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Across the Worlds

Chapter 4: House of the High Priest

. . . . . . . . .

A gentle breeze swept the ashes from the iron bowls on the plateau of the pyramid, white flames having long been extinguished. Silence hung in the dark cold night.

"Inara," Susan said calmly.

The girl was slumped up against the wall of the cage, staring blankly ahead, her eyes dull.

"Inara," Susan hissed, jabbing her.

"What?" the girl replied numbly.

"Do you have the ever ring? The yellow one?"

Inara shrugged still refusing to look at her. Susan growled under her breath and jammed her hand into Inara's pockets pulling out the small leather pouch. Inara ignored her as Susan pulled the pouch open and reached inside.

"If the Professor's story was right, this should get us out of here," Susan explained hurriedly, reaching for the yellow ring inside, "By just touching it."

She pulled the ring out and waited.

Nothing happened.

Susan deflated a little and she glanced at the yellow ring. The Queen paused and cocked her head to the side.

"Is it just me or this ring is a little less yellow and more… white?" she asked.

Inara was silent, horrific images of the bloody sacrifices on top of the pyramid looping inside her head obliterating all other thoughts.

Susan studied the ring, the yellow enamel on the metal wasn't the bright golden sheen the Professor and Ms. Polly had described to her, instead it was almost white with just the faintest hint of colour.

"What in the name of Aslan?" Susan murmured.

Shaking her head, she shoved the ring into the pocket of her robe. She looked around. The caged wagon was still beside the pyramid base, the guard having long abandoned them.

The other women in the cage was like Inara, withdrawn into their own mind unable to handle the sheer brutality of what they had just seen: a bleak glimpse into their own doomed fate.

Susan could felt fear and despair clawing at the fringes of her thoughts but she jutted her chin out stubbornly. She was a Queen of Narnia and queens do not yield and do not bend to bloodshed and violence.

Susan the young girl from Finchley was ruthless shoved aside for Susan the Gentle, Queen of Narnia, mistress archer and war veteran.

Footsteps reached her ears, she was the only one in the cage to turn and look as several men, darkly hooded hurried towards them.

"Open the cage and bring the women to the House," one of the men ordered.

Two rushed forwards and unlocked the rusty gate of the cage. Susan quickly adopted the looks of the women around, a blank numbed visage with hollowed eyes. Roughly, all of them were dragged out of the cage and around the pyramid. On the other side was a tunnel sloping down into the all-consuming darkness.

Like cattle to the slaughter, the women were herded into the tunnels and with an ominous resolute-sounding boom, heavy gates slammed behind them shutting them in.

. . . . . . . . .

Jason was the first to speak.

"Well that was…" he licked his dry lips, "Interesting."

Elias shot him a dark look, his eyes red, lines of dried salt streaking his dark skin. The scientist had wept as the women had died.

"Have you no compassion?" he asked in trembling furious voice.

"You obviously haven't seen barbarianism before a cultured man like you," Jason replied dispassionately, "There are people from my world who do similar things."

"Why? Why would anyone commit such crimes?" Elias asked, his voice bereft of all strength.

"Why else?" Jason replied savagely, "Because they like it."

Zaru cleared his throat delicately.

"I think we should move off," the leopard's smoky grey eyes swept darkness around them.

Dotted all around the city, bundles of dry wood burnt inside iron pots illuminating the way. They also made the winding streets a place of ambiguous shadows and shifting hues.

Jason nodded and led the way, treading stealthily away from the building they had hidden behind during the sacrifices. Elias turned back and looked at the pyramid one more, revulsion rolling through him, shuddering he turned away and followed the Seeker as Zaru brought up the rear, all his senses on high alert.

"Do we actually have a plan?" Elias hissed.

Jason swiftly turned and gave him a piercing glare.

"We search for people and try to get information from them," the Seeker said shortly, he paused before adding, "Obviously."

Turning back round, Jason continued to walk as Elias followed silently, still trying to comprehend what he had just seen.

It wasn't just the cold-blooded murders that had stunned him but the way the crowd had reacted. Normal sentinel human beings had bayed for blood like wild beasts, stamping their feet, crying for more and more and why?

The philosopher in him analysed the question with a cool eye whilst the human in him wept.

Elias was shook out his thoughts as Zaru suddenly hissed. So far the three of them had been walking through a ghost city, with not a soul in sight but the leopard was tense, his eyes looking through the darkness with a feline's gifted vision.

"I smell a crowd up ahead," the leopard reported in a low voice, "A huge one. With lots and lots of food!"

The last bit was said with all the enthusiastic joy of a little boy. Jason and Elias turned and stared at him incredulously. Zaru twitched.

"What? I'm hungry!" he whined.

Shaking his head, Jason walked on. Rounding the corner, they walked into a scene of utter festivity.

Strums of loud music lingered in the air, mingling with laughter and cheerful shouts as humans and animals alike were dancing around massive burning bonfires. Food-stalls lined the edges of the massive market square, their delicious smells instantly making Zaru's stomach rumble.

The three of them stared and stared and stared at the merry party spread out before them, completely gob smacked.

"They've just witness murder and death," Elias hissed in a shaking voice, "How can they…"

"Well this proves it," Jason's dark blue eyes darted towards Elias's face, "This is hell."

Zaru nodded silently as the music swelled and grew louder and louder.

. . . . . . . . .

"Welcome and be blessed in the House of the High Priest," the darkly hooded man, which Susan had now learnt was a minor priest under the command of Shift announced as he flung the wooden doors open.

Inara blinked.

A peacock, its body sapphire and its feathers a mural of transfixing colours, blinked back at her before strutting off, its claws clacking on the hard marble ground.

"What is this place?" one of the women cried out.

The soft trickling of water filled the air echoing softly off the pale marble walls. Thick carpet covered the floors a metre into the room, its swirling pattern echoing the rich tapestries hanging on the walls.

Intricate gossamer fabric hung from the ceilings, sweeping around giant soft beds where silken cushions and sheets lay, enticing them with their rich lavish dyes.

It was a palace of opulence, a room that spoke of overwhelming wealth and luxury. Nearby a mahogany table groaned under the weight of golden platters heaped high with food.

Susan's nose twitched at the smell of incense wafting through the air.

"This the House of the High Priest where you fortunate women will be bathed and dressed and housed and all your whims catered for," the priest smiled at them charmingly, "Fear not the rumours you have heard for no harm shall come to you here. Go forth and be blessed by Tashlan and his High Priest."

He stood aside allowing the women to shuffle forwards. Some of the more bold ones did so almost immediately, their eyes wide as they surveyed their rich surroundings.

"Please, go forth," the priest urged.

Slowly, one by one, they edged into the room. When the final one had entered, the door was closed shut behind them.

Susan sneezed as the stench of the perfumed incense invaded her nose making her want to retch. Funnily enough, none of the other women seemed to react.

Slowly the fear seemed to drain away from the women's faces as open smiles and giggles replaced the numbed horror from moments before.

"Look at the food!" one of them cried.

She hurried forwards and instantly pulled a piece of fruit from one of the bowls and began devouring it with relish. All the other women instantly followed her lead and soon were all eating with gusto.

Only Susan and Inara stood apart, Susan puzzled, Inara's face still pale with shock.

"How… how could they…" Inara trailed off as she coughed violently.

"The incense!" Susan looked around desperately trying to look for the source of the smoke but could only see a small metal grille set high up on one of the walls, a thin stream of smoke was continually being pumped into the room, "The smoke… it must be enchanted or something."

"Great, we're inside a giant bong," Inara said morosely.

Susan shook herself.

"Come on," she tugged at Inara's arm, "We've got to eat. We can't afford to stand out like this."

Inara nodded and the two of them hurried forwards. Even though it was the last thing she could possibly imagine herself doing at the moment, Susan forced herself to pick up a piece of bread and eat it down.

Beside her, Inara swallowed thickly before taking a bite of an apple. A sudden vivid memory of the one of the women's desperate screams before her death hammered into her mind almost causing to her throw up but Inara pushed it down, swallowing the apple desperately.

The two girls glanced across the table at each other, nodding slightly to one another as all around them the women laughed and ate without a care in the world.

. . . . . . . . .

"I'm hungry," Zaru announced.

"What makes you think I care?" Jason snarled back.

Zaru gave him a superior smile.

"Because I am very good at annoying dumb lumbering humans," he smirked, "And eating is one of the few things that shuts me up."

Jason glared at him.

"And how do you propose we acquire this food?" Elias wanted to know, "I think we are all short of funds."

Jason shrugged.

"Easy."

Without preamble, he slipped into the dancing crowd. Elias and Zaru watched, puzzled as Jason suddenly stumbled into one of the joyous dancers. The fat man laughed and waved off the Seeker's apology before he swung off again, dancing. Jason casually pushed his way back out of the crowd.

"Here," he tossed Elias his small cloth bag that jingled.

"You stole this?" Elias raised an eyebrow, "Is that illegal?"

Jason rolled his eyes, exasperated by the scientist's constant questions and niggling conscience.

"You asking me to feel bad for stealing from a man who hours before no doubt cheered when women were being killed before his eyes?" Jason shot back.

Elias shook his head and opened his mouth to reply but Zaru butted his knee.

"Come on!" the leopard urged, "Food!"

Sighing, Elias led Zaru around the edge of the crowd. Jason strolled behind them, carefully listening out for anything in the crowd that could help them in their quest to save the two girls.

They neared one of the stalls were meat skewers sizzled over an open flame. A few other customers were already lined up, their eyes eager, their mouths open in wide grins.

Elias lined up behind them, Zaru beside him as Jason stook off to the side, his dark blue eyes scanning the crowd.

The stall owner, an old crone of the women was serving everyone with sleek efficiency.
"Order?" she asked.

The customer replied.

"Sign?" she asked again, Elias half listening as he was distracted by a nearby bear dancing with a laughing young girl.

The owner named the price and was paid and the customer was sent on his way to rejoin the revelry.

The line shrunk until Elias was before the old woman.

"Order?" she asked briskly.

"Uh… one…" Elias began.

Zaru swatted at his foot.

"Two…"

Another swat as Elias winced.

"Three of those things," Elias glared at Zaru, "Please."

The woman pulled three skewers from the fire and wrapped them in some sort of large green leaf.

"Sign," she said.

Elias stared blankly at her.

"Sign?" he asked unsurely.

The woman glared at him.

"What are you birth-dropped?" she demanded, "Show me the Sign?"

Elias and Zaru both continued to stare at her. The old crone hissed beneath her breath and reached over the counter, grabbing Elias's right hand.

"Are you from some far-off farm or something?" the woman spat, "Or has maggots eaten your brain out? Just show me the Sign of Tashlan!"

She glanced down at the palm of Elias's right hand and instantly froze, her eyes bulging.

"Wha… wha…" her mouth opened and closed, her eyes growing wider and wider with every passing second.

Elias swiftly looked down at the unblemished skin of his palm and his eyes quickly darted to the woman's wrinkled one. A sick foreboding feeling swept through him as he noticed a thick ink tattoo on the back of the woman's right hand, wrought into the shape of a singular eye surrounded by stylised flames.

The woman continued to stare at his unmarred hand.

Elias hurriedly snatched it away.

"Zaru," he hissed, "We've got to move right…"

The crone sucked in a deep breath.

"SIGNLESS!" she screeched at the top her lungs.

There were stunned shouts and the music instantly stopped as all the dancers turned to look at her. The other sound now was the crackling of the logs inside the bonfires.

"SIGNLESS!" the woman continued to screech, "THIS MAN IS SIGNLESS!"
Elias winced.

"GET THEM!" a burly looking man yelled, "THEY ARE WHY WE'VE BEEN CURSED! KILL THEM! TASHLAN AND SHIFT COMMANDS IT!"
With a roar, the crowd turned on them in a single fierce battering wave.

"COME ON!" Jason roared.

He grabbed onto Elias's hand and they sprinted for their lives. Zaru easily outstripped them as all three of them hurriedly dove into the nearest street.

The crowd boiled through the narrow gap, stampeding towards them. The three of them ran through the narrow alleyway, piled up columns of barrels lining the walls.

"RUN!" Jason twisted.

He flung his hand forwards and there was the cracking of splintering wood and one of the columns collapsed, the barrels crashing down onto the stone ground, blocking the way.

It bought them precious seconds as Jason gasped for breath, stumbling after the other two.

They took a right then a left and kept running, the shrieks of the crowd echoing towards them.

"THIS WAY!"

Zaru bounded easily over a short wall as Elias struggled over, falling down over the other side. Jason leapt onto a nearby cart, using it for height as he leapt over the brickwork.

The three of them hit the ground running.

"OI!" a small voice yelled.

The three of them turned. A small dirty urchin boy stuck his head out of the door of a small dingy building.

"You the Signless?" he asked bluntly.

The three of them stared at him.

"Come on, unless you want Shift's stupids tearing you apart," the boy turned back into the building as the three companions stared at each other.

"Should we…" Elias began.

The furious screaming of the crowds provided the answer. As one the three of them dove through the narrow door, Jason kicked it shut behind them.

The three of them crouched beside the door, gasping for breath as the tramping of heavy boots and bloodthirsty shouts passed through the wood before fading into silence.

"Lucky escape," their rescuer noted.

"Who are you?" Jason spat.

Zaru crouched down long, eyes glittering, teeth bared as he prepared the slightest sign of treachery.

"Who am I?" the boy smirked, "I'm one of them of course."

Zaru growled low in his throat. The boy shuffled nervously.

"The Underground."
"Who?"

The boy sighed and rolled his eyes.

"You know! The Underground! We are rebels… and we're going to bring down Shift."

The three of them stared at him blankly until Jason finally spoke.

"Sorry… one more time?"

. . . . . . . . .

Susan looked up and smiled feeling the sun on her face. Unbeknownst to her, the light made her blue eyes sparkle and the curls of her hair glisten.

"You are here," a soft voice called out.

Susan turned and her smile widened.

"Caspian!"

She threw herself at him and instantly felt the familiar emotions explode inside her chest as strong arms wrapped themselves around her.

Joy. Laughter. Warmth. Love.

Love…

Susan shivered with delight.

"Susan…"

She loved the way he spoke her name, the way his accent changed and shifted it. She buried her face into the warm crook of his neck and breathing in deep.

His scent, a mix of pine and spice and soap and something uniquely him, filled her senses and she felt her heart quicken.

"Susan…"

"Yes?"

She pulled back and looked into his dark intense eyes. Caspian looked intently at her, his tanned face framed by the wild locks of his dark hair.

A warm hand cupped her cheek as his thumb stroked her face. Susan resisted the urge to rub into it and pur like a cat.

"Save me."

"What?"

She pulled and stared in Caspian's face. Blood began to drip from the corners of his eyes.

"Save me."

And then he was gone, melting into wind and light and nothing.

"SAVE ME!"

"CASPIAN!"
Susan shot up in bed, gasping desperately as she looked around wildly into the darkness. There was a shift of movement beside her and Inara instantly pulled her back down, pinning her into the soft mattress.

"Shut it," Inara hissed, "Shut it!"

Susan struggled against her for several desperate seconds. Caspian's face burned into her mind but Inara was vicious, clinging onto her with nailed fingers.

Slowly Susan stilled, her chest heaving.

"He… he was here and then… he…"

Tears choked her words. Slowly Inara let her go as Susan sat up more slowly looking at their darkened surroundings.

The other women were snoring softly around them, oblivious to her sudden awakening.

"We have to get out of here," Susan said desperately, "Time is running out. My family… Narnia… Aslan…"

"And this Caspian dude?" Inara smiled impishly, the first hint of humour in a long, long time, "Sounds hot."

Susan cocked her head to the side, confused by her words.

"Hot? You know? Cute? Stunning? Deliciously handsome?"

"Good enough to eat," Susan's white teeth gleamed in the shadows.

Inara's jaw dropped.

"Wow, gotta say I'm impressed Queenie, how very lower class of you to say that!"

Susan laughed. Amidst all of the shock and battles and horrors she had just witnessed this very day (only a day! It seemed so long!), it was good to laugh. It seemed to lighten the darkness around her and making her spirits sing.

"Just saying what every girl with two working eyes would say," she teased.

"Damn," Inara whistled lowly, "Where do I sign up?"

"Sorry, prior claim," Susan shot back.

Inara rolled her eyes. She suddenly fell silent and her smiling façade faded away.

"Why is this happening?" she begged of Susan, "To us? To me? I don't understand any of this. I'm just a girl."

"So was I before I became a queen," Susan looked at Inara, "Aslan moves in mysterious ways but He is never wrong. If He chose you. Have faith. He believed you could do this."

"What if I don't?" Inara whispered.

Susan wrapped her arms around the girl, comforting her, trying to take her anguish away.

"You must," she said firmly, "Because you can't afford not to."

Night drifted into morning as the two girls sat quietly, each locked into their own dark thoughts.

. . . . . . . . .

"Here they are boss… the Signless from the market the other day," the small urchin boy, Fever, nodded as a tall man stepped into the dank room.

Elias sat up in the hard lumpy bed he had been given for the night. Zaru was on the floor, grey eyes cautious as Jason leaned against the wall, eyeing the man before them carefully.

The man was slender but his arms rippled with sinewy strength. From the sharpness of his eyes and the scars on his face, Jason judged him to be a warrior.

The man instantly felt the Seeker's eyes on him and his pale eyes darted across the room, locking gaze with Jason.

A long second passed between them as a silent contest of wills sparked between the two men.

Finally Jason nodded and relaxed into a more casual pose. The man nodded back.

The two of them understood each other perfectly. They were both warriors and now they were both allies, to be trusted and called upon and depended upon.

"Gentlemen and gentle beast," the man smiled, "I am Stretch."

. . . . . . . . .

The priest came in at breakfast as the women were gathered around the table once more, food having been brought in whilst they were still asleep.

He swept into their midst, a bright smile on his face.

"I hope you've all been enjoying the delights of the House of the High Priest," he began.

Susan and Inara ignored him like the other women around him. Cloying smoke was still being blown through the grate near the ceiling, its thick heavy scent befuddling the senses but yet again, and strangely so Susan and Inara were completely unaffected.

"The High Priest is pleased that you are all joyous," the priest continue completely uncaring of the fact they were listening to a word he has been saying, "And he believes some of you are ready."

Instantly this caused the women to freeze and looked up at him curiously. The priest continued to explain.

"The High Priest has chosen two of you to enter his private chambers and converse with him. Those who are chosen are beyond blessed to be in the personal presence of One so great," the priest gave a small bow, "He himself has given out the honours to…"

He jabbed into the crowd with his finger.

"You."

The women he had chosen instantly let out a squeal of delight as Susan let out a long breath.

For a split second there she had been terrified she would be chosen.

'Oh please Aslan. Not me,' she begged inside her head, 'Not me.'

The priest pointed and chose again.

Susan instantly felt sick.

"And you."

She swallowed and tried to speak but no word came out.

"Please, come with me," the priest beckoned the first women joined him.

The second came slower and with obvious hesitancy. Susan stared after her, completely helpless.

It was Inara.

The young teenager gave Susan small nod before she squared her shoulders and joined the priest. The hooded man led them out of the door, which instantly swung close and locked (Susan had tried the night before) behind them.

"Praise Tashlan. To be in the presence of the High Priest!" one of the women, a notable gossiper, gasped.

One part of Susan sourly noted the smoke was doing its job whilst the other parts of her screamed in alarm and abject fear.

She stood there, pale, staring at the door as outside Inara was being led into the personal chamber of the High Priest, Shift.

. . . . . . . . .

"I lead the Underground," Stretch began, "We who believe that this Order led by the foul demon Shift should be shattered and pulled into the sea."

Elias nodded enthusiastically.

"I still can't believe so many people stood by and cheered when those poor women were killed!" he said, "It… it's just… completely incomprehensible!"

Stretch sighed.

"Isn't it always so?" the tall man said philosophically, "When men come together as a group they seek a leader and having found one, are easily swayed and led into performing the most atrocious of acts without thought… because they are afraid of leading. They wish to be one with the crowd. To be faceless and nameless and blameless."

"True," Elias said sadly, "Very true."

"What do you want us to do?" Zaru demanded, "Yo obviously won't be telling us this without letting us go!"

Stretch chuckled at the young leopard's harsh words.

"You my friends are Signless," Stretch lifted his right hand, showing them the bare skin on either side, "Like all who belong in the Underground. It is a sign of defiance against the orders of Shift that only those with the Sign of Tashlan may trade in commerce and live."

Fever, the urchin boy, showed them his filthy but tattoo-less hand.

"The time for the breaking of Shift is at hand. We have planned and schemed for years and now we have agents in his very house and chambers," Stretch's eyes glittered with fanatic light, "And so we are now drawing all the troops we have for the final fight."

Stretch glanced at them.

"My boys saw what happened in the market place yesterday and they saved you so you may join us," Stretch smiled, "If you do not…"

He let the threat linger in the air.

"Fine choice you have given us sir," Elias said coldly.

"Wait," Zaru looked around confused, "What happens if we don't join?"

Stretch ignored the leopard.

"We are at war," Stretch said coolly, "We cannot afford to be human."

Jason grunted and Stretch turned to him.

"I'm with you," the fedora-wearing Seeker said.

"What?!" Elias spat, "You can't be serious! We know nothing about this man or his…"

"His desire is to invade Shift's stronghold and I'm betting the girls are there as well," Jason said calmly, "His aim and our aims match. Therefore we should help."

"Well, you can't argue with that logic," Zaru agreed, "You've got yourself one leopard!"

Elias stared helplessly at them all. He could not see herself fighting in a war, he was scientist not a soldier! But what choice did he have?
"I'm in," he said quietly.

Stretch broke into a wide tooth grin.

"Fantastic! Fever, get them armed up and…" the man stood, "I'd advise you prepare yourself. The battle starts tonight…"

He walked to the door.

"… when the sacrifices start."

With that Stretch slammed the door shut. Jason sighed and pushed himself off the wall.

"Alright boy," he glanced at Fever, "Let's see them weapons then!"

. . . . . . . . .

Author's notes - I know some of you might be disappointed by how short this arc is going to be but this beginning storyline is only meant to get everyone into the swing of things. The next arc I've got planned is a lot more heavy on character developments, so stick around and see what happens!