“Nia was just asking about the Four,” Gethin explains, “so I directed her to the Temple’s archives.”
“Well, if you start reading that tonight, you’ll be asleep for sure,” Falnor chuckles, “so save that idea for later.”
“Midnight is too late for this old man,” Gethin says with a smile, “I’m off to bed so that I can be at your Induction Ceremony tomorrow morning.”
As Gethin makes his way out of the chapel, Falnor settles in and sighs, “So. What shall we talk about? I brought some cards, if you’d rather play a game. All this serious reflection isn’t my strong suit.”
“Is there anything you want to ask me?” Emlyn says, “If I can answer it, I will.”
“It’s a bit gruesome,” Falnor says slowly, “and if you don’t want to answer, you don’t have to.”
“What is it?” Emlyn asks, frowning.
“We’ve all wanted to know what it’s like when your god dies,” Falnor explains.
“You know the exact moment it happens. There is a sense of something being severed, taken from you. That something you had has gone missing. I’m not sure how else to describe it.” Emlyn says, “Like having long hair that’s been cut off suddenly. You miss the weight of it, so you know it’s gone.”
The pair sits chatting quietly for a bit when Saris peeks in, “I’m here to take over.”
Falnor gives her a friendly pat on the shoulder and makes his way out as Saris settles down.
“You’ll be one of us soon enough, now,” he grins, “Then the training starts. Master Yanthus is quite particular. Have you met him yet?”
“As it happens, I have,” Emlyn says with a smile, “He challenged me to land some strikes on him.”
“That’s his usual,” Saris grins, “and usually followed up by a butt kicking.”
“I think I managed to land a couple before I almost passed out.”
“That’s… good,” Saris says, impressed despite himself, “What happened then?”
“Master Ember healed me a few times and packed me off to the infirmary. The infirmary staff told me that I can’t start training until after break and gave me a whole list of restrictions.” ‘
"When you said you almost passed out, I rather thought the healers would saddle you with a big list of things that thou shalt not do,” Saris nods, “They’ve been known to do that, but we can train with you in private. Benger will know the best places. Since he’s one of the guards, he’ll know all the patrol routines.”
“I don’t want any of you to get in trouble,” Emlyn says, shaking her head.
“We won’t,” Saris grins, “We won’t break any of their rules. There’s plenty you can do without lifting a weapon. And if you need healing, I’m sure that between all of us, we can take care of that, too.”
“Are you sure?” Emlyn asks cautiously.
“Of course, I am,” Saris nods, “They told you nothing heavier than a gambeson, so we’ll rig you a special gambeson. If you can sew at all, it won’t be hard to do. Trust me, you won’t be either the first or the last to work around their rules.”
The two of them sit, plotting out their miniature mutiny when the door opens and Hiltar grins at Saris, “Oh, I know that look. What are we up to? You two are up to something. There’s a definite conspiratorial air in here.”
Saris fills Hiltar in on their plans before he takes his leave. Hiltar nods slowly, “That could work, but you’ll need extra food. You’ll have to tell Odous to start doubling up on your meals. If you try to train like that and don’t eat properly, you’ll do yourself more harm than help.”
“I’m aware of that,” Emlyn shrugs, “I’ll talk to Odous to see what he says. If he can’t help me, I might start eating what he makes me and filling in from the dining hall.”
“Gods above,” Hiltar chuckles, “If you do that too much, they’ll get wise when you don’t put on any weight. We’ll all end up swiping food for you so that no one’s the wiser. Besides, once you join us, you’ll get your regular pay. It’s not a lot, but it will be enough for you to buy some food out in the city. If that tightwad Ember tries to take your clothes and things out of your pay, you see Gethin and ask him what to do about it. Garmer was here, on duty, when the Goddess showed up with you. He says that Gethin and the Goddess talked about you while all the other priests were too busy trying to demand a Choosing. He heard her say that the temple was to provide for you, for whatever you might need.”
“Gethin is from the same place I’m from,” Emlyn explains, “He might even have recognized me.”
“I doubt it,” Garmer says from behind her, “Might as well try to recognize a herd-beast from the roast. You were just about that well-cooked, too. We weren’t even sure if you were male or female for the longest. Good thing you’re a girl, though.”
This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.
“Why’s that?” Emlyn asks with a frown.
“Having toes and other bits grown back is painful, but I can’t… No, I don’t even want to imagine having to have that done to my manly bits,” Garmer shrugs, “And from what I could tell when they cut what was left of your clothes off you, you didn’t have any, so all of us were secretly hoping you were a girl. Otherwise…. Then, when you started screaming, we all wondered if you might have been male after all.”
At her puzzled look, Garmer laughs loudly and explains, “We thought you’d found out that your manly bits had gone missing.”
Garmer finishes filling her in on the details of her arrival at the Temple. “She had you in something the mages called a stasis spell. They were all very impressed. She told them that she did it so that she wouldn’t cause you more pain by moving you or killing you in the process. You were just a big, silvery blob floating behind the Goddess while they got a bed and everything ready for you. The whole place was buzzing like a beehive as everyone was preparing for her to drop the spell. When she did, they started healing you and then stopped. Someone scurried off and came back with a cleric who resurrected you almost immediately. I don’t even know how many times that happened. Everything seemed okay for a while, but then the screaming started. The healers said that they’d healed you enough that you were able to feel how badly you were hurt. When none of the healers or the mages could do much for you, the Temple put out the call for herbalists and alchemists to have a go. Several tried, but none were as successful as Davilla. She mixed up something that quieted you pretty quickly, but it didn’t last long, so she started experimenting. I don’t know what that mix was, but we had people with an addiction from all over the city trying to drink the sewage for a time. They’d show up here with the strangest problems. The healers had their hands full with that until they figured out it was your bandages. Even flushed with the rest of the sewage, the smell of whatever it was drew them like bees to honey. Everyone’s surprised you do not have an addiction to whatever was in that stuff.”
“It was horrible,” Emlyn says with a shudder, “It was like a great beast chasing me every time my eyes closed. I could sense its hunger. It wants to devour everything living, but it was quite happy to start with me. I battled with it constantly to keep it back, keep it from consuming me. I don’t think I’ve ever been so happy as the day that they told me they weren’t using it anymore. It was still a few more days before it stopped chasing me, trying to overtake me, overpower me.”
Sighing, Garmer glances at the door, “Robis must have overslept. I think he could sleep through the end of the world. I’m going to get some sleep. I forget who’s after Robis, but I think it’s either Urlin or Madil. They’ll be along in a bit, and you can probably use some of that quiet contemplation that you’re supposed to be doing to think about where you want to go from here.”
“Thank you for staying to keep me company,” Emlyn says with a smile. Garmer nods and heads off to bed. Emlyn composes herself and begins to meditate. Finally, growing somewhat bored with static meditation, she begins to do some calisthenics. She’s moving slowly and carefully, trying to perfect each movement and controlling her breathing, which is just as meditative as sitting quietly, but far less likely to put her to sleep.
As she’s moving through the entire sequence a second time, Emlyn begins to think about what Garmer said, about where to go from here. “I have a seed of a plan to save my people. If the price for that is my service to this Goddess, then so be it. Hells, I’d probably weep for joy if Niefon showed up here and he was my least favorite relative. I’d even be happy to see that entitled twit Delwyn.” She starts the sequence a third time, continuing to mull over the idea. “If I get any of them back, it will be worth it, whatever it is that she’s going to ask of me. Whatever this Test of Pain is, I’ll pass it. Whatever tasks they give me, I’ll do. It's a slim chance, but it's better than what we have now. If binding myself to this Goddess gives me a chance to save any of them, it will be worth it. All I can do is try and see where the path I’ve chosen goes. May the Light show us the way or show us where to carve a path. Looks like I’ll be carving a path. No different than going after First Awst. No one thought I could do that either.” With her resolution made, Emlyn stops the calisthenics and begins doing balance exercises.
Emlyn is balanced carefully on one foot with her other leg curled up behind her. One arm is reached back, holding onto her boot, while her other arm is stretched out in front of her. The position is quite a stretch, and while she’s trying to decide if she wants to hold it or not, she hears the chapel door open and someone coughs. She startles and starts to fall sideways, but releases her position and manages to catch herself on a pew.
“Amusing yourself, I see,” Urlin says with a chuckle,” Reach any life-altering conclusions yet?”
“I have,” Emlyn grins back, “I have a plan again and a purpose. I can take my oaths without any reservations.”
Crossing his arms, Urlin regards her curiously, “Explain.” “I had been planning to take them, but more out of a sense of duty and obligation than my own desire to do so,” Emlyn explains, “but now I have a purpose. My own purpose and taking them suits my purpose.”
“Our Goddess is pretty specific about having a willing heart,” Urlin frowns, “when you take your oaths. Duty and obligation alone don’t cut it. If you had gone to her and told her that, she’d have released you.”
“That wouldn’t have been right either,” Emlyn counters, “She’s been… kind. Kinder than I, even though a god could be. She’s also gone to a lot of trouble for me and on my behalf – coming to find me in the first place, bringing me here, healing me, giving me the time and space to recover. I couldn’t just toss that aside in good conscience. If nothing else, I’d have taken up her service just for that alone. She’s shown herself to be worth serving. Now, though, it’s different. It’s not an obligation. Now it’s something I pick up willingly. Happily, even.”
Uncrossing his arms, Urlin looks at her grinning face, “You’re certain?”
“As certain as one can be in this life,” Emlyn grins back, “at any rate. I can’t see where I’d come to hate or regret it.”
“Then I’m happy for you,” Urlin replies gravely, “Let me be the first to welcome you among us, then.” He grunts slightly as Emlyn plows into him and hugs him hard before spinning away, leaping and pirouetting around the chapel.
“Enough of that,” Urlin says with a chuckle, “you still have to make it down the aisle with all that armor on. Save your strength.”
Stopping suddenly, Emlyn nods, “You’re quite correct. I may be getting a bit carried away.”
“You certainly seem happier,” Urlin agrees, “Probably as happy as I’ve ever seen you.”
“I am,” Emlyn grins back, “I’ve always had a plan for my life. Things haven’t always gone in the direction that I wanted. I’ve had to pivot more than once, but I managed to reach my goals. I was well on track with many of the things I wanted to accomplish before events outside anyone’s control landed me here. I’ve been a bit lost, muddling through each day, trying to figure out what comes next. Now I know. My path is laid out again. All that’s required of me is the courage and resolve to walk that path. That’s something I think I can manage."
Which of her cohort do you like the best? Which the least? Let me know in the comments.