“Of course not. But I don't think what I want to ask is going to make the situation between him and me any better.”
I raised an eyebrow pointedly at him. He stared at me for a second before he got the hint.
“Uh, well,” he sighed, “I'm going to ask Winter if she'll come with us to Grankul.”
My other eyebrow raised to meet the first. “You want to bring Winter!? She's even smaller than me now!”
Hawke blinked. “Micasa, you do know what Winter's old occupation was before she got married, right?” I shook my head, and his mouth opened a bit in surprise. “Winter used to be one of the most accomplished assassins who ever lived. Where do you think her talent for hiding came from?”
I opened my mouth to argue, but thinking on it for a bit, it started to make a strange sort of sense. Winter had the ability to sneak around with such skill, she could seem to appear and disappear at will. Of course, she tended to use the technique mostly to scare people for her own enjoyment. Perhaps that was why I didn't imagine her as any sort of threat.
“That just raises more questions about how she and Luke ended up together,” I said.
“Good luck with that. I've known them for years and could never get that story from them. All I know is that Winter had been holing up with the gypsies before they got married.”
I nodded. Winter had already told me as much during one of my previous visits.
“At any rate,” Hawke kept on saying, “We don't have all day to worry about what if. Might as well take the plunge and see if we can find someone else to come with us on this crazy scheme.”
The streets held an eerie quiet as we rode into town. The few people milling about at that time of day glided along noiselessly on slippered feet, hidden beneath the folds and cowls of their stark white robes. A lone figure in a robe as black as night shuffled along quickly through the main square, slinking as far away from the others as possible. Some of the ivory figures snorted in disgust as their ebony counterpart hurried off.
“Some things never change,” Hawke murmured under his breath. A pair of white-robed figures turned their shadowy gaze on us, but quickly went on their way when they were satisfied with what they saw.
“That's Uraj's horse,” said Hawke, pointing towards the town's opulent church where the beast stood tied to a nearby post. “Let's tie up Restless and Sir Brown Horse here and get going before Shepherd has a chance to show up.”
I rolled my eyes but followed his lead nonetheless. Once the horses were secure, we set off down the cobbled road towards the Kamson residence. We passed house after identical house, all painted that glaring white and adorned with a chromed ten-pointed star over the door. Every building was perfectly spaced from the next, and even in such a small town, it was easy to tunnel vision until it looked like the perfect houses stretched on endlessly.
Thankfully, Luke and Winter lived at the corner of an intersection not too far from the bell tower that rested near the heart of Liturgy. It made it much easier to find among the sea of sameness. Now there was just the problem of getting in unnoticed.
The Kamsons lived a bit of a sham life in Liturgy, paying their dues but not technically followers of the Holy Tenet. Travellers weren't forbidden from visiting the town, but a couple of nonbelievers making house calls to a local would draw suspicion upon them.
“Fire!”
The cry rose up from where we had just been. Hawke and I both wheeled around to see smoke billowing upwards several blocks down. The few citizens who were about on the streets turned and rushed off to help.
“C'mon, that won't last for long,” said a high-pitched voice from just behind us.
We spun around again to find a black-robed figure striding from the alley between the Kamson house and their neighbor. The speaker was a bit bulkier than I expected, but the voice was all too familiar to me.
“You did that, Winter?” I asked. Even as the figure pulled out a key and opened the door, they turned to flash a brilliant white smile from the depths of their hood.
“Of course,” she said. “Don't worry, it's just some trash burning in an empty lot. Hurry now.”
She flung the door open and scooted inside. I noticed her usual swaggering walk had been replaced with an ungainly waddle, but I shoved the thought aside as I bustled through the door with Hawke right behind me. Once we were all in, Winter shut the door and locked it once more.
The house was much cleaner than I had ever seen it. Normally the house was coated with papers from Luke's work, hiding the modest furnishings beneath a small avalanche of written pieces. Now it looked like someone had taken at least some effort to clean up, with teetering piles of papers shoved into the corners, leaving the floors and furniture mostly uncluttered. Stacks of books blocked the windows and lined the hallways, but there was still far more room to maneuver than usual.
Winter whipped off her cloak and tossed it onto a nearby book tower, taking a moment to shake out her shoulder length ebon hair. She looked well, her skin soft and pale and her brown almond eyes glittering as she blinked a few times. She normally wore a form fitting tunic and breeches on her petite frame, but she had traded those in for a loose white robe that was tied off awkwardly over her stomach.
Her round, heavily swollen stomach.
“Oh my gosh!” I gasped, my hands flying to my mouth. She favored me with a wink.
“Hey, Micky,” she said. “I've put on a little weight since your last visit. Does it show?”
I ignored her joke and hurried over to her, putting my hands on her belly. “How far along are you!?” I gushed.
“About seven months I think? I don't know exactly.” She turned and shouted to the back room. “Hey, Luke, how long have I been cooking the little one!?”
She was answered by a series of hacking coughs. The door in the rear of the house opened, and a man in a frumpy blue coat trudged out.
“What's that?” he asked, his voice gravelly. “Why are you waking up half…the…town…”
He caught sight of Hawke, freezing for a second. Then he took a single step backward, turned, and went back into the room, slamming the door shut.
“Oh, stop being a baby, Luke!” Winter fumed, her cheeks puffing out a bit. “Micasa's here too, at least say hi to her!”
Slowly the door creaked open, and Luke stepped out again. The years seemed to have been much rougher on him than on Winter; she still looked as hale and hearty as ever, but Luke's face had grown even more sunken and shaggy with brown and silver whiskers. A head of thinning hair was kept hidden under a wide-brimmed black hat, pulled low as if to mask his face. His blue eyes were heavy with shadow like he hadn't slept well in ages, and they regarded Hawke with contempt.
“I was hoping you'd have the grace to not bother us with your presence again,” Luke grumbled. Hawke said nothing, his eyes fixed on Winter's stomach. Luke glanced towards me, and for once a trace of a smile flitted onto his lips.
“Hello, Micasa, it's been a while. I hope you're doing well?” he said.
I smiled back. “As well as I can be, all things considered.”
His hint of a smile vanished. “I would expect as much, with the company you keep.” He turned back to Hawke. “You know it's rude to stare at another man's wife, right, Scholar?”
Hawke snapped out of his stupor and shook his head. “Sorry, I was just a bit…shocked. I didn't know you two were planning on a family. You don't seem the type.”
“Aw, we've been thinking about it for ages,” Winter said dismissively. “Certainly haven't waited so long for lack of trying.” She shot Luke a coy smile, and he turned away, his face reddening so much it was almost purple.
“They don't need to hear every aspect of our private life, Winter!” he growled. He slumped onto the couch and crossed his arms, refusing to look at anyone. Winter alighted gently beside him and shook his arm a little.
“Come on, don't be so shy. I was just fooling! It's not every day Micasa and Hawke come visiting.”
Luke st
ill looked unhappy, but his glowering softened a bit. His arm snaked around Winter's shoulder.
“Micasa is always welcome,” he said. His eyes flicked toward Hawke. “Question is, why did you decide to come?”
“I just wanted to see how Winter was doing, is all,” Hawke said slowly. Luke didn't seem convinced.
“Well, you have good timing then!” said Winter. She stood up and took Hawke by the hand. “I was trying to figure out some way to rearrange the bedroom to make room for the baby. Would you take a look at it, Hawke?”
“Uh, I'm not so sure what I could do,” he said.
“Come on, you have to have something in that big brain of yours that could help! Luke and I are helpless when it comes to these things!” She was already dragging him to the back of the house. Hawke shot me a pleading look, but I just shrugged and gave him a wave for luck. Once Winter got an idea in her head, it was kind of hard to stop her.
As soon as they were out of the room, Luke stood and scooted close by.
“Everything been alright for you, Micasa? Truly?” he asked.
I was taken aback by the question. “I already said I was.”
“You know, Winter and I both worry about how well Hawke's taking care of you. If you needed some time away from him, you know you're always welcome with us.”
“I appreciate it,” I said warily. They had always been urging me to spend more time with them when I visited, but this was the first time either of them had been so direct like this.
“I know you care about Hawke a lot. Just remember that there are other people that care about you, too.” He gave my shoulder a little squeeze.
I didn't like what he was insinuating about Hawke. I decided to change the topic, and there was something that had been tickling the back of my thoughts.
“It doesn't smell so smokey in here anymore,” I mentioned. Luke had been a notoriously heavy smoker for as long as I had known him, and probably long before that. There was still a hint of the pungent smell, but it was masked well by some potpourri and fresh cut flowers scattered around the house.
“Oh, yeah, I quit when we found out about the baby.” He fought back the urge to cough. “It was hell the first couple months, but I'm in a decent spot now.”
“That's good!” I said.
“Sure, though this damn cough won't leave me alone.” He suppressed a few more. “Not to mention, all this worry about Winter and the baby has me jonesing something fierce.”
“Is there something to be worried about?” I asked, suddenly uneasy. The look he gave told me he had said more than he meant to say.
“Just the usual crap. Freaking out about being a father and all, you know,” he said. He was clearly lying, and that only made me more worried. I wanted to push the issue, but he decided to throw himself back onto the couch and pick up a random book to leaf through. I wasn't going to get anything more out of him.
Hawke and Winter came back into the room a short time later. Hawke looked between the two of us, both trying our best to not look awkward. Neither of us had said a word to each other since our little talk.
“Everything okay?” he asked. Luke and I both grunted and shrugged.
“Okay, then.” Hawke shook his head. “Well, I think it's about time we go try to find Uraj.”
“The Forge is in town, too?” Luke groaned. Winter rolled her eyes but didn't say anything. She tried to get her husband and Hawke to get along, but didn't seem to care much what Luke thought of Uraj.
“I don't think he'll be bothering you, don't worry.” Hawke headed towards the door. “We just have a bit more business in Liturgy before we're on our way.”
I gave Winter a big hug, and a quick one for Luke before I went to join my companion.
“Come back soon!” Winter called after me. I looked back and smiled. Luke didn't say anything, but his eyes met mine, and he nodded. I returned the gesture, right before I closed the door and left them behind.
* * *
We waited around the square near the church for a while, trying our best to look harmless while we waited for Uraj to return. The sun had almost completely set before he finally showed up from around the back of the church. He spotted us right away and hurried over.
“So how did it go? Do we have Winter's aid?” he asked.
“Wait, how come Uraj knew what we were doing here and I didn't?” I also asked Hawke.
“I thought I told both of you,” he said in defense. I glared, but he just turned to Uraj and shook his head. “Not gonna happen. Winter is pregnant.”
Uraj's mouth dropped. “Really? Her and Luke, as parents? That's a strange thought.”
“Regardless, there's no way I'd even consider bringing her along.”
“No, of course not,” Uraj said. He ran a hand through his hair and sighed. “That's a shame, though. Her help would have been perfect.”
“Well, nothing to do about it. Did you finish your business?” asked Hawke.
“For the most part. It would help if you talked to Silvia before we went any further. Your support would mean something to her.”
Hawke blanched. “You know what might happen if I see her.”
“You'll have to deal with him at some point, if you plan on coming to Grankul. Come on, his sermon's about to start. We can talk to him afterward.”
Hawke turned away, saying nothing. Uraj turned to me.
“What about you, Micasa?” he asked. “How would you like to meet the Lord Ordained?”
Chapter 7: The Holy Tenet
The inside of the church felt like a tomb. Great stained glass windows adorned the walls high overhead, depicting scenes of sacrifice and nobility that likely held some meaning to the believers of the Tenet. During the day, they must have filled the church with multi-colored light and wonder, but in the onset of twilight their colors were muted, somber. The only light to be found emitted from the perfumed candles that burned all around the mahogany pews. Their sickly sweet scent wafted through the air, making me lightheaded.
Uraj led me to a pew near the back and sat, bidding me to join him. As I took my seat, I also took in the rest of the building. Most seats were already filled with white-robed citizens, all of them with bowed heads and hands clasped in prayer as they waited for service to begin. In the back of the room, a few black-robed figures stood near the wall, tucked away in the shadows with their own heads bent in prayer. Near the front was a raised dais, a lone altar watching over the congregation. To the side, a choir of children sang a soft hymn that mingled with the incense to fill the room.
“It's quite something, isn't it?” Uraj murmured to me out of the corner of his mouth.
“That's an understatement,” I said. “I don't get why Hawke never took me into one before.” Hawke had stubbornly refused to come to the sermon but didn't try to stop me from going. That was just as well; I would have gone even if he had told me no.
“Most churches aren't this opulent. The Holy Tenet is sort of looked down upon in the Old Kingdom, and all but abolished in the Fertile Lands. The churches that exist outside of Liturgy are often much smaller, almost hidden.” Uraj frowned. “Someday I need to change that. More faith in the world might do some real good for the people.”
The choir held a final wavering note that faded away as they went silent. The robed heads all rose expectantly, watching the back wall where a great ten-pointed star hung. From a corridor hidden underneath the symbol, three more robed figures slowly made their way forward. Two of them wore similar white robes to the worshippers, made distinct thanks to fine gold filigree that lined the seams.
The third bore a robe of pure cloth-of-gold, the light from the candles playing off it to make the person look like they were afire. All those present placed one hand on their head and the other on their heart, murmuring something under their breath.
I looked to Uraj for an explanation, only to see him make the same gesture. I barely heard him breathe the phrase, “To the Peace of the Light.” Not wanting to make any missteps, I foll
owed his lead.
The golden figure approached the altar, placing their hands upon it. Their head hung down, but their shoulders also sagged, lending more a feeling of exhaustion than reverence to his pose. The room grew deathly quiet.
“Believers,” came a woman's voice from the gilded hood, soft and quivering, “I hope this evening finds all well.”
A few people nodded. Others kept their heads down, hands clasped in their lap.
“Of course, I cannot blame you if things aren't faring so well for you. Life itself is little more than a maze of misery and strife, a test we stumble through until we meet the end when it comes. So often, it comes far too soon.”
I squinted in disbelief. Was she serious? This was the Lord Ordained, the highest office of the Holy Tenet?
“We seek the Almighty's guidance,” she continued, “yet are met with nothing more than silence. What great power would hear our cries for help, yet share no insight, yield no comfort for the grieving?”
“For the Almighty resides within us all!” boomed the voice of one of the priestesses that had accompanied the Lord Ordained out. She raised her arms and surveyed the crowd. “Every whispered prayer, every plead in your heart, the Almighty hears! Your ears are theirs! Your heart is theirs! Reflect, that the Almighty knows your plight, and the answer to all problems lies within!”
The believers nodded sagely, muttering agreements. The Lord Ordained's shoulders seemed to sag a bit more, and I thought that I might have heard a sigh sneak out from underneath the hood.
“We hold the ten-pointed star as our compass,” started the Lord Ordained again. She swept her hand towards the symbol hanging behind him. “We strive to achieve Honor, Charity, Courage, Empathy, and Discipline. We hold these five as those in the light. Yet, what is our world filled with instead? Lust, Wrath, Greed, Sloth, and Envy: the five in shadow.”
“The world has been blind to its own failings and has thus been turned upside down!” cried the other priestess. “It is up to those of the Holy Tenet to take the Almighty's teachings into their very soul and become the change that we seek manifested into this world!”
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