Song of Ashes

48: An Invitation

Later that day, Sarka was sweeping the vestibule of the temple. Ro had gone to the bath house on strict orders from Konn. Now, the priest offered Sarka silent companionship as he worked nearby, filling half a dozen lamps with oil and trimming their wicks.

A soft knock came at the door. Both of them looked up. Konn said, "That's odd. The door is never locked during the day."

"I'll get it." Sarka set her broom aside and went to open the door.

There stood a beautiful little girl, perhaps half Sarka's age, with a dark and solemn face. She wore a tunic, trousers, and slippers the color of candlelight on paper. Nestled in her cloud of black hair was a golden circlet with the symbol of an eye at the center.

"Sarka of Kogoren," the girl said.

Sarka's first instinct was to close the door, but in the second it took her to stay her own hand, she wondered why she was afraid. This was a child. It was daylight. Konn was nearby, and she, Sarka, was in Atai's temple: safe. "Who are you?"

"My name is Sister Jayen. I serve Lady Warien, the Goddess of the Gates."

Sarka frowned at her in confusion, waiting and wondering why the little girl thought this mattered to her. Behind her, Konn called, "Sarka, who is it? Let him in and make him welcome."

"I have come with a message, Sarka," said Sister Jayen. "Will you come to the Tower and See?"

"Tower?" Sarka echoed. "To see what?"

"Whatever is needful."

Sarka was losing her patience, and she was more than a little unsettled. "I have work to do, girl, and I haven't the time for...for riddles and games."

"Do not reject the gift of the goddess, child," said the girl, and Sarka was astonished to hear the diminutive term pass her lips when she must be half Sarka's age. "Lady Warien is a friend of Lord Atai, and she would share the gift of her wisdom with you."

Sarka opened her mouth to say something snappish, but just then, Konn stepped up behind her, saying, "Sarka, really-oh. Hello."

Sister Jayen's calm gaze flickered to Konn's face and back to Sarka's. "Good afternoon, Konn."

"A priestess of Warien, I see." Konn did not seem perturbed that the child knew his name. "You are welcome here."

"I come only to invite Sarka of Kogoren to attend upon my lady. The wealth of my lady's wisdom awaits." Sister Jayen bowed her head, then turned and walked slowly away.

Konn closed the door, folded his hands into the sleeves of his habit and raised his brows at Sarka. "Well, my child? Will you go?"

Sarka had not gotten used to the "my child" nonsense, and she was not sure that she would, but she was growing to like Konn. Even, perhaps, to trust him. This other priestess, and this other goddess, though? "I'm not sure. Why would she want to speak with me? Besides, I don't know where her temple is."

"It is quite close: the tower across the Opal Road from us is the Temple of Warien. She is the goddess of gates and of knowledge. If she has offered you an audience, you should go; it is most irregular for the gods to request the presence of mortals. Usually, it is the other way around. This must be important. Come to think of it, Sarka, would you do me a favor when you go?"

Sarka recalled the tower; it was difficult to miss, with a staircase of stone winding around it from the ground to the golden dome that surmounted it. Still, she was not certain she wanted to go. "What is it?"

"One of the levels of Warien's tower is a library kept by her priestesses. On your way, will you seek out two books for me? The titles I need are The Eternal Verse and Ballads of Atai. They will be a great help to me as I work on Lord Atai's God-Song."

"What, books about your god in another god's temple?"

"Of course. There are writings about gods all over the world. Ballads of Atai contains some lore and poetry that will be helpful to me, and The Eternal Verse is a helpful treatise on the writing of a God-Song."

"Well, you'll have to go yourself. I won't know what to look for, and I can hardly read, and I'm not going to go visit some gate goddess. I have enough deities to deal with." Sarka set her broom aside.

"The priestesses will help you find the books. Just go, won't you please? Have a walk, and while you do this errand, you can consider-seriously consider-going to see Lady Warien. Oh-and you should know that she is also called the Lady of Two Faces." Konn bestowed upon her one of his gentle, beatific smiles. "Just in case you should meet her. I should like your encounter with Lady Warien to be less...dramatic than your encounter with Lord Atai."

Sarka grimaced. "Very well," she said. "I'll go on your silly errand, but I'm coming straight back."

The door to the temple opened, and a supplicant entered. Konn bid Sarka farewell and welcomed the newcomer, walking with her into the temple proper.

Sarka cinched her rope belt tighter, girding her loins, as it were, and stepped out into the sun with a scowl. Just as the door to the temple swung closed behind her, she saw Ro. He was coming toward her along the Opal Road, his deep complexion glowing from the effects of a good scrub. He, too, wore a borrowed robe of Konn's, the one she had mended. It was comically short on his tall frame.

"I feel like a new man," he said, grinning at her. "Where are you off to? No, let me guess. Judging by your expression, it must be an execution." A pause. "The execution of someone of whom you are very fond."

"It's a hunting expedition," Sarka replied, not in the mood for jokes.

"Oh, yes? What are you hunting?"

"Books." When Ro looked nonplussed, Sarka pointed. "The temple across the way, the tower? Apparently there are some books there that Konn needs for his writing in their library. I'm off to hunt down the rubbish, and maybe to talk to the two-head goddess who lives there, or whatever."

"Well!" Ro raised his brows. "Good luck. I'm sure there's a joke to be made here about an illiterate girl in a library, but alas...I'm tired after my long walk."

"What a shame," Sarka muttered.

"I'm assuming you don't need the pleasure of my company?"

"Fat lot of good you'd do me. No. Stay here and get to know our headless host. I'm sure he'll be along presently."

"Get on your way, then, and I'll see you back here later in the day." But as she turned to go, Ro spoke again. "Sarka."

She turned back to him and found him gazing at her seriously. A frown looked out of place on his good-natured face. "What?" she asked.

"Just be careful. Try not to get yourself into any more trouble. You seem to have a knack for it."