Of Two Suns

ii

The autumn suns were warm against Ryla's skin as she lazily strolled the perimeter of the temple grounds. The Sun Gods' temple was large enough that it took over ten minutes to walk around entirely, yet it was only one story high.

As she walked, she couldn't help wondering what the interior looked like. She wondered if the Sun Brothers would let dust collect in their house, or if it would still look pristine; if the floors were made of the same stone as the walls, or maybe something fancier. Would the interior walls be decorated, or plain? Would there be one altar, or two? She had always assumed that each of the two wings of the temple was dedicated to one of the two Gods, and that where they intersected would be the lost Altar of the Suns. Or, maybe where it used to be.

But she was resigned to the fact that she would never know.

When her mother would bring her there to pray, she would tell Ryla that the temple had been locked for as long as even she could remember. So long that many had forgotten its location, and in some cases even its existence. Apparently the Sun Gods' temple used to be popular for the Sun Brothers' generosity, but at some point they had fallen out of favour, and the temple had sealed itself shut in response.

Ryla paused in front of one of the golden windows. It mirrored every other window on the building, reaching almost all the way to the floor, and coming to a point a few feet below the roof. Their pigments were warm yellows, and appeared completely transparent from far away. The closer one got, however, the more opaque they became, as if to preserve the temple's secrets.

Even the wooden doors refused to rot, and no material could pierce them. The temple was an impenetrable fortress.

She placed a hand against the glass, the warmth of it spreading up her arm. The only thing to ever penetrate this temple was the tree growing out of the western wing, like a tower out of a castle wall.

"Still trying to find a way in?" a familiar voice drew Ryla's gaze away. On the edge of the clearing, Lucas watched her with an amused smirk. Ryla paused when she saw him, her breath catching in her throat as he started toward her. "Let me know if you figure it out." he spoke again.

"What?" Ryla's voice was a near-stutter as she blinked at him.

Lucas chuckled when he stopped in front of her. "If you figure out a way in. Let me know."

She could feel her face heat up as she realised what Lucas meant, and she dropped her eyes in embarrassment. "You'll be the first one I tell."

"After Myricha, I'm sure." he laughed again as he watched her.

Ryla glanced up through the bangs that had fallen out from behind her ears to look at him. Tousled black hair, pale blue-green eyes, sun-kissed skin. Lucastian Wells was, in Ryla's opinion, the most handsome person in Perneah. His arms and legs were slightly rounded with muscles; his Elven heritage kept him lean. Over one shoulder hung a string of freshly caught rabbits, and she wondered if he'd strayed from his hunting party.

"What are you doing here?" she asked after a moment of taking him in. Finally, she lifted her head to look directly at him. When she met his eyes, it felt like her heart stuttered. "You usually don't hunt around here."

"We finished early today." he smiled at her. He stood only slightly taller than her, both of them caught in their half-Elf heights. "It's looking like it's going to storm soon, so I thought I'd check to see if you were still here. Didn't want you to get stuck in the rain."

"The village isn't that far away, even if I did." she laughed softly.

Lucas shrugged as he adjusted the rope over his shoulder. "You could still get hurt. Then I'd never hear the end of it from Myricha."