“And you can confirm that the letter has indeed been delivered?” The captain of the knights asked one of his squires, who nodded.
“Yes sir! Our messenger confirmed that he delivered the letter personally to the elder of the village, who is Mathis’s grandfather. If Mathis is indeed there, he would have read it by now.”
“Very good. Please keep me apprised of any developments that could occur. Also, his mother is not to be harmed under ANY circumstances unless he fails to show under the time given. Should he turn himself in and is in our custody, I’ll personally give out orders concerning what is to be done with her afterwards. If the kingdom inquires about what is occurring, send any inquiring minds to my office. Am I understood?”
The squire nodded. “Understood sir! If you’ll excuse me, sir!”
The squire quickly turned and rushed out of the office, shutting the door behind him. The captain leaned forward on the desk, rubbing his chin. “So far, everything is going according to what was foreseen…just need to keep this under wraps until that bastard dies by my sword.” He smirked. “Any others who would dare to speak out against–”14Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡY1r4RX9Jkc
A knock on the door interrupted him. “Sir! A letter has arrived from Velmir!” A familiar voice called from beyond the closed door.
“Enter.”
A man in his mid-thirties walked into the chilly room, saluting the captain before handing him the letter. “It’s from the cathedral and was delivered by a carrier pigeon. It’s been addressed to you personally.”
“Thank you, Alfe.” The captain opened the letter, poring over its contents before his grasp on the letter tightened, nearly ripping it. “WHAT?! They spring this upon us NOW of all times?!”
“Sir?”
“Elara Eldar is currently on her way here to investigate our dear Mathis and his influence on the population…”
“Isn’t that a good thing, sir? She could weed out the heretics that Mathis has created and–”
“Or she could take into consideration what he was preaching and take a deeper look into our order…everything we’ve built would come crashing down should she take the investigation in that direction.”
“What should we do?”
“...We can’t be brash, and we still have some time before her arrival. …For now, only inform those who need to know. When the bell strikes seven tomorrow morning, come back here and I’ll give the orders about what we should do.”
“Understood sir!”
As Alfe walked away, the captain leaned back into his chair, contemplating what his next move should be.
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Gideon looked up at the afternoon sky, appreciating the breeze as he meandered through the village, ignoring the feeling of despair that had formed in the pit of his stomach. Just moments later, he spotted Drystan, who was sitting on a stump, reading. “Greetings Drystan.” Gideon called out. “Are you hungry? You weren’t present for the noon meal.”
Drystan shook his head, not looking up. “I’m fine. There’s plenty of food to be foraged here.”
“Ah…interesting…” Gideon sighed as he now stood next to Drystan. “How’s your research going?”
“About as well as someone who hardly ever read scripture but is now having to delve deeply into it.”
“You could just ask Mathis to assist you. I’m sure he–”
“He’s going through a lot as it is. The last thing I want to do is to add more to his plate. Besides…”
He finally looked up at Gideon. “Since I’ve been blessed by the goddess…it’s time I actually read scripture for myself, and since it also details some of the powers granted to the Eldars...it could give me some insight as to what powers I also could possess.”
“You haven’t read scripture much prior I assume?”
“Not much anyways. I knew the most popular verses, and the Prayer of Protection taught to me by Father Vonder whenever he visited my village when I was a child. I was always more preoccupied with other matters, such as what improvements me and Rowan could make to our makeshift fort.”
“Rowan? Was he a childhood friend of yours?"
“Yes, he was. He, Thalia, and I were the rambunctious trio of the village, and all of our parents had their hands full trying to rein us in.” Drystan gave Gideon a wistful smile. “I was almost always outside rather than staying indoors and reading scripture. In that aspect, Mathis’s upbringing and mine are complete opposites.”
“What caused you to leave the village?”
The wistful smile immediately disappeared, replaced with a painful expression as Drystan turned away, looking off into the distance. “...let’s just say…it involved the loss of life of someone dear to me, and as a result, I was forced to leave. I’ve been on my own ever since.”
Gideon nodded, not wanting to pry any further. “So, I take it your leaving is what caused you to be an expert forager?”
Drystan slowly nodded his head as he turned and looked at Gideon again. “You are correct, though I did have some experience before leaving. You can’t always light a fire, as it could attract highway bandits or other nasty creatures that would do anything to make you their next meal, so I had to be extra careful with what I chose to eat raw. After a lot of trials and a few unfortunate errors, I’m more or less able to tell which is safe to eat or not by a simple glance.”
Gideon laughed. “Maybe you could teach me about foraging at some point. Who knows, could help keep the village from going hungry during a famine.”
Drystan chuckled. “If I ever find enough time to do that, I promise I will.”
Gideon smiled. “I’ll hold you to that, but I think I should let you be with your studies. When do you and Mathis plan on leaving?”
“The earliest I’m willing to depart is two days from now, preferably in the morning and arriving just after sunset. Despite some resistance from Mathis, he eventually agreed.”
“Do you mind telling me what you two have planned?”
“...I’ll let you know tomorrow evening.”
Gideon sighed but nodded. “I see…understandable to keep your cards close to your chest. Has Mathis at least agreed to everything?”
“It took some convincing, but in the end, after explaining my reasoning, he agreed. That’s not to say he’s not experiencing any…apprehension about it. You’ll understand why when I tell you tomorrow.”
“I’ll…be looking forward to hearing it. I’ll hopefully see you for supper later. Have a good day.”
Gideon slightly bowed to Drystan before turning and walking away. Drystan sighed and continued reading scripture, his eyes poring over its contents. “Goddess…Seraphina…I don’t know what you want me to call you…but…I could really use your guidance right about now. The plan…I know in my head it’s probably the best way to be able to get into the city…but…there’s the chance that it could fail, and for both Mathis and his mother to lose their lives. Please…give Mathis and I both the strength to get through this unscathed.” Upon uttering the first prayer to escape from his lips in years, Drystan took a deep breath and continued reading.
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