Page 32 of The Warrior Priest
I was about to climb the stairs when I heard footsteps walking above. I waited, a finger to my lips in warning.
Rhys tilted his head to the side, listening.
Once the footsteps receded, I led the way up. I peered around the corner, and seeing no one about, signaled for him to follow. I placed the torch back in the wall sconce and pushed open the same door through which we’d entered. I raced on my toes down the lane, but stopped when I realized Rhys wasn’t with me.
He’d stopped further back but was now heading toward me. The body was no longer across his shoulder, but at his side, propped up by Rhys’s strong arm. The toes of the boots skimmed the ground, no doubt making even larger holes in the worn leather than was already there. The head lolled forward. He looked like a man helping his drunken companion home.
“The factories are that way,” I said to Rhys when he turned left instead of right.
“We have a stop to make first. You’re going to earn your wages.”
“This is a paid job? But it’s not officially sanctioned. How will you get the money from Master Tomaj?”
He flashed me a grin. “Let me worry about that.”
“I hate it when you’re mysterious. It’s no wonder people stop believing when the priests are so secretive.”
“People?”
“People who like answers.”
“There isn’t an answer to every question in life, Jac.”
It was a typical response from him whenever the topic of religion arose. Thankfully, it arose very rarely. Despite his life revolving around it, he didn’t mention it much.
“There’s no secret about our order,” he went on. “We train to fight. We fight when needed.”
“And yet there is a high wall around your temple complex and women aren’t allowed inside.”
He stopped and hitched the body higher. A passerby gave Rhys an odd look before noticing his priest’s tunic. “Need help, Brother?”
“No, thanks. My friend had a little too much tonight.”
The man chuckled. “We all have a friend like that. Good night and good luck.”
Once the man had turned the corner, Rhys picked up our conversation as if there’d been no interruption. “Women aren’t allowed because we train semi-naked a lot of the time. There are high walls because it was once a fort. Like the castle, it was built to withstand a siege. There are no mysteries or secrets, Jac.”
“Oh really? Are you telling me everyone knows I spy for you?”
“That’s different,” he mumbled.
“Ha! Tripped over by your own logic.”
He trudged on, half-dragging, half-carrying the corpse beside him. I could tell without looking at him that he was annoyed.Thiswas why we rarely spoke about religion.
“Are you still talking to me?” I hedged.
“No.” After a few more steps, he said, “You like picking holes in my faith. Why?”
He’d never asked me such a direct question about my beliefs, or lack of, before. “I don’tliketo pick holes, Rhys. I just…” I sighed. “I don’t believe the same things as you do, that’s all.”
“Fine. I don’t care.”
“Don’t you?” I asked archly.
He stopped again and looked at me. “No, Jac, I don’t. We can still befriends.” He walked off again, leaving me staring at his back. By emphasizing the ‘friends’, it made the absence of any other kind of relationship more obvious. As if I weren’t very aware of the absence already.
Usually when we touched on religion, the subject was quickly changed. Not this time. To my surprise, Rhys didn’t try to change it. “Sorry, Jac,” he said when I caught up to him. “I know I sound defensive, but… The thing is, I can see the holes in the logic, too.”
