From her balcony, High Priestess looked over the line of acolytes. They avoided her eye, hoping to escape selection. The priestess sympathized, but she had no choice. These young women had a stature and authority seldom possessed by females. Soldiers and kings had to bow their heads when the servants of the God Edes spoke.
Edes spoke only to His High Priestess. She delivered His words to the lower priestesses. But only the acolytes regularly brought the word to the common people. Therefore, the acolytes spoke with the authority of a God. One was about to lose that authority forever.
The God Edes demanded undivided loyalty. Girls from powerful families owed obedience to those families. Girls from wealth had a love of comfort and leisure and were unwilling to commit to a life of service. Wives had duties to their husbands. Mothers had duties to their children. So the acolytes were chosen from the orphans, bastards, slaves, and prisoners of war.
Only girls without any other loyalties, who knew how to work and struggle for each day's meal, were worthy to serve the God. To even observe today's ceremonies, an acolyte had to be two decades past her birth with at least ten years of service.
Virginity was also required. Purity. When a man lay with a female, he left something of himself within her. Sometimes, this resulted in a babe. A mother had a sacred duty and could never devote herself to the God. But even if there were no babe, that male essence was retained and absorbed. The female would forever contain a portion of the soul of every male who had ever joined with her.
Today's ritual required the chosen acolyte to sacrifice that innocence. It was a sacred duty, but once it was done, she would no longer be eligible to serve. She could leave the temple and make her own way in the world or take up the life of a temple whore, providing income to the temple, and continuing to be of service.
The priestess had no doubt that any one of her girls would rise to the occasion if called. And she felt true pity for the one who would sacrifice so much more than just her maidenhead. But the priestess had a duty as well.
The choice was already made, though not yet announced. There were secret qualifying tests that needed to be passed before an acolyte could qualify as Vessel for the ceremony. Only fifteen acolytes were of an age to be considered, and only two had met these secret challenges. One was so special and precious, she was clearly intended for the God. She would willingly surrender her bright future in the Temple and the Temple must willingly surrender the very best of their potential priestesses. It was the nature of sacrifice.
The Vessel needed to be generous. The Vessel needed to have been witnessed in other acts of sacrifice. Two acolytes had excelled in their generosity. Dina and Vikana gave freely of their time and energy, assisting others with chores or lessons. When Pitinfa had overindulged in wine, Dina had scratched off her name on the chore sheet and replaced it with her own. Vikana had several times gone hungry because she'd been sneaking her dinner meal to girls on restriction for various transgressions.
Both girls had shown themselves more than worthy. But most importantly, the Vessel had to have faith in the God. It was possible for even a priestess to perform her duties without any true faith. But the Vessel, who would give up everything for Him, must believe.
Dina was everything the God could want, but she had been stolen from a foreign land as a child. She still believed in her foreign gods. She thought "Edes" was just this land's name for one of those alien deities. High Priestess suspected that Dina might be correct, but it would be the other way around. The other lands knew Edes by a vulgar, foreign name. Either way, it was a potential flaw in Dina's service.
Vikana, on the other hand, had been observed sneaking into the chapel to pray. When she was sad or angry or sleepless, that was where she sought solace. Vikana would be the Vessel.
The choice of Blade was less demanding. Any native-born male slave would do. As a matter of practice, rather than law, both Blade and Vessel were generally between two and two and a half decades in age. Vikana was twenty-four. A batch of males, between twenty and thirty years old, were locked up next to the Sky, waiting for a selection to be made.
High Priestess descended the stairs and entered the cloister. This room was supposed to be free of the God's influence and awareness. Edes would judge them by the choice they made, so that choice had to be made without his input.
She greeted the lower priestesses and examined the acolytes. She bowed her head and spoke. "Vikana." The Chosen gasped and began to weep, but she nodded and accepted her fate. The Temple bell began to toll.
Vikana stood bravely as the other acolytes disrobed her. She was an offering to the God now. She dare not hide herself. Upstairs, the males were being made to remove their own clothes, though it was doubtful they knew why.
When the bell had pealed thirty-two times, Vikana left the chamber, followed by the High Priestess, the lower priestess, and the acolytes. For now, until the ritual was complete, Vikana now held the highest rank in the Temple.
Proudly nude, Vikana walked out into the Temple courtyard, where hundreds had gathered to be present at this holy moment. Her face was appropriately red, blushing modestly as a virgin was expected to. And yet, she understood and felt pride in the effect her nude body had on the assembled crowd.
The men watched in appreciation and anticipation, the women in resignation. If the ritual failed, as it usually did, this lovely young woman was likely to join the ranks of Temple whores. It was forbidden to schedule appointments before the acolyte failed, but many were eager to get their name on her list once she was available.
That was a necessary part of this festival. Vikana's mother had been a slave in the house of a nobleman. Nobody knew who her father was. At five years old, she'd been sold to the Temple. At ten, she'd been selected as an initiate. At fifteen, she'd become an acolyte. For nine years, she'd held power over the men of this city. Now, she was the Vessel, the highest authority in the land. But unless this ritual ended differently from the last hundred and thirty-one, Vikana would again be the bastard daughter of a slave.
It would be essential to remind the former Vessel of her reduced stature. Never again could she give an order or look her betters in the eyes. If she chose whoredom, her price would be set at one quarter of standard for two days, then half for the next eight. And it was considered good luck for a man to bed a former Vessel, so she would be very, very popular for the next year. This lesson in humility was necessary.
By tomorrow, Vikana thought to herself, scores of men will have bedded me.
She led the procession toward the stairs, passing the brothel quarters where she expected to be residing from tonight on. Last year's Vessel, Cumoki, nodded to her, whispering, "Good luck."
Vikana entered the Sky stairs. Normally, she ran up these steps, but this was a solemn occasion. One dignified step at a time, she climbed to the rooftop garden. Sadly, she examined the flowerbeds. She'd tended these gardens for the last time. Never again would she scrub these stones.
She stepped up onto the small platform. The priestesses arranged themselves before her in a semicircle. The acolytes sat on the stones in front.
Vikana studied the priestesses carefully. She and the other girls had discussed this choice very carefully, as they were supposed to. "Elion," she announced.
Priestess Fiuno removed the white headdress and golden chain and handed them to the new High Priestess. The rest of the devoted women bowed in allegiance. As the highest-ranked, only the Vessel could replace the High Priestess.
Vikana looked over the acolytes. It was now her duty to select which of the acolytes would be selected as a new priestess. Dina wasn't quite ready, in Vikana's opinion. And if Dina remained an acolyte, she might be next year's Chosen. Then Vikana would have a close friend in the brothel afterward. But personal, selfish concerns were not good enough reasons to deny the God.
Vikana shoved those thoughts away from herself and saw her choice clearly. "Lellyan," she said finally. The new priestess stood up, and bowed to her, then took her place with the rest of the standing priestesses.
Tomorrow, two initiates would be named as acolytes and two of the young slave girls would be selected as initiates. But that was not Vikana's role. Her duties to the devoted were concluded. She had only her duty to the God left.
"Skyclad," she announced. Thirty-five women removed their robes. If the God made an appearance, He might take it amiss that his servants were hiding themselves from his sight. And it was understood that the God they served was male. He liked to look at naked women.
And the servants of Edes were all beautiful. Service to the God molded their faces and figures to make them more appealing to the eyes of Edes. From the oldest priestess, at 52, to the youngest acolyte present, who was nearing her 21st birthday, any one of them would tempt any man alive. It was hoped that the God would notice this gathering of naked beauties and come to inspect his belongings.
Priestess Hestil walked to a gate at one side of the rooftop. Behind it was a descending stair. The priestess opened the gate and ten naked men walked out onto the roof. At the sight of the nude women, ten penises thickened and grew, an erotic salute to the feminine.
Only one penis would be needed, however. The men lined up as instructed. Vikana walked up and down the line, inspecting each man carefully. She had no instructions on how to make her selection. And she knew nothing about any of these men. She knew very little of men in general. None of the acolytes did.
She was allowed to ask them questions, but Vikana had no idea what to ask. She didn't want to embarrass herself, but that was silly. After this ritual, she was not part of this world and would never speak to these people again.
"How many women have you bedded?" she asked one man. Her God was a man. She was curious about how men acted and thought.
"Forty," he boasted.
