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She nodded proudly. "I certainly hope so, although there are a lot of different kinds. Some of us serve the people directly, others serve our god, and still others serve the priests and priestesses of our temple. That's why you're going to go to school, so you can learn all about our god, our faith, and where you fit in with us. Zeal will watch you grow and he'll lead you toward the Path you're meant for."
"From where?" I asked.
Her eyes narrowed and she shook her head slightly. "What do you mean?"
"Where does he watch from?"
"Oh." She gestured around the room. "From everywhere. He's a god. That means he can see all of us and all things. The gods don't live among us, Nari. They live over us, and they work to make our lives better. You've been chosen to help with that."
"Why me?"
She looked over the children around us, and then stood. "How about a bath next, huh? And after that, we can get you some clothes. Do you like dresses or pants?"
I didn't even notice that she hadn't answered me. "I want pants like yours!"
"And boots?" she asked, offering me a hand in that universal signal to join her.
I swung off the seat and took it. "Can I have heels too?"
"Shorter ones," she said. "Takes a bit to learn how to walk in them, but we'll find something."
A deep laugh proved that Jamik was back. "You aren't planning to walk her back like that are you?"
Amerlee turned to him with a smile. "Did you have something else in mind?"
He grabbed her robe from the seat and flared it open. "How about we put you in this? You are a little Priestess of Temptation, so it's your color." He knelt to help me get my arms in the too-big sleeves and kept talking to Amerlee. "And I'll carry her. It's getting colder, and her feet will freeze on the street."
"I'm too big to be carried," I told him.
He leaned around to tap my nose. "And I'm big enough to carry you anyway. Let's just get this buttoned up a bit and then..." He squatted down and turned so his back was to me. "Just reach around my neck and hop up here like you're riding a pony."
"Never ridden a pony before."
"Hug his neck," Amerlee said, "and then wrap your legs around his waist."
I tried, and it wasn't very easy, but Jamik helped. Using my arms, he tilted me high enough that I could almost sit on him. Only when my legs were crossed over his belly did he stand back up, acting like I weighed nothing. Amerlee moved in to tuck the robe around me, making sure even my toes were covered.
Then we headed out toward the back. I saw other kids looking at us, but I didn't care. I was the one being pampered by the priests, so I figured that made me special. It didn't matter that most of them were sitting with a priest of their own. Not just ones in black or blue either. I saw green, white, and yellow at least. So maybe I wasn't special at all, but these two made me feel like it.
Eventually, we reached the back of the temple. The halls were almost silent here, but the stones were just as white. At the very end, we walked through a door where I needed to duck so I didn't bonk my head, and my new friends were laughing about it. That led outside, and like they'd done this a million times before, Amerlee and Jamik turned for a path, ignoring the wind whipping all of our hair against our faces. Well, mine against Jamik's, since his was too short to blow.
But the weather had only gotten colder since that morning. Large, dark clouds were sliding across the sky above, and the brightly-colored leaves were being blown off their branches to rustle in a parade across the street. Amerlee hugged her arms to her chest and they walked a little faster.
"Why do we always do this in the fall?" she grumbled.
"Because the harvest is in," Jamik reminded her gently. "Because if we did it earlier, so many would convince themselves they'd figure it out, but this late in the year, all that's left is the suffering. Today is the one day that not even Zeal plays with temptation. Better to have them with us than to have them in the ground before it thaws."
She reached up to rub my back. "Hardest day of the year, though."
"What is?" I asked.
She didn't bother looking up. "The Day of Surrender, sweetie." But she patted my back, pointing with the other hand. "See that? The big temple with the gold dome? That'sours."
"The most beautiful building in Calseth," Jamik breathed. "And best of all, it'swarm."
Chapter 3
Nariana
