User blog:Drix153/Misgivings of a Cleric Part III

'*Misgivings of a Cleric Part III is the final installment of a trilogy revolving around Rosaline Haines and the Forinthry Ossuary. Reading through Part I and Part II may give you a better appreciation of the story below. Enjoy!*'

Planting her boot hard on the man's chest, Rosaline steadied Sharp and drove its point through his heart in one swift motion. His cries for mercy were cut short, only to be replaced by the soft sighing of his last breath. She watched as the life left his eyes, and once gone wrenched her blade from his body. Rosaline felt neither pity nor remorse as she crouched and wiped the blood off her blade using a rag from his corpse; he and his buddy had thought her a simple maiden, no doubt, and likely planned to do far worse to her once they were finished robbing her blind. Compared to that, the quick death she delivered was a mercy. The idiots deserved worse.

While idiots they may have been, these two had been well-armed, at least one of them anyway. 'Big Idiot' had had a mithril dagger on him, while 'Bigger Idiot' was stupid enough to believe that he could take her on with his bare hands. She'd taken the latter down easy enough, but 'Big Idiot' was faster than he looked and nicked her good a couple times before she finally caught him with a feint and back stroke. Normally Rosaline would have simply rushed the pair of them, and had been on the verge of doing just that before a tiny voice inside her head reminded her of why it was a pretty stupid idea. She was with child after all, and while some might say otherwise, Rosaline knew better than to risk so much on something like this.

Once her injuries, few and small as they were, were seen to, Rosaline picked through the belongings of the two dead men. Judging from their stuff, they were scavengers. She'd met a few on the road before; you were bound to, this close to the Wilderness, and it came more as a surprise she hadn't run into them sooner. No doubt the place was crawling with them now that the Forinthry Ossuary was gone. Gone... Rosaline still balked at the idea, but the druid's letter had said as much. Steven had no reason to lie to her, right? Of course, the notion that it was a fake had crossed her mind more than once. If that was the case, then it'd worked. But if someone was trying to lure her away from the city, surely there were easier ways to do so. Either way, she'd find her answer soon enough.

Leaving the bodies were they lay, Rosaline walked back to her mule and tried to sooth the beast. It brayed nervously at the smell of blood, but soon calmed, her soft coos apparently doing the trick. She considered herself lucky at this since most animals despised her for whatever reason. Since the beast seemed more or less comfortable around her, Rosaline had named it 'Friend,' which only made her realize how terrible she was at naming things. Her blade Sharp and Friend the mule. It made her wonder whether she shouldn't just call the baby Stinker and get it over with. Instantly she regretted thinking that. For all she knew her child might not make it, like the last one she'd had so long ago...

Now angry with herself, Rosaline gave Friend's reins a jerk and started walking. The dirt path she followed was mostly overgrown with weeds, roots, and the like. The sight of it reminded her of the promise she'd made during her time as High Clerist, and then later, Overseer of the Hand of Ptolemos, to have the roads leading to the Forinthry Ossuary cleared and paved over to make reaching the place easier. She'd never gone through with it, though, and that only made her angrier. Did she ever accomplish anything she set out to do? Rarely, it seemed, and then for the few times that she had something would happen that rendered whatever she'd done pointless and a waste of time. Ptolemos' face suddenly swam before her eyes unbidden. Rosaline recoiled, but out of surprise or disgust she couldn't say.

It made sense, though. How many times had she risked life and limb for him? And for what? She'd died in the end, only to be brought back against her will. At first she'd been grateful, even pleased, but now... Looking back, Rosaline found it hard to recall why she'd been so eager to work for him in the first place. She tried, really, but all she remembered was those hard, red eyes, eyes that read of contempt and apathy. How had she ever fallen for him, someone who failed to appreciate her or even bothered to care that much? It was so unlike the man he could have been, the one she'd had locked away in some asylum, the one whose child she now carried. Guilt gnawed away at her heart, but Rosaline knew it was for the better. How could she take care of him if she could barely take care of herself?

Rosaline nearly tripped over a root, so involved in her thoughts as she was. Scolding herself, she forced them away for the time being. She had other matters to attend to, like not breaking an ankle or Friend's while trying to reach the temple. She didn't have to worry long. Up ahead, under the shadows of an old oak tree, a crude sign she remembered from days past signified her destination was not too far off now. Only one mile left before the truth of Steven's letter would come out, for better or for worse.