Lura Syllana
“Come on, let me show you the rest of the strays,” Chalia says, grabbing my arm and leading me out of the room. We head to the room across the hall, and Chalia knocks before barging in. Two women scramble before sighing.
“Seriously, Chalia? Do you have to barge in like that?” the brown-haired, fair skin one asks.
“Right?” the shorter one with dark brown, nearly black skin asks. “We thought you were a Sister.”
“And why would you think that? What were you doing before we entered?” Chalia asks.
“Nothing. Nothing at all,” the fair-skinned one says, pressing her lips shut.
Chalia smirks. “Okay. You don’t have to convince me of that. But seriously, be careful. You know that’s forbidden. Don’t you two remember what happened to that handsome Paladin? They sent him up north for doing what you two clearly want to do to each other.”
“We don’t want to do anything,” the darker-skinned one says. “We were just… Studying. That’s all. We both have a test to make it to level two coming up.”
“Whatever. I wouldn’t tell anyone. Anyway, this is Lura. She’s a fellow stray like us. Damaris just delivered her and I’ve been filling her in on the go-around. So far, I’ve told her about the leveling system, the factions, and the ranks,” Chalia says before she looks over at me. Then she motions to the darker-skinned girl. “Lura, this is Inhepireth and that’s Cheyoise. Inhepireth is from Tent City and Cheyoise is from Low Town.”
“It’s nice to meet the both of you,” I say.
“Did you tell her who to avoid?” Inhepireth asks.
“Not yet. There’s a lot I haven’t gotten to, and there are way too many people to avoid to list in the first conversation,” she says.
“Ain’t that the truth,” Inhepireth says as her eyes roll.
“Really, the most important people you want to avoid at all costs are Mother Kynice, Mother Aule, and Mother Chaetris. There are definitely more than a few Sisters to avoid as well. Especially Sister Amoann, Sister Zale, and Sister Aelele. They are stuck-up nobles who love to look down their pale ass noses at everyone else,” Cheyoise says.
“Cheyoise, you’re the last person who can make fun of how pale they are. You’re as white as the walls on the higher floors,” Inhepireth says with a chuckle.
“Compared to you, everyone is pale.” Cheyoise snaps back. “I wish I had darker skin. I can’t even go out in the sun without getting burnt.”
“You probably have some noble blood in you,” Chalia says with a smirk.
“I definitely don’t have noble blood in me. I don’t even have a house name. Besides, even if I did, a lot of good it’s doing me. I haven’t got two coppers to rub together.”
“It’s safe to say we’re all in that boat,” Inhepireth says.
“What about you, Lura? Are you in that boat, too?” Cheyoise asks.
“Yeah, I grew up in Tent City. I wish I had even one copper. Even if I had any coin, most of it was taken from me when I accidentally used magic. And I definitely don’t have a permit.” I give a shrug with it.
“That’s rough. Most low-borns like us are in the same situation. We’re all told not to use magic, but it’s hard not to. It feels good and once you do it, it’s hard to stop. You just want to feel more of it. Then before you know it, you’re casting a spell far too big and the guards are bursting down your door,” Inhepireth says as she levitates a few vegetables on her plate with a smirk.
“That’s how they get you,” Cheyoise says. “The Council gets your possessions, and the Church gets their initiates. Great system.”
“It really is…” Inhepireth adds with a sigh.
“Well, come on Lura, let’s go meet the others,” Chalia says as she grabs my arm and drags me out of there.
“We don’t have to meet them all today. Besides, you’ll meet most of them at suppertime. I’ll introduce you to Ochilysse and Charinva, since their room is just down the hall and we’ll see the rest at supper.”
I nod and she leads the way down the hall to the next closest room. “How many Novices are there?”
“A couple of hundred, I think. I don’t know the exact number, but at least that many in this church, which is by far one of the biggest. You can get trained as a Novice in any church, but in order to pass to a certain level as a Brother or Sister, you must come either here or to the large sect in the human kingdoms. That’s where you’ll find all sorts of different races. Dwarves, humans, and elves. Anyone who can spark the Light. Of course, the human church isn’t as old and doesn’t have as many resources as our church, and let’s be honest, humans are rather weak and pathetic.” She knocks on the door and barges in like before. She’s quick enough to duck before I get hit in the face with a pillow.
“You’re lucky I didn’t have a book,” a girl with her brown hair cut short says.
“Check that Ochilysse, Lura’s lucky you didn’t have a book. I’m too fast to hit,” Chalia says with a grin.
“Wanna bet?” Ochilysse asks.
“Not at the moment. I’m kinda short on coppers,” Chalia says with a cheesy grin.
Ochilysse laughs. “Good, I only bet with silver, anyway.”
“Oh, so you’re just swimming in coin, aren’t ya?” Chalia asks, putting her hands on her hips.
“Of course, I am. I don’t ever lose bets. But those noble suckers always lose and have plenty of coin to lose with,” Ochilysse says with such an arrogant smile.
“It’s true. I’ve seen her rob them blind without losing a toss. Or a hand, for that matter,” the other girl says. She’s got long brown hair and skin the color of dark golden sand. Like that of the deep desert. I remember seeing a jar of it that someone brought to sell. Claimed it had secret powers of healing if you rubbed it on a wound. To my surprise, people actually bought it. The girl doesn’t look up from her own book.
“That’s Charinva by the way,” Chalia points out. “Ladies, this is Lura. Our new fellow stray.”
“Nice to meet you,” Charinva says without taking her eyes away from the book.
“Don’t mind the page-turner over there. She always has her nose in a book,” Ochilysse says, as she tosses a dagger into the air and snaps it by the handle as it falls.
“Are you allowed to have that here?” I ask, a little caught off guard.
Ochilysse shrugs.
“No,” Charinva says, still not looking away from the book. “I read the rules. No weapons allowed unless you’re a Paladin. But she always has some kind of weapon on her. I keep telling her she’s going to get in trouble, but she never listens.”
“What are they going to do, toss me out?” she asks as she does it again.
“Most likely,” Charinva says, shrugging.
“Wait, really?” Ochilysse asks, dropping her dagger. “They’ll seriously kick me out for having this?”
Charinva finally pulls her eyes off the book to look over at the other girl. “What did you think they’d do if they caught someone with a weapon?”
“Yeah, but… It’s a dagger, it’s not like it’s a sword or anything. It’s practically harmless,” Ochilysse says as she picks it up off the ground and balances it on the tip of her finger.
“Daggers are listed as weapons. Besides, why do you even need a dagger, we have magic,” Charinva says with a smile.
“Ugh, have you been living with your head in the sands? You need a permit to use magic,” Ochilysse says.
“Obviously, but once you become a full Sister, you’re allowed to use magic to defend yourself. It’s a permit issued by the church only for Sisters and Brothers. You get to start learning defenses and attack spells,” Charinva says, pulling her eyes back to her book.
“I didn’t know this,” Ochilysse says with a frown.
“So, if I become a full Sister, I can use magic?” I ask.
“Yep, obviously only for defense, healing, and to make you more effective with your duties. I suppose you wouldn’t get punished for using it to do some more mundane things, like move things,” Charinva says. “Anyways, supper is soon, so let’s go back to our room. you’ll meet the other strays later,” Chalia says, taking my arm in hers and leading us out. “Later, you two.”
Be the first 100 to sign up for the Arathoon Newsletter and a FREE Digital copy of Shattered Souls when it is released!
