The Blessed sipped tea in his private abode. He sighed in contemplation. A messenger appeared before him, kowtowing as was proper of his station. To enter the presence of a Blessed is to be in the presence of the Sparrows by proxy. The Blessed raised a hand, indicating the man should rise, he did and the Blessed spoke with a honey dewed voice.

"What is it, another letter? What have the birds brought this day?" he asked quietly. the messenger produced several folded pieces of paper, The Blessed raised an eye at it and then motioned for it to be placed on his desk before dismissing the messenger. Messenger bowed again and left, The Blessed watched him go and then opened the letter.

Each had been sealed in gray wax with the symbol of the Great Sheaf upon it. The Fifth Circle.

He sighed, Another problem amongst the squabbling farmers, he'd been warned against taking station here. His Master cautioned him that the First of the Low Circles would be troublesome, being so distant from the Capital in the South, the Center of the Sparrows Empire.

He opened the letters anyway as was his duty and read. It spoke of bad weather, potential harm to crops and frightened animals, and the usual Fawning for favors, One was a wedding invitation from a local Judge, who wanted a Blessed to oversee the Ceremony. Another play for political power, though not a clumsy one, he may just accept.

The Final letter was, odd. He read the description that came with it carefully, rereading it many times. Beneath it was, what appeared to be a mere black page. Perhaps sent by mistake.

A bird, carrying this letter, had appeared in His private Gardens early this morning. It was sealed and signed with official courtly language and most of the servants supposed it was from another Blessed in the Area sending him a message, or from the Capital. But the Seal was in Gray Wax with a Sheath of grain on it. As soon as the message was removed from its leg, the Bird vanished to the North.

He put it aside and opened a simple dark-stained box that sat on his desk and drew out a simple brass key, which he inserted into a hidden slot on his beautifully carved desk.

He placed the key and turned until he felt the first lock open. A hidden drawer opened and drew out a silver box and a dark brown vial and a shallow clay platter. He set these aside and closed the hidden cabinet.

Turning his attention to the silver box and vial he opened the box and produced a piece of slate rimmed with cork. His trained eyes could pick out the distinct shape of written characters on the surface of the Black letter, where the ink glimmered against its background. Reaching into the box again he retrieved a brush and a small dish.

Setting these aside, he uncorked the darkened bottle with a pop, as an acrid smell of potent chemicals filled the air. He carefully poured the solution into the dish and stirred it with the tip of the brush, satisfied that the solution was still viable. He then reached back into the silver chest drew out four long pins, and stuck them in each corner of the letter. Affixing it to the slate he'd set out.

He then soaked the brush fully in the solution, rolled up his long sleeves, and began to paint the black letter with singular strokes, whipping away the black dye that permeated the parchment.

He started slow, but patiently, each stroke revealing parts of texts or sometimes full texts or characters of the aristocratic language. Each stroke raised interest and questioning suspicion, till finally the message was revealed in its entirety.

He now read the letter in its entirety and was amazed. No, he was horrified.

The Judge of a small town had sent him a letter requesting aid in dealing with what he believed to be a Demon, taken human form. As noted, the woman was found on the road by two local woodsmen after a feast, the woman was alone, wearing strange clothes, and was unaccosted by dogs. A problem that still plagued the local area. Most damning of all was her Piercing blue eyes, described almost as gemstones, and the fact she carried a knife made of forbidden Steel.

The Blessed read further, intrigued as to the conclusion of this tale.

Unable to handle the situation, the Judge had instead, given the Two Woodsmen the task of escorting her to the Shrine in Serpents Bend to see the Blessed, under the pretenses of having her identity revealed. Instead, the Judge asked that the entire party be dealt with after entering the city for the ritual test of Honey and Flowers.

The Blessed shuddered, His authority steamed from the Second Circle itself, and yet, he was reduced to taking orders from a glorified. Fourth Circle Country clerk. However, as loath he was to admit it. The man had a sense of decent thought about him. He could only imagine the thought of a Demon taking human form appearing before he would be like, without warning.

He was right in calling upon him, as was his duty in such matters. Thus he would do as the Judge asked, the Two men and the Mysterious devil woman that were to present themselves to him in several days, and were all to be killed and the matter investigated.

He sighed, this would most likely mean a Purgery and establishment of an Inquisition in the town. Not to mention alerting his higher piers in the organization towards this development.

He could most likely skip the later part, but word would slip out eventually when he ordered the Inquisition to investigate the town. He could make it a small group, slip it past his superiors, make it sound like a rumor. If there was nothing, nothing would happen. If there was something substantial, he still had the means to pull in support from above. All that was left now, was to play his part, interview these men first hand, and then dispose of the strange woman before an uproar could occur.

He briefly thought about calling the Doves Teahouse but decided against it. He'd caught it early enough in the bud, he wouldn't have to rely on those poisoners and seducers. He merely had to pretend everything was fine and that nothing was out of the ordinary.

Everything would be fine. And the matter would simply vanish like the figures of a shadow play's end.

He reviewed the wedding invitation again. Yes, He would be attending after all.

He cleared his desk of the secret tools, careful to place them back gently and exactly. He took a match from the incense box on his desk and burned the Black Letter as was custom. Once it was gone, He began to draft his letter of reply to the other Judge about hosting the ceremony.

Tolan loaded the last of their supplies onto the sled they'd brought. It had been a hard sell, but they got everything they needed for their trip to Wind Rock, Well, everything except for one.

"Vir" Tolan called, Vir was tying down a collection of bundles. "Yeah?"

"Where is she?" he asked. Vir shrugged "Nana said they'd be here soon, said they had to find some better fitting clothes." Tolan sighed, his breath slightly visible.

"Did you ask where?" He pressed slightly annoyed. Vir shrugged "I told Her we were leaving soon, She said she'd have her out by the gates when we got there."

Tolan hung his head and sighed "Well, we better get moving. This good weather will soon turn to ice if we wait any longer." He checked something one last time and asked Vir. "Do you have the Letter with you?"

Vir patted his coat pocket. Tolan shook his head opened his jacket and drew it out instead. Vir groaned

"You have to keep better track of this. Without it, there's hardly a chance they'll see the Blessed within this lifetime. And we don't have that kind of time to waste." he scolded. "Besides, Serpents Bend isn't that pretty in the winter, it's more of a Spring town," he remarked.

Vir scoffed at his amusement as they continued to prepare. Tolan finished his final checks before taking a position at the back of the sled. they'd wrangled several of the village goats were taking the lead, he cracked the reigns and they all began to pull and drive towards the gates, Vir joined him on his sled and they took off with their supplies to retrieve their mysterious passenger.

Benji and Frow met them at the gate, the mysterious woman beside them, dressed in simple common clothes and a thick coat, Nana jeering face beside her. Benji approached them.

"The Fire outside has burned itself out, thankfully the cold did most of the work for us. Though, you may encounter some fallen trees along the way. Take what wood you can find before hitting the Mountain, most of it would have been consumed in the blaze." Tolan nodded to him, Benji checked the sky briefly.

"Looks like you might catch a break, it's overcast. Some snow will the sled make time, but if not you should still be able to make it to the Mountain by the next morning. Beyond that. Wind Rock is only three days journey heading up the mountain." Tolan thanked him for his advice. Benji took Tolan's arm for a moment in a gesture of goodwill and then marched back to his post.

Nana stepped forward, leading their strange guest by the arm, a bit more color had come to her face, making her stand out like a member of the living. Frow could hardly keep his eyes off her.

"Alright now you two, try to keep safe out there, and Vir. Behave yourself. Anything happens, trust your Brother. He's got brains enough, but Heavens help you if you decide to do something extraordinarily foolish, Tolan " she sighed "Take off your brother, And this pretty young lady too. I would mind a few babes with even half her face on them. Sorry boys." Tolan chuckled

"Sorry, Nana. I don't think that's in the stars."

"Humph, Shame. Well, up you go dearie, gently now, yes, just like that." She cooed as she guided her ward up onto the sled.

Tolan helped lead the woman to seat herself on the sleigh front and then watched her settle in for the long journey. Her smooth features still stunned him, most of all those Piercing blue eyes that seemed to have dulled somewhat, but not faded, watching the landscape like a hawk. She spoke to him.

The same fluted sounds from before, accompanied by a strange two-fingered gesture moving in a circle. He tried to replicate it back to her, a smile briefly flickered before she settled towards a stone exterior.

Vir pulled to the front of them in his sled as Tolan broke free of the spell and shouted for the animals to start pulling.

The Gate swung open as they approached and a farewell cry whooped from the towers as they passed. Tolan and Vir each returned this cry, as they quickly gained speed over the damp ground. Hauling their way past the front gates and into the oncoming winter snow, gently drifting down from the sky.

Leaving behind safety for a grim uncertain fate.