Theo stirred and fell, landing face first on a grassy patch of dirt. Had he fallen asleep again? Where was he? He had only the slightest memory of Wen nursing him back to health, but… Where was he?

  He groaned as his arms lifted his torso back up before his legs activated and he got up on his knees. He was in a forest, that much he could see. The clearing seemed familiar from a hazy recollection he couldn’t quite place. He found the log he’d been lying on next to him, its surface covered with a thick, emerald moss. A glass vial and a cork of some kind lay next to it, abandoned for all he knew. He then remembered the pink liquid, then the woman that wasn’t Wen at all. He turned to look around, finding nothing and no one. Except the grey cloak hanging on a branch. It almost seemed like a trap in its obvious placement.

  “You’re awake,” said a soothing, feminine voice coming from nowhere in particular. Theo turned to where he thought it came from despite having already looked there and found no one. Now, there was a woman there, her hair nutty brown with a crystal sheen that seemed unnaturally glossy. Her eyes were similarly deep in colour, though if they were actually brown or not, he couldn’t tell. She was slim, her hair lying wider at her hips than the hips themselves, though her body was more shaped like an hourglass than anyone Theo had ever met before. Her shoulders as well as her hips were wider than her waist, giving the woman a somewhat mature and alluring look.

  She wore a sky blue shirt with buttons halfway down her torso. It seemed to be made of a fine silk, which contrasted highly against the rougher-looking shorts she was wearing down towards her knees. The remainder of her legs were bare with the exception of her feet, which had tired sandals protecting them from only the smoothest of ground as far as he could tell.

  “You,” Theo started, ignoring how she suddenly appeared like that. “You saved me.” His words seemed to have her slightly on edge at first, then as his eyes showed true appreciation, she lowered her shoulders and stood more relaxed.

  “How are you feeling?” she asked, her voice carrying genuine worry.

  “Better. A bit lightheaded. Confused, for the most part. Who are you?” he asked.

  The woman looked away and tried not meeting his eyes for too long, though there was no blush of embarrassment that Theo could see. “Grace,” she said. “Cleric of the Lady of Mystery, Acolyte of She of Storms, Disciple of the Magician, Apostle of the Voice of the Wind-”

  “That’s a whole lot of synonyms…”

  “-and… Servant of the Mistress of Nature’s Call.”

  While still looking away almost sheepishly, her voice had been gaining traction and confidence as she proved her full set of titles that meant nothing in the ears of Theo, but his comment had inadvertently ripped the air from her sails and the final title was spoken quicker and with much less gusto than even the first.

  “Hello, uh… Grace.”

  She peeked towards him with a rather innocent expression before looking away again. “Now you…”

  “Oh! I’m, uh, Theo. Founding council member of Sigil Lake, I guess. I’m not much for titles and the like,” he greeted apologetically.

  “Just that?” she asked, as if he was lying. He didn’t think he was.

  “I think so?” he asked back.

  “You’re practically radiating divine magic from that showing of light from earlier. If I cut you, I’m almost certain you’d bleed the blood of Arcana,” she said, facing him again with a bit of determination.

  Theo stepped back a single step and extended his arms in her direction. “Please don’t!”

  She shifted her head sideways, letting her waist-length hair follow her motions. She eyed him questioningly. “Why would I fix your mana channels only to cut you?”

  It was a fair question, to be honest, but Theo had had quite the day already. He shrugged and wasn’t sure whether he should apologise?

  “Why did you bring me here?” he then asked, changing the topic expertly.

  “Your people seemed on edge, so I figured they wouldn’t let me help you without wasting valuable time first. You’re lucky you already have the mana channelling skill, otherwise you’d probably never be able to heal again.”

  While Theo wasn’t in the mood to argue against her, he was sure he didn’t have that particular skill. Instead, he decided to ask about that final part of her explanation.

  “Never heal?”

  She nodded. “Our mana channels are what aids in our body’s regeneration. You didn’t know?”

  He didn’t. “There’s a whole lot I don’t know,” he answered honestly.

  “But you must be a follower of Arcana? All churches devoted to her presence learn of magic.”

  Theo shrugged.

  “No? Then why are you the only one who’s interacted with the Lady in so long? It doesn’t seem fair.”

  Grace stepped towards him, not in any hostile way, but rather a curious one. She seemed ignorant of the fact that her face quickly grew too close for comfort, then she inched closer still as she gazed into his eyes while tip-toing to reach him. Theo felt the warmth of her breath on his own lips, but he was too mesmerised by her radiant eyes to step back, if nothing else than for simple politeness. Whatever church she was from, intimacy seemed to be something of which they ignored.

  Her eyes then grew a dangerous crimson hue, which Theo couldn’t help but step away from. Her expression, though, never wavered and was still as calm as the trees above. A message popped up with urgency, superseding the ones that had been placed in a separate ‘unread’ pile. It was a surprisingly familiar warning.

  Warning! You are under the scrutiny of an Evaluation.

  Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

  “Evaluation?” Theo asked. This caused Grace to shift her head sideways again.

  “I-I’m sorry! I should’ve asked for your permission. I don’t know what I was thinking. Please don’t tell on me!”

  “I… won’t?”

  Grace stepped back, suddenly realising her closeness despite Theo having already increased the gap between them manyfold with his earlier one-step retreat.

  “What’s the difference between an evaluation and an inspection?” the man then asked, remembering the last time he got a similar warning. Chaste had been the one ‘inspecting’ him.

  “I don’t know whether you’re testing me or not, but… Clerics evaluate while nobles and highly ranked military officers can inspect.”She answered hesitantly, as if worried he was going to fail her in some way. “You seem sheltered. Is that why you ask?”

  “Sheltered?”

  “You have some skills, but…”

  “Oh! Very much sheltered, yes. Please explain everything to me like you would a silly, silly child,” Theo agreed wholeheartedly. Also, he noted for later that Chaste was likely a noble, which was certainly not something he’d explained. It did explain the pouchful of cash he’d so blindly given away, though.

  Familiar voices, both male and female, were then heard shouting his name in the distance. He recognised Wen’s rough voice and Willam’s powerful one, as well as what Theo thought was Fischer, the hunter and tracker that had likely helped them find him. Theo noticed Grace practically shrinking into herself as she stepped behind Theo for protection as his friends grew visible one by one.

  “Theo!” Wen burst, her voice tired from shouting and poor sleep. The relief in her voice rang true, however, and Theo couldn’t help but smile. The tavern wench, still not something Theo felt comfortable calling her, then saw the person hidden behind his larger body, peeking out beside his shoulder. “Kidnapper!” the golden-haired lady then yelled in protective anger.

  “Wen! Please, let her be! She healed me,” Theo tried explaining, though he wasn’t sure if Wen was listening. He extended his arms and tried getting in between them as much as he could. Luckily, Willam and Fischer seemed to stop near the clearing’s edge.

  After trying to get past him for a little while, certainly holding back so as not to beat him up in the process, Wen calmed and allowed Theo to explain.

  “She helped me, Wen. There wasn’t much time and she had to be quick. Would you really let a stranger feed me some odd potion out of the goodness of her heart if she’d asked?”

  The answer was clearly ‘no’, but Wen wasn’t about to make it that easy. They argued back and forth about ‘possibilities’ and ‘what-ifs’ that were either impossible in the first place or just blatant lies that Wen could only serve up after the situation was already over with. There was no way she’d let anyone near him, and they both knew, but she wouldn’t admit that.

  “Fine,” the blonde then sighed roughly, almost growling, then stepped back and eyed Theo. “She didn’t do anythin’... untoward?”

  Theo hesitated. Wen grew angry. Another discussion took place where Wen theorised how she’d kick the kidnapping woman’s ass if she had theoretically done something, quote, ‘hussy-like’.

  Everyone had calmed themselves in a few minutes, a few torturous minutes, where Theo had to explain how she’d fed him the potion in excruciating detail. He tried playing down the comforting aspects of it, and somehow managed to steer way clear from how he thought it had been Wen at first, and thought he had succeeded somewhat in the end.

  “So? Who are you, then?” the hostess asked with her hands firmly placed on her hips as she eyed the other woman with scrutiny.

  “I’m a Cleric of the Lady of Mystery, an Acolyte of She of Storms, a Disciple of the Magician, an Apostle of the Voice of the Wind and a Servant of the Mistress of Nature’s Call… Among other things…” Grace said, once more ending with a quicker and lower volumed voice in slight embarrassment.

  “Among other things? There’s more?” Theo asked. Grace shrugged without looking his way.

  “A priest? Out here?” Wen followed up.

  “N-no, I’m a delver, actually!” said Grace, perking up.

  The bar wench ogled the cleric with even more scrutiny, turning its suspicion value up to 150%. It was supercharged.

  “Th-there’s a dungeon within the forest next to your camp! I-I can show you if you want. I’m telling the truth,” Grace then said, eyeing Theo innocently during the last part.

  “What’s a delver?”

  “Not now, Theo!” Wen shot him down. “Havin’ a dunge so close to town might be a problem if it isn’t cleared regularly. Show us where it’s at.”

  ‘Dunge?’

  Grace nodded with a determined look in the adversarial blonde’s direction, then eased her way out from behind Theo’s back and grabbed her worn cloak..

  As if she was stuck, Wen kept eyeing Grace even as she walked past Wen somewhat timidly. “What’s your name, Cleric of Whatever?”

  “It’s Grace.”

  “Odd name. Sounds churchy, though.”

  “You’re right. I chose it when I joined my first Coven, like Arcana shed her mortal body of her humanity, so, too, shall the Coven shed their mortal names.”

  ‘Coven?’

  “The name sounds familiar…” Wen said, her body language easing up a bit as the group headed towards the edge of the clearing where Willam and Fischer stood waiting. The two men greeted Theo with kind nods, showing they were happy he was safe and alright.

  “You are familiar with the churches of Arcana?” Grace asked with a hint of surprise on her tongue.

  “Nah. Just lived a bit in the city. You hear stuff,” Wen played off.

  “I see. The name is the same as Arcana’s noble steed, whom she rode through the air, through the waters and on land as well. Storms followed wherever Grace trampled, with a trail of fire in her wake and nothing but destruction ahead, should Arcana deem it so. Grace was not just a means of transport, however. She was a fierce warrior as well, sometimes even referred to as an Avatar of Arcana, the Lady of Mystery.”

  “Sounds stupid,” Wen scoffed and ignored the woman for the rest of the trek out of the forest.

  It was nearly an hour’s walk for the group to return to the town’s border near the lake. Theo realised he must’ve been out of it for quite a while, which his friends agreed on. Upon returning, he found the barracks having been slightly added to whilst the lumber and the processed resources made from it, had been stacking up nicely, a lot faster than it was spent on the barracks. Bella, the builder’s wife as well as a builder herself, hugged Theo tight when she saw him return. He wasn’t aware they had such a close relationship, but he had rarely felt more appreciated in his life. Her husband, Hank, approached with a bright smile and a firm handshake, revealing he had been worried as well.

  All those who had remained in the town waiting for word from the search party eyed the newcomer and possible kidnapper. Their gazes were far more lenient than Wen’s had been, though that could easily change if they kept believing she had kidnapped him. She had, but that was beside the point. Okay, it was very much the point, but it was still less important than the fact that she’d healed him.

  Theo explained to the onlookers, a group that was quickly growing to involve everyone associated with the village as more people heard the loud voices from a distance. Phoebe wandered out of the forest edge and even Moody, who seemed to have been the only one to work at full speed when Theo was gone, gathered with the rest.

  Most seemed to welcome Grace more hospitably than Wen did, but as Theo was now fine, a new problem loomed on their furrowed brows.

  “There’s a dungeon here?”

  Not a harem*

  * I think? Does anyone want that, or should Theo just ignore these odd and complicated emotions? I feel they belong in a slice-of-life story as nothing ever gets more life-sliced than this, but who am I to decide, I just dump words onto the screen.