They left the little forest behind and returned to the dirt road at an angry gallop, and Teela gave the tempting proposition a lot of earnest consideration. She spent the whole ride back to the village deep in thought doing just that.

  Did she want to swear herself to Ombira? No. Maybe. No.

  It was flattering to have been told she was powerful in the magic, and by a Goddess, no less. That was perhaps the only compliment Teela had ever been told, and the only one she could have cared to receive. She knew she’d remember Ombira’s words forever and that, for better or for worse, they’d serve her as a source of vanity and of regret for the rest of her life.

  But Teela remembered very well that Mantis had used the term ‘enslavement’ in her uncharacteristic outburst. That was a meaningful piece of information, and Teela intended to heed it. If the person—the only person, apparently—who served Ombira, the woman who’d been under her command for thirty years, would use such a word to describe her own experience, then perhaps it wouldn’t be a good idea for Teela to associate herself with the Goddess, after all.

  Ombira had forced Mantis to kill that boy, and many more like him before, undoubtedly. She used her magic to pressure and make her servant obey by altering her emotions and her state of mind, and Mantis suffered for it—Teela knew rather intimately just how much. All of that was evident, and contributed to painting the Goddess in a very negative light in Teela’s mind.

  But what about the sailor? That had been Mantis’s own decision. It had been her initiative that had brought that man to his unfair death. Hadn’t it? Yes. She’d even justified her behavior afterward, and hadn’t seemed at all remorseful of her rash and destructive overreaction.

  So they were both monsters.

  But they possessed such tremendous, glorious magic—and answers. They were a source of worldly knowledge not even the adults at Pirn had access to, and Teela could not help being enticed by that cruel temptation. As much as she wanted to stop herself from looking in that direction, her deeper self had no such self-control. It poked and probed at her, asking what if?, whispering persistently that she was letting an opportunity pass that would never present itself again.

  No, she told it sternly. Teela knew when to rein herself in, and this was a time for caution. She’d made a thoughtful decision to go home and make herself content with what she had there. For Leroh, and for herself, she’d go back. She’d give up her unwise dreams and try to accept the only sensible option left to her. That was her choice, and she’d follow it through.

  The Gods, it turned out, were exactly as marvelous as she’d ever thought they would be. But, at the same time, they were not at all what she’d made up in her head.

  Teela accepted her mistake with a painful pang of disappointment and endeavored to let the topic go.

  When they arrived at the inn that Mantis had mentioned, Teela was ready for the comforts the establishment could provide. But first, she had to take care of her horse. She led him by the reins to the stables with Leroh and Mantis at her heels, and took the liberty to walk him to an available stall without being instructed to. A stable boy came over to try to stop her but she only glared at him and asked him to take special care of Clover, for he was more exhausted than ever before, and she was worried for his health. The lad was assertive in his response that he’d personally look after her mount and see to his every need, if only she could remove herself from his stables and return to the inn, where guests could usually find themselves more comfortable and welcome. Teela frowned at his bit of cheek and handed him a few coppers begrudgingly. She knew Mantis would use her stolen money to pay for the stable services along with the other inn fees later, but she wanted to give the lad a tip to encourage a special treatment for her closest friend.

  With a loving pat to Clover’s bulky backside, Teela turned to leave and left her horse to the boy’s ministrations.

  Mantis and Leroh were waiting for her outside with sour faces and wan complexions. It was glaringly evident that they needed food, and water, and a good scrubbing, and sleep. Teela did, too. Her belly was aching with hunger, her lips and tongue felt leathery from dehydration and her eyes were heavy and dry, not to mention the horrific soreness to her every muscle from all the riding, and the foul smell emanating from her clothes. She was a mess, she abruptly saw.

  So it was a good thing that no one in the little traditionalist community knew her, for she could not find it in herself to feel too embarrassed about the opinion of complete strangers. But it still stung a little to realize how terrible she looked and felt in the presence of others.

  They walked into the main building of the inn and Mantis swiftly ordered a large pitcher of drinking water, a variety of any and all available foods, and bathwater for three to be brought to their room as promptly as possible. The woman who welcomed them was intimidated, or intrigued, by Mantis, for she kept glancing up to meet her gaze meaningfully and biting her fingernails while she listened to her list of requests.

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  “Yes, ma’am. Of course. I’ll see to it right away,” she said, and then scurried away.

  That afternoon, they ate like never before. Teela thought it an odd thing to find herself enjoying food at a time like that, with so much death and fear closely behind them. They’d witnessed and committed traumatizing, unforgettable acts of injustice and evil in the last few days. They’d suffered so much and so recently it almost felt inappropriate to sit in a nice, clean room and enjoy a plentiful meal, but that is what they did.

  Among their generous spread of victuals there was goat’s cheese and meat, thick, hearty stew that was delightfully warm and rich in oats and colorful vegetables, crispy, fresh bread with apple jam and butter on the side, porridge, a big decadent slice of berry pie, boiled potatoes, even fish! And to wash it all down, the nice woman had also brought them a pitcher of ale and one of wine. Leroh and Teela had never had the possibility to feast on such a varied spread of foods, least of all in such generous quantities. They devoured it all, down to the last crumb.

  Then, Mantis arranged for them to wash. She filled the chamber’s small tub behind a folding screen in one corner of the room—with the hot, scented water they’d received from a burly fellow with a tap on the door—and provided Teela with a change of clothes consisting of a dark tunic and leggings to change into after her bath. She readily obeyed, and enjoyed every moment of that fragrant, luxurious soak with only a little shame in allowing herself to do so.

  After her came her brother. He received from Mantis a funny little nightgown of white cotton along with a muttered apology in passing for the ill-fitting size. He looked completely ridiculous but, to Teela’s surprise, he took it from her and put it on without complaint. He seemed the most tired of the three of them. It was a little concerning how agreeably he’d been behaving, actually.

  When Mantis was finished bathing herself, she changed into another set of clothes like the ones she’d shared with Teela, collected the heap of their dirty garments and made to take it outside of their room for washing. Only then did Teela ask, “How long are we going to stay here?”

  The clothing would not be ready for the rest of the afternoon, at least, unless they were willing to don it wet, or to continue their journey to Pirn in their current attire. Mantis and Teela could probably get away with it without too much embarrassment, but the same could not be said for Leroh. He was sitting with his legs pulled up to his chest on the large bed along the farthest wall of the room looking up at Mantis, who stood by the door with their clothing in her arms.

  Her face was serious when she replied, “I don’t know. A few days, at least. Get comfortable.”

  “What?” Leroh came to life and stood up with the question.

  “Days? No. We must get back home,” Teela finished his thought for him with a confused frown for Mantis.

  “Sleep now. You both look like shit.” She opened the door and left.

  In the silence that ensued after the loud sound of the door that banged closed behind Mantis, Leroh and Teela were left looking at the empty space the woman had vacated and then turning to each other.

  “Why would we stay here for days?” Teela asked.

  “To rest? I think the horses might need it.”

  “But we’re so close to Pirn.”

  “Yes, we are.” Her brother looked puzzled for a moment. Then, he pushed a sigh out through his nose. “But who knows why the Mantis does anything. I’ve given up attempting to understand her decisions. You’ve seen what happens when I question her orders.”

  “Why do you call her that?”

  “What?”

  “Why do you call her “the Mantis”?”

  Leroh was confused. “It’s what she is.”

  “But her name is just…Mantis.”

  He looked at her like she’d said something stupid. Then his face turned thoughtful. “Huh.” He pursed his lips and furrowed his brow in brief consideration. Then he quickly dismissed the topic. “Whatever her name may be, we’ll do as she says, and that’s that. I don’t want her putting that…thread-thing on my neck again,” he finished with an exaggerated shudder.

  “Link.”

  “What?”

  “She calls them links.”

  “How could you possibly know that?”

  “She told me.”

  “What? When?”

  “When we went for a walk. The day I found Homely.” That memory put a brief but stabbing pain in Teela’s heart that she strained to push away.

  “You—what? She explained that to you? Teela, you shouldn’t just chat with the Mantis about these things.”

  “Mantis.”

  “Oh, shut up!” He turned to face the wall while muttering angrily under his breath. “Go to sleep. Annoying.” Then he moved to the farthest side of the bed to lie atop the white sheets in his lady’s nightgown.

  Teela didn’t know what to do. She wanted to lie down and sleep, but the concept was too strange. It was the early afternoon outside. The incessant drizzle of rain had finally stopped and the Sun had come out in its full splendor, its bright golden rays pouring in through the square window on the wall opposite the door to light up the room. On any other day, Teela and her brother would have been working at that moment, doing the duties that had belonged to them since their early childhoods. Teela would have been watching over the customers and waiting to refill their mugs, listening attentively to their enigmatic conversations and gathering from them whatever knowledge she could find, or simply attending to their much friendlier horses. Leroh would have been in charge of taking orders and passing them along to Mother in the kitchen, and dealing with the money.

  It was unsettling to be able to simply go to sleep at the most productive time of the working day.

  Teela lowered herself to the bed and hesitantly rested her head on the nice white pillow that sat there invitingly. It was nice. She was comfortable, physically.

  But her mind could not accept the strangeness, the unfamiliar nature of the situation, so she just lay there with her hands clasped over her chest, staring at the ceiling.