The little boat was floating quietly upon the lake, with the only sound coming from it or us being the sound of my tail brushing against the bottom of the boat.

Holding the fishing rod, I smiled as my eyes scanned the calm lake’s surface. Not a ripple was in sight, not even from bugs.

I could of course remember the last time I had fished. It hadn’t been too long ago, actually. While Vim and I had traveled to the Crypt, after Miss Beak’s death at the beach. We had fished in a small river. But I had not done so with a fishing pole, let alone properly. Instead Vim and I had simply just… caught the fish in the river with our hands.

It had surprisingly been very effective at the time.

This wasn’t as quick, or efficient… but…

There was a very strange peace to it. One that made me remember my years with Nory. We had often fished in the lakes around our cabin, particularly during the winter. We had sat for most the day, without saying a word sometimes.

I used to miss those days.

“Vim usually fishes with me,” Narli said softly.

Glancing at her, my smile grew a little. “Is that what you usually ask of him?” I asked, just as quietly.

We were talking softly, for obvious reasons, but… I’ve come to learn that Narli herself was in general just a quiet person. She never raised her voice. Never moved fast, or with great force. She was gentle. Dutifully so.

She nodded, and her little horn gleamed a little as she did. The sun had reflected off it and blinded me for a tiny moment when she had lowered her head far enough. “I’m glad you’re here. He’s not… necessarily boring, but…” she smiled a little as she spoke, telling me she thought the same I did sometimes.

“He can be… but he can also be still and quiet for a long time too, so he is useful when fishing,” I said.

Narli giggled softly as she nodded again. Thanks to her laughter, and her movement, the boat rocked ever so softly. A tiny little ripple flowed outward through the lake because of it, but it didn’t live long enough to touch either of our lines.

“So he’s quiet with you too? Even when you’re alone?” Narli asked.

“Most of the time. He’ll respond if I talk to him, though,” I said.

Narli hummed at that, and was about to say something but her fishing pole moved.

I watched as she smoothly went to pulling the fish out of the water. It didn’t take her long at all to lead the fish near the boat, and then tug one last time to bring it half out of the water. She grabbed the line, and brought the brown fish into the boat.

It was decent sized. The type of plump that had Vim and I caught it on our travels, I’d have been excited. It would only take that fish and maybe one or two more smaller ones to feed us.

Yet as Narli took the little hook out of the fish’s mouth, I realized something I should have noticed before.

We didn’t have a bucket. Unless she was just going to put the fish on the bottom of the boat… but there wasn’t much room near our feet…

Narli answered my worry, but in a different way. She studied the fish for a tiny moment and then nodded as she went to throw it back into the lake.

“We’re not going to keep them?” I asked. That was the first fish we’d caught so far! We’d been at this for an hour already almost.

“Not today. Today they’re not to be eaten,” Narli said simply, as if it was very obvious as to why.

Watching her lift the fish, and then let it slip out of her hand over the edge of the boat, it plopped into the water without resistance. I heard the fish swim off quickly, and then the lake went quiet again.

“Hm…” I’d wonder if it was a religious thing, but I’d already seen her eat meat and fish in our dinner last night.

“Does it bother you?” she asked as she went to check on the hook she had just removed from the fish.

“Fishing for fun? Not at all… but you said it in a way that tells me it’s more than that. Are… are you saying if we ate the fish we caught today, it’d end up being a bad thing?” I asked.

Narli smiled as she finished checking the hook, and then turned as to toss the line back into the water.

“Mother’s preparing a pig for dinner. Amongst other things. It’d be a shame to ruin her efforts, and eventually my own when I go to help her, by filling our bellies with something else,” she said.

Ah! So that was what I had heard this morning. Narli and I had left rather early, and I could have sworn I had heard a squeal of an animal. It must have been the pig.

“That makes a lot of sense,” I agreed.

Narli giggled a little as she nodded. “If you were looking forward to fish we can keep a few if you’d like,” Narli offered.

“No, no. To be honest I’d rather have the pig,” I said.

Vim was always very proactive about feeding me. Particularly well, too. Yet lately not only have our last few stops been… well… lackluster, but so have our travels. The Crypt had simple and boring meals, on purpose. Thanks to their religious edicts. The Weaver’s Hut had been more fruits and fish, not much meat. And our travels recently have been through arid and dry places, lacking real opportunities to hunt or fish… so…

“Does Vim neglect you? He can go so long without food, but I’ve always thought him kinder than to make others suffer alongside him,” Narli asked, likely misunderstanding the thoughts on my face.

“Not at all! Vim likes to watch me eat new and tasty food… it’s just recently we’ve not been able to eat anything nice like a pig, is all,” I said.

“Hm… ah, because you were recently at the Crypt. Yes. They’re a little… pious over there,” Narli said as she understood.

I was going to comment that she and her mother seemed equally so, but decided against it. Especially if she saw them as more extreme followers of their religion than herself.

“Have you… met them?” I asked carefully.

“No. I’ve only met a few members of the Society… but I’ve heard lots about them, particularly from mother,” she said.

“Your mother?” I asked.

She nodded. “Mother used to be very involved in the Society. Before I was born. She used to live in Telmik,” she said.

A little stunned, I at first was going to wonder how she had lived there… what with her horn, but realized the religious headdress those sisters wore would have easily hid it.

Yet… what really bothered me was something a little more personal and serious.

Her mother had been involved in the Society. And now wasn’t. Because of Narli’s birth.

“I’m sorry you need to be so careful, Narli. You’d think at least within the Society you’d be in less danger,” I said softly.

Narli blinked and sat up a little straighter. Our little boat shifted a tad, and then she gently smiled at me.

“You really are a gentle one… It’s okay, Renn. I actually am very happy here, living like this. Plus, I’ve been told that during the vote I’ll get to visit Telmik. Vim’s already offered to escort us,” Narli said.

Oh…! “Really? That’s good! We’ll keep you safe, I promise,” I said.

Narli’s smile warmed a little as she nodded.

So they were already making plans…? I mean, it made sense… but…

Wonder why I hadn’t heard them talking about it. Narli and I had been next to each other nearly this whole time since we got here.

“Can I ask… why you saints are so targeted? The religious should want to protect you, yet I’ve heard they’re even more dangerous to you sometimes. While I’d think the non-religious wouldn’t even care about you, too,” I asked.

“It’s an instinctual thing. We unnerve people… either because of our eyes, our presence, or our abilities,” Narli said as she pointed at her eyes.

Unnerve… “Well…” I was about to say I’ve never felt the desire to kill a saint just by being near them, but then had to bite my tongue.

“Plus… there is actually an affect we have on the world, and the world us. Like how strange items always find their way here, without explanation. We, and many do, could argue the reason for it… whether it’s divine intervention, magical powers, or something we can’t understand… but the fact of the matter is, we saints are both unique and the world sees us as unique as well. A saint can hide herself completely, far away from any people, and yet still get found. Without reason or proof. A very powerful saint, Mantopli, is the perfect example of that,” Narli added.

“Mantopli…?”

“A saint back in the beginning of the Society. They had been living underneath an active volcano, and had been for what was likely centuries. A whole army, formed and commanded by a man following prophetic dreams, marched half a world away to the mountain. They laid siege to it, not even knowing she was there. When his soldiers carried her out of the mountain to him, half dead, he was so furious he had been led all that way over a single woman,” Narli told me.

“Wait… so he hadn’t known she was there?” I asked.

“As far as the story goes, no. He had simply been led there by dreams,” Narli said as she shook her head.

Huh…

“You’re basically saying that… the world, or fate or however you wish to see it, suddenly decides randomly that certain individuals need to die… and thus sends random people to fulfill that task,” I said.

Narli shrugged. “It makes no sense to me either. If we really are conduits of a god’s power… and it’s the gods that command fate… That means we’re being hunted by the things that create us. I’ve long pondered it, I have no answer for it,” Narli said.

“Wonder what Vim would say about it,” I said.

“He’s given me two different answers,” she said.

I tilted my head as Narli nodded. “First time I asked, he told me it’s because I am misunderstanding a fundamental truth,” she said.

“That’s it…?” I asked, upset for her.

She nodded again. “Isn’t it rude? The second time I asked, not too many years ago, he told me if fate is real and wants me dead… it’s because I interfere with it. He said I shouldn’t question fate or the world wanting me dead, because I break the natural order. That my birth, my power and its source, were irrelevant.”

This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

I blinked, and strangely found that to not only be a very Vim-like answer… but…

“That makes sense to you, doesn’t it?” Narli asked, watching me.

I nodded slowly. “It… does. I don’t like it, and I don’t want to agree with it… but it does make sense. Let’s say a god created a saint… how are we to know it isn’t for a singular purpose? And then once that purpose is fulfilled…” I gestured lightly, because I didn’t want to say out loud the rest.

“Hm. Is that how you justified it?” Narli asked.

The boat rocked a tad as I gripped the fishing pole tighter.

Slowly looking at her, I found her smiling gently at me.

“You’ve killed a saint before, haven’t you Renn?” Narli then asked.

My fishing pole shook for a tiny moment, and my mouth went dry.

Her small smile on her face was very odd. A sad one, but a smile nonetheless.

Although very disturbed… I found myself relaxing a little upon seeing her look so calm and happy… and then I nodded to her.

“It’s okay… I can’t tell a lot… but I can tell it was something that troubles you. That you regret it. That it had hurt. And not because she had cursed you, either,” Narli said.

“You can see all that…?” I asked softly.

Narli tilted her head a little. “It’s more like… I can sense it. A lot of people think we saints are all the same, with the same abilities and sources, but we’re not. We can be as different as anyone else. But one constant, is the touch of the divine. No matter which divinity it is, or to what level,” she said.

The divine… “You can tell I’ve… touched the divine?” I asked.

She nodded. “Verily. I’m sure all saints could, to be honest. We can tell when someone has both been touched by a divine power, and also when they have touched it themselves. In this case… I can tell you’ve both received divine power, and also were what snuffed it out,” she said.

Snuffed it out… “Are you saying any saint could tell?” I asked.

“As far as I’m aware. It’s very obvious, and to… be completely honest Renn, my abilities aren’t the best nor the strongest. It’s part of the reason Vim never really considers me to be like the others he’s known. To him I’m not a full-fledged saint. I don’t have the same reach as they do,” she said.

I didn’t really want to hear that, since it meant a real saint was even stronger and weirder than her… but… well…

Witch had been rather strong, hadn’t she…?

“She wanted to die,” I whispered.

Narli blinked, her bright eyes going dark for but a moment.

“She had been sad. Very sad. And tired. She begged me to help her,” I said.

“I see,” Narli said softly.

“At the time I… felt obligated. I owed her so much. So when she so seriously begged it of me, pleading, I… well…” I gulped as I realized I was not just telling her… This was the first time I’d told anyone since it happened.

I’d told Vim I had killed her… but I hadn’t ever told him why, or how.

“So… you’d not have done it? Had she asked you today?” Narli asked me.

I blinked and was about to shake my head… to tell her no. To tell her how I’d never again allow such a thing to happen again.

How I’d try with all my might to always avoid such a result… to struggle and cry and…

But…

“I’d like to think I wouldn’t… but… at the same time…” I whispered as I admitted it.

“Hm… you really are a gentle soul, Renn,” Narli said.

“No… I’m not. It means I’m too cowardly to face those I love. I should be willing to incur their wrath and anger, if that is what it took to keep them alive,” I said.

Narli said nothing as I took a deep breath. At least I wasn’t crying, even if I felt like I wanted to.

“So to hear you say that the world just… forces it to happen? Does that mean I didn’t have a choice? That she sensed it? I don’t want to hear that. I don’t want to let what I did be nothing more than the whims of something I don’t even know exists,” I said.

“We saints can’t kill ourselves, Renn.”

Blinking, I frowned as I focused on her. “Huh?”

“We can’t. And… because of what we are, it’s surprisingly difficult for us to die too. The world is cruel to us, yet not in the way that results in death. There’s a reason I live here, Renn. Even though my heart yearns for me to go out into the world, and help people,” she said.

“You want to leave?” I asked.

She nodded. “I’m happy here. I don’t mind it… but… at the same time… I do. Verily. I dream of those I should, and could, be helping. Those who are sick. Those who are in pain. Those who are lost. Particularly them… for some reason my ability is very… entwined with the idea of finding one’s purpose. So I always dream of lost little children in horrible places, who I need to save,” she said.

Lost children…? “Sounds… annoying,” I said.

Narli giggled and nodded. “It is sometimes, it is.”

Shifting a little, I moved the fishing rod a bit. I wasn’t too concerned with catching fish anymore. “I still regret it. But… I understand. I know, based off the happy smile on her face as I did it, that what I did had been the right thing. Influenced or no,” I said.

“Yes. As I said… she had not cursed you. She left this world with no hate directed at you,” Narli said.

“How can you tell?” I asked.

“I just do. But only because it’s another saint we’re talking about. For instance I can see others within you… those you’ve slain. Those you are glad for ending, and those that torment you even now. But I can’t tell who, why, or anything special about them. They’re as… blank to me as your mind,” she said.

“My mind is blank?” I asked.

Narli giggled again. “You’re very focused on the odd things. I meant, I can’t read your mind. Not like other saints. So… basically I’m saying I can’t tell anything about that stuff,” she explained.

Ah. Right…

“I wonder what people’s minds sound like,” I wondered.

“I’m told it’s chaotic. And not a good ability to have, at all,” Narli said.

“Oh?”

She nodded. “Vim’s told me before. That he’s known many saints with such abilities. He says they never die easy, or well,” she said.

I sighed. “Wonder how many he’s ended himself,” I said.

For a long moment the world was silent… and I felt a little awkward as I glanced at her.

She was staring softly at me, with a strange look. It was hard to tell if it was shock, or something else, thanks to her eyes though.

“Sorry,” I whispered, apologizing for being crass.

Narli then smiled, and shook her head. “You’re fine, Renn. I was just… surprised you could say such a thing with so much love in your heart. You hadn’t said it with disgust or anger, but simple fact. You know exactly what kind of man you love, and have accepted him for it all the same. It makes me jealous,” she said.

My tail coiled around my left elbow as I studied the saint. She had tiny blush on her face now. “Can you… see into Vim too?” I asked her.

“Hm…?”

My ear twitched as I shrugged. “Like… how you just did with me. Can you see that stuff about Vim too?” I asked.

Narli was quiet for a moment… then she looked away from me. Out over the lake. But not towards her fishing line. “I cannot see within him… but I can see around him,” she said.

Around him…? Before I could ask what that meant, Narli lifted a hand.

She made a fist, and I was a little amused to see how tiny it was. She really wasn’t much smaller than me; she just had really tiny hands. “Vim is like a dense ball. Something only this big, yet within that tiny space is… what I’d consider an infinite amount of room. So I can see inside him, yes… but because of how vast he is, I can’t make anything out. Everything is so tiny, they’re basically invisible. No matter how hard I focus, or how long I concentrate,” she explained.

I gulped as I listened, and couldn’t help but think of the monarch hearts in the Keep.

“Is it… similar to what the hearts look like?” I dared to ask.

Narli smiled at me and narrowed her eyes. “You really are wise. Yes and no. The hearts… look like what I’m explaining, but they’re not. The hearts are just giant balls of energy. Divine power condensed into a small orb. They’re not actually minds or souls, even though so many believe they are. Vim is… different. I can see why you’d make the connection, though,” she said.

So… he’s different… but not outright enough to the point that she could just say so.

Which meant he really was something different. Something… similar to them, but not…

A monarch yet not…

That’s what he had told me before. That he was one, but without a heart.

Yet it was a heart that made a monarch what it was in the first place.

So contradicting…

“I don’t know what Vim is… I…” Narli hesitated, and she turned a little. The boat rocked, and she put her fishing rod down a moment.

I sat up straighter, worried something was wrong… but she instead leaned forward… as if to whisper with me.

Joining her, I put my rod down as well and leaned forward a bit too.

“Don’t get… bothered by this… okay?” she asked.

I nodded quickly.

Narli took a small breath and glanced around, to make sure we were alone. Well… of course we were. We were in the middle of a lake.

Once sure we were alone she looked back at me. “No one has divinity. Not anymore,” she whispered.

I blinked as I quickly tried to understand what she was saying.

She nodded quickly, before I could even wrap my head around it. “In all my years… I’ve only seen divinity in those touched. Saints. Monarchs... or well, their hearts. But I’ve never seen it in anything else,” she said.

Cold understanding washed over me, and I was half tempted to jump into the lake because of it.

She was saying that no one… no normal people at least… had pieces of gods in them anymore.

“I… but…” I hesitated as I thought of all the scriptures.

“I know. It’s mind boggling. Yet, I’ve been told by those I have no reason to doubt, that people all used to have divinity within them. Just like I do. Just like a monarch. Not as much, nor as potent of course, but they had it,” Narli whispered.

“Who told you this?” I asked. Vim, maybe?

“The Chronicler’s sister. Before she passed. She had been a saint as well,” Narli said.

Oh…? Wow… That meant Narli was a little older than I had assumed.

“So you’re saying that other saints, those who lived before us, saw everyone with parts of… divinity within them,” I said, trying to understand.

She nodded. “And now no one has it. No one born today.”

I was going to ask how Narli knew this if she was always here, not seeing anyone else… but I knew such a comment wasn’t proper. Especially since she had recently helped save a couple women a few years ago. It meant she did see people, if only occasionally.

“Have you asked Vim about this?” I asked.

“No. I’m scared to,” she admitted.

Scared…? “Of his answer, you mean,” I understood.

She nodded. “Yes… he keeps his secrets of course… but sometimes he still reveals them. And his nonchalant answers terrify me more than the darker secrets he keeps,” she said.

Nodding quickly, I agreed. “Because it means the true secrets he’s keeping are even worse, or scarier,” I said, agreeing completely.

“Right…!” Narli nodded too, and our boat rocked a little because of it.

Tapping my fishing pole, I hummed as I thought about this new information.

No one had their god’s blessings, or powers, in them anymore. That was basically what Narli meant by divinity.

Such a weird thing… especially if it was true we all used to.

I’ll need to talk to Vim about it later… maybe after we leave, so that just in case Narli didn’t accidentally hear.

Though I might also need to wait until after that too, since Oplar was with us.

As I pondered it, a fish jumped out of the lake some distance away. I watched it land back into the water, barely making a splash.

“You’re… surprisingly open about this stuff,” I said.

“You’ve been spending too much time with Vim. People aren’t usually so secretive,” she said.

Smirking at that, I nodded. That was very true.

“Plus… I feel comfortable with you. You’re Vim’s partner. Whether you like to or not, whether the world accepts it or not… doesn’t matter. It makes you special. In ways no one can understand yet. It won’t be long until you’re the one teaching me, I bet,” she said.

Somehow I doubted that, but…

“I promise not to be as difficult as Vim. If I ever get like that just… whack me in the head or poke me with your horn, I guess,” I said with a point to my forehead.

Narli grinned at me. “They’re actually rather sharp you know? Don’t regret saying that,” she said.

“I bet they are,” I said as I grinned back.

As Narli and I laughed, a large bird flapped up towards us. It didn’t hesitate to fly over to Narli, as to try and land on her head.

She quickly went to shooing it away, going so far as to even move her fishing pole around in effort to scare it off.

“Shoo!” Narli shouted as it flapped harder, and then it squawked and finally flew off.

Narli let out a heavy sigh as she sat back down, as the boat rocked in complaint.

“See Renn? Nothing good about being a saint at all,” she complained with a huff.

Giving her a small nod, I did my best to not smirk and laugh as Narli mumbled and complained as she re-situated herself.

The two of us went back to fishing, and luckily the rest of our conversations didn’t stray into the strange or uncanny.

In fact it ended up being very enjoyable… even if as the day went on and each fish we caught and released made it worse... since each time just made me hungrier.