A Dangerous Destiny: The Pure One Book I

Chapter Sixty-Five

So Manna is under house arrest and things really don't look great. Lucky Karina was nowhere in sight for the Council to arrest her too:-/ ( Manna knew what she was doing hen she sent her away ;-)) Dara told the Council that the High Priestess would be arriving soon...Ready to meet her? New character alert. Meet Simar Temdin :-)

Manna

Manna spent a sleepless night under her roof. Avery had not been satisfied with less than four guards keeping watch, two stationed inside her home and two by the front gate. The lack of privacy was humiliating, and though she was no longer bound, Manna felt more confined than she ever had before in her life. When the sun pierced the glass window pains, she had opened her eyes, slowly, some unconscious part of her praying that the events of the past week were perhaps all just a horrible dream. But when she rose from her bed and went to the main room of the house she saw them. Two men, neither of them familiar, guarding the door, armed with short swords.

Avery had likely chosen her guards carefully to ensure they would be strangers with no sympathy towards her. Manna wondered what Avery had told them. Without an official trial he should not have spread news of her arrest outside of the Council of course but she could not imagine that small breach of protocol would stop him from discreetly defaming her name in any way he could without drawing too much attention. He no doubt hoped to sway public opinion and influence the Councilmen who had not yet been given the chance to decide their ruling on her fate.

The number of anonymous sentries seemed excessive to her mind. She had no intention of escaping and he must know that there was nowhere for her to run. But then again, that was Avery' nature. He had a flair for excess, and he wanted to make her suffer.

 Manna wondered if Karina was still safe. She didn't trust the Council not to do something rash. If they found the girl before the Initiate had the chance to speak with her, they might take matters into their own hands just as they had attempted to before the child's birth. The Initiate would be powerless to step in if the girl was already dead.

The possibility that her charge might have already been discovered filled Manna with a cold dread and made her stomach queasy. If the girl died, she would never forgive herself. Then again, if they killed Karina before they could understand why she and Fiona had acted as they did, Manna was certain she would not have to live with that guilt for very long. It was not a pleasant thought and so she pushed it away attempting to begin her day with as much semblance of normalcy as she could manage given the armed men intruding within her home. She went to the stove, ignoring the watchful eyes following her every move, re-stoking the fire in the stove and hearth, and setting a kettle of water to boil before taking a seat at the table.

At a sudden knock on the door Manna turned her head in surprise and the two guards bristled slightly. One went to the door, hand on the hilt of his weapon. She found it almost amusing. Did they really believe that anyone would be coming to her rescue? After yesterday's announcement, Manna was fairly certain that she had no supporters left.

"Who goes there?" 

"Simar Temdin, High Priestess and head of the holy Initiate of the Senmin," a strong voice replied through the heavy wood.

The man unlatched the door cautiously and the High Priestess entered.

The High Priestess was a tall woman, and as she came through the door the room seemed to be subtly occupied by the power she exuded. The two men automatically backed away. Manna could see them eyeing her with a mixture of fear and awe. Not surprising, Simar was quite striking, and exceedingly intimidating for any not used to such strength.

 She was a good fifteen years younger than Manna herself, and had not changed much since she'd last visited Gregorn four years prior, though Simar's black hair was now streaked with perhaps a bit more white. Of course that only seemed to have added to her grander, giving her a sense of gravitas and dignity. She wore the official blue and gray of the Initiate, a shade lighter than that of the Nita.