Years passed, and eventually, Raniel learned to speak the common language. It hadn't been easy at all. Not at first, at least.
When Ilyan first suggested teaching him, the High Priests strongly opposed the idea. They insisted that someone as powerful as Raniel should never be allowed to communicate freely with too many people. If he learned the common tongue, they argued, he could be manipulated, influenced… perhaps, even convinced to betray Hianshu itself.
"We cannot afford that," High Priestess II had stated, her tone as calm and emotionless as ever.
The other high priests simply nodded in agreement. At that point, Ilyan wondered if High Priest I was the one in power, or High Priestess II. She was the one who kept expressing herself while the others blindly trusted her words.
It infuriated the alpha, but he was helpless before them. And so, Ilyan taught his lover the common language in secret.
