The Old Temple

In the morning, after Katie’s lectures in the library, she was left behind by her tutor to self-study. In the silence of the library, the creaking of the large doors opening almost sounded deafening.

“Sneak attack!”

Every instinct to survive kicked in and she jumped back from her chair, colliding with another table behind her. A heavy broadsword fell upon the table, bouncing on the thick books but it didn’t fail to leave a mark. She jumped over the table and her pursuer did the same. The figure chased her around the library, flipping over tables and chairs, and dropping books left and right. Katie ran toward the door and her pursuer pounced, reaching the door first, blocking the way out. Immediately, the person raised the sword over his head and sliced it downward. Katie crouched down, her hands over her head, and expected the dull sword to crack her head in two. After a few seconds, nothing came.

Arden’s laugh echoed in the library. “Practice over.”

Katie exhaled audibly and collapsed on the floor, wiping beads of sweat that had accumulated on her forehead. “My gods, Arden! I thought I was going to die!” She stood and brushed the dust off of her clothes. “Are you going to help me fix the mess or not?”

“Oh, you know I thought I might just sit back and watch you work.”

Katie shrugged. “Better keep that sword close to you, then.”

Arden raised his arms in surrender. “Did you really think I’d bail on you?”

“Nope... It’s your gentleman side that the ladies love, after all,” Katie started to pick the books on the floor. “Start fixing the tables.”

After fixing the tables, they returned the now damaged books back in the shelves. “I still can’t believe that most of the books here are damaged by weapons,” Katie muttered, shoving the books into the shelves.

“Aelysia was a war country, even maps have stab wounds. You can already imagine the short-tempered generals.”

“That must mean there were a lot of disagreements.”

“Are you sure you should be making fun of your history like that?”

Katie cussed under her breath. You’d think when silence is truly needed, you don’t have it.

She quickly finished putting the books back and rushed to greet Alexander who was standing at the door. “I think you can make fun of your country’s history when you’re secure enough about it,” Katie muttered, brushing her hair behind her ear. “What brought you here?”

“The Queen told me to come get you,” Alexander muttered. “She told me to take you to the old temple.”

“I’ve never even been to the old temple. You already know how to get there?”

The color drained from the prince’s face. “I thought you knew.”

Sheer horror flitted across the princess’ features until Arden waved his hand in front of her face. “Relax, she sent me here first. I’m supposed to take you there,” he turned to Alexander. “Although, I expected you to arrive late.”

Katie lightly slapped Arden’s chest with the back of her hand and walked past both men. “Don’t be harsh on Alexander.” She pushed the doors open and nodded toward the hallway, “Let’s go.”

…

The old temple was hidden in the forested hills at the eastern part of the kingdom. The limestone structure consisted of two areas: the large, newer ritual building barely hidden by the thick forest surrounding it, and a smaller, main building that stood dangerously close to the cliff. The purpose of the smaller building was unknown but it was rumored to be a place where the priests would pray to the god of war right before battle.

 Arden stood before the pair, his arms outstretched on either side. “Welcome to the old temple,” he said unenergetically.

“I can’t believe I never noticed it before,” Katie muttered, looking up at the façade of the large building. “I honestly thought I would be anointed as heir in the old temple.”

“No, but your coronation will be here.”

“If that’s the only time this is used, why are we here?” Alexander muttered. He heard Arden mumble something under his breath. “Pardon?”

“It’s for the courtship ritual,” Arden muttered rapidly.

“Courtship ritual?” Katie repeated.

“The old man will explain, okay? He’s waiting for you inside.”

They entered the large building, heads pivoting in place as they admired the dome-shaped ceiling. Alexander ran his hand along the rough limestone columns and the base of the statue of a god standing by the entrance.

“Welcome to the temple of the gods,” the priest greeted, clapping his hands once to attract the attention of the guests.

Katie greeted the elder man from yesterday with a graceful curtsy. Alexander stood beside her and greeted the old man with a bow. Arden stood by a corner, his hands crossed over his chest, watching them intently.

“Pardon me, sir… but could you enlighten us on the courtship ritual… thing?” Alexander asked.

The priest chuckled, amused. “The courtship ritual is the dance performed by the royal couple as an announcement to the people that they are promised to each other,” the old man led them to a small rack of swords standing at the center of the room. “This ritual is performed before the gods to gain their favor and bless the union. This is also performed before the nobles to gain financial favors from them as well, which was used to serve the people.”

“Why the swords?” Katie inquired, eyeing the sharpened swords with discomfort.

“As you can imagine, Your Highness, it’s a warrior’s dance.”

Katie forced a smile. “I should have expected that,” she turned to face Alexander. “Are you alright?”

“I’m always down to learn anything,” Alexander shrugged. “It’s also one of our responsibilities so I can’t complain.”

“I guess it’s settled,” Katie chuckled nervously. “Shall we begin, then?”

“I’m afraid the temple is no place to practice, my princess,” the priest bowed, apologetic. “I’ve tasked Arden to take you there.”

“So why ask for us to come here in the first place, sir?” Alexander muttered, confused.

“I had a…” the man considered his words, “…vision…” he gestured for them to follow him to the smaller building by the cliff, “The gods asked me to take you to the main structure.”

The couple exchanged silent glances that made the priest laugh. “I always think silent communication between lovers is a sign that they know each other well. I see you’ve grown closer.”

The couple stopped simultaneously and took a step further from each other. Again, the priest laughed heartily but didn’t speak until they reached the smaller building. The structure, as Katie put simply, looked almost like a gazebo. An oculus was present in the ceiling, the light from the noon sun striking a pool of water, elevated from the floor with a short, marble column. The large, dark granite bowl where the water was accumulated glittered beautifully when the water was disturbed.

“This is a bowl augurs used eons ago,” the priest ran his hand over the rim of the bowl, causing ripples on the water’s surface. “It’s been unused for ages but I ask you to peer into it.”

“Are we supposed to… see something?” Alexander muttered, bending slightly over the bowl. He stared into the water, eyebrows furrowing with intense concentration but eventually shook his head. “Mmmm…. Nope.”

“Princess Katie?”

Katie stepped closer to the dark bowl and peered into it. She saw an ornate key resting at the bottom so she folded her right coat sleeve and dipped her hand in to grab it. When her hand wrapped around the key, it dissipated into dust-like specks of light. Instantly, her surroundings changed. Every corner of the gazebo was speckled with blood and bodies were strewn everywhere around her. She screamed and pulled her hand away from the water, backing away from the gazebo as she frantically scanned her surroundings.

Arden rushed to her side and asked her what was wrong. Upon the sight of Arden, Katie took a sharp breath in and collapsed to her knees, muttering “It wasn’t real. Thank gods, it wasn’t real!”

She buried her face in her hands, her shoulders shaking from barely contained sobs. Alexander unfroze in his spot and rushed to Katie’s side to comfort her. Arden, infuriated, snapped at the priest.

“What the hell did you do to her!?”

The priest stared silently at the princess, unable to process what was happening as well. He peered into the dark bowl. The princess reached for something at the bottom… yet there was nothing inside in the first place.

“You have the gift of sight, Your Highness,” the priest reached out a hand to her but Arden blocked his way.

The young doctor turned his back on the priest, facing to address Katie and Alexander. “We’re leaving.”

Alexander helped Katie up and walked beside her as they followed Arden out of the temple. The priest simply stared at them as they left, unmoving. When they reached the center of the large building, Alexander looked back only to see the priest kneeling inside the gazebo, his gaze trained upward.