Lilly, carried Gersius, Thayle, and High Priest Lengwin through the skies. They spent the day traveling to many of the small towns and villages that surrounded the city of Avashire. Most of towns received word of the dragon knights and their dragon, and people were watching the skies. They made sure to land away from people so they could dismount and approach the towns cautiously.
Often they were met by the local priests and usually with much fear and trembling. However, they always warmed up when Lilly began to speak to them. Lengwin introduced them as the dragons knights and went the extra step to introduce Lilly as Lady Lilly, the noble ice dragon. They hoped to show the priests who they were, and explain in person why they needed their support. The plan worked perfectly, and many of the temples that previously didn't want to get involved now pledged support. They all consented to disregard the Father Abbots orders and instead offer any women of Ulustrah peace and safety. Arrangements were made, and priests both of Astikar and Ulustrah promised to be on the move to Avashire soon.
As the day grew long, they agreed they had visited as many towns as they could. They would fly out again over the next few days and visit more. They made a quick stop at Avashire to return Lengwin to his temple. The tired man was grateful to be off Lilly’s back but vowed to meet them again in the morning.
When at last they returned to the estate there was a surprise waiting for them. A ringed wall of posts and blankets had been erected just outside the garden gate. This formed a circle large enough for Lilly to land inside. It was protected by Acolytes of Ulustrah who stood watch to prevent the townspeople from coming too close.
“What is that?” Lilly asked.
“They have made you a place to change in privacy,” Gersius said as they flew over.
She landed in the circle of blankets and waited for the wind she kicked up to stop blowing them about. When Gersius and Thayle were safely off her back, she changed inside her protective wall, and Thayle helped her dress. There were no gasps or snickers this time, and Gersius could feel her happiness over the bind.
The priests of Astikar saluted as they entered the gate and Kilgian met them just inside.
“I am sorry for the shoddy construction of your enclosure. I will soon improve it to something you can be sure will give you privacy,” the man said.
“You did this?” Gersius asked.
“Aye, I spend most of my days protecting young girls from admirers and ensuring their modesty. I saw the frustration on Lady Lilly's face earlier today. I wanted to try and give her the privacy she needed.”
Gersius clapped his shoulder and smiled at the man. “Your thoughtfulness is greatly appreciated.”
Kilgian nodded and continued. “I have made a request of the tent makers in the city. They are crafting you a tent with a removable roof that you can pack up and take with you. You will be able to set up a private space for her to change where ever you go.”
Gersius didn't know how to thank the man anymore. “I will remember you. If I live long enough to see the empire reborn, I will remember you Priest Kilgian.”
When they made it inside the guest house they were surprised to find the ground floor packed with baskets of bread, and casks of ale. On a table were wheels of cheese, and jars of jams. Bottles of wine stood on a second table. Over a chair were many garments of beautiful fabrics and colors. There were piles of coins and jewelry in places. But Lilly was drawn immediately to the wondrous flowers. An entire wall of the room was covered with flowers, and many of them looked like the same flower only in different colors.
“What is all this?” Lilly asked the priestess, who stood guard as they entered the room.
“Gifts, from the people,” the women replied. “They have been arriving all day.”
“These are gifts for us?” Lilly questioned as she walked to the flowers.
Gersius stood by her side as tears started to form in her eyes.
“Are you alright?” he asked.
“I didn’t know people could be so kind,” she said, wiping her eyes.
“I told you, Lilly, what you saw in Whiteford was unfortunate. Those people would have treated you just the same if the Father Abbot hadn’t lied to them about you.”
Lilly nodded she had understood and returned to looking at the wall of flowers.
“Why are so many of these flowers the same shape?”
Gersius smiled and scanned the mass of them. They came in every possible color, and combination but he found the one he wanted and plucked it out holding it out to her. It had six large petals that were a deep blue in color. They slowly faded to a vibrant sky blue in the middle, and its tips were frosted white.
“This, my love, is a lily,” he said, handing her the flower he named her after.
“This is a lily?” she asked him in a whisper.
“All of the flowers that have the same shape are lily's; they come in many different colors. The people must have wanted to give you the flowers you were named after.”
Lilly held the flower to her chest and started to cry, letting her tears run down her cheek.
Thayle arrived with a look of concern on her face. “I can feel her heart melting from across the room, what has happened?”
Lilly turned to look at her and held up her flower.
“Oh my, is that the flower you named her after?” she asked Gersius.
“It is,” he said with a gentle smile.
“It is the most beautiful lily I have ever seen. I wish I could get you to name me,” Thayle said with a smile.
Lilly wandered the room looking through the gifts and tasting some bread. Thayle helped her with many of the foods sampling them with delight.
Gersius excused himself and left the ladies to explore the room and went down the hall. He stopped the first acolyte he found and asked where he could find the man Lilly had accepted earlier. She directed him to a room at the end of the hall, and he went and knocked on the door.
The timid man opened the door and looked up at Gersius as his eyes went wide.
“Culver was it?” Gersius asked.
“Yes sir, my lord, umm...”
“My title is currently High Priest Gersius. Lilly should technically be called High Priestess Lilly, but you may call her priestess Lilly if she says so.”
“Yes sir, I mean High Priest Gersius,” the man stammered.
Gersius stared at the man a moment and smiled. “May I come in?”
“Oh, yes sir, I mean Yes High Priest Gersius,” he choked, out opening the door wider to let him in.
The room was a small cell with plastered walls painted a dull yellow. It had a single small bed with a stuffed mattress and thin pillow. There was a tiny round table and a stool that looked like it needed replacing. A small chest of drawers with only three small drawers was on one wall and on top of this was a small water basin. Near the ceiling was a familiar water ball of glowing light hovering in the air in the center of the tiny room.
“I suppose we will have to find a better way to begin our training for acolytes,” Gersius said as he entered the room and shut the door behind him.
The man moved as far back as the room would allow and with Gersius inside it with him, the room seemed very small indeed.
“We need to talk to you about what you want, and what you expect from following Balisha.”
“Yes sir,” he responded, and when he went to correct himself, Gersius put up a hand to stop him.
“Sir will be fine. It is much easier to say than High Priest.”
The man nodded and looked visibly nervous.
“To follow a divine is not something you enter into lightly. To attain any true power, you must learn how to attune your heart to your god, or in this case, Goddess. You must know in your heart this is what you want, and desire the connection with the divine.”
“Yes sir,” he said, not making eye contact.
“I will teach you how to open your heart, and Lilly will teach you how to attune it to Balisha. Once you make the connection, how far you go will be determined by your commitment to go there.” Gersius watched his movements, the lack of eye contact the nervous twitch. He was worried about something.
“Tell me, what did you do before you came here?” he asked the man.
Culver looked about and hesitated not wanting to answer the question right away.
“This isn't going to be a good start if you feel you need to hide things from me.”
“I was a farmhand. I worked with animals, pigs, and cows, mostly. Master Josh gave me a space in the barn to sleep and paid me in a meal a day. He worked me from sunup to sundown every day.”
Gersius nodded, Culver lived a hard life with nothing to show for it. He was hoping to change his lot.
“So why Balisha? Why not Astikar or Ulustrah, or Vellis? I think I even saw a temple to Youthan in the city.”
“I am not a fighter, so I couldn't go to Astikar. I tried them Ulustrah priests, but they always take girls first, and they are always full up. The priest of Vellis turned me down. They said I wasn't gentle of heart.”
“You have lived a hard life and probably harbor a lot of anger and frustration. They can sense that in the heart of a man. To be an effective healer, a man needs to be clear of such things,” Gersius said. “So you came here because nobody else would take you?”
“No sir, I was gonna leave, go south and try to start over. I heard they need people on the big farms in the plains to help feed the armies in the war.”
Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.
“Yes, the farms are very busy because of the war. I am sure they are looking for good people.”
“But then I saw you and the dragon, priestess Lilly.” He paused a moment and wet his lips. “I don’t know why. I just felt something, something right, something I wanted more than anything else. I had to try. I want to know what it is like to talk to a god, err Goddess. I want to know what it is like to have a purpose.”
Gersius nodded, the answer was simple, but it was good. He had desire, and that was enough.
“The road will be hard. Lilly and I will often be called away for long periods. I cannot promise you that this is going to be easy, but if you want to learn, I will teach you.”
“Yes, sir, I don't care how long it takes.”
“Good, you have made an impression on Lilly, and I now accept you. I will speak to the man who runs the grounds here. He will give you things to do when we are not around to work with you. We will also arrange for you to have some proper clothing and some materials to write with, err can you read or write?”
Culver looked down. “No sir,”
“I will arrange for you to be taught how to read and write as well then.”
“Thank you, sir,” Culver said, finally looking up at him.
“I expect you to treat the women here with the utmost respect. They are not here to be chased after. The master of the grounds will not hesitate to punish you if you step out of line with them.”
“I understand sir.”
“Good, now let me show you something I want you to practice every night before bed.”
Gersius showed the man how to kneel and breath in a rhythmic fashion to help clear his mind. He showed him various ways to hold his hand and techniques to focus on a single image or concept as he let his mind release.
Culver needed practice, but Gersius saw he was trying and was pleased with the boy’s commitment. He was about to excuse himself when a second knock on the door brought Lilly into the tight room.
“So here is where my husband is hiding,” she said as she squeezed into the tight space.
“I was doing as you requested. I am teaching our acolyte how to open his heart and mind to his new Goddess.”
Lilly looked around the space and frowned. “This is a tiny room.”
“It is meant for sleeping and mediation only. All the real work is done outside,” Gersius replied.
“We need a proper place to train in,” Lilly commented.
“We will need our own estate, Lilly. This space belongs to Ulustrah, and we can’t stay here. We will set up a proper place when we are in Calathen.”
“But what about the people we have now?” she asked.
“We have one acolyte; we do not need a large space yet.”
“But more will come. In the days ahead we could have dozens of acolytes,” she said.
Gersius pondered the problem. “This is all happening faster than I expected. I did not think we would have followers until after Calathen. I had not considered what to do with them now.”
“Is there nowhere here we can start?” Lilly asked.
“Here, in Avashire?”
“Yes, it isn't as large as Whiteford, but it is still a large city. There must be a space we can use? Something more suited to our needs?”
Gersius shook his head. “We are not going to stay here. We are going to Calathen, and that is going to be a long slow march around the mountains. We can not set up a temple here and then leave it for what might be years.”
Lilly understood the problem. She glanced over at Culver, who was staring at her in the most peculiar way.
“Gersius, why is he looking at me like that?” Lilly said across the binding link.
Gersius glanced over, and Culver suddenly looked away and stared at the floor.
“That look’s to be boyish lust,” he said silently.
“What does that mean?” Lilly replied.
“It means he is very young and you are a very beautiful woman. He is probably feeling some measure of attraction for you,” Gersius replied.
“But I am already married,” she said. “I don’t want his attraction.”
Gersius hid his smile and felt pride at her reaction. “Lilly, this is just young foolishness. If I thought it was anything more, I would put a stop to it myself. He has probably had very little contact with women, and never with one so radiant as you.”
He saw her smile, and he went on. “Just be careful not to say anything to him that might be construed as affection. He could take it the wrong way. You are his leader, not his friend. You can be kind to him, but you have to be firm as well.”
Lilly nodded as she put a hand to his chest and went back to a speaking voice. “We must think of some way to manage the people who will come before Calathen. It can only help our Goddess to grow her devoted sooner than later.”
“You are right, I will give it some thought, but let us talk about this in our rooms. I was just about to leave and go find you.”
“I want to speak with Culver a moment,” she said as he squeezed past her to the door. “I will be up in a minute.”
Gersius left the room and shut the door behind him. Lilly turned to face the man who was staring at her with a look of wonder in his eyes.
“First, I would like you to stop looking at me like that!” Lilly said firmly.
Culver's eyes went wide, and he turned his gaze to the floor where he was still kneeling.
“You are my first acolyte. I suppose that makes you special, but I want to be clear, my affections are not available. I have a husband and a wife, and that is the extent of my affection.”
“Yes, Priestess Lilly,” Culver said.
“Good, now I am sure you heard Gersius and I talking. We are not ready to train priests of Balisha, but we are going to try to figure out how to begin. You will have to accept some difficult circumstances for a bit.”
“I understand, Priestess Lilly,” he replied.
“Did he teach you how to meditate and open your heart?” Lilly asked.
“He showed me how, but I’m not very good at it.”
“You will be fine; a little practice is all you need.” She sat down on the edge of his bed. “Get off your knees before they get sore.”
He stood up and tried not to make eye contact.
“Culver, I have never trained anyone, so this is going to be a learning process for us both. I will be learning as much about teaching, as you will be about faith. Now, I want to tell you a story about men and dragons and the Goddess Balisha.
She spent the next hour telling him the story of the dragons and the dragon war. She told him about the battle between the two goddesses and the curse on dragon kind. When she finished telling him the basics and the history, she bid him a good night. She left him to his room and went looking for her loved ones.
“So, how is he?” Thayle asked when Lilly walked up the stairs. She arrived with yet another bread in her hands and a small jar of butter.
Thayle sat in her robe on the end of the bed, brushing her hair. Gersius was at the writing table to her right, penning something on some paper.
“He is a very timid man,” Lilly said, walking to the table to begin buttering her bread.
“He is an abused farmhand,” Gersius chimed in. “He is probably convinced we are going to throw him out. Nobody has ever given him much attention.”
“I had to ask him to stop looking at me like he was earlier,” Lilly said as she tore her bread open.
“How was he looking at you?” Thayle asked.
Lilly looked at Gersius to answer the question.
“I believe the boy finds Lilly’s beauty distracting,” Gersius said.
“That will complicate things,” Thayle said.
“The boy is young. His experience with women is probably very limited. It is natural to have such feelings, especially for women like you two,” Gersius added with a smile then returned to his work.
“We have a lot of trouble with men in our order,” Thayle said. “It is hard to train priests and priestesses to love but keep them from taking that too far, especially the younger ones.”
“Is that why there are no male acolytes here?” Gersius asked.
“Yes,” Thayle said with a nod. “They are sent off to neighboring temples, and the women come here.”
“I would have found it hard to be surrounded by lovely women all day while constantly being trained to express love,” Gersius said. “We do not have such problems in the order of Astikar.”
Thayle shot his a sideways glance. “That’s because you don’t accept women.”
“Exactly, it makes it much easier,” he said, not looking up from his letter.
Thayle huffed, and he smiled as he dabbed his pen in the ink well.
“I can read your thoughts,” he said. “You wonder why Astikar doesn’t take women.”
“Of course I do,” Thayle said. “There are plenty of women who can fight.”
“Astikar himself denies women entry to his order. I don’t think it has anything to do with their ability to fight. I think it is more of a mindset that says women shouldn’t have to fight.”
“We don’t live in a perfect world,” Thayle said. “Sooner or later everybody has to fight.”
Gersius picked up his letter and shook it in the air to dry it. “I do not make the rules. I see no reason why a woman couldn’t follow Astikar, but he forbids it,” he added with a shrug.
Thayle sighed and went back to brushing her hair.
Lilly nibbled on her bread and butter and leaned against the bookcase next to the table. She waited until they were done speaking before speaking up herself.
“I was thinking about this tent Kilgian was talking about. What is that exactly?” Lilly asked.
It was Thayle who answered her as she put her brush down. “A tent is a sort of temporary home you can easily disassemble and move. It shelters you in bad weather and provides shade in the bright sun.”
“How do they work?” Lilly asked.
“They work kind of like what you saw outside. You have some wooden poles and some rope. You anchor the poles to the ground and string the ropes between them. Then over the ropes, you have heavy fabrics to act as the walls and roof.”
“And you can take these tents with you?” she asked.
“You have to break them down every morning but that usually only takes ten minutes or so for a small tent,” Thayle replied.
“And this one Kilgian is having made for me will be larger?”
“I imagine it must be. It has to be big enough for you and your wingspan. Why are you suddenly so curious about tents?” Thayle asked.
“I am worried we will soon have more acolytes. Gersius told me it would not be right to start a temple now. We would barely have taught them anything before we had to leave to fight the wars. I thought maybe we could get a tent to teach them in. Then we could bring them with and train them as we travel.”
Gersius put his pen down and turned to look at her. “You thought of that all by yourself?”
“Kilgian said it had a roof that could be removed, and that we could take it with us when we left, so I thought it might work.”
“It's a very good idea,” Thayle said. “A few horses and wagons and you could bring enough tents for dozens of people.”
“It is a good idea, but it complicates logistics. I have to feed and care for all the people we take with us on the road,” Gersius pointed out.
“But we have the support of the city and the towns, not to mention the temples,” Lilly said.
“Yes, we have all that here. Once we start to move south, particularly around the mountains, we will find cities that have been well indoctrinated against us. The closer we get to Calathen the less help and support we can expect,” Gersius said.
Lilly pondered it some more. “I suppose this is why the dragon knight of old didn’t start working on the temple until after the war. He wanted a safe place to work from.”
“More than likely that was the case,” Gersius agreed.
Lilly looked up at him and had a thought. “Maybe that’s why he failed.”
“Why would that be why he failed?” Gersius asked.
“He was Balishas only source to spread her faith. All you had to do is kill him, and it was dead again. We are in the same position now; all anybody has to do is kill us. The longer we wait to start her faith, the more chance we have of failing. Once our enemies know we are trying, they will see the need to strike at us before we can begin.”
“Like they did to the original dragon knight,” Thayle said.
“We do not know that is why the dragon knight was killed,” Gersius pointed out.
“You don’t know it wasn’t,” Thayle added.
“I agree, we don’t know it wasn’t,” Lilly said. “We should make some effort to teach our faith to a select number of people who can learn quickly and have good hearts. That way if we fall, there is somebody to keep working on it.”
Gersius listened to her and could not refute her logic. “I will ask Kilgian where he is getting the tent. We will see if we can get enough to house a dozen acolytes and one larger tent to act as a worship hall and training room.”
“Thank you, Gersius,” Lilly said with a bounce.
He turned to look at her with serious eyes. “Lilly, listen to me,” he said firmly. “No more than twelve. I cannot have this detracting from the war effort. You have to pick twelve good people.”
Lilly understood what he meant, and she knew how to figure out who to pick.
“Thayle, can you help me select people to train,” Lilly asked.
“Of course. We will question them, and I will let you know if they are being honest or not.”
“Thank you,” Lilly replied and took another bite of her bread.
An hour later they settled in for the night. Lilly sat in Gersius's lap while Thayle sat in hers. Together they opened their hearts to the divine and shared in the sensation of the flow of power. Here in this moment of connection and peace, they were reminded of the lake and beauty of that day. Much had changed since then, and much more would change in the days ahead, but they all shared the desire to be back at that lake. Back at the place where the war seemed far away, and all that mattered was the love they shared.