Cult of the Lamb : The Man in the Forest

Chapter 32: What Was Left Behind, Part Four: The Happiest He Had Ever Been

Caxton never expected something so wonderful to come of Narinder's followers joining the cult. He always liked his life as Mir̃alai's faith enforcer, but having Deoma improved it tenfold. She was the support he never knew he needed. The stress he usually felt in response to his extensive duties and his interactions with unhappy followers diminished the moment they were together. He felt like an entirely new person with her. The Leader noticed his change, and couldn't be happier with it. She gave her blessings and full support of their relationship.

Deoma never interfered with his duties, she was fully aware of how important they were to him. Instead, she would listen to any issues he might be having with a particular task, and offer her advice. She insisted he take breaks for his own sake. He didn't like it at first, but he ended up being thankful for it. He never realized how much it would help him. He was generally more pleasant from the perspective of other followers. Arguments became a rarity because he no longer approached them with the same attitude he usually exhibited.

As for Deoma herself, she was also doing much better. She stopped hesitating to talk when she was upset. She only talked to Caxton about her occasional mental anguish because she still didn't trust the Leader. Or anyone else for that matter, but she was talking... That's what mattered. Her breakdowns were becoming less severe and farther apart. She was, generally speaking, very happy. After a few weeks, she moved into his cabin with him. From there, things only got better. Having someone to come home to, and having someone to spend what free time he did have with made him unbelievably happy. Not to mention the joy of waking up beside the love of his life every day. He was enjoying this new arrangement so much, he even agreed to take a permanent day off to spend with her. That was a huge step for him. Some might say they were moving their relationship along quite fast. Afterall, they'd only been together for a handful of weeks. However, the couple might have been living together, but they had not become intimate yet. For good reason, both he and Deoma shared in the belief that such things are better saved until after marriage.

It was a typical evening. The tasks had ended for the day, but Caxton was at home still working on his own duties. With the harvest successfully completed, the next step was to go through the crop inventory and work on rations to get everyone through the winter as healthy and comfortable as possible. While he worked on that, Deoma sat on the bed, sewing a durable patch over a hole that had torn in her cloak earlier that day. She was nearly finished when Caxton released a heavy sigh of frustration. He tossed his pencil aside and crossed his arms over the table. As he laid his head down, Deoma chuckled.

"Is everything okay?"

"No, I fucked up." He grumbled into his folded arms.

"Language..." She scorned him playfully and finished up her last few stitches. "What did you do?"

"I skipped over a column by mistake, now everything is wrong." He sighed and sat up, resting his cheek in his hand. "I'll have to redo all of it."

"All of it?" She asked and sat her patched cloak aside so she could look for herself.

"Practically all of it." He corrected himself gloomily. "I can't believe I didn't catch it sooner." Deoma walked over to stand behind him. She rested a hand on his back as she looked at his work over his shoulder.

"Oh, hun." She patted his back soothingly as she saw he wasn't exaggerating. "That's unfortunate... But, mistakes happen."

"Yes, but this mistake cost me-", he paused to look at the clock. Unhappy with the time, he rubbed his temple, "...three hours of work."

"Take a break." She suggested, feeling through the back of his gray fur.

"I can't, I need to fix this." He said stubbornly.