Temple of Fyre (Island of Fyre) (23 page)

“Are you sure you want me at your side?”

“You are part of the changes. To call fire from the blue takes two, so you must be with me.”

Once all the priestesses and acolytes arrived, Ari studied the women. In the stances of two, he sensed women who could cause trouble.

Ria displayed her scarlet crystal. “As you have heard, Malera’s ashes were scattered by the winds.”

“So you challenged and won,” the oldest of the priestesses said.

“This is what happened.” Ria related the tale of the ancient temple and what had happened there. “Thus Malera destroyed herself, and our heritage lies buried beneath the rocks. By temple custom, I am now chief priestess. There will be these changes.” Her list of what she planned caused mutterings among the women. Several of the priestesses drew their stones.

“I do not stand alone.” Ria turned to Ari. “Shall we show them what a thrice bonded pair can do?”

Ari freed his scarlet and held the blue fyrestone. Ria’s fingers meshed with his. Together, they called the flames, white, yellow, orange, scarlet, and blue. They enclosed the group beneath the dome. Three of the priestesses screamed and collapsed. When the dome was released, the three women were dead and their crystals dark cinders.

Ari held his and Ria’s hands high. “Times have changed. Ria and I will need coins to free the slaves from the slavers. Places will be needed for those we release. Guards and priestesses will be selected to escort the slavers to the coast and see them aboard their ships.”

Gasps filled the room. One of the priestesses approached. “Malera has had many dealings with the slavers. They paid a tithe to the temple. They brought her gifts and males for the harras. Chief priestess, is it really your will to see them gone?”

“I was sold to the slavers and brought here. I saw what they do to those they sold. They are evil.”

Ari released Ria’s hand. “Since the harras will be closed, there is no need for that trade.”

Ria nodded. “There is much to be done. All who wish will be tested. There are sacks of fyrestones to be sorted and stored, and scrolls to be opened and studied.”

“Why will you test others?” one of the priestesses asked. “Will men be taught?”

“Once, priests and priestesses served the circles. When there are enough trained in the use, circles will be established in every hamlet. The temple here will become a teaching center.”

The elderly priestess who attended the scriptorium approached. “Treasures you have brought in the new scrolls. To see them properly cared for, more scribes are needed.”

“Where can they be found?” Ari asked.

“At the hiring hall, or there may be some in the slavers’ pens.”

Ria nodded. “I will have those in the pens questioned.”

The elderly priestess who had charge of the fyrestones signaled the acolytes. “Come, we must sort and store the stones.” She placed a chest on the table beside the entrance to the inner chamber. “Within are the temple’s assets. How will we live if we have no more coins?”

“Ways will be found.” Ria waved to the guard captain. “We need an escort to the slave market and a company to follow the slavers to their ships.”

* * *

Twelve guards and six priestesses accompanied Ria and Ari. As they strode toward the South Gate and the slave pens, Ria’s gut knotted. Though she hadn’t been ill-treated, she recalled how the slavers had raped the women and girls, and lashed the men. With every step, dread walked at her side. These slavers had strange weapons they used to enforce their wills.

When they neared the stockade, cries and pleas filled the air. Ria wanted to shove her fingers in her ears to shut out the wails of those in the pens. Did any of the women and children taken from Gydon remain, or had they been sent away?

A tall man with hair bleached white by the sun strode from a long, low building. A flock of carrion crows roosted on the roof. The slaver bowed. “Priestess, welcome. Have you come to purchase a slave or two? We have several untouched females, and a handsome young man.”

Ria displayed her scarlet crystal. “I’ve come to purchase and free all you hold captive. I have come to tell you your kind are no longer welcome here.”

He laughed. “Does Malera know you’re here?”

“Malera’s ashes ride the winds.”

His dark eyes narrowed. “And you wish a greater share of our profits than a tithe. I, Grogor can arrange this.”

Ari drew his scarlet from beneath his tunic. “We wish no tithe, or more of anything. A new day has come, and we want you to depart from our land. Before you go, I have a question.”

The slaver raised his hand. Four men strode from the building. “The priestess and her stud think to deprive us of our market here.”

The four raised brown wands. A gleam of white shone at the tip. Ria clasped Ari’s hand. “Form a barrier.”

A sheet of flame rose from their scarlet stones. Streams of white flowed from the wands. Ria reached and blended them into the shield. The men shouted and dropped the wands. Slowly, Ria released the barrier.

“Call the rest of your people. You have one hour to prepare for your departure from the land ruled by the temple and the circles.”

While they waited for the arrival of the other slavers, Ari approached the spokesman. “My question concerns an event that occurred twenty years ago. The slavers bought an infant and a boy of two years from the priestesses. Where were they sold?”

“We receive many small children. Who knows where they go?”

“Don’t you keep records?”

“Perhaps, but after twenty years who knows where those records may be.”

Ari drew a flame from the scarlet. “Where do you sell children?”

“Some enter the ranks of the wizards, and others are sold to the dragon men.”

The remainder of the slavers arrived. Ria noted the wands they held. Using her fyrestone to create a barrier, she forced the men to drop the weapons. She used the flames to set the wands afire. “Though we should remove the slaves and send you to the ships without payment, we will deal fairly.” She gestured to the guard who held the money chest. She removed two pouches. “Four hundred gold coins.”

Ari took them from her and handed the pouch to the spokesman. “Your payment. Prepare to leave.”

Ria stepped beside him. “Guards and priestesses will escort you so there will be no treachery on your part. From the day your ship sails, the penalty for any of your ilk found in this land is death.”

While the guards and priestesses supervised the slavers’ packing, a pair of guards and two priestesses escorted the prisoners from the pens. Before long, the slavers appeared on coursers with laden burden beasts.

The spokesman turned. “You have not seen the last of us, so be wary.”

Ria nodded. “We are warned.” She turned to the priestesses. “Should there be trouble, use the flames.”

Eight guards and four priestesses who called fire from the orange crystals rode as an escort. As the party moved toward the gate, the flock of carrion crows took wing. A pair of the ebony avians remained. To Ria, they appeared larger than the others. Were these the ones that had saved her life? When she and Ari turned away, the birds followed.

* * *

Ari watched the last of the slavers and their escorts depart through the South Gate. He and Ria should return to the temple, but he wanted to see Bil, and hear Jorg’s story before he buried himself in responsibilities. He turned to Ria. “There’s a person I must visit.”

“Alone?” she asked.

He shook his head. “You can join me. Bil, one of the men who found me, has bought a share in an inn. There are things I want to learn from him about Jorg.”

“Will he speak in the presence of a priestess?”

Ari ruffled her hair. “How will he know you’re one when you’re dressed as my apprentice?”

Ria dismissed the guards. “Let the captain and the priestesses know we’ll return when we’ve finished our business.”

Ari let her to the Fyredragon Inn. He greeted the old man behind the bar. “A meal for two and ale.”

The old man grinned. “You’re back early.”

“With a tale to tell. The market will soon be buzzing with the story.” He pointed to a booth in the rear corner. “Join Ria and me.”

Bil whistled for the waitress and for someone to take over the bar. He used a crutch and followed them. Before long, a waitress appeared with a tray of bread, meat, cheese, and savory sauces. She placed three mugs and a pitcher on the table.

Bil filled the mugs. “So tell your tale.”

“I won’t be hunting stones any longer. The market for them will be slow.”

The older man’s eyes widened. “How will you live?”

Ari sipped the ale and leaned back. “There will be changes.”

Ria placed meat and cheese on one of the rounds of bread. “You can tell him. Everyone will soon know.”

Ari made his own roll. He drank some ale and told Bil the story of their adventures. During the telling, he paused several times to eat and drink. “So the slavers are gone.”

“Jorg would be proud,” Bil said. “He hated them.”

Ari nodded. “Why?”

“We met in the pens, and when he escaped, took me with him. We headed into the hills to hunt for fyrestones. He had an uncanny knack for finding them. Spoke of wizards and their rivalries. I think he may have been one who’d been betrayed. He sought news of his wife and children.” Bil drained his mug. “So you’re now one of the temple rulers.”

“For a time. Then I have another quest to undertake.”

Ria reached for Ari’s hand. “We’ll seek and find them.”

“Not yet. We need to see the temple and circles made first.”

She looked into his eyes. “I know, but I will hate the restrictions. I would rather be on a rescue mission.”

Bil looked from one to the other. “And who would you want to rescue?”

“I learned I have a younger sister and brother,” Ari said. “The slavers took them.”

“How will you find them?”

“I don’t know.” Ari finished a second roll.

Ria put down her mug. “The sun is near setting. We should return to the temple.”

He rose and took her hand. They walked to the door. The huge carrion crows flew above them. Ria studied the birds. “Why do they follow us?”

“In time we’ll know.”

She yawned. The need for sleep contended with her desire for Ari. They strode down the fyrethorn lined lane and entered the temple. The rotunda was empty. She was glad not to have to speak to any of the priestesses. She led Ari through the halls to her chamber.

All was as she had left it, except for the scroll she’d hidden beneath her bed. She pulled a caftan from the wardrobe and entered the bathing room. There, she discovered the haversacks she and Air had carried. A servant had washed and hung their caftans on clothes hooks.

Ari chuckled. “Looks like I was expected. What now?”

Ria reached for the valves to fill the bathing pool. He put his arms around her and pulled her against his chest. She wiggled her bottom over his thighs. “Bath and bed. In the morning, we’ll begin the changes.”

“And hope they’ll be accomplished with haste.”

She turned and brushed her mouth over his. “By the winter solstice if the fates are kind.” She thought of all that must be done before they could leave the temple. What would be found in the scrolls? Would she and Ari really be free to seek his lost family? Before her thoughts traveled in circles, she traced his lips with her tongue. For now, there was a need to join body to body.

Ari stepped back and pulled his tunic over his head. Ria quickly stripped. They stepped into the bathing pool. Ari reached for the soap and began to rub his hands over her shoulders and her back. She sighed and felt her tense and aching muscles relax beneath his touch.

As he massaged her scalp, she recalled another time when he had washed her hair and how frightened she’d been about her future. She ducked to rinse the soap, then took the soap from him and washed his back.

“For me to reach your hair, you’ll have to sit. There are ledges for that purpose.”

Ari chuckled. “And for other purposes as well.” He sat on one of the ledges.

Ria knelt behind him and lathered his hair. As she massaged his scalp, her breasts brushed his back. The nipples tightened. Her desire heated.

Ari ducked his head beneath the water. He drew her to face him. “I would love you.”

“And I will have you.” She sat astride his knees and grasped his erect member. She slid forward and guided him to the threshold of her sheath. He cupped her hips and drew her against his chest. He filled her completely.

She caught his lower lip between her teeth. His mouth opened and his tongue met hers. As she slid upon his rod, he thrust and retreated. Ria felt the burn begin. She arched her back as Ari’s essence erupted and her body caught fire.

When the aftershocks ended, she rested her head on his shoulder. “Always we will be heart to heart when we are body to body.”