14 — The Power of Words and a New Goal

14 — The Power of Words and a New Goal

Her Holiness and I met in her chambers once my work in Merratoni was complete.

“Luciel, your efforts on behalf of the Church and guild do not go unnoticed,” her mystical voice resonated from behind the veil.

Despite her words, the extent of my achievements thus far ended with Merratoni. All I’d done was improve our reputation there slightly; the rest of the glory belonged to everyone else.

“Thank you, Your Holiness,” I said, having already kneeled and bowed as usual, “but your words are wasted on me. There are others more deserving of them.”

She chuckled gracefully. “In just three years, you have accomplished much. The labyrinth we had resigned ourselves to is no more. You formed the foundation for a restructuring of our guild and tore out the corruption at its roots. No, my words are far from wasted. They are insufficient.”

I was just as surprised by myself as she was. Jord and the rest had been absolutely nuts about our work, and I’d lost count of how many times I’d had to get on their cases for letting their emotions run too high.

“Thank you, but I still think it was only luck that pulled me through the labyrinth, and I was never alone. There were so many others who felt the same way. All I did was happen to take the reins.”

“We are not so different, then. It was only because of my father that I inherited the position I hold now.”

The veil lifted and crystal blue eyes beneath golden hair looked back at me. The doll-like girl’s delicate features seemed almost too perfect to be anything but divinely crafted. Her immaculate and cherubic smile struck me. Not with love, but with awe. She was beautiful. In the purest sense of the word.

“My father founded this nation, and thus this Holy City, in the heart of the land, so that others might find salvation. But he also founded it for me. So that allies the world over could shield me from the flames of war.”

The founder of Shurule was Lord Reinstar himself. If he was her father, just how old was she? Scratch that—that was a question I definitely shouldn’t voice. But seriously, she didn’t look any older than me.

“Your gaze tells me you are curious about my age. Very well. This year I will be 322.” She giggled playfully. “Surprised?”

“Er, in a word. Pardon the lack of tact, but how are you still alive?” As far as I could tell, she was a regular, beautiful young woman.

“The genes of my high elf mother, I would assume.”

Wait. I tilted my head. I was almost positive that Lord Reinstar had been monogamous and that his wife had been decidedly human. Not an elf by any stretch.

“I thought Lord Reinstar had only one wife.”

“You are correct. Lizalia, I believe her name was. She was a headstrong woman, but kind and often indulged me as a child. My mother, however, was madly in love and pleaded with my father to bed her, just once, so that she could abandon her feelings. And so I was born.”

Excuse me? That was just about the craziest thing I’d ever heard. Lord Reinstar must have been popular in more ways than one.

“I read that it’s rare for children to come from parents of different races. You’re like a walking miracle.”

“Please, you’ll make me blush. To be sure, my mother and father were certainly not average people.” She looked off into the distance as if in fond remembrance.

“Is that why you hide your face?”

“Indeed. Halflings such as myself were not well-liked in the past. The curvature of my ears is not so telling of my elvish heritage, but my unchanging appearance is not easily hidden. So my youth became a blessing of the gods, and I was deified. Or so I hear the story goes.”

Clever plan, Reinstar.

“Why are you telling me all this, Your Holiness?”

“I thought it improper of me to keep secrets from the man who did what I could not; who revived my father’s legacy from the ashes. I refuse to be so discourteous.”

“I’m humbled, Your Holiness.” I could think of nothing else to say.

“Your presence reassures me, Luciel. It gives me hope for the future. I feel that with you at our side, we can overcome any trial. Know that I am always praying for your success.”

I felt the weight of her expectations, and I was more than a little nervous, but nonetheless knew that it changed nothing about what I needed to do.

“Thank you. I’ll do everything I can on my travels, and nothing less.”

“Be sure to write or contact me via crystal, is that understood? Do not forget. Now, your next destination will be the nation of Yenice.”

“Yes, Your Holiness. I pledge to see this duty through to the absolute best of my abilities. We will leave first thing tomorrow.”

“Go with heart, my healer.”

And so the next morning, my guard, the Healer Pentad, and I—together making up the “Order of Healing”—left for foreign lands. To mark our departure, the guidelines went into full force in every corner of every country, with me, the author and new blood of the Church, at the forefront.

The whole world now knew my name.

Five years had passed since I’d started my new life in another world.