House Divided

While Liesë’s absence was hardly unexpected at the breakfast, Katria’s behavior seemed to turn the heads of the entire dining hall. Even some of the pilgrims who had stayed for the night could not fail to notice that something was wrong.

She had barely touched her bread and cheese, even though Taevine and Satine were nearly done eating. Her face was pale and deeply shaken, and her hands were visibly shivering. It was as if a ghost had haunted her in the night. This kind of stupor was unlike her.

“Katria?” – Satine whispered, poking her gently in the arm. She did not respond.

Satine was about to nudge her a bit harder, when the door opened and Liesë entered the hall. Dried mud was flaking off her shoes. Stumbling a little, she approached mother Mina and leaned on the table. She had madness in her eyes.

“Mother…” – she croaked. – “I know what happened to Sonia.”

“What are you talking about? You haven’t investigated the catacombs yet.”

“We don’t have to… I…”

“Mother!” – one of the caresisters burst into the hall in a panic. – “They took her! Someone dug up Sonia’s grave and stole the body!”

The prioress stood up and scowled at Liesë.

“What. Did. You. Do?” – she asked with a threatening tone.

All eyes in the hall turned at Liesë, anticipating her answer.

“I brought her back…” – she said with a deranged chuckle. – “I spoke with her…”

Mother Mina was too petrified with horror to say anything. The other sisters were flabbergasted too, and could only stare at her in disbelief.

“She said there’s a dark force lurking within the Brotherhood’s ranks. She saw it. That’s why they had to kill her… To silence he-”

She couldn’t finish, slapped by mother Mina so hard that she staggered.

“Blasphemy!” – the prioress cried. – “Blasphemy and sacrilege! You dared desecrate the corpse of your fellow sister! You’re a disgrace to this order and to our faith!”

Liesë tried to speak again, but the prioress silenced her with another slap.

“Taevine! Take her to her cell and don’t let her out.”

Taevine immediately seized Liesë and dragged her, kicking and screaming, out of the dining hall.

Breathing heavily, mother Mina gathered her strength to address the shocked crowd, when another caresister entered the hall and whispered something to her ear. Satine was sitting close enough to hear:

“…flying the banners of the Brotherhood. They’ve just entered the village.”

The news shook mother Mina to her core. For a moment she stared mindlessly into the distance as if under a spell.

“Now, of all times…” – she muttered under her breath.

She looked at Satine with a gloomy expression on her face.

“Come with me, child, quickly.”

***

It took Liesë a few minutes and a couple of slaps from Taevine to come back to her senses. Only then did the gravity of her transgression become apparent to her.

What have I done to you, Sonia… – she thought as the tears of anguish rolled down her face.

The memories of the last night came back to her, but different than how she experienced them. She remembered her determination to bring Sonia back. She had the knowledge, obtained from the books which had laid forgotten in the depths of the monastery. She had the spirit, the skill… and she succeeded. Among the pungent miasmas of her alchemical reagents, she pulled Sonia back from the grasp of death… if only for a mere moment. Sonia’s spirit revealed itself as a faint shape in the purple fumes. And it spoke. It spoke of things beyond Liesë’s comprehension. Not only did she learn how Sonia had died, but also that there is a hidden danger lurking in the shadows. The weight of that revelation mesmerized her.

Now she was haunted by the sight of Sonia’s blood on her hands left after the ritual, and her mangled body lying on the table, surrounded by scattered fluids and powders of her alchemical assortment. She saw Katria’s horrified face. She had forbidden her to leave the laboratory until the procedure was complete. And Katria stayed, bearing witness to Liesë’s folly. The worst of all was the intolerable guilt over what she had done to her best friend in pursuit of vengeance.

You did not deserve to die, Sonia. And you did not deserve what I’ve done to you. Instead of helping you, I’ve only done more harm…

She did not resist when Taevine threw her into her cell unceremoniously and locked the door. Left alone, Liesë collapsed on the floor, sobbing.

What will happen to me? Mother is sure to banish me at the very least. Maybe she’ll hand me over to the Brotherhood. I deserve all the worst for my sin.

She opened her eyes and beheld her packed bookshelves which now towered over her, as if mocking her morals crumbling under the weight of the knowledge they had bestowed upon her. She wanted to blame them for her fall, but then she remembered her own words: “There’s no such thing as dangerous knowledge. There are only dangerous people.”

This is me now – she thought. – I have hurt Sonia more than the death itself ever could. All the good deeds I have ever committed, the injuries I have healed, the pilgrims I have guided safely to the sanctuary… All undone, because I couldn’t bear her loss.

She stood up, tears running down her tormented face. She grabbed the closest book, a stout, leather-bound volume, and tossed it through the window, shattered glass falling down on the monastic garden. Then she grabbed another one and hurled it away too. And the third. She was ravaging and throwing away her own library until she collapsed, exhausted.

Suddenly, she heard a clatter of hooves and some male voices, shouting orders. When she looked outside, she saw a squad of horsemen on the courtyard. They flew the Brotherhood’s colors.

“No…” – she gasped. – “How did that happen?”

Having sobered up from her anguish, she dashed to the door and slammed her fist against it.

“Taevine! Go warn the others! The Brotherhood is here!” – she screamed from the top of her lungs.

Only a sardonic laugh came in response.

“I know. I summoned them.”

“What?”

She heard her walking away from the door and soon the laugh faded.

I must warn them… No, I must burn down the laboratory before they find it!

She backed up a few steps and tried to ram the door, but she didn’t have enough force to break the lock open. In her room there were some tools suitable for picking or even dismantling the lock from inside, but she realized that even if she broke free and made it to the laboratory, she no longer had the stomach to bear the sight she herself had created.

She looked at the window for a moment and began gathering her bedsheets to tie them into a rope.

***

Having collected Satine’s belongings from her cell, mother Mina led her to a large door in a rarely attended corner of the residential wing. The hinges were rusty and the wood was rotting away. Not without some effort, the prioress turned the key in the lock and pushed the door open with a loud creak.

They descended down the long, spiral stairs into the basement. It was dark and humid, with only Mina’s candle illuminating the overwhelming gloom. As they walked, they needed to shield themselves from the unbelievable amount of cobwebs. No one had been down there in ages.

Finally they stopped in a long forgotten storage room, filled with putrid crates and rusty tools. The staunch of decay and rat urine was almost suffocating.

“Mother, will you finally tell me what’s going on?” – Satine asked once again, Mina having been ignoring her questions so far.

“The Brotherhood is coming here with a whole contingent. That can only mean they are here to stay, and I will not be able to protect you any longer.”

“What do you mean by protecting me? Can I not take care of myself?”

“You don’t understand…” – the prioress shook her head. – “Hold this for me, will you?”

She handed the candle to Satine and began to rummage through the ruined crates. Finally, she found a small strongbox and opened it with a key she had been carrying on her neck. Inside, there was a silver ring with a sapphire encrusted in it.

“Take off your necklace, Satine.”

“But why? You told me I should wear it at all times.”

“And now I tell you to give it to me.”

With some hesitation, Satine obeyed and handed the catharite necklace over. Mother Mina placed the ring in her palm.

“Can you sense it?”

“Sense what?”

“Close your eyes and focus. Can you sense the ring’s aura?”

Satine closed her eyes and took a deep breath. At first, she didn’t feel anything, but after a while the ring seemed to warm her hand, as if it was something alive. It felt friendly and reassuring.

“I think I feel something, but what does it mean?”

Mina returned the necklace to her.

“It means that, like Katnir, you are sensitive to magic.”

Satine flinched with a gasp of surprise, almost dropping the ring to the floor.

“What?! But how?”

With a bleak smile, mother Mina replied:

“There’s something you need to know.”