SWNOVELS Meeting (Chapter 26)
Dunn:
I wipe myself down with a towel I found in my office. I should go and bathe in the temple baths, but I don’t want to wash her off, I want her essence to cling to my body for as long as possible.
I don’t think I’ll be able to focus for the rest of the day, so I decide to organize my book collection instead of studying. It needs to be done, and it will allow my mind to wander as I complete the menial task.
I walk over to my bookshelf. It’s in disarray with books piled haphazardly with some books so askew it’s only by the goddess’ good grace that they haven’t fallen. I pick up a large book at eye level, it’s one of the first religious manuscripts I purchased, long before I became a priest. I can’t help but dust off the cover and open it to take a quick peek.
Vivid poetry detailing religious events are scribbled across the frail pages in a beautiful old Pinn font. I trace my finger down the page as I get lost in the striking rhymes and imagery.
I am so lost in the text that I barely hear the knock on my office door. I look up and reluctantly set the book back on the shelf and go to the door to see who it is that is disturbing my quiet time.
Behind the door are two burly-looking priests that I barely recognize. The one on the left a tall Pinn with cropped black hair while the one on the right is slightly shorter with brown hair and deep-set eyes. The red rope around their robes signifying that they are from the god’s temple.
I raise an eyebrow at them.
“The High Priest requests your presence” the black-hair Pinn explains.
“Is everything all right?” I try to keep my voice even. Probably the old bastard just has questions about the latest budget sheets I sent over a week ago.
“He didn’t say, but I overheard something about priestess management”
I nod and step out to close my office door. There must be a new delivery of priestesses which is sadly necessary since several of ours are reaching retirement age soon.
I walk through the hall and down to the main entry room to the temple with the two priests trailing behind me. The temple is quiet in the midafternoon and some Pinns loiter in front of the entrance to the bathing area while a priest sweeps the floor near the entrance.
The temple doors open and a brisk wind rushes through the room causing those within to turn their heads.
The sight causes me to stop dead, “Ava?”
She stands there in the entrance, her dress clean although her skin is still streaked with dirt and her hair clings to her head in greasy strings. What is she doing outside of the Redeemer’s quarters?
Her wide bloodshot eyes look at me in shock for a moment, before they find the floor, She turns to the right, ignoring my call and taking a side door that leads to the back of the temple. Two priests from the god’s temple also follow her.
“The High Priest was eager to see you before his appointment later” I hear one of the priests behind my comment.
“Of course” I start walking again. Ava’s presence is something I can ask around about once I get back.
Before I know I’ve walked across the cold market square and I’m in the High Priest’s office inside the god’s temple.
The fat High Priest sits in his large chair his desk, rubbing his leg as he reads over something in front of him. I sit patiently in front of his desk, waiting, as though there is nothing better for me to do than watch him. The High Priest lifts his hand off of the paper and I watch as his fat pointer finger slowly inches its way towards his nose. I force myself to look away before it reaches its destination.
His office is the same as it always was. Dark, foreboding, and boring. The only books are those on his desk and they are about accounting laws and management, not religion. Does he not study the word of the prophets?
“Dunn” he finally begins.
I look back at him and thankfully his finger is no longer near his nose.
“Dunn,” he repeats standing from his chair. I watch him as he rounds the desk and sits in the small wooden chair next to me. He wiggles in the chair a few times to get comfortable. “You know I have always valued your devotion to the temple.”
I give him a weird look. Where is he going with this?
He reaches over and pats my arm like I’m a wayward child in need of comfort, “working with the priestesses can cause a man to lose his way.”
I feel the hairs rise on the back of my neck, “What do-?”
“I’ve seen it all before. They seem sweet and innocent, but before you know it they will have you slitting your own throat”
Alarm bells ring in my head but, I try to keep my face neutral, “I’m not sure what you are referring to”
“When I was a young priest, I too got caught up in one of their schemes” He shakes his head, “We lose too many priests that way- I won’t lose you as well. You’re a dedicated priest, Dunn, and your connections are worth overlooking any… minor transgressions you may have committed in the hope of building a productive future together”
I know my face registers shock, how did he-? How does he-? Who told him? Who betrayed us? Dozens of questions fill my mind, but the only thing I voice is, “What?”
He pats my arm again and gives me sad smile, “I know that Rachel is using you to feed information to the senators”