Chapter 11

 

Zora was wakened shortly before sunrise two days later by a cold canine nose poking the side of her neck. Between the pre-dawn light coming into her cell and the fact that she had excellent night vision even in human form, she was easily able to identify the dog as “Princess.”

Zora sat up and reached for a tunic, but the dog’s jaws closed over her wrist and gave a firm tug. Obviously she was wanted somewhere that she couldn’t get to in human form. And given that she wasn’t Princess and that Catriona was allowed to enter the temple quarters, Princess must be— “Kyril?” Zora asked softly.

He released her wrist and nodded. She flowed out of bed, changing to cat-shape. She didn’t want to do multiple changes, and she was pretty sure that following Kyril was going to involve climbing.

It did. They slipped silently out of the temple, outside via an empty hallway, and across the garden to the wall below the Queen’s rooms. There Kyril changed to cat-shape, and Zora followed him up the wall and over the windowsill.

Lina was flat on her back in bed. Zora jumped up and landed heavily beside her. That should have gotten some sort of response, but only Lina’s shallow breathing showed that she was even alive. Her body was otherwise motionless, even when Zora nudged her. Hard. Kyril changed back to human and put his discarded nightshirt back on, then pulled one of the Queen’s undertunics out of a chest at the foot of the bed and tossed it over a dressing screen in the corner.

“Change shape to match hers and put this on,” he said softly, “and keep your voice down. One of the priestesses sleeps in the next room.”

“I know that, Kyril,” Zora said once she had changed to human and could talk. “Until two nights ago I was the priestess in the next room. Why did you sneak into someplace you totally should not have been instead of just sending her to get me?”

“She would have blamed Lina, and Lina’s unhappy enough without having them scolding her all the time.” Kyril scowled. “Even I can tell that they don’t like her.”

There was enough truth in that that Zora didn’t argue.

“Besides, am I supposed to tell a priestess that we can’t get the Queen to wake up and we need you to take her place for the morning ritual? They don’t even know that you can take her place. You can do it, can’t you?”

“Well, I guess that explains why you fetched me instead of Colin.” Zora realized how completely she had lost track of time. “Is he back from Eagle’s Rest yet?”

“Not as far as I know,” Kyril replied. “Wait a minute, how did you know he was gone?”

“I asked him to go. There’s something very strange going on here—and I don’t mean your being the Year-King.” Zora frowned. “Did you say anything to anybody about my parents?”

“No.”

“Good. Don’t.”

“Now if we could get back to our current problem,” Kyril said, “can you take the Queen’s place for the ritual?”

Zora considered the problem. “I can look like her, and I know the right words...” And if I’m the Heiress, it’s probably my job to cover for her if she’s sick. “Why can’t we wake her up? What’s wrong with her? If she’s sick, the priestesses can’t really blame her...”

“They can and they do,” Kyril said bitterly. “She’s the sweetest, kindest, most gentle soul I’ve ever met, and they hate her for it. That’s why she takes those damned potions.”

“Which potions?”

“Lady Esme gives her something at night to help her sleep,” Kyril said, “and it seemed to help her at first, but now it’s getting harder and harder to wake her up in the morning.”

I am such an idiot! How many times did Lady Esme walk right past me with a goblet on a tray? “Why is she drinking anything Lady Esme gives her?”

Kyril shrugged. “Why shouldn’t she?”

“Kyril,” Zora said with a sigh, “you do know that Lady Esme’s father was last year’s king, don’t you?”

“What?” Kyril looked blankly at her. “That’s crazy! Why would she stay here if her father died—did he die?”

“Yes, of course he died. And Esme blames the Queen. I once overheard her complaining that as soon as he was Chosen he stopped loving her and started loving the Queen instead.”

“Well, she is very lovable.”

It must be magic. “Is there any chance that we can wake this lovable person in time to do the morning ritual?”

Kyril shook his head. “I barely got her awake yesterday, and she must have sleepwalked through the ritual because she was still three-quarters asleep at breakfast. The Shield-Bearer even told her she should make more of an effort to look alert when everyone in the hall is watching her. And she’s worse this morning. Much worse.”

“Very well.” There wasn’t any real alternative. “I’ll take her place for the ritual, but how do we hide her while she wakes up? It’s not as if we can sneak her back into my room—and what they’ll say when they miss me I don’t know!”

“Maybe they won’t miss you,” Kyril said hopefully.

“I doubt that, but we can always hope for a miracle. Get back into bed, and lie on top of her or something—just make sure she can breathe and that nobody can tell she’s still in the bed. If I’m up and dressed when they come for her, I can tell them not to disturb you while I’m doing the ritual, and that will give you time to wake her up while I’m gone.”

“Sounds like a plan,” Kyril said approvingly.

Just not a very good plan. Unfortunately, it’s all we’ve got. Zora lifted the lid of the clothing chest. “Help me find her clothes for the morning ritual, will you?”

Kyril helped Zora dress, and then climbed back into bed, carefully hiding Lina’s body with his own, just before the knock on the door.

Zora quickly opened the door and stepped into the anteroom before either the Shield-Bearer or the priestess—it was the Fourth this time—could get a good look into the room. As they moved into the main hallway and passed the Queen’s guards, she repeated what she and Kyril had agreed on, ordering that Kyril be allowed to sleep undisturbed until she returned from the ritual.

~o0o~

Zora was very nervous as she walked down the hall, especially given how astonished the Shield-Bearer had looked when she saw the Queen out of bed and dressed. What if she can tell us apart? I don’t remember how Lina acts before she goes out to do the ritual! I should know. I’ve been following her around on and off for months, but I don’t—I can’t remember! And the priestesses may not know I’m a shape-changer, but the Shield-Bearer certainly does!

As they approached the room that opened onto the balcony overlooking the square, Zora was positive she was doing something wrong. She was almost in a panic, and horribly self-conscious. What if the Goddess doesn’t want me to do this? What if I forget the words?

Then they were there. Zora took a deep breath, said a quick prayer for understanding, forgiveness, help, and whatever else the Goddess might feel inclined to grant, and stepped out onto the balcony.

As she placed her hands on the waist-high marble railing in front of her and looked down at the crowd, Zora felt warm all over, as if the Goddess were sustaining her. The chant began to flow from her lips without conscious thought, and she relaxed into the ritual, feeling the energy growing between her and the people in the square. A small part of her mind noticed that there were fewer people than there had been when she first came to Diadem, but most of her mind and all of her body was caught up in the chant. She could feel it flowing through her from the soles of her feet to the top of her head.

The ritual seemed to take place outside of time, and then suddenly it was over. The people bowed and began to leave the plaza, and Zora stepped back from the balcony into the room behind it. The Shield-Bearer was staring at her as if she didn’t believe what she had just seen and heard, and Zora suspected the veiled priestess was having the same reaction. I know I did the ritual correctly—I hope that’s not the problem.

“What happened to you?” the Shield-Bearer demanded as they went back toward the Queen’s rooms.

“I have no idea what you are talking about,” Zora said, deliberately adopting Aunt Akila’s most imperious ‘and I do not want to hear another word about it’ tone. It worked. The Shield-Bearer actually stopped talking. Zora concealed a sigh of relief and pondered how to buy more time. I don’t think breakfast in public is a good idea, even if Lina is awake by now—and she may not be.

“I don’t wish to be disturbed until it’s time for morning court,” Zora added as they reached the Queen’s rooms. “Please send up breakfast for me and Lord Kyril, and leave us alone until then.”

“Very well.” The Shield-Bearer still looked puzzled, but she inclined her head and continued down the corridor toward the main part of the palace. The priestess stayed in the antechamber, and Zora closed and locked the bedroom door between them. The scene needed to be properly set when breakfast arrived.

“She’s still not awake,” Kyril said, hovering over the Queen in concern. He knelt on the bed beside Lina and continued to shake her. By now she at least bore more resemblance to a deeply sleeping human and less to a dead body. Eventually his effort produced something that sounded like a faint moan of protest.

Zora heard it, but she was listening more for sounds in the hallway and anteroom. “Breakfast is coming,” she hissed. “Quick, hide her!”

Kyril quickly rearranged his body and the bedding to conceal Lina. Zora cast a quick glance over her shoulder to make certain that only Kyril was visible, then opened the door and had the maidservant put the breakfast tray on the table. She repeated the request to be left undisturbed until it was time for court and locked the door again when the girl left.

“How did you persuade them to send breakfast up here?” Kyril asked. “Usually they demand that we eat in the hall. We’re supposed to be visible.”

Zora shrugged. “I told the Shield-Bearer, and she ordered it. I think she suspects I’m up to something.” Time to change the subject. “What does Lina usually eat for breakfast?” Zora asked as she looked hungrily at a tray full of food. She was starved from the changing she had done earlier, and she suspected that Kyril was pretty hungry as well. Depending on how much Lina ate, there might be enough for all three of them.

“She doesn’t eat much in the morning,” Kyril said, “though you have to admit that the cooks really try to tempt her.” He gestured at the tray full of delicious-looking food. “I try to eat as much as I can at meals so they won’t feel bad.” He grinned. “At least this morning you can help with that.”

“I’d better, or I’ll fall over. We don’t eat enough in the temple for me to be changing shape twice before breakfast.”

“Lina usually just drinks that,” Kyril said, indicating a mug of dark liquid.

“Is it some sort of stimulant?” Zora asked hopefully.

“What?” Kyril had grabbed a roll and stuffed the entire thing in his mouth. Now he was trying to talk around it.

Zora rolled her eyes. “Does it help her to wake up, make her more alert, anything like that?”

Kyril swallowed the roll in a single gulp. “I think so,” he said, grabbing another roll, breaking it in half, and putting a slab of meat in the middle.

“Make one of those for me,” Zora said. She grabbed a handful of dried fruit and started chewing on it while she propped Lina upright in bed and held the mug to her lips. Fortunately Lina appeared to be able to drink in her sleep, and the liquid—whatever it was—seemed to be bringing her closer to consciousness.

Zora was very glad, however, that she didn’t have to drink it. The smell was sickening enough that she didn’t want to know what it tasted like. Of course, two shape-changes on an empty stomach did not improve the way anyone felt. It’s a good thing the morning ritual is the kind that gives the participants energy instead of taking it from them.

By the time Kyril had eaten enough that he was willing to stop stuffing his face and let Zora eat, she was starving.

“Get her out of bed and on her feet,” she ordered him as she picked up the improvised meat roll he had fixed for her. “Walk her around the room until whatever she drank last night wears off.”

Kyril obediently dragged Lina around the room, but her feet weren’t really moving, even after he managed to get another cup of that revolting liquid into her. Zora finished the bread and meat and ate several more pieces of dried fruit. Then she took a piece of some sort of spice bread, added all the butter and jam it would hold, and shoved it into her mouth. This wasn’t even close to acceptable table manners—most of the food went into her cheeks so more would fit in her mouth—but Kyril wasn’t watching her, and the way he’d been eating wasn’t acceptable in public either. Still chewing, Zora took Lina’s other arm and helped Kyril hold her upright.

It seemed they spent forever dragging Lina around the room, but eventually her weight was more on her feet and less on their shoulders. When she was sufficiently awake to stay upright they sat her down next to the table, so Kyril could get the rest of the drink and at least a little food into her.

Zora quickly took off the gown she had worn for the morning ritual, leaving her in just an undertunic. She went back to the clothing chest, remembering that she had seen a bit of green near the bottom of it. Yes! I thought she might have one of these—she was wearing it the day after the Choosing. She put on the green overtunic that the priestesses wore and picked up the veil.

Lina finally noticed that she was in the room. “Zora?” she asked, squinting at her as if the light hurt her eyes. “What are you doing here, and shouldn’t you have your veil on?”

“Yes, I should, but Kyril’s my cousin, remember? It’s not as if he doesn’t know what I look like.”

“I was having trouble getting you to wake up,” Kyril explained, “so I got Zora to help me—I figured better her than any of the older priestesses.”

“Umm,” Lina made a half-awake sound of agreement. “What time is it, anyway?”

“Almost time for court,” Kyril said. “What was in that drink Lady Esme gave you last night?”

Lina shrugged. “Just the usual herbs,” she said absently. She looked at the gown Zora had dropped on the foot of the bed and frowned in bewilderment. “I don’t even remember doing the morning ritual.”

“It was fine,” Zora said reassuringly, “but if I were you, I wouldn’t mention to anyone else that you don’t remember it.”

“You’re right,” Lina sighed. “Most of the people here already think I’m crazy.”

“Nonsense.” Kyril stroked his hand over her shoulder. “You are not crazy.”

Zora pulled an overgown suitable for court from the clothing chest. “Let’s finish getting you dressed before the Shield-Bearer comes to fetch you.” She helped Lina dress, which still bore a disquieting resemblance to dressing a doll, while Kyril hastily washed and threw on his own clothing.

Zora hid behind the dressing screen when the Shield-Bearer came to escort Lina to the audience chamber. Kyril and the priestess went with them. Once she was alone, Zora pulled the veil over her face and took the back hall to the stairs that went down to the Queen’s chapel. From there she walked silently down the passage that led to the temple quarters. She managed to slip into the book room without being observed and resumed her reading, changing her hair back to brown before she took off the veil. She reminded herself to replace the Queen’s set of robes later, preferably before they were missed. And I’d better hide a spare set of my own clothing in with the Queen’s things, she thought grimly. I’m very much afraid this is not the only time I’ll have to do this.

~o0o~

Zora decided to spend her morning study time in the temple’s book room putting together a timeline of the last few decades. She began with a more detailed study of the Book of Kings. When she had looked at it before, she hadn’t gone back further than Briam—the discovery that she and the Queen were half-sisters had completely distracted her.

Now she went back to Lord Ranulf, who had been king ten years before Briam. The notes for his year indicated that the harvest had been excellent.

She started to calculate the number of stones under the waterfall during those years. The reign instructions said to add twenty for each new Queen, but not all the Queens married that many times, so sometimes there would be extra, and a few of the Queens married more than twenty times. Lina’s mother married twenty-three times, so there wouldn’t have been too many stones the year that Briam was king, and there would have been ten more than that the year that Lord Ranulf was... So start with however many were there when Lina was born, subtract one for the king that year, add twenty, which have been slowly eroding for the past sixteen years, subtract one for last year—that’s eighteen extra rocks to dodge, nineteen of them fairly new, and they’re right under the waterfall.

Zora really was going to have to try talking to Kyril again. Or maybe she could get Lina to talk to him—he’d probably pay more attention to her. Without practice, he would have a fair chance of getting killed even though he could change shape. That wouldn’t just be tragic. It would be stupid. Of all the times for him to stop listening to sensible advice, this has to be the worst! And where is Colin? He should be back by now—I’m sure somebody at Eagle’s Rest cares that Kyril is the Year-King. Lady Akila would care, all right—her husband, her brother, and now her son... I know she can’t leave Eagle’s Rest because she has to serve the Lady of Fire there. Still, I would expect her to send somebody, or at least send Colin back with instructions. I don’t think I can cope with this mess all by myself!

~o0o~

Zora decided that the best way to talk to Lina was to sneak into the chapel before the Queen arrived. The other way, sneaking into her room at night, would only get her thrown out by Kyril—and Lina would be asleep then anyway. Besides, Zora was finding that she missed the afternoon meditation in the Queen’s chapel. Not that she thought Lina actually meditated—she had never even seen her walk the labyrinth.

Right after the midday meal, Zora slipped away and went to the Queen’s chapel. If anyone had missed her at breakfast, they hadn’t said anything. Yet. Of course, now she was disappearing again—at a time when she usually had lessons. They were probably going to notice that. Zora wondered how they punished erring priestesses—other than Lina, who apparently never got punished no matter what she did. Of course, punishment wouldn’t help her or anyone else.

Zora had plenty of time to contemplate her misdeeds and the priestesses’ possible reactions while she waited alone in complete darkness. When the door to the chapel finally opened, she was careful to stay hidden behind it. The priestess who lit the torch didn’t even look in that direction. Perhaps they think the Goddess keeps out anyone who doesn’t belong here. They may even be right.

Once the door was closed, Lina walked straight to the bench beyond the fountain, and slumped on it, leaning back against the wall and staring at her lap. She didn’t even look up as Zora walked along the path of the labyrinth. Of course, bare feet didn’t make any noise, and Lina wasn’t expecting anyone to be here. As Zora reached the fountain, she grabbed a lock of her hair and pulled it where she could look to make certain she had remembered to change it back to brown.

“Lina?”

Lina looked up in surprise. “Zora! What are you doing here?”

“I wanted to talk to you.”

“What for?”

“I’m worried about Kyril. I’ve been doing research on the stones for the Kings’ Garden. According to my calculations, there are at least eighteen more of them under the waterfall than there were the last time a Year-King survived. I’ve tried to talk to him about it, but he wouldn’t listen to me. I’m hoping he’ll listen to you.”

“What do you want me to tell him?”

“What we talked about before, remember? Tell him to sneak out at night and practice swimming under the waterfall until he knows where all the rocks are. Remember, he’s going to have to jump in there from above and make his way through them, so he has to know them well enough that he can swim through them even when he’s drugged.”

“That sounds like a reasonable idea,” Lina said slowly.

“I certainly thought so, but when I suggested it to him, he said he wouldn’t leave you alone at night. I pointed out that you weren’t going to miss him—the way you sleep, nothing wakes you up until morning, and we have a hard enough time waking you then. But he wouldn’t listen to me. I’m hoping that if you tell him to do it, he will.”

“I’ll try to remember to tell him tonight.”

“Thank you. I’d really appreciate it.”

They sat side by side on the bench. Suddenly Lina said, “Zora? Why do you always walk the path through the labyrinth? I’ve never seen you just walk across the floor, even when you were a dog.”

“It’s a compulsion,” Zora admitted. “I can’t not do it. There’s a sort of feeling as if I’m being pulled, and if I try to step off the path the floor gets cold and I feel that I’m going the wrong way. It’s unpleasant. I don’t understand how you can not follow the path.”

Lina shrugged. “Probably because I don’t feel anything.”

“The floor doesn’t feel warmer underfoot if you keep to the path?”

“The floor is cold in here, Zora. It’s the same temperature no matter where you step. It’s rock, in case you haven’t noticed.”

“Of course I’ve noticed it’s rock, but most of it feels warm to me.”

Lina slid her bare foot sideways to touch Zora’s, and both of them gasped.

“Your feet are so cold!” Zora exclaimed.

Almost at the same time, Lina asked, “Why are your feet so warm?” She reached out and took Zora’s hand. “Our hands are the same temperature.”

“I guess my feet are warm because the floor is—at least for me.” Zora frowned, trying to figure out yet another puzzle. This is the strangest place. “It’s odd that you don’t feel it. You’re the Queen, so I would expect you to feel it more than I do, not less. Did you ever feel what I described?”

Lina was silent so long that Zora was about to repeat the question when she finally said softly, “I think I used to feel it. I remember when the priestesses first started sending me in here in the afternoons. It was about three years ago, and I remember walking the labyrinth like a game.” She shook her head. “It’s not a game anymore.”

Zora supposed that Lina just stopped wanting to feel it—or anything else. They sat in silence for a long time before Lina spoke again.

“Zora? How are you going to get out of here without the priestess outside noticing?”

Zora winced. “That’s a really good question. It’s too bad I’m not still a dog.”

“Can’t you change back into one?”

“I can change back to Princess, but my clothes won’t change with me...” Actually, that could work. “Can you take my clothing upstairs and hide it in the bottom of the chest at the foot of your bed?”

“I suppose so,” Lina said. “Especially if the priestess is distracted wondering why Princess is here with me and how she got in.”

“All right, then.” Zora stripped off the clothing she was wearing. It was the Queen’s anyway. She folded it into a neat little bundle, and changed to Princess.

The priestess was distracted all right, and nobody could blame her. The only entrance to the chapel was the door, and she had been right outside it the entire time the Queen had been inside. Even I couldn’t sneak in past her. The walls, floor and ceiling are all solid stone, and the door fits so well that I don’t think I could change to a shape small enough to fit under it. Of course, the fact that the door is solid, thick wood and so well-fitted means that Lina and I can talk in here without being overheard as long as we don’t start screaming at each other. It’s too bad we can’t get Kyril down here too. We really need someplace the three of us can talk, but he objects to using the Queen’s bedchamber at night, which is the only other place nobody will bother us. During the day, there’s always a risk that someone will insist on seeing the Queen for some reason.

As a dog, Zora followed the Queen back to her room and watched her put the priestess robes in her clothing chest. Now Zora would know where they were if she needed to use them again.

The dog followed Lina around for most of the rest of the afternoon, and then split off and went back to the temple. She made it into her cell unobserved, which could only be attributed to the mercy of the Goddess. Zora changed to human, dressed in her green robe, and slipped silently into the bookroom. The night silence began with supper, so the priestesses could not scold her yet for not having been where she was supposed to be for most of the day. Zora figured she would probably get yelled at in the morning, when the silence ended.

As she fell asleep that night, she wondered if Lina would remember to talk to Kyril.

~o0o~

But it was Kyril, as Princess, who woke Zora up again the next morning. At least this time he had thought to stash extra food for them to eat as soon as they changed back to human shape. Zora was starving—she hadn’t really gotten enough to eat the day before. She looked at Lina’s unresponsive body and sighed. “Can’t you get her to stop drinking whatever Lady Esme is giving her?”

“No,” Kyril said. “I tried last night.”

“Try again. If you can’t stop her from drinking it, at least get it away from her long enough to dilute it.”

Kyril shook his head. “Lady Esme gives her the goblet, and she drinks it straight down. There’s no way to dilute it or switch it for anything else—I doubt I could even pry it out of her hands.”

“Keep trying to wake her up,” Zora said grimly, “while I go do the ritual. Again. Pretend you’re asleep if anyone comes in, and for the Lady’s sake keep her hidden.” She dressed for the morning ritual and turned to face Kyril. “How do I look?”

“Your hair is wrong,” Kyril said, turning briefly to look at her before going back to shaking Lina.

“You do realize, don’t you,” Zora said as she changed her hair to match Lina’s, “that we can’t get away with this for long. I know the Shield-Bearer is already suspicious.”

“Don’t worry about it,” Kyril said, maddeningly oblivious to Zora’s mixed feelings. “You wanted to serve the Goddess, didn’t you?”

Not like this, I didn’t! Zora realized she was grinding her teeth and made a conscious effort to relax as she left the room, met up with the Queen’s escort, and headed toward the balcony.

~o0o~

The ritual went smoothly, but the Shield-Bearer and the priestess in attendance were apparently not the only ones who had noticed a difference between Zora and the real Queen. There were almost twice as many people in the square as there had been the day before. There must be something obviously different in the way I’m doing this, but I don’t know how else to do it.

Zora thought she heard the Goddess whisper in her head, saying that she was doing well, but that wasn’t going to be much comfort when the priestesses found out what was going on.

Zora returned to the Queen’s rooms, and at least this morning she got enough to eat at breakfast, which helped. What didn’t help, however, was that she and Kyril couldn’t wake Lina. Apparently she had taken an even heavier dose of whatever-it-was last night. Zora finally had to leave Kyril hiding Lina and pretending to be half-asleep while she took the Queen’s place at the morning hearings. She wondered if anyone would forgive her for this if they found out. This wasn’t just the concern of the priestesses; this was the government of Diadem. At least the Shield-Bearer was the one who made the actual decisions, so maybe it wouldn’t matter too much. Of course, that depended on how understanding the Shield-Bearer and the Sword-Bearer—and anyone else who found out—were likely to be.

Fortunately the few cases being heard that morning were not terribly complex, and the Shield-Bearer knew what they were about and what should be done, so all Zora had to do was ask her advice and then voice it as a royal decree. She tried to balance appearing awake and competent for the people with appearing drugged and disoriented for Lady Esme. The last thing she needed was for the woman to think her drug wasn’t working. She would probably increase the dose...

No, she probably did increase the dose. That would explain why we couldn’t wake Lina this morning. If I don’t do something, tonight’s dose might be fatal. Then Esme brought the Queen’s usual midmorning bowl of broth.

Zora took one sip and nearly fell over. She did drop the bowl, which shattered, spilling the broth all over the floor and her—or rather, Lina’s—skirts. She ignored the mess as she wrapped her arms tightly around her ribs and bowed her head, fighting to remain upright in the chair. Beef broth, she thought grimly. I am such an idiot! I should have known. One sip—and the loss of her bond with the Goddess—made just what was in that innocent-looking broth painfully clear. Very painfully clear. This was the one thing the Goddess had taught Zora before she left home, and she had forgotten it!

She focused on Esme’s fingers as she fussed over her, playing the concerned lady-in-waiting. Zora recalled all the times she had seen Lady Esme stick herself while sewing and exclaim over her own clumsiness. But Esme hadn’t been sewing that morning, and there was a fresh pinprick on her fourth finger. She added a drop of her own blood right before she gave me the bowl.

Zora wondered dimly, as she strove to remain conscious and upright, why Lina had never showed any response to the potion. If she was getting it often enough—and I’ll bet she is—the potion wouldn’t be changing anything for her. It would just be maintaining the status quo. No wonder she couldn’t feel the presence of the Goddess! And I’d thought it was just that she didn’t want to... I’m as bad as the priestesses, blaming her for things that aren’t her fault.

“I’m not feeling well,” Zora said when she finally got her body and voice back under at least some control. “I’m going back to bed until afternoon meditation.” She forced herself to stand and walk as normally as she could back to Lina’s rooms, ignoring the priestess who accompanied her.

It took Zora two tries to lock the door, and even Kyril, despite his absorption with Lina’s condition, noticed there was something wrong.

“What is it?” he asked anxiously. “Did someone try to harm Lina?”

“What?” Zora stared at him blankly for a moment before realizing that, of course, Esme had thought that she was Lina. “Yes,” she said grimly. “Someone has been trying to harm Lina for quite some time now.”

Zora collapsed on the bed next to Lina without bothering to try to take off the court dress. “I’ll explain later. I need to sleep now.”

“What happened?” Kyril asked insistently.

“It’s that gods-forsaken potion,” Zora muttered, feeling herself slipping into welcome unconsciousness. “The one Kassie and I made at home.” Then she blacked out completely.

~o0o~

The next thing Zora heard was Lina’s voice saying, “Why is she wearing my court dress? She’s going to get it horribly wrinkled sleeping in it—she should know enough to take it off before she lies down. And what happened to the skirt?”

“She didn’t have time to take it off,” Kyril said grimly. “She passed out almost as soon as she made it through the door.”

“Are you worried about her?” Lina actually sounded jealous.

“I’m worried about you,” Kyril said promptly. “How many people would look at her now and even think that she might not be you?”

Zora slitted her eyes open just enough to watch Lina counting on her fingers. “You, the Sword-Bearer, Zora, and me. Four.”

And probably the Shield-Bearer. Five. Zora forced her eyes the rest of the way open. “What time is it?”

“Thank the gods you’re awake!” Kyril said. “I can’t explain what you’re doing, and they’ll be here any minute.”

Zora’s first attempt to get up landed her on her knees on the floor. She grabbed the lid of the clothes chest, shoved it open, and hastily pulled the green robe and veil out of it. “Lina, put these on, quickly!”

“What?” Lina looked at her in astonishment. “Why?”

“I’ll explain everything in the chapel, but we have to get there first, and I don’t have time to change clothes!”

“She’s right,” Kyril said. “She’s fast, but not that fast.”

“You should change,” Lina protested. “You’ve spilled something on the skirt.”

“Later,” Zora said through clenched teeth. “For now, just get dressed!”

Footsteps sounded in the outer room, and someone knocked on the door. Kyril pulled the gown over Lina’s undertunic and handed her the veil. “She’ll have to keep pretending to be you for the minute.”

“Listen to him, please,” Zora begged, closing the chest and using it to shove herself to her feet. “We can change back in the chapel, but just put the veil on and don’t say anything until we get there.”

“You’re going to tell me everything,” Lina said as she pulled the veil over her face.

“And me, too,” Kyril added.

“Later, Kyril, I promise. Open the door now, please.”

Once again Zora blessed the fact that priestesses couldn’t speak while veiled. Not only did Lina have to keep quiet, but the other priestess couldn’t ask what Zora was doing in the Queen’s bedchamber.

They made their way to the chapel in silence, and the two girls went in, leaving the priestess in the antechamber.

Then Zora discovered her next problem. Her sense of the Goddess’s presence had not yet returned, and she couldn’t walk the labyrinth. But distance from the door, and the priestess outside it, was the most important thing at the moment, so she walked straight across the chapel and collapsed on the bench next to the water-covered rock.

Lina sat next to her and pulled off the veil. “What’s going on? Why don’t I remember anything about this morning, why are you wearing my dress”—she frowned—“and why didn’t you walk the labyrinth? You always walk the labyrinth.”

“I can’t right now,” Zora said, “any more than you can—and probably for the same reason. I’m really sorry, Lina. I made a mistake, and I nearly got you killed.”

“What in Earth are you talking about?” Lina wailed.

“Keep your voice down,” Zora said urgently. “The door is thick, but remember that Catriona could hear you through it when you screamed the first time I changed shape in here.”

Lina managed to lower her voice as she asked, “Could you get back to the ‘nearly got me killed’ part of the explanation?”

Zora took a deep breath. “Remember yesterday, when you said you couldn’t remember doing the morning ritual?”

“Yes,” Lina said, “and you told me not to tell anyone about it.”

“The reason you don’t remember doing the ritual is that you didn’t do it. I did.”

“Why?”

“Kyril couldn’t get you to wake up, so he came and got me to take your place.”

“He snuck into the priestesses’ quarters?” Lina asked, obviously scandalized.

“Well, yes. Remember, he loves you very much, and he didn’t want anyone to think badly of you, and he was afraid that people would be upset if you started missing rituals.”

“He’s right about that,” Lina said. After a moment she added, “He doesn’t really love me, you know. It’s just because he’s the king. Lady Esme says that at least I don’t have to worry about whether men love me for my money, the way she does, because I already know they don’t.”

“Lady Esme is a poisonous bitch,” Zora snapped, being careful to keep her voice down.

“How can you say that?” Lina protested. “She’s my friend.”

“Not if she says things like that she’s not. Besides, it’s nonsense. Kyril loved you before the Choosing, remember? He spent as much time as he could with you, even then.”

“Yes,” Lina said, looking at Zora wonderingly. “He did, and he really seemed to like me.”

“And Lady Esme is the one who’s been drugging you.”

“What do you mean?”

“What’s the drink she gives you at night?”

“Just some herbs to help me sleep. There’s nothing wrong with that, is there?” Lina seemed honestly puzzled. “She takes them too.”

“There wouldn’t be much wrong with it if we could wake you up in the morning,” Zora said, adding grimly, “but we can’t, can we? It was a struggle to get you up in time for the morning ritual the entire time I was attending you. Then yesterday we couldn’t wake you up in time for the ritual, and this morning we couldn’t wake you in time for court. I think she’s been increasing the dosage, to make you start missing rituals. And that’s where Kyril and I made the mistake. We thought it was just an error, and so I did the ritual. But I wasn’t drugged, so I’m afraid that it went a bit differently than it usually does...”

“You mean you didn’t stumble through it half-asleep.”

“I think there was enough talk—or maybe Esme was there—and she figured she hadn’t made the potion strong enough. She watches you drink it, doesn’t she?”

Lina nodded. “She brings it in on a tray, hands it to me, watches me drink the whole thing, and then takes the goblet away.”

“So she knows you got the full dose of whatever she put in that cup. When it suddenly appeared not to work, she probably used more or stronger herbs. The problem is that it did work, and she could have killed you by doing that. As it was, I had to do the morning ritual and court today. So now we have two problems.”

“Did you do something wrong at court?”

“No, I just did whatever the Shield-Bearer said to do. The first problem is that if Lady Esme thinks whatever she gave you last night isn’t working, what is she going to give you tonight?”

“Oh, dear,” Lina whispered. “She could kill me without even meaning to.”

“Precisely. The other problem is the broth she gives you every morning. How long has she been doing that?”

Lina smiled. “She started making it for me as a morning treat when she first came to court, back when her father was king...” Her voice trailed off. “There’s something wrong with the broth?”

“Remember you asked why I suddenly can’t walk the labyrinth?” Lina nodded. “That ‘broth’ is a potion, and it’s a really nasty one. When did you wake up today?”

“A few minutes before you did,” Lina admitted.

“Then you didn’t see the effect it had on me.”

“Not really. Kyril said something about letting you sleep it off.”

“What that potion does is sever our bond with the Goddess.”

“It what?” Lina looked at Zora as if she were crazy.

Zora almost wished she were.

“You said it yourself,” she reminded Lina. “You told me that you could walk the labyrinth before Esme came to court.”

“I didn’t say that!” Lina protested.

“Yes, you did. Think about it. Remember.”

Lina looked down at her lap and then up at Zora. The look on her face was a combination of horror and incredulity. “Yes,” she admitted, “I could still walk the labyrinth at the beginning of last year—before the...king was Chosen. Soon after he was Chosen I stopped being able to do it, so I haven’t tried since then.”

“When did Esme come to court?” I asked.

“A few days after her father did,” Lina said. “She was really a bother at first, demanding his attention—it made the Shield-Bearer very cross with her. But after a few weeks she settled down, and that’s when I offered her a position as my lady-in-waiting, so that she could...be with her father as long as possible.”

“Year-King idiocy.” Zora could see what had happened as if she had been there.

“What are you talking about?”

“One of the things that happens at the Choosing—Kyril’s parents told him about it, and he told me—is that a bond is established between the Queen and the Year-King that supersedes all other relationships in his life. I’m guessing Esme was her father’s only child and her mother died a long time ago?”

“She’s certainly his only child—the Year-King’s children are freed from all tax obligations for life, so I’d know if she had siblings—and I’ve never heard her mention her mother. Why does it matter?” Lina asked.

“The temple records say she was thirty-one last year, and apparently she never married,” Zora went on, “so I’m guessing that she lived with her father, and it was just the two of them.”

“And—?”

“So one day she’s his beloved daughter and the most important person in his life, and a single day later, you are the focus of his life.”

“Are you saying she blames me for that?” Lina said. “I really had nothing to do with it. I don’t know how he was Chosen. I don’t even remember most of the ceremony.” After a moment she added. “Either time.”

“That doesn’t matter; I don’t think the Queen ever remembers much of it. Apparently the Goddess simply works through you.” Casting her mind back, Zora added, “I don’t remember it either, and I wasn’t even the one doing it. I remember going to the plaza for the ceremony, and the next thing I knew I woke up in the crypt, and it was the next day!”

“So I’m not a bad Queen if I don’t remember it?” Lina blurted out.

Zora suddenly felt very much like the older sister instead of the younger. “No,” she said. “Not at all.”

Lina started crying. “You don’t know how awful it is,” she sobbed. “I’ve tried, but I hate being Queen! I don’t want to be the reason people die, and I don’t want people to hate me.” Lina sniffed. “Do you think Esme hates me? It’s not as if I wanted her father to die!”

“I think Esme hates the whole world by now,” Zora said, “but yes, I’m fairly sure she hates you. The last ingredient in the broth potion is ‘a drop of blood from someone who hates you’—and from the way one sip of it affected me, I think there was a lot of hatred in it.”

“But she doesn’t hate you,” Lina protested. “She doesn’t even know you exist.”

“I don’t think she hates you as a person, Lina. She hates you as the Queen, and she thought I was the Queen, so...” Zora sighed. “I think mostly she hates you because you stole her father’s love from her even before he died.”

“I didn’t!” Lina protested.

“Not by anything you could have changed, but she lost his love and you gained it.” Zora giggled, suddenly remembering something. “When I’m in my true shape, we look identical, right?”

“Yes...”

“Kyril is firmly convinced that you are much more beautiful than I am.”

“Really?” Lina started giggling too. “Maybe he’s the one who’s crazy.”

“In a limited way, mostly where you’re concerned, he is,” Zora admitted. “I think it’s a sort of geas—the king will love the Queen, and he’ll refuse to even think of leaving either her or the land. It does insure that he’ll still be here when he’s needed, and that he won’t make much of a fuss.”

Lina shuddered. “How can you be so cold-blooded about it? I don’t want Kyril to die!”

“I don’t either,” Zora assured her, “but we don’t have to worry about that now. At the moment what we have to worry about is making certain that you don’t die. Tonight.”

“I don’t think I can stop her,” Lina said slowly. “There’s something about her...” Her voice trailed off.

Zora looked at the green gown the Queen was still wearing. “I guess I could keep pretending to be you—as long as you pretend to be me.”

“Won’t the priestesses notice?”

“They don’t know that we can change places,” Zora pointed out. “At least I hope they don’t know, so it probably won’t occur to them. They may think you’re different, but that’s a long way from thinking that you aren’t you.”

“That you aren’t me, you mean.”

“Either way, I don’t think it will be their first guess. The other thing we need to do to make this work is to change the schedule so my time to attend you and sleep in the next room starts again tonight. As long as you wear my clothes, keep the veil on and don’t talk, which you’re not supposed to do anyway, I don’t see any reason why they should suspect.”

“All right,” Lina said. “Can you stand up to Lady Esme if she tries to make you drink the potion? I don’t want you to get killed.”

“I’ll manage somehow.” Just don’t ask me how.

Lina subsided into silence, while Zora tried to meditate. Given the effects of the potion, it was much harder than usual. When the Goddess said there was danger to our lives, she really meant it. I wonder what the danger to our souls is? Loss of faith? I think Lina’s already lost any faith she ever had. And I admit that finding out about the Sacrifice has shaken my faith. I wonder...

“Lina?”

Lina shook her head as if waking from a nap. “What?”

“Do you remember what the First Priestess said during your lesson, when she was talking about attempts to end the Sacrifice? It sounds as though the people require it more than the Goddess does. Maybe the Goddess is working to stop it, and you just can’t see it yet.”

“That sounds like the most incredible wishful thinking I’ve ever heard,” Lina snapped.

Maybe it is wishful thinking. On the other hand... “Maybe that’s why I’m here.”

Lina shook her head in disbelief. “What?”

Zora said slowly, “I know this sounds crazy, but I think the Goddess may be trying to do away with the Sacrifice, to make it—what did the priestess call it?—an empty ritual. I think that whenever there is someone who can survive the waterfall, the rocks, and the river, that’s the person who gets Chosen. Kyril is perfectly capable of changing shape to something that can breathe underwater—as long as he doesn’t break his neck or hit his head on the rocks.”

Lina frowned. “Can’t you and Colin do the same thing?”

Zora nodded. “I’m probably the one who would do best at the moment, because I’m the only one who has actually seen the rocks, but all of us have the ability.”

“I can understand that the Goddess wouldn’t choose you for the Year-King, but why Kyril and not Colin?”

“I suspect it’s because Kyril was already in love with you.”