Chapter 32 Shy Away
A hand suddenly came down on the shoulder of the guard watching Lenna and the children. He had been frozen in shock upon seeing his companion fly through the air the entire way to the dock. He jumped from the sudden contact, and was about to whirl around on whoever had touched him, when a sudden sense of foreboding crashed down onto his very soul like a sledgehammer. He was frozen in place once again, only this time by terror alone. His entire body was slick with cold sweat in an instant.
“Whenever you see a child in need, regardless of who that child is, remember this night.” Isaac told him simply. His casual and sagely tone was a stark contrast to the unknowable power and danger that he was exuding. “Remember that your compassion is what kept you alive, and maybe your companion as well, maybe.” Isaac removed his hand from the man and faded back into the shadows after one final word of advice. “A guard is meant to protect, not attack, it’s in the name, after all.”
It took the guard a moment before he was in control of himself enough to turn around and look at the place where Isaac had been. There was nothing behind him, not a single trace of whoever had been there. The sound of Lenna’s clanking boots brought his attention back to the knight and children in front of him. The guard watched them pass in silence. Right as they were about to pass by him completely, he let go of his spear with one of his hands and held it up. “Excuse me, adventurer?”
Lenna stopped and turned to look at him with expressionless eyes that seemed to take him in as if he was simply a part of the background. “Yes?” She replied.
“The guards by the Church of Halya walk the same path every ten minutes.” He told her.
Lenna nodded. “Thank you.” She told him and looked like she was about to continue on her way when she stopped and turned back to him. “Why are the rest of the guards so awful towards the orphans?” She questioned him directly.
“We were ordered by the Captain to keep as much of the homeless population away from the places of charity.” The guard told her. Apparently he had figured that he was already in too deep to not just be cooperative with her and whoever lurked in the dark. “The places of charity often bill the lord for whatever they cannot afford on their own. Some think that the Captain is syphoning off the money that is set aside to help them. If that’s true, then that means that all of the charity money is going to his pockets instead, so if they need more, then he has to be the one to pay for it or else it’ll all become public.”
Lenna nodded again in thanks. “I understand. Thank you, guardsman Marik.” She told him and ushered the children along.
Marik stared after them for a long moment before he sighed deeply. It was both a breath of exasperation and relief at surviving the ordeal. He was not looking forward to the report that he would have to give about his missing partner.
—
Lenna knocked on the front door of the white stone building with Sapphire roof tiles. Every building had the same blue tiles that reflected the light. It was to such an extreme degree that there was no way that it was not a local law that all buildings had to have roofs made of the city’s namesake. The heavy wooden door was nudged inwards slightly by Lenna’s knock so she pushed it open the rest of the way. Just inside there were a trio of nuns praying before a statue depicting their patron goddess running her hand through a small plot of wheat. Each of the wheat stalks were made individually and set into the floor around her. Each of them was hand sculpted and not made with magic, that was obvious by the slight differences between each stalk that were clearly due to the mortals' hands that were involved in the crafting process.
One of the nuns rose to meet them and another looked back to see who had entered. The final nun hadn’t even flinched as her prayers continued. The first nun approached them immediately while the second lagged behind. “Hello, Halya’s blessings be upon you.” The first nun greeted them. “How can we be of assistance?” She asked the knight who was entirely cased in armor that had just entered their church. The nun showed no fear at the strange and imposing figure that had just entered.
Lenna stepped half a step to the side to show the nun the children that tried to hide behind her again as soon as she had moved. “These two, they need warm food, a bath, and a warm place to sleep. They were injured. I healed them as best as I could, but clerics are better at it than me.” Lenna explained to the nun.
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“You are a healer of some kind then?” The nun asked Lenna as she eyed the children curiously. “A paladin?”
Lenna nodded once. “I am. Will you take them in, at least until they are fully healed?” Lenna asked her. It was around that time when the second nun fell in just behind and beside the first.
“We can take them in for the night at least.” The first nun spoke. She looked back over her shoulder at the nun that was still praying for a moment before she turned back to face Lenna. “We only have one spare bed and only a small surplus of food and cloth. We will do our best to take care of them until someone who needs us more arrives, or until the nights are not so cold. I promise.”
“Sister Heather!” The second nun snapped in a whisper. “What spare bed are you talking about?”
“Mine.” The first nun, Sister Heather, replied simply. “I did not become a nun to sit on my feet and pray all day for salvation. I devoted my life to the nurturing of life and the growth all around me.” Upon speaking her words there was a slight breeze that rippled out from her in all directions that caused her stark white robes to flutter. Her eyes went wide and she turned her hand around to open her closed fist. Inside it there was a single head of wheat. Her eyes only continued to widen as she realized exactly what that meant.
“I thought as much.” Lenna spoke. “This is what a priestess of Halya should be.” She turned and looked back at the children. “Sister Heather will take care of you, Halya has demanded it. If you are ever in trouble, go to the Adventurers’ Guild and ask for us. It might not be us that comes to help you, but we will ensure that you receive the help that you need.” She assured them. Both children looked like they wanted to argue but Lenna had never seemed like a person that they would be able to argue with. Her presence was soothing yet frightening in a way that few others were. She was like a being from a different world for them, full of wonder, awe, and terrifying power.
“Will we see you again?” Star asked as she took a hesitant step around her.
Lenna smiled even though the children couldn’t see it. They heard it in her voice however as she spoke: “One day, maybe far into the future, so make sure you survive to see us again.”
Star nodded and drug her brother with her towards the nuns. “Thank you.” Star told her. “And thank your husband and ghost friend too”
Lenna nodded in reply. “I am sure that they have heard you.” She told her. A moment later, both nuns and both children looked on in surprise as a small stack of ten platinum coins appeared in front of Sister Heather and a throwing spike found its way into Star’s free hand. Cloud’s fist was also closed around a platinum coin but no one around him seemed to notice. It was clear to the children what both gifts meant even if Isaac hadn’t meant them in any specific way. To Star it meant that she was supposed to be the one to protect the two of them and to Cloud it meant that he was supposed to be the one to provide for himself and his sister.
Before either nuns or children could say anything to Lenna, she had already slipped back out through the door and closed it. A moment later, a no longer stunned Sister Heather opened the door to look for Lenna to thank her, but the woman was already gone without a trace. Later, when the sisters asked the children about the woman that had brought them to the church, what they were told made little sense to them. The children had spoken of a man made of blackness like the night sky, a ghost like the midnight sea breeze, and a woman who looked like a burning hearthfire.
—
“That was a good deed we did.” Lenna told Isaac as the pair sat on the roof of the Adventurers’ Guild. The building was the only one around that did not have a sloped roof but rather had a flat one with drains set up in each corner and runes set up around the roof access to prevent loose water from entering the rest of the building.
Isaac grunted in reply. “You know, we did our good deed here, we could just leave and continue on our journey. No one would blame us for wanting to leave this absolute mess alone. We could tell Sera and Edward in a letter and let them sort it out. It’s their family. Maybe we shouldn’t be getting involved.” He told her.
“There are people here who need help. There are villains here who need a reckoning.” Lenna replied. “This is also where the slave traders that brought the girls to Safeharbor came from. If slaves were brought in from somewhere else, before being distributed, then that means that the slavery operation here must be decently large.”
“We could tell Judgment. I am sure that he would sort it out quickly enough.” Isaac told her.
“With collateral damage.” Lenna countered. “He would probably just go around hitting people with his hammer of justice.” She argued. “Not only that, but he would be far too inconclusive. There is no way that he would not miss at least a third of their operation.”
Isaac nodded. “I know.” He conceded. “But does it really have to be us?”
“Sera and Izen are busy with their own territory to worry about and Edward got rid of his title.” Lenna reminded him. “I’m sure that Edward could come and talk with his brother, but then what?”
“Either Duke Sasston would try to fix everything or Edward would be put in a position where he would either need to try and take over the duchy or get someone else involved.” Isaac postulated. “With enough pushing from Edward and Sera I am sure that most of this would get resolved.” Isaac offered.
“You mean swept under the rug.” Lenna retorted. “Duke Sasston would just do enough to make it look like everything was fine, and then let all of the dark dealings continue under the surface, like he has been doing.” Lenna countered. “Just like this city, just like Star and Cloud’s house. A beautiful roof held up by a conjured stone pillar and three half broken walls.”
Isaac sighed. “I know, fine, you’re right, you win.” He told her and then sighed again. “But I am not going to be the one to explain all of this to Sera and Edward.” He told her.
“Ah, the truth is revealed.” Lenna commented with a smirk. “Throwing your power around has never been something that you would shy away from. Explaining why you smacked Sera and Edward’s brother around, and spilled their family secrets to the public, now that is something I can see you trying to avoid.”