As the beginning of the ceremony approached, Kaye paced the tent and peered outside whenever she heard a growl of thunder. So far, the rain had stayed in the clouds, but the threatening sky was going to keep a good many people away from the ceremony. So was the fear of being attacked—Monk and Kindra were the only able-bodied warriors not in a perimeter of protection around the village.
"Stop fretting,” Gar said. “You're worse than your sister."
Kindra pinched his arm as Kaye stepped away from the door and sat on her cot, then stood again so she wouldn't crease the dress before she was even High Priestess. "What if it rains?"
"Then we all get wet." Kindra smiled and made her sit back down. "The rain will wash the blood from the fields and the ash from the cliffs. Things will be clean and new for your first day as High Priestess."
"People will see it as a bad sign if it storms during the ceremony."
Gar smiled gently. "People will come around when they remember that rain is necessary for life."
Kaye nodded but didn't reply as the noise from the crowd outside hushed and the drumming began. Her heart skipped a beat, but calmed as she closed her eyes and took a deep breath. For the first time since she left Fie Eoin, she found herself in a place where it was just her and the Mother—alone and content. Her decision had been the right one.
The priestesses sang as they walked through the tents of Fie Eoin, calling to the sun although it had risen already. They called to the people, reassuring them it was safe to come out, and they called to Aleda, welcoming her to the ceremony, invoking the safety of her presence. Their song wove through the tents and tugged at Kaye, the one who would harbor their Goddess.
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Kindra left the tent, leaving only Gar behind, who was in no condition to move. He held out his hand and Kaye took it, glad for the little strength he could give. On the last strong note, when the sun would usually burst over the cliff to light the valley below, Kaye stepped out of the shelter of her childhood home and walked to her new home on the other side of the fire circle. As she did so, she left her old self behind. Kaye Odion, the twin, was no longer a person in Fie Eoin; she was now the High Priestess, her life forfeit to the Seven Tribes of Aleda.
She felt the change as she severed herself from her past. Kaye had made the first cut between her and her sister long ago, and she made the final cut today. No longer were they one soul in two bodies, but two separate souls, each devoted to the God of their choice.
The wind strengthened as Kaye and Priestess Ashley stood before the High Priestess' tent, invoking the Goddess with their prayers. Ashley smiled as she faced Kaye for the blood sacrifice. Priestesses weren't whipped like the warriors, but they had to make a blood bond all the same, so Kaye held her hands out, palms up, and Priestess Ashley took a small knife and pricked each finger, drawing blood. Kaye squeezed her fingers together to let the blood drip on the dirt before the tent, tying herself to the land and the people.
Ashley unwrapped the circlet from Kaye's wrist and placed it on her brow as she bowed. A gust of wind blew Kaye’s hair back from the circlet as Ashley spoke.
"It is always difficult to bring about something new. A new child, a new leader, a new way of life. There is always some pain—some sacrifice to be made. The Seven Tribes have sacrificed much to get to this new birth. A chief is hard to forget. A revered High Priestess hard to replace. We are here today to neither replace nor forget, but to bring about something new. The Seven Tribes will look now to their new High Priestess with faith, respect and love. They will listen to her word and follow her presence, for she has sacrificed more than all of us.
"Kaye Odion, I welcome you into the Seven Tribes as the new High Priestess of Aleda."
As if it had been waiting for the end of the ceremony, thunder cracked and it began to rain.