<div dir="ltr"> <span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">At the center of the town stood the oak and under it sat a beautiful barefoot woman clothed in green. She seemed almost elvish and looked out with deep interest at the humans going about their business in the small town. <span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">“Good day, Dryope, I hope you are well-pleased?” The people of the town were always careful to treat Dryope with respect: she was a high nymph and had helped them through many trials. Her happiness was vital to the small community. <span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">She giggled. “I could not be better pleased were I a cat in the sunlight on soft velvet with cream to drink, Mayor Tom. It seems to me that I sometimes could do better for you.” <span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">“I should hope none have come asking you favors!” <span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">“Indeed they have not. Your community does well, and it pleases me to see it prosper so. Yet power I have that I may use. Is that not right and proper for a follower of Yeshua?” <span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">Tom simply bowed and wished her a good day before heading off. She smiled and thought on the oddity of it. As a nymph, she was one of the myriad descendants of Artela, yet she had been raised by followers of Yeshua. Her biological mother had perished in the terrible Burning that had destroyed much of Marigund a hundred years ago, but had given the head of the Geoff family one of her seeds. When the head of the Geoff family had planted it here, she awoke and learned. <span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">All the community around her were Latharians, and they had taught her all they knew. They had fled the Burning, carrying what they could on their backs and carried in their hearts their faith. It seemed nowhere they went would welcome them until they finally came to Metamor Valley and made themselves a home. <span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">The Valley itself was rich in magic, which changed her from a simple nymph to a high nymph. Yet she believed what the devoted people around her believed. She kept herself close to the tree she was birthed from, but her power was more tied to the land around Goffs Oak rather than the tree itself. <span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">Still, there was room near her tree, plenty of room for a church. She thought it might look pretty before one. But there were no Latharian priests to be had, so her community would traverse by wagon and foot every Sunday to the church in Euper, some two leagues hence. She went with them invisibly to protect them, and then back again. She also liked Father Hough a lot, but kept hoping that, one day, her community would get a priest of its own. <span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">*** <span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">James smiled at his wife Anne as she went about the kitchen. He helped where and as he could–no slouch in cooking, and eager to help. They were getting their supper ready–a mostly light fast–when the door knocked. <span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">“Who could that be at this hour?” wondered Anne. <span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">“Surely it’s some poor sojourner. We’ve got the extra place set and can add more if we need.” James answered the door quickly. “Ah, it’s the archbishop. Come in, your honor, we were just about to have dinner.” <span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">The Archbishop of Marigund was a balding, sixty-some-year-old man. His face had the lines and worries that came with a person who took his calling seriously–and who was also placed in one of the most tenuous areas of the world: a place that had suffered terrible religious persecution, the embers of which still smouldered. <span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">“Ah, thank you Pastor James, but I cannot stay. Indeed, I have come to ask you and Anne a great favor. One which I would not ask were I not out of other options.” <span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">Anne came in the room, a hand holding a towel on one hip. “Surely your reverence is not going to leave here without even a bite?” <span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">The Archbishop gulped. He knew that tone from his own wife. “Well, perhaps a bit, but I don’t want to keep Penelope waiting too long. She worries about my safety after dark.” <span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">James was quite sure the Archbishop’s wife worried about his safety regardless of the time of day, but the three sat at the table and the Archbishop said grace, and they tucked in. Once they finished, James and Anne cleared the table and sat with the Archbishop. <span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">“Now, what was it you wanted?” asked James. <span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">The Archbishop sighed and placed a gilded letter down on the table: a wedding invitation by a member of the Brightleaf family. James let out a little ‘oh’ that was almost completely breath. Anne looked at it confused. <span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">“Well, the family certainly is part of our church and has been since time out of mind,” she said. “It makes only sense they’d want you to marry him.” <span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">“Ah, yes.” The Archbishop shuffled. “It’s just that Penelope is not…um…” <span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">“It *<span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:italic;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">is<span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">* a long journey,” said Anne, keeping her tone steady. <span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">“But the Brightleafs are major contributors to the church,” said James. <span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">“Ah, yes, and it would not due to insult them,” said the Archbishop. He seemed to be having trouble sitting still, as if he were on thorns. <span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">“And there are younger bishops who could go with no insult,” said Anne. <span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">“Unless they specifically asked for you,” said James. <span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">“Ah, well, no, they didn’t, not me specifically,” said the Archbishop. <span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">“Would you be needing something more comfortable for your chair, your reverence?” asked Anne. <span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">“Ah, no, thank you. The seat couldn’t be more comfortable.” <span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">That James had no doubt on. “The bishops are, perhaps, busy?” He knew where this was going. The look on Anne’s face told him she knew where it was going too. Neither of them was happy. <span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">“So many obligations, this time of year, and, of course, most of the pastors have flocks to tend to…” The chair would not need buffed for some time. <span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">“Unlike me, who moved here not long ago?” James asked in as neutral a tone as he could manage. <span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">The Archbishop seemed to take a sudden cough. “Ah, that is…I won’t force you, of course…” <span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">The two looked to one another. They didn't have many material goods. They could return, but… “When should we leave?” <span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">“In a week. You’ll have the best of magical protections, of course.” With that, the Archbishop jumped from the seat, thanked them and headed out the door as if being chased by an angel with a flaming sword. <span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">*** <span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">The trip was long. From Marigund to Wolin to Kelewair. From Kelewair to Salidon to Bozojo. From Bozojo to Elarial to Giftum. From Giftum to Komley to Midtown. <span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">At Midtown they were offered accommodations along with the rest of the people they’d been travelling with, but neither Anne nor James were that impressed despite the size of the town. There was a certain coldness that never seemed to lift, and when some of the Brightleaf clan moved, they were happy to join them. <span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">Laselle, two and a half leagues from Midtown, seemed little friendlier. “I wonder if there’s ice in the hearts of all these northerners,” said Anne. <span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">“That seems not true, not for the most of them. But those who run the towns are men who risk hubris. We shall not be among them long; we must head north from here, though we risk the Curse.” <span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">“There’s no Curse that can be worse than a frozen heart,” said Anne firmly. <span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">They were glad to hear special accommodations had been made for them in Metamor Keep. They would not be there long enough to get Cursed unless they chose to stay. It was in Metamor Keep they met Father Hough. <span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">“I must admit, this is a bit different,” said James as he looked at the diminutive peace. Anne was showing remarkable restraint by not simply picking him up and hugging him! <span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">“I have certainly found it so,” Hough said with a smile. “Though there are priests who are larger here, it seems many of us are a bit more diminutive. Perhaps a reminder by Eli for humility.” <span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">“It could be so. I wanted to go over things with you; the Brightleaf family has long been Latharians, but our local archbishops, bishops, and, uh…” <span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">“Everyone but you and your dear wife?” <span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">“Yes, so it seems, was occupied. But I am fully ordained and my own family has some connections with the Brightleafs. I am suitable, but this is your perish.” <span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">“A beginning of it, perhaps,” Hough smiled. “We shall see. Have you thought if you would be staying?” <span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">“Would we have a place?” asked Anne. She had been awed by the sheer diversity to be found at Metamor Keep, but she didn’t want a place they’d be unwelcomed. She only too well recalled the stories of the Burning. <span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">“I think so. There’s a small town west of here called Goffs Oak and the people there are Latharians as well–one of the few Reformer groups I know of up here. They come to me for services, such as I may grant, but they really need their own spiritual leaders…” <span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">“What’s Goffs Oak like?” <span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">“Much like any quaint town, though it has a magnificent oak tree on a large plot of land that would be perfect for a church. There’s also a nymph there named Dryope.” <span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">“She’s not demanding worship, is she?” James asked, his expression going dark. He’d heard too many tales of nymphs to trust one off hand. <span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">“No, she’s very friendly and half Larthian. They raised her, you see, and she adopted some of their beliefs. How it applies to someone like her is beyond me. But I’ve met her and she respects me. Even better, Madog likes her. You can generally trust Madog when it comes to someone’s character.” <span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">“And who’s Madog?” asked Anne. <span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">“Stay here long enough and you’ll meet him. It’s impossible to miss him, unless he desires, since he’s an automata fox.” <span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">–Next Part Below– </div>