The Mother of Books
Chapter 2
Overheard
Summary: A/H: Mature: Supernatural/Drama: Canon to a point: Bella and Edward are in training in the School of Alexandria when events that would shape history begin to occur. Esme, The High Priestess and Head of the School takes Bella as her student to train to become the next High Priestess, and things go downhill from there.
Disclaimer: Ms. Meyer started it all. I've borrowed her characters, but this storyline is mine.
Definitions:
A/N: I'm finding it a little difficult to use today's names in a fiction about Ancient Egypt. Just bare with me please.
The Mother of Books
Chapter 2
Overheard
~o0o~
"Bella. Time to wake up Bella. Come on Bella. Wake up!"
I could hear my name being called from somewhere in the distance.
It was confusing. I'd just been with the Priestess of the Moon and now I was being told to wake up. I rolled over and opened my eyes.
There, standing looking down on me, was Rosalie, a priestess of a higher grade. It was my turn to attend to the Temple Fires. It was my sacred duty to do so, and was one of the many duties as a novice I was expected to perform.
I rubbed the sleep from my eyes. "Sorry, Rosalie, I am awake now. Thank you."
Hurriedly, I stripped out of my night shift, bathed quickly then slipped quietly into the waters of the sanctified pool. After that I walked between the two huge incense burning cauldrons to further my morning purification ritual.
Our lives revolved around rituals. We had to perform one for almost every task of the day. When ready, I walked silently down the long dark corridors with only a small oil lamp to light my way.
~o0o~
You could always smell the doors that lead into the Temple of the Great Goddess before you got to them. They'd been carved from a fragrant wood called Cedar that had came from a distant land. Every day there was a novice assigned to wipe those doors down with an oil extracted from the same wood they were carved from. The fragrance permeated the entire temple. It helped to create the atmosphere of calm and quiet that was ideal for such a holy place.
I, however, did not open those huge doors, they were only opened for high holidays when Pilgrims came from all over Kemet, or Egypt, as it was beginning to be called now. During those times, the huge Temple doors were opened wide and never closed until all the Pilgrims were gone. It was a good time for the Temple and its priest and priestesses, as offerings were always left for us.
This morning my task was to fill the lamps with sacred oils and trim their wicks. I also had the honor of being the one to make sure the statue of the Great Goddess was dusted and to sweep the Great Temple floor. When the sun shown on the floor, the golden veins within the marble would sparkle in its light.
My last task for the morning was to climb the ladders to the very top of the Temple where a trap door was set. I was to open this so that when the sun was at its zenith, it would shine down upon Her Earthly form.
It always felt like my heart would leap from my chest whenever I would see the sunlight sparkling over my Goddess, She of a Thousand Names, The Flaming One - Sekhmet.
She brought light into our world, and with that light came the magic of healing and growing things. It was my Flaming One to whom I was dedicated as a small girl when first brought into the Temple. I was taught all of Her powers, to heal, and to destroy. Her fires were sacred. They were used to cook meals for the people, to destroy and purify places of pestilences, and to offer up sacrifices. Just as her fire had many, many uses, she had many names.
There were two large alcoves within the Great Temple that opened on either side of the main worship area. Within these stood smaller statues of gold and onyx, or turquoise and silver. Statues of The Flaming One's husband/brother Path, and her sisters, Bast and Great Isis who was the Mother Goddess to all. The other contained three more statues, one of Isis, Anubis and Sekhmet. This part of the Temple was used only when great catastrophes occurred and the dead needed to be lead safely into the underground to prepare for the afterlife. It was also my pleasure and duty to make sure these three statues were cleansed, but only after I'd wiped every surface of The Flaming One's body free of dust and anointed her with the fine oils used only for this purpose. Then I would make sure her sacred fire still burned brightly.
This particular day, after I had performed the final task of cleansing Isis, Anubis and Sekhmet, which were smaller statues of them, and was putting away the cleaning supplies, that I heard the sound of loud voices coming from the office of the High Priestesses of the Temple complex.
I did not hear all of what was being said, but I could tell the two speaking were very angry with each other. I peered through the slit of curtain that separated the supply room from the office of the High Priestess. I managed, however, to get a glimpse of the two parties. One was Esme the High Priestess over the entire Temple complex, and the other was a man I'd never seen before, though I could tell from his clothing he did not live within the Temple complex. I never saw his face, but I didn't think I'd ever forget that voice.
I hurried away from that closet and did the last bit of tidying up necessary like replenishing the incense boxes and wood for the braziers.
I then joined my other novice priest and priestesses for the breaking of our morning fast. It was simple fare of bread made from corn and barley some honey - if we were lucky - maybe some dried fish or strips of meat from cattle dried in the sun and pure water. Later in the day we were allowed a cup of beer with our bread and meat. At night there was usually a stew with some type of meat and vegetables grown in our own Temple gardens. On high holidays we sometimes even got wine. We all knew that once we'd been initiated into the final phase of our priest training our diet would improve greatly.
I found my friends Angela and Alice sitting in a shady part of the courtyard assigned to all novices. I also saw three of the young men who'd come to the Temple the same time as we had. They were Edward, Jasper and Emmett,l although I was only interested in Edward.
We were allowed to marry only after we'd completed our training as novices. The six of us would soon be ready to take our final steps into the Priesthood. I felt that Edward and I would be allowed to marry then, and hopefully sent to the same Temple.
Angela and Alice were devotees to Bast, while I was sworn to The Flaming One, Sekhmet. Edward too was sworn to her service, while his friends Jasper and Emmett were sworn to either Path or Anubis. I could never remember which. It didn't matter. We would be going our separate ways within the Temple Complex soon.
After breakfast Edward and I walked down to the branch of the river that ran close by the Temple Complex to gather rushes to make new sleeping mats for our dormitories. While we were walking back, leading the donkey whose cart was filled with rushes, I told Edward about hearing the raised voices that morning.
He stopped. I'd kept on walking until I realized he was no longer beside me. "What's wrong Edward?"
"You have no idea who it was with Esme?" He asked quietly.
"No, do you?" I asked.
"I'm not sure, but I have a suspicion. There has been a great deal of talk in the marketplace about this new religion that's starting to grow in numbers. There is a great deal of hate being stirred up among the poor of the city." He stood there looking at me with growing concern. "Would you know him if you saw him?" He asked finally.
"Maybe. I didn't get too close a look. I only know from the tone and sounds of his voice, he frightened me." I admitted.
"We'll have to see if you can go out with me next market day and see if we can spot this man," He nodded his head as though doing that would settle everything.
~o0o~
A/N: My undying thanks to my Beta JoanOfArt; buggins74, AnakinsRealMom and NanStew who pre-read for me, and Gabby1017 for her back up on the psychic stuff. Wouldn't be able to do this without you! I have a great team helping me bring this weirdness to you! Go! Team Steel!
Come to the Facebook page for this story. It's simply titled The Mother of Books also. There you'll find images to go along with the chapters. Let me know you're there, tell me who you are.
Additional Notes and links:
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Chapter 2 of my new fic, "The Mother of Books", is now available at these locations. There is also a Facebook page by the same name where you'll be able to see the faces of the characters and other pictures that go along with the current chapter and subsequent chapters. Please come and join me here. This story is another one that is near and dear to my heart.
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