"They're coming this way," Ireleen said, her voice panicked. "What do I do?"
Elias thought quickly, then turned to her with a serious look. "Do you trust me?"
Ireleen blinked, surprised by the question. "Not really."
Elias shrugged. "Fair enough, but if you don't want to get caught, you'll have to."
She nodded nervously, and without warning, Elias pulled her close and kissed her.
Ireleen's eyes widened in shock, and her entire body stiffened, but she didn't pull away. Across the square, Priestess Margo paused in her tracks, her eyes narrowing as she watched Elias and the woman he was kissing.
"Look at him," Margo muttered. "That shameless playboy. He's kissing one of his girls in public."
Mathias, however, squinted at the couple. "From behind... doesn't that woman look a lot like the High-Luminary?"
Margo rolled her eyes. "Don't be ridiculous. There's no way the High-Luminary would be kissing Elias in the middle of the market."
"Stop it," she whispered to herself, shaking her head violently as if the motion could shake loose the thoughts. But her attempts at self-control were failing miserably.
By the time she neared the temple, the grand marble structure coming into full view, her thoughts were still a tangled mess of devotion, guilt, and longing. She hesitated at the base of the temple steps, the baskets of sweets now feeling much heavier. The enormous stone pillars loomed before her like silent judges, reminding her of her responsibilities, her vows, her position.
She was not just any woman. She was the High-Luminary. She had the sacred duty of guiding the people, maintaining the connection to the Goddess. What kind of example would she set if she let her mind wander into these... inappropriate fantasies? She could already imagine the scandal if anyone found out about the kiss, let alone her thoughts afterward.
But then, another voice, softer and more tempting, whispered in her mind. 'The Goddess never forbade love, did she?' The thought lingered, and for a moment, Ireleen considered the possibility—of allowing herself to feel what she was feeling without shame, without guilt.
She shook her head firmly once more. There was no time for these distractions. She needed to get back to her quarters before her priests began to wonder why her seclusion in prayer had lasted longer than expected. But even as she took the first few steps up the stone stairway, the feeling of Elias' lips refused to leave her mind.
She reached the top of the stairs and took a deep breath, her composure returning, or at least appearing to. As she pushed open the large doors to the temple, she could already hear the faint sounds of her attendants moving about in the halls. They would notice her return any moment now, and she needed to act as if nothing had happened.
Her posture straightened, and she assumed the serene expression she always wore in public.
'You're the High-Luminary,' she reminded herself one last time. 'There are greater things at stake than your fleeting, foolish thoughts.'
But as she stepped into the sanctuary and the heavy temple doors closed behind her, the ghost of a smile tugged at her lips once more. The memory of the kiss lingered still, like a sweet secret hidden just beneath the surface. And as much as she tried to convince herself that it was nothing, a small, traitorous part of her hoped that it might happen again.