Chapter 17
The next morning Dae was woken by the sound of knocking on the door. She blinked and rubbed her eyes, still tired after having lain awake late into the night, sleep eluding her with the knowledge that she would soon see her beloved Zafirah again. A little irritable over the early start to the day, wondering if she had the energy to deal with whatever new arguments her parents had in store, Dae threw the latch on the door and pulled it open. But instead of her parents she found two guards, dressed in warm cloaks and looking rather stern.
“Yes?”
“My lady…our apologies for waking you so early,” one of the guards said with a slight, stiff bow. “Your father wishes you to come with us.”
“Why? What’s going on?” Dae was still half-asleep, but the serious expression on their faces worked as well as cold water dashed across her face to wake her more fully.
“Please, my lady…we’ll explain on the way.” An awkward pause. “You may want to dress warm.”
Dae’s brow furrowed in confusion, but after a moment she shrugged and waved a hand. “Just…wait here a moment. Let me get dressed.” She closed the door again and shook her head to clear the sleep-fog from her mind. Had her father realized how futile it would be to fight Zafirah…how inevitable it was that she would return to the desert? Was he looking to avoid having to deal with Zafirah in person by taking her advice and sending her back to her partner? Rummaging through her drawers Dae absently selected a thick woolen shirt and a skirt and dressed herself. She pulled on her winter boots—tough-soled leather lined with warm fleece—then wrapped a cloak over her shoulders and buckled it at her neck. Opening the door again she asked the waiting guards, “Should I bring my pack?”
The guards exchanged awkward glances, then one shook his head. “We can have your possessions brought to you later. Come, my lady. We need to leave now.”
Still puzzled, Dae went along with them as they walked her out of the main building and into the fresh, chilly dawn air. The skies were muddy gray, overcast with only a few breaks in the cloud cover. They led her around the barracks where the other soldiers were just beginning their morning exercises, past the stables of horses and on toward the wooded hill that rose behind the fields at the back of the estate. Dae’s boots were soon wet with morning dew as they strode through the lush pastures.
“Where are we going?” she asked, growing more confused. Her escort remained silent. She was starting to get nervous, and it made her agitated. She stopped and glared at the men, out of breath from the walk. “You said you’d explain on the way. Now I demand to know where you’re taking me.”
The guards paused, then one of them pointed up to the top of the hill, to the shadow of a building that stood almost invisible against the darker forests behind it.
Dae relaxed slightly, but her brow was still furrowed in confusion. “The monastery?”
A curt nod.
“My father ordered you to take me to the monastery?” Dae remembered the place only hazily from her childhood; a magnificent edifice of wood and stone, similar to the rest of the buildings on her father’s estate, but distinctive for its panels of thick stained-glass windows that depicted a number of religious images. Since there was a small chapel inside the main estate house, Dae had only ever joined her parents up at the larger monastery to celebrate special events of religious significance. Technically the building was under the authority of the priesthood. It was common for lords of the nobility to offer their patronage and support to fund construction of such holy enterprises, and to sponsor programs intended to give aid to the common people on their land.
Dae was puzzled. Why was she being taken there? Did her father believe a little spiritual teachings and prayer would suddenly make her see the error of her ways? She scoffed silently at the notion. Zafirah was coming; her prayers had already been answered.
“Please, my lady…come. We are expected.”
Dae hiked up the hem of her skirt which was dragging about her ankles, soaked from morning dew caught in the grass, and began walking again. This seemed somewhat pointless, but she saw no harm in indulging her father’s wishes. It was certainly better than another row with him and her mother.
Although the hill didn’t seem very high, its slope was a deceptively steady rise and the distance to its summit was greater than it appeared. The muscles in Dae’s legs were firmer than they’d ever been before her time with the Jaharri, but they were aching by the time the three of them reached their destination, and a light stitch burned in her side. She expected her escort to take her directly to the main building and was surprised when instead they led her around the monastery to a broad, low-standing building at the back made from rough-hewn wooden beams. The few windows that punctuated its exterior were all covered on the inside by wispy lace curtains, making it difficult to see within. She remembered this part of the estate only vaguely, and had always assumed the structure served as nothing more than a simple storage area. But the guards led her to a door about half-way along the outer wall and, opening it, gestured for her to enter.
Inside she found herself standing in a small room with doors leading out in three directions. The guards followed her inside and guided her through one of the doors into a hallway and beyond, into another larger room. The air in here smelled of baking bread and sizzling bacon, and was warmed by a large, stone fireplace centrally positioned against the far wall. There were several tables of various designs arranged haphazardly around the room, at which were seated a few dozen people eating breakfast in small groups. They were all young women around Dae’s age, some older, a few younger. Some glanced up as they entered. giving her curious looks before returning to their quiet conversations.
Dae turned to her escort in confusion. “What is this place? Why am I here? And who are all these people?”
The men exchanged glances, then one explained in a calm, low voice, “This is a place where people can come when they grow confused or…well, tempted…by desires which are deemed…unnatural.”
A flush of anger warmed Dae’s face. “I see.”
“The priests in the monastery help these young women to understand and overcome their difficulties before they have a chance to become entrenched in their minds. They’re provided with counseling and spiritual guidance, and a structured environment where they can find their way back to moral thinking without having to be exposed to the, uh…judgment of others.” He met Dae’s calm but intense gaze for only a moment, then looked away, embarrassed. “Your father hopes the priests here will be able to help you with your own difficulties.”
Dae stifled a sigh. So, this was how it was going to be. Her father’s last desperate attempt to rid her of the desires he could not comprehend. Did he really expect it would work? Even after everything she’d told him, even with Zafirah and her army drawing closer every day, he still refused to accept the simple fact that she had fallen in love with another woman.
In light of her imminent salvation, she supposed he had seen no other option; he could either wait for the Scion to arrive, knowing that in the end he would be forced to turn her over, or he could place his faith in the remote hope that she could somehow be cured of the sickness he perceived in her.
It occurred to Dae for the first time that her father was treating her as if she were still the child she had been before her abduction; his scoldings and punishments had a distinctly patronizing feel to them. She realized it was probably difficult for him to see her as anything other than that naïve maiden she had once been…and how frightening the thought must be that she had matured, become something more adult, more sexually aware. He’d waited longer than was customary before he began the search for a husband, had always been so protective of her…in a way it made sense he would balk at the thought that she was now a grown woman.
“We’ll bring you your clothing and whatever other personal effects you might need while you’re here,” the guard continued. “You’ll be sharing a room with a few of the other girls—I’m afraid it’s fairly basic accommodation here—and they should be able to keep an eye on you and help you with your counseling as well.”
“So, all these women, they have the same…’problems’…that I have?”
“Well…more or less.” His voice stammered slightly. “Not all suffer quite the same affliction, but all of them have in some way allowed their baser instincts to lead them astray.”
“Hmm…” Dae felt her sense of frustration and anger melt away as she considered the room and its occupants in a different light. A very intriguing, very naughty, thought had occurred to her during the guard’s explanation. “And you say I’ll be sharing a room?”
“Yes. We, uh…we asked, but they don’t actually have any private quarters available—”
“With how many others?”
“Um…I’m not entirely sure, milady.” The guard seemed anxious to be on his way, as though standing in this room with all these people and their strange, deviant thoughts might somehow allow their affliction to spread to him. “I’m sure one of the priests will be able to tell you more. Oh, there’s one. I’ll…I’ll just go fetch him, shall I?”
Dae waved a hand dismissively for him to go and he hurried over to a middle-aged man clad in a priest’s robes who was seated at the head of the room. A few eyes were glancing up to watch her with furtive, inquisitive looks, and a sly smile played across her lips as she contemplated her new surroundings.
Dae had no idea how long it would be before Zafirah arrived and rescued her from these futile and frustrating efforts to restore her innocence; did it really matter if she spent that time waiting in her bedroom, or here in the monastery? She could deal with the priests and whatever tactics they might employ to get her to change her wicked ways…in fact it would be less of a sting than the arguments she’d had with her parents. It was likely she’d have to endure their disdain and revulsion, true, but what did she care? Their opinions meant nothing to her. Whatever little sense of guilt or shame she had once felt was faded now to insignificance.
Her gaze wandered slowly over the other women in the room. She guessed they’d mostly been brought here from the outlying regions around the estate; their clothing was simple and poor quality, their manners and bearing unrefined. Commoners, certainly…but most of them were still quite pretty. Maybe this wouldn’t be so bad, she thought.
In fact, maybe this could be fun.
It struck Dae as rather amusing that her father, in his misguided efforts to ‘fix’ her, would send her to such a place. She wondered how long it would take him to realize his mistake—putting his wayward daughter into a sociable, intimate living arrangement with other young women who shared the same disposition. It may have lacked the lavish decor and sexually charged atmosphere of her home in El’Kasari, but Dae could see what her father, in his ignorance, could not.
It seemed he had sent her to another harem.