The Bells pealed their rhythm once, twice, thrice over the terraced city of Yvalla, echoing across the valley and lapsing into a whisper as the sound reached the aspirants far below. As the chimes murmured into silence, they began the Walk, tracing the city’s main thoroughfare up and up and up to the temple perched like a bird high above to overlook the city.
Ishanya, Goddess of Love, Life and Lust, Leya thought with a delicious shiver as her steps wound her higher. Her gaze darted to either side as she walked, eyeing the residents lining the street, wondering who would visit her first. That man, perhaps, brawny, hands calloused, forearms knotted with muscle. A farmer, maybe, or dockhand. Her simple scratchy shift rubbed against her body, nude beneath the thin fabric, and she shivered again, imagining his strong arms holding her close as her legs parted for him…
Perhaps her, she wondered, catching a glimpse of a voluptuous, wide-hipped woman. Her nipples stiffened and her skin prickled as she imagined Worship with her: burying her head between the woman’s breasts, stroking the swell of her hip, hands sliding down to her warm, wet-