Suddenly the wooden door to the room banged open and Mother Healer appeared in the doorway. “Well,” she said, surveying them coolly. “I see it didn’t take you long to gain your antidote, Kindred.”
Elise gave a little gasp and scrambled for her robe. “Mother Healer…I…we…”
“Never mind your fumblings and mumblings,” the old woman snapped. “I don’t care what the two of you do in here as long as it isn’t more blasphemy. But I thought you should know the evening meal is prepared.” She nodded at Merrick. “I’m sure you’re hungry. You can’t live on female life-essence alone.”
“Wouldn’t mind trying though,” he growled, throwing Elise a look that made her blush.
“Thank you, Mother-Healer,” she managed, still clutching the robe to her chest. “We…we’ll be out in a minute.”
The old woman frowned. “See that you don’t take too long, girl-child. The sipva stew will grow cold. And after you eat, the two of you have to start the purification ceremonies.”
“Purification ceremonies? Why the hell for?” Merrick demanded.
The old woman raised one snowy white eyebrow. “Why, so you can appear before the Elders and plead your case. This time tomorrow eventide you may be pleading for your very lives—it’s best to be pure in case things don’t go your way and the Elders judge you ready to enter eternity.”
Then she banged the door shut as suddenly as she had opened it and was gone.
Chapter Twenty-eight
“Lissa? Lissa, are you all right?”
Lissa swam upward, slipping the bonds of sleep, which gripped her like cold hands. She groped toward the light and the strangely familiar voice. Someone was calling her name. Someone she cared for very much. At last she opened her eyes.
“Moch Daer?” she whispered through numb lips. “Saber…is that you?”
“No, Lissa, it’s just me.” The lady Nadiah pressed her hand gently. “It’s so good to see you awake—you’ve been out for days.”
“Oh…” Lissa couldn’t control the wave of disappointment that washed over her. So her vision of Saber had been just that—a vision. A mirage brought on by the fierce, unrelenting heat of the desert and her own wishful thinking.
“Are you all right?” Nadiah looked at her anxiously. “You look so sad.”
“Forgive me, my lady. I…I thought you were Saber,” Lissa whispered, blinking back tears. “I had a dream of him in the desert. A dream so sweet, so real…but I see now it was only a fantasy concocted in my own addled brain.”
“It was no dream.” A new voice caused Lissa to whip her head to the left. To her shock, she saw Saber standing there in the flesh, just as she remembered him.
“Saber?” she whispered. “I must be dreaming again.”
Nadiah laughed. “It’s not a dream. Saber and his crew are the ones who brought you in.” She winked slyly at Lissa. “He hasn’t left your side for days.”
“Oh…I…” Lissa shook her head, uncertain of what to say. Clearly the lady Nadiah meant to be encouraging, although it was wrong of her to encourage any sort of romantic gesture between two of the same clan—essentially a brother and sister.
Saber cleared his throat, looking as uncomfortable as Lissa felt. “I wanted to be certain you were all right, my sister,” he said, speaking formally, as though they were greeting each other back on Tarsia. “It was the least I could do for a member of my clan and family.”
“Of course, my brother,” Lissa answered numbly. “I thank you for your assistance.”
Saber nodded gravely. “I was glad to render it.”
The lady Nadiah looked between the two of them, frowning. “Okaaaay, I’m not exactly certain what’s going on, but I think the two of you should stop acting like strangers. It’s obvious you care about each other, so stop being so stiff and formal.”
“Forgive me.” Lissa looked down at her hands. “Thank you for saving my life, Saber. How…how did you come to be here on First World, anyway?”
“I’m here seeking the Councilor's good will and acknowledgement of the Touch Kindred as a people,” he said.
“And he made a good start, saving our new high priestess from dehydration,” Nadiah said brightly. “Well, Lissa, now that I know you’re all right, I need to go check on a few things. A lot has happened while you’ve been out.”
“I’ll go with you. I’ve neglected my duties long enough.” Lissa struggled to get out of bed but she was too weak to do much more than sit up.