Joanna Wylde - Jerred's Price

“I’m sure he cares for me as much as I care for him,” she said softly, knowing it was true. “I can feel it in the way he touches me, and how he looks at me.”

The man nodded his head slowly, his expression still non-committal. “If you would like to come to the Temple, we would be able to do a reading on you,” he said. “That way you will know for sure. But I need to warn you that the reading may not go as you would like.”

“I’d rather know,” she said softly. “In my heart, I know I need to be with him. If I’m deluding myself, it’s better to find out now.”

“All right,” the man said. “Can you come here yourself, or would you like us to send someone to fetch you?”

“I want you to send someone for me,” she said quickly. “Jerred has been very clear that I shouldn’t go outside by myself. He says it isn’t safe.”

The man’s face turned thoughtful. She wanted to ask him what his thoughts were, but decided it wasn’t a good idea.

“We’ll send someone for you shortly,” he said. “I have your address from your call number. Be sure to leave a message telling Jerred where you are; you don’t want him to worry about you.”

“Or tear apart the station looking for me,” she added, grimacing. His expression turned thoughtful again, and then he faded out.

The knock on her door came more quickly than she’d expected. She had just finished the note for Jerred, when they arrived. To her surprise, they had a private pod waiting for her, parked right beside the open walkway. Somehow it hadn’t occurred to her that pods would be allowed to navigate through the open air of the galleries, but she supposed the Temple must have special privileges. There were two people waiting for her, a man and a woman. To her surprise, it was the same man she had talked with over the com. The woman was tall and striking in that way she had come to expect from Saurellian women. She held out one hand to Giselle and gave her a gentle smile.

“Come with me, child,” she said. She looked so young that Gisele was taken aback for a moment by her tone. Then she noted small strands of grey in the woman’s hair, and the tiniest of lines around her eyes. She was older than she looked.

She took her hand, and together they stepped into the pod. “I am Grania,” the woman said. “I’m a priestess at the temple. Velor,” she nodded toward the man, “is my life mate. I must say, I find your situation unusual. We do occasionally get calls from young women who feel they have a special connection with one of our warriors, but I find that it usually isn’t true.”

“Well, I’m only here because Xander, Jerred’s friend, told me to call you,” Giselle said softly, feeling embarrassed. This was probably some sort of sick prank. How horrible. She wished she could bolt back to the apartment.

“Really?” the woman asked. She and her spouse exchanged unfathomable looks, and then she leaned in more closely to Giselle.

“Tell me about this Xander,” she said.

Giselle blushed to realize how little she knew.

“I’ve only met him twice,” she said slowly. “He and Jerred grew up together. He told me that, and Jerred told me, too. When we first met him, he said some really nasty things about me, and he and Jerred almost got into a fight. I thought Jerred was going to kill him.”

“Go on,” the woman said.

“Then he came to the apartment earlier today. I was afraid of him at first, because of what happened before. But he said that Jerred was acting strangely, and that I should call you. He said there might be a chance that Jerred and I were life mates but that Jerred was too scared to admit it.”

The woman patted her hand comfortingly, and smiled at her again. There was something incredibly soothing about that smile. Giselle felt calm wash over her.

“Well, we’ll know soon enough,” the woman said. “We’re almost to the temple now.”

The pod came to a stop and the door slid open. Grania took Giselle’s arm and led her gently from the vehicle. She looked around, expecting some kind of monument or grand entrance. Instead they were in something that looked more like a garage.

“We’re taking the back door in,” Grania said, as if reading her thoughts. “Not quite as impressive, I know, but far more convenient. I hope you don’t mind?”

Giselle shook her head, bemused by the woman’s practicality. She looked so stately that it was hard to imagine she thought about things like parking pods. A guard nodded to them as they left the garage, walking into a lavishly appointed corridor.

Unlike much of the station, which was largely utilitarian, the floor here was tiled, and there was a different kind of smell in the air. The scent of living things. Perhaps there was a garden?

Her question was answered as they walked through another arch into a large, open area. All around were trees and birds. Grass covered the ground, and in the distance a sun seemed to be shining down on them.

“What is this?” she asked with a gasp.

“This is the temple,” the woman said in a soft, sweet voice. “The grounds here are twenty-five miles across. What you see up above is our ‘sun’—the engineers built and maintain it for us. Even here in the middle of the station, it gives our people a taste of home.”

“It’s amazing,’ she said. “Are all your temples like this one?”

“Most of them,” Grania replied. “They’re built as a reflection of the central temple on Saurellia. Of course, they’re different sizes in different places. On a small station they might feel more like a greenhouse than this.”

Giselle nodded her head slowly, eyes searching all around.

“This place is amazing,” she said softly. “I can hardly believe it’s real.”

They started walking along a stone-lined path, and within moments Giselle had lost sight of the doorway they’d entered through.

“It’s not far,” Grania said. “We’ll be going to our house for a while, and then perhaps to the main temple precinct.”

“How far is it?’ Giselle asked.

“It will only take us a few minutes to get there,” Grania said. “There are many, many entrances to the temple. One can almost always enter near one’s destination, which is important. There is no motorized travel allowed within the sanctuary, which means you will have a long walk if you come in at the wrong place. Of course, one of the reasons we have such a large space is precisely so people can walk. We find that walking with the Goddess often helps to clear the mind.”

Giselle nodded slowly. Grania’s words made perfect sense to her; she could easily imagine how walking along these smooth, beautiful paths could help a person think.

Before long they reached a surprisingly primitive cottage. The walls appeared to be made of stone, and the ceiling from bunches of dried grass.

“Here we are,” Grania said. She opened the door, nodded for Giselle to come in with her. The cottage was small, and filled with furniture that seemed to be fashioned out of wood and primitive textiles. Giselle goggled openly; she’d never seen anything like it.

“You live here?” she asked, and then closed her mouth with an embarrassed gasp.

What a rude question…

Grania laughed, and Velor shook his head.

“It’s slightly more up-to-date than you might think from its appearance,” he said.

“Our kitchen is modern, and we’re hooked into the ’net. But we find simplicity does help us stay focused on serving the Goddess.”

“It’s lovely,” Giselle said. “I guess I’ve never seen anything like this on a space station before.”

“Well, this is an unusual space station,” Grania said with a smile. “And you, Giselle, appear to be an unusual woman. Will you sit with me?”