THE NINE

-Xenos, the Bearer: main god, protector of all men, wears the world on a chain around his neck

-Illustra, the Mother: main goddess, protector of women and children, responsible for day and night

-Axirt, the Keeper: guards day and night, patron of soldiers, brother of Illustra

-Errkys, the Lover: goddess of love, passion, and vengeance, patroness of prostitutes, sister of Illustra

-Lorath, the Dark: goddess of death, patroness of necromancers, sister of Xenos

-Tossar, the Rogue: god of tricks and travelers, patron of thieves, inadvertently responsible for most unusual occurrences, son of Xenos and Illustra, twin brother of Bryssar

-Bryssar, the Dreamer: god of chaos and dreams, patron of sorcerers, son of Xenos and Illustra, twin brother of Tossar

-Kystrall, the Maiden: goddess of purity, wisdom, and strength, patroness of women warriors, sister of Poltyk

-Poltyk, the Scholar: god of innocence and learning, patron of scholars and mages, brother of Kystrall

-Elusia and Minorsu: god & goddess of sun & moon, destroyed for rebellion, Poltyk and Kystrall's parents, these are not part of the Nine, and not to be spoken of, listed here for purely informational purposes.

PROLOGUE

From the journal of Korilyn Jesperr, High Priestess of the Maiden

8th of August, the Month of the Sun, year 673 G.E.

So, I'm back to this, writing in this damned book for what will be the last time.

I hid it well, my treason. The loose robes of my station concealed the evidence. I stood there on the dais day after day, all those people, the people of my City, hanging on my every word. And did any of them suspect? No. But why should they have? The High Priestess, like every other priestess, is pure, holy. Why would they have thought that I had done such a thing, right under their very noses? So no one guessed, these nine months.

I did all the right things but, unfortunately, I couldn't keep the babe quiet once she entered the cold, hard world. Partially because I was so weak; I bled quite a bit, and barely had the energy to cut the cord and take the child into my arms before falling into unconsciousness.

Of course, the other priestesses heard the baby's wails and came rushing through my chamber door.

Now, I sit here in a dark, cold cell beneath the temple, a week after the babe's birth. The priestess Healers watched over me grudgingly for a few days, to make sure that I did not die before they kill me.

They, as I knew they would, think that I committed some treason. Blasphemed the goddess in the worst way. But I haven't, as I tried to explain to them in Council this morning.

They ushered me in, the priestess Guards, after lopping my hair off unevenly and dressing me in a rough gray shift. I didn't mind. I walked into the chamber with my back straight, head held high. There sat my nine judges, including Haranie, the new High Priestess, and my close friend Flyra. I knew that Flyra could show me no favor; nor did I want her to, for fear of her own fate.

"Korilyn," Haranie's voice rang out, clear and hard as I stepped into the center of the room. None but priestesses were permitted there, and I think that every one in the City was in that Council chamber. "Who was my High Priestess and my blood sister, you are before us on the charge of heresy and high treason. What have you to say in your defense?"

I looked around at the nine of them coolly. Jirran looked smug- of course, my downfall brought her a step closer to the High Priestess' seat. Dina looked disgusted, as did Pamela. The others were only cold and distant, as if they didn't care. Finally I looked Haranie in the eye once more. "I have committed no heresy," I declared, my voice soft but clear.

One of the priestesses, named Nern (she was always a loud, snotty little thing) snorted with derision. "Oh, really?" She asked in that high-pitched, grating voice of hers. "You slept with a man, Korilyn; that alone is enough to get you exiled. But to have a child from that unholy union? It's a slap in the goddess' face!"

"Unless you would like to claim that the babe and the blood all over your chambers aren't yours," Pamela said coldly.

My eyes flickered to her, and then back to Haranie. "The blood is mine," I said carefully. "But the baby is the goddess'."

Silence echoed for a moment following my words, before the on-looking priestesses broke into whispers of anger and confusion. "I don't understand," … "She can't be blaming the goddess!"… "What does she mean?"

"Explain your words," Haranie said, cutting off the murmurs.

"The goddess came to me in a dream," I told them. "She told me that she was to have a child, an heir to this world. She possessed me, and took me to the man of her choosing, and I bore her child."

This was met by cries of outrage from all around me. It was as I had expected. They couldn't understand; but I had done my duty, and I will be rewarded by the goddess in the afterworld.

"Death!" I heard someone cry, making the others fall momentarily silent. "To her and her bastard child!"

The cry was taken up by others. Haranie stood after a moment, commanding silence. "You have blasphemed the goddess herself," she said coldly. But I think, even in that, I sensed a note of respect in her voice, and curiosity in her eyes. She admired my nerve, at least. "For that you will be executed." Several cheered, but Haranie held up a hand for quiet. "You will, however, face the Beast. If you die in its cage, your child will be killed as well, as the goddess wills. If you live, she will live, as the goddess wills. For the sins of the mothers do not pass to their daughters. Agreed?"

One by one the nine priestesses of the Council held their hands out, cupped, in the gesture of assent. Jirran and Nern, the only ones I thought would disagree, quickly realized that they were outnumbered and joined the others.

So I will face the Beast at sunrise, to save the goddess' daughter, as is my duty. They will collect this journal and this cheap pen, to add to the records, along with the journals of all the priestesses before me. Unless, of course, they decide to burn it to keep my story secret. And there's nothing I can do about that, is there?