needed to prove to a goddess, this was a path they could take.
“What are we going to do about the horses?” Mave asked, staring up to her destination. The temple was so far up the mountain, she couldn’t see it or maybe it was on the other side of the mountain.
“We can leave them here,” Mat answered. “I’m more worried about our supplies. This has to get us home, too.”
“I could maybe stay down here with everything, but…I made a promise, and I need to see it through,” Emerian said softly from the wagon.
Mave tried not to growl at those words because they touched her more deeply than she could handle. Why did he have to go down this route? Couldn’t he have chosen to be a less honorable male?
“I need you up there, too,” she snapped. “You’re my nemari. You have to handle things for me if I die. Help my males if I don’t come back.”
“And I’m back to being her nemari because suddenly I’m useful again,” Emerian muttered.
“Then what are we are going to fucking do?” Zayden was frustrated.
“Maybe I can be of help,” someone said out of Mave’s sight. She had her blades drawn by the time she turned, staring at the direction of the words.
Standing alone was an older female wearing long robes. Her posture was regal, and her brilliant turquoise eyes were a rare color, a mix of blue and green. They were bright in the black eyes of the Andinna and framed by the tatua covering the female’s face like all Andinna had as adults—except one.
“And you are?” Mave growled, spinning her swords in her hands.
“The high priestess of the temple on this mountain. My name is Invia. I pray every day, and last night, I received a vision of this spot. Now I see why.”
“You’re willing to help us?” Mat stepped closer. “Because…”
“I’ll lead you to our stables. They’ve been unused for a long time because horses were a rare commodity in recent centuries.”
“How have you survived here?” Zayden inquired, leading the horses to turn the cart. The female began to walk away, talking as she moved.
“Many priests and priestesses hid their temples as the Elvasi swallowed our country. They couldn’t reach us, and we were very careful. We hunted when no one was near and farmed as we could on the mountain. The dragons provided for their faithful here in Anden. We kept up with our duties and maintained several places of worship away from the coastline, where we knew the Elvasi had ended up.”
“The land was too hard for them,” Bryn explained.
“As it should be,” the priestess said, a smile in her words. “This land doesn’t belong to Andinna, it belongs to dragons. Just because they defeated the Andinna doesn’t mean they took the land. Still, it wasn’t safe to do much other than survive.”
“I know someone who would disagree with you. A husband of mine has a theory that we made the land hostile to others by our blood sacrifices to it, every spring for thousands and thousands of years. Elvasi magic doesn’t work as well, if at all, here.”
“Does your husband have much faith in the gods?” The priestess seemed aloof and a little arrogant as if she knew Luykas and had already decided his theory was not valid compared to her own.
“No,” Mave admitted. “But I like his theory better. I’ve never had much respect for the gods. They’re so important, but where were they during the last war? Why can’t we mortals be something needed and important, too? Why do they get all the credit?” Mave jerked her chin up, her intentions clear.
The priestess stopped, her eyes going fierce at Mave’s words.
“You disrespect them,” she snapped.
“Yeah, and Kristanya fucking knows it,” Mave growled with a smile.
“High Priestess, please take us where we need to go, so we can continue our journey,” Mat said gently, coming up on the female’s other side. “Before you get the sharper side of my wife’s tongue. We can leave philosophical questions for a different day.”
“That wasn’t the sharp side?” Invia seemed surprised by Mat’s words.
“No.” Mat looked around the priestess and gave an arrogant, knowing smirk. “That wasn’t the sharp side.”
Invia looked at Mave with new respect and continued the long walk as they moved around the base of the mountain and up a low-grade slope. Finally, they found the stable, old, but still standing. Mave’s husbands jumped into action and got the horses inside, feeding them after they were groomed