The plateau of Adyll was born out of the sea, pushed up through tectonic pressures over a million years ago. To the east, beyond the cliffs where the capital city is located, lies a formidable desert which stretches for hundreds of miles, uninhabite...
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Aisha stumbled back to an expectant Nasreen, trying to hide her tears. Her meeting with the Holy Mother left her shaken.
"What did she say?" asked Nasreen
"That I am to serve as her eyes."
"And this upsets you, Aisha? This is a great honor for you. You will be able to learn so much from being with such a holy woman," said Nasreen. "Come, you need to eat something. I saved some of my food from the rations they gave us while you were sleeping."
She pulled out a hunk of dry bread wrapped in a cloth from under her pillow. Aisha began to eat slowly, taking sips of water from the jug of water Nasreen had offered her earlier.
"I was chosen to be her eyes because I am too weak for anything else, and she does not believe I could be trusted with another job," said Aisha. "Holy Mother is right. I put everyone in danger. If you hadn't begged the Locust King for our lives..."
"I only said what needed to be said, little sister. We were all weak from fasting and fear. Many of the girls stumbled and supported each other during the funeral procession for the same reason. It was only that you collapsed in front of the strigoi-viu that caused us danger, not your personal weakness."
"It was my personal weakness, Nasreen."
"You are also younger than the rest of us. How old are you, Aisha? You look no more than eleven years old. How did you end up here so young? You must be at least sixteen before they accept your service at the temple" said Nasreen.
"I am twelve years old. My parents were goatherds for the temple, assisting with the care of the sacred flock. They both died at the beginning of the war from disease. Because of their service to the Lady, I was sent here to be raised at the temple instead of being turned into the streets. I did not choose a noble life of service as you did, Nasreen. I was sent here as a burden," answered Aisha.
"None of that matters, little sister. None of us are here for noble service anymore. We are here because we have nowhere else to go. Even the highest of us has been brought low." She nodded to where the High Priestess lay on her straw pallet at the other end of the room.
"Nasreen, why did you volunteer to prostitute yourself? Aren't you afraid?" asked Aisha.
"Yes, I am afraid. But I am afraid for you and the others." explained Nasreen. "I could not bear to see you hurt. The act of joining with another person is a sacred act. It is an act to be done for pleasure and to show love. Perhaps in doing this I can show love to our captors and teach them that we are more than a 'warm hole' as Holy Mother so crudely put it. The joining is a pleasurable thing for me. I hope it will continue to be so, even with these barbarians. You will understand when you are older," explained Nasreen.
Aisha sat quietly, chewing her bread and wondering at the words of her friend. She had never had anyone to call a friend before. There had been children of nobility that she had played with when she was little, but it had been obvious that she was of a different rank than they were. Her nurses did not hesitate to refuse to believe the children when they had tattled on her. Nasreen was different. She was her elder by at least five years, and in this place, she was her equal. What she had said about the High Priestess was correct. They had all been brought low. They were all equal now. In Nasreen's eyes Aisha was the orphan daughter of goatherds. Nasreen was a daughter of a temple prostitute. By the standards of Adyll, she would have been of higher social status than Aisha, the daughter of goatherds.
