-The 12th Gospel: When everything was settled, the Humans and Demi-Humans decided they could no longer live together. Their life was a gift to the humans but they were pushed south across the desert dunes where they may not come back to bother the humans. Humans reclaimed the lands that had been made just for them by The Lord. They changed nothing and lived in the way he had lived himself. Meanwhile the Demi-Humans grew and flourished. They created new breeds and searched far lands finding new friends for their homes.-
A lone delivery man got off a wagon on the outskirts of CunStead. He had traveled a very long distance to deliver a package. No one really questioned his presence which made him slightly uncomfortable. But he hid concern behind a false smile and wrapped his traveling cloak around his body.
When he got down from the carriage he shook hands with the driver and thanked him for a safe trip and tipped him a few silver for making sure he arrived without incident. They smiled at each other and said their goodbyes.
The delivery man took out a sheet of paper from his pocket and unfolded it to reveal the directions to get to the house he was looking for. He pulled out a compass to find out where north was, there, he was on the western edge of town. He put the sheet and the compass into his pocket and headed off in the direction of the home.
Normally parcel service like this would allow for a man to stop and sleep as needed. This kind of parcel needed to be guarded at all times so he had to move as quickly as he could. It was already afternoon and the sun was still in the sky so he had no reason not to deliver it now. Once it was delivered he would give it a day and then return for a reply and head back to his employer again.
This kind of job was dangerous by its very nature. Messengers and relay men were always under attack. So they traveled in disguise usually to lower the chance of attack. Or they traveled as quickly as they could.
In this case, he was traveling a man trying to find his way back home to old family members. Which wasn't a complete lie. So almost everyone he had met bought the story, hook, line, and sinker.
Finally, the messenger made it to the lands that had been described to him. They fit the description to a 'T'. The fields were identical sizes, no more than 100 feet by 100 feet with one plant every 1 square foot. The fields were uniform and even the trees were evenly spaced. The messenger nodded in approval. This was a good sign in his mind for the authenticity of the message he was going to deliver.
He walked up to the house and found that even the piles of work equipment were stacked in straight lines with uniform space between them. Everything here was the epitome of organized. The sun was starting to creep towards the edge of the sky and the blue was changing to ambers and reds as he got to the front door. It was later than he wanted to make the delivery but he had walked to town in the dark before and he trusted his hidden daggers.
He knocked on the door and waited for an answer outside patiently. He heard the sounds of a meal being eaten and knew someone was home.
The door opened slowly and soft light filtered outside lighting up the man's features. He was short by normal human standards but the man that opened the door from inside was about the same height. He had the same jovial round face that the other man did too and firm large hands.
"Is this the home of Priya Jorgensen?" He said quietly to the man.
Jorgen nodded solemnly. In his mind, this was the worst-case scenario he had been waiting to not come true.
"Juniper, come to the door. Send the kids upstairs." Jorgen motioned with one hand that he wanted the man to step out onto the porch and he closed the door behind him. They shook hands and introduced themselves. The messenger's name was Loxes Jorgensen. He introduced himself as Loxes though to hide his full identity.
"What is it Jorgen?" said a taller woman. She had rustic beauty and her hair was tied up in a blue ribbon with a bow. Jorgen put out his hand and when she grabbed it he pulled her close to him.
"This man is here about Priya. His name is Loxes." Jorgen nodded towards him.
Juniper did her best to hide the tears and introduced herself with a handshake. Loxes knew what they must be thinking. What came next would surprise them, so he did nothing to console their tears.
"Thank you for agreeing to meet me with me. I am a messenger sent from the south. I have a parcel for you. I need you to open the parcel and read it tonight, the writer requests your reply as soon as possible. If you can not read or write please let me know and I will transcribe for you. I am Notary of the southern governments and I am sworn to write everything exact and true."
They both blinked. This was changing very quickly, they looked at each other wondering exactly what had happened to their daughter. Juniper spoke first though, "Is our daughter dead?"
"Ma'am I have not read the letters enclosed. I am only ordered to bring them with you and wait for 24 hours for a reply before heading back. The sender requires some kind of reply though, failure to reply will be considered very bad etiquette."
Jorgen nodded his understanding. "Don't worry, we are both educated enough to read and write. What do you have for us?"
Loxes nodded that they understood and reached behind him and undid a clasp. He had a leather carrying case strapped in the small of his back to disguise its presence. He swung it around to the front of his body and pulled out a package, wrapped in black paper and sealed with maroon wax. The emblem on the wax was the house of Jorgensen.
Jorgen looked at it, "This seal, what is it?"
"It's a family seal sir. From the great house of Jorgensen." Loxes put the leather bag back in its place and redid the clasp to hold it. He felt weird without it at times.
Juniper looked at Jorgen and looked at the wax. This kind of packaging was meant for important documents. "Can we invite you in for dinner?"
"Thank you, but no ma'am. I need to head towards town. It's late."
Jorgen put up a hand and shook his head. "Nonsense. We have a spare room in the barn where there are no kids. Our oldest used it before he married and built his house on the far end of the farm. You will stay here tonight and have our reply by morning time."
That had passed a test. Jorgensen clan law dictated that you never let a visitor leave your house without your hospitality. Everything he had been asked to verify was getting ticked off one at a time. This bodes well for his reply to the family masters when he returned.
"I will take your hospitality and whatever food you might have leftover. I accept your offer graciously." He nodded and bowed his head in a sign of respect.
Juniper took the package inside and put it on the table. Jorgen led the man to the barn. Inside were two bedrooms. The first door was nailed shut from the outside as a sign that it was not to be disturbed. The room closest to the back wall was a simple room with a desk, bed, dresser, and large lantern. This had been Corvus' room before he married and moved out.
As soon as they got him all settled with a fresh pillow and blankets Juniper showed up with a large plate of food and a tankard of some kind of mead.
Juniper and Jorgen thanked him for coming and bringing the package and excused themselves. They needed to see what was in the letter. They were anxious to read it but the rules of hospitality required them to make sure he was comfortable before they excused themselves.
When everything was done and Loxes assured them that he was okay for the night and knew where everything was they backed out of the room and nearly ran back to the house. Priya had been quiet for a very long time now. Letters had been more common when travelers came to town but since the attack, they had not heard anything of her. They worried she was dead or worse. So this was something they had feared. The fact that it came via house messenger made them even more curious.
That night the messenger went out of his room to sit on a stack of logs and enjoy his traveling pipe. He sat and puffed away in the cool crisp air and listened. He could hear excited talking from the house. He had seen a young man and woman cross the fields and head back to the house. They had obviously read the letters. He wondered how they were taking the news.