Alessandra and Helga
The next few days were wonderful and less strange for Alessandra. She started to settle into her new routine. Her day started with Miss Yvette or Miss Suzzane waking her up for breakfast. She got clean clothes every day, thankfully there were no more green dresses. After breakfast, she “ran off excess energy,” as Miss Helga put it before talking to Miss ‘dine. Sometimes Miss ‘dine explained why she had to do certain things, other times, she just listened to what Alessandra’s life in the Slums was like. It was nice just to talk to someone who never made weird faces or told her that something would never happen again. Even at her age, Alessandra knew no one knew the future.
In the afternoon, Mr. Jerome or Miss Helga would come to play with her. Playing with Mr. Jerome was fun, he would take her exploring different parts of the townhouse looking for treasures or to a training field to play with swords and spears. When she played with Miss Helga, they would have tea parties or play with her dolls. She wasn’t sure why Miss Helga got a weird look on her face when her all dolls got the sickness and died, but she didn’t stop playing with her so whatever. Yesterday she got to play with Miss Kat, but Miss Helga sent her to play with Miss Yvette when she caught them teaching the Guards to dodge by throwing stuff at them. She didn’t hear all of what Miss Helga said, but she did hear her say that was not something she needed to learn. Alessandra didn’t agree dodging was important when running away from Bad People.
Today she was starting the promised lessons, and the grin Mr. Jerome had at breakfast made Alessandra nervous. She wanted to learn to read and do her numbers, but Mr. Jerome and Miss Helga seemed to think that there would be trouble. They kept telling her not to run away and do what Mr. Declan told her. They also told Arabelle and Kimi to stop her ‘inevitable escape attempts.’ Why would she run away or try to escape? She got food and clothes here. If she had to take lessons and not throw stuff at people, she could do that.
Several hours later, Alessandra decided she didn’t need to learn to read. Doing the same thing over and over and over was boring. She would just get Mr. Jerome to read her anything she wanted to know. She looked longingly out the window into the garden, daydreaming of running around the flower beds and climbing the trees. Suddenly she felt a rap on her head. Startled, she instinctively started to shadow walk. As she started to fade, she “felt” hands on her shoulder pushing her back into her seat.
“None of that, missy,” Arabelle said from the back of the room.
Pouting, Alessandra looked up at Mr. Declan, who had grabbed her slate and was looking it over. Realizing that she wasn’t in any real trouble, she waited to be given her slate back.
“Good job for your first day,” Mr. Declan said, “But given your wandering attention, how about we switch to storytime?” Pointing to a small pile of cushions, he said, “Let's sit over there and…she’s already there…” as Alessandra rose from behind the pile and started to make herself comfortable. She heard Mr. Declan asking Arabelle, “Have you been giving her shadow walking lessons? She very good for being so young.?”
“No sir, she’s a natural,” was the reply.
Shaking his head and grabbing his chair, Mr. Declan sat in front of Alessandra. “Before I start, tell me what you know of the Gods and Aspects,” he asked.
“Fluffy doesn’t like perverts, and the Goddess of Life and Family is nice,” Alessandra declared.
After a pause, Mr. Declan asked, “Is that all?”
“YUP. Never heard of ‘Aspects,’” she replied.
“Okay, starting with the very basics then. There are four types of God, from weakest to strongest they are Local, Minor, and Major. The fourth is Unknown, who can fall into any of the other three categories when they are discovered or reveal themselves. Fluffy and the Goddess of Life and Family are Major Gods. The other ones you need to know are MacDonald, God of Farms and Farmers, Death, Madness the God of Sanity, Justice the God of Justice, Law, and finally, Majick the God of Magic. Major Gods govern important parts of our lives. There are more, but we will cover them later,” taking a pause for breath. Alessandra waited impatiently for him to continue; since she was Touched by one of them, she wanted to know as much about the Gods as she could. “An example of Minor Gods is Felix, the God of Cats. Though she won't admit it, she is subordinate to both Render, God of Felines, another Minor God, and Rene, Goddess of Beasts, a Major God. Then there is Boi, God of Dogs, subordinate to Chomp, God of Canines, also Minor, and Rene as well. Unlike Felix, he doesn’t care that he’s subordinate as long as he gets attention. Minor Gods govern very specific parts of our lives that might be important to one person but not another's.” Nodding her head, Alessandra thought she understood. She raised her hand to ask a question like she had been told to do, and Mr. Declan nodded his head, giving her permission to ask her question.
“Major Gods are like nobles, Minor Gods are like Big Bosses and Street Bosses. Does that make Local Gods like pimps and Madams?” she asked.
Mr. Declan got a strange look but then clearly thought for a second and replied, “That’s actually not a bad analogy, Alessandra. Pimps and Madams might not be the best example; maybe use store owners in the future. A Local God might be the spirit in charge of a lake or forest. Local Gods govern something that is only important to a specific location. There are too many of them to get into now. It is advisable that when you stay somewhere for a while too ask about them. We don’t know anything about Unknown Gods until they are known, of course, so don’t worry about them. Going back to your analogy, the Aspects are like Kings and Queens. They govern the broadest aspects of our world. The Fates set everyone’s destiny and try to guide us on our path. Chaos seeds the random aspects of life that make it interesting. Strife sends us challenges that help make us grow. There are more that we will cover in future lessons; for now, just remember that while the Aspects do interact with the world directly, it is rare and in your best interest not to attract their attention to yourself.”
Alessandra was about to ask another question when the fluffiest lamb she had ever seen hopped through the wall and laid across her lap, and looked at her with longing eyes.
"THE FLUFF MUST BE CUDDLED!!!" She loudly declared and grabbed it in her arms, hugging it tightly, though she did briefly wonder why its mouth was bloody.
****
Helga was reading a horrible romance novel and sipping tea in a gazebo when a breathless guard running towards her was clotheslined by one of her duty guards. She didn’t notice this as the heroine in her book was busy ripping the intestines out of the man who had until recently been trying to kidnap her (who needed a sweaty, well-muscled, shirtless man to rescue you when you had magic?), but she did hear the strangled cry and thump.
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Unconcerned by what were all too common sounds recently, she calmly turned the page and asked, “What did Alessandra say or do this time?” If she remembered correctly, Alessandra should still be getting her lessons, so it couldn’t be too bad.
“Not (gasp) her (cough) this (gasp) time, the gate….Guild,” croaked the guard on the ground.
Calmly closing her book, though she forgot the bookmark, she stood, pointed to one guard, and ordered, “Get my breastplate and bow and meet me by the gate,” pointing to the ever-present maid and then the guard on the ground, “Take that man to a healer,” pointing to the guard standing over the guard on the ground, “Escort me to the gate.”
Hurrying, but not rushing, to the gate, she arrived just after Jerome and Inspector Rochelle, who were both fully armed and armored.
“It seems that the Guild finally decided to act,” she remarked.
“So it seems. According to Hector, they decided last night, though he only found out when the Inquisitors tried to arrest him about half an hour ago,” grinning Jerome continued, “Of course, they failed miserably. He, along with Sasha and others who remember the Guilds true purpose, are currently rounding up as many of the Elitist faction as they can. The Guild Master and about a third of the Guild Council are holed up in the Council chamber, reminding the rest of the Council what true Archmages are. From reports they are getting out, about a third of the Elitist members of the Council are ash or unidentifiable goo, and the rest are still trying to break in with lower-ranked backers. The Guild Master has told us to take care of this batch of Elitists in whatever manner we deem.”
“Has the King made his wishes known? I cannot imagine that he is pleased with this situation,” Helga asked, getting into her armor that had arrived during Jerome’s briefing.
“He has, but this all started suddenly, and he is still organizing the Kingsguard. He has declared it an internal Guild matter and has ordered the area around the Guild off-limits until things settle one way or the other. He has told us that we can defend our castle, but we cannot start any fights. The city council has declared in favor of the Elitist and are arresting Loyalist Mages when they can, though their success is … limited,” Jerome said. “The Inspector and I are going to meet the Inquisitors outside. I want you up with the archers to provide cover when necessary. I’ll take ten men and Kathrine with me, the Inspector has thirty CPS and ten of her Inquisitors she wants to take. Hopefully, the Elitists won't back down, and there will be fewer of them for Hector to deal with.”
“Understood; please at least wait for me to get up there,” Helga said, motioning to the battlement thirty feet above, “before you head out.”
"Of course, dear."
Reaching the battlements quickly, Helga realized two things: One, she was getting too old for war, and two, the Capitol Guild had a lot of idiots in it. There were about 40 Inquisitors and Magisters backed up by around 100 other Mages arrayed in the courtyard before her gates. Poor fools. Jerome and his retinue exited the raised gates to meet with the head Guild Inquisitor.
“Magister Jerome Halrond, surrender yourself and the Death Mage you are harboring to the Guild for Judgment!” the fool imperiously demanded.
“The Duke is acting on behalf of the Temple of Fluffy, the Protector of Children, Inquisitor. Your Guild has no stake in this matter,” Inspector Rochelle replied.
“You sheep lovers have no say in what happens with Mage concerns; that thing needs put down before it kills half the city,” the Inquisitor replied.
A giant ram with four sets of horns soundlessly appeared from thin air beside the Inspector and proceeded to bite the head of the Inquisitor off with teeth that had no business belonging to a herbivore.
“FIRE ON THE SUPPORT MAGES!” Helga shouted as she charged a mana arrow, looking for a Barrier or Death Mage to snipe. Seeing the obvious signs of a barrier forming in front of the Guild Inquisitors, she found the offending Mage and loosed her strike, blowing the woman’s torso apart. Glancing down at Jerome, she saw that the ram was gone, and Jerome had encased an Inquisitor in a rapidly shrinking barrier. Kathrine, meanwhile, was using her Life Magic to cause a Magister's rib to grow rapidly into his neighbor's kidneys. Inspector Rochelle had used some unknown magic to commandeer a leg from a screaming mage and was using it as a longsword to battle an Inquisitor. Impressive, she thought.
While she had been scanning the battlefield, Helga had been recharging her mana arrow and quickly found a Death Mage to send to meet his patron face to spirit. It was going to be an interesting afternoon after all.
Loosing another arrow, she had a stray thought and cursed, "Dang it, I forgot the bookmark!" Ignoring the looks her soldiers and guards were giving her, she loosed another arrow and yelled down to the rapidly diminishing enemy, "You made me lose my place! Die!"
----
A few minutes later, the last Guild mage lost his head to a CPS trooper, and the fight was over.
“Major, send some soldiers to sort that mess out. Execute the wounded Guild members; no need for interrogations. When that’s done, burn the bodies and repair any damage,” Helga ordered the nearest officer.
“No prisoners, My Lady?” the major asked.
“Any who surrendered will be spared, for now; no need to waste resources on the condemned. They came here to take a child under our protection, one that shall soon be my daughter." She gestured vaguely in the direction the lead Inquisitor had been and continued, "That man did not even consider her human; he only called her ‘it and ‘thing.’ People who follow a man like that need to be removed from this world,” she declared.
“Yes, My Lady,” replied the major, and started issuing orders.
Looking over the field, she saw that only a few of those that had exited the townhouse were wounded or dead, and those seemed to be mostly from Fluffies Temple. It seems that Halrond dwarven and gnomish armor had proven its worth again. She did see one thing that caused her concern and jumped over the battlements to deal with it.
Running over to Kathrine and Jerome, she asked sweetly, “And where do you two think you are going?”
“To the Guild to finish these bastards off,” Kathrine replied, pointing her sword at the bodies.
“You, Colonel Moor, are going to go check on your primary now that this fracas is finished,” Helga told the other women firmly. “And you, My Lord Duke, need to see to the troops.”
Jerome stopped in his tracks and looked at Helga, surprise in his eyes.
“What? But sweetie, there are still enemies left,” he said plaintively, pointing in the direction of the Guild Hall.
Ignoring him, Helga narrowed her eyes at Kathrine, “Colonel, your charge, NOW!”
Kathrine saluted and ran off. Turning to Jerome, Helga spoke again, “I know that there are still enemies about, but remember what the King declared?”
“That the Guild Hall was….off limits….and this was an internal Guild matter….DAMN IT!” Jerome punched through a nearby wall, “I’m not a member of this Guild. Stupid politics, this is why I’ve been advocating to integrate all the Guilds into one hierarchy.”
“I know, dear, and hopefully, this incident will show the wisdom of your actions in doing so in Halrond. For now, we have wounded and dead to see to. The Guild is a concern for another day,” Helga said, then grabbed his arm and started leading him to the line of wounded. Belatedly, the Kingsguard entered the square.C