How I Became the 'Lesia

I was born the daughter of the 'Lesia, the High Priestess, of the Temple at Sarna. I have a fraternal twin brother, K'antor. He is the elder by a few minutes, and never ever let me forget it when we were growing up.

We are purebred Clan Kholi'ani of the race of Elenari Elves called Tulari. Both our mother and our biological father are from that clan. Long ago, K'antor and I were forbidden to reveal our biological father's identity by our mother. She told us our lives would just be much easier if we didn't. It was true at the time, and I understand her reasoning. I kept that promise to her for a long time. In my present incarnation here on Earth, I've only recently revealed that secret and only to a very few.

Our mother and father were not bound. Due to the positions in life they held, it was impossible, and he was already bound to someone else long before impregnating our mother.

Until we were about the equivalent of where a human child's development is at about age 10, we were fostered by a nanny in a hut on the eastern edge of the village, near to the sea. Our mother lived in the main house in the middle of Sarna and tended to her duties as 'Lesia. At this time, she and Torlinque's father, Kharie'l were Lovemates, sometimes. Kharie'l is not our biological father, but he is the closest thing to a father I have known. K'antor and I call him Ha'Dia, which means step- or adopted father. They would visit us often in our little hut.

When K'antor and I hit puberty, and we had a decent amount of control over our powers, we were brought to live in the main house at Sarna with our mother. We then began our training at the Temple. This took up almost every waking moment. K'antor was trained by the aging weathermancer who wished to retire to the village of his birth, and I was trained to serve as a Maiden, and to eventually become my mother's heiress.

Hundreds of male Elves came to Sarna to be trained under Kharie'l so that they could return to protect their own villages should the need arise. Many, once in Sarna, decided to stay and become part of the Temple Guard or Sarna's village border patrol. Some went on to train in the school in the capital city as well, serving the Enrai and his family.

At this time, Torlinque was being trained as Adrastai by his father. The last of the Shadow Wars had not yet begun, but there were whispers among the village council that war would come eventually.

Because of our intensive training and the fact that Torlinque did not yet live in the main house and was too young to be assigned regular duty shifts, our paths did not cross and we did not meet until we were much older.

As time went on, I worked more and more closely with my mother, training the Adrastai, learning how to get inside several of their heads at once, learning also the mysteries of the Goddess only the 'Lesia can know.

We eventually heard that war had broken out some distance away. It was the beginning of the Shadow Wars but at the time, I didn't truly understand what that meant. As more and more of our Adrastai took part in the fighting, the more and more tired my mother became. Only later would I come to understand why that was.

She spent more and more time in the innermost chamber of the Temple, where the Goddess actually is. She was renewed there, but eventually she just wasn't strong enough to be separated from Her for any sufficient length of time anymore. She realized that the best thing to do was to pass into the Goddess permanently as the Teachers had done.

One day after several weeks of preparation, my mother took me with her into that holy chamber. Both of us stepped into the shallow well in the floor there to commune with the Goddess, but only I stepped out again. And so, my mother died. In physical and emotional development I was about the equivalent of a 20 year old human at the time.

Soon after my mother's memorial service, I was called to the capital city to accept my official appointment to the position of 'Lesia from the Enrai, Tal Leonan. There was a huge caravan that traveled there and back. All the Maidens, several squads of Adrastai, Kharie'l and many servants went with me.

Thus did I become the last 'Lesia of the Temple at Sarna. I was assigned a squad of Adrastai who were to be my personal bodyguards. To this squad Kharie'l assigned himself. He is Captain and at the time was Champion as well. It was only proper that he do so. Because he trusted only a very few with the task of guarding me, he assigned both his sons to that squad as well. There were 8 of them in all, the regular number for a squad, and they worked in rotation.