Piety and Persecution

I

"Perhaps, if we begin by going backwards, it may help you fight the-"

"I'd prefer you not call it." I said with a warning glance under my veil to the physician. "But if you wish me to begin by recollection, then so be it."

The young healer nodded, adjusting her Sari before placing a few runes before her which would record my tale each of these sessions for later recount.

A few heat risen curls fell into my eyes as I sighed, putting my hands down after healing another of my guild members hours following the session with my physician.

"Something Amiss, Grace?" Asked a brown haired blue eyed boy I'd grown accustomed to the hugs, banter, and laughter of.

"Sort of, Kit." I nodded, waving a hand over his thick velvety western hat to restore it. "Just recalling what the doctor said." I smiled, motioning him towards where the rest of the group sat around drinking and jesting. He nodded, furrowing his brow before striding over to them with a tavern swagger. I paused a moment, letting a hand catch hold of my Healer's Veil while I watched the guild I'd come to know and love. I had started the guild through the use of Transfer Runes four years prior, before I'd even considered training to become a Speaker of the Letters. They were a lovely group, who enjoyed making the world a better place through our adventures. We'd defeated tyrant kings, seductive sorceresses, done away with terrorists, and much more. Yet it was more than high time that I stepped away from the group for a short time, my training as a Speaker of the Letters was to begin in less than a fortnight.

Fae, my closest friend among them looked up when he caught the thought on my face, and smiled understandingly before he rose, striding over to me with a bowl of sweetened cream, offering it to me. "You alright?"

"Of course Fae.. just.. stressed." I smiled at him as I took the bowl, sipping some of the cream and putting my head on his shoulder. The Elf nodded, patting my head. "Our curse?" I nodded. He sighed. "Your health and the defeat of our curse matters more than these. They'll understand."

"True, but I-they-, they are like my children to me, Fae."

A dark cloaked recent member came tumbling though us, and my mind was set. bending I moved to help him up. "Ember."

"Sorry Grace.. I saw this cat eating a pixie and thought it was hilarious so I showed it to Lady Dragonia, and she got all grossed out and mad and AH SHE'S BREATHING FIRE AGAIN." He shouted, running over to hide behind two of the Paladins who were part of the group. Dragonia, who was Eight years my elder, strode over, fuming, smoke flickering out her snout as she looked at me with her serpentine eyes.

"Little Lantern, could I please eat him?"

"Then you would be no better than the cat who ate the pixie." Chuckled Fae.

I smiled apologetically to her before striding over as a young zealous prince of the bards whistled me over. "Grace, I have this idea for our quest to the Castle of Kaljaehn."

I moved across the stone floors, ducking under one of our makeshift banners, and nodded to him, but said nothing as I surmounted a box. Some of the twenty looked to me, nodding.

"Starch Wolves."

The two northern gentlemen stopped arguing over who was more northern and looked up. A quiet girl stopped writing and smiled at me. I nodded to the druid who had helped me start it all.

"I'm going to take a one month leave from the Guild."

Ember rose a hand and began talking before his hand was all the way lifted. "Does this mean we're not going on the quest to the Castle of Kaljaehn? What about the Quest to aid in the war of the four kingdoms? Can I lead a quest?"

The Prince shook his head. "Obviously those will hold off till my fiancée returns!"

I chuckled at the long running joke, nodding to the quiet cloaked Pirate King who had only recently returned to our group after being named King of the Vampires. "I will still lead the quest to the four kingdoms in Grace's Absence. Others will take care of her duties while she's gone."

Fae nodded to me, encouraging my decision. A Squire, Harvey, rose his glass to me. "Just don't die before you get back to us. Alright? Now be gone with you!"

A chorus of cries came. "Go. Leave!"

I smiled a little, and disconnected from my Transfer device.

In hindsight, their cries may have been a bit more eager than I would have liked. Yet, taking up the transfer device I placed the equipment nessecary for the Transfer Guilds into a chest, and locked it with a timed seal, that would break in one month's time.

Draping myself on my bed, I thought about cleaning my room, looking over my scrolls for my studies, or ironing my uniform for my coming semester at the academy of the town where my family lived. Yet instead, with my mind drifting to my day of work at the Peasant's Era Café, I pulled out a scroll and cast a charm to create a link between it and a scroll bore by a fellow study of the Letters from my class at my church, and proceeded to spend hours writing with him. It was wonderful, the spell really, it allowed us both to see what the other wrote on their scroll, and considering how he didn't care too much for communicating verbally, scrolls worked wonders for our friendship.