After weeks of discussion the city was finally ready to appoint a new high priest.  It wasn’t a fair way to resolve the situation.  The city steward had been the one to order criminals be thrown into the courtyard for the god to execute.  It was an ancient and honorable practice, he’d declared, and while he was technically correct it was not an execution method that had been used in this kingdom for quite some time.  However, it achieved the result of angering the god, which then put the priesthood in a predicament.

As he intended.  The now forcibly retired high priest had been exercising his power more than the city steward was comfortable with.  The new high priest would be easier to control.  He would obediently claim it was the former high priest that came up with the idea about the criminals in the first place and by removing him, the god was mollified.

Fair?  No.  Certainly not.  But it was what the Queen wanted, for the royal family was famously opposed to the priesthood gaining any power outside of their temple.  The priesthood claimed the royal family’s opposition was the reason the capital city’s rituals failed time and again and thus had been without a god for over twenty years now.  The royal family simply didn’t want people who had access to a god’s power involved in politics.

They didn’t say this publicly.  The Queen told me after I became the Beloved.  She’d told me many things that I suspect I shouldn’t know about.

All that was left was a rather public ceremony to instate the new high priest.  The god would be present and unfortunately, that meant so would I.  As usual, the god had grown rather possessive of me during my weeks here.  I’d even taken up residence in the temple instead of some exclusive fancy inn for traveling nobles.  At least the guest room was similarly lavish, although services were a bit slow.  My personal maid didn’t like leaving my room - just in case she ran into the god in the hallways, although there were specific protocols to ensure that didn’t happen - and so we had to wait on the temple’s servants.  

They were, understandably, having a staffing problem at the moment.  The bodies had been removed from the courtyard but many of the servants simply didn’t bother to show up for work again.

Just in case.

Which meant that I didn’t have any good excuses to not help the god with his preparations for the ceremony.

“Keep your eyes closed the entire time,” I warned him as I checked and double-checked the blindfold.  “If this slips, you could kill everyone by accident.”

“It won’t slip,” he said, clearly amused.

“It won’t, I agree.  But just in case.”

“Fine, fine.”

He reached out and grabbed hold of my waist as I tried to step away.

“And you’ll be the one guiding me, right?” he demanded.

“Yes, yes.  I’ll be at your side the entire time.”

“What if I trip on the stairs?”

“Then float the entire time if you’re so concerned!”

Every god had their own quirks.  I’d discovered this one enjoyed making more work for everyone around him by inventing problems.

I’d also discovered I could get away with almost anything with him, so I slapped his hands off of me.

“Let’s go,” I said tersely.  “You may only hold onto my elbow.  Do not touch my veil.  If you mess it up I swear I’ll throw you down the stairs myself.”

The piece of silk trailed down past my waist, edged with beads and dangling pearls.  Veils had gone out of fashion when I was a child, replaced with more practical headwear.  Skirts had gained additional layers, allowing the nobility a way to show off their wealth without wearing something that snagged on stray tree branches at every opportunity.  Ceremonial dress, however, had yet to make that transition.  I had to admit that the veil combined with layered skirts had an overwhelming impression, covering me in ripples of fabric.  Between that and the crown which sat on my head like a halo, I could rival the queen.

Which was the intent of the ceremonial dress.  A subtle reminder that the crown wasn’t the only power in this world.  Judging by the sly smile the queen wore whenever we saw each other in our regalia, it wasn’t working.

My attire had been made specifically for me by the city’s guild.  It was a point of pride for each settlement to provide their own work as my regalia.  After I was anointed my measurements were sent to every corner of the kingdom.

I’d worn some pretty modest clothing in the small towns I’d visited in an official capacity.  It was galling the first time, but then I saw how proud everyone was and well, I couldn’t exactly keep sneering after that.

The temple hall was packed.  The nobility and the wealthy sat up in the balconies, while the floor was filled with commoners.  The god was from the populace and so must be for the populace.  So the priests said.  As if any noble would willingly die and give up all trace of who they used to be.  For a commoner - and especially their family - it was a great honor, however.  And the priesthood wisely ensured that the newly arisen god remembered to ensure their family’s prosperity, or failing that, took direct measures themselves.

The priesthood had already gone through all their requisite ceremonies and all that was left was the new high priest to swear his servitude to the god.  A hush settled over the room as we entered.  We walked alone down the hall, the crowd hastily drawing back to let us pass.

I didn’t need guards when in a god’s presence.  They would instinctively protect me from any attackers.  It had happened once.  Granted, we never figured out if it was actually an attacker or just someone stupid enough to try to get closer than allowed.  The god hadn’t left enough of them to be identifiable as a human being, much less to discern their identity or motive.

Gods weren’t very good at restraint, especially the younger ones.  Most settlements waited until they were deep in the throes of a disaster to ask for a god’s intervention as a result.  Or they called upon the assistance of the Beloved, who could stand by a god’s side for hours or days on end and walk them very carefully through stopping a flood or summoning rain or the likes.

I paused at the stairs leading to the dais.  He didn’t actually expect me to tell him they were there, did he?  He was a god, he simply knew everything that was around him.  But before I could decide, the god took matters into his own hands.

He took a step forward. I went with him and realized that my feet were no longer touching the ground.  I hovered about a foot from the floor and we were floating gently up the stairs.  A murmur ran through the crowd.  They so rarely witnessed a god’s abilities firsthand.

So this god was also a bit of a show-off.  Good to know.

We landed lightly on the dais, right where we were supposed to.  After that it was a simple exchange of words and then we could recess and I would finally be free to leave this city and return to a quiet life back at the capital.

If only that were true.