It's not that life in the temple is bad, strictly speaking. It's not. The older priestesses are mostly kind, there is heaps of food, and roaring fires keep Marlene warm at night. If you do something stupid, you're more likely to get a lecture than a beating, so definitely not bad. It's just that... Well. It's rather boring.
Apparently this is normal, at least according to some of her teachers. Young girls often find the long rituals and ceremonies rather tedious, which apparently passes with age - same as feeling very confused by some of the problems that people come to the temple with. But there are good parts, too - like going to the harbor with Lily.
The day is bright and exciting, with street vendors tempting from every direction with sweets and snacks, farmers rushing animals to stalls, and sellers shouting out about their wares. It's almost easy to miss that massive ship Lily is pointing out, except whatever has Lily's attention immediately has Marlene's as well. It's been like that ever since they were little: Lily pointing to things, and Marlene immediately finding them fascinating, as if Lily had some kind of a magical skill of making the world more colorful. Everything she found exciting was automatically worth Marlene's time.
"Further east than Arabia?" she repeats, pensive. There's an idea for you, especially for a girl who's never been further out than Ostia. "You think we'll go, one day? When our service is over?"
They'll be thirty five by the time the temple releases them, which seems like a lifetime away, but... it will happen one day. Most of the priestesses don't accept the release, and stay on until they go gray and feeble, but some go away. Not many. But some.
YES temple virgins
Apparently this is normal, at least according to some of her teachers. Young girls often find the long rituals and ceremonies rather tedious, which apparently passes with age - same as feeling very confused by some of the problems that people come to the temple with. But there are good parts, too - like going to the harbor with Lily.
The day is bright and exciting, with street vendors tempting from every direction with sweets and snacks, farmers rushing animals to stalls, and sellers shouting out about their wares. It's almost easy to miss that massive ship Lily is pointing out, except whatever has Lily's attention immediately has Marlene's as well. It's been like that ever since they were little: Lily pointing to things, and Marlene immediately finding them fascinating, as if Lily had some kind of a magical skill of making the world more colorful. Everything she found exciting was automatically worth Marlene's time.
"Further east than Arabia?" she repeats, pensive. There's an idea for you, especially for a girl who's never been further out than Ostia. "You think we'll go, one day? When our service is over?"
They'll be thirty five by the time the temple releases them, which seems like a lifetime away, but... it will happen one day. Most of the priestesses don't accept the release, and stay on until they go gray and feeble, but some go away. Not many. But some.