'Here,' said Feena, 'sit with me and we'll talk about it.'
She nodded to the worn stone rim of the sacred pool. The High Moonmistress relaxed a little and followed as she drew her along. Feena glanced around and caught the eye of the nearest novice.
'Find Julith!' Feena hissed. 'Quickly!'
The girl nodded and sprinted off. Other priestesses were gathering, concern on their faces. Feena warned them away with a shake of her head. She eased Dhauna down. 'You made that promise a long time ago, Mother Dhauna,' she murmured. 'My mother brought me to Moonshadow Hall as a girl.'
Dhauna stared at her a moment then grunted, 'I know that.' Her voice was soft. Feena hoped that she was finished shouting. 'I'm talking about last night. You said you encountered a follower of Shar.'
Feena clenched her jaw. Like a cloud passing over the sun, the High Moonmistress seemed lucid again.
'Maybe it would be better to discuss this somewhere' Feena began.
Dhauna knocked her cane against the ground impatiently. 'I came looking for you, didn't I? Tell me now.'
Or not so lucid after all. Feena swallowed. Maybe it was better to humor her. None of the other priestesses were close enough to overhear their conversation.
'I did encounter a Sharran,' Feena said cautiously. 'I thought maybe there was a cult at work.'
'Impossible,' Dhauna said without hesitation. 'We would have detected a Sharran cult before now.'
Feena held back a grimace.
'Velsinore and Mifano said the same thing,' she said. She hesitated for a moment, then met the old priestess's gaze, and asked as gently as she could manage, 'But what about your dreams? The darkness you described. Do you think it could be a warning about Sharran?'
Dhauna stiffened, silencing Feena. 'Selune's warning is clear,' said the aged priestess. 'It's not Shar we need to be concerned with.'
Her voice threatened to climb once more.
'Mother Dhauna, please…' Feena said soothingly.
Dhauna grabbed her hand. 'Sister, against sister' she said urgently. 'Temples divided.' Her eyes darted toward the priestesses gathered nearby. 'One of them working against us. Or all of them.' She glanced back to Feena. 'But Shar? No, not Shar. Not this time.'
She looked up again and smiled just as Julith pushed past the gawking priestesses and hurried over to them.
'You keep finding me here, Julith!' Dhauna called.
'You should tell me when you feel like going for a walk, Mother Dhauna,' Julith said with brittle levity. She reached out and helped the High Moonmistress stand then glanced at Feena. 'Feena…?'
'I'll tell you inside,' Feena murmured as she stood.
'No,' Julith said, 'it's not that. I was looking for you, too. High Luck Shoondeep from Ladysluck Tower is here with an officer of the city guard Jhezzail is holding them just inside the outer gate. They're asking to speak to the High Moonmistress.'
Feena and Dhauna Myritar glanced at each other. Dhauna shook her head wearily. 'Go, Feena,' she said. 'Whatever they want, you can deal with it.'
Feena choked back a curse. How could a day that had started off with such promise have gone so wrong so quickly? She ran from the courtyard through the nearest gate, ignoring the stares of the gathered clergy. She couldn't imagine that the chubby high priest of Tymora was happy at being held back by a mere acolyte.
He wasn't, but Jhezzail was standing her ground with the air of a seasoned sentry as Colle Shoondeep seethed and ranted. Somehow, though, the High Luck managed to look even more enraged when Feena appeared and dismissed the girl. He stepped back coldly, drawing his robes around himself. The grizzled man wearing the crest of Yhaunn who accompanied himthe guard officer, Feena guessedstared at her in confusion. He seemed ready to ask something, but Colle caught his eye and waved one chubby finger in a gesture of caution. The guard's eyes widened slightly. Feena glanced down at herself, aware for the first time that she was still wearing her peasant blouse and homespun skirt. Had the man mistaken her for a servant? She grimaced.
'What can I do for you, High Luck?' Feena asked with all the grace she could muster.
'We need to see Dhauna Myritar, Moonmistress-Designate,' Colle said. 'It is a serious matter that requires her attention.' He indicated the guard. 'This is Guard Captain Manas.'
Feena raised an eyebrow and asked, 'Captain?'
'As I said, this is a serious matter,' Colle said, standing straight. 'We need to see the High Moonmistress.'
Feena crossed her arms and replied, 'The High Moonmistress isn't seeing anyone. Whatever your problem is, I can deal with it.'
'Not this,' said Manas. His voice was surprisingly pleasant, especially compared to the High Luck's. 'This concerns the High Moonmistress alone.'
'Dhauna Myritar has chosen me to act on her behalf,' Feena growled. 'What concerns her concerns me.'
Colle's face flushed angrily. 'More true than you' he spat, then bit off his words abruptly.
Feena's eyes opened wide and she looked between the two men.
'What's going on?' she demanded.
Manas glanced at Colle as if seeking permission for something. The priest pressed his lips together and gave a little shake of his head, but the guard captain turned back to Feena.
'Moonmistress, you're a werewolf, aren't you?'
Feena actually jumped a little, startled by the blunt-ness of the question. Most people would have danced around the matter or tried to ignore it. In an instant she understood both the guard captain's tension and his surprise at seeing her. He hadn't mistaken her for a servant, she realizedhe had simply been shocked to find himself face to face with her. And Colle… it seemed the priest of Tymora had indeed recognized her as a werewolf at the council of temples the day before. He was already looking triumphant at her discomfort. Feena bit back another growl as one rose in her throat and drew herself up, matching Colle's stance.
'I have been blessed by Selune,' she said, using Mifa-no's expression for her shapechanging. 'What of it?'
'The guard has received a scattering of reports this morning of sightings of a creature seen lurking in the shadows around the city last night. A few of the reports described a wolfunusual enough in the heart of the citybut others described the creature as walking onto two legs, a human with the head and tail of a wolf.' Manas tucked his thumbs into his sword belt. 'In short, Moonmistress, the typical description of a werewolf.'
Feena sucked in her breath. Apparently she hadn't been quite so stealthy as she thought. And if Colle had known the day before what she was…
The High Luck must have read her glare.
'Fortunately,' he said, 'word of the same sightings reached my ears as well. Naturally I went to the guard to offer my services and to tell them what I knew.'
He tried to make his voice sound concerned, but didn't quite manage to disguise a gloating note. The priest had led the guard right to her.
'Naturally,' Feena snapped.
'There's more, Moonmistress,' Manas added. 'A man's body was found just before dawn near Stonecutters Well 'in the Stiltways, the area where most of the reports were made. He had been mauled by some kind of animal.'
'Mauled?' Feena swung around to him. A body found by a well in the Stiltways? It sounded like it could be the Sharranbut she hadn't touched the man. 'You think I…?'
Manas shook his head. 'No, Moonmistress. Not necessarily. But the coincidence is remarkablea man mauled, a werewolf sighted…' His hands shifted on his belt. 'Your recent arrival in Yhaunn…'
What was going on? Feena thought. The Sharran had been dead practically before she reached him, and she would never mutilate a corpselet alone one with poison coursing through it. Someone or something else must have mauled the corpse after she left. But why?
For a moment, she considered relating what she'd learned the night before. A Sharran cult was a danger to everyone. Except that there was no cult, was there? Velsinore, Mifano, and even Dhauna had made that clear. She looked at Manas and Colle. The faces of both men were hard, Colle's with unbecoming glee, Manas's with
