Chapter 26
Angeline ascends a trio of steps up to a heavy door made of iron and wood, pushing it open on well-worn hinges, and the tune of a high-pitched squeal. It had been three days since the Common-Table discussion, and one day since the Order had installed a Postal box on Samuel’s desk back in Serenity Valley. In that time, her companion had received at least one letter per family that resided there, thanking him for his sacrifice in keeping their homes and lives safe. She was acting under the command of the High Magus to be the liaison for the hamlet, in Samuel’s stead, and she had responded to each of the inquiries to his health and well-being in kind...
But the messages that her confidant were receiving from his family were much more numerous. That cute red-headed cousin Katherine had sent at least two dozen of the damned things, and the stupidly-alluring Sarah had sent eight. Luckily, both Samuel’s aunt and uncle had held themselves back, sending six apiece. All in a single day. The odd thing was that they didn’t plead for updates about his condition… mostly they would ask her about what life was like at the Blue Fortress, and on the road as a Bonded pairing.
She hadn’t expected them to want to talk to her. It confused her. Almost angered her. They were ignorant as to how they should treat mages… though it melted her heart in ways that she didn’t like because they were being so nice to her…
Shuffling across the cold stone floor, the golden-haired femme slowly pans her gaze around the walls, and the seemingly-innumerable Postal boxes attached to them. There were hundreds, if not thousands. They worked in much the same way as a Summoning Gate, though only activating to it’s sister-box when the lid was sealed and locked tight, at which point the letter or small gift would be instantly transported.
It was a finicky system, though, and certainly not suited for sending live, or edible presents. It worked perfectly for ink and paper, so they always told normal citizens that it would explode, and kill all of the residents of their towns if they put something strange into it. That wasn’t really the case, but necessary after they had an episode a hundred years back where one individual was constantly sending across frogs that would get… somewhat re-arranged through transport…
Still, this was a great system for obtaining their information quickly and efficiently. The space where all the boxes were gthered was also something of a War-Room, too, which was why this was the largest, and most boisterous hall in the entire garrison. The numerous tables running down the centre of the space were used by the stationary commanders of both the Knights of Aegis and Order of the Three Lights. Maps, charts, and loose sheets of parchment laden the surfaces, and stewards ran all about stuffing missives into boxes, bringing reports to specific commanders, or went to fetch whatever was needed…
There were also smaller desks set at specific distances around the room, where personal-correspondence would be set aside from the more-important calls for aid. These were gathered frequently, brought to a sorting-area which held sprawling chalk-boards listing active and in-active members of both organizations, their last-known locations, and the locations as to where they were headed to next.
As she makes her way over to the sorting-area, the blue-eyed mage can’t help but notice that the dozen workers never seem to look at the list of names, perhaps because they had already glanced up enough to know an approximation of their where-abouts, and thus, could pass the letter to someone else that controlled the ‘zone’. Peeking to the list herself, a specific entry catches her eye, and she frowns at the hastily-scrawled ‘Samuel/Finnigan O’Malley’ – ‘Blue Fortress’ – ‘Blue Fortress’ written at the bottom of the board…
YOU ARE READING
Aegis and Order: First Light
Фэнтези"It’s shoulders were wide and powerful. At four metres in height, it was almost as large across as it was tall. The arms of the hulking beast hung nearly all the way to the ground, and were thick with rope-like muscles that bulged with even the sl...
