Title: Forgotten Lives – Warrior, Princess, Priestess

Author: Jinx

Fandom: Birds of Prey

Pairings: (B/H)

Ratings: PG15 (for violence, to be safe. This is an adventure story – more adventure than sex, so you who look for hard core… look somewhere else)

Disclaimers: I don’t own Birds of Prey or any character created by WB or DC Comics used in this story. I’m making no profit on this and wouldn’t want to – as it’s ‘borrowed gods’.

More disclaimers: I don’t own the Angel-verse or any character created by Joss Whedon and Company. I’m making no profit on this…

Summary: This is a story relating a past/previous life of Barbara, Helena and Dinah. The story is based on the storyline and on the characters of my previous stories Alternate Lives and Past Lives. It may be read as a stand alone story, but some clues and loose ends are found in AL & PL. I’ve tried to be true to the characters of BoP, but as it is a previous/past life (and not a regular über-fan fiction) they can’t be exactly the same – some alterations may be found. Hope you enjoy the read :).

A Note on Names: Some names used in this story have specific meanings while others are just made up. Regarding the names with meanings I’ve been very liberal in the interpretation of some of them. As: Badr = full moon – I’ve made it into Badra. Cath = battle – I’ve changed the meaning into warrior. For anyone interested in the meanings of names, check at www.behindthename.com

More Names: Some names are based on my native language: snok = grass snake: orm = snake/serpent. And the name Nidae is based on a Latin name for one specific specie of bats: Vespertilio nidae.

Discrepancies: Some alterations from what Barbara, Helena and Dinah remember of their past life (in the story Past Lives) may be found, specifically when it comes to their ages. I had to make some adjustments to the story and hope it’s not too disturbing.

Special Thanks: This story is dedicated to Alex for creating the site Storyland for me. Thank you! :-D

Archiving: www.geocities.com/jehandira

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Part Seven – Death

Cat found it hard to concentrate on Bel’s words. She found it difficult to even be close to the other woman. The deities must have a good time with her – putting her in embarrassing situations together with the redheaded beauty. To wake up a second time half naked in front of the priestess – what were the odds? And the way the woman called her “kitten” – it wasn’t the same as in her dream, not as teasing. Instead there was unexpected tenderness in the priestess’ voice and in her eyes. Cat couldn’t stand it – her body reacted instinctively, probably still under the influence of the dream.

“I shouldn’t tell you these things”, the High Priestess said, looking reflectively at her. “But I guess you need to know – maybe you’ll listen to my orders the next time.”

“The next time?” Cat said, arching an eyebrow. Bloody Snakes – why must she be so beautiful? She tore her eyes from the other woman and looked out between the iron bars. “I was suspended, remember? For life.”

“We could probably make use of you somehow”, the High Priestess said lightly. “Now…” She silenced and Cat glanced at her against her will. “You know – you could’ve given me another reason why you came after me.”

“I could?” Cat asked.

“You could just have told me you wanted to repay me for saving your life.” There was a slight question in the priestess’ eyes. “Why didn’t you?”

“I…” Cat narrowed her eyes. “That wouldn’t have been true”, she said, shrugging.

“Oh, you’re brave and honest. I see why Katana values you. If you’d been a little more grown-up you would’ve taken her place as Captain by now. She has been expecting you to.”

Cat looked up, stunned to silence. “What did you…? No”, she shook her head, denying the implication behind Bel’s words. The thought had never crossed her mind. “I’m no… I can’t lead.”

“No, probably not”, the High Priestess said in a voice that made Cat blush in humiliation.

“Priestess”, she said, offended, and rose from the floor.

“My name is Badra Bellona”, the other woman said evenly. “My friends call me Bel and the deities call me Badra…”

“’Fighter of the Full Moon’”, Cat mumbled.

“That’s correct”, the priestess said, nodding. “Call me what you like. It seems you and I can’t get away from each other, so we might as well make the best of the situation. Sometimes our lives are in the hands of the Creator.”

Cat shook her head. “I’ll settle for ‘priestess’”, she said grumpily.

“It’s your choice”, the priestess said with a shrug. “The Naming ceremony is a good place to start explaining things”, she went on. “The deities claim us and Name us because they see what’s in our hearts. They see us, who we are and what we are destined to become… And sometimes those Names shape our lives.”

Cat nodded to show that she was listening, although her mind was drifting again. When Bel was gesticulating before the sleeves of her robe fell back and Cat had noticed something on her arms. It seemed to be dark spots of various sizes, tattoos, and Cat tried to figure out what they were meant to depict. But then – remembering her dream with a slight shiver – she knew: those tattoos were bats.

“People claimed by the Owl or the Horse are usually healers or teachers in some ways. People Named by the Tiger and the Cobra are usually warriors. But there are always people chosen to become priests or priestesses. If the person doesn’t know it herself it will be revealed at the Naming. If your Name had been Cath Chandra – Dark Moon, instead of Cath Ciardha, Dark Warrior – you’d have been a priestess.”

“And if Fang hadn’t claimed me I’d have been a priestess too”, Cat said, remembering. “All un-Named before the age of ten belong to the Bat and automatically become priests or priestesses.”

“Correct.”

“I don’t understand why Fang claimed me”, Cat said frowning. “I’ve always felt I was closer to the Goddess than to Fang.”

“Yes”, Bel said softly, watching her with a curiously compassionate look. “I’ll get to that. I guess it’s time you know the truth.”

Cat felt a cold chill down her spine. “The truth?”

“Fang wouldn’t have chosen you if your nature had gone completely against his. You are in fact a panther, not a tiger, which made it possible for Fang to claim you. I’ll tell you about it, but first you need to understand a few things.”

She’s beautiful when she’s like this, Cat thought, watching the priestess. When she’s not heartless… She realized maybe Bel wasn’t heartless, she was just very – efficient. She was so brilliant that she probably forgot that everyone wasn’t as single minded as her. I need to show her there’s more to life than… whatever she’s living for.

“The deities have their power and it’s great, but they have weaknesses. In the past deities could rule like they pleased, either help mankind or completely destroy them. There was no end to their power. But because of the misuse of their power people began to experiment with how to stop them, or at least control them. Thus the Priesthood was created. People who learned how to bind a deity and to control them.”

“Like magic”, Cat said.

“Let’s call it magic for the simplicity. Yes – they developed magic. And it was a special magic, developed to control the deities. In our part of the world we’ve learned to live in peace with the deities, but in other parts of the world there are wars going on between deities and the Priesthood.”

“I never knew…” Cat frowned, thinking. “I mean, I know about the persecution of deities in kingdoms like Sum and Egara, but I didn’t know the Priesthood had such powers. That’s what happened to Deyna that other night, right?” She looked at the priestess. “Some from the Priesthood must have…” The thought struck her and she gasped. “Fang! Who would do such a thing? This means…” Treason! she thought.

“Yes – treason”, Bel said. “Deeper than prince Harkaitz’s. To have a Priest or a Priestess betray the empire, it’s…” She shook her head. “It’s more dangerous than you understand.”

“It’ll disrupt the order of the deities”, Cat whispered. “I understand.”

“No – see…” Bel hesitated. “There’s different ways for a deity to gain more power. One is for a fully Initiated deity to lay with someone of the opposite sex…”

“To have sex”, Cat said. “Deyna told me she’d lose her powers if she… But wait. You tell me if Fang sleeps with Deyna he’d win her powers?”

“That’s correct. If he slept with her before she was Initiated, which usually happens at the age of eighteen.”

“How does that work?”

“It has to do with energies. A fully initiated deity knows how to control – or master – her energies, while an uninitiated would mix her energies with the person she’s… having sex with. Deities know how to steel, or harvest, the energies of another. They also know how to protect themselves from being robbed of their energies.”

“So Mara harvested energies from Deyna’s sister? He became stronger because of it?”

“Yes.”

“Oh, my. No wonder Fang likes his women. He must have stolen a lot of energies from a lot of… uninitiated.”

“Semi-deities. People like Deyna, not yet a deity but still with powers, are called semi-deities. What happens when a semi-deity like Deyna sleeps with someone is that their energies are transferred to the other person, even if it’s a human. A human who’s slept with a semi-deity might even experience an increase in power for a few days, but it usually goes away. And yes – Fang has grown in power over the years.”

“But he’s still not the most powerful deity. Right?” Cat glanced at the priestess, suddenly becoming very much aware of Bel’s presence again. She swore inwardly and moved away from the other woman, cursing her bodily reactions. She’d never felt so strongly for a woman before – not ever, except in her dreams. Snakes!

“The balance is held between the deities – they don’t really gain more power than any other by sleeping around like this. If they want to they could even transfer powers to humans – permanently. But they’d never risk that.”

Again the High Priestess was looking at Cat with a deep, disconcertingly tender look and Cat twitched a little, restlessly moving around the room.

“The Priesthood does more than control the deities – they can also support their deities, strengthen them with power. Sometimes the deities challenge each other, like warriors do. Either for fun, or for winning an argument or a favor. In such cases they can draw energy from their respective High Priest or Priestess.”

“And the deity with the more powerful priest wins”, Cat said, nodding. “I get it.”

“There’s more.” There was a grave tone in Bel’s voice that made Cat listen. “Ancient texts state that a particular ritual makes it possible to transfer the power from one deity to another by blood. A blood sacrifice. This would heavily increase the power of the deity performing the ritual. There are two different rituals to accomplish this – one simpler and one more complicated. The latter brings  infinitely more power than the first.”

“What… would it mean?” Cat asked cautiously.

“It would mean that the deity performing the ritual would break the bonds of the Priesthood. He would become an Ancient Deity, one of those who were truly powerful and who not even the created Priesthood could control. It would be possible for him to rule the world with no one to oppose him.”

“Oh, Goddess of the Dark moon”, Cat whispered, paling. She suddenly realized what the High Priestess meant. “Fang”, she whispered. “That’s what they need Fang for.”

“Yes. And – the deity can’t perform the ritual on his own, he needs someone from the Priesthood to do it for him.”

“Who?” Cat looked at Bel and noticed the determined set of the other woman’s jaws. She felt a thrill of desire and power surge through her in a strange mix, distracting her for a moment. “Who is it?” she asked when she found her voice again.

“I have my suspicions, but I can’t tell yet.”

“Goddess”, Cat whispered. “This… We have to do something!” She looked at the High Priestess. “We can’t just… sit here”, she finished lamely, looking at the locked iron bared door. “Bloody mess”, she muttered.

“I wanted to find out who the High Priest was, but with you here it makes it a little risky”, Bel said dryly, eyeing her. “You ought to listen better to my orders the next time.”

“Well, if I had I wouldn’t have known these things”, Cat countered. “You wouldn’t have told me and I’d still be as ignorant like the rest of the populace. If you respect me enough to share things like that with me I’ll respect you enough to follow your orders… Maybe”, she added, crossing her arms before her.

“Really?” Bel asked, arching an eyebrow at her. “We’ll see about that. Come – it’s time we’re out of here.”

“What? And how would we do that – walk out the door?”

“Exactly”, the High Priestess said and turned to the iron door. “Some people believe the power of a High Priest lies in his staff – that the staff is charged with power from the deity and that the priest therefore is useless without it.”

Cat frowned. “Isn’t it so?”

“For some”, Bel said. “Not for me.”

In the next moment the whole iron door was ripped from the wall in a shower of stone splinters and thrown across the corridor on the opposite side.

Cat stared at the open vault as Bel stepped through the door and into the corridor.

“Are you coming? Or would you prefer to wait for the guards?”

“Huh…” Cat said, slowly following the priestess. “How… How did you…?” She gestured towards the iron door.

“Magic”, Bel said dryly. “Come on.”

Cat glanced over her shoulder at the ripped door as they went. If she hadn’t seen it with her own eyes she wouldn’t have believed it.

They walked along a narrow corridor, lit by torches on the walls. There were no guards and when they reached the end of the corridor Cat understood why: another iron bar door blocked their way. Cat glanced at the priestess at her side, but Bel didn’t even slow down: the door was torn from the wall just like the first one. On the other side a guard was knocked out when the flying door hit him. Another guard drew his sword and charged towards them.

“Do you mind?” Bel said, stepping aside.

“Not at all”, Cat said, feeling the blood pumping. She always looked forward to a fight and especially in that moment – to get release from the confusing physical attraction she felt for the woman at her side.

She stepped forward, wondering fleetingly why the priestess didn’t take care of the warrior herself if she could do a thing like that with the doors. Maybe she’s growing tired, she thought as the warrior rushed against her. She quickly stepped aside, concentrating on her opponents sword arm; he missed her by a fraction and she moved close enough to kick him across the abdomen. He flew across the hall and hit the wall beside Bel. Before he had time to recover Cat was at his side and knocked him unconscious, before she wrenched the sword from his hand.

“Not bad”, Bel said behind her. “You’re really good.”

Cat turned around with the sword in her hands. “How can you tell?” she asked wryly. “Because I won?” She suddenly got the feeling the priestess had stepped aside to let her fight the warrior just to see how good she was. Cat didn’t like being manipulated like that.

Bel smiled. “Katana has trained me a bit. I’m not as good as the members of Panthera, but I can hold my own. And I recognize talent when I see it.”

“Hum”, Cat said, warily looking around. There were no more guards ahead at the moment. “You said I deserved to know the truth about myself”, she said, remembering the moment in the cell. “You said you’d tell me…”

“I will, but we need to get out of this mess first. We’ll talk about it back at the temple.”

“If we return alive”, Cat grumbled. “Did you happen to see the assembled army outside? There are hundreds of those dead soldiers! Maybe even a thousand. There’s no way we can sneak past them…”

“We’re not going to”, Bel said with a chilling note in her voice. “Come”, she said and began walking. Cat followed with the sword in her hand.

“How are your wounds, by the way”, the High Priestess asked after a few moments. ”I don’t have Gebra’s healer hands, but I did what I could.”

Cat moved her shoulder. “Not too bad.”

“Hum. You know, if that arrow had been poisonous I couldn’t have saved you this time.”

“Fine, fine. I won’t come charging to save you the next time you get yourself abducted.”

“No?” Bel said and this time there was an amused hint in her voice. “I doubt you could stay away – I’m too beautiful. Right?”

When the High Priestess winked at her Cat’s heart stopped beating for a moment and she lost her breath.

“You…” She slowly inhaled, regaining her composure. “That was a joke”, she said slowly.

“Yes… Maybe I should give you a heads up before the next one.”

“Please…” Cat said, still stunned.

“Fine… Here’s one. If you come charging to save me I’ll just get the pleasure of undressing you again. I doubt any woman had the pleasure of doing that to you more than once.”

When Cat blushed the High Priestess laughed, confusing Cat even more.

“You are a wicked woman”, she said.

“So they say”, Bel agreed. “No one ever said I was nice.”

“No”, Cat said wryly, getting into the mood. “I haven’t made up my mind about that part yet.” She grinned. “But if you wink at me one more time I might be tempted to believe you’re flirting with me, priestess.”

She hadn’t really expected the priestess to respond to that, but she did: she laughed a second time, again causing Cat to reevaluate her opinion of her.

“That’d be the day”, Bel mused and Cat wondered at the fleetingly appreciative expression in the woman’s eyes as she watched Cat, before she turned away and resumed their walk. Cat followed in confused silence.

They were discovered by a small group of warriors further down the corridor, but Cat fought them off, taking great pleasure in seeing the appreciative expression in Bel’s look as she watched her fight.

Cat couldn’t say how long they moved in the narrow corridors, but she sensed they were moving closer to the surface. Finally they reached an opening letting in daylight. It turned out to be a ledge several hundred feet across the ground. A small footpath was leading upwards, towards the ridge where Cat had been taken captured, but otherwise the ledge ended abruptly in a dangerously steep slope before them. They had full view of the valley and of the assembled army below. The warriors filled the whole gorge; their armor and weapons glistened in the late afternoon sun.

“They’ve seen us”, Cat said, noticing a few warriors pointing up at them. She looked around, but couldn’t find the prince or any of his men in the army. “We need to get back in”, she added. “Priestess…” she said when the woman at her side didn’t move. “We need to…”

A noise behind her made her turn. Another group of warriors triumphantly grinned at her in the opening to the tunnel.

“There’s no place for you to run”, one of them said.

“Priestess”, Cat urgently said. “Step back from the…”

Just as she took a step forward to engage in combat a wall of fire sprang up before her, separating her from the warriors in the tunnel. She heard them scream in rage and pain behind the wall and wondered what was happening. The flames covered the whole opening and were so thick she couldn’t see through them.

“Cat…”

Cat turned at the mention of her name, glancing at the priestess. Bel was standing close to the deep slope with her arms raised before her at the waist.

“Priestess?” Cat said carefully. There was a distant look in the other woman’s eyes – as if she transported from reality.

“Now you’ll see why people fear me”, Bel said in a noncommittal, detached voice. “Know the power of the High Priestess of Nidae!”

Cat would live a long life. She would travel the world in a lonely quest, searching for the one thing she’d lose because of a broken promise. She would see many strange things and meet many powerful people, but she would never forget the power of the woman she’d fallen in love with.

There it was, the Power. The truth Cat had been looking for – the answer to the question why the High Priestess of Nidae was so feared. Not because she was a woman serving a powerful goddess, but because she was powerful in herself. She served the goddess because of who she was – and Cat finally understood that part. It didn’t mean she could easily accept it.

In the valley below, great lines of fire suddenly shoot up from the ground: walls of fire, with flames licking the sky. Loud thunder was heard, mixed with the roaring from the fire. Gusts of winds swept amongst the lines of warriors and threw them high in the air, crushing them against the ground when they fell down again.

The whole Vale of the Dead was turned into a battlefield and Cat was swept back in time, to the memory of those battlefields where she’d fought and killed. She remembered the screaming, the noise of weapons, and the smell of blood. It was the same in that moment: she heard the soldiers scream and could sense their fear. She knew they weren’t alive, those soldiers below her – dead people raised to be used as warriors – but she felt for them anyway. They didn’t stand a chance against the raging fires, the thunder and the tearing wind.

“I’ve done this once before”, the High Priestess said beside Cat, as she gazed at the mayhem she was creating. “When I was sixteen the former leader of the White Tigers brought me to the boarders of Egara, where the emperor was losing a major battle against invading forces. This is what I did to protect my people – the people of the Goddess. I saved the Empire of Kellara.”

It was said without vanity; it was a simple statement of fact. Cat swallowed, realizing what danger their empire had been in if the woman beside her hadn’t decided to humble herself to serve the people – but instead wanted to conquer. She remembered something her grandfather had once said: “Great power must come with great love – otherwise it will corrupt everything in its way.”

Cat stared at the chaos before her, where hundreds of warriors were being conquered as she watched, and tried to comprehend the whole situation. As she looked out at the valley a movement above her caught her attention. She turned her head and noticed a group of warriors fighting atop of the ridge – and she recognized a few of them. Bats and Snakes! she thought surprised.

The fighting warriors consisted of two groups, one dressed in yellow and green – the colors of prince Harkaitz – and the others were Leaping Panthers. Cat recognized Serafine and Deyna amongst them. The princess was dressed like a Leaping Panther in black leather and fought skillfully side by side with the gray eyed woman.

Cat glanced at Bel. “I have to go”, she said urgently. “Please trust me”, she added before she rushed off, following the footpath to the crest. She reached the top of the ridge and threw herself into the fight, making her way towards the princess. Her fellow members of Panthera greeted her as they noticed her arrival.

“What are you doing here?” Cat called over the battle noise as she finally reached Serafine’s side. “Both of you?” she added as Serafine glanced at her.

“Fighting”, the princess called back. “What does it look like?”

“She’s gonna kill us all for this!” Cat said. “By the blood of the Bat – why…?”

“Could we discuss this later?” Serafine asked, dodging a blow from her opponent’s sword. “We’re not all as multi-skilled as you.”

“It’s her eyes”, Deyna amusedly said, grinning at the other woman. “Cat’s only part human.”

“Tell me about it”, Serafine said, faking a sigh.

“You’ve bonded”, Cat said dryly, narrowing her eyes at the princess for a brief second. “But you haven’t… you know. Have you?”

“No.” Deyna shook her head, swirling around to parry a blow from a warrior attacking her back. She disarmed him and knocked him unconscious with the hilt of her sword. “We decided to wait”, she added as she looked down at the fallen warrior; it was the last of them. She looked up, grinning at Cat. “Hi – aren’t you glad to see me?”

“Devastatingly”, Cat said, lowering her sword. She glared at Serafine and Deyna, before she glanced at the handful of Leaping Panthers that moved about amongst the fallen warriors. “Why are you here? Sera, you were supposed to protect her! That means keeping her out of trouble, not bringing her into it.”

“Actually…” Serafine said, but was interrupted.

“Don’t blame her. I ran off from the palace to find you and… and the High Priestess”, the princess said. “Serafine followed me with the rest of these…” Deyna gestured towards the female warriors.

“Ran off? You ‘ran off’? And where were you?” Cat pointed at Serafine. “How could you let her run away like that? You were supposed to…” She silenced and clenched her jaws. She had no right to accuse Serafine – especially not for something that was her own fault. “What happened?”

“We followed you here and then we were attacked by… these warriors.” Serafine looked down at the mass of bodies. “They…” She caught herself as she suddenly noticed what was going in the valley below: fire and smoke rose from the vale; people were still screaming and dying.

Dying anew, Cat thought wryly.

“Goddess!” Serafine whispered. “What’s…? By all deities! What is that?”

“An army of dead being consumed by the wrath of a High Priestess”, Cat said evenly, trying to sound casual about it. In reality she was nothing but. No wonder she thinks me a child, she thought distracted.

“Wow!” Serafine whistled. “That’s really awesome…” She turned to the princess. “Could you do that too?”

“My powers are a little different”, Deyna said. “But if I wanted to…” She shrugged. “Although the High Priestess says I should never use my powers for personal gain or for killing… if there’s no other way.”

Cat only listened with half an ear. She was watching Bel on the ledge further down; wind was playing in the priestess’ hair, lifting it from her face and pulling at her robe. Cat had found Bel beautiful to begin with – as always appreciating the beautiful shape of the woman – and then the dream had turned her fancy into something else, something she couldn’t control and wasn’t even sure she wanted to be a part of. It was one thing to be attracted to a woman, something else to be attracted to someone you didn’t even know – just because a stupid dream affected you. Now, in that moment as she watched the High Priestess, she realized there was more to Bel than what outer appearance suggested.

I need to get to know her, Cat thought. I must find out who she is.

“Cat?” Serafine said.

“Huh?” Cat said, looking away from the High Priestess. As she did so she became aware of a small troop of warriors galloping towards them. She squinted against the low sun and then, realizing what she was seeing, she threw herself in front of the princess. “No!”

“Cat!” Deyna called in desperation, also noticing what was going on.

Maybe there won’t be time to get to know her, Cat heard herself thinking. Well, at least I’m dying doing my duty.

She should have died. The troop galloping towards them were enemies and one of them aimed a longbow in their direction. If he was strictly meant to kill Deyna she was unsure, but he aimed at her and Cat… Cat did her duty and stepped before the flying arrow. Her thoughts were again of Bel and she wondered with an inward grin if the priestess would undress her a third time.

Then her thoughts were cut short and she screamed in agony as Serafine hurled herself before her. The arrow took the gray eyed woman straight in the chest. A second arrow followed closely, taking her in the side – probably piercing her lung.

“Sera…” Cat whispered, kneeling at her best friend’s side. Deyna fell on her knees close to her.

Cat looked up at the warriors racing towards them and found they had come to an abrupt halt: the group seemed to be frozen in time, unmovable – like riders on a painting Cat had once seen in the palace. Bel, she thought.

Another party with only a handful of riders was coming their way, but they were close enough for Cat to recognize Para among them and she relaxed, again looking down at Serafine before her.

“You…” the gray eyed woman whispered, touching Cat’s cheek. “You’ve saved me so many times, it was my turn now…”

“Sera…” She could hardly breathe for the pain. “Don’t leave me… What – what will I do without you?”

“You’ll live… You always do…” Serafine closed her eyes. “Cold, Cat… It’s so cold.”

Beside her the princess was crying silently; tears wetting her cheeks.

“We’ll – we’ll meet again, Cat…” the dying woman said, looking up again, trying to smile. “I’ll care for you, the way you’ve cared for me in this life… We’ll be sisters and friends again – one day.”

“Don’t talk, Sera… Please, don’t talk…” Cat stroked the woman’s hair, a desperate gesture to keep herself calm she realized.

“Deyna…” Serafine whispered. “Deyna… I’m so… sorry…”

Deyna took the warriors hands between hers. She didn’t say anything, she only sat quietly – crying in silence as the life went out of the woman before her.

Gray eyes glazed over, staring up at the sky.

“No. No, come back to me – come back…” Cat pushed the princess aside and shook Serafine’s lifeless body. “Don’t go! Don’t leave me! Don’t leave me…” She held the body close to her, crying against Serafine’s hair.

“Cat”, Deyna softly said, touching her shoulder.

It took a moment for Cat to realize they were no longer alone. She gently put down Serafine’s body and looked up at the riders before her. The Leaping Panthers that had come with Serafine and the princess stood behind Cat and Deyna, silently looking down at the dead warrior. They would grieve later and honor their dead friend.

“Cat…” Para said, stepping off his horse with a helpless look on his face. Cat reached out for him and he grabbed her arms, holding her for a moment and looking at her, sharing her pain. “Are you ok?”

Cat nodded with a deep breath. “I’m fine”, she said, drying the tears from her cheeks.

She looked up at the riders still on their horses. Cat recognized one as Zelena, High Priestess of the Tiger. Another was Derac, the High Priest of Nidae... Serafine’s brother.

“I’m so sorry”, Cat said, looking at him. He was watching his dead sister with a blank face, but behind the determined set of his jaws there was deep pain in his gray eyes. A pain that mirrored Cat’s own.

The High Priest nodded at Cat’s words, but he didn’t take his eyes from his sister.

“Derac”, a dark skinned woman at his side said and put a hand on his arm; Cat didn’t know who she was. “You are allowed to grieve…”

But Derac shook his head. “It was my fault. I was too late. I’m not… I’m no warrior – I should’ve…” He silenced and Cat noticed the guilt in his eyes.

“This wasn’t your fault”, she said. “They…” She gestured towards the frozen warriors farther away. “Those are to blame.”

“I’m no warrior”, the High Priest said again. “A warrior would have stopped them earlier…”

“You couldn’t have known”, the woman at his side said gently.

“I should’ve known… She… She gave her life for the fight. What did I ever do?” There was bitterness in his voice and Cat found it hard looking at his face.

“Don’t do this to yourself, Derac”, one of the other riders said, moving his horse forward. He was a heavy man, with wild hair and beard, dressed in furs. “There’s no use blaming ourselves for what others do…”

“Don’t tell me what to do!” the High Priest snapped. He turned around in the saddle and gestured towards the frozen warriors. Cat realized it was his magic that had stopped them and not Bel’s. Then she realized what he intended to do.

“No!” she called at the same time as Zelena spurred her white mare.

“No – hold, Derac!” the High Priestess called, riding against him, but it was too late.

“Let them burn – all of them…” His voice was even, noncommittal, and Cat watched in horror as the whole party of warriors were lifted through the air and thrown down into the valley. They came alive as soon as they were in the air and fell towards the fires below. Horses and men were screaming alike.

What did you do? Cat thought shocked. Derac… Derac was the nice priest, the one who’d never harmed a fly. The one people loved for his gentle ways and caring manners. Goddess…

“Look!” Deyna called, pointing down the gorge.

“Oh, Bel”, Zelena gasped. “Thank the Goddess…”

Cat watched as the whole party of warriors spinning in the air was caught by an invisible force and moved away from the fire. They were put down a safe distance from the chaos reigning in the valley, but were still held by invisible shackles. Only the horses were free to go.

“She had no right…” Cat heard Derac mutter. A sudden, chilly wind swept across the ridge and the blue sky turned abruptly dark – covered by heavy clouds. Thunder was heard.

“Derac! Control yourself!” Zelena shouted through the heavy wind.

The heavy man behind Derac didn’t bother with words – he simply lifted his staff and knocked the High Priest over the head with it. Derac fell forward over his horse – unconscious.

“That wasn’t necessary, Bjorn”, Zelena said, glaring at the man.

“No? Would you want to argue with Bel when she’s in a mood like that? Derac’s almost as strong – he just never uses his powers like this.”

“Pray Bel never feels that kind of pain or rage”, the dark skinned woman at Derac’s side said and supported the High Priest so he wouldn’t fall off the horse. Something in her voice made the others look at her.

“You’ve Seen?” Zelena asked lowly and Cat gasped as she finally understood who the unfamiliar woman was: Nakkara Rim, the oracle.

“I have”, Nakkara said, nodding. “It might still happen, depending on…” She hesitated and glanced briefly at Cat, before looking away down the valley. “Depending on other things.”

Zelena too looked down the valley.

“I’m so sorry about your friend”, the oracle said to Cat. “But you’ll see her again. You’ll be true family one day.”

Cat nodded, wanting to ask what the oracle had seen, but she wasn’t sure if she wanted to know.

“Princess”, Nakkara said, looking at Deyna.

“Your father has gone mad because of you, my dear”, the heavily furred man said. “It’s about time you return. The spell is broken and you can use your powers again… As soon as we find the rogue we’ll be heading back. This…” – he gestured towards the Vale of the Dead – “is the business of warriors and politicians.”

“The rogue?” Cat asked.

“Fang”, Zelena said dryly, turning back towards them. “Bjorn has something against my pretty god.”

“Humph”, the furry man said.

“What did you mean, the spell has been broken?” Cat asked with a frown. She glanced at the princess. “Is it the same as at the brothel?”

“We should not discuss this here”, the oracle said. “I believe Bel is done. Let’s wait for her.”

“The Cobra Squad is on its way”, Para told Cat. “And a large amount of the White Tigers. I was allowed to move ahead together with the High Priests… and the women.” Para glanced cautiously at Nakkara and Zelena. “Things have happened at the palace…”

“Serafine saved my life”, Deyna said, looking down at the dead woman before them. After a moment she kneeled and closed Serafine’s eyes.

“What do you mean? What happened?”

Deyna silently looked up and it was the oracle who answered.

“There was a traitor among the Priesthood”, she said, holding Cat’s gaze. “He was attacking the princess and Serafine killed him. He’ll…” The oracle hesitated and her eyes glazed over for a moment. When she looked back at Cat she said: “He’ll be her enemy one day, trying to kill her. He will fail, but then he’ll come for you. Beware he who changes his face as he changes clothes…”

And how will I remember that warning in another life? Cat thought, but nodded. “Who was he?”

“Sadly, he was my chosen successor”, the man called Bjorn said. “He was named Cub.”

“I knew him”, Para suddenly said and Cat noticed the sharp expression briefly shown in the eyes of the oracle as she looked at him. She frowned. “He was a good friend of mine, I can’t believe…”

“Believe it”, Deyna said sharply. “He put a magic spell on me and tried to stab me.”

“Maybe he was under a spell”, Para stubbornly maintained, glaring at the princess. “You couldn’t use your powers on the way over here, right? That must mean another priest somewhere was affecting you.” He glanced down the valley, adding lowly: “Or a priestess…”

“Enough”, Zelena said. “This is not the proper place to discuss this – or the proper people.”

Cat noticed a flash of anger in Para’s eyes, but when he turned back to the High Priestess and nodded in submission it was gone.

*  *  *

Bel let the fires die out. The Vale of the Dead was now truly devoid of vegetation: the whole interior of the gorge had been scorched with her fire, leaving only blackened ground. A few warriors were still alive – those who’d been alive from the beginning. There were only a few dozen of them, including the one’s Derac had attempted to murder by throwing them into the fire.

The sky had cleared again after the High Priests storming rage. Bel wasn’t sure what had happened to Derac; if he willingly had let go of his anger, or if someone had stopped him. She hoped for the first. She didn’t know what had happened to make him so angry either – she fervently hoped it had nothing to do with Deyna. Or Cat, she thought, thinking of the warrior with the mismatched eyes.

“Badra…”

“Fang?” she asked in her mind, hearing the god’s voice. “Are you alright?”

“I’m fine. Thanks to you, my pretty… I have something for you.”

“I’m coming…”

Bel left the ledge and went back into the rock. She felt the vibrations from Fang and knew how to find him now when the spell from the unknown enemy was broken.

There had been a battle of wills between her and the High Priest who’d captured Fang. The priest had put a magic web across the whole valley, trying to prevent Bel from using her powers and also binding Fang or any other deity coming close to the valley. To begin with Bel had only sneaked beneath her opponent’s magic web, using her powers of Air to rip open the iron doors to free herself and Cat, but when she reached the ledge she needed to challenge him in order to use her powers more fully. As she stood on the ledge she directed her mind against him – sensing his energy – and broke his hold on the valley and on Fang at the same time as she killed off the dead warriors below.

I know you now, she thought as she hurried through empty corridors. With the army gone the small amount of living soldiers would have found themselves some safety and the High Priest was probably on his way to Egara with prince Harkaitz.

It wasn’t until she reached Fang’s cell she realized she’d been wrong. Behind the open door to the small cell where the god had been kept prisoner two men were waiting – three with the god.

Fang stood proudly with his arms crossed – completely naked – and stared at the prince in the doorway to the cell. Behind the god, in the shadows, lay a motionless body.

“Zelena is on her way”, Fang said as soon as he noticed Bel. She nodded, staring at the dead body behind the god. Even though it was conventional for the Priesthood not to kill there were no such restrictions on the deities: they were free to do what ever they pleased with humans, although it wasn’t considered polite to kill them off – it had a tendency to decrease the number of followers.

Looking at the dead body of Snoek, Mara’s High Priest, Bel couldn’t blame Fang for killing him. The priest had probably put him through torture, planning to kill him. She had always thought Snoek reminded her of an insubstantial shadow, sneaking along the walls in his temple and in the palace. He looked even more like a shadow in that moment, dead and gray – melting into the background and into the shadows behind the victorious god.

Bel raised her eyes and looked at the prince beside her. Harkaitz Qadir – his Name meant powerful rock and she thought he looked like one in that moment – stood straight in front of Fang, looking straight ahead of him. His face didn’t show any emotions, but when he turned his face towards Bel his eyes shone with a burning rage.

“You! Always you!” he hissed. “I’ll get you for this”, he added in a seething voice. “I swear on my soul that one day I’ll steal away the very thing that means more to you than life itself. Then you’ll know pain.”

“Save it, prince”, she said coldly. “You’ll be a slave for life after this.” She nodded at Fang. “You’re binding him?”

The god nodded. “He’s not going anywhere. I wanted to kill him, like that pathetic scum…” He spat at the dead High Priest behind him. “But I thought better of it.” He grinned at her. “I knew you’d want him alive.”

“Thank you”, she said wryly.

“You think all of this is over, don’t you?” the prince said. “It’s not. It has only just begun. You don’t know what’s coming…”

“Who are you working for, Harkaitz?” Bel asked, but he spat before her.

“I’d never work for anyone”, he said and she knew it was true; he was too proud to work beneath someone.

“So Snoek worked for you?” she asked and noticed a slight flicker of uncertainty in Harkaitz’s eyes. It told her something important. “No, you believed he worked for you, didn’t you? You just found out he didn’t…”

“Snakes are double-crossers by nature”, the prince said. “I should’ve known.” He glared at Bel. “But what harms you and my brother is good for me, even if I’m dead and gone when it happens.”

“Your family is in on this?” Bel said, considering the beautiful Ravena and her brother. “You’re wife?” She doubted Ravena knew anything of what was going on, but the other two…

Harkaitz smiled wickedly. “What do you think, priestess? You can never prove anything. You can’t ever know.”

“Bel!”

Bel turned around when she heard Zelena’s voice behind her. Before she knew it the other woman was hugging her.

“Thank the Goddess you’re alright! I was so worried.”

“Oh, thanks… I think”, Bel said a little confused. There was something in the High Priestess’ eyes as she looked at her… In her mind she heard Fang chuckle. “What?” she asked him. “What are you laughing at?”

“Don’t you know it yet?” the god answered as the room suddenly was filled with people; Bel had to move a few steps aside as she recognized Bjorn and Nikka entering. Harkaitz stood rooted to the floor, held by Fang’s powers. “Haven’t you figured it out, after all these years? The reason why she avoids you?”

“What are you talking about?” Bel asked impatiently as she at the same time felt relieved at seeing the oracle again.

“She has it hard for you, priestess. She’s been crushing on you for years…” Fang chuckled as he sensed her shock. “And you feel nothing. You’re heart is truly made of stone…”

“I belong to the Goddess”, she sent, struggling with the unexpected revelation. Zelena? she thought, incredulously. Again she heard the god chuckle within her.

“Bel?” Zelena asked worriedly.

“Zelena – what happened to Derac”, Bel asked, breaking the contact with the Tiger.

“Oh, he… His sister died.”

“Oh, no!” Bel gasped. “Serafine? But she… The princess!” She grabbed Zelena’s arm. “Where is Deyna?”

“Don’t worry, she’s safe”, Zelena said calmly. “She’s here, but she’s safe.”

“Maybe safer here now, than at the palace”, Bjorn said behind her. Bel looked at the High Priest.

“What’s happened?” she asked.

“We found the traitor”, he said and beside Bel prince Harkaitz huffed. Bel quickly glanced at him and then back at Bjorn.

“What do you mean?”

“The priest who blocked Deyna’s powers was Cub, my chosen successor”, Bjorn said softly. “I should’ve known…”

“Cub…” Bel whispered, thinking of the nervous young man with the stutter. “I knew there was something foul about him”, she said, “but I don’t believe he was the only one. Have you seen this?” She stepped aside and let them take a look at the dead High Priest. Zelena gasped when she saw him.

“Snoek! You killed him?” she accusingly asked Fang, who looked a little chastened.

“He was about to kill me. If Bel hadn’t broken his hold on me he would’ve succeeded. I have a right to defend myself”, Fang added sulkily.

“Come – let’s get out of here”, Bjorn said as Zelena kept staring at the god. “They’re waiting for us.”

“They?” Bel asked.

“Bor and his warriors and Hades and some of the Tigers. They’ve caught Harkaitz’s soldiers.”

Bel looked at Harkaitz and nodded.

“It’s over, isn’t it?” Fang said with a grin. “We saved the Empire. I’m a hero. Come, you scum – you’re coming with me.”

The god lifted Harkaitz over one shoulder and carried him away with him. Bjorn followed with Snoek’s dead body.

“’We’ saved the empire?” Zelena said in disgust. “That god’s ego is unbelievable …”

“It’s not over”, Bel mumbled as she followed Zelena out of the cell. Zelena glanced at her over her shoulder, but didn’t ask anything. Bel thought of Fang’s words and found it difficult to meet the other High Priestess’ gaze. Luckily Zelena averted her eyes first.

“Of course it’s not”, Nikka said at her side. The first thing she’d said since meeting Bel again. “That’d be too easy.”

“This is a mess, Nikka.”

“Yes, it is”, the oracle agreed. “And the worst is yet to come”, she added softly.

Bel walked thoughtfully beside the oracle as Zelena moved ahead to catch up with Bjorn.

“Nikka”, she said after a moment. “I think the deities need to move out of Goddara. They need to go into hiding with their High Priests and Priestesses. No one will ever believe this isn’t over, you know that. I might not even convince Barac Wei and Cara that worse things will come. Two priests and a prince that turn out to be traitors…” She shook her head. “No one will believe we are still in danger.”

“You might be right”, Nikka said.

“I know I am, I don’t need your gifts to see this. The deities are in danger as long as we don’t know who’s really behind all of this.”

“You know, don’t you?” the oracle glanced at her.

“I suspect, but that’s not the same. Harkaitz was right – I can’t prove anything, I can never really know. Which means I can’t take action. And with Egara on the move…”

“The emperor has already sent most of his soldiers to the boarders, yes... The time is drawing near”, Nakkara Rim said in her oracle voice and Bel felt a shiver down her spine. She knew what end her friend was talking about. She chose not to think about it.

“What about Derac, Nikka? What happened to him? I mean, sorrow is one thing, but to kill someone in cold blood…”

“Go easy on him, Bel. It could’ve been you.”

“Me? No – I’ve killed, but in defense. Not like that…”

“One day you’ll know. Someone…” Nikka silenced. “One day you’ll understand. In another life Harkaitz will take someone from you. You’ll…”

“And I’ll know pain”, Bel whispered, remembering the prince’s words. “Oh, Goddess! Will it go so far, Nikka?”

“I can’t tell. The future changes with our choices… Right now that’s what I see. Be gentle with Derac, one day the roles might be reversed.”

“I’ll try”, she said distractedly. “Why must there be so much death? Why can’t we break the chain?”

“It’s our choice, Bel. Always our choice. Sometimes we have to fight, and sometimes we have to let go… And most of the time it’s too difficult to know which choice is the right one.”

Bel sighed. “Fine. But we need to get the deities to safety. Let’s start there.”

Part Eight – Loose ends

Cat had thought the High Priestess would rebuke the princess as soon as she saw Deyna, but she didn’t. When Bel reached the ridge in company with the oracle she only passed them with a short nod and a distracted look.

“She didn’t even see me”, the princess complained, looking after the High Priestess and the dark woman at her side. “She doesn’t care a bit about me.”

Cat shook her head. “She does”, she said, following Bel with her eyes. She had learned something about the priestess that day. “She just... lives on a completely different plane of existence from us. She’s on another level...”

“Why are you defending her?” Deyna said, glaring at her.

The two of them were standing together with Para and a group of Leaping Panthers, away from the rest of the mass of people that had turned up after Zelena and Bjorn had decided to check out the caves. Fang had apparently called his High Priestess and asked her to come to him.

Hades and a large group of the White Tigers where there, followed by Bor and his Cobra Squad. Katana had, according to Para, stayed at the palace with the rest of the Leaping Panthers. There had been some disagreement between Bor and the Captain and Bor had lost, which meant he had to leave the protection of the Imperial Couple to Katana.

“Yeah, and what does it mean: ‘she’s on another level’?” Para asked annoyed. “It doesn’t give her the right to behave as if she’s better than the rest of us.”

“She doesn’t”, Cat said. “She just...”

Para looked at her as if she’d completely lost it. He’d been testy since he arrived and for some reason that Cat didn’t understand it had to do with the argument between Katana and Bor and the revelation that Harkaitz was a traitor.

“Look – it’s just her ways, alright. A warrior doesn’t stop to consider if it’s right using the sword in the middle of a battle, right? She’s the same and she fights a battle we don’t understand. Leave her to it.”

“You can’t mean that!” Para strongly objected. “You freak – don’t you get it? She wants to control us all...”

Cat blinked. Para hadn’t called her a freak in a long time – since she kicked his ass when they were children. They’d been friends since then. She frowned worriedly at him and noticed the wondering look Deyna was giving him.

“I’m sorry, Cat, I didn’t...” Para sighed, pulling his fingers through his hair. “I didn’t mean that... I’m really sorry. I’m just...”

“Para – what’s going on?” Cat asked concerned. “Is it... Sera?” It hurt asking – it hurt thinking about the woman who was still lying on the ground some hundred feet away, surrounded by guarding soldiers. It hurt mentioning the other woman’s name, but Serafine and Para had known each other too. Although they had never really been friends sudden death could still have an affect on people.

“No. No, it’s not... that. I...” Para shook his head, looking at Cat in defeat. “I asked Ravena to marry me.”

“Oh!” Deyna said, surprisingly enough. Para glanced at her for a brief moment, but then looked back at Cat. Cat felt a moment’s disorientation, caught by complete surprise. She involuntarily glanced over her shoulder at Bel. The High Priestess was in conversation with Bor and Hades and it seemed to be a heated discussion, but when Cat turned to look at her Bel suddenly silenced and glanced back towards her. Their eyes met and Cat felt a pang of something in her heart, something glowing and melting at the same time. Bel nodded towards her, but then returned to her discussion.

“What did she say?” Cat asked Para.

“She said she’d give me her answer when I returned. But now, with her father...” Para shook his head again. “I can’t believe it, Cat. Ravena can’t...”

“I don’t believe my cousin has anything to do with her father’s betrayal”, Deyna said assuredly. “Harkaitz has always envied my father, but Ravena is not like him. If she loves you it shouldn’t make a difference, either to you or to her.”

“I’m not so sure she loves me”, Para said, lowering his gaze.

Cat wasn’t either; Para had always fancied Ravena, like most men did, but he didn’t know her very well. Ravena didn’t know him very well either. Besides, he was a commoner – she was nobility. It wasn’t certain that they would even be allowed to marry.

“Why would you want to marry her then?” Deyna asked, confused.

“Have you never wanted something so much it didn’t matter in how you got it?” Para asked.

“Huh”, Cat said, involuntarily thinking of Bel. Deyna glanced at her, but Para nodded thinking she was agreeing with him.

“See! I don’t care if she doesn’t love me, I just want... her.”

“That’s not... right”, the princess said, frowning.

Cat thought of Bel and wondered if she’d be satisfied with an arrangement like that and realized she wouldn’t. She wanted Bel to feel about her the way she felt about... She blocked the thought. That would never happen. She realized that now and, besides, she was still not sure Bel was such a nice person.

“I don’t care”, Para was saying. “Her father gave me his permission, but now...”

“Yes – it does present a problem”, Cat said, glancing at the imprisoned prince between Zelena and the High Priest of Beorn. Harkaitz looked ready to commit murder, glaring at Bel.

A few feet from Zelena the oracle was tending to Derac, who sat on his horse cradling his head. Cat wasn’t sure he was hurting because of the head wound the other High Priest had left him, or because of the loss of his sister. Probably both.

“What are the High Priestess and Bor arguing about?” Deyna asked, frowning.

“I don’t know”, Cat said thoughtfully. As she watched Bel the High Priestess turned away from the Chief, shaking her head.

“I better get into line”, Para said, noticing the look the bald man directed at them. “I’ll talk you later.”

“Good luck with Ravena”, Cat said, still feeling strange about picturing Ravena and Para together. Not that she begrudged Para the happiness of marrying the woman, but she had always thought Ravena would end up with someone more... glamorous. Para was... nice, but that was all. He was a nobody, basically. No hero, no flashy warrior taking risks. He was just... plain. He was too insecure to make a name for himself, always following orders and not thinking for himself. Those were good qualities in a subordinate warrior – and he was skillful with the sword – but Cat didn’t think it would be enough for Ravena. She didn’t want to see him hurt down the line.

“Princess – warrior...”

Cat almost jumped when Bel suddenly was standing right beside her; Para had returned to his Squad.

“Priestess”, she said as Deyna was nodding and fidgeting a little with the hilt of her sword. Cat knew the girl enough to know she was nervous in Bel’s company; afraid she’d be getting yelled at, probably. Not enough attention, or the wrong kind of attention, Cat thought, considering Deyna’s relationship with the High Priestess.

“Deyna – you’ll stick with Fang and Zelena on the way home”, Bel said, looking at the girl. “I heard you’re parents are quite mad at you. They’ll deal with you when we get back.”

“I could fly home...” Deyna said.

“No!” Bel said immediately, sharper than she had a right to, Cat thought, watching her. “No, you ride with us.”

“Why? I could...”

“Deyna”, the High Priestess said warningly and the princess blushed, both in humiliation and frustration Cat realized.

“No, High Priestess”, the girl mumbled.

“Trust me, princess”, Bel said curtly. “This is for your own good.”

Deyna clenched her jaws and Cat thought she was going to protest, but then the girl nodded and moved away.

“Go with her”, the High Priestess said, addressing the members of Panthera. “Watch over her.”

They nodded and moved as one after the girl. Cat noticed the grimace on the princess’ face.

“Why?” she asked softly as Deyna was moving out of earshot. “Why don’t you let her fly home on her own? She could handle it. You’ve caught the traitor...”

“This isn’t over yet, Cat”, Bel said concerned, watching Deyna. “Her life is still in danger.”

“What... do you mean?” Cat asked. Bel looked at her, eyeing her closely as if to judge her worth.

“These people”, she said finally, “they were just bait. Remember I told you about two ways to increase a deity’s power?”

Cat nodded. “Yeah?”

“Those are rituals that need to be performed either during a dark moon or during full moon.”

“It’s full moon in thirteen days”, Cat said.

“Yes, but it doesn’t make sense…” The High Priestess shook her head. “Never mind. Just trust me, alright. I can’t prove anything, but it’s not over.” She glanced over her shoulder at Bor, who were busy instructing his warriors. “I noticed the tattoo on your friend’s hand. He’s a Cobra…”

“Yes”, Cat said. “How so?”

“Some of Harkaitz’s warriors were members of the Cobra Squad. Traitors…”

Cat gasped, realizing what the High Priestess and Bor had been arguing about. “Para would never…”

“I didn’t say he is a traitor”, Bel said, turning back to her. “I’m just telling you to be careful. Bor denies all association with those members who helped the prince – and they’re all conveniently dead, so we can’t question them about his involvement. He denies having anything to do with them – even going so far as to say he’d excluded some of them from his Squad the other week.”

“I believe that’s true”, Cat said with a light frown. “Para told me about it.”

“That may be as it is, but he hasn’t convinced me of his innocence.”

Cat shrugged; she had never had much contact with the Chief of the Cobra Squad. “My friend is not involved”, she said assuredly. “He may not be the biggest supporter of the Imperial Court, but he’s no traitor.”

The High Priestess nodded. “The matter of Bor’s innocence is a question for the emperor. I hope he’s wise enough to know what he’s doing. I’ll at least keep an eye on him.”

“Was it wise to confront the Chief like that?” Cat asked with a frown. “If he is guilty…”

“I don’t like games”, Bel said. “There’s too much of that going on at the palace. I’ve played the game for years – it’s like fencing. Sometimes the best way to get a proper understanding of a situation is to attack. Now he knows that I know – and that’ll make him nervous.” Bel looked at Cat, holding her eyes. “Remember that about me. I don’t like games. I like it when people are straightforward with me. If they are – then I’ll be straight with them.”

Cat nodded, wondering what that had to do with anything. “Uh, and you tell me this because…?”

“Because you play games with women. I’m not one of those women”, Bel said.

“Oh, that”, Cat said softly. “Right, I’ll remember that”, she mumbled, averting her eyes. She wanted to tell the High Priestess she wasn’t in it for the game. Granted – she had chased a lot of women in her day for the fun of it. This time wasn’t one of those times. If she had been able to forget about the High Priestess she gladly would have, but she couldn’t. Flaming Feathers and flapping Bats…! she thought, grumbling in her mind.

They stood in silence for a moment and Cat wondered if she was supposed to excuse herself and leave, but she found she enjoyed the other woman’s presence too much.

“I heard about your friend – Serafine”, Bel said softly after a moment. “I’m sorry…”

“I…” Cat swallowed, not prepared to deal with the grief in front of the other woman.

“I know”, the priestess said and reached out for her. “I know...”

Bel touched her arm and Cat silenced, suddenly lost in a dream. I know her, she thought. I know this woman as I’ve known no one else...

Every touch, every movement... She suddenly realized it wasn’t her imagination or her mind that played tricks on her. She truly knew the High Priestess – from her dream. She knew her as a long lost lover who’d returned to her. She knew Bel’s touch, her kisses, the way her body moved, her scent, the way her hair moved... Every detail from Cat’s dream was true and her body, her mind – even her soul, if that was possible – screamed for her to be with this woman again. To take her in her arms and relive those moments in her dream.

It was the familiarity that drew her to the other woman, but also something else: a desperate need to regain those moments from her dream. I’ve made love to this woman a hundred times, she thought. A hundred times – and it was like the first time every time, at the same time it was as if she’d never done anything else in her life than to make love with this woman.

No wonder her body reacted the way it did to the other woman’s touch. No wonder…

“You asked me to trust you”, Bel said, changing subject. “I’m glad I did. Trust you, that is. If you hadn’t asked me I wouldn’t have let you go, do you understand?”

Cat shook her head. “No...” she said, confused.

“I was going to tie you by my side with magic when you said you were going – up there on the ledge. But you asked me to trust you...”

“So you let me go...”

“And from what I understood that saved Deyna’s life. I’m glad...”

   Cat wished the priestess would take a step back; she could hardly think straight, as it was with the woman so close.

”I’m truly sorry about Serafine, but…” Bel hesitated. “I’m glad it wasn’t you. I’d have missed you…” she added softly.

”Um, thanks”, Cat said. I guess, she thought, a little confused by the priestess’ sudden concern for her wellbeing. “Uh, I think I have to…” She looked around for a reason to leave the High Priestess; she couldn’t stand being so close to her anymore, “talk to Deyna. Yeah, that’s it… I have to talk to the princess. See you later.” She needed all her self control not to take the other woman in her arms and pull her close to her.

“Now? Aren’t you at least curious about…?”

“Later. Fine. Bye”, Cat said hastily, gesturing.

“But…”

Cat rushed off without another word, leaving an unusually unruffled priestess confused behind her.

*  *  *

When they reached the palace gates in Goddara early in the morning Bel looked around for Cat. The warrior had been good company on the eight day ride and the two of them had finally managed to have some decent conversations. Cat turned out to be funny and intelligent beneath her rough exterior and despite her arrogant manners. She had even admitted that Bel might not be as wrong about some things as she’d first believed – although she didn’t say what those things were. She also seemed to listen when Bel tried to explain things to her, instead of jumping to quick conclusions.

If she just didn’t have the annoying habit of disappearing in the middle of a conversation, Bel distractedly thought, trying to find the warrior among the masses. There was something twisting within her as she thought of Cat, something that she didn’t want to admit. A sense of… liking. She liked the other woman and had come to look forward to their discussions.

When she first realized that Cat could’ve died that day on the ridge instead of Serafine something had clenched inside her – something pressing on her chest and twisting sharply in her heart. The realization had concerned her, because she hadn’t understood its meaning. Why would she care so much for a woman she didn’t know? There hadn’t been an easy answer to that question, so she’d decided she’d get to know the woman. Just to learn something new about herself.

As it turned out, after these eight, intense days she’d spent with Cat riding beside her she was no longer entirely sure she’d been honest with herself before. Again the thought of Zelena’s naked body had come to her and again the lurching emotion the sight had brought with it returned. It was similar to what she felt when Cat grinned at her.

Some parts of Bel warned her about spending too much time with Cat and almost implored her to avoid the woman instead, as she had done and still did with Zelena, but the small part that objected was so intense she couldn’t ignore it. She wanted Cat by her side, even if they didn’t talk – the presence of the other woman was enough to… to calm her mind.

The thought worried her. She never needed anything to calm her mind before. As a matter of fact it was Cat’s absence that distressed her.

Stop this foolishness, she sternly told her self.

“Bel…”

Bel looked down from her red horse and noticed Katana at her side.

“Goddess – it’s good to see you again!” the Captain said. “Nidae found me and let me know what happened.”

Bel nodded; the Goddess had informed her of this. “Did she tell you?” she asked lowly. “It’s not over?”

“She told me”, Katana said with a grim face. “I didn’t think it was. Something’s up with Bor… I didn’t want to leave him with the Imperial Family.”

“You did the right thing”, Bel said, nodding. She looked around, but she and Katana stood alone while the rest of the company continued up towards the palace; only the oracle came up to them. Bel pretended to ignore a sudden flash of disappointment when she spotted Cat beside Deyna and the warrior didn’t even glance in Bel’s direction. Though that could have something to do with the presence of the Captain.

“Captain…” Nikka said as she reigned in her horse beside the warrior.

“I saw Fang”, Katana said. “What’s with him, anyway? He seemed gloomier than usual.”

“It probably has something to do with the fact that Zelena just told him he had to evacuate…” Nikka said.

“Evacuate?” Katana said with a frown.

“It’s still a secret, so don’t speak too loudly about it”, Bel said. “We need to get the deities out of Goddara. I believe their lives are in danger.”

“Goddess!” Katana whispered. “Are you serious? And I just thought it had to do with the imperial throne…”

“I believe it’s both”, Bel said thoughtfully. “Any way, Fang doesn’t want to leave his girls…”

“Foolish god! He’d risk his life for sex?” Katana shook her head. “Will he ever change?”

The question apparently brought a Sight to the oracle, because Bel noticed that Nikka’s eyes glazed over.

“He will, but…” The oracle’s voice was distant. “I See – his life in another time… He’ll be human then – carousing; spending his father’s money and shaming his father’s name. A woman will come and bring him immortality, make him… a dark god. A monster.” Nikka silenced, lost in the Sight for a moment. Then she said: “When he regains his soul he will need to atone for the terrible deeds he’s done.”

“Serves him right”, Katana said dryly.

“You’ll work with him then. Just remember – although he won’t be human when you meet you can still trust him.”

“Trust Fang? Trust this…” The Captain waved her hand, lacking words. “He’s unpredictable. There’s nothing to trust. He’s nothing more than an animal and I’m not dealing with him.” Katana determinedly shook her head.

“That remains to be seen”, Nikka said softly.

“We need to meet with the Imperial Couple immediately”, Bel said, changing subject. “There’s a lot to discuss.”

“And I’ve got my renegade warrior to take care of”, Katana said with a sigh. She looked at Bel. “Tell me she made a difference?”

“I believe she did”, Bel said. “Go easy on her.”

“That’s just it – I can’t. I have my rules, just like you do. I can’t retract my word.”

“I know. I let her know maybe I can offer her something if you don’t take her back.”

Katana nodded. “That’s good. She’s a good soldier, just…” She made a face. “She’s just so damn…” The rest of her words died away in a mumble as she turned away.

“Come”, Nikka said softly. “Let’s meet with the emperor.”

The first meeting concerned prince Harkaitz’s treason. The Imperial Couple were present and so was their son, heir to the throne; the three of them were seated on a dais below high glass windows in red and green.

The Priesthood were gathered and stood separated on each side of the dais: five in a line to the left and six with Bel on the right. All of them were dressed in red robes with their staffs in their hands, sternly waiting for the judgment of Harkaitz Qadir.

The large chamber was filled with guards: White Tigers lined up along the walls with swords at their sides or spears in their hands. Some members of the Cobra Squad were also present, together with their Chief; Bor was standing straight backed together with Katana, Nakkara Rim and Hades, leader of the White Tigers.

Harkaitz was standing before the dais, his hands tied before him; he was guarded by two White Tigers. A few steps behind him his wife and two children stood together. Ravena was dressed in red and her brother in red and black – the colors of the Cobra Squad; the first seemed worried, the second only angry and bitter, as if it was he who stood trial. Their mother was dressed in red and white; a dress with short sleeves showing the tattoos on her arms. The tattoos matched those of the empress Cara: three ravens in flight, the sign of the Covent of the Black Feather.

The members of the Covent were witches, initiated in Earth magic and sworn to heal and protect the people of Goddara. The Empress used her powers for the good of the people, bestowing blessings such as good crops, healthy cattle and healing the sick, but Bel had always suspected Jaquana Naga was using her powers to gain riches for herself and her husband, thwarting Cara’s intentions and perverting the powers of Earth by dabbling in black magic. Her Name meant Snake Soldier and Bel guessed the woman had closer contact with Mara than any of them let on.

”We’ve heard all parties and have been fully informed about the events of the past weeks”, the Emperor was saying. His face was stern and his eyes hard; signs that he was about to do something he didn’t want to. Bel knew Barac Wei well, but she didn’t have to be particularly insightful to know what it cost him to sentence his own brother.

”My brother’s treason has been duly proven and my hands are tied in this matter. There is no way for me to show mercy, even if I wanted to.”

Harkaitz snorted disdainfully, smirking at his brother, but remained silent.

”Herby I sentence Harkaitz Qadir, my beloved brother, to lifetime service in the silver mines. Let him be a slave.”

”’Beloved’?” Harkaitz spat. ”You never loved anything but your place on the throne.”

”No!” Jaquana exclaimed, trying to rush forward. She was held back by two guards. ”No, not the mines, your Highness…” she sobbed, kneeling pleadingly before the dais. Bel eyed her closely; there was pain showing in her face and tears on her cheeks, but her eyes were hard. Bel hoped Barac Wei wouldn’t be fooled by the tears of a woman, especially not a witch’s tears. She glanced at the emperor and noticed the determined set of his jaw.

To be sentenced as a slave in the silver mines was the harshest punishment one could receive: one hardly survived more than two years in the caves. It was a death sentence in itself – a very long and painful one.

”We have spoken”, the emperor said. ”Our decision is final.” He looked around and his eyes fell on Ravena and Rhais behind Jaquana. Bel noticed a flicker of uncertainty in his eyes before he clenched his jaw and went on: ”Further more – as there is no proof that my brother’s family were involved in this treason against me, and neither is there any evidence to the contrary, we will pass another command. Therefore, from the day before next full moon, Harkaitz’s family will be stripped of all their power and wealth – nothing will be left to them, not even the Name of the Imperial Family. As of that day my brother’s wife and his two children are nothing more than beggars, left only with a few valuables to prevent them from starving to death. They are to be exiled from this empire in five days.”

Bel tried hard not to show her surprise and she heard Varga, High Priestess of the Wolf, gasp in shock by her side. The punishment was fitting if Harkaitz’s family was involved in his treason – but very, very harsh if they were innocent.

”Nidae”, she thought, calling to the goddess. ”What made him make such a decision?”

”It’s what you wanted, isn’t it?” the goddess retorted. ”You don’t believe they are innocent…”

”Still – Barac Wei… I didn’t believe he had it in him. The silver mines are harsh enough…”

”Cara influenced him a bit. She doesn’t trust Jaquana – and she fights for her children too.”

”Your Highness…” someone said and Bel noticed Cat’s friend, the warrior she called Para, step forward. He had a concerned and injured expression on his face.

”No!” Jaquana screamed, rushing up from the floor and drawing the attention from the young man. ”No – you can’t do this!” The woman’s face was contorted in rage, so much so that her eyes seemed to flame. Bel sensed a slight madness behind the woman’s outburst. Witchcraft could be dangerous and claim the soul of the practitioner if the person dabbled in things she didn’t understand. Bel had the feeling Harkaitz’s wife had searched too deep for power, now balancing on the verge of an abyss of insanity.

”No! You’ve stripped him of everything, stealing his life, his name, his power! Now you’re taking his life and ours!”

”Mother…” Ravena stepped forward, trying to calm her mother, but Jaquana slapped her across the face.

”Useless! You were always useless! Powers you have, but no will to use them.”

”Mother!” Ravena gasped, holding a hand to her cheek.

”Your brother… Your brother knows what side to take.” Jaquana turned back to the dais. There was something in her eyes making Bel prepare herself, tightening the hold on her staff.

”You!” Jaquana pointed at Barac Wei with burning eyes. A few feet away her husband glanced at Bel with a triumphant grin. She could see he was mouthing something to her.

”I’ll get you…”

Harkaitz distracted her for a moment, which was probably his intention. In the next instant Jaquana made a flowing gesture with her arms, directing a force of dark energy against Barac Wei. The energy flow was invisible to the untrained eye, but if it hit the emperor it would cause immediate death.

”No!” Zelena called, reaching forward and throwing her Fire to interrupt the negative flow, at the same time as Bel directed her Air around Barac Wei to protect him. Jaquana’s flow was broken and slid off the emperor without causing him any harm.

”No!” the witch seethed. ”You…”

”You are bound”, Derac said and stepped forward. His Air bound the witch’s power and her hands to her body. His face was stern; harder than Bel had ever seen him. ”Your powers are bound. And I believe you’ll be accompanying your husband to the silver mines…”

”No. I’ll get you”, Jaquana spat, glowering at the emperor. ”I’ll hunt you down in every life from now – I’ll never let you rest. For all eternities and in all worlds I’ll find you and make your life a living…”

”Enough!” Bel stepped forward and gagged the woman with Air, effectively silencing her. ”Take them away”, she said, gesturing towards the guards that had rushed forward to hold Jaquana. The woman’s eyes burned with hatred and madness.

”We’ll get you”, Harkaitz said, looking at Bel. ”We’ll get both of you… in the end.”

”And we’ll wait for you and thwart your evil ways”, Bel said, before silencing even him with Air.

As everyone was staring at the couple taken out of the room Bel had a nagging feeling that there was something she’d forgotten. Someone was missing, someone’s presence she hadn’t sensed since… The thought hit her and she swirled around.

”No!” she called, seeing Ravena’s brother standing at the foot of the dais. In the tumult caused by his mother’s actions he’d been forgotten. Everyone’s eyes had been on the prince and his wife as they were lead from the room and Rhais had taken the opportunity to sneak up behind the dais unseen.

A knife was flying through the air, straight at the chest of Barac Wei’s son and heir. Bel quickly called upon Air and Fire to capture the knife, but before she had the time the knife fell useless to the stone floor with a clinking sound.

“Don’t touch my son!” Cara called, rising from her stone chair. It was her witch powers that had interfered with the killing and prevented the knife from reaching its goal.

Rhais didn’t stop to exchange pleasantries with the rest of them as his mother had done, but rushed passed the dais and threw himself through the high glass windows before anyone had time to react.

“Rhais!” Ravena called, stunned and distressed at the same time. Her scream mingled with the noise of broken, falling glass. Red and green shards, reflecting the sun in beautiful sparks, fell through the air to the floor.

“Get him!” the emperor demanded, rushing up from his seat. “And get the two of them out of here!” He gestured towards Harkaitz and Jaquana, whose almost identically smirking faces were turned towards him from the entrance.

A few members of the White Tigers pulled at the traitorous prince and his wife, while a larger group rushed out of the guarded doors to catch Rhais. Some followed Rhais through the open windows, although the fall to the terrace below was quite high.

“They won’t get him”, Nikka said, coming up at Bel’s side. The High Priestess turned to her.

“No? Can you see where he’s going?”

“No.” The oracle shook her head. “I can only see that he’s escaping.”

“The Empress reacted quickly”, Katana said, joining them in company with Hades and Derac. Bor was talking to Cat’s friend Para, who was holding Ravena close to him in a protecting manner.

“He’ll kill her… one day”, Nikka said in answer to Katana’s statement. “Rhais. His soul won’t forget… or forgive.”

“Madness”, Bel said. “All this madness – so much hate and rage. I think Jaquana has lost it. Did you see her eyes?”

“Madness is no excuse for killing”, Hades said, vigilantly looking around the chamber. A group of his White Tigers had encircled the members of the Imperial Family, forming a tight formation around them. “They had all the opportunities in the world, all the wealth and the power…” Hades shook his head. “And look at them. Look at what they did. For what? Because of a title, because they felt slighted, cheated of a position they would have corrupted in any case? No, power is a privilege, not a right – and anyone in power ought to use if for the good of the people. To fight for what’s right and to protect the innocent, no matter the cost to themselves.”

“That easy, huh?” Zelena said behind him. “You were always a dreamer, Hades.”

“Maybe, but if I was to lose my mind over something it would be love – not power.”

“And a romantic too”, Katana mumbled good-naturedly.

“Hades Shamdar”, Nikka said softly. “The Unseen Sword – one day you’ll strike in the dark and lose the one you love…”

He looked intently at her with sharp, piercing eyes. Bel had always liked the man for his righteousness and faith in his own abilities. In some ways he reminded her of Cat. “Maybe”, he finally said. “But I’ll never kill innocents.”

“No”, Nikka said, still softly, shaking her head. “No, you won’t.”

Hades nodded at Bel. “I need to see to my men. I’ll catch up with you later.”

The group dispatched, but Nikka held Bel back, discreetly showing her Ravena and the member of the Cobra Squad that held her in his arms. Bor had left them and Para gently guided the beautiful woman out of the room.

“Bel – that man, he wants to marry her.”

“So?” Bel asked. “Do you think Barac Wei retracts his punishment for Ravena?”

“Maybe – if she marries. She’s innocent in this, but… She can’t marry that man.”

“Why not?” Bel frowned, seeing Para and Ravena disappearing out of the chamber together with the rest of the Cobra Squad, leaving only some White Tigers and the Priesthood in the room with the Imperial Couple.

“He’s her brother.”

“What?” Bel hissed and grabbed the oracle’s arm. “Nikka!”

“I’ve known for years, but I never thought…”

“Goddess!” Bel whispered, suddenly realizing she could see Harkaitz traits in the younger man. She remembered she’d found him familiar when she saw him the first time. “Oh, my…”

“They can’t marry, but you can’t tell either of them the truth.”

“Why not? Do you think they’ll listen otherwise?”

“Something bad will happen if you do. I don’t know what, but…” Nikka shook her head. “Don’t. You know, he’s as much heir to the throne as Rhais if Barac Wei’s son dies…”

“You really think…?” Bel whispered, thinking of Cat’s faith in her friend.

“I don’t know, Bel. I can’t… See, but he mustn’t know.”

“Fine.” Bel nodded. “I’ll see what I can do”, she said. “Why… How come he doesn’t know who he his?” she added thoughtfully.

“Later, Bel. We need to focus now.”

“Fine.”

“Bel.” Nikka looked at her. “I mean it – you need to focus.”

“I’m focusing”, Bel said, frowning. “I’m always focused.”

The oracle watched her intently for a few moments before she nodded. “Keep it that way.”

Part Nine – Confrontations

Cat waited for Katana at the Captain’s private chambers at the ziggurat. She had left a message for the woman at the barracks that it was important they met. Cat hadn’t expected the Captain to turn up right away, but it was two hours before Katana found Cat in her private gym and before that Cat had even taken the time to eat and to get a bath.

“Cat”, Katana said as she strolled into the gym, resembling an annoyed feline in her movements. The Captain wasn’t raised in the ways of the deities in Kellara and thus not Named according to their traditions, but Cat had always been sure that if she had been, she too would have been claimed by Fang – or maybe by the Cougar.

Cat was standing before the Fighter’s Ring in the middle of the chamber – where Katana once had defeated the previous Captain and become the new leader of Panthera. The rest of the room was filled with weapons for practice and equipment for military exercises.

“Captain”, Cat said without moving.

“I heard you were looking for me. Waited long?”

There was a casualness to Katana’s way of moving and to her way of talking that immediately alerted Cat and she straightened her shoulders.

“Not too long.”

“We’ve been to trial. The prince has been sentenced. If you’re interested.”

She was, but she didn’t let it on. “Oh. Yeah…”

“His wife tried to kill Barac Wei and Rhais tried to kill Barac Wei’s son. Jaquana is in custody, but her son is still on the loose. If you happen to see him, do us all a favor and kill him.”

Cat blinked and didn’t know what to say. “Rhais? A traitor? I can’t… I can’t believe it”, she mumbled, but she had never liked Ravena’s brother to begin with. Ravena… “How’s Ravena?” she asked.

“I believe she’ll be fine. Barac Wei might reconsider lessening the punishment he put on her due to her parents actions, but…” Katana shrugged. “Otherwise your friend Para will be able to care for her. If that’s what she wants.”

Cat nodded thoughtfully, she didn’t understand what was happening – politics wasn’t her thing. Rhais – a traitor? Even though it was hard to believe she wasn’t really surprised. “And… the High Priestess? Is she fine?”

“Of course she is. Bel was never in any danger. She’s with the rest of the Priesthood right now, meeting with Barac Wei and Cara.” Katana stepped forward and came to a halt before Cat. “Why did you have to follow her, Cat?” she asked sincerely. “Why did you have to go against my orders? I can’t take back what I said.”

Cat straightened her back even more, holding the Captain’s gaze. She’d been thinking carefully of what she was about to say since Bel had said those things to her when they were locked up together in the Vale of the Dead. The High Priestess had talked about Katana’s expectations on Cat.

“I’m not asking you to take me back. I  want to Challenge you.”

Katana didn’t seem surprised. “Really?” she said, eyeing Cat narrowly. “Are you sure about this, soldier?”

Cat nodded. “I am.”

“Fine. You’re gonna lose, Cat – just so you know it.”

Cat clenched her jaws. “We’ll see about that”, she said, barely hiding a growl.

“I see you’re still angry with me. Fine. Let’s enter the ring and have it over with. Swords?”

“Staffs”, Cat said, nodding towards the wall to the right of them, where a row of staffs were lined up. “I wouldn’t want to accidentally cut you up.”

The Captain smirked, but then nodded and loosened the belt with the sword from her waist. Then she went to the wall and picked two staffs. Cat released her own belt and let it and the sword slip to the floor, before she entered the ring.

“So, it has finally come to this”, Katana said as they stood facing each other a moment later. “Honestly – I believed you’d have challenged me long before now.”

“Honestly”, Cat said, weighing the staff in her hands, “the thought never occurred to me before now.”

“It was Bel who put you on this track, wasn’t it?” the Captain said, smiling. “I think she’s curious about who’s the best.”

Cat didn’t answer, but she stiffened a little at the thought of the High Priestess playing her like that.

“Any last words before we begin?” Katana asked.

“There’s nothing more to say”, Cat said. They’d known each other for a long time: Katana had been her tutor, turning into a leader, turning into a friend and now… A rival.

“You’re right – there isn’t.”

They attacked at the same time, swinging their staffs. Cat barely dodged the blow the blonde warrior directed at her as Katana swiftly jumped to avoid the blow Cat aimed at her knees. The Captain was quick in returning the blow, but Cat rapidly blocked the attack against her chest and regained her balance, which she had lost a moment before. She followed up the block with a swift swirl of her staff, forcing Katana to retreat a few steps.

“You ought to have chosen the sword”, the Captain said. “You were never that good with the staff…”

“I don’t see you winning”, Cat said, twirling the staff.

“Bel’s beaten me, you know. She’s a true fighter with the staff, did you know that?”

The news took Cat by surprise. Bel had said Katana had trained her, but she’d also said she wasn’t that good. Maybe she’d meant with the sword.

“No”, Cat said lowly. “I didn’t know that.”

“So – let’s see if you’re as good as she is.”

Katana attacked and forced Cat backwards for several feet. Before Cat regained her composure the Captain hit her on the upper arm. The blow struck a nerve and she dropped the staff. The next blow was aimed at her head. She quickly dodged it, cradling her arm close to her, inwardly swearing to herself. The staff went over her head and she heard the swishing noise it made; it would have cracked her scull had it hit her. Goddess! she thought, suddenly realizing what she’d gotten herself into. She rolled over, grabbing her staff as she went and came to her feet with it in her hands.

“Close”, Katana said.

“As close as you’re coming”, Cat said, feeling the battle pulse speed up. She grabbed the staff and steadied her stance. “Come again, Captain.”

“With pleasure”, Katana grimly said.

The fight went on. Cat couldn’t tell for how long, she lost sense of time as she parried, thrust and moved around in the ring. It had only happened a few times before that she’d met someone so well matched to her own skills and when she had she’d mostly survived because of luck – or some mistake that her enemy made. Somehow she didn’t believe the Captain was going to make a mistake.

As Leaping Panthers both of them had extraordinary speed and strength as warriors. All true members of the pack were Initiated by the Goddess – a process by which they were given extra physical powers. It was the same for the Cobra Squad, but not for the White Tigers. The Tigers were common warriors; there were too many of them to make them special in the way the special forces of the Snake and the Bat were.

Cat had often fought other members of Panthera – or even members of the Cobra Squad – in training sessions, but never in a serious fight. Not like the one she was in now. She finally understood what Katana was: a true warrior, born to fight. Like Bel it wasn’t something she did, it was something she was.

Me too, Cat thought determinedly. I’m a true warrior too. She’s trained me to be one.

But to be a leader wasn’t all about the fight or the power. It was about leading; guiding people, being in charge, making decisions others didn’t have to. It meant responsibilities. It meant she couldn’t rush off whenever she wanted to…

Cat dodged another blow against her knees. It was the third in a row, Katana must be tired. When Cat thought about it the Captain did seem a little slower in her movements. She decided to use it to her advantage and quickly attacked Katana in a blurry motion, moving so quickly it was difficult to see what she was doing. In the next moment she’d knocked the staff from the Captain’s hands and felled her flat out on the floor. Grinning down at the other woman, with sweat and blood dripping from her face, she pointed the end of the staff against Katana’s throat.

“I win.”

“Not yet – you must knock me unconscious…” the Captain said. She looked pale and she was bleeding from a cut on her cheek, blood blurring the tattoo, but her blue eyes were still as determined as before.

“No problem”, Cat said and swiftly lifted the staff to follow up on her words. In the next moment, so fast she didn’t see it coming, the Captain kicked her feet away from under her, grabbed the disregarded staff a few inches away and… The world went dark before Cat could even feel the pain.

When Cat woke up Katana was sitting a few feet away, crouching on her heels with the staff resting across her thighs.

“By all the deities…” Cat mumbled and touched her forehead with a painful grimace.

“Too impatient – as always”, the Captain said, rising from the floor. She threw away the staff, looking down at Cat with superiority. “I’ve always told you you’d make that mistake one day…”

“You tricked me”, Cat mumbled. Her head hurt badly and her fingers touched something sticky; they came away with blood on them.

“You’d better take care of that wound. Don’t want you to bleed to death.”

Cat looked up. “Do you even care?” she spat, angry and humiliated. “I’m the better fighter!”

“How dare you ask if I care?” Katana snapped. She took an angry step towards Cat and gestured towards her; a gesture of one hand that Cat had learned to recognize over the years. “You – you were the one that broke the rules! You refused to obey my orders! And you blame me for it?”

“You don’t understand”, Cat sneered, trying to get to her feet. Her head began throbbing and she sat back down.

“No? Try, tell me then. Tell me, so I can understand – because I’m really, really trying to understand why you’re acting like such an idiot! You may be stronger than me – and maybe even better with the sword… But I won, Cat. You lost – because you as usual let your feelings rule you. A leader can’t rush forward like that. It takes more to be a leader than to be a warrior – and you…” It was Katana’s turn to sneer. “You’re just not ready to be a leader.”

“I could’ve learned!” Cat exclaimed. “I would’ve learned!” She struggled to her feet.

“Yeah, if you’d waited a few years.” Katana sighed. “Why, Cat?” she asked again. “Why did you have to do it? I don’t want to exclude you, but you left me no choice. Why did you have to rush after her like that? She wasn’t even in any real danger.”

“And how was I supposed to know?” Cat grumbled, tenderly touching her head, and winced as she felt the pain shoot through her head.

“You could’ve listened to me!” the Captain cried out. “You could’ve listened for once!”

“I couldn’t!” Cat retorted. “I just couldn’t, ok?” She sighed. “You don’t understand, I…” She silenced, shaking her head.

“Oh, by the goddess!” Katana suddenly gasped, staring wide eyed at her. Cat noticed the understanding in her blue eyes. “You’re… You’re infatuated with her!” The Captain whispered. “Goddess – Cat…!”

“I can’t help it, alright! Bats and bloody Snakes!” Cat turned away, too ashamed to look Katana in the face. She hadn’t wanted the Captain to know… She didn’t want anyone to know. It was enough Deyna had guessed…

“Cat”, Katana whispered. “Oh, Cat…”

“Don’t sound like that!” Cat spat. “It’s not a fleeting infatuation. I’m… I’m…” I’m completely lost, she thought helplessly, staring at the Captain without finding words to describe what she felt.

“Do you know how many men and women have tried to seduce her, Cat?” Katana said softly, compassionately.

Cat shook her head, but not in answer to the Captain’s question. “I’ve tried so hard these past days not to like her, Katana”, she whispered. “This goes deeper than any infatuation I’ve ever had. I’ve dreamt about her for years. I mean, really… I just didn’t know it was her, you know. And now… I can’t get her out of my head. I don’t even like her.”

“You don’t?” Katana asked, again softly. “She’s a nice person, you know…”

“No.” Cat shook her head, slowly because of the pain. “Don’t say that. I can’t… If I admit I like her, if I admit she’s nice, even for a second then I’m…” Then I’m lost forever. Then it’s real and nothing dreamt anymore… Then I can’t go back and not deny it again.

“I understand”, Katana said slowly. ”But Cat – she is a very nice person… And you can’t have her. Ever. You must know that.”

“I do. I do, but I can’t… Katana – I don’t know what to do!” Cat said pleadingly. “It’s all so forbidden and… and…” She swore, breathing heavily.

The Captain regarded her in silence for a while, before she said: “I’ve never seen you like this. Of course I’ve seen you frustrated because of Ravena’s games, but not… quite like this.”

“It’s just not physical, Captain. You know?”

There was an odd, sad expression in Katana’s eyes as she nodded. “Yes. I do know”, she said softly, barely audible. “Go now, Cat. Get that wound tended to and then find Bel. Tell her the truth if you can – or make up your mind not to. But whatever you do – it has to end here. Do you understand? You need to focus on protecting the princess. Even if you’re not one of us anymore that is still your priority. The oath you swore is for life.”

Cat nodded. “She said she’ll find me something if you wouldn’t… If I couldn’t fight with you again.”

Katana nodded. “I’ll discuss it with her.” She sighed. “I’m so sorry, Cat. I wish you’d told me before. I’d have understood.”

Cat blinked in surprise. “You would have?”

“Yes. At least I wouldn’t have threatened to exclude you from the pack if I’d known you had a reason to act as you did. Now… I just thought you were being arrogant and pigheaded as usual.”

*  *  *

The large statue of the Bat seemed to loom above them behind the altar as they stood in Bel’s private chamber at the temple. It was late afternoon and the last meeting had taken several hours. It had been hard convincing the Priesthood that the deities must leave Goddara, preferably Kellara. Half of them had been in favor of the idea and half of them against it. In the end the decision had to be made by Barac Wei and the empress. Barac Wei had asked his oracle one question: what should he do?

Nakkara Rim had said two things: “If you send them away there will possibly be bloodshed. If you let them stay there certainly will.”

The emperor made his decision to exile the deities for their own good together with their respective High Priests and Priestesses. Mara was without a High Priest at the moment, so he was represented by one of the lower priests in the meeting, but no one paid much attention to him.

Mara had been strangely quiet since Bel came back. And so was the Priesthood in talking about Snoek. Bel remembered they had been the same when Orm turned out to be a traitor several years ago. If there was something she wanted to do it was to put the Cobra through some tests to prove his guilt – or his innocence. But she knew the rest of the Priesthood, with a few exceptions, would disapprove and left the thought for later. When they found whomever it was who was still plotting against them she’d press for a trial of Mara the Cobra.

Nikka had followed her back to the temple and was present as Bel tried to convince Nidae to leave Goddara in company with Derac. The goddess stubbornly refused.

“You need me here, Bel”, Nidae said, standing before the altar in her human form.

“I need you? It’s your life that’s in danger. You couldn’t act when it came to the abduction of Fang. Not much use you were then.”

“Bel, listen now…”

“You’ve got to go away!” Bel snapped, pointing at the woman with her staff.

“Don’t do that”, Nidae said, shivering. “Don’t threaten me like that.”

Bel lowered the staff. “Sorry, Nidae”, she said with a sigh. “This whole thing’s just… Everyone is refusing to leave and I’m just trying to save their lives.”

“I know, priestess”, Nidae said softly. “But sometimes you can’t bend other people’s will to your own, even if you’re right. There’s always the choice of free will.”

“It’s a crappy notion”, Bel grumbled. “Look, Nidae…” – she threw out her arms. “Deyna’s refusing to leave and the only reason her parent manages to force her away is because she’s still not an adult. Otherwise she’d never leave.”

“Deyna must go”, Nikka said at her side. Bel glanced at her and nodded. The oracle had said the same thing before, when they were in discussion with Barac Wei and the empress Cara. Deyna had been present then, desperately pleading with her mother not to send her away. She’d even been crying and her powers had uncontrollably upset the whole room: disrupting the energy flow and toppling over statues, tearing down tapestries from the walls and flinging candles across the room. In the end Bel had to subdue her and bind her powers for a moment, until she’d calmed down. She was still crying, frantically pleading with her mother not to send her away. “Let me stay with Bel”, she said several times. “I’m safe with Bel. She’ll take care of me.”

The whole thing had surprised Bel so much she even considered letting the girl stay with her, but then Nikka had said the princess needed to get out of Goddara before the full moon.

“I’m staying, Bel. If it’s a High Priest behind all of this he’s doing this for his god or goddess. That means that you might be facing a deity.”

“I can bind a deity…” Bel began, but something in Nidae’s eyes silenced her. “What is it? What are you not telling me?”

“There are ways for deities to protect themselves from the Priesthood’s hold on them”, Nidae said softly, not looking away from Bel. “Only for a short time, but still. It’s ancient knowledge, old magic… The Priesthood knows nothing of it and only a few deities are aware of it.”

Bel frowned. “I know. It’s the ritual that Snoek was trying to pull on Fang…”

“It has nothing to do with blood sacrifices”, Nidae interrupted. “It’s simpler than that. It only involves a few herbs, a charm and some prayers. And if the deity we’re facing is aware of this, which I believe he is, then you’re in grave danger. Not even you could face a deity in its full glory, however powerful you are.”

“But…” Bel frowned again. “I’ve never heard of this.”

“It’s a well guarded secret”, Nidae said. “I’d make use of it if I found it necessary. If it comes down to a fight… If you must face the deity I’ll make use of the knowledge and protect myself from the High Priest or Priestess. I’ll give you what you need to perform the ritual for me.”

“You could’ve done that before”, Bel said in a low voice. “To save Fang.”

“I don’t want anyone to know about this. It’s dangerous knowledge. If the wrong deity got their hands on it…”

“But why hasn’t this deity made use of the knowledge before, if he has it?” Nikka asked.

“Because the effects are only temporary. Sooner or later it will wear off and he’ll be in the Priesthoods snare again. And even though the effect protects him from the Priesthood it doesn’t protect him from another deity.”

“But a ritual of Ma’ahel would”, Bel mumbled thoughtfully. “The ritual of the Ascension. The sacrifice of the seven.”

“Seven?” Nikka said. “I’ve never heard of… this.” She had a sudden worried look on her face, followed by comprehension. “Oh”, she softly. “I understand.”

“He would need to kill seven deities during the full moon to complete the ritual”, Bel said.

“Not necessarily”, Nikka said, slowly shaking her head. She was talking more to herself than to the others and Bel knew it was futile to ask her about it. Although, she noticed the look on Nidae’s face and suddenly realized the goddess knew what was on the oracle’s mind. She looked from one to the other.

“Yes”, the Goddess of the Dark Moon softly said. “We need to get Deyna out of the city before the full moon. And the rest of the deities”, she added, looking at Bel.

Bel nodded. She was about to say she’d send Cat to protect the princess together with the rest of the Leaping Panthers, but she couldn’t get the words out. I don’t want to send her away, she thought distractedly. I want her with me. The sudden revelation was a shock to her and she didn’t know what it meant. Or more precisely – she didn’t want to know what it meant. Bats and holy Feather! I can’t seriously…

“Bel?”

“Huh?” she said, snapping back to reality.

She looked at Nikka, but it was neither the oracle nor the goddess who’d said her name. Zelena was suddenly standing beside her, looking strangely at her.

“Bel – are you ok?”

“Oh, yes. Sorry, didn’t see you.” Bel eyed her with concern. Zelena seemed a little down. “And you?”

“I’m leaving with Fang tonight…”

“Already?” Nikka asked and Zelena glanced at her.

“Yes – he’s sulking and I can’t stand him being like that for more days than I need to. To wait would only make him worse – and I wouldn’t know if he attempted to run away. He’s such a child”, she sighed.

“I’d never have managed to handle him as well as you do”, Bel admitted. “I’d have kept him on an eternal leash.”

“Believe me, the thought has occurred to me”, Zelena said dryly. Then her eyes flickered around the room in an uncharacteristically uncertain way before they settled on Bel. “I’ve only come to say goodbye”, she said.

“I’m sure we…” Bel began.

“And to do this…” Zelena quickly stepped forward and took Bel’s face between her hands; before Bel knew what was happening the High Priestess was kissing her.

Oh, my, Bel thought, strangely detached. I didn’t see that one… Oh, this is nice. She cut the thought, trying not to linger upon the softness of Zelena’s mouth and the way her tongue traced the outlines of her lips. Goddess – I never thought…! The sight of Zelena naked body came before her again and she almost blanched, but forced herself to keep her cool as the other woman pulled back. Zelena looked shyly at her, but Bel could only stare.

“I’m sorry, I just had to… know what it was like”, Zelena said. “Bye, Bel”, she added softly, before she turned around and swiftly left the chamber.

I wonder what it would be like to kiss Cat like that, Bel thought, still stunned. The thought of Cat’s grinning mouth came before her and she closed her eyes for a brief second. Behind her she could hear the goddess chuckle.

“You felt that, didn’t you?” Nidae asked in her mind, teasingly.

“Stop that!” Bel admonished with an inward annoyance. “Get out of my mind!”

Nidae chuckled. “I’ll see you later”, she said and Bel could feel the wind behind her when the goddess changed shape. A heartbeat later a tiny bat flapped through the room and disappeared in the shadows.

“She kissed me”, Bel said, still a bit shocked.

“Of course she did”, Nikka amusedly said.

“I can’t believe she did that…” I can’t believe I liked it. Cat… Her thoughts shied away from the warrior; she noticed she became warm all over her body when she thought of kissing Cat.

“You’ll love Zelena deeply in another life. She’ll be a man and he’ll be the love of your life, until… He’ll die and it’ll break your heart. Try to remember not to extract vengeance because of it…”

“I wish you’d stop telling me things that happen in my other lives and tell me about this one. What must I do to stop what’s coming? I’m feeling so… helpless and I hate that.”

“You’ll need to stay focused. That’s all that’s required of you.” Nikka glanced at her. “You still up for it?”

“I’m focusing”, Bel said, inwardly grinding her teeth. Why did that woman have to kiss me?

“The things I’ve been telling you lately have all been focused around the same particular life”, the seer went on. “Whatever time and place it is I’m Seeing we’re all returning then to sort out the… conflicts we’ve been having in this life. All of us will be there, one way or another. What will happen then depends on what we’re doing now. All those events I’ve been Seeing are connected. And we must succeed now, otherwise the world will be doomed at that point and I can’t be sure we can prevent the evil from rising at that time.”

Bel frowned. “Nidae was talking about ancient knowledge. I’ll keep to my books and scriptures and see if I can find anything worthwhile. Maybe some way to locate our enemy, or at least to identify him.”

Nikka looked at her. “We both know who it is, don’t we?” she said in a low voice.

“We can’t prove anything”, Bel said, shaking her head. “If Orm has returned and Mara is behind it…” She sighed. “All we can do is prepare for battle.”

“And stand united”, Nikka said with a nod. “I’ll see you later – I’ll see if I can provoke a Vision that’ll help us.” She hesitated. “Bel…” she added, somewhat reluctantly. “There are things…”

“I know, Nikka”, Bel said softly. She knew. She remembered. It had been years, but she had never forgotten. One didn’t forget a prediction about one’s own death. She’d had years to prepare.

It didn’t really make it easier.

The oracle swallowed, nodding. “If it comes to that… The life of our Goddess depends on it.” A pained expression flew across the pure, smooth face and dark eyes closed for a brief second. When Nikka looked up again she met Bel’s green gaze, whispering: “If bad comes to worse... I’m so sorry, Bel.”

Bel shook her head. “I’ve known since I first met you that my time would come.” She hesitated. “Will you tell me how?”

And this time the oracle did.

When her friend had left Bel stood in front of the altar for awhile, pondering what had happened – what she’d been told. Her thoughts soon drifted from Nikka’s words and the meaning of them; she understood what the oracle had told her, although Nikka might not. It was one thing to See things and another to understand the cause behind the scenario. Bel knew what Nikka’s words meant and since she’d already considered the same scenario herself they didn’t really tell her much. Except how she was going to die.

She pushed that particular thought from her mind. It wasn’t time yet. Nikka had asked her to focus. She focused much better if she didn’t let her emotions disturb her.

So her thoughts drifted. She didn’t consider the fact that Zelena and Fang were already leaving or the fact that their world seemed to be in serious peril and that no one else seemed to realize it, but the fact that Zelena had kissed her and that she’d felt a response within herself. Holy Bats and bloody Snakes! Now I have to send away Cat…

Just as the thought crossed her mind she became suddenly aware that she wasn’t alone. She turned around and noticed the warrior of her thoughts standing in the middle of the chamber. Bel’s heart lurched at the sight and her mind admonished her for it. Then she noticed that Cat was badly hurt, she was still bleeding from a deep cut at her temple.

“Cat”, she whispered and took an involuntarily step forward. She seemed to do a lot of things involuntarily when it came to Cat. She didn’t like that – she preferred to be in control, to control her emotions and not let them rule her. “What happened to you?”

“I…” Cat made a small gesture with her hand. “I came to see you.”

“Yes, but…” Bel stopped, but then ignored the warning her mind directed at her and hurried towards the warrior. She halted at Cat’s side and touched her face with gentle fingers; Cat silently sighed and closed her eyes. “You’re badly hurt”, Bel said.

“I challenged Katana…” Cat opened her eyes.

“Oh”, Bel said, feeling how soft Cat’s skin was beneath her fingers and was distracted by it. She lowered her hand. “How… What happened?”

“I lost.” Cat’s mismatched eyes followed Bel as she stepped back to put some distance between them.

“Of course you did”, Bel gently said. “You weren’t ready. It takes more than physical strength and speed to lead people… You need to want it too. And you…” She silenced. “You don’t want to lead.”

“No, I don’t”, Cat said, slowly shaking her head. “But I wanted to defeat Katana, to prove…” Cat silenced, biting her lower lip. Bel couldn’t prevent herself from glancing at those lips. She quickly looked away again and partly turned.

“I’ll get some warm water, herbs and clean rags to clean you up with”, she said, wondering what Cat was doing at the temple.

“I saw you”, Cat softly said, in such a low voice that Bel hardly heard her.

“What?” she asked, turning back to the warrior.

“I saw you”, Cat said in a broken and yet rebuking voice. She raised her face and defiantly looked at Bel with narrowing, mismatched eyes.

“I don’t understand”, Bel said, confused. Cat took a step towards her, eyes burning now.

“You kissed her!”

Bel gasped. “Cat…”

“I saw you. She kissed you and you… You felt it.” Cat’s last words were barely a whisper. “You would never let me kiss you like that…” she added brokenly.

Oh, Goddess – I would like to! Bel caught herself thinking, stalwartly refusing to lower her gaze to look at Cat’s mouth. Holy Feathers, what’s happening to me? “I’ll get you some…” She gestured towards Cat’s wounds. “Sit down at the altar and wait for me.”

“Bel…” Cat said in a strained voice, reaching for her.

The hoarseness of the other woman’s voice affected Bel in an odd way, causing a flow of warmth to course through her body. Her pulse beat irregularly and she had to control herself not to inhale in an audible gasp.

“Wait here”, she hurriedly said. “I’ll be back soon.” Slowly she loosened Cat’s grasp from her arm, feeling the warmth of the other woman as their fingers touched. Curse upon you, Zelena! she angrily thought as she rushed from the room. She blamed her affliction entirely on the other High Priestess; if Zelena hadn’t kissed her she wouldn’t have realized… She wouldn’t have wondered what it would be like to actually… Bloody Tigers and holy Hawk!

Bel kept swearing inwardly as she collected water in a bowl, warmed it with Fire and then got some herbs and clean cloths to use for Cat’s wounds. When she returned to the altar room the warrior was sitting below the altar, leaning her back against the stone with closed eyes. Bel stopped to watch her for a few moments. Dark hair fell over closed eyes, shadowing high cheeks. She’s quite beautiful, she thought, but then shook her head to clear it. She was being silly, behaving like… She didn’t know what she was behaving like, but she clearly wasn’t herself.

“Here”, she said resolutely, moving forward to kneel by Cat’s side. Cat looked up at her, showing no surprise to see her. Her eyes were deep and Bel had to suppress a shiver.

“You’re so beautiful”, Cat said intensely. “And I can’t even touch you. It’s a sin to blaspheme against the Priesthood, my grandfather taught me that. If I kissed you…”

“You wouldn’t live long enough to regret it”, Bel said briskly, ignoring the sudden, melting flame in her stomach as she thought of Cat kissing her.

“You let her kiss you…”

“She’s a High Priestess, it’s different. Here – this will hurt…” Bel held the wet fabric to the wound in Cat’s temple and Cat winced a little, making a small noise.

“I’d never regret it – even if you killed me…”

“Stop this nonsense now”, Bel said, scowling at the other woman. “You don’t even know me. It doesn’t mean anything that you think I’m beautiful – I’ve heard it thousands of times…”

“I know, you told me.”

“So, let this be. Sit still”, Bel added as Cat was about to rise. “Your wounds need tending to. You probably have a concussion, making you act all… irrational. Be still – and silent. I don’t want to hear more about this foolishness…”

Cat closed her eyes. “You don’t understand”, she whispered. Bel wanted to ask about that, but felt it was safer not to.

“You saw us”, she said carefully, thinking of Nikka’s words to her. “Did you… hear anything?”

Cat opened one eye, looking at her with the yellow gleam of her cat eye; it was a little disconcerting. “No. I’m not that impolite. I went away and waited in the hallway until the rest of them had left.”

Bel nodded. “Thank you”, she said softly.

“You’re welcome”, Cat said, only with a hint of sarcasm, and closed her eye again.

Bel tended to Cat’s wounds, using herbs and some magic to heal the worst of them. It didn’t take that long and when she was done she wished she wasn’t. It was with reluctance she put away the bowl and rose from the floor to step away from Cat. Her fingers remembered the feeling of Cat’s skin – soft and tender. She had wanted to caress her tattooed cheeks, to let her fingers slide down her mouth to know what it felt like to… Curse upon you, Zelena!

“I heard that, priestess”, Nidae chuckled in her head.

“Get out, Nidae!” Bel forcefully pushed the goddess from her mind and cursed herself for not being vigilant enough to keep the barrier up.

“Thank you”, Cat said, rising from the floor. She stretched a bit and Bel nodded, distractedly noticing bare skin rippling at the warrior’s midriff: flat stomach, taught muscles, smooth skin… She suddenly remembered Cat’s nakedness from times before with a burning intensity and looked away.

“It was nothing”, she said curtly. “Look, kitten”, she added in a more serious vein, looking straight at Cat. “What I’m about to tell you is very important and very secret, understood?”

Cat seemed surprised for a moment, but then nodded. The wound at her temple had faded to a pale scar after Bel’s healing session. “Sure. What’s going on?”

“The deities are leaving Goddara. In fact they’re leaving the empire…”

Cat gasped. “What do you mean? Are they abandoning us?”

Bel thought it was a funny comment from someone who wasn’t particularly interested in the deities. She shook her head. “I’m… The Emperor is sending them away on my command. Their lives are in danger.”

Bel briefly told Cat about her suspicions that their enemy – in all probability a High Priest – was planning to kill the deities to win more power for his own deity. “The ritual of the Ascension is very old and powerful. It’s called Ma’ahel. It means the priest must sacrifice seven of a kind to reach the desired effect. Seven deities must be sacrificed beneath a full moon and the one wanting to obtain the power must bathe in their blood.”

“So… He’d obtain the power of the seven deities?” Cat asked, not fully understanding.

“No, not quite. He’ll only obtain the power of the last sacrifice. The previous six are only preparation.”

“He?” Cat whispered, picking up on something in Bel’s voice. “You know who it is, don’t you?”

Bel hesitated before she nodded. “I have my suspicions, but I can’t prove anything.”

“So, by sending off the deities the one deity who is behind it all… He wouldn’t leave.”

“He would probably pretend to leave, not to attract attention. But no…” Bel shook her head. “No one except the Priesthood and the Imperial Couple knows that the deities are leaving. Well, and Katana and Nikka.”

“Nikka?” Cat asked, somewhat uncertain.

“The oracle”, Bel explained. “The deities won’t tell each other where they go and neither will anyone of the Priesthood. The traitor might be able to find one or two deities, but not seven.”

“And why are you telling me this?” Cat wondered.

“Because you need to go with Deyna. I’m sending her away.”

Cat gasped. “You’re sending me away…” she whispered and took an impulsive step towards Bel. “Don’t do this.”

“Don’t be ridiculous”, Bel said, struggling with the awareness that Cat’s presence so close to her affected her in strange ways. “This has nothing to do with you. Deyna’s safety comes first and you…” She smiled at Cat with genuine gentleness. “You’re her best defender.”

“I’m not. Katana…”

“Katana and her pack will be there. And so will you. You’ll stay here past full moon and then you’ll …”

“But… Please don’t do this to me”, Cat pleaded, interrupting Bel’s trail of thought. “I want to be where you are.”

“Stop this!” Bel demanded, looking at the young woman in front of her. “Your sworn duty lies with the princess, not…”

“You don’t understand!” Cat cried out. “I… You…”

Bel shook her head. “No, I don’t understand. And I don’t plan to. You mean nothing to me, do you understand?”

Cat tumbled backwards. “You can’t mean that…” she whispered and the look of horror on her face forced Bel to lessen her stern attitude.

“No”, she said, sighing. “No, I don’t. I believe we could’ve been good friends if given half a chance, but our lives… Our lives are too different. We want different things from life and we can’t blend it together.”

“But… you’re friends with Katana and that… that oracle? They…”

“They know and understand their roles. You don’t. You’re like… this wild card in the deck; no one really ever knows when you’re going to show up or what you’re going to do. Unpredictable and uncontrollable. One day you have to choose sides, take a stand and learn to take responsibility for your actions – not just swing a sword and think everything will be fine because you’re good at it. There’s more to life than that.”

“I don’t understand”, Cat said, shaking her head.

“Maybe one day you will. I hope you make the right choice and that we can be friends. Now…” Bel made a gesture with her staff.

“No”, Cat said, shaking her head more determined this time. Her mismatched eyes narrowed. “You’re not doing this to me. I’m no doll you can throw away when you like… Don’t turn away when I’m talking to you!”

Bel had shrugged and turned, not wanting to listen to Cat; she could never explain anyway. What should she say? “Well, yeah – I might feel something when you look at me and the thought of kissing you excites me, but…” She was a priestess – and a High Priestess at that. There was no way, not ever, that she could give in to the emotions Cat’s presence awakened within her. To give Cat the least indication that she might feel something would only give the young woman false hope. Besides, she’d been right in what she’d said: they were on different paths in life. Cat was unpredictable and wouldn’t be much use to the High Priestess if she couldn’t be trusted.

When Bel turned away from her Cat grabbed her arm; steely fingers dug into her flesh and caused pain. Bel reacted instinctively, due to her own frustration and repressed emotions. She’d hardly slept for over a week and the concern about Goddara’s future caught up with her.

“Enough!” she yelled as Cat grabbed her and swirled her around. There was thunder in her voice and a gust of wind responded to her irritation. Air swept the black clad warrior from the floor and hurled her through the air. “Now you listen to me!” Bel said angrily, making Air hold Cat pinned to the wall high above the floor. “Grow up, kitten. If you want to play with the adults you need to be one. You can’t have anything you point at with that toy sword at your side. You loath authorities with no respect for what some of us must sacrifice to do what we do. Learn about the costs of leadership before you rush off crusading against it. Grow up, girl. Make a choice.”

Cat gasped as Bel abruptly let go of her and the warrior fell to the floor. She landed smoothly on her feet, looking up at Bel with burning eyes. The one golden eye seemed to glow. Crouching on the floor she spat at Bel.

“You arrogant…!”

“Me? I’m arrogant?” Bel laughed cynically. “It takes one to know one, doesn’t it, kitten?” She shook her head and turned away. When the anger lessened she felt sorry that she’d reacted that way. She hadn’t lost her temper in… more years than she could remember. Cat’s presence affected her strongly. It confused her and distracted her.

“I’m sorry.”

Bel stopped, still with her back to Cat, wondering if she’d heard correctly. She turned around; the warrior had risen and stood before the main entrance to the chamber.

“I’m sorry”, Cat said again, moving a few steps forward. “You’re right – I’m arrogant and I’m used to getting my way, but you…” She paused. “You’re so damn difficult! One moment you’re all nice and shiny and the next… You’re all – priestessy.”

Bel hid a smile at the dark warrior’s indignation. “Yes?”

“I mean – I don’t get you. I want to… get you”, Cat said lamely. “I want to know if you’re…” She hesitated.

“What?” Bel asked after a moment.

“I want to know if you’re… nice. I want to know the woman in you.”

Bel was caught by the sincerity and honesty in the other woman for a moment, but then she softly said: “There is no woman in me, Cat. I’m a priestess – it’s who I am, it’s what I’ve always been.”

“No.” Cat shook her head. “I don’t believe that…”

“We’ve talked about this before. To be a priestess is not what I am, not something I became by putting on a robe when I was a child. It’s something I am. It’s what I was when I was born – even before I was born.”

“But you… You’re different sometimes. Sometimes when you forget you’re a priestess you laugh and…” Cat looked at her with a searching expression. “That’s the woman in you.”

“Listen”, Bel said gently. “I never forget I’m a priestess, Cat. Never. Those parts of me you see, those are the other side of the priestess in me. To balance a deity’s power means to balance the two sides of the deity one serves. Nidae is goddess of life and death – I as her High Priestess must know how to balan