Godparent Duties
“Welcome,” a priestess says, coming out of the temple and giving us a big smile. I return her smile eagerly, walking up the stairs carrying the car seat and introducing our party. She knows who we are, of course – nobody could mistake Sinclair for anyone else anymore, not with his face all over the media every day and his coronation imminent.
But as she nods a hello to all of us and walks us into the temple itself, I do wonder if she knows …that she’s running a temple dedicated to my mom. I mean, it’s not precisely public
knowledge, but I do wonder how much she suspects.
Cora walks next to me, looking around the beautiful open space of the temple, her eyes inevitably drawn to the gorgeous, giant gold mosaic of the Goddess built into the wall behind her altar. After she looks at the image for a moment, she turns to me and smirks a little.
I can’t help the giggle that escapes my lips and I cover my mouth in a hurry.
The image looks nothing like our mom. But, I guess it doesn’t matter, and it certainly won’t do any good to tell them they’ve got it all wrong.
The priestess looks at us curiously, but I shake my head in apology, silently asking her forgiveness. She just gives us a warm smile and leads us to a set of chairs set next to a calm reflecting pool in one corner of the room.
“So,” she says, smiling at the four of us as we seat ourselves and peering down at the baby. We’re here to plan little Rafe’s dedication to the goddess, yes?”
curious. “I thought it was
((
colloquial term, I think, but not inaccurate. Though, of course, he will not
priestess looks to Roger and Cora now. “You two, I assume, are being
I
two will have more to do than the parents. On the evening of the full moon, the two of
Cora asks, a little aghast.
in surprise. “Did no one tell you?”
huffs, looking at me and Sinclair with wide eyes. “I thought we had to go to a
now at Cora’s apparent protest. “No, we plan the event here at the temple, but the
“You’re an
down at
explains the details of the rest of the process to us, answering our questions and making sure that we all know our roles. It’s a new experience for me, of course – I myself was not dedicated to the goddess under the
I’m shocked to see that she’s clearly uncomfortable. I frown, confused and a little frustrated. This was in no way out of her comfort
was
with Sinclair and I take
my arms. “Will you come help me? I want to feed him before the ride
the other side of the temple, to a quiet little
with you?” I ask, spinning on her with a little frown when we’re finally alone.
falling open.
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