I breezed through the compendium of gods that I had now read many times. Bhufo gave it to me when my mother pulled me out of the Junior Paladins. I was so excited to read through it when I first got it. I poured through it, learning about all the different gods, some small and large. I even looked up Seshat to read more about her temporary contract. She didn’t ask for much, except to study and get better, which I liked doing anyway. But she had no need for warriors. Not really. She didn’t advance anyone past level three. So I read up on other gods. There was a section on their motives, the abilities they granted you, as well as a paragraph called ‘likely missions.’

Apparently, how it worked was you would make a contract with a god to serve seven years at least. It was like you were on call. You would be able to walk around spend most of your time bumming along doing whatever you’d like with your powers but when they came calling? You answered. Oftentimes some of the more absent gods would have a guideline you would follow. “Don’t do this.” or “Always be virtuous.” If you failed you’d be stripped of your powers and be an enemy of that god’s order. It was an interesting idea. I was not very happy with it. As I read over the session of ‘biases’ and ‘mission statement’ I was left puzzled. I couldn’t make up my mind. What if what they wanted interfered with my own plan? I would have to defer to them or I would be stripped. I knew there was a friend I had that, after years, was still at the beck and call of his god. I went to the exit and my mom stopped me and asked where I was going.

“To see Ictar,” I said.

“To see Ictar?” She asked with her arms crossed, “Why?”

“Because he’s my friend.”

“Is this about being a paladin?”

I harrumphed and told her that if she wasn’t going to let me be a paladin she might as well let me see my friends who were. She held out, arguing about the dangers of going out on my own and how she wanted me back before they lit the street torches. I testily agreed and she finally stepped out of my way.

I walked all the way to the South Bronze Gate, where I met my father and he gave me a pass to return. He handed me some deben for food, I thanked him and I made the trek to my old friend’s house.

When I got to Ictar’s house, he was not there yet. I ended up waiting hours. He returned half-drunk and smelling like whiskey.

“Hyuh? Were we supposed to train? Hold on, I need to get something.”

“Is it a bucket of water?”

“Ehh,” He sort of bumbled around, looking for the bucket, “It’s… not quite that.”

“It’s a bucket of water. You want to pour it on me?” I asked, “It doesn’t work. I’m wide awake. You’re drunk. It’s be better if we-”

He picked up the bucket with a little water at the bottom and it landed on my shirt.

“Nice.” I said.

“That’s for being late to our meeting!” He said as he took another pull of his flask, “When were we supposed to meet, anyway?”

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“We weren’t,” I said as I wrung the part of my shirt that had just been washed, “I came to ask you about being a paladin. Would you like to go inside?”

“Sure. Better than drinking outside.”

We went inside his hovel. Some insects buzzed around a plate of food he’d left out. I scraped the food into the trash and placed the plate in the empty bucket. When I wanted to sit down, I saw that there were dirty clothes on the chair. I took them and attempted to find some place for them.

“Just put those anywhere,” Ictar said.

I did not. I found a sac and placed them inside. And with that, I could not sit still. As we talked, I tidied the old coot’s home.

“So, you’re to choose a god, young squirrel,” Ictar said, “What have you decided?”

“I can’t decide which one. Why did you choose Aeolus?”

“I needed his speed. His quickness. In exchange I pledged fealty to him. And I am faithful to this day.”

“Did he ever ask you to do a mission?”

“Oh yes. Several times. Not directly. It’s not often that the gods speak with you. But there would be signs. I’d need to save a hawk from the clutches of a giant spider or I’d need to save some fair maiden.”

“Why does a god want that?” I asked, “Why do any of those things?”

“Ours is not to question the gods' will, little squirrel. They are right because they are gods and it is ours to listen. May I ask you this, what god are you thinking? SOmeone as quick and nimble as you could use some strength, but I think Hermes would be good for you. God of travelers and rogues. Ba’al? God of storms. Maybe you’ll even be tapped on the shoulder by Ra himself.”

“I was thinking Anubis.”

I served him coffee to sober him up. I stared at him, curious to hear what he had to say. He laughed. He then drank some coffee.

“Anubis does not have warriors child. She is merely the one who delivers the dead to judgment.”

I nodded my head, “I understand.” I said. “I guess that’s up to me to determine. Thanks for the help, Ictar. Any chance I can stay, help clean up a bit?”

I worked quickly, throwing away some of the refuse he’d let collect. I cleared away the mold in his food cabinet. I opened the door to his latrine outside but closed it. I would not have time to get to all that today. All these gods. Everyone that would give power to a warrior, they wanted something back. It was understandable. But what did they want? How did it conflict with what I wanted? It was ineffable. How the hell could I trust it?

I stopped scrubbing a pernicious spot and looked back up to Ictar, “Why don’t some gods take on paladins?”

Without stopping from rocking in his chair, he said, “It’s as I said. It is some divine reason.”

“What if I could convince them of a reason? They probably need something done," I said, “Have you ever thought to ask?”

To this, he let out a rye chuckle, “Most gods don’t speak to just anybody.”

“Yeah, I wouldn’t either.”

It took a few hours of my day to clean his place, and by the time I was done, I realized I’d have no time to stop by and see Clary. I was in her part of town, which I did not visit often, but if I wanted to keep my word to my mother, I’d have to leave Ictar’s place now to reach my second destination. The sun was setting and I had to make it back to the Bronze Ring. I used a Stride spell and ran toward the door, thanking Ictar for his time.

“Where are you going?!” Ictar turned as I made my way out the door.

“Speak to an old friend. Maybe my oldest friend.”