12

“Welcome, priestess. Have you found the help you seek?”

Lyra didn’t respond right away. She still felt raw and betrayed from the trickery, but being able to talk with Kel and his family had... helped. It hadn’t made her any more inclined to trust Towr, but she was finally beginning to understand the true scope of just how different things were here. At least she wasn’t quite as terrified of the god as she had been this morning.

“I don’t know yet,” she said after a second. She wasn’t sure whether she wanted to tell Towr that she was leaving. Hadn’t this grey woman expressed a desire for her to stay? While Cora didn’t seem to think Towr would shut her in again, she didn’t want to chance it. She also knew she couldn’t just go down into that basement chamber and pretend nothing was wrong. “Do you even realize what you took from me?”

“I am not sure what you’re speaking of, priestess.”

“You took my language,” Lyra snapped. “I can’t remember my own mother’s name. Hold on… Why can I remember my name?”

“Your name is your own, priestess. I cannot take it.”

That didn't really answer her question, but whatever. “Are you even sorry? Don’t you understand that wasn’t what I meant when I said I would teach you English in exchange for you teaching me Moldaran?”

“Your prayers would not be answered without a sacrifice, Priestess, or many long years of worship.”

Lyra gritted her teeth. She was angry, but she had to keep her temper in check. She remembered the sheer terror of Towr slamming the heavy stone door shut the night before. Kel had been the one who angered her then. She didn’t know what it would be like if she was the target of the grey woman’s anger.

“It was not my intent to displease you, priestess,” the god offered after a moment. “Long years have passed since my temple was tended to by one of your kind. I desire only that you think kindly of me and wish to stay.”

Lyra sighed, closing her eyes and feeling some of the tension seep out of her. It was... almost an apology. It was probably the best she was going to get. She still felt the deep loss of what had been taken from her, and she didn’t think she would ever truly forgive Towr, but she was beginning to realize Cora was right. Towr probably hadn’t had any malicious intent behind what she did. She just... didn’t understand.

“What if I want to learn my language again? Can you give it back to me?”

“With the right offering, priestess, I would be glad to.”

She didn’t know if that meant she could trade her knowledge of Moldaran for her old language, but she thought not. Towr had been so interested in her language because she had never come across it before. She would probably need something equally as new and, for lack of a better word, valuable, to regain what she had lost.

She wasn’t about to go down that rabbit hole right now.

The sense of urgency that had driven her for the past day had faded somewhat. It was clear now that answers as to why she was here, let alone how she was going to get back, were not something she was going to find easily. She had a plan, at least, and she couldn’t do anything to speed up their trip to the city, so as much as she hated the thought, she was resigned to being stuck in this world for at least the next few weeks.

That left her with an odd sense of… boredom. She would rejoin Cora and her family for dinner, but that was hours from now. What was she supposed to do between now and then? Cora had suggested that she explore the town, and she should probably get ready for the journey to Heliotheopoli, but neither of those things would take her very long.

She decided to get her things together and figure out what she wanted to take and leave. Giving Towr a wide berth, she crossed the temple and opened the door to the basement chamber. The candle was still burning, something that would have been a fire hazard at home. Considering the solid stone that the temple was built out of, she didn’t think it was much of a danger here.

After examining the few items she had been lucky enough to bring with her and adding the orange and the carton of milk to the pile, it was clear that she didn’t have very much. Most of what she did have was all but useless.

Her rain jacket, for example, might be useful for keeping the rain off, but between the material and the bright color, it stood out in this world like a sore thumb. Cora had been fascinated with it yesterday, and Lyra didn’t want to get that reaction wherever she went.

Reluctantly, she set it in the “leave behind” pile along with her rain boots. They weren’t comfortable to walk long distances in, and she didn’t want to carry them. Her jeans, shirt, and socks she decided to take with her. She could take them down to the river and rinse them today, so they would be dry and somewhat clean by tomorrow.

The bread would probably keep for another couple of days, so that went in the “take” pile, along with the box of cheesy pasta. She wasn’t sure what to do with the canned tuna, since she didn’t have a tool to open it, but it was food that wouldn’t spoil, so she put it in the “take” pile as well, along with the orange. The milk was garbage; she didn’t even want to risk opening it. She put that to the side, figuring she could chuck it into one of the outhouses Kel had mentioned if she couldn’t find anywhere else to put it. It didn’t seem right to just throw it into the woods somewhere. She didn’t want one of her first actions in this new world to be littering.

That left her keys, everything in her wallet, and the device that lit up which she no longer had a word for. She decided to bring all those with her, knowing that while they were useless here, she would want them when she got home.

And she was going to get home.

Her “take” pile wasn’t much. Cora seemed to think Kel and Gidal would be able to collect donations of supplies from the people who lived in the village, but she didn’t want to rely on that if she didn’t have to. She walked over to the armoire and opened the doors, looking at the contents inside.

Towr had said she was welcome to everything in this room. She wasn’t sure if that meant she was welcome to take it or just to use it while she was here, but she could ask before she left tomorrow.

She was pretty sure the different tunic colors had different meanings, and she didn’t want to wear them if she didn’t understand the symbolism, so she ignored them for now, but she took the remaining trousers and shirts out of the armoire and brought them over to her “take” pile. Then she added the pairs of underwear and the chest wraps. She wasn’t sure how the latter worked, but she was sure she could figure it out if she got desperate enough.

She added the thick wool socks to her pile as well, just in case the weather got colder. That was everything from the armoire, and the shelves didn’t seem to have much of use on them. It was all cleaning supplies and what seemed to be essentially medieval office supplies.

This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.

Her eyes drifted to the crypt door and narrowed. After removing the bar across the door, she fetched the candle from the desk and stepped into the damp stone room. The piles of coins glinted temptingly at her.

She was keenly aware of the fact that she had absolutely no money. She didn’t even have coins from her home — she never bothered carrying them. Cora and Kel didn’t seem too concerned about how destitute she was, but this was going to be a journey of weeks. She didn’t want to be completely reliant on a strange man the entire time.

She touched the small pile of bronze coins, then snatched her hand away. She was already in enough trouble. Stealing from a temple was probably a bad idea. Towr had made it clear that unlike the items in the bedchamber, the items in the crypt weren’t free for the taking.

After closing the crypt door and returning the candle to its original spot on the desk, she looked at her pitiful pile of supplies for the journey. It was simultaneously too small and too large, considering she had no way to carry any of it.

Short of trying to make a satchel out of one of the bedsheets, there didn’t seem to be much else she could take from the temple. She didn’t want to spend the next few hours waiting in this gloomy, windowless chamber, so she grabbed the clothing she wanted to wash and went back up the stairs, returning to the main temple area. Towr was still there but didn’t say anything as she walked past and stepped outside.

Cora had suggested she explore the village and introduce herself to the locals to convince them she wasn’t an evil omen or whatever it was they believed she was. Lyra considered herself to be a social person, but making friends at a new job was miles different from introducing herself to strangers in an entirely new world with a new culture and a language she hadn’t spoken a word of until yesterday.

There was no way in hell she was going to walk up to strangers and introduce herself out of the blue. At least her clothing gave her a purpose. She remembered the route she and Kel had taken to the river earlier and set off toward the path that led out of town. Unlike the eerie quiet of last night, the town was lively. People were going about their business, walking down the road or chatting outside houses, but they all gave her a respectful berth. She felt their stares on her, and although many were wary, none were outright hostile.

A part of her wondered how different things would be if she wasn’t wearing her green tunic, but she wasn’t curious enough to take it off and find out.

A few of the people working in the fields waved to her as she walked by, and she waved back. The day’s heat was in full swing, and she was sweating by the time she reached the tree line. The shade the old forest offered was a welcome relief.

She passed a mother with two young children on their way back from the river, but the woman brought her children close and kept her eyes averted as she passed Lyra. She was surprised by how much it stung. She wasn’t used to being treated like she was dangerous, and she didn’t like the way it felt.

The sight of the clear, cold river bolstered her mood a little. Now that she wasn’t quite so dehydrated, she hesitated before drinking from the river again. In the end, she decided that if it wasn’t safe, well, she already had the water in her system and a little more probably wouldn’t hurt. She still didn’t trust the water in Towr’s temple. It hadn’t escaped her attention that all of the villagers seemed to use the river for water instead of the overflowing basin in the temple, and they must have had a good reason to make the longer walk every day.

After drinking, she knelt on the riverbank and scrubbed her clothes as best she could without any soap. She was in the middle of wringing her shirt out when she heard someone else approaching on the path behind her and looked over her shoulder to see the woman who had tried to help her last night walking down the slope to the bank with two empty wooden buckets, one in each hand.

The woman, Marid, paused when she spotted Lyra. The two of them stared at each other for a second, then Marid gave her a tentative smile.

“Hello. I saw you talking with Kel earlier. Can you understand what I’m saying?” She spoke slowly, like Lyra might if she were talking to someone with a limited understanding of her language.

“I can understand you just fine,” Lyra said, rising to her feet with her wet clothes in her arms. “I, uh, made a deal at the temple. I can speak Moldaran now. I’m glad you’re here. I wanted to say thank you for trying to help me last night.”

Marid’s face lit up. “Of course, dear. We so rarely get wandering clergy here in Kyokami. I can’t even imagine how far you must have come from, not to even speak our language. I’m sorry you had such a rough start of things here. Kel has a good heart, but he is not the most welcoming person to face. I told him he was going to scare you away, but I’m glad he didn’t manage it. Your name is Lyra, right, dear?”

“That’s right. Do you need help?” She nodded at the empty buckets.

Marid’s eyes widened slightly. “Oh, I couldn’t ask a priestess to help me carry water.”

“You helped me last night when you didn’t have to. I feel like I owe you. Please, let me help you with the buckets.”

The older woman reluctantly handed one of the wooden buckets over to Lyra, who filled it to the brim at the river while Marid filled the other one. A full bucket of water turned out to be a lot heavier than she had expected, and she had to toss her wet clothing over her shoulder so she could use both hands to carry the bucket by its handle. Marid gave her a doubtful look as some of the water sloshed over the sides but didn’t say anything, and Lyra was too embarrassed to take back her offer now, even though Marid didn’t seem to have any problem carrying her own bucket with just one hand.

“I hope you don’t mind me asking, but will you be staying for long, priestess?” she asked as they started back up the bank together.

“No,” Lyra said, already panting with the effort of carrying the bucket. “I’m leaving tomorrow. Kel is going to escort me to Helio…” Her tongue stumbled over the long word. “To the city.”

“A shame, though I suppose I can’t blame you for not wanting to stay in our tiny village.”

“Have you known him long?” Lyra asked. “Kel, I mean.”

He might be her only option, but that didn’t mean she wasn’t a little nervous about going on such a long trip in an unfamiliar area with a complete stranger. She had already made a bad decision once when she trusted Towr and knew the consequences could be even worse if she misjudged Kel while they were out in the wilderness alone.

“Oh, since he was a little baby. I’ve lived in Kyokami my whole life. I remember when he and his sisters used to run around the village, causing havoc and getting into trouble. It really is a shame what happened to his younger sister, but it was her choice to leave the village. She knew the dangers and decided that the safety her position as a temple priestess offered wasn’t enough reason to stay. I know he will do his best to keep you safe on your trip, priestess.”

That was reassuring, though Lyra was starting to get more and more curious about his younger sister. It seemed like a sensitive topic, and she wasn’t sure if it would be right to ask, to pry into his life when he was already doing so much for her.

At the top of the slope that led down to the riverbank, she had to pause to catch her breath. Marid waited graciously until she was ready to set out again.

“Is there a reason no one drinks the water in the temple?” she asked, remembering her earlier thoughts on the matter. “Is there something wrong with it?”

“No, it’s pure and clean, far more so than the river, I’m sure. It’s simply tradition that the water is reserved for clergy. Perhaps it’s different where you’re from, but here, we believe it is disrespectful to take from the well without need. We make do with the river, though in our worst seasons of drought we’ve had to resort to the temple well until the rains came. We always make sure to give the god our thanks when we do need to take from the well.”

Maybe she had been overreacting when she refused to drink from the basin in the temple, but she still wasn’t sure if she wanted to take the risk. She had read plenty of stories where taking food or drink from a supernatural being meant trouble, and she was in enough of that as it was.

Marid was patient, both with Lyra’s questions and with her slow pace as they walked back toward town. By the time they reached the main road, Lyra decided she quite liked the other woman. That feeling was only solidified after they passed by the elderly washerwoman, who made that odd sign again, touching a fist to her forehead then raising her hand to the sky and opening it, and Marid called out, “The Great God hasn’t smited her yet, Zarad, but if you keep it up, he might smite you!”

“I think I frightened her yesterday,” Lyra admitted quietly as they passed the temple, and drew nearer to Marid’s house. “She saw me appear out of nowhere on the road.”

“Nonsense, she’s just a miserable old bat. Would you like to come in, dear? You can hang your clothing over the fence if you’d like. It should dry in no time at all in this weather. I have some cold tea, if you’d like to sit and talk for a while.”

Lyra accepted the offer immediately. Marid was good company and didn’t seem to mind answering her questions. The more she learned about this new world before she and Kel set out for the city, the better.