As Salixor left the room, walking as delicately as a giant of his size could to avoid sinking through the floor, Glissandi and Lissa looked at each other, faces wrought with confusion.
Lissa waited for the Priestess to speak. In the short conversation with the Keeper, the Paladin had seen a new side of the Priestess emerge. She had been aware that the girl wasn't stupid and had a good head on her shoulders, which had been evidenced by her desire to learn from the Warriors, but seeing her engage the tree-like creature in discussion had fully revealed the girl's impressive intellect. It seemed that her magical abilities were not the sole reason that the girl had attained the rank of Priestess.
Glissandi brought her hand to her hair, exhaustion temporarily forgotten as her mind dissected the previous conversation. She absentmindedly ran her fingers through the golden strands, her blue eyes turning distant as she ran through the events of the past day. Too many things didn't add up or failed to make sense and she had far too many questions that remained unanswered. She ran through them in her head. Why was Nassi targeted? What was the witch's goal? Why did she come to this city? Who was Salixor? And who or what in the Lord's name was this mysterious Gaelus? Other than the questions, she had her personal demons tormenting her. She hadn't forgotten about her combat performance didn't take her failure in that regard lightly.
Her mind returned to the present and she noticed her companions staring at her. The Knight was, as usual, utterly devoid of emotions. Her face was blank and patient. The only visible sign that she was disturbed were her fingers, which kept dancing along the blade of her sword. The Squires were looking slightly ragged. Not a surprise, given all that had transpired in such a short period of time. The Paladin, on the other hand, was undaunted by today's events. She was a monument of patience, impossible to shake no matter what might happen. Perhaps it was Glissandi's imagination, but the Paladin seemed to be looking at her with a measure of respect. At the very least, she was waiting for the Priestess to speak first.
"I would like your opinion on the matter, Lissa. I lack experience. I know this. I have not seen much of the world, and know little of it besides of what I saw in the Monastery and after today, I very much doubt that much of it holds up out here. We have only left for a scant few days and already my expectations have been thoroughly shattered." The Priestess turned to look at the others.
"The same question I extend to all of you. Me and mine are trained to be capable in magic, diplomacy, etiquette, conversation, debate and other scholarly subjects. Events like these leave me out of my depth", Glissandi admitted. It stung her. She had always been praised for being smart, for being able to figure things out by instinct. Her intelligence was one of her greatest assets. Yet here she was, completely unable to deal with the situation. It was her pride that was hurt and she knew it. Yet that just made it sting all the more.
The Squires looked at one another, seemingly communicating in silence, but held their tongues. Likewise, all Trista did was blink and focus briefly on the Priestess. She shook her head shortly, indicating she had nothing to add. Then Lissa spoke up, softly. "I am sorry Priestess, but I am as much out of my depth as you are. In all my travels I have never encountered a witch as strong as her. Nor have I met a creature that even remotely resembles Salixor or his kin. I am a Paladin. A Warrior. We serve the Order as its sword and shield. We are no expects in this matter either."
"Have you at least ever heard of the name Gaelus before? Or saw any artifacts, or other strange items on the witch? Perhaps we should send a runner to ask those questions of the Ledger Master, he might have known something. Captain Dar might know of any places the witch stopped at, perhaps she hid the items there..." the Priestess mused aloud.
"I have never heard that name before, Priestess, which concerns me. As for the items... Trista, you are the one who came the closest to her. Did you see anything on her that might be these items that the Keeper referred to?"
"By the Light, I did not. I saw nothing of the sort," came the neutral reply.
Glissandi nodded, her eyes thoughtful. "If we lack answers, we should at least make sure we know what questions to ask. Would any of you know why the witch would place such a curse on a child? Does Nassi have any history or background that makes her special? Any people that care about her that the witch would want hurt?"
Mira raised her hand. "Priestess, I... might be speaking out of turn here but..." the girl trailed off, obviously feeling reluctant to voice her opinion around her betters.
"Speak honestly, child. I would prefer to hear your honest opinion. Anything that might shed light on this situation is welcome."
Mira hesitated briefly, before speaking in a small voice. "What if it was simple arrogance?" the girl whispered.
Lissa and Trista looked confused, while Glissandi frowned. "Arrogance?" Lissa asked.
Mira nodded, her expression serious.
The Priestess nodded, eyes narrowing in understanding. "You mean to say that she did it simply because she could. Because she wanted to show off."
Mira's face lit up. "Exactly!" she shouted. Then, adding a bit belatedly, "Priestess." The girl drew a breath. "If what the tree man said was true, then she liked to see people suffer. What better way to cause that than to let a promising child die a slow, agonising death that nobody could stop, while simultaneously showing off her magical abilities? I mean, she did the same when she was fighting you. If she had struck full force from the beginning rather than wanting to show off—" Mina clasped her hand on her sister's mouth, eyes wide open. Mira followed a moment later, as realisation dawned on her as to what she just implied.
This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.
"Don't!" Glissandi shouted, causing Lissa to freeze mid-movement, her hand only a hair's width away from the Squire's face.
Glissandi gave the Paladin a furious stare and when she spoke her voice was ice cold and brimming with authority. "Paladin Lissa," she began, her eyes ensnaring the surprised Paladin. "I asked for everyone to give me their honest opinion. The girl did as I requested and raised a very valid point in the progress. And we both know damn well that the witch toyed with me. I panicked, messed up, got Trista killed, nearly got all of us killed, because I. Messed. Up. I will not deny that and neither will you!" The Priestess closed her eyes at the end of the tirade, suborning the raging storm of emotions within her.
"By the Light. I will not deny my failures. It hurts to hear it. It hurts even more to know that it is the absolute truth. To hear it from a Squire, a rank so far beneath me, makes the sting even worse. But it wasn't a Squire who said it. It was the girl, who spoke from the bottom of her heart without holding back on my request, and told us what she saw as truth." She opened her eyes again and looked at the floor and continued in a whisper.
"We serve the Light first and foremost. My pride should not matter. Her speaking her mind when I requested it is not an offence. If there is anyone who deserves punishment, it is me. I failed us during the battle."
She raised her head, her eyes meeting Lissa's, surprising the older woman by the raw amount of steeled determination laying within them. "Tell me, Paladin. What would a Warrior do to a trainee who messed up and put their unit in danger?"
Lissa blinked rapidly, unable to comprehend what had happened to the girl from earlier? There was a woman facing her now. A capable, stubborn woman. "She'd... be punished, Priestess."
"How?" barked Glissandi, her eyes refusing to let the Paladin look anywhere else.
"I... Not in a matter appropriate for a Priestess... You cannot mean—" Lissa protested, belatedly realising what direction the Priestess was steering the conversation to.
"Then apply the punishment!" Glissandi roared.
The room was dead quiet. Trista's fingers paused their dance across her blade and neither Mira nor Mina dared to breathe. Glissandi was standing upright now, in front of Lissa who, for the first time since they all met, was actually looking unnerved.
"Priestess—" the Paladin protested once more, raising her hands in front of her, as if to protect herself from the Priestess.
"Did I stutter, Paladin?" Glissandi interrupted. "We agreed that you would teach me your Warrior's common sense, didn't we? I am not asking you for your opinion! I am giving you, as your superior, a direct order!"
"But—!"
"NOW!" shrieked Glissandi, grabbing the older woman by her armour.
The smack resounded through the room. Lissa had brought her hand up from beneath and slammed the back of it into Glissandi's face, without holding back. Glissandi fell to the ground, knocked aside, her cheek torn open by the gauntlet. The Priestess screamed in pain, tears streaming of her face as the burning sensation completely overwhelmed her.
'It hurts', she thought. 'It hurts so much!'
Lissa stood frozen in place, numbly looking at the mailed hand in front of her. Pieces of skin and drops of blood were clinging to the rings. The wailing cries of the Priestess didn't seem to reach her.
Trista had completely ceased her habit of continuously looking around the room for danger and was moving her gaze back and forth between the Paladin, unable to make sense of the situation. 'This wasn't how Priestesses behaved', the Knight numbly thought.
Mira and Mina were standing up, hands outstretched towards the crying Priestess, but not daring to move any further. They carefully watched the Paladin, a primal fear invested in them through years of training making them stay put, lest they be hit like that as well. They had been hit numerous times before, but never like this. This wasn't a warning smack. This blow had ripped open the Priestess' cheek, laid bare muscle and was causing her to suffer from a worrying amount of blood loss. Gone was the brave woman who had faced the Paladin. In her stead was a crying, wounded girl.
Slowly, Lissa's awareness returned. She moved her hand down, looked at the Priestess, then at the Knight and the Squires. "Out!" she hissed. The trio left the room in the blink of an eyes, nearly running over one another in their haste to vacate the premises.
Kneeling next to the still trashing Priestess, Lissa grabbed the girl by the chin, ignoring the blood pouring over her hand. With her other hand she grabbed the girl's hand, then the other, forcing them to remain still. She looked at the wound, ignoring Glissandi's wails. It was deep and large. Quite severe even, given that the Priestess had expended all of her magic.
"Why did you do that, you idiot?" she asked, whispering the question. She caught the Priestess's flailing gaze, and found that laying deeply underneath the pain, that same steel that she saw earlier was still present. The girl didn't regret her decision. And in a flash, Lissa understood why.
"Fine then," she grunted, pushing the girl to the ground and pinning her trashing limbs underneath her armoured legs. Reaching into her bag, she grabbed out a needle and thread, and a bottle of alcohol. "This is going to hurt. I'm not going to bother to tell you to not trash around, you'll probably pass out from the pain anyway."
As she doused the open wound in alcohol, her prediction came true. Wielding the needle with expertise, she started sewing the wound shut. It wouldn't be a clean job, given what she had to work with, but it would keep the girl from bleeding out.
She cussed with every stab of the needle. "You're mad, girl. An idiot. Reckless. Inexperienced. Insane. Arrogant. Thick-headed. Stupid!"
She paused, before employing language no living being had ever heard her employ.
"And you're the first Priestess I might actually genuinely like, you damnably ballsy bitch."
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