breakfast, so she gulped the stuff down and tried not to look like she wanted to puke up the slimy eggs as they slid down her throat. Life with such a marvelous man surely required some sacrifices.
And was it ever worth it, too. He couldn't always match up to that spectacular first day, where they had sex so many times it left her sore, but they always did the deed at least three times. And sometimes, she'd wake to him doing magical things to her body with hands and tongue, lighting her on fire so she didn't even mind how little sleep she got with him around.
Every once in a while, she wondered at herself, how completely she strove to fit herself into Derfek's life. He didn't bathe often, so neither did she. He didn't eat, or sleep, very often, so neither did she. He wanted to have sex as many times as possible, in as many ways as either he or she could invent, and so did she. In fact, she became very good at the sex thing, and even able to surprise him on occasion.
The first time she saw him talk someone into giving him money, she felt a little uneasy. He basically stood on the village green until someone noticed him, while Lorrine stood nearby. Look pretty, and back me up no matter what I say, beautiful, he'd told her. Then the first man approached them and Derfek proceeded to lie. A lot.
"We're on a great expedition," Derfek said, grinning at the man who'd come to ask what they were up to on the village green. "But we're a little low on funds, and we need to find investors."
"Expedition, my foot," the villager scoffed. "There's nothing in these parts worth looking for."
"Not in these parts, no," Derfek agreed readily, then spun a tale of how his lovely wife (wife?!) came from the mysterious land of the Dargasi warriors, and they were returning to her ancestral home to seek out the treasures of the Great Djinn. For as everyone knew, the Great Djinn had died without securing his treasures properly, and Derfek had come by a map, listing three locations of magical artifact stashes. He even had the map, a suitably old and fragile piece of thin-scraped vellum. It indicated that the Great Djinn had held what now made up the Dargasi lands, back before it had become a desert. Rumor claimed the death-blow to the Djinn somehow eradicated all the life in the once fertile region, leaving behind a desert, but who knew the truth? That had happened millennia ago. All he knew for sure was that treasure lurked in that desert, just waiting for him to discover it.
Lorrine listened, and she smiled and did her best to look pretty, even though she felt disgustingly aware that she hadn't had a bath in a while. Her instincts were screaming at her that Derfek was so full of shit it was no wonder his eyes were brown. Expedition? Pah! First she'd heard of it. But she smiled, and nodded, and watched her lover dupe a poor villager into handing over the coin he'd meant to spend on his evening beer.
"What was that all about?" she asked casually, when the villager went away, convinced he'd see a tenfold return on his investment. "You've not told me of an expedition."
"Oh, really?" Derfek scratched the back of his neck, incidentally tugging on the leather thong his religious medallion hung from. "Huh. Must have been an oversight on my part. I know I told you I need to get to Dargasi lands. Must've forgot to mention the map. Here, have a look."
Lorrine looked at it, although she really didn't remember how to read a map. She hadn't seen one since she was a child, after all. But she trusted Derfek, so she smiled and said it looked fine, and wouldn't he like to sneak off to that barn over there?
Re-entry
It took a few days, and lots of help from the Healer Liesel, but eventually Kama recovered enough strength to go out of her new room, into the strange world she'd fallen into. She clung to Liesel's hand as she stepped out into the hallway for the first time, dressed in a lovely pale blue gown and feeling rather odd about her first public appearance ever with short hair. She didn't regret cutting it, because without its heavy weight reminding her constantly of how Lorra had loved to brush it she felt worlds away better, but she felt a little weird about looking so different. And so thin, too! She'd never been so scrawny. And. . . freckled. Somehow, during her weeks of madness, she'd gotten so much sun exposure that she'd tanned and freckled like a silly tomboy.
"Are you sure you're ready for this?" Liesel asked, giving her a concerned look. "We don't have to go out yet, if you're not ready. . . "
"I'm ready," Kama said firmly. "I want to get on with my life. It won't be easy, I know, but I want to live, not mourn myself into an early grave."
"Good girl. Come, then, the Mother wishes to see you."
Liesel led the way, and Kama looked around her with her newfound appreciation for life. The building may have been bland outside, or she remembered it that way, anyway. She'd of course have to investigate the outside, for upon her arrival here, she'd scarcely been in any condition to judge architecture. At any rate, the inside looked lovely, and no one would ever be able to mistake this place as anything other than a stronghold of femininity. The beauty of the furnishings soothed her wounded soul. Everything from wall hangings depicting gentle garden scenes to the rich satin cushions on the settle up against that wall spoke of warmth and comfort, as welcoming as an embrace from a friend.
"What a lovely place this is," Kama said, keeping up with Liesel's energetic stride with a bit of difficulty.
"Yes. We do try to keep it as tranquil and beautiful as possible."
Kama restrained her flood of questions with difficulty. She reminded herself that the woman they called Mother, whoever she might be, most certainly would answer all her questions fully. Because, after all, that was what leaders did, right?
"I never thanked you," Kama said, to keep herself from mentioning her appalling ignorance. "For saving my life."
"No need," Liesel smiled, patting her arm. "It's my calling, after all. I save all the lives I can, and mend what's broken."
"Well, be that as it may, I am still grateful. You helped me out of the worst pit I've ever been in."
"And hopefully, here, you'll learn the skills to keep yourself out of any future pits. Now. Here is our destination. I will leave you alone to speak with our Mother. I know you are simply bursting with questions. She will answer them all, in one way or another."
Kama wondered at the meaning of those words, one way or another, as Liesel opened a white-painted door.
"Mother? Kama is here."
Then she gave Kama a reassuring smile. "Don't be afraid."
Afraid?
But Kama didn't get much chance to wonder about why she should be afraid. She heard that powerful voice, the one she barely remembered, calling to her from within the room.
"Come in, child. Let me meet you."
The voice sounded wonderful enough to negate any thoughts of fear. Kama pushed open the white door and stepped through.
Then she saw instantly why she might be afraid. The woman within wore a heavy, enveloping robe, with a veil that covered her entire head and face, all but her eyes.
Kama dropped instantly to her knees, head bowed. "Forgive me, Shrouded One. I meant no insult."
"I take no insult from curiosity. Rise, and speak with me. What is your name?"
"Kama." Her voice barely came out. Kama coughed, gulped, wondered if she had any courage left. "My name is Kama."
"And what brings you here, to my house of learning?"
"Mistress Banchek sent me."
"Ah, yes. Elise Banchek came by some days ago and made arrangements for one of her former employees. She warned me you would be something of a challenge. She did not say you were bent on destroying yourself, nor that you had such a strange feel to you. Let me inspect you more closely, child."
Kama felt a deep quiver of awe inside as the Shrouded One, a woman who'd achieved the highest rank possible in the service of the First Goddess, approached. No one knew what lay under the robes, what marvels the priestesses concealed from ordinary mortals. Some speculated they were covered with religious tattoos, some that they glowed with a holy light, some even believed they were blessed with eternal youth.
Kama felt a jolt, something
like a tiny lightning strike, as the Shrouded One's gloved hand touched her chin, raising it for inspection. She saw sharp blue eyes inspecting her.
"Strange," the older woman murmured. "You have a feeling about you, something deep within, something that your recent experiences have stirred awake. . . "
Kama felt pinned by those blue eyes, a mouse caught in the gaze of a hawk. And she felt a definite strangeness inside her head, a kind of prickle. Then it receded instantly when the Shrouded One took her hand away.
"So be it. There is something puzzling about you, Kama, that will not come to me at this moment. But it will come. In the meantime, please, set aside your awe and speak with me. What do you hope to gain from my school?"
The Academy of Grace, Mistress Banchek had called this place. "I. . . I hardly know. I have been. . . out of my mind of late. I know nothing of what this place is, or why Mistress Banchek would bring me here, or indeed what to expect. All I know is that for the first time in far too long, someone has offered me hope for a future that will end the horrible pain I've been suffering."
"Sit, and tell me of your pain."
The Shrouded One settled herself into a wingback chair, with a challenging gaze locked on Kama, who crept into the gentle embrace of a settle.
"Um. . . " Kama blushed. "It seems almost silly now, how I overreacted. Liesel did something, with my permission, of course, to help distance me from my emotional