There was no immediate repercussion when Li Yang and the others returned to the temple. Surely, they had come back when it was late and the High Priestess was not cruel enough to let her people be summoned when most of them had been exhausted in the journey.
Instead, it came in the morning.
Li Yang and Setsuko were both summoned to meet the High Priestess. The two of them arrived in the same great hall where the woman sat and resided. She was flanked by two servants, and even Mitsuko was around. The Priestess did not meet his eyes at all.
"What do you have to say for yourself?" the High Priestess Rhelea eyed the man.
"Nothing, High Priestess," he said. "I have no excuse."
If they brought him here, regardless of the explanation he may have given, a punishment was still in order. It didn't matter if there was a legitimate excuse, it would not be a good example if the other women in the temple learned that he got away without any consequences.
