Page 238 of Sigils & Spells

With a final smile in my direction, she turned on her heel and moved off in the opposite direction. I caught Priestess Pia scowling in my direction as I turned toward the bath house, but she didn't follow me or call out to me again.

Upon entering the bath house I looked around to see if anyone else happened to be inside. Nobody. The hall sat empty and quiet. Steam from the springs floated on the air and the bubbles created a quiet burbling sound. It made the place one of my favorites in the entire temple complex.

Placing the clean towels on the shelves carved out of gray stone, I replayed the conversation with the High Priestess in my head. As an orphan, I was one of a very few children that had been at the temple in service to the moon goddess, Selene, for most of my life.

Almost thirteen years old and I'd never been out to see other places for myself. I'd discovered my ability to use the Reflection pool by accident two years ago and snuck in to do so every chance I got, despite the threat of punishment. Kids weren't supposed to be able to use it. Even many of the priestesses didn't have whatever the pool required to see in it. I didn't know why I did, but it made me glad.

Much of what I learned about the outside world had, up to that point, come from those who joined the temple later in life and those who had permission to leave the compound on related errands. From a young age, I peppered them with questions about what they saw every time they returned. Some of them were more receptive than others.

My thoughts turned to my parents. Story had it that one day I simply appeared at the temple, about two years old. Whoever left me put a note in my pocket with the most basic information and walked away. If they hadn't done that, I wouldn't even know that I had a birthday coming up. Or that I was allergic to bananas. But that was about all I knew about myself from my life “before.”

Every other part of me had been discovered or cultivated here behind the walls of the temple, dedicated to serving the Moon Goddess Selene. Nobody knew who my parents might have been. We didn't know if they were alive or dead. My origins remained shrouded in secrecy.

A few of the other acolytes, most of whom arrived here at the age of ten to begin their training, treated me like it made me less than them. That the priestesses only let me stay because they felt sorry for me, not because I deserved to serve the goddess. I hated them.

Actually, aside from a small handful, I hated most of the people who lived in the temple. They all treated me as lesser, and it made me so mad. Some day they would be sorry. When I got older, I would show them how wrong they had been, and they would apologize to me.

CHAPTER2

“Wake up,silly! Annie, wake up! It's your birthday!” The chipper voice tore through the veil of sleep and penetrated my foggy brain.

“Ugh... Stop it.” Blindly, I reached out to push her away.

The mattress shook as she bounced up and down on my bed, rattling my teeth in my head. Pulling the blanket tighter around me, I groaned. With a wave of my hand, I lifted her off the bed and held her in the air, listening to her giggle as I did.

“Get up lazy beans! And put me down. You're seventeen years old today and we need to spend the whole day having fun and celebrating!”

Evie's excitement dug in and took hold. Settling her on the floor, I peeked my head out from under the covers and smiled at her. Her amber eyes and cheek splitting grin popped into my line of sight.

“Happy birthday!”

“Thank you. And you know we still need to get the chores done before we can do anything fun.”

“Pshhh. Don't be silly. I already did my chores. You have a birthday pass. It's time to go have some fun.”

Evie became my best friend, despite being two years younger than me, when she arrived just before my fourteenth birthday, at a time when I needed her most. My powers just began to make themselves known, and I was struggling. None of the other acolytes wanted anything to do with me, either because they were scared of me or they were jealous. Either way, I'd gone from having a couple of friends to none. She saved my sanity when she showed up, and had been doing so ever since.

Fun in the temple meant something slightly different than it probably did out in the real world, but we made the most of it. Closing my eyes, I took a moment to thank the goddess that I'd made it another year. Then I jumped out of bed and threw on some clothes.

In just one more year, I'd be allowed to leave the temple for short trips like the priestesses did. While we grew most of our food and remained as self-sufficient as possible, supplies still needed to be brought in from town. Our mountain top home required some things we just couldn't make or grow here. Some of the priestesses also met occasionally with the moon witch coven that served the city.

“What do you want to do first?”

My stomach grumbled loudly, and we both laughed. “I'm starved. Let's go eat.”

We wound our way through the complex to the dining hall, ignoring the looks we got along the way. Twenty-two people lived in the temple compound, and out of the other twenty, only about six tolerated me. Four of those six were actually friendly. It made for a lonely existence some days.

Of those six people, Diana was one of my favorites. She worked in the dining hall. Each year she had my birthday breakfast ready and waiting with all the best foods. As Evie and I walked in, she handed over the tray, piled high with goodies for two. The smell of bacon wafted into my nose and made my mouth water.

“Happy birthday, Annarah. I hope you have a wonderful day.” Her smile lit up the entire room, and I adored her for sharing it with me.

She was the closest thing to a mother figure I had while living here. Through my younger years, she raised me and trained me to become an acolyte of the temple. My growing powers never scared her, despite some of the disasters I'd caused.

“Thank you, Diana. I love you!”

She peaked around surreptitiously to make sure nobody else was around and returned the sentiment. “I love you too, child. Now go on, go enjoy your birthday.”

From the beginning, the other priestesses made it clear that they frowned upon how close we became. They reminded me almost daily that she was not my mother and I could never treat her as such, or call her that. All under the guise of avoiding favoritism, or so they said.

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