The two walked along the stone corridor outside the central chapel.
There were far fewer servants along the way. One laborer struggled to drag a cart alone, his arms trembling with the effort.
Renato seriously doubted whether Quelyn had considered the impact on the family's daily life when she decided to sacrifice those half-drow servants.
He took a deep breath. Compared with the blood and heat in the hall behind him, even the air in the corridor felt fresh, pleasantly cool.
Tristana held Renato's hand and quietly led him out of the chapel through a small door.
After passing through another long, narrow side corridor and turning three more corners, they finally left the frenzied, bloody sacrificial rite far behind.
Seeing no one around, Renato asked:
"Tristana, if you're taking me out now, what about your coming-of-age ceremony?"
"What about it?" The young cleric smiled, looking thoroughly delighted. "My coming-of-age ceremony is already over. The Goddess accepted the sacrifices I offered and bestowed her supreme grace upon me."
"Didn't you see my Serpent-Head Whip?" Tristana patted the Adamantine Whip at her waist. "It means I've officially been promoted to 'Commander'-the highest rank among mid-ranking priests, second only to the high priests and Matron Mothers in the church."
The young cleric now radiated confidence not only in her voice and gestures, but even in her eyes.
"That wretch Brichidi must be terrified. It's funny, really. My incompetent older sister spent three hundred years racking her brains and striving to reach this rank, and I've already caught up with her just as I've come of age..."
Renato did not believe a newly promoted cleric could compare with the Nightwind Family's eldest daughter, who had spent years building her influence in the city.
But the young cleric was in high spirits, and he