Suara added the baskets to her inventory. The Church of the Unicorn must be planning to use them for apple picking. She hurried across town and back up the hill to the cathedral. Baskets for apple picking… She only knew two people and didn’t want to speak to Priestess Ayoe, so she turned towards the orchard.

The bright red apples gleamed tantalisingly in the trees, swaying with the wind. She reached for one that hung low. It was almost as big as her hand. She imagined the pies Aurea could bake with a few of these, and while she was daydreaming someone smacked her hand.

“Ow!”

“Stealing from the Church? The punishment for that is impalement, you know.” The person addressing her was a pretty woman in a dark blue habit. She had a stern look that told Suara she knew how to throw trespassers on the Unicorn’s horn.

“Sorry!” she said, “I was only going to take enough for a pie.” She realised she had no idea how many apples that was.

“You’re an acolyte,” the woman said. “You should know better.”

Suara frowned. “I brought baskets from the Export Emporium but I got distracted by how shiny and juicy they look.”

“Well you can give those to me,” the woman held out her hand. “My name is Sister Veronica. I supervise the orchard and the sisters who tend the orphanage. If you want apples, you either need to help to earn some, or buy them like everyone else.”

She handed over the baskets sheepishly. Now she looked like a troublemaker. “Sorry,” she said again.

“‘Sorry’ means nothing.” Veronica shook her head. “You would have made off with my apples if I hadn’t caught you, and then we would have nothing to sell at market. With no money, how would we feed all those poor babies at the orphanage?”

“Oh no! I didn’t know, I promise!” Getting scolded was going to make her cry if she couldn’t hold back her tears, but the thought of hungry babies made it an impossible challenge.

“You need to make up for it somehow.” Veronica threw the cards at the ground and they turned into baskets with a puff of light. “So you’re going to pick every apple on every tree and deliver them to the shed. If I see even one missing, it’s the horn for you!”

Suara drooped. She had six baskets, and she was left a ladder and an apple-picking doohickey that was essentially a net. She sighed. It felt horrible to get in trouble. Moreso when she was actually doing something wrong! Now her deliveries would be delayed and the church women thought even less of her than they already did.

So she started with the apples she could reach from the ground, and then carefully scaled the ladder to reach the rest. There were so many apples that she filled the six baskets from one tree, and had to waddle with them hanging on her arms all the way across the orchard to dump them off in a gorgeous mound of the delicious-looking fruits.

She took a deep breath. If it was going to take forever, then she would get through forever as fast as she could! She ran out, and tackled the closest trees first. Apples filled her baskets in seconds as she swung the picker around with rapid strikes like a snake snatching them up… and then leaving them in baskets because snakes don’t eat apples.

The trees emptied fast, and she kept pushing herself even when she began to feel tired. She was proud of her pace, and after the third time she fell off the ladder she added another challenge to herself, to finish without falling five total times.

Suara fell four more times. When she was done, she lay in the grass under the trees to catch her breath. She heard familiar footsteps approaching her, and didn’t open her eyes. She tried to immerse herself in the feeling of the soft grass instead.

“Child,” Priestess Ayoe said, sounding unhappy. “Laying about instead of completing your punishment? Maybe I should throw you on the horn after all.”

“I picked every tree clean just like Veronica asked, I brought them all to the pile.”

“Yes, but it was supposed to take you all day to pick those apples, you know. So we could watch you gradually turn into a weak, noodly thing as the lesson slowly sunk in. You picked them so fast I think you might need a little impalement to really drive the message home. One day in the Church and already stealing?”

“No!” Suara leaped to her feet. “I didn’t steal anything, the apple didn’t even come off the tree until I was asked to take them off!”

Ayoe looked down at her. “Veronica insists we add the Winged Rabbit to the list of places that should get some apples, seeing how hard you worked. Only enough for one pie of course. I think you need discipline. An hour on the horn would set you right.” Ayoe’s Unicorn wound was gone and her pink dress was cleaned. The woman crossed her arms, no doubt trying to think of any excuse to be a bully.

“I have other things to do today,” Suara turned to leave.

“Suara…” Ayoe’s tone was gentler now. Suara stopped. “I am giving you another task. Complete it before investigating the Temple of the First Quarter in two days, and I’ll forget about horning you.”

~QUEST ACCEPTED~

-Behind the Goblin Raids-

Task

Slay 3 Hobgoblins

Reward

200 EXP

Location

Goblin Valley

“Why?” she complained. “The last hobgoblin I saw killed me!”

Priestess Ayoe smiled. “It’s part of your punishment that you must at least try. When goblins grow bold, every faction is asked to help clear them out to reduce the raids. So go beyond the wheat farm into Goblin Valley and dispatch three to fulfil our obligation to the people.”

Any other time, Suara would have been glad to fight the hobgoblins, but she was already busy with her deliveries. She supposed she could do it after, if she had to do both in two days. “Fine,” she said, and ran away before the woman could say anything else.

She had a new goal now. Finish every delivery today, and tackle Goblin Valley tomorrow.

Suara stopped at the Winged Rabbit to tell Aurea to expect some apples, and to give her a hug. She was the only person she’d met so far who was nice to her without stabbing her with something first.

She tried to pump herself up. Eighty or so packages left! It would take her maybe twelve trips at most, since she could only hold ten at once and some were in isolated areas. The winding streets of the north-east would take some clever shortcuts to save time. She could do it! It might take hours, but she would do it.

Suara got so into delivering her packages she started shouting “Pain of impalement upon you!” enthusiastically with each one. Everyone gave her a confused, or sometimes scared look. She just laughed and ran off to the next one.

Soon she was in a sort of trance, just staring at the map and the ledger, adding packages to her inventory and sprinting across town. The sun started to go down, but she didn’t care. She had time. When she was down to twenty packages she started jumping on things like Xander did and only hurt herself twice.

She didn’t count falling in the river, because it didn’t hurt.

Her last delivery was an item called a Nondescript Order, and its destination was a private home in the Upper City. She raced towards the hill, filled with excitement, and only slowed as she approached the gate and the armoured guards watching it.

They both glared at her as she approached, their dark eyes peeking at her through nasal helmets triggered her nerves and she stumbled to a stop.

“Am I allowed through to make a delivery?” she asked. She was afraid just walking into the wrong place could put her on a wanted list, when it came to rich folk at least.

“The gate is open until nightfall, acolyte,” the guard said, “But don’t let us catch you loitering.”

Suara tried a curtsy like Ayoe had done, but tripped on her boot and fell. “Pain of impalement upon you…” she mumbled from the ground. The guards shook their heads at her as she ran by.

The homes in the Upper City were blue-roofed, but otherwise similar. They were not necessarily even larger than the rest of the town's, but they had walled-off yards. She could see bigger homes farther up the hill, though.

Her package’s destination was a cottage-sized home with tall hedges that blocked the view of it except through the gate in front. It clanged loudly when she shook it. The map confirmed she was at the right place, but going in when the gate was locked would get her in trouble for sure and she didn’t need more scolding today.

“Hi! Is anyone here? Is there a bell?” she crossed her arms and pouted. This was her last one! She was so close. Maybe breaking and entering wouldn’t be so bad. The game might not even have a jail system.

A green bunny-man poked his head up from behind a hedge. “Eh?” he said. He disappeared, and a moment later hopped out and strolled across the wide yard, weaving between weirdly shaped plants to stand in front of her on the other side of the gate. He had a pair of horns on his head. “Aren’t you that NPC girl from this morning? You know peasants aren’t supposed to be up here.”

Suara crossed her arms. “Then why are you here? I have a delivery to make. And besides, I’m not a peasant, I’m an acolyte.”

The bunny-man was… what was his name? Ghol Duran, Xander said? He shook his head. “I’m trying to befriend the NPC that lives here. Making friends is part of the game you know. Give me the package and I’ll deliver it to her for you.”

“Um no, it’s not for you. Just tell her I’m here!”

“If…” he sighed, and leaned closer to the gate to whisper. “It would actually help me out if you let me do it. I might get some more reputation with her, you know?”

“Being friends isn’t a game,” Suara said firmly. “If you want her to be your friend you should be nice to her and show her a lot of respect. Over a long period of time. And don’t fake it either or what’s the point?”

He groaned. “Look, you don’t understand. A woman of this quality is hard to… she’s…” Ghol sighed again.

A woman stood up from behind the hedge. “Is Ghol giving you trouble?” She walked across the yard holding her frilly red dress up above the grass. Her feet were tucked into cute red slippers, and matching gloves covered her arms to her elbows. Her waist was very slender, but that might have just been the corset she wore to prop up her enormous chest. She brushed strands of her black hair away from her face as she regarded Suara. This lady was extraordinarily pretty.

“Pain of impalement upon you,” Suara said with a smile.

“…?” she cocked her head. “Isn’t it ‘pain of impalation?’”

“Uh.” Suara’s heart sank. Had she been saying it wrong all day? “Um.”

The woman laughed, “Oh I hope you haven’t been threatening people with impalement. You know one is an invitation, but the other is a threat, right? I used to be part of the Church myself so I know.”

Suara took a deep breath. It would be okay. No one would remember. She was new, she was allowed to make mistakes, right? “P—pain. Um, I have a package for you.”

A smile lit up her face as she accepted it through the gate. It was no wonder Ghol wanted to be her friend; she was so charming. “Thank you so much. I tried to get one of these myself, but ran into some difficulties. I have to say I was not quite thrilled at the prospect of trusting the Emporium with something so… delicate, but everything seems to be in order.”

“You’re welcome!” She wanted to ask what was inside that was so delicate, but Ghol led her away quickly.

“Feel free to say hello if you find yourself in the area again!” The woman called back with a graceful wave. Suara never even got her name. Xander might know, if she ever saw him again.

When she turned around, she found herself staring right up at the hill at the castle. Another section of Upper City blocked her view of the bottom, but the top was a fun collection of pointed towers in different faded colours. She liked the blue one, overlooking the bay on the north-east side.

Suara decided to go up and get a look before turning in her quest. Guards should stop her from going anywhere she wasn’t supposed to, so she wasn’t worried. The road led her up through the upper streets of Upper City, where excessively large homes hogged the land with their massive yards. They still had blue roofs. Guards were everywhere, patrolling or… not patrolling. It must be a very safe neighbourhood.

The guards didn’t stop her as she crossed through the gate into the castle grounds. She tilted her head back to admire how tall it was. Every stone looked like it was meticulously shaped to create a smooth, even wall all the way up. One day, she would go inside, she decided.

To her left and right were gardens. A fence separated them from the stone path. Flowers were arranged like a wave splashing across the walls. It would be like walking through an ocean of blossoms… she hopped the fence.

A cobblestone path winded through the floral waves. One section even had the vines curl around the path to create a shaded tunnel. It was sweet and warm, She couldn’t help but giggle to herself as she spun around, imagining herself a princess. She could probably sit on a cushioned bench in the shade, surrounded by blossoms and sipping tea, while princes brought her presents. And every gift would be a dress or a snack.

An arrow thudded into her throat and she coughed blood into the grass.

“She survived! Arrest the intruder!”

Every attempt she made to say ‘what’ or ‘ow’ only made more blood squirt into the gardens. Armed guards rushed out to grab her arms, while others pointed spears at her. Without realising, she had twirled her way to the end of the gardens, and interrupted a noble lady’s dinner.

The young woman watched her from behind a man in a red tunic with a golden crown on his head. They were sharing a dinner at what appeared to be a very private corner of the gardens…

Blood sprayed out of her neck into a guard’s armour as she attempted to squeak out an apology.

“Toss her in the dungeons.” The crowned man ordered. He had a regal face. His beard was tightly trimmed and his green eyes were bright, though narrow with suspicion and more than a little anger.

“Yes, your highness!” The guards replied at once.

They really were a princess’s gardens, then. There was nothing Suara could do but cry as they dragged her away.