King of Stars (Arcana Book 4) by Bianca D'Arc

Author:Bianca D'Arc [D'Arc, Bianca]
Language: eng
Format: azw3
Tags: space opera
Publisher: Liefde Press
Published: 2015-04-06T04:00:00+00:00

They were escorted to a dining room that was filled with quiet soldiers and monks just sitting down at a long table. Their silent escort indicated where they should stand, at simple place settings near one end of the table, and they took their places, waiting along with everyone else, to see what would happen next.

There was a table at the top of the room that looked more imposing that the others somehow, though it was also quite plain. As was everything in this temple they had seen so far.

The head table—if that’s what it was—was empty when Julian and Star took their places, but a moment later a small door opened at the far corner of the long room. A few older monks strode in quietly and took their places at the head table.

The old monk who had greeted them the night before was among the group, though he didn’t seem to be the head of the gathering. No, there was another man who looked a bit smaller in stature from this distance, who sat at the middle of the head table. Everyone seemed to wait for him to nod, then everybody sat all at once.

Julian learned a lot from the exercise. First, there was a hierarchy and those old guys up at that head table seemed to be in charge around here. Second, there was less standing on rank here than in the human military. The officers sat first back home, but here, they merely nodded and everybody sat at the same time. There was respect, but perhaps, a bit more egalitarianism.

The place settings were simple. Nothing heavily ornamented or gold-plated. Simple ceramic plates and steel utensils with pleasant patterns, but nothing too flowery or fancy. These things were meant for men, and it showed. The colors were darker, lending toward blues, greens and browns. The patterns more masculine in every room they’d been in so far.

Julian had yet to see another woman besides Star. He worried about that, but these monks seemed to have great discipline. Nobody spoke during the meal and he and Star followed suit. Platters of food were passed around the table, each person taking as much as he wanted, then sending it along the way.

They didn’t stint on food, but neither did any of the warriors sitting around them take more than he could finish. They ate quietly with almost military precision and table manners. The men were big, but seemed at ease here, in the heart of their sanctuary. Most appeared wide awake. Yawning at breakfast, it seemed, was not tolerated.

It also made Julian wonder if these men had already been about their duties or training long before the meal. He’d bet they probably had some kind of rigorous training schedule that included dawn PT, just like it was back home in the human military.

For it was clear to him now, as never before, that the Zenai might be a priesthood, but it was a military one. Every single one of these so-called monks was a warrior.

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