"She is." Safrin's beauty was the one element of their conversation that left Arialla without any doubts or confusion. But she noticed the stranger's quiet, as well. "Have you met her as well?"
Arialla still wasn't used to the idea that in Caido ordinary people could pray at a shrine and actually expect to talk to a god. Back home, priests and priestesses spent months in prayer and preparations in an attempt to get a vague sign from their deity. Apollo had deigned to speak to Arialla once, and that single act of favor had catapulted her into the priesthood for life. "At home the gods rarely spoke to us, at least not directly. It was all interpreting leaves and flocks of birds. Here ... it's very different."
Quiet then, as Arialla contemplated her homesickness once more. "Yes. It's good to have something."
After all, her familiarity with beaches had at least made it a little easier for her to navigate her new life, letting her beachcomb her way into an offering for Safrin.
please don't take my sunshine away
