Karsten was nervous, there was no denying that, it was the first time he had actually been alone with Mary.

Still, he tried to vent his stress into the wind around him as he handed the baker 4 coppers for the 2 cranberry meat-pies. They smelled good, like everything in the shop, but as he held the wooden plate that the two were held on he may have held it just slightly tighter than he intended.

It had been a shock, to say the least, that Mary had ended up traveling with them over the course of a week, and it had scrambled his emotions right up again. How was he supposed to deal with her? Sleep in the same room as her? The only woman he had ever slept in the same room as before was his mother back before she died, and that was an awfully long time ago. Still, he had kept his emotions repressed, wanting to not cause too much trouble for his childlike new… Lord? Master? Captain?

‘Captain sounds better in my head, so let's go with that.’

Anyhow, he had used that motivation, that feeling he got whenever he managed to sleep with an absence of the burning pain that made him want to tear his arm off, to keep his feelings under lock. Though he could hardly be blamed for looking now and again, especially when she disrobed with them to push the boat off of a bank. Her nearly nude form lit a fire in him he hadn't felt since a couple times back before he was cursed, and even then he was too young to really appreciate it. He had been tempted to let the barge snag ‘accidentally’ a couple of times just to see more of her taut stomach, but he had resisted such urges.

Still, it had taken more effort than he would like, and while he appreciated the Father’s apparent willingness to secure his time alone with the girl, he knew that it would be irresponsible to try to lay with her or court her. No, as much as he wished it weren't the case, he was going to need to put his feelings in order today. He felt that so much of the weight on his shoulders would be gone if he simply spoke of them to her. Though it was hard, what with the way the light hit her hair, and the way her freckles stood out when she smiled.

Thinking that it was better to just get it over with already, he sat down to the table, handing Mary her meal.

“Here you go, one fresh baked cranberry meat-pie.”

The girl’s eyes had lit up when she had seen them, and all he got in response was a mumbled “thank you” spoken through the food as she immediately started chewing into the thing. He was more sedate when eating his own, instead, he tried to steel himself for the coming conversation.

‘Ah, her freckles are cute when she eats…’

He corrected his thoughts quickly, once again readying his heart.

He took a bite of the pie, which was at least fairly tasty as if the universe was making up for his indecision.

“Hey… Mary?”

“mhm?” the girl looked up with an utterly pitiable face as her cheeks were stuffed to the utter brim with the rest of her pie. She held up a finger, before taking an enormous gulp. “Yes?”

“I uh, kinda wanted to talk to you about something.”

“Alright, go ahead.” the girl turned to face him, and he could hardly continue facing those big green eyes. He forced himself to remain calm, taking a short breath, and looking down at the table to avoid her face.

“I, uh… I like you, romantically, but I can't… I've got an oath to Abbot that I'm not going to break over it, and well… uh… with you leaving when we reach Brindon I'm not going to be able to pursue it I just… well, I just kind of wanted to get it off my chest.” He looked up at her hoping she would understand only to be a bit surprised when he saw that she was apparently wiping her brow in relief. “uhh.”

“Thank God that's all.” the girl spoke, much to his surprise. “Oh cmon, don't make that face, I'm not completely clueless, I've seen you making eyes for days, but I figured you were holding back because you had another girl somewhere or something.” the girl smiled nearly angelic in his opinion. “ That or maybe the Abbot chopped off your manhood to cure your curse or something.”

“Uh…”

“But here it's something silly like that, you feel obligated to follow the kid priest around? so what? I've got nothing better to do.” the girl giggled into her leather clad hand cheerfully.

It felt like his goddamned heart was doing somersaults in his chest, he must have looked like a total wreck from afar.

“If you want to try to… I don't know, dad would call it courting, then I'm up for it, and I won't ask you to violate your oath or anything.” He could swear that she was the prettiest girl on earth as she smiled at him in that single moment. “Well, if you give me the rest of your pie anyway.”

He could not have moved quicker if his life was on the line as he handed her the pie, which he himself had only taken a single bite out of. Mary of course, happily devoured it smiling AL the way before blowing him a light kiss with her hand.

“Congratulations, you've landed yourself a farm girl.”

Karsten meanwhile, just tried to calm the heart that was hammering in his chest.

‘I think I'm in love.’

______________________________________

Karsten gave me a dead look.

Mary gave me a dead look.

Joseph wasn't around, but I would bet what little money I possessed that he would just laugh it off. He seemed the type who was unfazed by literally anything, hence his willingness to give passage to people running from orc warlords.

“Cmon, tell us the next story.”

“Yeah, the last one was cool, what was Luke gonna do next?”

The gaggle of kids, small animals, and housepets gathered around me paid my unimpressed party members little mind. We were having fun here after all. I resolved to do the same.

“Well, you see, after he destroyed the city-killer. Luke returned to the city of Yavon, where the princess gave him and sir Solo a pair of shining medallions for striking the heart of the machine and putting it to rest.”

“Abbot.” I poignantly ignored Mary's speech, continuing my story. ‘If I'm not looking at you I can't hear you.’

“After that, the word spread far and wide across the land that the ancient order of the Holy knights had not truly all been killed by the vile tyrants, that in fact a hope still burned for the world. Even in that dark age”

“Abbott!”

I glared mildly at Mary who had shouted over my story. “Let me finish.” she gave me a look and then took a large surreptitious bite of the pie she was holding. I simply turned back to my audience “Luke, in his day, eventually became a true knight of the Holy order through the providence of God, and went on to do battle with The Black Lord and his master the Dark Emperor, but that is a story for another time.”

I looked at the sad, defeated eyes of the children and the smarter animals around me, but simply rolled my own. “Go on home now. My traveling companions need to talk with me, feel free to share the story with whoever you want.” I certainly wasn't going to charge royalties for it, it wasn't really mine.

Eventually, in twos and threes, the gathered children began to depart, though many of the animals stayed, and I turned to face Mary.

“So what do you need?”

“Oh, nothing, your pie was just getting cold, not an issue anymore though.”

I pouted slightly as she patted her belly and laughed, but she soon produced another pie from her bag and handed it to me so I let it go.

“So what's it with the animals, is it like with the Fish earlier?” Mary asked as I hopped back onto the boat accompanied by a small legion of fuzzy followers. She had apparently noticed that a good number of fish consistently accompanied our boat downstream, during the course of our trip, while I mostly ate from the cornucopia myself, Joseph certainly seemed to appreciate it as a way to get dinner. I felt a bit bad about it, but I'd seen animals kill each other while hanging out with me before so I was a bit resistant to the shock of seeing my animal friends gutted. Even if it still made me cry a little inside.

“Yeah, animals just kind of like me, for a while I thought it was just animals from the woods back home, but it seems like pretty much anything with scales fur or feathers is drawn to me like a moth to candles. Actually, moths are drawn to me that way too come to think of it, though they have the courtesy not to land on me while I sleep.” I rubbed the head of the squirrel next to me. “While a lot of animals can be a bit pushy with me Insects are actually fairly polite on the whole in my experience.”

“Oh, so that's what all the bugs were about?” Mary asked, narrowing her eyes. “You sleep on deck from now on Abbot, there have been bugs in my mouth when I woke up for the last week.” Mary gagged slightly as the no-doubt traumatic memories resurfaced, before turning to Karsten and smiling. “Do you wanna tell him or should I?”

Apparently whatever it was was enough to suppress her bug-hatred.

“I'll do it” I turned towards the dark-haired spearman as he straightened up. “I'm courting Mary, Father. I hope you don't consider that to interfere with my oath at all, but I could think of no conflict since she says she'll travel with us.”

There was a bit of emotion packed into that last statement, but I quickly waved a hand to dispel it. “Don't worry, I have no issue with you being in a relationship with Mary or anyone else of your choosing as long as it's responsible and conforms to the will of God.” I was a priest after all.

“Right…” he rubbed the back of his head gently. “I may need some advising on that Father.”

I simply raised as eyebrow nodding, I knew that part of the scripture pretty well. I knew the entire canon that my father accepted pretty well come to think of it. I'd been drilled on it. “Don't sleep around, or with each other until you're married.” God's will on this was pretty clear, much as there was some give there. It was mostly about responsibility. He had sworn an oath and that meant he should live up to his word if it was at all possible. His oath was probably the only reason he wanted my input on his relationship at all in the first place. “If anything else seems borderline ask me and I'll tell you the details.”

Karsten nodded, a small smile on his face, while Mary looked a bit put out at my input if still happy enough about the courting as a whole.

‘Well here's some payback for you.’

“Of course if you two want to get Married I'd be perfectly happy to perform the ceremony, I am of course fully qualified as far as that's concerned, though it would be my first consecrated marriage.”

And that one sent them both looking away blushing like the teenagers that they really were.

As I spotted Joseph coming back towards us I chuckled to myself.

Felsburg seemed like a nice enough place.

______________________________________

Garfuk watched on and grinned as the bloodhawk tore the dead eyes out of Kromgar’s foolish head with its razor-sharp Talons. The warrior had tried to flee with his cavalry after he had failed to reclaim the gem, a foolish maneuver, though it had likely prolonged his life by one or two days. He hadn’t escaped though, oh no. The warrior's corpse was crucified on the outskirts of the camp along with his lieutenant Hunsk, their bodies serving as bait for the beasts that his apprentices would be taming to his cause.

‘Still, I had not expected the human priest.’ or perhaps it was a halfling, he hadn't gotten a clear look through his orb. Either way, the intervention of the spellcaster had cost him the gem, and it was now south into human lands, beyond the reach of even his orb’s abilities. ‘Kah, other spellcasters are always trouble.’

This was a serious setback in his path to becoming war-chief. The beasts his apprentices tamed would keep him in the running, but he would need other advantages soon enough.

‘Never enough power to sit securely on the throne of Jerash. The proverb holds true.’ much as it made him grumble.

As he glared at the camp around him he wondered on the future. He hadn't let anything stop him before and he would hardly start with this setback...

The smell of decaying flesh followed him as he pondered how exactly to overcome this issue. The Hot breathing of the hounds that guarded his tent the only distraction from his cruel thoughts.

______________________________________

I sat lightly on the edge of the boat, once again clutching my pole as we set off from Felsburg. Joseph had taken a fair while haggling apparently in regards to the alcohol he had sold off there, but eventually, he came back grinning from ear to ear having apparently gotten an excellent price for it.

It had been a happy and sad thing leaving the animals behind, while they were nice enough, the mammals had gotten a little pushy cuddling up to me, and I had even given a pair of particularly obnoxious rats a holy sunburn for their troubles after they had tried to crawl up my legs inside my robes. Not enough to kill them mind, just enough to teach them, and the rest, a bit about personal space.

I understood that they liked me, but there were limits. Thankfully the rest had seemed to get the message that only cuddling up against me was appropriate after that one. Still, Joseph didn't want them on his boat and I couldn't blame him, so I sent them on their way once he returned. Soon we were sailing down the river once again, though the much more blatant lovey-dovey looks that Mary and Karsten had started sending each other as we sailed downriver were starting to get obnoxious.

‘I had better find another party member in Brindon, else I'm going to be stuck a perpetual third wheel in my own party.’

After about three hours we finally left the forest around Felsburg, and the land around us opened up into a sprawling region of hedgerow country. Villages were frequent along the riversides, and the fields seemed bountiful. Our own workload also increased as far more other boats were operating here in what Mary described as the heartland of Brindon.

“I've been through here a few times, this region is one of the most fertile in all of southern Mirno,” Mary commented cheerfully as we steered around another barge, the captain of which exchanged waves with Joseph. “It's one of the reasons Brindon can afford to hold as much territory as it does.”

“I'd heard it rivaled the Ciscal Valley back home, and I'd say I believe it looking around. Though I'd bet the wine is worse. Too humid.” Karsten said, glancing as st the surrounding hills. “probably great for food production though.”

“Oh, you're from Vespacia lad? I would've placed yer accent as Pirones.”

Karsten rubbed his head with his hand. “I was born in Vespacia, but I became a militiaman in Large at twelve. So I've picked up a Pironese accent.”

“Ah, I see, I see.”

“What about you Abbot, where are you from?”

I turned to look at Mary who had asked the question before turning my head to think.

“I can't really say where I was born, my father said he had got me from my mother who didn't want me, but I can't recall if he ever said where she lived. I grew up on the Holy Mountain in Kelmo though. Honestly, all I know about my Mom is that she was probably named Rebecca and that my dad liked her a lot.”

“The mountain of Saint Eugene? People live there?” Mary asked, raising an eyebrow while Karsten gave a knowing look.

“My father did yeah. And Boris and his family take care of the Abbey now.”

“Huh.”

After sharing our respective lands of origin the boat entered a comfortable silence, broken only by occasional exchanges of greetings with fishermen, villagers and the like. Eventually, around the evening we finally spotted the walls of Brindon begin to rise in the distance.

“Help me tie us off lad, we'll be stoppin here for a night.Te gates willnae open ‘til dawn.”

“Sure thing Joseph.” I rolled off of the cabin roof and went over to help him tie us off against the shore, where he hammered in a fairly hefty peg.

Once we had the boat tied so that it wouldn't move during the night I wandered over to my sleeping bag out on top of the cabin, having been kicked out of it earlier due to my propensity to attract bugs. I smiled as the summer wind carried the fireflies to circle around me as I drifted off to sleep

______________________________________

“Hear me and listen, Child of Faith.”

I found myself drifting in a sea of cotton ball clouds beneath a radiant star, the light was bright indeed, but it did not hurt me. Had I been capable of conscious thought, I likely would have realized what was occurring and moved to bow, as it was I simply lay still and stared at the radiant angel. It was clearly one amongst their kind, with a many-winged form that shown with a light that obscured any humanoid form beneath it.

“You approach now a city where not all stands as it seems. Keep your guard high, and beware the tongues of serpents. Do not let yourself be dissuaded from your course, for if you stray from the path you will find yourself the dinner of monsters.”

It was the first time I had ever received a divine command, dream or no, but my father had spoken of his own experiences with the voices of God before, and I knew as soon as it ended just how significant it well might be.

“Go, and hold to this commandment, tool of his light.”

When I awoke in the night I found myself with an “amen” on my lips and blinking white spots from my eyes. My first action was to clasp my hands together and offer a short prayer of thanks and then to begin to think upon what the warning said.

‘I am to keep on the watch for lies and deception, that is simple enough unto itself, and stay on my course. What is my course exactly?’ I didn't really have a destination in mind after Brindol, but I was planning on being a traveling priest, an adventurer. Was it dangerous to try to find a new party member there? ‘No, I can't grow paranoid. This was just a warning, I don't know who the serpents are and I shouldn't start suspecting everyone.’

‘hmm, it probably means I should continue behaving as I was, and not let myself be convinced to change my behavior or to allow myself to be tied down here.’

I breathed deeply, coming up with other possibilities of its meaning, and dismissing them in turn.

Ultimately, my responsibility was to live as God instructed, and from that path I hoped never to stray.

______________________________________