Suneka and Soema screamed pointedly in place of Raven. Her jokes were getting a little on his nerves. Why were girls so silly?Suddenly he noticed that his finger was burning slightly. He wiped his eyes again and looked at him. He was a little amazed because he had never seen so much blood before. He'd hit his knee or pinched his finger before, of course, but never had that much blood flowed. Now it ran incessantly from the deep cut in his thumb, over his wrist, into his sleeve. He looked curiously at the fresh, moist red. He was about to dip a finger into it when another hand grabbed his wrist and stopped him. He looked up. Suddenly there was great excitement in the kitchen. The women talked frantically and some even had to sit down because they felt dizzy at the red tide that came from the wound. One of the kitchen helpers finally took up the stained knife with a cloth, and before Raen knew what was happening to him, he was in the midst of a group of excited men and women o

So now hear the words of the venerable Hyaunset suer Gahin!" Loenka solemnly announced the speech of the high priest.The Hyaunset suer did not change the slightest expression when he began to speak: “As the highest representative of the priestly caste into which you, Raen Shari, desire admission, it is incumbent on me to examine your decision thoroughly and to decide whether you are ready to take on the role you chose for yourself. ”Gahin paused. His dark eyes glowed mysteriously in his face, which was surprisingly smooth for his age. The aun was emblazoned gold on his forehead and emphasized the bald skull on which no hair had grown for a long time. And only now did Raen really become aware of the man behind the office of chief priest. It was difficult for him to estimate the age of Gahin, but he knew from Loenka that Gahin was the younger brother of Gensu, who at over eighty had been the oldest man in the entire clan, but had died last year."Do you real

he saw himself, six years old again, sitting in the bay with Alea and looking out the window into the distance. She had always liked that very much. Her eyes shone green like the glass. She told him stories and fairy tales; sometimes his sister was there, but he preferred to be alone with his mother. He felt her embrace when she put him to bed and smelled the scent of her hair that brushed his face when she kissed him on the forehead.Raen's fingers tightened around the object, which he wasn't supposed to own.He saw the smile on her face every time his father took her in his arms or complimented her. He heard her laugh ...The pain came back and with it the feeling of guilt. Raen squirmed. He had to break away from it now. Now, or it would haunt him forever. His thoughts had to be pure if he was to enter the priesthood. He sniffed the item one last time. Wasn't there a touch of jasmine? He opened his eyes. It would cause great indignation if it came out what he

Raen was silent because he didn't want to ask another stupid question."You can now ask where we are." The voice looked amused again.“Yes, but ...”“Not but! The question is, where? ”The hand let go of his, and it felt like a great loss. Raen kept reaching into the void to find the hand again.“No, please stay here. Don't go away! ”He shouted fearfully."I'm right here. Sit down, ”said the voice, and Raen sat down on the hard floor."Where am I?" He finally asked, expecting to be mocked again, but nothing like that happened."You have arrived. Now you are on your way “, the voice answered calmly and seriously. "On the right way. Didn't you notice You're lost! ”Silence.“Admittedly, you weren't very lost, but I still felt it was necessary to lead you back. Now you are on your way to the right destination again. But please promise me that from now on you will ne

'Are women and men separated here?' He asked himself and it occurred to him that he was actually only surrounded by men. He surreptitiously watched as one of the novice priests filled a second basin with hot water and then poured something into it from a glazed clay bottle. Immediately a pleasant scent of pine needles rose with the steam and spread throughout the room. Raen continued to look around uncertainly. A small table was set up next to him and several objects were placed on it with great grace. A folded yellow cloth, a very sharp-looking knife without a point, a bunch of those strange herbs that had been used once before during his mishap while cutting onions, and a leather band with line-by-line markings.Suddenly the activity froze, and from the crowd of assembled men Gahin stepped out together with clan chief Lako, who was also the head of the warrior caste. Raen also saw his father, who was waiting silently with the others while Lako began to speak: “Raen, s