‘How does it feel?’

‘It’s amazing! Keep going!’

‘How is this?’

‘Oh, by Luna! Yes!’ 

Linea let a moan escape her lips.

‘I never felt this relaxed before!’ she said.

‘Told you!’ Sarah answered with a smirk.

Linea laid face down on her bed while giving Sarah control. Sarah was using her telekinesis to massage their body just as she was used to in her previous life. In the last days, they had spent most of their time in the library to bring Sarah up to date on Elven politics.

The telekinetic massage was a good training for Sarah to get comfortable in the new body and the use of her powers with it. After realizing that the body structure of a psion had a strong influence on how the Psy-Energy moved through it, Sarah had requested more time for training her skills. Linea had still been a little apprehensive about not being in control, but after Sarah had given their body the first telekinetic message, she was all for it.

‘It’s so much better if you can do it yourself, because you know where you need it. And you can reach points, that you can’t reach yourself otherwise,’ Sarah explained and massaged her back right between the shoulder blades. ‘That’s useful not only for massages. If you know what I mean.’

Sarah just send a wave of lust to Linea, which immediately blushed.

‘Sarah!’ she said. ‘I… I never…’

‘Wait!’ Sarah interjected. ‘Don’t tell me, you have never done it yourself before?’

Linea’s face grew even more violet, and she decided not to dignify that with an answer.

‘Okay, you need to tell me,’ Sarah pressed on. ‘Is this one of those societies, where you can only have sex when you’re married? And only with your spouse?’

‘No,’ Linea answered after a few moments. ‘It’s not like that. Lifelong monogamy is not prevalent in Elven society. But it is necessary for the nobility because it’s part of our diplomacy. Marriage is one of the most used methods for forging alliances. I’m expected to marry the Crown Prince of Tali’sindra most likely. But I’m still too young for my mother to open such discussion officially. The official courtship age starts at sixteen.’

‘Are you telling me we won’t be able to decide, who we want to be with?’ Sarah asked in shock.

‘Well, I’m not sure anymore,’ Linea admitted. ‘The blessing gives me more importance to the country, but I don’t know how much my mother will care about that. At the very least, she can’t just marry me off, if I can invoke the goddess’ authority. I will need to ask her if I can do that.’

‘Well, I’ve got a few questions for her as well before we talk to your family about this whole blessing-thing,’ Sarah agreed. ‘And High Priestess Nasinia wanted to talk to us anyway. I suggest we make a trip to the temple tonight.’

‘Sounds good,’ Linea agreed. ‘And we should make plans about getting a teacher for my magic.’

‘So much to do, so little time,’ Sarah groaned but with a mental smile.

Linea smiled as well and fished the bell from her nightstand after taking back control. A few moments after ringing it, a young Moon Elf with bright violet hair entered and made a curtsy.

“How may I be of service for you, My Lady?”

“Ah, Minara. Perfect, I need my prayer dress. The white one.” Linea said. “And tell the Captain of the Royal Guard - whoever is on duty - that I wish to visit the temple. They are to ready Minu with the sidesaddle and arrange an escort for me. I expect them to be set in thirty minutes.”

“Prayer dress, a visit to the temple, Minu’s sidesaddle, escort, thirty minutes,” Minara listed whispering, made a curtsy again and left the room.

‘She is so cute!’ Sarah noticed not for the first time. ‘Can we ask her on a date?’

‘On a what?’ Linea asked almost choking.

‘A date. Like eating together, dancing, having fun.’

‘I know what a date is!’ Linea yelped. ‘Why would we ask her on a date? She is a commoner! If I was to be seen with her…’

‘Ho? I didn’t expect you to be so hung up on the fact that she is commoner. I thought maybe that she is a woman would be more problematic,’ Sarah laughed.

‘Well… Yes, that as well. I can’t go out with a girl. That would be…’ Linea stopped trying to find the right word.

‘Intriguing?’

‘Yes!’ Linea agreed. ‘Wait! No! Wrong! It would be wrong!’

Sarah giggled uncontrollably.

Linea fell quiet and waited for Sarah to calm down.

‘Are you finished yet?’ she asked miffed.

‘Yes, I’m fine,’ Sarah answered after her laughing fit had died down.

After both hadn’t said a word in the following minutes, Linea suddenly asked, ‘Have you ever… did that… with a girl?’

‘I see, you’re curious after all,’ Sarah noted with a grin. ‘To be honest, yes, I had a fling or two with women. Nothing serious, just relieving sexual tension. But I can recommend it. Sex with another woman is quite different. For obvious and not so obvious reasons.’

‘I… I once dreamt about it. I thought I was weird.’

‘It’s not the most unusual thing where I come from, but to be honest, not everyone will understand it,’ Sarah tried to reassure Linea. ‘Don’t fret over it, though. You’re young and we’ve all the time in the world to find out what gets you going.’

Linea groaned loudly.

‘Do you always have to be so crass?’

‘I do like to be direct, so… yes.’

“My lady?” a voice sounded behind Linea and made her jump. Minara had returned, but Linea had been too distracted to notice. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to startle you!”

Linea wanted to scold her purely out of instinct, but pictures of her maid naked on the bed raced through her mind. She blushed again and turned away.

“It’s all right, just… put the dress on the bed, I’ll dress myself today,” Linea said to Minara

“Are you sure? I can help you with the…”

“No, it’s good. Make sure that my escort is ready.”

Minara nodded and left with another curtsy.

‘That was a nice picture, you imagined there,’ Sarah noted with a chuckle.

‘You saw that?’ Linea asked shocked.

‘Yes. It seems that our minds open up even more to each other,’ Sarah explained. ‘It feels nice to be so close to someone. I… I never had someone I could trust so much as you since my parents died.’

Taken aback by the sudden shift in Sarah’s mood, Linea just pulled Sarah into a mental hug.

----------------------------------------

The ride from the palace to the temple was awkward for Linea. On one hand, there was Sarah, who had been disconcertingly silent the whole ride, and on the other hand, wherever she went, people stared at her and the mark on her forehead. Occasionally, she even noticed people groveling before her on the street. As a princess she was used to reverence, but this was a different level.

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That the blessed princess was on the way to the temple seemed to animate many people to gather there. By the time Linea had made her way into the temple, a small crowd was already following her. Captain Evira, who had escorted her with four men, had already asked an acolyte to get the high priestess and had ordered one of her men to gather a troop from the city guard, as she expected even more people to come to the temple.

“It's a surprise to see you today, Your Grace.” High Priestess Nasinia greeted Linea with a bow.

“I apologize for disturbing your night work… again,” Linea said with a wry smile. “I feared if I were to announce my appearance today, it would draw too much attention.”

Both looked at the people, who tried to find a place in the rows of benches. Most of them didn’t even bother to hide their curiosity. 

“Well…”

“Your plan doesn’t seem to work well,” the High Priestess noticed with a chuckle.

“I guess not,” Linea admitted.

“As you are wearing a prayer’s clothing, I suspect you wish to pray to our goddess?” Nasinia noted with an inquisitive look.

“I do, but you asked me to visit you as well,” Linea said. “So, would you prefer to talk first? If we were to seclude ourselves to one of the private chambers, chances are that the crowd will get bored and leave.”

“I suspect not, but it is worth a try.”

Nasinia led Linea and her guards into the restricted parts of the temple where her office was located.

 “Captain, would you and your men be so kind to wait outside?” she asked and looked into Captain Evira’s troubled face. 

“Only because the High Priestess is trustworthy,” Evira noted and looked Linea deep into the eyes to make a point. “This will not become a routine.”

Evira was one of the queen’s most trusted guards and only she and her sister, who was the General of the Royal Guard, could get away with talking to a princess like this. After saving Linea’s live twice already, when she was younger, she had earned this right.

“Of course not,” Linea said and thanked Evira with a warm smile.

After the guards left the room, Nasinia pulled a bottle of wine from somewhere and filled two cups. The office was full to the brim with books, scrolls, parchments and tomes.

“I will just start with the most important part,” she said and put one cup in Linea’s hands. “Your blessing throws the great houses and many commoners into confusion. Most people only remember High Priestess Saria and her blessing ‘Healer of Mercy’, which allowed her to heal a disease that had spread in Luna’sindra two hundred years ago. She could even save those, who were deemed too ill to recover. It was a miracle. Now there is a young princess with a blessing and without such a clear threat. Why were you blessed? Why now? Are we in danger? Those are the questions that pop up left and right.”

Nasinia took a sip from the wine and observed Linea.

“I didn’t think about it like this,” Linea said and looked at the cup in her hand.

“And you don’t need to,” Nasinia said with a sigh. “If there was something the goddess wanted all of us to know, she would have spoken to me as her High Priestess. Whatever she told you, is only for you to know.”

“I don’t think my mother would agree with you, though.”

“Of course, she wouldn’t,” Nasinia said with a laugh. “It’s her job to be aware of everything that goes on. She is our protector and she should know about any threats. My suggestion would be to talk to her in all honesty. Tell her that there are specific topics, you can’t talk about. The name of your blessing ‘Guardian of Luna’sindra’ indicates a major threat and you need to tell the queen that there is something coming. Even if you don't go into detail about it.”

“I could do that,” Linea said, “but I have the feeling that my mother will not be satisfied with just that.”

“Perhaps not, but you need to be aware that the power structure between you and your mother has changed. As her daughter, you might have been obliged to comply with her wishes because of social norms, but now you are a chosen one. There have been only a dozen people like you in the past six hundred years. Your word carries weight even though you don’t realize it yet.”

‘But where in the social ladder does this put us?’ Sarah suddenly threw in.

Linea repeated the question to Nasinia.

“I’m not sure,” the high priestess admitted. “You’re still her daughter and the laws of Luna’sindra still apply to you. On the other hand, the goddess who created us has chosen you. Anything you say carries her authority. As long you don’t break the law, you could do anything you want. And not even your mother could punish you for it.”

‘Your mother knows this already,’ Sarah noted with a grim tone. ‘I wondered why she was so lenient with you. At first, I thought she has a soft spot for you, but this makes much more sense.’

‘Do you think I should be more aggressive towards her?’

‘No, I don’t think so. But you need to present yourself as powerful. We both know you can’t back it up now, but you will at some point. We don’t need to antagonize your mother, but we don’t need to bow to her either. I think the best course of action would be to request a formal but private meeting. Just the two of you…’

‘You mean the three of us?’ Linea said with an affectionate tone in her mental voice.

Sarah smiled for a short moment before switching back to her no-nonsense persona.

‘Yes, the three of us. But your mother doesn’t need to know that. I’m your secret weapon. I’m not so much of a secret weapon, if you tell everyone about me.’

‘Nora was an exception!’ Linea said and rolled her eyes.

“I see, you’re in deep thought, hm?” Nasinia interrupted them and fixated Linea.

“I’m sorry. You gave me a lot to think about.”

“No harm done,” Nasinia said and put her cup on the table. She moved to one of her many bookshelves and pulled at one of the books, which triggered some kind of mechanism. The clacking sounds of the machinery only subdued when one of the shelves moved to the side and revealed a small hidden vault. Nasinia opened it with a murmur and a snap of her fingers. She fished a leather-bound book from it and closed it again.

“This is the diary of High Priestess Saria. The last known Chosen One. I’ve read it and learned a lot not just about her, but also about our goddess and the machinations in the immortal realms. I have no clues on where exactly she got all this information from, but it is clear that you have a lot to learn and I couldn’t think of a better person to learn from.”

Linea accepted the book and carefully brushed over the leathery book cover.

“I’m honored,” Linea said. “I will return it as soon as I have read it.”

“Thank you, I would appreciate that,” Nasinia said with a small nod. “In addition to the book, I will have a priestesses train you in the art of healing. You are interested in that, aren’t you?”

“I am,” Linea nodded. “However, I need a magical training too. I don’t know if I can manage both at the same time.”

“That depends on your learning speed and your affinity for whatever magic you want to learn. Also, both kinds of magic are based on the same principles. If you learn one of them first, you can skip most of the basic stuff for the other one.”

‘Go with healing first,’ Sarah suggested. ‘No one will question it and with the basics we can learn magic by ourselves, if needed.’

Linea nodded mentally as she came to the same conclusion.

“The Academy already rejected me. It would ruffle a few too much feathers if I were to force them despite that,” she explained to Nasinia. “And leaving the country to study magic in Tali’sindranar would lure our people into a false sense of security. Therefore, I would be honored to receive a healer’s training by one of your priestesses.”

“You’re wiser than your mother gives you credit for,” Nasinia said with a  smile. “I’ll ask Aruna, if she would be willing. She seems to like you enough to provoke my anger, so I don’t think she’ll decline.”

“Is she in trouble, because of me?” Linea asked wide-eyed.

“Not really, no,” Nasinia reassured her. “I mean, she did go around my back with the ritual, which will result in a disciplinary punishment. She knew that before she helped you and that’s why she wasn’t surprised. But because you were blessed, I won’t be too harsh on her.”

Linea sighed in relief.

‘Let’s thank her properly. She went through a lot of trouble for you,‘ Sarah proposed.

‘That’s a good idea,’ Linea agreed. ‘And if she helps us with healing magic, we have even more reason to thank her. We could ask my sister if she knows of something we could give her.’

‘Sounds like a plan.’

“Now that we have established that, do you have any additional questions for me?” Nasinia asked.

“I can’t think of one right now, but would it be possible to talk to you like this again? I’m sure, I will have questions after reading this.”

Linea tapped on the diary in her hand.

“Of course. But make an appointment beforehand because I’m not always free to just drop what I am doing.”

“I will,” Linea said and blushed over the not so hidden criticism.

“All right, then let’s wrap this up,” Nasinia said and put down her cup of wine. “You wanted to pray? Let me escort you back and I will help you with the prayer. If the crowd is not gone yet, as I suspect, I will allow you to pray on the altar instead of the usual temple prayer.”

Outside the office Linea turned to Captain Evira.

“Could you keep this safe for me?” she asked and passed her the diary. “I brought no bag with me.”

“Of course, My Lady,” Captain Evira said. “Are we returning to the palace now?”

Linea rose an eyebrow and tugged at her prayer dress.

“I feared as much,” Evira said with a sigh. “The temple is bursting at the seams with people, who heard about you coming here. Even the city guard is overwhelmed.”

“I’ll handle that,” Nasinia said confidently.

Together with her guard, Linea followed Nasinia back into the main part of the temple, and just as Evira had told them, the main hall was overcrowded.

When the group entered, the whispers rose in volume and many people stood up to get a glimpse at Linea. Nasinia’s face grew dark as they walked to the altar. She motioned Linea to step on the altar and prepare for her prayer.

The whispers died down as soon as she raised a hand.

“I understand your curiosity, but I want to remind everyone that this is a sacred temple in honor of our goddess and not a circus. Behave yourself, or I will have you banned from the temple.”

Linea blocked out her surroundings and got down on both knees. She spread out her dress to form a circle around her. A prayer dress was a bit special as it was form fitting on the torso but loose from the waist down. If the space allowed it, the dress could be spread out to represent the full moon.

Linea bowed down until her head touched the dress on the floor before her and she stretched out her arms. She presented her palms to the goddess and began her prayer.

‘Oh Luna! Goddess of the Moon and Balance, Bringer of Tides, Mother of the Luna’sin, hear my prayer. Your Chosen One humbly asks for your wisdom. Speak to me, Divine One!’

After a few unsure moments of silence, a voice sounded in her mind.

‘I can hear you, child,’ Luna said and sounded amused.

‘Thank you, for granting me this audience.’

‘Sure thing, that’s what your blessing is for after all. Is Sarah here as well? I don’t actually know, if she has to pray for herself to hear me,’ the goddess asked curiously.

‘I can hear you,’ Sarah said chipper. ‘No reason for me to get so suppliant. How is it going, Luna?’

‘For the goddess’ sake, can you show more respect just for once?’ Linea asked with a groan.

Sarah and Luna both laughed at that.