------------- Chapter 4 - Part 2

Sarafina stood across from Tasha and glared. Tasha couldn't help but smile. To see her ever expanding sister struggle so with her sash was amusing, though she would never seriously criticize Sarafina's weight. She had made a choice those years ago and she was now living with it. The two had been faced with accepting the Avatar of Isis. Where that divine right had been conferred on three High Priestesses before, now it was shared by just two, Sarafina and herself. In accepting the Avatar, each had been given a choice as to what aspect of their Goddess they would carry. Sarafina had been the bookworm most of her life, and her time in the Silver Gryphon and especially the many years she spent in Gryphonmyr as Priestess of the Shrine of the Gryphon had tainted her as a sensualist. Her patron Saints were Martek, Patron of Wizardly Magic and Ashtaroth, Matron of Love and Lust. Sarafina's choice was made before the question had been asked. She had settled down from the life of a wandering adventurer and took up the robes of a Templar. She taught Magic and Mysticism in the Church Academy and led the daily conduct of the cloisters of the Church of Isis in New Phoenix. And though her possession by the Avatar had kept her young, it had not spared her waistline.

Tasha, on the other hand, had been militant from her first days in the Church. Her grandmother, her mother and her younger sister had been the first three Daughters of Isis. And now it fell to her to hold some of the power of her Goddess in the mortal realm. She had never had the magical skills or interests that her little sister Jasmine had possessed, and she saw the church as sorely lacking in the ability to defend itself. The lesson of the Pharaoh's Jihad had been enough to convince the Daughters of Isis to allow her to start a sect dedicated to martial training rather than magical. And now that sect pulled the double duty of being the private bodyguards and defenders of the Queen herself, though Tasha secretly knew that if Queen Nefertari Hallima Fallahin could not defend herself, a whole army would be of little help. Like her adopted sister, her fellow Daughter of Isis, the Avatar had kept her young since the days following the death of the first three. And unlike her sister, she was tall and toned and deeply tanned. So it had become a running joke between the two, Sarafina's ever-increasing girth and Tasha's unyielding discipline of steel. But none would ever make the mistake of thinking that they were any less than two parts of the same being, two sides of the same Goddess. For those that had tried to drive a wedge between them had found quickly enough that they were as connected to each other as if they had been birth sisters and not just sisters in a cause.

Sarafina finally got the sash just right and looked back across the throne room at her darker half. Seeing the latter's smirk, she stuck her tongue out, which made Tasha chuckle out load. One of the Pharaoh's advisors looked back and suddenly went silent, as though he had said something wrong and was about to get a correcting from the Daughter of Isis personally. Tasha got a sudden serious look and raised her chin at the man. Confused and increasingly nervous, he returned to his presentation to the Pharaoh and the Queen. The little exchange led Sarafina to smile this time, and the two were obviously on the verge of a very childish exchange when Queen Nefertari suddenly stood and dismissed the advisors. The Pharaoh stood and gave his wife a knowing glance before strolling out of the chamber himself. Sarafina and Tasha looked at each other as though they were about to get scolded by mother and were looking to blame each other. Queen Nefertari stepped down from the dais and walked to the long table at the side of the throne room. There she poured herself a goblet of wine and turned the jug to the other two. Sarafina took it and proceeded to pour two more goblets.

"You two could have been a little easier on that poor man. He's just trying to get a farming project started in Nashef."

Sarafina thought for a second where Nashef was and shook her head trying to get back to the subject at hand.

"Well, actually, to be perfectly honest, Your Highness,... I don't think either of us were actually listening to him.",/p>

The Queen smiled, knowing well the problems with being forever young and quite nearly all-powerful. She too held an Avatar, though hers had been unseen for many years. But the taint was still there, and she could feel the Phoenix burning within her from time to time, even more so in these last few months. She could certainly forgive the Daughters of Isis a little youthful immaturity from time to time.

"To be perfectly honest, Sara, I don't think I was really listening to him either."

"Then you've noticed it as well," Tasha was suddenly being the leader again, redirecting the subject back to something more strategically important.

"Noticed what?"

"There's a presence. I can't quite put my finger on it. But it is here, in the Empire right now. It has been,... I don't know,... distracting as of late."

Queen Nefertari gave Tasha Moonshadow a long, inquisitive look, wondering what powers she was using that the others did not possess. Looking at Sarafina, she could tell that both of them were feeling whatever it was Tasha was talking about.

"I haven't felt anything unusual. At least not since we destroyed the Tarterus Gate. What is it you feel, exactly?"

"Its different, a power, I hesitate to say an Eternal," and as Tasha let her thought trail off, Sarafina finished her sentence. It was an occasionally irritating habit they had, being as connected as they were. "Its Immortal at the very least, and not of this world."

Tasha finished, "And at the same time, it is."

"So you two bring me a riddle for breakfast?"

Sarafina smiled, but it was a troubled smile, "There is hope that our recent mission for the Elysium Priestess has shed some light on this enigma."

Queen Nefertari narrowed her eyes and considered previous discussions and recent events. Her answer to the Daughters of Isis was a quick quaff of her wine and a stretch to her full height, just over six feet.

"Indeed. Then we shouldn't keep her waiting any longer."

From her tone and her absent look, the two could tell her mind was on other times. Tabitha Hayes always seemed to bring those reflections of the past to the surface. Whenever she came for a visit, official or unofficial, Queen Nefertari of the Holy Symballan Empire became just Nahlima, a Priestess of Horus, and a church assigned guardian to the Acolyte of the Gryphonshrine. The long and bloody revolution against her father, her many years of rule at her husband's side, and the new identity she had assumed as the Avatar of the Phoenix all melted away. It was long ago once again, and she was fighting beside Amanda and Tabitha and Kheldar against the spider horrors of Zarra Mingamya. She was stalking Ravagers beneath the city streets of Dient. She was facing the wrath of the Dragon Kings at ChiaKhan. She was using Goth to destroy the bridge across the Tarkas river to drop a battalion of draconians into the chasm below. She couldn't help but see them all together once again as they had been in happier and darker times, before years and title had begun to weigh on them all. It was those last few seconds aboard the Gryphonship, before it crashed near Telar, that she had looked to the helm and saw the conviction and faith in the eyes of her charge. Tabitha had died there, in her charge, and there was nothing she could do about it. She had been gutted by the loss, and for two years Tabitha was missing. No word, no idea, no sign of her new existence. She could trust only to her faith that Tabitha had crossed over to a better place. When the truth was revealed, Nahlima could scarcely believe it. And now each time she received The Elysium Priestess, she was gripped by awe and wonder which even the daily exposure to divine Avatars had not abated.