“Thank you for this, Isola. This was incredibly helpful.”

I said as I put down the now empty cup of tea.

“You’re welcome, Marshall. I wish I could tell you more, but my only experience in the matter is my aunt.”

My tea time with Isola had been most productive. Although her aunt’s situation was not nearly as severe as Silika, perhaps due to her age, it served as a good point of reference and gave me many avenues to explore.

“That’s more than most have been able to share. I’m very grateful.”

“I suggest you send her a letter. She may be able to give you more information.”

“I certainly will.”

Suddenly the door behind us swung open.

“My lady! My lord! Please you have to come, the girls they are…!”

I immediately jumped to my feet.

Did something happen? Damn! I knew the horse game was a bad idea! She’s probably having another attack!

No…No…

Fiora said they didn’t have any crop. Silika already said she was fine with horses alone. Something else must be going on.

“Where?!”

“The garden! The girls they…! The young lady went berserk!”

The maid tried to explain as she led the way down the corridor.

“Berserk?! What in Steihnners' name happened?”

“I’m not sure… I wasn’t around when it started… But I think Lady Fiora tried to duel Lady Silika as part of their play.”

She tried to explain as we ran down the hall toward the garden.

“A duel?! And she went berserk on Silika?!”

I yelled indignant, what was this Fiora girl thinking? As I started hearing screams up ahead.

“No, my lord, you’re mistaken! It’s not Lady Fiora who went berserk! It’s…”

I swung open the door to the garden before she could finish her sentence.

The scene before us was surreal.

On the floor, bloodied, was Fiora shielding her injured face, her dress ripped in several places. Just a few feet in front of her, a maid was trying to hold back an Silika whose face was contorted with blind fury and her hands formed into fists.

“Please, my lady! The fight is over! You have to stop!”

“HHHHHHHRAAAAAAAEEEGGGGGG!!!! HRAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!”

Shrill guttural screams were pouring out of Silika’s throat as she tried to wrestle out of the maid’s hold.

“Steihnner guards us…”

I rushed forward and tried to pick up Silika but she swiftly threw a kick to my stomach, driving the air out of my lung.

I managed to hold on to her by wrapping my arms around her and squeezing her agains my chest, as she continued kicking and punching.

I tried to summon a blessing to shield myself, but my mind was all over.

“What the hell happened here?!”

I screamed in Fiora’s direction as Isola tended to the girl.

“I– We were just playing! Playing knights…”

“So you just hit her?! What in Meiriem’s name were you thinking!”

“Marshall!”

Isola cut me off.

“She’s a child.”

I looked back at Fiora and I could tell she was terrorised and confused.There wasn’t much of the proud young lady I had met yesterday in the little girl crying in front of me.

I took a deep breath. Isola’s right, this won’t help.

Silika was still punching, screaming and kicking in my arms, but I tried to control my tone as I spoke again.

“Fiora, listen. You can’t just hit someone that doesn’t even know what game you’re playing.”

“But I didn’t hit her!”

I furrowed my brows.

“What do you mean ‘you didn’t hit her’?”

“I didn’t! I swear I didn’t! We were getting ready and then when I started the blessing…”

“Wait, you requested an honourable duel?”

I asked as I felt Silika deliver yet another vicious punch to my guts.

Fiora nodded as tears continued flowing from her eyes. I looked up at Isola who also had come to the same conclusion.

She turned to a servant.

“Get a Kinsmann immediately. She’s has scorched blood.”

I gave her a thankful nod as I focused on holding on to Silika.

Scorched blood.

No one was quite sure what caused it or why it manifested. It wasn’t caused by the blood and wasn’t accompanied by any other ailment or symptoms, but it was believed that roughly one in twenty mann was affected by it. The only consistency was that scorched blood individuals had a tendency for anger outburst.

As for what it does… Well it’s as it looked. It caused uncontrollable rage when one is touched by Steihnners blessings.

A rectangular woman in blue robes wearing a half crown with an inverted horn, the undeniable looks of a kinsmann of Steihnner, arrived at the scene and made a beeline for me.

She extended her arms toward Silika and I let go of my grip on her.

Immediately, Silika’s eyes darted for the woman as she begun swinging at her, but before her fist could land, the kinsmann brought both her hands down and, in one swift motion, forced Silika to her knees. The woman closed her eyes and begun quietly praying as Silika tried her best to escape the iron grip. Unbeknownst to her, it was a futile attempt. Few were those who could rival the strength of the ardent followers of the God of War.

Slowly, Silika’s scream grew weaker, as did her punches. After a few minutes she simply remained in that kneeled position while aggressively huffing and puffing.

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“Child, can you hear me?”

The kinsmann asked in a surprising soothing tone.

“I’m sorry, Mother. My daughter is deaf. Only I can speak to her.”

She nodded understandingly.

“Then do so, child.”

I nodded back and placed myself in front of Silika.

-Silika? Can you see me?-

Her eyes darted around angrily, not acknowledging my question.

-Silika, please. Can you understand what I’m asking?-

She looked at my hands with an almost confused expression for a moment as her face twitches with waves of anger.

She tried to bring her hands together to form words but she looked to restless to form the careful signs.

-Just nod, honey. It’s okay, everything’s fine. Can you understand me?-

She nodded strongly as her face twitched again. Her arm reeled back for a moment as if preparing for a punch before dropping to her side again. Obviously she wasn’t completely back fto normal.

-Are you hurt?-

She looked up at me with an angry yet confused expression, baring her teeth as she did, before shaking her head.

-Good. Try to stay calm. Everything will be fine.-

She looked down at her hands and tried to sign to me.

-I– I need to…-

She struggled to steady her hands.

-I. Need. To. Hit. Something.-

-No, Silika. You don’t.-

-Yes. I. Do.-

I let out a sigh.

“What’s wrong, child?”

The kinsmann asked from over her shoulder.

I hesitated for a moment.

“She wants to punch something.”

The kinsmann sneered.

“Well I think she’s punched enough, don’t you think?”

I let out a dry laugh before signing back to Silika.

-Silika. Remember yesterday. What did we say about punching people?-

There was a wave of convoluted emotions that ran through her face.

-It’s. Bad.-

-Right, now look at Fiora over there.-

I said as I pointed to the bloodied girl some distance away.

She wasn’t crying anymore but she still looked shook.

-Did… Did I do that?-

Silika asked.

I nodded and slowly her shoulders slumped and her breathing steadied.

She looked around for a bit as though she had just woke up from a dream.

-I– I didn’t mean to…I…!-

Tears started welling up in her eyes as the reality of the situation sunk in.

-I know, Silika.-

-You– We… We were just playing and then– And then things just became dark and I couldn’t think properly… I– I…–

-I know, Silika. I know. It’s not your fault.-

-But I hurt Fiora! How did I even do that…-

She looked toward the other young girl who was now completely back in character, standing arms crossed proudly.

Silika tried to pull away to go see her, but the Kinsmann held her in place.

“I believe she’s back to normal, Mother.”

I said to the woman beside me.

The kinsmann acquiesced and released her hold on Silika.

-We’ll talk later, but for now, why don’t you apologise to Fiora?-

Silika Nodded strongly and ran to Fiora. She bent her head down as she signed her apology to which Fiora responded.

“You bested me within the honourable bounds of the duel I requested. I have only myself to blame for this humiliation.”

Silika looked at her with a confused expression before turning to me for some kind of explanation.

I scratched my head for a second. Translating this into a couple hand signals was completely beyond my abilities.

-She said she’s not angry.-

Silika made a surprised expression and nodded energetically she turned to Fiora and hugged her strongly. For once the typically stern looking child looked completely flustered.

“It’s good that the children are fine, sire, but I fear that we must speak.”

The kinsmann said to me.

I nodded understandingly and dusted my knees as I stood up from the ground.

I turned to Isola who nodded in understanding and escorted the girl inside.

“I can’t thank you enough for your help, Mother.”

“Think nothing of it. I’m simply fulfilling my purpose to Steihnner and his people. We, on the other hand, must discuss your purpose to your daughter.”

I nodded.

“It isn’t my place to tell you how to raise your daughter, and even less what belief you should incult in her, but her faith is lacking.”

She said as she turned northward, looking on to the distant mountains that separated us from the Heillhs Empite, the residence of Steihnner.

“I know. She’s a strong believer of Scorn, though I admit that her knowledge is still lacking.

She shook her head at my answer.

“Faith is not about knowledge. It’s about feeling the presence of the gods within out hearts.”

“I know, Mother…”

“She must be taught to believe, child. The north is unforgiving to those weak in faith. Especially one suffering from scorched blood.”

She closed her eyes and lowered her head in a silent prayer for a moment before raising it again and facing me.

“You can only guide her in the ways of mann. It would be wise to stoke the fire of faith in her heart. Lest more incident such as today happen in the future.”

“I’ll take your word to heart, Kinsmann.”

She nodded and left without another word.

I sighed.

Faith, uh? It was something I very much lacked myself. It was only a flicker in the horizon of my mind. Something I had started teaching her mostly out of expectation that she should learn the ways of the gods and not out of necessity…

…And yet all the signs to the opposite were there. Her doubts, her fears, her outbursts, and now scorched blood.

Contrary to contemporary secular philosopher would have you believe. The gods, their rules and their teachings were not some antiquated method to enslave the masses. They were a mean to end. A way to guide the confused, heal the wounded and sustain the pioneers.

Faith provides knowledge, of course. Knowledge of history, of our strength, of our weaknesses and, of course, of our blessings, but it also serves another purpose.

Something abstract. It provides certainty. Certainty of the strength of our heart infiability…

Something I still lacked greatly myself.

It seems I have much work to do once we reach Clotop than I originally thought.

I must become respectable. I must become a father to Silika.

A few days passed and the time of our departure came to a head. We were still to meet the rest of the caravan at the frontier to Norland. From the letters I had received they hadn’t reached Silver Raft River yet, so it wouldn’t too long before we met up.

“You’re leaving so soon, brother. Are you sure Silika and you have rested enough to take the high road again?”

I laughed.

Coming from the same Evelyne who had urged me to do the opposite just a few days ago… It could have been construed as sarcastic, but there was a glint of something else.

Hesitation, worry, doubt maybe.

“We must be on our way, Armein. Fall will fall before we reach home otherwise.”

“Well you’re always welcome here, Marshall.”

Isola assured me as she held her wife’s arm. Almost to reassure Evelyne more than I.

“Of course. We’ll definitely come visit sooner rather than late. You should come visit us in Clotop as well.”

“That needs no say. I’m sure Isola will drag me to your darn city and its market sooner rather than later.”

The countess said with a snort earning her a stomp on the foot from Isola.

Fiora approached Silika and held out her hands.

“I look forward to our next encounter Silika Ashbrook of Clotop. I will not be bested next time.”

Silika smiled and hugged the girl instead of shaking the extended hand.

“AH! Stop! Stopstopstop! This is completely undignified! You are my rival, Silika! Rival aren’t supposed to hug! STOOOOOOOOOOP!”

Silika who couldn’t hear any of this continued hugging her for a long while as Fiora loudly protested.

Evelyn walked up to me and extended a hand of her own. I grasped it and she bent forward, her lips almost touching my ear.

“I’ve received word that rumors of Silika are spreading. It won’t be long before it reaches the Duke ears. I will head north for the winter assembly, but you must be careful in the meantime. There is no telling how the other lords will react.”

I nodded seriously at the warning. I had hoped to announce the existence of his grand-daughter to the duke on my own term, but I may not be allowed the luxury.

She released my arm and walked back to her wife.

Fiora was finally able to pull herself out of Silika’s embrace.

-Let’s play again soon! You sore loser!-

Silika signed to her new friend.

Fiora turned to me, now used to my role as an interpreter.

“She said you should come play in Clotop next time.”

I said, avoiding to mention Silika’s provocation.

“Mhph! Then Clotop will be the place of our next duel then!”

And with that, our passage through Jilbeck’s Crossing came to an end.

Ahead of us, a mere fortnight away, Clotop awaits.