Her brother either did not hear or did not care, for he walked on without another glance at his little sister.
***
Dienna watched him as he left. She didn't understand him. They had been so close as children—had played together, prayed together—but in the last few years he had become a stranger to her. He had attended class after class of religious studies, lecture after lecture on philosophy, had attended every service offered at the Hall of Ceremony, and had been so busy with his duties to the point that Dienna only ever saw him at meals. Their mother and father considered it a credit to his hardworking nature, and were subsequently stunned when Sonder, on the eve of his twenty-sixth birthday, announced that he did not wish to succeed his father as the Keeper of the Gods. Dienna had been almost as equally shocked, and she had tried everything she could to convince Sonder of the huge mistake he was making, but it had been to no effect. Within a week, Sonder had moved out of the their family's suite of rooms, and Dienna had begun training to succeed her father instead.
That had been over a year ago, and Dienna had nearly caught up to her brother's former level of study. She had thoroughly enjoyed the training, and, truth be told, Dienna thought herself better suited to the position than her brother. Still, Dienna was continually frustrated with him for having shrugged off his duty and passing it on to her. In Dienna's mind, Sonder had spurned his entire life's purpose, and had, thus, spurned the gods.
She could only pray that they would forgive him.
Putting her brother out of mind, Dienna began to walk across the castle grounds toward her family's chambers in the East Wing. On her way she passed a group of acolytes, huddled together with parchment and quills, comparing notes and whispering nervously, their blue and green robes rustling about in the breeze. Dienna smiled, remembering the days when she had been an acolyte, testing her way through the ranks until she was learnèd enough to become a priest. She did not envy them. As much as she had loved the complicated, laborious reading assigned to her by her instructors, she did not miss the nights spent almost sleepless, reciting lines from the Book of the Three until the words swam before her eyes. As the Keeper-in-training, Dienna now spent most of her spare time learning about the more practical aspects of the Way, like organizing the holy feasts and taking audience with the pilgrims who routinely visited the famous Godskeep.
The Godskeep itself was a large structure, the largest in the Golden Valley by quite a margin. Three immense walls of mortared stone formed a great triangle around the castle’s lawn. It was a larger lawn than one typically saw in a castle, and was designed such that the pilgrims and the Faithful could gather in large numbers within sight of the Hall of Ceremony during festivals and feasts. Workers from the village below would bring tents and raise pavilions until the grass was no longer visible. The Keeper of the Gods often had to preside over these festivals from the balcony above the Hall of Ceremony at the very center of the Godskeep.
Dienna hoped it would not be so crowded for the upcoming Midsummer Festival. This year would be her first time presiding on her own, and while the sight of so many Faithful made her glow with pride, the thought of speaking from that tiny balcony above a sea of so many people in the hot, hot sun made Dienna’s stomach flutter.
She climbed the steps to her chambers, thankful to be out of the too-warm sunlight, though she could still feel the tingle of the summer heat on her skin. The door to her family's chambers was already open (no one would ever dream of locking doors in the Godskeep), and Dienna was unperturbed to find her friend Meredith sitting at her family's table.
Wearing the acolyte's robes of blue, purple, and green, she was hunched down over multiple rolls of parchment and a smattering of books. Her skin was a dark, umber brown and her hair was almost black, curly and styled with wooden combs and a scarf to keep it in place. The curve of her back was exaggerated by her bad posture, making her lithe figure appear even longer. Her eyes were downcast as she read over one of the parchments in front of her, her lips moving silently.
“Hello, Meredith,” Dienna said pleasantly, entering the room.
The other girl looked up, “Hello, Dee. I hope you don’t mind. I wanted to brush up on some of the older incarnations of Dartos and your notes are the best I’ve seen on the subject.”
Dienna smiled, “Oh no, I don't mind at all. Heaven knows you need those notes now more than I do. I saw some of the other acolytes comparing parchment outside the classrooms. I suppose your studies are getting to be quite rigorous.”
Meredith sat back at the table and stretched, “Rigorous. Strenuous. Overbearing. And it's far too pleasant outside to want to stay indoors.”
“The sacrifices we make for the Way.”
Meredith chuckled at this statement, though Dienna had not meant it as a joke. Hiding her disapproval, Dienna walked over to a nearby shelf, grabbed the notes she had made in preparation for the Midsummer Festival, and sat next to Meredith. The two girls were soon lost in their own studies, each occasionally asking the other's opinion on some matter or other, before falling back into studious silence.
Meredith had always sought Dienna whenever she had questions about her studies on the Way. Although Meredith had been shy when she had first come to Godskeep as a child, her eagerness to learn had reminded Dienna of herself when she had been Meredith’s age. Though Dienna was only three years Meredith's senior, the fact that her own father was the Keeper of the Gods meant that Dienna had started as an acolyte at a much younger age than average. The youngest of her class, Dienna had not truly fit in with the rest of the acolytes, and she had been lonely. Thus, when Meredith had first arrived at the Godskeep shy and friendless, Dienna couldn't help but reach out to the younger girl. They had been best friends nearly fifteen years.
Eventually, the young scholars could study no more, and both pushed back from the table, yawning though it was only early afternoon.
Meredith turned to Dienna with a look of concerned curiosity, “Is something the matter, Dee?”
Dienna started. She hadn't realized that the silence had stretched for an uncomfortable length of time.
“Sonder was behaving like an absolute child during the service this morning,” she complained. The two girls had moved to the window seat on the other side of the room, lounging and sipping on cooled milk.
“What was he doing?” Meredith returned. She frowned and leaned forward with her glass held between both hands.
“Well, the little ones from the Keep and the Village were presenting the story of the gifts of the gods and he could not contain his laughter,” Dienna explained.
Meredith rolled her eyes, “I can imagine. I’m sure he found it amusing.”
“He was practically giggling.”
“I’m sure it did make an...interesting play,” Meredith offered, “but that’s no invitation to lose his senses.”
“Exactly,” Dienna agreed. “And then I tried to speak with him about it, but he failed to see the problem.”
“Well, you know he’s never been the most put together,” Meredith said evenly.
“But the affront to the gods,” Dienna returned, now frowning. “Appropriateness aside, what an offense he has committed!”
Meredith raised an eyebrow, “I’m sure he wasn't the only one laughing.”
“Well the rest of the congregation showed considerably more restraint,” Dienna snapped, her face flushed. “I can assure you that no one else's mirth was audible.”
Meredith fell silent. She took a sip of her milk, still hunched forward, while Dienna looked out the window. The glass was leaded, colored and warped. It showed the outside world in a daze, distorting the figures walking across the lawn below.
Meredith sat back and set down her milk. She adopted a cheerful face, “Well, there's always the Midsummer Festival to look forward to,” she said.
Dienna sighed, “Yes, but I’m looking forward to it less this year than normal.”
“I’m sure you'll be great,” Meredith said. “I’m more worried about the festival part. It’s been too long since I’ve danced.”
“Your dancing is the least of my concerns,” Dienna said with ill spirits. “I need to make sure that I make a lasting impression during the Ceremonies if I am to succeed my father as Keeper.”
Meredith tilted her head, “If? You're the only child he has left now that Sonder's abdicated. Unless there's something I don't know.”
Dienna ignored the lewd implications, and continued. “I am the only choice left, but I'll be the first second-born child to assume the role in a hundred years, and only the third woman. Who knows how well the Faithful will accept me.”
“I don't know,” Meredith countered. “I was there when your father announced you as the next Keeper. The Faithful were pretty enthusiastic.”
Dienna was silent a moment, recalling that day, the cheering, the applause. Her father had made the announcement from the top of the small balcony on the Hall of Ceremony, with Dienna and Mother at his side. Sonder had been nowhere to be found.
“They were,” Dienna said quietly. She thought, not for the first time, that perhaps others aside from herself had seen that Sonder was simply not cut out for the job. Perhaps they truly were pleased to have her as the next Keeper. “I only wish that they would see me as wise and fair as my father. I think they should be satisfied with that.”
Meredith nodded, “Would you do anything that your father wouldn't do as Keeper?”
Her friend had asked the question casually, but Dienna's heart pounded as if she were being interrogated by the gods themselves.
“Absolutely not,” Dienna replied sternly. “My father does the will of the gods. He is the Keeper of the Way. The Steward of the Godskeep. All he does is the will of the gods, and I shall do the same.”
“The will of the gods,” Meredith replied quietly, ignoring Dienna's sudden ire. Her gaze was abstract, her tone philosophical. “I don’t think even the Keeper could truly speak for the gods.”
“The Keeper is the closest thing to a god on earth,” Dienna replied with the thin patience she often reserved for her friend's musings. Dienna saved her true patience for those acquaintances who needed it more. “If the Keeper does not speak for the gods, who does?”
Meredith made no response, though Dienna thought her friend was on the verge of saying something. The iron clang of church bells interrupted them, and Meredith stood abruptly.
“Is it that late already?” She said as she hurried over to the table to gather her things. “I told Gran I would visit. I should be leaving.”
“You’re going to the Village?” Dienna asked with interest. She had been meaning to pick up some notions from the market but had not been able to find the time.
“As soon as I can,” Meredith returned, stuffing parchment and books into the leather satchel on her shoulder.
“I’ll come too,” Dienna said. As she turned to gather her own belongings from the small table near the bookshelf, Dienna noticed an oddly small, black book on the shelf at just about eye level that she could have sworn she had never seen before. It had no title, which Dienna found odd, but she soon turned her attention from it as the young woman grabbed her own satchel and followed her friend out the door.
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