7

When the twins were thirteen, Silas broke his arm in the Quarry. It was an injury that doomed him; he would never be able to lift heavy Quarry stones again. He was out of a job.

Silas had known that this might happen. He had known, but he still wasn’t prepared. The only person he could think of that could take care of the twins was Mrs. Iddonea, who was getting on in years, and didn’t have much of an income either.

Millo and Adaline had disappeared from the house. Milo’s disappearance was expected, but not Adaline’s. That was unusual, and Silas was worried about her.

He was right to be worried. Adaline was climbing up the mountain to the temple.

No one had visited that Temple after Silas had stopped being the groundskeeper. The gates to the grounds were shut tight, and only Silas had the key. The path was rugged and ruined, and washed out in some places, but Adaline handled it with her usual nimbleness. She reached the Temple in good time and slipped underneath the gate.

She climbed the crumbling steps, taking care not to trip. She’d visited the Temple in the next town over for Day it All Changed celebrations, but this one was very different from that. It was a bit run-down, and very dirty, but that was to be expected of a temple that hadn’t been kept in a while. The grounds were large, but so overgrown that even Adaline couldn’t venture through. Most surprisingly, there was not a statue of Palla. Most temples had one near their entrance, even if Palla wasn’t the main God they were dedicated to. But in this one, she was nowhere to be seen.

No matter, Adaline decided. She hadn’t come to pray to Palla.

Adaline walked along the left side of the temple, one hand on the lip of the shelf that held statues of the Gods and Goddesses. The ones in the Pantheon were near the entrance, so Adaline lingered there.

Finally, she found what she was looking for: The shrine for Cymis, the God of Healing. Adaline studied the statue above it, which depicted a tall, lithe man, with curly hair and the tail of a fox. He wore an elegant embroidered robe, and held some healing plants in his right hand.

Adaline knelt down and began her prayer.

“Oh Cymis, God of Healing, please heal Silas’s arm so he can work again. We will not have any food if his arm doesn’t heal, and winter is coming. If he can’t work he might have to give me and my brother away. Mrs. Iddeonea will have trouble feeding us too. So we really need his arm to be healed. Can you please do that, oh Cymis, God of Healing?”

It was the first time Adaline had prayed aloud. She felt a little bit silly as her prayer echoed off the uncaring marble ceiling. She felt no answer in her bosom, nor heard any in her mind.

Adaline felt herself weighed down by a sadness she’d never felt before. She bowed her head, resting it on the stone shelf, and cried.

The stone became warm. The tarnished plaque glowed, becoming shiny again. A cloud of ashes rose from within the stone shelf, taking a vague shape in front of the statue.. Adaline looked up, wiping tears from her eyes. The ashes glowed blindingly bright, and then in their place stood a red fox.

“Your grief is powerful, child,” The fox said. “I thank you for giving it to me.”

Adaline sniffed. “Are you Cymis?” She asked.

“I am Cymis, little Esyn. But I cannot answer your prayer.”

“Why not?”

The fox twitched his tail. “Your father is a sinner. He has committed a grave crime against the Gods, and for it he has been forsaken.”

“But...he’s a good man!”

“Good men can do terrible things. I grieve to be the one to tell you this.”

“What about me and my brother? We committed no crime. Surely we shouldn’t be punished.”

“I cannot help you, little Esyn.”

“You cannot punish a child for their father’s sins! We are not even his true flesh and blood!”

“You are wrong.”

“How can the Gods care so little?”

The fox narrowed its eyes. “I have grown tired of this conversation. I have many people waiting for me in the God’s Domain. I bid you farewell.” And with that, he was gone, in the blink of an eye.

Adaline left the Temple and vowed to never go back, not even for Day it All Changed celebrations. She wouldn’t end up keeping that vow.