From the view outside her window, Rina guessed that the cold weather that permanently affected the area was about to become more intense. She stood in a floor length puffy robe that swirled with various shades of deep blue, a cup of dark tea burning against her cold hands. Her view of the Temple was immaculate as her bedroom was on the seventh and final floor of the Main House. It made for decent entertainment alongside her morning beverage.
She could see the large expanse of clove grass covered in frost that covered the ground between all of the major buildings. Lithe bodies moved from the Main House through the doors of the Temple, their arms full of fish and grains for daily offerings or baskets overflowing with scrolls for lessons. Despite the cold, they walked gracefully across the ground without boots or sandals on their feet, their bare skin crunching against the frozen grass.
A head cleric, Arelen, had explained that foot coverings of any kind were considered a hindrance to servants who serve within the temple. They prevent the clerics and scholars from learning through all of their senses. Rina had asked how they walked through the sting of the cold, how their feet didn't get hurt and all the old cleric would say was "our Great Mother protects us when we are doing her work". To a twelve year old girl that just sounded creepy.
Rina curled her toes within her thick stockings, enjoying the warmth they brought her while she watched the others weave in and out of the two buildings. In her 23 years at the Temple, not once had she been able to make more than four trips between the Main House and the Temple before she'd sneak away to warm her feet and don her thick stockings and fur-lined boots. The Great Mother must have forgotten to protect her alongside the other clerics.
The sun rose above the fields beyond the Temple and she admired how the building glowed in the daylight. It was an impossibly large building, only four floors in height but hundreds of feet both long and wide. Approximately four hundred people served at this temple, each having access to private quarters within the Main House. The Temple regularly contained them all throughout the day as they studied, taught, prayed and served.
The building was made of white quartz laced through with silver and icy blue veins, as if the frost that coated every surface could infiltrate even solid stone. Seven pillars held up the thick quartz slab that acted as the ceiling of the temple. Each pillar was smooth and cylindrical from top to bottom, with rivulets of molten silver running down their lengths as if they were bleeding under the weight of the block they kept from crushing the dutiful followers moving in and out of the building. The silver disappeared less than one foot from the base of the pillar as if being absorbed by the stone or Temple itself.
She had tried to catch the silver in her hands when she was just a child, and while the silver had felt like liquid against her fingers, it would not collect in her small palms. It was another subject Arelen had been hesitant to discuss with her, and had waved away her questions regarding the curious liquid.
As the last of her tea warmed her throat, she watched as the single doorway at the front of the temple was sealed shut with a heavy oak door by one of the High Clerics. It would not open again for an hour while they arranged the morning's offerings and fires.
A light knock on her bedroom door had Rina spinning on her heel, grateful for the thick socks she wore as she felt the cold, white marble floors beneath her every footstep. Another knock, this one less gentle came just as she turned the lock on the door and let in the tall woman readying to knock a third time.
"Ri, I don't understand why you lock the door. Who else would ever come in here besides me?" The woman asked, brushing past her and jumping onto the bed in the center of the room.
"Ah, but who says that I want you to be able to just barge in unannounced, Oria? Perhaps I lock the door to keep you out", Rina smirked at her friend, now at home and bundled in blankets within the bed.
She would never admit that locking the door to her bedroom was a strange impulse she had no control over. If she left the door unlocked, sleep would abandon her until she gave in and secured the lock. Oria waved her hand, brushing off her teasing comment before sitting up in the bed, combing her eyes carefully over the room.
"Looking for something, friend?" Rina asked as she untied her robe and hung it on its designated hook by her door.
"I just can't help it. Every time I come into your room I can't believe how much better it is than my own!" Oria shouted the last bit, allowing her body to fall back against the multitude of feather pillows at her back.
Rina rolled her eyes and moved to fill the tub in her washroom. While her friend was being a smidge dramatic, she knew her room was nicer than most. The floors, walls and ceilings were solid quartz resembling that of the Temple across the small yard. Hers was one of the only rooms within the Main House that housed the special material.
The veins of deep blue and silver sparkled when the firelight shone from the large open furnace that kept her room warm. The window that she had stood at observing the Temple was on the same wall as her bed frame, which was made of solid oak and held intricate designs of vines and ivy across every inch of the wood. Her comforter and sheets were a deep shade of silver that could appear black in color if looked at in certain angles. The silk they were made from was rare and had been a gift from her friends last year, meant to draw the eye of their goddess to bestow upon her good fortune. She didn't dare ask where they scraped together the funds for the quality of the gift.
There was a wardrobe centered on the wall opposite of her bed, designed in the same style as the bed frame and full of beautiful dresses and gowns in varying shades of silver and blue. In drawers that were built into the bottom of the wardrobe were several different pairs of shoes ranging from heeled sandals to warm, fur-lined boots.
A doorway on the far end of her room led to a sprawling bathroom of vibrant, dark blue quartz. Every surface was made of the stuff and while it was beautiful, Rina often felt herself become especially drained when in this room. It was the reason why she preferred the shared bathhouse on the fourth level. But in the mornings the bathhouse was not open and she had to use her own bathroom that always left her struggling to make it through the day. She always tried to make it a quick trip.
Rina stood before the quickly filling tub that was built into the quartz floor, basking in the warm steam that rose from the water's surface. Once it was full she turned the cold silver handles to stop the water before stepping in and sighing at the wonderful sting of the hot water. She let the water soak through her hair before massaging soap through the roots and beautifully scented oils into the ends. Before she rose from the now sudsy water, she made out the faint sound of Oria's snores through the washroom door. Leave it to that woman to crash her private space just to use her bed for a mid-morning nap.
She knew Oria woke before the sun today to help move offerings from the kitchens to the Temple and could use an extra bit of sleep before the full day of training, studying and tasks. Tomorrow it would be Rina's turn to help out.
She stepped up and out of the tub, pushing the button to would allow the dirty water to be drained away. The drying linens the laundress had left were quickly wrapped around Rina's body before the cool air caught up to her. She stood in front of the mirror and applied oils to her skin to help combat the drying cold air.
Her gold blonde hair was too short to effectively tie back into plaits, so she settled for a quick brush-through and tucked the strands around her face behind her ears. Her plain gray eyes seemed cold and unfeeling in the mirror, and her skin held no evidence of having ever been made darker by the sun. There were no tan lines or freckles in sight. In comparison to Oria and the others, she was bland, as if she was failing to thrive where others grew strong. She lacked the otherworldly glow that moved beneath the other's skin. A blessing that had failed to be bestowed upon her.
Allowing the towel on her body to fall away, Rina hung it on the rack before leaving the bathroom, shutting the door quietly behind her so as to not wake her friend from her morning nap.
It was apparently not quiet enough as her friend rolled around in bed to face her directly. Oria whistled suggestively at her upon seeing her unhidden body.
"Wow, sis, it looks like you may finally be getting that figure you've always dreamed of!"
Rina absorbed the sting that followed the comment before making a pointed gesture at her sister then began leafing through the wardrobe for a dress. While the comment did hurt, it was one that was made often by the other women in their close knit circle. They didn't mean it exactly how it sounded, it was just the truth. Where their bodies had matured and filled in over the last five years, hers remained shapeless and straight without a soft curve in sight.
While it meant she was quick and lithe during her training, it also meant that no man had given her more than a second glance in the five years since she'd become a woman.
Brushing off the thought, Rina settled on a beautiful chiffon dress whose color resembled the blue of a robin's egg. The layers swept over her body and pooled around the floor at her feet. It didn't do much for her shape, but she loved the way the loose fabric caressed her skin. The sleeves were loose until they reached the crook of her elbows where they pulled close to her skin and stayed tight as they extended all the way to her palms. A small loop in the sleeve allowed her thumb to hold the sleeve securely and cover the tops of her hands.
The last few weeks had been pushing her to the brink of insanity, and she really just needed the day to go smoothly. No bumps or craziness. Just a normal... mundane... boring day.