Title: Temple of Fyre
Author: Janet
Lane Walters
Genre: Fantasy
Romance
Sold by her family to the priestesses of the
Temple of Fyre, Ria soon masters using each of the four fyrestones, white,
yellow, orange and scarlet. Her curiosity leads her to the archives and there,
she learns things that disturb her. There are no men serving as priests but in
the past there were. Men are kept in the harras where the priestesses visit. On
the day of her testing she is ordered to perform a task she dislikes and
refuses to destroy a town. Many of the priestesses fall into unconsciousness.
Melera, the chief priestess, beats and banishes Ria for the carrion crows to
consume.
Ari was abandoned as a child and found by two elderly firestone miners. He has pursued this and is the best of the finders. He goes to the temple to sell the stones he has gleaned. On leaving, Ria attempts to steal the fyrestone he has worn since the day he was found. He thinks she is a boy and a thief and he takes her to his room at the inn. On discovering her identity, he refuses to turn her over to the priestesses and they leave town. They are searching for the fabled blue fyrestones. They also learn to use them they must be bonded physically, emotionally and spiritually. Can they learn to master the blue stones and defeat Malera so they can rule the temple with love and understanding?
Ari was abandoned as a child and found by two elderly firestone miners. He has pursued this and is the best of the finders. He goes to the temple to sell the stones he has gleaned. On leaving, Ria attempts to steal the fyrestone he has worn since the day he was found. He thinks she is a boy and a thief and he takes her to his room at the inn. On discovering her identity, he refuses to turn her over to the priestesses and they leave town. They are searching for the fabled blue fyrestones. They also learn to use them they must be bonded physically, emotionally and spiritually. Can they learn to master the blue stones and defeat Malera so they can rule the temple with love and understanding?
Author Bio
Janet Lane Walters has been a published author for 46 years. She
has published 47 books with 4 awaiting publication. Her genres include romance
both contemporary, paranormal, historical and paranormal YA fantasy, mysteries.
suspense and non-fiction. She has also published a number of short stories
and some poems. In her other life, she was a nurse and has a BS in Nursing and
a BA in English. She is married with four children and seven grandchildren,
four bi-racial and three Chinese. When not writing she reads, explores
Astrology and has composed music. Her hobbies includes housekeeping explored in
her spare time.
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As Ari neared the temple, he noticed a
place where the hedge had been broken. What had happened? He crouched
to examine the cobbles. Dark stains spotted the pale surface of the
lane. He rose. Whatever the event had been, why should he care? He
had a single purpose for being here. To sell the fyrestones for as
many coins as possible.
He paused in the entrance to the
rotunda. Though he’d heard the things the gate guard had said and
had listened to the rumors in the market square, the absence of
petitioners surprised him. He’d never come to sell stones when
there had been less than a handful of people waiting to speak to one
of the priestesses.
His boots clicked on the colored tiles.
He glanced toward the beaded curtain that shielded the inner chamber
and saw no lights. The rumors must be true. He walked to one of the
tables flanking the doorway and lifted a hand bell.
The mellow tone summoned a girl dressed
in a white caftan. She emerged from one of the halls at the side of
the rotunda. “No petitioners will be heard until after the
solstice.”
“I’m a stone seeker with crystals
to sell.”
Her eyes widened. “I’ll bring
someone.” She scurried away.
Ari slumped on one of the benches. He
closed his eyes and drifted in a half-sleep until he heard the slap
of sandals on the tiles. He looked up. A woman dressed in a red
caftan glided toward him and paused in front of the bench. He noticed
the passion mark on her neck just above the necklace of white
fyrestones dangling from gold, silver, and copper, wires. She wore
bracelets and anklets of the same stones. Who was this woman? Though
he’d been the seller since Jorg’s death, he had always dealt with
an old woman.
The priestess’ dark eyes swept over
him in swift appraisal. “Come and show me what you have.” Her
gaze slid from his face, across his chest and settled on his groin.
The husky timbre of her voice made him
wonder if she meant the fyrestones or his body. Her eyes examined him
the way he judged the quality of crystals he found. His rod
stiffened. The stones in his belt pouch pulsed in rhythm with his
heart. Ari clenched his hands. He would trade crystals for coins, not
for pleasure. For less than the value of a single scarlet, he could
have the services of five women for a ten-day. “Who are you? I
usually deal with an older priestess.”
“I am Malera, the chief priestess.
The acolyte said you had stones to sell.”
“I do.”
She placed her hand on his arm. “Bring
them to the table. I want to see what you have.”
The heat raised by her touch threatened
to burn away his intentions. “Here?”
“Yes.” She slid her hand along his
forearm and made a crooning sound. “There is strength in you.”
When she stroked his upper arm, her tongue played along her lower
lip.
Ari sucked in a breath. She smelled of
desire. If he surrendered to her lures, he would be lost and his
quest for his identity would end. He pressed a hand against the
crystal beneath his tunic. His thoughts cleared. After evading her
grasping hands, he rose and strode to one of the tables. There, he
spilled the contents of the first sack on the red cloth. “Fifty
whites for ordinary tasks or ornamentation.”
She lifted one. “One copper for
each.”
He saw the light of greed flash in her
eyes. She wanted these stones. “Ten for each.”
“Three,” she said.
“Seven,” he countered.
“I’ll give you five.”
“Agreed.” He kept a smile from
forming. The guard had been right. Stones were needed here. The coins
for the whites would more than pay for the necessary supplies.
Malera straightened. “Have you more?”
“First the coins.”
She clapped her hands. The acolyte who
had greeted him soon arrived with a chest. The young woman placed the
box on the table. Malera counted twenty-five silver coins. Ari
stashed them in his belt pouch. He drew five yellows from a second
sack.
She studied them. “Enough games. Show
me all you have. Ten silver for each yellow.”
Ari nodded his acceptance and produced
four orange and two scarlet. “Ten gold for each.”
She shook her head. “Ten silver for
each orange, and two gold for each scarlet.” She lifted one and
stroked the surface.
Ari watched the swirls of red in the
center of the stone. His own scarlet pulsed against his chest. “Two
gold for each orange, and four for each scarlet.”
“We have a deal.” After she counted
the coins, the acolyte carried the chest from the room.
Ari smiled. He had enough coins to
discharge the debt to one of the men who had found him. Perhaps Bil
would finally tell all he knew about the child Ari had been.
Malera glided to his side. “My
handsome stone seeker, come with me to the harras where a life of
ease and pleasure awaits.” Ari’s pendant sent jolts of heated
warning through his blood. He shook his head. “I have no desire for
ease. If I enter the harras, who will bring the stones you need?
There are but a dozen stone seekers. Some seasons, no crystals are
found. Only twice did my partner and I fail in the past twenty years.
Ask the priestess who usually buys the fyrestones about a seeker
named Jorg. He trained me.” Ari stepped back. Thoughts of being
intimate with this woman made his skin feel as though insects crawled
over the surface.
She reached for his hand. “Why do you
hesitate to accept what men so eagerly seek?”
Ari drew a deep breath and searched for
an answer that wouldn’t stir her simmering anger. “Seeking stones
is in my blood. I’ve been one since I was a child. The harras would
become a prison and I would be a sullen failure as a lover.”
She clasped his forearm. “Good stone
seekers are hard to find. A sullen stud foments trouble and must be
destroyed. Still, I want to share pleasure with you. Your scent, your
body, and your voice, call to me. Return to the temple after the
solstice ceremony. On that day, the priestesses and the men they
choose to honor may freely delight in the appetites of desire.”
Ari hesitated. How could he refuse, yet
how could he accept? He had no desire to share anything with her
except the stones he sold.
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