Sebastiene did not show himself for the entire morning, I didn't mind it too much and did not call for him. I know he is loyal to us and would never harm us. If he is not beside me, then he must have a pretty good reason for it. Lunch came and the three of us joined our parents and the saintesses at the table. Mother smiled warmly when she saw Athy come out the room.
"Have you finished your tantrums?" Father teased her.
Athy rolled her eyes and pouted cutely. She couldn't retort because she knows it was the easiest, most believable excuse we have for her absence.
Father, mother." Athy greeted.
Mother smiled in response. "Take your seats, let's eat."
We nodded and went to our designated seats. Our lunch was filled with happy talks and casual teasing. Even the saintesses did not go unnoticed and joined thefrey.
After lunch was over, mother and father left for their study, Athy went back to her room with Uriel and I went outside with the saintesses.
"My lady," Saintess Jubie's soft voice called me. I looked back and tilted my head slightly before smiling at her.
"I will be leaving later today." She informed. "I need to go back to the temple before the priest and priestesses announce me missing."
The other saintesses chuckled at what she said.
"Is there anything you need for the travel?" I asked her.
She shook her head and smiled softly at me, her beautiful eyes gleaming.
"Just being able to meet Lady Tribmaka is more enough for me to go back. Nothing could have been much better." She replied.
"I see.." I stared at her joy-filled face.
Indeed, this saintess is extremely stunning. She would have been a famous actress or model back on Earth.
"By the way," A thought suddenly came to me, "how do one become a saintess? Did you take some kind of test or voting or whatnot?"
The saintesses looked at each other and chuckled.
"My lady, saintesses are chosen by the gods and goddesses themselves." Saintess Karen answered.
"How though?" I asked curiously.
"Our predecessors, the past saint and saintesses, received a sign that a new saintess has been chosen." Saintess Sachi answered. "Like in my case, I was able to see a certain place inside the temple while I was still a priestess in training and went to check it. There, the then saintess was waiting for me, the next saintess, whom she foresaw. I was immediately named the successor."
"I see." I looked at saintess Karen.
"Unlike the saintesses of Lord Sidapa, we, saintesses of Lady Parsua will receive a mark." She turned around and moved her white hair to the side to show the back of her neck. On her nape, was a mark of a water drop with some swirling design. "This is the mark of the saintess of Parsua that appeared on me when I turned ten."
"But you were not a priestess then?" I asked.
"Pffffttt.."
I looked at Saintess Sachi who was holding her laughter in.
"I was not a priestess of Lady Parsua then." She smiled at me. "Like Sachi, I was a priestess in training of Lord Sidapa."
Eh?
"Wait." I raised my hand to stop her from talking. I needed a little time to digest what she just said. "So Parsua pirated a priestess of Sidapa? Didn't he create chaos out of it?"
The saintesses chuckled at my innocent question.
"It is not widely known, but Lady Parsua is actually Lord Sidapa's younger twin sister." Saintess Sachi told me with a smile.
"Haaaaaaa?" I exclaimed, surprised by what I just learned.
"My lady should know about it since you are a vessel, but the people besides the saintesses and other vessels, have no idea about it."
I stood there stunned. I tried to absorb everything I just learned from the saintesses.
Wow.
An idiot like him was actually Parsua's brother? A twin at that!
"My lady." Saintess Jubie's soft voice called me back from my trance.
"Is Tribmaka also their sibling?" I asked her. "Are the gods and goddesses have some kind of family relation?"
"No my lady," Saintess Jubie shook her head. "Lady Tribmaka is the wind itself. She was born from the first breath that a child takes. As long as someone breathes out air for the first time, it adds to Lady Tribamaka's life."
"I see." I looked at the beautiful saintess in front of me and couldn't stop from asking, "How did you become a saintess, saintess Jubie?"
She was studded for a second, not expecting my question.
"I was an orphan adopted by the priestesses of Lady Tribmaka, and I was selected to become the next saintess during one of the temples blessing day." She smiled. "I glowed a faint light that time, a sign that a new saintess has been chosen."
"Hmmm.." I nodded. "So all saints and saintesses have different processes."
"AHHHHHHH!!!!"
Screams from inside the palace broke our little lecture time. I ran hurriedly to see the maids on the floor with bloody paw prints everywhere.
"What happened here?" I asked them as I helped them up. There seems to be no injuries from our side, which means that the blood came from the attacker.
"Wolf!" A maid who was standing up answered."A huge black wolf attacked here and took the meat prepared for tonight's dinner. my lady."
Wolf?
Could it be?..