Chapter 12.

  Approaching storm

  Two weeks later, approaching the village.

  “How much further?” Theina asked, pulling her damp cloak tighter to herself. The traveling party of inquisitors had been pursued by relentless spring showers driving a chill rain through cloak and skin until even the cheery disposition of the junior inquisitor was cast into the mud they now trod through.

  Cardinal Lusis pulled back till he rode alongside the bedraggled woman. a smile teased at his thin mouth. “The guards tell me it is just over the next hill. The village and your initiation are but a day away.”

  The way the cardinal leered at her was almost as unsettling as how at home the man seemed to be in such gloomy weather. “Good.” She spat. “I want to be off this road and through this task you are so intent on keeping secret.”

  “Worry not acolyte, the mayor is known to me.” An eerie grin stretched across his thin face. “I’m certain that he will tell us all that we need to know.”

  Theina shuddered and kicked her horse forward. When entering the conclave her mother had told her to take advantage of every relationship she could. “A friendly face is merely a step on the ladder you haven’t used yet.” Her mother would say. However…

  She looked back at the cardinal who was busy smirking to himself as some unseen victory played out behind his eyes. His was not a smiling face that she could tolerate for much longer. She comforted herself with the knowledge that soon she would be through her initiation and off to help people far away from the slimy man behind her.

  A smile began to form as she mused about the gratitude she would soon receive from the villagers after she was done with her task. Perhaps they would even throw her a party? Yes that would be an appropriate way to praise her she thought as her tired and dirty horse trudge along step by beleaguered step beneath her.

  “One more day.” She whispered. one more day and she would receive the praise she deserved and be rid of her odious travel companion. “They had better be ready.” She said to herself gripping the reins in anticipation. “I’ll make sure they never forget me.”

  ***

  Theodren rested a sweaty hand against the wall of Polly’s shop. The last two weeks had been a blur of days spent practicing his healing on the townsfolk who lined up eagerly to have their aches and pains relieved by the mysteriously improved priest.

  His nights he spent sparring with shadows in the courtyard of his church with the myriad forms of the vineling resting on his arm. The hammer was certainly his favorite but he made sure to keep up his training with a variety of knives, swords and bucklers as Tallhand, the old Master of Arms, would have wanted. He had let his training fall by the wayside as there was no need and no practice weapons with which to train. His recent run-ins with the bears went to show that crisis could not be predicted, only prepared for.

  As he waved the last elderly farmer out the door of Polly’s shop, a satisfied smile played over his face when the man who’s cartilage he had just repaired, skipped down the path toward the town bar. Ready to share his good health with his friends.

  Theodren moved to pack up his things when a pitiable voice called out from the door. “W-wait! You’re healing everybody right?” Theodren groaned internally. Turning towards the voice he found a poorly disguised Lester, hunched and cloaked standing in the doorway.

  “I want what you’re doing for everybody else.” Whined Lester shuffling his feet into the small examination room. Theodren could feel the tension building in his shoulders as he considered turning away the unsavory young man. He considered dozens of excuses as to why he simply couldn’t be bothered.

  However, a sigh flared his nostrils as he waved at the small stool he had appropriated for his patients. “have a seat.” he grumbled. This power of his was not just for those he approved of, he reasoned. They were for the good of all of the people he served, and that unfortunately included Lester.

  Much to Theodren’s chagrin, a triumphant smile slithered across Lester’s face as he slid onto the stool. “And what seems to be the problem Mr. Hess?” Theodren asked, cleansing his hands in Polly’s basin once again.

  “You know what the problem is, priest.” spat Lester. Theodren turned, arching an eyebrow to meet the pulsing vein in his forehead. “Would you like me to attend to your misshapen spine, or your misshapen soul? both are within my purview and both could use immediate aid.”

  Lester only glared at the priest who stared back unflinching. Finally, Lester’s gaze dropped. “My back… it’s always been this way. everyone’s always treated me different because of it.” While Theodren may not have had much love for the young man, but compassion for damaged people was something he had in abundance.

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  Theodren’s stoney expression softened, if only slightly. “Let’s see it then.” At Theodren’s instruction, Lester removed the cloak and the shirt beneath it, revealing a spine that was bent and unnatural.

  Staring down at the question mark shaped spine he sighed as he contemplated the amount of vitae he’d have to spend from his dwindling supply. “I’ll do what I can.” He warned Lester, who remained silent in his anticipation.

  Theodren placed a broad hand on the bend of the spine and closed his eyes. He pushed his vitae into Lester’s back, quietly probing and prodding at the deformed spine. Seeking a weak point that he could take advantage of.

  Lester shifted on the stool.“Are you even doing any…” Theodren clamped down with his grip on Lester’s back “Shh!” He had limited vitae to spare, and he needed every ounce of it and his concentration to straighten the back beneath his hand. As he pushed at the first vertebrae, he willed his vitae to prop it up until he felt confident in its integrity.

  As he reached for the second vertebrae his mind was locked into the task. Shaping and feeding vitae to the spine that reshaped itself beneath his hand. As he reached halfway through his ministration he felt a tug on his vitae. No longer a stream, but a mist of vitae, it was vulnerable, more difficult to direct. His vitae was being pulled away from the spine he was focused on and toward a pit in Lester’s own soul. Theodren’s brow creased together as he sought to control the errant vitae. But he could only watch as it floated towards the void in Lester’s soul.

  He grimaced as he pushed the last of his vitae desperately at the bent vertebrae, but they remained, crooked and unchanged. Theodren wondered at the pit in Lester’s Vitae. Over the last two weeks he had healed almost everyone in the village, but none had a hole in their soul like this. What could possibly have disfigured a soul to this extent? Why had he not noticed it before? Was it always this large?

  These questions and many more flooded his mind, but they would have to wait. Theodren released a defeated sigh as he pulled his hand away. Lester shot to his feet. “Did it work? I don’t feel any different!” His hands reached up to explore the crooked landscape of his back as his expression fell from glee, to disappointment to bitter rage.

  “You said you could fix me!” Lester shouted. his fists balled at his side before one changed to an accusatory finger pointed at the priest. “you failed on PURPOSE!” The vein in Theodren’s forehead beat a new and dangerous tempo. “You mistake me Lester.” Theodren roared back.

  He grabbed Lester’s clothes from the bench and shoved them into the young man’s fragile chest. “I have neither the power nor the patience to fix that crooked back of yours, and I will not be slandered for my attempts!” He shoved Lester out the door into the street where the seemingly omniscient busy-bodies of the town gathered inconspicuously as they could to ‘overhear’ the heated conversation.

  Snickering could be heard from some of the townsfolk as they looked on at the exposed and humiliated Lester who grew redder and angrier by the second. Theodren winced as he realized the situation he had quite literally thrust Lester into. “Come back in a week when I am rested, I will try again.” Said Theodren.

  Lester snapped his attention from the gossiping villagers back to the priest.

  “As if Anyone would come back to a FRAUD like you!” He snarled and stormed off, struggling into his shirt and cloak as he ran.

  A sigh escaped through flared nostrils as Theodren retreated back into the herbalist’s shop where Polly herself stood with a tapping foot and crossed arms. Theodren winced beneath the razor sharp gaze of the herbalist. “That was… unfortunate…” He managed.

  “You had that, that snake in my shop?” Less a question than an accusation, he felt the tension spread from his shoulders to gather into a pulsing ball of pain behind his eyes. “Snake or not he is a resident of this village and entitled to my care same as anyone else.”

  “Not in MY shop he’s not.” She snapped. “Don’t you know what he did?” Theodren grunted in affirmation.

  “I know he tried to shame Eleina into having his way with her, and I know that went as well as could be expected for him.” Indeed, Eleina and Evan had gotten pregnant before their wedding day and an ever observant Lester thought he could shame Eleina into submitting to him.

  What he got instead was an impressive right cross to his delicate jaw by an enraged Eleina who then dragged her fiance to Theodren’s church for a pleasant but speedy ceremony.

  Polly nodded curtly. “He deserves that and more! I’ll forgive you this once because you saved Elly, but if that boy comes around my shop again everyone involved will be breaking out in rashes for a month!” She barked, patting her pouch of herbs that was tied to her belt.

  Theodren shuddered. He was well aware of Polly’s “remedies for bad behavior”. There were few who were foolish enough to disrespect an herbalist, but those who did often found themselves in a sudden and mysterious need of an itching remedy.

  “Speaking of Elly.” Theodren looked back up from his feet, an apologetic grimace spread over his face. “You’ve been avoiding her.” Theodren tried to come up with an excuse but none came. He could only nod as he sank onto the stool that groaned beneath his considerable bulk. “A lot happened, Polly.” Was all he offered.

  Polly sighed as she grabbed her own stool and sat opposite Theodren. “That was a bad night.” She agreed, not fully grasping the gravity of the events that had transpired for Theodren over the last two weeks. “But you saved her life. What’s more, you saved her baby. My granddaughter.”

  Theodren considered Polly’s words silently. “So whatever you’re moping about. You better get over it, young man.” Theodren reeled at the simplicity and absurdity of her statement. “Get over it.” he repeated.

  “That’s right, life moves on. and you can bury yourself in your work trying to avoid whatever you’re dealing with. But you’ll have to get over it sooner or later.” Theodren remained in a flustered state of shock as he contemplated her words. From his crisis of faith and ultimate betrayal to the bears and of course his complications with Lester and the Mayor. He struggled to keep his head above water. He felt the tension build further in his shoulders as he remembered the fear, loss and uncertainty of the last two weeks as her words echoed in his head. A reassuring squeeze of his arm by the vineling pulled him from his spiral back to the present.

  Perhaps it was time Theodren paid Eleina and Evan a visit. It would serve him well to see what good had come from the breaking of his faith. Perhaps then he could ‘get over it.’ Theodren brought his focus back to Polly. I’ll check in on them on my way back up the hill.” He promised.

  “Good lad.” Said Polly as she patted Theodren on the arm. “And when you do bring this pot of stew I made for them. My poor Elly is in no fit state to cook, and Evan is no cook in any state.” Theodren chuckled. “No he is not. I’ll make sure they get it.” He promised.

  Polly made room for him as he stood to leave. Grabbing the pot of stew by the handle, he made his way towards Eleina’s home.