The night air was cool and a sharp bitter breeze pinched at D’dwyn’s naked skin as she stretched out, floating in a warm pool of liquid moonlight. The goddess slowly glided on her back, sprinkling drops of the moonlight over the exposed parts of her body while she drifted. She quieted her thoughts and focused on her family. When all was ready she dipped her head back further. The quiet of the pool covering her ears. Now she could listen to her children.
She heard High priestess Melgen giving thanks in a quiet whispered prayer. Viscount Dreck of Smithmore had paid the priestess a third installment, funding the construction of his new and secret pleasure palace in Kekdor’s pass. The Building was to be complete with torture rooms and crematorium. And while Melgen had provided him regular updates, sketches, and news of the ongoing construction, the truth was, not a stone had been turned. Every coin he turned over to her had gone into “the works”. D’dwyn’s secret network caring for those who cannot care for themselves. The goddess smiled, the wretched Viscount would prove a formidable enemy to Melgen when he found out his money had been reallocated. She would have to make sure her priestess was protected.
Another prayer whispered its way through the quiet of the pool. It was Mara. The goddess felt a twinge of guilt, Mara was so gifted and so independent that the goddess sometimes took her progress in the faith as preordained.
Mara was, again, asking for guidance on the line that divides good and evil. For all her natural talents and powerful lineage, this was one prayer that had always perplexed her. She couldn’t understand how a knife that had been used to kill innocence bore no stain of evil. Or a newborn child, fresh into this world, would not radiate good. She had tried the prayer repeatedly in the last few months without success. But this time it was different, the context was perfect. She asked about herself. It was an easy prayer to answer. The Goddess smiled again.