I sighed, “Next time let me know, I could have put him to sleep without breaking his jaw.”
He laughed, and then winked, “What fun would that be?”
We were both a little giddy from the relief of the interruption, and I chuckled at his poor joke. Gratuitous violence was never funny, although this wasn’t my world, and he wouldn’t be sued for paladin brutality anytime soon. He searched the guy quickly for weapons, and his lock picks. Then Gerard threw the guy over his shoulder and locked the room on his way out. I took a deep breath and then closed my eyes, maybe I’d be able to fall asleep before he got back…
I sighed and pushed back into him, and then my eyes popped open in alarm. I guessed I’d fallen asleep before he got back, but somehow during the night we’d ended up spooning, and I was busy pushing back against… never mind what it was.
I carefully rolled out of bed, glad he’d still been asleep for that, and pulled on my leather riding pants with my dress still on. Then I sighed and lifted the sheet telekinetically, for a barrier, and pulled the dress off, and dressed in the blouse and leather vest. I brushed out my long red hair and put it in a ponytail. Then I looked into the mirror critically and sighed. I wanted a shower, and I wanted access to makeup. Although, my complexion really didn’t need it, but I still missed my old morning rituals.
I couldn’t even take a bath, not with him in the room.
“Gerard, wake up,” I said while touching his shoulder.
He jumped and then smiled up at me, “I don’t think I slept very much.”
I made an apologetic face, “Sorry.”
He laughed, “Not exactly your fault.”
He got up and started to pull on his armor.
“What happened to the thief?” I asked curiously as I packed my dress away and then reached for my boots.
He shrugged, “He’ll spend some time in jail, do some forced labor to pay his debt, and then we’ll let him go.”
I was somewhat relieved to find they didn’t kill thieves.
He sighed, “If he gets caught a second time, and they usually do, we’ll take his hand.”
I blew out a breath, of course they would.
I slipped the boots on my feet, and then grabbed my saddle bags. I was starved for breakfast. I waited for him though, and we both went down the stairs and grabbed a table. It was just as busy this morning as it had been last night, as all the inn’s guests got up with the sun.
Proof if there was any, that this world was evil.
Still, without electricity all they had was candle light, except maybe for magic users. It only made sense to take advantage of the full light of day, and use less candles or god forbid torches at night. Torch smoke was nasty, I bet those geeky gamers back home didn’t know how bad it was. It clung to my hair as well, the scent of the torches I mean, just awful.
After a plate of breakfast, or two in my case, which they charged me an extra bronze for, we went out to saddle the horses.
This was it, next stop later this afternoon was the capitol city of the kingdom of Trelin, Magehaven. I think the ruling family of royalty in Trelin were all mages, and so were the nobles, which was probably why the capitol was named Magehaven.
I was excited, but I also felt a tinge of sadness. I think I would miss Gerard very much when I got home. But I’d have my family and friends back, and my life. And showers, latte, and sexy black skin tight outfits. Don’t even get me started on air conditioning and indoor plumbing.
I sighed and mounted Stormy. I’d miss the horse too.
It was only as we left the city of Linmoor behind, that I realized I hadn’t listed Anthony in my internal tirade of things that I missed from home. I bit my lip, and looked over at Gerard. Damn, Anthony wasn’t who I wanted anymore. I shook my head in denial.
“So how does Magehaven work, politics I mean, for all of Trelin I suppose.”
Gerard cleared his throat and smiled at me in apology, and then he said, “The royal family and noble families are mages. They’re function is to maintain law and order, and to protect the kingdom from external forces. The gods and temples don’t interfere in that, it wouldn’t work otherwise. The temples gain worshippers for the gods and are focused on that and souls in the afterlife.
“They also take donations, but they don’t tax like the nobles. In a way the temples are autonomous, as long as they don’t overstep. They will heal the sick, and help the worshipers of their gods in their personal lives.
“The gods do get involved though, in subtle ways, such as having their paladins working for the king, or even advising the king of portents and prophecies, but they don’t try and force the king to listen either.”
He frowned, “I’ve never tried to explain this before, but that’s how it works in general. The commoners pay taxes to the king, and as long as they’re honest about it, and don’t break the laws, they’re free to do as they will.”
I nodded slowly, “It sounds like it’s more complicated than the easy picture you’re painting.”
He chuckled, “It can be. What I just said is the way it’s supposed to work. In reality the temples have a competition of sorts, a god’s power is determined by the number of worshippers they have to an extent, although not completely. That… rivalry will sometimes leak into local politics, but they have to be careful because if they go too far the king will squash them. You know?”
I nodded, “Clear as mud.”
He smirked, “Then you do understand.”
I giggled.
He added, “Mages that aren’t nobles, and witches are treated the same as commoners under the law, at the same time, they are shown a bit more respect.”
I asked, “What about Clerics and Paladins?”
He shrugged, “They’re immune to taxes, but have to follow all the other laws. Technically I fall under the laws of my temple first, but also obey the orders of my king. My goddess Ictia is the goddess of battle. She really isn’t concerned so much about specifics, just that I fight in her name and not for evil.”
“I suppose that makes sense.”
I thought about all that and what he hadn’t said, while we rode, though we occasionally chatted throughout the day. The tree copses were growing more abundant, and we even passed through a few small forests, the closer we got to Magehaven.
Magehaven was about ten times larger than Linmoor, and was completely surrounded by forty-foot-high walls, thick enough for soldiers to man the walls. It was a truly fortified city. Gerard explained to me that it was split up into districts. Palace, noble housing, temple district which held over twenty large temples, upper food market for more expensive and higher quality foods, lower food market for the commoners, commoner housing, warehouses for storage against siege, and a business district for all the other shops besides food, along with several inns, including one which was also a house of ill-repute. Apparently companionship came with the room.
By the time we reached the gates, the sun was already setting. We barely made it in fact, and they closed the gates before we were half a block into the city.
Gerard said carefully, “Let’s get to an inn, there is no way we’ll get in to see a high priest or priestess today. I’ll hold off on reporting in to the king until you find what you’re looking for.”
I sighed, and felt a little conflicted. I wanted to go now, but I was also oddly relieved I wouldn’t be leaving Gerard quite yet. I was also happy he hadn’t decided to just dump me at an inn and take off, I didn’t have any idea what temple to go to, or how to even ask for what I wanted.
“Thanks,” I said simply as I gave him a smile.
The shop district was right by the main gate, which made sense to me, no point in visitors to the city having to go through several districts, just to pick up something from a blacksmith for their farm. It probably also cut down on foot traffic through the other districts. We found a decent inn, and took the time to get our horses settled down and comfortable before we went inside.
I also tried not to ge
t to depressed at the idea of leaving Gerard. I’d never felt quite so close to anyone before this, except maybe my parents, if in a very different way.
There was no room problem this time, and after we’d gotten our keys, and had dinner, Gerard went straight to bed. He hadn’t gotten much sleep last night. I’d done better, but not by much, so I turned in as well, a little disappointed our final evening together was cut so short.
Even so, without him as a distraction, and despite my roiling emotions, it didn’t take me long to find sleep.
Chapter 9
He watched amused as I polished off a second plate of breakfast.
I raised an eyebrow, “So where are we going? Your temple? Goddess Ictia?”
He shook his head, “No, I’m taking you to the temple of Arella, the goddess of dreams.”
I could tell he was hiding something from his emotions.
I tilted my head, “Any particular reason for that?”
He shrugged helplessly, “My goddess told me to, last night. I have no idea why, but I’m not going to disobey her either.”
I nodded halfheartedly, a bit frustrated by his attitude, though it was easy enough to guess the source, I was leaving and he didn’t want me to.
“I never suggested that, I was just curious why.”
He grunted in agreement and stood up.
I sighed and ate the last few forkfuls of eggs, and the last piece of sausage, and then got up. I had to admit, that was one thing I’d definitely miss, the food was always so fresh. Not flash frozen, or sitting in a grocery store for weeks. It was shocking to me what a difference that made.
“Alright,” I said while I picked up my satchel, “Lead the way.”
Gerard nodded and turned, and I followed him out and then walked beside him as we went toward the palace. There were already people in front of their stores calling out what they had for sale as people walked by, and I wondered if the commoners could even read. Most of the signs were simple pictures. Strange that I hadn’t noticed it before, I guessed I’d been focused on everything but Gerard this morning.
We got halfway to the palace, which was about a mile walk, and then turned to the left toward the temple district. There were statues of gods and goddesses all over the place. Fountains, street corners, and of course, a larger statue of each in front of their own temples. The large statues were the temple signs of sorts.
When Gerard waved at where we were going, I paused and looked up at the statue. The goddess was in white billowing robes, or perhaps a night gown, and her head was slightly bowed, with her eyes closed. She looked like a beautiful young maiden, asleep while standing, except that in the center of her forehead was a third eye, that was open, and seemed to stare into my soul.
I shivered and tightened my shields, though I doubted that would help. I also knew the statue was just a statue, I was just nervous, it wasn’t every day you asked a god, or a goddess, for a favor. At least, not on my world it wasn’t.
I looked back up the stairwell and we walked around the statue. Gerard had been patient, and didn’t say anything to me about me stopping, which helped. The building itself was white, but I didn’t think it was marble, it was something else. Perhaps magic bleached the local gray stone, I wasn’t sure. The front of the building was taller than it was wide, with a sharply angled steeple roof that reached into the sky.
As we reached the door Gerard turned, “Good luck, I will wait here until word is sent.”
“You’re staying out here?” I asked nervously.
He gestured, “This is not my goddess’s temple, let’s just say we don’t enter other god’s temples without a very good reason, like an invitation. You’ll be fine, I’m pretty sure they’re expecting you.”
I frowned, this would be the last time I’d see him. I kind of wanted to give him a hug and kiss goodbye, but I knew he wouldn’t welcome that.
I nodded helplessly instead and said, “Thank you Gerard. I’ll never forget you, or what you did for me.”
I’d meant every word, but it still sounded trite and lacking to my ears.
He smiled, “Go already,” but he said it teasingly.
I sighed and went inside the temple, where there was a young girl in white robes. Maybe eleven or twelve at a guess.
She smiled, “Katrina? Please follow me.”
Yup, apparently they knew I was coming before I did, which wasn’t at all alarming. Nope, no reason to panic, none at all. I took a deep breath to calm down.
“What’s your name?” I asked with small hitch in my throat.
She answered, “Rebecca, I’m just an acolyte so I have no title.”
I nodded, and asked as we started walking, “What exactly is an acolyte?”
The main worship area had been straight ahead, and held many rows of wooden benches, all facing a very large statue of the goddess. We however had turned to the right, and seemed to be following a hallway that went around the central room to the back of the temple.
Rebecca replied, “An acolyte is one who has chosen their goddess, and wishes to serve. I will be an acolyte until the goddess either asks me to serve, or rejects me.”
I bit my lip, and wondered if wishing her luck would be evoking a goddess of luck and be a huge insult. So I held my tongue.
Gerard had told me the person picks the god, and the god picks the clerics and paladins from those people. Apparently being an acolyte was the equivalent of a human jumping up and down and yelling, “pick me, pick me!” to a goddess. Or at least, so it seemed by her explanation.
Instead of risking inserting my foot into my mouth I just smiled and said, “Thanks for explaining.”
I guessed by the length of the hallway, and the two left turns after we’d initially gone to the right, we had to be behind the sanctuary. There was a door there, and I realized the temple might have been tall and not very wide, but it was far deeper than I’d seen from the front.
Rebecca knocked.
On the door was a symbol, the same face and body as on the statue but in two dimensions, with two eyes closed and a third eye in the center. I wondered if that was what would be on the priest or priestesses holy symbol, and didn’t have long to find out. As the door opened and I saw the very same symbol carved into a silver medallion around an older woman’s neck.
She was about my height, five foot eight, and had long light blonde hair which hadn’t silvered at all, and she had piercing and wise blue eyes as she looked right at me. She was in a flowing but somewhat conforming white robes. And despite the lines on her face that indicated she was at least sixty, she was still beautiful, I couldn’t help but to wish I’d age that gracefully.
I barely took note of little Rebecca as she retreated back down the hallway.
“Come in Katrina,” she said in a pleasant soothing voice and waved me through the door, “I’m Danielle, high priestess of Arella. You’re both welcome and safe here child.”
I shook my head, and for some reason I wasn’t at all offended by her calling me child, “Thank you. Can you help me?”
She nodded, “In a manner of speaking. I shall help you, but what happens is between you and Arella. Please follow me.”
She turned and walked down the corridor, I saw a few other priests, and priestesses, or I guess they were clerics? This place confused me. I was led into a room with another statue of the goddess, as well as a stone altar of some sort. There was a white gossamer material over it, and candles around the room, although the room seemed much too bright for the number of candles that were lit.
She gestured to the altar, “Please, lie down. I will pray over you, and the goddess will answer.”
On the altar, right. I looked around and was satisfied when I didn’t find any knives, so I went and did as she asked, and wondered why I had to lay down for this. Of course, she was the goddess of dreams, maybe I was about to take a nap?
The old woman touched my forehead and spoke in a strange language, I was tempted to learn it, but thought maybe that would be a
really horrible idea right now. Then I felt really tired, and fell asleep…
I’d once thought that if I ever found myself in the presence of a god, or a deity of some sort, that I would feel insignificant and small.
I could not have been more wrong.
I felt so many things. Cherished, loved, important, safe, and calm. I also felt the awe and power of the goddess that seemed to be in front of me. I’d assumed I’d feel that second one, I was just wrong about the effect it would have on me.
She looked almost exactly like the statue, except there was no third eye, and her eyes were open, and glowed a soft white.
I was speechless, and wasn’t sure what to do. Did I curtsey? Kneel?
Arella smiled in benediction, “Not necessary Katrina. You may call me Arella, and I require not empty obeisance. We have much to discuss, and you have a decision to make.”
“A decision?”
Arella nodded, “I have a bitter truth to deliver, and an offer. You are unique in this world, and as such have the ability to make a large difference. Fortunately for me, you’re also a dreamer.”
I am?
Arella answered, “Yes, you are. Is there not much about this world you want to shape?”
I frowned and said doubtfully, “Plumbing is a dream?”
She laughed gently, “Yes, but that’s not all you’ve dreamed of. My followers are more diverse that most gods. Ictia’s followers love a good fight, Vyasis the god of health loves a healer, where dreams can go anywhere, be about anything. You are a strong fighter, but it isn’t your focus. You yearn to change things, to improve them, do you not?”
I frowned, “What does this have to do with me getting home.”
Arella sighed, “Fine child. The bitter news it is.”
Arella held up an onion and said, “The multiverse is like an onion.”
I gaped, “Really?”
She shook her head, “Of course not, but what I’m about to explain is true enough. You are familiar with figuring out the circumference of a circle?”
I was really lost now, so I just went with it, “Sure. Umm, two times pi, times the radius right?”
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