“Thelyra, darling, what are you doing down here? You need rest.” Rekiak rose abruptly, rushing over to the woman and gently supporting her. She was tall for a Fershya, but even then he stood a head taller than her and twice as wide. But the way he held her, bringing her over to sit on the bench he had just been on, he was so gentle. Celeste smiled. The man loved her. That was it: love and a child. That was what brought him back from the edge of darkness.

  Celeste felt a slight sadness looking at the large man fretting over his love. She had hoped this man would have provided some insight on how to get other members of the cult free of the Chaos’s grasp. As wonderful as him finding true love and bringing new life into the world was, well, she couldn’t exactly find the true love for everyone in Southshore could she? Celeste thought about it for a moment before shaking her head. No, that was ridiculous.

  But perhaps it wasn’t the baby itself that made the difference. Maybe it was just one solution to the same problem. All the people Celeste had met this past week, from Gerada the old seamstress, to the carving man, even Arabella. They all shared something that this man had said he felt before: hopelessness. They had nowhere to turn for succor, no chance at a better life. Her people, her faith, had failed all of them. If she could speak with them, find out where these failures were starting, she might be able to fix it. If they could see that someone actually cared, that someone was addressing their concerns, maybe that could be the hope they need to rise out of despair.

  “Rekiak, Thelyra. I need to know what brought you to the cult. What did they offer you that you could not find elsewhere?” Celeste entreated.

“I thought I already told you.” Rekiak growled. Celeste heard Kriss take a step forward at the man’s tone, but Celeste held up a hand to stall her friend.

“My friends, I have heard your tale all through out the streets. Be it the cult, or a gang, or even just petty crime. But I need to know not what made you desperate, but what made the Chaos, of all things, your choice.”

“How many times do I need to…” Rekiak began with an even harsher tone, before Thelyra gently placed her hand upon his arm.

“Let me, my dear.” She soothed him, then turned to Celeste. The woman wore a face of stern determination that only faltered for a second when she saw Celeste’s eyes. The woman swallowed hard before continuing. “You… Your Radiance.” She began. “I know Rekiak’s story, but it is not mine to tell. I can only speak for myself.

When my father died many months ago, I was left alone with no more family. It was a sickness that took him, but he was too weak to go to the temple. And we would have been only one voice among hundreds begging for the Mother’s healing grace.

As a lone woman in Southshore I had few options. I could marry a man who I loathed, or I could sell myself on the streets. I had tried to join your temple, but I was turned away. I couldn’t afford the novice fees. More coin than I had ever seen in my life was what they asked for.”

At the last part, Celeste felt a rare emotion for her. Anger. How dare the temple turn a desperate soul away? Over coin, of all things. It was unthinkable. It was detestable. It stood in contrast to everything not just the Mother represented, but the Pantheon as a whole. Where was Ethinia’s mercy? Or Cent’s generosity? She would speak to her father about this. The Mother does not abandon a single one of her children. And to know that in doing so this woman had been lost? Her heart broke imagining that poor woman, standing desperately at the temple and being spurned for her poverty as she herself slept comfortably within.

Refocusing on Thelyra, Celeste saw Rekiak gently rubbing her shoulder with the arm he wrapped around her. He held her as if to remind her that no matter how difficult it was to talk about, he was there for her.

“After that, I heard about Master X. How he was offering food, shelter, and coin to anyone who might join him. I was… desperate.” That word again, Celeste thought.

“I was just so afraid. I’m not proud of what I did.” Thelyra continued as she reached up and held Rekiak's hand in hers, wrapping her slender fingers around the large man's big thumb. “But it brought us together. Even if we left them, I will always be thankful for that.”

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“I’m so sorry.” Celeste managed to choke out, were those tears falling down her cheek? “We failed you. My temple failed you.”

Rekiak looked at Celeste, a conflicted expression on his face. “It is not just the faith that fails. As a young man I admired my uncle. He was wise, very wise. I wanted to be like him, studious. So when I got old enough, I set out to join the Great Academy in the Arcanum District.” He shook his head. “I didn’t even get through the gate to Silvermarket. They told me that if I wanted in, I needed a work permit paid for by a citizen. Terminia itself does not want us, they only wish for cheap muscle to fetch and carry. That is all we are to them.”

Celeste bit her quivering lip. She had seen these people sing and dance. Had seen a woman struggle between her traditions and her grandchild. Their music, their history, their strength of will, the Korek were so much more than just muscle. Her people had been so foolish in turning their backs to them.

“My… Master, X, he offered me knowledge.” Rekiak continued. “So I joined the cult, seeking to grow wise as he. But then I met her.” He said, his voice softening, his hand gently stroking hers. “And she is now with child. We began to speak of leaving, we had seen what happened when my aunt gave birth to her child in the presence of Chaos.” He explained. The image of that pale, weak baby still clear in Celeste's mind. Even remembering how the Chaos that had lingered in the child's soul had felt made her skin crawl. “Then something happened that convinced us to leave.”

Celeste looked at him, could this be it? Could this be what she had been looking for? “What was it?” she asked. “What made you take the leap?”

“It was you, Your Radiance.” Thelyra answered.

Celeste could only blink in surprise. Me? She thought. She had never met these two before today.

“We were there, in the Southshore Market the day we... the day our master attacked you.” Rekiak clarified. “We saw what you did, saw how you risked your life for that injured woman.”

“Just a child.” Thelyra said, a tremor to her voice. “But you were willing to give your life to help a stranger.” A tear escaped the woman's emerald eyes. “And not just that, but you tried to heal our fellow brothers. Even after we had tried to kill you. You showed true mercy, something we had not seen in a long time.”

“After that,” Rekiak picked up, Thelyra too taken with emotion to continue. “we couldn’t justify the actions of our master. Not when he seemed so intent on harming you, someone who showed kindness, even to those who wished to hurt you. So together, in that square, we made our decision and never went back.”

Celeste stared at them through tear-blurred eyes. These people were not joining the cult because of some desire for darkness, they were lost. They sought someone who would show them mercy. If her doing something as small as helping two people made such a difference, then what could be done with a true leader? An idea began to bud in her mind. If she could find someone, a good soul that could set a true example for them. Perhaps then they could stop more people from going down a path from which they could not return.

But who? Her father? No, he was too set in his ways. Gardinal faced the same problem, not to mention he was not a particularly talented orator. Whoever it was, they needed to have an attractive personality, they needed to have some sort of authority as well. Someone whom she could help make a real difference, and whom these people could look up to. Someone good. Celeste turned and looked at Vallerian. She had seen darkness in him, but she had also seen him try. If she could help him grow into a leader, into someone who cared about the most needy of this city...

“Lord Vallerian, you were there. Please tell Rekiak how much the band wants him back.” At her prodding the whole room turned to Vallerian. He looked back at her with a raised eyebrow, chair delicately balanced on the two legs.

With a look of utter surprise, Vallerian responded. “Yes, what she said. Your Gaanah or what ever she is seemed to want you back.” Vallerian shot her a glare and mouthed what are you talking about? Rekiak shook his head.

“My father the Ga'Se does not care for the Fershya. He resents what their rules did to my uncle. They would never allow Thelyra to…” Rekiak explained.

“I will speak to the Ga'Na.” Celeste said. “Matters of marriage within the band are her domain, are they not?” Celeste asked. She actually wasn't sure on that one, but she figured it was likely considering the Ga'Na's connection to the Mother Goddess.

The two lovers looked at one another in surprise.

“We could be married?” Thelyra gasped. “Truly?” In that moment, they both seemed so full of hope. Celeste felt her heart swell. Rekiak turned to Celeste.

“Perhaps, if you are to talk with...”

But before he could finish, the world exploded. The wall across from Celeste burst inwards, wood and plaster blasting into chunks and flying through the room. A wooden beam pierced through Rekiak's shoulder, the massive man covering his lover with his body.

Kriss leapt, knocking Celeste from her chair and shielding her from the debris. As she fell, Celeste watched Valleresa and Arabella violently tossed from their chairs and into the hearth. Heads snapping back hard against the stones. Where had Vallerian gone? The sounds, at first so deafening, faded to a buzz as ash and wood splinters fell around them. Her heart beat rapidly, and as her hearing began to return she heard shouting from outside.

“Check inside, our master wants her alive.”