Tom, Aybhas, Harvest season, 9th rot. to Cold season, 1st & 2nd rotations

Rumors of the prophet taking a walk through the northeast Coyn neighborhood spread through the city faster than wildfire. On the night after she appeared by wash house five, the Northeast Surd Hall was packed with people hoping she would visit. I was one of them. She mentioned to those of us she spoke to that she wanted to visit there. We all wanted to see her and talk to her. I suspect my desire to do so was more acute than anyone else’s.

I couldn’t stay in Aybhas after that since the Cosm I was traveling with needed to move on to our next destination in Gunndit Town. I also couldn’t get to the east garden at the shrine because of the snow. The groundskeepers didn’t do snow removal in the gardens.

It was almost a rotation later when we came back through Aybhas. I talked the Cosm wagon loader into staying the night. I visited the Northeast Surd Hall, but my hopes of Emily showing up were dashed. I paid my bronze piece for a room for the night in the neighborhood boarding house, then snuck out after curfew to visit the garden.

It had snowed two more times since I was in Aybhas last rotation. Winter had come early. The snow was over my knees and it was a slog once I got onto the lane that led to the east garden. I was always amazed that there was no gate on the lane. Cosm assumed that we would obey their every command, like don’t visit the garden in the snow or on days one, five, and ten - and most Coyn did obey, but I wasn’t most Coyn.

Amazed that no one was watching or patrolling the grounds of the shrine, I plowed my way to the bench where I could see Emily's window. On a whim, I cleared off the snow on the back of the bench to see the graffiti I wrote last time. Though it was difficult to read in the dark, I was shocked to see that Emily had answered.

She had written the lyric from the song’s break measures: “It's just no good anymore since you went away. Now I spend my time just making rhymes of yesterday.” Underneath, she had written in English: “Where do you live and what is your Fosk name?”

How had she found my graffiti? Did she visit the garden? I had never heard of anyone spotting her here. Did she visit incognito? That would fit with her personality of hating to stand out. Did she make it a habit to check out the backsides of benches? The back of this one wasn’t that easy to get to. I had to dodge a couple of bushes to reach it. I would have to ask her about it when we finally met up.

This was terrible. I had no idea that she would find my graffiti and answer it. I should have known better. She was always five times smarter than I was. I had nothing to use to write a reply on the bench. I would need to return with some paint or some ink. Before I hiked back to where I was sleeping, on a whim I decided to sing our song. She might have been home and in her bed. She might hear me, and so I sang.

I watched her window but no charm gem or lamp appeared to light up her room. She was asleep or she was not there. Someone had mentioned earlier that the silverhairs had taken her out of town and no one had seen or heard of her for several days. I decided to hike back to where I was sleeping and find some ink. Then I would make the hike back here and leave my reply. I finished singing. Then I touched the letters she had written, burning them into my memory. How much longer would I be forced to wait?

I was in the tunnel under the ring road when an older woman’s voice called to me from the tunnel entrance in the garden, “Wait! Come back. I want to talk to you.”

That was enough to spur me to run out the other end of the tunnel and into the east market alley. I turned right as soon as I could to get away from the north market and into the shopkeepers' homes. I dove into the bushes next to one of the shacks where single Coyn lived who were attached to Cosm homes as menials. Long a veteran of outrunning garrisons guards after curfew, I calmed my mind and thought of what any young man might lust after while trying to fall asleep: a lovely girl with dark blond hair and hazel eyes, tall but not too tall, and nicely rounded but not too rounded, and that last night where we made love until we were exhausted. I missed her so much. There was no one like her. She was like the other half of my soul.

I felt the cool sensation of Cosm mind magic brush my mind but my thoughts were filled with that lovely girl I loved. None of my thoughts were panicked nor did I try to hide my thoughts just then. The trick to fooling those damn mages and their mind magic is to think normal thoughts. To the mage in the garden who was looking for me, I would appear to be just another young man thinking of sex. Nothing to see here. Move along, scary mage.

I fantasized about Emily until I fell asleep under that bush in the cold and the snow. A big long-haired tuxedo cat woke me up and then followed me back to the boarding house. It trotted off after I shooed it away. The cat looked too well-fed to be a stray so I didn't worry as it vanished back down the road. I decided to just sleep instead of returning to the garden. I would return and leave my reply to Emily some other time. I was too cold after falling asleep in the cold.

I fell into my bed but I didn't wake up in time. Someone on the cleaning crew shook me awake. My head felt like it would burst and my fingers and toes felt like they were burning. I think I groaned.

“Hey, we noticed you didn’t come down to eat, which isn’t like you. You look awful. Did you sneak out to see a girl again? Great Gertzpul! What is wrong with your hands?”

I looked at my painful hands and saw that my fingers were red where they weren’t colored blue, and they were swollen like sausages. I could barely move them.

“Pull off my stockings. I think my feet are like this too.”

The cleaning guy obliged me, looking concerned, especially since I couldn't stop making noise from the pain as he exposed my feet. He was right to look concerned. My feet and toes looked like my fingers and I couldn’t stand to put any weight on them.

“Surd save us, you have nasty chilblains. You need a healer. Just lie back down and I'll take care of this. You idiot, you snuck out after curfew again. Aren’t you getting a little too old to be chasing women? You need to find a girl and settle down.”

All I could do was groan in reply.

The two guys on the cleaning crew bundled me up in my coat and wrapped me in blankets. Then they took turns carrying me down to the chapel shrine hospital. The healers stopped the pain in my hands and feet and cured the horrific headache. They even managed to reduce some but not all of the swelling. I couldn’t walk for two days. My wagon loader took the wagon back without me and promised he would send someone to get me. He wasn’t very bright so I took the precaution of telling the healers to send a message for me. Three days later, someone from home came to fetch me.

I limped for the next two rotations as the swelling slowly went down. I couldn’t understand healing magic. Healers can set and fuse a broken bone back together but can't make the swelling go away. They can fix any wound, no matter how terrible, but not the bruising that persists after the healing is done. They can remove cataracts but not chemical burns in the eyes. It made no logical sense to me.

My local healer put me on bookkeeping duty for the healing chapel shrine that serves the holding and chewed on my ass for ignoring curfew and chasing women.

She did ask me some strange questions as to whether I had any special affinity or fondness for the god of knowledge, Galt. Like most Coyn, my main devotions, such as they are, are for Surd, who is the god who has the greatest care for Coyn. Why would I ever have any affinity for a god infamous for smiting transgressors with lightning?

I tell you, I just can't get a break. The tragedy is that I can't even catch the woman I'm trying to chase. It's not as if I achieved anything to pay me back for the chilblains and the grief I got afterward.

I’m sure somewhere, some god is amused over my predicament. Given that both Emily and I have been reborn into the same place, that's the only explanation that makes any sense to me. If Emily is really able to talk to gods in this life, then I’ll ask her to give those gods a piece of her mind for me once I get a chance to talk to her. I mean, they’re gods, right? Why can’t they just give us our South Pacific “Enchanted Evening” moment and let us get on with life?

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Lisaykos, Healing Shrine, Cold season, 1st rot., night of the 8th day

I spent the Coldtide Festival at the Building Shrine of Giltak, along with Emily, Twee, and the royal family. We got Emily installed in a beautiful house in the Coyn area of the shrine complex. Several of the Coyn master artificers built it with her in mind, so she would have her own place when she came to visit. It came complete with a cook and a personal attendant for her, both Coyn. That was necessary since the house was Coyn-scaled.

I had to tour it on my hands and knees to fit inside but Aylem was just too big to squeeze through the doors so she missed out. Emily was quite amused. Aylem wasn’t.

Twee decided to stay with Emily in her little house. The artificers had a Cosm-scaled tub installed for him in less than a day and kept it heated with a hypocaust base fed by the hot springs upstream of the shrine. They were very clever folks, those Coyn artificers of the Building Shrine. I could appreciate the warning of the gods that Coyn artificers could be dangerous if left unsupervised. I know Raoleer was reevaluating some of her policies regarding Coyn-initiated projects, many of which were new and inspired by things Emily had told them last year when she visited. Emily’s lecture after Irralray set her off at Weirgos had the effect of scaring the Convocation into at least a rotation of collective insomnia.

Every high priestess and every lord holder was convinced before the meetings were done in Weirgos that this tiny frail Coyn could destroy entire nations if she wanted to. I doubt that Emily intended to leave that impression since she is rather timid and non-confrontational by nature.

I found it fascinating that Emily doesn’t think of herself as a prophet. Rather, she thought of prophethood as a job with the various gods as her employers. She only got contentious and aggressive when she deemed herself to be on the job as a prophet. Being a prophet was what she did; it is not who she was. I think this was how Emily kept herself from being destroyed mentally by the destiny that the gods imposed upon her.

Emily in action at the Building Shrine was Emily who had forgotten about being a prophet. She turned into a total unrepentant mekaner. She spent the entire day after Coldtide closeted with her partner-in-mad-invention, the Revered Huhoti, as they designed something Emily called a Gramme Machine, which they would use to power something called an electrolysis cell. The final product of this grand scheme would be soap.

It seemed like a lot of work to me just to make soap. Aylem, on the other hand, was wildly enthusiastic that Emily was doing this. I can only assume that they know something that I don’t know about making soap this way. For me, this is the real Emily: Artificer Emily the Inventor, not Prophet Emily, Destroyer of Cities.

I returned to an empty suite of rooms at the Healing Shrine. It was too quiet. Because Aylem, Emily, and Asgotl were on their way to Mattamukmuk, I lured Wolkayrs to fill in while I searched for candidates to replace Aylem. Lyappis was close to allowing Aylem to return home to the palace. Aylem was doing so much better. Even I was no longer fearful if she returned to Is'syal, especially since Lyappis insisted on staying with her in the palace for a half year while she readjusted to life as Queen.

I ended up working late and then reading before I fell asleep every evening. It’s what I used to do before Emily arrived. The difference was that I now was lonely without Emily and her constant chaos. I was unsure of how to cure myself of my lonely life. Eskurt was a comfort but he wasn’t exactly a great conversationalist.

I thought I would be doomed to empty days and bored evenings but life surprised me. First, I had to arrange a hand-in-hand ceremony for Priestess Arma and Oysumi haup Yant. Mieth was livid with her daughter and Oysumi. I was amused. It turns out that Arma was pregnant and the two of them weren't wed yet. They were both in their late 20s and keen to make up for lost time. Given their mutual circumstances, I don’t blame them at all for not waiting.

I did have a slight problem in that I had no idea where Oysumi was, given that he was really the deputy spymaster for the kingdom and was somewhere my son could not discuss. Irhessa promised Oysumi's immediate recall, though he did say it would take at least a rotation. I scheduled the hand-in-hand for the tenth day of the third rotation, to ensure that Emily would be there. Right now she was off with Aylem and Asgotl on their grand adventure out to Mattamukmk.

The next thing that happened was almost catching Tom. That was frustrating. I had just darkened the light gem. I thought was dreaming in my half-asleep state, listening to a distant baritone signing the English words I had memorized from the love song that Tom had written in his letter to Emily.

It was a lovely tune that I had never heard before. Where did the music in my head come from since this was a dream? Then the detection charm went off in the garden. I had placed a charm of detection on the garden bench closest to Emily’s window, the one where Tom had written his earth poetry and Emily had written back. I leapt out of bed, grabbed my house coat, and ran barefoot down the hall. I cast a charm to open the balcony door, currently unguarded since no one was here other than the healer staff. I looked over the railing but didn't see anyone. Was I imagining things?

Uncertain, I ran down the stairs, startling the healers on night duty. I cut through the atrium and around the Well of Mugash to the corridor leading to the east door. I cast another door charm so it was open as I ran through and into the snow covering the garden. I caught sight of movement on the path leading to the tunnel to the market alley. Casting a charm to protect my bare feet, I ran to the path and saw the figure of a Coyn man bundled in a long hooded coat.

“Wait! Come back. I want to talk to you,” I called out to him. He didn’t even look back. He ran from me. For someone with short legs, he ran fast. He was out of sight before I thought to cast a charm to levitate him off his feet and float him back to me.

I cast a warmth charm on myself and then opened my mind to use my out-of-practice clairvoyance and thought-catching. I was surprised not to find someone running or in a panic. I touched dozens of minds looking for someone trying to hide and avoid detection. Most were asleep. The nearest Coyn who was awake was fantasizing about some girl he wanted to make love to again.

The next nearest was a young Coyn woman frightened of her owner’s son, who was stalking her because she believed he wanted to rape her. Other women Coyn in that house had vanished in the past and no one was willing to talk about it. I made a note of the house.

Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

“Mistress,” Healer Krukallos ran through the snow to catch up to me, “what is wrong?” Who are you chasing? Was there a Coyn in the garden?”

“Krukallos, are you in charge of the shrine tonight?” I asked, turning back and indicating that we should both go back inside.

“Yes, mistress,” she nodded, looking concerned.

“There was indeed a Coyn in the garden, the one that Emily wants to talk to. I just missed catching him and can’t find him with my clairvoyance, which I admit was never my best skill.”

Krukallos hurried a few steps ahead of me and opened the east door back inside, “He can’t have gone far.”

“I know,” I nodded, realizing I was tracking wet footprints down the clean stone tiles of the floor. I was embarrassed to be dirtying the floor.

“We do have mops and a good cleaning staff, mistress,” Krukallos rolled her eyes at me. We had known each other long enough that she knew she could get away with it. I laughed.

“Hold on one moment, dear heart,” I prepared to trance, “I need to contact the garrison.”

I reached out to the duty officer whose job it was to listen for mind casting, *This is High Priestess Lisaykos.*

*This is Lt. Ekvimar haup Ark’kos, Great One, of the Aybhas Garrison. How may I be of service?*

*I need all four city gates closed immediately pending further instructions. I also need guard details to search the residential neighborhoods surrounding the north market, also immediately. You are looking for an adult male Coyn in a brown wool great coat with a hood and black felt boots. He has not committed any offense. I just want to talk to him. He may answer to the name Tom. He might be frightened and wary, so treat him gently and make sure he knows he is not in any trouble if you find him. If you would send the current gate officer to my study here at the shrine, I can discuss what measures to take to re-open the gates.*

*You want the gate officer now, Great One?*

*Yes, please.*

*Consider it done, Great One.*

“There," I returned to the normal world, "can you please tell the Greeting Table that I am expecting someone from the garrison immediately? Have them send whoever it is straight upstairs to my study. And now, Krukallos, dear heart, I must go make myself somewhat more presentable."

She had opened a supply closet while I was mind-casting the garrison, "Might I offer you a pair of slips, Lisaykos? These tile floors are cold."

I laughed and put the slips on, "Thank you." Then I retreated upstairs to put something on that was more substantial than my nightgown and a house coat. I settled for a warm kirtle and a house coat. I didn't bother with my hair.

The officer currently in charge of the gates arrived. I explained that our wanted Coyn was probably on a wagon or a riverboat, working deliveries for whatever holding he lived on. The gal who currently oversaw the gates came up with a scheme to examine every adult male Coyn going through the city gates. Each one would be asked under a charm of compulsion to ask if he had ever used the name Tom. Since delivery wagons and river boats seldom stayed longer than two days, the questioning would last three days. If he wasn’t uncovered in three days, he was no longer around to be found.

I also told the officer about the young Coyn woman afraid of rip rape. I requested that the household be questioned and the young Coyn removed to a safe location for her protection. I also made it clear that I wanted to see all the results of the investigation as they were collected.

The investigation indeed uncovered a young man who was raping and killing Coyn woman owned by his household. He was arrested and taken into custody at the garrison. He would be one of the first to be tried for the murder of a Coyn under the revised laws of the kingdom. It was a very big deal. I was happy because it saved the life of that young Coyn whose mind I touched.

The investigation was a success but finding Tom was a failure. It was a great disappointment that the garrison never found him trying to leave the city, despite our efforts. I hoped my trying to catch him in the garden didn’t scare him away from visiting the garden again.

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Lisaykos, Aybhas, Cold season, 2nd rot., 10th day

Given that it was the last day of the rotation, which is a free day for trainees, I had both Princess Opa and my granddaughter Fed in my study. They asked if they could do their studies here. I was confident it was a ploy since my daughter was coming to have lunch with me, which I'm also confident that Lyappis arranged behind my back.

I suspected shopping was would happen later, especially since I know Katsa wanted to investigate the mysterious musical instrument that Craftmaster Ruxlos was building for Emily and Aylem.

I decided to torture the girls and reduce the amount of work backed up on Wolkayrs' work table. I needed to read all the piled-up correspondence, so I used the time as a teaching moment for the girls. I let them open the mail and sort it into piles of lesser or greater importance. When they could not decide, they were instructed to ask me. While they sorted my mail, I curled up with a cat and a book on ancient medicine recipes.

The girls disturbed me with a question when I was deep into a potion recipe that resembled one of the ones that Emily had disclosed last year, which was a linament that felt like warmth on the skin and muscles below.

Sighing, I put in a slip of vellum to mark my place and closed the book, “please repeat your questions, trainees.”

"This a letter from a chapel shrine north of Queenstown," Opa frowned. "I think this needs immediate attention because it affects a divine blessing."

I sat up because it did sound important, “read me the letter.”

“To the most blessed and esteemed Lisaykos haup Foskos, High Priestess and Avator of Mugash, God of Healing, Hope, and Mercy. On this, the sixth day of the second rotation of the Cold Season, in the nineteenth year of the reign of Imstay King, this humble servant of Mugash, Priestess Inkoyno Kittskin, asks the eleven gods to bestow their blessings upon you.

“Good my mistress, I have encountered a most unusual situation at my chapel shrine. A Coyn with a somewhat infamous reputation for chasing women outside the acceptable rules arrived here for follow-up care for a bad case of Chilblains. He got the chilblains, by the way, while chasing another woman.

“His aura was unusual when he arrived and has since resolved into a blessing of Galt. I have questioned him if he follows Galt at all or has had any unusual experiences that would suggest being touched by a god. I did not tell him why I asked because I did not wish to frighten him.

“I am now confronted with a disreputable Coyn with a divine blessing who doesn't know he has a divine blessing. Please advise me on what I should do regarding this anomaly because I have no idea how I should proceed.

“Your servant, Inkoyno.”

“Gods,” I sat up. “That is most strange. Will you two please prepare a message bird for the chapel shrine of Cracks Edge? Have you done that before?”

“I know where the mews are,” Fed piped up, “but I’ve never sent a message. We don’t do message birds until this upcoming Growing Season.”

“The same goes for me,” Opa said.

"I can show them, Mother," Katsa said, sailing into my study in her cold-weather flying gear, looking twice as round as usual given the bulk of her flying cloak. Then she got on her knees and did a full obeisance. After the formalities were over, Fed hung up her cloak and leggings and Opa fetched her hot tea. Katsa fell onto the lounge next to me, scooping up that fool cat and scratching his belly, talking silly talk as she teased him. The lazy thing just purred in protest. He was turning into a fat lazy tomcat at the ripe old age of a season and a half.

“Are the mews still on the first floor at the end of the west wing?” Katsa asked, hands still full of Eskurt, who was now grooming Katsa’s hands.

"I should go with them," I said, getting up to write Priestess Inkoyno. I wanted to stay on top of this situation, but it wasn't urgent. I would tell Inkoyno to request research into blessings for Coyn historically from the scholars at the library at the Fated Shrine of Galt. If anyone had any records of this happening in the past, it would be recorded at the Fated Shrine. Besides, if it involved Galt, Kamagishi needed to be informed regardless.

“Why don’t we go down together,” suggested my unquenchable daughter. “Then we could find some mid-repast, and maybe some shopping?”

“You just want to see the organ, Aunt Katsa,” Fed accused.

“What’s wrong with that, Fed?” Opa asked. “I want to see it too.”

I sighed, regretting the loss of my quiet time for reading. "Alright, girls. I need to write a note to Priestess Inkoyno before we do anything, so why don't you go and fetch your coats?"

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To the most holy and esteemed Kamagishi haup Truvos, High Priestess and Avator of Galt, God of Knowledge, Justice, and Destiny. On this, the second day of the third rotation of the Cold Season, in the nineteenth year of the reign of Imstay King, this humble servant of Mugash, Priestess Inkoyno Kittskin, asks the eleven gods to bestow their blessings upon you.

My mistress, the Blessed Lisaykos haup Foskos, High Priestess of Mugash, has advised me to consult with you and your shrine about a strange matter I have encountered at the Chapel Shrine of Mugash here at Cracks Edge. We have twenty healers serving five common holdings south of Angsum and north of Queenstown.

My strange matter has to do with a Coyn, an adult male of approximately 30 years. He is tall and well-built for a Coyn and travels a great deal on business for his holding, sometimes alone and sometimes with a wagon accompanied by a Cosm for tasks requiring strength. He is literate and also has numbers. He is employed for tasks requiring intelligence and responsibility.

He is unattached and has a reputation for pursuing women who do not belong to his owner. As he has not fathered any children outside his holding which could lead to any property disputes, this undesirable behavior is overlooked with indulgence since he is valued and trusted.

He was returned to his holding on the second day of the second rotation of Cold Season and sent immediately to the chapel shrine for follow-up care for a serious case of chilblains on his hands and feet. He admitted to me that while traveling, he snuck out of Surd-run transient lodging in Aybhas to attempt to see a woman he is interested in. He states that he would like to establish a long-term relationship with her and start a family if possible, but knowing this Coyn as I do, I’m not sure I believe him.

Regardless, he woke the next morning after an unsuccessful pursuit after curfew with chilblains for his efforts. The Chapel Shrine for healing Coyn in Aybhas kept him for several days until transport was available to return him to his home. I mention all these unsavory details because it is germane to this strange matter.

Since he returned from Aybhas, I have kept him here at the chapel shrine to help with the keeping of the financial records since his healing feet prevent him from doing his usual tasks. This has been deliberate on my part because I noted an abnormality in his aura when he was brought to my chapel shrine.

That abnormality has resolved into a blessing from Galt, which is why I am appealing to you for help. Like most Coyn, all his devotions are for Surd, when he bothers to do any. I have questioned him at length if he has any special reverence for Galt or has had any unusual experiences that might indicate that he has come into contact with the divine. He insists there is nothing of that sort.

The events of the last two years indicate that we are now living through a change of age, with miracles and a prophet in our midst, and gods giving revelations to races other than Cosm. While it isn't out of the question that a Coyn might be blessed by a god, it is almost unbelievable that this particular Coyn has been blessed.

My mistress has no knowledge of anything like this happening in the past. She advised that I consult with you. I wish, therefore, to formally request that the Fated Shrine of Galt research whether Galt may have blessed any Coyn in the past, and if so, what the circumstances were concerning those blessings.

The Coyn with the blessing will be with me for another rotation while his feet finish healing, in case you want to send any of your scholars to examine or question him. Please advise me if you can help us solve this mystery.

I remain your humble servant in Mugash, Inkoyno Kittskin.

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Tom, Cracks Edge Chapel Shrine of Mugash, Cold Season, 3rd rot., 5th day

I knew I had an error somewhere in my bookkeeping. Though I was amazed there was double-entry accounting in Foskos, I did not complain since it made finding errors so much easier. I was re-adding up my columns when I heard someone come in from outside. Then I realized that the healers whose backs I could see from my little worktable were making full obeisances.

I heard the Litany of The Blessings end with the words: "Holy One." I damn near panicked. If I could have run, I think I would have. My feet were still swollen and I couldn't fit them into my shoes yet. The healers had a local wool monger make me a pair of felted ankle boots so I could get around on my own, but I couldn’t move very fast yet.

What in Surd's name was going on? Why was there a high priestess here? High priestesses were trouble. They were monstrously tall and incredibly powerful with their magic. The Convocation of the high priestesses was one of the three political powers of the kingdom. They controlled most of the bureaucracy and social services.

I admit it. I was scared. She probably wasn’t even aware that I existed. It was a certainty that she was here for some obscure matter beyond my knowledge. I was simply in the wrong place at the wrong time. I would hide here in my corner doing my accounting for the chapel shrine and staying out of sight. I hoped she would not look through the door of the records room and spot me. Healers were alright but most other silverhairs frightened me.

“Oh dear,” I heard an aristocratic alto.

“Yes, he’s had a few unfortunate encounters with nohair and halfhair bullies. He hides it well, but he’s a jumpy one.”

I heard the heavy footfalls of silverhairs approach the record room. I started feeling a bit dizzy. Then I saw her. She looked about 50. She was so tall she had to duck her head through the doorway. Her eyes were eerie yellow-amber colored, and they reflected light like a cat’s.

I tried to get up out of the chair to do a proper kneeing obeisance but Healer Inkoyno strode up to me in a hurry and prevented me, holding my shoulder down so I stayed seated.

“You are injured, you fool,” Inkoyno gave me one of her disapproving looks. “A bowing obeisance while seated is appropriate.”

I put my pen down and promptly made a bowing obeisance, “May the blessings of the eleven gods be upon you, Holy One.”

“And also upon you,” she sat down next to me. “Let me help you,” she touched me lightly on the head and all my fear and tensions vanished and I felt somewhat detached from reality.

“I cast the charm of peace on you,” she smiled at me in a friendly manner. “You were a bit nervous, which isn’t too surprising. I am Kamagishi of Galt. Healer Inkoyno asked my shrine for some help regarding you. Since you returned to your holding a few days ago, your aura has manifested the blessing of Galt. We haven’t told you this because the healers wanted to confirm with my shrine first. Now that I've seen you, and your remarkable aura, it's time that you know. Can I please see your left hand?"

She held out her hand, waiting for me to extend mine. When a high priestess says please, it’s still an order that can’t be refused. I put my hand in her palm, disturbed that it looked so small as she brushed the embedded charm gem with a finger to read my identity and ownership information.

“Oh!” Her eyebrows flew up, “I see. This works out well. Your owner is a friend of mine. I can rest easy knowing you are in good hands. I didn’t have much information on you before just now. I’m glad I came to meet you in person.”

“Forgive me, Holy One,” Inkoyno bowed her head in apology. “We didn’t think he needed to wear his mantle inside the chapel shrine because we all know him here.”

“No need to apologize, Priestess," the high priestess had a look of understanding on her face. I found her manner gentle and compassionate, not at all what I thought a high priestess would be like. "This is a good thing. Now I know I can leave him in your care and can send him back to his home with few worries, because I know he's in a good place that can protect him.

“If he were owned by someone I disapproved of or didn’t know, I would take him back with me to Is’syal. At least now, this gives us some time to work out what we’re going to do with him. At the very least, he should not be allowed to travel anymore. It’s not safe for him. His safety is now more important than whatever he was doing for his holding. I will need to look into transferring his ownership to the Fated Shrine. He belongs to Galt now.”

She looked at me and smiled with benevolence, “I look forward to getting to know you better and unraveling the mystery of how you became blessed by Galt. I’m afraid today I must leave in the care of your healers here.”

“You’re leaving so quickly?” Inkoyno asked.

“Your letter arrived as I was getting ready to travel to Aybhas for a hand-in-hand ceremony,” she stood up to leave. “It was a short detour to stop here on my way, and I am so happy that I did.” She turned back to me, “I’ll be seeing again soon, Revered One.”

Revered One? Oh my god, I was so screwed.