Author's note: The Carter brothers' legend is a well-known piece of "fakelore" in the New Orleans French Quarter. Tour guides who tell a good story can get a larger tip by pointing out the home of the vampires who cheated death in Louisiana's electric chair and escaped from their family crypt in St. Louis Cemetery. I've been writing about the Carter brothers for over a year and until now I never got back to dealing with what Katie went through in the lair. Every story can stand alone, but this one ties together events from:
QB Murdered Cheerleader Missing
Lair of the Carter Brothers
Katie After the Prom
Mage and Spirit
Mating With the Priestess
Priestess-Bride and the Spirit
The pagan religion of the Carters and Hamiltons is not to be taken as a statement of the author's faith or any real belief system, so don't send suicide bombers after me if you're insulted!
All characters are over the age of eighteen.
*
Part 1: Cartier Plantation outside New Orleans
Astrid had just put her priestess' robe over her naked body when Maggie knocked on the door of the bedroom. Disturbing the priestess before a ceremony was simply not done in the Sisterhood, but Astrid had expected something unusual this night, so she opened the door.
"A word, Priestess," said the gray-haired elder, formally. Astrid gestured her to come in and closed the door behind them.
"Astrid," Maggie began, "I wish I could put my finger on it, but there is something about this initiation that troubles me. Katie is... different. I mean, oh, it's so hard to put into words, her age, her..."
"We've initiated women old enough to be her mother," Astrid interrupted, "and we have initiated girls after their first menstruation."
"But never one with a child's mind in the body of a twenty-one year old," Maggie countered. "She's so... I mean... Oh! What the spirits did to her..." Maggie turned her back on Astrid and closed her eyes as if trying to un-know what she could not forget.
Astrid stepped close, placed a hand on each of Maggie's upper arms and her chin on Maggie's shoulder. "What that spirits did to her the Sisterhood must undo," she whispered in the Elder's ear.
"Are you sure we are able?" Maggie responded without turning.
"I am sure The Ashera is able. I plan to offer a sacrifice on her behalf after everyone else leaves. Will you stay and join me in worship tomorrow night?"
"A ewe lamb for her sanity?" Maggie asked, still not looking at Astrid.
"A yearling bull... offered in holocaust," Astrid said softly.
Maggie practically spun to face Astrid, her eyes wide at the thought of how much Astrid was offering to the feminine aspect of God: A normal sacrifice ended with part of the animal being burned and part being cooked and eaten by the supplicant's family and guests. In holocaust the entire beast would be burned and the ashes scattered so that nothing visible remained. To offer a breeding bull or a ram signified that Astrid was placing her confidence in the Goddess to provide for the future of the family's livestock.
"Does Lucius know how much you are spending on this?" Maggie gasped.
"He insisted on cutting the firewood himself," said the priestess. "Lucius knows more about Katie than any sister has ever told her husband about anyone we've initiated. Katie was his brothers' victim before the ghost touched her."
Maggie threw her arms around Astrid and hugged so tightly that Astrid had difficulty breathing. Maggie pressed her check against the priestess' neck. "Forgive my insolence, Priestess!" she begged. "I underestimated both you and your mage!"
"You are forgiven," Astrid said, pushing the elder away so she could look her in the face. "I'm only surprised that you didn't come to me about this before now. She has been in your home for almost two months."
"Because she was in your home first, Astrid," said the elder.
*
Part 2: Astrid and Lucius' Apartment in New Orleans eight weeks earlier.
The townhouse had been in the Hamilton family for as long as anyone in New Orleans could remember, long before the remodeling had turned it into separate luxury apartments. Astrid presided like a queen over the home and business matters from the antique desk while Lucius was out of town. Natural light, filtered by two-hundred-year-old oak trees, was adequate in the morning and her black silk robe was the only clothing necessary for today's duties in the warm New Orleans weather.
"Katherine completed the assignment last night," Astrid wrote carefully in the leather-bound journal, and then paused. What should she write next? At length she decided to only write "Next assignment: The Feminine Mirror," and closed the book as Katie knocked on the office door.
"Enter, dear," the priestess said softly.
Katie opened the door, entered and curtsied respectfully as Astrid had taught her. Her gray homespun tunic did little to hide the athletic body under it. Her hair was drawn tightly into a bun behind her head to exaggerate her humble position in the Astrid's house; partly a servant, partly a minor child, no matter what the age of the initiate, she was being taught not only knowledge but her attitude as well. Humility, once as foreign to her as one of the "popular girls" in high school, had become her nature. It would serve her well, Astrid thought, when she went to Maggie for her final evaluation.
"Did you rest well?" asked Astrid.
"Yes, ma'am."
"Speak freely, child," said the priestess. "What were your feelings last night?"
Katie blushed. "I was... afraid of being seen. I mean... I was naked in your back yard... and this IS New Orleans."
"I've found that women who come into the Sisterhood as adults frequently have that feeling," Astrid replied with a smile. "Those of us who grew up in the Old Way feel more comfortable with our bodies in the privacy of our gardens. My mother had me gathering herbs naked with her before I could read. Did you feel anything else?"
"Yes, ma'am," said Katie. "I felt alive. The moonlight... the scent of the spearmint, and..." Katie paused, remembering the cruel things she had said and heard among her girlfriends in locker rooms: Girls who were less than perfect were treated disgracefully by popular cheerleaders, even at St. Genesius High School. Her experience in the vampire's lair had rid her of much of the pride she once felt and she tried to suppress those memories. "And you weren't judgmental, Priestess," she finally finished the sentence. "I felt... grateful."
"Sisters do not envy young bodies," Astrid said quietly. "I know you meant that as a compliment, thank you, but when you're my age I hope you understand that our bodies are more than collections of parts."
"I wish I had known it when I was much younger. I might not..." an unwanted memory entered Katie's head. "I... uh, Bobby might still be alive if I hadn't... teased him with my..." She couldn't finish so Astrid cut her short.
"You're off to a good start. That brings me to today's lesson. Remove your tunic and hang it on the coat rack."
An observer, had there been one, would have been surprised at the speed of Katie's obedience, but after months of training with Astrid the pupil was confident that they were alone in the house. She hung the tunic and faced her teacher. Her breasts, small, firm and beautiful, were dappled by the shadows of oak leaves in the morning light. Her pubic hair was sparse and short naturally, not trimmed by scissors or razors. Astrid considered for just a second that she had not been honest when she said she didn't envy Katie's young body, but quickly dismissed the though.
"Have you said the appropriate prayers for the day, child?"
"Yes, ma'am."
"Let me hear you repeat them."
Katie closed her eyes and raised her hands above her head, right palm up to receive the Mother's blessing, the left palm down to pass the blessing on. She began the chant.
"Ka Na Ma, Ka Laja..."
