She wasn’t sorry, not one bit, but she had learned to lie over the past weeks since Sera had fallen, and now she was grateful for that horrible skill. She caught sight of Elorin, standing with the other novices along the walls, her eyes wide, her hands clutching the front of her robe. Leela gave her the faintest hint of a smile. At least the High Priestess did not know how close they had become, or what Leela had confided in her. At least she had assigned Leela to the one place where she had a friend.

“I ask forgiveness,” Leela began, “for the wrong I have done this City . . .”

10

SHE WAS COMMANDED TO STAY IN THE CHAMBER OF PENITENCE until the end of her fast.

She hadn’t even been allowed a moment alone with her mothers to say goodbye. Once she concluded her apology, she was swept off the chancel by Acolyte Klymthe, through the sliding door at the back of the temple.

“Your fast begins at dusk,” she said. “A final meal will be brought for you and novices will provide a bucket in the morning and evening for you to relieve yourself. You are not to leave this room for three nights and three days.” Leela’s breath quickened but she tried not to let it show. One night had been awful enough, trapped in this small room—Leela did not like the closed door, or the window too high to see out of. Acolyte Klymthe’s eyes were unyielding, like blue iron. “I should have suspected you might do something like this,” she said. “Ever since that day you came to the temple seeking answers from the High Priestess for Sera Lighthaven’s unworthiness.”

That was the day Leela had realized Kandra was the only one in the City who might believe her about the High Priestess, the day she had dismissed the possibility of confiding in any of her other friends, including Elorin.

Leela wondered if Acolyte Klymthe knew about the stalactites below the City.

But she had a part to play now—she had already made one grave mistake that had led her right into the High Priestess’s hands; she could not afford to do it again. So she bowed her head and murmured, “I am sorry, Acolyte Klymthe.”

The acolyte sniffed. “Yes. Well. Your life is Mother Sun’s now. Let us hope you will live it in her light and love.”

But when she said Mother Sun, Leela felt with a shiver that she really meant someone else. She kept her head down, sure that if she looked up, Acolyte Klymthe would see her defiance. When she heard the door close, she collapsed onto the bed and stared up at the window.

I will be patient, she vowed. It is only three days. And then I will return to the gardens beneath the City and I will see Sera’s face again.

How long could three days possibly be?