by Sam Sea
“Sure… I like honey. And if you have some freshly churned butter, even better.”
“We can do that,” said another one closer to the door leading to the pantry. “We can also bring you some smoked sausages… and some salted ham.”
“Sausages would be good.”
“Yes, they are very good. And our ham is too. We have some that are four years curing now…” He said enthusiastically, but as others turned their heads to look at him, he just ducked his head and shut his mouth.
“So who is in charge here in the kitchen?”
“It would be our father Sam. But he is not here now. He was sent this morning to check out why our fish pond seemed empty. I am afraid, he might be gone for most of the day.”
Remembering that their father Sam was not around, suddenly all cheered up. “You should also try our goat cheese. It’s really good - we even sell it throughout Five Kingdoms.”
“Sure I’ll try it all. Bring it all out. With this bread, I bet everything would taste great.”
Mikka set at the bench and showed the priest following her to sit opposite of her.
“I… I really shouldn’t.”
“Just sit down. You standing next to me is making me a bit nervous.” The priest nodded his head in approval and uncomfortably positioned himself on the bench.
“What is your name?” she asked him.
“I am a monk Sornicus.”
“Sornicus, I command you to relax… and join me eating. I do not like for you to watch me while I eat. And I do not like to eat alone.”
“As you command.” The priest said politely, but found it very difficult to try and take the food which was placed in front of Mikka.
Mikka noticed that as her dagger cut half of her loaf and good chunk of the sausage and cheese and placed it in front of him. Her mouth was fool with delicious food as she uttered. ”Don’t worry. If anybody tries to scold you for eating, just tell them that I ordered you to do so.”
But Sornicus seemed very embarrassed and his bits were shy, as were his eyes, which hugged the floor so he could not meet the look of other priests.
“How long have you been here, Sornicus?”
“Twelve years my lady, ever since my parents died and left me as orphan.”
“So how can you be so thin with all the good food here? Look at you, you are all skin and bones”
“Some of us still believe that eating weakens the flash… “ He was immediately embarrassed at what he said. “We believe that when the grand master says to us that is not so, and that we should eat, but there are still many of us who believe…”
“Not many of your older priests believe in the same thing. They are all fat! Stop staring at him!” Mikka screamed again at the kitchen helpers with half a sausage sticking out of her mouth. “I ordered him to eat!”
“All right, so continue staring!” Mikka continued as she found them unable to look at them. “Or even better, each one of you, stop doing what you are doing, and come and join us! I order you to come, sit here and share a breakfast with me.”
“My lady, but Father Zi-”
“Father Zi can kiss my ass… I’m ordering you to stop! Don’t make me take my sword out, or I’ll give each one of you a good spanking with it!” Young priests looked at each other unsure of what to make of it, unable to move and continue cooking, but still unable to join her.
“You better do as the lady says. “ The voice behind was Sergeant Einnon who greeted Mikka with a small smile, and a bow of the head.
“And you too, come and join us as well.” Mikka called on to him.
“Don’t mind me if I do.” He set opposite of Mikka and took his hat off, still smiling, “And Father, bring the good stuff… I’ll vouch for all of you, will say that she-god made you do it.” Miraculously fast, the long kitchen table became covered with olives, fresh tomatoes, bacons, hams, horseradishes, honey cookies and as ten of them set quietly and devoured it all.
“She-god… I like that!” Mikka thought out loud as another big chunk of hot bread disappeared in her mouth.
“Yes, that’s what everyone in Dicson call you now.”
“Now that’s better, much better.” Mikka said seeing how swiftly everyone stopped staring but jumped on eating food like they have been starving for a lifetime. Seeing how thin they were, she was not so sure they were not. “Eating weakens the flash. That is the dumbest thing I ever heard! Having a big breakfasted is one of the best ways to start a day... I tell you, sometimes, the only reason I get up is to have a good breakfast.” The sergeant chuckled to Mikka’s remarks, and soon all the priests joined in, laughing hysterically, all with their mouths full.
After the breakfast was finished, and Sergeant Einnon excused himself to return to his duty, Mikka wrapped some of the remaining bread and sausage and gave it to Father Sornicus. “This you can take to my friend. Don’t wake him up, just leave it next to his door.”
Mikka felt good in the kitchen, warm and cozy. Watching how diligently young priests moved around the kitchen, she even felt relaxed.
It seemed that all priests thought that Father Sornicus had a , so they nudged him forward as he came back, talking and whispering to his ear.
But Mikka didn’t want to wait for embarrassed young priest to tell her anything. “What do they want?”
“They wanted to know if you were really the one who killed all those soldiers in Dicson…”
“Yes…” Mikka nonchalantly answered as if he asked her how she slept.
Mikka stayed in the warmth of that kitchen for a long time. The young men went back to work, but they have not forgot about her. They brought her wild flowers tea, and the honey cookies they kept only for high priests themselves. She passed the time with a smell of cooking stew mixed with the relaxed conversation until another young priest walked in and approached father Sornicus, whispering something into his ear.
“What is it?” Mikka enquired.
“My lady… there is…”
“What is it?”
“The Father Zi… he is in command whenever the Grand Master is not among us… he is now ready to see you and politely asked if you can meet him at the old-oaks table.”
Mikka let go of a long breath, not really ready to leave the warmth behind. But then she thought of silent and felt that if she could get her reward soon enough, she might head out even before the Grand Master returns.
“Well, I guess it is about time. So, show me the way,” she said in the end.
Mikka was lead to the room on the floor above. It seemed to be some sort of a meeting room with a rough round table in the middle of it. An old priest wearing white robe set in its far side while three other seats were occupied with men dressed in armor, their weapons close to their hands.
She was not surprised to see one of them being Ronnich. Whatever he was doing there she figured out must be related to her presence. Getting them to stay at the same tavern, Three White Roses, must be related to it all somehow. She met his examining stare and nodded her head in a peaceful manner on which he answered by bowed, showing acknowledgement and respect.
She looked at two other ones and sensed tension in the air. One of them, standing two heads taller than Mikka resembled more a bear than a human, slammed the table with his fist as he stood up in rage. “I don’t deal with high-borns!” He yelled pointing his finger to another man whose shiny armor obviously seemed to have cost a great deal of gold.
“Lord Eirnar was invited here to-”
But the giant would not have any of it. “I don’t care! And women too! I don’t deal with them… not when it comes to planning missions.” He said as he noticed Mikka slowly approach the table. “They are good for only one thing anyway…”
“Yes, and I don’t deal with stupids, yet, you don’t see me complaining, cry-baby!” Lord Eirnar lashed out sharply, obviously not ready to put up with his attitude.
“Watch your mouth high-born, or I’ll-”
“Please,” the priest got up and rai
sed his both hands. “We are not here to argue… We have not called you here to start a fight amongst you all… Do I need to remind you that all of you have been offered compensations for being here? Do I need to remind each and every one of you what those compensations were?”
“Are you the Grand Master?: Mikka asked paying no attention to anybody else sudden sobering or priest’s scolding tone.
“No, I’m not.”
“And she even talks funny... Who is she?” The giant voice reverberated against the windows.
“What do you want?” Mikka paid the giant no attention and asked the priest with impatience. She felt nervous staying in the monastery, and thinking of Silent being alone in the far away tavern, made her ready to jump back on her mount that very second.
“I don’t know what he wants, but I’ll tell you what I want…” The bear turned to Mikka.
“If I were you Cartar, I would be more careful… If I were you, I would stay away from her. She is much more than meets the eye.” Ronnich stepped in with the warning.
“Please…” the priest raised his hands and voice again. “There is a very good reason why you are all here, why I called you all around. This is very important, maybe the most important thing you will be doing in your lifetime… Can you all just sit down and listen to me!“
“So you are then the one who called us all here?” Mikka’s question took the priest aback.
“No, not exactly… But I do speak on the behalf of the Grand Master when he is not here, and what I have to tell you is of such a great…”
“Yeah, I know, you said it already fifty times I think,” her voice lacking any respect and tolerance raised fire in priest’s eyes. “Isn’t your Grand Master supposed to be here already? Your priests…” Mikka was confused and turned her head around but father Sornicus seemed to have vanished behind her back. “They promised he would be here by now. Am I to assume that they are liars just like you?”
“I am not a liar.”
“Sure you are.” Mikka. “Maybe they cannot see it, but I do. Whatever he promised you, it’s all just a bunch of crap. I want the Grand Master, and I want to know where he is now. He has questions to answer.”
“Well… Gods willing he will be here shortly.” The white-robed man didn’t know what else to say. “But since you are all here now, I might as well talk to you and clear some things out , so we do not waste any time…”
“I do not mind waiting for the Grand Master. I would rather wait for him to explain everything to me.” Ronnich was saying joining Mikka’s argument. “I really would like to know how he plans to cure my boy.”
“Oh, the Grand Master can do miracles… He can…” Mikka interrupted him with a ridiculing chuckle.
“To hell with any grand priest. I want to know what I am doing here.” Cartar voice thundered again. “So give me answers, or give me my horse back…”
“There are five of you who I gathered here today… One has been wounded, but should get better swiftly, especially since we will cure him.” the priest talked solemnly, looking steadily at Mikka, making each of his word reverberate slowly and profoundly against the dome of the meeting room. “There are five of you who we decided to call on as there is a great quest that has to be done. And all of you are the best that this land can offer for the quest we ask of you is of outmost importance for the survival of the-”
“I want to see the fifth man. If he is to go on a quest with us, I want to see him.” The high-born stepped in with the request of his own.
“He is in no condition to walk,” noticing another murky face, the priest decided to give in. “But I will ask one our fathers if he can be brought here.” Then he turned around and walked to the curtain behind his back. It seemed that the conversation was not progressing at all how he had planned, and just stepping away from the table seemed to have lifted a dead weight from his shoulders.
Mikka felt uneasiness overcome her, and not just because Cartar slowly walked behind her.
“I am not interested in having part of any quests,” she called on after him. “I have already completed what I set out to do, and what you contracted me for. Your man, I brought him as instructed. He is safe. And your payment as agreed is due. Now I want it! Are you to deny me that?”
“Uh… So it seems there is a lot of fire in here…” Cartar was murmuring behind her. “You may be right, solider boy. You may be right, at least in that…”
“No, no, of course not…” the priest yelled as he walked back to the table “You will be paid as promise. We will, as we always do, honor our obligations. But this quest which is in front of you… it is far more important than your last one. IT actually depended on you accomplishing what you did, the man you brought. It is all so very connected. If you just all sit down and give me a minute, I can clear it all out and then…”
“No,” Mikka’s answer was short, and she refused to sit down. “Be quick with what you have to say for I have other things to do.
“But we need your help, and we will pay you, pay you well, anything you want. Just help us out and the heavens will be yours,” his words, once slow and solemn, had turned to rapid and desperate pleads who could not leave his mouth fast enough.
“Hm, I like the sound of that.” Cartar was approving behind her. “Everything I want, well, let me think then…”
“And when exactly are we supposed to go on this quest?” the high-born seemed pressed for time.
“It will be as soon as the other man recuperates. A day or two.” The priest said.
“He won’t be able to recuperate not in a day or two. Three weeks, he has to be still for at least three weeks.” Mikka didn’t like where all of that was going. Are they going to drug Les again, make him go and do stuff in that broken body of his? That will certainly kill him. Did I save him for nothing?
To her surprise, the door behind opened and Les walked in. That was fast, too fast… Did they wake him up… Didn’t I tell him to shoot them? Stupid man! Mikka could not understand how he could walk at all. They drugged him. They drugged him again. And he is too stupid to know.
He walked slowly past Mikka, with steady step and with no help of anybody else, and without looking at her sit down right next to her.“
“Who are you?” the high-born asked him.
“That matters little.” The priest said. “You wanted him here, and here he is. What he knows is crucial. We went through the great trouble to bring him here…”
“No, you didn’t, liar…” Mikka interrupted “I did. The trouble was all mine. All you have to do is pay for it. Or else I will take him with me.”
“He looks sick,” the high-born commented unable to take his eyes of Les’s white-chalked face.
“He will be fine in two days…”
“No he won’t,” Mikka said calmly and then turned to Les “You will most definitely die if you ride out of here before getting well… You should have died already. Your body can take only so much.”
“Well it’s my body and my life to throw away…” he answered as he met Mikka’s stare.
“Should have told me that when you were hanging by a chain…”
The priest was trying desperately to draw attention back to himself. Things were not going at all how he wanted them to. “Please, please… We have called upon you four to do what is the will of god, to be his hands here on earth…”
Mikka’s eyes turned. “Your gods I care little off. Honor your deal first”
“Pay to play, that’s the only talk I know off,” Cartar was saying. “You want us to play, you need to pay… So, let’s see what you want and see how much that is truly worth to you…”
“Yes, of course, about the gold… That is not the problem. We can pay you your weight in gold, if that needs be… that is not the problem.”
”My own weight in gold? I’ll do anything for that amount of gold.” Cartar appetite just got a whole lot better.
“You would, wouldn’t you?” Lord Eirnar asked him.
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��You damn right I would,” he answered briskly.
“The only thing I am asking for is little bit of patience, and to stay here for a little while longer and-“ the priest was saying.
“Well, if we are going to stay here for that long,” Giant’s loud words interrupted their chit-chat. “…we better find something to do. Maybe before we go on any quests, we can have some fun first.” Cartar uttered words between two lines of sharpened, yellowish teeth which slowly approached her neck. “I didn’t have a woman ever since I left Dicson, and that is… I guess, five days ago. That is a lot for a man like me.” He whispered to Mikka.
Mikka took a step forward, nothing the new tension on high-borns, Ronnich’s as well as Les. They had their hands at their swords, and it almost brought a smile to her face knowing that they seemed ready to lunch themselves at the bear who was twice their combined size and could probably cut them all in half with a single swing. But she was surprised to see the high priest awfully calm, even approving it seemed.
Les laughed out loud. “And all the goats you raped on the way here, they don’t count?” Les was inquiring, mocking and anger all twisted up in his voice. “The man like me… My god, I think I saw a dead one just by the gate… I think you really had fun with her, didn’t you? What happened, did you get tired of the sheep now, or your pecker is too small for them?” Les just wouldn’t stop.
The man with no neck, finally turned to him, his hand pulling out a short blade. “Maybe I’ll have fun with you first.”
“With what? Is that why you murder women and children after you rape them? You don’t want nobody to know how small your pecker is? Is that what it is?” The man raged as he towered toward Les.
“Go on… have fun. You won’t find helpless women and children here…” Les dared him.
Then they all blinked and missed what happened.
His face was still twisted in anger, crazy eyes were still glowing with the intent to harm as his head suddenly departed his shoulders and dropped to the floor, the volcano of blood spraying over the round table and Les. Mikka was already behind him, pushing his headless torso to the floor with her boot.