A/N: We return to the Capital and Elsenthia, who may or may not be picking a fight with someone above her weight class.
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"Her Holiness will see you now."
"Good."
The look of surprise and reproach that the Priestess who came to get her gives Elsenthia lets her know right away that she didn't quite manage to keep the agitation out of her voice. But honestly? The Crown Princess simply can't bring herself to care. Pretending not to see it, she strides past the Priestess with her head held high, not even bothering to look the other woman in the eye.
Ever since she'd gotten back to the Capital, Elsenthia has been left to stew… and that's done nothing to lessen her anger. In fact, if anything she's only gotten more and more furious as time went on. She'd sent this request to meet with the Holy Pope two weeks ago, and yet only now was she actually being given the time of day by the other woman.
And sure, Elsenthia was self-aware enough to recognize that her privilege was what let her get a meeting with Serafina in the first place. Going directly to the Holy Pope and demanding answers from her was out of the question for most people. Elsenthia supposed she should be grateful that she wasn't most people. But at the same time, it didn't make these last two weeks any easier.
Because she wasn't most people, because she'd spent her entire life being raised to be politically minded, Elsenthia knew for a fact that the last two weeks had essentially been a power play. Of course, Serafina was busier than ever since the death of so many of the Church's Cardinals and Bishops, but that was neither here nor there. If she'd wanted to, she could have easily made time for Elsenthia before now. That she hadn't… well, it was certainly quite the statement.
Now though, at long last, Elsenthia found herself in the Holy Pope's office. Serafina sits behind her desk, the red head pouring over documents when Elsenthia enters.
"Your Holiness, the Crown Princess is here to see you."
"Good. Close the door on your way out."
"Yes, your Holiness."
The Priestess who had escorted Elsenthia in departs without complaint, even as Elsenthia bristles. Another moment of privilege, she supposed. The nameless Priestess couldn't have cared less that Serafina hadn't even bothered to look up from her work when she gave her those orders. Meanwhile, Elsenthia was irritated that the Holy Pope was STILL ignoring her.
Moving forward until she's stood in front of Serafina's desk, Elsenthia's jaw clenches as silence falls for a moment save for the movement of papers and the scratching of a pen against parchment.
"… Your Holiness."
"Yes, Elsenthia?"
The lack of any title makes Elsenthia's spine go even stiffer than it already is. And yet, she doesn't dare return the favor. A testament to the influence that the Church's Highest Official commanded, she supposed.
"I wished to discuss the mission that I went on with your Shadow a few weeks back. I had wished to discuss it with you two weeks ago when we returned to the Capital, but I understand you were busy."
Serafina still doesn't look up. Her tone, meanwhile, becomes quite… dry.
"I am indeed busy. More than that, I've already received a report on how the mission and your little… detour went. I deemed a conversation with you on the subject low priority, I must confess."
Elsenthia's eyes widen and the Crown Princess' hands clench into fists. She was just admitting it outright? This went beyond politics and grandstanding. This went beyond power moves!
"Low priority?! I don't quite see how you could possibly think such a thing, your Holiness!"
All her life, Elsenthia had looked up to two women above all others. Her own mother, of course… and the Pope. What wasn't there to look up to? Serafina was there for her in a similar way that Lisanna always was. The woman had been her unofficial aunt for much of her life, for Light's sake!
At Elsenthia's outburst, Serafina finally pulls down her pen and looks up at her at long last. Sighing, the Holy Pope steeples her hands in front of her.
"Because I already know what you're going to say. But let's get on with it. Go ahead, Princess. Speak your mind."
Speak your mind. It was something Serafina used to say to Elsenthia when she was younger in a much warmer tone than she was now. The Holy Pope was always encouraging the half-elf to speak up, to always speak her mind. Now though? Now it felt like Serafina was almost exasperated with Elsenthia. As though she barely cared what the Princess had to say!
Jaw clenching, Elsenthia speaks through gritted teeth.
"I assume that the report went over the important details. Such as the letters we found in the Duke's study detailing his plans to overthrow my mother and I, and the plans of this… Paladin Commander to not only turn a Convent into his own personal whorehouse, but also one day replace you as Pope."
A sliver of a smile appears on Serafina's face, showing her amusement at the very idea, even as she nods, still mostly serious.
"Yes. I've read the relevant documentation."
… That was all she had to say?!
"It was true, right? You signed a Writ of Authority for Tobias Williams to do whatever he wanted with that Convent? Solely because he asked for it?!"
Serafina's eyes narrow at that, though she doesn't look surprised by Elsenthia's accusatory tone. Then again, she'd already said she knew what the Princess was going to say, didn't she?
"I did. I imagine you're going to accuse me of not doing my due diligence, child. Let me stop you before you make a fool of yourself. Commander Williams was a brigand and a knave. His aims were terrible and his plan was a clear example of corruption of power. However… I am but one woman. I cannot be everywhere at once, Elsenthia."
Elsenthia opens her mouth to speak, but Serafina lifts her hand and cuts her off.
"This… Tobias Williams was little better than the riffraff my Shadow has been cleaning up in the Capital ever since that debacle of a banquet. That's why I've not asked your mother to punish you for going so far afield without telling either of us what you were up to. Leaving the Capital in the dead of night, racing North to play the role of hero… you were lucky that my Shadow took pity on you and went along with your antics. You were lucky that none of our enemies left alive are smart enough or strong enough to be lying in wait for you when you put yourself in such a stupid position."
Swallowing thickly, the young half-elf thrusts out her chin.
"It only made sense to make our way North as soon as possible. We didn't know how long the Convent had before Williams made his move… and besides, going to you or my mother might have tipped off those very same enemies you mentioned."
Serafina lifts a single brow at that, the corner of her mouth quirking upwards as she leans back in her chair.
"And if Tobias Williams and his men hadn't so foolishly run afoul of a Yeti as they did? If they hadn't been slain by that monster, they would have already been ensconced in the Convent when you arrived, having turned it into their own personal fortress. My Shadow is a very capable agent, Princess… but I cannot say that your safety would have been guaranteed. If you'd have ended up in the hands of the corrupt Commander and his men, perhaps after they threatened the Sisters they were planning to abuse, what then? What would your mother and I have done then, hm?"
When Serafina put it that way… no. No, Elsenthia refused to be cowed. She refused to be treated like a disappointing child. Having seen the woman work, Elsenthia didn't think for a second that the Shadow could have been stopped by a few Paladins, hostages or not. And she doubted Serafina thought so either. Elsenthia HAD made the right call, so long as she managed to convince the Shadow to back her up, and that was precisely what she'd done.
Though… Elsenthia blinks, struck dumb for a moment. Serafina had said that Tobias Williams died at the hands of a Yeti. That was… that was the Mother Superior's cover story from the Convent. Did that mean the Shadow had actually indulged Elsenthia in her request and NOT told the Holy Pope about Marcus' present at the Convent? She hadn't dared to believe she could convince the other woman to do so, and yet…
"I see you understand now where you erred, Elsenthia. Luckily, all's well that end's well. The Convent is saved, the Paladin Commander and his ilk are slain. Everything is perfectly fine."
The Princess startles, realizing that Serafina took her momentary stupor as some sort of introspection on her part. Bristling, Elsenthia is quick to shake her head and grit her teeth.
"Respectfully, your Holiness, everything is not fine. You still issued a Writ of Authority on little to no evidence! We can't ignore that if not for… for the Yeti, then the Sisters of that Convent, women of the Light one and all, would have been helpless in the face of Tobias and his men! It's as you said, pure luck, and that is NOT okay! You-!
SLAM!
Elsenthia jumps as Serafina suddenly slams her fist down onto the table in front of her hard enough to make it shake. For a moment, the room is awash with more lighting than before, all of it wafting off of the Holy Pope as she stares Elsenthia down.
"I… what? Need to take responsibility for my actions? Is that what you were about to say, Elsenthia?"
That was precisely what Elsenthia was about to say. It was what needed to happen! Serafina… she didn't think Serafina was evil o-or anything like that! But she'd still made a mistake! All Elsenthia wanted was for the other woman to acknowledge it, damn it!
"I do not have time to deal with every little problem that comes across my desk, Elsenthia. Marcus and the Dark Lord are my first and second priority. They're still out there, you know. The Dark Lord, whoever they are. They didn't show themselves when Marcus cleaned up those bandits. They didn't show themselves when General Roka-Ra attacked the South. And yet… we KNOW beyond a shadow of a doubt that they're out there somewhere."
Rising from behind her desk, Serafina almost seems to tower over Elsenthia. Which is silly, because Elsenthia knows for a fact that she's taller than the Holy Pope. However, even knowing that doesn't mean anything in this moment. As her Holiness glows with barely contained power, she feels larger than life… certainly larger than Elsenthia.
"There has never been a recorded Awakening of a Destined Hero without a Dark Lord having Awakened first. Even when we find the Destined Hero earlier, that just means the Dark Lord is out there somewhere, lurking in the shadows, already plotting and planning. Marcus is in danger every second that he is out there without the Church's backing. Every second he's traveling with that fucking orc is another second that Roka-Ra has to locate the Dark Lord and bring him to them."
Elsenthia's eyes widen at that thought. From what she knew… from the sound of things, Roka-Ra wasn't bringing Marcus anywhere. Then again, Elsenthia didn't know why they'd gone to that Convent and saved those Sisters from the corrupt Commander. She hadn't stuck around long enough to ask the right questions, she supposed. Still, what little she had heard painted a familiar picture to Elsenthia. One in which Marcus was the same Hero she had known and loved, even if for only a short time before he was gone.
At the same time, Serafina's words further confirmed Elsenthia's suspicions. The Shadow had NOT told her Mistress about what the Mother Superior had confessed. For whatever reason, be it Elsenthia's begging or something else, Serafina had been kept in the dark about Marcus' presence at the Convent.
Not wanting to give anything away, Elsenthia swallows thickly.
"You… why would Roka-Ra take Marcus to the Dark Lord?"
Serafina had begun to pace in the time between the end of her words and Elsenthia's response. Now, she stops in place, her gaze snapping over to the half-elven Princess.
"To corrupt him, of course. What else, child? If the Dark Lord is allowed to get their hands on Marcus before… before we can locate him, before we can bring him back here and EXPLAIN… then all might be lost. A Dark Lord and a Destined Hero working together would spell the end of the Holy Empire despite all of our best efforts to hold it together. I refuse to let Marcus fall. I REFUSE, do you hear me?!"
Serafina flares even brighter, causing Elsenthia to choke on her own spit. The red head sounds almost… mad, in a way. She's practically frothing at the mouth! Honestly though, it's lucky Elsenthia does choke on her own spit, because it allows her the chance to hold back the automatic urge to suggest that maybe it would be a good thing if the Holy Empire came to an end.
She's not sure where that thought comes from. She doesn't mean it, she's sure of that. But it does cross her mind, just for a moment before she's able to clamp down on it. Still, staring at Serafina, Elsenthia feels like she's never seen the other woman before today. After a moment, the Holy Pope does get control of herself at least. She reins it in and stands tall, a more placid expression spreading across her face as she looks down her nose at Elsenthia.
"Finding Marcus and bringing him home is of the highest priority, Princess. In comparison, a few Priestesses at a distant Convent simply don't measure up."
Elsenthia opens her mouth to disagree… and immediately thinks better of it. Not because she's actually swayed by Serafina's words, but because she realizes that her Holiness, the woman she'd looked up to all her life… doesn't want to be disagreed with. She doesn't want differing viewpoints. She doesn't want to hear Elsenthia's perspective.
And yet, all the Crown Princess can think about is how Marcus would have reacted to Serafina's words. The Destined Hero would have balked at hearing her Holiness declare those Sisters didn't matter. He had, after all, risked his discovery and freedom to save them from their fate. But for whatever reason, Serafina didn't know that. And put bluntly, Elsenthia wasn't going to be the one to tell her.
"Good. I see you understand now. You can see yourself out, Elsenthia. I have work to do."
And with that, Serafina sits back down at her desk, picks her pen up, and promptly goes back to ignoring the half-elf standing in front of her. For a moment, Elsenthia stares at the older woman… then, she turns and quietly leaves. But she's not quite as cowed as Serafina might think. In fact, as Elsenthia leaves the Cathedral behind… she's fuming.
Still, she consoles herself with one nice thought. At least wherever Marcus was, he was probably having a better time than her at the moment…
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A/N: Sure Elsenthia, he's having a GREAT time at the moment!
Hmm, is Elsenthia angy because she can't believe Serafina would be so callous, or is she angy because she missed Marcus by less than a day? That is the question...
As always, hope you all enjoyed and be sure to let me know what you think!
Chapter 54 will come out on Friday like usual, or you can read six chapters ahead right now over on the P atreon!