“Her favorite priest,” Mairae said. She looked at Auraya closely. “You didn’t know?”

“I only met High Priest Timare once or twice, before I was chosen.”

Mairae’s eyebrows rose. “I see. So Dyara’s keeping you two apart. She probably wants to stop you finding out her little secret.” She drummed her fingers on the bench. “Has she said anything to you about how you should behave when it comes to affairs of the heart—and bedroom?”

Auraya shook her head.

“Interesting. Well, don’t let Dyara impose her stuffy values on you. You’ll only make yourself lonely and bitter.”

“What…what about Rian?” Auraya asked, giving up on shifting the subject and instead deflecting it toward others.

Mairae’s nose wrinkled in distaste. “I don’t think he’s capable,” she muttered. Then she grimaced. “That’s cruel and unfair. Rian is lovely. But he’s just so…so…”

“Fanatical?”

Mairae sighed. “Yes. Nothing could come between Rian and the gods. Not even love. A woman could live with that, but not with being constantly reminded of it.”

Am I like that? Auraya wondered. In the years she had been a priestess she’d thought herself in love a few times, but the feeling of elation and connection had never lasted more than a few months. When she thought of the gods, the feeling of awe and reverence was something completely different. If it was love, it was nothing like the earthly feelings she’d had for those mortal lovers. So how could one leave no room for the other?

“He’s being a bit hard on himself for losing the Pentadrian,” Mairae added.

“Yes,” Auraya agreed eagerly. At last Mairae had turned to other matters. “Do you think the Pentadrian will come back?”

Mairae grimaced. “Maybe. Evil men are rarely deterred for long. If they do harm, and get away with it, they will usually try to do it again.”

“Will Juran send Rian to the southern continent, then?”

“I doubt it. This sorcerer is too close to Rian in strength. I doubt there are others like him in the south, but there are plenty of Pentadrians as Gifted as our high priests and priestesses there. With their help he might be a real danger to Rian. No, if we are to defeat him we’ll have to wait until he comes to us.”

Auraya shivered. “I won’t feel quite safe until I know he’s dead.”

“Don’t let it bother you.” Mairae’s face shifted into a wise expression Auraya had only seen on older people. “There have always been powerful sorcerers, Auraya. Some powerful enough to achieve immortality without the help of the gods. We’ve always defeated them.”

“The Wilds?”