Page 124 of He Who Sleeps

“Seven?” she arched a brow. “Is she a devotion?”

Carter glanced at Petra and gave a small shrug, as though it were up to her whether she wanted to tell the matron if she were a devotion or a priestess.

“Apparently I’m more than that, but yes, I am a devotion,” she said proudly. “For my Seven.”

“There hasn’t been a devotion in a long, long time. Doesn’t surprise me you were tapped. Your bloodline...of course He would want you to help bring things back to normal.”

“What do you know about it?”

She smiled. “All the girls here are special, though some more than others. Your bloodline, it runs in two others.”

“Sisters?”

She shook her head. “In this case no. Estra had seven daughters, and those daughters had daughters. You all stem from the same bloodline, untainted by the masculine...or rather, kept safe for the right masculine.” She looked to Carter. “You and your team.”

“Are you saying there’s males for all of us?”

Elise nodded softly. “Eventually, yes. Not all females will be devotions, some will end up wives, and partners.”

“And the mothers of the boys? Like Carter and my other guys?”

“Special in that they and their families were Order, but they weren’t of the Antrithos bloodline. The girls here?” She smiled. “Most if not all that have passed through these halls are of the blood.”

She looked to Carter. They had their answer. Direct descendants to Estra, to Gaia. “Carter, could this be why they were collecting women?”

“I’m sorry. Collecting?”

Elise frowned as Petra told her what they had returned to the Balkans to find out. “And these girls, women...are they okay?” She nodded. “I would like to see them.”

"I think they're planning to bring them back to the US, but Finn is a bit snowed under with all the practical arrangements right now," Carter said thoughtfully. "I had assumed that they'd been collecting women to try and fulfil the prophecy under their own control...same reason they tried to kill Easton and his mother. But it could be that they were somehow trying to find a true devotion they could use themselves."

“It wouldn’t have worked, though,” Petra said. “Kildare said only one of them were of the main blood, Stephan. It wouldn’t have been enough.”

Elise sighed. “I knew this was going to happen. Leave men to focus on governing something this important and ambition gets in the way. The feminine? We had no problem, aside from the men.” She looked to them. “You found your Seven recently?”

She nodded. “It’s been four devotions. Before that they were...sacrificing.”

Elise blanched. “Idiots! Not you, Carter, the assholes that sent you to sacrifice.”

“Kildare said that sacrifice is needed.”

“It is, but for the veils to be that thin...there’s a reason for us to worship during that time.”

Petra’s eyes went wide. “For Him to be close to Gaia.”

Elise nodded. “There is no wonder He guided you to them, and no wonder you fell for them. They speak to you, yes...your blood?”

“They...they make me whole. Even that first time...” She smiled at Carter. “I didn’t know who they were...” She proceeded to tell Elise the more pedestrian story of how they met. The matron seemed pleased.

“This all makes sense. He set it in motion.”

"What is your understanding of the meaning of sacrifice?" Carter asked curiously. "We were pretty much raised in a death cult, told it was all about the killing. But lately, from what we've been reading, it seems any kind of blood in any amount is a sacrifice. We've clearly missed out on an education in the importance of blood."

“Sacrifice is something given freely,” Elise said. “And The Order of He Who Sleeps was never meant to be something vicious and unyielding, bringing pain and misery to the world for His glory. He and Gaia had balance, and for a long, long time, there was a balance. Devotions would endure pain and pleasure to sacrifice for him, the embodiment of his love, Gaia.

“He Who Sleeps loved her, wanted to possess her, and He wasn’t a...gentle lover. She endured His attentions with grace and caring, learning to love His own way of having her. She counselled in our most sacred texts, written by her, that sacrifice was the truest proof of love. What the masculine did perverted that, because I believe they didn’t want women to have any power over anything. They wanted to control it all, but it was always a partnership, between Him and Gaia. Together great and terrible things were achieved.”

"So the painisa part of it...that's interesting." Carter looked at Petra and smiled. "The texts we have are mostly personal journals containing speculation and the priests aren't exactly forthcoming with information. One of my brothers, Emerson, is going to be rolling out an educational package for every member of The Order that will be mandatory to attend any future rituals. I think I speak for all of us when I say that we'd be extremely grateful if you and the other matrons would consider contributing to it."

---