Star Wars_ The Han Solo Trilogy 01_ The Paradise Snare - A. C. Crispin [68]
Teroenza made it clear to Muuurgh that Vykk Draygo had passed muster as a trustworthy employee, so Muuurgh no longer felt compelled to spend every waking moment with the Corellian. The big Togorian was still bound by his promise to guard the pilot, however, and Muuurgh never forgot that.
True to his promise, Teroenza interviewed Bria and gave the Corellian woman the job of maintaining and cataloging his collection. Han was able to see her every day he was on Ylesia. Once she began getting better food in the mess hall, and healthy exposure to fresh air and sunlight, that pale, wan, too-thin look vanished, and her eyes grew bright, her step lighter, and her smile came more readily.
She liked her new job, both because she enjoyed caring for the antiquities and because she felt that serving the High Priest was a sacred honor. Bria continued to attend prayer times every morning and devotions every evening. When Han was on Ylesia, he usually walked her to and from the service.
Bria was offered a room in the Administration Center, but told Teroenza that she preferred to stay in the pilgrims’ dormitory. Not only did she enjoy the company of her fellow pilgrims at prayer time, but she found she was uneasy at the thought of occupying an apartment in the same building as Vykk Draygo. Bria Tharen was still wary of the Corellian, still unwilling to respond to the feelings he awakened in her. She was a pilgrim, she reminded herself constantly. Her loyalty, her duty, her spiritual self, was reserved for the One and the All.
Still, there was no doubt that she enjoyed Vykk’s company. He was so alive, so full of energy, so charming and attractive … Bria had never met anyone like him.
During the hour before evening devotions, when her daily work with the High Priest’s collection was done, Bria developed the habit of searching out Vykk and Muuurgh (they were almost always together) and then the three of them would go to the mess hall for a cup of stim-tea together …
Bria walked through the jungle, enjoying the small respite from the heat that the lowering sun brought. A breeze was blowing in off the ocean, which was where she was headed. She walked quickly, feeling the skirts of her tan pilgrim’s robe brushing the plants that grew along the edges of the path. Brilliant flowers hung from drooping vines … scarlet, purple, and green-yellow. Their sharp, slightly astringent scent made her nostrils flare as she passed them.
The Exalted One, Teroenza, had told Bria that she was free to put on regular clothing, in place of her bulky pilgrim garb, pointing out that it would make it easier to tend his collection … but so far the girl clung to her robes, as she clung to her vows.
The young Corellian woman reached the mudflats and paused to make an obeisance before the mud wallow where two priests lounged. Both ignored her, but Bria was used to that. Priests paid little attention to pilgrims, unless they needed to direct them in their work. That was natural … their minds were on higher things, soaring on spiritual planes that humanoids like Bria could not hope to reach …
The first time Bria had seen the priests wallowing in the red stinking mud, she’d been shocked. It was unsettling to see them indulging in such a … secular … activity. But over the past three months, ever since she’d come to work for His Exaltedness, Teroenza, Bria had gotten used to seeing them.
She was glad that she no longer had to work in the darkness of the glitterstim factory. Working in the Administration Building was much nicer. Climate-controlled, with good lighting and the food … the