The Three Tasks: Priestly Duties

A noble from a minor house was assigned to Marisa and instructed her about the recent cave-in that had befallen the dwarven miners. Marisa was told she only had to perform the task for the five bodies they had, and not for the remaining trapped miners’ bodies that were still being retrieved from the mines. She was then introduced to the gravedigger, who was told of the king’s task.

“Pleasure to meet ya, High Priestess,” said the grave digger, sticking out a dirt-covered hand.

Marisa looked at the hand with discomfort and her lipped curled with aversion. With a faint touch, she took hold of his hand and shook it.

“Best get used to it, High Priestess, this here’s dirty work,” he said as he handed her a shovel.

“For what is this?”

“Digging the graves, of course.”

“I had come to understand I was meant to say prayers for the fallen miners.”

“Aye, that too, but Helga said you’re to be my apprentice for the day, and that means digging graves.”

Quiet horror enveloped Marisa as she learned the duties of the gravedigger. She cursed Ferdinand for her luck, but caught herself from going further, for it wouldn’t have been befitting of a high priestess. She had been educated in conducting priestly duties since she was child—around three hundred years ago. Her parents, harsh and cold as they were, never relented with disciplining her about the duties of the High Priestess. Yet, those duties had never involved much physical work, and to now be subjected to such toil caused Marisa no end in despair. ‘I wasn’t made for this’, she thought.

As for Ferdinand, he reminded her of her father in a way she couldn’t articulate. Was it the way he managed to get under her skin and irritate her? ‘What an oafish man. He should just accept his role as my husband and shut up,’ she said to herself. The issue with the barrier could have been avoided if he hadn’t been so stubborn about returning home. Yet, despite his flaws, Marisa had come to find some aspects of his character to be charming. However, she convinced herself this was only because he was from Earth, thus his actions were explained away because he was uniquely different.

“What a fool,” she said under her breath.

“What’s that?” asked the gravedigger.

“Nothing,” she said as she doubled her digging pace.

“Woah! My Lady, slow down. The dead ain’t going nowhere, so pace yourself.” He held his shovel upright and pointed to a notched mark on it. “You only need to dig the grave up to here, four-sevenths of a klafter, by the way. Might’ve forgotten to mention that.”

“You did,” Marisa said, shovelling dirt close to the dwarf’s feet.

“Aye, my apologies, my Lady. I ain’t never had an apprentice before. Keep the grave half a klafter in length (that’s this notch here) and a third in width (that’s this last notch here).”

“Duly noted.”

Hours passed as the two worked together. Marisa had only started digging her third grave when she jammed her shovel into the ground and stood still. Her hands were blistered, her back was aching, and her mind was screaming to stop. ‘I can’t quit here,’ she thought. Her mind drifted and soon she found herself wondering, ‘How are Luna and Ferdinand are doing with their tasks?’

“Everything all right, my Lady?”

“I am but a weary from the toil, Sir Gravedigger.”

“You been making good progress. What say you we take a break?”

“That sounds most lovely.”

“Aye. You’re an undine, right, my Lady? Follow me, we got a hidden spring back here.”

There was a pool of water tucked away behind the gravedigger’s house. Marisa plunged inside and relaxed, rejuvenating her water energy and healing her wounds. The water spirits of the pool danced around her, and she conversed with them. It was a small respite from the horrible work.

Returning to the graves, Marisa looked over her work, and a soothing wave of calm brushed against her. There was still more work to be done, and only then did she feel that she would be allowed to look at her progress and enjoy it. She grabbed her shovel and got to work.