The next day we returned to the palace and gave the men the next two days off. Sir Philip and I reported what we found to Father. I even set the two items I found on the dead goblin on his desk.
“Do you suspect any link to the rebels?” Father asked.
“Unlikely.” responded Sir Philip. “I believe it is more likely that they were Traditionalists.” The Traditionalist movement had been a part of goblinoid culture for thousands of years. It was made up of goblinoids who wanted to go back to the way things were before the invasion of the human and dwarven lands by the Elven Empire forced the nations to assimilate the goblinoids into their cultures. They believed in a “might makes right” mentality and believed that the strong should rule over the weak. “I believe that the villages still worship our gods, even if they dislike our government. They allow priest to movve through their territory unmolested. Even the bandits they work with merely demand a toll from the priests for moving through their territory, and if they refuse, take their whole coinpurse instead. That suggests that they still believe in our gods and don’t want to incur their wrath by killing of seriously injuring their messengers.”
“There is also the fact that Kulkik encourages the sacrifice of sapient beings, especially prisoners of war and the priests and prophets of other gods. If the villagers were followers of Kulkik, they would have kidnapped the priests and sacrificed them to their god, not allowed them to travel freely.” Finally reading all of those books on other religions had paid off.
Father nodded. “So, just a traditionalist trying to gather his power. Good. The last time there was a traditionalist uprising a hundred and twenty years ago we lost around fifteen hundred troops pacifying them. I received word two days ago that Cerian has laid claim to some of our southern counties and had declared war on us in order to get them.”
“But they ceded those lands to us sixty years ago after we defeated them. Why would they try to retake them?”
“Apparently, they had a population boom over the last few decades, and need the rich farm lands in that area to feed their people. We were in talks to export grain to them, but someone in power must have decided that taking the grain farms by force was a better option.”
“Does that mean that the men will be shipped to the southern border, then, Father?” I asked.
“Not at this time. The armies of the local counts and their Duke have been able to hold off the invaders so far. Hopefully Cerian will realize how futile the effort is and pull back. The best they could hope for as things stand is a white peace.”
I nodded and he handed me back the two objects we had found. “Take the statue to the temple and have it deconsecrated and destroyed. You can then take a break.” Anyone with the ability to sense mana could sense the divine power coming from the statue, twisted as it was. This allowed the deity who consecrated the statue to track it and use it to extend their influence. The priests would need to call on the power of another deity to remove the power, so that Kulkik wouldn’t be able to use the statue to target them when they tried to destroy it.
Meanwhile, in the castle kitchen Persy entered and greeted the Chef. “Hello, chef. I have some things I need to give you. She set her backpack on the floor and pulled out a bird wrapped in cloth that was larger than any turkey. She could barely lift it, but with chef’s help she set it on the counter and unwrapped it.
“A Cockatrice?” Chef asked. “Very tricky to prepare.”
“I knew you needed to neutralize the poison by soaking it with medicinal herbs, but I didn’t know which ones, so…” She reached into the backpack again and pulled out four bundles of herbs, any one of which would sell for several silver. “Lord Cameron showed me which medicinal herbs grew near our camp, and I picked these, in case they would work.”
Chef looked over the bundles and nodded. “This one neutralizes paralytics and this one neutralizes sedatives. I’ll need both of them, but I’ll dry any of these I don’t use and give them to Lord Cameron once they are ready. Anything in particular he wanted to do with it?”
“He wanted to throw a feast for the men that went on the mission to the mines, as I accidentally destroyed most of the loot.”
“Used that flame tornado I saw you practicing, didn’t you?”
Persy nodded, looking ashamed.
“Well, as long as it was necessary, I’m sure they don’t mind too much. I can probably have the bird prepared by noon tomorrow, so how about a lunch feast?”
“He was hoping for a night time one, so they could drink as much as they wanted. He is even sending me to buy a keg of mead from the tavern once I leave here.” The price of honey was quite high in this region, so the barrel of mead would probably cost at least a gold.
“In that case, tomorrow night will work. I’ll make sure we have some nice dishes to go with it. Maybe even use some sugar in the dessert.” Sugar was another commodity that cost more than most people could afford.”
“Does that mean you’ll be making your famous pies?”
“That it does. Please inform Lord Cameron of the plan, then tell Sir Quickblade so he can inform the men.”
I stopped by the palace shrine before heading to the main temple. Normally, one would go straight to the larger religious building, but the temple didn’t have all of the statues of the gods I had. Notably, I had a statue of the Lord of the Forest, which the temple refused to have, as too many influential people saw it as a sign that they favored beastfolk. Other than the three beastfolk slaves and occasionally father before he went on a hunt, I was the only one that prayed to it. Normally a person would merely be able to direct their prayers through the statue and hope the deity heard them, but in my case, as the Lord of the Forest had left his mark on my soul, I was able to essentially have a telephone conversation with them.
You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.
“Oh, hey.” Said the Lord. “I saw you clear that mine. Good job. I thought at the end that you were finished, but our Persimmon came through for us.”
“She certainly did. The men even kind of respect her for it. They started treating her more like an equal than a slave on the way back.”
“That’s good to hear. Maybe that attitude will spread among the people. Unlikely though, unless she saves the city. I doubt you called me to talk about how amazing our girl is, though.”
“Actually, I called to ask about this statue.” I went to touch the statue of Kulkik and he stopped me.
“Don’t. He might listen in. I’m surprised that brute can even find people dumb enough to follow him.”
“Probably promises them a lot of power.” I responded.
“I’m sure he does, but I was referring to how stupid his position is. I know that in nature sometimes you have to kill to survive, or even to defend your territory and property, but sacrificing people just to demonstrate your resolve, including the priests of other gods? That’s just asking for people to hate you.”
“Still, I’ve met people with a similar attitude, so he’ll probably always have idiots willing to follow him.”
“Seems so. So I’m assuming you want me to deconsecrate the statue so you can break it?”
“I’d better not. I don’t think Father has figured out that I have a connection to you, and that would give it away. I should just take it to the temple like he said.”
“Fair enough. Well, keep me updated on how Persy is doing, ok? Talk to you later.” I could feel them cut the connection, so I stood up and made my way to the temple.
The next night in the ballroom Sir Philip toasted our success and all of the men held up their mugs and cheered. Marya and Tanya walked around making sure everyone’s mugs were full and changing out the plates of expensive snacks on the banquet table. “So, where’s the little girl?” Solace asked me. “I was expecting her to come to the party.”
“Oh, she’ll be joining us in a little while. She and Chef have been working on something special for the meal all day.”
Just as I said it Chef and Persy entered through the kitchen door carrying a massive platter. Marya and Tanya quickly cleared a spot on the table and they set the tray there.
“What type of bird is that? It’s huge.” said Taylor.
“A Cockatrice!” exclaimed Solace. “I haven’t tasted one since I left home, but I know what they look like.”
“So that’s why you brought it back with you.” said Sir Philip. The others started lining up at the table as Chef started cutting off pieces and handing them out.
“Hope you enjoy.” said Chef. “The girl and I have been slow roasting it over a fire for the last four hours.”
Everyone agreed that it was, indeed, some of the best meat they had ever tasted. I got some for myself, and took a bite. It tasted a bit like quail, but with a half mint half rosemary flavor that was no doubt the result of the medicinal herbs he soaked it in to neutralize the poisons.
Several hours later, after everyone had recounted every part of the mission several times over, the party started winding down and Father entered. Everyone stopped their discussions and looked at him as he stood on the stage at the end of the ballroom. “I just want to thank all of you for the wonderful job you did at the mines. I dispensed a group of miners early this morning to the mines and they verified that the place was cleared. They will begin mining tomorrow.”
Several people cheered, and he waited for them to be quiet before continuing. “Because of that, I am giving you all a bonus. One gold per person.” They cheered again, and Father came down off the stage. He handed a bag of coins to Sir Philip, said something to him, and left.
Sir Philip walked around the room handing a coin to everyone that had come with us. The men looked at the coin like it was precious to them. Guard duty normally only paid a silver per day. That coin was worth twenty days of their labor, a month when you account for days off. Most of them would probably buy something expensive with it, but some would be smart and upgrade their equipment.
Sir Philip walked over and tried to hand me two gold coins. “What’s the extra coin for?” I asked.
“Your slave contributed to the mission, so you get their bonus and payment as well.” he responded.
“Oh, well, I don’t really need it.” I motioned at Persy, who was talking to Solace, and she came over. “Sir Philip here has something for you.”
Sir Philip gave me a look like I was acting strange, and I shrugged. He shrugged as well, then handed Persy the gold coin. “I’ll bring the two of you your normal pay tomorrow.” he said, the went to talk to the others.
Persy stared at the coin in disbelief. “Is this really for me?”
“of course, you did the work. You get the pay.”
“But, but, I’m a slave. Slaves don’t get paid. We just do what our masters say to and hope our masters give us nice things in exchange.”
“In that case, consider that the ‘nice thing in exchange’. You did a great job out there and I wanted to reward you.”
She started crying. “Thank you.” she said. I probably should give her a hug, but with father watching I knew that doing so would just get me another awkward lecture. Instead, I put my hand on her shoulder. After a minute or so, she stopped crying, thanked me again, and left to tell the other servants about it.
A few hours later I returned to my room and crawled into bed. Persy wasn’t there yet, so I took my shoes off and climbed under the sheets. With the slight amount of alcohol in my system I went to sleep easily.
When I woke up the next morning I noticed that Persy was laying on the bed beside me. “Hey,” I said poking her.
She woke up groggily and looked at me. “Master?” she said. “What are you doing on the floor?” Then she realized where she was and jumped out of bed. “I am so sorry, sir. I had no right to share the bed with you. Please forgive me.” She bowed as deeply as she could, then winced in pain.
“Hangover?” I asked.
“Yes master.” she said, not raising her head.
“In that case, I’ll just assume you drunk too much and didn’t realize what you were doing. Now, do you mind casting a detox spell on both of us? I don’t know if I can manage it.”
“Yes, master.” she said, then reached out her hand and touched my head. Within seconds I felt the headache disappear, and suddenly had to use the toilet. I hopped out of bed and ran to the toilet as Persy cast the same spell on herself.
As soon as I was out she entered herself. “I’ll draw you a bath.” she said, closing the door behind herself. I guess the spell made her kidneys work overtime too.
A few minutes later I heard the water start to run and got undressed, wrapping a towel around my waist. When she came out I went in and hopped into the bath.
After getting out I got dressed and went downstairs. I had the day off, so I ate breakfast and went into town. I swung by the Healer’s Guild, and registered myself for the Healer Certification. I bought a copy of the Healer’s Guide and three copies of the Combat Healer’s supplement, a total of five silver as the supplements only cost one silver each, then sat down to read the table of contents. Most things were spells I had already learned or exercises I could already perform, like the dodge training I did for my swordsmanship certification. I did see two spells that I didn’t know already, however. The first was Sanctuary. It would redirect any physical attack that would hit you, making it less likely to do so. The second was Flash Heal. It sacrificed quality of healing to greatly improve the speed of healing. It was mainly used to heal serious or mortal injuries. It would leave a bad scar, but that could be taken care of later with a proper healing spell.
We still had three weeks left before the end of the month, and I was sure that I could learn the two spells during that time, so I asked Glenda if I could register for a second test that same day.
“I’m sorry, but we can only administer one test per person per day due to scheduling issues. If you want to, however, you could pay for a special session.”
“No, I’ll just register to take my Combat Healer certification at the end of next month instead.” She nodded and I gave her the coin. “Actually, can I register Persy for the Intermediate Healer certification at the end of this month as well? She went with us on a mission and used several of the intermediate spells, so I’m sure she can pass it.” I pulled out an extra silver and handed it to her.
“Of course.” she said and registered the two of us. “All set. I’ll see you at the end of the month, then.” she said. “Unless, of course, you have more essences to sell us before then.”
“Probably will. We picked some medicinal herbs while in the high mana zone, so I should have some good ones. I just haven’t inventoried or extracted them yet.”
She nodded and I said goodbye, then left.
I returned home and found Marya. She was cleaning the ballroom, as several of the men had spilled food or drink on the expensive hardwood floor last night. As I watched she waved her hand at some of the stains and they became a fine powder on the ground that could be swept up. That was a useful cleaning spell. “Hey Marya.” I said.
“Oh, Lord Cameron. Good to see you.” she said, then came over. “What brings you here?”
I pulled the manual and supplement out of my backpack and handed them to her. “I said I’d get you the books so you could learn magic, so here they are. I also bought Persy and myself the supplement, so if you want to train with us in that area, we can all practice together.”
She hugged the book to here ample chest and bowed. “Thank you.” she said.
Unsure what to do, I scratched my head. “We usually study for an hour every night at eight in my room. Come by if you want to.” I stood for a few seconds as she nodded. “Well, I’ll let you get back to work.”
I made my way out of the room. Dang it, I was getting embarrassed just talking to her. Apparently I wasn’t over her yet. Guess I’d better work out.
I spent the rest of the afternoon running laps around the city wall, using Reinvigorate whenever I got tired, and didn’t get home until sunset. At least my head was clear now.