Free The Tenth Power by Kate Constable Page B

fear!’
    Calwyn found her voice. ‘Tamen is right. Antaris must have a leader. But there is another way.’ The faces turned back to her like a field of starflowers turning to the sun. ‘You, my sisters, may choose for yourselves who is to be High Priestess now that Marna is gone.’
    Tamen’s eyes glittered. ‘Let them choose!’ she cried at once. ‘Foolish girl! You think they’ll choose you , a mere novice, not even initiated? A traitor to Antaris, and Outlander-born?’ She threw back her head. ‘Very well, then!Who is it to be? Myself, or Calwyn?’
    ‘I do not offer myself!’ cried Calwyn quickly. ‘I offer Lia!’
    The clamour of the sisters swelled to a roar. Tamen stood as still as stone. The two priestesses who had gripped Trout’s arms let him go and gazed about uncertainly. Calwyn clapped her hands for attention. ‘My sisters, be quiet! All of you who chooseTamen, move to her side.Those who choose Lia, go to her.’
    For a few moments there was confusion.The women milled about, talking eagerly; they seized each other’s hands, shook their heads, darted this way and that. Ursca and Gilly were beckoning others to Lia’s side. Tamen stood with her head held high, proud and unmoving. Lia sat very straight in her chair; just once she glanced up at Calwyn with a steady look.
    Suddenly, a single impulse seemed to grip the whole assembly. Like a flock of swallows in flight, almost all the sisters wheeled toward Lia. Only a handful of priestesses gathered near Tamen. A hush fell as the sisters, shocked by their own daring, held their breath.
    Up on the gallery, Calwyn began to sing. It was not a chantment; she sang the song of thanksgiving that was sung after the initiation ceremony, when the novices had crossed the black ice and stepped ashore as new-made priestesses. One after another the Daughters of Taris joined in, and the song rang through all the Dwellings. The voices of the sisters swelled with joy and triumph, but Calwyn could not feel it.
    Mica seizedTrout’s hand and skipped round the courtyard in celebration, waving the Clarion like a victory trumpet. She grinned up at Calwyn in wholehearted delight. Calwyn nodded to her. Mica had been wrong: there were some things she could do. It was true, she wasn’t a chanter any more, but this battle had been fought without chantment; the only weapons they’d used were words.
    Tamen alone did not join the thanksgiving song. She stood with her head bowed and her fists tightly clenched by her sides. The sisters who had joined her stepped quietly away. A few glanced at her apologetically; others would not look at her at all. Only Calwyn was watching whenTamen reached up and let down her hair, so that it hung loose around her face, in the gesture of mourning.
    CALWYN WALKED MORE and more slowly as she approached the room where Tamen was kept under guard. Half a turn of the moons had passed since the scene in the courtyard.Winter was no closer to lifting. Calwyn had been surprised by the message fromTamen, asking to speak with her; she wasn’t sure what to expect. Did the older woman want another chance to accuse her of treachery?
    Janyr nodded to Calwyn and unbolted the stout door to let her in. ‘Knock when you’re ready, my Sister.’
    Calwyn stepped into the shadowed room; she couldn’t suppress a shiver as the bolt thudded back into place. Outside, the day was clear and crisp, butTamen had closed the shutters and the room was dark. A single candle-lamp cast a pool of light onto the table. Only Tamen’s folded hands were visible, resting inside the circle of light; her face was in darkness. But when Tamen spoke, her voice was as deep and compelling as ever.
    ‘Thank you for coming.’ She did not invite Calwyn to sit.
    Calwyn cleared her throat. ‘You wanted to speak to me?’
    ‘Yes.’There was a silence; Calwyn could hear Tamen’s slow, steady breathing. At last the priestess said, with an effort, ‘Marna – I know that Marna was not dead.