Page 82 of Dark Destiny: A New Thread in the Tapestry

"I've heard of the Sacred Mothers. I don't see what harm they can cause."

Bertram took a sip of the wine before putting his glass down. "Lord Shavek shares your opinion and more. He loves them, even though they are fanatics who are getting out of control. They petitioned him to allow them to make sacrifices to appease the god Mortdh."

Losham frowned. "What kind of sacrifices?"

"I'm still trying to find out, but I have a bad feeling about this. My informants in the enclosure say there is talk that the ten missing women were executed for treason and that the two children were taken by the god as payment for the mothers' sins. Their leader says the two children were not enough and that more payment is owed." Bertram's jaw tightened. "I know that Lord Shavek received a petition from the head of the order, praised their devotion, and said it pleased Mortdh. That's as good as a blessing. I heard it from one of his underlings."

Losham felt like throwing his wine glass at the wall, but he stifled the impulse and set it down on the table.

Shavek had reported none of this. Neither the cult's exploding numbers nor that a religious lunatic had free run of the most valuable asset on the island.

"I hope you are reading the situation wrong," Losham said.

"I wish I was, but it all points to the reprehensible." Bertram took a deep breath. "We need every child born in that enclosure, and even one less is a travesty. Each boy is a future warrior, and every girl is a future breeder who can produce future warriors. The god Mortdh never asked us to sacrifice the children who are our future. He asks us to sacrifice nonbelievers."

Losham nodded. "These women are blasphemous."

"They are dangerous." Bertram leaned forward. "A third of the breeders now take their orders from a lunatic woman on the inside, not from us. They are willing to do the unspeakable things she tells them the god requires. Letting the order grow seemed smart at first because it kept its members docile. But when they start threatening assets belonging to the Brotherhood, they need their wings clipped."

"You're right," Losham said. "The order needs to be dismantled or reformed. I'll speak with Lord Shavek."

Bertram looked relieved. "Thank you, my lord."

The problem was that Shavek and the others would be ash by tomorrow, and the enclosure would need someone new to manage it and deal with the cult.

The same was true for all the other departments that were about to lose their heads. He would have his hands full in the coming weeks finding suitable replacements.

After tomorrow's elimination, he would discuss it with Bertram.

Losham poured more wine for the general and himself.

"I'm glad I told you," Bertram said, easing back. "I wasn't sure it was my place."

"It's precisely your place. That's why you are here."

"Clipping their wings won't be enough." Rami spoke for the first time.

Bertram looked surprised that Rami had dared to offer his opinion. In the general's eyes, Rami was no more than a glorified secretary. Losham knew better and valued his assistant's input.

"Explain," Losham said.

"You can kill the head woman and dismantle the circles, and things might settle for a time. Then it will grow back, or something worse grows and takes its place. These women have nothing to look forward to, and helplessness and despair create a vacuum that demands to be filled. They need to assign meaning to their suffering, and that's what the order gives them."

Bertram nodded. "He's right. On the other hand, nothing like that has ever sprung up in the breeding enclosure's history. Perhaps we need to investigate what changed recently to make the enclosure fertile ground for a cult to grow."

Losham was impressed. He'd thought of Bertram as a yes-man, but he seemed much more than that.

"Then what do you suggest?" Losham asked.

"Give them faith that makes them feel special and emphasizes the sanctity of children as Mortdh's beloveds," Rami said, as though it were obvious. "But it shouldn't be a self-contained women's order that answers to no one outside the enclosure. It needs to be a doctrine that comes from us, or rather Mortdh, and teaches what we need the breeders to believe. We don't have to reinvent the wheel because we can use the foundation we already have."

Losham nodded. "The same thing we teach the warriors, just adapted for the women. Mandatory devotions to Lord Navuh, the glory of producing warriors for the Brotherhood, and obedience and submission as worship. If they're going to organize around a religion, let it be one we wrote, led by teachers we appoint and train. We can either train humans or use the immortal teachers we have, having them deliver their sermons via video."

Rami lifted his wine glass and took a sip. "Instead of clipping the wings, we put a falconer's hood on the whole flock."

Losham laughed. "I like the way you think, Rami."

While Bertram gave Rami an appreciative look, Losham was already thinking ahead and spotting the snag in the plan.