Catt had been keeping a busy schedule. All day she would work with Lemmy at the Polypantheonic Temple. As soon as she finished there she would fetch her stolen executioner's disguise and make her way into the Executioner's Guild Hall and blend in with the small army of Junior Executioners working in the records room. She would spend hours pretending to file reports while reading as much as she could, and learning a great deal about how the guild conducted policing business. She had learned enough to carry out her impersonation with greater accuracy and less risk of being caught.
Then she would hide her disguise, and go to the palace to spend a few precious hours sleeping with Segna before going out to start it all again.
This routine kept her mind busy at all times, and she liked that. There was very little idle time to worry about what could go wrong.
Today, Catt found herself again carrying a bag of offerings to be burnt in the Smokefields. She was in a hurry. She wanted to finish with her temple work early. In the past few days she had noticed that the squat Senior Executioner who seemed to be nominally in charge of the records room was growing suspicious. They had been watching more carefully, and had brought out a sign in sheet, that made the Juniors mutter and complain. Catt had forged a false name on it, and she didn't want to risk going back to that room tonight, it was too risky– and if she was going to take risks, she should try some new explorations.
Catt was preoccupied by this, but not so much that she had forgotten about meeting with Jangley.
Catt looked up at the big central tent. The setting sun was reddening the column of smoke that rose from its volcanic peak.
She made her way to the entrance, and peered inside, looking for Provincial. She did not see him, but she could see the fire up above where she was certain that Jangley would be working.
She mounted the steps. "Hello!" she called cautiously, trying to let Jangley know she was coming. She wasn't worried about startling the golem, but she was conscious that advance warning might make the fire a little safer to approach.
She was able to see the silhouette of Jangley's head, a spider's web's center with the blazing bonfire behind it. She waited as close as she dared while Jangley rearranged some racks of glistening ribs, and then lowered themselves down to the platform.
"Catt apprentice priest." Jangley greeted her.
"Jangley master chef", Catt greeted them in the same style.
"You bring offerings to burn?" Jangley queried.
"Yes," Catt replied.
"Bring tray," Jangley suggested.
Catt left the bag of offerings on the platform, and went back down the steps to search for the mesh tray that Provincial had used before. She found it easily, and brought it back up the steps.
Together they arranged the offerings on the tray. Catt got the feeling that Jangley could have done it much more quickly without her in the way of their many nimble wire limbs, but the golem seemed to want her participation. "You put. I help," Jangley said.
As Jangley lifted the tray up into the flames, Catt cleared her throat and said, "You asked me for a prayer last time I was here..."
Jangley's single eye seemed to refocus on her. "Yes. To the sun," they confirmed.
Catt took a piece of paper out of her shirt and unfolded it.
"Don't pray to the sun with words," she read.
"Words are for us, words are for stories,"
"The sun cannot hear our words,"
Some of Jangley's wires formed spirals as they seemed to listen.
"Pray to the sun with your actions,"
"Pray to the sun by being dependable,"
"Pray by rising every day as it does,"
"And walking your path under the sky,"
"And shining your own light on those around you,"
"Without asking for anything in return,"
"We can give nothing to the sun,"
"But we can try to be like it."
After she had finished, Jangley just hung there a while, seeming to stare at her.
The fire above crackled and roared.
Catt felt awkward in the silence. She stared back at Jangley, unwilling to cast her eyes down. Had she missed the mark?
Finally Jangley moved, vibrating for just an instant with a dull twang, but still they said nothing.
"I am aware of the hypocrisy of saying 'Don't pray with words' and then writing the whole prayer with words," Catt admitted, feeling her confidence falter, "but I thought that part was important, and I couldn't think of a way to write it without words."
Jangley twanged again, and then spoke, "I am thinking about this prayer. I will continue to think about it. Thank you Catt apprentice priest."
Catt exhaled, feeling more relieved than she had expected to feel.
"May I make it a part of me?" Jangley asked.
"Um… yes?" Catt was uncertain of what that meant.
A single wire appendage extended.
Catt realized that Jangley wanted the paper. She held it out, and the wire coiled smoothly around it, lifting it from her fingers.
Other wires redoubled back to Jangley's own head, and began to unscrew one end of the cylinder. The prayer was nimbly rolled up and tucked inside, and Jangley resealed their head with Catt's words inside.
After saying goodbye to the golem, and walking away from the Smokefields, Catt felt elated that her prayer had been accepted. Catt felt a purpose taking shape in her heart. She wanted to be a priest of many gods, but she also wanted to be a priest of things that were not gods. And she wanted Segna to have the chance to live long enough to see her do it.
Tonight, when she went back to the Executioner's Guild Hall, it was time to take a new risk.