know how to answer such a question?"

She was polite at least, and knew her place in Chara's world. He needed to see some personality, though. Feldor paused in thought before posing his next question.

"If the Queen, Chara's representative on things physical and the High Priest, Her representative on things spiritual, were to give you conflicting orders, which would you follow?"

It was an ugly question, with no correct answer. A long line of slave recruiters had developed many questions of this type, where the reaction to the question was more important than the answer itself.

The girl blinked in shock. He knew then, that she instantly understood just how difficult a question it was.

She dropped her head and whined softly, "My Lord, what could a common slave like myself ever do to attract the attention of both the Queen and the High Priest?"

A classic evasion technique! Though it took some intelligence to come up with that response, he knew that it took even greater bravery to actually say it. It was clear that not only was she unusually brave and intelligent. In addition, though, Feldor also sensed a certain... something.

He instructed his assistant to escort her to the palace immediately.

Part 3

The trip to the palace was so far beyond her limited experience that she found it both frightening and exhilarating. She drank it the newness of it all, the sights, the sounds and the smells - anything that wasn't toiling in the fields, until she felt like her brain would explode.

She was travelling with five other women, four common slaves like herself, and Dujura, a Named Slave and one of Feldor's female assistants. As they were all in good health and provided with good walking shoes and plenty of rations, the trip was expected to take only about 6 days.

Almost from the very beginning, Dujura started reviewing information that the young women would need to know in their new duties at the palace. First, she reviewed Chara's laws. Farm slaves rarely had need to know more than five of the commandments, but in the palace, they would need to know them all by rote.

Next, she covered the four castes of Chara's people. The two slave classes they knew already. Common slaves, like herself, did all of the menial work. Named slaves handled more important duties. On Chara's farms, the foremen were all named slaves.

It took two whole days of their trip to cover the nobility. Not only did they need to know every rank of the caste, but also the badges and symbols they used and the correct terms of address.

Another two days were spent covering the royal family. Dujura reasoned that specific knowledge of each of the royals just might be useful.

During the remainder of the trip, they chatted freely about life at the palace and what to expect in their new positions.

They were still nearly a day away when the first sign of their destination appeared.

"It isn't the palace itself, but the 'Tower of Chara's Love'," Dujura said, pointing out a massive pyramid shapped structure. "It is a monument to the many women who have proven their love and devotion to the Mother Goddess."

It was several hours before they could see the palace itself. The stone of the walls and towers were still solid, but clearly worn by uncounted years. Sometimes, when the light was just right, the structure seemed more like the carcass of a dead animal just starting to rot in the hot sun.

Just as they were reaching the outer walls of the palace, Dujura gave them one final warning about its inhabitants and their own fates.

"When we enter the palace, I will escort you to a common area where you will stay until claimed by a royal or a noble in need of a slave. Whoever claims you will give you their crest, showing that you work for them. You will continue to work for that person until either they, or death, releases you."

"I know that up to this point, you girls have had little or no contact with either royals or nobles. Some of them treat everyone nicely. Many of them are nice to other nobles, but treat slaves like furniture. Most of the nobles, unfortunately, hate everyone and are thus very dangerous.

"May Chara's beneficence shine upon you."

Part 4

The party formed a single file line as they entered the palace, with the young slave girl bringing up the rear.

At the entrance, they passed a wizened old lady. The other members of the party ignored her. She was prepared to do likewise, but the crest on the woman's dress caught her eye.

It was obviously a royal crest, though it wasn't one that her guide had mentioned. Without more information, it was impossible to act with certainty, so she guessed that the woman was a princess and gave the appropriate bow as she passed.

The woman seemed sad, lonely and distracted, returning the bow out of habit, but with no other hint of acknowledgement.

The group of slaves were long gone hours later when the Lady Aurella snapped out of her reverie with a start. Why had that one young slave girl bowed to her?

Later still, when the answer came to her in a flash of insight, she ran into the palace to search for the girl. She just wished that she had gotten a better look at her.

Part 5

The young woman was scared and despondent. Being a nameless slave, toiling mindlessly in Chara's fields outside the city had been a comfortable, if hard life. Nothing much happened to her and nothing much was expected of her. Now her peace and comfort had been stripped away and she found herself sitting in the palace courtyard, waiting for some noble to claim her.

She didn't have long to wait. As Feldor had predicted, the first noble to enter the courtyard moved almost directly for her, claiming her immediately.

"I am the Lady Garia," she stated simply. "Never have I been fortunate enough to be first to select from a new batch of slaves. I see why it is considered a blessing."

Not knowing how to respond to the statement, or even if she should, the young woman continued to sit mutely.

A pleasant smile appeared on the Lady's face and she continued, "Come girl, we have things to do. But first, tell me your name."

The woman stood up, bowing her head, but said nothing.

"Don't be afraid, little one. I will not hurt you, but I need to know your name."

The lady's voice was gentle and soothing, eliciting a small measure of bravery. "I don't have one, milady."

Sadness tinged the Lady's voice as she replied. "That we shall have to remedy, and soon. For now though, I will call you simply 'girl'. Is that acceptable?" 'Girl' nodded her head mutely. "Alright then. Come along - we have so many things to do."

Lady Garia instructed her in how to behave at court, how to clean and care for the house and how to care for her three young children. Lady Garia, being the Queen's sister, was often needed at court, so it fell to the young slave woman to look after the children and insure that the household ran smoothly.

Part 6

Felana's sentinel, much to his shock, found both the potential and the mate were now living in the palace. Perhaps the ancient prophesey could be fulfilled after all? To be free after all this time was almost unimaginable.

He found a quiet, abandoned building about 3 hours walk from the palace where he could sleep and store food stolen from nearby fields. It was difficult enough to get around the palace without arrousing suspicion, he didn't want to attract any extra attention by having to worry about basics of living during the time that he spent there.

The necessary parts were now in motion. All that he could do was wait until the time came for him to act.

After making all possible preparations, while enjoying a moment of peaceful rest, a stray thought made him start. The Lady Aurella, he realized, was in this area somewhere.

Seeing her again - now that would be a blessing.

Part 7

For the first few weeks, the young slave girl didn't leave the Lady's apartments except in her company. The palace was almost a maze and the Lady Garia wanted her to have a chance to learn the layout reasonably well before asking her to run errands alone.

Her first solo trip was to a watering station inside the castle and near Lady Garia's apartments. Since her attire clearly indicated her status, the nobles just ignored her. Other slaves didn't quite ignore her; they watched her with considerable curiosity, but said nothing, yet.

Trips to the watering station quickly became a part of the girl's morning routine. It took nearly a week, but eventually, one of the other slaves struck up a conversation.

"My name is Clialia, what's yours?" The young woman asking had moved very close and spoke in a quiet whisper.

"I don't have a name," she replied. "My Lady calls me 'girl'."

The young woman started, and a pained look crossed her face briefly. "Has your Lady said anything about having a naming ceremony?" came an apprehensive reply.

"My Lady says that it will be necessary, but every time I ask about preparing for it, she changes the subject."

Clialia gave a nervous laugh before replying. "I guess she does. Well, my dear, I must go." The woman left quickly, but looked back and gave her a half-hearted wave.

It turned out that Clialia was one of the Queen's slaves and, as such, they would often end up in each other's company. She would never talk about the naming ceremony, but her Lady made arrangements for a sponsor and training. The reason why nobody talked about it quickly became obvious.

In the days and weeks that followed, Clialia introduced her to the other slaves working in the palace. Privately whispered warnings followed many of the introductions. The palace's denizens and frequent visitors included more than a few trouble makers plus several that were just plain dangerous.

Part 8

The Lady Aurella hadn't really seen the girl who bowed to her that first time, outside the palace gates and so it took her several weeks to find the girl.

The restrictions on her form (that of a ghost) limited her mobility. Consequently, she staked out a frequently used corridor and began bowing to everyone who came by. She knew that only the girl that she was seeking would return her bow. She didn't have to wait for long.

She called after the young slave, a slip of a girl. "My child?" She whispered hopefully.

"Yes, my lady?" She answered politely while watchfully maintaining a respectable distance.

Upon hearing her reply, the old woman's face lit up. "You have come at last, child!" She said, half to her and half to himself. For nearly a minute, she cried, a strange mixture of joy and relief filling her face. She composed herself and placing her hands gently on the girl's shoulders, reassured her, "Hope has returned and all will be well."

The girl had many chores to see to and so she continued on her way. The strangeness of the encounter left her thoroughly puzzled, but the woman's parting words left her inexplicably happy. She wished that she had had more time to talk with her.

Part 9

It was a sunny, warm spring day and, more than anything, 'Girl' loved the feel of the sun on her skin - it was one thing she missed about not working outside. She was just enjoying a moment alone sitting on a bench near the watering station when a soft voice almost startled her.

"Hello? Do you mind if I sit with you?"

She opened her eyes to see the old woman gesturing to the seat next to her. She smiled at the woman and nodded before closing her eyes again. "I've been wanting to talk with you, mi'lady."

"Not surprising. You want to know who I am, and why I was so happy to see you."

She nodded, only mildly surprised by the woman's insight.

"Do you have a name?"

"Not yet, mi'lady. My mistress calls me girl, for now."

"Ah. Well, girl, I am the Lady Aurella. Do you know why no one else seems to acknowledge me?"

Realizing the truth of her words, her eyes snapped open so that she could look at the lady. "No, mi'lady. Why?"

"It's because I'm dead."

Her words made no sense. "You look perfectly fine to me, how can you be dead?"

"I am a spirit, Girl. An apparition. I can only be sensed by my descendants."

This statement confused the girl even more. How could she be one of this Lady's descendants?

"What you see when you look at me is how I looked when I died, but I am far older than I appear. I have been a spirit for thousands of years, waiting."

"Waiting for what?"

"For you. For one of my progeny. For someone that could see me and would talk with me."

There was a desparate edge in her voice, a deeply rooted loneliness.

"I'm sorry, mi'lady, but nothing that you've said so far makes any sense."

"Perhaps I should start at the beginning, then?"

"I think, mi'lady, that it would be a big help."

"Very well.

"Many years ago, when I was Queen of this land, and Felana was the Mother Goddess, a young woman was born into a poor family in a remote part of the kingdom. Life was hard for her and her family; she vowed that no matter what it took, she would grow up to be rich and powerful.

"When she was old enough, she secured an apprenticeship with a powerful, young magician. She worked hard at her craft and so, in a very short time, as such things go, she became a journeyman and struck out on her own.

"She was already successful and powerful enough to comfortably support her family, but the taste of power proved to be addictive. She worked to find ever more powerful magic and to master it, until, finally, she was both the most powerful person in the world and the most evil and corrupt.

"It did not take her long to realize that only one more level of power existed in the world - the Mother Goddess Felana. The greed that had seized her heart could not be assuaged by second place, so she worked ever harder until she found the means to destroy Felana and become the Mother Goddess in her stead.

"After overthrowing Felana, this woman had me and my family murdered and all our palaces destroyed. To rule in my place, she elevated a woman from a family loyal to her to be queen. That family has ruled ever since.

"What Chara did not know was that two of my youngest children were visiting cousins in a remote country village. Their caretakers spirited them away into hiding. They survived and had children, grand children, great grand children and so on until, many generations gone by, all knowledge of their royal heritage was lost - save one thing.

"It is one of the laws of this world that a rightful queen of this land may, at her death, choose to stay and counsel her heirs. Only a rightful heir to the throne may see or hear the spirit and only the spirit will hear anything that it spoken directly to her.