Chapter 213: Holy Festival of Light

Three days after Owain's hunting party returned to the Summer Villa, Diarmuid made his way through the bustling grounds of the fortress-like temple at the heart of Lothian City with a determined stride. 

All around him, everyone from common acolytes to particularly devout lay people worked energetically at a variety of tasks from the construction of stages to scrubbing the stonework of the fortress walls, everyone went about their work with a sense of joy and reverence. 

Soon, the Summer Solstice would arrive and with it, the Holy Festival of Lights would begin a week-long holiday filled with a combination of festive revels and pious observances. Many initiates who wished to enter the Church formally waited for this special holiday to take their oaths and begin their new life of service to the Holy Lord of Light.