She lay on the far side of the fire circle from him. Since her attempt to steal the stone and what she had glimpsed in his emotions, she had avoided touching him. Did he regret rescuing her and bonding body to body? She was afraid to ask, and she feared touching him would make him think she intended to steal his stone.
The next morning when he joined her at the fire, she showed him the second scroll. “All the stones were used. That means more than thirty priestesses were needed. The temple must have been huge and there had to have been many who called fire from the crystals. After a priestess functions in the circle, she needs a day of rest.”
“How many priestesses serve in Rosti?”
“Not counting the acolytes and the ones too old to stand in the circle, about eighteen.” She studied the scroll. “Have you ever seen a blue fyrestone?”
His brow furrowed. “I’ve seen blue gems, but none were crystals.”
She dished a bowl of leftover stew. “Why did you become a stone seeker?”
He filled his bowl. “Since that was what the men who raised me were, finding fyrestones is what I know.”
“Do you think we could find the ancient temple?”
“Why would you want to? If there were earthquakes, ‘twas probably destroyed.”
She looked up. “I have to try. There might be scrolls to help me learn how to defeat Malera.”
“Is vengeance all you think about?” He finished the stew and placed the bowl on the ground.
She tapped her fingers on her thigh. “Not vengeance, I seek justice for all those Malera has harmed.”
“And yours is the right to decide what justice to mete?”
Ria felt like crying. “Malera is evil. If she didn’t rule the temple, the priestesses could do good instead of ill. Her use of the fyrestones to punish and control must end.”
“Is that possible?”
“Maybe not, but I’ll still seek knowledge, and I will try.”
“Even if it means your death?”
“Just so.”
He rose and began to load the burros. “We’ll soon be near the area where the crystals are found. Perhaps when you have your own stone, you’ll see a different future.”
* * *
The rotunda was crammed with weeping women and screaming children. Malera walked through the clusters of people appraising the recent arrivals from Gydon. She chose several boys who showed the promise of becoming handsome men. They were taken to the harras. Three of the oldest boys were given to the guards. The rest were herded into a corner. They were for the slavers.
Next, she separated all the women with infants and small children into a second group. None of these were suited for the temple. She instructed the maidservants to prepare them for the slavers. Malera tapped the handle of a flail against her palm. Now for the girls to become acolytes and the women for maidservants.
She removed the fyrestone from the sleeve pocket of her caftan and walked among the cowering girls. “You, you, you.” When she finished, five girls were sent with a priestess to the dormitory. Four women were selected to become servants.
Malera signaled the guards. “Have the rest bathed and made ready to be presented to the slavers.”
One of the women with touches of gray in her hair straightened. “What right have you to sell us?”
Malera studied the woman. “What right? I am the chief priestess of Fyre. The hamlet of Gydon is no more. Thus you and the others have no homes. The coins you bring will satisfy the tithes your hamlet owes the temple.”
The woman fisted her hands on her hips. “I was a girl and just betrothed when the fires destroyed the circle in Gydon. You took my man. You took my chance to have sons and daughters. You killed the priests and priestesses who cared for the people and who asked for nothing except what we freely offered.”
“I did none of those things. ‘Twas my predecessor.”
“And you think that makes what you do right? One day, you will regret what you have done to Gydon and its people.”
Malera laughed. “Why should I regret giving just punishment?”
The woman raised her chin. “Those who came to Gydon knew the true purpose of the circle. They knew of the ancient temple and the blue fyrestones. Would that they had found one before the attack.”
“Myths and lies,” Malera said.
“I see you aflame. Like a torch, you burn.” The woman’s eyes glowed. Her voice reverberated through the rotunda.
“Die,” Malera shouted. She pulled a flame from her stone and blasted the woman.
The screams of those who remained rose in fear and grief. With reluctance, Malera cut the flame. The women and children who remained would bring coins to the temple. To end their lives without profit was foolish.
As Malera left the rotunda, she considered what the woman had said. An ancient temple. A blue fyrestone. She needed to discover both. With a blue crystal no priestess could challenge her. She strode to the scriptorium.
For days, Malera hounded the aged priestess who oversaw the records of the temple. Along with a cadre of others, they checked every scroll on the shelves. Four of the oldest had become fragments. Lunars were needed to restore them. What wisdom had been lost?
“How did this happen?” Malera asked.
The keeper of the records scowled. “In the days when Larina became chief priestess, I had just begun to oversee the archives. There were a dozen scribes, both men and women, who worked here. Larina dismissed them from service.”
“Why?”
“They weren’t priestesses or acolytes. She decreed none but those who used the major fyrestones could access the records. Acolytes were to be supervised when using the scrolls. That left me with few who were willing to assist.”
Malera frowned. “So valuable knowledge was lost.” What had Larina feared? Perhaps there were answers in her personal scrolls. Malera gathered forty cylinders and placed them on the table. Which ones contained the answers she sought? She eliminated the final five years. Those detailed her training. She had read them so often, she could recite the contents.
“Begin at the beginning,” she muttered. She read the ones for the first years of Larina’s reign. Malera read each of the challenges Larina had faced and how she’d won her challenges. In the past, there had been more priestesses who could call flames from the scarlet fyrestones. By the tenth year of Larnia’s tenure, she had dueled and defeated other chosen heirs. Malera read about the rebels who had fled.
They search for the ancient temple. Hunting for a legend is a foolish task. Let them wander. In time, I will destroy them.
Malera frowned. The group had been reported lost and Larina had relaxed her vigilance. Until rumors of a circle in Gydon had arisen. That challenge had allowed Malera to defeat Larina.
Malera closed her eyes. Had there really been a temple before the one in Rosti? Once more, she returned to the journals. A single sentence reported the missing scrolls. Three scrolls are gone and no one knows when they were taken. Had the missing priestesses taken them? Had the scrolls been destroyed when Gydon burned? Malera clenched her teeth. She would never know.
She left the scriptorium and entered the harras. She ordered four studs to accompany her to her chamber. There, she grasped her flail. Decisions must be made, but first, her frustrations would be soothed.
* * *
The stone beneath his tunic warmed. Ari stopped just beyond the cluster of trees and reached for Ber’s panniers. The rushing sound of a stream came from behind the firs and hardwoods. Moments later, Ria and Bera arrived.
“Why are we stopping so early?” she asked.
“Tomorrow we dig for fyrestones.”
“Are you sure?”
He pointed to a rocky slope beyond a flat tangle of grass and weeds. “They’re there. I can feel them.” The excitement in her eyes gave him a moment of pleasure. He had promised her and soon, the promise would be fulfilled.
“I’ll build the fire circle.” She made her way through the knee-high g
rass and lifted rocks that had tumbled from the slope. “There was a road here. Could it lead to the ancient temple?”
Ari shrugged. “How would I know? We’re further north than I’ve ever been. What makes you think this was a road?”
Ria crouched and ran her hands beneath the weeds. “There are ruts from cart wheels. Can we follow to see where it leads?”
“We need to dig stones.”
“Maybe when we have them.”
He shook his head. “To what purpose?”
“Haven’t you any curiosity? We’ll need to find a place to hide until my control is perfect.”
He turned away. “We’ll dig the crystals. When we have enough for a stake, we’ll sell them and find a safe place.” A place where he could protect her and persuade her to give up her desire for vengeance.
She frowned. “That means a return to Rosti.”
“Where else is there?”
“I won’t go there. “Twould mean my death unless I’m well prepared for a challenge.”
“I have a friend who will hide us. He can also get us into the temple without Malera knowing.” At least he hoped Bil had kept his friendship with the priestess who usually bought the stones.
Ria lifted several rocks and carried them to a place near the trees. Ari unrolled the tent. As he pounded the stakes into the ground, he glanced at Ria. Why was she so obsessed with an ancient temple that might not exist? Even if she found the ruins, what good would come from the discovery?
A sense of frustration filled him. Since they’d left Gydon, she’d become distant and contained. Their easy companionship had vanished the night she’d tried to steal his stone. He feared another attempt would mean her death. The convulsions that had nearly torn her body apart had solidified his feelings for her. Though he hadn’t spoken the words, he was bound to her in body and heart. Soon he would speak the words. How would she react?
He moved into the trees and gathered deadfall for their fire. After returning with an armful, he used the crystal to set the logs aflame. Ria carried a leather water flask from the stream.
Ari grinned. “Tomorrow, we’ll find stones.”
“Do we pull them from the ground?”
He laughed. “’Tis not that easy. We’ll dig and break the clumps of earth. Using the sifters, we’ll sort the lumps of ordinary rock and crystal from the dirt. The ordinary ones are discarded. What remains will be gems or fyrestones. We’ll wash them in the stream, then immerse them in oil and dry them.
“Why oil?”
“To keep them from shattering. As long as they’re covered with earth or are immersed in water until they’re oiled, there’s no danger of burns.” He opened his hand and showed her a small round scar. “I was young and the stone was a white. Lunars passed before the burn healed.”
“Then I’ll be careful.”
* * *
Ria woke before Ari and set a pan of water on the fire. She dropped the eggs she’d found in the woods into the pan. Had this land once been part of a farm? The birds she’d seen looked like the fowl kept at the temple for their eggs. What had happened to the people? She stared into the distance. If she followed the overgrown trail to the end, would she find the remains of the ancient temple?
As she waited for the eggs to boil, she unrolled the last of the scrolls she’d taken from Gydon. ‘Twas a map, but different from the ones she’d used in the temple to train her to locate the hamlets. There was writing on the back that she would read after studying the places shown.
She traced a line from Rosti to Gydon, then north and west. Her fingers reached a drawing of a flame. Could this be the symbol for the ancient temple? ‘Twas not far from where she believed they were camped. No matter what Ari planned, she intended to search.
She opened the scroll completely and held it up. Beyond the northern mountains, another that ran to the north bisected the range. The Dragons of Fyre. The Wizards of Fyre. Were there two other lands? The teachers had never mentioned them. She turned the map to read what was on the other side.
“Ah, tea.”
The sound of Ari’s voice startled her. The scroll flew from her hands into the fire. When she tried to snatch the blazing papyrus from the flames, Ari caught her hand. “Don’t. You’ll be burned.”
“’Twas a map that showed lands beyond the mountains. I wanted to read what was on the other side.”
“Other lands. I’ve never heard of anything beyond the mountains.”
Ria looked away. If she’d had a fyrestone, she could have saved the map. She poured tea into a mug and fished the boiled eggs from the pan before adding dried meat and vegetables,
They spent the day digging and sorting. As soon as the evening meal was eaten, Ria sought the tent and her blanket roll. The next three days followed the same pattern.
By mid-morning of the fifth day at the site, Ari set the shovel aside. “We’ve reached the end of the lode.”
“Now what?”
“We take our gleanings to the stream.” He hoisted the sack they’d collected. “Bring the sifters, oil, a pan and a cloth.”
Ria walked to the camp for the last three items, and then joined Ari at the stream. He had removed his boots and rolled his breeches to the knee. Ria followed his example. “Now what?”
“Watch me.” He removed lumps from the sack and placed them in the sifter. After stepping into the stream, he swirled the pan in the water. He straightened and grinned. “A good hall. A scarlet and six whites.” He filled the small pan with oil and dropped the fyrestones inside. “The scarlet is yours.”
Ria lifted her sifter from the water. “Four orange, two yellow, and a scarlet. I’ll take a pair of each.”
He shook his head. “You only need a single stone. The others will give us an entry into Rosti.”
Ria frowned. He didn’t understand that there was nothing for them in Rosti but death. She returned to the washing, but during the oiling of the crystals, she slipped two of each into a small pouch. Almost fifty fyrestones remained as his share. For an instant, she thought she’d found a blue, but ‘twas only a sapphire.
As they carried their gleanings to camp, she turned to Ari. “Now we need to search for the temple.”
He clasped her hand. “Why? We’ll leave for Rosti in the morning.”
“Why do you want to drag us into danger?”
He laughed. “The temple needs fyrestones. When we arrive with more than fifty stones, most of them colors, they’ll welcome us.”
Ria stiffened. “As long as Malera rules, I’m in danger. I fear I’m not experienced enough to defeat her. The last time, my defiance surprised her. Now, she’s prepared.”
Ari drew her into his arms. “I’m sure she’s forgotten us.”
“She forgets nothing.”
His mouth closed over hers. Ria felt warmth sweep through her body. Perhaps a physical union would erase the barriers between them. She pressed against him.
"Come to the tent,” he whispered. “As I bound my body to you, I now give you my heart. You are my joy and my pleasure. As our hearts beat in unison, so we will be joined body and heart.”
Ria tried to pull away. What could she do? She couldn’t offer him her heart before she challenged Malera. He had no reason to seek a change in the ways of the temple. “I can’t bind my heart to you.”
He feathered kisses on her face. “’Tis too late for me to recant. My heart has been yours since the moment I knew you were a woman.”
Tears rushed to her eyes. “Ari, no.”
“I can’t take back what is already gone.” His mouth covered hers. His hands slid beneath her tunic and inched the fabric up. He pressed her hips against his erection.
Threads of desire flowed from his thrusting tongue and stroking hands. Ria surrendered to her need and she moved against him. He slid her breeches over her hips. His hand slid over her buttocks.
Ria sighed. Why had he said the words? The bonding of their bodies should have been enough. He released her long enough to pull her t
unic over her head. When he drew one of her nipples into his mouth, she cried aloud. He lowered her to the blankets, pulled off her boots and breeches, then his own.
“Your taste, your scent enchants me.” Ari knelt between her legs and ran his hands from her shoulders to cup her breasts. He stroked her nipples and rolled them between his fingers.
Ria moaned. Her heart thudded. When his hand slid over her belly and parted her nether lips, she moved against his hand. Whimpers poured from her lips. He raised her hips and his tongue replaced his hands. He drew her pleasure node into his mouth and sucked. Ria cried his name. “Ari, come to me.”
He lowered her hips and thrust inside. “As I bonded my body to yours, now I give my heart into your keeping, for now and forever.”
His rhythmic thrusts increased in tempo. The beat of her heart matched his. Their rapid breaths rose and fell in harmony. His essence flooded her and her sheath milked his organ.
When Ari rolled from her body, Ria turned her back to him. She brushed tears from her eyes and clamped her lips in a firm line. How long could she hold the words inside? To give her heart to him would split her in two. Her dream of circles in every hamlet and seeing Malera disgraced would end.
Ari gathered her against his chest. “Come with me. Go as far as the grove and wait for me. I’ll purchase coursers and we can join the clans.”
Ria shook her head. “There’ll be no welcome there. To my clan, I’m cursed. None will have me.”
“Then we’ll find our own place.”
She drew a deep breath. “You don’t understand. Malera has tried to kill you once. The moment you enter Rosti, you’ll be her prisoner.”
“You’re wrong. You’ll see. Her greed for stones will rule.”
Ria closed her eyes. She had to find a place where she could think of a way to prove her views were right.
Temple of Fyre (Island of Fyre) Page 11
