The Divine Talent

Herald of Misfortune

Cecilia and her entourage were among the many groups of people that were scheduled to head outside of Altior on an expedition. As the High Priest performed the evening prayers and the blessings for the expedition members, Cecilia sat amongst her group, wondering what her Talent was supposed to be. Was it a Talent which gave her prodigal skills with the sword? Or was it something else? Whatever it was, the Cecilia figured that it was most likely something to do with her skill with the sword.

"What about the boy with the Talent of Healing?" An older woman asked her. Cecilia looked up at the face of her mentor, Yulierre. Yulierre was an older, dark skinned woman, who looked like a seasoned veteran. She was as wise as she was strong - having been a bodyguard of the royal family for decades. Cecilia shook her head.

"The Talent of Healing is useless in battle. It requires time, concentration, and stillness, none of which can be accomplished in the middle of battle. We could bring him along for after the battles, but we aren't going on an overnight expedition." Cecilia said firmly. Bringing someone along who could not contribute towards a battle was pretty much just bringing along dead weight.

The rest of the evening prayers and the blessing from the High Priest went by without any other conversation. As they were leaving the City Hall, Cecilia felt a presence watching her, but from which direction, she was unsure of. She felt Yulierre tap her shoulder.

"Can you feel it?" She asked. Cecilia nodded, almost imperceptibly. "Keep your guard up. It appears Altior is not as safe a city as it is advertised."

Cecilia took a deep breath to calm her nerves. As she lay her right hand on the pommel of her sword, she felt a calming, soothing wave of energy flow from it, encasing her entire body, and empowering her senses. She ducked as she felt, no, sensed something fly over her head. Noise erupted in the open area outside of the City Hall as the crowd of citizens who were leaving the evening prayers session noticed the thing that had appeared. Its was big, much bigger than many had ever imagined. A giant, quivering mass of fur, it swung its head around and fixed its yellow eyes squarely on Cecilia's group. The giant wolf bared its fangs and advanced slowly. Screams sounded and panic ensued - this was not something that was to be expected in the middle of Altior, of all places. The city of Altior had never been infiltrated, nor had any monster ever been able to breach the city walls that had encircled it.

Yulierre immediately took charge.

"Maxwell!" She yelled, and the big, muscular man nodded. He hefted his big two handed broadsword and stepped in front. The giant wolf howled, and spread out its four legs, as if he was about to jump.

"Scatter!" Yulierre yelled as the giant wolf leapt forward, jumping over Maxwell with ease, and landing in the space that had only just been vacated. Cecilia grit her teeth as the wolf spun around, lashing out its front paw, and swiping away the broadsword that Maxwell had attempted to swing into his leg. Off balanced, the wolf pounced on Maxwell, but he was saved as Yulierre dived into him, and managed to knock him out of the way, rolling so as to avoid the wolf as well.

Before anything could happen, a rain of fire descended from the sky to strike the wolf, setting its fur alight and eliciting a growl of pain and anger. Without missing a beat, two arrows managed to find their targets and pierced through the eyes of the wolf, striking so hard and so fast, that the wolf was dead before it even finished falling to the ground.

Cecilia unclenched her fist and relaxed her grip on her sword, breathing a sigh of relief, releasing the breath that she had unknowingly been holding.

"Yulierre." A tall man wearing a long brown coat said as he walked forward, the crowd of people parting before him as they recognised the royal insignia that was fastened to his right shoulder.

"My lord." Yulierre bowed her head in deference to the man as he stood before her. He glared at her slightly, then looked at Cecilia.

"I thought the King had specifically told you not to let the Princess join you on any expeditions outside of the city, yet this is where I find you." He spat out angrily. Yulierre said nothing.

"Princess Cecilia, spending your time with these people will not be very beneficial. I thought we had already agreed that you would be learning under my tutelage." The man turned to her. "Please just stop messing around. It will not get you anywhere. Also, your father isn't pleased."

Cecilia turned to face him.
"What I do is my own business. You can go back to the Capital and tell father that if he wants me to go back, he needs to come get me, himself." She replied firmly, staring straight back at the man. They looked each other in the eye for a few seconds before the man stepped back, breaking eye contact with her.

"Very well, Princess." He said evenly, his voice giving no indication of the seething anger he felt at the public humiliation that the Princess had just served upon him. But alas he could do nothing. She was right, and she outranked him.

"We shall return to the capital then." He said, gesturing towards the group of soldiers who had accompanied him. "But I warn you Princess, you shouldn't mess with things you have yet to understand, for your own sake." He turned his head to face his troops and issued a small command. Pulling his hood back over his head, his eyes burned with anger as he left the area. 

"Don't listen to him Princess." Maxwell reassured her. "He is a rude and arrogant man. He seems to have forgotten the humble origins he came from. It will only come back to hurt him later on." The Princess said nothing. Instead she looked around her, surveying the damage that the surprise attack had done. She felt a hand land on her shoulder. Looking up into the dark eyes of Yulierre, she felt at ease, and let herself be lead away from the carnage that lay around them. 

-

There was a strange sense of calmness that night, as the city finally settled down. The fires had long since been doused, and the people, aware that the danger had passed, went to bed, albeit slightly more uneasily than they would have done normally. Among those were the soldiers, and groups of people, mercenaries, and merchants that were supposed to leave the city walls the next day. The attack had reminded everyone that the outside world was unsafe, dangerous, and unpredictable. Many people stayed up a little later than usual, praying by their bedside tables to the various gods of the world, but mostly to Venera, the Goddess of safety and protection. 

However, some could not sleep. The stillness of the night sky, and the twinkling of the night stars kept some awake, wondering what their fate would be in the wide open world. One of those was Princess Cecilia. As she lay in her tent, listening to the sounds of the night, and of the people around her sleeping, she could hear someone moving around outside. She got up gingerly and took a look through the gap in her tent opening. It was Maxwell, and he was shirtless. She could see him wrapping his lower abdomen with a long strip of cloth. 

"Maxwell?" She whispered as she left the warmth of her tent to stand behind him in the cold. 

"Ah, my lady. I did not intend for you to see me like this. I apologize for this shameful display." He murmured as he tied the cloth tightly and put his shirt back on. 

"What is that?" She asked, gesturing to the place he had wrapped. Maxwell stood up and turned around.

"Nothing you need to worry about. It happened with the giant wolf, but it is merely a graze." He said as he gestured back to her tent.

"You should go back inside and sleep, my lady. The night is long, cold and unwelcoming, and we need to be ready and awake when we leave tomorrow." 

Cecilia said nothing as she watched Maxwell head back to his tent. She knew that they were camping close to the wall alongside many, many other soldiers, as most people did so they would be able to leave in the morning without wasting much time, but she still felt a little uneasy. The wall cast long shadows that seemed to have secrets of their own, and she did not feel any better as she lay down in her tent to sleep. But soon enough, even the doubts and the tantalizing whispers of fear could not stop sleep from taking over.