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Bastards, Mora thought as she stood at the entrance of the Temple, back straight and hands clenched into fists, watching as the Lucian army marched past.Mora wished she could wipe the smug grins off their faces. They had annexed her city. Her home. Cesvic had been independent for hundreds of years, made wealthy by the trade between Torin and Lucia. It was one of the few places, after all, where people and goods could cross the mountain border between the two countries. It was a city-state of culture and the arts, known for its libraries and theaters and its great university.Cesvic was the gem of the continent. But the Lucians and the Torins had been at each other's throats, and the Lucians had decided that taking the city was a strategic move. A way to demonstrate their strength to the Torins without attacking Torin itself. The Lucian bastards had marched up to the city gates with forty thousand soldiers. The city guard had had no other choice. They surrendered without a single shot, and Cesvic had fallen .Mora didn't care about the military stuff. No, what she cared about was that the Lucians had declared the worship of Clea, the Goddess of Humans, illegal just last year. The Goddess whose Temple she now stood in front of. The Goddess she worshipped.Mora remembered well the refugees who had fled through Cesvic into Torin when the worship of Clea was outlawed in Lucia. The monks had offered shelter to the vampires and their humans who were passing through the city. The vampires had been scared, but the humans had been absolutely terrified. The refugees had brought with them stories of how Temples were being ripped apart by the people, monks executed and humans sent to the auction block. More often than not, the humans were bought and immediately drained dry. Followers of Clea were being harassed and beaten on the streets. Now that the Lucians were here in Cesvic, Mora knew that her Temple would be the next to fall."Come inside," Benedict said, jolting Mora from her thoughts. "I've gathered everybody in the common room. We need to talk." His voice was low and he was eyeing the soldiers warily.Mora nodded and followed the older monk back into the Temple, shutting the door behind her. She leaned her forehead against the door and closed her eyes as tears started to burn."I'm scared," she whispered. Benedict sighed, running a hand through his thinning hair."So am I. But everything will be okay," he said. Mora looked at him skeptically."How do you know?" she asked."I have faith in our Goddess," Benedict said with conviction.Mora just nodded, not trusting herself to speak. She loved her Goddess with her whole heart, but at the same time she worried that Clea would not be able to protect them. Not this time.Mora followed Benedict through the Temple. The orange flames of candles gleamed off the white marble floors and incense filled the air. Mora had always found peace in the Temple. Ever since she was a little girl attending services with her family. She could still remember the day she had stood in front of the altar and decided that she would dedicate her life to the service of the Goddess. Mora smiled at the memory.She took a deep breath as she and Benedict stopped in front of the altar. They bowed before the statue of Clea.Please protect us, Goddess, Mora prayed silently.Then she followed Benedict into the rectory. Everybody was gathered in the communal living space and Mora's stomach twisted when she smelled the fear on the two humans who lived at the Temple, Julia and Ira.Julia had been with them for close to fifteen years now, and though wrinkles were starting to show on her face, her eyes held the same sparkle as when she had first arrived. Or at least they usually did. Right now, Julia was sitting on the sofa with her knees pulled up to her chest and she was resting her head on Ira's shoulder. She was weeping quietly. Ira in turn was shaking as Tobias, the other monk at the Temple, held him and gently stroked his hair. Tobias and Julia looked up when they entered."What's going to happen to us?" Julia asked, her voice barely above a whisper. Mora's heart ached. She sat down next to the human and took her hands."You two will be safe," Mora said with a squeeze. "We'll never let anything happen to you.""But the Lucians-""The Lucians will never touch you," Benedict said. "Never. They are smart enough to realize that attacking the Temple will anger the population. They don't have as tight a hold on the city as they like to think.""And if they do try anything, the three of us will keep you two safe. We'll die before we let them hurt you," Tobias said.Mora felt the dread in the pit of her stomach. What Benedict and Tobias said was true. The people of Cesvic was faithful to the Goddess. But she worried that it wouldn't be for long. Sooner or later, the Lucians would come for the followers of Clea. And they had to be ready."I can't go back," Ira said quietly. "I can't." His shaking was getting worse. Julia let go of Mora's hands to wrap him in a hug. "I can't, I can't," he murmured into her shoulder. "I can't go back to the chains and the beatings." Mora could smell his terror. While Julia had lived with a kind vampire before she was given to the Temple, Ira had been treated as nothing more than a meal. It had taken years for him to stop referring to himself as Bloodbag."Shh, it's okay Ira, you don't have to go back," Julia said gently. "You'll stay right here, with me and Tobias and Mora and Benedict. You'll never have to go back there."Mora closed her eyes. She hoped Julia was right. Her stomach twisted at the thought of the two humans being clamped in chains and beaten and abused. She would do anything to protect them. Anything.