sleep.” She shivered. “The pull of sunrise comes no matter how thick the cloud cover.”
Nerissa kissed her. “Sleep well, love. We’ll keep watch out here.”
“I hope you find that portal.” As she headed down the steps, Menolly mumbled something under her breath that I wasn’t sure I wanted to hear. It sounded vaguely like “Idiotic demons . . .”
but I decided not to ask.
“Nothing in the house that we can figure out—” I paused as another noise erupted from the living room. “For fuck’s sake,
what now
?”
“Camille?” Roz’s voice echoed from the living room. “You’d better—”
But before he could finish a towering figure came striding into the kitchen, her robes swirling behind her. Derisa was six-five, and she was the High Priestess who ran the Coterie of the Moon Mother. She had been the voice of the goddess for longer than I could remember—for far longer than I had been alive.
With a plum tunic over a pair of form-fitting leather pants, and an indigo robe covered with silver moons and stars, she was striking with her pale skin and black hair and eyes as blue as the morning sky.
I hurried over to her, dropping to kneel at her feet. If there was one person I wanted the respect of—besides my sisters—it was this woman. She was the voice of my goddess. She had taken me into the Moon Mother’s service, had heard my oath, witnessed my vows as I entered the Coterie as a Witch. And Derisa also had given me my priestess robes when I earned them by sacrificing the Black Unicorn. Derisa was the one who had informed me that—one day, when I was fully trained—I would become the High Priestess of the Moon Mother over here, Earthside.
“Lady . . . I knew you were due for a visit, but didn’t know when to expect you—”
“I come and go as the need arises. Do not worry yourself. Although I think the winter storm had a detrimental effect on your furnishings.” But she was grinning and I knew she was making a joke.
“Yes, Lady. It wasn’t exactly planned.” I wondered briefly if I could get some advice from her on our unexpected portal, but decided to shelve the question until I found out why she was here. Derisa didn’t usually make house calls. When I’d found out a few weeks ago that she needed to see me, I had been worried, but as the days went on, I started to think maybe it wasn’t all that important. Now, the butterflies were back.
“We must talk.” The way she said it made me nervous. For one thing, Derisa didn’t make small talk. For another, every time that phrase had been used on me, it had been attached to something I didn’t want to hear.
I started to ask if there was something wrong, but that would be about as helpful as a dull-bladed sword. Obviously, something was up, or she wouldn’t be here. “Do you need to speak to me alone, or can you talk in front of the others?”
Derisa glanced around the room. “They’ll know eventually, so we might as well talk here. I don’t fancy sitting in your living room at this moment.”
Morio grabbed a chair for her and motioned for her to sit down. Delilah brought over a plate of cookies—grabbing a couple before offering them to the priestess. And, anticipating trouble, I found a notepad and pen. Inevitably conversations like this led to the need for copious notes, and right now, I didn’t trust my memory.
“I didn’t expect to find you up at this hour—or rather, I did, but not so ill-rested.” Derisa repressed a grin, the corner of her lip curling up ever-so-slightly. “You obviously haven’t gone to bed yet.”
“We had . . . an incident of sorts. We were out shopping—oh, never mind. Long story, ending in the aftermath you witnessed in the living room. A mishap we still need to fix.” I returned to my seat with the notepad and pen, wishing only for bed. It wasn’t that I didn’t want to talk to Derisa, but I was bone-weary. “What brings you Earthside? Trenyth said you wanted to talk to
Nerissa kissed her. “Sleep well, love. We’ll keep watch out here.”
“I hope you find that portal.” As she headed down the steps, Menolly mumbled something under her breath that I wasn’t sure I wanted to hear. It sounded vaguely like “Idiotic demons . . .”
but I decided not to ask.
“Nothing in the house that we can figure out—” I paused as another noise erupted from the living room. “For fuck’s sake,
what now
?”
“Camille?” Roz’s voice echoed from the living room. “You’d better—”
But before he could finish a towering figure came striding into the kitchen, her robes swirling behind her. Derisa was six-five, and she was the High Priestess who ran the Coterie of the Moon Mother. She had been the voice of the goddess for longer than I could remember—for far longer than I had been alive.
With a plum tunic over a pair of form-fitting leather pants, and an indigo robe covered with silver moons and stars, she was striking with her pale skin and black hair and eyes as blue as the morning sky.
I hurried over to her, dropping to kneel at her feet. If there was one person I wanted the respect of—besides my sisters—it was this woman. She was the voice of my goddess. She had taken me into the Moon Mother’s service, had heard my oath, witnessed my vows as I entered the Coterie as a Witch. And Derisa also had given me my priestess robes when I earned them by sacrificing the Black Unicorn. Derisa was the one who had informed me that—one day, when I was fully trained—I would become the High Priestess of the Moon Mother over here, Earthside.
“Lady . . . I knew you were due for a visit, but didn’t know when to expect you—”
“I come and go as the need arises. Do not worry yourself. Although I think the winter storm had a detrimental effect on your furnishings.” But she was grinning and I knew she was making a joke.
“Yes, Lady. It wasn’t exactly planned.” I wondered briefly if I could get some advice from her on our unexpected portal, but decided to shelve the question until I found out why she was here. Derisa didn’t usually make house calls. When I’d found out a few weeks ago that she needed to see me, I had been worried, but as the days went on, I started to think maybe it wasn’t all that important. Now, the butterflies were back.
“We must talk.” The way she said it made me nervous. For one thing, Derisa didn’t make small talk. For another, every time that phrase had been used on me, it had been attached to something I didn’t want to hear.
I started to ask if there was something wrong, but that would be about as helpful as a dull-bladed sword. Obviously, something was up, or she wouldn’t be here. “Do you need to speak to me alone, or can you talk in front of the others?”
Derisa glanced around the room. “They’ll know eventually, so we might as well talk here. I don’t fancy sitting in your living room at this moment.”
Morio grabbed a chair for her and motioned for her to sit down. Delilah brought over a plate of cookies—grabbing a couple before offering them to the priestess. And, anticipating trouble, I found a notepad and pen. Inevitably conversations like this led to the need for copious notes, and right now, I didn’t trust my memory.
“I didn’t expect to find you up at this hour—or rather, I did, but not so ill-rested.” Derisa repressed a grin, the corner of her lip curling up ever-so-slightly. “You obviously haven’t gone to bed yet.”
“We had . . . an incident of sorts. We were out shopping—oh, never mind. Long story, ending in the aftermath you witnessed in the living room. A mishap we still need to fix.” I returned to my seat with the notepad and pen, wishing only for bed. It wasn’t that I didn’t want to talk to Derisa, but I was bone-weary. “What brings you Earthside? Trenyth said you wanted to talk to
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