Song of Sapphire【Book One of the Lost Gemstone Chronicles】[Under Editing]

Chapter 1

VELESSYA

"Velessya, Velessya! Please, wake up this instant," a voice from a far away land called.

I rubbed my eyes and moaned sleepily, "Let me sleep just a while longer...The bed is too comfortable for me to leave its presence."

"It is us, Eris and Aaliyah," a mellow voice said, her honey-like words sinking into my ears. "We must leave for morning prayer, dear Velessya. Have you forgotten?"

My eyes widen into sizes of crystal globes. "Dear me!" I sat up abruptly and swung my legs off the marshmallow bed. Eris and Aaliyah giggled behind their arms, and chorused, "We await you, Velessya! Your garments are in the bathroom."

I leapt into the bathroom with as much grace as an exhausted labourer and rinsed my pale body with the fountain of life. Slipping into the silken garments Eris and Aaliyah had set out, I twisted my hair into the everyday twisted braid. Setting the silver crescent headpiece to my braid, I flung the bathroom door open wide and smiled, "Let our feet be swift; we rise each day to praise the gods!"

The Morning Temples glistened in the faint rays of dawn as we linked hands and walked toward them. The marble pillars stood tall and firm as they glowed in ethereal. I couldn't help but notice the colourful birds singing in the background, their joyous song pulling back the darkness. "A delightful way to start the day indeed," I grinned to my heart's content.

As we approached the Morning Temples, we were joined by different apprentices and priestesses, all in their elegant robes. The tall wooden doors of the Morning Temples, decorated with intricate swirls of gold and embellished with different gemstones, stood majestically on the top of the polished stone staircase. Stopping at the bottom of the palatial steps, we closed our eyes and bowed down while holding our headpiece with both hands gently. After we had payed our respect to the gods, we ascended upwards.

Even though I visited the Morning Temples with Eris and Aaliyah as part of the daily apprentice training, I was awestruck by its grandeur and the magnificence of the gods. The floor was paved white, with a golden star shining in the centre, and white pillars of the Gods lined up on two sides of the spacious halls of sublime, their citrine eyes gleaming and looking down at us.  The first rays of the meek sunlight shone through the delicate roof of glass, illuminating the vast chambers of morning worship, creating an ethereal atmosphere around us.

I parted with Eris and Aaliyah to my usual spot near the stone altar at the front of the hall. I greeted the priestess, Naena, beside me with a smile and sank down on the cold tiles, embracing the chill that travelled up my spine and pale limbs. Despite the icy feeling, I closed my eyes and took a deep breath, meditating while waiting for the morning worship to begin.

"Apprentice Velessya, stand up." I felt a nudge and slowly opened my eyes, only to see Priestess Naena looking at me with an exasperated look. "The High Priest and the High Priestess are walking in. You do not want to be punished, correct?"

I brushed off the dust on my robes and scrambled onto my feet, holding the immensely heavy headpiece with a single hand and dusting off my dress with the other. Standing up straight, I turned to the front as the High Priest and the High Priestess strode into the hall. Four golden-masked priests and priestesses in white and golden robes followed closely behind, each holding an aureate chalice, adorned with bijoux of vibrancy.

"Let the bells chime! Let the birds sing! Let our lips speak nothing but truth and wisdom, given graciously by the gods of Edorias!" the High Priest and the High Priestess called out, arms outstretched above the glimmering altar. The four priest and priestesses placed the chalice on the polished surface of the altar with a quiet clunk and genuflected, head hung low in respect.