After the Family council had discussed the matter every which way (a slow process, indeed, now that there were 215 of them) ; after The Order had weighed in with a judgement Kate found sorely lacking; after her Father and Grandmother had advocated for her to stay in a power sharing arrangement with her mother, Caffee, the decision had come down to this: The Seven Sisters.

The rules of 7ths apply equally to the men and women: the mother must also be a 7th daughter, there must be 6 living sisters at the time of the 7ths birth. Occasionally, more often with females than males, an identical twin situation crops up. If 6 and 7, birth order determines who will be queen. The firstborn in this case has the same powers but in diminished strength. From the ranks of these first-born twins comes the sub council known as The SEven sisters. They are tie-breakers in any Family council impasses, and assist their own 7th daughter sisters with a support team from HQ in major operations.

And most of them are resentful.

Because of the delicacy of this particular proceeding, The Seven Sisters were chosen from outside Kate’s Family. Angeline, Caffee’s mother and Kate’s grandmother, had been one of the most powerful 7ths ever. Her feats are legendary. Young girls dress as her for historical pageants and when they have children, name them after her children (naming them after her is forbidden). Caffee was on her way to taking her place, pregnant with Kate, when Shadow somehow slipped by the Family compound’s security

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Kate faced the Seven Sisters Council with outward calm, chin up, shoulders back. Inside she was still fighting to gain control over her thoughts and emotions. So what if she was the most powerful 7th Daughter in four generations? Who cares if her grandmother, Angeline, a legend within The Order, had taught her everything she knows? She was only 15, after all, practically an infant given their lifespan. She was truly scared, worried that the end of this hearing would find her cast out of her

Family Council. She was only 15, for gods’ sake, the most powerful 7th in four generations, her education incomplete, cast out by her mother, she must be a complete wildling.

Who would want her? She schooled her face.

Gram had helped her prepare for each appearance before the council, and now, as they sat regally before her, holding control over her future, she heard Gram’s voice dictating the pattern for weaving self-control and a protection against mind probing techniques. Weaving always calmed her. She constructed protective cocoons in her mind and waited for them to speak. Green over green under blue over beige under turquoise…

These women, sent by The Order to adjudicate the dispute, strangers to their Family, each of them as near to a 7th as anyone but a 7th can get*, would decide if she stayed in the compound, the only home she’d ever known. In all these years, she had never left the shelter of Savage Mountain. She searched their minds and impassive faces for a clue to her fate but they had schooled themselves well, as she was struggling to do now. Not a whisp of thought or sigh of emotion escaped the group. They were locked down tight. She closed her eyes and took a deep, centering breath. When she opened them she was staring intently into the eyes of the Sister who was speaking.

“Katherine of Family Savage, we are prepared to hand down our decision in this matter. Will you accept the sentence, no matter how it falls?”

Kate gave a single firm nod. “I will.” Her voice was strong, a hint of maturity beyond her years in its timbre.

The Sister cleared her throat. “After discussion and prayer, studying the archives, and consultation with other Sister Councils, we have decided this most difficult matter thusly.” She cleared her throat again and glanced at Kate before proceeding.

“There is no doubt about who is the greater transgressor in breaking the rules not only of our society but of the society we are sworn to protect. The facts are crystal clear and undisputed by Caffee, as we have heard over the course of our hearing. Caffe broke as many rules as she felt she had to to achieve her goal…she broke rules of motherhood, of The Order, of humanity in general. In every charge, she is the guilty party. But considering the statements she has made to this council and to others, which tell us that she is beyond redemption as we understand it, and has no means of stopping her efforts to remove Kate from the lists of the living, we have no choice but to order her kept under guard in your most secure area, bound tightly by every sister of spell-weaving ability, no matter how frail or depleted. She will not put aside consorting with Shadow; in fact, she has told some few of us of her desire to “educate” other disaffected 7ths* as to the many “Grave Mistakes” of our interpretations of The Book. We cannot let that or anything like that happen. She is a danger to all. “

Kate’s face remained still. She could hear her shattered thoughts so loudly - No, they can’t! This is not fair! Where will I go? - that she was afraid they’d leaked through. Even though she had given this outcome a 75% possibility of prevailing in her planning, she found she had been clinging to the 25% hope of true justice. Punishment for the guilty one, not her target.

A tear slipped down her cheek, not unnoticed by the council. None of them were happy with their decision but all of them were used to making difficult, life or death decisions for The Order, under whose umbrella they all labored. Their training was thorough. Compassion and empathy were encouraged but weighted no higher or lower than any other value. Clearly they had made the right decision. The safety of millions in exchange for the shunning of one. Kate also knew better than anyone how broken Caffee was, how her encounter with Shadow had left her with only a piece of her soul. The rest had been subsumed by Shadow and controlled her now. Caffee hated Kate with a burning, unthinking intensity, Well, at least living with that hell was over. For now.

“Katherine, it us with heavy heart but clear conscience that we sentence you to exile from Savage Mountain. In addition, no Family member is to contact you until the Council gives clearance. To that end, there will be cast from HQ a blocking spell upon the compound. You, however, will be allowed to remain clear to continue your training however you can. We will leave that to you. You may not attempt to contact the Family. We will take care of that. You have 24 hours, Kate.”

In spite of her best efforts, Kate gasped. Gram hadn’t said a word about this. Thoughts in turmoil, she almost missed Gram’s hiss in her inner ear. “Kate. Steel up.” That voice, that command she knew. She’d heard it all her life when things looked grim and Kate felt hopeless. It meant “Put the emotions on the back burner. Focus on what’s in front of you. Be fluid.”

So she did. She mentally constructed a boat out of silver and copper thread, lovingly escorted her emotions below deck one by one, acknowledging each one with a kiss and a promise, and tucked the boat behind her in her mental wake where it bobbed gently, waiting.

All the while she gazed coolly at the Sisters.

“Sisters, I accept your judgement with a heavy heart, in the spirit in which it is given. Only my mother, in her madness, has abandoned her vows to The Order and the gods we all love and serve. I will work hard to complete my training and become worthy of the pain this decision has cost you.” Tears streamed silently down her ashen cheeks, splashing onto her best dress, spattering onto the dusty wooden floor.

The Sisters abandoned their stony objectivity now the decision was made. A few spilled their tears, but most caught them just at the edge of their lower lids and let them glisten there as they watched Kate gather her things and turn to leave, unsure of her next step, let alone her future, heartsick yet eager for the opportunity to say a proper goodbye to her loved ones.

The stone-colored map that suddenly appeared in front of her looked so real she stopped dead in her tracks, lest she bang her head on it. She put out her hand; it went through the map as through a mist. Feeling a bit foolish she realized it was her vision alone, no one else could see it even though everyone was watching. As she walked out of the room, footprints appeared on the map before her. Far in the distance, in the third row of an enormous mountain range, shimmered a red X.

* yes, dear reader, there are more than a few

* twin sorted by birth order into the “almost” category