“You plan on leaving soon, aren’t you too callous?” Saint Elaine asked as I sat back down.

  Pausing a half moment, since I hadn’t told her or anyone else yet that Lilly and I planned on leaving soon, I realized who I was talking to.

  I nodded with a faint smile. Witch used to do that too. Start conversations as if we’d already been in the middle of them.

  “Lilly recently gave birth. Just a few weeks ago, actually. I’d like to let her return to her newborn daughter as soon as possible,” I said.

  I knew Lilly would likely be a little upset with me if I told her, or anyone else really, about her daughter… but I wasn’t too worried. Elaine and I were alone in the house right now, and I believed this woman to be trustworthy. Or at least, I wanted her to be.

  The elderly woman sat up a little straighter. “Really now…? How wonderful. I’ll make sure to congratulate her and send her home with gifts,” she said.

  My faint smile grew into a normal one. “That’s very nice of you.” Hopefully I’m there to see her accept them. Lilly really hated humans so it’d be interesting to see her reaction to getting gifts from them.

  “Hm… Might I ask why you are not a mother yet?” Elaine then asked, causing my smile to falter.

  “You can tell?” I asked.

  She nodded gently with her half-closed eyes. As if she was exhausted, Elaine’s glowing eyes were always half-hidden. Almost as if she didn’t want to see anything around her, or something like it. “I can. It’s very, very, subtle… but someone who has given birth has a slight change in their color. In their source,” she said.

  Huh… “I’ve heard of that. I’ve had it explained it’s kind of like a ball of light,” I said, referencing Narli.

  “Hm… I can see why one would explain it that way. For me it’s more like a reflection. A gleam off a surface of something translucent, that I can’t really make out,” Elaine explained.

  I slowly nodded at that and thought of the hearts I’ve seen. They did sometimes seem like some kind of special glass, a type of glass that almost seemed like they didn’t exist. Maybe that was what she meant.

  “You hadn’t been able to notice Lilly’s change then? That she’d just given birth?” I asked.

  “Not if she was already a mother before,” she said.

  Ah… I wonder how that worked. “So you mean once you’ve given birth, your color changes permanently? No matter how many times or how long ago it had happened?” I asked.

  She nodded with a small frown. “You find that odd?”

  I did. But I didn’t know why. “So you mean to say you had known Lilly was a mother. You just had no idea when or how long ago,” I said.

  She nodded again. “Yes. Most women her age have had children so it’s just… normal to me. I had not found it strange. It’s why I find it odd you’ve not had any yet, being as old as you are. Especially what with you being married,” Elaine said lightly.

  Although she didn’t sound like she was being rude or condescending, it still stung a little to hear her speak of me in such a way. It made me feel like I was… wrong, or failing at some task. That I was weird for not doing something common and expected, by everyone.

  “Well… I guess I could use the excuse that I only recently married Vim,” I said.

  “Hm… how long ago was that?” Elaine asked.

  I was about to answer, but paused. How long ago…?

  Technically never. Since we’d not officially exchanged vows. Yet, for all intents and purposes we being married was now something the two of us seemed to simply accept as fact… so…

  How long then…?

  Was it when I first started telling people I was his wife? Or did our marriage begin not when I said so, but when he did as well? When it became agreed upon, basically?

  Or was it instead just the moment we started our relationship…? If so was it when we began to openly speak of it, or was it when it started before we even noticed…?

  “Quite a long silence for such a simple question,” Elaine said gently with a smirk.

  I smiled back at her and sighed. “Sorry… I just don’t know. Maybe a year or so?”

  “Do you non-humans have a different marriage process than us?” she asked.

  “I don’t think we do. I just… am not really sure when the two of us became what we are. A part of me wants to say it was only recently, yet another wants to claim it began the moment we met,” I said.

  “Hm...” Elaine leaned back in her chair, and her glowing eyes became a tad brighter as she opened them farther and stared at me.

  Although I should have been worried by the look, I knew better. Witch used to study me in a similar fashion… though now that I knew saints could see more than what could be seen, I did admit I was a little interested in what she was studying.

  My look? My smile? Or my supposed soul, or source, as they called it? Or was she just smiling at me as an old woman does to someone who looked younger?

  “Did you not marry anyone, Elaine…? I’ve heard you returned with your daughter but not him,” I asked.

  Elaine blinked, and then smirked at me. “He died. I had originally planned to return with him, but he perished on our trip home. It was my fault,” she said.

  “Oh… I’m sorry,” I said, feeling bad I had brought up a sad memory.

  She waved my worry away. “I was young. I thought I could steal a man from another without repercussions. I found out the hard way that everything has a price.”

  Oh… Oh! I nodded slowly as I realized what she meant.

  She had tried to take someone else’s husband. And he had lost his life somehow in the resulting drama that followed.

  “I’ve been told that sometimes you’re unable to see certain things, or rather certain people, when they’re considered close to you… is that true?” I asked.

  “If you’re asking if I failed to protect him because I had been unable to see his future, then yes and no,” she answered.

  “Yes and no…?”

  She nodded and lifted a hand, cupping the air as if she was holding a cup. “The things I see, the prophecies I foretell and dream, are not really about singular people. They’re more concerned on the greater scope of things. Think floods, great calamities, or wars and plagues,” she said.

  Oh…? “That’s… interesting. Witch had said most of her dreams had been about the elders. And only occasionally had been about anything else,” I said. The man she had fallen for had been one of the few non-monarch prophecies she had told me about. And even the one about him had been short and simple. It had given her just enough information to tell her that he had been the one she’d settle down with, and have children with, but nothing more.

  Saint Elaine nodded gently as clasped her hands on her lap, resting them there. “I believe all of us have our own purposes. We see what we need to, concerning our tasks, and rarely if ever anything more. For instance I knew you would one day show up, but not when or why. I simply saw once that you’d walk through the door to help me in a way only you can,” Elaine said.

  “What is that task anyway?” I asked. She had mentioned this before but hadn’t specified.

  “I believe it’s to destroy a great evil. Or at least, an evil in our perspective.”

  “Like a monarch?” I asked.

  She smiled at me. “It’s odd to hear you speak of things that I even don’t know about. But it shouldn’t be… you’re so much older than me. And you’ve obviously been around more saints than myself, too,” Elaine said as she studied me.

  I shifted a little. “Your ancestor called them elders. Great Elders,” I said.

  The saint nodded. “Yes. That’s what I’ve always known them to be. Ancestors of a bygone age. From when gods walked this realm,” she said.

  Oh…? That was a unique word. Particularly when said from someone like her. It was the type of word I rarely heard, if ever.

  Vim used that word sometimes. He had mentioned it before… in fact I believe he had done so when we had been talking about Witch and her powers. He had claimed she had not used magic. That magic was from a realm that no longer existed anymore.

  Back then I hadn’t honestly believed him. But now I knew it wasn’t that he had lied to me, but rather that he simply was saying I had misunderstood the powers Witch had used.

  She hadn’t used magic. She, like the elderly woman in front of me, used the powers of the divine. Of gods. Of their creators.

  Though… that meant magic was a different thing entirely, wasn’t it? Vim had said it had been real. That it couldn’t be used anymore, for whatever reason. Which meant their powers, a saint's power, was a different kind of power than this supposed magic.

  I wonder what separated the two? I wonder what magic was, compared to the powers of those like Elaine and the monarchs?

  “Is it the same one you sent Cat and the rest after? The one that started those fires?” I asked.

  Elaine frowned, her eyes going half closed again. “I… am not sure. Yes, maybe. Yet maybe not. All I know is I need to help you do something. Something important,” she said.

  “I need to do it?” I asked.

  She nodded a little strangely, likely because she was in thought.

  “Are you sure it’s me…?” I asked carefully.

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  Elaine blinked and then focused on me. “What do you mean?”

  “Are you sure that I’m the one you’re supposed to help do something…? And not… well…” I hesitated, and wondered what I was trying to say.

  Didn’t she mean Vim? Vim was the one who would face and destroy any monarchs, right? Then… didn’t that mean she should be helping him? Or was she saying that my presence was needed somehow?

  “I can’t see your husband, Renn. I know he exists. I know he travels with you… in fact I had expected him to show up with you, but I don’t know anything about him,” Elaine said.

  “Yet you were able to tell what I meant, just now,” I pointed out.

  She smiled at me. “From what you and Cat have explained about him, it’s safe to assume he’s some kind of strong and powerful non-human. If he had been on the hunt for the same creature which caused those fires, that means he is capable of handling it… or at least believes himself to be so. So I just put one and two together,” Elaine explained.

  I nodded. “He is strong. Verily. Far more than I am,” I said.

  Elaine blinked at me. “Then that is good to hear, Renn. Our stories tell about how you helped my ancestor defeat many great ones. That the two of you defeated several elders, and our saint only accomplished such tasks thanks to you. So if you’re capable of that alone, I can only feel further hope upon hearing that your husband is even more capable,” Elaine said.

  My breath caught a moment, and I shook m head. “I barely helped at all, Elaine. Witch did most of it. She used her powers. Her abilities, to kill them. I simply distracted them, or acted as bait or…” I tried to say.

  Elaine chuckled lightly at me, dismissing my growing worry and anxiety as she did. “That’s help, Renn. A lot more than you think.”

  Was it…?

  “As much as I’d love to hear all about her, and those moments… since we’re on the subject of your husband, may I ask about him?” Elaine asked before I could say anything more on the matter.

  I nodded.

  “His name is Vim?” she asked.

  I nodded again. “Yes. He’s a good man. He has his flaws, of course, and some of them are mighty… but I’m very proud of him,” I said.

  “Is he like you…? With your ears and all?” she asked with a small gesture to the top of my head.

  Oh. “No. He’s not a cat. I uh… honestly don’t know what he is. No one does,” I said. Elaine frowned at me, so I sighed and nodded before she could ask the obvious. “Vim is the Societies protector. He believes if people knew exactly what he was, whichever specific animal, it’d cause discord. He believes that by keeping his true bloodline secret, he is able to keep the peace and stop certain people from growing uneasy or upset,” I explained.

  Elaine frowned but slowly nodded. “That… makes a lot of sense, honestly. If your people are really as diverse as you seem to be, such a thing may very well be not just wise but needed. I’m to assume then, like us humans, your people fight and find differences even in simple little things like appearances?” she asked.

  “Oh verily. The true problem though is what one would consider a mindset. Predators and prey. A lot of our members are very weak-willed, or timid, and don’t feel comfortable with those with a little more… well, hardheaded mindsets, as some would say,” I explained.

  “Like a bunny and a fox,” she said, understanding.

  I nodded. “Yes. I know that might sound strange, because trust me it does, but it’s the truth. In fact that’s why Vim’s not here right now, he had to go somewhere and pick a member of ours up. A young girl named Fly. She’s a bird, and the place she was living at had a bunch of more timid members. They weren’t getting along, so Vim has to take her elsewhere,” I said.

  “I would think birds would be very timid,” Elaine said.

  “Right…? It’s more than our bloodlines though. For instance there is another cat. In Lumen. She and I are very different. To the point she won’t even speak to me, because I scare her,” I said.

  Elaine shifted as she pondered what I was saying, and then hummed at me. “Predator and prey,” she stated.

  I nodded. “I’m too much a predator in her eyes… or well, in many people’s eyes,” I admitted.

  “You seem very calm to me, Renn. Even if you showed up wearing mercenary armor,” Elaine said with a small grin.

  I grinned back at her and nodded. “Used to have a sword too. It recently broke,” I said.

  “Oh…?”

  Nodding softly again, I sighed. “To be honest, I don’t like how the Society is so split. But I can’t do anything about it. No one can,” I said.

  “It’s the same everywhere, for everything. Us humans separate and disagree over similar things all the time, so I’d not be too bothered over it. It’s just a part of life,” Elaine said.

  I nodded again, but didn’t outright agree with her. After all I rarely heard of humans uprooting their whole lives and moving to different cities just because their neighbors were a little different than them. Or maybe humans did, and I just didn’t realize they did.

  “You call your husband the protector. Is that his job or title?” Elaine asked.

  “Both…? Is there a difference?” I asked.

  “Can others become one? A protector?” she asked back.

  Ah… “Maybe. I don’t know, probably,” I answered honestly. It was hard to imagine someone else doing what he did, even if I wanted to be what he was myself.

  I kept the upcoming vote concerning Vim’s position in the Society to myself, as Elaine tilted her head. “Have you been a part of this society long?” she asked.

  Shaking my head, I heard the wind pick up outside. This house was well built, without any drafts, but I could feel that it was growing colder. I should probably light the nearby fireplace soon, to make sure Elaine would be comfortable. “Just a few years,” I told her.

  “Why is that?” she asked.

  “I hadn’t known of its existence until recently. I happened upon some of the members in a nearby town, Ruvindale. Before then I hadn’t known about the Society,” I explained.

  Elaine seemed to find that odd for she frowned. “That is strange,” she stated.

  “Is it…?” I asked. I mean, it was. I’ve lived for a long time. You would have thought I would have run into more non-humans, particularly those of the Society, but it is what it is.

  “My vision. The one about you showing up here… I had it a long time ago, Renn,” Elaine said.

  Tilting my head, I frowned at her. “You mean… my walking through the door, with Vim?” I asked.

  She nodded.

  “But… why is that strange? Hadn’t you just seen what would happen? The future or whatever? What would it matter if it was a long time ago or recently?” I asked.

  “Because it had been back when I was young. Before my daughter was even born. I had met you when young, back then,” she said.

  I shifted a little in my chair as I understood her meaning. She was saying that she had foreseen us meeting a long time ago. In her prophecy she had seen us meeting before her daughter had been born. Decades ago, likely.

  And I had been with Vim even then.

  “Witch had said she saw possibilities. Is that not just what you saw? A possibility? Why’s that strange?” I asked.

  The idea that I could have met Vim many years ago, and thus showed up here earlier, was an interesting if sad thought… but I wasn’t going to dwell on it. It wasn’t like I could change the past.

  “Possibilities are beyond me. What I see are things that come to pass,” she said.

  I shifted a little and wondered if she meant what I thought she did. “You mean everything you see comes to pass?” I asked.

  “Usually. For instance Brave and the rest I had seen failing. And they had. But I had not seen them die… which is why I had been willing to send them on that quest,” Elaine said gently.

  Feeling bad all of a sudden, I did my best to not allow my emotions to overcome me. She had already made it very clear that I shouldn’t feel responsible, nor should Vim, so I didn’t want to insult her by continuing to feel horrible over it. “I don’t understand. From what I’ve heard your prophecies can be wrong. Often,” I said.

  “Says who?” she asked rather simply.

  Well… “Witch for one,” I told her, choosing to use her as the answer and not Vim.

  Elaine frowned at me. “Prophecies can be wrong, in the sense you can misunderstand them. But the simplest ones, like those I see, in my experience have never been wrong.”

  “Did you not just say you foresaw me coming earlier?” I pointed out.

  She smiled at me. “I simply misunderstood that. You still showed up,” she countered.

  I hesitated, since it felt almost like she was trying to convince herself more than she was me… and then I realized that was likely exactly what was happening.

  Maybe she firmly believed her prophecies always came true. Irrelevant to their actual outcome. Like my showing up late, or Brave and the rest dying on their quest.

  Was she simply twisting the truths as to find a logical conclusion she wished to believe in? Or was I reading too much into her statements?

  I’d wonder if she was right or not, but I had it on very good authority she was wrong. Not just from Vim, either. Witch and Narli had both said similar things. That they saw potential futures, not guaranteed ones. Those who had known Celine, or about her, claimed similar concerning her prophecies too.

  Not wanting to cause issues, I simply decided to ignore Elaine’s beliefs for now and guide the conversation along. Yet before I could, someone knocked on the front door.

  I stood from my chair, rounded the couch Elaine sat upon and went for the door. As I did I guessed it was Lilly, since anyone else here in this village would have likely simply opened the door.

  Opening the door, I indeed found Lilly. She was soaked.

  “Why are you so soaked?” I asked as I glanced at the world beyond her. There was indeed a light mist, but it wasn’t raining harshly. Nowhere near harsh enough for her to be so wet.

  “It’s pouring not far from here. It’s heading this way,” Lilly said as she stepped into the house.

  I stepped back, since she was so wet I didn’t want to catch any of the droplets that flew from her as she took off her thick outer jacket.

  That meant Lilly had once again been out wandering the area around the village, looking for anyone who may have been following us for one reason or another. I knew a part of her efforts were simply her wanting to spend as little time here in this human village, but I also knew she was serious in her efforts. And not just because she firmly believed we had been followed.

  She hung her soaked jacket on a spot on the nearby wall, and I shut the door behind her.

  “Elaine, Lilly’s here to join us,” I said as I stepped back into the front room. Before sitting back down though I went to start a fire. It was cold enough that I should have done it earlier.

  “Come sit, rest your wings,” Elaine said gently, causing Lilly to pause at the entrance of the room.

  I glanced at her and noticed the annoyed look of discomfort on her face. She said nothing though as she continued forward and over to a chair. The farthest one from Elaine.

  Kneeling in front of the fireplace, I found the few pieces of wood within it were half burnt already. I had to gather some kindling and a couple proper logs from a nearby box as to ready it to be relit. They didn’t have the metal fire-starters that most locations in the Society had, but instead simple rocks that when struck would cause sparks. It took a few solid smacks of the rocks to start the fire, and I had to blow on the little flame a bit to really get it going.

  “Still… this man must be quite something. It is too bad he hadn’t joined you here,” Elaine said as I studied the fire for a moment, to make sure it stayed lit.

  “Man?” Lilly asked.

  “Vim... at least, I assume that’s who we’re still talking about,” I said as I stood away from the fireplace. It would be fine; it was growing strong and would stay aflame for some time by the looks of it.

  Lilly frowned at me as I stepped closer to the two of them. I didn’t return to my seat though as I watched Elaine cross her arms and close her eyes. I could barely see the glow from them from under her eyelids, even though the glow should be strong enough to pierce them easily.

  Her strange interest in Vim was odd. It almost seemed like she had some kind of question she wanted to ask about him, yet hadn’t just come out and asked it yet. As if she was beating around the bush instead… or…

  “Do you know him?” I asked, wondering if that was it.

  “Your husband…? No,” Elaine opened her eyes to frown and shake her head at me.

  “Then why the interest?” Lilly asked for me. She side glanced the saint as she spoke, telling me she had noticed Elaine’s oddness even from these last few moments.

  Elaine smiled at Lilly, and then glanced at me. “She’s like a long lost sister to me. Of course I’d be interesting in her partner.”

  My ears fluttered a little and I reached out to grab the back of a nearby chair. It took a small moment for me to soak up her words, and by the end of it I was smiling.

  Lilly sighed gently, and I knew it was because she had heard the same thing I had.

  An answer to distract from the real one.

  But still… it had made me smile all the same.

  “Well… before your daughter returns, with Cat and who knows who else, why not tell us about this evil you expect me defeat,” I said as I went to sit back down. As to change the topic a little, since it made me feel weird and a little unsure in general. Her interest in Vim was for an obviously real reason, even if she wouldn’t outright say it. Odds are she hadn’t lied; she likely did have an interest in him simply because he was mine, but… it was obvious there was more to it. More than she was seemingly willing to admit at the moment, at least.

  Elaine sighed at me. “We’d have plenty time to speak of all this if you’d not leave us so soon,” she complained, again... and then went to tell me about a dream she had that ended up with the world under perpetual day, with no moon in sight.

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