Sister Verna reached out and picked up the ring. Gasps of surprise came from the darkness beyond. She turned the ring over in her fingers, inspecting the sunburst pattern and the wear of age. It was warm to the touch, as if heated from an inner source. It looked like the Prelate's ring, and a feeling in her gut told her it was. She glanced down at the words on the parchment again.

If you wish to escape this web alive, put the ring on the third finger of your left hand, kiss it, then break the seal and read my words inside to the other Sisters. — Prelate Annalina Aldurren.

Sister Verna, her breath coming shallow and labored, slipped the ring onto the third finger of her left hand. She brought the hand to her lips and kissed the ring as she said a silent prayer to the Creator seeking guidance and strength. She flinched as a beam shot from the figure of the Creator above her, bathing her in a bright shaft of light. The air about her fairly hummed. There were short, clipped screams and squeals from the Sisters around the room, but in the light as she was, she could not see them.

Sister Verna lifted the parchment in her trembling fingers. The air hummed more intensely. She wanted to run, but broke the wax seal instead. The shaft of light coming from the image of the Creator above intensified to blinding brilliance.

Sister Verna unfolded the parchment and looked up, though she couldn't see the faces around her. "Upon penalty of death, I am directed to read this letter."

No one made a sound, so she looked down at the neatly scribed words. “It says, 'Know all those assembled, and those not here, my last command. »

Sister Verna paused and swallow as Sisters gasped.

'"These are trying times, and the palace can ill afford a protracted battle to succeed me. I will not allow it. I am exercising my prerogative as Prelate, as set down in palace canon, to name my successor. She stands before you, wearing the ring of her office. The Sister reading this is now Prelate. The Sisters of the Light will obey her. All will obey her,

'"The spell I have left over the ring was drawn with the aid and guidance of the Creator himself. Defy my bidding at your peril.

"To the new Prelate, you are charged to serve and protect the Palace of the Prophets and all it stands for, May the Light cradle and guide you always.

'"In my own hand, before I pass from this life into the gentle hands of the Creator — Prelate Annaiina Aldurren. »

With a boom that shook the ground beneath her feet, the beam of light, and the glow around her, extinguished.

Verna Sauventreen let the hand holding the letter fall to her side as she looked up into the circle of stunned faces. The vast hall filled with a soft rustle as the Sisters of the Light began going to a knee and bowing their heads to their new prelate.

"This can't be." she whispered to herself.

As she shuffled across the polished floor, she let the letter slip from her fingers. Sisters cautiously scurried in behind to snatch it up, to read for themselves the last words of Prelate Annalina Aldurren.

The four Sisters came to their feet as she approached. Sister Maren's fine, sandy hair framed an ashen face. Sister Dulcinia's blue eyes were wide, and her face red. Sister Philippa's usually placid expression was now a picture of consternation.

Sister Leoma's wrinkled cheeks spread in a kindly smile. "You will be in need of advice and guidance, Sis… Prelate." Her smile was spoiled by the way she swallowed involuntarily. "We will be available to help in any way we can. Please consider us at your disposal. We are here to serve…"

"Thank you," Verna said in a weak voice as she started out again, her feet seeming to move of their own accord.

Warren waited outside. She pushed the doors closed and stood in a daze before the young, blond-headed wizard. Warren went to a knee in a deep bow.

"Prelate." He glanced up with a grin. "I was listening at the door," he explained.

"Don't call me that." Her own voice sounded hollow to her, "Why not? It's who you are, now." His grin grew. "This is — "

She turned and started away, her mind at last beginning to function again. "Come with me."

"Where are we going?"

Verna crossed her lips with a finger and over her shoulder shot him a scowl that snapped his mouth shut. Warren scurried to catch up with her as she marched off. Once beside her, he lengthened his stride to keep pace as she proceeded out of the Palace of the Prophets. Whenever he looked as if he might open his mouth again, she crossed her lips with the finger. He at last sighed, stuffed his hands in the opposite sleeves of his robes, and set his gaze ahead as he strode along beside her.

Novices and young men outside the palace, who had heard the riot of bells proclaiming the new prelate named, saw the ring and bowed. Verna kept her eyes ahead as she passed them. The guards on the bridge over the River Kern bowed as she crossed.

Once over the river, she descended to the bank and walked along the path through the rushes. Warren hurried to keep up with her as she passed the small docks, all empty now, the boats out on the river with their fishermen casting nets or dragging lines as they rowed slowly upriver. They would soon be returning to sell their fish at the market in the city.

A ways upriver from the Palace of the Prophets, at a deserted, flat patch of ground near an outcropping of rock around which the water gurgled and splashed, she came to a halt. Scowling into the swirling water, she planted her fists on her hips.

"I swear, if that meddlesome old woman wasn't dead, I'd strangle her with my bare hands."

"What are you talking about?" Warren asked.

"The Prelate. If she weren't in the hands of the Creator right now, I'd have mine around her throat."

Warren chuckled. "That would be quite the sight, Prelate."

"Don't call me that!"

Warren frowned. "But that's who you are now: the Prelate."

She snatched his robes at each shoulder in her fists. "Warren, you have to help me. You have to get me out of this."

"What! But this is wonderful! Verna, you're Prelate now."

"No. I can't be. Warren, you know all the books down in the vaults, you've studied palace law — you have to find something to get me out of this. There has to be a way. You can find something in the books that will prevent this."

"Prevent it? It's done. And besides, this is the best thing that could happen." He cocked his head to the side. "Why did you bring me way down here?"

She released his robes. "Warren, think. Why was the Prelate killed?"

"She was killed by Sister Ulicia, one of the Sisters of the Dark. She was killed because she fought their evil."

"No, Warren, I said think. She was killed because one day, in her office, she told me that she knew about the Sisters of the Dark. Sister Ulicia was one of her administrators, and she overheard the Prelate voice her knowledge." She leaned toward him. "The room was shielded, I made sure of it, but what I didn't realize at the time is that the Sisters of the Dark might be able to use Subtractive Magic. Sister Ulicia heard right through the shield, and came back to kill the Prelate. Out here, we could see if anyone is close enough to hear us talk, there's no corner for them to be hiding around." She nodded toward the babbling water. "And the water masks the sound of our voices."

Warren glanced nervously about. "I see what you mean. But Prelate, water can sometimes cany sounds quite a distance."

"I said stop calling me that. With the sounds of the day all about, and if we speak softly, the water will mask our voices. We can't risk talking about any of this in the palace. If we must discuss any of this, we must always go out into the country, where we can see if anyone is close. Now, I need you to find a way for me to be removed from the post of Prelate."