C f bentley, p.19
C. F. Bentley, page 19
Penelope stormed out of the vestry, lips clamped tightly into a thin line, cheeks flaring red, and eyes smoldering with plans. “I curse the day you came to us, Sissy of the Worker caste.”
The High Council looked back and forth between Penelope’s retreating back and Sissy, not knowing which represented the stronger power.
“I bless the day I found you, Sissy of every caste,” Gregor said loudly and bowed to his priestess. “I had planned to speak to you privately about changing your name to something more appropriate. But I believe you have earned the right to become, Estella—Laudae of the Stars—as well as our own Laudae Harmony.”
The girl blushed and shook her head, eyes wide with bewilderment.
Sissy accepted Laud Gregor’s assistance to sit up. A wave of dizziness made her pause before swinging her legs over the side of the lounge. It passed quickly and she rose, still holding his arm.
“The man who carried me away from the altar?” Sissy had a vague memory of a tall, blond man with kind eyes. She’d said something to him about choices and paths.
“Sergeant Jacob da Jacob pa Law Enforcement HQ H Prime,” Guilliam said.
“I would speak with him.”
“He’s gone,” Guilliam said. “I’ll call him back.”
“Later,” Gregor countered. “Laudae Estella has an empire to greet.”
“I have a wedding to perform.” Sissy paused in her careful steps toward the tunnel. “My brother… “
“You are in no condition to perform another ritual,” Gregor insisted. “I shall do the honors for your brother, My Laudae.”
“No. I will.” She shook off his support. Her balance held. The swirling confusion of prophecy had vanished the moment she touched the altar and grounded the storm energy. “Mr. Guilliam, please bring my family to the forecourt.”
“My Laudae,” Gregor protested. “A wedding should be a private, family affair. If you perform the ritual in the forecourt, the entire empire will view it through the hover cams.”
“So be it. I want my first official duty as HPS to be one of joy, invoking Nurture and Unity. Very symbolic. Very important.” Resolutely she walked forward.
At the tunnel exit she found a smile deep within her and flashed it to the waiting throng. Cheers rose up around her.
Then suddenly Mama and Pop were there, gathering her into a hug. More of her family joined the embrace.
The cheers of the waiting empire drowned out all other thoughts. Her heart swelled in gratitude and tears of joy touched her eyes.
Chapter 27
“Why am i here, Gil?” Penelope asked quietly.
Gil drove a roomy town car. Penelope’s seven acolytes rode in the back, squished together and fully occupied with their own gossipy conversation. He doubted any of them eavesdropped on their elders.
“Because you are the Director of Religious Education.” A more logical pairing than Shanet who welcomed the opportunity to remain in Temple and complete some of her own work.
“I know that.” She rolled her eyes upward. “But why did you insist I visit a public school today? I have meetings and new texts to review.”
“Our new HPS is visiting this school with her acolytes. We need to keep an eye on her.” Sissy rode ahead of them in a much bigger car with a Professional driver. Gil had personally selected the driver, Bertie, for his dedication and hereditary loyalty to the Temple.
Sissy’s acolytes had plenty of room, except they had to share space with the cat, the dog, the lizard, and a newly acquired kitten with only one eye.
Penelope crossed her arms under her magnificent bosom and frowned. Gil wanted to gaze fondly at her figure. He didn’t dare take his eyes off the road.
Two rapid turns took them around back of a huge factory complex to a smaller building. Bertie parked Sissy’s car in the middle of the street in front of a modest double door.
Fortunately, this district didn’t get much wheeled traffic that would have to inch around it.
Gil politely pulled his car as far to the right as he could manage. He spent several long moments adjusting his position.
Penelope frowned at him. He didn’t bother explaining that he thought it important to disrupt normal lives as little as possible. Sissy’s presence alone would do that. Why add a traffic jam to it?
Frequently craning his head into a new position, he searched for signs of Little Johnny and his ever-present hover cam. There, at the corner, ready to move closer when he could follow unobtrusively.
Penelope and Sissy might not appreciate media presence at this visitation. Gil thought it important.
Bertie exited Sissy’s car and scooted around to the offside door. He paused a moment, took a deep breath, and opened the door for Sissy.
She ignored his proffered hand of assistance and bounced out. Her girls followed in a whirlwind of exuberance. Dog took the opportunity to run around the car three times at top speed before settling at Sissy’s heel. The cat and the lizard remained inside.
Kitten? Gil made a swift survey, automatically counting heads and bodies, just like he did with his own five children—the two youngest, twins, assisted Penelope. Ah, there, one of the middle girls cradled the kitten in her arms.
All present and accounted for.
The hover cam caught it all.
The double doors opened to frame Lady Marissa, her twin sons behind her. She stood with all the majesty and grace bred into her from countless generations of inherited power. A mature woman full of confidence and arrogance. She directed a benevolent smile toward Sissy and held out her hand in greeting.
Gil didn’t believe in her sincerity for one moment. He immediately cast off his jovial family personality of Gil, and became Guilliam, the watchful and wary chief administrative acolyte to the HP of all Harmony.
“What is she doing here?” he asked. “This is Chauncey’s domain.” He didn’t want anyone stealing time in the media coverage away from Sissy.
“I don’t know,” Penelope replied. She smiled and rushed to greet her aunt.
But Marissa’s entire attention was on Sissy. The older woman gathered the HPS into a familial hug. Then arms draped about each other, they ambled inside.
Guilliam hurried to catch up, making sure all of the acolytes preceded him. Interesting how the youngest of the girls in both Sissy’s and Penelope’s gaggle tended to cross to the other group and pair off according to age. Since Penelope’s girls ranged in age from nine to seventeen, and Sissy’s from nine to twelve, the oldest girls kept to themselves.
He had to remind himself that these children had spent a lot of time together during Sissy’s training. And Sissy tended to treat all of them as one big happy family.
A quick look made sure that Little Johnny observed it all. Just inside the doorway, Penelope grabbed Guilliam’s arm and pulled him aside.
“What is that smell?” she whispered and wrinkled her nose in disgust.
“An old building filled with too many bodies,” he replied.
“Sharper than that. It smells… it smells like an over-ripe diaper.” She’d know. She’d changed enough of them over the years, keeping her children close. Balking at her mother’s and her aunt’s insistence that she place every child in the Temple nursery, Penelope had nursed them as long as possible, entrusting them to the nursery only when fully weaned and out of diapers.
Guilliam approved. He’d been raised by his mother along with two sisters and a brother. And they all had the same father. Penelope had confessed to him early on, that she had ached for a mother and close family as a child. Lady Marissa had given her more love and attention than Marilee.
“Old plumbing not maintained,” Guilliam explained.
“But that’s…
that’s uncivilized. Why don’t these people do something about it?”
“They can’t. Not without Lord Chauncey’s authorization. And he doesn’t release funds for new pipes or plumbers to fix them.”
“We’ll see about that.” Penelope stalked after the retreating backs of Lady Marissa and Sissy.
“I want to visit a classroom,” Sissy said.
“But I’ve arranged with the director for you to meet a few specially selected children who show great promise in advancing to supervisory positions,” Lady Marissa said. She frowned and clenched her teeth.
“Later. First I want to see what has changed since I went to school here.” With that, Sissy marched to the nearest door and flung it open.
Guilliam could just see a mass of small bodies, all dressed in coarse brown coveralls. The subtle sounds of whispers and restless shifting ceased abruptly.
Penelope moved forward to peer over Sissy’s shoulder. She began to shake with anger.
Guilliam hurried to her side and pressed his hand against her back, not caring who witnessed the intimate touch. “Easy. No sense in making a scene in front of the hover cam.”
“How can they survive like this? Twenty, thirty, no, fifty children in a room designed for twenty. Five to a book. And only one teacher who looks totally exhausted.”
“That’s the way it has always been in the Worker caste. They make do with what they have. No one thinks to give them anything better, especially if it costs their lord money.”
“Something has to change. Now. It’s inhuman to treat children like this. They’re just children.” She placed a hand on the shoulder of each of her two youngest girls.
“Change has already started. With Laudae Sissy. You’re the Director of Religious Education. You can follow her lead and correct some terrible wrongs.”
“I intend to. But first I need to talk to the director of this school and make certain they’re at least following prescribed curriculum.”
She turned on her heel and made her way toward a partially open door with the word “Director” painted on it. The oncered paint had faded and chipped to be almost indiscernible.
Lady Marissa scurried after her.
The hover cam followed.
Sissy turned to Guilliam and flashed him one of her charming smiles. “Did it work?”
“She’s beginning to see the light.” “Good. Now let’s go meet some children.”
“Where are we off to today, Laudae Estella?” Gregor asked as he inserted himself beside his High Priestess in the back seat of her car.
Seven little girls, all dressed in lavender, scooted and rearranged themselves to accommodate him. His knees brushed the shoes of the littlest one sitting across from him. She had to stop swinging those feet to avoid kicking him. A deep frown marred her picture-perfect blonde beauty as she sought another outlet for her restlessness.
“I did not expect you accompany us to the… children’s hospital and then some playtime in the park,” Sissy said as she deposited her cat in the little girl’s lap. Instantly, the animal’s purring soothed her squirming.
Dog reached up his muzzle to rest on her purple-clad knee and whined for a pet. She gave it to him, all the while keeping her gaze firmly away from Gregor.
The car moved forward smoothly and picked up speed so gradually that Gregor hardly felt the transition. He’d chosen the right driver for her.
“Visiting the sick is the work of lesser clergy, Laudae Estella.” She winced. “My name is Sissy. Plain Sissy. I never was a fancy person and I don’t need a fancy name.”
“But the people need an elegant High Priestess with an elegant name.” “The people need comfort and prayers, and I don’t see anyone else at Crystal Temple attending to those duties. So I must. And from what I’ve seen so far, the people like a plain and simple High Priestess they can talk to.”
He nodded to her logic. “They also need someone to inspire awe that they can look up to.”
“Plenty of folks at Crystal Temple pretend to inspire awe. Seems kind of repetitious, um, redundant, for me to try and fail.”
Gregor looked out the window while trying to find his next riposte. As he watched, they sped past the children’s hospital in the Professional neighborhood adjacent to the Crystal Temple.
He leaned forward and tapped the driver’s shoulder. Sissy had left the dividing glass down, inviting familiarity and eavesdropping. “You passed the hospital.”
The driver nodded and kept on going.
“Laudae Estella, where are we going?” Gregor turned a stern countenance upon her.
She gulped and looked away. “I’m waiting for an answer.”
“I’m going to visit the asylum.” She stuck her chin out in stubborn defiance.
“That is not authorized.” He shuddered with revulsion. “I’m your High Priestess. I authorize where I go, when I go.” “But it’s dangerous!”
“Then we will stop and collect a Military escort. But I am going.” “Why, in the Name of the Seven?”
“Because it is the place I fear most. It is the place where I would have been sent eventually if you had not brought me to Crystal Temple,” she whispered.
“You are safe now, Sissy.” He used her familiar name as he patted her hand. “You are HPS of all Harmony, protected and beloved.” Now maybe they could turn around and go back to the safe confines of Crystal Temple.
“I have to do for the castoffs what everyone would be too afraid to do for me. I need to eliminate the fear of mutations.”
No, you don’t! he wanted to scream. Without that fear, people would view the mutations as natural. Next, a person born out of caste would assume the higher caste. Mixing would follow. A disruption of the orderly process of society. He couldn’t allow that.
“Turn around, Bertie.”
“Sorry, My Laud. Laudae Harmony’s authority is higher than yours.” The driver closed the partition between them and kept driving.
Gregor sat with his mouth agape. Never in all the sixteen years he had presided over the Crystal Temple had anyone, anyone, of any caste offered such insubordination.
How should he react?
Dammit, the man was right. Sissy did outrank him. As decreed in the original Covenant of Harmony.
He seethed while he considered appropriate punishments.
Within moments they drove down an increasingly narrow and dirty alley. Gregor kept his eyes moving constantly, starting at every movement, every misshapen shadow. Who knew what violent criminals and what dregs of society lurked here, where order had disappeared?
“Laudae Estella, this venture is a very bad idea.”
“Only if you make it so.”
The car stopped and she hopped out before Gregor could react. He contemplated sitting here while the inmates killed her. But that would look bad.
Discord! A hover cam sat just above the doorway, watching him. Who had told the media the HPS would be here today, at this time? He had to follow her. And she knew it.
“All seven of you girls sit right here. Do not move. Lock all the doors and windows.” The automatic cooling system should take care of the midsummer sunshine. “You, Bertie, come with us. I order you to protect Laudae Estella with your life.”
“Who is going to protect you, My Laud?”
“I intend to run at the first sign of trouble.”
Chapter 28
The smell of rancid sweat, fear, urine, and other unmentionable things assailed Sissy the moment she crossed the threshold of the asylum. Worse than the school. Worse than the streets of the Poor district.
Her hands shook, her knees trembled, and chills filled her with dread.
This was her fate.
And all of Harmony was probably watching.
As she had arranged, a physician met her at the door. The same physician who had tended her when she fainted at the ordination. The same physician who had asked to serve where he was most needed rather than where he was most praised. His caste mark looked raw and angry where the purple circle had been removed.
He guided her down a long, narrow, and dimly lit hallway to an office. The hover cam followed at a wary distance.
Stark white walls enclosed her in an imitation of light and joy. By the time Sissy sank into a stiff wooden chair, she could barely breathe. Her heart pounded so loudly the physician’s words sounded as if he whispered them from outside the closed and barred window.
Above her, she heard pitiful moans. Wails without hope. No exit. No escape from this place.
Death would be kinder. Even the merciless execution dictated by the gods. Alone, chained to a block, waiting for the unpredictable robotic machine to sever your head on its own timing. Never knowing when. It could come in five seconds or an hour.
Never knowing when. Only that it must. And no one would remember or mourn you.
“Laudae, how may I serve you?” the physician asked. He sounded kind and caring.
“Tell me what you are doing for these people,” she croaked out.
Laud Gregor stomped into the office. He glared at the hover cam. “Remove yourself,” he sneered. He swatted at the device until it flew into the hallway. Then he slammed the door on it and took a second chair, as straight and uncomfortable as her own.
“We try to keep them calm and comfortable and feed them when they will eat.”
Sissy wrinkled her nose. So did Laud Gregor. “Are they allowed to bathe, have clean clothing?” “That is more difficult. I don’t have the staff to supervise and assist. Our funds are very limited.”
“Why?”
“Why?” the physician echoed. “Because—because that is how it has always been. The castoffs and leftovers get the castoffs and leftovers.”
“Is bathing so difficult a chore that they cannot manage it themselves?” Anger boiled inside Sissy. If she stayed angry, she wouldn’t fall into despair.
“Laudae, this is not necessary, nor your concern. Let others… ” Laud Gregor said.
“It is most definitely my concern. The helpless and the hopeless have no one else to turn to but me. Surely, Physician, the inmates can bathe themselves and keep their quarters clean. Why are they not allowed to do this?”
