She maneuvered her way through the cramped bazaar, avoiding the lustful gazes of the male shopkeepers and the customers alike...
This didn't effect her as much as it used to before...She had become accustomed to it in the last eighteen years of her life.
After all, she was well aware of the fact that she was very beautiful...Her jet black, waist length hair and violet irises were a rare combination to be found on her land.....
Moreover, her being a dilettante
Priestess made her even more desirable to all these men...
Priestesses were out of bounds........ They were all considered to be pure.....To be seen but not to be touched...
This particular day, she had come to the bazaar to place an order for garlands for the shrine.
Being the youngest dilettante Priestess, it was her job visit the bazaar....The elder Priestesses didn't allow any man to run a chore for the Goddess's temple.......
She finally exited the bazaar, taking in a deep breath of fresh air, replacing the earlier stale, sweat-stinking air.
Walking up the hill, she saw Layla, a fellow dilettante priestess trotting towards the town, one hand resting on her bulging stomach and the other in her husband's. She saw the smile on their faces and felt a sudden pang in her heart....an emptiness that never seemed to go away.....
The rules of their temple were different. The Priestesses were allowed to marry and have kids. They had their soulmates after all....but the men just couldn't cross the threshold of the temple.
She looked at the approaching couple, her eyes drew themselves towards their necks where their half lockets hung in a silver chain...One half on each person, resting just above their hearts.. Joining them together as one.
Her hand automatically went to touch space around her neck...it was empty.....
"Hi Dahelia! Mother is asking for you.." Layla smiled.
Dahelia ignored the alarm that she felt at her words and smiling back, she continued her walk up the hill..
No matter how hard she tried, she just couldn't get over the dejection, loneliness and emptiness that she felt every single moment...
Her scarf covered her neck, no skin visible...It was done on purpose....So that the people won't notice the absence of her locket..
The tradition was simple enough but held a great significance. Each child born on her land was made to wear a half locket around his/her neck...Each having a distinct design...The other half of the locket is said to belong to their soulmate...Like two pieces of the puzzle....Each person was supposed to have one.
Each of the half lockets will glow simultaneously as soon as the soulmates spot each other for the first time...The Oracles conjured the locket out of the molten gold placed in front of the Almighty's
Shrine...
A sudden fragrance from the orange orchard filled her nostrils but instead of feeling better, her heart dropped a beat....
The smell of oranges always reminded her of her mother....A mother who loved her dearly but was forced to abandon her by her husband and the society at the age of five.
They considered her as an abomination, a curse...Not only was her appearance unusual but also the Oracles were unable to conjure up any locket at the time of her birth...
Her mother loved her dearly. She knew that as she remembered her last words before she was handed over to the Mother Priestess, the only one who was willing to offer her a shelter.....
"Remember Dahelia.... You are special...And you'll always be loved..."
Keeping these words in her mind, Dahelia let a fleeting smile cross her face.
"You're here finally!.... Hurry up, Mother is waiting for you..", another Priestess spoke as soon as she entered the temple premises.
