Page 57 of Heir of the Autumn Queen

Either way, my presence here is now known to many, so it might not make that much of a difference to lie about who I am at this point. If I want to find allies in the Summer Kingdom, I’m going to have to be honest about who I am at some point, so it might as well be from the beginning.

As the sun starts to creep over the mountains to the east, the air warms and the trees thin. We approach the edge of the forest to find a clearing; a treeless meadow, covered in tall grass and wildflowers. The meadow seems endless, stretching for miles, nothing but flat, grassy earth. I dismount, looking around tentatively, before crossing the line of trees and entering the field. As soon as we step onto the soft earth, the chill in the air disappears, replaced by just the right amount of warmth that seeps into my frigid, aching fingers, warming me all the way down to my bones.

We walk several hundred yards until eventually, in the distance to my right, I can see a building of sorts, but I can’t determine what it is from this distance. I close my eyes, focusing on my breath as I stretch my senses out, listening. I’m disappointed to find that I can only hear my own body, and Shadow behind me, who is happily grazing on the tall grass of the meadow.Why isn’t it working?The previous two times I’ve tried to hear something far away, I had no issues. But I was listening for people then, people I care about. Maybe it doesn’t work in a general sense, maybe I have to be searching for someone in particular. I tuck that thought away for later, remembering to try again another time.

There’s no hiding behind trees here, no sneaking up on the building unless I literally want to belly crawl through the tall grass, but even then, Shadow would be clearly visible. Curiosity gets the better of me as I start to walk toward the building in the center of the massive clearing. As I get closer, I hear a bell toll in a tower, ringing out six times. The only places I know of that have bells big enough to make that much noise are temples… I conjure up a mental image of the map that I saw in the temple in Ockchester, then it hits me.The Blest Quarter. This must be the sacred, neutral space at the intersection of the Four Kingdoms. I relax a little, knowing these lands are impartial to the goings on of the other kingdoms; perhaps I could even seek sanctuary here if Brutus and the others did manage to track me down.

We finally get to the temple; a massive, cathedral-like structure made of some kind of white stone. There’s a garden growing varying vegetables, fruit trees, and a round, stone well on the outside of the building. Priests and priestesses shuffle about the grounds, completing their various duties, and we seem to go unnoticed for a while. I stand a few dozen yards away, watching them work with a sense of awe and wonder. I know The Blest Quarter was established at the same time as the kingdoms were, after the War of the Seven, but I wonder how one comes to be here. As a priest or priestess, are you assigned to live here, or is it a choice? There are temples in the towns and cities of the kingdoms, but this place feels different,divineeven, as if the gods themselves have walked on the very ground on which I stand.

Finally, an older priest who was fetching some water from the well notices me and Shadow. He approaches me slowly, his robes a smoky gray color that hang loosely from his shoulders and drag slightly on the ground behind him, creating the illusion that he’s floating towards us.

“Welcome, Golden One.” He bends at the hip in a bow. There’s that moniker again, the same one that Sibyl and the priestess in Ockchester both used. It’s enough to put me back on edge, but he laughs warmly.“Do not be afraid, Princess. Nothing can harm you here.” He turns away, and I have no option really but to follow him as he heads inside the temple.

The other priests and priestesses don’t seem to notice or care about our presence, which is sort of unnerving, but if what I know of this place is true, it’s enchanted with ancient spells, a truly neutral space where no magic can work, no physical violence can occur.

The priest stops just outside the door and looks to Shadow as another young priest arrives silently to take her away. She seems totally relaxed here, which is enough of a comfort for me to let him lead her to the barn a few hundred feet to my right. Once Shadow is out of sight, the priest leads me through the main archway to the inside of the temple, where I find myself in a sanctuary, bright and airy with huge, stained glass windows that display depictions of the seven gods and goddesses.

I stop in my tracks and stare up at the windows, left speechless at the sheer detail that went into the beautiful art.

On Dafina’s window, she sits in a forest, a massive lion lying by her side as she pets his head with a coy smile.

Aeron’s window is dark, his hooded figure surrounded by smoke and fire, a scythe in his left hand with black wings sprouting from his back.

Kozbi stands beneath an eight-pointed star, his eyes gleaming with mischief, while Veda’s window shows her sitting calmly, a book in her lap as she appears deep in thought.

Edith stands tall in full armor, her sword and shield raised for battle.

Trig sits behind a desk with a scale balanced in front of him, and finally, Jem’s window shows the god surrounded by musicians dancing jovially. The other temples I’ve been in have had artwork depicting the gods and goddesses, but nothing like this. The stained glass, while clearly confirming their divinity, also somehow humanizes them, making them seem relatable.

As I study the windows, my eyes keep going back to Dafina and Aeron. Such opposites, and yet, there’s beauty in both.

Light and darkness.

Life and death.

Balance.

The priest clears his throat softly, and I reluctantly look away from the windows and continue following him through the temple.

We turn a few corners and arrive in a huge library, floor-to-ceiling bookshelves filling every wall, with multiple sliding ladders spread throughout the space. There are long, wooden tables riddled with ancient texts, and it’s darker in here, with only torchlight to see by, most likely to preserve the quality of some of the older books and scrolls. A young priestess in all white robes and a diadem of amethyst hanging daintily on her forehead approaches me. Her eyes are a pale lilac, the same color as the amethyst on her forehead, and her hair is so blonde it’s almost silver.

“Aurelia,” she says to me, grabbing my hands in hers.“My name is Priscilla. We’ve been waiting for you.”

“I’m sorry…” I shake my head.“How do you know my name, and why have you been waiting for me?”

“Let us sit.” She lets go of my hands and gestures to two worn leather chairs in a dark corner of the library. I follow her and sit down.“Do you know where you are?”

I nod, holding her gaze.“The Blest Quarter.”

“Yes. Blessed by Dafina herself, this land is sacred. There is no magic, and all life here is cherished. The killing of any creature is forbidden, and the penalty for any who attempt to take life, no matter the reason, is drastic.” Priscilla looks me over seriously, laying the ground rules for my being here.

“I understand.”

“Good. And do you know who we are?” she asks, and I have a feeling she means something beyond ‘priests and priestesses’.

I shake my head no.

She smiles at me warmly and goes on.“We are an ancient order of scholars, dedicated to preserving the truth of the past in the name of peace. I know who you are because we have been granted knowledge of past and current events that shape the course of our history. Your return from Staghorn Forest is well-known, seen by many oracles throughout the continent.”

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