“Why not?” The Ascending Priestess Superior shrugged. “I’ve fooled them about everything else—including the illness and death of my predecessor.” She nodded at the old Priestess Superior, who was blinking uncertainly, still curled on her side in the bed. “I could shoot her right now and then hide the blaster wound and nobody would know the difference.”
She aimed the blaster at the old Priestess Superior, as though deliberating a much quicker and more violent ending for the old woman than she had originally planned.
“You won’t kill her—you can’t!” Elli exclaimed, a protective rage rising over her. She felt as though her own grandmother was being threatened! She ran to the bed and put herself between the old woman and the Ascending Priestess Superior. “You can’t!” she repeated.
“You stupid little bitch, move away from her!” The Ascending Priestess was beginning to sound annoyed. “You can’t save her now—you can’t even save yourself. The minute I blast you, I’ll make her drink the rest of the Dreaming Drops in the bottle and she’ll drift quietly away while I blow your body out of the airlock!”
As her finger tightened on the trigger, Elli closed her eyes and said a final prayer that the Goddess would forgive her for all her sins. She was trying to brace for the burning sting of the blaster’s deadly ray when—
“Stop!” a low, angry voice growled from the doorway. “Drop your blaster, Priestess or you’re going to be very, very sorry.”
Fifty-Six
Looking up, Elli saw that the speaker was none other than Commander Sylvan—the head of the Kindred High Council himself—and he had a blaster of his own and two armed guards behind him.
But her attention was soon pulled back to the Ascending Priestess who was still holding the blaster pointed at Elli.
“I’m afraid I can’t drop my blaster, Commander Sylvan,” she said calmly. “You see, I caught this rogue Novice here trying to assassinate our beloved old Priestess Superior. I’m afraid if I let her move an inch, she’ll finish the job.”
“What?” Elli couldn’t believe her ears. “What are you talking about?” she demanded. She looked at Commander Sylvan appealingly. “The Ascending Priestess is the one who’s been trying to kill the old Priestess Superior—not me!”
“Lies.” The Ascending Priestess’s voice never rose or wavered a bit. She was perfectly calm as she accused Elli. “She’s been poisoning the old woman for months. Look—I caught her with this.” And she held up the bright green bottle of Dreaming Drops for the Kindred commander’s inspection. “She was tasked with taking care of the old Priestess Superior when she first came aboard the Kindred Mother Ship,” she told Commander Sylvan. “But all this time, she’s been giving her these drops which simulate a wasting sickness when given in too large a quantity.”
“That’s not true!” Elli protested. “Please, Commander Sylvan—I’m trying to save the old Priestess Superior! I even went to the Tenebrian palace to get a piece of the Healing Lattice to heal her! If you’ll just let me show you…” She reached for her pocket where she had stuffed the linen handkerchief with the tiny piece of Lattice wrapped in it.
“Shoot her!” the Ascending Priestess shouted. “She’s going for a blaster!” She trained her own blaster on Elli again and started to pull the trigger.
“No!” With a cry of long pent up anger and frustration, Beedra jumped out of the closet and knocked the blaster out of the Ascending Priestess’s hand.
“No!” she shouted again, in the other woman’s surprised face.
“Beedra?” the Ascending Priestess said blankly. “Whatever do you think you’re doing?”
“I’m doing what I should have done from the beginning!” Beedra gasped. “You’ve bullied and belittled and frightened me from the minute you stepped on board this ship but I won’t let you lie about poor Ellilah and then shoot her in cold blood. I won’t, I won’t, I won’t!”
“Oh, Beedra, thank you!” Elli exclaimed.
“I should have done it before.” The other priestess burst suddenly into noisy sobs. “I’m just s-sorry it t-took me so l-long to get enough c-courage to confront her!”
The Ascending Priestess was clearly astonished by this surprise attack by her assistant, but she recovered her composure quickly.
“What in the name of the Goddess are you wailing about, Beedra?” she snapped. Turning to Commander Sylvan, she shook her head. “Commander, I must apologize for my assistant. She’s been acting rather erratic lately but I had no idea she had gone completely crazy. I really think the best thing for her is to be locked safely away and sedated for a while.”
“I don’t think so.” Commander Sylvan’s voice was hard as he frowned at the Ascending Priestess. “You’re the one who’s going to be locked away, Priestess.”
The Ascending Priestess widened her eyes innocently and put one skinny hand to her chest.
“Me? But Commander, I assure you—”
“Save your assurances—and your lies,” he snapped. “I heard what you said to Novice Ellilah before I came through the door. You’ve been up to no good from the moment you stepped aboard the Mother Ship and may the Goddess forgive me for not noticing sooner.”