She bowed her head and nodded weakly, wondering what would await her. What challenge would test her? What would it mean? Her mind was so full already that she did not know how much more she could endure.
At the center of the Rood Screen was a wide section, a doorway. The Aldermaston motioned her towards it, and she stepped softly towards the gossamer fabric. Her hand trembled a little as she reached towards and parted the curtain. As she stepped through, she was jolted with the full force of the Medium. It made her knees wobble and tears stab her eyes. The room was beautiful and carved from stone. It was circular in design with seven stone pillars, each carved into the shape of a Leering. The one directly opposite was of a bearded man and it gripped her attention. It was more than a man’s face, it was a robed body with one arm lifted towards the sky. The image transfixed her, drawing in her eyes, wondering at its meaning – and then she remembered seeing the Aldermaston perform the maston sign while saving Astrid from death. There were other Leerings as well, one of a lion, another of a sheep. Another of a snake. She looked at the others as well. A blazing sun. One of the Leerings was a twisting vine, with flowers and leaves. The last, a bull with horns. Each was sculpted to the smallest detail, with craftstmanship beyond anything she had seen. Between each of the pillars were walls of marble with carved insets with white stones on them. The stones shined brilliantly, illuminating everything in the room. Not every gap between the pillars were stone however. The one behind her was made of the white linen shrouds. Two other shrouds were on the far wall, between the pillar with the bearded man with the lion on one side and the sheep on the other.
The floor was a mosaic that dazzled her, but in the center of the room, inset into the floor, the lip and ridges of a stone ossuary that went below the ground. The lid of the ossuary was open and shoved partway aside. In front of the shallow pit was a wide stone bowl and before that, a bundle of white linen.
Lia wondered what to do, but the ossuary drew her eyes and she cautiously approached it. It was long but not very deep and inside was a stone slab – a bier. The bundle of linen was the first thing in front of her, followed by the bowl, and then the ossuary. The Leerings stared at her and she could feel their eyes on her, boring into her. Watching her stand there, gaping.
She advanced slowly. The thought of rushing about was abhorrent to her. There was power in this place beyond anything she had felt before. The ossuary was not deep, but it looked disturbing. What was an ossuary doing in the middle of the Abbey? She looked at the white bundle. Were they graveclothes? What was she supposed to do?
The thought came quickly to her mind, as it always did. Everything was arranged in a certain order. She knew the billowy curtain on the far wall was the Apse Veil. It was her objective to cross it. Before she could, however, there were things she needed to accomplish. The linens were first, so she guessed that it was required for her to put them on. She knelt by the bundle of fabric and unfolded it. There were two pieces, she discovered. A beautiful white chemise with designs along the shoulder as well as the hem. The designs were threaded in silver, more beautiful than anything she had beheld. The other garment was a lacy shroud that was longer than the chemise, like an outer garment. She had to wear them, she realized.
Looking around with only the Leerings to look at her, she slowly removed the learner robes. She trusted her instincts, but she was still nervous. She fingered the edge of the chemise and realized that it bore the same markings she had seen before – and had seen on Colvin’s chaen shirt. Was the maston custom different for women than it was for men? She did not know. Anxiously, she pulled on the soft chemise. She still worse the necklace with the ring threaded through it. Images from that night flooded her memory. Graveclothes found near empty stone ossuaries. She stood and straightened the fabric. The chemise was shorter, but the laced garment was full and deep and it extended down to her wrists and coiled to her ankles on the floor. It fit her like a gown, surprisingly. She folded the learner robes left them in a bundle by the basin.
Lia stared at the bowl and noticed a Leering carved into the bottom. She knelt in front of it, looking at the simple face carved there. With a thought, she summoned its power and it filled with clear, cool water. In her mind, she heard it speak – a woman’s voice. Bathe your hands, arms, and face.
Lia obeyed, cupping the cool water in her hands, washing them and then her arms. She cupped water in her hands and lifted it towards her face, but it felt…wrong. That was not the way to do it. She gripped the edges of the bowl and then pushed her face into the water.