“Bring us back good news!”
CHAPTER TWENTY
They rode for an hour through the western part of Messene, eventually coming to a clearing before a tall formation, sheer rock rising to a flat top mostly hidden by clouds. As they neared the base, the acolyte announced they’d take a brief break as the ascent was difficult.
Terena dismounted and stepped back, stretching as David jumped down, rummaging in his saddlebags.
“I have a water skin if you—” he said, but Terena waved him off.
“I’m fine.”
The acolyte nodded and pulled his horse behind him as he walked to a tree a few feet away. He tethered the horse and pulled some food out of the saddlebags, offering some to Terena as he moved to sit on a nearby log.
Terena thanked him for the cheese and small piece of bread he’d torn off and given her. She ate while pacing in front of him, taking in the woods and looking up to see how far up the rock formation she could see.
“I’ve heard of the oracle, of course, but how long has this temple stood here? I feel like I should have known about it being here,” she asked.
David chewed for a few seconds. “The original temple was built right before the Immortals War. One of Zeus’s bolts struck it when he fought Calix. When the Olympians were banished, King Leander had his best craftsmen sent to rebuild it, to honor Leto, Apollo’s mother.”
“And how long has this oracle been…. prophesizing? Is that what you call it?”
The acolyte grinned and shook his head. “No. No, we call it counsel. No one knows how long this oracle has been counseling. No one serving the temple has ever seen her. And anyone who does only sees her once in their lifetime.”
Terena glanced at him, eyes wide. “Truly? You all serve her, but have no idea what she looks like?”
“She is not,” he stopped and looked down, pensive. “She speaks for the gods, and only by invitation. Many have waited years to be granted one, while others have died without. We serve her and the gods. We do not seek her divination. We only serve. It is enough for us.”
Terena arched an eyebrow and folded her arms at her chest. “That sounds,” she shook her head, “that sounds pretty selfless. I can’t wait to meet her.”
He nodded, flashing her a quick smile before he popped a piece of cheese into his mouth.
“I wasn’t even in Messene for an hour before I got an invitation. What’s that about?”
David looked up at her again and tilted his head. “As I said, lady, she knew you would come.”
“I guess so. Being the oracle and all.”
“Aye.”
“But I’m sure she’s seen others who sought her out, as well. Right? I mean, before they came to Messene. She foresaw their journeys out here, too?”
The acolyte shook his head and stood. He brushed some crumbs off his tunic. “No, lady. The others have had to seek one of us out. There are acolytes in the temple who come down every first Monday of the new month to receive requests. They take requests back to theoracle and she decides whom she will invite. That’s when I get sent down to the city,” he gestures at Terena.
Terena shifted her weight to her right and narrowed her eyes at him. “So, what was different this time?”
He looked at her as if she was daft. “She sawyoucoming. I came down to find you as soon as I received word you were here.”
“I get that. I get she foresaw my coming. I’m confused whymyarrival would warrant a break of your standard, you know, invitation protocol.”
He stepped closer, fishing something from the small pouch at his waist. “This is something perhaps the oracle will share with you,” he said as he lifted his eyes to hers. “Rest assured that, for now, you know everything you need to know.”
David opened his palm and blew in her face.
Startled, Terena stumbled back a step. Her vision blurred and her knees went weak. Black edged her vision and she fumbled for her sword, her hands thick and ungainly. She fell to one knee, blinking in vain as her vision faded, the acolyte’s figure a blur as she lost consciousness.
The smellof incense filled her nostrils before the fog from Terena’s brain dissipated. She blinked, her eyes heavy and slow as she tried to focus. A golden blur edged her vision, slowly becoming clearer in the shape of pendant lights suspended from a high, domed ceiling covered in colored tiles. As her vision cleared, the tiles focused into a picture, a mural of people, surrounded and within clouds. Light edged the far left side over a giant of a man, his thunderous face in profile as he held a golden bow aimed at a group of people on the right. There were three bodies in the middle of the mural, dead or sleeping, Terena couldn’t tell.
Gazing at the beautiful rendering, she realized she’d never seen anything so vividly alive captured by any artist. The paintings she’d seen in the castles or palaces she’d been to throughout her travelswere all of ordinary life, of ordinary people. Even the temples and monasteries in Heylisia only depicted the mortal heroes; never any of the gods.
