《Better Than Dying》Chapter 13

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Shay’s arm was pulled by small hands, the words he was scratching into the papyrus turning into one long, ruinous line as his hand was dragged, “big brother Shay, please play with me, please.”

Shay sighed as he looked down at the tan girl with bouncy brown curls that was trying to pull him out of his chair. “Keta, stop that. I have work to do.”

The little girl pouted, her warm hands still clutching his forearm tightly, “come ooon. You always have work to do.”

“That’s because you haven’t learned to write yet and can’t help.” With his arm that was still in her grip, he ruffled her hair.

“Vicre can write and he’s not helping you.”

“Vicre writes vulgar things in the margins.”

Keta dug her heels in and leaned back, throwing her whole, meager weight into trying to pull him out of his chair, “who cares. Let him do it anyway. You’re going to leave us soon. What if I never get to play with you again?!”

“I’ll come back and visit you.”

Keta shook her head, curls violently bouncing around. “No! You’ll live in a big, beautiful house and forget all about us!”

Her estimation of his life after leaving the temple was a little too grand but rather than correct her, Shay sighed and let himself be dragged to his feet.

She cheered and let go of his forearm, intertwining their fingers as she pulled him out the door.

Normally the courtyard in the center of the Temple of the Sun was beautiful in the summer. Lush and vibrant with varied plant life and warmed by the sun. But the clouds covered the sun and the endless rains drowned the flowers. Keta didn’t seem to mind the lackluster look of the courtyard garden. She dropped Shay’s hand and ran out into the courtyard, quickly splashing mud all over her bare legs. The drizzling rain slowly unraveled her curls. She turned back to Shay and smiled, “come one, try to catch me!”

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Shay let himself smile slightly before running after her into the courtyard, his bare feet sinking into the mud.

*

“Tracking mud into the Temple of the Sun! Do you have no respect?” the Head Priest berated.

Shay sat on his heels, shivering from the cold rain still clinging to him. The candles in the room offered no heat and very little light. The Head Priest paced in front of him. “Your work utterly abandoned in the open as well. You’re nearly an adult, you should know better.”

Shay let his mind wander away, focusing on the flickering of one of the candles’ flames. The Head Priest’s pacing got faster. The candle flickered more and eventually went out completely, depriving Shay of his distraction. The Head Priest’s words filtered back into Shay’s ears, “... as the next bride of the Sun, you-”

A jolt ran through Shay’s body and his eyes widened, “wait, what?”

The Head Priest abruptly stopped his pacing, head snapping to look at Shay. The wrinkles in his brow and the frown lines around his mouth were prominent as he scowled down at Shay, “Keta was supposed to tell you.”

Cold horror gripped Shay’s heart. He shot to his feet, almost falling right back to the floor thanks to his numb legs. “You were going to have a child tell me about my impending death?” Shay tried to sound angry, indignant but all emotion fell flat when presented before the Head Priest’s impassive face. “It’s not death. It’s a new life in the heavens, a glorious honor. Better than you deserve.”

The chill spread through Shay and he shivered again, even though he was mostly dry by that point. The next protest out of his mouth was weak, he could already feel his spine crumbling like it always did, “I’m not a woman.”

The Head Priest actually rolled his eyes, “gifting beautiful women to Shisu hasn’t exactly worked lately, has it. We must try something new.”

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