Five #4
He went on foot, his horse having long since decided to be somewhere else, not that he could have gotten back in the saddle, much less ridden it.
"How long until someone else shows up?" I asked Hansmith.
"It'll take him probably an hour, maybe longer, to get back. Assuming he doesn't die?"
I shrugged. "I don't think I hit him that hard, kidney shots hurt, but I didn't hit 'em both, so he should live, for all that he's probably wishing he was dead. So, a couple of hours?"
"It'll be dark soon. I don't think they're dumb enough to come riding or driving down here when it's dark. Too easy for us to ambush them."
I snorted. "Sorry, but I don't see you folk doing that."
"Nope, but they would, so of course, they figure we would, too."
"So, showdown at noon tomorrow, then?"
"Unless you're planning on going into town first?" Hansmith asked, giving me a sidelong glance.
I laughed. "You might have an idea there. Well, I think I'm gonna go find Perrin, let him know what's going on, and find out where I'm sleeping."
"Head on up to the church, he's probably talking with Priestess Lillis."
I nodded.
"Will you be staying long?"
"Maybe? I think I'd like to watch you set the cannery up. While I know how they work, never really got to watch one get built."
"See you in the morning, Will."
"Have a good day," I said, waving, and headed up to the church.
The people here seemed to be mainly halflings with a decent number of humans.
I knew Vikoria was a popular goddess who attracted all types.
I also knew she was originally a Junturan goddess, for all that she appeared to be human.
Most of the Junturans who followed her outside of Juntura tended to be ship pilots or crew, and more often than not, smugglers.
The church was a nice one, nothing fancy, but well-built, clean, and well cared for. When I stepped inside, I immediately felt the presence, and I knew the clergy knew I was there, because I was a champion setting foot on the holy ground of a god who wasn't my own.
"Ah, William!" a woman said, coming out of the back and quickly walking up to me. "Cantor Perrin told me you were here."
"Hi, umm, Priestess…?"
"Priestess Lillis." She took my hand in both of hers and smiled up at me. I could tell she was a priestess the moment she touched me. "I'm so happy you decided to come and help."
I smiled back at her. Honestly, she was pretty and had the charisma most of the higher-level priests and priestesses always seem to have.
"What else could I have done?" I told her.
"I like Vikoria, and I like her followers.
I have quite a few back in the country I found myself regent of—by my request, no less.
Also, Feliogustus and Vikoria go back a long way, I've learned.
Plus—" I shrugged, still smiling at her "—I'm not really doing anything important at the moment, or rather, I wasn't until now. "
Lillis laughed. "The word has been getting around, if slowly, that for all your fierce looks and often violent behavior, none of ours need fear you."
"Oh, I don't know that I look all that fierce," I joked.
"Well, as you are now, definitely not," she said and moved a bit closer into my personal space. "However, Cantor Perrin told me that you would like to show your other appearance to the people here, so they won't fear you if they should chance to see it?"
I nodded.
She put a hand on my arm, looked curious, and suddenly I was all but being patted down. "With those loose clothes on, you do not look like a strong man, William. Why are you hiding it?
"So I can shift without ruining my clothing? Also, if I look weak, it'll help me deal with Sorez and his people."
"You get bigger?" she asked with a curious look.
"Yes."
She looked thoughtful for a moment, then smiled again. "Well, I guess I'll find out when you show everyone else."
"Do you have a place I can stay?"
"Would you be okay staying here, in the church?"
"If it's not a problem, I'm fine with that," I said, looking down at her and noticing a faint blush. I remembered Adell then. Adell had been a fair bit older than Lillis, as well as a lot more brash and blunt. I'd liked her a lot. Unfortunately, when we'd both been killed, only I came back.
"Something wrong?" Lillis asked.
"I'm just remembering another priestess, Adell, who'd been instructed to help me with a task I'd been asked to do. Sadly…" I trailed off, sighing as I shook my head.
"Oh, I see."
"Yes, well, please don't put yourself in a position to go that way because of me. I come back. You won't."
"William, I must do as Vikoria asks; it is our sacred duty."
I sighed. "I know. I'm a champion, of course I know. I just don't like it when the clergy get hurt. You have far more important things to do than I do, tending to the faithful."
Lillis smiled. "It's hard to believe that someone with a reputation such as yours can say such heartfelt words of concern."
"I know, right? I guess that's why certain people were more than a bit shocked when I suddenly showed up with death in my eyes to save a bunch of what they thought were 'worthless' people. That I wouldn't care."
"Now I understand why Vikoria likes you."
"Oh?"
"There is a story—perhaps a myth—the clergy learns while they study. It's passed down verbally, and purports to be about Vikoria in the days before she achieved divinity. Back when she was nothing more than a member of the emperor's family—a princess, if you will."
"And this applies how?"
"It is said that there was a powerful, vicious Junturan warrior, a violent man, capable of feats of strength and speed in combat or duels that none had ever seen before. Everyone feared him, everyone avoided him, and none would speak a harsh word against him."
"And Vikoria tamed him?"
"Hardly!" Lillis said with a laugh. "She told him she admired him for being who he was and being true to his own nature. For fighting the good fights and standing for the things Junturans believed in."
"Oh? And what was his response?"
"He dragged her off to his bed, and neither was seen again for several days," Lillis said, grinning.
"When they both showed up again, neither had tamed the other, but they were obviously quite smitten with each other.
Vikoria never set foot off Juntura again, and with her lover, set out to do the things that eventually led to her deification. "
I blinked. "And the moral of this story is?"