[Novnarwen]

The two men hurried down the narrow street. It was rather empty. Only the outlines of a few figures could be spotted; the figures moved quickly, casting long shadows as they went. Not a sound could be heard, except the sound of the two men’s pairs of feet against the stone floor, echoing slightly as they trotted on. The Priest went first, having Pelin just behind.

"Come now," Tarkan said suddenly, realising that the younger man probably kept his distance due to the difference between their social statuses; Pelin was only being respectful by walking behind his superior. Nevertheless, Tarkan stopped and turned, waved his hand and laid it at the man's shoulder. "Please, Pelin, why do you think I arrived at your apartments this morning?" he asked gently with a faint smile. He could see that the young man was rather surprised by being asked such a question, as it was not usual to question such things. In fact, it would have been rude if Pelin had questioned Tarkan's intentions by his coming. Tarkan watched the young man being silenced by the hesitation and insecurity that arose inside of him. Pelin gave the priest an odd look, which reflected both. By this, the Priest spoke again:" Is it that unusual for friends to have breakfast together?!"

Without letting the man answer, if he could answer, as Pelin seemed to be quite taken by this comment, the Priest hurried his pace, urging Pelin to walk faster as well. Shortly, they arrived the Temple of Rhais.

For a moment they stood silently watching it, raising their heads, gazing upwards. The huge cedar doors stood ajar, letting some of the dim light out on the street. Even though it was a Temple, raised to honour the earth goddess, Rhais, it was seemed as if it was a magical moment for Pelin, as the young man favoured Rae over Rhais, or so Tarkan chose to interpret this odd form of quiet ritual. Tarkan too though, felt something strange come over him, something which touched him and made him feel important. It didn’t after all matter that the Temple he served in was devoted to Rhais, as long as he himself was a truly devoted servant of the male God, he reminded himself of.

Suddenly, he shook his head, as if having been told to do so by some higher power. What were they standing here for, wasting time? A sudden urge to nudge the man next to him hard in his ribs, swelled up inside the Priest. He managed to restrain himself, thinking of his great accomplishment thus far. Pelin seemed to be captured in the illusion of being the Priest’s best friend. Tarkan frowned, watching Pelin standing motionless. “Tell me. Does your soul fully belong to the earth goddess, Rhais?” Pelin’s face expression changed. His eyes shifted, became dark and thoughtful, as if not knowing the answer. How can that be possible? Either you favour Rhais over Rae or the other way around! The Priest thought, feeling both annoyed and anxious. What if Pelin didn’t after all favour Rae? Whom could he turn to? Did anyone else in the Temple truly favour the sky god over the earth goddess? If he was left alone with his strong belief that Rae brought more and better to the people of Pasthia than Rhais, no new Temple would ever be built, certainly not in the honour of Rae, his God. Pelin was maybe useless after all. Tarkan alone would not be able to convince the King to build a new Temple, even if it was his half brother. Who else can I turn to? He asked himself over and over, almost forgetting, or ignoring, Pelin being present.

“Father, is it for me to answer?"

The priest's first reaction was the sudden need to slap him. Is it for me to answer...? he mimicked and repeated inside of his head.

"Dear, Son. Pelin if I may . . . I only ask because you seemed hesitant to enter, as if you didn't want to go in. What is keeping you? Is your lack of faith hindering you?" By this, Pelin opened his mouth to protest, but the Priest had his way with words and continued silently:" Pelin, Pelin, Pelin. Through my years as a Priest and a servant of the Temple, I have seen many devoted men and women leave; all of a sudden they have left and never come back. Not because they necessarily wanted to, but because their faith lessened instead of increasing! It is a pity every time to see such; souls being filled with longings to do something else. The saddest thing however about men and women like these, is that they do not realise that serving in the Temple would have been the best path to follow," he paused for a second to catch his breath. "I, not wanting to see you choose, what I call, the wrong path, merely imagined myself that you were favouring Rae over Rhais, and that this caused your hesitation for entering the Temple of Rhais. It is all right to favour one of the Gods of the other, though I do not recommend it. It will get you ill places. I know many who do though, and thus I really hope it was only this that kept you as I would not want to see you leave, as devoted as you are, and as believing in none and nothing will certainly have its effect on the human soul..”

He turned his back to him, raising an eyebrow, leaving him. Had he managed to scare him? He wondered. An evil smile appeared in the pale feminine face of his.

“Dear Father, if you let me . . .” Pelin started, tears in his eyes, as he caught up with the Priest who was about to enter the Temple. “Please know that I do not want to leave! I will never, I promise! It is true; I favour the one over the other, and that is only why I hesitated. But please, tell no one of this. People will think me crazy to serve and so spend many hours in a Temple where the honour goes solely to the earth goddess.”

The sound of Pelin’s words made Tarkan tremble. Not of fright, but of pure joy. Either, the young man truly favoured the male God, or he had been stricken with panic when Tarkan had supposedly been under the impression that he was leaving and never to serve in the Temple again. Tarkan’s mutterings about going to ill places if he believed in neither of them had probably also had a great effect on the poor man. Getting a grip of himself, as he had difficulties restraining himself for laughing out loud, he patted the man on the back. The Priest gave him an approving nod, and muttered a few comforting words under his breath. “I understand . . I understand . .”

"Now let us go inside and eat . . ."