Closing the door to Hands’ office, I paused at the sight of a nun. One I recognized.

  “Hello Mapple,” I said as I glanced around.

  She was alone… and had obviously been waiting for me.

  I moved the small box Hands had given to me to my left hand, and wondered if she had ambushed me or had simply not wanted to bother Hands as he and I spoke. He was a little odd, so it did make sense… but at the same time I also knew Mapple was the type to be odd herself.

  She had rubbed me wrong a little the other day, by questioning me about Cat before I had even met the woman. Was this going to be the continuation of it?

  “Rennalee. May we talk?” Mapple asked gently.

  I noted the tone, and realized she wasn’t as… prickly as she had been the other day. Maybe her fervent accusational demeanor the last time we met had just been her worry and concern for the Society.

  “Sure?” I nodded and agreed as I stepped away from the door. Once again even though I could no longer hear the incessant ticking of the clocks, they still echoed in my head. Maybe that man’s strange personality and slight craziness was from the constant noises and ticking of his room. It’d make me go crazy if I had to live in such a place.

  Mapple joined me as we left and I headed for the mansio. I wanted to go find Vim, but wanted to drop off the small box I carried before I did.

  “Did he give you a clock?” Mapple asked as we walked.

  I frowned at that. Could she not hear the lack of ticking coming from the box?

  “No… I’m told he gives clocks to people he expects to never see again, is that true?” I asked, hoping to not have to tell her what Hands had given me.

  Mapple smiled softly and nodded. “Yes. I’m told he does it out of instinct. No one is sure how he knows, but so far as I’m aware he’s never been wrong. Once he gives someone a clock, the two genuinely never meet again,” Mapple said.

  Oh…? So it was more than just a parting gift of some kind…? How interesting!

  “Why a clock you think?” I asked.

  “Maybe a way to inter one should value time?” Mapple stated.

  I nodded, that was a good way to think of it.

  Doing my best to ignore the box in my hand as well as I could, I slowed a little as we rounded a corner. “I hear you’re not a sister, Mapple,” I said gently.

  Mapple didn’t seem bothered. “I’m not. I do not believe in their god, just my own,” she said.

  “Your own…?”

  She nodded. “My creator. My ancestor. You know them as monarchs,” she said.

  Oh.

  “Yet you wear their robes,” I noted to her attire.

  Mapple smiled at me. “Yes. I know. A conundrum. Think of it as my way of showing respect to the people and the faith that have welcomed me, even during my heresy,” she said.

  Huh… “I see,” I said. How neat. She was more than she seemed.

  “How about you, Renn? I hear any day now you too may be wearing these robes,” Mapple said.

  I slowed as I frowned. “Me…?” I asked. Was that what people were saying about me…? Or was it because I did wear them occasionally, when given permission. But I knew she wasn’t speaking about me simply wearing the robes. She meant it in a way more than just as a dress or garments. She meant instead that she and many others expected me to become a member of the church. A sister, like many others.

  “Are the rumors wrong?” Mapple asked.

  “Well… I don’t know. Vim likes it when I wear robes, but he’d likely not be very happy if I wore them every day for the rest of my life,” I said with a smile.

  Mapple stopped walking, her eyes going wide in shock. I too paused, and felt horrible. What if my little joke just how had been interpreted wrongly? She looked as if I had just slapped her across the face!

  “I uh… it was a joke. A small one,” I said gently, since it seemed Mapple still was shocked.

  She blinked, and then frowned… and then smiled. “Yes. It was,” she stated.

  It was my turn to frown. What’d that mean…?

  Mapple returned to walking, forcing me to join her. She giggled a little as we finished rounding the corner, and I heard voices in the distance. Common in this area, we were near the places of worship. “What a joke indeed…!” she happily said, still giggling.

  Was she teasing me…?

  Vim did and didn't like it when I wore those nun robes. As much as he hated my fascination with religion, he seemed to find it interesting all the same. Plus I think it was something of an amusement to him. He liked how I could look so comfortable in such attire, looking the part of a nun, yet flirt and join him in his teasing all the while. So it wasn’t entirely a joke, really. Though I had intended it to be such.

  Once Mapple finished giggling, she sighed. “I hear you’re leaving soon. Tomorrow maybe?” Mapple asked.

  “Oh…? Yes. You know how Vim is,” I said.

  While staring down the hallway, at a group of people in the distance, out of the corner of my eye I noticed Mapple glance at me. “Yes. I do know,” she whispered.

  Nodding as I glanced at her, I wondered suddenly if she was like the others. Those who, for one reason or another, wanted Vim for themselves. That whisper had been rather telling.

  Really, Vim. Just how many women are smitten with you? It wasn’t fair… did he not know in my long life I’ve only had a handful of men ever even try to flirt with me? Granted he had many more years on me, but still…!

  “Well… I’ll leave you be then. You must have stuff to do, and might want to rest as you can before he drags you off on another journey,” Mapple then said.

  “Oh…?” I frowned at her and paused as she nodded and smiled at me, and then patted me on the back.

  “See you later Renn. Safe travels, and stay warm. Winter will be upon us again soon,” she warned.

  “Right… goodbye Mapple,” I nodded and wondered what to say.

  Hadn’t she wanted to talk…? To ask something…? Why else had she been waiting for me outside of Hands’ office?

  Yet Mapple simply nodded and turned, and headed back down the hallway we had just come from. As if to head back to Hands’ office.

  Huh…? Had she gotten the answer she had wanted? Was it about the gift Hands had given me, maybe? Maybe she had only wanted to know if he had given me a clock or not? Or maybe she had simply just wanted to chat a little, happenstance letting us meet. Or had she just simply… forgotten her question during our conversation?

  “Odd woman,” I whispered as I turned and returned to walking.

  Though I was likely not much better. Vim always found it odd that I’d focus on weird things, sometimes.

  Glancing down at the little box in my hand, I smiled at it.

  Hands was odd too. But I was thankful for it. His oddness had allowed me to get a hold of something neat.

  Passing a group of people, I turned another corner and headed for the hallway which would lead me back to the mansio.

  As I walked past the group, I noted the sound of a light cough. One that was eerily familiar. I paused a moment, and felt my ears twitch beneath my hat.

  Glancing at the older woman who had coughed, I narrowed my eyes as I watched her cover her mouth and cough again.

  Hearing it again made my stomach turn.

  Yes. That was the same cough those sick people had back south. The cough of that plague. The one I had when sick too, after visiting Landi’s kingdom.

  I stepped away, since I wasn’t sure what to say or do about it. Vim and the rest had said it was already here, just not as bad, but…

  I’ll let Vim know. Not that he would likely do much about it, other than warn those in the Society who were already fully aware of the disease… but…

  Hopefully it wouldn’t spread too badly here. And if it did, hopefully no one in the Society would suffer from it.

  It didn’t take long for me to return to the mansio. I found it empty, which wasn’t too surprising. Sillti had basically latched onto Link, and was already moving into one of the rooms near his. She had shown it to me earlier since we had passed one another a few hours ago. I had just left the Chronicler’s office and found her carrying a box. Jelti had given her some supplies to more easily settle into her new home.

  A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

  Angie was with Vim and Randle, at the orphanage. Oplar had left. Cat was with Henrietta and the rest of the dogs at the kitchens. She had enjoyed working with them and asked to do so once more before we left. As to basically pay the Society and this church for housing her and feeding her while she was here. Cat saw her labor as payment, and honestly I was glad she was such a person. I liked it when people repaid the kindness given to them, even if it wasn’t needed.

  Climbing the stairs to our room, I quickly deposited the box onto one of the smaller dresser tops. I laid it next to my little blue box of nail cutters and polishers, amongst other things. I knew soon I’d have to pack it all away, since Vim planned on us leaving either tomorrow or the next day.

  “Witch…” I mumbled my friends name and wondered what to think of what was happening.

  A saint. One of her descendants. One who had a prophecy, a dream as Vim called it, of the birth of a monarch. One that had worried her so desperately she had sent Cat and many of her colleagues to their doom. Or well, not intentionally. Vim killing them had been a terrible accident, one that I’d not really talked to him about yet.

  Cat had told me what had happened, and how and the why… but I wasn’t sure yet what to think of it all.

  Vim was strong. Strong enough to kill on accident. I knew this well. He’s not only told me of such incidents before, I’ve seen it. In the way he breaks things on accident. Half the time absentmindedly, the other half thanks to great emotion or shock.

  So I could see how it had happened. He had happened upon a strange group of humans, dressed oddly near the home of members of the Society. Ones who had known about the fires, the source of them, and speaking of a saint and a monarch. Vim likely had been agitated. Bothered. Upset.

  He very likely killed them thanks to fury, but not on purpose. Even Cat, although saddened over what had happened, didn’t seem to blame Vim at all… but that might also be thanks to the fact she saw me and Vim as something akin to a legend. My fault really, being a friend of her ancestor. She saw me as some kind of weird fable. A marvel. Something wonderful, yet sacred.

  Taking a deep breath, I sighed as I left the room and headed downstairs. Stepping around the corner, to enter the front room, I came to a stop upon finding Vim.

  He was sitting at the table, hands clasped and resting upon it. Looking utterly relaxed, yet stiff and stressed at the same time.

  Basically his typical self.

  “Vim?” I asked. When had he come in? He hadn’t been at the table when I entered earlier, and I hadn’t heard the door open or the gate either… Why was he so sneaky sometimes? At least this time I hadn’t jumped and my heart hadn’t tried to escape my chest.

  Though there was something strangely eerie in the way he was quietly sitting there… why hadn’t he greeted me back yet?

  Walking over to the table, I debated saying something silly or wrapping him in a hug. Instead I patiently waited for him, as always, and placed my hand on the back of one of the chairs. I stood there, smiling at the man who hadn’t even looked at me yet. His eyes were as sharp as ever, but I could tell he wasn’t staring at anything directly. He was deeply pondering something.

  After a few minutes, Vim then blinked and nodded. “Did you like Hands’ gift?” he asked.

  I smiled and nodded. “Yes. I look forward to adding to it, with my own notes,” I said.

  “Hm… A dangerous thing, Renn. As you know there are only a few maps of the Society in the whole world. And they usually never leave the rooms they are hidden and stored within,” Vim said.

  I nodded as I pulled the chair back, and sat down. Sitting across from him, I copied Vim and laid my arms down and clasped my hands. “I find it hard to think something in my possession, while standing right next to you, isn’t as safe if not safer than anywhere else in the world,” I argued.

  “Even I fail and make mistakes, Renn. Plus there is the human error to factor in,” he said.

  “If you don’t want me to have a map, Vim, I’ll destroy it,” I said, deciding to not argue further. Maybe he was being serious about it. His free will allowed me to receive it, and Hands to give it, but because of who I was he was still voicing his opinion to me.

  Vim smiled at me. “No, Renn. I’ll not make you destroy a gift. Not like that. I just… wish for you to be careful with it is all,” he said.

  I nodded. “I will be. I promise.” In fact I planned to not add to it and mark it myself until I knew it was perfectly safe to do so. In fact…

  “Hm…” he nodded back.

  “I don’t need a drawn map, Vim, to remember locations I’ve been to or who’s there,” I reminded him.

  He chuckled and nodded. “That I know well.”

  “So… did you bring it up to remind me? Or warn me?” I asked.

  “Neither. I was using you as an excuse to distract myself from my own mind,” Vim said.

  “Funny, usually I’m the thing you need distraction from,” I teased him.

  Vim smirked at me and nodded, a little happily. “Right?”

  I smiled too and nodded. “Want me to keep distracting you or would you like to talk about it?” I asked.

  His hands shifted ever so slightly. I didn’t glance at them, but I heard the way his fingers tightened around each other, and his very skin made noises as great stress and pressure pushed and pulled thanks to his grip.

  Was it that bad…? Maybe I should change the topic then.

  I shifted a little and gulped. “I heard a cough. On the way back here from Hands’ office. From one of the local women. The same cough we heard in the south,” I told him.

  He nodded. “The plague is here already too, yes. But not as prevalent. Either the northern folk are hardier, or with the death of the monarch that birthed it the disease has lessened in its effectiveness. There are many people bedridden right now, sick, but the death rate is far lower than the south,” Vim said, unbothered.

  “Anyone in the Society sick?” I asked.

  “Not that I’m aware of, here at least. But yes there’s been a few members who have gotten sick, or are currently sick, per reports and letters.”

  “Seems like you’re not too worried about it,” I noted.

  “I’m not. The Society has faced plagues before, and with the source gone the disease will either fade away into obscurity or mutate a few times and either become super deadly or become a common flu. Nothing to fret over,” he said.

  “Uh… I’d say becoming super deadly would be something to worry about, since I already thought it was such a thing as it was,” I said.

  He smiled at me. “Truly deadly diseases kill so quickly they can’t spread properly. Think about how long it takes for people to travel from city to city, or nation to nation. If the disease infected quickly, and killed even quicker, it’d not be able to spread much. It’d eliminate itself purely through its lethality,” he explained.

  Hm… I nodded as I understood what he was trying to teach me. It made a lot of sense.

  “What’s a flu?” I asked.

  “A type of sickness. Did you meet Mapple? I smell her on you,” he asked, changing the topic.

  Oh…? Was that on purpose, or did he just not care for the conversation?

  “I had. She had walked with me for a short moment, we hadn’t really said much. She asked if Hands had given me a clock or not,” I said.

  He smirked. “I see. She had hoped he had, I bet.”

  “So it’s true? She likes you too?” I asked.

  “Mapple? No. Not at all. She’s like Landi. She wants a child, particularly from me for some reason. But she actually hates me furiously. It’s a weird thing I try not to address,” he said.

  I groaned and shook my head, and looked away from him. Really. What was I going to do with him?

  “I know right? Ridiculous. She’s not my type at all.”

  Raising an eyebrow I quickly thought of Mapple. She wore those thick robes, so it had been difficult to really tell what her body had been like but her face hadn’t been too uncomely. She had looked a little older, but not enough to make her seem outright old by appearance alone. In fact, now that I thought about her, I could see that many men likely would have thought her to be pretty. She had a pretty smile.

  “So I’m your type?” I asked.

  “On occasion…” Vim unclasped his hands, and I watched as he leaned back. The chair he sat upon creaked, but didn’t break. “I planned to leave tomorrow, but something came up. We might be here a few more days,” he informed me. I kept my own hands clasped, however.

  “Hm? What happened?” I had thought he had wanted to go see Witch’s descendant as quickly as possible.

  “Randle. He’s told me something that’s… worrisome. We’re going to meet him later, to talk about it, and I’ll decide what to do next from there,” he said.

  “I see…” I whispered. Was it something to do with me? Or was it concerning the stuff happening, like the vote or Randle and the Chronicler’s issues?

  “Also, there’s a chance we may be separated again,” he then said.

  “Huh? Why?” I asked. What happened now?

  “Fly,” he said.

  I sat up straighter, and my hat slid off my head. It fell to my lap, but I ignored it as I glared at him. “What happened, Vim?” I asked, suddenly very worried.

  “She’s not doing well. She’s getting into fights with those at the Bell Church. I’m not yet sure how or why, but Plumb has requested her to be taken elsewhere. They feel she is not a proper fit, or that it would simply be best if she went elsewhere for her own sake,” he said.

  My clasped hands gripped together tighter, mimicking Vim’s. Though mine didn’t make weird noises, even though I had gripped tightly. “What do you mean, Vim?” I asked further.

  “Exactly what it sounds like, Renn. Fly is having issues. Those at the location have suggested, and in a way requested, that she be taken elsewhere. It happens.”

  “She’s just a child,” I said, growing angry.

  He nodded, unafraid to hold my gaze which was now a stern glare. “She is.”

  “Plumb is the elder, right? The one who had banished me?” I asked.

  He nodded.

  “Thus why I can’t go with you. Being banished,” I said. It was a true banishment. Like the one I had received in Ruvindale, not Lumen.

  He nodded again.

  I clenched my jaw and shook my head. “When’d you hear about this?” I asked.

  “Yesterday. We’ve been busy,” he said.

  “You should have told me right away…!”

  “I know. I’m sorry.”

  I was about to growl at him some more, but calmed down. He looked genuinely hurt.

  “Sorry,” I apologized, realizing I was being unfair. After all… we had recently been dealing with serious issues. Trek’s death, for one.

  He gave me a gentle smile. “It’s fine Renn. I’m upset over it too. I actually have a plan, if you’d like to hear it,” he said.

  I nodded.

  “I want you to take Cat up north. To Lilly. To both deliver Randle’s letter for him, but also to ask for her assistance,” he said.

  Assistance…? “For what?” I asked.

  Vim’s eyes narrowed. “To protect you.”

  I blinked. “Protect me…? From what?” I asked.

  “That’s just it Renn,” he whispered.

  Shifting a little, my heart thumped for a few moments as I calmed down. I was still a little upset over hearing the news about Fly. That poor girl didn’t deserve to be banished. And fights? What’d that mean? Who’d get in a fight with her? What for? Who was tormenting that poor bird?

  “What’s happening, Vim?” I asked again, since he hadn’t continued after a moment of silence.

  Vim took a deep breath and sighed, and had been about to answer… but the metal gate squeaked as it was opened. I turned, and heard voices. Angie. Sillti. Link.

  “We’ll talk later,” Vim said softly as he stood, to open the door and greet the huffing young bison who sounded upset.

  “I’m glad you’re moving out, you’ve become insufferable,” Angie complained as Vim opened the door, and I smirked as I found out why Angie was bothered.

  Sillti was clinging to Link’s massive arm, giggling happily. Likely doing it just to tease the poor young girl.

  Link’s face was flushed red, and became even redder upon seeing Vim and I.

  “Why Link, look at you. Your father would be proud,” Vim said, teasing the giant man.

  Link immediately lifted his free hand, to cover his flushed face, as Sillti giggled and Angie groaned.

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