✦ ✦ ✦
One: “O Earth Mother, abounding in mercy…”
The other: “By your revered hand…”
Together: ““Cleanse this land!””
A whisper, a prayer, an incantation. The two clerics performed the rite of supplication faultlessly.
The portal, the dark magic that rent the earth, believed to lead directly to the depths of the abyss—the ring of fire that burned in the stone floor, slicing into the world with a depthless darkness. The castle was located directly over this place in no small part to seal it up.
I never even imagined! But…
A faint, gentle light surrounded them, centering upon the holy staff blessed by the Earth Mother—as well as the two clerics who stood to either side of it, mirror images of each other and yet completely different.
Of course, they were nothing like each other. And of course, it was only natural that they were like each other.
One was a young woman raised as an orphan on the frontier, who sought to become an adventurer and advanced step by step toward her goal.
The other was a young woman raised as the little sister of a king, and after a great fall, she rose again to advance toward her goal.
Everything about the two of them was different: what they wanted, what they had, who they were, what they’d experienced. And yet they had confronted their challenges. They had helped and been helped. And now they stood hand in hand, performing a rite as one. Even though they were still so different.
The gods of the Four-Cornered World saw it, and it was good. The Earth Mother honored them and bent her ear to their request. The light, as sweet and warm as it was powerful, held the room as if in the palm of her hand. The brightness washed over everything, and when it melted away…
“Phew…”
…what was left was only a big pit, bereft of all awfulness.
“Very good work. That’s the end of it… Isn’t it?” Priestess asked, putting a hand to her petite chest in relief.
“Yes! Thank you!” King’s Sister said, catching her up in a hug.
“Eep!” Priestess exclaimed, stumbling, her body still delicate although by now well honed.
For reasons they couldn’t fathom, the curse that had afflicted King’s Sister had vanished even before the staff had arrived. After regaining all her energy in the space of a single night, her complaint was only that she had missed all the excitement at the tournament.
As for Priestess, she didn’t feel that her or her party members’ efforts had been in vain. Instead, she thought, Thank goodness, and she meant it with all her heart.
“Are you sure it was really all right, though?” Priestess asked, cocking her head in perplexity even as she continued to hug the other girl who, despite being her own age, was considerably plumper.
“Was what all right?”
The other girl looking up at her from such close range made her heart skip a beat, and she wasn’t sure why. The face looked so much like her own, and yet its expressions were completely unique. She found herself smiling with the wonder of it.
“I mean, for me to take on such an important role… Twice!”
“Who else could have done it? If you go getting all concerned about it, I won’t have anyone left turn to.”
“Well, that’s true enough…”
Performing this ritual was one thing—she was a cleric of the Earth Mother, after all—but impersonating the king’s little sister? The very idea!
It’s like the story of the prince and the pauper.
Or the cutpurse girl who traded places with a princess.
The world teemed with stories of such adventures, and yet she had never imagined she might find herself in one of them!
“You’re lucky… I just spent the whole time sleeping!”
“Well, the important thing is, you’re okay. To think—a curse! I was shocked when I heard.”
“Yeah, a human sacrifice!” King’s Sister giggled. “That’s twice now!” She wondered aloud if that was her curse. Not a funny thought—but Priestess couldn’t help smiling.
“If that’s your curse… Well, just think of how many times I’ve been goblin hunting!”
“True……”
King’s Sister produced such a pregnant, indescribable look that Priestess shot her another puzzled glance.
“Are you sure you’re all right?” Priestess asked.
King’s Sister was quick to add, “I don’t mean I’m not grateful, you know? I mean, for this time and last time. But this is a separate issue!”
“Ah.” Priestess nodded. “Don’t worry about it!”
“You mean that?”
“Yep!” That small chest puffed out—humbly but with some measure of confidence. “I do like to think I’ve learned a thing or two about goblin hunting, after all!”
Without a word, King’s Sister put her hands to her face and turned toward the ceiling as if she were praying to the Earth Mother.
The gesture was so much like her friend that Priestess burst out laughing.
✦ ✦ ✦
§