Talking of aftermaths...

Married Life

Chapter Twenty: Revelations

The rumbling of an approaching wagon alerted Guild Girl to the fact that they were expecting guests, and she put down the trowel and looked up from where she had been weeding the flowers around the door of the cottage. The cart was actually a coach, with two large and powerful looking horses of a breed she hadn't seen before, and a dark green pennant bearing a silver shield crest. It looked like the sort of thing some of the larger, more permant Adventurer Parties used to identify themselves, but she didn't recognise it from her frequent visits to the Guild Hall, indicating that they weren't local. The man driving the coach was tall and dressed in a wizards robes, his pointed hat sat on the seat next to him. A second man, this one in armour with a large shield slung across his back, was leading the coach upon a large grey charger that trotted along like something out of a children's story. Behind the coach, bringing up the rear of the little procession was the hulking form of a Minotaur on foot, its long strides easily keeping pace with the horses, while its eyes scanned the treeline for any signs of danger.

Cow Girl could tell an Adventurer when she saw one, even without the pennant, and closer inspection picked out Guild tags hanging around each of their necks: Gold for the two humans, Sapphire for the Minotaur.

"Hello, my lady." the mounted Knight called out, bringing his horse to a stop just outside the gate, "Do I have the honour of addressing a wife of the Adventurer known as Goblin Slayer?"

"You do." Cow Girl stood, wiping the dirt from her hands onto the apron she was wearing, "I'm sorry, but I don't believe we have met. I am known as Cow Girl."

"My lady." The Knight bowed his head, "I am Lord Paladin. These are my friends and companions, Mage and Minotaur Blacksmith."

Cow Girl drew a breath: anyone who spent much time around Adventurers picked up bits of information, snippets of news from far-flung places. The most common gossip was, of course, the exploits of other Adventurers, especially those of some renown. As such she had known the names Lord Paladín and Mage long before she learned of their connection to her husband, and Guild Girl had spoken of her previous encounter with Minotaur Blacksmith. But to find them standing at her gate was very different.

"I take it from your reaction that your good husband has spoken of us, yes?" The Knight smiled, "We are actually here as escorts for someone who has business with one of your wives; the one know as High Elf Archer."

"She's inside, looking after the children." Cow Girl gestured towards the house, "Please, come in."

Lord Paladin signaled to Mage then dismounted, trying the reigns of his horse to the fence before walking to the carriage and opening the door. Cow Girl watched with interest as a tall, slender woman in the vestments of a cleric in the church of the Supreme God stepped out, holding what looked to be an infant in her arms. The women looked round, and Cow Girl caught sight of blond hair and a blindfold, and she realised that the visitor could only be Sword Maiden, the Archbishop from Water Town. Her eyes Flashed to the infant, her head running the maths, and she felt her blood run both cold and hot at the same time. She felt her fists clench as her face turned red with rage.

She drew in a deep breath, preparing to scream out her husbands True Name as loudly as she could, when she felt a soft hand on her shoulder.

"I know what you're thinking," Mage spoke softly, "but you're wrong."

Cow Girl had picked up a few words of High Elvish since her wedding; hello, please, thank you, yes, no, and a few others that were only really suitable for the bedroom, but she'd also picked up several new and inventive curse words from her wife, and she unleashed them all then and there. Mage simply stood with a hand on her shoulder as she vented the anger that had so suddenly boiled up inside her like a volcano ready to erupt.

"So the child is not..." she closed her eyes and took a deep breath, "It is not Goblin Slayers?"

"No, it is not." Mage assured her, "Beyond that is not my place to say."

"Very well." Cow Girl did her best to rid herself of her anger, but could still feel it bubbling below the surface, "You had all best come inside."

"I think it's best if I stay outside." Minotaur Blacksmith chuckled, "I have a tendency to break small houses."

Opening the door, Cow Girl led the way into the cottage.

"We have guests." She called out, trying her best to keep her voice calm and devoid of any emotion.

"We do?" Guild Girl stepped out of the Kitchen where she'd been cleaning up after lunch, and blinked when she saw three strangers with Golden Guild tags around their necks.

She was about to question it when Goblin Slayer appeared in the doorway leading to her still under construction extension to the cottage, the work crew having taken a rest day. He looked at the three newcomers, recognising them all immediately, and tried to work out what they were all doing there.

"What's going on?" High Elf Archer stepped out of the nursery, Grace craddled in her arms. She took one look at the visitors and her jaw dropped open as she recognised Lord Paladín from a painting she had seen of him in the Capital before she set out on her quest to recruit Goblin Slayer.

"Lord Paladín, Mage." Goblin Slayer nodded to the two men who he hadn't seen in almost ten years, then the woman who was following behind them, "Sword Maiden."

"Goblin Slayer. High Elf Archer." The Archbishop nodded, then turned to the other two women, "And if you're Cow Girl, then you must be Guild Girl. I met a friend of yours, Female Knight, on the road here and she was good enough to describe the two of you to me."

"Your Grace." Guild Girl bowed her head, "You honour us with your visit."

"Beat we save that for later." Lord Paladín looked pained, "Is there somewhere we can all sit? Something tells me you're going to want to be sitting for this."

The seven of the made their way into the parlour, High Elf Archer's passing Grace to her mother, slightly unsure of just how she should feel around Sword Maiden given the nature of their last encounter. She deflected it by helping Goblin Slayer collecting chairs from the kitchen so that everyone had a seat, then joined her wives on the couch while Sword Maiden took the largest armchair, Goblin Slayer insisting that either Lord Paladín or Mage take the other. In the end Mage accepted the offered seat while Lord Paladín took one of the chairs from the kitchen, as did Goblin Slayer himself.

"The reason we are here is my son, Godfrey." Sword Maiden rocked her son in her arms, "Tell me: how much do the four of you know about the Ritual I performed for High Elf Archer and Goblin Slayer?"

"Not a great deal." Guild Girl admitted, starting to come to the smae conclusion that Cow Girl had, "It's supposed to help a Human and an Elf have a child. It's how Fawn was conceived."

"Indeed, that's essentially it." Sword Maiden nodded, "But... sometimes... sometimes the Gods and Goddesses have plans that we, their humble servants, can not hope to understand." She looked down at her son, "The Ritual worked... better than expected."

With that she let the blanket surrounding her son fall open, and her hosts got their first good look at him: he had his mothera golden hair, but the unmissably pointed ears of an Elf.

"I have examined the boy: he is, without a doubt, Sword Maidens son." Mage stood as he held up a strange device that looked like a magnifying glass that had a number of crystals embedded with it, "If you don't mind, I would like to run a few more on the suspected... farther." He turned to High Elf Archer, "With your permission, my dear?"

Stunned, the Ranger stood and allowed the sorcerer to hold the instrument over her, several of the crystals glowing in sequence, strange colours swirling around on the surface of the lense. Mage seemed deep in thought for what felt like an eternity, then slowly nodded.

"It is as we first thought." He slipped the device back into one of the pockets in his robes, "High Elf Archer is, indeed, Godfrey's... Sire."

"The Gods work in mysterious ways." Lord Paladín shook his head, "We truly do live in interesting times."

To say that Goblin Slayer and his wives were dumbfounded would have been an understatement of truly legendary proportions. High Elf Archer collapsed back onto the sofa, landing between a speechless Cow Girl and Guild Girl, while Goblin Slayer almost fell from his chair. He had seen and felt the effects of the Ritual for himself, had been enveloped by the blinding bright like that had announced the conception of his younger daughter, but even his knowledge of biology told him that what Mage was saying should be impossible. But the sorcerer had no reason to lie to them, nothing to gain from deception. He wasn't prideful by nature, and certainly wouldn't call Mage or Lord Paladín friends, or even really acquaintances, given how long it had been since he had last seen them. But he did know them to be men of the highest integrity, not prone to jokes or deceptions, and he could think of no situation where they would consider it necessary to mislead them.

If Mage said that Godfrey was the son of Sword Maiden and High Elf Archer, then he would accept it as the truth.

He looked at Sword Maiden; her face had slipped into the serene mask it usually portrayed to the world, and this time he was unable to see through it.

"Very well." he spoke softly, carefully measuring each and every syllable, "Now what?"

To Be Continued...