Disclaimer: I do not own Slayers. I likely never will, but that doesn't mean I don't hold out hope. I will, however, use the wonderful world that is Slayers to further develop my plans for a Totalitarian Regime in which I am Supreme Overlord of Your Plan—Oops, what I meant was, I will use the Slayers world to develop offshoots of characters of my own make and design. Enjoy!
AN: I broke my first chapter into three parts to hopefully make for easier reading.
Filia Ul Copt knew life could not get any better. When the messenger had come to her at her afternoon meditations, the Supreme Elder requesting her presence in the Council Chambers, she just knew that she was finally beginning to be taken seriously. She was already surpassing the expectations put to her by her priests, and even her father and the Supreme Elder were secretly pleased with her progress, though she was often told not to boast of such things to the Golden Dragons of lower status than she. Her Holy Magic spells were coming along quite nicely and Filia had learned to teleport to different places around Flarelord's city with ease—though she was not allowed to use that particular ability unless there was dire need, which there never was since the last war had happened and no others were on the horizon with the Mazoku Lords bound up in keeping that silly barrier of theirs up—besides, she could easily traverse the distance of their fair city and temple just by walking.
The Supreme Elder had needed to see her, and this time the summons was official and in regards to her duties as a priestess, and not just because he wanted to see how his favorite was getting along in her daily life. It was no secret—even to Filia—that the young priestess Filia was the Supreme Elder's favorite. She was the daughter of Bazard Ul Copt after all. And Lord Bazard was a powerful male dragon, both in magical and martial prowess.
Lord Bazard Ul Copt was one of the few males who had assisted in the Kôma War and come back alive and practically unscathed, if the rumors were anything to go by. On a few occasions, Filia had been graced with seeing her father in his true form, and she could attest that he did not have any deformities or violent scars on his person. There were not very many male Golden Dragons who could boast to having such merits like Lord Bazard, and there were even fewer who made it out of the war completely unscathed like he had. And a number of the male Golden Dragons who had fought in the war, and come back alive, had come back wounded both in body and mind.
Even the Supreme Elder had a few scars on his hide, though Filia wasn't entirely sure those came from the Kôma War, not that she knew where else they could have come from—but she dare not ask, as that would be impertinent.
More often than not, Filia was told she was too important to tend to those male dragons who were mentally unstable after the atrocities of the war, and the jobs were given to the less magically apt priestesses of their order, priestesses who could handle the psychoses of the mentally damaged male dragons. She had heard that the war had been bad, but her father had declared that she was not to know much about it, and what Lord Bazard Ul Copt declared, especially in regards to his daughter Filia, was final. It didn't mean Filia hadn't heard the stories of the war, of the horrible atrocities created by the Mazoku and their Generals, Priests and underlings, but whenever the stories ever took a dark turn, too dark for her ears apparently, an older male would always appear and scold the female she was speaking with.
Filia sighed. She never got to hear any of the juicy gossip.
Of course what the Supreme Elder had needed, when Filia finally made it to the Council Chambers, had really been suited more towards an acolyte or a scribe, and not an important priestess like herself. Unfortunately there were not very many acolytes in the temple who were available and since she had only just recently taken her vows, having hit majority more than a few years ago, she was not yet important enough—or strong enough—for the higher magicks of the temple, and therefore could be interrupted from her meditations.
So she was told.
Filia felt she could try some of those higher magicks as they looked easy to her, but her priests kept telling her that she needed to master all the spells she had been given before she could start any stronger magicks. If she was progressing so well with the Holy Spells she had been given, she couldn't see why they wouldn't just give her more advanced spells…
Unfortunately, one particular priest had mentioned to her that her healing spells were not what they could be, and had likely also done so in front of the Supreme Elder, or worse… her father. If he had done so, she supposed she could see why she hadn't yet been advanced. But she truly wasn't sure what they were talking about. She thought her healing abilities were just fine. And it was not like she needed to use them anyway. That was what the healers were for. Besides, she was not the resident healer of the temple—she wasn't even an apprentice healer, nor was she expected to become one.
That was for Lord Devorit. And she would never be as good as Lord Devorit.
He had been considered a child prodigy when it came to the healing arts, for he had the gift of healing at an incredibly young age, even for a Golden Dragon, and he had surpassed all expectations in regards to healing, even creating some very potent healing spells that were used today instead of the more archaic ones that hardly healed the whole body at all. Lord Devorit had even come up with some spells that healed the mind, and that was a very difficult area of the body to fix.
But Lord Devorit's talents literally only lay with healing. Sure he could cast some small Holy Magic Spells and a few other things like Shamanist Magic, but healing was his trump. And Filia was much better at Holy Magic.
Her talents would be wasted on healing magic and most of the priests knew that. But alas, she would never climb the Priestly ladder unless she did as she was told and impressed all of the high priests, not just the Supreme Elder and Lord Bazard.
But even though her healing abilities were not what they could be, and her Holy Magic likely could have been much better and even though she was still considered a lowly priestess because the priests hadn't seen fit to raise her in the ranks, she was still important enough to see the Supreme Elder personally, especially considering her practically royal parentage. It was something the other priestesses had commented on and congratulated her with, as they too had been disrupted in their meditations when the messenger had come into the Temple's Lady Atrium.
But they were not jealous of the attention and affection the Supreme Elder bestowed upon Filia. How could they be?
Filia deserved the respect she was being given, for she had earned it in her own right based on her magical prowess—even if she was Lord Bazard Ul Copt's daughter. But it was not something she allowed to go to her head. That was unbecoming of a future High Priestess, which she was guaranteed to become once she bore her first clutch in one hundred years time, something all her fellow priestesses agreed upon.
Bearing a magically powerful clutch as a priestess was practically a guarantee to becoming a High Priestess. All the high priestesses agreed that this was how they had risen within the ranks, and they all agreed that Filia was already at the stage that she could become a high priestess; that the only reason she had not yet become one was because she had not yet been mated or born a clutch.
And Filia admitted, only to herself, that she preened just a tiny bit under such effusions of praise, since they were rarely bestowed upon the females of Lord Vrabazard's Golden Dragons, even the priestesses who deserved a lot of that praise for all the work they did.
Once the Supreme Elder had finished his business with her, Filia had bowed to the Supreme Elder and the Elders and began walking out of the Council Chamber, their words ringing in her head. She had to admit that what the Supreme Elder had asked of her was a tiny bit odd, though she didn't say so to him; she hadn't even allowed her expression of doubt to flit across her features, for he would have noticed right away and would have questioned her on it.
Nothing he did was wrong after all, and questioning his motives behind anything was just the silly wonderings of a girl just becoming a woman.
His question regarding the work of their scribes had confused her and caught her off guard. It was not exactly something that she had paid much attention to. Why would she? She was not a talentless acolyte whose only job was to ensure that things were where they were supposed to be when a priest or priestess had a job to perform.
She had had to admit ignorance in that particular area, and his disappointment with her had been quite upsetting. He had hardly ever been upset with her before as she had always done everything he had ever asked of her. Filia had resolved to find the answer for him and be fully prepared with a report of the doings of the acolytes and scribes of the temple by the following week, which was as soon as he'd see her. The Supreme Elder was a very busy man after all, plus, he didn't expect her to discover everything right away—these things took time.
When the Supreme Elder had expressed contentment at her willingness to correct her failure, Filia had been quite relieved. She had never been told that she had to know the inner workings of the temple, but she would do anything to rectify her lack of knowledge in that regard. She only ever wanted to please her father and the Supreme Elder. They were the most important men in her life until she was mated to a High Priest worthy of her highborn blood.
That was a day she looked forward to with great relish, for she would be fulfilling the very purpose she had been born and bred for. She knew her magical talents were extremely high—as she had been told so quite often by everyone she was allowed to speak with—and that with more experience she would be even better, and that when she was properly mated, her offspring would be even stronger, magically speaking, than she was. She even hoped that her future mate was very much like her father, and that her young would not only be strong magically, but physically as well.
Filia finally exited the Council Chamber, her head held high, almost everything right with the world, and admittedly, her head a little in the clouds as she dreamed of the day when she had her first clutch at the behest of the Supreme Elder, Lord Bazard and her mate. She looked forward to being praised even more for having healthy and strong hatchlings whose magical talent far surpassed their mother's and father's.
She still had no idea who she was to be mated to. Her father had told her that the recent crop of young priests weren't good enough for her, and that he wanted the perfect male to be her mate. Filia quite agreed. She knew that the mating of her mother and father had been one of convenience, and that once it had been determined how magically powerful she was going to be, she was immediately placed with a surrogate mother who would teach her the beginnings of magic before she even learned to crawl—which for a Golden Dragon Hatchling took more than a few years.
Filia even knew that she had three brothers and one sister who were not in the priesthood, but because she had been such a gift amongst their clutch, they were well taken care of. She didn't know any of them personally—and wasn't really allowed to waste her time in trying to contact them since none of them were magically able—but her fellow priests and priestesses were more her family now anyway. And though she hardly saw her father much as he was too busy, the Supreme Elder always found time for her, and she absolutely adored him for it.
She was broken from her musings at the sound of a sob coming from her left. Filia stopped and turned to find the cause of such a sound of suffering, especially in the Great Hall. The hall she had been walking in had been dark, but there just near one of the supporting columns, the flash of light reflecting off of tears and two retinas caught her eyes. Normally, had the room been completely dark, she would have immediately seen the small figure huddled against a column near the wall. But there was too much light coming from the clerestory windows near the ceiling of the hallway, and the figure had been well hidden in the darkness surrounding it. Filia walked towards that small figure, noticing almost immediately that whoever it was, the person was actually afraid of her, and had begun crouching even further against the column. She cooed towards the person, taking the gentlest tone she had as she finally got close enough to see whom she was attempting to calm.
Filia was shocked to see that it was just a young girl, no more than three or four hundred years old—four hundred and fifty at most—if her human form was any indication of age. Most likely more than a hundred years younger than Filia herself was, and still stuck in the form her parents had made for her. The girl was adorable, and all Filia wanted to do was hug her, but she kept her distance.
This poor child had obviously had something traumatic happen to her, and very recently at that based on the fresh scent of fear she gave off.
Filia sat down a few feet away, and waited until the girl felt brave enough to make eye contact. Surprisingly, she did not have to wait long.
"I can see that you are not all right. I won't ask what happened, not yet. But I will ask you to let me help you."
The girl averted her eyes, and did not speak.
Filia patiently waited. The poor child could not be rushed.
After what seemed like minutes of silence, a meek voice came from the girl. "Why?"
Filia tilted her head. "I'm sorry? Why what?"
The girl took a deep breath and sat a bit straighter. "Why are you willing to help me? I'm no one."
Filia smiled, trying to bestow the calm she felt upon the younger girl. "Not true. You are a Golden Dragon. That alone makes you someone of importance."
She wasn't certain, but Filia could swear she heard the girl scoff. Filia waited a moment more to see if the girl would speak, but she kept silent, piercing Filia with a stare that seemed all seeing. It was almost unnerving. Filia decided to speak again to break the tension. "I am also a priestess of our Lord Vrabazard. It is my duty to help those in distress, and you, my dear, are most certainly in distress."
The girl sighed and looked down. "There is nothing you can do to assist me. I assure you that I am physically quite well. I would be a waste of your precious time Priestess."
Something about the beaten tone of her voice alarmed Filia far more than the previous sobs had. Filia could not stop the authoritative tone of her voice as she spoke to the girl, but she knew based on the robe the girl was wearing, that she was of the lesser castes that Filia normally never associated with… that Filia was never allowed to associate with. "Your lips suggest otherwise, and from what I can sense, your left shoulder has been dislocated, and the muscles of your left bicep have been torn. You also smell of fear, and a weird musk," here Filia took a deep sniff to try and place it, but couldn't as it was a smell she didn't recognize. "A musk that is not yours… but you are not well. And I will not leave you be until you allow me to help you in any way I can."
The girl's eyes narrowed as she snapped her head back to glare at Filia, and a slight snarl sounded in her young voice. "That strange musk you smell is that of an older male almost three times my age forcing his attentions upon me. I doubt even one such as you can help me Priestess. You, like me, are only a female when all is said and done, and what male would believe a female of my station? Go away Priestess, and leave me in peace. I would rather my humiliation be as secret as possible, for the Supreme Elder would just use it as an excuse to pair me off with my attacker."
Filia's eyes widened at the powerful anger that welled within such a small child. "The Supreme Elder would never force such a pairing. Let me speak on your behalf, I am sure-
The girl cried out in a wail, "You call that assisting me?! Please, just go away! If you wish to help me, speak of this to no one, especially the Supreme Elder. I cannot be mated to him! I cannot!" The girl suddenly dissolved into a fit of sobs, and Filia felt her heart ache at the pain in those sounds.
She moved closer to the girl, pulling the smaller child into her embrace. She shushed at her, and made as many soothing sounds as she could. The girl, unable to contain her grief any longer, turned into the comfort of Filia's shoulder and cried out her pain. When finally the sobs died down once more, she tried to push away from Filia. But Filia was stronger than she looked, and the girl was obviously very weak from fear, pain, stress and exhaustion.
The girl slumped even further into Filia's embrace once she realized that Filia would not release her. Filia could feel the vibrations of the mumble against her chest as the girl spoke. "I suppose you're serious about assisting me."
Filia smiled, stroking the girl's soft lustrous brown locks. They were such an unusual color for a Golden Dragon, and Filia, at least, thought they made the girl quite unique and a bit more attractive, than if she had been made a blonde like all the others. "I am. Come with me. I will heal your physical ailments, and I will do my best with the others. And I promise, I won't tell the Supreme Elder, if you really don't want me to." That last bit hurt Filia to the core. She didn't like keeping anything from the man who acted very much like her grandfather. She revered him, and for the first time in her life, she was not going to tell him something.
But it was such a small thing. He didn't need to know everything, did he?
"I really don't want you to."
Filia paused in her response, then firmly stated, "Then I won't tell. Priestess' honor."
The girl snorted and this time Filia knew for certain she heard it, for she felt it as well. Filia didn't understand why the girl didn't trust their Supreme Elder to provide for and protect her, but she had promised, and she wouldn't break that promise.
Not unless he ordered her to.
She just really hoped he wouldn't order her to.
Filia stood and helped the girl up as well. "Follow me. There is a shortcut to the Temple apartments down this way, and we likely won't run into anyone on the way there."
The girl sighed, but followed Filia despite her obvious misgivings. Filia glanced behind her, and noticed that the girl was a lot more alert, despite the grimace of pain on her face, and was looking more closely at their surroundings now that Filia was leading them through a smaller set of corridors. The presence of Filia and her magic helped to light the mage lights that ran down the small hall they were walking through, and the girl's eyes widened when she realized that the hall was human-sized. "Is this a servant's passage?"
Filia smiled and it carried through in her voice. "Yes. Back when our order was first established, the Supreme Elder made use of the lesser races to assist us in our duty to our God. But they live such short lives, that the Supreme Elder felt it was too much of a waste to continue retaining them, so we got rid of them and now rely on ourselves."
"I can see that not many use this passage. It's a bit dusty."
"No, I think I'm one of the only ones. It's a useful passage and allows me to get to places more quickly than others. My fellow priests think it beneath their dignity to use an old servant's passage, but I've found it comes in handy when I'm in a hurry, or when I'm late to my studies, especially since I'm not allowed to teleport inside of the city."
"How odd."
Filia turned, her eyes wide. She had never been called odd before. "What do you mean?"
The girl stopped as well. "You. You're not like any of the other priestesses I've ever come into contact with."
Filia blushed. "I don't understand."
The girl smiled for the first time—it transformed her face into a thing of beauty. "You're nice, and you seem to genuinely care about my wellbeing. Plus, you're sensible—well, aside from your illogical but firm belief that the Supreme Elder was put on this world to solve all our problems. I think I could grow to like you." The girl regarded Filia a moment more before nodding, as if deciding something. "I'm Evanth."
Filia ducked her head, feeling a strange sense of pleasure from the fact that this girl had just given her her name. Only minutes before, the girl had wanted nothing to do with her. "I'm Filia."
Evanth's smile broadened. "Pleased to meet you Filia. Please, lead the way."
Filia blushed again and did exactly that.
It was odd the affect of Evanth's smile on Filia.
Filia had never had any friends. Sure she had many compeers in her fellow priests and priestesses of her age group. But they had somehow always shunned her, not on purpose, but because she was Lord Bazard Ul Copt's daughter—the only child of his that had inherited all of his magical ability, and had proven that she was worthy of his name. They had all felt that they could in no way compare to her magical prowess. So instead of being friends with her, they had put her on a pedestal above them, happy knowing her, but never allowing her to join in their lesser games and pastimes. As such, Filia was extraordinarily lonely. Even with the attention the Supreme Elder always leavened upon her, she had no one she could really talk to.
Is that why she hadn't told Evanth her full name?
That she wanted a friend so dearly, she was willing to latch onto anyone who didn't know who she was. And Evanth clearly hadn't known who she was. What would Evanth do when she found out that the priestess who was so bent on helping her was none other than Lord Bazard Ul Copt's daughter? Filia suddenly hoped against hope that Evanth wouldn't find out until they were already friends. Evanth didn't seem like the type to abandon someone partway. At least Filia hoped she wasn't that type.
She was so very lonely.
And it was on that thought that Filia stopped. Not from the force of such a feeling, although that could be reason enough. No, it was more because she got hit with a vision—a powerful one, if the sensations wracking her body were anything to base it on.
Filia didn't get visions all that often; not many priestesses did anymore. It was something the older high priestesses bemoaned on occasion; that their God had forgotten them or abandoned them. Sadly, it seemed that Filia was likely one of the only priestesses who still got them regularly.
She was rather devout in her meditations and prayers to her God after all.
Her ability to receive visions, she was told, was another reason she was considered a favorite of the Supreme Elder. As such, getting a vision, no matter the type was something to rejoice because it meant Lord Vrabazard had not turned his back on all of his followers.
And it wasn't just that she received visions that made Filia important. Understanding them was also very imperative and crucial. Visions were hard to comprehend on occasion. Sometimes they were powerful, and sometimes they weren't. Sometimes they told of the future, and sometimes they told of possible futures or outcomes. Sometimes they warned of consequences to possible actions, and sometimes they gave you exactly what you asked for, if you were praying for something, that is—at least that was what the texts had said. They almost always came on unexpectedly, unless you were specifically praying or meditating to receive one. You also had to interpret how your actions would affect them—like if you continued on your path, would it lead to what happened in the vision occurring, or if you changed what you did to bring on a different result, would that still bring on the same thing that happened in the vision?
Filia had on many occasions, dreamed her visions, and thinking them only dreams, never thought to warn anyone about them, which had had drastic repercussions among those she had dreamed about, including one death. When it had been discovered she had the gift of visions, along with her incredible magic power, she had immediately been trained in learning how to best decipher the images she received to make them understandable—and to make sure temple life continued smoothly. She, happily, had never received a vision about the end of the world, or the need to save it.
She wasn't sure what she'd do if one of those came about.
But this vision was not one of those wimpy little predictions that she'd had on occasion. All those previous visions were nothing compared to this. Truly, they weren't even visions! Just her precognitive ability to read situations and see final outcomes before they happened.
This was a True Vision sent from Lord Vrabazard Himself to his most devout worshipper, Priestess Filia Ul Copt!
It was the first True Vision any priestess had had in… she didn't know how long.
Filia would have been overjoyed to know that she was the first priestess that had been gifted with a True Vision from Lord Vrabazard, but she couldn't be. The agony the vision was causing upon her body and mind was stopping her elation at being the first in forever.
She'd had no idea that Lord Vrabazard's visions could be so excruciating.
This vision was torture!
It was fire burning through her veins and into her eyes, stopping her in her tracks!
Filia vaguely felt Evanth come to her aid as she cried out from the force of the vision, from the pain of it. It left her weak at the knees and she collapsed, unable to support herself from the pain and anger and frustration bearing down on her.
She had never once before felt as though she was about to melt behind the blazing fire and incandescent rage that burned through her body, and even as she tried to gasp for a fresh lungful of cool air, the very action caused even more agony to spread through her body until she felt as if she could no longer take it. She wanted to scream, but only a whisper escaped her hoarse and dry throat.
There was just so much anger, so much rage; her Lord Vrabazard was likely going to kill her with the powerful vision he was bestowing upon her.
Filia's sight clouded before burning red hot—then immediately going white hot for a moment before smoldering down so she could actually See what Lord Vrabazard wished to impart to her.
She Saw Evanth kneeling before the Supreme Elder and Elders, and Supreme Rage filled her upon Seeing those Blasphemous males. She was shocked by the Powerful Anger that radiated through her as she Looked at the gnarled old face of the Supreme Elder.
Filia Saw herself off to the side, her head bowed, but sadness was emanating from her emotionally broken form—and there was fury directed towards her as well, anger that she had been so stupid and naïve as to believe that the Treacherous Supreme Elder was really a nice old man at all.
Because she would have willingly done anything the Supreme Elder had asked of her, without thinking of the consequences to her actions, or even why he would ask.
Because she, a Priestess of His Temple, didn't think for herself.
The Poor Beautiful Evanth was shattered—His Treasure, His Gift to the world destroyed by the Odious males of His Temple—as she knelt on the floor of the Council Chambers. There was Burning Rage at the fact that His Treasure was so broken, and that His Disgusting male followers were Happily the cause of it.
Tears were streaming down His Lovely Evanth's face, but those tears were ignored by all the Horrible Hateful males in that room—the eyes of the Supreme Elder, the Elders, all the males of His Temple and in particular a Disgusting Offensive male Filia had seen only once or twice before, all seemed to say Evanth was as she should be, on her knees before them and a slave to their whims—His Precious Evanth was Greater than this, She was to be Treasured and Loved and Never to be Abused in such a Horrendous Manner.
The Blistering Fury Filia felt with this thought was painfully Seared into her very soul!
Filia just couldn't understand it. She could not understand why her God was so angry, with her or the Supreme Elder.
She had never done anything wrong in her life. She had always been so devoted to her prayers and her duties. She was never late, she had never shirked her work, and she spent extra time in the Devotional after everyone in the Temple left, so that she could spend that extra bit of time alone with her God. And here He was, Fervidly Furious! She had never known anyone in her entire life to be so enraged. And if she was Seeing correctly, His Insensate Fury was because of the very girl that she was going to be helping and was planning on becoming friends with.
The vision continued despite her incomprehension. And somehow the rage doubled when she once again Looked upon the Revolting male who was the cause of Evanth's distress.
This particular male with the loathsome eyes seemed to exude spiteful smugness, as he stared down upon His Evanth, his hand clutching her shoulder tightly as if to proclaim to the entire world that she was his; that she belonged to him forever. Filia was filled with a frenzy of emotions that were not her own, and anger that most definitely was, and both she and He reviled the way this Repulsive male was looking at her new friend and His Treasure. That look was filled with sadistic possession and malicious want.
Filia had never seen such a look from anyone before, and the way it made her skin crawl, she never wanted to.
There was a Hateful thought sent her way. The pain from the Blistering Power of His Voice in her mind was somehow even greater than the pain from the vision He sent her. You will never see such a look, unless you disobey your precious Supreme Elder, because the Blasphemous males of My Temple know better than to treat what they think is a prize in such an abhorrent way. If they knew that My Evanth was the True Prize in all of this, My Evanth would have been showered with love like you were—and instead My Evanth is treated like scum and eventually will be raped over and over again because they don't know that I Favor her and only her above all others. Only My Evanth is a proper follower. Not even you, the devout Priestess Filia with the ability to receive My Precious Visions, and here Filia felt the words practically sneered in her mind, are a proper follower. You follow his words as gospel, and not Mine. You are not worthy of My time, attention or effort. Only My Evanth is, and she is the only reason I have graced you with a True Vision at all.
Filia knew instantly, through this unbearable vision Her God was Showing her, that this was the repugnant male who had violated and injured her new friend. And she knew that this foul male would do far worse once Evanth was entirely in his clutches. And some instinctual part of her wanted to rip his throat out with her teeth and talons—though she wasn't entirely certain if it was all her. She could feel her God wanting to tear through her to get to the Vile male who would dare harm His Precious Evanth. She was almost shocked out of the vision by such a feeling of Abhorrence and Hate from her God for this Revolting male Golden Dragon, even though she too was beginning to detest this male as well.
Nonetheless, the vision continued despite her fury, despite His Fiery Rage, despite the pain that continued to radiate through her body. The male Golden Dragon haughtily admitted to defiling Evanth, to harming her.
How Dare That Filthy Bastard Be So Damned Smug About It?!
Filia was surprised to realize that thought was all hers, and not her God's…
The Horrendous male's excuse was that Evanth was constantly teasing him while he had her mother, and that he could no longer stop himself from acting—that he had to teach her to have some respect for her elders, and that she shouldn't tease an older male dragon who just happened to be unmated. Despite the hostility Filia Felt through her God towards the Supreme Elder, Filia was certain that the Supreme Elder, and the other Elders, didn't quite believe this Insidious male. None of the males in the Council Room, watching the proceedings believed such Blatant Lies.
Filia could even see it on their faces, and felt herself relax despite the extra pain spiking in her mind, knowing that they would see reason and would punish this Repulsive male for his deceit.
There was a Vicious Snarl that resounded in her mind at her forgiving thoughts toward the Elders.
There was a murmur around the room from all the males before the Supreme Elder spoke up after having conferred with the Elders.
The accusation was valid.
Wait?
What?
Valid?!
Filia wanted to cry out, to scream, to rail against such a foolish ruling, but her double in the vision only seemed to cry harder at this instead of fighting for her friend.
She felt such incredible anger at herself for this, and this anger was hers, not her God's.
The Voice that pierced through her mind was even more painful as the umbrage He felt for her swept through her mind. Weakling. You are such a pitiful and pathetic weakling! You can't even stand up for what you know is right! It sickens Me to have to send this vision through you, the progeny of that Rapist Bastard you call a father. You all disgust Me!
As such, since the accusation couldn't truly be disproved—they don't want to disprove it, as that would make a female correct and those Little Shits can't have that—and it was well known how the lesser females tended to act around unmated males of higher stature, the Supreme Elder would allow the mating of the young female to the older male to make sure other young females of the low castes were kept in line, and wouldn't try the same thing or suffer the same fate.
I never once Commanded the Rape and Enslavement of My female followers. That Usurper has been using My name in vain to carry out his own plots for almost a millennia.
In the vision, Evanth cried out at the ruling with such anguish—here Filia felt true sorrow as she Looked at Evanth, sorrow that was hers and His—and instead of looking at Filia's double in the vision, Evanth stared straight into Filia's eyes and her soul, as if to say, 'You're the one who did this to me. I'm to be mated to this repugnant male because of you.'
The accusation in Evanth's eyes hurt. But what happened next hurt far worse.
Filia could See the entire Temple and City of the Fire Dragon King and all of its inhabitants swallowed up in a great Gout of Flame. Everything and Everyone in the Temple was burned so that nothing remained. Filia could feel the heat and the pain of the incineration as her body burned until nothing remained but her soul, and even that burned.
Her God was that Pissed Off.
The words that followed from her Lord, unfortunately, hurt worse than her incineration.
My Treasure is right. You are the reason she'll be mated to that Little Ass. And if she is, if you allow it, you'll wish your life ended with this vision. In all of your temple, My Precious Evanth is the only one I care about. The rest of you can burn in My Fires for all I care. And I will use the last of My powers to burn you all to death if I must.
Never forget that, daughter of High Priestess Sedava. The rest of you mean nothing to Me. Not after what you have done to your own kind, to others like your kind, to the Gift I gave so freely. Stoke My ire, My fire, and I'll give it back one Hundred Fold, even if it kills Me—I don't care, as long as I take all of you with Me. Mother will be pleased with that at least because then She will have Her Talisman back.
With that, the burning of her body stopped, and the true pain with it stopped as well. Filia felt drained of all her energy, all of her magic, all of her extra fluids and all of her faith in the world around her.
How could this young slip of a girl be so important, especially to their God?
Filia knew for certain that she could feel no magical energy from the girl, so what made her His Treasure? What did she do that was so different? She was a nobody—just a low caste underage female. Did Evanth pray to Lord Vrabazard differently? Was she more devout than even Filia thought she was? Filia tried to understand what it was about Evanth that was so special, but the only thing she could come up with was that Evanth disliked the Supreme Elder and didn't trust him.
Evanth hovered near her, concern etched in her features, as she looked Filia over. Filia couldn't stop herself from flinching away from Evanth as the girl reached out a hand to touch her forehead. Filia was ashamed of herself, but she was actually slightly afraid of the girl.
"You're burning up." Filia looked away into the darkness of the hall, not wanting Evanth to see her fear. Evanth continued despite this. "First you cried out in pain and collapsed and then all the mage lights caught on fire and burned like the fiery pits of the nine hells. Now they're all out. What was that? What happened?"
"I… don't know." Filia shook her head weakly, not sure if she should tell Evanth about the vision. It was obvious from Evanth's reactions that she hadn't even felt the change in the magic of the room, or that their God had practically manifested in Filia's mind.
Part of Filia wondered at that. How could the girl not even know what had happened?
Had anyone else been around, they would have known immediately that Filia was having a True Vision from their God. The blinding heat, the mage lights, the fact that Filia was drained afterwards.
Maybe Evanth had caused it? Perhaps to ensure that Filia would be more likely to support her should any disgusting male try and violate her again? Maybe to make sure that Filia would stand up with her against the blasphemous Supreme Elder should he try to force Evanth into something she didn't want to do?
No, that couldn't be right.
Evanth didn't have the power to conjure an illusion upon Filia that was that realistic, that painful. And the mage lights would be back to life if it had been an illusion, but because Filia's magic was drained, they were dead. And why would Evanth do that to her when, if she actually had the power to do so, she could do that to anyone, including the male who had defiled her.
No, Evanth didn't have that sort of power; otherwise Filia would have been able to sense it.
Which meant the vision was the real thing.
And her God was enormously pissed at all of them. Pissed enough to burn them all if His Evanth suffered again under the male that tried to defile her earlier today.
But how could she keep that from happening? Filia didn't think she could tell anyone about the vision.
Who would believe her? Who would want to believe her?
If she had been told her God was angry with her, she wouldn't have believed it. Telling the Supreme Elder… Filia shuddered with certainty. If she told him, she knew, just Knew, that not only would he not believe her, he would also likely punish her. And sheltered though she was, she had heard the rumors like everyone else. She may have been his pride and joy, but how quickly could that change if she ever upset him?
She closed her eyes in distress, and the images of the vision danced in her retinas, burned there by her God and His Fury. It would be a while before those images would clear. He wanted her to See them every time she closed her eyes, and she wasn't sure how long they would stay imprinted in her Sight.
An echo resounded in Filia's mind, one that burned, but not as badly as before. It was the same rage, the same anger, but it was not as potent as before, as if it were farther away… or weaker, as if her God had used up a lot of His energy in giving her the vision in the first place. As long as it takes for you to realize to whom you have wrongly given your fealty to. I Am Your God. No one else but Me has the right to command you, and you have been ignoring Me in favor of that Blasphemous male who thinks he rules over My Temple.
But that meant that the man that she had loved all her life long was not the good man she believed him to be.
She wanted to deny it with all her strength. For five hundred years she had looked up to the Supreme Elder, sitting in his lap as he played with her as a child. Sitting in his lap as they read out of the same nursery rhymes and fairy tales. Sitting by his side as she began her magical training. He was so much closer to her than she was to her own father, it was hard to look at him and not feel love.
And her own Father…
Her God had called her daughter of High Priestess Sedava, not daughter of Bazard Ul Copt—whom He had referred to as a rapist instead. Filia could admit, even to herself, that Lord Bazard Ul Copt was a hard man. He was that way with everyone, but he always seemed to be harsher with her. She had always just accepted it as the way he was, that he had trouble connecting with a hatchling. Had accepted that such a powerful male had duties more important than paying attention to his emotionally starved child. She had learned to accept the austerity of his bearing, and still loved him despite his reticence of being around her. He was her father after all. And the Supreme Elder gave her all the familial love that she had needed as a child, that her father had been so unwilling to give her.
Filia clutched her chest tightly, wanting to cry. Her entire world had just been shattered. Everything she had ever known was crumbling down around her. But she couldn't believe it. That would mean that her father and the Supreme Elder truly were in the wrong. And everything she had been taught was also wrong.
But that couldn't be so, could it? Her five hundred years of life could not have all been a lie, could it have?
There was no answer, not even in the form of the burning rage of her God. She closed her eyes once more, not able to shed the tears she so wanted as even her tear ducts were dry.
And those images once again danced along her vision.
Filia knew that Evanth still knelt beside her, the worry increasing on her brow, but Filia could not force herself to get up. Her God had hit her with too much at once, and it was just so much to process.
She couldn't believe that the man who was so grandfatherly to her would be so indifferent to someone else. She had to be imagining some of it.
Surely her beloved Supreme Elder would not condemn a child to… rape?
But Evanth's earlier absolute vehemence that the Supreme Elder would mate her to her attacker was enough to give Filia some doubt as to whether or not he would do so. And those images, they wouldn't leave her. There had to be truth there. Why would her God lie to her? He had no reason to.
Gods did not lie to Their followers.
Rulers lied to their followers.
Which meant her beloved Supreme Elder was lying to her.
It could not be so. But she knew it was. She just did not want to believe it.
She knew the Supreme Elder wouldn't dare lie to her, and he would never force her to mate a rapist. Filia knew how important she was, and that any male who dared attempt something so monumentally brainless would find himself quickly castrated. But even her God had said that the males all believed she was a prize, as if she actually wasn't at all. But Evanth…
Lord Vrabazard had called His Evanth the true prize. That the males of His Temple were just too stupid, too blind to see her for what she was.
But Filia still couldn't see what made Evanth so special.
What made Evanth a gift, a treasure, the True Prize of Lord Vrabazard? And Evanth was very important to Lord Vrabazard—that much was very clear.
Filia just wasn't sure how.
She didn't want to believe it.
Filia couldn't believe it.
But she also wouldn't chance angering her God. She had already angered Him just by following her Supreme Elder so blindly. She could remember the pain He had bestowed upon her body as He Showed her His Wrath for her people, His people. She knew He would be willing to burn them all to cinders to protect His Treasure.
That meant that she had to act. She had to protect His Treasure.
From the male that had defiled Evanth. From the Supreme Elder and Elders. From the Priests and Healers. From all the males of the Temple if she had to.
She would hide what happened to Evanth, and no one would have to know. And then she wouldn't have to find out for sure if her Supreme Elder was just as heartless as the vision, as her God implied. She didn't want to know if that was true. She couldn't believe that it was.
Filia could at least tell from the vision that the Supreme Elder despised the male.
That in itself was comforting.
But the rest…
Maybe he just made that ruling because he was required to, because he couldn't be soft on anyone. If a female, any female, but especially a low caste female, did step out of line after all, there were severe consequences to her actions. And there wasn't enough proof from Evanth to disprove what that older male had said against her—even though through the vision Filia knew that what he said was fallacious.
If Filia looked at it objectively enough and not as a friend to Evanth, or from having Seen the vision, she supposed she'd have to rule the same way.
Also, if Evanth was found violated past the point of redemption, and they would check, the girl would be mated to the male, whether it was her fault or not—because an unmated female who had experienced sex would be much harder to contain.
She wasn't sure why this was, but Filia had heard the stories about some of the females that this had happened to. They typically went wild and were a detriment to their society. It was one of the reasons she remained chaste. Besides, it was just safer for all the Golden Dragons if the females were contained, especially females from the lower castes since they weren't raised with the knowledge of what could happen to them after they did the unthinkable.
It was why a number of the males kept the unmated non-breeding females so close, to keep them under close supervision.
And Evanth was from one of the lowest castes in their race. She wasn't casteless, as she was still technically useful, but she was not considered very important. Filia knew that the girl's very purpose was to be used by the males as a potential breeder, as all the low caste females were expected to become—even Filia herself was expected to become a breeder when she came of age—though it was not exactly something Filia spent a lot of time thinking about, and not in those terms. Why would she? She knew what was expected of her and she had accepted it. Plus she knew that a male of proper breeding would be chosen for her; her father and the Supreme Elder would make sure he treated her right, so she didn't even have to worry about that.
But Evanth did not have the same luxuries that Filia had. And Filia knew that when push came to shove, Evanth would be given to the male who had harmed her, if Filia accidentally gave Evanth away—and Filia would lose the first ever friend she might have ever have made.
But more importantly than that, Lord Vrabazard would then burn them all to death.
And she could not allow that to happen, even if now she wasn't sure if that wasn't such a bad idea after all if what Lord Vrabazard had said was true…
So in order to keep her friend, and all their lives, until she could be sure just what was going on in the Temple, she would just have to keep all eyes off of Evanth. That meant going about leading Evanth to her apartments a little bit differently than she would have normally done.
Evanth tried to help Filia as she finally got up, but Filia could see the pain on Evanth's face as she extended her arms to help, and Filia—even as weak as she was—waved Evanth off. She would not cause Lord Vrabazard's Treasure any more pain than she had to.
Filia could sense a number of her fellow priests—through their magic—out in the corridor, though she hoped they would be far too occupied to sense her… and her guest, especially since neither girl was producing any magic.
Even though she used this passage often and they knew she did, it would not do for them to notice another girl following her out of it. Especially since the girl was obviously a lesser female based on her threadbare robes, and as such, a female who did not belong in the much more lavish temple apartments kept only for the priests of their order.
She now knew she was taking a great risk bringing the girl to her apartments, but she could not treat Evanth elsewhere, and it would have been an even greater risk had Filia been seen outside of the Temple Proper.
Even Filia knew there were just some places she should not be seen in, and outside of the Temple Proper was one of them. At least not while she had a young female in her charge who had most obviously been violated, based on the now dried stain on the belly of her robes. Any dragon who had the sense to pay any attention to their surroundings beyond their own personal sphere, would notice that stain on the girl's robes, take note of the musk, and memorize the girl's features for later questioning.
In a way, Filia knew she should not have stopped to help the girl; that technically Evanth was not worth all this trouble—though if the girl was Lord Vrabazard's Treasure, she was worth this trouble and so much more. That she should have just left Evanth to her silent misery, and her potential fate, no matter what it may have been. But a part of Filia rebelled at that—she wasn't sure which part—and she could no more leave the girl alone than she could have walked past a statue of Lord Vrabazard and not genuflected. And now that she knew a little bit more about her God, she was extremely glad she had naturally been inclined to help the poor girl out—especially knowing the measures her God was willing to go to to protect His Gift.
And Filia was not about to let anyone find out that she was bringing the girl to her rooms, or why she was. She'd have to keep this occurrence a secret as long as possible, that way no one would ask why she was suddenly bringing a girl of the lower castes to her rooms—because this was not going to be a one-time thing. Evanth was her new friend, whether she knew it or not, and Filia would protect that friendship, and the girl, as best she could.
Though it truly did pain her to keep such a secret from the Supreme Elder—even knowing how her God felt about the man, even if she didn't truly know why He felt that way, she still loved him—Filia still felt she had some rights to her own secrets, especially considering the alternative. The Supreme Elder didn't know everything about her, at least not her inner thoughts. And he didn't need to know. Well, not unless he asked. But if she kept her activities clandestine enough, he wouldn't know to ask, now would he? And he'd never have to find out about Evanth, or how they became friends.
He couldn't begrudge her some friends, could he?
When she felt all the priests in the corridor had continued on their merry way so they wouldn't see either her or Evanth exiting, Filia opened the door to the servant's passage and walked onward, her head held high, her nose in the air. A quick glance behind showed that Evanth was shuffling behind her, doing an incredible imitation of a servant or acolyte following her priestess. Filia didn't let her expression of surprise show on her face, but she was impressed with Evanth's ability to camouflage her actions enough so that none of the priests walking by took any notice of her.
As far as they were concerned, Evanth didn't exist, especially in the wake of someone as important as Lady Filia Ul Copt. A number of the priests nodded their heads at Filia, for ignoring a female dragon of her prestige, even if she was younger or lower in rank than they, was unheard of, especially if they wanted to be taken into consideration when it came time for her to be mated.
After what seemed an interminable walk, Filia and Evanth finally made it to Filia's apartments. Filia opened the door and allowed Evanth to walk in first. Filia quickly glanced around in the hall, noticed no one was around, and walked in after Evanth, shutting the door behind her, then leaned against it and breathed a sigh of relief. She was finally home, where she could relax without having to be absolutely prim and proper to impress future mates. Plus, she was still exhausted from the vision, though through the walk she had very slowly regained some of her strength.
She smiled at the girl who was staring wide-eyed at all of Filia's furnishings. The large room was done in a variety of pinks and yellows and creams, all pastels, all the furnishings matching in one way or another. She loved her living room. It was bright and cheery without being too overwhelming.
"This is your room?"
Filia nodded and decided to ignore the heat of her body, and the pain that was beginning to creep down her veins once again. "Yes, well, one of them. As a priestess of the temple, I am allotted a larger set of rooms than most of the rest of Golden Dragons." That wasn't entirely true. As a priestess and Lord Bazard Ul Copt's daughter—and the Supreme Elder's Favorite—she was allotted the number of rooms that a High Priestess would have had. When she was mated and became an actual High Priestess in name, she would be allowed an even larger lair so she would have space to mate and eventually nest. But Evanth didn't need to know that.
"It's huge though. I could fit our lair in this room alone, and have extra space after."
Filia sat down in one of the ivory colored divans and indicated that Evanth do the same. "Is it really that small?"
"Yeah. My mama and I are pretty low in terms of status. She cleans the homes of some of the males, and I'll be expected to do the same if I don't become a breeder. Which means we don't get much." Evanth sighed as she took a rather comfy looking pale pink divan against one of the walls. It was just as lush as it looked. She thought she might sink to the ground if she put too much weight on it, but it supported her completely.
The priestly caste really did live better lives. She wondered, briefly, if her lot in life would improve if she became a scribe. She dashed that hope though. After what that male had done to her, and what he likely was planning on doing, she'd be stuck as a breeder—his breeder.
How was she to fight against something like that, someone like that?
Filia noticed the suddenly dark expression come over her new friend, and was more determined than ever to make things okay for her; at least, as well as she could. "Let's get you out of those clothes. I'm sure you don't want to be smelling him on you any more than you have to."
"But what will I wear?"
"I have some old clothes that you can wear. I only just recently hit majority, so my… my father changed my design and allowed me to 'grow up'. I still haven't gotten rid of all of my old outfits because something always told me that I'd need them. And being a priestess with the… the gift of visions, you learn to listen to things like that. It turns out they were right, at least in this case." Filia couldn't believe how many times she stumbled over her words. She was usually so much more confident than that. That Vision had really shaken it.
Filia stood up and offered her hand to Evanth who, despite the somber mood, looked like she didn't want to leave the comfort of the divan. Evanth sighed again, before she grabbed Filia's hand and stood as well, allowing Filia to lead her through her apartments.
To Evanth's dismay, the apartments spanned five large rooms in total, not including the bathing area, which was technically adjoined to the bedroom. What did a single lone priestess need with all this space? Filia seemed to read Evanth's looks quite well and spoke before Evanth had the chance to ask.
"That first room is where I eat and entertain any visitors I may have. Though usually only my father or the Supreme Elder come and visit. I have another room for me to sleep in. One of the rooms is my library for my history books and spellbooks, of which I have many. My smallest room is for my meditations when I am away from the Temple Proper. And the last room is where I keep my hoard."
Evanth stopped in her tracks. "You actually have a hoard?"
Filia blushed at the incredulity in Evanth's voice. "My father always said a proper dragoness should have a proper hoard." Filia meekly opened the door to that particular room, embarrassed but pleased to be showing someone the large collection that she was very proud of.
It did not contain what Evanth would have thought of as a hoard, like piles of gold and jewels and various treasure—none of which she had actually ever seen, though she was dying to know what they looked like. Instead it had walls full of shelves and all the shelves were full of jars, and a number of tea sets. These were all high quality jars, and some of them were very pretty jars, there were even some jars with sparkly jewels encrusted on them. But all of the jars were empty, which in Evanth's eyes ruined the whole point of having a jar.
You were supposed to put stuff in them, not just look at them.
But then again, Evanth didn't even have a hoard. Or at least not what normal dragons would have considered a hoard. She collected feathers. She had multiples of some, but she just loved feathers; the feel of them under her fingertips, the lightness of their weight, the different variations of color, and the striations of patterns. They spoke of a freedom she could never know, so she collected as many as she could—even taking down birds of prey on the wing, just so she could add to her collection, just so she could feel one more moment of being free. But she had never once thought of it as a hoard, just a collection.
As she looked around at Filia's collection, she nodded. She supposed it could be considered a hoard. Much more than hers could, anyway.
"So… You have a thing for jars?"
Filia blushed. "Yeah. It started out simple enough really. I had this tea set that I really loved as a small child. It was my mother's. And I started asking my father for more and more as I grew up. And then one day I just saw this really pretty jar. And that was the end of it."
"Shouldn't you use the jars?"
"What do you mean?"
"Well, jars were created to put stuff in them. They're purposeless when they're empty."
"But they're pretty."
"True. But, I don't know, couldn't you put gold and jewels in them, and make they pretty and useful."
"Oh no! I couldn't do that! It would ruin the glazing on the inside. To remain in perfect condition and therefore be worth more, they must remain untouched, both inside and out."
Evanth looked at Filia and then shrugged. It still seemed like such a waste. "To each their own, I guess. I… I collect feathers." At Filia's wide-eyed glance, Evanth continued stubbornly. "They don't cost anything, and they can be really pretty. Since Mama is casteless, we only get food. Sometimes we get clothes and things for our lair, but it's always just worn down or broken. We make do. But feathers… Feathers are free. And no one thinks to take them from me because to them, feathers are worthless."
Filia just nodded in response, not sure of what to say to such depressing information—she hadn't known the casteless had it that bad—and then closed the door to her hoard. She then motioned for Evanth to follow her towards her bedroom, which was even larger than the main room. The mage lights in the room came to life immediately once Filia walked in and Evanth suddenly noticed that this was the only room in Filia's apartment that was without a window, which explained the need for the mage lights.
"Pretty nifty." She was impressed.
Filia smiled. "I got the idea from the servant's passage. The mage lights in those halls remain dormant until someone with magic walks inside. The stronger one's magic the stronger the light, and if there are a number of weak magical beings, their magic power combines to affect the mage lights. I changed the spell on mine just a tiny bit so it'll only react to my magic and my consciousness. If I'm awake, the lights will be strong, but when I start drifting off to sleep, they'll begin to dim, and when I'm fully asleep, they'll be completely out. That way if I need to sleep for a long while, I'll be undisturbed."
"But what if you have to wake up early?"
"Over the years I've trained my body to wake up at a certain time every morning. And if I'm needed earlier, there are always messengers or acolytes to get me."
Evanth just shook her head. The priestly caste really did live different lives. "We have to use candles and oil. Mama can caste the spell for a magic light, but it drains her of too much of her energy. And I don't have any magical talent to me whatsoever."
"Is that why neither of you are acolytes?"
"Yeah. Mama was supposed to be a breeder, but the clutch I'm from didn't survive the hatching. Only I did. And everyone says the only reason I did was because of my lack in magical ability. Since she's so weak, she was… fixed early on. I'm her only surviving child. I think that broke her up the worst. She was highly desired until most of the clutch died. Now… She's nothing but a servant."
Filia nodded. She knew what Evanth meant. Her mother was an unmated female. Even though she was fixed, her hormones could rage at any moment, and so she had to be kept under constant supervision by a number of different males.
"Let's… let's get you that bath. Then I'll start on healing your arm."
Evanth followed Filia into the bathing room, and was once again astonished. The room was easily the size of the bedroom. And the bath! It took up almost the entire room! It was literally large enough for an adult female dragon in dragon form to use and still be comfortable—it was possibly large enough for the even larger male dragons. It was a mixture of stone and wood and tile, and just looked heavenly. Her dragonhide began to itch just thinking of all those sharp rocks jutting out that she could use to scratch herself on. She didn't get to bathe very often in dragon form, as there wasn't any room in her home to do so, and plus, she wasn't allowed to be in dragon form unless she was outside and flying. There were a number of pens outside that the females could bathe in, but the males would be there, watching from above. And bathing was just such a private and personal experience that Evanth couldn't bear to have the males watch her. So she always did sponge baths in the privacy of her home and only in her room, with the small copper basin that was used for that purpose.
Filia pulled a cord along the rock wall, which opened a side panel in the same wall. Within moments boiling hot water came cascading out of the opening and pouring into the stone basin that was the tub. In no time, the tub was full and Filia pulled that same cord, which closed the hole in the wall and stopped the water. There were a number of jars lining the tile wall, and Evanth had to stop herself from opening them just to see if anything was inside of them—she was a guest in someone's home after all, and it just wouldn't do to start poking around. Filia then began pulling off Evanth's clothing, much to Evanth's embarrassment and consternation. When she got to Evanth's left arm, she became extremely gentle, especially when Evanth whined in pain.
"I'm sorry Evanth."
"I can get undressed myself."
"Not with that arm. I don't want you to use it more than you have to, you might hurt it worse."
Evanth whined again, but allowed Filia to continue undressing her. She was not used to being naked in front of anyone, even her mama. It was moments before her robe, her dress, and her shift and bloomers were on the floor. Filia tsked at the bruises she saw covering Evanth's stomach and arms. Luckily, from what Filia could see, there was no blood at the juncture of Evanth's thighs, which meant that filthy male had not completely violated the girl. She breathed an internal sigh of relief—she would not have to report this to the Supreme Elder at all now, and could now completely keep Evanth's secret without any worries of the girl going hormone crazy. All she had to do was get that vile male's scent off of Evanth, and she had enough bath salts and unguents for that, and then heal her physically and no one would really know that anything had happened.
Once completely naked, Evanth stepped into the bath, fully immersing herself under the hot water. When she came up for air, the heat of the water had barely given her a flush to her cheeks. Dragons were used to the heat, and loved to revel in it when they could. They had originally spent much of their time in hot springs high on the mountains, and the boiling water just barely came close to that sort of heat.
"Oh Flarelord, this is so much better than a cold sponge bath!"
"Sponge baths?"
"Yeah, you know, with a small copper basin and a sea sponge. That's how a lot of the rest of us wash."
"You mean all you get are sponge baths? What about when you need to clean your dragon form? You can't clean yourself with a sponge when you're in your dragon form."
Evanth blushed. "I don't."
"But why not? Surely your skin must get all flaky and dry. You have to sand and buff that out when it gets really bad, and you should never let it get that bad."
"Our rooms are too small, and I'm not allowed to be in dragon form unless I'm outside. And when I'm outside in my dragon form, I'm constantly being watched by a lot of the male warrior dragons, so that I don't try to escape. You have no idea what it's like to try and bathe when you're under constant supervision by at least five or six male dragons."
Filia shook her head. "But why would you want to escape?"
Evanth glared at Filia, then gestured with her right hand towards her stomach and left arm.
Filia gulped. "Oh. I suppose that would be a good enough reason. But surely not all of our citizens treat you in such a way. I mean, that piece of garbage has to be just one type of male, and surely there aren't that many of them there."
Evanth sighed. Poor deluded Filia just did not get it. But she was a priestess, treated well likely since she was a hatchling. What would she know about the truth of things? But was it truly Evanth's job to try and whip some of that naivety out of the young woman? She wasn't sure she was up to the task, especially since this was likely only a one-time occurrence between the two and they'd likely never meet again—or be allowed to meet again. "I'm sorry Filia. I'd just rather not talk about it. I doubt you'd believe me anyway. And it is rather depressing once I think about all the things my mama and I have suffered, especially since it seems to be so different from your life."
Filia wanted to pout—she was barely scratching the surface layer of young Evanth, and she wanted to know more about the girl to know why Lord Vrabazard favored her so—but she dare not. "Oh. Okay. I'm sorry for trying to pry. I just… I just don't understand I guess. But you can shift into your dragon form here. No one will come in. I can even assist you with cleaning all the hard-to-reach places."
Evanth shook her head almost violently. "I can't. They'll know."
"Who'll know?"
Evanth's eyes were wide. Was Filia really not under constant supervision as well? "The Elders."
Filia waved her hand in negation. "They'll probably just think it's me. I do it all the time. A proper dragoness must maintain cleanliness in both forms after all."
Evanth's eyes remained wide. She knew that each dragon had a different magic signature when changing from her human form to her dragon form. She could feel it when each female she flew with in the afternoons shifted from one form to the other. It felt different for each girl, and she knew the Elders would notice that she had changed into her dragon form in Filia's lair—especially if they kept an eye on such things in the city, which she knew they did. "I'm no proper dragoness. And they'll find out. They'll come in. I must not do any such thing."
Filia frowned, the stubborn bone in her body wanting to argue with Evanth, but as she looked her friend over, she realized that Evanth was truly frightened of being caught—and she wasn't about to pressure her friend into doing something she was afraid to do. She might lose her friend for sure if she did something like that. "All right. If you feel that way, I won't push you. But you must do a proper cleansing on your human form while you're here. I won't hear of anything less. And I'll help you since that shoulder of yours must be killing you."
Evanth sighed in agreement. Her left shoulder was really throbbing, and the heat of the bath, though relaxing to the rest of her body, was making her arms, stomach and shoulder hurt increasingly worse. She wasn't sure she could properly clean herself while in such pain. And she knew that the adrenaline from her earlier experiences that day was mostly gone now because she was feeling the pain more acutely than before.
Filia quickly disrobed herself, before tying her long pale blonde hair into a knot at the nape of her neck, before joining Evanth in the bath. She gathered some of her body cleansing supplies, and began cleaning Evanth with a vigor Evanth had not experienced since her mama had last washed her as a young dragonette. Filia was extremely gentle around Evanth's injuries, but she obviously believed the idiom that cleanliness was next to godliness, and Evanth got the scrubbing of her life under Filia's ministrations. She wondered briefly what Filia would have been like if she had agreed to shift into her dragon form.
By the time Filia felt Evanth passed for clean, Evanth's skin felt like it had been scrubbed raw, and it was red enough to prove it. But Filia had also used a number of her unguents hidden in those pretty bath jars, and Evanth could no longer smell that terrible male's scent on her. Filia got out of the bath first, wrapping a towel about her body before helping Evanth out as well. The towels that were wrapped around her hair and body were so soft and luxurious that Evanth knew she'd sell whatever part of her body she could just to experience those towels after every bath she had.
"How's your pain level, on a scale of zero to ten?" Filia asked as she walked back into her bedroom.
Evanth grimaced as she followed the young woman. "About an eight for my shoulder, seven for my left arm, six for my stomach and five for my right arm."
"Okay, I'm going to cast a minor healing spell on your left arm so I can work your left arm back into your shoulder without tearing the muscle even further. Once I cast the spell, I'm going to need you to lie down on the bed. I have to warn you that the second part is really going to hurt a lot."
Evanth sighed and nodded, then sat down on Filia's bed figuring that it was the best place to be since she would be laying down on it afterwards.
Filia, still wrapped in her towel stood before Evanth and began chanting a basic healing spell. It would lesson the pain in Evanth's arm, but it wouldn't force the torn muscles back into place. She could do that once she had set Evanth's shoulder, and she would complete the job with an all around healing spell on Evanth. It was a lot more complicated than what Lord Devorit might have done, and it might likely be a lot more painful for Evanth, but it was also a lot more private. She didn't want to bring Evanth to any of the healers, as they would ask what had happened to her.
And she didn't want Lord Devorit to know because… well, Lord Devorit just sort of rubbed Filia the wrong way.
Sure he was incredible with his healing gifts… but there was just something off about him. She didn't know what it was, and she had never had a vis- any foresight about him telling her what was wrong with him, so it obviously wasn't that important. She supposed that she just didn't like him, but she could never figure out why.
As such, she wasn't about to bring her new friend to him for help.
"How's that?" Filia asked when she finished her spell. She was surprised with how easily it had come to her, especially after being so drained from that terrible vision, but perhaps that bath had done her some good as well.
"A little better. But it seems like it just makes my shoulder hurt worse."
"I'm sorry, but it's going to hurt even worse before I can actually completely heal you. Are you ready?"
Evanth took a deep breath before laying down at the edge of Filia's incredibly comfortable bed. "I suppose so."
Filia grabbed Evanth's arm, her grip gentle at first, but as she started working Evanth's arm in a slow rotation, that grip became much stronger. Evanth gasped at first, as the pain increased, but Filia did not stop. She couldn't stop, despite the immense pain this was putting her new friend through. Once the shoulder was popped back in place, the pain would diminish and quickly, but until then, this had to be done. Even if her healing spells were not what they could be, Filia had still paid a great deal of attention in her classes and had learned quite a bit. She and Evanth would have no need to get a healer of higher talents than she.
Unfortunately, Evanth's pain was only increasing, and Filia could guess why. The muscle around her shoulder was likely spasming because Filia had not healed Evanth's shoulder sooner. Evanth began crying out to release some of the built up tension. Filia felt for her, but continued to rotate the girl's arm. She could tell she was getting closer to her goal as the rotating of the arm was becoming a little easier, despite Evanth's screaming. Just a little more.
Right as the arm popped back into place, Evanth passed out from the pain. Filia gently wiped the sweat from Evanth's brow, feeling sorry that she had been the cause of such great pain for her friend, but happy that she could help her in this at least.
If she hadn't helped Evanth, Evanth would have had to go to a healer and they would have wanted to know how she had gotten hurt. And despite the stress from earlier, they would have grilled her mercilessly to find out. And then she would have been in pain again as they healed her because they would not have been gentle about it since she was from a low caste, and then she likely would have been taken before the Elders to be mated to that vile male.
And then the Temple and all of its inhabitants would have been cremated in the Flame that was the last vestiges of their Lord's power.
No, as painful as this may be for Evanth, it made sure they all survived.
Filia also knew that this way was the gentlest way possible for her friend because she was at least considerate to Evanth's need for a break. She knew that healing spells never gave immediate relief, as they had to fix the problem first before the pain could diminish, so she allowed Evanth a moment to rest while she finally got dressed. That would be enough time before she finally began the rest of her treatment, and the pain started up again, for however short a period it would last. It would be over for poor Evanth soon enough.
Filia grabbed her evening loungewear, and began pulling it on. Once completely dressed, she dug into the lower drawers of her bureau in an attempt to find some clothing for Evanth when she was finally awake and aware.