Seeds of a Glowing Ember - 05
#6 of Seeds of a Glowing Ember
"Mother?" Lana had finally found the strength to call out the title from the shadows where she had been gathering her courage. There was an empty pause as she waited, and then the Countess curled a length of silk across the page she had been reading and carefully closed the expensive book.
"Lana," the response came at last in the cold and even tone the daughter had come to respect.
"Who was that priest? Why is he here?"
"He is here to give us his blessing, and then wisdom unto me." Though her features were softening with each breath, Lana knew her mother too well and could taste the lie in the air.
"This is about Father and Richard ..." Lana began to say, but she broke off when she saw the edges of her mother's impenetrable walls shutter. Had it been Marion, she would have flung her arms around the pained woman and told her it would be alright. But this was her mother, and she was made of sterner stuff. "They are still with us," she then said, and her mother's eyes twitched in response. "Father came to me as I dreamed, last day. He said he was watching over me, and then said it was time for us to have our talk."
"You always were your fathers' darling princess," her mother said without the razor edge that her voice always possessed when speaking to a person who existed outside of their home.
"I know," Lana said with a smile, "and that's why it is time for us to join together in this fight which you wage against the world."
"What fight would that be, dear?" her mother asked, and Lana knew she was closing fast on dangerous territory. But she had come too far to just turn and run away.
"I know you have a plan," Lana told her after a stabilizing breath, "you always do." Moving towards the predator in regal attire, Lana knelt at her mother's side and lowered her voice. "Our men are all dead, and now you bring more into our home. I have watched you lure men with their gifts to your chambers since I was little, and sometimes I spied just to watch you at work."
The stare of the countess began to harden, and so Lana plunged forward in harsh whisper, trying to get it all out before her courage faltered or her mother lashed out and heard her no more. "I know the there's a magic to your methods, and I want to be part of this work! I want to know the Dark Mother as you do ... I want my own magic ... and my own men who would bring gifts to my bed! I want them to sully my flesh as I bend their wills to my own. Please, share the secrets of the Dark Mother with me ... let me be more like you!"
"Dear child," her mother nearly whispered, "you are so much like your father. I wish you could be more like me but-"
"I have already been practicing," Lana cut off her mother before the defeating speech was finished. "I whisper your incantation while I pleasure myself ... and my voice is becoming more musical when I end. The feeling of it all is so wonderful! I cannot believe The Lord would call such joy a sin! Please ... please teach me! Let me be your daughter," she begged and then her features began to grow sad. "I loathe being such a waste of space."
Lana stopped speaking when she realized she was starting to babble. Her mother had always warned her about babbling to the wrong people, and she had no patience for it. For what felt like an eternity, the only sound was the crackle of the fire. Then her mother gave a slight nod.
"Very well, dear Lana," her mother said with the look she always got when scheming. "I have a knight in mind for you, but he will not arrive until tomorrow night. I will send him to you ... if you think you can handle him."
"Of course I can handle him!" Lana almost shouted, as pride swelled in her chest. "I am your daughter! I know that I can do this for you!"
"I know, dear," her mother told her, and then she placed a hand on her shoulder and stared into her eyes. "The Dark Mother be with you."
"And also with you," Lana said automatically.
"Lift up your heart," the countess continued.
"I give myself to my lord," Lana continued.
"Praise be God and his concubine," the countess prayed.
"It is right to give them thanks and praise," Lana stated once more ... and though she knew these words well, there was something about saying them with her mother which made her want to do the bidding of her hero even more than before.
"When you return to your chamber to sleep for the day," her mother's voice commanded, "you shall wake rested and prepare yourself for the coming of the man which you will take. Cleanse your body ... purify your soul ... and when at last he comes to you, be ready to receive him with your body, your mind, and your soul."
"As you wish, mother," Lana said as she fell under the spell. "Thy bidding shall be done."