Arshalous frowned into her cup and cleared her throat, shifting her gaze ever so slightly to see what her aunt thought about it. She had a perfectly calm...almost amused expression on her face.
"The High Temple would be showing unnecessary favour to an inferior," said Arshalous. "And yes, I do believe that Rae is inferior to Rhais, who is the earth mother. I do not pretend to understand how, exactly, she is the earth mother yet she is while Rae is merely the Sky God."
She darted a glance at the king, wondering how frank and blunt she should be. "If I had my way," she said tartly, "there wouldn't be another temple. The current High Temple has been enough...the gods are content with that. Why stir them to anger by giving a temple to Rae? Why curry their ill will with flattery?"
The King nodded, and asked again, "So you will refuse to give funds to it? You're cousin cannot pay for it himself."
She tipped her head slightly in assent. She was almost nettled by the question. How could he expect her to fund something that she disagreed with? It was unheard of it. She wouldn't actively oppose it, but she wasn't going to actively support it either. It reeked of weakness to pay for something merely because others wished you to do so. "It is not my problem," she added as an after thought, "if Lork Korak cannot pay for this Temple himself."
She sank back into the scarlet cushions, her eyes closed. "There is too much fuss about this temple," she said, almost to herself. "I do not understand why there is a need for it, why there is a need to change that which does not need to be changed. Unless, of course --" she opened her eyes at this -- "they want something more than a temple and that is only a mask for it. But I am likely being paranoid."
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