[Aylwen Dreamsong]

The morning sun brought tingling warmth to Gjeelea’s face as she walked through the marketplace of Kanak. She had spent more time in the city and out of the palace since her conference with Korak about a month earlier, usually with her betrothed in hopes that the people would see them happily together before their marriage. Gjeelea had also gone more often to the temples since the Emissary’s arrival. She visited both the construction site of the new temple of Rae and the standing temple of Rhais. The latter was her destination that morning.

Her daily walks comforted Gjeelea from the stresses she found harrowing in the palace – dealing with her brother, with Korak, with the gossiping court ladies. She hardly ever got headaches since she had started perusing the city, even when speaking to Siamak or arguing with Korak.

“Oh, my lady! Princess Gjeelea!” The bookkeeper’s wife called to the princess from the little shop off the main market way. A bright smile lit on her pudgy face, a smile that was returned half-heartedly by Gjeelea as she walked over to the stocky little lady.

“Good morning, Rafiqa,” Gjeelea greeted the aging woman, bowing her head slightly. Rafiqa did the same and gestured for Gjeelea to enter her home. The princess stepped gingerly into the sunlit entryway, looking left to see a large room filled with shelves that were in turned filled with books and parchments. To the right Gjeelea saw Basit the bookkeeper, Rafiqa’s husband, sitting at a desk piled high with thick volumes. Basit lifted his head and stood when he saw the princess. With a deep bow he greeted her.

“How wonderful it is to see you again, my lady,” Basit said, waving his arm. “Welcome again to my humble home – you are free, as always, to make yourself at home as well…” he paused. His brows furrowed together. “You are not with the Lord Korak this morning?”

“No, Korak is spending the morning with his mother,” Gjeelea replied, though it was a lie. She did not know where Korak had gone off to that morning. “But thank you, Basit, and good day to you,” Gjeelea murmured, nodding to both Basit and Rafiqa before turning into the huge, book-filled room to her left. The princess had come to Basit’s bookshop at least once a week in the past month, to read the tomes of knowledge and visit Basit’s family. It was just one more activity that Gjeelea looked forward to outside of the palace.

The princess weaved her way around short aisles of shelves, not quite sure what she was searching for. She stopped as she turned a corner and caught sight of a little girl sitting on a stool next to one of the shelves, reading a long stretch of parchment. The girl looked up when she heard Gjeelea, and with a toothy grin the child beckoned for the princess to join her.

“How are you this morning, Tendai?” Gjeelea addressed the girl as she pushed back her white headscarf and kneeled down on the floor next to her.

“Very good, princess!” Tendai informed Gjeelea, nodding to the parchment in her hand. “Last night I climbed to the top of father’s ladder, and found this on the top shelf. It is very good, but I am almost finished, and I am afraid to climb to the top again and find a new one.”

“I will get a new story for you before I leave,” the princess promised as she peaked at the words on Tendai’s page. “What is this story about?”

“A noble lady,” Tendai explained. “Her father arranges to have her marry his friend. She is in love with her best friend.”

“I see,” Gjeelea mused. If I had a best friend, I would rather be in love with him than Korak any day. “What happens, then?”

“Well, her best friend is only a cook in her house,” Tendai continued with the story. “And the girl does not want to make her father sad. But she decided to run away with her best friend rather than say no to her father, or marry someone she did not love. They have run away, and I have not finished, but I think that they get away safe in the end. What a brave girl, leaving her father, right?”

“Right,” Gjeelea agreed softly. “Very brave.”

“Princess?”

“Yes?”

“Do you love Lord Korak?” Tendai asked the question in an offhand manner, peering anxiously at the top of the nearest shelf. Gjeelea stood, brushing slight specs of dirt off of her white gown. She moved to the bookshelf and reached to the highest ledge, picking through some of the books as she thought of how to answer the question.

“Of course I do,” Gjeelea lied.

“That is good, then,” Tendai replied, satisfied. The princess handed her a new book to read and said farewell before turning away and leaving the room. Gjeelea thanked Basit and Rafiqa for their hospitality and left the bookshop, continuing on her way to the temple of Rhais. Some citizens gave the princess a warm smile, a slight bow, or perhaps a good-natured wave if they chanced to recognize her. Gjeelea wondered how things would be if she became queen, or how they felt about Korak.

When Gjeelea finally reached the temple of Rhais, she stood still for a moment outside the temple, admiring the monument. The princess knew that the temple of Rae could not compare to the architecture of the home of the Earth-goddess. Surely construction had improved bit by bit since the building of Rhais’ home, but Gjeelea almost felt that the division over Rae’s temple and the controversy might affect the building of it. Something about the intricacy and beauty of the temple of Rhais made Gjeelea feel safe and comforted.

The princess would never argue for one deity over the other – it would not be good politics. She carefully skated around divine discussion, never willing to trample on someone else’s view of Rae or Rhais. Gjeelea had grown up revering both Rae and Rhais, and she would show no favor towards either; were they not both divine anyway? Still, Gjeelea knew that the reasoning behind building a superior temple to Rae was wrong. The only popularity contest Gjeelea wanted to deal with was between her and Siamak. Her thoughts of competition dwindled as she entered the temple, searching for the High Priestess.

Gjeelea rarely spoke to Zamara. Today, though, the princess sought to speak to the High Priestess about the Emissary. Gjeelea and Siamak had not come to a conclusion on the Emissary and his offer for an alliance, nor had the two agreed much in their conversations. The tension between brother and sister had likewise come between their ability to negotiate and speak calmly to one another. There were many things that the princess had yet to say to Siamak about the matter of the Emissary, and yet Gjeelea also sought the opinion of valued Pashtian citizens. Zamara, Tarkan, Lady Hababa – Gjeelea had yet to converse with these people on their views of the Emissary.

Taking further steps into the temple, Gjeelea found Zamara kneeling before the statue of Rhais.

“High Priestess?” Gjeelea prompted softly.