Chains of Vengeance

Chapter 59: Shadows in the Routine

The rest of the day passed with an unusual calm for Narinder. After the intense emotions of the morning, he decided to immerse himself in his daily tasks, keeping himself busy with the routine of the cult. He spent some time on the farms, supervising the cultists working the land, making sure the crops were in good shape. He also went to the kitchens, checking the day's recipes and adjusting the rations for everyone.

Visiting the miners and lumbermen, he observed the steady pace at which they worked, extracting the resources his cult needed. Narinder always felt a strange satisfaction in seeing everyone fulfill their role, without question. Afterwards, he went to the infants' area, where he educated the younger ones in the faith, speaking to them about the greatness of the cult and how important it was to follow its teachings.

The sound of hammers and saws nearby reminded him that the new house next to his was almost finished. As evening fell, he watched as the last nails were hammered in and the finishing touches were applied. The twins, Aym and Baal, would now have a proper place to rest, and Narinder, though he would not openly admit it, was pleased by this.

The twins, meanwhile, wandered around the cult with a mixture of fascination and curiosity. Everything was new to them: the plants, the structures, the other cultists who looked at them with respect. Although they did not ask too many questions, some things piqued their interest.

Baal, always the most inquisitive, finally broke the silence as he pointed with his finger at a small pink hut, decorated with flowers and emitting a soft, sweet aroma. "Master," he asked, "what is that pink, scented hut for?"

Narinder, who had been distracted by watching a conversation between two cultists, suddenly felt his stomach turn and a cold sweat began to run down his back. He gulped, trying to maintain his composure.

With a forced calm, he turned to the twins, searching for the right words. "Ah, well... that is... uh... the one about cultist mating," he began, scratching the back of his neck nervously. The twins looked at him with expectant eyes, clearly interested in his explanation.

Narinder sighed and, with the same composure with which he faced powerful enemies, he prepared to explain to them the history of flowers and bees, hoping that it would satisfy their curiosity... at least for the moment.

The twins, still with a blush on their faces after the unexpected lesson on the origin of babies, tried to maintain their composure in front of their teacher. The atmosphere felt a bit awkward, so Narinder decided to quickly change the subject, seeking to steer the conversation away from that delicate topic.

"And then," he asked with a more serious air, "what happened when I went through the portal of the veil?"

Aym, the calmer of the two, was the first to respond. "When you crossed the portal, it closed immediately. We didn't know what to do, so we just waited patiently for him to free us."

Narinder listened intently, nodding as memories of his time in the veil came flooding back to him. Though glad to have the twins by his side, a slight sadness crept into his thoughts. They had spent so much time trapped, unable to act, while he moved forward with his plan in the outside world.

"And what happened to the Lamb's body?" Narinder asked, a hint of anxiety in his voice. He had hoped to tie up that last loose end.

This time it was Baal who spoke. "When the green tentacle appeared and brought us to the world of the living, it was all so fast... there was no time to think about anything else. The Lamb's body is still in the veil, intact."

Narinder felt a pang of disappointment. Though he hid it behind his neutral expression, the news left him feeling empty. He had hoped to be able to do something more with the Lamb's remains, perhaps use them to further consolidate his power or remove any trace of his past. But now he knew that the body remained out of his reach, at least for the moment.