Her next question had been innocent enough, or so she had thought, but it had brought a startling response, one that had kept this conversation going round and round in Anna’s mind since that day.

“Don’t you think you should at least remove the golden locket you wear, Mistress?”

The Mistress’s hand went to her throat to where the locket rested in the hollow of her neck. She grasped hold of it possessively, almost covetously, and turned to face Anna with a suddenness that startled her.

“What do you mean by that remark?” the Mistress demanded, advancing a step toward her. “Why do you tell me to take off the locket?”

“I meant nothing, Mistress!” Anna gasped, alarmed by the woman’s intensity. “Only that thieves might see the glint of gold and be tempted—”

The Mistress stared at her for a moment more. Then, with a sigh, the Mistress waved her hand in what seemed weary dismissal.

“Go back to your duties, Daughter. Remain alert. Keep careful watch. I fear the dragons may choose this time to attack us. The fate of our kingdom rests with you. You have trained all your life for this moment, High Priestess,” the Mistress added, seeing Anna’s expression of dismay. “You and the sisters will keep the dragons at bay. I have full confidence in you.”

The Mistress must have departed shortly after that, for when Anna had occasion to return to the Mistress’s quarters, the Mistress was not there, and the scrip containing her clothes was gone.

Anna had gone about her duties as she had been ordered. The strain of protecting her people and keeping up the lie that the Mistress was still among them was starting to tell on her, though. She lay awake half the night, and when at last, exhausted, she fell asleep, she woke in terror, trembling, dreaming of dragons. Her lack of appetite caused such comment among the other sisters that she was afraid they would suspect something. She began to force herself to choke down her food, though it made little difference. She was almost always sick to her stomach afterward.

Perhaps the ghosts she saw along her path were due to lack of sleep and lack of sustenance. As she walked, treading on the flagstones in the very footsteps of Melisande and all the others who now surrounded her, Anna shivered in the predawn chill and hugged her cloak more closely about her. She had once looked forward to the morning ritual that marked her standing as High Priestess. Now, she dreaded it, for each new day might be the day she would see the dragons coming to attack her people. Perhaps that was why the ghost of Melisande and the others seemed to cluster more closely around her this day than they had others. This was the day the dragons would come.