Sisterhood
Door marched down the flame-lit corridor, hoping the confidence of her steps would spread to the rest of her, would get rid of the butterflies flitting within her stomach. The absolute stillness of the approach to the Temple unnerved her, the simplicity of the pure white walls providing no distraction from her anxious thoughts.
She'd been here before, years back, when her mother had brought her to witness the yearly purification ceremony, but that couldn't quiet her trepidation. The reputation of the Sisters meant that they didn't have much contact with the rest of the Underside - they were known to be kind to those they favoured but those who angered them could expect no mercy.
Turning over the heavy gold seal in her hand, Door wondered why Queen Eleanor had sent her here. She knew that the Sisters had many Mysteries, rituals and ceremonies that hinted at dark powers - they were said to have created the Market Truce, and everyone in the Underside respected that - but how would this help her to find her sister? What could Islington have done to Ingress that only a cult of secretive women could undo?
Reaching the pillared entrance, Door stretched out her hand towards the ornate brass knocker, but before she could touch it, she heard a delighted exclamation to her left.
"Door! It is you! First Mother said you were coming but I didn't believe it!"
Door turned to see the owner of the voice, and her fire-opal eyes widened in surprise as she recognised the blue-robed figure standing in the open gateway she hadn't noticed, concealed artfully behind the pillars. And if she, an Opener, hadn't seen them, then there must be powerful protection on this place.
"Ofelia?"
"Sister Ofelia," the girl corrected, her wide grin distracting from the severe impression of her clothes. "I was fully ordained a few weeks ago."
"I haven't seen you since- since,"
"Your tenth birthday," the Sister replied, holding out a hand to guide Door into the inner sanctum of the Temple.
"A lot's changed since then," Ofelia continued. "But we don't have time to catch up right now, I'm afraid. The First Mother wants to see you right away."
From her memories, Door knew that most people used the main entrance; to be admitted through a postern gate meant bypassing many of the rituals the Sisters used to control the progress of movement of those not within the Order. She was clearly expected, but how had Queen Eleanor contacted them so quickly?
Door followed her old friend down a narrow stone corridor, lit by the same wall-bracketed brands as the approach to the Temple. The other girl moved with a serene grace that Door remembered seeing among the Sisters on her childhood visit here, a glide that left her rippling sky blue robes streaming out behind her, as if moved by an unnatural breeze. The clumsy child Door had once known was gone, usurped by this poised, mysterious Sister, although she was glad to see that the broad smile remained.
Ofelia had joined the Sisters? Door couldn't imagine anyone less suited, based on how exuberant a child she'd been.
Ofelia led her through a bewildering series of white stone clad corridors, up and down whispering staircases until Door had all but lost her sense of direction - she could intuitively feel many thresholds hidden within this building, something she'd missed as a child. Her Opener skills felt muddied, less defined, as if something was pushing against them, to keep her from infiltrating too far.
Finally, Ofelia stopped in front of a plain wooden door, rapped on it twice and pushed it open.
The room behind was as unlike the rest of the Temple as the Underside was from London Above. The walls were draped with dazzling silks, swirls of bright colours and patterns and the floor was carpeted, a fluffy pale grey covering that Door immediately sank into, up to her ankles. Light illuminated the chamber but Door couldn't tell its source - it seemed to come from within the room but there was nothing visible from which it could emanate. And most unexpected, cats were milling about within.
A golden-eyed tortoiseshell sat on the high-backed wooden chair in the centre of the room, its imperious gaze sweeping over Door as its kin picked their way delicately across the sea of carpet.
"Bathsheba! Get off my chair, you damned minx!"
A woman strode across the room and unceremoniously shoved the tortoiseshell from its seat, ignoring the feline's offended glare as she settled herself down. Like Ofelia, this woman wore blue, but her robes were darker, wrapped closer around her face to form a headdress, and here and there Door detected minute sparkles from within the fabric, flashes of silver that caught the light. She was older than Ofelia, but not as old as Door had expected her to be. Her memories of the First Mother were slight, but what she did recall of the woman seemed unchanged - there was something timeless about her face, her eyes.
"Come in child, let me look at you."
The First Mother reached down and scooped up a passing cat into her arms, a silver tabby to match her robes, ignoring a sulking Bathsheba, who stalked away in disgust.
"How like your mother you've become! Of course, there was a time when we thought dear Portia might join our Order, but she chose your father over us."
Door tried not to let her surprise show. She had wondered about her mother's links with the Sisters, but hadn't expected to hear that.
"We were all very saddened to hear of her passing," the First Mother continued. "But gratified to hear that you took steps against the transgressors."
Door bit her lip at this description of the past few weeks of her life, but without her having to speak, the First Mother seemed to understand.
"That is not why you are here. Eleanor said you were searching for your sister."
"Yes my lady," Door replied, holding out the Queen's seal. The older woman smiled, gesturing to Ofelia to deliver the ring to her.
"Call me First Mother. It is the role I fulfil."
- You're not my mother - Door thought, surprising herself at how bitter the thought was. There was something unsettling about the woman before her, more so than Mad Queen Eleanor. While her insanity lived behind a paper-thin mask, there was no hiding it, the First Mother - what was her name? Lillian? Lilah? - Door couldn't tell what she was concealing beneath her veneer of maternal affection.
"The Angel said my sister was still alive. Queen Eleanor told me that she was hidden somewhere, sleeping. I didn't understand what she meant."
"Dear Eleanor," the First Mother smiled indulgently. "We tried to repair the damage her husband inflicted upon her, but we were too late. She is - confused at times."
Door didn't think that 'confused' even began to describe the raging mania that was contained - and sometimes not - within Queen Eleanor, but she was too impatient for news of Ingress to take the First Mother up on the matter.
"She said that she was in a place no-one would think to look," Door prompted, hoping that this sibylline woman before her could finally provide the solution she'd been so desperately seeking.
"Indeed."
The First Mother set down the cat she was holding and rose to her feet.
"Your family's skills have made you much sought after," she began, causing Door's heart to twist painfully. She had no need to be told this, not after what Islington had done.
"Not just because they prove so useful, but because they offer access to worlds unseen," the First Mother continues, gesturing once more to Ofelia, waiting obediently behind Door. The girl nodded, leaving the room without a word.
The First Mother put a maternal arm around Door's shoulders, turning her and guiding her to a different exit, set into the left-hand wall.
"We have made preparations for the journey you must take to find your sister. Islington made sure that no-one but himself and an Opener could ever reach her, but we have ways and means even he could not know of."
By now Door was heartily sick of circular talk and riddles, first from Queen Eleanor, and now the Sisters. She found herself missing her companions - the Marquis' blunt directness and Richard's clumsy but endearing way of stumbling through, reaching the end successfully but by a route most wouldn't even have recognised, let alone tried.
Beside her, she felt the First Mother stiffen, as if hearing and disapproving of Door's thoughts of her friends.
"The path you must find for yourself," the woman continued. "But we can help you begin, direct your search."
"What must I do?" Door asked, making an extra effort to hold back her frustration.
"It was an Opener's skills that hid your sister, and the same will find her. But not as you are used to them. We have created a ritual that will guide you. Ofelia has gone on to begin."
Door bit her lip.
"What kind of ritual?"
"It's best if you don't know too much before, it may affect your instincts. You will need them if you are to succeed. What I will say is that you have the strength of the Sisters with you. And no man has yet defeated us."
"Islington wasn't a man," Door pointed out. "He was an Angel."
"We don't trouble ourselves with such distinctions," the First Mother replied, her tone still outwardly warm but with a new inflection seeping in, one that sent a chill through Door's heart.
She'd been a child when she encountered the Sisters last, hadn't recognised this vein of steel and ice then, but now it was impossible to miss. Had her mother really once considered being a part of this? And Ofelia, what was she doing here? She had never been spiritual; what could have driven her to the life of a cloistered sister, part of an Order feared and respected in equal measures? Door recognised the need for guidance, but couldn't imagine giving herself up in the way.
All the same, she allowed the First Mother to take her to the chamber they had prepared.
The room was circular in form, the walls hanging with heavy dark red drapes, the floor bare. In content, it was almost empty, containing a long white altar, ringed by blue-robed sisters, holding slender white candles before them. Door searched for Ofelia among the group, hoping for a familiar face to quell her rising nerves but couldn't see her.
Never mind. Door steeled herself, all determination and regal pride. She was the eldest daughter of Lady Portia and Lord Portico; she had searched the Underside for those responsible for their murder and she had avenged them, outwitting an Angel and removing two of the most notorious thugs in London Below in the process. She wouldn't let this intimidate her, couldn't let her sister down, not if this - ritual - could really be the way to rescue her.
Head held high, Door stepped forward, into the circle. One of the Sisters greeted her, dipping her fingers into the stone bowl of clearwater she carried and touching it to Door's forehead, throat and wrists.
"For protection," she murmured, melting back into the circle as another girl knelt at Door's feet, removing her shoes, then guiding her to lie on her back on the altar stone.
The First Mother was there again, standing behind Door's head as the Sisters closed in to stand tight around the altar.
"Seek and you will find, child," she announced. "The little lady is not far."
Door closed her eyes, more trying to shut out the surrounding ritual so that her irritation didn't rise up again. She felt the First Mother's hands rest on her shoulders.
"Think of your home."
Door's eyes flew open as it registered that the First Mother hadn't spoken aloud, but directly into Door's own mind. But, she reminded herself, Queen Eleanor had done a similar thing only hours before and that hadn't seemed unusual. The Sisters were chanting now, eyes closed, candles held close, flames rising higher as Door sensed something begin.
Forcing away her reservations, Door shut her eyes once more and tried to concentrate. The chanting seemed to fade and Door felt as if her outward senses were being pulled away from her, until all she felt of herself was within her own head. Focussing her thoughts on Ingress, Door began her search, reaching out in the way she did when trying to find a hidden passageway. The Temple's magics stopped her from finding their doors and gateways but Door was reaching beyond them, almost beyond the physical plain. It frightened her to attempt this - Openers weren't supposed to go beyond such boundaries, that was what she'd been taught all her life - but, somehow, the Sisters were guiding her onto the right path.
Door was reminded of how she'd first learnt to Open; she'd been little over Ingress' age then, and her parents had devoted long months to teaching her to harness her gift, beginning with locks, then finding hidden openings, and finally creating doors where there were none.
The door she'd created for Islington had been one of these - she still didn't know where it had led to, didn't care as long as he and Croup and Vandemar never came back from it. But this was different. Door could feel countless openings before her, all temptingly facile to access and parts of her itched to explore, but none could lead her to Ingress, so she reigned these impulses in.
She thought of what the First Mother had said, and something clicked in her mind. Her home, the House Without Doors. An Associative House, it had no set physical shape, its rooms scattered across the Underside. Door had no idea where, in reality, many of the rooms were, but she could locate and reach them as easily as breathing. Perhaps that was what she was meant to do...
Concentrating, Door drew her skills together and tried to recall how it felt to move between these rooms, and then she thought of Ingress. From the memories embedded in the walls of the House, she knew where Ingress had been taken from - where their mother had been murdered - and from that Door began to feel a hint of her sister's mind.
Ingress was too young to be able to Open properly, but she had the talent, and if Islington had been able to use that to hide her, then Door would be able to find her. She had to.
Shaking off her uncertainties, Door pushed, leaving the relative safety of the waking world behind and ploughed forwards. Queen Eleanor had said that Ingress was sleeping, between worlds, but everywhere had a way in and out and if there wasn't one, then Door would make one.
The places she looked into were strange, some wonderful, some terrifying, but Door didn't linger in any - didn't want to if most if the glimpses she made were true.
Voices called from behind intangible barriers, tugging at her with fingers of smoke and steel, trying to lead her from her path, but Door ignored them, concentrating all her attention on the search. She had no idea if she was going in the right direction - if there even was such a thing in places like these - but once she'd begun, she had to finish. It was her nature; she was of the House of Arch.
There was no way of gauging time in these realms. Door didn't know how long she'd been searching, but she was tiring and it was all so confusing. She didn't want to give up, but she didn't know how much longer she could keep this up either.
In desperation, she began calling her sister's name, hoping that somehow the little girl could hear her, but there was no reply. Exhausted, she gave one final push, opening a new path - and found herself to be home.
Her room, in what would have been the East Wing of her house, had it had a physical shape. But it wasn't her home, couldn't be and when she put out a hand to touch the chair before her, it distorted, twisting out of shape as if it was being pulled away through a vortex. Then it snapped back into shape as if nothing had happened, and despite her fear, Door felt a little leap of hope within her. This wasn't her room, her house, wasn't even real, but it also didn't come from her mind, her memories. And if that were true, then there was only one other mind it could be from...
"Ingress?"
She whirled around, expecting to see her sister, but there was nothing. Frantically, Door searched the room, ignoring the kaleidoscopic furniture, the carpet that shifted beneath her feet, everything that tried to stop her from finding her baby sister.
Finally, her eye fell on the mirror. But it didn't reflect her image. Instead, it was misty, hard to focus but as Door approached, she could see through all this, and a different picture began to form. Door's heart leapt as she recognised, at long last, the small figure lying on the bed behind the mirror, sleeping as if there were no cares in the world.
"Ingress!"
Door's relief was overwhelming, but she checked herself - she still had to reach her sister yet. She put her hand out, and found the mirror was unlike the rest of the room; cold, solid to the touch, unyielding. But Door had come too far to let something as minor as a locked door stop her. She was an Opener, it was in her blood. And so she Opened.
It was difficult, far more demanding than anything she'd opened before, even the faraway door she'd sent Islington through., but she struggled on, and eventually it yielded, so suddenly she all but fell into the room.
Hurrying to the slumbering child's side, Door felt a horrible doubt that all she'd done wasn't enough; that finding Ingress was one thing, but waking her might be another, one beyond her talents. Again, Door felt a pang at missing her companions, at how much harder it was to do this alone, but this was her responsibility, her family. And the others would be waiting for them when they got back.
Door put her hand on Ingress' sleeping shoulder and said her sister's name. No response. Door squeezed the girl's arm, feeling the warmth beneath layers of ragged clothing, put her other hand out to smooth the child's sleep-rumpled blonde hair. At this, finally, the little girl stirred, and slowly, Ingress woke up.
"Door?"
She rubbed her eyes, confused. Door flung her arms around her sister, pulling her up into a sitting position so she could hold her tight, all that was left of her family now. Tears spilled from her eyes, soaking into Ingress' hair.
"I thought I'd never see you again! I thought you were lost!"
But Ingress was still half-asleep, not understanding what was going on, so Door picked her up. Ingress snuggled into Door's arms, putting her thumb in her mouth and settling her drowsy head on her sister's shoulder as Door carried her back through the mirror. Now she'd woken, it was easy for Door to pull her back through into the waking world, out of the Angel's trap and back to the Temple.
Door came back to herself with a start, sitting up on the altar and immediately looking around for Ingress. The circle of blue-robed Sisters parted like a wave and Ofelia stepped forwards, a now wide-awake and somewhat cleaner Ingress in her arms.
Door leapt up and ran over to her sister, lifting her from Ofelia's hold into her own. Ingress looked solemn, her multi-coloured eyes very big as she gazed up at her sister and Door felt a little quaver run through her.
"We have spoken with your sister," the First Mother spoke up from behind Door, who turned to find the woman standing serene, her hands tucked into her sleeves.
"And explained what happened since she - fell asleep."
Door felt a flare of anger rise up in her - why had the First Mother taken it upon herself to talk to Ingress? That should have been Door's part, not some mystical Sisterhood. And how had they managed to do it before she woke up?
"Your sister came back a few hours before you did," Ofelia said, seemingly understanding Door's unspoken confusion and anger.
"She was very upset. We had to calm her down."
"What did you do to her?" Door demanded, gripping Ingress tighter. The little girl still hadn't spoken, although her arm was wrapped comfortably around Door's neck.
"Nothing was done. We merely - showed her how to control herself. Some of our ways. She is not harmed."
Door looked closely at her sister's face. The girl was too young to really understand everything that had happened, certainly, and Door was well aware that it would take a long time for her to recover from the shock of their family's murder. But she didn't welcome this interference. She knew she should have expected trouble escaping from Islington's prison, but the time-gap had caught her off-guard, thrown everything out of order. What now?
"Mummy and Daddy are gone," Ingress announced, almost matter-of-factly.
"Arch too."
"Yes. The man who took you did it, but he's gone now too," Door replied, unsure of how to speak to this unflappable child who had once been her irrepressible, laughing sister. Was it the trauma of witnessing their family's murder, of the influence of the Sisters?
"We can go home."
Ingress shook her head, her expression unchanging.
"Not home anymore. I don't want to go back there."
Door tried not to let her surprise show.
"But - it's always been our home! Your room's there, all your things."
- and all the memories, she realised. It had been hard enough to go back herself, could she really ask Ingress to do the same?
"Your sister has asked to stay with us," the First Mother spoke up, and Door instantly saw red. Setting Ingress down, but keeping her held close still, she confronted the First Mother before her.
"No. You're not taking her. I won't let you turn her into - one of you."
The woman's expression didn't flicker, but Door sensed something shift behind the seemingly calm eyes.
"One of us? What exactly do you see our Order as, child? We wish only to help your sister."
Door felt a flash of fear, but she forced it away, drawing herself up to her full height.
"I'm grateful for your help in rescuing my sister. But we're family. I should be the one to take care of her."
"But we can do so much for her. For both of you, if you would let us."
The First Mother smiled.
"I see you have already chosen your path. And it does not lie with us. You are more like your mother than I thought, perhaps. She chose the way of men too."
Ofelia stepped up alongside the Mother of her Order, her face controlled but her eyes far colder than Door could ever have imagined.
"The Sisters take care of each other," she stated. "We always have. We mend what is broken and we avenge what has been wronged."
"That at least, you should understand. As does dear Eleanor."
"Queen Eleanor?" Door remembered what she had said about trying to repair the woman's mind. "You - avenged her?"
The First Mother's smile grew colder, more terrifying.
"Her husband thought he had the right to abuse her as he saw fit. We - corrected him."
"You killed him?" Door demanded, tightening her grip on Ingress' shoulder. But the woman's expression grew serious.
"Oh no. We don't kill, unless no other way is open to us. But we did punish him, a punishment to fit the crime. Lord Edward took his own life a matter of days after we were done with him, but that was his choice."
Door shivered. She had no doubt what the First Mother meant - after all, they punished those who violated Market Truce, and that was a lesson no-one ever needed to be shown, or even told of, twice - and she did not want her sister to be a part of this. But what else should she do? She loved Ingress, they were family, but could she really look after her? Especially if she couldn't take her home. And she had such a lot to do, even with Richard's help. Even the Marquis.
"And you?" Door directed her question to Ofelia. "What made you take vows here?"
"My father promised me to a man who - didn't care for me as a man should his intended. He was cruel to me, deeply cruel, but the Sisters freed me. They kept me sane, stopped me from taking my own life and showed me how to take revenge instead.
We are so much stronger than they are, Door. Together, nothing can hurt us. We can care for your sister. Make sure that no-one hurts her again."
Door stared at them, horrified by what she heard, but there was a truth in her former friend's words. She felt Ingress tug at her hand.
"I like it here. It's quiet. And bad men can't get in here."
The little girl smiled suddenly, a far sunnier smile than Door had expected to see.
"And she's got cats."
Door closed her eyes, trying to think clearly, to see beyond the here and now so she could see what really was best for her baby sister. It was true that Ingress would be a lot safer here than in most of the Underside, and as much as she wanted to care for Ingress herself, the Sisters were far more capable. The task she'd undertaken was never going to be easy or safe, and Door couldn't see herself combining it with looking after a traumatised child. Maybe... maybe if she let Ingress stay here until they were both more settled. Until Door knew what she was doing better, and until Ingress had recovered a little from what she'd been through...
"Alright."
She addressed the First Mother, squeezing Ingress's hand as she turning back to face the Sisters.
"As long as it's what Ingress wants, then she can stay. But I want to be able to see her."
"Of course."
The First Mother's face was serene once more.
"We have no intention of dividing a family. The poor child has been through enough."
Door had to bite her tongue to stop the retort that rose up, remembering that she had to put Ingress first now. She knelt down before the child, putting her hand on her sister's shoulder.
"I'll come back and visit you lots. Be a good girl, won't you?"
Ingress nodded, throwing her arms around Door's neck in an spontaneous little-girl hug.
Ofelia stepped forwards once more, taking Ingress by the hand and leading her away, the Sisters gliding silently after her.
As Door watched them go, brushing away the tears that had started up in her eyes, the First Mother directed her towards the other door, one that would take her out of the Temple.
"She will have a choice."
Door stared back at the older woman.
"What?"
"Your sister. We would never force anyone to stay if they wanted to leave. Ingress will always be allowed to make up her own mind concerning her life and her future."
Door wasn't sure whether she really believed this, but she couldn't think of any argument that wouldn't be a waste of her time, so she let it pass.
"And we will return Queen Eleanor's seal to her. It has been too long since we last met. She should be reminded how much we value her patronage."
The First Mother stopped, indicating a blank area of wall before her.
"This will take you back to your friends."
Distracted, Door took a moment to realise that the wall had none of the inhibition of the rest of the Temple, that it was unprotected and she could Open it to anywhere she pleased. Too tired and emotionally wrung-out to consider why the Temple would be built this way, Door placed her hand on the wall and Opened, not even bothering to say anything more to the First Mother. The woman bothered her in a number of ways she couldn't define, and she was all too glad to be gone.
Richard was sitting, waiting for her and he got up as soon as he saw her approach.
"Did you find her?" he asked, concerned, taking in her strained expression.
"Yes. She's safe. She's - she's staying with the Sisters for a while. It's safer."
"Oh. Alright."
Richard seemed to realise that he shouldn't be expected to understand, and he knew her well enough now to know when his incessant questioning was more than an endearing annoyance.
"As long as she's okay."
"Yes. The Angel didn't hurt her. I found where he'd put her and I brought her back. But they can take care of her better. I can go and see her anytime."
"Are you telling me this, or yourself?" Richard asked, surprising her with his astuteness. But he had changed a lot since she'd first met him.
"I'm sorry. There's something about the Sisters that I find - uncomfortable. A lot of things, actually. I'm not sure that leaving her there was the best thing I could have done, but she wanted to stay. And I can't really offer her a safe home, not while everything's so up in the air."
"It won't be like this for ever," Richard assured her. "When things are better, maybe the two of you can go back home."
Door smiled.
"So I can go back home? Isn't that your line?"
Richard grinned too as he caught her meaning.
"I think I am home. I mean, I still don't understand a lot about the Underside, but-"
"But you came back. And that means a lot to me, Richard."
Impulsively, she reached out and gave him a hug. Surprised, he hugged her back.
"Thank you. For staying with me."
"I wanted to," he replied. "You were the first real friend I made down here, and that means a lot too."
For a long moment, their eyes met and the possibilities stretched out between them.
But then they both pulled away, as if reaching an unspoken agreement.
"What happened to the Marquis?" Door asked.
Richard shrugged.
"He said he had things to do. Said you knew how to find him if you needed him. What do you want to do now?"
Door looked at him thoughtfully.
"I don't know," she replied, honestly. Then, deciding on the immediate rather than anything too deep and meaningful, asked:
"Are you hungry?"
"A bit."
"I know a place not far from here. You'll like it."
"Alright. It - doesn't serve cat, does it?"
Door laughed, shook her head and took his arm. The two friends walked away, an enormous task before them but for the moment, content.