Page 90 of A Tribute of Fire

I’d noticed how quiet she was last night, and how Io had spoken for her, but I’d just assumed she was really shy and reserved. “Ever?”

“Never. I don’t know if she can’t or if she won’t. I suspect the latter because I tried to communicate with her using signs, but she stopped me. We only know about her being an orphan because the orphanage reached out to the temple when she joined.”

Bile rose in the back of my throat. How bad had things been for Suri that she didn’t want to speak at all now—not with her voice or her hands? “That’s terrible.”

“It makes me glad that she’s here. We have protection and sisterhood and freedom from the outside world. Once you’re inside these walls, you are a servant of the goddess and safe. You become one of us. Even if you are a Locrian.”

“Someone should tell Artemisia that,” I said and Io laughed. Then she glanced at the open doors. “We should hurry. It’s getting late and we still have a lot to do. I’m just so glad that starting tomorrow this will be your sole responsibility and I finally get to sleep in!”

“I am going to do this alone every day?” I asked. That might offer some interesting possibilities. There might not be a guard posted at the stairs every morning, allowing me to sneak down.

“Yes. It’s always the job of the newest acolyte. When the sun rises to greet the goddess, it will be in a clean temple.”

The statue was downstairs with no windows. I didn’t understand how she would be able to “see” the sun, but figured it wasn’t worth arguing about it.

It was also a good thing that Demaratus had insisted on early mornings for so long. I’d always preferred staying up late and rising midmorning, but his schedule hadn’t allowed for it and my body had reset. Now I was accustomed to getting up early, so it shouldn’t be too difficult.

When Io and I had come over to the main building, the temple complex had been almost completely empty. Early mornings might be my chance to explore without interruption. To test locks and doors, to uncover the location of the eye.

After we had swept everything up, we finished by sprinkling the floor with water. Then we poured the remaining water out in the courtyard. The city was slowly coming to life, as were the women of the temple.

“I’m supposed to take you to see Maia,” Io said as she took the broom from me.

“More vows?”

“No,” she said with a grin. “That part is done.”

We entered the administration building and the first things I noticed were several musical brass horns hanging on hooks just inside the doorway. There was a stairway past the instruments and I wondered if it led up to Theano’s office. Io went left and took me into a large room that looked as if it had once been a theater—we entered at the top and walked down the stairs. There were long stone benches for seating and a raised dais in the center of the bottom level.

The theater in Naryx was open air. I’d never seen one enclosed like this.

Maia waited for us with a happy smile. It was easy to see why Io had such an affinity for her—they seemed to be the same kind of person.

“Thank you for delivering Lia!” Maia said.

Io nodded. “I’ll find you later.”

She left and I gave Maia my full attention and told her, “I’m almost afraid to ask why you wanted to see me.”

“There is nothing to worry about. Come, sit.” She indicated two chairs facing one another and I sat in one of them.

Maia took the other and folded her hands in her lap. Her expression was open, and she seemed to be searching for the right words. “I understand that your religious education may be ... lacking.”

I wasn’t going to tell her what I already knew, about the book my grandmother had entrusted to me. But there was truth to what she was saying.

“We know almost nothing of the goddess in Locris, other than she requires tribute.” Not a complete lie.

Maia nodded. “That’s what I suspected. You will have private lessons with me in the mornings after you sweep the temple floor so that I can help you to catch up. This will be necessary in your preparation to become a priestess. You cannot be responsible for the higher vows unless you have all the necessary knowledge.”

“Higher vows?” I’d been joking with Io earlier. I hadn’t seriously thought that there could be additional vows. “What more can I promise than I already have?”

“Oh, no. There’s nothing else. It applies to the higher calling as a priestess, where you will have a new position and new responsibilities, such as teaching the acolytes, preparing clothing for the statue, washing the floor in her room—that sort of thing. It is the office itself that is higher. The promises you’ve already made remain the same but become more meaningful.”

That was good. I didn’t want to be backed into a corner where I would have to speak a promise that I wouldn’t be able to keep.

“What do you do with an acolyte who can’t say the vows?” I asked.

“Suri?” she correctly surmised. When I nodded she said, “The goddess knows the intent of our hearts. Suri promised in her heart, then sealed that promise with her blood and hair, just like everyone else.”

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