“This is old man Rak,” Lapis pointed at the creased man toasting under the late morning’s sun rays. “He is a competent bone setter.”

Considering how the man was a pile of bones in a skin bag, he could believe it. But he was wondering about other things at the moment. “How long is this market trip going to be?”

The girl stopped for a moment. “As long as it should, naturally!”

Theos slumped, the pot in his hands was getting heavier the longer he held it. If he did this for an extra hour, he would feel like he was carrying a mountain, he suspected. “Are there many things that you need?” he looked at the stall where she stopped. It was selling block imprinted fabrics of different types and dyes. The dyes themselves were sold, demonstrating their vibrant colors in powder form inside small wooden bowls.

“I’m just browsing,” she said, that soft smile rarely leaving her face, “and enjoying the company,” she added.

“Oh,” he tried his best to not flush, despite it being out of his control. “The company is quite delightful today,” he tried and got no reaction. Why did he have to act so dumb, right now?

“So, Theos of the outposts,” she grabbed a piece of fabric and unfolded it in front of her to check the square flowery patterns. “What brings you to this fine city?”

“The temple,” he said, standing by her side and checking the fabric too.

“You don't look like a pilgrim,” she looked at him with raised eyebrows, “and you aren't waiting in the line, so you are not here because of the Astral.”

He watched her as his hand went to cover the black lines near his neck. He would die before he would let her see that. She will flee like he had the plague or something, and Theos didn't want to leave her side, for now.

She was staring into his eyes, he noticed, so he looked away.

“I don't know much about this Astral business, he cleared his throat, or Dion, if I am being honest.”

“You don't believe in the goddess?” Lapis gasped, covering her mouth with her hand while still holding the fabric.

Stupid, stupid, he thought. “No, I mean… I… uuh,” he stuttered. Why did he have to say that, he knew better than to provoke the people of Shinar about their goddess. “Look, I just didn't mean anything bad about, I mean…”

“Okay, stop,” she held her hands out, “relax, I was messing with you, that's all.”

“Oh,” was all he could say in response.

“A lot of people visit Shinar,” she said as she picked another fabric, this one had triangular embroidery at the edges.”A lot of those people worship different gods, so there is no need to feel weird about it.”

He supposed that is true. “Do you believe in Dion, then?” He asked.

“You could say that,” she put down the fabric and moved to another stall. This one was selling different trinkets, cheap by the look of them. He placed the pot with a groan on the counter.

“My people,” Theos told her, “they worship Amu.”

“The ancient god?” She said absentmindedly, “first time I ever hear of anyone that is still worshiping the god of origins.”

He had heard Moswen call it with that epithet before so he was no stranger to it.

“As long as you don't worship the dark spirit, no one here will care,”

His eyes widened at the mention of that name, he remembered Akh-Ba, and what Heras said about being executed. “Only Amu,” he shook his head as she turned to look at him.

He decided to look at the crafts instead of digging himself deeper. Hand carved wooden amulets and bone talismans, engraved rocks, and pierced shells.

“Excuse me?” she called the man who was busy haggling with another customer.

“Yes one moment my lady, he said before continuing with the other guy, “no, no, six coppers a piece or we are done, fine go get it at Jaswan and see how much he takes.”

The men argued until he was in front of Lapis. “Sorry my lady, you know how customers are, what can I get you?”

“I know,” she replied before pointing towards a charm that hung off a wooden nail. It was a capsule shaped bone with writing that went around the edges, its center had a tiny empty socket. The man rushed to give it to her before returning to the other customer.

Theos wondered if the merchant was just sure that Lapis looked like someone who wouldn't run with this thing or something because he felt comfortable enough not looking in their direction twice after handing her the charm.

“What do you think?” Lapis showed him the charm.

“I think if we run right now, that man would learn a valuable lesson that will only cost him this thing,” Theos grinned.

“So horrible,” she shook her head, “are everyone from the outposts hooligans like you?”

Theos thought about it for a moment before answering, “yes.”

The higher in ranking they were, the worse they became. Who else would make a man pay for an arrow?

“Terrible,” she laughed, and it was the most beautiful serenade Theos had ever heard.

“What does it say?” He leaned in, trying to see the symbols.

“A charm of protection,” she said, moving her fingers on the symbols, “wards evil and spirits unkind.”

“I needed something like this a few days ago,” he grumbled

“Oh?” She looked at him.

“Just some bad encounters with creatures in the outpost,” he chuckled. “Nothing big.”

She frowned as she scanned him with her eyes. “I see,” she eventually said. “Well, I know my next destination!” She turned with a spring to her step.

“Wait up,” he grumbled as he grabbed the pot again before chasing her. It wasn’t hard to find her through the crowd. It wasn’t as crowded as it was in the early morning when he arrived, perhaps due to the temperature rising this close to noon. He did not need to add how her bright blue robes stood out in the tan, brown, and white clothed crowd. She did move through them swiftly, though, and that made chasing her while keeping the flower safe at the same time harder for him.

He grunted as he hit someone with his shoulder, and rotated his body so the pot was pointed away. “Sorry,” he mumbled to the man and tried to keep up again.

She finally stopped at a shop. Unlike the stalls, those offered better services, they were more expensive, too. They were also built out of stones, so they were rather permanent, unlike the stalls that could be folded, dismantled, and then carried away. The shop had a name carved into the stones, one he could not read.

“-yes, that one,” Lapis pointed to something under the glass counter. “Same size, if you please.”

“You are quite fast for a girl in robes,” Theos huffed as he placed the pot down again, the plant was still safe and his mission in guarding it was still ongoing.

“And you are quite slow, for a boy in a tunic and trousers,” she wagged her eyebrows.

“And an overpriced flower!” he added triumphantly.

“And here I thought you understood,” she shook her head, still smiling.

“And I really do, in a manner of speaking,” he approached, looking at the counters. “Oh wow.”

“Beautiful, aren’t they?” she caressed the glass.

“So that’s where all the gems those guys dig out end,” he grumbled looking at the collection of polished gemstones and the golden and silver jewelry encrusted with them. “What are you doing here?”

“Preparing a gift,” she said, looking at a deep blue rock. He joined, looking at it. “Beautiful, isn’t it?”

“Hm,” he wondered. “Expensive, I guess.”

“Depends on the type,” she said, her finger making circles on the pane above the stone. “Some are better, more pure, more expensive.”

“What is it?” Theos asked. He wouldn’t know one gem from another, even if he found it in the palm of his hand.

The author's tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

“Lapis,” she smiled. “My namesake of a gemstone.”

“It's not that pretty,” he put his elbows on the counter and turned his face towards her. “The real thing is so much better.”

“Sir mine knight Theos,” she looked at him, the smile gone. “Are you trying to flirt with me?”

He hummed. “Only if it is working,” he decided, “if it isn’t, then consider it for what it is.”

“And what is that?” she squinted.

“The truth,” he grinned, proud of coming with that line.

She blinked, taken aback, her expression not readable.

“My lady,” the man interrupted them. “Do you, uhhh-” he pointed with his eyes towards him. “Need assistance?”

“No, he is with me,” she waved him off, before squinting in his direction again, “for now.”

“Alright, I’m sorry,” Theos grumbled. “Sorry for telling the truth.”

She laughed.

“Both charms are ready, my lady,” the man said, eyes still on Theos. He handed her the bone charm, and another one, gold, with blue stones – The lapis gemstones – all around it. “Are you sure about the bone one, my lady? I have a pearl opal that would be much better suited to that craft.”

“The agate is fine,” she grabbed them both and turned to look at Theos “I have a good eye.”

“That you do, my lady,” the man bowed and left.

“Okay,” Theos picked the pot before she stormed again, “you have to tell me why everyone just let you take things like that, and the whole thing with this ‘my lady’ business.”

“I lived here all my life,” she began moving. “I know almost everyone at this market, and they know me.”

“Uh huh,” he followed, grateful that she was moving slower.

“I was born on the day the goddess descended here,” she walked around a fountain, her fingers dancing playfully under the water. “Being born on the night and the location the goddess of Shinar manifested, it makes people warm up to you, I think,” she chuckled.

“I don’t know when I was born, or where,” Theos followed, he tried to dodge the water drops she flung into his face with little success. “A man who I called my grandfather picked me up somewhere, raised me in his tribe and I remained there until I was old enough for them to kick me out.”

Lapis turned, she was still walking backward toward her destination. “The worshippers of Amu?”

“Yes,” he nodded, “then I went off, traveled from place to place, and worked many jobs,” he looked to the sky as he remembered. “I’ve herded citars, and I still loathe them to this very day because of it. I’ve guarded caravans as they moved through the desert and learned how to do it too. I tried my luck as a bandit, too, once.”

“You didn’t,” Lapis gasped.

“I did!” he laughed, “it didn’t work out, but it made me meet someone, a friend, who offered to take me with him to the outposts, where I have been working for a while now.”

Lapis hummed as she twirled and turned around.

“They call me the Bastard, in the outpost, and it makes people warm up to me, as well.”

“I am not sure whether I should laugh or feel sad,” she said.

“Neither, I guess,” he thought. It was just a story, neither sad nor happy, plenty of stories like his in these deserts. “My lady,” he decided to add.

“And here I thought we were getting along,” she said.

“Oh?” Theos smiled. “Missing the flirting, already?”

“You are horrible at this,” she shook her head as she finally led them back to the main road before moving towards the temple. The place was not crowded anymore.

“At chasing girls around and carrying their potted flowers?” Theos grunted. “Do you live far?”

“Just over there,” she pointed at the temple.

“You live in the temple district?” he whistled, “I didn’t know you were a lady lady.”

“I am not,” she said with offense. “Do I give that vibe to you?”

“No,” he admitted. “Do you think I can visit the temple now that every one that came to pay respect to the Astral left?”

“The temple is closed at noon,” she said with amusement.

“What?” he huffed. “I need to go healed soo- uhh.”

“I know,” she said.

“You know what?” he frowned.

“You want to get your tainted wounds healed, right?” she turned, still smiling that serene smile.

“Uh,” he didn’t recall telling her about that. “How did you know?”

“I’ve got an eye for those sorts of things,” she repeated the line from before. “Plus, the black veins are showing on your neck and arm.”

He looked down, checking the arms he used to carry the pot with. A thread of black coming from under the tunic’s sleeves and extending into his forearms. “Yeah,” he grumbled. “Didn’t want you to see that if we are being truthful.”

“Embarrassed about having a wound from a vicious creature? Never seen a man do that one before,” she rolled her eyes. “Does it hurt?”

“Not really,” he said, “didn’t want you to see something so disgusting, you know,” especially with how they randomly decided to pulsate, he didn’t add. “Got them from a shade – that’s what we call those shadow creatures living in the mines, horrible things, big sharp angles, and can cut you with their limbs. Was quite…”

“Exciting?”

“Horrifying,” he said, “very. I thought I was going to die a few times there, don’t know how I managed to survive,” he laughed. “Oh and that giant bat thing, that was scary too.”

“Uh huh,” she said, amused.

“Oh, and that one time, there was a master – that’s the one that keeps reviving ghouls – and we had to chase it around the mountain as it kept finding bodies to revive, and-” he paused as they were getting closer to the Star Temple, he didn’t get this close to the building before. It looked impressive from far away, but this close to it?

It was almost intimidating.

“Woah,” he let out.

“Breathtaking, isn’t it?” she tapped him on the shoulder.

It was, he thought. Looking at it from a distance did not give one the true measure of its size. And it kept getting larger as they moved closer.

“Okay,” her voice changed to a whisper, “don’t panic.”

“Why would I panic?” he frowned.

“Just stay quiet and follow me, don’t look nervous or anything, and walk behind me,” she straightened, palms held together in front of her as she walked in front of him.

He shrugged and followed, it was what he had been doing for a while now anyway. It took a bit of walking before he understood the reason. The temple guards were moving in groups of five or more around the place. Even outside the walls that surrounded the temple in a closed arc. A group that was marching towards an alley switched direction and made for them, and it did make him feel nervous as the heavily armored people, armed in bronze armaments – a spear in hand, a shield in another, and a sheathed long khopesh – stopped in front of them.

“I do not wish for an escort group,” Lapis said, not stopping for a moment and still walking in a straight line. “Make way.”

“You have brought an outsider, my lady,” the man at the front turned and walked by her side while the others surrounded him as he followed. “We cannot just let him walk inside.”

“This ‘outsider’ assisted me,” she said in a flat tone. “And he brought a much wanted offering for the goddess.”

A much wanted offering? Theos blinked as he looked at the flower. He quickly looked up as he felt the other guards close around him. “Uhh.”

“Yes, outsider?” the man next to him said in a stern tone, scorn radiating out of his eyes.

“Careful with the flower?” he said.

“I doubt the goddess will give you her blessings for a flower,” he dismissed.

“Who are you,” Lapis said in a loud voice, not turning but stopping and making the group stop. Another group that was nearby stopped and watched them. Theos hoped they wouldn’t come over as well. “To presume, to know, what the goddess would or wouldn’t accept?”

The man bowed so quickly. “I spoke of what I don’t know, please forgive me,” he said in a practiced manner.

Lapis spared a glance, and it looked fierce, Theos thought before she continued to move. They continued to move in silence until they reached the large gates that led to the stairs. “That’s a lot of stairs,” Theos broke the silence.

And there were a lot of stairs. Hundreds? Thousands? Going up through the center part of the ziggurat breaking up near the top of the structure and splitting into two sets that headed sideways, going inside the temple.

“Return to your duties,” Lapis told the man next to her.

“My lady-”

“Follow me,” she turned to Theos, not a hint of that gentle smile on her face, or eyes. He was blocked by two of the guards as he stepped forward.

“We cannot allow that, my lady,” the man told her.

“Yes, you can’t,” she moved closer to the man, and for someone that was at least two heads shorter, needing to look up to look into the man’s eyes. “You are insignificant. You should not step into what you cannot fathom. He will follow me into the temple and that if the last thing I hear is not agreement…”

The man stopped arguing and nodded, “very well, my lady. We shall return to our duties, then.”

“Come along,” she told Theos, who just stood there watching the strange interaction.

“Don’t dally, boy,” the man walked past him and the others followed in a trained manner.

Theos followed, the guards at the gate did not move to stop him, he assumed it was because they didn’t want the same thing to happen to them. “Well,” he said as he followed closely behind Lapis, “that was… something.”

“They are always like this,” she said in frustration, “following me around, chasing me, preventing me from doing things.”

“So you are not a noble,” Theos teased, “but you are allowed into the temple, and have a bunch of these zealot guards chasing you around,” Theos felt his breaths catching up as they moved up the stairs, his words coming out laboriously. “Are you a priestess, by any chance?”

That made her stop for a moment, she spared him a glance that hinted at the mischievous behavior from before, when they were at the market. “You could say that.”

“I could say a lot of things, apparently,” he huffed as they resumed walking. She did not want to say, and he could respect that. “What are these carvings supposed to be?” he said as he watched his surroundings. The stairs were fenced inside sloping stones, carved on the top and sides with more symbols.

“Some are knowledge, like star charters, building schematics,” she pointed at the stones as they passed by, “history, prophecies…”

“Prophecies?” Theos watched the stone, a full moon with a crescent carved out of it. “Like in the future?”

“They are visions that the Astrals had as they became Astrals,” she said. “The goddess shows them the future, the danger, and what they are supposed to do.”

“She should have told the last one about being poisoned,” Theos mumbled, “don’t suppose that’s in the stones.”

If Lapis heard him, she did not react. They continued up, towards where the stairs split, turned right, and went into the building. The surroundings didn’t change much, smoothed stones, engraved symbols, and some arches here and there. The first room had many rock benches, for the visitors of the temple, then the guards allowed them to go to a corridor, then another room, another corridor, another room. If he had to leave on his own now, he wouldn’t find his way without help, he suspected.

“Where are we going?” he asked.

“To get you fixed, silly,” she said with humor in her voice. “In here,” she added as she went into the room. He followed into the room, larger than others, a huge circular diagram etched in the center, with carved pathways that allowed the water that came out of a fountain in the wall to move before falling into small grates at the side. The center of the diagram was a rusty red, nearly black.

“What is this place?” he asked as they approached the center.

“Welcome,” she said as she turned around, “to the sacrificial pit!”