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Chapter Eleven:
Faede's Father
The next morning,
Cadillac woke Marium up in a very uncomfortable way. He poured icy river water
onto her head. "IIIEEE!!! COLD!"
The Priestess leapt out
of bed, and shivered as she grabbed Cadillac by his squirrelish tail. He
shrieked in pain, and clawed at her hands, but she deftly maneuvered out of his
reach. She ran through the residential section of the temple, into the kitchen,
banging into the furniture and walls that somehow ended up in her way. Marium
skidded to a halt in the kitchen, and snickered at what she was going to do
next. She got a glass of icy water, and was about to pour it on the disgruntled
magi, when two voices called to her attention. It was Jonah and the slippery
apprentice, Faede. They'd seen it all.
"Ah... um.."
Marium quickly splashed the water on the mage, and then dropped him. "He
started it."
"Marium! We have a
guest! Look at you! Go put some clothes on!" Jonah commanded in a
fatherlike way. Marium looked down at herself. She was wearing a big shirt she
found in one of the empty resident rooms and her undergarments. After thinking
it over for a moment, Marium trudged back into her room and flopped back on the
bed. Cadillac grabbed another glass of water and entered her room, which
immediately got her on her feet, for fear of getting splashed again.
She dressed in her
priestess robe, which seemed to be a bit heavier today than last, and reentered
the kitchen. "By the way, Faede, why are you still here?"
"Hold your tongue,
Marium! Faede's father is the most powerful sorcerer in the entire sorcerer
guild. If you talk too rashly to him, it could result in trouble." Jonah
muttered. Faede overheard, and smirked.
"That's right,
little warrioress of Yin, and I do not think you are yet ready to take on my
old man. I don't think you will ever be."
Marium glared, and stood
up, disgustedly. "As I said to Altaire before I beat you up, I will NOT be
mocked by a snot-nosed... immature, adolescent wannabe sorcerer... in my own
temple. If YOU do not 'watch your tongue', Mage Faede, I will have you thrown
out... and I'll do it myself, if Cadillac and Jonah do not wish to become
involved."
"Or she could ask
me," a quiet, subdued voice echoed from the shadows. Altaire had arrived
on the scene. "Sorcerer or no, this is her temple. The goddess's word is
final here."
With a mocking
inclination of his head, Faede acknowledged the High Priest of Yang's presence.
"Ah yes. The kind, goodhearted Priest of Yang. My father has told me much
about the trouble you've caused to the Sorcerer Guild's plans. I would be doing
all sorcerers in this world a favor if I disposed of you right now... but, I
promised the little warrioress of Yin that I came in peace."
"Hmph." Marium
muttered, walking over to Altaire and throwing her arms around him in a welcome
embrace. It was an innocent gesture, like saying hi or good morning, but Faede
seemed to take it wrong. He was silent, and remained quiet all through the
morning.
There weren't many people
around the temple that day, which gave Marium time to think, and time to
discuss their next move with Altaire, Cadillac, and Jonah. Faede insisted that
he should listen in as well.
"Mage Faede, you are
still aligned with the enemy, no matter if you come in peace or not. Until you
prove your devotion to our cause, or my goddess, you can't hear our plans. I
apologize." with an honest bow to show her seriousness, Marium shut the
rice paper door of the makeshift conference room. Faede frowned, grumpily, and
turned to wait in another room.
After much conversation
and argument (between Cadillac and Marium), it was decided that they would
search out more help. There was a legendary archer somewhere in the northern
continent called Mecca, and he would give them an advantage in their quest to
rid the world of the corrupt sorcerer's guild. And there was also a boy that
had won the championship swordsman position at the age of 12. He was supposedly
15 now, and had joined the mage knights of Yang.
The group exited the room
and found Faede leaning back in a chair in the study. "Well, we've decided
our course of action, Mage Faede. We'll be leaving tomorrow, so be prepared to
go back to where ever you came from by then."
Cadillac, surprised at
Marium's straight forward tone, glanced up at her. "Marium!"
Jonah just shrugged,
saying something about 'kids will be kids', and then leaving for his bed
chamber. Marium was the next to retire, followed by Cadillac and then Altaire
and Faede. But not everyone went straight to sleep.
Laying in her bed, Marium
stared up at the darkened ceiling. "So many things. So many choices and
risks. Oh.. I can't sleep until I get this load off my mind." Marium sat
up still under the covers. "Maybe Cadillac's still up. I know for sure I
can't talk to Altaire. I always dump my problems on him. Jonah wouldn't
understand... then again... neither would Cadillac, to tell the truth. No one
to talk to.. well, I'll take a walk in the forest."
Without making a noise,
the priestess opened the door and peered out a crack. Altaire was walking right toward her room! Gasping, she shut the
door again, and jumped back into bed, feigning sleep.
Altaire opened the door
and entered, then came and sat by her bedside. Her gazed at her, intently, then
sighed. I know you're awake, Marium.
Marium rolled to the
other side of the bed and snorted. Altaire smiled at her. "Mm..."
Or I could be wrong. Sweet dreams, Marium. Tomorrow's a big day, for
both us and our comrades.
As soon as Altaire had
shut the door, Marium sprang up from her bed and tiptoed to the door. He’d left
it open a crack on accident, and Marium put one eye to the slit, only to come
face to face with a snake pupiled, purple eye staring straight back at her. She
gasped and stumbled backward, falling in a crumpled heap. There were some
hurried footsteps heading away from her door, and Marium stayed on the ground
for a moment longer, pondering who the eye had belonged to.
It wasn’t a hard guess. Only one
person she knew had those strange, curiously colored eyes.