Hexed

them. “If you are sure, then I will try to make it brief. Camille, Smoky, and Roz will have to wait out here, but you may go with me.” I lifted the heavy knocker and let it fall against the door. I’d sent word to the temple the night before and they seemed to know that Vikkommin was gone, because I’d received a summons to attend the next morning.
    The door opened, and for the first time in six hundred years I was allowed to enter the temple of my goddess. As we stepped into the elaborate hall, carved from the solid mountain rock and inlaid with marble and silver and alabaster, my heart broke. I’d been ostracized for so long that it physically hurt to enter these halls where I’d spent my youth, where I’d fallen in love, where I’d been tortured.
    The temple was as I’d remembered it. The main hall was so tall a whisper would echo on the currents, get caught, and rebound from wall to wall. Benches wrought in silver and marble were scattered around the hall. The floor was an elaborate stone mosaic depicting Undutar fighting one of the fire giants.
    “My gods, this is beautiful,” Camille whispered. “Our temples to the Moon Mother are more wild and feral, as is her nature.”
    “It is lovely, isn’t it? I don’t know how many centuries it took to build this hall—look, someone’s coming.”
    I watched as the woman I immediately recognized as the Priestess-Mother slowly walked across the hall, flanked by two Elders. Her station was evident by the ornamentation on her robes. And I recognized the Elders with her, even after all these years. They had been present at my torture and denial.
    Starting to kneel, I found myself unwilling to show them respect. I had to force myself through the proper genuflections. I stood again, as quickly as I could while still paying homage.
    “I have destroyed Vikkommin and released his soul. I also found out the truth of that night. I come to offer you proof of what happened and to demand that you remove your curse.” Of course, technically I had killed him, but it had been at the bequest of the Lady. Surely they couldn’t fault me for that.
    “Follow us, Pirkitta.” And for the first time in six hundred years, my name had been uttered in the halls of Undutar.
    We followed them through the long corridor that led to one of the examination rooms. I stared at the chamber—it was very much like the one in which they’d tortured me.
    The Priestess-Mother motioned for us to sit down. “Pirkitta, while in my prayers last night, Undutar came to me. She told me that Vikkommin no longer lived and that this had been a test for you. That you were innocent of all wrongdoing toward him.”
    Test? What the fuck was she talking about? Undutar had said nothing about a test. And I most certainly had killed Vikkommin, even if at the Lady’s bidding. I wasn’t really innocent, although I’d had good reason for what I’d done. But I decided to keep my mouth shut and find out more.
    “She came to several of the Elders in their dreams, in fact, and told us all the same thing. We are to immediately remove your curse and give you back your robes. You are welcome to rejoin the temple if you like—she did not indicate whether you would do so or not, but we talked about it among ourselves this morning. We would welcome you back with open arms.”
    She smiled widely.
    Struck dumb and rather confused, I simply nodded. Camille gave me a sideways glance, but I shook my head just enough for her to see and she kept her silence. I’d told her—told all of them—during dinner just what had happened.
    I let out a long sigh. Stay in the temple . . . The thought had crossed my mind more than once but I knew—even before I came to the Northlands—that I would never be able to do so. So much had changed. I was not the same woman, not the same Talon-haltija I’d been.
    “I welcome my robes but will not stay in the temple. I will not be visiting here again, in fact. I’ve done what I needed to do, and if you would remove the curse from me, I’ll return to my life as it is and darken your door no more.”
    The Priestess-Mother motioned for me to enter the ring of Elders, and they joined hands, working in silence. I felt a chill run through me, then a quickening—as if my blood jumped and danced—and then they dropped their hands and that appeared to be that.
    “Is that it ?”
    “Yes, the curse is lifted. You are free once more to bear children, and you are definitely young enough to