Season of Bloom - 12. Paladin's Pride

“Remind me to never let Lapis plan our expeditions in the future.”

A slow flame dried Faes’ robes, the kineticist shivering in the chill of midnight. What they thought had been a ford was nothing more than a patch of deep, slow moving river. It had been foolish to swim it, but Valerie had insisted, and it had nearly cost them Linzi’s pony.

Nearby, Kiba was hacking up bucketfuls of water, the kobold another casualty of the former paladin’s haste. His lizard was trying to dry itself on a nearby rock, the utter lack of any sun under the near full moon giving no opportunity for the creature to relieve itself of its wetness.

“Five minutes and we move on. The sooner we get to Oleg’s, the sooner we can get dried and in a nice warm bed,” the fighter said, strapping her plate armour back onto her body. “We do not speak to Fredero tonight.”

“Excuse me, but I speak for Lapis-”

“You speak for a baron who is not yet baron. When he is here, when he has been anointed by Lady Aldori, then he can give us orders, through you if need be,” Valerie said tightly. “Until then, I will follow the law of the land, my freedom assured until the baron is proclaimed by the higher powers.”

Faes gritted his teeth as he mounted up again, nudging his horse ahead of the group. They were barely an hour from Oleg’s and despite the warmth of the fire within his body, the half-drow was still eager to escape the chill of the night.

It didn’t take long for them to reach the post, the five travellers slipping through the gates to find a tired old man awakened by their approach. Five gold saw them to an upstairs room, the group quick to sleep and slow to rise the next morning.

The kineticist awoke to find Valerie polishing her armour studiously, scraping off a day’s worth of dirt and mud until the metal gleamed so much it almost hurt to look at. Faes wasn’t sure that was a sound decision; the metal shining like that would be sure to catch the attention of any bandits looking for a score, but then he supposed the former paladin had her reasons for polishing her armour like that. Maybe to catch the bandits that would rob her, though Faes was pretty sure there was an easier way.

“Tell me about this Fredero. It’s clear he’s not letting you go easily,” the half-drow said as he watched Valerie work furiously at her armour.

“Typical paladin of Shelyn,” the fighter grunted. “Which is to say nothing matters to him aside from what pleasure he can derive from viewing. The gods forbid anyone should prevent someone else from staring at their beauty.”

Each swipe of the rag seemed to be adding more grime than removing at this point, and Valerie tossed it into her bag with a disgusted scowl.

“Stuffy, has a thorn in his backside half the time. Believes that if you can’t see the beauty in frivolous art, there is something intrinsically wrong with you. And he wants to take me back so I can continue serving under his lecherous gaze.”

“Ah, one of THOSE paladins,” Faes smirked. “The law doesn’t say I can’t touch, so come here. I detest people like that. Fuck the law.”

“Laws are what makes society work,” Valerie scowled. “It is the law that would make your cat the baron, in case you hadn’t forgotten.”

“Really? Seems to me like it was a bunch of random people at their wits’ ends who decided a cat was better than a half-orc. And better than a fallen paladin.”

“Watch your tongue. I never fell,” Valerie growled. “I fled from an order that did no more good than a pack of wolves.”

“And now you obey the law to the letter, trusting in it to be good, and denying that it’s bad even when people’s heads roll, right?”

Valerie scowled at the kineticist, slowly pulling her armour over her gambeson, piece by piece.

“If the law does not protect the citizenry, it is not my fault, nor is it my job to change the law. I merely enforce them.”

“Whatever helps you sleep at night,” Faes rolled his eyes. “My question is, are we expecting a fight? Because if we are, you should certainly wear magical protections beforehand.”

“I will not go with them peacefully,” Valerie said firmly. “It is up to them whether that means we fight or not.”

“Okay, I’ll just plan to fight an order of paladins today then. Make sure Linzi and Tristian put protections on you beforehand, and try to stay out of Kiba’s way. He’s a little… unpracticed.”

The half-drow headed down the wooden stairs to the tavern below, flames dancing over his fingers as he warmed up in the early autumn morning.

A man in shining armour sat at a table, working on a piece of calligraphy. His eyes glanced up briefly as Faes came down the stairs, and he looked up completely when Valerie followed a minute later, the smell of magic heavy on the fighter.

“Ah, our wayward child,” he said with a beaming smile. “Valerie, I trust you have had enough of these worldly wanderings and are ready to return to your destiny. It is a blessing that the years haven’t removed that radiant bliss from your face.”

Faes winced internally as Valerie scowled at the middle-aged man. Pompous… the fighter hadn’t said anything about that. Not that it was unexpected; it only served to further Faes’ distaste of the paladin.

“Fredero. It is good to see you in good health,” Valerie said coldly.

Faes found he couldn’t agree with that sentiment at all.

“Why don’t you tell us why you are here,” the half-drow said to the man, safely hidden in his flickering hood.

Fredero blinked at the flame that cast shadow over the kineticist, piercing grey eyes seeming to cut straight through the shadows.

“As I mentioned in my letter, I seek to return Valerie to Shelyn’s grace, and right a wrong made many years ago. Her destiny was proclaimed before she was born, and she must return to her path. I am merely here to remind Valerie of her duty to the Eternal Rose order.”

“Duty?” Valerie spluttered. “My duties are to my liege lord, not to some art collectors!”

“You have given me plenty of reason to doubt you know where they truly lie,” Fredero said calmly.

“And just where do you intend to go from here?”

“West, to the border of Pitax, where an architectural wonder is being built that would be worthy of the spirit of the Eternal Rose herself. And Valerie would perform her duties well there, safely protected from the world.”

“I am so tired of taking orders from those I despise…” Valerie sighed.

“She has much to unlearn if she is to rejoin the order of our faith,” Fredero added with a stern look at the fighter.

“‘Our’? You still believe me to have faith in Shelyn after all she’s put me through?!”

The paladin shook his head sadly.

“Where is the Valerie I once knew? We used to hold you as a shining example of politeness and courtesy to the other novices.”

“I am only showing you the same courtesy you show me. If you wish to ascribe to me such values that I never had, then I can be just as liberal a judge of your values.”

“My beautiful Valerie, still a diamond in the rough. I had hoped your years abroad might temper your rash behaviour, but I see it is not so.”

Valerie glowered at the paladin darkly.

“Spare me your long winded speeches of duty and beauty. I will not return with you, I will not rejoin the order, and I will never seek the so called grace of Shelyn again. Whatever nonsense you have in your head, let it be ended, once and for all.”

Fredero’s eyes turned to steel, the paladin staring the fighter down. Neither backed down, neither moved a muscle, until finally, the paladin spoke once more.

“I don’t believe my ears. Here I thought to find someone repentant for her mistakes, someone eager to return to the ways of the just and lawful. Eager to undo the pain she caused family and friends the day she turned from her god’s grace. Instead I find a belligerent renegade, a child who insists she knows what’s best. Someone who gleefully goes against Shelyn’s will.”

“I’m not surprised in the least by your words,” Valerie countered harshly. “You have never given thought to anything that would dare go against your beliefs. I am not a god’s play thing, I am not Shelyn’s chosen, and I am not-”

“Silence! Quiet before you bring her wrath upon us!” Fredero snarled. “You, who are blessed with such beauty as to surely come from the goddess herself, who so insolently disregards blessings anyone else would give their lives for! I did not come here to bandy words with a disrespectful child, but to return you to the gates of the order, and I will do so dragging you by the ear if I have to!”

“One more word, Sinnet,” Faes said quietly. “Say one more word and your head will decorate the nearest fencepost as a warning to those who would dare lay hands upon our companions.”

“Stay out of this Faes!” Valerie snapped. “He may be crossing the boundaries of politeness, but no more than that, and you will stay your hand.”

“Fine, have it your wa-”

“What you call my home was nothing more than a prison, Fredero,” Valerie snarled, ignoring the kineticist. “This is my true home, in this barony where I have fought, and shed my blood for whom I chose! Here I am free to fight for whoever I wish, and I will never give up that right!”

The fighter seethed with rage, her voice dropping dangerously low.

“You will take your people, Fredero, and you will return to your abbey. And you will leave without me. If you believe your goddess chose me, well clearly, Shelyn should have chosen her toys more wisely.”

“How dare you?” Fredero snarled. “If you have any ounce of honour in your body, then you will answer for your words to Shelyn’s paladins!”

“Outside,” Valerie growled, hand touching her mace. “Faes, you stand as my second.”

“About fucking time. Put this windbag in his place,” Faes growled, following the two outside, to where a pair of paladins stood guard.

They approached an open space, the two combatants locking eyes.

“Let’s see if your mercenary friends have taught you anything other than insolence,” Fredero scowled. “Everyone back! Do not interfere until this is finished!”

The paladin’s squire counted down, and the duellists took a moment to cast protections, Valerie from a scroll, and Fredero through his prayers. Then they struck, Valerie’s mace pounding ineffectively against the paladin’s armour. She dodged a heavy blow from her opponent, circling around him to land a crushing hit on his side that was healed through a murmured prayer. Again and again the two struck, each blow Valerie landed answered by a prayer from her foe as Fredero called upon Shelyn’s grace to heal himself, until his magic ran dry.

He struck suddenly then, sword slashing across Valerie’s face. She stumbled back, grabbing a ruby potion off her belt and draining it in three quick gulps, before hurling herself back into the duel. A pair of hits brought Fredero low, the paladin finally collapsing in an unmoving heap as Valerie pulled her final blow.

Faes grunted as the fighter held back, shaking his head in disgust. He wasn’t familiar with duels in this part of the world, but he had figured they ended in death. Apparently he was mistaken.

A healing prayer from one of his squires brought Fredero back to his senses. The paladin rose slowly on one knee, grimacing in pain.

“You… always were better at fighting… than spiritual matters,” he grunted.

“Thank Sarenrae you’re both alive,” Tristian said, rushing out from the trading post.

He slowed warily, the cleric picking up on the festering anger that still hung in the early morning air.

“That… that was it, right? The fight is over?” he asked uncertainly.

“I wouldn’t mind if she finished him off,” Faes shrugged, glancing at the man Fredero had called as his second.

The squire shook his head firmly, and the kineticist sighed.

“The battle’s over,” he conceded. “Valerie is clearly the victor here.”

Valerie’s shoulders slumped in obvious relief, the fighter leaning against her mace.

“You got what you wanted, Fredero. Now leave the barony, and never return.”

A crowd of onlookers poured out of the trading post as Fredero rose to his feet. The defeated paladin looked around sullenly, before dipping his head.

“I… I obey the words of the victor…” he grunted, turning to leave.

There was a muffled gasp as Oleg’s wife broke the circle around them.

“Dear gods… Valerie, your face!”

The fighter raised her hand to her face, fingers running over a long, jagged gash. The potion had stopped the bleeding, but it could do nothing about the scar left behind.

“Here, let me see it,” Tristian said urgently, moving forward. “I can heal-”

“NO!”

Valerie gritted her teeth, shaking her head.

“No, leave it,” she said. “It is nothing. I just need rest… and to cleanse myself after all these conversations about Shelyn.”