Wysper - The Women's Quarters

Laying on the covers unconscious, Greywolf looked pale as death. "Is he going to die?"

The Ogri... Titan, I think that is his name, looked at me and snorted. "Asena's son? His life is nailed to his spine as hard as hers is."

Of course it is; Greywolf is the son of a goddess, and I am being foolish. "What will we do now?"

"Sit tight and ride out the storm-" His bat-like ears swiveled, hearing something, and a moment later the sound of pounding footsteps began to echo from the hallway above. A Tartaros warrior appeared in the doorway and Titan rumbled, "Argat, what news?"

"Madness and death." I was wearing only the wide cloth I used to dry myself off with, and looking my way, his eyes widened before he shook himself and concentrated on the Ogri. "Amazonia's whipped the Bukharan's into a frenzy, and now they’re killing anyone associated with the Sasnayams or their gods.

“Prince Timur believes they're likely to sweep through the Temple District the moment his troops enter Bukhara, but he's got to establish a stronghold around the main gate in case their army counterattacks. He wants you ready to move from here at a moment's notice."

Standing beside me, Pigeon gasped. "Most of the priestesses are inside the Women's Quarters. The doors are not stout and neither are the locks."

My hand went to my mouth. "But the eunuchs of the temples, they will be on guard."

"Many will have been given the night off to drink and make merry as best they can. There will be perhaps a half-dozen to defend the house, but no more."

The Ogri rumbled something in a language I had never heard before, and Osiris' glowing blue image smiled. "Titan, I have not heard anyone curse in Babylonian for at least several hundred years. However, if you are thinking of rescuing the priestesses, I would reconsider. The temple guards will not listen to you or let you speak to any of priestesses, and if you force the door, you will have to kill them."

"Are you sure?"

Osiris' image shrugged. "Temple guards are the same everywhere, and eunuchs even more so. There is no possible way to enter peacefully."

"Yes, there is." Titan looked at me as I approached. "I know the secret entrance... to the building."

"Can you tell me where it is?"

"It will not do you any good even if she did," Pigeon said. "Only a priestess can open the way, and besides, even if you entered, no one will listen to you. If you want to save anyone, Wysper has to go with you. I would go," old bitterness sharpening her voice, "but the fools would listen to me even less than they would to you."

I whirled around. "Is there clothing..."

"Men's clothing," Pigeon said, hurrying towards an ornamental knob sticking out of the dais and wrenching open a drawer. She pulled out a pair of dark brown trousers and a tunic. "With your short hair, anyone who sees you will think you are a boy."

I was not used to dressing myself, and Pigeon helped me put them on as Castor joined Titan. "I'll come with you as well. If the mob does catch up to us, you and I will have a better chance of scaring them off."

"Staying hidden is preferable," Titan said, "yet I see your point. Argat, will you hold this building until we return?"

"Don't be too long," Argat replied. "It's going to take some time to secure the area, but once the prince has his stronghold, he's going to want you there immediately."

Pigeon pulled the tunic down before cinching the trousers with a leather belt. "Take the servant's road that runs alongside the district's walls. The temples and outer buildings will shield you from view. There," Pigeon stepping back, "Wysper is ready."

The Ogri looked down at me and frowned. "If we need to run, can you keep up?"

I nodded, as Pigeon said, "She will. When we traveled, the High Priest always made her walk the many leagues it took between the towns and cities we visited, as a way to keep her too thin for men to desire... not that it stopped all of them."

I lowered my head in old shame, but Titan said, "Muzen's folly, and our fortune that Greywolf finds her the most beautiful woman in the world." Startled, I looked up and he winked. "It was the freckles."

My freckles? What is he talking about? Titan chuckled to himself as he unfolded a blanket and wrapped Greywolf in it, then picked him up and carried Greywolf up the stairs, the rest of us following.

As we reached the hallway and started down it, Zanzabel said, "Are you planning to walk outside barefoot?"

"Wysper always does," Pigeon replied, "even in Tesiphon." Zanzabel glanced at me and I nodded, heading down the stone stairs after Titan to the bottom floor. The front room was a disaster, with the door off its hinges and on its side across the doorway, several men with crossbows crouched down behind it with their weapons out. The room had a coppery tang from the blood stains splattered on the walls and floor, but the bodies must have been dragged away, for the way to the kitchen was clear.

The half dozen warriors got out of the way as Titan laid Greywolf down gently onto the long wooden dining table. "Argat, keep him and the two women safe while we are gone."

"What if the prince sends word to move?"

"Delay if he sends word soon, yet if you feel it has been too long, get these three to safety. Act upon your own judgment."

Osiris' image had floated down with us, causing more than a few startled expressions as he settled next to Greywolf's head. "Titan, what if this ill-fated rescue attempt does take too long and the mob discovers you? What then?"

"Let me get straight to the heart of your question without bandying words," Titan replied in his voice like a mountain's. "Before I let the mob have Wysper, Castor and I will cut loose any other priestesses with us and get her to safety." I opened my mouth to protest, but it died unspoken as he gave me a dark look. "That is not up for debate."

I swallowed. "Yes, Titan," I replied in a meek voice.

Castor bared his fangs in what might have been a grin and went outside, poking his head in a moment later. "We need to move now," he said in a serious voice. "The mob's here."

Titan motioned with his hand. "Lead on, girl, but walk as fast as you can." I nodded and slipped past him through the open doorway.

Around us, the Temple District was chilly and dark, but to my left the main plaza was lit from the torches carried in at least a hundred hands, illuminating the base of the main pyramid as the mob strode past it towards the buildings where the priests of the different temples lived.

Several priests wearing the yellow robes of Yun-Kax ran towards them, waving their arms and shouting as the mob reached them. Their shouts became screams as dozens of hands pulled them down.

I shuddered in fear but kept moving, leading us along the side of the building towards the district's western wall as a man began shrieking behind me. I glanced over my shoulder.

One of the priests was running away with his robes on fire. The mob was chasing after him, with more moving into the plaza. Something was wrong with these people, though, for they were not walking but lurching like drunkards, or... "Are the dead following after the living?"

Castor gave me a gentle push to get me going. "You don't want to watch. The dead don't eat the living like some think, but they're not adverse to using their teeth to kill if they've got naught else."

I nodded and did my best to ignore the screams and shouts coming from the plaza behind us, the rising bile in my stomach burning my throat as we passed the building by and approached the outer wall, dark and foreboding. "Which way?" I motioned left as Castor sniffed the air and looked towards the city. "I thought I smelled smoke. The old section's on fire."

There was a red glow coming from the western side of Bukhara, and more screams. I turned left and broke into almost a jog, Titan merely lengthening his stride while Castor ran past us. The pyramid on our left shielded us from view, and he ran to the edge and looked out towards the next plaza between more pyramids.

He waited until we reached him before racing across to the next, smaller pyramid belonging another deity. The smaller pyramid blocked my view of the priest's house, but there was shouting and the sound of axes on wood. "Best pick up the pace," Titan rumbled. I nodded and began to run.

Beyond the smaller pyramid was the rectangular building called the Women's Quarters, and I pointed straight at it as I stopped at the pyramid's edge and caught my breath. The witchlight lantern set into the far corner illuminated the mosaic patterns on the walls, which faded as they reached the corner nearest to us where there was no light other than the moon.

The barred windows a level above the ground were all dark, yet there was enough light to see the crumbling statue set into its niche, a stone's throw away, in the Women’s Quarters back wall. I darted out across the space until I reached it.

The statue, worn by time and harsh winds, depicted a woman wearing a long, layered dress, her arms raised, and curling horns rising from the temples on either side of her head. Her bare feet stuck out from the bottom hem of her dress. The other two were not even breathing hard as they joined me, Titan rumbling, "The goddess Inanna, unless I am mistaken."

Perhaps it was the chilly air or my fear, but the mental fog shrouding my mind was finally lifting. "This was the sanctuary of her priestesses, before the Sasnayams conquered Bukhara." I dropped to my knees in front of the statue. "They left this statue since it is the key to opening the secret passage, and tore down the rest." I pressed my forehead against the statue's bare feet and the toenails turned blue.

From inside the building came a loud click, and a section of the wall to the left of the statue popped open. "Wysper," Titan rumbled as he swung the section of the wall further open, "tell the priestesses to hurry. When the blood of men is up, women are not safe." I nodded and rose to my feet before slipping through the passage.

The passage became a little used hallway, dusty and cluttered with broken and unwanted objects, its witchlight lamp flickering with a weak flame. Yet the temple guards had recognized the chime the mechanism made when the passage was opened, for the sound of pounding feet was getting closer. A massive eunuch with his scimitar in his hand turned the corner as I called out, "I am Blood-Wysper, not a thief."

The eunuch came to a stop. "Wysper?"

I gasped. "Fat-boy? I thought you died in the attack."

He drew close as a sour expression twisted his face. "Everything is falling apart and she still calls me that. No, Muzen's secret entrance goes under this building, and he sent me here to let the head priestess know we were under attack. What are you doing here?"

"Trying to save as many priestesses as I can from the mob. Where is everyone?"

"Hedieh is leading them in prayer- Wait," he called out as I slipped past him and ran down the hall, "where's Muzen?"

"Back in Tesiphon," I called back. "Warn your brothers that the mob will be coming here next." The hall split off and I too the right hand way towards the worship room, while Fat-boy went straight, muttering something about the poor condition of the doors. The stone arch straight ahead had the oil lamps lit on both sides, and my feet slid on the stone floor as I stopped just inside the entrance.

The worship room was large and plain, with the twin statue of Yun-Kax on the raised dais facing several dozen priestesses on their knees in front of it, while the statues of the other deities in their pantheon watched with stone eyes from their niches.

More oil lamps gave off a strong light, their scent overwhelmed by the billowing clouds of incense rising from the small brass pots on either side of the statue. Hedieh, a fire mage with orange-red hair, and the chief priestess of the house, stood before the twin statue with her arms raised, invoking Yun-Kax's wrath against the invaders. The other priestesses on their thick prayer rugs chanted back the responses.

Heads in the back of the room turned towards me as I took a moment to catch my breath. "Everyone, please listen," I called out. The chant broke off and everyone's head turned as I motioned with my arm towards the front of the building. "There is a mob sweeping through the Temple District with torches, killing all the priests they can find, and the dead have risen out of the charnel pits to join them." Hedieh whirled around and stalked towards me as I waved my other arm towards the back. "We need to leave through the secret passage before they break down the doors."

"How dare you interrupt the sacred chant?" Hedieh was close enough for me to see that her eyes had an orange glow, meaning she was calling up her inner power. She stopped within striking distance and pointed to Myra and Thalia, who were in the last row of priestesses. "Get over there with your heathen sisters right now and pray for Yun-Kax to deliver us."

"Yun-Kax is not coming," I practically shrieked at her. "Muzen has abandoned Bukhara."

Several women screamed, the rest talking all at once as Hedieh's eyes widened, then narrowed, as if she knew the truth about who Muzen truly was. "You lie. Muzen would never abandon us."

"That explosion you heard a while ago was Muzen activating his Gem of Return, which sent him back to Tesiphon."

"The blast was from another source. You will-"

"Stop arguing with me!" I wanted to shake her, yet did not dare. "I watched it happen. If anyone here wants to save themselves, they have to leave right now."

"No one is going anywhere." Hedieh stabs her finger at my face. "You are a priestess of Yun-Kax, and will do-”

"No longer." Hedieh broke her words off in shock as I lifted my chin, giving her a defiant smile. "I have freely given my maidenhead to the demigod Greywolf, son of the Wolf-mother goddess Asena, and have life-bonded-"

Her slap rocked me backwards, making my ears ring. "Blasphemer!" Before I could recover, she slapped the other side of my face and knocked me off my feet.

Behind me, a clicking sound like claws on stone was getting louder as Hedieh grabbed me by the front of my tunic. "I am going to take you to the Room of Punishment, strip off these clothes, and whip you until you scream for mercy before-"

"Leave Wysper alone!" Hedieh screamed and stumbled backwards as Castor stalked into the room, the other priestesses screaming and clutching each other as he bared his fangs. Then he reached down and helped me to my feet. "Are you alright?"

Anger burned inside me as hot as my cheeks. "I am now. Where is the mob?"

"Running across the plaza right towards us, with swords and axes in their hands. We have to leave now."

Ignoring Hedieh, I turned towards the others. "Myra, Thalia, and anyone else who wants to, follow us out the passage. The White Horde warriors will protect us."

"They will turn us into slaves," Myra wails.

"Better a slave than gang-raped and burned alive," the Daemo from the pool said as she joined us. "My race enjoys rough handling, but there are limits."

"My people respect priestesses," Castor growls, "and the Ogri with us most of all."

I beckoned, and both Myra and Thalia joined me, as did several others. The rest of the women began to do the same, but stopped as Hedieh turned with her right hand cupped. "The next priestess attempting to leave," she said as a spinning ball of fire appeared in her hand, "shall feel my wrath. Yun-Kax rules this house, and I will not allow any of you-"

A crash like bodies slamming against locked doors echoed from the front of the building, then shouts, and the splintering sound of axes against wood. Priestesses began screaming and clutching one another, the fire dying in Hedieh's hand as Castor pulled me back out into the hall. "We're leaving right now," he snarled at the others over his shoulder. "Live or die, it's your choice." He took off running and I followed, with the slender Daemo right beside me.

Fat-boy met us at the hallway intersection. "Everyone needs to leave," he panted. "The doors will be down any moment, and there are not enough of us to hold them for long."

I stopped as the others raced past me. "Hedieh will not let them go." Fat-boy rolled his eyes as I tugged on his arm. "Come with us."

He shook his head. "I will not abandon my post. Wysper, find that boy who kissed you and make a new life for yourself." He shook me gently. "Find your way home to Britannia, if you can."

I hugged him without answering. He smelled of sweat, of onions, and especially the musky perfume the eunuchs all wore. I am losing one of the only friends I have ever had. He hugged me back, but as he released me, his eyes went wide. "Oh, that is not good." I glanced over my shoulder.

Just inside the archway, a priestess was on fire, her hair and robes going up like a torch as she shrieked. Hedieh screamed, "No one else leaves. I control this sacred place, and you will all do as I command."

Fat-boy pushed me into the arms of Castor, who was bouncing in frustration. "Keep Wysper safe," the eunuch said as more shouts and the ring of steel echoed down the hall. "I will draw them into this hall and hold them as long as I can."

He and Castor nodded to each other, warrior to warrior, then the wolfish man pulled me with him as Fat-boy moved into the hall and took his position with his back to the stone arch.

The other priestesses had gone on except for the Daemo, and as she began running with us, said, "Hedieh keeps a knife in her robes she can use to chop off her hair, if she needs to."

"What good would that do?" I panted.

"Hair is the place your body normally stores mana when the nodes are full, which is the reason they kept your hair so short."

Yet another thing no one ever told me. "What would happen if she chops it all off?"

We went through the passage back into the cold night as she answered. "Explode like a fire blast the moment she casts a spell."

The three of us joined the others huddled together as Titan, at the far edge of the building, glanced back. "This is it?"

"Not unless someone sticks a knife into that crazy chief priestess," Castor growled as he looked into the passage, "and they don't seem the type. Wysper, can you close this so we aren't accidentally discovered?"

"Just step on the statue's bare feet," the Daemo replied before I could. "The mechanism responds to pressure." Castor stepped on the statue's feet; the toenails glowed blue, and the wall closed up once more.

All of the other priestesses, including myself, stared in amazement. "Hedieh told us the mechanism only worked if we pressed our foreheads to the statue," Myra said.

The Daemo only smiled. "Of course she did. Good Ogri, is it safe to move yet?"

Titan peered around the corner. "Hold on... yes, the mob must have overwhelmed the guards, for they are all rushing inside." He waited a few more moments as a feeling of sadness welled up inside me, then motioned with his hand. "Move quickly, before anyone notices." Castor led the way at a lope and I raced across the empty space between the building and the back of the small pyramid, glancing towards the plaza. The entire mob was gone, though screams and shouts were coming from deeper inside, and as I made it to the opposite side and turned around, Hedieh's voice rose above the rest. "Think you to defile this holy place? I shall see you burn!"

The upper windows glowed faintly red a moment as the voices of men and women alike inside shrieked in agony. I clapped my hands over my ears to try blocking out the sound, and the other priestesses did the same except for the Daemo, who stopped beside me. "Hedieh always did want to go out in a blaze of glory."

Too much had happened tonight, and I could not stop the tears flowing down my cheeks as the screaming continued, my body racked with sobs at the terrible sounds. "Come on," the Daemo said, placing her slender arm around my waist and drawing me away, "it is time to begin your new life. My name is Sybil, by the way," she added as Titan and Castor got the others to follow after us, "and I am going to become your new best friend."