AllFreeNovel
Share Us
He opened his mouth to ask more questions, but she’d turned away, and he had the sense she’d just wave off anything else he lobbed at her.
What if… What if he was just the right person for that moment? It was a nice sentiment but… it couldn’t be true. It didn’t make any sense.
He took a sip, the hot spice fortifying and stinging at the same time. Maybe he’d take a walk. Fresh air and exercise were good for the body, and the brain too. And he could perhaps stroll past the cave and see what was inside.
The door to Selis’s cottage swung open, and Iseris stepped out into the winter sunlight. She looked around then finally up the hill in his direction.
He set down the cup on a stump and waved. “Feeling better, my lady?” he called down. He fought the urge to genuflect, to add ‘Princess.’ He suspected neither the move nor the more formal address would improve her mood or her condition, even if it felt wrong to leave them off.
She shrugged with one shoulder. “A little. Not completely normal, but better.”
He looked over his shoulder in the direction of the cave with the second shrine. “Care to go for a stroll?”
Iseris raised her eyebrows, and, for a long moment, he thought she’d say no. But she stepped forward and headed up the hill to join him.
Chapter 18
Shrines in the Darkness
“What’s back here?” Iseris asked as they walked.
They’d headed through some trees along the dense edge of the forest for a while, but to her surprise, he hadn’t continued through the forest up the slope. Instead, he’d turned toward a cave and headed inside.
“Selis said there’s a shrine back here. I wanted to take a look.”
She cringed, openly now. Shrines, temples, religious places… They had always been places she avoided. Still, she followed him. There was no harm in walking through, except perhaps the shame she might feel.
The darkness wrapped around them all too quickly, the light from the cave entrance growing dimmer as they walked.
“Look at the walls,” Jav breathed.
She had been focused on keeping a firm footing, especially as the darkness grew, so she slowed to a stop and really looked around her. Paintings covered the right side of the cave, carvings the left. The depth of the color was shocking, a veritable rainbow of jewel and earth tones arrayed in intricate geometric designs. At first, it was decorative, but it transitioned into imagery of people.
She took another step toward the paintings. A temple, with delicate, interlacing lines that rose into a high stone roof, except that some of the topmost pieces were missing. And one seemed to be floating into place in the air. People in robes of blue and white and gold stood at the base of the temple, arms raised.
“What is all this?” she breathed.
“A shrine? I don’t know. I’ve… never seen anything like it.”
“This looks like a temple”—she pointed—“under construction?”
“Yeah. This over here too. Look.”
She turned. He was studying another painting. Another temple, but this depicted people inside, living and working.
Stepping to the left, then further down, further inside, she looked. The paintings went on and on. They lovingly depicted people building towers, temples, castles, flinging stones high into the sky. Sparkling gems—she didn’t know quite what that one meant.
“Iseris. These are…” Pointing at a certain painting, he stopped short.
“They’re what?” She squinted harder. What was so strange about them was that half seemed to depict everyday life. Another showed a woman reaching out an arm—and then wind and sunlight, rain moving into the distance. Toward crops? Which was the before, and which the after? Was part of worshiping Nefrana changing the weather?
“These are mages,” Jav said suddenly, voice rough.
She looked sharply at him. “What? No… that’s not…” It was her turn to trail off.
He swallowed hard. “Look closer.”
But these just looked like ordinary people. Cooking, brewing, building, sowing—until she reached a new section of paintings, this time with more greens. Perhaps a different artist? Whatever the reason, she stopped still.
