must continue. Aiglamene gives in, and confirms that she will help to handle Crux and Mortus's wife.

Gideon keeps sneaking glances at the Body, since this conversation is going pretty well over her head. 

Once Aiglamene steps out - "So... Am I the only one seeing the Body staring at us?"

"...You can see her too?"

"Yes. Just - as of today."

"She showed up when- before you did."

"...She didn't follow me, when I left. But... I think she's following you." This is Highly Suspicious Behavior. Unauthorized persons should not follow Ellyn around. That is Gideon's job. 

"Oh. Okay."

She glares over at the Body. "Leave Ellyn alone."

She crosses her arms. "I'm her cavalier. So either go away, get her permission, or fight me."

The Body makes

no response to the threat.

She's really tempted to try to stab the Body. 

"I'm the one whose blood worked and who looks like you anyways," she grumbles well under her breath, a little bit hurt on top of her protectiveness about Ellyn. She tries to poke it in the chest. (With her finger, not her knife. Yet.) "You should listen to me."

Poke what? There's nothing there.

Rude. (She privately resolves to visit the Tomb on her own later and scold the Body directly in person.)

Gideon stops poking the Body with a grumble, which may or may not include the titles of a few books on exorcism she wants to double check.

"I don't think you should try to exorcise it, Gideon."

"...It shouldn't bother you."

"It doesn't. Not really."

She's still going to scold it. It should be following her. But she just nods, for now, and says, "If you say so..." a bit dubiously. 

"Come on. There's work to do."

"Sure, sure." She'll get to work. 

It takes a little time and a lot blood sweat from Ellyn, but they do manage to get things working. Crux is swayed by the honor of the Ninth, and Glaurica, Mortus's wife, by the threat of a sewn tongue. (Ortus seems, if anything, relieved by his father's death. And the obvious fact of Ellynhark's acceptance of Gideon as her cavalier primary.)

Ellyn leads the daily services, and within a month, has the bodies of her parents sitting in attendance in one of the pews, released from their isolation but maintaining their vows of silence. The aging penitents of the Ninth House do not question. The Reverend Father and Mother always kept their distance from their people. Coordination with the orbital prison has always happened by letter, so it is easy to take over that correspondence, as well as the threadbare trade with other Houses through the biannual shuttle. They are still not accepting new pilgrims.

Maybe they should - at least some, a few at a time, especially anyone not old and dusty... They need to rebuild the House, don't they? 

Not yet. Not until Ellyn's old enough not to have to use Priamhark and Pellaemena.