Closing the door behind me, I sighed at the sight of Renn and Randle.

They were sitting at the table in his office, and they both had little cups in their hands. They weren’t steaming anymore, but I could smell the freshly brewed tea. The fireplace nearby wasn’t burning too strongly, and the kettle was no longer hanging over it but instead resting in front of it on a small metal plate.

During my short absence they had seemingly settled in, as if old friends. It kind of annoyed me how quickly the two had become so comfortable with each other.

Even if Randle was a trustworthy man, and honestly a good one, I still didn’t like the idea of my wife being all chummy with a priest.

“Welcome back,” Renn said with a smile.

I nodded as I stepped deeper into Randle’s office, and wondered if I should have not returned so quickly.

I was honestly tired of these conversations. Of this place. Of the people here.

I wanted to leave. Now. To run away.

But I couldn’t, and not just because there was still things to do and conversations to have.

Renn was here, after all, and I couldn’t leave her here. Not alone. If I did then I’d likely return and find her not just listening to sermons, but giving them, and I couldn’t have that. At all.

Stepping over to the table, I ignored Randle’s odd glance as I went to sit back down next to him. He likely found it odd I would sit next to him and not Renn, what with her being my wife and all.

“Well?” Renn asked. She was excited to hear what had happened.

I nodded. “You were right Randle. They’re here,” I said.

Randle let out a sigh, but not one of relief but instead exhaustion.

“Did you talk to them?” Renn asked.

I shook my head. “I just saw Less at a distance. I didn’t see Light, by the way, nor smell her… or sense her, either,” I said.

“Sense?” Renn asked.

“Light is a saint, Renn. Celine did not just adopt her out of love, after all,” Randle informed her.

I nodded. “They’re staying in the northern wing, Randle. Like you assumed. Mapple is tending to them,” I said. It was how I had found them; I had followed her from afar. It felt weird to be sneaking around the church in the dead of the night, since I usually never did or needed to do such a thing here, but it was better than the alternative.

“So they’re here already…” Renn hummed as she pondered that fact.

“It’s not a surprise. They had been in the Nation of the Blind, so couldn’t have been too far,” I said.

Randle nodded. “Yes. A few weeks away at most, I think,” he added.

I sighed as I crossed my arms. For some reason I felt like I wanted some of that tea they had, but I resisted the desire and urge.

Renn’s ear fluttered, as if my sigh had somehow bothered her, then she took a tiny sip from her cup and then nodded. “So… what will you do? Are they enemies?” she asked.

“Enemies…?” Randle groaned the word, and the accusation, and I could hear his disgust. Not just that Renn would suggest it… but that Renn was likely not wrong to assume so.

“They’re still members, Renn. Even if they’re scheming little shits,” I said.

She smirked at me. “That upset over them? Is it because they’re members of the cloth, Vim, or is it something more?” she asked.

“Far more. Yet less, too. Less is Landi’s sister, by the way,” I told her.

Renn’s smirk wobbled as she shifted. “What? Really?” she asked.

I nodded as Randle rubbed his eyes, as if tired. “She looks just like her… though wearing the robes of course,” I said with a shrug to the man next to me, in his priestly garments.

“Huh… That’s uh… surprising, yet not, somehow,” Renn said.

“Right?” I agreed.

“Ah… Vim… what am I to do?” Randle though didn’t seem amused at all, and for good reason. He looked how I felt as he leaned forward, putting his cup down so he could rub his face and eyes with both hands and not just one.

“Whatever you want to, Randle. If you wish to confront them then do so. If you wish to join them, do so. Or just let them be? To be honest their schemes may remain just that, schemes and plans. After all to truly purge the church they need full control over it, and the support of the rest. That all relies on them taking over Lumen, and me being banished completely. You’re talking about things that won’t happen or can’t for years down the road,” I said.

“For a man unchained by time, you sure do let it protect you,” Randle said.

I smiled at that. “Right?”

“Personally I think it’s more indifference than that, Randle. Vim wouldn’t care, or be bothered, if they voted against him and the church became different. I think that’s why he’s not as bothered over it as you are,” she said.

I nodded. She was right. Although I was upset, and bothered, by the Chronicler and Light’s schemes and secrets… it was in all honesty not that big a deal to me. Not stuff I really needed to worry about right now, at least.

Plus it was nothing new. There were always people causing problems. For not just me, but everyone. The world. It just so happened it was now my own people. And even that wasn’t something new, either.

“The problem, Renn, is Vim will be able to deal with it down the road, as he says. That’s a fact. But the problem with that is how many lives will it cost us before that happens? How many will be lost? How many souls? That is what I fear,” Randle told her.

Renn shifted, her ears drooping a little as she nodded… as if she both understood his point and related to it too.

I studied the way Renn frowned at Randle, as if sharing in his grief all of a sudden.

She was bothered by this, but not about to weep or grow into a rage. In fact she seemed relatively calm, even though Randle and I had just explained to her what was happening. That the Chronicler, and Celine’s daughter, had been planning a coup and many other schemes for the last few hundred years… and were now finally hatching those long nursed plans.

Maybe Renn’s calmness about it was because she too realized it wasn’t that big a deal. Or maybe she just hadn’t yet comprehended how serious it all actually was.

Randle wasn’t wrong after all. I could, and likely would eventually put a stop to Light and the Chronicler’s plans… but how long would it be before I did so? How many years? Decades? Centuries?

Odds are many could die, or be lost to us, before I made a move. It’s happened before.

Light’s mother was proof of that.

“Is uh… I know this is an odd question, but who’se in control? Light or the Chronicler?” Renn asked.

“Light, no doubt. She’s not as old as the Chronicler, but their age difference isn’t enough to justify eldership. Plus many amongst the cloth would kneel in front of Light first before anyone else, simply for being a real saint and also the daughter of Celine,” Randle said.

“Then uh… isn’t what they’re doing simple? If Light is her daughter, and this whole church is Celine’s legacy… isn’t technically it all hers anyway? To do with as she pleases?” Renn asked.

Randle groaned and I smiled. “I like how your mind works Renn,” I told her.

“Hm…?” Renn tilted her head at me, not realizing how genuine my words had been.

I liked that simple way of looking at life. It was rather predator-like, thus Randle’s groan, but it was also the truth.

This church, and in fact the whole faith it produced and housed, were all Celine’s. Her hard work. Her legacy, as Renn had called it.

Light did indeed have full claim to it. More so than anyone else.

“I see now why you were so confident, Vim. I regret even considering it,” Randle said as he picked his cup up, to take a drink and relax a little.

I smirked and nodded. “Right? I warned you,” I said.

Renn smiled, even though she didn’t have any idea what we were talking about. Which was funny, since we were speaking about her.

Randle had thought he’d been able to use Renn. Or at least convince her, to join him in his beliefs and convictions. To take his side in this matter, in an effort to convince me to act rashly and against my own rules.

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He hadn’t expected Renn to basically take my side completely, without even realizing it.

“Why can’t you just… talk to them Vim? Why does this need to be all secretive and stuff anyway?” Renn asked, uncaring to inquire what we had just said.

“If I do it could force the issue. Make Light and the rest act rashly, since they might fear what I’d do first. My best course of action at the moment is to just… let it all be, until they confront me and address me directly. Something they will likely do during the vote, if not even to the whole of the Society too,” I said.

“And by that time it will be too late. Because they’ll have sowed enough seeds of doubt, bribed and cajoled the rest to their side and you’ll simply frown and nod when they banish you from the Society proper,” Randle said coldly.

Renn’s eyes narrowed and I studied them as they glared at the priest I sat next to. “If that is the will of the Society Randle, then nothing will be or can be done about it. What would you have me do? Slaughter everyone who dares to vote against me? Some protector,” I said.

“I expect you to root out corruption. Before it can bear its ugly fruit,” he argued.

Renn lowered her cup to the table, and tapped it with one of her nails. “I agree with him Vim,” she then said. Randle perked up and I sighed as she nodded and continued, “I’m not fully aware how bad the situation is… obviously. Since I don’t see why Randle is so worried. Not yet anyway. But if what Celine’s daughter and the Chronicler are doing is so dangerous and bad, then shouldn’t you stop it? Before it destroys the Society?” she asked.

“He should. Yes,” Randle hurriedly agreed and said.

“Should I then destroy Lumen, Renn?” I asked.

She hesitated, and Randle flinched.

“They’re not about to banish the protector, or other members,” Renn argued.

“No, but their greed will bring death. Inevitably. And is going to, if not already is, funding Light and her people’s plans. What if to stop them, properly, is to destroy Lumen and all it gives the Society? All the wealth and safety it provides through it all?” I asked.

Renn shifted in her seat, not happy to hear my argument. At all.

“If I were to snip this supposed tree of corruption now, before it buds and sprouts, then I’ll need to start doing the same for any and all such plans. Lumen. The old kingdoms. Tor’s kingdom, or rather he himself. And so many more. The argument of stopping someone before they even start is a flawed one, in this case at least,” I said.

“And thus our people’s doubts and complaints Vim. Celine would have stepped in, and would have made you join her too, had she still been alive,” Randle said.

“And I would have complained and voiced against such actions, as I had many times back then,” I said.

He took a small, sharp, breath as to give a response… but bit his tongue and instead went silent. He simply shook his head in disgust, instead.

“Uh… not to sound callous, but earlier Randle said a strange word. Cajoil? What’s that mean?” Renn then asked.

I smiled at her, and before I could answer her Randle did. “Cajole. To coax. Persuade. Or to convince someone to do something, usually with nefarious or underhanded tactics. I was basically saying Light and the rest would convince other members to their side without the best of intentions, and they’d not realize it.”

“Ah,” Renn nodded, making sense of it.

“And I’m not saying I agree with what they’re doing. Nor that it shouldn’t be addressed. I’m just saying… rushing into a confrontation with the Chronicler and the rest right now would be a foolish thing to do. Many in the Society rely on them, their network and people, this church and its crutches. Risking it through chaos such as infighting is the last thing we need right now,” I said.

Renn slowly nodded. “He has a point Randle. Even you’re worried for your orphans and people. It’s why you’re being so careful too,” she noted.

Randle took a deep breath and sighed. “Yes. Thus why I had hoped Vim would have simply handled it upon my mentioning it. You sometimes do, Vim,” he said weakly, as if defeated.

“If you had genuinely believed I would have done so, you’d not have written that letter,” I said.

Renn nodded. “I’ll get it to her, by the way. I’ll leave tomorrow,” Renn said, telling Randle.

“Oh…?” he glanced at me, since he noticed the way she had said it.

I nodded too. “I have a few things I need to take care of. One of our newer members, Fly, isn’t settling in and nesting in her new home. It’s become an issue,” I said.

“The bird girl? I heard of that. The Chronicler asked if I’d send Meriah there if you didn’t return quick enough,” Randle said.

“Meriah…? I thought she was a traveling nun,” Renn asked.

“She is. Basically,” I said.

Renn frowned at me and then glanced at Randle, and I realized what her real question had been.

“She doesn’t like the church, Renn. In fact she hates it so much it’s a problem. It’s why I can trust her when it comes to such things,” I told her.

Her frown deepened. “He’s a priest,” she said gently.

Randle chuckled and nodded. “I am. But I also raised the girl, in a way. She had been orphaned. And the Chronicler and her sisters had abandoned her, thanks to her hatred for the cloth. So I took her under my wing,” Randle said.

“A nun who hates the church?” Renn asked, interested.

“She has a unique story. And she’s not the only one. Where is she, by the way?” I asked Randle.

“Last I heard still up north. You might encounter her if you spend time up there,” Randle said.

Good. I planned to.

Renn smiled and nodded at me, glad to hear it. She too wanted to meet the woman who had avenged, or at least found out had done the deed, Lomi’s family and home.

“So, you’ll head to the Bell Church and she’ll head to Lilly. With that human in tow? Lilly will not like that,” Randle warned.

“Ah…” Renn realized something obvious, that she had forgotten. We had Cat to worry about.

“It’ll be fine. I’ll be quick anyway, and it’s not like they’re that far apart. A few weeks separated at most, I’ll likely get Fly before Renn and the human even reach the Owl’s Nest,” I said.

Renn nodded, as did Randle.

“Wait… are we just done talking about Celine’s daughter all of a sudden?” Renn then asked, realizing we had switched topics.

“I’ve given up on it for now. If I keep stressing over it I’ll lose what little hair I have left,” Randle said.

Renn frowned for a moment, and then laughed. “You have a full head of hair, Randle!” she said with a grin.

“Ah, you’d not say that if you had seen me in my youth!” Randle said as he grinned back.

I nodded. “He had long flowing hair, Renn. Longer than yours,” I said. It had indeed been full and luscious, I’d forgotten about that.

She giggled at the thought. “I see!”

“We’ll deal with the Chronicler and Light, Renn. Randle knows I’ll do all I can once I can. Plus don’t forget he has plans himself, what with his letter and all,” I said, pointing it out to her.

“Ah… right,” Renn nodded gravely.

Randle sighed. “And you Vim? You’ll do what you said? What you promised?” he asked me.

“What’d I promise?” I asked.

“Landi, Vim,” he said stiffly.

Ah. Right. I ignored Renn’s look as I smiled. “I’d not promised anything, Randle. But yes. I’ll send her a letter. I’ll leave it in Oplar’s office before I leave,” I said.

“Thank you,” he said with relief.

“Landi? What for?” Renn asked, excited to hear of her friend.

Randle said nothing as I went quiet too, and studied my jaguar sitting across from us.

She looked happy. Too happy to be talking about schemes. I had no doubt she comprehended most of what we’d talked of, and were talking about, but it still seemed like she had this childish innocence to her all the same. Honestly… she was likely just happy that I was including her in this. She seemed full of energy.

“Well?” she asked further, tired of waiting on me as I fell in love with her again.

“I’ll let her do it. It won’t look strange if Renn sends a letter to her friend,” I said, deciding that was the best course of action.

“Ah. Why did I not think of that? Maybe I should have you destroy that letter, and just deliver it vocally,” Randle said as he pondered it.

“No. Lilly won’t outright believe it without that letter, I think,” I said. Especially since Renn may very well meet her before I did. Lilly didn’t trust anyone anymore, particularly not those like Randle. They had abandoned her once. She’d not forgotten such betrayal, and never would.

“I suppose that is true,” Randle thankfully agreed.

“We’ll stay in contact from now on. Keep me informed Randle, when you can,” I told him.

“Should I send you the letters or her?” Randle asked seriously.

I debated it a moment. “Her,” I decided.

Renn grinned and nodded. “Through Oplar right?” she asked.

Randle nodded softly and sighed. “Maybe you’re right Vim. Maybe this will all just… blow past over time. To be forgotten, and laughed about, later,” he said.

Renn’s grin slowly died, since Randle had gone all glum again. “Possibly. Most things do, in my experience,” I said.

“How did Celine do it, you think? Knowing all the things she did, and seeing them? How did she handle the stress of knowing what could happen, and would or might?” he wondered.

“I’d argue she hadn’t done it well at all. Do you forget her long nights scribbling in those books?” I asked.

Renn’s shoulders lowered, and I noticed the way she gently smiled at us. She sat back a little, as if to try and physically distance herself from us. As if to give us a moment of privacy, in her own gentle way.

“That I do. Speaking of books, I hope you did not make her destroy the one I just recently gave her,” Randle said, bringing up that stupid letter.

“I’ve already burnt it, yes,” Renn answered softly.

Randle groaned again and turned to glare at me.

“What? With her memory she could recreate it, stains on the pages and all,” I said defensively.

“Maybe I should vote against you,” Randle complained.

“Right!” Renn happily laughed, nodding quickly.

Rolling my eyes at them, I leaned forward to rest against the table as the two went to talking about all the ways I was a callous bastard. Though Randle never used any harsh words, he still found ways to say it all the same.

I planned to have us leave in a moment. It was late enough it was time we left. We’d draw attention otherwise. Attention none of us needed right now. Plus…

Staring at Renn as she listened to Randle tell her a story about a library I had burnt once, I wondered why I had so readily involved her in this.

It wasn’t as dire as Randle believed it to be, in my opinion… but it was still serious. Still worrisome. Plus it proved something terrible, that I wasn’t sure yet if Renn had noticed or not.

It proved the Society really was fractured. That it wasn’t a single entity and a danger to itself as much as not.

It proved that at any moment it could collapse. This little social experiment could fail, and disappear. Like a whisper it could fade away, as if it had never been spoken at all.

Yet even with such danger and threat… life continued.

I had members I needed to check on. Members I needed to help, like Fly. I had Renn’s friends, Cat and her people, that I needed to address. The saint. The supposed monarch that had given birth to the fires.

I still felt the exhaustion tugging at me.

There was, like always, much I needed to worry about. Many things I needed to handle, and deal with.

Yet…

“Well from now on just let me read them first! I’ll remember them. Not only will that preserve them, it’ll also annoy him too so it’s a win-win!” Renn happily declared, telling Randle she would happily support him in preserving things I’d rather be left alone, or outright destroyed.

Randle of course readily agreed, happy to hear it, and I couldn’t help but sigh.

Sigh and smile.

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