“Do you do this often?” Fl?n, with her voice shaking, asks High Priestess Seliani. She has been horrifically nervous since her father, his apprentice, her sister, and herself departed Styd?n. Her father did not want to leave her alone in Styd?n, so he brought her with him—now here she is, struggling to talk to the woman her father has hoisted her upon.

  The High Priestess of Luhnylla is far from what Fl?n was expecting; she expected a kindly, petite woman with a large warm smile and a soft voice like her mother had. Standing next to her is the exact opposite.

  “No.” Eue-Lysae, with her arms crossed in front of her chest, follows the baker’s assistant—who had introduced himself as Madox—with her eyes, never blinking when he is within arm's reach of one of her priestesses. Entertain the poor girl; I doubt she wants to be here any more than you do. Eue-Lysae sighs. Leaning back against the cold stone wall, she turns her head to Pippynna. “I’ve never done this.” Keeping her arms crossed, she slightly raises a hand and shrugs her shoulder.

  “You’ve never done a wedding.” Baffled, Fl?n shakes her head. “Who do people in the Crown Isles wed under?” All of her sister’s married friends had been wedded by the city’s High Priestess under Ivfy; she assumed the Crown Isles would be similar.

  “You’ve never been here before, have you?”

  “No, this is my first time out of Styd?n.” Fl?n, glancing away, struggles to keep eye contact with the piercing green eyes of the High Priestess.

  Eue-Lysae, not surprised, nods. “Most of the people here are nobles, merchants, and artisans, renting land from Gekaryna for their shops and manors, they will go back to the capital of their home fief—or town if it's large enough for a temple instead of a shrine—to be wedded by the High Priestess there and keep the favor of their home goddess. The commoners, however, get married under Aelura, as she is the liminal who looks after the Crown Isles.” She looks at Pippynna and raises her eyebrows, doing her best to ask if there is anything else without verbally asking.

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  “But don’t people still want to be married under—” Fl?n looks at High Priestess Seliani in hopes that she will say ‘Luhnylla’ for her.

  Eue-Lysae sighs—of course there was more; she despises this topic. Tragic that it is unavoidable. “Luhnylla.” She motions for Pippynna to continue.

  “Do you just tell them no?”

  “So far, yes; I always decline to officiate marriages that were arranged for political connections among the aristocracy—and those are all the requests I get. This is a very rare exception.”

  “Because they do not love each other?”

  Eue-Lysae rubs her lips together. That wasn’t quite right; it was an aspect of her logic, but not all of it. “How old are you?” Her age does not matter; the girl was clearly too young to be introduced to how little autonomy she truly has. Eue-Lysae watches as Pippynna’s face scrunches, the young girl seemingly having to think on the question.

  The question seems odd to Fl?n, and the tone reminds her of her father’s when he says, ‘I’ll tell you when you are older.’ “Ten.” Fl?n looks up to High Priestess Seliani, the tall woman’s expression softening.

  “Yes. It is because they do not love each other.” Eue-Lysae looks at the girl with soft jealousy. She could not pity Pippynna for her birth; comfortably in the artisan class and the daughter of a guild master, she could hopefully meet a kind son of someone at the guildhall and live simply. Any pity from Eue-Lysae would make her a hypocrite; she had spent long nights in her youth lamenting her family, her class, her upbringing—wishing it all away.

  Eue-Lysae feels Pippynna tap her on the arm.

  “Who are you to say if they love each other or not?” Fl?n looks up at the High Priestess with a stern expression. She cannot describe why her opinion is wrong, but she knows it is.

  “You’re right, I—I’m not. But who...” Eue-Lysae stops herself; she will let Pippynna have this discussion, for both of their sakes.

  There is a loud thud on the wooden table as Tyes drops a sack of flour on the table. The fine white powder floats in the air, pulling the attention of Eue-Lysae and Fl?n.

  “High Priestess, if you do not mind, would you help me with this?” Tyes motions to the large bags of flour sitting in the storage room.

  "A moment, Pippynna." Eue-Lysae dismisses herself to go assist Tyes with the flour.