Paperwork is Not a Good Distraction

Within the Castle Amante, I worked in the office of the Supreme Inquisitor, signing papers proposed and articulated by the inquisition's administrative scholars that required my approval.

One such paper requiring my approval was the plans for further extending the resources directed at the southern Inquisition presence, arguing that more focus on the southern borders of the Kingdom will aid in the Inquisition's effort of enforcing the will of civilization amongst the nomads that have sought refuge in the Kingdom, as well as weeding out heretical cults hiding in the southern valleys.

With a quick signature of my approval, I take a moment of respite as I lean back on my chair. I look at a smaller piece of parchment set aside from the other mountains of papers on my desk. I read the letter as soon as I got back from the manor, yet I didn't give it the same dismissal I did the first time. Instead, it only filled my mind with more questions.

"Looks like paperwork will never be a good distraction," I mutter.

My eyes drift towards the window behind me as I stare at the buildings that populate Adaches.

"Right, it's the starting month of Agrecaea's blossoming of spring."

Tomorrow, my daughter arrives from the stronghold city of Regillum.

***

In Adaches, most of the pantheon was accommodated with their own temples, though they differed in wealth, popularity, and therefore opulence. A massive shadow shelters me from the sun's touch as I sit beside a fountain. The face of Judica's statue glows in the sunlight. There he stands and has stood for hundreds of years in the Arbiter district, his winged helmed visor covering his eyes, yet not the smile that has been linked many times by scholars to the wonders of civilization and society.

The statue took little artistic liberty in its construction. The memory of his figure remains fresh in my mind. Judica descended ten years ago and appointed me as his champion, and the statue has captured his image impressively, though it lacks his colour. To be one of, if not the most popular god's champion, meant that my future in the annals of history had been secured. But I didn't care about fame, and that sentiment has yet to change. No one in their right mind would reject a god's appointment, but I didn't do it for any surface-level ambition.

Judica's statue stood in front of his temple near the castle. Other buildings were at a distance, creating a large open space that made the area a spacious city square for leisure. Its appearance is one deserving of praise, with its paved marble ground, three water fountains, and streetlamps that were, as one would expect, turned off during the day.

From afar, onlookers watch as an ornate carriage is escorted by knights riding their horses. Immediately, I recognize the colours they adopt all too well: blue cloaks with yellow linings and the white symbol of a half sun with grassy blades for sun rays. They are the Regillan Order of Knights. They did not wear their armour, or at least not the usual full plate armour, which was natural as travelling in such conditions would've made the trek to Regillum exhausting. Instead, they wore light leather armours such as gambesons underneath their blue cloaks, and cavalier hats that were all uniform in style and colour, except for the plumed feathers, with the majority wearing white, some wearing red, and two wearing black. My lips curve into a smile.

The entourage approaches and halts. Some knights remain mounted as others move, forming a perimeter. One knight opens the ornate door beside the carriage, and out comes a foot belonging to a little girl. Her eyes widen as they land on me.

"Papa!" Erienn exclaims as she runs and lunges towards me.

I quickly react and catch her as she falls straight into my arms and embraces me. I lift her into the sky and smile at her. "You've grown bigger since I last saw you, Erienn!"

She giggles. "I've been eating lots so I can grow taller!"

"Still, you'll keep being my little girl! After all," I spin in circles, holding onto her firmly as she remains in the air, "I'll no longer be able to make you fly when you're much bigger."

"I doubt that." Another voice comes out of the ornate carriage.

Stumbling to regain my balance as the world spins, I force my attention towards the carriage and the women stepping out. Her hair is silver like the metal as it glowed in a ponytail, and her bright light blue eyes are as blue as the clear waters of the coastal paradise of Wynalia. She wore similar robes to the knights, only hers were more opulent.

She stood with a disciplined posture. Her cloak's laces were more ornate gold than those of other knights, her collared cloak sharper and hiding the brigandine underneath. The joy of my smile tightens into something more wistful. "Teutana."

She returns the smile in the same manner. "Nelman."

I open my mouth, but pause from saying anything as I notice the growing crowd watching us. "Let's go to the manor. You all must want to rest after such a long journey."

"I'm not tired!" Erienn shouts in my arms.

I chuckle. "Oh, really?"

"Yes! I've been waiting for two weeks to see you, Papa!" She pouts in protest.

Teutana lets out a soothing chuckle I've not heard in a while. "You better believe what she says, Nelman. Day in and day out, she just pestered the knights and me about when we'll finally arrive."

"Wow, it must've been draining."

She lets out a huff of breath, almost a sigh. "You have no idea. Must be why I need that rest."

"But the sun's still high..." Erienn's whine turns into a yawn as her eyes begin to narrow with sleep.

"Sleep now overpowering your excitement?" I ask her, gently swaying her in my arms.

"No fair, your arms are comfy..." Erienn says, one eye now closed.

"Sleep now, my angel. We have more time to play together tomorrow. Remember what I always say?"

"Yes. When today ends sadly, the next day will be brighter when you awake..." She mutters as she nuzzles into a comfortable position in my arms. 

I chuckle softly, "Close enough." It doesn't take long before her breathing becomes deep with sleep.

I look at Teutana, "Looks like she's out. Let's go to the manor."

Teutana gestures towards the carriage. "Alright, hop in."

As I gently sit inside, Teutana sits across from me. The carriage starts to move.

"Your beard got longer. You're looking old." She comments, her voice low.

"Yes. I haven't had time to maintain it since the last time Erienn visited."

Her eyebrows slightly furrow as she lowers her gaze. "It has been quite a while since we last saw each other, hasn't it?"

"Yes." I grip my knee. "It has."

I look at her, detailing her face. A year has passed since we last saw each other, but in all my time since I first saw her, she hasn't aged at all. She remains true to her reputation as a breathtaking, handsome, beautiful, gorgeous, magnificent woman of a knight. I could continue describing how stunning she looks. How all these years, the beautiful girl I met for the first time during a tourney when we were fourteen, who would become my rival, then a partner for the Regillan Order, and then a partner for life as my wife, would only grow more magically enchanting and beautiful than magic itself. That she would give birth to our adorable and wonderful daughter who will surely inherit her beauty...

...But I gave them up. 

My lips tighten at the thought.

"I miss the past," I say.

"You said that last time."

"Last time was over a year ago."

She sighs heavily. "The past remains as it was."

"Yet I'm not afraid to admit I relive it every day."

"You make it sound like I'm afraid, and that I don't."

"You know I don't mean that."

"Do I?" She says flatly. A slight pause fills the air with heavy silence before she takes a deep breath. "You know we could have made it work."

"Well... we are, aren't we?" I gesture to us in the carriage.

"You know what I'm talking about, Nelman. Together, none of the gods could separate us if they tried. Who knew all it took was for one of us to willingly give up so easily."

"It wasn't easy, Teutana."

"It took you only two years since you became Supreme Inquisitor to separate yourself from me. From us, when I had Erienn." Her gaze settles on our sleeping daughter. "I thought you were running away, but considering how often we visit, clearly that wasn't the case."

"No, it wasn't," I say, a little surprised by the desperation in my voice. "I would never run away from you."

"And I never took the thought seriously." She smiled. "I love you, and my love remains strong as it ever has. Whatever it was that made you distance yourself, I have maintained trust in that you have a good reason for doing so. But being kept in the dark for nearly a decade... It's not fair."

I look at her with the pain of the silence I've kept for years. Who was I kidding? The letter didn't bother me? Consciously, I dismissed it, but unconsciously, it had made me a cautious man. 

"... I have never stopped loving you as well," I say.

Her smile becomes tender. Her disciplined posture strengthens with resolve, and so does her voice. "Nelman, I am strong. You know that. If you are doing this to protect us, you know I can handle myself. Together, we can weather any storm thrown at us."

My gaze softens. Maybe... I've been excessively wary.

"I'll..." I pause. Should I? I know our capabilities together. A smile softly crescents on my face. "Rest for today. Ask me tomorrow once you've rested, and I'll tell you all you want."

She relaxes her body in her seat. It's obvious to me that she's been waiting for so long that even through her disciplined frame, her joy radiates freely outwards. A joy I wish I could show her tomorrow.

I look outside. The sky remains bright. The carriage feels warm. Yet, I still can't find it in my heart to relax. That damn letter still grips me tight, but like my love said, it's something that I should've sought support from her long ago. The contents of the letter spill out as I silently mutter it.

I've seen the true eyes of order and found no law for which blind punishments become unjust. There is no justice left even for his friends and family. His actions have brought light to the darkness that was a friend of which cultists worship. His actions have brought a stranger of darkness to replace the friend, and that seeks not to stare back at us, but to eat the world whole, and that has confused the cultists to commit heresy. A war of the heavens will begin, and he will no longer be known as justice but deceit and trickery. The afterlife has become the underworld, and the underworld has become the prison.

Heed my words, Supreme Inquisitor. Not all help will be useful, nor will they be benevolent in hearing your request. His time of yearning for tyranny will commence. Heed my words, Supreme Inquisitor. Only the ear of Agrecaea remains open, for only her soul of Varea was embraced by the darkness vanquished. Heed my words, Supreme Inquisitor. You are his champion, the highest of his servants. He needs no champion but himself, and you are no servant but a stain that must be cleansed.