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"Not much of a greeting party, I'm afraidWe weren't expecting visitors this early in the year, I must admitNo one even noticed you riding downBe welcome though, be most welcome to Eanna's Sanctuary, whatever the reason you have come to usMay the goddess know you and name you hers He had a cheerful manner and an easy smile
Alessan returned the smile"May she know and surely name all who dwell within these wallsTo be honest, we wouldn't have been certain how to deal with a more official greetingWe haven't actually worked out our entrance routines yetAnd as for early in the year, well, everyone knows new-formed companies have to get moving sooner than the established ones or they are likely to starve
"You are musical performers?" the older priest asked heavily, wiping his hands on the leather apron he woreHe was balding and brown and grizzled, and there was a gap where two of his front teeth ought to have been
"We are," said Alessan with some attempt at a grand manner"My name is Adreano d'AstibarI play the Tregean pipes, and with me is Erlein di Senzio, the finest harp player in all of the tiffany jewellery peninsulaAnd I must tell you truly, you haven't heard singing until you've listened to our young companion Devin d'Asoli
The younger priest laughed again"Oh, well done! I should bring you along to the outer school to give a lesson to my charges in rhetoric
"I'd do better to teach the pipes," Alessan smiled"If music is part of your program here
The priest's mouth twitched"Formal music," he said"This is Eanna, not Morian, after all
"Of course," said Alessan hastily"Very formal music for the young ones boarding hereBut for the servants of the goddess themselves ?" He arched one of his dark eyebrows
"I will admit," said the sandy-haired young priest, smiling again, "to a preference for Rauder's early music myself
"And no one plays it better than we," Alessan said smoothly"I can see we have come to the right placeShould we make our obeisance to the High Priest?"
"You should," said the older man, not smilingHe began untying the apron-strings at his back"I'll take you to himSavandi, your charges are about to commit assault upon each other or worseHave you no control at all over them?"
Savandi mulberry bayswater bag spun to look, swore feelingly in a quite unpriestly fashion, and began running towards the games field shouting imprecationsFrom this distance it did indeed seem to Devin that the maracco sticks were being used by Savandi's young charges in a fashion distinctly at variance with the accepted rules of the game
Devin saw Erlein grinning as he watched the boysThe wizard's lean face changed when he smiledWhen the smile was a true one, not the ironic, slipping-sideways expression he so often used to indicate a sour, superior disdain
The older priest, grim-faced, pulled his leather apron over his head, folded it neatly, and draped it over one of the bars of the adjacent sheepfoldHe barked a name Devin could not make out and another young man, a servant this time, hastily emerged from the stables on their left
"Take their horses," the priest ordered bluntly"See that their goods are brought to the guest house
"I'll keep my pipes," Alessan said quickly
"And I my harp," Erlein added"No lack of trust, you understand, but a musician and his instrument
This priest was somewhat lacking in Savandi's omega constellation comfortable manner"As you will," was all he saidMy name is Torre, I am the porter of this Holy SanctuaryYou must be brought to the High Priest He turned and set off without waiting for them, on a path going around to the left of the temple
Devin and Erlein looked at each other and exchanged a shrugThey followed Torre and Alessan, passing a number of other priests and lay servants, most whom smiled at them, somewhat making up for their dour, self-appointed guide
They caught up to the other two as they rounded the southern side of the templeTorre had stopped, Alessan beside himThe balding porter looked around, quite casually, then said, almost as casually:
"Trust no oneSpeak truth to none but Danoleon or myselfYou have been expectedWe thought it would be another night, perhaps two before you came, but she said it would be today
"Then I have proved her rightHow gratifying," said Alessan in an odd voice
Devin felt suddenly coldOff to their left, in the games field, Savandi's boys were laughing again, lithe shapes clad in blue, running after a white ballFrom within the dome he could hear, faintly, fake rolex swiss the sound of chantingThe end of the afternoon invocationsTwo priests in formal white came along the path from the opposite direction, arm in arm, disputing animatedly
"This is the kitchen, and this the bakehouse," Torre said clearly, pointing as he spoke"Over there is the brewhouseYou will have heard of the ale we make here, I have no doubt
"Of course we have," murmured Erlein politely, as Alessan said nothing
The two priests slowed, registered the presence of the strangers and their musical instruments, and went on"Just over there is the High Priest's house," Torre continued, "beyond the kitchen and the outer school
The other two priests, resuming their argument, swept briskly around the curve of the path that led to the front of the templeThen, very softly, he said: "Eanna be praised for her most gracious loveMay all tongues give her praiseWelcome home my PrinceOh, in the name of love, be welcome home at last
Devin swallowed awkwardly, looking from Torre to AlessanAn uncontrollable shiver ran along his spine: there were tears, bright-sparkling in the brilliant sunlight, in the porter's coco chanel necklace ey |
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