Chapter 13

I woke, I think. All was black and I couldn’t move. It felt like thousands of pounds of feathers were pressing me down. I didn’t dare open my eyes, whatever was piled on top of me covered my face too. Besides, I was too weak to move.

I knew from my last sojourn with Tone that I would have little strength and coordination for a few minutes. I tried to relax and work my muscles. When I felt strong enough, I began digging my way up. It wasn’t feathers, it was ash from the taste and smell that invaded my mouth and nose.

Once getting my head pointing up and my feet down, I kept moving until the ash in my nose became too much. Removing my nightshirt from my inventory, I wrapped it around my head. I didn’t need to see, just breathe.

I activated my defenses and kept moving, with only short breaks for water which tasted of ash, or a slice of dried fruit which tasted of ash. What felt like days later, I broke free of the ash and removed my headscarf before cautiously looking around.

Neither moon was in the sky. Belfast was only lit by the occasional streetlamp at what I believed was a very late hour. Even the Adventurer’s Guild only had one large torch lit beside their door.

The hole I made to make room from the Adventurers Guild to receive the Gods’ just punishment was patched. Looking around, the closest shop was in the process of being rebuilt. Same with the other nearby buildings.

I stood, yet for a layer of smouldering ash covering my skin, naked.

Looking under me, there was a sixty-foot circle filled with steaming ash, overlapping the lane which I just exited from. Pulling another knee-length nightshirt from my inventory, I put that on. The ash itched, and until I found somewhere to bathe, this would have to do.

I guessed that it was sometime after 02:00 and before 05:00. Thankfully, having no one around saved me from embarrassment and the humiliation that appearing nude in a city like this would cause.

Carefully, I walked over the uneven and unstable warm ash, leapt over the ten foot high pit walls, and continued to the Adventurers Guild’s side gate. There was always someone inside the guildhall, usually two or more people to keep an eye on the place. A runner who was given free lodging plus a junior member would spend the night in case an emergency arose.

In the yard behind the Guild, I found a bucket hanging from a cistern. Twenty buckets of water and a ruined nightshirt later, I was mostly clean. Only with a bath would I be able to remove the rest of the ash from places that I didn’t want to think about just then. I thanked Sune for my regeneration. Without that, I knew that infections would set in. Infections and irritations that would be ugly to deal with otherwise.

Dressed in an Alura made billowy dress, I knocked on the yard door leading to the Guildhouse and waited for someone to wake and answer.

The small face of one of the runners answered. She cracked open the door and peeked out at me. I might have heard her name before but didn’t remember it.

“I need to see Theresa,” I spoke quietly as not to wake the other sleeper.

“She’s in Rosewood,” the kid responded with salty tears pooled in her eyes from sleep.

The capital? Why would she be there?

“Can you get a carriage for me?” I pulled out a silver. It was too much for a carriage, even at this time of night, but I was feeling raw from the scrubbing and exposed. My skin was too irritated to put on my pants and the dress I swapped out after washing wasn’t made from the best material. I didn’t want to ruin one of Alura’s good ones.

“Okay.” Palming my silver, she was about to close the door leaving me outside. I prevented her from doing so with my barefoot.

“Child, may I wait inside, please?”

“Yeah.” It seemed that she was overtired, but I was allowed inside.

A scout type adventurer awoke and kept an eye on me without speaking until the carriage returned with the runner twenty minutes later.

Something was different, I just didn’t know what. I just knew that something was Off.

I alighted the carriage, asking to be taken to Sune’s Temple. The closer to the temple quarter that we came, the more sure became my feeling that something was off-kilter in this town.

I tipped the driver and looked over the clean and perfect masonry of Sune’s entrance. Last when I left, the entry was still blasted apart by my own hands. Now the stonework had been finished by a professional.

Just how much time had passed while I was in Tone’s realm?

Entering the grounds, I looked at the temple itself to see if any progress had been made in my absence.

The gaps in the walls were missing; of the columns, all but one had been repaired; the main statue of Sune was completely removed, as if someone already had commissioned a new one which yet had to be delivered; and better yet, the walk and granite facing was sparkling clean.

“Who’s there?” A strong and sure masculine voice rang out from inside of the temple. I didn’t hear any sleepiness in his voice.

“I’m Cynthia. I ask for shelter and a bath for the night.”

“I do not have a bath ready...” his voice trailed off. A good-looking man in his late thirties exited the temple, wearing white linen pants tied at the waist and shirtless.

“Junior Sister, I was not expecting anyone to come today. Be Welcome By Sune,” he intoned.

Junior sister? “Thank you, Brother. I’m in desperate need of a bath, I can draw the water myself.”

It was hard to read his expression by the single torch casting light from behind him, but I felt that he reacted to my greeting and not entirely positively.

“I’m Brother Benito, Junior Sister Cynthia. Have you no luggage and why are you soiled?” he spoke with an accent, one that placed a stronger emphasis on the consonants that I had not heard before.

“It’s a long story, Brother Benito. Can we discuss it in the morning?” I asked tiredly. I restrained my urge to strangle Tone.

“This way, Junior Sister.” The well pump on the temple grounds wasn’t all that fast, even with me pumping it and Brother Benito assisting silently. I felt his constant appraisal during the ten-minute filling of the temple’s sole tub.

Thankfully, he provided soap and cloths, assigning me a cell before returning to the master suite. A bedroom that I had claimed but never used.

Finally clean, I sought out my cot and crashed. Asleep once my head hit the hard pillow.

I awoke to a hand on my shoulder. “Sister Cynthia, Brother Benito says breakfast is soon.” That hand was from Hat. Looking the kid over, he did not seem to have changed at all in my absence, other than being cleaner, better clothes and a new haircut.

“Thank you, Acolyte,” I yawned and stretched. After my morning ablutions, I sought out the new leader of Sune’s Belfast temple but decided to eat first.

Surprisingly, Lars was boiling water in the open pit that we made the first day. I felt him on the temple grounds last night in a cell sleeping, but was too tired to worry about it then.

“Morning, Big Guy. How are you feeling?”

Awkwardly bowing, he replied, “I am well, Priestess.”

And he wasn’t joking. He had no idea who I was.

What the hell is going on?

I looked up to check if Sune’s Lily was still hovering above the temple. Nope...

A thought struck me. Only two Gods didn’t cast down punishments on me. Bane and Sune. Was me being forgotten Bane’s punishment? And if so, what about Theresa, Richard, and Deana?

Well that blows.

And this Brother Benito didn’t even recognize me or treat me as if I were anything other than a very young Priestess, fresh out of apprenticeship. Was that part of me being forgotten or Sune’s punishment? Did I get demoted or was it something else?

Breakfast was comprised of porridge, bread, and milk for the children, all four of them including Lois and Hat. I was the only other Priest on the grounds besides Benito. I could feel his presence in his office quite clearly.

Could he feel mine and what did he feel from me?

“Lars, the bathtub will need to be emptied and cleaned. Will you empty the water and assign one of the children to scrub it?”

“Yes, Priestess,” he replied between bites.

“My name is Cynthia. May I have yours?” I pointed to the acolytes one by one. Following up with the standard questions of age and what they like and so-on. I was using the time to figure out how to deal with Brother Benito.

“Junior Sister Cynthia, my I have some of your time?” Speak of the devil.

“One moment, Brother.” All of this brother and sister stuff was annoying. I guessed that I would have to get used to it.

He gentlemanly offered me a seat before sitting behind his brand-new mahogany desk. Every movement Benito made was smooth and elegant, as if he had practiced them for years on end. He probably had, if he was raised in one of Sune’s Temples.

“Junior Sister Cynthia, where are you from and what happened to you?”

“Brother Benito, if I may?”

He waved his hand, sure that whatever I said wouldn’t be too earth-shaking.

I focused on the temple itself and called out, “SUNE’S SANCTUARY.” Both of us felt the compression waves lock down the temple and all inside from any outside intrusion from anyone being outside of Sune.

Benito’s quick reaction was to stand and ward himself against me, ready for a fight. I remained seated, instead I used my left hand to pull out my necklace with Sune’s Lily exposed, dangling two inches below my index finger.

“Brother Benito, I am from Belfast. Sune called me to serve Her.”

His face relaxed. No one could use Sune’s name in such a way or call down a Sanctuary in Sune’s name without Sune’s backing.

“I’ve been missing for a few months. Can you tell me what I have missed?”

“Why do you lie, Sister. All the world knows that the Avatar founded this branch and she is undergoing the Gods’ Punishments for the Folly of Men,” he replied gently, as if to remind a child of their mistakes in hopes that they improve in the future.

“Brother, what is the name of the Avatar?”

“Little Sister, you should have studied better. Avatars have ascended and do not belong to this world anymore. Their names are not for us to know.”

Well fuck. That answers that...

“Come with me, please, Brother Benito. I need to trust someone in this town and you are it.” Standing, I walked out of his office and to the altar. A raised slab of pink and green marble etched with countless lilies. The same altar as when I first entered into Sune’s Temple.

Placing my hand on the altar and keeping his eyes held, “I am the one who accepted the Gods’ Punishment on behalf of the people. I swear by Sune what I say is true.”

Beyond taking a step back, he didn’t know what to do. Or to say.

“I need information. I’ve been out of touch since my ‘Punishment’.”

He knelt and bowed, thanking me for my sacrifice. It wasn’t quite what I wanted but if I got my information, then his odd behavior was fine.

“Rise, Brother. The Gods’ removed my name. I will have to start over and I need to know what happened after. Let’s go to your office. It beats standing here.”

Inside his office, he took a drink from a silver flask. Whiskey, I thought. He was so out of it, that he didn’t even offer me any.

“Brother Benito?”

Coming to his senses, “Avatar, the King was killed by the Gods the same day you were Punished. So too were all of his wives and their firstborns.” I winced. I had heard that he had a butt load of kids, but that was still harsh. Not that I didn’t believe the idiot didn’t deserve to be smacked around.

“This country’s top ministers and their firstborns were killed too.” I just remembered that Benito was from a different country or city-state. I’d find out which later. “The Elder Counsel were each struck down by their respective Gods.” The Elder Counsel was comprised of High Priests or Priestesses who gave up their position to serve the collective interests of the Pantheon of Gods, forming a faction inside the capital and influencing royal policy. A medieval PAC. Them being killed by their patron Deities had to have scared the hell out of everyone.

“You have been... away,” he sought out a gentler word than Punished, “for over three months. Since the crown prince was one of the ones killed by the Gods’ just retribution, the assembly of all of the royal children, nobles Baron and above, and Guild heads were called to vote on the new King.”

“Who is it?”

“King Heath ascended the throne seven-days ago, Avatar.”

“Just call me Sister Cynthia.”

He paled, “I couldn’t.”

“I insist that you do,” I stated. He calling me an avatar each time would only lead to trouble.

“Yes, Elder Sister Cynthia,” he resigned himself to Sune’s punishment at the disrespect. For whenever she got around to it.

It could have been worse than three months local time. I knew it was hundreds if not thousands of years inside of Tone’s dimension.

“What else?”

For the normal person the ascension of a king brought about boons for the populous. Free food for a week was the extent for the lowest classes, and excuses to party for the middle and upper classes, all paid for by the new king’s private stash on his ascension to the throne.

Opening the various temples of Sune around the Kingdom sparked increased tension and opportunity for the Guilds and the various factions. Aune’s faithful in particular were very unhappy with the return of their nemesis. Yun’s merchants tended to be antagonistic towards us on the whole, but it varied from place to place. The other Faithful seemed to be happy to have us back.

I would always remember Shepherd Meier and his welcome. Forgemistress Amanda’s too.

And Father Chester, for completely different reasons.

We, mostly he, with me asking a few questions here and there, passed the morning in discussion of the state of the Kingdom of Swords and their recent changes. Details on the ongoing renovation of the temple of Belfast wasn’t forgotten either.

“Since I am new here,” I made sure he understood my meanings, “I will be spending an unusual amount of time outside of the temple. I also don’t expect to stay in this city for long. I have a few places to visit,” I instructed.

“Yes, Elder Sister.”

And That was one of the reasons I was leaving. Him calling me ‘Elder Sister’ all of the time would attract too much attention. I looked half of his age. Try as I might, that was as low as he would go on the ‘respect ladder’. But it beat Avatar.

“Sanctuary, Release.” I called out, sensing the ward protecting the temple shatter. A feeling similar to witnessing a single pane of glass dropped on cement.

I exited the complex with the eyes of eight very curious people following my every move.

Irrationally, I waved my fist at Tone’s incarnation as I passed by His garden. His three month slash three hundred year –or longer, Punishment felt excessive. Almost as bad as Bane’s erasing my name Punishment.

Not that I had a right to complain. I did bring those onto myself. Even now I keenly felt the other Gods’ Punishments occasionally. Walking was the worst, with little needles of pain afflicting random parts of my body with every action.

I wasn’t cut out to be a martyr.

My first stop was Richard’s weapon smithy. Standing in the entrance to his shop I noticed that my friend, the elder Master Smith, had aged with my supposed death. I didn’t believe that I was allowed to tell everyone or announce to the world that I was back, but I still could cheer him up.

In my green corset dress that I wore very seldom, I made my presence known and approached his counter.

“Can I help you, miss?”

“Do you miss her? Do you miss her smile? Do you think she would be happy if she saw you right now, sitting there like a lump, saddened at missing your friend?”

“What do you know?” He roared, drawing an apprentice and a journeyman from the back.

“The Avatar gave you a gift from her whole heart, just to see you smile. And here you disrespect that gift and her by your anger,” I replied calmly.

Richard froze, unsure if he should clobber me, throw me out of his shop, or slump in his chair.

“Your friend sacrificed herself for the children and innocent. Can you think of anything more noble than that?” Seeing as he still wasn’t going to respond, I pressed on, “The Avatar is a beautiful woman, she brought joy to those that let her. You and your granddaughter are saddened at YOUR loss. The Avatar, wherever she may be, is smiling at you. Smiling at all of the good times you shared with her. Can you deny that, Master Smith Richard White?”

With a tear, he shook his head.

“The Avatar loves you like a grandfather and Deana like a sister. Not loved. She LOVES you both.” I looked over at Deana standing in the door, clutching the frame with hammer in hand, including the newly arrived journeyman smith in my reprimand/reminder.

“Instead of mourning your loss of her presence, celebrate your brief time together. Live your life, laugh, and love. Raise a glass and toast her and your time together and smile. Remember the good and bad and smile, for she loves you.”

“Who are you?” Richard asked with little strength.

“I am Cynthia, Priestess of Sune,” I declared firmly. “In The Avatar’s time in this city of Belfast, The Avatar spent more time in this smithy than anywhere else. Both you and your granddaughter made The Avatar happy. Rejoice in that. Thank Sune for a chance to meet and spend time with the Avatar. Smile at the happiness she brought to your lives and you to hers.

“Yes, you can be saddened at your loss. That is human nature, but do not be saddened for her loss. She is not.”

He nodded and Deana cried openly. The wisdom of Richard was not to be underestimated.

“Master Smith, may I deliver Sune’s blessings to you and yours?” I formally asked. This was one of the hardest things I ever had to do in my life. Breaking off my friendship with Richard and his family and friends hurt like hell.

“Please, Priestess of Sune, bless us,” he had trouble speaking the words, but they were heartfelt.

“May the people of the White Shield enjoy endless days of Joy and Beauty, in Sune’s name, I bless thee.” I waved my hand before the small gathering, feeling a great deal of strength leave me.

I saw the pink and green glow of Sune settle over every piece of armor and every person glow lightly with Her radiance.

Leaving Richard be for a second, I approached Deana, my now lost friend, and pulled her unresisting head to me. Kissing the innocent girl was a treat, the bite at the end was pure mischievousness.

“Ow,” she blushed, stepping back and covering her mouth with her hand.

I wagged my finger at her. “Don’t forget your appointment with Shepherd Meier, journeyman Deana.” I knew that once I wasn’t there to prod her along, she would shy away from dances and meeting other people.

“Okay,” she humbly replied, still blushing from my unexpected kiss.

Richard received his goodbye kiss on his balding forehead.

My tears flowed unabated on my way out the door.

Gods, parting sucked.

I stepped into the narrow alley between the tavern and Yvonne’s inn to catch my breath and wipe my face, using the water skin from my inventory and one of my clean panties that I kept in reserve. I had nothing else that wasn’t fouled.

I entered the Stalwart Shield, ‘the safest inn in the city’, correctly expecting to see Yvonne behind the counter.

Irritated she looked up at the intrusion. She hated people interrupting her when she did the books. Yvonne was terrible at math. “We’re full.”

I couldn’t help but laugh, that was the exact same thing she said to me when I first entered.

“Is that anyway to treat a guest, Mrs. Lakewood?”

She scowled at me and repeated that they were full.

“I am Cynthia, Priestess of Sune. I know that you are a friend of The Avatar. She asked me to deliver a message to her friend.”

Unexpectedly, Yvonne became angry and drew her short sword. I cheered at her recovery and ability to use her knee again.

“There is only one Priest of Sune in Belfast.” Her sword pointed unwavering at me.

“I arrived last night. I just left the White Shield after seeing Master White and his granddaughter. You can ask them; they will vouch for me. Or you can ask Brother Benito.”

“Just tell me and go,” Yvonne threatened with her sword leveled at my heart.

“The Avatar thinks you are cute when you blush.”

“What!” she fumed at my unexpected tease.

“The Avatar thinks you and your husband should have dozens of children, or at least try to.” I smiled, teasing Yvonne was always fun.

“Damn you,” restraining her tears, she cursed me.

“The Avatar will always think of you as a friend. Do not mourn The Avatar, The Avatar lives on. Smile and remember the good times with The Avatar.”

Yvonne’s sword wavered and crashed to the countertop.

“Do you remember the nickname that The Avatar called your husband by?”

“SHUT UP!” she screamed.

“Yvonne, friend of The Avatar, The Avatar lives on. Do not mourn her. Smile at the friendship you two shared. She remembers you and smiles. Smile and remember her.”

“Damn it, it’s not that easy,” she harshly breathed.

“Yvonne, there are only three places I am delivering a message to from The Avatar. You are one. Did you hear what I just said? I am delivering a message FROM THE AVATAR. That means she is alive somewhere. The Avatar is ALIVE and thinks of you. Are you sad for her or yourself?”

“Damn you, just get out,” Yvonne could no longer restrain her tears as they copiously ran down her cheeks.

“I am only in Belfast for a few days; I understand if you don’t want to see me again. I’m not sure I would either. But remember that you have the best man in the city to lean on. Use his shoulder and strength.”

She glared at me, silently asking ‘What would you know’?

“I have one more message from The Avatar.”

“What!”

“The painting in The Avatar’s room is yours to keep. But the rest of the contents are to be handed over to me. There shouldn’t be more than some books, maps, and a few clothing items.”

“Fine,” she snapped.

“Yvonne, The Avatar’s says you are to receive my blessing.” I wasn’t going to give her a choice.

Yvonne looked like she was going to fight me, but relented.

Since she was a married woman, I resisted the kiss to the lips. Forehead it was, “May Sune brighten your days. May Sir Laughing Boy’s love for you never die.”

She turned away and wiped her tears. My friend, who lost me forever, was unexpectedly emotional over my death and there was little I could do to help her through the trial.

“Is there anything I can do to help? I’ll watch the counter for a while if you need time.”

“Just go.”

“I’ll send a runner with a sack tomorrow at noon. Please remember that The Avatar lives on and cares for you.”

Fuck, that was harder than my parting with Deana and Richard. Not at all what I expected.

My trip to the Adventurers Guild was unsuccessful in that Theresa was returning at noon tomorrow according to Ton, who was acting in her behalf until she returned from the coronation.

The laundry women promised to have my clothes cleaned and returned that same night. My silken undergarments I would do myself.

As much as it made me cringe to wash and wear them, I had NO OTHER CHOICE!!!

I spent the rest of the day teaching the acolytes to read and write, copying from one of Brother Benito’s treatises on Sune. Parchment and vellum were too expensive and paper wasn’t invented yet, so I found a patch of dirt next to the temple that was prepared for flowers and used that as their canvas.

With their eating knives, I had them start on their letters. Even if they had that lesson before, the practice couldn’t hurt. I corrected their efforts when they were sloppy, spending my time distracted and thinking about the past and the future.

...

I was sipping the Guild’s mildly bad ale, which was better than their cheap wine, sitting alone across from Theresa’s usual spot in the Guild where she did her paperwork, when she entered.

The normally flamboyant Guild was repressed by my presence. To them I was ‘A Lady’, noble and powerful. Someone that they didn’t want to disrespect. This morning when I had entered, I stated my objective to wait here until ‘Guildmaster Theresa returns’.

It was a little before 11:00 when Theresa walked through the door, speaking to Rhonda about her time in the capital. I stood and bowed my head, acknowledging the Guildmaster and annoying her to no end.

She hated people bowing to her, believing that she was ‘just an adventurer and not a frilly noble or other wastrel’. “Guildmaster, I am Cynthia of Sune. I apologize, but I need a few minutes of your time in private.”

“Aren’t you too young to be a Priestess?” Rhonda asked in her place.

“That is something for my Lady to decide,” I chastised. Knowing Rhonda, she only asked that question to see what my response would be.

“And here I thought I left the politics of the capital behind me,” Theresa moaned. “My office is upstairs, Priestess.” Shooing off her friend and the curious onlookers, who weren’t all that happy of missing the ‘show’, she led the way.

“Guildmaster, will you activate your privacy ward, please?” Theresa hated using it because it was expensive to recharge.

“Is it necessary?”

I placed a gold, one of my last, on her desk, “I’ll pay.”

Still on guard from her recent visit to Rosewood and the heart of politics, she wearily activated the ward.

“I’m sorry if I made you worry. The Gods were pretty angry at the King and his advisors. If I hadn’t acted, then the whole of the capital and everyone in it might have been destroyed and killed.”

“Who do you think you are,” she became aggressive and demanded an explanation from me.

“Theresa, remember when the Avatar took you swimming? Do you remember when she held your back, instructing you on how to float, then move around the water while keeping buoyant?” I went on and described the whole two-day vacation in detail.

Theresa was anything but dumb or weak. Her only failing was when it came to wearing a dress or formal social settings.

“So, you got that information from Amber or Ule.” The two-women adventurer low ranked guards that I hired to watch over us, making sure we weren’t disturbed.

“Do you remember when Sune restored your youth and health, I undressed you so that we could both see your scars and lack of scars. Something made you cry that day, and you never told me what.”

“How did you know that?” For the first time, I saw the blade of Theresa’s Blood Sword. And its tip was pointed right at my heart, surer and steadier than Yvonne’s by miles.

“I am The Avatar and I need help from my friend. I plan on going to Crystal Plains and do some Adventuring. Will you come with me or are you going to make me go alone? Who knows, I might get lost and end up killing a basilisk or dragon and poof, there goes my camouflage. Everyone will know that the Avatar is back. You tell me. What will be the reaction of the new King and the rest of the factions, when they find out I am alive and walking around in their country?”

“Why should I believe you are her?”

“I have still have the Basilisk’s fan, I can show it to you if you want.” Since that too wasn’t enough for her, I brought up my last card, unless I wanted to drag her to Sune’s Temple. “Do you remember when I kissed you?”

She only frowned in reply.

Ignoring her sword, I walked around her desk and lifted Theresa’s chin. Our eyes met and I placed a kiss on her lips. She didn’t resist nor did she accept. But she did freeze once I backed away.

“‘Be blessed, Childe. You have My thanks.’ Those were Her words spoken with my mouth. Do you think that I can make that up or get that information from anyone?”

As a D-ranked Adventurer, she was probably the strongest person on this half of the continent. Maybe stronger than anyone outside of a few legendary characters living in the heart of the country. She said she had resisted the promotion as long as she could. Only with the Supreme himself acting, did she finally accept the Rank promotion from C to D. Her accepting the Guildmaster position here was just a blip in comparison.

“Cynthia!” Her memories came back in a rush. I saw recognition in her whole being. Sheathing her sword, she hugged me and punched me as hard as she could in the kidney.

I grunted. “What was that for?” I responded.

“Just checking.” I felt her grin. That was no normal punch, she used her warrior’s Aura, similar to the ones that the knights used, and hers was stronger than any that I had seen demonstrated. I doubted even Lars could take that full hit without serious injury.