Free The Tenth Power by Kate Constable Page A

blazetree!’
    The crowd buzzed in bewilderment. Calwyn’s mouth twisted grimly.The sisters of Antaris might have consented to dreadful deeds, but they had done so reluctantly, and for the preservation of all they held dear. Tamen would have to work hard to persuade them to commit cold-blooded murder.
    A thin voice rose from the centre of the courtyard. ‘Lady Mother, the fires burned nothing.The boy has done no harm.’
    ‘No harm!’ cried Tamen, and her arm shot skyward. ‘Look at the moons! Now is the time of theWeaver and the Shuttle. The trees should be in blossom, the spring meadows in flower, yet the thaws have not even begun, and snow still falls! Our cellars and storehouses will soon be empty, and every few days another of our sisters is stricken with the snow-sickness. You all know that this evil came to us from the sorcery of the Outlands! And yet you would spare him?’
    The sisters swayed and muttered uncertainly. Trout gave a whimper of fear.
    Calwyn could contain herself no longer. She braced herself with both hands on the gallery railing and cried out, ‘The long winter and the snow-sickness are an Outlander’s doing! But not this Outlander!’
    A sea of faces turned up to Calwyn, framed with hoods and shawls, and a shiver of recognition, of horror, of hope and excitement rippled through the priestesses.
    ‘Be silent!’ commanded Tamen. ‘The girl is no better than an Outlander herself. It is she who opened the door to our troubles.’
    ‘I’m a Daughter of Taris!’ cried Calwyn, her eyes blazing. ‘You have no right to silence me!’
    ‘I have the right to condemn the enemies of the Goddess.’
    ‘I’m no enemy, but a sworn novice of the Dwellings!’
    ‘And I have the right of the High Priestess to reprimand a novice,’ hissed Tamen. The heads of the sisters swivelled back and forth as if they watched a pair of village boys at pat-ball.
    Calwyn said, ‘By what right do you call yourself High Priestess, Tamen? Did Marna tell you the secrets that belong to the office of High Priestess? Did she give you her staff ?’
    All the sisters gasped, and a loud hum ran through the courtyard. Tamen said loudly, ‘There was no time! The Outlander – ’
    ‘There was time!’ Lia’s strong, clear voice rang out from the edge of the courtyard. She had been carried there in her chair, and now she glared at Tamen with open scorn and loathing. ‘You all know that Marna was not ill with the snow-sickness at first. How did she catch it, with Ursca tending her so carefully? Tamen was her only regular visitor. Perhaps she has the answer to this riddle!’
    Tamen’s eyes narrowed. ‘What you suggest is preposterous, and unspeakable.’
    ‘Not preposterous only unproveable. Because the poor girl you used to infect our Lady Mother lies cold and silent within theWall!’
    A storm of exclamation broke out among the assembled sisters. Lia spoke clearly through the din. ‘Marna was alert for a long time before her illness overtook her. But she chose not to tellTamen the most secret lore. She did not giveTamen her staff. She did not proclaimTamen as her successor.’ Lia turned her head and gazed up at Calwyn. ‘She was waiting for Calwyn to return.’
    Calwyn flushed. She had not expected this when she challenged Tamen; she had only thought about saving Trout. She took a breath to steel herself.
    Tamen shouted, ‘I was the Guardian of the Wall! The Guardian is always successor to the High Priestess!’
    ‘Not always.’ Lia’s voice was still steady. ‘Not always.’
    Tamen threw back her head. ‘If not for me, you would all have perished long ago. Marna was a weak old woman, too weak to do what had to be done. Antaris must have a leader. None of you had the courage to deal with the evil that has come to us!’
    Lia gripped the arms of her chair. ‘You call it courage, to murder the sick and defenceless? Every one of us in this courtyard has shown more courage than you, living each day in hunger and