Part I – The Acolyte's Creed
Chapter One – Minding One's Manners
Reenaka sighed and shook back her shoulder-length blonde hair as she pondered the wooden door in front of her. She wondered if it were a sort of fate, that she had found herself standing in front of this very same door once again. The door itself was quite unremarkable – just an old wooden door with no embellishments, a simple barrier between the cold stone corridor she was standing in and a small room made of the same cold stone. But it wasn't the door itself that she was considering, it was the host of memories, the remarkable twist of fate that had first led her to this very door, and that had now, some ten years later, brought her back.
She started at the door for a full minute, lost in her thoughts. If anyone else had been present, it would have seemed as though she were waiting for it to acknowledge her presence – not that such an event would have surprised her. Reenaka had witnessed stranger things in her day, and she had no doubt that she would see stranger still in the years to come.
With a visible effort, she managed to tear herself away from the past and focus herself (more firmly at least) in the present. She straightened the elaborate dress that she wore, making a slight grimace as her hands brushed over the golden chain that was wrapped around her waist, and the black tome secured to it. With a glance at the setting sun through a small window at the end of the corridor, Reenaka raised her hand and knocked. Immediately from within she heard the muffled clap of a book being slammed closed, followed by the ruffling of fabric. Then a feminine voice called from within, "Come in."
Reenaka frowned with disapproval at the tone of that voice – a most seductive tone – but then she quickly reminded herself to try and be neutral about the situation, and that since she had been, at least in part responsible for this situation, she must also try and reason out the solution for herself. It was with this attitude in mind that she opened the door and stepped into the room, and what she saw there took all thoughts of neutrality from her mind. The small room was sparsely furnished, with a wooden desk and chair to her right, a small bookshelf next to that, and a simple bed on the left side. It was what was on the bed that drew her attention.
Poised languidly on the bed as if she believed herself to be the queen of some exotic far off land, was a young woman draped in a priestly robe. But this robe had been modified a great deal and it now sported a long slit on one side that revealed shapely brown legs, and another slit at the front that revealed ample cleavage. But the worse thing of all, was the sultry look in the girl's eyes. Reenaka could only stare in horror, rapidly coming to the realisation that the situation was far worse than she had foreseen. A demon has come to Northshire Abbey, she said to herself, a succubus from the hellish nether itself!
No, No, she chided in the same thought, I'm overreacting! This is no demon. She is - but whatever redeeming thought she was going to think was cut off by a shout of recognition from the girl, followed by another shout, this accompanied by a flying pillow, aimed at the blonde woman's head. Reenaka knew that the shout had carried all the way up and down the corridor, and that even now, people in the entrance hall were turning their heads. Standing in the doorway, she was so shocked that in spite of the intense training and years of combat experience that she had behind her, the linen missile caught her full in the face – its stuffing scattered into a cloud of drifting feathers around her head.
"You!" the girl shrieked, her long black hair whipping through the air as she scanned the room for more objects to throw. This one came at her in the form of a thick leather-bound volume of poems written by former Priests and Paladins of the abbey and it would have done some damage had she not snapped her hand up and caught it inches from her face. "Enough!" she said, tossing the book onto the bed and although she had barely raised her voice the girl locked stares with her and immediately stopped moving. The pair continued to stare at each other for almost another minute, Reenaka's light blue eyes staring into the girl's deep brown pair, and then, with speed that a Quel'dorei would have admired, the girl leapt across the room aiming a vicious punch at Reenaka's stomach. Realising now that force was what the girl would respond to Reenaka didn't even attempt to avoid it, she merely stiffened her abdominal muscles and watched the surprise spread over the girl's face as the blow apparently had no effect. Under the fine dress, Reenaka's light skin reddened and she knew that she would feel a hit as solid as that one later on.
"Lennuma," she said, stressing every word, "In my twenty-seven years I have been attacked many, many times, by creatures far worse than insolent children." Defeated, Lennuma plopped herself down on the bed, and asked, "Why did you put me in this hateful place?"
"I did no such thing!" Reenaka retorted, although she understood the girl's reasoning, "if you are here, then you are here because your father thought it necessary."
The girl actually hissed, not in the metaphorical sense, but like an actual windserpent that has returned to its nest only to find foolish adventurers lurking there.
"My father would never have sent me here had you not suggested it miss perfect Paladin!" she said the last word with such venom, that Reenaka was forcefully reminded of her first assumption that the creature before her really was a demon after all.
"Your father," Reenaka snapped back, growing angry in spite of herself, "had no idea what to do with you. Your behaviour was, and still is, bringing shame to your entire family. Have you no honour? Have you no pride?"
Lennuma did not answer but instead glared at her, noticing for the first time that the woman was not wearing her usual blue and gold armor, but instead a long silk dress, blue with patterns woven in white throughout. Her eyes lingered on the thick gold chain that took the place of a belt around the woman's waist, each of the links in the chain being marked with holy runes. Somehow, the chain did not look out of place on the regal-looking paladin, but the black tome bound to it certainly did. Just looking at the book made her feel a bit queasy, so instead she lowered her gaze and realised that in spite of the fine ladylike dress she wore, the paladin was still clad in leather boots underneath.
Lennuma had opened her mouth to make some sort of mocking comment about the boots, and perhaps to enquire about the black book, when Reenaka said, "Please keep in mind, while you are inspecting me, that I don't need to be seeing so much of you," she gestured at the girl's mutilated robe, "But to answer your unasked question. After fighting your way through swamp, jungle and desert for months at a time, ladylike shoes can feel a bit unfamiliar."
As Lennuma went to a small chest in the corner to retrieve another robe, Reenaka picked up the book that had so recently been used as a weapon against her and inspected it. She noted that it was an almost brand new copy, but that its pages showed signs of recent use. "You've been reading these!" she remarked, genuinely surprised – and a bit pleased as well. Given the girl's attitude and behaviour, poems about the Light had been the last thing that Reenaka thought she would be interested in. Lennuma busied herself looking for a robe, creating chaos by tossing around those that she rejected. When at last she had found one and could stall no longer, she turned to face the other woman. "Well?" Reenaka prodded.
In response, Lennuma deftly hooked her thumbs under the shoulders of her robe and then, with a most-wicked grin, let the garment drop from her, revealing her naked form. She was rewarded with a gasp of surprise from the older woman. "What in the Nether is wrong with you!?" Reenaka exclaimed. Then, as she heard another gasp from the corridor behind her, she was hit with a lurch in her stomach that no physical blow could bring on. She hastily slammed the door shut on a curious male acolyte who had been coming down the stairwell, and then rounded on the girl crying out, "Oh by the Light! Just put it on already!"
In an effort to distance herself, she cast her eyes on the book that had previously been aimed at her head and noted that curiously enough, the leather cover of the book was almost the exact shade of deep brown as Lennuma's skin. "I guess this is where I'm supposed to be reminded of the old saying that you can't judge a book by its cover… or lack thereof," she mused.
"It's amazing what can offend you Paladins", Lennuma was saying with a wicked smile on her face, "immune as you are to the devices of insolent children."
Reenaka knew that she was being goaded for her earlier comments, and did not press the issue further, for she knew that doing so would only make her next declaration that much more difficult.
"Lennuma, the reason that I'm here right now is -"
"Yes," the girl interrupted as she finished pulling on a new robe (this one was cut low in front by design, but it was a preferable alternative to the other one).
"why aren't you out there having tea with the legion, or whatever it is that you Paladins do. You know, things that don't involve pestering me."
Again the mocking, the dismissive tone. Reenaka knew that she would have to speak her next words very carefully.
"Well… the truth is… ", she hesitated, unsure of how to deliver the news.
"Oh just spit it out."
"I've come to take over training you as a priestess!"
Lennuma seemed to be caught off-guard by the pronouncement, but she recovered quickly.
"You!? Ha! Never!"
"And just why not?" Reenaka argued.
"To begin with, you aren't even a Priestess."
"That really does not-"
"and secondly, because to be frank, I hate you!"
Those words cut the elder woman as deeply as any blade could have, and it must have shown on her face, because Lennuma who was about to deliver her third argument just closed her mouth and stared at the floor. Finally after a long and very uncomfortable silence, Reenaka spoke in a quiet voice but stern voice. All attempts at neutrality and cordiality now gone.
"Your feelings on this matter are of little consequence now. I know what you were trying to accomplish with your inappropriate behaviour here, and I am telling you right now that I simply shall not allow it."
"Pack your things," she continued more forcefully, "we shall be leaving as soon as you've eaten dinner."
Out of pure habit and not at all meaning to resist, Lennuma asked, "So then what if I refuse to eat?"
"Then your rumbling belly will provide some music on our journey." Reenaka replied cryptically.
And with those words, the Paladin turned and left the room, closing the door a little more forcefully than necessary, leaving Lennuma alone in her room with her regret at having grievously insulted the only true friend that she had ever known.
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