It was almost dusk when evening lessons came to a close and Rina was more than ready to retire to her bedroom. The last lesson was supposed to be focused on covering the annual celebrations and feasts, but was instead aimed at the ways in which the soon-to-be clerics must conduct themselves during the Ceremony after they passed their tests.
Rina spent the entire hour imagining the high cleric in charge of laying out the rules was looking at her and giving instructions on how to bury herself properly after she fails.
"Now, don't forget to choose a plot of land that has soft soil. The harder the soil, the longer it will take to dig."
Rina imagined interceding by saying, "What if you plan to be incinerated rather than buried?"
To which the high cleric would have said, "Excellent question, Rina. If that is the case, please remember to burn your corpse downwind. This is VERY important. If you do it upwind, your disgusting, lying, failing, non-magic ashes will get all over the food."
Needless to say, never had a single hour felt so long. When the old cleric had finished telling them who to bow to and what the order of events would be, she practically sprinted from the Temple.
After returning to the Main Hall, she sat at a table with a plate of food waiting for Oria to meet her for the evening meal. Her legs were crossed beneath her as she shoveled in a bite of sweet, aromatic pork followed by a cringing swig of bitter wine. She was only able to handle a small amount of the overly rich pork before her stomach protested against any more food, gurgling uncomfortably.
Rina had long since abandoned the food on her plate by the time Oria gracefully floated into the dining hall, mother goose to a gaggle of giggling younger girls. Each one looked up at her with shining adoration, hoping to say something to draw out her approval.
"Oh my goddess, did you see the flowers and glass they were taking into the Hall?!" A small girl asked the group, her pale and delicate hand pressed dramatically to her chest. All of the others shrieked in agreement around the dinner table causing Rina to wince.
"Oria, what are you wearing to the ceremony?" Interjected another girl, nearly identical in appearance to the growing number of girls around the table.
Only Oria and herself could say they really stood apart from the others in appearance. Her's being an unflattering difference that rendered her invisible and Oria's being an otherworldly glow that drew the attention of every eye in the room. It was those differences that caused the others to form a circle around Oria, pushing Rina to sit at the edge of the group - separate enough to not be subject to questions of the others but still uncomfortably close when one of them shrieked.
"I will not spoil it for you, you will just have to wait," Oria said, feeding into the mystery that surrounded her. "But, I suppose I can at least tell you that it may be just a little bit... promiscuous." Her words were immediately followed by the excited, if not also jealous conversations surrounding how beautiful she would look and how excited they were to see her. As her friend continued to feed into the frenzied young women, Rina took the opportunity to quietly slip away.
Relief coursed through her body as the sounds of squawking girls receded and Rina began the lengthy walk up to her room. Her footsteps echoed through the marble halls as she admired the beautiful silver running down the walls. The blue that weaved itself throughout the stone walls only making the molten silver stand out more as she tentatively reached a hand to touch the metallic stream. It felt like cool liquid against her skin, but as always, when she drew her hand away it was completely dry.
"Even after all these years you still wonder about the bleeding stone, girl?" A quiet voice floated from the dark shadows ahead of her.
"Dear Arelen, you know that I am too smart to look at a stone that bleeds without explanation and think you would really offer me an honest one?" She retorted, moving towards him as he bent to light the small lantern against the wall. The light illuminated the shadows to reveal the High Cleric's pale, angular face and cold blue eyes. He straightened and motioned for her to walk with him as he continued to light the lanterns.
Each one he lit sparked a golden reflection to life against the surface of the walls, illuminating the staircase as they ascended slowly.
"Is it intelligence or stubbornness that keeps you looking for answers where the goddess has decided to give you none?" He asked, bending to light another wick.
"I guess that depends on if it's actually the goddess who is withholding the answers."
Arelen chuckled lightly at her as they continued walking, going from the ramped walkway to the stairs between floors.
"And who, pray tell, would be denying you answers if not our great Mother?"
Rina didn't answer, but gave him a pointed look that portrayed exactly who she would expect to keep things from her.
"You... the other High Clerics... everyone" is what she knew he read in her stare.
"Oh, come now, Rina. Why do you always insist on painting us all in such a negative light? If I knew the answers to your questions I would not hesitate to tell you." His voice was beginning to become tense and she knew that she should just leave it alone.
They had these conversations every few months, and they almost always ended the same way: her left with zero answers and an extra early morning shift. But the life-deciding test looming only days away made her desperate. She decided to try a different, more straightforward route.
"Alright, Arelen. Say I believe you", she paused. "Can we talk more about the Test or the Ceremony?"
The High Cleric sighed, rising from his chore and walking forward, staying a few feet ahead of her.
"I think I have answered all of the questions about the two events as much as I possibly can, girl."
"No you haven't!" She winced at how loud her voice came out. Rina did her best to ignore the suspicious glance Arelen threw at her.
"All anyone will tell me is that we take the test individually, in front of the High Clerics, and then we celebrate and pledge at the Ceremony. But no one will tell me what the Test is, what happens during the Ceremony, and what exactly happens if you fail. Not that I think I will fail it's just... good information to have seeing as my whole life depends on the outcome." Rina took a moment to calm down the panic that was causing her throat to tighten. He was one of the few people at the Temple who would be able to tell her what she needed to know in order to make a plan.
"I have already told you everything I am permitted to. Do not push the subject any further". The firmness in his voice said that the conversation was over, but the overwhelming feeling of impending death pushed more words out of her mouth.
"Please, Arelen. I don't mean to pry but -", she was cut off as her body made contact with the cold marble walls. The back of her skull hit with a resounding crack! and eyes widened in disbelief at the crazed look the High Cleric now wore. His hair, which was normally in an orderly plait down the straight of his back, was now loose with tendrils of pale hair now clouding her view of his face.
Gone was any warmth or patience as he hissed icily in her ear, "You may need to complete an impossible task. You may be put in a circumstance where you will be tortured relentlessly. You may need to simply walk into the room and tap your foot three times. It could be simple or monumental, but either way I would not tell you, you stupid, insatiable little girl." She flinched at the finality in those last words and became hyper aware of his nails as they got tighter and tighter around arms.
"I am sorry I didn't mean to -", she stuttered out breathlessly.
"Silence!" His breath was cold on her face. He pulled her forward only to shove her back against the wall and a small whimper escaped her at the repeated pain.
Rina was unsure how to get out of this situation. He had never treated her this way in the years that they had known each other. She was always annoying, he was always annoyed, but never had he used physical force against her.
As the pain faded to a bruising ache, she felt sparks ignite through her whole body and every muscle from her head to toes tightened. Arelen's rant continued in the background of her focus as her entire world began to hum with unseen energy. A voice broke out from behind her, so full of energy and heat that it cut through the winter-cold air in the hallway.
"You are hurting me. Get off of me!" It took Rina a moment to register that her lips had moved and that the voice came from her. It did, in fact, sound a bit like her... only more firm, confident and powerful than her voice had ever been.
The crazed eyes of the High Cleric widened in shock and...did she see fear?
He released her without comment, stepping away from her and the wall until they were at opposite sides of the stairway. His hair still hung in disarray around his face, and he was no longer a threatening figure but rather a small, desperate man that seemed to reek of the same fear she smelled on herself only moments earlier.
There was a noise below them as more clerics finished their nighttime meal and began to ascend the steps to their rooms. Rina watched Arelen straighten his deep blue robes and sweep his hair back into its usual place with shaking hands.
"I must continue with the lanterns. You should go before you get us both killed," was all he said to her before moving to light lanterns the rest of the way up to the top floor.
She didn't wait for even a second before walking as quickly and quietly as she could until she was safely behind the confines of her bedroom door.
Once she locked it behind her, Rina slid down the hardwood of the door until she was on the floor with her knees tucked beneath her chin. Before she could fully catch her breath, a sob ripped its way out of her mouth and there was no way to stop the downpour of tears that fell from her eyes.
She had been at the Temple for as long as she could remember, been looked after by Arelen, and he had never raised his voice like that towards her or any other Cleric, let alone physically harm anyone, and yet he had just lunged at her like a rabid animal.
And that voice - the energy that she had felt awaken inside of her, though now dormant, was both confusing and frightening. The clerics at the Temple always explained magic as something that was entwined with one's own energy. The power that had awoken in her felt like it was coming from somewhere within herself, as if it was as much a part of her system as her heart or kidneys and just as necessary for her survival. Could they all feel the goddess's magic differently? Was this another one of the many secrets surrounding Ioerenia and her Temple?
She sighed, finally managing to gain control of her crying. Her fingers massaged the back of her neck as a splitting headache began. Whether it was the force in which her head hit the marble during Arelen's attack, the fifteen minutes of body wracking sobs, or the questions now swirling within her brain, she had no idea. Probably a combination of the two if the strength of the ache was any indication.
Releasing a shuttering breath Rina thought about what Arelen had said about the Test. It seemed to her that he either didn't care enough about the Test to know what the elements were, or even he wasn't permitted to know what went on behind those closed doors.
What was she going to do? She had been hoping she could glean enough details from Arelen and perhaps a few others, but every other person she asked brushed her off and now she knew why.
"You should go before you get us both killed", he had said. It seemed Eli had indeed given her accurate information when he threatened her, although she doubted he knew the killing wasn't reserved just for those who failed the Test, but also those who spilled secrets. If he did know, he was walking one hell of a thin line.
But what was the reason for them to keep it such a closely guarded secret? Sure, all tests were considered 'private' and the answers weren't meant to be shared, but was there any test so important that no one in the whole temple could share the tiniest detail? Something wasn't right... not that she had the time to worry about that when she had just lost the only plan she had.
Her mind a jumbled mess of broken plans, Rina pushed herself up off the cold floor and wiped the remaining tears from her cheeks. Rolling her head around in an attempt to release some of the tension in her neck, she moved to the wardrobe to grab a silk robe and matching fur lined slippers. While there was nothing more she wanted than to curl into a ball in her bed and sleep for a very long time, she knew that if she let herself fall apart she might not be able to find the energy and strength to find another way out of this mess. So she straightened her back and left the safety of her bedroom to head for the shared bathroom.
In her hurry to wash away the stress and ache that the day had caused as she made for the bathing room, Rina failed to notice the small smudge of shining silver that was on the palm of her right hand. The same hand that had been gripping the opening of the wall where molten metal bled in beautiful silver rivulets from the ceiling, untouchable to all. Or, previously untouchable to all.