Gerta, Aybhas, Harvest Season, 6th rot., 8th day

I'm unsure how I got coerced into doing this, but I found my reluctant way up the forbidden lane that climbed up to the vast and imposing Healing Shrine. As the largest building in the city, the Shrine had four radiating arms capped with a copper dome that never tarnished. The city’s great bell topped the dome. We called it the bell nipple because the dome look like a giant breast from the chapel shrine. It was a standing joke to call that shining dome Mugash’s tit.

The lane ended at the circular forecourt in front of the enormous north-facing doors into the Shrine. Those only opened on days of high ceremony: the Rite of Two Hands on Weeding Day, the Festival of Coldtide, the acceptance day of new students, the induction of new clergy, the creation of the revered ones, the funeral of a High Priestess of Mugash, and the blessing of her replacement. On all other days, patients and visitors entered the Shrine through the side doors to the left; vendors and those picking up medicinal potions entered through the door to the right.

Crossing the forecourt was uncomfortable. Every Cosm going in or out of the Shrine stopped and stared at me. I swallowed my nervousness and kept walking toward the doors to the left. When I arrived at the Cosm-scale steps up to the entrance, I found an older priestess healer blocking my way.

“The Healing Shrine is not a safe place for Coyn,” she said, not unkindly. “How can we help you, little one?”

“I am Gerta, the block leader of Northeast Fourteen West,” I gathered my courage to speak. “I have been delegated by the Coyn of the city to speak with the Blessed Lisaykos about our concerns over the charm gems we are compelled to wear. I was chosen because I have spoken with the Princess High Priestess at length in the past, after the riot and before the trial of the builders who defrauded the Shrine. She will remember me. Please, I need to speak with her as she is the one who ordered the current compulsion.”

This looming priestess who was more than twice my my height – and I was considered tall among the Coyn – studied me with a frown etched between her brows. Then she knelt on one knee before me and held out her hand.

“Please, Block Leader Gerta, place your hand on mine,” she said, smiling in a friendly way.

I did so.

“Your hand is shaking, little one. It must not be easy to approach this place as a Coyn. Would you like a charm of peace? It may help with the nervousness.”

“No, I’ll be fine once I see the Blessed One. I’m comfortable speaking with her. She is both patient and kind.”

“It may take time to find her,” the priestess said. “If you begin to feel like it is too much for you once we get inside, tell me if you change your mind. Even our brave little Prophet Emily found this place hard to take at times, as do I.”

“How so? She didn’t mention that when I met her. She did talk about living on the fourth floor with the Princess High Priestess, but she didn't talk about what the Shrine was like,” I said. “You see, the Blessed Py’oask nat Tom is an old friend of mine, which is how I met the Prophet. That’s also why I got asked to … What was that?" I felt a funny, warm sensation pass through me from hand to head.

"I'm sorry, Gerta," she said, "I was confirming your identity and the purpose of your visit. The control gem you once wore also had a charm of identity. Now that your charm gem is gone, we must use the charm of truth-saying to verify who you are. We've had attacks on the Shrine, so I also need to confirm why you are here, Gerta.

"The Shrine can be dangerous for Coyn, especially the main and second floors. The only practical way for a Coyn to enter safely is to be carried until you can reach the Coyn-safe south side of the Shrine, where we won't encounter any frantic emergencies needing to rush past us. Someone eighteen hands high running or flying with a patient isn't going to see you, and you can't move fast enough to–"

“Ware the doors, ware the doors!” I heard a shout from above me.

The priestess looked up, grabbed me by the waist, and flew upward. Then she floated both her and me down as we watched two griffins land with guards leaping or flying off while carrying injured, bleeding Cosm on splint boards. People in the path of the guards were scrambling out of the way. Most of the healers outside the doors had done what my priestess had done; they flew away.

“This is what I was talking about, Gerta,” my benefactor said. “This is why we are wary of small people being underfoot.”

“Look, the doors opened by themselves,” I cried, startled.

"Ah, yes. The doors have a charm that must be renewed every twelve hours. If someone approaches the doors as fast as those guards did, the doors will open themselves. The doors will also open if you just touch them. We have the trainees practice their magic casting with chores like refreshing the door charms. Now, if you put your arm on my shoulder, then I can pick you up, and we can hunt for my Mistress. My name is Krukallos, by the way. I manage the east wing on the main floor, so the greeting table will not stop us from entering if I escort you. You were lucky that we met on the steps.”

Priestess Krukallos stopped in front of the inner pair of side doors that the guards had just used. The outer pair were for people leaving instead of entering.

“If you reach out and touch the doors, they will open for you,” Priestess Krukallos continued.

I did so, brushing the ornamental bronze with my fingertips. The doors swung inward to reveal a brightly lit hallway lined with chairs and people waiting. At the far end was a table with healers and trainees standing around it. Krukallos breezed past them and stopped at one of the doors behind the table. She made reverence to a statue of Mugash on a pedestal next to the door. I would never have noticed the statue because the pedestal was so tall, taller than Priestess Krukallos. Then she opened the door and walked in. This new place was a room full of tables where healers were writing things on scrolls and in codices. Krukallos walked past the work tables and knocked a pattern on a door in the far wall. The door swung open on its own to reveal an elderly hearer in the gold-piped hoodless mantle of a Revered One.

“Blessings, Galpahkos,” Krukallos bobbed her head.

The Revered One looked up, “Upon you too. This is the second time today, Kruk. If this keeps happening, you’ll never get your errands run, but now I understand why you asked to see me. And your guest is?”

“This is Gerta, who I just met on the front steps. Gerta here has been delegated by the city’s Coyn to speak with our Mistress regarding the compulsion to wear the gems of health. She is already known to our Mistress and is a friend of the Revered Tom. She is also the block leader of Fourteen West in the Outer Northeast. Is our Mistress in? And if she is, where is she, and is she free? If not, when will she return so I can make an appointment for Gerta to see her?"

“Wait,” the Revered One held up a hand and became still. Then she blinked and spoke, “Sarfaz says she is in and available. The old lady is reviewing the books, so you know she will welcome the interruption. You know how much she loves the Queen’s numbers, especially now that she no longer has Wolkayrs around to convert all the results back to base eight.”

The Revered One switched her attention to me. It helped my jittery stomach that she smiled. “Well, Gerta of Northeast Block Fourteen West, you are lucky today. Our Mistress will certainly welcome talking with you. Let me know how it goes, Kurk.”

“Sure thing, Galpahkos," Krukallos said. Krukallos then carried me through a maze of hallways. Many of the healers and staff we walked past stared at me as if they couldn't believe what they saw.

We soon came to the base of a stairway, where Krukallos put me down. “This is the main south stair and the only one in the wing that goes all the way to the fourth floor,” she explained. “This is the stairway that Emily uses when she is in residence. It has Coyn steps. If climbing all those steps is too much for you, I can carry you up."

I spoke before I realized it, "I'll walk up; thank you, my lady." It was embarrassing to have a priestess carry me when I had two healthy legs. As I started up the stairs, Krukallos kept pace with me. She also stayed right next to me and the Coyn stairs, which were against the wall. I realized she shielded me from other Cosm stair traffic. Watching these big Cosm healers hurry up and down the stairs startled me more than once. All these silverhairs in a hurry brought it home to me why the healers considered the Shrine to be dangerous for others. Inside this building was a place where healers could move freely. By excluding Coyn, they had liberated their own movements. Seeing this with my own eyes was so different from just being told about it.

When we reached the third floor, we had to pass through a gate to use the last flight of stairs. A sentry post was built into the gate, though no one was sitting at it. The gate was wide open.

Krukallos noted my interest.

“When Emily is in the Shrine, we have guards at this post and two others. She has been attacked several times by both Cosm and Coyn. We take her security seriously.”

We arrived at a wide hallway at the top of the stairs. To my right was a double door and sentry station leading to a rooftop balcony. To my left, the hallway was lined with doors and corridors. At the end of the hallway was another sentry post.

“I've only been up here a few times," Priestess Krukallos remarked. "This is where our Mistress lives and works. Those five doors down the right side of the hall lead into her quarters." She walked with me to a pair of open double doors more than halfway down the hall. When I looked inside, I saw a large room, twice as big as my bathhouse, with worktables along the left and far walls. Chairs, lounges, and low-side tables used up the rest of the space.

A thirtyish halfhair woman in a red scholar attendant’s robe sat at a worktable to my left. She had three white stripes on her sleeves and hem. I didn’t know all the scholar patterns for Shrines other than Mugash and Surd, so I didn’t recognize what Shrine she was from. The Princess High Priestess sat in an armchair at a worktable at the far end of the room, robed as a working healer but in rich person's fabric with patterns woven into it. Two large ornamental windows behind her let in a generous amount of sunlight, which reflected off the gems in her caul.

Woven and patterned carpets covered the floor. I had never seen an actual carpet used on a floor before. Wealthy people could afford carpets, and most of them placed their carpets on tables to be admired — or so I am told. Slaves and poor people used cattail leaves they wove themselves. Everyone else bought mats of woven rushes, replacing them every year. Only someone like a princess or a lord holder could afford to use carpets to cover a floor.

The most astounding thing in the Princess’ workroom was the griffin sleeping in the far corner. Why was there a griffin sleeping inside the Shrine? How did it even get inside?

I must have been gaping because Krukallos chuckled. She then nudged me with her knee and whispered, “obeisance.” I fell to my knees, quickly covered my heart, and bowed.

“May the blessings of the eleven gods be upon you, Great One,” Krukallos intoned next to me.

“And also with you,” the old Princess replied. “Please rise. Sarfaz, bring tea for our guests.

Krukallos set me on my feet without warning and then stood up.

“Of all the people who might walk through my door,” the Princess raised an eyebrow at me, “I never thought it would be you, Gerta, friend of the Revered Tom. What business brings you to me today despite the general prohibition of allowing Coyn within the Healing Shrine? But before we begin, please, come and sit." She got up and walked around the end of her worktable. She was so tall she dwarfed her scholar attendant by two heads. "This lounge here," she pointed at the one against the wall to my right, "is set up for Coyn."

I hadn't noticed this before, but the lounge had a set of Coyn-scaled steps at one end leading to a fat cushion.

“Krukallos, how is it that you are Gerta’s escort?” The Princess picked up a chair, placed it next to the end of the lounge, and sat down.

“I was walking out to run an errand in the North Market and encountered Gerta about to climb the steps into the Shrine,” Priestess Krukallos replied, keeping pace with me as I crossed the room. “After asking what her business was, I decided I should ease her way inside.”

Krukallos helped me onto the lounge, including pulling my shoes off when I was seated. Then, she sat next to me.

"How do you like your tea, Lady Krukallos?" Sarfaz asked.

“With a spoon of bog berry juice, please.”

“And you?” the scholar attendant then asked me.

I was speechless, my mouth dropping in panic.

“Gerta, what is wrong?" the Princess High Priestess asked, lightly touching my knee. She studied me briefly and then said, "You've never had tea before, have you? Sarfaz, why don't you make a half beaker of plain black tea, a half beaker with bog berry juice, and a half beaker with sweetened cream? Also, bring a full beaker of small ale for Gerta, so she has something to drink in case she doesn't care for tea."

“You're feeling anxious, Gerta," the Princess High Priestess looked at me with concern. "Would you like a charm of peace? Or would you prefer to sit for a moment and compose yourself?"

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“I would like to try to, to…," I sputtered. Just like the previous times I talked with the Blessed Lisaykos, her physical presence was overwhelming and took my breath away.

“Take your time, Gerta," she said with a sympathetic expression. "But here comes our tea. That was fast, Sarfaz."

“The tea was already brewing before our guests arrived, Mistress,” Sarfaz replied, carrying a tray over from the sideboard. She handed the Princess and Krukallos Cosm-sized beakers and then placed four Coyn-sized beakers on the side table where I could reach them.

“The clear tan liquid is just tea with nothing else in it,” the Princess High Priestess explained. “The red one has bog berry juice to sweeten it. The light brown has sweetened cattle milk in it. I’d recommend trying them in that order. Many do not care for the taste of plain tea but do like it prepared with milk or bog berry juice.”

We spent some moments just drinking tea and talking about it. I found plain tea to be bland but liked the tea with sweetened milk. The tea with bog berry juice was too sweet. However, all three tasted better than chatea, which was brewed from toasted chatga seeds. At least I could brag at the Surd Hall that I had had real tea served by the Princess High Priestess herself.

After I had the chance to try real tea, the Blessed Lisaykos asked me why I had come.

“All the block and ward leaders had a meeting,” I began, “and they asked me to come and speak to you about the charm gems we are currently compelled to wear or carry.”

“Gerta, the compulsion to wear a gem of healing will not be lifted until the fever is over. Over seven hundred Coyn have died in Black Falls in less than a rotation. This is not negotiable.”

“We know this. The Queen ensured the Coyn who gathered at the chapel shrine yesterday knew you would not lift it. We have questions, and depending on the answers, we may have a different proposal for you, which I was chosen to present because my colleagues knew you already knew who I was."

“So you would have a better chance of being able to speak with me?”

“Exactly. We thought if we sent someone you already knew, we would have a better chance of meeting with you."

“And this different proposal?”

“Most Coyn never want to see another charm gem ever again. Making us wear these gems of health feels like you are going back on your word to lift the control, especially after the big to-do over breaking the big crystal at the White Shrine of Landa. Those of us who are the block and ward leaders realize that this fever is killing people in Black Falls. We don't understand why we must wear these gems if the sickness is in Black Falls and not here."

“Gerta, do you know how fevers spread?” the Princess High Priestess asked.

“No.”

“Fevers have different ways of spreading. Some are caused by the bite of a crawling or flying insect. Others are caused by tiny little creatures, smaller than the eye can see, that you swallow in water or food. In the case of the pus rash fever in Black Falls, it is caused by contact with someone who already has the fever. Anyone who caught the fever and then traveled, like the dead man Arma showed you yesterday, could bring the fever to a different city than Black Falls. That is why I quarantined the southern communities, to stop anyone with the fever from traveling. And I compelled the Coyn who destroyed their control gems to wear gems of health, so if they did meet someone with the fever, they wouldn't catch it. Nine out of ten who catch this fever will die from it, Gerta. I do not play power games with Coyn. My sole concern is stopping a disease from killing more Coyn."

“Why don’t Cosm get the fever?” I asked. We had all wondered about this back at the northeast quarter’s Surd Hall.

“Every Cosm has a charm gem that has absorbed the healing magic inside the Well of Mugash.”

“Even the nohairs?” I found this hard to believe.

“Every Cosm, from the King to the lowliest nohair, has a charm gem of identity behind their right ear. See," the Princess pulled her ear aside so I could see the small crystal embedded in her skin. "Every flying mount has at least a gem of identity, even if they are free and working under a contract. The problem is that we allowed the Coyn to destroy your control gems. We thought that was best because we knew how much you hated the control gems.

“Emily predicted that the Coyn would destroy their old control gems, which is why we prepared charm gems of healing and had them in storage, ready to go in case a disease appeared among the Coyn. As usual, Emily was right about this. She suggested we make entrance into any Foskan city contingent on wearing or carrying a charm of health, which would at least convey a degree of choice.

“It’s not a happy situation for the Coyn, but I can live with your ire so long as I can keep you from dying needlessly. If Emily had not discussed this with the healers a half year ago, I would have simply mandated charm gems of identity for every Coyn, free or otherwise. That, at least, would be no different from what we already impose on free flying mounts who live in Foskos.

It wasn't proper to interrupt or interject when someone royal was speaking. I was looking for a way to introduce what I needed to say when the Princess gave me a speculative look.

"Gerta, what do you and your fellow Coyn leaders want to suggest?" she asked as if reading my mind. Then I realized that maybe she was. That sent chills down my back and up my neck. She was the avatar of a god, and I could not fathom how powerful she was. Before I could react, she extended her hand behind my head and cast something on me. Then, the knots in my guts dissolved, and my shoulders relaxed. I found I could breath again.

“My apologies, Gerta," the Princess High Priestess frowned. "I confess I reacted without thinking because your anxiety level suddently increased. That was a charm of peace that I cast on you. I can remove it if you so desire. I am guessing you do not have many opportunities to interact with Cosm, Gerta. Am I right?"

“I report to my superior at the city offices and sometimes speak garrison guards, but other than that, I seldom work with Cosm, Great One," I confirmed. "I will keep the charm of peace for now. I didn't realize it, but it was hard to breathe before you cast it."

The Blessed Lisaykos sighed and shook her head, “The more time you spend with Cosm, the easier it is for a Coyn to be around us. It can’t be easy for you since you don’t work with Cosm everyday. Now, what do the city’s Coyn wish to propose to me?”

“We will see that every Coyn living in the city wears or carries a charm gem of health on two conditions. First, the city's Coyn must oversee the process of making the charm gems. Second, we take the responsibility and control of their distribution to every Coyn in the city. Meet those two conditions, and we guarantee that every Coyn in the city will have one of these charm gems. We will show them to any healer or garrison guard who asks to inspect them on demand at any time. We will cheerfully allow you to discipline anyone given a charm gem of health but doesn't keep it with them. We will turn those people in to you when we find them. But the control of the gems must be with us and not with any Cosm."

I slumped in relief that I managed to say all that and not bungle it up. I hoped I didn't forget anything.

Both Priestess Krulallos and the Princess High Priestess were making fish faces, which stomped me flat. I thought I'd get anger or dismissal, but not fish faces.

“What an extraordinary proposal,” said a rich, melodic woman’s voice from the hallway door. I looked up to see the Queen herself, bigger than life and twice as scary. I thought it odd that she wore a plain grey healer's robe.

“I wish the rest of the Convocation could witness a Coyn deliver such an innovative idea — one who is not the genius Emily.” The Queen strolled in, snagged a chair, placed it across the tea table from me, and sat down. “It would do those old weasels some good.”

Krukallos nudged me, and whispered, "bowing obeisance." I hurriedly did so.

“May the blessing of the eleven gods be upon you, Great One,” Krukallos said the words.

“And also upon you, friends. You are looking well, Krukallos.”

“Thank you, Great One.”

“And who is your interesting guest, Lisaykos dear?” the Queen smiled in a friendly way at the Princess High Priestess. “I heard all of that proposal, and it's fascinating. I'm not sure it's possible, but I like the idea. It sounds like something Emily would come up with."

“This is Gerta, who has been delegated to speak with me by her other Northeast ward and block leaders,” the old royal said.

So, what do you think of the proposal, or are you still in shock?” the Queen asked.

“I'm still in shock," the Princess High Priestess admitted, pinching her nose and grimacing. "I think what I'm hearing is a lack of trust. This would be easier to unravel if I knew exactly what part of making the gems is under question."

“I would guess all of it,” the Queen said, narrowing her eyes to study me. I could feel the charm of peace eroding under her intent gaze.

"I will venture further to say that the process is unknown to the Coyn," the Queen continued. "We've never bothered to explain how or why charm gems are made. We've just forced the gems on the other races, mainly because charm gems are an inexpensive way to maintain control. However, if the Coyn obtain and distribute their own gems, it becomes their effort. They own it. It's something they are doing for themselves to benefit their own health. It is no longer being forced on them but becomes a cooperative effort.

“I don't understand," the Blessed Lisaykos shook her head. "Regardless of whether we distribute the gems or the Coyn do, the result is the same, so why don't they trust us? Can we not simply patch where the trust is broken without reinventing the entire chain of tasks that go into making the gems?"

It was now the Queen’s turn to bite her finger and shake her head. “Dear heart, the trust is broken in two places. First, they doubt the gems because they are shut out of the work we do to make them. Coyn can’t feel the gems’ magic and most of the gems look the same to them. A Coyn can’t tell if a gem came out of the Well of Mugash or the Well of Galt by looks alone. But if they can see where a gem has been, then they know what magic it has. I believe that’s the reason for the request for oversight.

“Next, as I already said, if the Coyn distribute gems, then they control the gems, not us. The control is the issue. For example, if the gems stay in their possession, they can prevent a silverhair from doing something to a gem of health that has already been made. Don’t make that face at me, Lisaykos. We all know there are unscrupulous contract mages out there who would plant an identity or location spell on a gem for a price.

"I think you should let the Coyn manage their own gems, Lisaykos. If they can't make it work, we can simply return to what we're doing now. Where's the harm if you allow them control after this disease outbreak? You can work out the details between the Shrine, the garrison, and the block and ward leaders while waiting for the fever outbreak to be over. You look like someone just served you rancid butter, dear heart," the Queen raised an eyebrow at the Princess High Priestess.

“It feels all wrong to me," the old lady scowled. "The only reason we allowed the Coyn to wear the gems like a halfhair or silverhair's focus gem is that Emily talked me into it. I'd much rather embed a gem of health behind every Coyn's ear and be done with it. Our goal is to prevent fevers and flues, after all."

“Lisaykos, love," the Queen sighed, "I must disagree. I think you're missing something here. This request isn't about the fever outbreak and charm gems of health. The issue is about control, namely our ability to impose these hateful gems on them and their inability to stop us. I think our goals should be creating trust and building a working relationship with these future free citizens of Foskos. Gems of health are a means to that end. This is similar to our situation with the flying mounts sixteen years ago.”

“The mounts didn’t protest wearing their health and identity gems,” the Princess snapped.

“That’s not what I meant,” the Queen replied, looking frustrated. “What I meant is that we had work hard to create a working relationship with the mounts after the war, just like now we need to create a working relationship with our soon-to-be-free Coyn.”

“This makes my head hurt!” The Princess looked vexed. “I wish Emily were here.”

Then, the Princess and the Queen glared at each other for several moments. I guessed they were doing mind magic to speak without speaking.

The Queen broke the silence, “What would Emily do?”

“Surd save me!” the old Princess rolled her eyes. “Gerta, I am willing to make a trial of thise. I will allow the block and ward leaders of the Aybhas Coyn to organize the distribution of gems. If I do not like how the Coyn handle the distribution and wearing of the gems of health, then the Shrine will take the control and distribution back. However, the oversight of making the gems is not so easy because every piece of crystal that becomes a charm gem travels through many hands on its way to its final destination. I can't think of a practical way that someone without magic could follow a crystal from mountainside to final enchantment."

“How is a charm gem made?” I had to ask. I realized from listening to the Queen and Princess High Priestess that I didn’t know.

“People mine the crystals," the Princess High Priestess explained, "and then sell the ones suitable for charm gems to the Building Shrine of Giltak. Mage artificers cut the different charm gem shapes from the crystals they buy. They then ship the gem blanks here. It is kingdom law that every charm gem blank must first spend a rotation in the Well of Mugash. All charm gems in Foskos start with a base of healing magic.

“After the gems absorb the healing magic, we ship them back to the Building Shrine in Omexkel. They then sell the blanks to the other Shrines. Different magics are imparted by the Great Crystals in the Shrines. The Crystal Shrine of Tiki makes focus gems. We make the healing gems. The Building Shrine makes the charm gem lights that those without magic can use. The Restful Shrine of Surd makes the charm gems that keep bugs away. The Shrouded Shrine of Vassu makes charm gems that freeze or boil water.

“Even the blanks that go into the Well of Mugash have already been through several mages’ hands in Omexkel before they arrive here. We also have no control over mining the crystals or their sale on the open or black markets. That’s why I feel the oversight portion of your proposal isn’t workable, Gerta.”

“No, that’s not quite right,” the Queen put her tea down and leaned forward. “Until it’s cleansed magically during the last step of its creation, a gem blank is just a pretty rock. The life of a charm gem starts with the mage artificers in Omexkel and not with the miner who chiseled it out of a mountainside or the broker who sold it. The potential to take on and store magic is created at the Building Shrine. That's where the oversight needs to start. What we need to do is fill in the gap between the gem cutting workbench and the hands of the ward and block leaders. If we can do that, then the local Coyn get their oversight. I'm open to suggestions on how to do it," she smiled.

“You need to head back soon, Aylem. Don’t force me to take you back,” said the Princess High Priestess as I watched a brief flash of evil glee cross her face. I was sure I had not imagined it.

“Nice attempt at changing the subject, dear heart,” the Queen smiled. “Lyappis is watching the twins on the condition I return as soon as I am done with my patient.” The Queen sighed, “I just stopped in to say farewell when I heard Gerta speaking. But you are right; I dare not dwaddle much longer. You know what she can be like!”

“Yes,” the Princess nodded her head in enthusiastic agreement. “I know exactly what she can be like!”

“Alright then, let me make my own suggestion,” the Queen chuckled. “I advise that you give Gerta a tour of the charm gem workshops at the Building Shrine. And let her talk with Raoleer. Gerta can take that knowledge back to our folks in the Coyn neighborhoods, and the Aybhas Coyn will better understand what they are asking of us. That will make your ongoing negotiations so much easier for both parties.” She stood up. “I’ll be in touch after mid repast, dearest. I’m leaving the griffin here. He can return to the Crystal Shrine on his own.”

“I heard that,” a raspy baritone squawked. “Tell you what! You can give me a ride back to the Crystal Shrine, Aylem Queen. You could carry me, and I could even nap like little Emily. Aylem? Aylem ?! Hey! Wait! Aylem! Aylem!”

The griffin was now scrambling to catch up with the Queen as she sauntered out the door. He was on her heels as he exited the double doors into the hallway.

“Gerta,” the Princess High Priestess turned her attention to me, “Regarding your proposals, I will give you five days for you and your colleagues to draft a detailed plan on how you’ll distribute the charm gems and enforce their use. As far as oversight is concerned, I must consult with the Building Shrine. When I am done, I will send for you. It may be today, or it may be two or three days from now. Krukallos will see you safely to the East Garden and you can return home from there."

“You'll send me to Omextel?" The idea was thrilling and frightening at the same time, though I wasn’t sure what purpose it would serve.

"The Queen wishes it," the old Princess explained. "It may have sounded like advice or a suggestion from the Queen, but she was being polite. It is the will of the Queen that you visit Omexkel, so off to Omextel you will go.