The priestess grumbled her way across the East Rest. She had been in a sour mood since Sam had left for Happfield Chapel that morning. Maribel and Shiner had helped him onto the small, ramshackle wagon headed east out of The Throne and saw him off. Afterwards, Shiner had invited her to, as he put it, a romantic breakfast at Madge’s.

  But Maribel turned him down. She had decided in Braver’s office yesterday, when the two had learned they were being reassigned, that she would go to East Rest to let Sam’s family know he was safe after the riot. But Sam was being reassigned to one of the Chapel’s that the Wrath Liches were going to be attacking. She would not be making any guarantees about his safety after today.

  What had Sam said his family’s surname was. Eldon? Belton?

  Finally, she saw a large manor behind a thick, white stone brick wall. An iron gate was flanked by large lion statues. At the feet of each lion was a plaque reading “Estin.”

  “Was this it?” she muttered to herself. Maribel gave a cursory, searching look up and down the row of large, decorated homes, and shrugged. “I mean, maybe they’ll know.”

  Maribel tested the gate and was surprised when it opened inward. They just leave this thing unlocked? For anyone to come walking in? The yard was brilliantly manicured. The bright green grass stopped immediately at the stone footpath leading up to the double doors made of beautifully shined dark wood.

  Landscaping projects littered the lard. Small ponds with stone benches. A purposely perfect cluster of small fruit trees or shrubs. Plots of flowers that were still blooming. These people had to have a druid on payroll to keep the grounds looking this nice.

  She studied, too, the brick home of her modest friend. The dissonance tickled her, truthfully. If she had grown up here, you could bet she would not be swinging a scepter and running paperwork for the God of Civilization.

  When Maribel reached the doors to the home, she noticed a thin velvet rope to serve as the doorbell ringer. She gave it a couple gentle tugs and heard the magical chimes echo inside the home. The wait for an answer was strange. She could only justify it as the size of the house. Sam’s family was probably sitting way in the back in massive comfortable chairs with hands full of delightful food and drink, and her ringing of their bell set into motion a chorus of “allow me, dear” and “no sweetie, you stay here.”

  Amid her reverie, Maribel did not notice the approach of a middle-aged woman. “Um, hello, how can we help you?” she asked, the concern on her face had been something Maribel prepared for.

  “Hello, Mrs. Estin. Are you familiar with Sam?”

  “He is my son,” she said, looking more concerned. “I heard about the riot. Nothing has happened…?”

  “Great, I found the house,” Maribel said with her warmest smile. “Your son is perfectly safe. He is on his way to an assignment, but he did not have time to say something to you all, so I wanted to stop by.”

  “Oh Dreamer!” Sam’s mother began to tear up.

  Why was she about to cry? She just said her son was safe. Did she mishear Maribel?

  “That is so sweet of you, dear! Please! Come inside,” Sam’s mother pulled Maribel into the beautiful house.

  “Who was at the door, mom?” asked a young girl with Sam’s same blond hair from behind an upper level banister. She was wearing what seemed to me a man’s shirt, much too large for her, and stained with paint.

  “She is a friend of your brother’s. Get out of that disgusting shirt and come down and say hello.”

  “Oh, ma’am, I’m sorry,” Maribel said, trying to slow their trip deeper into the house. “I truly do not want to impose on you all.”

  “Nonsense!” Mrs. Estin sang. “A friend of Sam’s is a friend of ours and he has been so hard to see. Can you imagine he has only visited us six times in the four months he has been here?”

  Maribel was being pulled into a guest room littered with those snacks and beverages from her daydream, apparently set out “just in case.” She definitely could see Sam avoiding this. If he spent every weekend up here he would have been twice as large.

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  “You will have to excuse Sam’s father. He is at work at this time of day,” Mrs. Estin said, setting Maribel in a large red chair, then moving to the table to begin preparing a plate of plump grapes. Maribel figured they were for the woman, but then Sam’s mother spun on her heels and pushed the plate in Maribel’s direction. At some point in the spin, the woman had added a block of yellow cheese and a thick slice of bread to the plate. This woman was a wizard of hospitality.

  “Oh, it is no trouble. Like I said I was just wanting to let you all know Sam was safe.”

  “And we appreciate that. My oldest was just asking me about him. She was going to go to Back City while she was down in the lower levels shopping for her wedding, but the tunnel was blocked off. That was how we heard about the riot. Such a shame.”

  The young girl appeared in the doorway, now in a soft yellow shirt and a dark purple skirt.

  “Diane, come say hi to-” Suddenly, Sam’s mother went pale. “How could I have been so rude! We have not even introduced ourselves. Marie Estin. This is Diane, my youngest child.”

  “Sister Maribel,” the priestess said, standing to bow slightly.

  “No no no,” Marie said quickly. “Stay seated. You came all the way up from Back City. You have to be tired.”

  Maribel was first wondering where the servants or maids were. For a house this large, she would have thought they would be absolutely necessary. But after speaking to Marie for such a short time, she could see plainly that she could handle this entire building alone.

  “The sister has come to tell us that Sam is safe,” Marie said with an excited nod.

  “Oh, that is great news,” Diane said softly, with genuine relief. “I hope that the riot was not too dangerous for you all.”

  “There were rioters who were lost,” Maribel said truthfully. “But, thank the Dreamer, no one from the mission was even injured, and your son was honestly the one to thank.”

  Marie’s eyes went wide. “Truly?”

  “Yes ma’am,” Maribel said, smiling at the excitement of the mother. She went on to explain Sam’s idea to summon the windburst. The Estins listened, completely enraptured by the tale of their son’s heroics.

  Seeing how happy they were to hear about Sam made her so much more comfortable. She even popped a grape into her mouth as Marie went on and on about how happy she was to see Sam recovering from his “setback” at the Abbey.

  Maribel had no idea what she was talking about, but his mother treated it like a sour subject that even she did not know much about.

  “That is just amazing,” Diane said with awe in her eyes. “I can’t believe the Wrath Liches came into the city.”

  “I would not worry too much about them,” Maribel replied. “The Church is moving to ensure that this will never happen again. And with your brother on our side…” Maribel trailed off to let his sister and mother fill in the rest with their imagination.

  The two women went starry-eyed. A perfect hit.

  After continuing to chat about Sam’s undertakings in Back City and eating a few more of the wonderful, albeit somewhat wasteful, snacks spread in the guest room, Maribel moved to excuse herself.

  “Now, before I overstay my welcome in your beautiful home, I’m afraid I should be headed back to the mission.”

  Diane looked almost relieved to not have to entertain. “It was wonderful to meet you, sister. Have a safe trip back down.” Immediately, the young woman zipped from the room.

  “Let me walk you to the door, Sister. Your plate please?” Marie took the plate from the priestess and led her out into the main corridor of the mansion. Hanging on the sides were beautiful portraits, and just before reaching the entry foyer was a tapestry that Maribel had not had time to notice before.

  There was no contiguous image. Just a pattern of beautiful gold trimming within a field of deep blue. A stunning piece of work. She would love more time to look at it.

  “Let me run this to the kitchen, Sister, then we will continue our journey to the exit,” Marie said with a chuckle at her own joke. She moved down into a side room.

  Maribel excitedly turned to continue studying the tapestry. In the bottom right hand corner, there was a slight mistake in the fringe work. Two of the fringes were just too far apart. It was something that would normally go unnoticed, but Maribel had been studying fabrics since she was a child.

  She took the fringe work in her hand to double check. Just as she had expected, it was not a mistake in the traditional sense. Whoever had made this tapestry had put this little hiccup in the piece intentionally.

  Just as Maribel moved to look at the rest of the piece, Marie coughed. “Sister, this is one of my treasured possessions.”

  “My apologies,” Maribel said, bending at the waist. “I just enjoy fine cloth work.”

  Marie Estin’s eyes lit up. “As do I, my dear.”