Page 6 of Golden Bond


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I recognized it at once, though I had never seen it with my own eyes. I had drawn it, studied it, copied the ornamental scrolls that ran along its architrave. But none of that prepared me for its scale.

The statue stood before the temple steps, twice the height of any man. Elyon, god of beauty, light, and poetry, was carved in radiant stone—his arms lifted not in command, but in offering. His face bore the same serenity I had memorized as a child: eyes half-closed, mouth slightly curved, as though reciting a verse meant only for the divine.

The temple doors behind him were wide and open. A soft light spilled from within.

I didn’t think. I simply turned toward it and walked, slow and quiet, the wind still playing at my back.

As I climbed the temple steps, the scent struck me first, sweet and thick, a blend of crushed petals and sacred resin. Incense burned just inside the doors, curling in pale ribbons around the threshold, clinging to skin and breath. It lured me in with quiet fingers, pulling me past hesitation.

The air inside was still and golden.

Pillars rose on either side of a long, open nave, leading toward the sanctuary beyond. They caught the late light through the high clerestory windows, glowing with dust and devotion. The space swallowed sound. My bare feet moved in silence over the smooth stone, each step careful, reverent.

Someone else was already there.

A young man knelt near the entrance, back straight, head bowed in prayer. His lips moved, but I couldn’t hear the words. I didn’t try to.

I passed him quietly, drawn forward. Toward the inner chamber. Toward the altar, and what stood behind it.

The statue of Elyon.

Not the marble one outside—the public face of the god—but this one, hidden inside the heart of the temple. Wooden, darkened by age, adorned with gilded leaf and silk offerings, his expression unchanged: serene, ever-giving, timeless. I had copied this statue more times than I could count. I knew every line of his face. But now, seeing him here, watching over this holy place in flickering lamplight—I felt small. Seen.

Unworthy.

I slowed my steps, not wanting to offend, not knowing if I already had.

Then I heard it.

A low sound—quick, muffled, intimate.

Breath.

I turned my head instinctively, eyes scanning the shadows near the far wall.

And there they were.

Two young men on the stone floor, half lost to the dim light, their limbs tangled together. One of them was on his back, mouth parted in soft ecstasy, while the other moved above him, slow and sure. Their bodies shifted against the stone as if it were velvet.Their hands gripped and roamed, and their mouths kept finding each other again and again.

The young man lying on his back, his golden curls spilled around his head, arched his back as if in immense pain, but the other one, towering over him, hips swinging in long motions, covered the golden-haired man’s mouth. The lover on the floor moaned, thrashing his back off the marble floor. His leg lifted, silk cloth sliding and revealing a long, hard rod between his legs.

I stopped short, a flush rushing to my face.

I turned away immediately, heart hammering in my chest, the scent of incense suddenly too strong.

“I—I didn’t mean—” I stammered. “Forgive me. I only wished to pray.”

The young man on his back glanced lazily in my direction, his lover’s hand slipping his mouth, his lips curved in amusement. “This is how you get close to gods. Didn’t they tell you?” he murmured, and then pulled the other down into a kiss.

I didn’t wait for more.

I fled the temple, half-blind with shame, the warm air outside too sharp in my lungs. The garden hit me like a wave. It was too bright, too fragrant, too exposed. I didn’t know where I was running, only that I needed to be somewhere else.

Somewhere I could breathe again.

I didn’t stop until the temple was far behind me.

I passed through gardens I didn’t recognize, down marble paths that all looked the same in the sinking light. The breeze no longer felt soft. It scraped alongmy skin like something I didn’t deserve. I kept walking, one foot in front of the other, until I found myself at the threshold of the guest wing once more.