Priestess of the Dragons' Temple

Priestess of the Dragons' Temple

Amelia Smith · Completed · 93.0k Words

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Introduction

Once, Iola flew with a dragon. If she can become ambassadress to the dragons' realm, she might fly again, but first she must navigate life as an ordinary priestess. She’s wholly devoted to the dragons, but some of her fellow priestesses are dragon-blind and corrupt. Worse, they think that Iola’s devotions are actually just a sign of greed. The ambassadress returns from the dragons’ realm, too sick to fly again. Iola might have a chance to take her place, but her rival, Tiagasa, was raised in a prince's palace. Tiagasa thrives on political intrigue and gossip, and her lover is about to become governor of the city. Iola’s few friends and allies aren't much more savvy than she is. Still, they hope to persuade the new governor to make Iola ambassadress so that the temple cam be a true sanctuary of the dragons for a few years more.

Chapter 1

PRIESTESS

OF THE DRAGONS’ TEMPLE

AMELIA SMITH

Copyright © 2015, 2018 Amelia Smith

All rights reserved.

ISBN-13: 978-1-941334-23-2 (ebook)

978-1-941334-24-9 (paperback)

Published by Split Rock Books

Cover and book design by the author

The title font is Canto Brush Open, and the text is set in

Starling Book, both by The Font Bureau.

Cover illustration is a detail from “Landscape with Charon Crossing the Styx” by Joachim Patinier, c. 1515–1524.

This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, events, and locations are fictitious or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons or events, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

Table of Contents

Chapter 1: The Rulers of Men

1

Chapter 2: Initiation Night and After

19

Chapter 3: Ordinary Days

36

Chapter 4: Gaps in the Walls

54

Chapter 5: Myril’s Petitioner Returns

74

Chapter 6: The Ambassadress Returns

92

Chapter 7: Darna Stays1

09

Chapter 8: The Baths1

27

Chapter 9: Outside Temple Walls1

43

Chapter 10: The Hunger of Her Heart1

63

Chapter 11: Emerging18

1

Chapter 12: The Dragons’ Law20

8

Chapter 13: Heirs Apparent2

18

Chapter 14: A Tavern Meeting2

35

Chapter 15: The Election25

3

Chapter 16: The Governor’s Reign27

1

Chapter 17: Flight29

0

Acknowledgements31

1

Characters & Names

Main Characters:

Iola

Myril

Darna

Other priestesses:

Tiagasa, from the ruling family of Seiganum Lenasa, daughter of prince of Galamun, niece of Tanest Savasa, from the ruling family of Onarun Ganie, a former scrappling Sunna

Taira

The Aralel, head of the temple of Ara’s Landing Irean

Illaya, mistress of the old governor Geta

Defenders:

Thorat

Sovara

Garren the baker

Others outside of the temple:

Calar, prince of Tiadun, probably Darna’s father Pannen, a former scrappling, now a city watchman Parnet, the old governor’s son and lover to Tiagasa Tanest, a candidate for governor from Galamun Tevan, an apprentice planner Lerat the Roper, Myril’s petitioner, a wealthy trader

The dragons and the realms of Theranis: Anara – Anamat Tegana – Teganum Salara – Slaradun Tiada – Tiadun Helana – Helanum Lemira – Lemirun Seigara – Seiganum Corana – Coradun Onara – Onarun Narama – Naramun Galara – Galamun Getera – Getedun Kira – Kiralun

Other Countries: Ganat Cerea Enomae

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