Eue-Lysae stares at the uninvited and certainly not welcome Ilsenila from the corner of her eye. Cease that; act your age. Luhnylla chastises her as she mentally curses everyone who could be to blame for Ilsenila’s presence. Every year, she looks forward to the small parties she throws after H?rfende; even if they rarely last more than two hours, it’s always nice to just be able to drink and watch Dyder from a distance.

  The hair on ?l?'s neck stands up; she turns around to look into the kitchen and sees High Priestess Seliani quickly looks away from her, redirecting her gaze down to Morziwayn. She thinks back on her birthday predictions; maybe it would be best to get to know the High Priestess. This is a new start, and perhaps her issues stem from nothing at all. She dismissed herself from the group that had formed around Faerthryne and Arn, heading to the kitchen.

  Watching Ilsenyla as she makes her way to the kitchen, Eue-Lysae exhales sharply through her nose, her shoulders slouching as the air leaves. She pours herself another stein. Pour one for Ilsenila as well. She does as Luhnylla suggests.

  “I don’t need a new glass.” Says Morziwayn with a slur, handing her empty one to Gyrshke.

  Eue-Lysae fills it as well and hands it to Morziwayn, getting a glare from Faey.

  “We haven’t met, have we?” ?l? says awkwardly to the High Priestess. She does not know how she could break the ice with the woman. ?l? feels as though the High Priestess is already cold towards her before the conversation has even started.

  “No.” Eue-Lysae’s tone is short; she quickly corrects it. “No, I don’t think we have. Would you like this?” She offers Ilsenila the beer.

  ?l? accepts, taking the stein from High Priestess Seliani; she had not had anything to drink yet, and refusing would be rude. “I figured that since I’ve moved here, I should get to know the High Priestess and her coven.” She takes a sip; the beer is excellent and just the way she likes it. Judging by the strong malty taste of the dark lager, she assumes she knows where the high priestess spends the tithes.

  “Really? why’s that?” Eue-Lysae raises an eyebrow. “You don’t strike me as the devout kind.”

  “Well...” ?l? scrambles for an answer. She isn’t devout—at all; frankly, she hates having to engage in any sort of divination ritual; all they ever do is stress her. “I figured that since I’m marrying the head of the Queen’s Guard, I should take the time to know the Priestess of Our Lady, as I feel like we will be seeing each other frequently.” She’s satisfied with her answer but watches an annoyed expression flash across the high priestess’s face before being replaced with a smile.

  “I don’t think you will be seeing me as much as you might expect.” Eue-Lysae says. “Outside of festivals and special occasions, I perform the same duties as H?the does back in Sc?dstan.” She’s not trying to brush off Ilsenila’s attempt to forge a connection between them; she’s just being honest. “We really don’t do too much around here.”

  “Oh.” ?l? places the half-full stein on the island. “I figured that you and...” She pauses, not wanting to say Luhnylla’s name.

  Luhnylla appears behind Eue-Lysae. “You can say my name if you wish—I am here.”

  ?l? steps back, startled; glad she had set the stein down, if she hadn’t, she certainly would have spilled it on herself.

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  Luhnylla smiles warmly at the startled woman and moves her hand, gesturing for Ilsenila to continue.

  “I had figured that you would be more involved with the Hersts.” ?l? says.

  Rubbing her chin, Luhnylla takes a moment before answering. “It’s been a few hundred years since I’ve been... permitted to have involvement with them outside of rituals on the full moons.”

  As it is not often one gets to have a discussion with Luhnylla, ?l? decides to dig deeper for answers. “Permitted? why? I’ve seen portraits of you in the halls of the castle; why would you have portraits in the halls of the castle but not be permitted to speak to them other than on full moons?” ?l? runs her hand down her face, each word she says confusing her further. “You are aela’Luhnylla.”

  “Oh, that’s not me in the paintings.” Luhnylla chuckles, surprised that Ilsenila does not know about the worst-kept secret of Ianian history. “I have done things in the past that have earned me the ire of the Conclave; they have placed restrictions on me to preserve my image—I shouldn’t even be speaking with you now; so, I shall let you two return to your blossoming friendship.” Luhnylla vanishes with a giggle.

  ?l? and Eue-Lysae stare at each other for a moment. ?l? wonders what Luhnylla could have done, and Eue-Lysae mentally curses Luhnylla for encouraging Ilsenila to interact with her.

  “She could have at least said hello to me.” Morziwayn scrunches her face as she slurs her words.

  Eue-Lysae looks to Morziwayn. “She says hello.” She says wryly.

  “The library here is public?” ?l? ask, figuring that she would have the most luck feeding her recent fixation on folk magic at the college, as well as learning more about the High Priestess.

  “Yes, but you have access to the Herst’s private one; I would suggest using that one instead—very little of what we have here is any sort of fiction, mostly esoteric grimoires and historical manuscripts written in the ‘old tongue.’ I doubt what we have will interest you.”

  ?l?’s eyes light up. “That’s actually just what I was looking for.”

  Eue-Lysae swallows. Blossoming friendship.

  “I’m very interested in astrology and the 13 maidens—do you have books on that?” ?l? can think of no better teacher than Luhnylla’s High Priestess.

  “Th—There are some more introductory books in Ianian—” Eue-Lysae starts.

  “Yes, when you have the time, would you be able to help me with them?”

  “Uh...” You’re trapped. You need to be realistic with yourself, Gyrshke. Luhnylla’s right. Eue-Lysae sighs quietly. “Sure... come by after the wedding; I have to prepare for that; the 20th of the next maiden would be best.” Now she’s stuck, but this will be for the best—hopefully.

  “Alright. Do you have anything I should read in the meantime?” ?l? says excitedly. The High Priestess seems reluctant, but perhaps she never had anything to worry about.

  “Ilsenila, can you make use of your costume and bring five steins back with you.” Faerthryne says from the common room, her voice cutting through the chatter.

  Eue-Lysae gives a sidelong glance in the direction of Faerthryne and starts pouring, sliding the steins one by one to Ilsenila. “Start with Welkraus’s [1] Lunar Magic [2] Volume One: The Pale Maidens [3]. The Herst Library will have it—I think.” She remembers having discussed the series at some point with ?vlyn when she was younger; this was prior to his abdication, so he wouldn’t have taken the book from the college library.

  ?l? nods enthusiastically. “Sure, I’ll start on that. Thank you.” She takes the new steins and her own and heads back to the common room.

  Footnotes

  [1] Ag?ryk Welkraus (b. 07/11/0432 EotG, d. 14/10/0503 EotG) was an Iania polymath who wrote extensively on occult philosophy, astrology, alchemy, and folk magic; later in his life he began to attempt to reconstruct advanced sigil magic. Though in the modern age, his writing is quite esoteric, and most people only know him for his mysterious death, as on 14/10/0503 EotG, he was found dead in his locked basement, which could only be locked from the inside. His death was officially ruled a suicide despite reports from the coroner stating that his face appeared to have been everted from the inside.

  [2] Ag?ryk Welkraus’s Lunar Magic is a four-part series focusing on the three moons and the magic surrounding them. The series includes Volume One: The Pale Maidens, Volume Two: The Favors of Our Lady, Volume Three: Death and the Crone, and Volume Four: The Three Sisters.

  [3] Volume One focuses on each of the Maidens, what is under their influence, and how to best gain their favor.