[744] – Y03.044 – In The Red IV

[744] – Y03.044 – In The Red IV

“It’s not my stah, is your stah, okay?” Jirot asked, though in a way which was more like a statement than a question. She pointed up towards the evening sky, watching as the stars began to fall across the Iyr. She laid beside her younger brother, who was also enjoying the sky.

“Okay,” Jarot, gently nodding his head in response. He pointed up towards the sky, before pointing out other stars, but tried to find the same star as before, though they had slightly shifted position. “Is gone?”

“Is gone?” Jirot narrowed her eyes and stared intently at the stars. “No, is, is back.” Jirot pointed to the side, where she noted the stars with the sparkling colours, which shifted within her eyes at every passing moment.

A tiny girl, clutching a bottle of milk, stumbled her way towards the pair, before she fell to her bottom, drinking her milk.

“Jitoo’, come,” Jirot called, patting beside her.

The girl shuffled on her bottom to beside the goblin girl, before she eventually lay down, drinking from her bottle as she stared up at the stars with the pair.

Konarot sat and stared down at the board, narrowing her eyes towards it. Tonagek stared at the board opposite her, though sometimes his eyes pulled away to watch her tail sway from side to side.

“How far can the knight move?” Tonagek asked.

“Two,” the girl replied, looking at the knight pieces on the board. She picked up the knight and moved it. “One. Two.”

“You have claimed the peasant,” Tonagek said, allowing her to take the peasant off the board, to place it in the small pile of pieces on her side. “I will move the sorcerer beside your priest and pin him.” The Iyrman placed his sorcerer beside Konarot’s priest, freezing him in place.

Konarot inhaled sharply, sitting up taller and straighter, annoyed by the move since the priest was going to move towards one of his pieces to shift their allegiance the turn after. She reached up to her mouth as she thought deeply, in the same way Tonagek would do on his turns, her tail swaying from side to side.

Kirot ran around the courtyard, with Karot following her, the pair counting to five each time they did so, and once they were done, they sat together to toss a ball towards one another.

“Hoo!” Kirot would grunt, as though she was lifting a heavy weight while she lifted the ball, before tossing the ball towards her brother. The ball was made of leather stitched together, and rather than a ball, it was more like a cube, one which landed and rolled perhaps only once depending on if it landed on a corner.

“Hoo!” Karot grunted in a similar manner, tossing the ball back towards his sister, panting lightly.

“They are working so hard,” Mosen said, sipping his wine. His young daughter sat on his lap, drinking her milk from her bottle as she lay her head on her father’s chest.

“They wish to grow so big and strong,” Sonarot said, sipping her wine, while Lanarot slowly chewed her bread nearby. “Adam will be displeased.”

“That nephew of yours is so queer,” Mosen stated. “Chisen, you will become so big and strong, yes?” Mosen reached down to his daughter’s cheeks, rubbing them gently. “You cried so much to come and now you are so quiet and drinking your milk. Go, sit with your aunt.” As Mosen raised his daughter for Sonarot, Chisen squirmed and coughed, making to cry as Sonarot gave Mosen a look to take back his daughter. Chisen stared up at her father, clutching at his shirt so he couldn’t rid of her easily.

“Must you distress your daughter so much?”

Lanarot smirked. “Yes. I am.”

Adam also confirmed the young girl was kind to Mother Priest, gushing about all the children.

“Of course, then there’s Gurot, who is such a chonky boy. His older brothers, Turot and Asorot, are looking after him well. I’m sure they’re playing with him every day, since they’re both good kids. If Turot can’t even play with his brother, then how can he become Elder Peace? He should do at least that much, shouldn’t he?”

“Of course Katool is also looking after Jitool well. She’s protecting her so much, too much. She won’t even let me hug her for more than a minute! Why can’t I hug her for more than a minute? She likes playing with Jirot and Jarot, but shouldn’t she also play with me? I’m her cousin too, aren’t I? They keep saying I’m their cousin and not their Cousin, so shouldn’t I be able to do that much? I have permission from the Chief! In writing!”

“Kavgak’s such a good girl too, she’s so chonky, and her heart is even bigger. You know, she was the first one to give me a gift from my adorable little cousins. She gave me a stone, the best stone, let me tell you, if you want some nice stones, I know just the girl to find you some nice stones.”

“What do they mean they’ll become monsters? What, just because I’m hanging around them? Just because I want to-,”

“Adam,” Vonda called, quickly cutting the half elf off. She was surprised Adam hadn’t already slipped up, but he had grown dangerously close with the last few statements. If he was mentioning them becoming monsters, it was too close to that particular secret of his, and once Mother Priest knew, it wouldn’t be long until such messages were spread across the temples of the land, and even the lands beyond.

Adam stopped, twitching slightly as he threw Vonda a look, before his face rapidly shifted into realisation, until he finally hid his face behind his hand. ‘Did I really just go on a tangent about the kids? Baktu damn it, am I actually an idiot? This is so embarrassing, holy. I should drop a Fireball on myself.’ His entire face turned red hot with embarrassment.

“It was wonderful to speak with you both,” Mother Priest stated, smile gracefully.

The pair stood, making their way out. Adam stepped out first, almost stumbling into the corridor as the land around him seemed to shift once more, throwing a look at the older acolyte who had guided them there. He smiled awkwardly, fixing the scarf around his head, clearing his throat.

Vonda didn’t step out just yet, instead turning back to face Mother Priest. “It is always a pleasure to speak with you Mother Priest.”

Mother Priest continued to smile. “If you ever need an ear to listen to you, I will lend mine to you, Sister Vonda.”

“I hope you will keep my words in mind, and take my words to heard, of all the matters we have discussed.” Vonda’s eyes stared deeply into the priest’s eyes.

Mother Priest smiled slightly wider, bowing her head, watching the young woman leave. Once she stepped out, the older woman held up her hand, and the door glided to shut, light flashing across the outline of the door to denote it had been magically locked. She reached into her pocket, pulling out the string she had gently pulled from Adam’s sleeve, before she raised her hand towards the wall, which shifted slightly, as a book floated over towards her. She opened the book, which held Adam’s name inked against the spine, and tucked the string into the back of the book, where a little sleeve had been formed to keep a person’s possession to allow for the priests an easier time to cast their magic.

Mother Priest thought about what the young woman had told her about Adam.

‘He is dangerous, but he has a good heart.’

She sighed, before reaching out her hand once more, and a long strand of hair floated towards her. She thought to replace the item within Vonda’s book, but a strand of her was not quite as clean as one of the threads of the woman’s scarf she had claimed years ago.

Dun dun dun!