Tine woke slowly, sunlight dancing across his flesh, a warm body pressed against his side. Events of the night before raced across his mind and he turned slowly to see if the warm body was male… or ancient. She was neither.

“Good afternoon, Son of Tabolt,” she said as she stroked her fingers across his chest.

Tine recognized her as the girl who bathed him the night before.

“Did you rest well?”

Tine nodded and his stomach rumbled. She laughed and stood, her form lithe, graceful, and unashamedly nude. A panel in the wall slid to one side as she touched it and words were whispered. By the time she had returned to the bed and made them both presentable a gaggle of giggling girls paraded into the room bearing gifts of fruit, cheese, and bread.

Once he had sampled the gifts, the girls exited, chattering among themselves excitedly. Tine watched them go.

“Do they please you?” the girl asked as she pulled apart a loaf.

“They are pretty,” he admitted, turning his attention back to her, “but you are… prettier.”

“You flatter me.”

“Where are we?”

“The Temple of the Moon, this is the central tower. She says it is to be yours. That you may come and go as it pleases you. That we are to serve you, and you alone.”

“She?”

“The Maiden.”

Tine looked out into the distance and wondered about his experience at dawn, “I’m not divine.”

“Neither are we, but we have descended from the gods, and that makes all the difference in this land.”

“You have descended from the gods?”

“My family line can be traced back to Gavi and the Maiden on both my maternal and paternal sides. If I had been born a boy, I would…” she trailed off.

“Would what?” he asked her after a moment of silence.

“Be a Dragon Lord,” she whispered.

They sat in companionable silence for a while, breaking their fast, then Tine asked her, “Who do I ask for if I need to see you?”

“I am called Elda. Who would be calling?”

“Tine… they named me Tine.”

They smiled at each other and finished their meal.

Tine soon discovered that his room was actually the highest point of the Temple, just below the Moon and that he had access to a huge balcony that ran all the way around the temple roof.

“There are four other suites similar to this one, all one level below, but none of them are occupied at the moment.” Elda said as Tine walked around the room. The decorations were of a distinctly masculine nature.

“Who used to have this room?” he asked as he ran his fingers over a particularly interesting set of tiles which decorated the room at roughly his eye level.

“To be honest, none of the Daughters of the Moon know who these suites were designed for as no one has occupied them in anyone’s memory… until now. Which is really strange because up until last night, no man has ever lived at the Temple, boys, yes, but no men.”

“So what does that make me?” Tine asked with a blush and a grin.

“An exception, it seems,” Elda laughed then stood up. “Come, let’s dress you, then you can go meet some of the others.” She rang a bell and two of the girls from before returned. One carried garments for Elda, and the other a ribbon wrapped package of cloth she handed to Tine as she tried to stifle a giggle.

“Why are you laughing?” he asked as he took the clothing from her, and untied the ribbon. The girl blushed and looked down, stopping about midway of Tine’s length. Then Tine blushed and turned his back to her. He had not been raised around girls, only boys, and he thought nothing of his nudity when Elda had behaved like Adrian might have, although her form was very different. But now, well, he wasn’t sure why he was blushing, but he was, and she was, so they both were, together.

Elda laughed. “You will have to get used to them, Tine. They are all innocent, none having so much as seen a man before who was not their father, and many of them not even their fathers.”

“And you?” Tine asked Elda as he slowly turned around.

“I am no longer innocent, but I was also much further along in my training than they are.”

“Their training?”

“How to accept an offering to the Maiden properly,” Elda smiled, “so there is pleasure and conception.”

“Oh. Was there?” Tine managed, as he blushed even more, pulling at the clothing so that he could dress. His clothing was white and of a similar cut as the temple guards, but his seemed to be cut looser and of a thinner material. It also had golden embroidery at the cuff, collar, and hem, which the guards did not share. The pants and tunic fit him well.

“Time will tell, Tine,” Elda smiled sweetly as she pulled the gossamer gown over her head. “Come, let’s show you off. I’m sure the Maiden will be pleased.”

“The Maiden? The one I met last night?”

Elda looked at him quizzically, “I don’t know what happened last night, Tine, at least not until you staggered out of the womb… the Maiden instructed me to wait there for you and to bring you here when you emerged.”

Tine shook his head and tried to piece together what he remembered and what she said, but his mind was too foggy in places to truly understand. The girl who brought his clothing smiled at him once he was dressed, then she turned and opened the door to reveal a stair leading down.

Tine followed her and Elda followed him. Together they descended. Tine noticed the first landing was much larger than his landing, and that it contained four doors. These must be the other four rooms Elda had mentioned, the ones that were unoccupied. They descended further, slowly spiraling downward until they emerged in a hallway. At either end was a door. Elda led toward the right hand door, which opened out to the courtyard where men and women both milled about.

“This is where the Imperials come to talk to the Daughters of the Moon. You can enter the temple from here if you so choose, like you did last night.” She smiled at him and turned around, “Or you can go this way to the baths and such and use the back entrance which is primarily used by boys to visit their mother.” As she talked she was pointing out the features, finally stopping at a door. “Where would you like to go?”

Tine shrugged his shoulders. “Where would you recommend?”

“There is the park and the square, we aren’t allowed to go there without the proper escort, but you have no such restrictions. There is a bit of a ceremony here tonight that you might be interested in seeing, though.”

“Oh?”

Elda nodded, “The Chosen of the Dragon Lord’s eldest son is being presented to his mother and the Maiden tonight. It will happen right after dinner.”

Tine smiled and thanked Elda then he slipped out the door, waving at the guard, who waved back.