Page 52 of Demon Bound

Chapter 16

When Raiya awoke very early the next morning, Azreth was not waiting outside the room for her like he usually was. She was relieved. She still wasn’t in the mood to see him.

She ventured into the main hall, where she was alone except for one other solitary figure. She was surprised to see an elf with indigo skin and raven hair kneeling before the altar, bending so low that his forehead touched the floor.

“Madira?” she asked.

He started, jerking his head up, and he scowled when he recognized her. “You again?”

“I didn’t know night elves worshiped Moratha,” Raiya said, coming to lean against a column near the altar.

He looked annoyed. “We do not worship Moratha.”

She glanced over at the altar, and at his position before it. “You’ll forgive me for assuming…”

“We worship the night goddess, Ravi. The spirit of our homeland.” He rolled his eyes, as if she was stupid for not knowing the difference. Or perhaps she wasn’t the first one who’d asked, and he was tired of explaining it. “The Moratha worshipers are one of the few groups who won’t attack my kindon sight. There are no places of worship for our goddess outside of Kuda Varai, so I come here instead. It is not Ravi’s temple, but it is a temple nonetheless, built on a ley line that eventually leads back to the homeland. My prayers will reach the Goddess’s ears, have no doubt.”

He seemed very confident. Or perhaps it was wishful thinking masquerading as confidence. Kuda Varai was a very long way from northern Uulantaava.

“I’m sure you’re right,” Raiya said hopefully.

He nodded approvingly.

“Is there a reason you and Jai don’t return to your homeland?”

He hesitated, a somber look crossing his face. “It’s complicated,” he said. “We can’t go back.”

“I understand the feeling.”

He got to his feet, looking toward the door to the main hall. “Where is your monster? Isn’t he with you?”

“Probably upstairs.”

He smirked unkindly. “Getting weary of him, are you? I can’t say that I’m surprised.”

She didn’t want to talk about it, so she just smiled blandly. “Where is your sister?”

“With the caravan. We arrived in town this morning.”

“Did you come to the temple by yourself? Is it safe for you to be out alone?” Perhaps more importantly, was it safe for the townspeople to be alone while a night elf was around?

He grinned as if he’d read her mind. “I’m not the one you need to worry for.”

Soft footsteps sounded from the doorway. They both turned to see Priestess Gereg entering, her hands folded into her black robe. She appeared to sleep in her makeup, because it was even more smeared and grotesque-looking than before. Perhaps that was the goal.

“I see you’ve met our other new acolyte,” Gereg said to Raiya. “How lovely for Moratha to deliver us even more of her faithful. May her darkness shroud all of us.”

Gereg seemed to think Madira did indeed follow Moratha, and he wasn’t correcting her. In fact, he was glancing nervously at Raiya, his lips pressed together.

Instead of pointing out the misunderstanding, Raiya bowed her head respectfully. “Praise her,” she said. Madira seemed to relax a fraction.

“Indeed,” Gereg said. “You didn’t tell me how long you’d been a follower of the dark goddess, Acolyte Raiya.”

Raiya fiddled with the end of her braid, glancing at Madira. He raised his eyebrows.

“Oh. Well, it was fairly recent,” Raiya said.

“Truly? When was your awakening?”