The group walked up to the large steps that led into the keep itself. Although Lia hated to admit it, the building was beautiful. The druids of the land had worked tirelessly in the construction of the keep to make it fully integrated into the tree itself. The entire thing seemed to coincide with the tree rather than work against it, radiating its natural beauty as well as showing off its many colors. Each tree in Penzamen came from a different bud so there were things about each of them that reflected their diety that others did not have. In the Blessing of life, the tree was a bright and golden plant that had beautiful golden leaves, the bark of the tree is white and it radiated life. The blessing of Love's tree had beautiful cherry blossoms that bloomed constantly, unlike other cherry blossoms that only bloom for a short time. The keep had accents of pink and a deep forest green and red that reflected each part of the Blessing. Ornate imagery and murals abound, the keep was definitely built for spectacle rather than functionality. The group walked into the keep itself which bustled with people and dignitaries going to and fro. The nobles from other blessings may have been partying but this was the one time the Blessing of Love actually had work to do. This festival was meant to be a celebration of Althea, they could not rely on her aid to bring it all together.
As soon as they entered the main part of the tree, something stood out to Lia as off or wrong, against the back half of the main column of the tree was a long white tarp that covered the back section.
"Where is the evergrown tapestry?" Lia asked.
"I…don't know…" Fuju answered
"What's the evergrown tapestry," Varithorn asked.
"In every blessing there is a tree, and every tree is blessed by their respective deity," Fuju answered, "as a proof of blessing each tree has what is called the ever grown tapestry, similar to the table in the center isle, it tells a history of the blessing by being physically grown into the tree."
"So it's a timeline. A timeline of the blessing itself," Varithorn said.
"Exactly, each one starts with the respective deity planting the tree and then goes up to the present moment, but this one…is covered," Lia said. It was suspicious to say the least. The evergrown tapestry showed the state of affairs in a nation, for it to be covered was not only blasphemous, but went against the main idea of Penzamen: open and engaged.
"We had an incident with the tapestry recently," a voice said behind them. A talk slender elvish man walked towards them, he had slicked back black hair and a kind yet sharp face. He wore the robes of a noble, adorned in green and pink symbolizing the blessing of love.
"What kind of incident?" Fuju asked.
"A strange individual came into the tree and burned it with a spell. The tree has been taking some time to restore itself. The tarp is only there till it can be fully healed," he replied.
"Who would do such a thing," Lia asked, half suspicious, half concerned.
The man shrugged and shook his head, "we don't know…the man died after committing the act." He said, "I'm Telluides, I'll be your guide here today. Sorry I should have introduced myself soon. I am the chief of domestic affairs for the Blessing of Love."
"As I'm sure you know I am Fuju, court wizard, and this is Lia, heiress to the Blessing of Life," Fuju said bowing.
"And you are?" He asked. Varithorn nodded solemnly.
"He is a cleric of our court, he has come to train with us," Lia answered. She was impressed with how easily she was able to lie.
"He does not seem to be from Penzamen?" Telluides noticed.
"That is because he isn't, he is a foreigner. He came to know Alhayaa on his own, she sent him on a pilgrimage," Fuju answered, again with no hesitation in his voice.
"I see, that is very impressive. I take it this is why he hides his face," Telluides asked.
"It is customary in my country," Varithorn replied
"Well, I am glad to meet so many distinguished civil servants. Please come with me," he said, gesturing for them to follow him. As Lia walked she began to hear a voice in her head, she recognized it to be Fuju's message.
This is strange, he said.
I agree, why would someone come after the mural? Lia thought.
Not just that…he seems to be telling the truth, Fuju said
Lia looked back at him confused, what do you mean? She thought.
Exactly what I am telling you. According to his thoughts and beliefs. What he is saying is true. Fuju said. Lia could not believe his words. As an archmage's Fuju was well trained in deduction and had many spells at his disposal in order to determine truth. If Fuju says it then he must be telling the truth, but that only makes this more confusing.
Varithorn suddenly twitched. Because Lia was so wrapped up in thought it startled her. "Sorry," he said, "I didn't mean to." Telluides looked at the group smiling, it was hard to determine the meaning behind his smile.
They began to walk across the main foyer towards the back wall. They stepped onto a large platform that began to raise them into the air, heading towards the top of the tree, however they stopped much earlier than had been expected. In every other blessing the top of the great tree was the council meeting room, where the presiding leader and the council met together, but in the Blessing of Love it was in the largest room of the encompassed castle, another form of blasphemy. The lift rose about halfway up the tree and then stopped. A bridge of vines and overgrowth began to spread across the space between the lift and the floor on the other side until it connected the two. When it had fully grown, the group walked across the bridge towards a large pair of doors that were slightly ajar, enough for the group to walk through. They walked through into an open air hallway, even though Lia had her issues with the blessing she had to admit it truly was beautiful. They could see across the entire area from the hallway, being able to observe all of it. The view from the lake towards the tree was one thing, the view from the top of the palace down to the water was another. And the lights sparkled as the cherry blossoms fell all the more.
The group continued into a main circular room that looked out all over the Blessing. A semicircle table was set up in the middle of the room facing a throne. As the group walked up, another strange thing occurred to Lia, the council members were not there. Even though they should be meeting, none of them were in their seats, instead, it was the solitary leader of the blessing that sat on the throne.
"Hello!" She said yelling across the space. She waved her hand high in the air for the others to see. Lia was still skeptical but as she got closer she had to admit, it did seem to be Helena who was on the throne.
"Helena! It's good to see you!" Lia said being cordial. She didn't want there to be any suspicion.
Helena came down from her seat and ran across the room to them. She proceeded to give Lia a big hug and laughed as she did so. This all seemed like Helena unfortunately. She pulled herself away and looked at Lia, "it's been too long!" Helena said.
Helena was a very beautiful woman, but not in the way you would expect. She looked very young, part of her gift from Althea, but she also didn't command respect like most leaders would think. She was very forthright in her own way but for the most part she came across as…adorable. Many people wanted to be around her because they believed she was good company more so than wanting to take advantage of her. She was incredibly charismatic. Where Lia held an issue with her, was that she knew it. Her long pink hair draped down her back and she wore a robe that was slightly to big to give off the impression that she was ignorant in some way. Everything about her screamed cutesy and innocent…despite running a country filled with brothels.
"Helena, I saw you like 2 months ago?" Lia said, slightly annoyed.
"I know it's been too long!!!" She said excitedly. She looked towards Adonis and gasped, putting her hands in front of her face. "Don Don you are here??" She said running over and giving him a big hug. Adonis smiled and laughed as he hugged her.
"It's good to see you Helena, it truly has been too long," he said pulling her in close. Helena smiled and jumped up to give him a kiss on the cheek, this made Adonis blush a little.
"Oh," Helena said, pulling herself back, "and who is this?" She asked, pointing at Varithorn.
"Hello I'm training in the blessing of Life, they thought it would be best if I came," he said, bowing to Helena.
"No…" she said, "that isn't who you are…"
Lia and Adonis looked at each other confused. Varithorn took a concerned step back.
"Honestly, can you even call yourself a man?" She asked, her words cut through the air. Lia didn't truly know what it all meant but it was definitely pointed towards Varithorn. Something was going on.