Quest Read Online Free

novices, very thin now, with dark-circled eyes, she let the flowers strike her body and fall to the floor of the wagon unheeded. Her green eyes were feverishly bright, like jewels in her pale face, and her dark hair cascaded to her waist unbraided.
    Not until they were entering the huge grey mass of Temple Tenebrak itself, did Katia stir. She raised her eyes to the high walls that were about to swallow her up and shuddered visibly as the tall bronze gates clanged shut behind them. The other girls had to push her from the wagon, for she seemed unable to move.

    QUEST Shannah Jay 9
    When the Novice Mistress bustled out to take charge of the new girls, one of the Sisters whispered in her ear for a moment, and as Cheral’s shrewd eyes flickered over Katia, she nodded in acknowledgment before leading the girls into the temple where they would live for the next few years.
    First, Cheral took them into the Hall of the God for their welcoming ceremony. The Sisters and older novices were all waiting, arrayed in ceremonial robes and headdresses. This was a time of rejoicing. Their singing was of such piercing sweetness that it brought tears to Katia’s eyes, and their dancing was more graceful than she would have believed possible.
    Then the Circle formed, and for the first time the newcomers took part in a Gathering, that mystical communion of Sisters with their Brother the God. As its peace and joy washed over them, even Katia’s grinding misery abated for a few precious minutes.
    Afterwards Herra, the Elder Sister, went to the foot of the legendary Statue of the God and spoke kind words of welcome. Behind her, the strange forms carved into the stone showed the wondering novices the Seven Manifestations of the God their Brother, whom he had sent down among them. To the rear of the statue was a darkness that twisted your eyes in another direction, however hard you tried to look at it.
    Katia stared at the Elder Sister, who had been heard of even as far away as the High Alder. An awesome person, Herra, and famous throughout the land, for she was over two hundred years old and wise, they said, beyond belief.
    But today Katia could not help noticing how tired Herra looked, how dreadfully bone-weary, and her welcome speech was brief.
    Ceremonial over, Cheral showed the novices the long, narrow dormitories where their cohort would live, then the hall where everyone ate and the day-chambers in which they would meet to learn and practise the Disciplines. By now Katia was not the only girl drooping with weariness, so the Novice Mistress hurried them into the bathing chambers, fed them a light meal and sent them to bed.
    ‘That one is going to be a problem,’ Cheral thought to herself as she walked briskly down to the Sisters’ chambers afterwards, ‘or ninety years have taught me nothing about novices.’
    But she soon forgot Katia in her worry over the Elder Sister, who was failing daily. Herra, who had lived longer than any other Sister in their long history must soon risk another Renewal of her ageing body, and they all feared to lose her. Indeed, we cannot survive without her, thought Cheral for the hundredth time. And even with Herra’s skills and wisdom, who knows if our Sisterhood will survive? Those of the Serpent grow ever stronger, even in Tenebrak.
    She shivered and forced her thoughts into more cheerful avenues. It was not for her to doubt their Brother’s power and wisdom.
    Cheral watched over the Elder Sister’s health like a fussy grandmother during the next month or two, for she was one of the few who dared to chide Herra and scold her into resting. The Novice Mistress was herself becoming something of a figure in the Sisterhood, though she scorned to pay attention to that. What were a mere hundred and sixty years of life, compared to over two hundred and thirty? What were her mundane Gifts, compared to those of Herra?
    Cheral knew better than anyone that she had never demonstrated any exceptional Gifts; she just