Marrika was not afraid. Unlike most of the citizenry of Braedon, she regarded the cloak of darkness as her favorite garment.
The Blesser entered, fussing about as he lit the few torches that provided illumination. The flickering lights seemed to actively struggle with the shadows, which retreated but did not flee. The floor was hard-packed earth. A circle was drawn in the center, made, if Marrika remembered correctly, from the ground bones of Vengeance's animal sacrifices. It was not a complete enclosure, however. The circle would be sealed later, as part of the ceremony. Inside the sacred ring was Vengeance's altar. Marrika couldn't quite identify the items on the altar this far away from them, but could make a good guess as to what they might be.
There were no windows at all.
The Blesser followed her gaze to the altar and started abruptly.
'My apologies,' he said, 'but I… I truthfully wasn't expecting anyone to attend tonight. It's not one of the High Holy Days, you see, and… well…'
'Vengeance is not honored as he was in earlier times, is he, Blesser?' Marrika's voice was cool, and her dark gaze pierced him. He stared back, like a rabbit caught by a snake.
'No, lady. Sadly, he is not.'
'That is a loss to Braedon, not to Vengeance.'
The little priest flushed with pleasure, his eyes glowing. 'You understand,' he breathed. 'Have you come to be taught, my dear?' The thought made him breathe harder, and he clutched the folds of his simple black robe so tightly that his knuckles whitened.
Marrika was on her guard at once, although she still felt in control of the game. Should this little man, in the grip of either religious or physical fervor, try to overwhelm her, he would not enjoy the welcome he received.
'Regretfully, no, Blesser,' she said softly. 'But I am looking forward to the ritual.'
'Then by all means, let us proceed!' He turned and went back to the still open door, peering first right, then left. Grunting with the effort, he pulled the door to. 'It would seem that you are the only one attending the service tonight, lady. I will be able to grant you my full attention.' The words were calm, assured, but the quiver in the man's voice and his rapid breathing betrayed him. He stepped closer, his hands nervously playing with the tassels on his belt.
He indicated the circle. 'If you would enter, we may begin.' The ritual words seemed to calm him, and some of his high-strung mannerisms began to abate. He stood straighter, though he was still not as tall as his lone parishioner.
Nodding, Marrika stepped into the center of the circle. She could go through the motions well enough, and feigning devotion to a god was more to her liking than soiling sheets with Freylis. She sat down cross-legged on the hard-packed earth and gazed up at the Blesser, waiting.
He followed, moving with surety now. From a pouch that hung at his waist he withdrew a handful of white powder. Muttering words that Marrika could barely hear and could certainly not understand, he sprinkled the ground bone on the earth, closing the circle.
The temperature within the sacred ring plummeted. Marrika inhaled softly, startled. It was like stepping from summer into winter. Fear began to seep through her, ever so subtly. She hadn't bargained on this priest having true power.
For a brief, wild instant, she wondered at the wisdom of the course she had impulsively decided to pursue. Vengeance, like the beautiful Lady Death, was not a deity to be trifled with. But I'm not trifling, she thought, grinding her teeth in an effort to control the trembling engendered by mixed fear and cold. My desire is true — and so is my offering!
And what is that, lady?
Now Marrika did gasp aloud, her gaze flying from the floor to meet that of the Blesser. He was sitting across from her with a slight smile on his unattractive face. The bastard had mind magic! Hard on the heels of her startlement was the realization that the priest's talent didn't run very deep, or else he would have known her true thoughts.
Her eyes searched his face, and she relaxed. He enjoyed catching her off-guard, but he'd exhausted his bag of tricks. Marrika, though, was just beginning.
'Tell me what you want.'
He spoke the words aloud. It was a lovely phrase to Marrika, and one she had heard often. Utterly cool, Marrika leaned forward. She emphasized her cleavage as she brought her face close to his.
'I want justice. Vengeance's justice.'
'What is the offense?'
'Betrayal of my affections. And the usurping of power by one who does not deserve it.'
The Blesser clucked his tongue sympathetically. Marrika could actually see sweat on his pale brow. She dared not let her contempt show. For all his training, all his magic, she still had the upper hand. If she played this right, success would be hers.
'Those are grave offenses indeed. How do you wish them to be punished?'
'Death,' answered Marrika swiftly. The man went even paler.
'My dear lady, I cannot ask Vengeance to kill for you! That is Lady Death's domain, and she will not murder at a mortal's whim!'
'I know this is not an ordinary request. Therefore, I do not offer an ordinary sacrifice,' said Marrika. She rose and moved purposefully toward the dark-enshrouded altar. She heard the Blesser hastening after her, but did not slow. Marrika stopped within a foot of the altar, looking at it coolly. A knife, encrusted with dark red fluid, lay on a black silk pillow. The corpse of a rabbit, recently killed, to judge by its appearance, was suspended from the ceiling. It dripped blood into a small bowl.
'M-my own offering to Lord Vengeance,' stammered the priest. 'As I said, I didn't really expect anyone…'
The feeble excuse trailed off. Marrika ignored him, her gaze on the rabbit. It hadn't been quickly and cleanly killed, as was the habit with every other sacrifice she'd seen offered to the god. Its ears, tail, and all four of its small legs had been sliced off and the creature had been permitted to bleed to death. There was blood on the floor a good distance away, mute evidence to its futile struggle.
Two shivers, neither born of the unnatural cold, shook her body. The first was caused by the realization that Vengeance's Blesser here in Braedon was a man who was excited by pain and suffering. The second was due to the understanding that this little, perverted wretch could perhaps give her absolutely everything she wanted.
She turned around. 'I understand,' she said gently. 'Vengeance does not demand just the blood of his victims. He wants their pain as a sacrifice, too.'
'When I was a young Tender, they thought I was wrong,' the man said softly. 'They didn't see — they didn't understand. But you understand. You must have been sent by Vengeance to me, to show that he approves of my worship of him!'
'Perhaps,' Marrika agreed cautiously. 'I believe we two think along the same lines, Blesser…?' 'Kannil,' he said. 'And your name, O favored one?'
'Marrika. And as I have said, I offer no ordinary sacrifice for my favor. I will bring you… a human sacrifice, Kannil.'
The excited color drained from Blesser Kannil's face. 'There has been no human sacrifice in Vengeance's temple for… for decades, centuries!' Mixed fear and anticipation was in his voice. 'I, I cannot… the laws of Byrn… it would be murder!'
'Exactly,' purred Marrika, moving even closer. She couldn't let him turn back now. If he did, well, she would have no compunctions about sending Vengeance an offer of his own Blesser. 'No! ' wailed Kannil, whirling away from her, his hand outstretched as if to physically keep her back. 'I cannot! They would kill me!'
'Only if they knew,' persisted Marrika, laying her strong climber's hands on the man's narrow shoulders and turning him around to face her. 'And I won't tell. I'm bringing the sacrifice, remember? I'd be just as guilty of murder as you would be!' She had no intention of telling him that she had performed murder many times before in her young life. 'I want this. Vengeance wants it, too-you know he does. You hear the call in your sleep every night, don't you?'
Trapped in the snare of her dark gaze, the unfortunate Blesser could only nod.
She'd thought as much. A quick flash of loathing shot through Marrika. She wondered how many of the
