Chapter ten.

Manøvie.

He kissed me.

Sobêiski kissed me! I don't know what to do; should I be happy,excited? Part of me wants to burst out the halls and screaming with glee but most of me is worried. I had put him in jeopardy if Lord Lucaí came to realize what happened between us.

OmG,what have I done!

They'll kill him! Infront of the whole village and call him a traitor,he'll be humiliated! His mother would hate me forever! And heaven knows what they'd do to me. I'd be a curse instead of a blessing to them. The people would be angry at Härshänoäh for letting me dwell among them and ruining their perfect sophistication. There'd be chaos, arguing and ....

"Manøvie!!!" someone interjected through my thoughts.

I gasped,snapping my head up with my hands cuddled at my chest. My gaze lingered from Tõrontõ to the trees far off the land,conjuring up my congitations a fresh.

I had left the Temple that same morning after Sobêiski and I...after we had kissed. I had to be away from there,from Lord Lucaí and his second in command,from him. I had to think- to contemplate and to find out exactly how I was taking this.

"You're making me worried,y'know." Tõrontõ's voice came again as he sat beside me,looking to the forest as well. "It's been almost a week,Manøvie. Tell me what you're running from?"

"I'm not..." I started high pitched but then fell silent. "I'm not running from anything," I retorted lowly,plucking strands of grass from the ground.

"Okay,then who?" he asked

I sighed in aggravation with nothing to tell him, I had come to find solace here in hope of not being questioned- saying that I still wanted to help and that I loved the fields. Unfortunately, Tõrontõ had not fallen for my story and now,he wanted answers.

"I'm not running." was all I told him before losing myself in my mind.

For the past five days I've been convincing myself that I didn't love Sobêiski and he didn't love me too,that all this was just a trance I could walk away from- that we would walk away from. Soon Sobêiski had to realize what his priorities were and I wasn't part of them because his sole goal was to be high priest of Modëus.

I kept my distance very long enough so he could get to know that but everytime I tried to relinquish these feelings and ache I have for him, I saw him kiss me,felt his lips all over again,I heard him confess his love for me and I just couldn't stop wishing that we could freely be together.

I hoped that being so far from him for many days would probably quench my sentiment towards him but Sobêiski had put his mark to last. I held onto my shawl,drowning within my soul knowing that in only a week, he would take his place upon the throne of Modëus' Temple.

Tõrontõ didn't question me anymore. He just kept sitting there beside me having his mind linger too.

The winds of night started to sway the trees about. Whistling against the leaves and falling some of them to the ground as it passed by. Patches of clouds floated over the toned hues of the navy sky, shadowing speckles of stars starting to appear dimly.

Tõrontõ and I headed back to his house just within the glade of the trees,where most of the hunters resided. I stood at the floor of the steps to his porch as he unlocked his door. I couldn't stay here with him any longer, I couldn't be an inconvenience everywhere I went.

I kept standing there, forming well placed sentences in my mind before I told him I was leaving.

"Aren't you coming? It's quite cold out here," he said

I took another step back and nodded a 'no' to him. My fingers quickly finding the fringes of my shawl as I was pervaded by qualms.

"I'm going back to the Temple, Tõrontõ. I'm guessing I should have said this earlier," I said to him

"You're leaving?" He came down the steps and stood before me,a frown on his face "Was it something I said?" Tõrontõ searched my face in worry.

"No,Tõrontõ. I just...it's been five days now and I don't want to be a bother to you- I..

"You're not a bother,Manøvie. Look, I'm sorry if I said something to upset you, you don't have to leave like this,"

"I'm not upset. No body knows I left the Temple to come here," I told him "it's better it stays that way,so I have to leave now- Please,"

Tõrontõ bobbed his head slowly,his face growing dim as he fell silent. He brought me up to the little stream before I asked him to go back. I didn't want to cause him any problems or suspicions from his mates because of me. The clouds had now cleared off the sky as I started my trek back home.

The night was so silent as the Temple came to sight. All the houses around had their lights off as I quietly wended towards the large establishment at the centre of the road. I could hear the crickets buzz into the silence as I climbed the quadruple steps to the temple doors which I slipped into prudently.

I made sure to survey the empty halls critically before racing towards the east side of them. My heart crushing in violent pulsates as I travelled through the corridors- the breadth from my chambers becoming longer and dilating in my eyes as I rushed.

I raced to my door,fidgeting with the knob and opening it. A strange wind blew past me to the other end of the corridor. My mind quickly registered the secret passageway I had seen many days ago. I Eddied my eyes in speculation,pondering wether it could perhaps be open this time.

I pulled my door back into its frame,arranging the shawl over my shoulders and taking the path to the other side. The floor of my sandals tapped lightly on the furnished tiles as I came closer to the stiff corner. I peeked over it cautiously,throwing my glance back to where I was coming from before I tiptoed briskly towards the door.

The peculiar door suddenly fell back the moment I touched it,creaking as I stared around in amazement. It was open! I swallowed hard before climbing on the first step,thinking hesitantly to what I was doing. If I got caught by whoever was running this secret place,i was sure to be in big trouble.

I rubbed my cold palms together as I started up the stairs, my senses floating on guard with expectations of anything. I travelled up the stairs my fingers grazing along the wall until I saw another tiny door appear at the top.

"He hasn't gotten the last stone yet. And if he doesn't get it soon enough,we would have suffered for nothing," I heard someone say as I came to the door.

"I thought the girl was supposed to give it to him,"

"I don't know,man. But he better make it quick because the ordination is soon,"

"Yeah. Anyway we're still getting paid so get those stones and fill the plate up,"

I heard their laughter as I leaned to my other side,where I could see through the broken hinge. I struggled to make out my visual through all the darkness and dim light from the room. I let out a small breathe,squinting into the tiny hole.

There were four men in the room. Two of them sat at the end of the wall beside an alcove that had a medium heat source, in which they melted something into square sets of gold. The other two placed the filled sets onto a larger plate that lay on a piece of wood and furnishing it till I could see it's lustre from where I stood.

I could see the colossal topaz stone fixed into the wall above the heated furnace from where the first two men sat. It's gleam was different from what I knew to be. Instead of a fresh cut yellow,there was a smudge of green plastered within it. The memory of me blasting at this stone the night of the storm brought a thought to me, was that a flare from my powers?

"Let's hurry and wrap up, I'm pretty beaten up today,"

"Alright."

I started to hyperventilate as they came towards the door,ready to leave. There was no way I could run back down the stairs,they'd easily notice me and my cover would have been blown. I stayed transfixed behind the door,lying deep into the darkness as the old piece of wood squeaked open,shading me from their view while they passed by- leaving it to shut back.

As I held the door from returning to its frame,a thought came to me; they were going to lock me in here with no other way out. I struggled with what to do then, whether to follow them down or go into this room and have a clear picture of what they had been doing.

It was too late for making a decision now. I had the bolt shut from below the stairs,the once loud voices vanishing into the distance as they went on. I was now left with only one option.

With a sigh,i walked through the door and into the room. Throwing my eyes around me,studying all that I saw but left with no clue of what this was. I came to where the topaz stone stood,trapped between the walls. I took my hand towards it,feeling this compelling urge to touch and know it's texture.

Tiny frissons of white suddenly sparked from the stone casuing me to withdraw my hand to my chest in fright. I brought my eyes to the cooling furnace before crouching abreast of it. There were speckles of beads on the floor, I picked a few-placing them in my palm and examining them.

"Chalcedony?" I frowned bringing the light milky bead before my eyes.

Why were these men melting this gem stone? I searched for the large gold plate I had seen but found nothing but remnants of gem stones on the floor. They must have taken it with them, I thought rolling my toes at the pieces of gem; who was running the creation of that gold plate and for what purpose?

Those men,they had talked about the ordination so this must be priest related. But who would want to do something behind the sight of light, someone secretive would be capable of such activities-

...someone like Lord Lucaí.

I was absolutely sure that he was behind this. But why? He was having a gem stone breast plate prepared for the ordination at hand. Only priests wore breast plates as a symbol of faith. I was baffled though, the priests had plates with topaz stone. Chalcedony wasn't a jewel worn by any tribe at all so why was it being used?

Perhaps it was a gift from him to Sobêiski. A token of welcome into the family of high priests...Nah, Lord Lucaí isn't that generous.

I paced the room in contemplation, there was a reason for that plate but I couldn't figure out what. I wasn't thinking coherently anymore because of how everything was so mixed up. If that plate wasn't a welcome gift to Sobêiski,then what was it? Maybe I have everything all wrong?

I wended back to the topaz stone, my gaze falling from it to the small hexagonal window at its right. I looked down from it, I was able to see the village square and the few houses around. I leaned in unconsciously and touched the stone in the wall for support. There was a quick strike of lightning that slapped the ground outside.

"Agh!" I gasped from the shock of what I had witnessed and the sting from the topaz stone. I held my wrist tightly trying to squeeze out the nipping pain as I winced,backing further from it.

The strange green smudge had suddenly disappeared from it. I scanned my injured palm,now noticing the tiny green flare falling into my skin. I gasped inwardly as I stretched my fingers feeling no pain at all.

"I gotta get out of here," I whispered to myself still squeezing at my wrist.

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