Upgrade your account to a Community Supporter account and remove most of the site ads.

Reply to thread

Message: <blockquote data-quote="Lazybones" data-source="post: 7328021" data-attributes="member: 143">Chapter 116Dust flew everywhere as Quellan went at the shelves in the temple hall with ferocity, his rag already black with the dirt that covered every flat surface in the place.  A clank from one of the back rooms suggested that Shenan was awake and aware of the half-orc’s intrusion, but he had yet to make an appearance.Quellan didn’t even bother looking that way, and redoubled his efforts at cleaning.  He’d found a small broom just inside the chapel of Sarevas, but he was going to need a bucket and a scrub brush before too long.  But for now he just focused on clearing the shelves.He wasn’t quite sure why he’d come here.  It was late enough in the day that he could have easily stayed in the inn and passed the time before dinner with a mug of ale by the fireplace.  But he’d been restless ever since the clash with the chimera, a feeling that had only grown more intense with the events at the mine.  In most circumstances he would have spent some time talking it over with Kosk, but the dwarf had separated from their group within minutes of their return to Wildrush, claiming he had an urgent errand whose nature he refused to divulge.  Glori and Bredan had barely blinked at that, but to Quellan, more used to the dwarf’s rough moods, it seemed clear that the half-orc was not the only one feeling troubled.He let out a terrific sneeze as his rag stirred up a particularly intense whirlwind of dust.  The mess downstairs would be ten times worse, but he’d get to that when he did, if he did.  For the moment it suited his mood to restore order to this place, a place that should have been a sanctuary, a refuge.A cough and a soft shuffle of slippers on the bare stone floor announced the arrival of Shenan.  The old priest waved his hand to clear some of the dust still floating in the air and looked around the temple hall with a critical look.  “What’s all this, now?”After one quick look of acknowledgement Quellan continued with the next shelf.  “I am cleaning the temple,” he said.  “A task that is well past due.”Shenan pulled a stool out by the altar and settled onto it.  “If you want to clean, then knock yourself out.”Quellan almost shot back an acerbic reply before he caught himself.  Everything about the other priest rubbed him wrong, from his casual attitude toward the upkeep of his temple to the way he harmed himself with strong drink.  He had known monks back at the monastery who had perhaps a bit too much fondness for ale—Kosk came to mind—but what he’d seen on his first visit here was something else entirely.Shenan seemed content to sit there and watch him.  Quellan in turn ignored him and bent to his task.  His back twinged to remind him that he’d hiked across the valley and fought two major battles in the last twenty-four hours, but he ignored that as intently as the other priest’s silent presence.Finally Shenan said, “I remember you.”This time Quellan couldn’t stop the reflexive response.  “That’s good, since we met only two days ago.”The old priest snorted.  “Your wit is like the crack of a whip,” he said dryly.  “Of course, wasn’t it Cheslan who commented that jibes are the lowest form of discourse?”Quellan only grunted as he knelt to reach a low shelf.  But he froze as Shenan said, “What I meant to say, is that I knew your mother.”Slowly Quellan turned to face him.  “Say what you mean by that.”“I mean no disrespect,” Shenan said.  “I should say rather that I knew her primarily by reputation; I only met her in person once, and briefly.  But she was regarded as a fine loremaster, a dedicated servant to Hosrenu.”Quellan was standing, somehow; he didn’t remember getting up.  The dirty rag was curled into a ball in his fist.  “My mother was a settler, a homesteader in the southern Crags that was taken by orcs.”For a moment Shenan just stared at him.  “Perhaps I was mistaken,” he said.“That is a very specific way to be mistaken,” Quellan said.  “Why would you say this to me?  Either you are lying, or the elders...”“There are many reasons why the truth may have been kept from you,” Shenan said into the silence that followed.  “Perhaps it was felt that this was a burden you did not need to carry.  Or perhaps it was her own wish that you not be told…”Quellan threw the rag across the room, and Shenan flinched as if it had been a boulder.  “I will not hear this from the likes of you!” he said.  “Admit you were lying!”Shenan slowly rose from his chair.  “I have fallen far, but I have not fallen so far to speak an untruth to an initiate of our order,” he said softly.  “Again, I am sorry.  It was not my intent to cause you pain.”He strode out of the room.  Quellan just stood there, quivering with an emotion that he could not identify as either rage, fear, or despair.</blockquote>

Verification