The Red Priestess
an excerpt

She knew the place; she had been out in the city proper not twice in a year since she had come to the fane, but she knew the Green Dragon, it was close by – that, of course, was why Janthis had chosen it.

And, of course, Janthis would be the first to tell her that the streets of Gran Seray were no place for a small twenty-year old girl to be wandering alone at night … Mara gripped her staff tightly and hurried. Around this corner, and along this street … and yes, there was the inn, a long low rambling building, with lights still showing in its windows, and the sign, with the picture of a fabulous beast never seen in this world – and I would know, Mara thought – hanging over the door.

So she went in, and ignored the burst of drunken comment from the revellers inside, and asked the landlord politely if he would send word to Janthis that she was here; but she encountered an unexpected difficulty, for, “No,” said the man, “I will not.”

“She will want to see me,” said Mara, “I am her sister.”

“You may be her mother for all I care,” said the landlord, “she is up there with a flagon of wine and her concubine, and I will not disturb them, not for you or anyone, unless you are able to glue my head back onto my shoulders once she is finished with me.”

Mara pulled a face and stamped with her staff on the floor in frustration. “Then I will call her myself,” she declared.

“You do it from outside, then,” said the landlord, “for I will not have more blood spilled in here.”

Mara shot him a disgusted look, and went outside, and looked up at the windows of the inn. There was light in many of them, but motion only in one, and it was beneath that one that she stood and called, “Janthis!” … and then, again, more loudly, “Janthis!”

The window was flung open suddenly, and something flew out of it and shattered on the roadway behind Mara. “Who calls?” her sister’s voice bellowed, “who calls me at this hour? At this moment? You had best be ready to sell your life dear, whoever you are – “

“Janthis,” cried Mara, “it is me, it is Mara; I need your help.”

There was silence for a moment, and then her sister’s head, looking much dishevelled, poked out of the window. “Mara?” said Janthis. “Shadow take it, little sister, have you lost your mind? There are rogues and brigands aplenty out there who will take your purse, your virtue, and your life, and not necessarily in that order. You should be abed … and under guard, too!”

Mara glared up at her. “I am here, though,” she said, “and I need your help. Please, Janthis.”

Janthis pulled her head back. There was a sound as of heated discussion from within, and Mara saw another woman come to the window, dark-haired, pale-skinned, and seemingly naked; she caught a brief glimpse of one pink-tipped breast. Shortly thereafter, her sister, in leather trousers and her dragonbark hauberk, clambered out of the window, and dropped lithely to the ground.

“You must excuse me,” said Janthis, and Mara caught a smell of liquor on her breath. “It is often my custom, after a desperate fight, to – well,” she said with a broad grin, “to celebrate life in all its aspects. But here I am, sister; what would you of me?”

“I am about to attempt something,” said Mara, “and I would have someone to watch and guard while I do it; someone I can trust.”

“And that would be me,” said Janthis, and then she lifted her face to the window and bellowed, “I will be away a while, Cova! Keep the bed warm for me! I yearn to taste your fragrant loins!”

The light in the window went out. “I fear I may be sleeping outside the bedroom door tonight,” said Janthis.

“Janthis,” said Mara, “you are incorrigible. And it might be best if you do not come, if you are drunk.”

“I am not drunk!” cried Janthis, in a voice that echoed down the street. “I will confess to being slightly illuminated, but that is of no importance. Lead on, sister, and tell me what it is we do, now.”

“I wonder what people must think of us,” Mara muttered, as she turned away from the inn. Janthis grinned. “Probably that we are on an assignation together,” she answered.

“For shame, Janthis. I am your sister.”

Janthis chuckled. “And that is all that keeps you safe, you delicious little thing … Where do we go?” And with that last question, she was at once all business.