308Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡud3hySWapy
The beach was alive and moving, its white sands hungry for war.
308Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKzPCS1Xpeq
Evita watched the once clear docks; now a mass of wooden sea monsters each bearing a foreign flag from distant lands across the shrieking sea. Hundreds of soldiers scurried up and down the beach, some carting weapons and supplies others pitching tents. They had come in the early hours of the day, unloading horses, supplies and massive grey-brown beasts that Evita could only assume were the fabled elephants.
308Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhv0T3Znh32
"Are those, the creatures priestess Veera told us about? The elephants?"
308Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡV3B4YAJVSz
"Yes," The low priestess Andreah said, her tongue seemed to linger on the s in annoyance.
308Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡL8LUkjuafF
"They're huge, I always imagined they would be smaller, and their noses, look at the length! Are those teeth, in front, next to their nose?"
308Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCMCwEZYVgM
"They are horns, these are beasts of death and war," Andreah said.
308Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMMLZYJBApI
"Death and war? They're beautiful, look at them, their ears, their noses. How could creatures like this be of death or war?"
308Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnIxzak49Mb
Andreah moved in front Evita, a long braid in hand, blocking her view of the shore. "They are of hell, of the all-consuming fire, to call them beautiful is to compliment Kolvi. These beasts are nothing more than a means of horrible death for any man their masters deem worthy of it. Just because something seems to be of beauty and goodness does not make it so. Deception is everywhere."
308Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuSCnurzzlo
Evita nodded her head in agreement. Must she be so pious all the time, not everything need be a lesson of the dangers of deception. If Kolvi is so terrible, why does Aran not smite him?
308Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhWAIXQhCOx
"If they are of hell how did these men come upon them do you think?"
308Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDc6a5321Xz
The voice of her handmaiden Caterina shifted Evita's focus. "I heard the beasts exist only far in the lands of Aloria past the great desert and into the plains."
308Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7acX2aAM3h
"Aloria? I've only heard of a few tales of this land; is it true the people have black skin and drink the blood of lions?"
308Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdSWq8oJ9sE
"They say the sun rarely sets in Aloria and the people have turned dark from its heat. They say people pray to strange gods, rocks that came from the sky, giant serpents nearly half as long as a warship and thicker than a man fully grown, and hairless unicorns stronger and larger than any horse in the world."
308Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMxZ1K6WPW1
"How can a rock come from the sky, Caterina?" Her second handmaiden Rosaleen asked impatiently.
308Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ36ixwEfjog
Caterina pinned the lock she had just finished brushing underneath Evita's braid, ignoring Rosaleen she spoke again. "The people ride them, these elephants deep into the jungle and use them to hunt and kill the walking lizards that roam to close to their villages."
308Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKL3HaRYcDL
Evita turned to her with a deep curiosity burning behind her eyes. "What is a walking lizard?"
308Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTyj9sSOiin
Caterina's leaned in, brush in hand. "Walking lizards, my lady, are draconic beasts. They're tall and agile, they walk on two legs with hooked claws and sharp teeth, they eat man and beast alike."
308Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0wgnm9MjEA
"Do not listen to her priestess I will tell you the tale of Aloria", Rosaleen said. "Once a thousand thousand years ago Aran gave the Alorians dragons to defeat the minions of Kolvi. The Alorians rode atop the beasts and commanded them to burn away all the servants of Kolvi from their lands. And so they did, but when Aran came back to collect his dragons the people turned on him, their one true god. They tried to use the beasts of flame on Aran, to burn him away as they had done before. But when the beasts spat their fire Aran breathed it all in and spat it back out in the greatest fire the world has ever seen, scorching man and dragon alike. Some say the flames reached so high and far heat could be felt in Phevia and the light seen in Jhyr. When the flames finally settled all the dragons had died, burnt to the bone, and the people, what few remained, forever have black skin that bore the mark of his holy flame."
308Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjrhmyLMl5w
Dragon fire and ancient war? gods burning their people in righteous fits of rage? Perhaps you have spent too much time listening to the tales of the clerics, Rosaleen. Evita looked up to see the cold Andreah captivated by the tale. She moved her head to look out the balcony once more.
308Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzwH87ThAbt
"Hold still," Andreah hissed out at her in a shrill voice. She had taken to brushing her hair with a roughness that made her wince with every other stroke.
308Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡutR5jmto2w
Evita matched her with forced patience through gritted teeth and spoke before she could remember herself. "The hair you braid and brush is still attached to my head, I ask only that you at least pretend to know what tenderness is."
308Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLv2VN5tcpj
"You will speak to me with respect, I'm not your lesser, I'm here because it was asked of me not because it's my duty," Andreah said. "I'll have to re-pin and re-braid the back."
308Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLn4jCwPXqk
That was it? No lecture? Perhaps she's gone tame.
308Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6VtUzt37H3
Caterina spoke to break the silence. "I heard elephants come from further east than even the Qabari empire reaches; that they were worshiped by the red monks who found roaming the deep jungles. They were once holy things of great respect until the old emperor took the monks lands and turned the beasts into monsters of war."
308Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKv0Bm7eCpV
"Where did you come to hear such tales?"
308Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡb3dohyuV0c
"I was...before the sisters bought me at auction eight or so years ago I was a slave of the flesh markets in Pasan, my lady."
308Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡV1O11EBn50
"We are the same age are we not?"
308Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8J93asaZvx
"Yes, my lady."
308Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡo2qYuq7Qsq
"You would have only been a girl of fourteen. How long were you enslaved?"
308Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyWCcGoa19g
"Only two years, priestess."
308Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXMVug0XNak
"Only two? You speak as though two years is a short amount of time to be enslaved. And you've gone from one master to another."
308Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuGtnTbUKQo
"Enough of this talk, it's sinful, and I find it disgusting," The words seemed to slither out of Andreah. "Any slave girl from a flesh market of all places should be so lucky to be saved by the church."
308Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbcNovCtMha
Evita opened her mouth in objection but Caterina spoke before any words escaped. "Yes priestess, I apologize for any offense I may have caused," Caterina said bowing her head in shame.
308Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyD2lcOK20w
Evita turned to Caterina, a fire brewing inside her. "No she isn't," she spat. "You've nothing to apologize for. Andreah how dare you speak in such a manner to my handmaidens."
308Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6HGz0uCirw
"Be still Evita," Andreah said with a sigh. "You know I've had quite enough of today. Hours we've spent here with the three of you constantly clucking away about false idols and myth, and now even whores." Andreah shot a disgusted glance at Caterina.
308Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡI06YPSdD62
So it begins.
308Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzllpp78s4U
From fire to inferno Evita felt her rage and allowed it to take hold. "If you ever speak to me or one of my girls again I will throw you from my balcony and see to it that you fill the bellies with many fish. Now be silent."
308Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡptUNgSduyu
Noone dared speak, sounds of the waves crashing and gulls calling filled the room. Evita's gaze returned to the shore and the army at her doorstep.
308Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡD78EbTp6rf
Hundreds of the Aran guard stood in formation on the beach, their black and blue armor seemed to absorb the light. They watched without word or movement as the strangers and their beasts moved about the beach.
308Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKhoipWpyR8
Evita bobbed her head left and right in an attempt to observe but an unobstructed view was hard for her to come by. Every glance at the foreigners, their warships and beasts on her doorstep was wondrous and brief and cut short by elbows, stomachs and faded blue-gray dresses her diligent handmaidens or the sour face of Andreah.
308Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡm2HNvboazb
The old temple Evita sat atop had many towers and few windows; she was lucky enough that her room sported several of them and a balcony that overlooked the fort harbor. The aged stone that made up the walls had lost their luster, resorting to a faded red-gray all throughout. Her bed, the only source of life and color in the small circular room; it sported silks of deep blue and white that hung from a tall canopy. She lived in a dark-wood and faded stone cage disguised as a room, that separated her from the outside world and the height of her balcony offered neither relief nor communication.
308Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsjlyYZSDVG
The sun began to set and Andreah still brushed and braided. She could never seem to finish, always finding another thing to correct, another issue to complain about. They pinned her hair and scrubbed her face with water and herbs. The mint leaves they had rubbed into her skin left a cool feeling within her skin contrasting the heat rising from beneath.
308Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡL5Ad7c9tEG
"You'd do well to hold still, maybe then it wouldn't be such a difficulty to endure. That seems to be awfully lustful staring you're doing at those men, you wouldn't want to shame yourself," Andreah said.
308Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2wunVtjW8P
"I care not for the men; it's the elephants...I wish to ride one."
308Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmkVAs0WaBV
Andreah scoffed at her, "Those are war elephants, they would sooner crush you. You have all the dreams and ambitions of a man and seemingly none of a priestess, I knew she was foolish to consider you."
308Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4ulwRG6MwD
Evita smirked and met eyes with her. "The balcony it is."
308Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgtmn3OBESA
"Evita, take heed, I know your secret."
308Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaRqzGQa7Jw
"And what secret would that be?"
308Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaYAdTvGg91
"Do you think you could have some dyes made for me?"
308Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrvRr3xympT
Evita dropped her smirk and gave no reply. How could she know?
308Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnTTrQj5us6
"So it's true then?" Evita saw her smirk grow on Andreah's face. "It seems you've already shamed yourself."
308Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4xVpzHHvDX
"There you are finished, stand, back straight, and suck in your gut, you've the look of a drunk man," Andreah said with a flat tone.
308Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVjMBosPDl8
You vile bitch.
308Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJZZs1Tm0n6
"Respect must work both ways priestess," Evita said.
308Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgRTNpJ8AET
Andreah scoffed, "Perhaps Evita, however, I do not respect you. You two bring her a mirror."
308Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4jKkfCepby
Rosaleen and Caterina left the room, and returned in an instant, carrying in a large mirror and sat next to her brazier.
308Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4gNjbvGwig
Evita stood to meet her reflection. The fire's face danced and reflected off the gold metal embedded within her blue and black dress.
308Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXA5zmQL5Gu
Her gaze met the bright, chestnut eyes of a girl with soft lips and warm beige skin that drank up the firelight. Her raven hair was done half up in a crown braid entwined with blue flowers that bloomed across her head. A flicker of true confidence that she had thought long dead stirred inside her grew strong, at that moment, she felt as fierce as flame.
308Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9AVNL3vcCU
"Vanity is unbecoming, there is a reason we are only allowed a few moments of this," Andreah said with a stare of venom. "The mirror will be here when you return, we are needed in the great hall."
308Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMhkJZ73Ha3
The old stone halls rushed past Evita in a dimly lit mundane blur. Between the doorways and along the walls hung a mix of decrepit book shelving and dilapidated masonry filled with engravings of scripture.
308Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMcCJ77XL7o
Evita struggled to keep pace with Andreah, she stopped in the dimly lit prayer room to catch her breath, she hated this room, too many long shadows reached out from the pillars that held the ancient scrolls of log dead clergymen. "This dress is too long, I can't move this fast."
308Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCq68JsgytZ
Andreah stopped and coiled her neck around. "Shameful. Shameful is all the Mother will have to say as she strips you of your place after I tell her all I know. I'm not one to be tardy, you will keep pace."
308Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMbSfU3yJQ8
Evita felt fire in her belly but this time she suppressed it. Not all of us can have the speed of a bitch in heat for the Mother's approval, such as yourself.
308Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ91NPayji08
"My apologies priestess."
308Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiN724zr9H3
"Remind me again oh high priestess, what was the punishment for adultery," Andreah said. "Was it flogging? No, perhaps it was caning? And that's just for you, I can only imagine what will be done to the man that deflowered one of the holy high priestesses of Aran."
308Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeLOkuNr4jf
"What do you want?"
308Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbmLRbyIIPE
"Tell the Mother you renounce your place."
308Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3tSGRwBGTb
"You jest."
308Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXRNFWmyzg1
"I wonder how much of a jest it will be to you as they flay your man for sacrilege."
308Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtsEFnsrmCM
"I'll be excommunicated..."
308Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6pnRaHFkYi
"Take your pick, Evita, A graceful exit. Or one where your man dies horribly and you shamed, humiliated then forced to leave. Choose wisely, Evita."
308Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2n8wj3eUng
Andreah spun on her heel and disappeared down the hallway. Evita stood in the hall heart racing and mind a blur of questions.
308Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7r99ZvAeSN
"That's quite the predicament you're in," a man said in a gruff low voice.
308Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡW4YaAzhBM8
Evita's heart nearly leaped from her chest. She spun around to confront the face behind the voice but she saw no one. The low firelight causes shadows to move and play tricks on her as she looked for the man.
308Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVrZbWrg6dq
"I'm here girl," the voice said from nowhere.
308Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTgQm013XwJ
Evita looked ahead at the ever so slight sway of the large banner depicting the church and Thacia.
308Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ289loWFFpa
"Clever girl."
308Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxT6bNVJlOy
The man stepped out from behind the banner and entered the light. With black eyes and skin paler than milk he approached. His head seemed nearly too large to be contained within his black cloak. The stranger drew close enough for her to see that it was not his true face she saw but a white mask with no emotion.
308Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqL1Rmzohig
"Remove your mask and speak properly to me," she said unsure if her confidence had outweighed her fear.
308Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1yXIUS1H9g
The masked man lifted his mask. He was the ugliest man Evita had ever seen, with a sloped brow and mismatched eyes he gave Evita a look of hunger that sent a shiver up her spine.
308Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡULmTEpwxDa
"What do you want? How did you get in here?"
308Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6dwj8CpgpB
"Nothing but to offer my services to fair lady," he said taking a step towards her.
308Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLswcGdV0uH
"Step no closer. Should I call for the guard they will come and lop off your head."
308Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡebzEhWuj9c
"As you wish maiden. But know I come bearing gifts, not threats."
308Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUxEnsImJZt
"What kinds of gifts?"
308Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXaTppU7y1I
"The kind that deals with your problems and ensure you retain your position."
308Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeM9ere5ku9
"I don't know you or your intent."
308Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOIxMwAhkaR
"Nor shall you, but I know you, I know the dyer's son, I know who has betrayed you and I can ensure you safe passage through this rough time."
308Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡItQXzYkUyS
"What kind of stranger comes bearing gift without cost?"
308Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡb1qUjEXYFl
"I never said my gifts come without cost."
308Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJAoFupRTq6
"I'll give you nothing, I have no money."
308Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIcb1Gwgipw
"It's not a matter of money dear girl. All I ask is when the time comes you let the ships with the tan sails into port, show their passengers kindness for they require aid."
308Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡphaUNbLP2T
"I can't agree to this, I don't have the power and I don't know you."
308Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuItBotPCpJ
"You're the successor are you not? The next Blessed Mother?"
308Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5pLQDMnqBF
"I am."
308Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwiDK7hiq2E
"Indeed you are, you may lack the power now, child, but soon enough, soon enough. Allow me to prove myself. Go you'll be late but consider what I've said"
308Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8BRv4Tgs2l
Evita left the room even more flustered than before. Her mind was racing with thoughts of betrayal, exile, and strangers.
308Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIF19L29HHR
I need to leave this place before it corrupts me.
ns13.58.192.154da2
