Soul of the Fire

She shrugged. "I was ashamed to have you know I thought you were cheating on me."

"Then why now confess it?"

She kissed him, with a kiss only Tess could give, breathless, hot, wet. She pulled back to smile as she watched him look down her cleavage.

"Because," she whispered, "I love you, and I miss you. I just got my new dress. I thought it might tempt you to my bed."

"I think you more beautiful than the Mother Confessor."

She grinned and gave him a peck on the forehead. "How about coming home for just a while?"

He patted her bottom as she stood. "I'll be along shortly."

Ann peeked and saw Alessandra watching her pray. Ann had asked the woman if it would bother her were Ann to pray before the meal.

Alessandra, at first taken by surprise, had said, "No, why should it?"

Sitting on the bare ground inside her grimy tent, Ann, in earnest, devoted herself to the prayer. She let herself fill with the joy of the Creator, in much the same way she opened herself to her Han. She let the Light fill her with joy. She Jet her heart feel the peace of the Creator in her, let herself be thankful for all she had, when others were so much worse off.

She prayed that Alessandra would feel just a ray of warm Light, and open her heart to it.

When she finished, she reached as far as the chains would allow and kissed toward her ring finger in fidelity to the Creator, to whom she was symbolically wedded.

She knew Alessandra would recall the indescribable satisfaction of praying to the Creator, of opening your heart in thanks to the one who had given you your soul. There were times in the life of every Sister when she had quietly, privately, piously wept with the joy of it.

Ann saw the twitch of longing as Alessandra almost reflexively brought her own finger to her lips, As a Sister of the Dark, such an act would be a betrayal of the Keeper.

Alessandra had pledged that soul, given by the Creator, to the Keeper of the underworld-to evil. Ann couldn't imagine there was anything the Keeper could give in return that could match the simple joy of a prayer expressing thanks to the One from which all things emanated.

"Thank you, Alessandra. That was kind of you to let me say my prayer before I eat."

"Nothing kind to it," the woman said. "Simply gets the food down easier so I can get on with my other business."

Ann nodded, glad she had felt the Creator in her heart.

CHAPTER 54

"What are we going to do?" Morley whispered.

Fitch scratched his ear. "Hush, I'm planning it out."

Fitch had no idea what to do, but he didn't want Morley to know that. Morley was impressed that Fitch had found the place. He had come to depend on Fitch knowing what to do.

Not that there was that much to know. Mostly they rode hard. They had all that money Dalton Campbell had given them, so they didn't have to know much. They could buy food; they didn't have to hunt it, or gather it. They could buy any gear they needed; they didn't have to fashion it themselves.

Fitch had learned that money went a long way toward making up for what a person didn't know. Having grown up on the streets of Fairfield, he did know how to guard his money, and how to keep from being cheated, robbed, or tricked out of it. He was careful with the money, never using it to buy flashy clothes or anything that would make it look like they were worth knocking over the head, or worse.

The one surprise was that no one much cared that they were Hakens, or even seemed to know. They were treated decent by most folks, who thought them polite young men.

Fitch didn't let Motley talk him into buying drinks at inns; he knew that would be a sure way to let unsavory people know they had money, and being drunk only made it easier to forget to be careful. Instead they bought a bottle, and only when they'd set up a camp for the night, somewhere people weren't likely to come across them, did he and Morley get drunk. They did that a lot at first. It helped Fitch forget that people thought he had raped Beata.

Morley had wanted to spend some money on whores at one town they went through, but Fitch didn't want to. He finally gave in and let Morley do it, being as the money was his, too. Fitch had waited with their horses and other things outside town. He knew what sometimes happened to travelers coming into Fairfield to visit prostitutes.

Afterward, a grinning Morley said he'd watch over their things while Fitch went back and had his turn at visiting a woman. Fitch had been tempted, but the idea made him all jittery. Just when he thought he'd worked up the nerve, he'd imagine the woman laughing at him, and then his knees would get to shaking and his palms to sweating something fierce. He just knew she'd laugh.

Morley, he was big and strong, and manly. Women wouldn't laugh at Morley. Beata used to always laugh at Fitch. He didn't want to have some woman he didn't even know start laughing at his skinny frame as soon as he got his clothes off.