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"I hear walking is good for you," I said out loud.
"I'll walk if you walk with me." He gave me a meaningful look like somehow he could get me to change my mind while we walked. Or better yet, talk me into sneaking off into the bushes on the side of the road so he could bury himself balls deep in my pussy.
"I'm not walking. Go ahead if you want to," I said tersely before grabbing my bag from him and making my way to the second carriage.
"She's been talking for an hour and she's already mastered the art of snark." He caught up to me and gave another one of the priests a dirty look, as though pissed off he was too close to me.
I gave him a dirty look of my own. We were friends, there was no need for him to be possessive. If he was going to start that bullshit, he could stay the fuck away from me. If I told him that, he’d keep away for half a day at most. He was nothing if not determined.
Because I knew it would piss him off, I smiled at that same priest and accepted his hand to help me up into the carriage. I smiled as Zared growled in annoyance behind me.
My smile faded when I realised Hycanthe was already inside the carriage. Her and Jezalyn.
Hycanthe looked as happy to see me as I was to see her. Jezalyn offered a small, awkward smile. Clearly she had no desire to get caught in the middle of anything between Hycanthe and me.
I slipped into the seat opposite them. Tyla slipped in beside me.
Zared climbed up behind her and stood, obviously trying to decide if he should sit beside Tyla or Jezalyn. With a grunt, he flopped down next to Jezalyn, but his eyes were on me.
Hycanthe whispered something to Jezalyn, who shook her head. Judging by the venomous look Hycanthe gave her friend, Jezalyn refused to swap seats so Hycanthe could sit beside Zared.
They reminded me of a pair of eight-year-old maidens.
I exchanged glances and eye rolls with Tyla. Evidently she was thinking the same thing. We were all grown women. It was past time to act like it. Not to mention the simple fact that if we wanted to take vows as priestesses, we were expected to behave like the voices of the gods, not children.
Although, from what we learned in class, many of the gods didn't behave much better than children anyway. Even the oldest legends were full of pranks pulled on one god by another.
The story of Haldor and Jyrisse was a particular favourite of mine. Apparently Haldor was in love with Jyrisse, but she didn't reciprocate. The goddess of fertility, fell in love with a river god. Haldor, as the god of earth and farming, built a dam across the river, so Jyrisse couldn't reach her lover. Jyrisse, pregnant with the river god's child, was desperate to get back to him.
She made her worshippers build a temple to Haldor. When he stepped inside, there was no floor, just a deep, deep pit. When he fell into it, Jyrisse and her followers collapsed the temple and the walls of the pit on top of him.
By the time he got himself out, she'd made her way across the river to her lover and they got married. Not even an infatuated god would get in the way of their love.
Of course, Haldor being a possessive, vengeful asshole, sent an earthquake to try to swallow them both, but the river god made the river rise high enough that they could get on a boat and ride out the tremors. Thousands of people drowned, or were killed in the quake.
The moral of the story, don't piss off the gods. According to the priestesses, that very quake created a lake between Ebonfalls and Havenmoor. We'd likely pass it on the way.
I peered out the window as the carriage started to roll through the courtyard and out under the stone arches.
Like everything else here, the archway was twice the size necessary for us to comfortably pass underneath it. Made of some kind of white stone that seemed to absorb light, rather than reflect it, every centimetre had leaves and vines carved into it. It was easily the most ornate part of the temple.
Anyone arriving got a good, if incorrect, impression of the place. When they left, they'd remember how drab the temple really was. More drab now clouds had rolled in above us, threatening an afternoon rain shower. Those were more common lately too. Almost daily. The persistent heat would have turned everything brown, but the rain kept it green.
"Well, isn't this exciting?" Hycanthe said, her tone much drier than the air. "Released from our duties as maidens, finally ready for our next step into the world. For those of us who aretrulyready."
I turned my face to look at her. Her voice was exactly as I imagined. Clipped and imperious as Geralda.
"Yes, it's huge," I said simply. It was, but I could think of nothing else to say.
Before I could look away she sniffed and said, "If you're going to be that way the whole time—"
"I'll be however I want," I signed, once again falling back on the habit. "If you don't like it, there's the door." I gestured towards it. As if to punctuate my words, a peal of thunder rumbled outside.
I lifted my chin in challenge.
She sniffed and turned away.
Predictably, Zared grinned. He looked as though he might say something to Hycanthe, but for once, he didn't. The journey would be long enough without everyone snarking at each other. With any luck, we could swap carriages in the morning.
