Ave walked out of the temple, using a side door less frequented by the comings and goings of the brethren simply because it let out into an out-of-the-way courtyard that had nothing to recommend it, only a view of the eastern wall a few paces distant and a staircase zigzagging its way to the top of said wall, fifty feet high. She craned her neck to see the top of the wall. The priest was there again, she observed, the same place he’d been every morning for the past two weeks, watching the sun rise. She had to admit that she was intensely curious about him. She didn’t even know his name, but there were wings under his hooded cloak, which meant he was Loftoni, as she was, and therefore fair game.
All priests and priestesses who served the Lord of Night were expected to wed. It was a sacred duty. Those who could not, for whatever reason, have children of their own bodies, were expected to adopt and rear some of the many foundlings left as offerings for the temple or to foster some of the orphans created by the War. Ave’s mother had been gently pushing her to find a mate, and the pressure exerted by her peers to conform to the familial duties was growing ever more intense. As a result, she’d dutifully met the young Loftoni males in Okyro, searching for even one that she could stand to be with for more than a quarter hour.
All the Loftoni males she had found who were old enough to court and wed were dragon-bonded. Being young, they were supremely narcissistic, totally self-absorbed in themselves and their soul-bonded dragons. They lacked any vestige of personality and were so egotistical that Ave dreaded having to take one as her mate.
There was no question that she might be permitted to take a non-Loftoni as spouse. She was only a quarter Loftoni herself, and no dragon had ever come for her, even though she had wings. Her family insisted that she marry a full-blooded Loftoni, and this struck her as particularly unfair. Neither her grandmother nor her mother had married Loftonis, after all, but had followed their hearts.
She had resolved to meet, and eliminate from consideration, every unmarried male Loftoni in Okyro. Then, she could marry whomever she pleased and nobody could say she hadn’t tried to find a mate amongst her own kind.
Next on her list was the priest on the wall, assuming he was young and unwed, a big assumption on her part, but he intrigued her. The fact that he took the time to watch the dawn hinted that he had some romance in his soul and might be a man worth knowing.
Ave climbed the steps with a swift, sure step, only using her wings to aid her balance a little bit. She hoped her guess was right, that this priest was young. Surely, if he were older, she would have seen him before now. All the dragonwings were on a rotation that had them in Okyro at least once a year. Of course, she was assuming that he was dragon-bonded. And why not? As far as she knew, of all the winged Loftoni in Okyro, only herself and her grandmother didn’t have a dragon.
She reached the top of the stairs and stepped onto the narrow ribbon of smooth stone, the outer edge protected by a knee-high parapet that seemed a waste of time as a protective measure to her.
The priest on the wall turned his hooded head in her direction, then took a step sideways.
Ave wondered if he was making room for her or trying to escape her company. His movement seemed to have elements of both. She paused, locking her gaze on the rosy glow to the east, hoping to put him at ease. A shy one, she had deduced, and immediately planned her assault to take that into account.
The rosy glow strengthened, transmuting to fiery orange as it touched the ground. Then, the incandescent brilliance of the sun broke over the horizon, sending shafts of light that appeared, at first, a dazzling white, and softly golden further out, as the periwinkle sky lightened several shades to palest blue. At last, she murmured, “Good morning, siflion . The sunrise
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