#cosmica

Title: Uncertain standing

Cosmica mini oneshot for this week's @flashfictionfridayofficial prompt!

word count: 443

characters: Inyat, Zehua Odessi, Sitar (mentioned)

notes: omg im back! i was so busy the last few weeks I missed out on fff but I return! Idea piece about Zehua discovering that Inyat has a thing for Sitar.

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“Miss Sahgal please sit,” Zehua Odessi said coldly. Inyat respectfully dipped her head as she entered Odessi’s chamber and stiffly perched on the edge of the bench. Surely the priestess hadn’t noticed her preoccupation with a certain gladiator. Odessi was a very busy woman, she couldn’t be everywhere at once. ​ “Might I know why you’ve called me, al-d​elima?” she asked. She made sure to keep her voice level, her posture straight. Give the priestess nothing to use against her. Inyat figured herself the very model of a Temple guard, she’d done nothing wrong.

“Indeed. It has come to my attention that you may have become distracted.”

Inyat did not like the priestess’s tone.

“The Temple holds rather high standards, miss Sahgal,” the priestess continued. “Our guards must remain loyal to hierarchy of the Temple and can not afford to chase fantastical romances.”

It was impossible to miss the utter disdain in Odessi’s voice. Inyat held her ground however.

“I’ve done exactly what the Temple has asked of me, al-delima. Any apparent ‘distractions’ that have been reported are merely speculation and fantasy.”

Odessi’s eye twitched. Inyat’s confidence wavered. Had she been too bold? Had she really been as careless as to let another guard or priestess see her relationship with Sitar? No, it couldn’t be. She’d been so careful!

“Do you think me blind, Inyat?” Odessi asked, rising to her feet. The first threads of light from a channeling wove around her hand, and into it settled a long, sharp sliver of light. She pointed the sliver toward Inyat’s throat as one gestures with a rapier. Inyat leaned back slightly, teetering on the bench.

“No, al-delima,” Inyat answered, swallowing.

“Do you think it would be an overreaction of mine if I dealt with you as a result?” Odessi hissed the question, her insinuation clear. “I am not so much upset at the development of your feelings for the slave as I am that you would lie to me. I thought you were above that weakness?”

“My apologies, al-delima.”

She held the sliver a moment longer, as if appreciating Inyat’s fear, then let the weapon puff away to mist. “Hatah grants us all one misstep. Lie to me again, and I will not be as forgiving. As a punishment I will relocate your contract to the upper Temple. You will not be permitted to go beneath for at least a fortnight.”

“But-!” Inyat gasped, almost instantly regretting her complaint.

Odessi fixed her with a blackened glare. “Tread carefully, miss Sahgal, I could make it a whole moon.”

Inyat dropped her head, resigned to her punishment. “I understand, al-delima.”

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The Knight and The Alchemist

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