“Soo … where is the saint?” Louis asked the beautiful sunrise right behind him.
“I think she is tending to the wounds of a few soldiers.” I mumbled quietly, hardly believing I could hide it from them this far. Well, they were pretty naïve and didn’t doubt me at all, which was why they only shrugged their soldiers, except Sofie who looked at me a bit strangely.
“I still want to see her.” Schwarz admitted, looking around to see if there was any group of people around.
“I think she wants to be left alone. This whole thing was a catastrophe for humanity …” Well, it certainly showed how little the common adventurer could do against a demon general.
“Precisely … and I need a good rest.” I said, yawned a bit and stood up from the grass. Stretching my arms a little, I nodded towards them and took a step towards my white stallion. “Oh, right. Before I forget it. We found footprints of several demons in the forest. If you want to …”
“Let’s go!” Schwarz exclaimed, grabbed his sword stuck into the earth and lifted it up. With an enthusiasm rarely seen at him, he ran straight towards the forest with Louis and Ellie following him hot on his heels.
“I can’t believe they don’t notice …” Sofie muttered and shook her head. “I think you should tell them to truth. They deserve to know.” Did they? I had to admit they improved considerably over the month I hadn’t watched over them, but their characters were still the same.
“They will know eventually … you don’t intend to join them, do you?” I asked and tilted my head to the side in interest. Even though they had formed a party, she still shook her head right away.
“I won’t be of any help anyway. But accompanying the saint on her parade back into the city … I can do that.” She said and smiled brightly, calming my raging heart down somewhat.
“Thank you.” I said and grabbed her hand right away. “And while we are at it, you can tell me everything that happened.” Even though I knew possibly more than her. They were trailed by several spies after all.
“Where should I start …” She said, not entirely surprised as I didn’t climb onto my horse, but rather pulled her towards a luxurious white carriage with golden ornaments in the distance.“We suspect Schwarz has his first girlfriend. He is meeting rather often with someone we saved from the dungeon …”
“Oh?” I asked, completely disinterested in Schwarz’s love live.
“Right … and because we decided to stay at the same inn near the entrance to the dungeon, we also … heard stuff.” Oh my … so he did know how to sway the heart of at least one girl. Good for him … I guess.
“I see …”I mumbled, opening the door of the carriage and stepped inside. “Pope Urban.”
“Your holiness, apostle Sofie.” He said bowing deeply.
“I assume this is necessary?” I asked, pointing towards the few adventurers already looking towards us.
“The people want to see you. Both of you.” He said, and nodded right away.
“Alright … I said, opened the door while we were driving and climbed onto the roof. At first, most of them didn’t even recognise me, but as I started waving my my white dress, excitement filled their eyes. None of them would have noticed me without the carriage, but with it I was some sort if celebrity.
“Why are you …” Sofie said, struggling to get onto the roof until I pulled her up. “… up here.”
“Our presence alone is calming form most. And knowing that I am alive will fill their heart with hope, even though the centre of our civilisation was just under attack.” I explained, and kept waving towards the adventurers quickly gathering around the slowly moving carriage.
“Your holiness! Your holiness!” A woman shouted, standing in the way of the carriage bravely with a small baby in her arms. Jumping down to the side, I ignored all the people who stepped back reverently and approached the kneeling woman.
“How may I help you?” I asked, a friendly smile on my lips.
“My child … please bless it.” She said, and extended her arms to present me her baby tucked into a small blanket. Taking it up from her arms, I held it close to my bosom and kissed its forehead.
“May you have a bright life in front of you.” I said, and gave the mother her child back right away. “And may you raise your child without worry in your heart.” I said, caressed her right cheek with my hand and then let go of her. “Have you decided on a name yet?”
“… Lucy. Lucy Henker.” She said, a few tears dripping down her face.
“That’s a lovely name.” I said, put my palm on the babies head one last time and turned around, a bright smile and a few tears in the corner of my eyes. Climbing back onto the carriage slowly, the woman made way for us while crying tears of happiness.
This wasn’t the last time we were stopped by someone by someone. In fact, we had to stop every minute or so, sometimes longer as they had a story to tell, and sometimes shorter as they only wanted to speak a few words.
At the end of the commoner district near the evening, there was a large crowd following us, singing songs I started while I exchanged words with those who needed a real saint the most. The homeless, those in rag tagged attires and the disabled.
Needless to say, I was quite happy as we entered the noble district and I could finally get back into the carriage.
“How … are you doing this?” Sofie asked, completely exhausted from the whole day of talking and the night.
“Their support is enough to give me strength.” Those were some wise words for a saint, at least Sofie perceived it as such. “By the way … you mentioned something about going into the dungeon? Can I come with you next time?”
“It’s rather spooky.” She said, rubbing her upper arms as if the temperature dropped by several degrees.
“I’d still love to accompany you.” I explained and looked towards the pope who nodded in approval. “I cannot come with you everyday though because … there will be a lot of things I need to organise.” I explained a bit unhappily and noticed how she nodded after a little time of hesitation.
“Okay … but only if you stick around.” She said, scratching her nape in embarrassed, knowing for sure I would get lost otherwise.
“Hmm alright. Just a quick question before we arrive. Do you feel that?” I asked, my hand hovering mere centimetres above hers and let it emit death.
“What do you mean?” She asked, but I didn’t let her answer dispirit her and engulfed her complete being with my magic until she looked at me in shock.
“Your nose!” She said, just as the carriage stopped.
“Never mind.” I said, took the tissue the pope handed over to me and wiped all the blood off. It wouldn’t be that easy to train her with her godly powers, that much was clear at this point. If my guess wasn’t entirely wrong, she faced the exact problem I had once more. I couldn’t sense life or whatever else.
“See you tomorrow then.” I said a bit dispirited, slowly placing my hands on my knees.
“What about school?” She said right away as if that was something important.
“I’d like to attend once its open again. But I fear I’m not able to.” I explained and stood up as a butler opened the door. “… and pope Urban? Would you please be so kind to prepare everything for a festival in two weeks? I’ll get in contact with you tomorrow.” I asked and didn’t even bother to wait for his answer. Hopping out of the carriage, I turned around and curtsied elegantly. “Take care.” I said, turned around on my heels and strolled towards the open massive door right away.
“Your majesty. Please follow me.” A familiar maid asked, kneeling down on the granite floor.
“Can you bring me to the king right away?” I asked her immediately and gave her my hand to stand up.
“At once. If I may say so … he believes you broke some kind of agreement.” She whispered, which did make me smile a bit.
“I’m sure he is angry at me for not visiting him very often …” I muttered and nodded towards the maid who turned around right away.
Following after her, the servants who did cross out way went onto their knees which was quite troublesome as I had to ask them to stand up each and every time.
Well, at last we managed to get towards a large dining room where the king sat alone on a white table, made out entirely of stone and enjoyed his meal.
“Thank you …” I said towards the maid who curtsied respectfully. It was only a matter of seconds until she turned around and left the room silently.
“It’s good to see you again.”
“The pleasure is all mine.”
“I would like to see you at my parties though. Did you know how often I was asked what you were doing? And all I could say was what the church told others as well, because other than a letter, I got nothing from you. You are my wife, Lucy Worchester. And as such, I expect you to represent the royal family … and not go on some kind of crusade.”
“You might not like what I have to ask then …” I thought out loudly, slowly striding over towards him.
“Oh?” He asked, probably anticipating a rather easy favour.
“Yes, I do need a favour. Several of them in fact.” I explained quickly, raising his interest even more.
“Do tell me.” He said, leaning forwards on his chair.
“I need an army capable enough to strike deep into demon territory.” His laughter resounded through the luxurious room, but it died down as soon as he realised I wasn’t joking. “In a month. You do not have to concern yourself with organising anything, I merely need the funds of the kingdom for this matter.”
“And why should I let my wife be in charge of an invasion?” Just because I was a woman? I was in the army before he was even born!
“And I need your approval to hold a festival on the royal grounds. I will do what your son has asked me to. I will search for the best of the best and ask them to stand at the forefront of this invasion. Everyone is allowed to take part, so your son can be rest assured.” I explained, looking him straight into the eyes the whole time.
“Now its getting ridiculous.” He said, clearly a bit putt off guard by my unreasonable demands.
“I’ll share my bed with you for this time period every second night.” I explained, tilting my head to the side in curiosity, but only for so long as he reacted exactly as I imagined him to do. “Think about it. You and me … fifteen nights together.” I explained and sat down right next to him, placing my palm on his hand.
“… that is indeed tempting.” He was a fool. Foolish enough to outright deny every single one of my requests right away and for agreeing to everything once I gave him what he wanted without thinking too much about the consequences. The more and more time I spent with him, the less I saw him as a king and more like a person using his power to get whatever he wanted. Unlike me though, his goals where just pleasure while mine were more noble.
“Do we have a deal? Think about it. If I’m successful, a whole lot of your problems will vanish over night and you can seek out every pleasure you want as long as you feel like it.” I explained, a bright smile on my lips.
“You will lead the army as the saint, not as a queen.” Well, but he also was smart enough to direct every bit of blame away from him if things went south.
“I hasn’t planned to do so.” I told him right away.
“Then we have a deal.” He said and leaned over, pressing his lips onto mine right away.
“Soo … where is the saint?” Louis asked the beautiful sunrise right behind him.
“I think she is tending to the wounds of a few soldiers.” I mumbled quietly, hardly believing I could hide it from them this far. Well, they were pretty naïve and didn’t doubt me at all, which was why they only shrugged their soldiers, except Sofie who looked at me a bit strangely.
“I still want to see her.” Schwarz admitted, looking around to see if there was any group of people around.
“I think she wants to be left alone. This whole thing was a catastrophe for humanity …” Well, it certainly showed how little the common adventurer could do against a demon general.
“Precisely … and I need a good rest.” I said, yawned a bit and stood up from the grass. Stretching my arms a little, I nodded towards them and took a step towards my white stallion. “Oh, right. Before I forget it. We found footprints of several demons in the forest. If you want to …”
“Let’s go!” Schwarz exclaimed, grabbed his sword stuck into the earth and lifted it up. With an enthusiasm rarely seen at him, he ran straight towards the forest with Louis and Ellie following him hot on his heels.
“I can’t believe they don’t notice …” Sofie muttered and shook her head. “I think you should tell them to truth. They deserve to know.” Did they? I had to admit they improved considerably over the month I hadn’t watched over them, but their characters were still the same.
“They will know eventually … you don’t intend to join them, do you?” I asked and tilted my head to the side in interest. Even though they had formed a party, she still shook her head right away.
“I won’t be of any help anyway. But accompanying the saint on her parade back into the city … I can do that.” She said and smiled brightly, calming my raging heart down somewhat.
“Thank you.” I said and grabbed her hand right away. “And while we are at it, you can tell me everything that happened.” Even though I knew possibly more than her. They were trailed by several spies after all.
“Where should I start …” She said, not entirely surprised as I didn’t climb onto my horse, but rather pulled her towards a luxurious white carriage with golden ornaments in the distance.“We suspect Schwarz has his first girlfriend. He is meeting rather often with someone we saved from the dungeon …”
“Oh?” I asked, completely disinterested in Schwarz’s love live.
“Right … and because we decided to stay at the same inn near the entrance to the dungeon, we also … heard stuff.” Oh my … so he did know how to sway the heart of at least one girl. Good for him … I guess.
“I see …”I mumbled, opening the door of the carriage and stepped inside. “Pope Urban.”
“Your holiness, apostle Sofie.” He said bowing deeply.
“I assume this is necessary?” I asked, pointing towards the few adventurers already looking towards us.
“The people want to see you. Both of you.” He said, and nodded right away.
“Alright … I said, opened the door while we were driving and climbed onto the roof. At first, most of them didn’t even recognise me, but as I started waving my my white dress, excitement filled their eyes. None of them would have noticed me without the carriage, but with it I was some sort if celebrity.
“Why are you …” Sofie said, struggling to get onto the roof until I pulled her up. “… up here.”
“Our presence alone is calming form most. And knowing that I am alive will fill their heart with hope, even though the centre of our civilisation was just under attack.” I explained, and kept waving towards the adventurers quickly gathering around the slowly moving carriage.
“Your holiness! Your holiness!” A woman shouted, standing in the way of the carriage bravely with a small baby in her arms. Jumping down to the side, I ignored all the people who stepped back reverently and approached the kneeling woman.
“How may I help you?” I asked, a friendly smile on my lips.
“My child … please bless it.” She said, and extended her arms to present me her baby tucked into a small blanket. Taking it up from her arms, I held it close to my bosom and kissed its forehead.
“May you have a bright life in front of you.” I said, and gave the mother her child back right away. “And may you raise your child without worry in your heart.” I said, caressed her right cheek with my hand and then let go of her. “Have you decided on a name yet?”
“… Lucy. Lucy Henker.” She said, a few tears dripping down her face.
“That’s a lovely name.” I said, put my palm on the babies head one last time and turned around, a bright smile and a few tears in the corner of my eyes. Climbing back onto the carriage slowly, the woman made way for us while crying tears of happiness.
This wasn’t the last time we were stopped by someone by someone. In fact, we had to stop every minute or so, sometimes longer as they had a story to tell, and sometimes shorter as they only wanted to speak a few words.
At the end of the commoner district near the evening, there was a large crowd following us, singing songs I started while I exchanged words with those who needed a real saint the most. The homeless, those in rag tagged attires and the disabled.
Needless to say, I was quite happy as we entered the noble district and I could finally get back into the carriage.
“How … are you doing this?” Sofie asked, completely exhausted from the whole day of talking and the night.
“Their support is enough to give me strength.” Those were some wise words for a saint, at least Sofie perceived it as such. “By the way … you mentioned something about going into the dungeon? Can I come with you next time?”
“It’s rather spooky.” She said, rubbing her upper arms as if the temperature dropped by several degrees.
“I’d still love to accompany you.” I explained and looked towards the pope who nodded in approval. “I cannot come with you everyday though because … there will be a lot of things I need to organise.” I explained a bit unhappily and noticed how she nodded after a little time of hesitation.
“Okay … but only if you stick around.” She said, scratching her nape in embarrassed, knowing for sure I would get lost otherwise.
“Hmm alright. Just a quick question before we arrive. Do you feel that?” I asked, my hand hovering mere centimetres above hers and let it emit death.
“What do you mean?” She asked, but I didn’t let her answer dispirit her and engulfed her complete being with my magic until she looked at me in shock.
“Your nose!” She said, just as the carriage stopped.
“Never mind.” I said, took the tissue the pope handed over to me and wiped all the blood off. It wouldn’t be that easy to train her with her godly powers, that much was clear at this point. If my guess wasn’t entirely wrong, she faced the exact problem I had once more. I couldn’t sense life or whatever else.
“See you tomorrow then.” I said a bit dispirited, slowly placing my hands on my knees.
“What about school?” She said right away as if that was something important.
“I’d like to attend once its open again. But I fear I’m not able to.” I explained and stood up as a butler opened the door. “… and pope Urban? Would you please be so kind to prepare everything for a festival in two weeks? I’ll get in contact with you tomorrow.” I asked and didn’t even bother to wait for his answer. Hopping out of the carriage, I turned around and curtsied elegantly. “Take care.” I said, turned around on my heels and strolled towards the open massive door right away.
“Your majesty. Please follow me.” A familiar maid asked, kneeling down on the granite floor.
“Can you bring me to the king right away?” I asked her immediately and gave her my hand to stand up.
“At once. If I may say so … he believes you broke some kind of agreement.” She whispered, which did make me smile a bit.
“I’m sure he is angry at me for not visiting him very often …” I muttered and nodded towards the maid who turned around right away.
Following after her, the servants who did cross out way went onto their knees which was quite troublesome as I had to ask them to stand up each and every time.
Well, at last we managed to get towards a large dining room where the king sat alone on a white table, made out entirely of stone and enjoyed his meal.
“Thank you …” I said towards the maid who curtsied respectfully. It was only a matter of seconds until she turned around and left the room silently.
“It’s good to see you again.”
“The pleasure is all mine.”
“I would like to see you at my parties though. Did you know how often I was asked what you were doing? And all I could say was what the church told others as well, because other than a letter, I got nothing from you. You are my wife, Lucy Worchester. And as such, I expect you to represent the royal family … and not go on some kind of crusade.”
“You might not like what I have to ask then …” I thought out loudly, slowly striding over towards him.
“Oh?” He asked, probably anticipating a rather easy favour.
“Yes, I do need a favour. Several of them in fact.” I explained quickly, raising his interest even more.
“Do tell me.” He said, leaning forwards on his chair.
“I need an army capable enough to strike deep into demon territory.” His laughter resounded through the luxurious room, but it died down as soon as he realised I wasn’t joking. “In a month. You do not have to concern yourself with organising anything, I merely need the funds of the kingdom for this matter.”
“And why should I let my wife be in charge of an invasion?” Just because I was a woman? I was in the army before he was even born!
“And I need your approval to hold a festival on the royal grounds. I will do what your son has asked me to. I will search for the best of the best and ask them to stand at the forefront of this invasion. Everyone is allowed to take part, so your son can be rest assured.” I explained, looking him straight into the eyes the whole time.
“Now its getting ridiculous.” He said, clearly a bit putt off guard by my unreasonable demands.
“I’ll share my bed with you for this time period every second night.” I explained, tilting my head to the side in curiosity, but only for so long as he reacted exactly as I imagined him to do. “Think about it. You and me … fifteen nights together.” I explained and sat down right next to him, placing my palm on his hand.
“… that is indeed tempting.” He was a fool. Foolish enough to outright deny every single one of my requests right away and for agreeing to everything once I gave him what he wanted without thinking too much about the consequences. The more and more time I spent with him, the less I saw him as a king and more like a person using his power to get whatever he wanted. Unlike me though, his goals where just pleasure while mine were more noble.
“Do we have a deal? Think about it. If I’m successful, a whole lot of your problems will vanish over night and you can seek out every pleasure you want as long as you feel like it.” I explained, a bright smile on my lips.
“You will lead the army as the saint, not as a queen.” Well, but he also was smart enough to direct every bit of blame away from him if things went south.
“I hasn’t planned to do so.” I told him right away.
“Then we have a deal.” He said and leaned over, pressing his lips onto mine right away.
