Rata paced her balcony once more. The second of Tavia's suns, the smaller yellow star, was setting, dipping beneath her waters, turning them the deepest shade of purple, almost black as the first rays of Tavia's moons danced across the choppy surface. "I am sorry that I have failed you too, Mij," she whispered to the old friend, who had joined her as she sought...
She was uncertain what she sought now. She was well past the point of believing that there was some way to avoid this tragedy. Despite Aved's brave stance against the treaty, or perhaps because of it, she felt the undercurrents of fate pulling them all down, drowning in what was to come. And there was no way out.
"Failed me?" the man asked. Rata turned and looked at the Councilor, the man who had been her charge for many cycles. His smile was weak, as if he too realized the gravity of their situation, but it was genuine. "How have you failed me, dear friend?" he walked across the balcony to stand in front of her.
His arms wrapped about her. But it was comfort and not the passion of their goddess that she felt. That she had always felt with this man. No, passion was something that never seemed to stir her deep waters.
"If I had been a better priestess, a wiser counselor perhaps. If we had sought the communion of the goddess as we ought, then perhaps," she shook her head as she sought words, sought some final wisdom in these final moments of life as they knew it. "If I were not so cold," she whispered.
Mij chuckled, "Cold? You cold, Rata? Your sweet waters were never, never anything other than welcoming warmth, embracing and soothing to the soul."
She shook her head in confusion, "I do not understand. Then why have you not sought my counsel? Come to me for communion in so many cycles? If I am not the problem, what is, Mij?"
The man released, moved to stand at the edge of the balcony, staring into the depths of the waters that broke loudly against the rock cliff. Silence whispered upon Mya's strong breezes that blew so turbulently this evening. Rata went to him, stood next to him, sought the answers in the depths of her waters as he did.
"It is not you, sweet priestess. It has never been you. It is me. I am not like others. I know it is unheard of, but," he was silent once more, silence that stretched out for several moments as the waves and winds pounded the rock beneath them, rocks that had stood strong for millennia shook and quivered this night and all felt it.
"I am sorry, Rata, if you ever thought you failed me in any way. You have not."
"Then why did you not come to me, dear friend? Not seek the communion you need? That we all need?" she sought understanding, an answer that might bring some small measure of peace in the havoc that was to come.
"Because I no longer need it, High Priestess," he sighed as if searching for words to better explain the unexplainable. "Not from you. Not the way that our traditions dictates."
He turned to face her, brushed the hair back from her face, tugged it behind her ear. "When I joined with Cytil, when we became one." He paused again, shook his dark head. "I am not doing this right, saying things as I should. I do not understand it fully myself, dear friend."
"Do not get me wrong. I always found communion with you unlike any other. Your times together were amazing. I grew as a man and a Councilor. You served me and our goddess well. But when Cytil and I joined together, it was unlike anything I ever knew, ever imagined. It was like finding the other half of my soul."
"I know it is not our way. Primaries, secondaries, communing freely with the goddess. But, Rata, when I found Cytil, I had need of none of that. She was, she is, all that I need. All I will ever need. And that is not reflection upon you, dearest friend. It is our weakness, if you will. But I could simply never betray my wife, not like that. Not even with you, not even for my office. If anyone let anyone down, it is I...for not being here for you," he said as he raised her hand pressed kisses to her knuckles. "I am sorry, High Priestess."
Rata struggled to breath. His words bounced about her head like ripples when a stone was thrown into her pools, gentle circles radiating outwards until they reached the shore then returning back again to the source, a cycle that lasted for long moments until balance was restored again to her waters. What he said made no sense, was against all they believed. Yet in some strange way it resonated inside her heart, sang the sweetest song through her spirit.
She sighed and squeezed his hand, "Then what are you doing here, old friend? Go to your wife. Do what you can to protect her, protect both of you, protect this special gift you share."
"What of you? I cannot leave you here alone, unprotected. Things are not as simple as Aved wishes. The Morians will not take well to the news that the treaty they have sought for so long is not to be. Versil was unwise to make such promises, promises he knew he could not deliver." The man looked around her chambers as if seeking something, "Where is Tsu? Where is your primary?"
Rata was not certain herself, but she could guess. But in these final moments, her value as a High Priestess seemed to pale, especially in light of her beloved friend's words. She would not have another duty bound to her, when something far higher called to him.
"I have sent him upon a small errand. He will be only another moment. Do not worry, old friend. Go to Cytil now. Give her my love, tell her to guard well the gift that the two of you share for she is the most blessed of women," she plastered a smile upon her face, the one that she always used to greet supplicants as a young priestess, it was as big a lie as the words she spoke. She hoped only that it worked this final time.
Mij frowned but nodded reluctantly, almost as if he saw through her lie but accepted it as the free will offering of the goddess, which Rata intended it to be. He pressed a soft kiss to her cheek, "Be well, my beloved friend and counselor. You have always been and always shall be very dear to me. And to our goddess."