The room flickered and swirled in the near darkness. Glowing faintly around the edges by the grace of a few guttering candles. Splayed fingers pressed into the soft muscle of her thighs as she opened her eyes to gaze steadily into the wavering flame.
"Dei Kobol una apita uthoukarana."
The little girl recited the prayer dutifully; the way most children did.
"Ukthea mavatha gamen kerimuta."
Without and real understanding of what the words meant.
"Obe satharane mua… osavathamanabanta."
She stumbled over it. That was always the hardest part.
"Api obata yagnya karama."
She glanced over at the old woman knelt beside her in identical pose. The half-light and soft shadows eased the hard lines of her face. She was hazy. Blurred around the edges. But any hint of warmth that had lingered in her eyes and around her mouth had been leeched into the surrounding dim.
A question burned in her throat hotter than the words of the unfamiliar language but the austere posture of the woman next to her did not invite dissension... She asked it anyway.
"Why do I have to say it in Gemonese?" she whispered into the darkness; afraid it might speak back.
Striking a match, the woman rose up on her knees to ignite the incense under the dais so that the figure of Hera was shrouded in smoke.
"Old Gemonese is the language of Kobol." She explained emphatically, shaking away the flame before it burned her fingers, "The language of the Gods. That is why so many prayers go unanswered… The Lords cannot hear us."
The little girl tilted her head as she watched the candles sputter and flare with life, dancing even as they consumed themselves. She didn't know if she believed it. The Gods were supposed to be all powerful. All knowing. Surely the Lords could hear them. But the incense tickled her nose and muddled her thoughts.
She almost flinched when the woman reached over to tuck away her hair behind her ear. Staring intently with eyes cast in shadow as she ran the red strands between her fingers.
"Laura... my perfect lamb… No salvation is without suffering."