Festival of the Blessed by Laura Greenwood

Author:Laura Greenwood [Greenwood, Laura]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Drowlgon Press

Ten

I pause by the exit of the temple and make sure my jewels are all on straight. The moment I step outside, I'm going to have more eyes on me than I'm used to, and I have to make sure that everything I do is absolutely perfect. My actions reflect on the temple, my god, and the Blessed in general. I have to get it right.

Matia stands by my side, her head held up high and the golden collar around her neck and on her legs glint in the dim evening light.

"Do we look the part?" I ask her.

She cocks her head to the side and studies me intently.

"Yeah, I don't know either. It's like someone forgot to give us the instruction book."

She paws at the ground.

"I know Khafre helped, but I feel like there's so much more he could have taught us. But he and Beni are in Paris now with their new apprentice and his jackal." A small spike of jealousy travels through me at the thought. I've always known Khafre would have another apprentice after me, but there's still a part of me that thinks of him as my Blessed mentor and it doesn't want to share him with others. It's probably a good thing the Pharaoh is still young, I won't be finding myself confronted by my mentor's other apprentices any time soon. Maybe I'll even have an apprentice of my own by then. I wrinkle my nose. That doesn't sound like something I'd enjoy, I hope it's not expected of me.

I take a deep breath and step out of the temple with what I hope is a serene smile on my face. One of the junior priests who has been assigned to the shrine is already there, sorting through the offerings and moving the perishables onto his trolley so he can take them inside the temple. They've been doing a good job at keeping on top of the whole thing, especially when I've been busy with some of my other Blessed duties.

Thankfully, the crowds who were here just a few days ago seem to have dispersed and most of the people passing the temple are going about their own business and not actually wanting to make an offering. It makes it easier for both me and the priest underlings I have to see me through the job. Eurgh, I can't believe the way Nik's been referring to them has rubbed off on me, thinking of them as underlings feels wrong.

"Hi, Henne," I say as I approach.

He turns and dips his head to me. "Blessed Priestess."

"That's not necessary, you can call me Ani," I remind him.

"I don't wish to be disrespectful when I've been given this job. It is an honour to serve the Blessed." His words sound a little rehearsed, though I'm not sure if that's because he doesn't believe them and felt he needed to prepare something in case I asked, or because he does believe them and just wanted to get things right. I suppose it doesn't matter.

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