CHAPTER XI #5
To our right and on the other side of the road is possibly the biggest temple I’ve seen in the city so far.
Its pillars are massive, twelve in total, the structures holding together a tall building that points daringly towards the sky.
The temple has large vaulted ceilings that litter the clouds above, while ten wide and flat steps all lead upwards towards the open entry.
Elena stands at the top of those steps, her face stoic and beautiful until she catches Keane’s glance and smiles down at her brother.
The beautiful Discerni wears a simple dress of pale green with long sleeves, her blonde hair shining around her before it flows down her back in curls.
She’s exactly as I’ve always seen her, light and airy, beautiful with the hint of cold quirkiness that makes her seem a bit aloof.
Two additional pale blonde Discerni stand at either side of Elena, both clad in similar dresses though theirs are different shades of grey. The three women begin to walk down the steps to greet our group, all of them moving in unison as Keane looks back at me, his glance asking me to join him.
I give him a small smile and lift Millie’s reins around her saddle, leaving her behind with Holis.
Keane watches as I walk towards him, extending his arm at his side before he snakes it around my lower back and draws me into his strong embrace, the two of us greeting his sister with Desmond at our side.
“Brother,” Elena nods her head simply before Keane reaches out with a smile.
He gives her a swift hug with his free arm and swiftly kisses the top of her head, taking a step back just as Desmond does the same.
“My sisters will get everyone situated at the inn across the road,” Elena smiles softly to the Master Informer before her eyes roam to mine.
“Hello, Alexis.”
“It’s good to see you again, Elena.”
Keane’s sister glances briefly at Stormfall and then takes a step around the King, looking over his shoulder as she addresses our traveling crew.
“Mitra and Denise will show you to your rooms across the way. The inn is prepared for your arrival and will host breakfast and dinner each day. It is late for tonight, but feel free to navigate the city tomorrow at your pleasure.”
I hold back my grin as all three Warrior soldiers are the first to nod to Elena and her sisters, no doubt looking forward to spending their day in a city filled with beautiful Woodlands women.
One of the women, Mitra, eyes Holis in her slow walk towards the crew, her long lashes lowered as she assesses the Discerni in quiet thought.
Holis seems very okay with it, my friend standing up taller with a hidden grin as he also eyes the woman and follows her towards the stables.
“Come,” Elena beckons Keane, Desmond and I with a glance. “Conversations need to ensue tonight before you find your own beds.”
Keane rolls his eyes just as Desmond does the same.
The two of them grin before the Master Informer catches up with Elena on the stairs of the temple, the two of them taking the walk up just as Keane turns to me.
He drops his hold from my waist and reaches a hand down for mine, pulling it up slowly to his lips before he begins to kiss each knuckle softly.
“So proper, Your Grace,” I tease, watching him eye my hand for a while longer before he brings it down to our sides again.
“Only a bastard at times, my Queen.”
Keane catches my glance with a look of something deep in those brown depths. I take a small breath and squeeze his hand strong in mine, holding his gaze steady before he tugs me forward.
“Alston seems alright,” I offer at his side, thinking of the quiet city we just rode through.
“Hmm,” he muses. “You’ll see more tomorrow, Alexis.”
I look at him curiously but don’t press into it, reminding myself that we have yet to see any humans or where they live.
We continue up the large steps in silence and finally reach the top of the temple, moving past the pillars and into a large entry room.
Nearly everything inside is bare and white, just as it was in Lord Kaven’s residence, prompting me to wonder if this is just a Woodlands thing.
The cold and proper walls around us are so pristine, missing any features that could make them feel more alive.
We move past the entry and into another massive room, this one so large that it could fit the full of the Great Oak inside it.
But instead of a tree resting in the middle of the temple, a large glass orb sits at its center with thousands of candles all lit around it.
Twenty, if not more, different doors and halls branch off from this main room, all of them leading to unknown depths of more white marble and glassy walls that shine with candlelight.
But surprisingly, the most interesting thing about this room isn’t the massive structure in the middle, but the thin cauldron-like bowls that jut out of the walls, resting about waist high and filled with still and unmoving water.
We walk past one of those bowls as Elena leads us to a side hall. There’s a woman standing next to it, her hands holding the sides of the basin as she stares into the unmoving water.
“What is she doing?” I whisper to Keane.
The King looks at me with playful eyes. “She’s about to take a bath.”
“Keane…” I push my shoulder into his.
He laughs, the sound vibrating off the dimly lit hall as he squeezes my hand.
“The woman is scrying. Most seers use the water or glass to try to look into the future. It’s how they can summon their visions.”
My eyes go wide as I turn back to the woman now at the end of the hall, noticing that her whole body is unmoving as she looks into the water.
“And it works?” I ask in astonishment.
“Only about once every thousand tries,” Keane rolls his eyes.
“He’s a skeptic of the unknown mystics,” Elena says in front of us, turning towards a door. “Much like you, Alexis. Which is why I would like to remind you both that my own visions led the two of you to eachother.”
“I won’t deny that, sister,” Keane nods, “though you could have led us to eachother sooner.”
“Everything moves as it is supposed to be…”
I raise my brows, still not caring for this idea of fate. If everything is moving as it’s supposed to, then that implies there is some unknown force that is dictating my life.
Elena smiles as she holds open the door for us.
“Not dictating, Alexis, guiding.”
“Semantics,” I hold back a scowl as Keane chuckles behind me.
The sound of padded footsteps falls in behind our small group as we walk into another room, making me smile.
The white of the marble walls are dimmed all around us, with only one lantern of bottled moonslight and a few candles gracing a circular table that sits in the middle.
The table itself is a rich wood, hosting six chairs as small vines grow out from the cobblestone ground and wrap themselves up its legs.
Multiple decanters of water and sparkling toddy rest on the table, another Woodlands thing that I’ve come to recognize as prominent in the court.
“Where’s your Ancient?” Desmond asks, promptly reaching for the drink.
“She’s coming,” Elena replies, moving to the chair at his side. “Heysan has been looking over her for the past few days.”
Keane places his hand on the small of my back and leads us opposite of the two before he pulls out a chair for me.
I sit down, feeling his hand wrap around the end of my braid before he gives it a small tug and then takes the chair at my side.
My body flushes under that simple touch, loving his small attention on me since we reached Alston.
Stormfall takes a step down to my hand as I lift him off my shoulder and onto the table. I reach for a glass of water, tipping it back to the Bird of Ash as I let my fingers caress his chest.
“Tell me more of Etter.”
Elena sits in her chair with perfect posture and turns to her brothers. “How was the summoning able to hold the village?”
“A Discerni summoner claimed to be working with Lord Kaven,” Desmond scowls into his drink. “He was moving through the woods above to cast the illusion below. Combined, they both held the power. I don’t think Kaven could have done it on his own.
“And everything broke by fire?” she asks curiously.
“I spoke to McQuoid about that,” Keane nods and pours two of the sparkling toddies for us. “The Pyrenese believe that the use of natural fire is the ultimate cleanse. That it purifies any ill-brought summoning that holds a person, or in this case, a thing, together.”
Elena tilts her head in thought. “We do send our loved ones to the flames before passing them on to the Ancient.”
“Yes,” Keane replies steadily, pushing the glass towards me.
“What of the transition?” she prompts, forgoing any drink of her own. “You are rebuilding?”
“It will be some time,” Desmond responds at her side, “but the change is taking place. We have the men there to see it through.”
“And the guard,” Keane adds.
“Find anything here that needs changing?” she asks without sarcasm.
“You know we do, sister…”
I let the family continue in their small conversation, sipping the bubbling drink as I stroke Stormfall absentmindedly, lost in my own thoughts.
I’m deeply curious about Alston now, wondering what it is that has Keane so steadfast in remaking this city, too.
This temple city was supposed to be the first stop in our original plan to Woodlands, the first stop before I insisted on adding Etter to that travel.
Had we moved into Alston first, I probably would have had a more welcoming view of the court…
But that view would have come at the expense of never traveling into Etter, which is something I’ll never regret. The people there deserve the dignity that’s now being afforded to them, and I thank the Ancients I had the courage to ask Desmond to change our plans.
“Then why aren’t you truly happy, Alexis?”