Heart Fire (Celta Book 13) Read Free Page B

you do not take the offer of Landing Park CircleTemple, it will be offered to another and you will miss your chance to have it.”
    “I understand.”
    “Your other choice will have you remaining here, but with a suite of two rooms instead of one. Your counseling will diminish and your leading ritual circles will remain the same, and you will take on a new assignment.” The High Priestess watched with sharp eyes and Tiana thought the woman had seen her concern, then her pleasure that her circle work would continue as is. Tiana loved leading circles.
    She didn’t speak, but waited, and the silence between them filled with the chirp of birds—always continual and melodic around the Temple. A hint of floral fragrance swirled around them from the High Priestess’s personal meditation incense.
    Calm trickled through Tiana and her mind began to subside into a meditative trance. The priestess nodded and smiled. “Well done. I thought you might never relax during our time together, and a priestess must always be able to reach for serenity . . . and joy.”
    Tiana smiled back.
    Lady D’Sandalwood opened the cream and gold folder. “We have been approached by one of the Chief Ministers of the Intersection of Hope to give our approval for them to build a cathedral on the Varga Plateau outside the Druida City walls.
    “We stated that they did not need our approval or blessing for such an action, of course.
    “Chief Minister Custos informed us that they have the land and the permits and the architect already, and wanted our support. We told them that they have it, and that we would assign a liaison to work with them and their architect, Antenn Blackthorn-Moss.”
    The words jolted Tiana from her peaceful state, reverberated in a near scream in her head. She’d distanced herself from her mother’s religion since the scandal, the firebombing of her home. Now she was being pulled back into it. Rumor and gossip would buzz around her again; her old wounds would reopen.
    “Tiana, if we, the High Priest and High Priestess, find your efforts at completing this assignment worthy, you will be accepted as one of our main assistants here in GreatCircle Temple and regularly write and perform ritual circles for the benefit of all Celta.”
    “I . . . I . . .” She shouldn’t have started to speak, because she floundered, showing herself near panic. Being an assistant to the High Priest and Priestess was a prize. But to do that, she’d have to work through all her pain from her Family’s losses. Of course, that was the reason she was being given the experience.
    “This will be a high-profile project, which will cause a great deal of . . . discussion,” D’Sandalwood said.
    She really meant outcry.
    The High Priestess continued, “There is no room in our world for religious prejudice. That tore apart old Earth on more than one occasion. We will not tolerate it here, and we will make that clear to the All Councils, the twenty-five FirstFamilies who rule, those who are devout in our faith in the Lady and Lord. We will stand firmly behind the Intersection of Hope, this undertaking to raise their own beautiful and substantial place of worship. We will completely support you as our liaison, Tiana. You have our blessing.”
    Which came close to a dismissal.
    “You have an appointment at MidAfternoon Bell with my HeartMate, High Priest Lord T’Sandalwood, to discuss this matter, also. After that, we will give you two days to decide.”
    Tiana’s mind whirled; she couldn’t even manage a nod.
    GrandLady D’Sandalwood raised a finger. “Though we allow you two days for your decision, we have no control over the timing of other events. The project will be announced, and the Chief Ministers of the Intersection of Hope will be giving interviews to the newssheets and viz press tomorrow morning.”
    “Before the time I make my decision,” Tiana said, grasping the point most pertinent to her.
    The High Priestess inclined her