Seven Sinful Crowns

Lilith

Lilith had always loved The Reaping. Since she was a small child, she had looked forward to it all year long. Now that she was older and a queen, it was her right to provide the new mages with the rebirthing ceremony, once the priestess' willed it out of them. In Zuhaleen there were seven temples of seven gods, and within each temple, the priests.

The Temple of Dreams belonged to Takia, the god of night, and it sat in the kingdom Saileen with her sister Griesha. Then there was The temple of Day, blessed by the goddess Hemira, that sat in Verina with her sister Gillian. It was bright and beautiful and when the sun rose, its light fell precisely upon it every morning. The temple of War, blessed by the Morrigan, sat within Helina's kingdom. How fitting, she had always found that. It was dark midnight marble, so dark many reported it to be black, but Lilith knew that that wasn't the case. She had been taught about the temples over and over. As queen, it was her duty to know all she could about their gods and the priests, and she knew it was a deep, dark blue, and before you ever saw it you would hear the ravens who called it home, guarding it from intruders. And of course, There was the Temple of song in Sleera, blessed by Shira, where people went and never returned, lulled in by the sweet voices of the dead, and the temple of time, where one might enter a child and emerge a man, in Tareen, belonging to none other than Chronos. He was always a trickster. The temple of Knowledge rested high in the mountains of Harmon, and everyone knew that story. The god Khidr once held all the secrets of the universe, but the weight of them held him down to the earth, which he found particularly shattering. He tried and tried to fly back into the heavens, but no matter how fast his feathered wings moved, he just couldn't get off the ground. His heart broke first, and then his soul, and he let out a wail only the loneliest of people recognized. It flowed with tears down his arms and into the soil, where it rolled in streams out into the world around him. He cried for days, weeks, months, and then one by one they showed up...the only people who heard that cry and did not run in fear, for they knew that emptiness like no one else could. They were orphans and widows and worse, something so unnatural the world hasn't even a name for it - a mother who no longer has a child; for there is no unmaking of a mother, wish as she might, and so she must learn to live without her heart, for that was given away from the first flutter. And they came to him by the dozens, and then the hundreds, and they sat with him in such a pool of tears and morose that it began to water something much greater; empathy and compassion and unity, and they grew tall and humble and strong. And together they stood one by one, and began to build a home where they might share their stories and their fears, and their hopes and their dreams. And these lonely people, these widows found lovers, and these orphans, parents, and these mothers, children. And Khidr, so touched by these people who had lost so much and found so much, shared with them his secrets so they might continue to grow in the most magnificent of ways. Day after day he bestowed upon them the knowledge of the universe, and on the last day, finally empty, he flew. They did not ever see the god again, but these were the very first priests of The Temple of Knowledge, and they required much, or little, to enter.

Parchment and ink and a tear.

It was a story her father told to them often.

And then there was the Temple of Fertility, that Lilith held within her own borders. It belonged to Akna, the god of birth, and upon the night of The Reaping, the temple priests would pick from the crowds their lovers for the night, one or two, three maybe, each, and they would made love in the most carnal of ways, on the longest night of the year, and the children conceived would be blessed by Akna himself. And Lilith would be there too, as a Queen of Zuhaleen, to pay homage with her body.

As she walked along the crowded streets, guards heavy on either side, she watched her people dance, ribbons weaving in and out of the human sea. The women wore their best dresses, the men their coats, and the children laughed, running by in a fury of high-pitched shouts. As she came to a street cart, strings of jewels and scarfs hanging from the window, she stopped to run her fingers along them, and the cart owner jumped to his feet at the realization of who she was.

"Please, be seated. I am but a stranger today," Lilith said to the aging man behind the wooden counter.

"Your majesty. What an honor to have you here on this fine day."

She smiled as she pulled a string of black pearls from the ledge, letting them dangle in the space between them as she examined each one. "These are quite marvelous."

"That they are. Dragon pearls, your majesty, from the sea dragons. My son found a cave while voyaging. The most extraordinary pearls I've even seen. When you listen close, you can hear the dragon song."

Lilith cradled the pearls in her palm and brought them to her ear. She listened close, and she heard it. It was beautiful and sad, and held the worst heart-ache she had ever before felt, because she could indeed feel it as she stood listening.

And when the marketer pulled her hand from her ear, ripping the song from her heart, a tear was falling down her cheek.

"Best not to listen too long, your majesty, or they might steal your heart."

And she nodded, knowing it to be true, as that was the way with dragon pearls. They were beautiful and prized and so very lonely.

Gently, she placed them back upon the counter and the man plucked the string, hanging them up for the next buyer.

"This is quite lovely," she said, fingering a black silk scarf. It shimmered grey when moved into the light, and felt soft as hot breath on her wrists. She pulled it from its place on the table and ushered to her servant. "I will take this, sir. How much?"

"For you, my queen, a gift."

And Lilith smiled something soft and sensuous and seductive, and the old man blushed.

"A gift indeed," she said, running it along the soft inside of her wrist. And as she walked away, she knew exactly what she would do with it. Tonight, in a temple of men and women and priests, and so many soft wrists.