Yesterday, I broke the 85K-word mark for A Barrel of Vintner. And I'm still about 20K away from the end. I know what's going to happen. It's a matter writing it out.
Unfortunately, it hasn't been a good week for writing. Long story. Needless to say, this book will not be released in February. However, I'm close. So close I can taste it. And now, here's a little taste for you!
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To my surprise, it wasn’t Chief Warden White Owl who caught up with Alara and escorted her from the senior staff dining room, but another warden I did not know. The remaining wardens, including White Owl, exchanged looks, obviously unsure of what to do next.
I couldn’t help wondering what else our Reverend Mother was trying to hide.
Hera cleared her throat. “What Skoloti prophesies are you talking about, Anthea?”
“With all due respect, Chief Justice, perhaps this isn’t a discussion you want to be shared with the entire staff of Balance?” White Owl murmured.
Callisto cocked her head. “Thomas?”
One of the stewards jumped to attention and rushed to her side. “Yes, my lady.”
“Have the main course brought in along with the appropriate utensils, plates, and bowls for Chief Warden White Owl,” she ordered. “And please make sure a meal is taken to the Reverend Mother.”
“Yes, m’lady.” Thomas bowed before he scurried off to fulfill our second’s command.
“The rest of you wardens are dismissed to your own dinner,” Callisto continued.
The rest of the wardens filed out after conferring with their respective justices. All of them except my own.
“Long Feather, Jonata?” White Owl prodded.
“They stay,” I said. “They already know about the prophecies, having been present when the Skoloti ambassador addressed the subject with me. I guarantee their conduct, Chief Warden. And their silence in the matter.” I shrugged. “Besides, I’d simply tell them what happens here after we retire for the evening.”
Callisto groaned and rubbed her temples. “Why must you turn the entire Temple upside down, Anthea? Do you get perverse joy in upsetting everyone and everything?”
“No, I do not,” I said. “If you wish to be rid of me, Reverend Mother Hózhó of Diné, Reverend Mother Fumiko of Ryukyu, Reverend Mother Xiang of Jing, and Reverend Mother Hoku of O’ahu have each offered a place to me. You or Reverend Mother Alara would merely need to sign the transfer order, and I will no longer be your problem.”
Callisto lowered her hands to her lap. “Do you wish to leave Issura?”
She actually appeared concerned I would demand a transfer. Now, why would she of all people wish to keep me here?
“I don’t, but I also do not like our own Reverend Mother spreading gossip about me to other Balance Temples.” I sighed again. “Just like I know you must tell her everything that is said at this dinner, and who said what.”
“Anthea is correct though, Callisto,” Hera murmured. “Balance rarely sends prophecies to any oracle, but when such happens, it should be shared with the other senior clergy of our order.”
We all grew silent as Thomas and the two other stewards bustled into the dining room. Thomas replaced the used items at Alara’s seat and laid fresh utensils and ceramics for White Owl while his associates set platters with the main course in front of the rest of us.
“Was the stew not to your liking, Chief Justice?” the female steward murmured.
I smiled at her. “It was excellent. I’m afraid after four months on a ship my taste for seafood has waned.”
“Then it’s a good thing our cooks prepared chicken this evening,” she said with a grin.
But when she reached for the bowl, I held up my hand. “If you don’t mind, may Warden Long Feather have the stew? He was rather distraught we missed clamming season.”
“Of course.” The steward looked my warden. “If you need anything else tonight, Warden Long Feather, please have a squire fetch me.”
Jonata coughed into her elbow to hide her chuckle at the steward’s flirtatious manner.
Long Feather’s ears turned a brilliant orange at the woman’s insinuation. “I appreciate your solicitude, Steward…”
“Blue Dolphin,” she answered.
White Owl hid her own mouth.
“Thank you, Blue Dolphin,” I said politely. “Could you please get us another bottle of wine? I have a feeling we may need it before we are done with the meal.”
“Of course, Chief Justice.” She inclined her head and strode from the dining room.
I appreciated the fact that I wasn’t being treated as an oddity by people here, even those at the home Temple I’d never met before.
“Thomas, would please also bring chairs and settings for Chief Justice Anthea’s wardens?” Callisto said. “They will be joining us for dinner since they were present at the demon incursions in Ryukyu and Jing.”
“Yes, m’lady.” He nodded and rushed off again.
The other two stewards helped me and the wardens in moving the justices’ chairs and dinnerware towards Callisto’s place. I was rather glad to keep Jonata and Long Feather closer to me, given the volatile subjects we would be discussing. Not to mention, Long Feather was between me and White Owl. I wasn’t sure how much the chief warden rested under Alara’s thumb.
While Thomas and the other male steward brought everyone their meals and fresh bread and Blue Dolphin retrieved the extra bottle of wine, Oriana and her warden returned. She obviously had counted her steps because when her warden stopped her, she said, “Why are we rearranging the dining room?”
“Sit and give me your hand,” Hera muttered.
She silently explained the things Oriana had missed to her while White Owl, Jonata, and Long Feather assisted the other justices to settle in their chairs. Once everyone was seated and Oriana’s warden dismissed, Callisto commanded the stewards to leave the dining room. After they departed, she rose and laid wards as I passed my clam stew to Long Feather. Thankfully, he remembered his manners and refrained from gulping it down before Callisto returned to her chair.
She surprised me when she bowed her head and spoke the traditional prayer of gratitude to Mother and Child for the bounty on our table. The Balance second had never struck me as particularly spiritual. If she were, maybe that was why she’d been so adamant about punishing me for trying to escape our Temple by giving myself sight, thereby defying our Goddess.
Callisto took a sip of her own wine before she said, “Anthea, let us start with the attack on Chengzhou and the death of Emperor Chengwu. How did you learn of it, and why did you accompany the crown prince back to Jing?”
“I would ask for both our queen and our Temple’s sakes none of this leaves this room,” I said.
Callisto opened her mouth.
“And when you report to the Reverend Mother, Callisto, for the love of Balance, please ward the room you are in,” I pleaded.
“Of course,” she murmured.
I launched into the tale of our experiences over the last six months. At least, those experiences pertinent to my sisters’ duties. Other than occasional questions to clarify a point, the sisters and White Owl listened raptly.
“I can’t believe Reverend Mother Xiang truthspelled you,” White Owl blurted.
“I would have done the same in her position,” Oriana said. “Trust, but verify.”
“That should have been our Temple motto.” Hera laughed.
“With the renegades infiltrating everywhere, I cannot blame either Emperor Po or Queen Teodora for wanting Anthea on this mission,” Iphigenia said. “There’s been questions among both the Temples and the nobility as to who else was aligned with Samael DiRoy and Cora DiMara.”
“I take it there’s been no progress on finding the renegade within our own home Temple,” I said.
White Owl bristled as I expected. “What are you saying? That I haven’t been performing my duties?”
“Then please tell me you found Justice Melanippe,” I said sorrowfully.
White Owl could no longer meet my gaze.
“How did you find out she was missing?” Callisto asked.
“She was Justice Erato’s mentor when the girl was a novice.” I sipped my wine. “Since Erato started the eastern Orrin circuit, she had been writing to Melanippe. The replies stopped about a year ago. When she mentioned it to me last winter, I told Erato the Reverend Mother had probably assigned new duties to Melanippe, and I was sure she enjoyed Erato’s letters. But Melanippe was supremely conscientious when we were novices together. She wouldn’t ignore letters from a fellow justice, much less personal correspondence from her protégé.”
“We don’t know what happened,” Oriana said. She speared a stalk of last-of-the-season asparagus with her fork as if the innocent vegetable were a demon. “Her warden went to wake her. Not only was Melanippe gone, so were her personal belongings.”
“I and all of my people were truthspelled, Chief Justice,” White Owl snapped. “No one saw or heard anything that night.”
“And both I and Callisto attempted to rewind Melanippe’s quarters,” Oriana said. “A backlash spell of some sort nearly killed me. When Callisto tried, it was like time had been scoured clean in the bedchamber.”
“I’ve experienced one of those backlash spells during a murder investigation,” I murmured. “I’m glad you survived.”
“But why take or kill Justice Melanippe?” Jonata asked. “From what you and Justice Erato have said, she’s not the type the renegades would seek to recruit. Did she learn something, maybe something she didn’t think twice about, that someone felt the need to eliminate her?”
White Owl glared at her, and the other justices had various degrees of shock on their faces. I’d forgotten how much I broke Temple tradition in Orrin, but the need for intelligent, capable wardens had outweighed ancient etiquette. White Owl turned to me.
“Do you always allow your wardens such latitude, Chief Justice?” The chief warden voice was brittle.
I snorted. “Given the rate we’ve been losing Light clergy in Orrin over the last two years, I’ve not only had to train our wardens as mine and Justice Yanaba’s rewind witnesses, but also teach them how to look for evidence at the scenes of alleged crimes. And I’ve been wondering the same thing as Warden Jonata for the last six months.” I tapped my fingers on the table. “Melanippe is not the type to run away, even with assistance. Why not abduct one of the chief justices since they are more privy to Temple happenings and knowledge?”
“The demons and skinwalkers couldn’t break Chief Justice Elizabeth,” Long Feather mused. “Perhaps they believed someone of a lower rank, but still close to the Reverend Mother, would be more susceptible to torture.”
Iphigenia audibly gagged.
“If you’re going to be sick, leave the room,” Callisto snapped.
“She should be sick,” I bit back. “We all should be. What these monsters do should make every human sick, but there are those fools who enjoy such terrible things. They actually believe the demons won’t turn on them in the end.”
“You think you are stronger than us because you faced demon armies,” Callisto argued.
“I think I’m stronger when I’m united with my sisters and the rest of the human race against our enemies,” I said softly. “What about Phthia? Please tell me she’s not missing, too.”
“She…” Hera paused, no doubt expecting someone, particularly Callisto, to interrupt her. When none of the other justices said anything, Hera continued. “She’s at the Healers Guild. Her blood pressure rose to dangerous levels, and the babe isn’t due for another three weeks. The healers are using their talents in addition to lavender and fennel extract to keep her from having a brainstorm before she gives birth.”
I frowned even though the other justices couldn’t see me. “Is this becoming a common occurrence? There were several priestesses on bedrest in Orrin before I left.”
“Child believes it’s a combination from fear of a demon attack and pressure for the Temples especially to produce more children,” Hera said. “Thank the Twelve, Oriana had no such difficulties during her pregnancy.”
“I thank Them every blessed day,” Oriana murmured.
“If I may ask additional questions, Chief Warden?” Long Feather was polite, but I detected the edge to his request.
White Owl glanced at me before she turned to him. “Of course, Warden. I did not mean to countermand any orders your chief justice had given you.”
“Were all the home Temple justices truthspelled in addition to the wardens and staff?” he asked. “And were any of you truthspelled by clergy other than Light?”
I cursed under my breath. My own prejudices hadn’t allowed me to conceive of Long Feather’s point, but after everything that had happened over the last two years, I should have anticipated his concern. And unease twisted to real fear over Luc and Yar staying at their home Temple.
A startled expression appeared on White Owl’s face. “Only Light participated in our questioning. No other Temple would interfere, nor would the Reverend Mother tolerate such.”
“Except the renegades have targeted all Temples of Light for infiltration over the last thirty to forty years,” I said. “Our enemies are playing a longer game that we are, and it’s time we caught up.”
