Chapter 13:

When he finally heard the knock on the door to his office, Treo pulled himself away from writing his report and spoke.

: "Enter!"

A young man, barely 15 years old and wearing the white priestly robes of the newly established church entered the room. Treo scanned his face and his robes, recognizing both and softened his expression a little bit.

: "Ah, Gareth! What's up? Do you have something for me?"

: Closing the door behind him, he turns to answer while holding out a scroll to the Paladin leader of the Church of Morthrul; "Yes, I have a scroll from the Castle for you. I made sure the seal is still intact."

: Reaching out and taking possession of the scroll, he begins to read it; "Thank you. Can you take the scroll in the 'Outbox' and deliver it to the Adventurer's Guild? Make sure the Guildmaster receives this, okay?"

: Taking the scroll from the edge of Treo's desk, he nods once and departs; "I will! Thank you, sir!"

: After reading the scroll for a few minutes, he sighs deeply and sits back in his chair, muttering to himself; "Oh no, the Marchioness is at it again. You'd think after a year she'd given up on trying to tear us down. Nope!"

With that, Treo archives the scroll safely with the others in his storage space and makes his way towards Stormy's room. As he arrives, his eyes widen at the sheer amount of people standing in line just to speak with her...more than usual. Making his way near the front of the line, he pops his head in and waves to Stormy, smiling warmly.

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: "Hi there! Do you have a minute? Something's come up that I need your help with."; he asked.

: Turning from the man in the seat across from her desk and towards Treo, she smiles slightly and nods; "Sure thing. Give me a minute or so to finish up?"

: Nodding in agreement; "Okay, just come to my office when you can."; he says before returning to his own office, making sure the seat for her is clean and ready for her use.

While waiting for Stormy to arrive, he prepares some hot tea, just the way she likes it, making sure to steep it for a few minutes before serving it. A few minutes later, Stormy enters and smiles upon seeing Treo.

: Taking a deep sniff of the tea's aroma, she sighs contentedly; "Ah, you know how to spoil me, don't you...it's so relaxing. Is that Chamomile?"

: Nodding in agreement; "Yes, and there's a reason for bringing it out. I just got the results of the investigation from the Adventurer's Guild, and it's not pleasant at all."

: Putting the tea down after taking a few sips, she takes the offered scroll from Treo and begins to furrow her brow. "Yes, I see what you mean. How long has she been trying to undermine everything we do here? Over a year, isn't it?"

: "15 months, to be more precise. And most of that has been focused on us. Just last week she tried to send one of her cronies here as a new believer, hoping to get access to...something. We never did find out what he was after, but got caught trying to break into my office and couldn't justify it."

: "It seems she's been trying to infiltrate the church, meanwhile she continues to lobby the king to have us dissolved using one justification after another. She's trying to bring slavery back to before the Slave's Rights days, and sees us as an obstacle in her way."

: "Yes, the Guild suggested as much in that letter there. I'm feeling led to see if Cam and Muri can help us with this. They both know the Marchioness better, being Royalty, and can probably understand all the nuances better than we do."

: Nodding in agreement; "Yes, we should pay them a visit. Perhaps they can help us deal with her latest scheme, whatever it is."

With that, both Treo and Stormy leave the church, making their way to the Castle where they hope to find one of them to talk to.