Chapter 25

The Pastor jerked away from the Bishop with a trembling cry as Katarina strode in. She gave him a puzzled glance, and turned to the Bishop, who had pushed himself away from the desk in shock.

"Job’s done." She announced casually, and from her coat pulled the rolled up leather bundle she’d collected from the fallen Witch Hunter in the crypts.

"These are the effects of a Witch Hunter that met their end in those halls." She announced as the Bishop composed himself, folding his thick fingers together.

"I also have proofs for another Witch, and more items that could use cleansing." She finished simply, and then made an impatient cranking gesture.

"Hello? Anyone home?" She called mockingly.

"Katarina, I’ve been told that you’re from a noble lineage; Merchant-lords of Begierde." The Bishop said by way of greeting, in a gentle but decidedly neutral tone. "And that you’ve been raised and trained in the Grand Cathedral, the Alstroemeria in Darnell itself." He added, "So I absolutely cannot fathom why you are incapable of knocking."

Katarina ignored the steel in the Bishop’s voice and shrugged noncommittally. "I’ve got things to do, and not a lot of time to do them." She replied simply.

The Bishop nodded at the Pastor, who stepped back from the Bishop’s desk and shakily sat down on the low sofa. Katarina doffed her saddlebags and pulled out the witches’ hand, which was black with clotted blood. The pastor’s face blanched, but the Bishop nodded. "I’ll have someone take it to the Hall of the Sanctioned." He offered smoothly, and rang his little bell. One of the clerks came in, eyed it distastefully, and then whisked it out of the room.

"Tell me Lady, how long have you been in the Wilds?" The Bishop asked idly.

"I’ve been away from the cities for..." She started, but then switched to a question. "What month is it?" He blinked at the sudden shift.

"It’s the Month of Rain, Lady Katarina." He replied. Katarina blinked in surprise, eyebrows raising. "Really? Hmmm. It seems I’ve been away from the cities for... eight months." She mused.

The pastor jerked in shock from his spot on the sofa. "You’ve been in the wilds for eight months?" he blurted incredulously, and she nodded. "More or less. I’ve stopped a few times in frontier settlements." She mentioned, and the pastor nodded.

"There’s a number of things I would like to report before I leave." She started, and doffed her hat and tossed her coat onto the sofa, the pastor shifting away from them uneasily. She put her hip on the Bishop’s desk, spurs jingling, and made a mental note as she saw the pastor’s eyes dip briefly. She let out a sigh of disappointment, and his eyes jerked to hers as she uncrossed her legs and stood back up with a disdainful glance at the pastor.

He knew he’d been caught staring, and rose to his feet to beat a hasty retreat, but Katarina moved quickly, cutting him off.

"Where are you going? Have a seat, this won’t take but a moment." She encouraged, and pushed him back towards the couch gently but firmly. "Likely I’ll be out of Aston here within the hour and you all can go back to living your lives under the Lady of the Spring’s guiding radiance." she stated with a hint of steel in her voice.

The bishop watched the exchange between the two with eyebrow raised, as the man shuffled back to the sofa, but gestured at the same sofa to Katarina. "Have a seat, please." he encouraged.

Katarina shook her head. "I’ve seen where his eyes wander when I sit." She replied easily enough, jerking her thumb to point at the pastor, who flinched again.

"Besides, I’m not staying. I am here to make my reports, turn in my bounties, collect my next assignment, resupply, and leave again." she remarked simply. "And I think from now on I’ll work exclusively with your Chaplain of the Sword." She gave the Bishop a patronizing half-smile.

The Bishop folded his hands. "I don’t understand why that will be necessary." He replied. "I think I’ve been as accommodating as I can. Moreso, in fact."

Katarina considered listing her complaints of the acolyte, the pastor, and the Bishop himself and dismissed the idea as trivial and bothersome. She considered simply leaving and heading south, to Norn. She considered pulling her gun and pulling the trigger until her problems went away. She chuckled at that and waved her hand dismissively at the Bishop’s inquiring glance.

"Call it a difference of opinions." She finally decided. "I think it’d just be simpler to work with someone that understands my needs." She replied simply.

The Bishop’s thick lips twisted. "You haven’t answered my question, Lady Katarina." He remarked pointedly. "Is there a reason you won’t avail yourself of the churches’ resources?" He asked curiously. "We have a gunpriest, a couple alchemists, a quartermaster..." he trailed off. "You could even rest and refresh yourself, if you liked."

Katarina shook her head. "I can’t really rest unless there are no more heretical mages wandering around the continent of Hesperia." She replied comfortably enough, and then leaned towards him slightly and in a conspiratorial tone asked, "Have we accomplished that yet?" She asked in a low voice. "I’ve been away from the major cities for the past eight months or so and I’m not up on the latest news. Have we purged the world of them?" there was an element of sarcasm to her statement.

The bishop rolled his eyes ostentatiously. "You know what I mean." he replied drily, and Katarina shook her head.

"You see? Difference of opinions. You and I have very different ideas of duty, it seems." She offered. "You apparently can just take a day or so off because you feel like it. My job doesn’t end; there is always the next job, the next mission, the next witch." she replied comfortably but added, "There are certain specific items I’ve lost and I need to replace, and I’m betting you don’t carry them." She replied diplomatically.

"Try me." He invited with a smile.

"Fine." She replied easily. "I need a skinning blade. Ideally it should be Red Steel, but I’ll settle for bronze. I need a sewing kit, complete with scissors, needles, threads, and finger blade. I need a complete leatherworking kit with awls, pliers, and punches. Also a set of leatherworking knives." She explained. "You want to do me a real favor, give me a hatchet from True Steel." she finished in a casual tone.

He shook his head and raised his hands. "I surrender. You’re right, we don’t carry those things." He began, and then offered in a hopeful voice, "We could get them for you, if you like."

Katarina shook her head. "I prefer to judge the quality of workmanship before I purchase." She replied.

Just then the acolyte she’d seen at the gate before, the arrogant one with the muttonchops came in wheeling a small cart. The cart had a couple of leather satchels that bulged, and there was an opened letter on top of the satchels. His pop-eyed expression and the way he kept sneaking glances at her let her know he’d read the response himself. The Bishop took the opened letter from the cart and glanced at it, his eyes going wide, lips stammering over the amount of uncollected backpay. The acolyte and the Bishop shared a glance and turned to Katarina, who held out her hand for the letter.

"There are several remarks here about you, Katarina." The Bishop advised instead, scanning the page with a practiced eye. "You’ve got another request here; once again you’re requested to travel to Darnell and present yourself to the Grand Cathedral for a formal investiture of rank and a renewal of your Writ and Warrant. It’s" ... he hesitated a moment, choosing his words carefully, "strongly suggested that you dispatch straightaway for Darnell." He put the letter down. "They’re very much looking forward to meeting you." he remarked, and Katarina rolled her eyes.

"Eventually." She replied at once with a dismissive shrug and a shake of her head. "Instead, send another request for my next assignment, as well as my bounty for that witch." She added, gesturing towards the door. The Bishop nodded, added several lines to the parchment while the acolyte avidly peered over his shoulder. The bishop rang his bell, and sent the request with a young man that arrived and left just as quickly.

"Do you always read the dispatches for the Bishop?" Katarina asked the acolyte dangerously, letting some anger into her voice. "How is that missive- or any missive, for that matter- any of your business, acolyte?" She demanded, turning to face him. He rolled his eyes at the Bishop, which incensed Katarina further.

"You read the letter, Jace?" The Bishop asked the acolyte, with a pointed look at Katarina. She fixed on that quickly; turning her gaze on the acolyte, who stared at her as if she’d grown a second head. He seemed baffled that the Bishop would object to such a thing. The Bishop covered his face with his hand and sighed.

"Lady Katarina, would you prefer to discipline him?" The Bishop offered in a strained voice, and Katarina nodded as the acolyte took a step back.

Katarina took two quick, light steps to the younger man, drew back her fist, reconsidered, and administered a quick open-handed slap to his face.

"You hit me!" He exclaimed wonderingly, hand going to his cheek. "I can’t believe you hit me!"

The Bishop let out a tired sort of chuckle. "You deserved it, Jace." He remarked as an aside.

She nodded at Jace. "You’re pretty observant." She mocked. "Maybe that pain will serve as a reminder to keep your hands and eyes from wandering where they aught."

"Are you satisfied with that, Lady Katarina?" The Bishop asked curiously. "I expected... well, more. Your reputation certainly led me to believe such." He finished abruptly.

Katarina, barked an angry laugh and glanced down at the still-seated Bishop. "Depends. Do you have a mage capable of regenerative healing?" She asked, and the Bishop’s eyebrows rose.

"We do, actually." he offered. "Dredging the cove and carving stone are dangerous activities."

Katarina grinned. "I’ve half a mind to separate you from your fingers and eyes, acolyte." Katarina declared with a grin. "A weekend spent in reflection would do you good, I think."

He clamped his mouth shut so tightly that his lips were a thin line, and Katarina nodded.

"This is sufficient." She added as an aside to the Bishop. "Shall we continue? I will need some seals for my gear and some supplies; do you have a Holy Scribe?"

The Bishop seemed to come back to himself quickly with a blink, and he spread his hands and smiled gratefully at her.

"Of course, my Lady." He replied soothingly, as Katarina picked up the satchels from the cart. Her eyes widened momentarily, and she hefted them, hearing the muted clink of metal inside.

"Mine?" She asked, and the Bishop nodded. "Your disbursement, including the witches, and the little girl as well." he reminded her, and Katarina smiled, and opened one of the satchels.

For a moment her eyes lit up, but a moment later she frowned in disappointment and shook her head. "And I’m going to need some money exchanged." She added dolorously. "Darnell has paid it out properly, but I doubt there’s any shop or store here in Aston that takes steel coin." She added. "Frankly, I don’t think there’s a business outside of Darnell that uses steel coin." She snarled. She counted out ten steel coins and stuffed them into her coat pocket and then laid out one more of the rectangular coins on the Bishop’s desk. "I’ll take half this in silver. The rest can go back to Darnell." She added.

The Bishop nodded and blew out a shaky breath as he drew another piece of parchment towards him. "Frankly, I was a bit scared you’d request it all in silver. I don’t know if the Church has enough coin on hand to cover that much." he replied with a relieved chuckle, and added a couple lines to the parchment.

She laughed knowingly. "Oh, I’m sure it does; after all, Aston is a booming city. You probably make that much in a week just off tariffs alone." She replied, and he nodded unselfconsciously.

"Silver will work." He allowed.

"How do you get by without coin?" the pastor asked curiously from his spot on the couch.

"Coin is useless weight in the wilds, and frontier villages often only barter. I traded usable goods."

The Bishop nodded at that. "I tell you what, I’ll give you a voucher that you can use at any of the stores in the city so that you can requisition anything you need, on the Church."

Katarina shook her head. "No, I’ll take the coin. I’ll deposit whatever’s left from my purchases back into my allotment." She replied, and he nodded reluctantly.

He stopped for a moment. "I remind you, we have a gunpriest here, though he is an acolyte. Would you care to have him examine your weapon? Some maintenance, perhaps?" she cocked an eyebrow in thought, remembering the gritty feel in the action that she hadn’t been able to clear on her own.

"I do need some gun maintenance. There are other things I need as well. Bring me some parchment and I shall write out a list of the things I need." He got up from his desk and gestured at the parchment.

She glanced at the acolyte and her mouth twisted. "Was there something else you needed?" She asked coolly.

"What?" He asked vacantly, and Katarina lashed out like a viper, quick as lightning and hit him again, this time with folded knuckles. He stumbled back with a shocked cry, blood running from his nose.

"Why are you still here?" She growled at him tightly, and he gave her a puzzled look.

"You have responsibilities, right?" She stressed, and clenched her fist. He glanced at her fist and nodded quickly.

"Then you’d best see to them." She commanded harshly, and he fled, clutching his bloody nose.

Katarina and the bishop eyed each other as the acolyte made his exit.

"If I had dealt with the Chaplain, likely I wouldn’t have had to do that." She declared, and the Bishop clenched his jaw. Katarina eyed the bunched muscles in the Bishop’s jaw and neck. He’d displayed a surprising forbearance before.

"Now that I have coin for an inn, I don’t need to worry about lodgings." She observed, mostly to herself. The Bishop shook his head. "You’re an unmarried woman, Lady Katarina. It’s simply improper for you to stay at an Inn. You shall stay here."

"Please." She replied patronizingly. "Let’s not play games, bishop." she spat insultingly. "Your pastor and your acolyte both seem to suffer from the same wandering eyes. I’d rather chance the inn." She mocked.

"Wandering eyes?" The Bishop remarked, confused. Exasperation strained his voice. "Are you talking about the letter?"

Katarina glanced at the pastor on the sofa, who looked away. "He’s been staring at my ass since he sat down, and that acolyte might as well have taken his eyes out and thrown them at my tits." She replied crudely. "I can’t sleep here, I’ll get raped before the night is through." She finished acidly.

"Lady Katarina, I hardly think that language is-" He began, but was hushed by Katarina, who held up her hand in a forestalling gesture and touched her lips with a finger, signalling silence, and pointed at the door that the acolyte had recently exited. Why had the entire administrative wing fallen silent?

All the activity outside the office had stopped. The bishop frowned at her sudden alertness, confused.

As her hand fell to her gunbutt, a light voice chimed from outside.

"Violence only begets violence, Lady Katarina." The voice was high and sweet and laced with amusement. "Have I your leave to enter?" the voice asked sardonically. There was a familiarity to that voice, too.

"Katarina, let her in." The bishop encouraged. Katarina lifted her gun from her holster despite protestations from the bishop.

"No answers that way, Katarina." The voice replied. "That closes doors, it does not open them." it offered in a slightly mocking voice. The accents were familiar; she immediately placed them as Yamato. Katarina sighed and holstering her weapon, opened the door with a sour twist to her mouth.

The silvery haired Yamato girl that had hastily introduced herself the night before looked up expectantly at her from the other side of the door; her eyes a brilliant red that reflected the light like lambent coals. The girl was nearly indistinguishable from the pale silk robe she wore, which seemed to be sized for someone larger than her. She was petite and delicate, beautiful and fragile. Her hair was her most notable feature, slightly longer than the length of her body, the tips dragging on the carpet. It was as pale as she was, and arranged in intricate loops, braids, and whorls about her. Katarina had encountered this before in her childhood; a minor mutation that left the body bereft of pigment. Depending on the region, the church decried such mutations as harmful, others were more tolerant. Katarina herself had a childhood friend who was albino.

"Hello, Witch Hunter." She greeted with a warm smile.

"I remember you; you’re the Diviner?" Katarina returned, folding her arms across her chest and shifting her weight.

"My name is Hasegawa Araya." She replied easily, blinking owlishly.

The small girl wore a silvery kimono that matched her hair, though unlike Sasaki, she didn’t have a pleated skirt. Large salmon-colored fanciful fish froliced across the robe.

Katarina stepped to the side. "Come on in. Everyone else has." She invited sarcastically with an ostentatious flourish. The girl smiled in thanks and entered the room with a smooth, gliding grace. She glanced at the bishop, who bowed his head respectfully. Katarina raised an eyebrow; who was this girl?

The girl seated herself on the sofa next to the pastor, folded her hands at her waist primly and closed her eyes.

"Please forgive me for not looking you in the eye, Lady Katarina." Araya gestured at her face. "My eyes are very sensitive to the light and it took a great deal of effort to come down here."

Katarina let out a breath through her nose. "I’m familiar with albinism." She replied comfortably. "Why did you come down here to see me, if it was so arduous?" She asked, and Araya smiled beatifically at the bishop. "I like Witch Hunters. They always ask the right questions."

The bishop smiled warmly at the young woman. "Araya here is our Diviner. One of the abilities she keeps is the ability to look into a person’s future and answer certain specific questions. Her abilities are ... difficult for the layman to accept, so by necessity we keep her here."

Araya smiled without opening her eyes. "Also," She added, "I’m weak against all but the dimmest light, so I don’t often go out."

"We’ve never entertained a Justicar Witch Hunter before; I think some sort of celebratory feast tonight should suffice, what say you?" The Bishop offered briskly to Katarina. The meeting had been rough and rocky; now was the time to stabilize it.

Katarina let out a sigh. "You’re not paying attention: I’m not here to stay. I’m not even here to rest."

The bishop shook his head, aggravated. "Surely we should do something." he argued. Katarina glanced over at the Yamato woman, but she simply sat there, eyes closed.

"Here, I know." Katarina spoke in the dulcet tones of someone who has been visited by a great inspiration. "Here’s what we’ll do: Grab one of your choir girls and then you can laud her with all the celebrations and banquets and ceremonies and awards you like."

"But... that wouldn’t mean anything." He responded with a puzzled look on his face. "Why would I do that?"

"Bishop, there is only one person in this room that wants a banquet." Araya piped up. "If there is to be a banquet, then I will be expected to attend." She opened her eyes briefly and glanced at the Bishop. "You don’t want that, do you?"

Katarina eyed the girl, who glanced at her and smiled. Katarina had intended to push as hard as she could, even threaten the Bishop if necessary, but Araya had effectively cut him off, though she couldn’t understand why he wouldn’t want her to attend.

Araya smiled knowingly at Katarina, as if picking up on her thoughts.

"Why doesn’t he want you to attend?" Katarina asked pointedly, and the Bishop choked and the pastor next to the small woman coughed abruptly.

"My power expresses out from me." the girl replied easily with a simple gesture. "Not dissimilar from your antimagic field. By necessity I live at the top of the central spire, separated from everyone else. Were I to dine at the banquet," She leaned towards the Bishop and added "Of which would take hours," she spoke pointedly for Katarina’s benefit, but at the same time it seemed as though she spoke to warn off the Bishop. "The dozens of lesser nobles that coincidentally showing up at just the opportune moment to laud a Justicar Witch Hunter would no doubt be subjected to that power, and would not sleep easily." She finished, and then held out her hand towards Katarina. "Your turn, Witch Hunter." She smiled. "Now it’s your turn to threaten him."

Katarina pinched the bridge of her nose. "Look, I don’t care." She remarked testily. "I don’t care about your meaningless trivialities, I’m not attending banquets, entertaining your functionaries, or furthering your political agendas. I am a Witch Hunter, not a diplomat." She stated brusquely. "If you keep that sort of shit up, then as I see it I have two choices: I either take the polite choice and I go somewhere else- Norn, Darnell, some other church that will give me what I want without fucking off or staring at my tits- or," and at this she paused. For her this was a trump card, and if she had to play it, she didn’t want to spend it thriftily, "I begin invoking authorities that will be extremely unpleasant."

"By the Goddess." The bishop exclaimed in frustration. "This is absurd. I’m trying to be polite!" He argued, clearly exasperated.

"Fine. Great." Katarina replied. "Give me my silver; I’m going into town to buy the things I need. I’ll check back in when I’m done." She replied, just as exasperated.

"Katarina, I should like you to stay the night with me." Araya requested. "Darnell’s reply will not come today."

"Bah." Katarina replied. "I’ll stay at an inn." she finished without looking at the smaller woman.

Araya laughed at that. "Ahh, but how will you ask me the questions that you want to ask if you are not here?" She offered knowingly, and Katarina hesitated. "I am no mage to submit to you for Inspection, but I’m certain you want to investigate my power." She continued. "The others will not bother you, because they will not come up to my floor."

Katarina leveled her finger at Araya. "Don’t get cheeky with me." Araya burst into delighted laughter at this.

"Besides, I would like your company." Araya added simply. "It’s not often I get an opportunity to speak with someone widely traveled."

Katarina let out a terse sigh. "You said you’re at the top of the central spire?" She confirmed with Araya, who nodded.

"Fine. I’ll show up at dinnertime."

Two young men came in with a large tray with several sacks that bulged appreciably.

"Your silver, Lady Katarina." The bishop remarked with a gesture. "Please don’t... embarrass the church with frivolities." He urged. "‘The castle on the hill is seen by all’, after all." He quoted.

Katarina paused for a moment, thinking how best to deliver her next statement. A smile flitted across her face as she decided.

"This ‘castle’ will be seen by all, and will not hide behind opulent mahogany and glass." She replied, and casually picked up the pouches. The young men who brought them in gave her appraising looks. The bags weighed quite a bit.

"Besides, I am one of the Lady’s Torchbearers. I carry the light of Her truth into the darkness to banish the terror of the Void." She finished with a note of finality.

Everything she’d said was calculated, targeted at specific points. As a Bishop, he was a functionary, a bureaucrat, a member of the Arm of the Temple, someone whose responsibilities extended purely to providing temples and churches for the people, and keeping them staffed. She belonged to the Arm of the Sword, the militant arm of the Church of the Golden Lady. Technically, he had no power over her. Likewise she also had no power over him, unless she invoked her Writ.

The tiny Yamato woman opened her eyes and regarded Katarina carefully, blinking against the light as the bishop’s clock chimed the hour.

"Lady Katarina." She spoke in a low, calm voice.

Katarina glanced over at her and raised her eyebrow expectantly.

"It’s the evening hour, Lady. The shops are likely closed." She offered in a quiet voice tinted with regret.

A muscle in Katarina’s neck jumped, and Araya rose to her feet. "You can take your dinner with me, rest, and take a bath." She offered quietly.

Katarina took a breath, held it, and let it out. She turned back to the bishop.

"Seeing as I seem to have a surfeit of time now," She began dangerously, leaning over his desk, "and seeing as you’re the Bishop of this region," She remarked with a gesture at his robes, "You should know that the pastor of Higgenfal has passed into the embrace of the Goddess of the Dawn." She compressed her lips briefly, and wondered at the ultimate fate of Camille, the pastor’s sister.

"How did he meet his end?" The bishop asked, his voice quivering.

"He was killed by a Witch that attacked Higgenfal while I was there." She made an offhand gesture nonchalantly.

The bishop nodded and rose, and moved to one of the shelves of scrolls. He pulled one out, slid off the ribbon seals and unrolled it as he sat.

"Ah, Higgenfal. A logging town on the path to Nauders. They also make a tidy sum on wool, as well." He mused. "The mayoral commission was lobbied for and given to Donaldo of the Furen House, a minor Merchant Noble."

Katarina nodded again. "They sent him out there because he’d had several cancerous mutations that required amputation in the past, and wanted him out of the eye of society." Katarina replied casually, striding over to her saddlebags and tossing the leather satchel she’d received from Camille onto his desk. "He’d been living under an assumed name." She added, and then smiled briefly. "He’s lucky it was me that found the truth. If any other agent of the Church had discovered his duplicity, he might not have survived the experience."

The old man folded his hands together on his desk and he compressed his lips together as he eyed the satchel. After a moment of silence he opened the satchel and read the contents within, and when he was finished, he glanced up at her.

"Those were sealed to the Ministry of Records, Lady Katarina." He recalled in a kindly voice. "How is it that you were able to come into possession of these documents?" He asked, tapping his thumbs together.

Katarina shrugged dismissively, but inwardly she was watching the Bishop carefully. Was this evidence of some clandestine deal he had struck with the House of Furen?

"I sent a letter of inquest to the Ministry by way of Church Services while conducting an investigation there." She replied dismissively.

"There were no mages assigned to Higgenfal." He replied slowly, eyes narrowing. She shrugged dismissively. "There happened to be a righteous and pure woman in Higgenfall that had received the Churches’ blessing of Sanction." She answered casually, waving her hand airily.

He sighed. "It pains me to see such documents so easily obtainable in such unforgiving and remote climes." He grumbled tersely, and drew the satchel to him. "I will see that these are returned to the Ministry of Records." He added, and she nodded.

"Tell me what you know of the country of Toledo, if you please." He inquired, and she shrugged a little, raising an eyebrow at the subject change.

"Little. I was but six when we opened an alliance with them. I was taught that they are nigh-peerless when it comes to shipbuilding, and they follow the Golden Lady in the Kneeling Woman Aspect." She replied as if reciting. "They call her ‘The Great Teacher’, If I remember right." She continued, and he nodded.

"Just so." He acknowledged.

"They’re also reclusive as hell." Katarina added. "They’re not as tightfisted with their borders as the Yamato are, but they, like the Yamato, prefer to deal with us on their terms, not ours."

He nodded at that. "Very good. I ask, because if you remember our conversation yesterday, we’re currently hosting a Toledan Witch Hunter. He arrived by way of ship not long before you yourself arrived." He smiled blandly. "Surely you will have many things to discuss, as you share the trade."

Katarina shook her head. "I refuse. I am here to make my reports, turn in my bounties, collect my next assignment, resupply, and leave again." She repeated with finality.

The Bishop took a deep breath and closed his eyes and let the air out slowly.

"We seem to have gotten off on the wrong foot." He started smoothly. "There’s no reason at all for incivility."

Katarina shook her head. "I’m not trying to be uncivil." She replied challengingly. "If anything, I should be levelling that accusation at you. Your acolyte can’t keep his eyes off my tits- or out of my business." She remarked hotly, and leveled her finger at the closed door. "He’s right there, right now, listening in."

There was a muffled thump from the other side of the door in response. She swung back to the bishop, who stared at the door with the same expression of a man who has been punched in the gut. "You’re an invested Bishop of the Church of Angland." She reminded him. "Act like it."

The Bishop sighed and took his glasses off to massage the bridge of his nose.

"Listen: The Witch Hunter from Toledo expected that he would be able to board a ship from Aston to Darnell. Unfortunately, there are no ships to Darnell; our harbor only transfers cargo and personnel to and from Yamato." He began in a resigned voice. "He will be travelling by horse to Darnell, leaving tomorrow. I thought it would ease his impatience if he could speak with someone he had a common ground with." He replied simply.

"Your problem, not mine." Katarina replied offhand, rolling her eyes and shaking her head. "I might meet with him, if circumstances dictate that we meet." She stood up abruptly. "I’ve wasted enough time here." She turned to Araya. "You promised me a bath." She remarked with a grin, and Araya nodded, stood, and slipped her hand into Katarina’s.