Goddess of the Rose (Goddess Summoning #4)(31)

"You have everything here you need to cast the sacred circle, Empousa," Gii said. "You have the spirits of the four elements, and you have your own affinity."

"My own affinity? But there are only four elements. What could I represent?"

"You represent the heart of the circle - its spirit," Gii said. "That is why you wear sacred purple. It is the color of Spirit. And that is why your position will be in the center of the circle."

"We will show you, Empousa," Aeras said, skipping up the stairs into the temple. "We each have our positions."

Mikki squared her shoulders and moved with the handmaidens into the temple. Aeras walked purposefully to a place a few feet away from the ever-burning flame which was in the center of the temple. She turned to face Mikki. "Wind is always positioned in the east."

Floga moved around an invisible circle to Aeras's left. "Flame is allied with the south."

"Water prefers the west," Nera said, taking the position directly across from Aeras.

"Earth's place is always in the north," Gii said, completing the circle. "And your place - Spirit's position - is in the center of the circle near the heart of the goddess's flame."

Not giving herself time to hesitate, Mikki moved into the center of the circle made by the elements personified and stood beside Hecate's flame. Then, feeling a little lost and a lot foolish, she moved her shoulders restlessly. "I don't know what to do next." She whispered the words, but her voice carried eerily in the stillness of the temple.

"It is a simple thing, really," Gii said gently.

"A natural thing," Nera added.

"A wondrous thing," Floga said, with barely suppressed excitement.

"You always begin with me," Aeras said, smiling brightly. "Greet me and call Wind to you, welcoming my element. Then move deosil around the circle and call the other elements to you."

"Deosil?"

"This way," Floga said, moving her hand in a clockwise motion.

Mikki nodded. "Okay, I've got that."

"As you call each element, think of the energy you beckon forth to protect and support you, Empousa," Gii said.

"Will a circle really appear?" Mikki asked tentatively.

"That depends on you, Empousa," Gii said.

Mikki's stomach fluttered with nervousness. Just do it! she told herself. Mikado Empousai lifted her chin and approached Aeras.

Chapter Eleven

"HELLO, Aeras." "Empousa."

The handmaiden sank to the marble floor in a graceful curtsey, and Mikki's mind frantically searched for something, anything, to say. She was supposed to focus on the elemental power as she called it. She drew another breath to calm herself. She drew a breath . . . air . . . which was really wind . . .

"I call to the circle the element Wind," she said, mentally crossing her fingers that she wasn't totally messing up. "It is what we breathe in when we are born. Without it we would all die." As Mikki had begun speaking, Aeras had risen from her deep curtsey. The handmaiden lifted her slender arms, closed her eyes, and tilted her head back. Mikki swallowed around the nervous dryness in her throat and continued. "When I think of Wind I think of movement and invisible power. It is a contradiction - a paradox. It cannot be contained, but it can be harnessed. It can gently fill a newborn's lungs, and it can destroy cities." Suddenly, the ethereal yellow silk that clothed Aeras began to lift and stir, and then, in a rush of white sound, wind whipped around the handmaiden like she stood in the vortex of a magick tornado. Wind moved against Mikki's skin, too, but not as violently. It felt caressing, causing her bare nipple to harden in response. Surprisingly, Mikki didn't feel embarrassed or exposed. Instead, the nakedness of her body seemed natural, and the fact that the element had come at her call and touched her body so lovingly, bolstered her confidence. She smiled and met Aeras's shining eyes. "Welcome, Wind!"

Then she turned to the right. Her steps were much surer as she approached the scarlet-clad handmaiden.

"Hello, Floga."

"Empousa," she said. And she, too, sank to the floor in a respectful curtsey.

"I call to the circle the element Flame." As Aeras had, Floga stood, lifting her arms and closing her eyes. Mikki thought the handmaiden's face look rapturously expectant, as if she was prepared to greet a lover. Inspired by the element's personification, Mikki continued, "Fire is passion and heat. It consumes, but it also feeds and warms. Without fire our nights would be dark and cold." Floga's glossy scarlet hair began to lift, and in a whirl of heat the girl's body became outlined by a luminous glow. Mikki could feel the heat radiate from Floga. It licked against her skin, too, causing a fine sheen of dewy sweat to glisten over her body. "Welcome Flame!"

When she turned to her right again she thought she caught a glimpse of a delicate silver thread of light stretching between Aeras and Floga.

"Hello, Nera."

"Empousa." Nera dropped to the floor. Her thick, blond-white hair covered her face like a wave.

"I call the element of Water to the circle. It surrounds us before we are born, and it nourishes us during our life. It cleans and purifies, feeds and soothes." Nera stood slowly, and Mikki watched as the voluptuous outline of her body appeared to liquefy. And then her hair really was sea foam and waves, and the blue of her silk robes rippled like the changing tide. Mikki was engulfed in a misty coolness that smelled of spring rains and warm, tropical beaches. "Welcome, Water!"