Planet of the Stars

Chapter 42: Getting Ready

When I reached the Sisters of Selene village Grace, and I were greeted with applause. I smiled when I saw that Felicity was standing outside of Grace's house applauding politely. I saw Mother standing in the main area of the village on a raised platform. I met her eyes and she met mine. She was also applauding politely.

Sarah grabbed my arm and pulled me towards Mother. When we reached her Sarah curtsied and I inclined my head politely towards her. She returned the gesture towards me.

"Has Skye performed to your liking?" Sarah asks and I can hear the worry in her voice.

Mother smiled.

"She had helped us defend our home and been nothing but polite. She has exceeded my expectations and more. She has shown herself worthy of our blessing. Sarah, if you will get her ready, we can perform the ritual on her tonight," Mother says.

"Of course mother," Sarah says, then comes up from her curtsy and races me towards her house.

In her house she starts racing around getting stuff ready.

"Sarah, what am I supposed to do before this ritual?" I ask.

"Well bathe is always something that needs to be done. I need to anoint your body in some oils, pretty standard stuff. Also you'll need to dress in a white dress," Sarah says.

I nod.

"What is this ritual going to be like?" I ask.

"I don't know. I have never witnessed one before, but I have heard that it is supposed to be incredibly beautiful, and one of the most complicated rituals in Mother's arsenal. But for the person receiving the blessing it is supposed to feel incredibly wonderful," Sarah says.

I nod.

"Alright, into the bath," Sarah says laughing.

I smile, then get into the bath. After I was bathed I wore a bathrobe while Sarah got my body ready for the ritual. She lathered me in really nice smelling oil, and when I dried off she did my hair and picked out one of her dresses for me. She had put my hair into a really loose and braid that had wisps framing my face. She had braided little flowers into my braid and twisted the stems around where a hair tie would be.

Instead of a hair tie the flowers held my hair. The dress she picked out for me was white, but it had gold bands across my back because the dress was backless. The gold bands also had silver glitter on them. The dress was floor length, and the skirt wasn't form-fitting, but it was just a bit bigger than that. The top was a sweetheart neckline with spaghetti straps that were also gold with silver glitter on them.

Sarah gave me some white flats, and then after that she led me out of her house. The village was deserted.

"Where is everyone?" I whisper.

"They're at the area where the ritual will take place. It will take place in the woods, because it is something that is incredibly secretive, and it draws a lot of power, so Mother must rely on her daughters, and she can pull strength from the surrounding vegetation," Sarah says.

I just nod. I gelt incredibly honored that they were doing this ritual to me, because of how secretive it was, and because I was just an outsider to them. Sarah led the way to the woods, and Felicity followed her. It was about dusk so the sun was setting and the moon was rising. The sunset was draping the world in oranges and pinks, while the moon was meeting it with purples and light blues.

When we reached the clearing of the forest I felt myself shiver. As beautiful as this dress was it didn't offer much warmth. The forest was also incredibly silent which was nerve racking. I saw mother and the other Sisters of Selene they were all wearing black. I hadn't even noticed that Sarah had been wearing black, even Felicity was wearing black, probably a dress that Sarah loaned to her.

There was no wind whistling, or even a bird singing. There was a dirt patch on the ground that had something drawn into it. I couldn't tell what it was it just looked like a circle with orange symbols on it. I didn't know what it was and I probably never would, because this was not knowledge that was for me to know. It was knowledge that was for Sisters of Selene to know and for them to keep people from knowing it.

Sarah was whispering to me.

"You're going to go into that circle and when Mother comes to talk to you, you will be on your knees, after she tells you what is expected you're going to lay in the circle. I will not lie to you and tell you that this ritual is easy it is dangerous and painful," Sarah says.

I nod.

"Well pain is a constant companion of mine," I say, and I can feel a tear leaking from my eyes.