15 Targeted (57 page)

He smiled. “And I, you. Go. I will wait for you.”

Emily thought she saw the High Priestess’s mouth tighten a bit at their exchange and the two male council members started whispering together again. But maybe she was imagining their disapproval. She hoped, anyway.

As the two girls led her away, she threw a final glance over her shoulder and saw Tragar standing there watching her leave with an unreadable expression on his dark face. Emily wanted to break away from her new attendants and run back, wanted to throw her arms around his neck and give him a kiss. But even as she had the impulse, the girl with green hair took her arm and ushered her into the tall white temple.

“Welcome,”
Khalla-to-be
,” she said in a low, musical voice. “Welcome into the Temple of Becoming. Come, let us show you to the rooms that have been prepared for you.”

* * * * *

Tragar watched her go with a heaviness in his heart. Now that he knew he loved her it was doubly hard to watch her go and know that he would never be with her again. For despite Emily’s insistence that she wanted him for her chosen mate, he knew the Holy Council would never allow it. They would take one look at his past and decide he was completely unworthy—which was what he knew in his heart to be true. Still, he had promised Emily he would be by her side for as long as he could and he intended to keep his word…up to a point.

As soon as the Holy Council appointed her a chosen mate and their bonding ceremony took place before the Visage of the Goddess, he intended to fulfill the contract, as he had promised Tier Shan he would. He could not stand idly by and watch as she was given to another male to cherish and protect—it was not in him to lose two females he loved in a lifetime and keep living. Better he should sacrifice himself for her as he had planned than to see her and love her from afar, knowing she belonged to another.

“Well, Warrior,” Mother Chundra said, giving him a dubious look. “I will show you to the Candidates Barracks. But I warn you not to get your hopes too high. Just because you found this
Khalla
and brought her here does not mean that you may expect to keep her.”

“I am well aware of that,” Tragar growled softly. “But know this, Priestess—I love her with all that is in me.”

“Which is exactly why you make a poor candidate,” the High Priestess said tersely. “A
Khalla
is to be adored and cherished and worshiped from afar. On occasion she may enjoy the comforts of her mate’s arms but he must not be her sole focus. She must spend the majority of her time traveling to areas in need of healing and blessing—not taking care of an inconsequential male.”

“Understood.” Tragar didn’t like it but it was also what he had been taught as a young male. A
Khalla’s
love was too precious to waste on just one individual. Her touch was healing, her very breath was life—she could not expect to lead a normal lifestyle. Her chosen mate was really only there to help her transformation into sexual maturity and to satisfy her sexual cravings from time to time. Other than that, he had no function other than to adore her from afar and protect her on her endless journey through the different regions of Rageron, promoting healing and peace.

“She
does
seem quite taken with you,” Mother Chundra said with a sniff. “Have your minds aligned?”

“No. That is, I do not think so. She
did
tell me once that she had dreamed of me and I may have dreamed of her but—”

“One or two instances of dream sharing signifies little,” the Priestess cut him off. “A
Khalla’s
mind is malleable. She must be shaped by the Council and put with the right mate in order to prosper.”

“I am aware of that,” Tragar tried to keep the growl out of his voice but it was difficult. He’d known all along he didn’t have much of a chance of being picked as Emily’s chosen mate. Still, the High Priestess didn’t have to be so fucking snide about it.

“Well, come with me, Warrior.” She nodded in a direction down the hill, away from the main temple. “We will get you settled and then you may begin the screening process. I warn you—it is very thorough. If you have any dark secrets that make you an unfit candidate they
will
come to light.”

“I’m not hiding anything,” Tragar said heavily. “You’ll know what I am the minute you begin to look into me.”

“So I shall.” The Priestess gave him an arch look. “And I have a feeling I am
not
going to like what I see.”

* * * * *

Emily couldn’t stop staring as they walked through the temple. It was all tall, white walls and long, narrow corridors. It reminded her of wandering in a maze, especially since there was no furniture or decoration of any kind. There were skylights in the high ceilings which allowed pale sunlight to pour in from above, illuminating everything with an otherworldly light. Somewhere in the vast structure someone was playing a flute of some kind—soothing music drifted down the long, empty corridors and there was a scent like honeysuckle and mint in the air.

Emily took a deep breath, enjoying the fragrance as the two priestesses led her down one of the long narrow hallways.

“This is…nice,” she said at last. “Kind of bare but really nice.”

“We strive to keep clutter to a minimum,” the girl with green streaks in her hair said. “A
Khalla-to-be
has enough chaos within—she needs peace and tranquility without.”

“I guess that makes sense,” Emily muttered. Chaos within…it made her wonder when the
other
was going to make another appearance. After all, she was officially into the third stage of her
Tenrah
now and it was only the second stage when the
Kit’tara
was repressed. Was she going to start pushing forward, trying to take over now that Emily was in the third stage and they were at the Temple where they needed to be? The thought gave her a crawling feeling of dread which she tried to push away.

“…the Visage of the Goddess first,” the girl with green streaked hair said.

“I’m sorry?” Emily asked, realizing that she’d missed what the priestess was saying.

“I said we will be visiting our Sacred Grove with the Visage of the Goddess first,” the priestess repeated patiently.

“Okay, I guess.” Emily shrugged. “You know, I don’t know your names. I’m Emily.”

“I am Turra,” the girl with green streaks in her hair said.

“And I am Lit’aal,” the girl with indigo eyes said softly.

“Nice to meet you both. I’m Emily,” Emily said, holding out a hand to them. When they just stared at her outstretched hand, she realized they probably didn’t shake hands here and had no idea what she was doing. “Um…” She pulled back her hand feeling foolish. “Is either one of you a
Khalla?”
she asked.

“Oh, no.” Turra shook her head. “I am a female Kindred like Mother Chundra but I was born on Twin Moons. I was living on the Mother Ship among the humans when the Temple of Transformation sent out a call for priestesses. I answered…and here I am.” She spread her hands, smiling.

“Very interesting.” Emily smiled politely and looked at the other priestess. “How about you?”

“I am of the Ancient Ones,” Lit’aal said in a soft, musical voice. “I have always known of this place and one of my kin was a
Khalla.
She and I were very close and when her
Tenrah
came upon her I made the journey here to be with her. After that, I decided to stay and help other
Khallas
complete their Shifts as well.”

“That’s sweet of you.” Emily felt a stab of uncertainty. “And your kin…is she okay?”

“She is a full fledged
Khalla
traveling the world with her retinue now,” Lit’aal said, smiling a bit sadly Emily thought. “I almost never see her anymore but we try to spend at least a little time when she is here at the Temple.”

“I’m glad she’s all right,” Emily said, giving her a relieved smile. After all she’d heard from Saskia about how some
Khallas
didn’t survive their
Tenrahs
, it was nice to hear about one who had lived through the process and was doing well.

“Here we are,” Turra said as they came to a stop in front of a tall archway. “Try to calm yourself,
Khalla-to-be
and remove your shoes—we are about to enter a holy place.”

Emily slipped off the low, comfortable shoes that Saskia had given her to go with the flowing green skirt and top and followed the two priestesses through a high, white archway.

Inside the archway was the last thing she’d expected to find inside a building—a bunch of trees. Not just one or two potted plants either—a real forest of green and purple trees growing in two graceful groves. They marched in straight lines that led from the doorway all the way up to a twenty-foot tall, pure white marble statue at the end of the room.

Emily took a deep breath and decided that this was where the honeysuckle and mint scent was coming from. There room was flooded with sunshine from skylights high above and there was a grassy path between the two lines of trees that led directly to the statue.

“Come,” invited Lit’aal who, up until now, hadn’t said much. “Show your reverence to the Mother of All Life.”

“I…um…” Emily didn’t want to insult their beliefs by telling them she didn’t believe in their religion so she allowed herself to be led up the grassy path to stand before the huge marble statue.

The statue had a stern but kind face and Emily almost felt like it was really looking at her, which was silly. The two priestesses bowed low and she copied their actions somewhat awkwardly.

Suddenly she felt an all too familiar surge inside her. It was the
other,
trying to come forward. Emily could feel her inside, waking as if from a long nap and then rushing up to look out of Emily’s eyes, to see the statue of the Goddess.

“What?” she started to say. But what came out instead was, “Mother!”

“Yes, the Goddess is the Mother of All Life,” Turra answered her involuntary exclamation.

“Mother!” the
other
said again and Emily found she could not drag her eyes from the statue.

No!
She struggled with all her might.
No, get back!
Through main force of will, she somehow forced the
other
back down inside her. The effort left her breathless and shaky and she hoped the two priestesses couldn’t tell. Luckily, all three of them were still bowing which hid her face somewhat.

“
Mother…our mother,”
whispered the
other,
but this time it was only inside Emily’s head.

No,
she thought again fiercely, addressing the entity inside her.
No, you can’t just take over like that—I won’t let you!
She felt the
other
shift restlessly and then go still. For the moment she was subdued but when might she rise again? Emily had the idea that the statue had somehow brought her back from wherever she’d been sleeping or dreaming—but why?

“This is, of course, only a visage of the Mother,” Turra said as they all rose from their bows. “The true Mother of All Life is not simply a statue. She is real and near us at all times.”

“Oh. Uh, of course,” Emily said weakly. “Look, I’m really tired and it’s been a long, crazy trip. Do you think there’s any way I could go lie down somewhere?”