I was with Celameth inside Alis’ realm of isolation.

Surrounding the two of us was a nothingness which was not hostile, yet not friendly. I had no idea if my realm of isolation would feel somewhat similar or different. Even though it was not my realm of isolation, Alis trusted me enough for me to enter.

How Celameth entered, I had no idea.

But here, in the nothingness of this nothingness, I expected to find Alis. But she was nowhere to be felt. Still here, isolated, and without distractions, Celameth and myself had opened ourselves up to each other.

It hurt to hear that Celameth believed I had abandoned her. Almost the same emotion that Alis herself must’ve felt in the five months she’d been trapped waiting for me to come out of where ever I had ended up after accepting Aggard’s love.

A pressure surrounded us with an intensity that was hard to fathom. This pressure was not friendly.

It disliked us.

Wanted us gone.

I made a grab for Celameth’s spirit. The pressure turned into a flowing thickness, as if I was wading upstream through a fast flowing, chest-high river. The bit of spirit of hers, that tiny fraction which had reached out for me, was so close yet so far.

In the end, the flow of the pressure was too thick, and it forced me out of the realm of isolation.

The rustic room I was in seemed larger now than it had last time I awoke in this bed. The room was darker now than it had before. Even if there was a window covered by thick, black drawn curtains. The only light in this room came from the small halo of light shining through the gaps between the curtain and the log walls.

Even though I lay on top of the bed in my armour, and had laid there for over two days, my body felt light and energetic. I shifted myself to the edge of the bed, having to move further than expected.

Not only was the room bigger, but the bed was too. Though the wardrobe was the same size there were now two solid oak sets of draws. Both of them were empty on the top. The gleaming statues which had once graced the top of the set of draws was now on a special shelf.

Those gleaming statues had changed. Instead of their gleaming self, they looked ancient, corroded, and bent out of shape. The bright eyes, now hollow. And one statue was missing.

Despite what had changed, the faint pinewood smell was a comforting reminder that this was still our home.

I took off my armour, leaving it abandoned on the bed, and looked in the draws. The first couple, one from each set of draws, I looked in, belonged to Alis. Some of them had risque underwear and beautiful dresses that had come from my old world.

Hopefully, one day, Alis would wear them for me to enjoy. Hopefully she would come to enjoy wearing them, too.

I finally found my clothes tucked into a single draw on the bottom of one unit. There was a mix of clothes between the tunic and leggings from this world, and the jeans and decorative tee-shirts from my old world.

Being used to the loose fitting tunic and leggings from this world, and not having any reason to wear jeans and tee-shirts, I pulled on a random mid-green tunic and dull woollen leggings.

‘Noooo,’ a voice screamed from the other side of the plank door.

I quickly rushed into the other room.

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Celameth was sitting on a sofa, her head in her hands, her beautiful long shiny hair covering her face. She was sobbing. Kneeling in front of her, on the thick mat, was Alis. She was stroking Celameth’s arm.

When she saw me, she looked at me with expectant and pleading eyes. As I nodded, the troubled brow eased slightly. Still her beautiful freckled face was strained. I sat on the sofa next to Celameth and pulled her into a hug.

She collapsed onto my side and buried her face into my clean tunic.

‘It’s gone, my home is gone.’ I heard her mutter between sobs.

I kissed the top of her head, her hair silky smooth beneath my lips.

‘We’re here, in our home, all three of us.’ I said, softly.

‘No. It’s not my home. It’s your home. Yours and Alis’.’

‘Why do you say that?’ I asked.

‘It was your marriage gift from Aggard. We’re not married.’

I pushed Celameth away from me slightly so I could look at her. Her almost too perfect face looked much more human now that it had puffy red eyes and a pained expression. She looked so much more beautiful like this, someone more approachable and caring, rather than the aloof perfectness she normally wore as a mask.

I brushed her hair behind her pointed ear and wiped away some tears that were running down her face.

‘Celameth, please, what can you tell me about the second part of the Delve of Devotion?’

‘What second part?’ She asked back.

‘I don’t know. All Aggard told us was that we needed to do a second part with you.’

Celameth wiped her eyes and nose with the sleeve of her pale blue dress. It was obvious that the dress was ill fitting. It strained too much around her breasts and hung limply around her waist and hips.

‘But there never was a second part. Just saying the words of connection was all that was required. It would then be entered into Aggard’s Book of Records. I never partook in, or saw, the ritual required for the Delve of Devotion. But as a priestess of Aggard, I did see a copy of the Book of Records once when I prayed for guidance when a woman guard wanted to know what happened to her beloved.

‘Aggard’s guided prayer led me to a large marble temple, one so grand and ornate it overwhelmed me.’ I could hear the awe and reverence that even the memory brought up for Celameth. ‘Yet I was not allowed to rest. I was taken onwards, towards an enormous statue golden kneeling statue of Celameth. She was looking down at her open hands. Placed on them was a large book. All I could of it was a single spread, all devoted to a single person. I remember the ornate script which would’ve put any monk scholar to shame. In it listed all the major events that shaped that person’s life. Including private moments that I was embarrassed to read. I saw the recognition that they had been married in a Delve of Devotion.

‘On the final line, it read: Welcomed into the Realm of Rest.’

‘Maybe we need to find Aggard’s Book of Records. Then we can see what Aggard meant about the second part of the ritual.’ Alis said.

Celameth looked at Alis, ‘a Delve to find Aggard’s Book of Records? Would that be possible…’

‘Maybe we’ll have to start with talking to the head of Aggard’s faith in the Isles of Dunkeltal. He seems like he knows more about the faith of Aggard than anyone else.’

‘Yes,’ Celameth agreed, ‘he knows more than any other bishop. He may even know more than the Arch Bishop.’

Alis bound to her feet, once more full of childlike glee, pulling Celameth up with her.

‘Let’s go!’

I followed the two of them, the eager Alis and reluctant Celameth, towards the entrance porch. Alis, pulling Celameth, entered the porch before me. I hurried so that I could depart the same time as them.

I entered the flagstone floored entrance porch. Alis was touching the well-made plank door with some confusion. She then reached down towards the door latch and clicked it open.