The Black Chapel
© 2013 by Walter Reimer


Part 3.


Halvrika had started to roll to her right away from Trasta, so she completed the roll and sat up, letting the bedclothes fall away from her to display her breasts. Still in her pajamas, Trasta blinked awake and sat up. Being trained as a soldier helped in developing the ability to awaken as quickly as possible. “What?” the elk doe barked.

A red fox glared at the two women. He was dressed in white robes with a black sash over his shoulders and a similar length of blue cloth acting as a belt. A medallion in silver and lapis lazuli depicting the whirlpool symbol of the Pantheon glittered around his neck, and he wore a white skullcap with holes cut for his ears. “What is the meaning of this?”

“And a very good morning to you, Lord Priest,” Trasta yawned. “What is the meaning of what?”

“You – and that woman! In bed! Together!” The vulpine grasped his medallion and muttered a prayer, then took a breath and appeared to calm down somewhat. “It’s an abomination!”

The elk and the raccoon shared a quick glance. Halvrika rolled her eyes and sank a bit further under the covers. “Gond, I swear by Luli that nothing happened. Halvrika is an old friend, and she was exhausted – “

“Before or after you two offended the gods with an unholy act?”

The elk frowned.

The two guards in the doorway retreated. “Have a care, Priest, or by the Silver Mountain I’ll take that tongue out of your head, see if I don’t.” She drew the dagger from under her pillow and made as if to stand up.

The cleric stood his ground. Halvrika was forced to admit that he was being quite courageous. The Royal House were known to be somewhat harsh in their manners. “Your father – “

“The King’s Grace – my father – has better things to do than to listen to your salacious gossip.”

“The Pantheon decreed it!” Gond planted his paws on his sash and declaimed, “It is written in the Book of Skulls that man shall not lie with man, nor woman lie with woman. It is an abomination, and Their wrath will fall upon you for your sin.”

“Even if nothing happened,” Trasta said dryly.

The fox gave a disdainful sniff. “That woman can enthrall you, Princess.” He raised a paw and shook a finger at the doe. “Mark my words, you and that unbelieving whore will be anathematized – “

That did it.

The priest was a worldly man, but he had forgotten that elk, like all deer, are capable of quite astonishing bursts of speed. Princess Trasta might have been heavily muscled as befitted her warrior vocation, but the way she practically flew off of the bed caused the guards to flinch.

She plowed into the fox, knocking him backward off his feet, and she grabbed him by the collar of his vestments as she landed on top of him. Her dagger gleamed in a stray shaft of sunlight as she snarled, “Listen well, priest. I am a scion of the High House and by my father’s will I am his Heir. I reverence Luli and His shieldmaiden Valla, and They have always guarded and guided me. I have served the Kingdom in the field as Commander of the Forces for seven years, and have been by Their favor victorious in twelve campaigns.”

She shook her fist and the fox’s head banged against the stone floor, his skullcap coming off. “And I will not have the likes of you thinking you know more than the Gods of War!”

Trasta got to her feet, hauling the fox up and half-throwing him toward the door. “Now get out. I see you again today and I’ll put your head on a spite-post facing the Temple!”

Gond scrambled to his feet and ran past the guards. “You!” Trasta shouted at the wolf and the bobcat.

The bobcat gulped and the wolf knelt so quickly that Halvrika winced as one of his knees hit the stone floor. “Your pardon, Princess – he – “

“Threatened you, I warrant. It’s no matter. Go fetch my maids and tell them to bring us breakfast, then tell the generals I will confer with them at the fourth hour. Go,” and she closed the door as the guards left to follow her orders.

“Trasta?” The raccoon’s voice was muffled, with only her ears peeking out of the covers.

“Yes, Halvrika?”

“Are you done shouting? I’m trying to sleep.”

The elk doe glared before bursting into laughter. “You’d better drag yourself out of your burrow. Breakfast will be here soon enough, and I think we’ve managed to scandalize enough people this morning.” She smiled as the slimmer and somewhat shorter raccoon got out of bed and stretched. “And you really need a bath.” She punctuated this by swatting the raccoon’s rear with a paw, eliciting a yelp.

Halvrika chuckled, rubbing her buttock. “Watch this.” She closed her eyes as her fingers traced a few signs.

Trasta’s ears pricked as she felt a breeze pass through the room, and a quick glance confirmed that the door and the windows were still closed. The air in the room was slowly getting drier, and she turned away from the windows in time to see a haze of moisture coalesce around the raccoon.

Eyes still closed, Halvrika stood in the center of a small rainstorm, miniature gusts of wind scrubbing her fur. The water slowly faded back into vapor, and the wind intensified, ruffling her pelt and drying her off.

She opened her eyes and grinned a bit breathlessly at the doe. “What do you think?”

“Your fur still needs brushing.” The doe followed this remark up with another swat to her friend’s rear, followed by a soft pinch.

Halvrika rolled her eyes.

Several minutes later a timid knock was followed by a maid shouldering the door open. Another maid followed with a small cart laden with various dishes and a steaming pot of tea. “Your Highness,” and the mouse bobbed a curtsy, “here is breakfast.”

Trasta was now dressed, her light gray tunic bearing a small representation of the Royal Arms, a vertical tricolor in white, blue and green with a gold crown in the center. The silver feather over the crown proclaimed that she was the second in the line of succession. Her black trews were not quite long enough to hide her hooves. Halvrika was dressed in trousers and tunic of light blue, the symbol of her Order prominently displayed. The cuffs of her trousers were tucked into ankle-high soft leather boots. “Excellent, Sisi,” the doe said in a much friendlier tone than the one she’d used on Lord Gond. “Please bring the cart in, and leave the door open when you leave.”

“Yes, my Lady.” The two maids complied with their mistress’ orders and bowed themselves out.

“That was a neat trick you did,” Trasta remarked as she poured herself a cup of tea. Her breakfast was simple fare, more suited to a military camp than a fortress in a friendly city; a hot gruel of soaked grains and pieces of dried fruit, thickened with cream and sweetened with honey. “Bathing yourself using the moisture in the air like that.”

“Took me a while to get the hang of it,” Halvrika said as she spread butter on her toast. She had tea as well, but her own breakfast was soft-boiled eggs with a rasher of bacon.

“Can you teach it to me?”

The raccooness chuckled. “Have a month’s worth of free time? You have no idea how many times I had to mop up the mess in my rooms.” She grinned as her friend snorted into her tea.