74. Lilias
Lilias
DO YOU APPROVE
My gut pulls tight as the little town of Detec comes into view. I glance at Elrick riding beside me, because I don’t dare look at Zarek or Petrys.
Before we left for Ethiria, Elrick said he knew the priest of the temple in Detec. I didn’t even think to ask why. I was too distracted by his suggestion that Zarek and I cut the ribbon.
Ebony snorts beneath me. She’s probably wondering why I’ve been so tense ever since we left the hunting camp this morning. I force myself to breathe, trying to calm my body so Ebony won’t think I’m about to ask her to jump off a cliff.
I just worry that I’m asking too much. That this is stupid and self-indulgent; that I’m acting like a spoiled princess stomping my foot and demanding I get what I want.
But Zarek didn’t seem to think it was stupid.
When I suggested this last night, as we sat together in the common room, whispering to get some privacy in that crowded room, he said it was a beautiful idea.
And then he brought my hand to his lips and kissed my fingers with a look in his eyes that made me wish we hadn’t agreed to share our room with Petrys and Gerard so they wouldn’t have to sleep outside in the muddy courtyard.
“Oh, good,” Elrick says. “It looks like he’s home.”
I follow my brother’s gaze to the tiny stone temple perched on the outskirts of Detec.
There’s a house next to the temple with a cozy thatched roof and an open door.
I watch for a moment longer, and an older man with a bushy beard steps through the door with a basket under his arm.
He must be the priest. He walks toward his henhouse, and Elrick turns to Anura.
“Think he remembers us?” Elrick asks.
Anura just smiles. Elrick turns to me, then to Zarek.
“You ready?” he asks.
“Of course,” Zarek replies. His voice is cool and confident, as smooth as the ribbon that bound us together in Vsenrog.
I just nod. I don’t trust myself to speak.
Elrick turns his horse off the main road, and we walk slowly toward the temple. It’s a small, rough stone building with tall windows that shine like diamonds in the early morning sunlight. It looks ancient, like it’s been here ever since the mountains rose from the earth.
And it is nothing at all like the temple in Vsenrog where I walked down the aisle in my bridal red before a crowd of people I’d never met.
I try to swallow that memory as Elrick dismounts before the fence that surrounds the temple. His horse drops her head into the thick grass as he ties her to the hitching post. I try to focus on the sound of her contented grazing instead of the frantic beating of my heart.
Elrick offers me his hand as I dismount. I take it, strangely glad it’s him and not Zarek holding my trembling fingers. I glance over at the snake of Vsenrog, but he’s turned away from me to face Petrys. If he’s nervous, I can’t tell.
Elrick smiles as he lifts the latch on the gate. The hinge protests slightly as it swings open. Elrick takes my hand, then gestures at the open gate. And the path leading to the temple’s narrow front door.
“You’re sure about this?” my brother whispers.
My heart races inside my chest. I glance down at the dusty, dark blue servant’s dress I’m wearing, and I try not to think about the silk bridal gown Anura helped me into in Vsenrog.
“I’m sure,” I whisper.
Elrick’s eyes dance as he grins at me. And then he pulls me forward, through the gate, and onto sacred ground.
The old man sets his basket of fresh eggs down on the grass and comes to meet us as we walk up the path. I’m expecting questions, or maybe an offer to pray with us, but instead, the old man throws his arms around Elrick, and then Anura.
“Back so soon?” the man asks. “What is it this time? Run into some problems?”
His eyes sparkle as he speaks, making me think this is some kind of joke I don’t quite understand. Elrick and Anura smile at each other.
“No problems at all,” Elrick tells the man. “In fact, we’re here for the same reason.”
“Oh?”
Elrick turns to me with a strangely formal little bow. “This,” he says, “is my sister, Lilias.”
And then he turns to Zarek with the same sort of bow.
“And this,” he continues, “is Zarek. The man she has chosen.”
“Ah,” the priest replies. “I understand.”
I glance at Zarek, but he turns away, almost like he’s suddenly fascinated by the irritated squawking emanating from the henhouse.
“And you’re here to witness?” the priest continues, nodding solemnly at Elrick, Anura, and Petrys.
“We are,” Anura answers.
The priest nods. His expression is serious, but his eyes dance in the sunlight.
“And do you approve?” the priest asks.
My breath catches in the back of my throat. What kind of a question is that?
“I do,” Petrys replies.
The priest turns to Anura. She nods.
“I support her decision,” Anura says.
That’s not exactly the same as approving, but if the priest notices, he doesn’t say anything. He turns to Elrick.
“I approve,” Elrick declares.
I let out the breath I didn’t realize I was holding. The old priest smiles at us.
“Wonderful,” the priest says. “Then please, do come inside.”
I’m expecting him to turn toward the temple, but instead he picks up his basket of eggs and opens the door to the little thatched-roof house.
He waves Elrick and Anura inside, and I follow.
He jokes with Elrick and Anura as he bustles around his cozy cottage, and this is so far from the stiff, formal transaction I expected that I wonder if maybe I’m still dreaming.
Finally, the priest claps his hands together like he’s made a decision.
He leads us out of the cottage and climbs the worn steps of the ancient temple.
It’s cool and quiet inside the sanctuary, and the faint ghost of incense lingers in the air.
Elrick begins to light the candles on the altar as the priest pulls a thick red ribbon from his pocket.
“Here,” Anura whispers as she pulls me to the side of the altar. “I brought something for you.”
She hands me a small package neatly wrapped in twine and burlap. My fingers tremble as I untie the twine and push back the rough wrapping.
“Oh!” I cry as my fingers brush soft crimson fabric.
“It’s my mother’s,” Anura says, taking the bright shawl from my shaking hands. “I wanted you to have something red.”
Anura wraps the shawl around my shoulders. I hug her as my eyes fill with tears.
“Thank you,” I whisper, and I hope she understands I’m thanking her for far more than the shawl, even if I can’t find the words.
Thank you for being here. Thank you for standing with me. Thank you for letting me do this on my own terms.
Thank you for letting me choose.
The priest lights the incense, and smoke begins to drift toward the peaked ceiling in long, thick swirls. Elrick walks over to us and takes Anura’s hand.
“Well,” the priest says. “Let’s begin.”
He lifts his head to the open door and the sunlight streaming into the ancient sanctuary. And I hold my breath as I wait for my husband to appear.