The Egg Thief of Alungar, ch 2

Light was fading fast, but the crimson-robed clerics still had to perform the rituals and wouldn’t be rushed no matter how much the seated council members glared at them from the stage. Servants of the dragon God passed among the score of supplicants, making holy signs and chanting, taking care to anoint each one properly before moving on. The runners now wore their flying leathers, dark browns and blacks, padded in places but supple enough to allow them to move freely. A high cleric paused in front of each rider, dipping their brush into a golden bowl held by an acolyte, before flicking the water over the rider’s shoulders and moving on to the next.

The snow was falling thicker, and the audience grew agitated, the cold adding to the restlessness. The square was quiet, but for a steady drum beat emanating from high in the temple. It matched the spectators’ impatient stomping of frozen feet as the waiting dragged on. Rell pulled his coat tight and watched his sister, wishing he could be at her side. Not that he wanted to make the climb, just that it felt odd to be so close and yet unable to reach her. Like him, she was tall and sharp-featured, with unruly black hair tied back as tightly as she could manage. In her youth, Ariella had threatened to shave her head more than once, but a stern lecture from the housekeeper had stopped her from reaching for the scissors. She shifted from side to side in little hops, working to keep the cold from her muscular limbs. Rell did the same, receiving an impatient glare from Kynon, but Rell ignored him and continued to fidget. Growing up, Rell and Ariella had been inseparable, and Rell had often picked up her habits, not that she complained. It had angered their father, though, and he’d sought to separate the two by sending Ariella to a school for girls. According to the young Ariella, the establishment was little more than a prison camp, and she’d started her first day by fighting with the matrons. It took only a month before the twelve-year-old escaped and returned to her brother. Any attempt to separate them was met with fierce resistance from the siblings.

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