The Fire Sisters (Brilliant Darkness 3) by A. G. Henley

Author:A. G. Henley
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Tags: Young Adult, Deception, Disability, Romance, Terror, Brutality, Teen, Relationship, Horror, Science Fiction, Blindness, Cruel Governance, Dystopian, Barbaric World, Dangerous Adventure, Sacrifices, Stolen Children, Zombies, Action, Lofty Protector, Forrest Community, Partnering Ceremony, Treasured Guru, Fantasy, True Leader, Trust
Publisher: A.G. Henley
Published: 2015-09-25T04:00:00+00:00

Chapter Nineteen

With Frost’s direction, we wash up and change into the new clothes we picked up at the laundry—a fitted tunic over leggings with sturdy boots made of treated leather. They're the most sumptuous things I’ve ever worn.

When Grimma comes for us, we’re ready.

The sky has darkened, although it’s more difficult to tell the time with the smoke from the Eternal Flames filtering the light. How do the Sisters stand it day after day? Then again, someone might have asked how we bore living under the watchful eyes of the Lofties or spending weeks in the bone-chilling caves avoiding the Scourge. We all do what we have to, I guess.

“When may we see our daughters, Grimma?” Amarina asks as we walk.

“Tomorrow, I expect.” She sounds distracted.

Good. I’ll feel a lot better when I can hear Kora, talk to her, be sure she and the other children are all right. I don’t know how it will affect them to know we’re here but they can’t be with us. I suppose it will be one more confusing, frightening day in a long line of confusing, frightening days for them.

We pass the wasps’ enclosure as we follow our trainer along the flat, high ground that seems to lead from our quarters to the great hall. The buzzing has died down. Wasps are nocturnal, I remember our teacher, Bream, telling us. They’ll be back at it at first light. I shiver. That enclosure is an armory.

While we talked this afternoon, Amarina described the layout of the Cloister in more detail. She told me our quarters are closest to the corner where the Eternal Flames join the wall that runs parallel to the Shivering Sea. The eastern wall, she decided it was. Which means the Flames burn at the southernmost end of the Cloister. She said there isn’t much near the wall of fire except a small, abandoned stone shelter with no roof. Makes sense—anything but stone will burn.

The wall with the gate and the forest beside it, where we left the men, is the western wall. The great hall and the kitchens sit closer to it. Most of the other buildings within the Cloister—the laundry, the Sisters homes, the gardens, and presumably the children’s compound—nestle in the trees and under the protective shadow of the mountain to the north. She said the place was about twice the size of Koolkuna, not including the Myuna. The map of the Cloister grows in my head.

Amarina and Frost also told me a little more about the Sisters. They said they aren’t painted white, like those who came to Koolkuna. Maybe they only paint themselves when they leave the Cloister? They said the women's hair and skin color is the same mix as might be found among the anuna. They do all have the colorful feathers at their waist, which we decided is the mark of a fully initiated Fire Sister. Otherwise, they wear tunics, leggings, and boots similar to ours. They are of all shapes, sizes, and ages, although there doesn’t seem to be any Sister younger than about eighteen.

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