[coronatiger]

23rd of Ratanu, year 412 (continued)

Xipil asked the drivers to go to the northern temple district gate where he wanted me to get out and make sure we’d all get inside Your temple without incident. On the way there, I whispered to Yana, “Can you keep an eye on Jaryn? I’m not yet certain we can trust him, so if he looks about to do something … unwanted … you should ask Wolfram to restrain him.” Yana giggled behind her hand, acting as if I had just told her a private joke, but her bent index finger signaled that she would do as I asked.

Yana and I decided a while ago that we might need some secret signs to communicate privately without anyone noticing what we were doing. We were both practiced at making ourselves understood through gestures, but commonly known signs and easily interpreted improvisations were just that, commonly known and easily interpreted, and therefore poorly suited to secret messaging. Clearly, we needed signs that didn’t draw attention, so any movement must be slight, or at least easily camouflaged. It might be fun to develop our own private sign language, but there would be limits to how many discreet signs we could invent before having to resort to more obvious gestures. For now, that wasn’t an issue, as we had only come up with a few signs, meaning “yes”, “no”, “danger”, “help me” and “love”. The last one was Yana’s idea, and one she could easily display while her hands were occupied with sewing. During my depression, Yana had almost constantly had a hand with her ring and middle fingers held together while the little and index fingers were slightly splayed, silently announcing her love and support in my difficult situation.

We had discussed whether we should include our companions in our secret, but decided against it, at least for the time being. The main purpose for secret communication was espionage, an activity that our friends wisely left to Yana and me. We had agreed that we would revisit the question of teaching Xipil when we had fleshed out our language a little, since stealth missions might also benefit from silent communication.

I turned to Wolfram. “Can you stay close to Jaryn when we go inside the temple? I intend to advocate peaceful cooperation between the factions, but I’d feel much better if you’d keep him safe from any random hotheads that might appear.” Wolfram accepted the task and Jaryn nodded, saying he trusted me.

The wagon stopped and the drivers knocked to alert us we had arrived. I jumped out and asked them if it was possible for the wagon to stay where it was for a couple of minutes while I went inside to check things out. The drivers warned me that they would have to move the wagon if the guards asked them to, which I said was just fine. “You can take a short round and return here.” I asked Xipil where the temple entrance was, and he indicated that it was in through the eastern gate tower and downstairs.

I walked over to the gate and made Your sign to the guards. None replied in kind, but one “had to go inside to check up on something”. I made small talk with the other guards while I waited for him to return. I was a bit surprised to see Audria come out wearing a temple guard uniform. She didn’t carry a weapon like the other guards, I noted. She whispered something to the man who had fetched her, and I walked over to her, saying I brought friends. Audria said we had paperwork to fill out and I joined her in the ruse to deceive the non-Ashtarite guards. We went inside the gate tower and up the stairs. In an office there, Audria changed into civilian clothing while I repeated that I brought friends, and that we wanted to go down to the temple to talk with her. Audria warned me that I was putting my companions in danger by bringing them here. I dismissed the warning; we came prepared for trouble.

Back downstairs, Audria gave me two minutes to fetch my friends, speaking so the guards heard her and would expect more visitors soon. I went back to the wagon and told everyone to hurry up. Recalling the prohibition against weapons in the temple district, Wolfram left his crossbow, his longsword, his pick and his flail in the wagon. I grabbed the flail and hid it under my cloak; he might need it. Grogg got Hylda to fasten his maul to his back. Normally, I would have objected to him showing his weapon so blatantly, but expecting at least the possibility of trouble, I determined to intercede if anyone made a fuss about it. I was poised to strike, now that my target was in sight, and I wouldn’t let anybody stand in my way.

Yana poked me and glanced to the side where Jaryn waited with Wolfram. The priest was pale, and when he noticed me looking at him, he said he could feel that every step he took brought him closer to You. He bent down to place his palms on the ground, then declared he was ready. I nudged Xipil to show the way, but I walked beside him to make it look as if I was leading our party. Jaryn told me it was important for him to return to his temple for tonight’s Meet and I promised to make every effort to ensure he was there in time.

When we rounded the corner, Yana hurried up to me and pulled on my cloak. I turned to find Wolfram standing frozen in place, far more pale-faced than Jaryn. Wolfram had seen the crowd standing in line to get in through the gate. I was about to tell him that he wouldn’t have to go through the crowd, that he could hide inside the tower, but he unfroze and walked forward with determined steps. Ashes stained the ground where he had stood, and Xipil went to examine it while the rest of us continued.

Xipil returned before we had even reached the door, and he pointed out a guard who was clearly afraid of us. I thought the rest of the guards were unlikely to challenge us, too. With a troll the size of Grogg, armed where he shouldn’t be, I think they hoped we’d just go on our way without bothering them. There were ten of them, probably more inside the towers, but I wouldn’t bet against Grogg if it came to it. He could probably take them on singlehandedly, at least if he kept his wits about him. Against the Elik knife mages a few days ago, his anger had made him act foolishly and he took unnecessary wounds.

Inside the gate tower, Grogg offered to go ahead of Wolfram in case there was something scary down there. We took the stairs down and crossed a long corridor before reaching the wash basins. I reminded Yana how to wash her feet and hands but made sure Grogg, Hylda and Wolfram heard my instructions. Jaryn gave the impression that he had washed on everyone’s behalf, but I said I still wanted to go through the ritual cleansing. I was pleased to see that not even Grogg made a fuss. Hylda helped him; this is allowed, of course, as the intent is just as important as the act itself. Had Grogg refused to wash, he would have had to stay behind. Forcing him would have been a distortion of Your holy ritual.

I waited until everyone had their shoes back on before leading the way inside the temple. Jaryn stayed close to Wolfram but kept his eyes on me. I didn’t think he wanted to lose sight of me. Audria was standing at the altar with her hands upon it, praying. I gave Wolfram his flail and joined the priestess. There weren’t many people in the temple, only a handful apart from us, but I recognized Enani among them. My friends seated themselves on the stone benches, Yana and Wolfram flanking Jaryn.

I knelt and put my hands on the floor and prayed silently, asking You to give me the strength I needed for my imminent task and to give me the right words to say. “Do you feel it?” Audria asked after a minute or two. I scrutinized my senses. Was there a hint of nervousness or uncertainty in the air, or was that just me? A few snakes had slithered up my arms, which I took as a sign of Your approval for what I was about to do. They seemed very reverent and hadn’t climbed further up than my elbows, and while they felt something important was happening at the altar, they had felt that before I approached. I shook my head slightly and returned to my prayer.

When I stood up, the temple was empty except for Audria, Jaryn, my friends and me. And the snakes, of course; I felt blessed standing among them and kissed the ones on my arms. I realized how much I had dreaded this moment, but standing there, I had shed every emotion except anger and determination.