Love
Chapter 16
Kate sat down and looked at the older woman. Okay, maybe not all that much older. Seeing her reminded Kate that she hadn't brought much skin conditioner. She'd only brought what she already had. She should have known better but her mind was already jumbled with everything she had to juggle before leaving New York City. She used it nightly as part of her routine. This woman could use a bottle of the stuff.
"May I see your sword? Please." K'hanowena held out her hands and waited.
Kate still had her knives so she took her sword out and handed it over. Kate watched her move it around and look it over before handing it back to her. She was just putting it back in her scabbard when the woman spoke. "A Githyanki foil. An interesting choice of weapons. A Githyanki anything is not often seen yet here you are, dripping in Githyanki equipment and magical items, at that." Kate opened her mouth to say something only to see her hold up her hand.
Then she picked up her coin and ran a finger over it. "Talk to me about this. Where did you get it? It is unusual. I have only ever seen one when I was a child. It seems so long ago." A lifetime ago, it felt.
Kate wasn't sure just what to say. "I bought it recently. They used up a lot of my money." Kate didn't notice that she hadn't used the word GOLD.
K'hanowena smiled a little. "What is a young woman like you doing here? Of all the places you could have gone." She never expected to see her here or ever.
"I… I'm sick. I have cancer. It's killing me. I needed a place like this to try and help me." The doctors couldn't really help her. Not like she wanted, not like this place might offer her.
The priestess's head snapped up and she looked at her, her face pale and eyes wide. K'hanowena felt her heart stop then do a few flips. She was dying!? "Where and how long do you have?" She did not want to know the answer but she could not help but ask.
Kate looked at her with new eyes. She had not blinked at the word cancer but she seemed very concerned that she was going to die. "Both breasts, pancreas, stomach, and other places. I have about three months. I truly need those scrolls." It was all she really had.
"Cancer." K'hanowena could scarcely believe it. She had held it together after being told her name. Now she was barely hanging on. There was so much she wanted to say and so much she wanted to do. It was just she had a new life here and could not do anything to risk it. Still she could do all that she could for her. "This is yours. Be careful with it. Around here it is worth quite a lot. There is nothing like it in this world." She handed Kate back her coin. "Only spend them if you absolutely have to," she advised.
Kate took it and put it back in her bag. "Do you have gold coins from this realm?" She needed to make sure Kate had what she needed.
"I have some, enough to buy the scrolls, I hope." Kate still didn't know what they were going to cost her.
That left K'hanowena thinking. What did she have that would help her? "Your weapon is magic, your bag is magic, your bracers are magic, and your chestplate is magic. None of it is overly powerful magic but magic it is, none the less. …Let me think." She had to do something. Something that would not get her into trouble.
There was a knock then the door opened and the young woman entered carrying the scrolls. "Mistress." Zurielle bowed and went to hand the scrolls to her.
"Give them to Kate, please." K'hanowena watched as she handed them to Kate and then left.
"What do I owe for them?" She had to pay her.
K'hanowena waved her hand. "You owe nothing. They are yours." She got up so she could search her room for something. Something she had not thought about in some time.
Kate shook her head. "I can't just take them. They must cost a small fortune." She had to pay for them, not just take them.
"Of course you can. They are my gift to you." She was not going to take Kate's money, not a single copper. Then she found it and walked back over to sit down. "Here, honey, take this. Put it to good use." She reached out to hand it to Kate.
It was a small box that looked suspiciously like an engagement ring box. "I have a boyfriend," Kate said while trying not to insult her.
K'hanowena smiled broadly and chuckled softly. "Good." She was actually very happy to hear that. She could only hope that he was close by and not lost to her. "I am not asking you to marry me. It is for you. Please take it." She needed for her to accept it.
Kate took the box and slowly opened it. What was inside looked suspiciously like an engagement ring. There was something off about it, though. "What is it?"
"It is called the Ring of Winter. It is made of a single piece of ice that will never ever thaw under any circumstances. Put it on…please." K'hanowena waited and watched until she did. "You will learn what it does after wearing it for twenty-four hours. Please do not ever take it off. It is yours as are the scrolls." It was the best she could do for her given the circumstances.
"I don't understand." Kate really didn't understand. She expected to pay for the scrolls but possibly not have enough and have to decide what she could and couldn't afford. Yet here she was being given things and being given advice. It didn't make any sense at all.
"You do not have to. Tell me, what is your young man's name?" K'hanowena would really like to know his name so she could pray for both him and her until the day she once again was granted Empyrean.
Kate thought about that. What were the chances that she would know he was a demon just by his name? Still the truth always won out. Her mother had taught her that. "Richard Castle."
She nodded. She would say his name daily in her prayers. "I trust he is handsome and kind to you?"
Kate beamed. "He's very handsome and he treats me with the utmost kindness. I couldn't love him more. He's amazing." Kate was finally convinced that she was in love with a demon. He just wasn't an evil demon. Certainly not to her.
"I am happy for you." The priestess got up and opened the door, called for Zurielle, and waited for her to arrive. "Give her a room. We are going to protect her tonight. See to it that a guard is assigned to her sleeping quarters.
"Please follow Zurielle, she will show you to your room. You are going to be our guest. Nothing will happen to you here. I will see you for breakfast before you leave. Simply tell the guard if there is anything you need. A midnight snack perhaps, or something to drink. Our wine is quite good."
Kate still didn't understand but she thanked her and followed her through the Temple to a deeper section and into a room. "Someone will come get you for breakfast. You are free to move about the Temple as you wish. There will be a guard outside your sleeping quarters all night. If you need something just ask him. There is food in the kitchen if you are still hungry. You are free to help yourself." K'hanowena left Kate and closed the door behind her.
Kate looked around the room. It was a little spartan and a little small. It had a twin sized bed, a small table, and two chairs. There were symbols like those all over the Temple. The stone walls here, like everywhere else, looked to have plaster on it.
Since she'd been told she could go where she pleased inside the Temple, she opened the door and went looking for the kitchen. She hadn't eaten anything all day. Besides, maybe they had coffee.
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Kate followed someone who escorted her into a room she hadn't gone to. In there she found what was probably everyone. "Kate Beckett, I am pleased you could join us. I trust your sleep was peaceful?" K'hanowena had cast a spell over her room to make sure it was.
"It was very restful, thank you. One of the best I've had in a while." Kate had felt her head hit the pillow and hadn't woken until there was a knock on her door. It had taken her a little while to put everything back on again.
"Good, I am glad. Please help yourself. After this you will be shown the showers so you can clean up if you wish. I am certain you are in a hurry. Do not be bashful, eat what you want. May I suggest a wine?" K'hanowena pointed at a bottle near her. "I am afraid we do not have coffee. I have had to live without it." Living there required a few sacrifices.
Kate chose some bread, cheese, and fruit then filled her glass with wine.
"Where are you headed next?" Could she help her with one last thing?
Kate told the truth without telling her too much. "Up on the mountain. I'm going to meet someone then go home."
"This young man of yours, perhaps?" She could not resist teasing her just a bit.
"Actually, yes." Kate went to work on the fruit.
"You should invite him down. He would be welcome here." She really would love to meet who held Kate's heart.
Kate needed to think fast. "We have a time constraint." She needed to get back about the same time she had left to meet Castle.
"Of course." Kate needed to read those scrolls. Still K'hanowena had thought of one last thing she could do for her. She rose to her feet, looked through a cabinet, and gave Kate a scroll. "Take this across the river on your way out and visit the House of Brondani. Present that to them and let them help you. If you have never seen High Elves before, this will be a first for you." She smiled, betting that Kate had yet to see anyone but humans.
Kate felt her eyebrows go up. "Elves?" Like in real live elves?
K'hanowena smile widely as she went back to her place and sat down. She had managed to really shock her and it was fun to see.
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Kate was escorted to the front gate and was permitted to leave. She barely remembered to travel down the side of the market and stop to get perishables.
She was told where the bridge was so she could cross the river to get to the south side. So the bag of perishables in hand, a new ring on her finger, her scrolls safely tucked away under her clothes, and with her bag of gold, she began walking.
"WHAT THE HELL!?" Kate watched as a wagon carrying she didn't care what start to go up into the air and travel across the river. It went up into the air with nothing under it. "It's flying?" She didn't see any bridge that would get her across.
Then she saw people walking this way. A man clad in robes just came up and walked across the river. He and everyone else went up a little, but they weren't actually on anything.
She didn't have a potion of flying. She didn't even have that other potion Castle had given her that he said they needed a large pool for them to use. So how was she supposed to get across?
Mute, Kate stood there and watched. She really didn't have time for this, but she had already past up the gate she had come in through to get there. She watched as more people and another wagon went to the same spot and went across as easily as they pleased.
"Fine. This magic stuff is nuts." She was sure she was never going to get the hang of it.
Kate walked up and stuck her foot out but didn't put much weight on it so if she suddenly started to fall down and roll into the river she could stop herself. Instead she felt her foot land on something…solid? "No way!" She put the same foot out a little farther and then the other and found herself walking as straight as she could and as slowly as she dared. People and a wagon blew past her like she was standing still.
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She was across and still couldn't believe it. She was even standing in front of the building listed on the scroll. Still not sure what to expect, she opened the door and went inside. She handed her scroll to the first person that stopped her and watched him break the seal and read it. "Follow me, please." He took her in back and showed her a room.
A little later a really old man entered. "The head Priestess of the Helm Temple sent you." He needed to make sure.
"Yes, I don't really know why, but yes." Kate had no idea why she was there.
"I will need your weapon, chestplate, and your bracers," he stated without explanation.
"My what? Why?" She was wearing those things and wasn't stripping in front of him. Though she did have a shirt and bra under her chestplate so he wasn't going to see much.
"The scroll tells me I should increase the magic of those items. Make them more powerful. It will take about an hour if you have the time." He had people who could do take each one and be done quickly.
More powerful!? "Um, sure." Kate started with her bracers, handed him her weapon, and then worked at taking off her chestplate.
"Just wait here." He took the three pieces and left the room.
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Kate didn't have to go back across the river, thankfully, since she had no desire to try that again. That was just way too weird.
They'd given her back the three pieces but they didn't feel any different to her. However, she had seen her first real live elf. "I saw a real elf. A real fucking elf." She was still shaking her head. This little trip hadn't turned out anything like she'd expected. Though to be honest she still wasn't sure what to expect.
It took a few hours to reach the road that curled up the mountain. "I should have bought a horse." Kate looked up and just knew her calves were going to be killing her by the time she reached where she was going to summon Castle.
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Kate trudged up the road. "Going down was so much easier," she complained. "My boots couldn't have been magical? Something that made this easier?" She put another foot in front of the other, groaning all the way. "I should have asked for a Gate spell and gone to Castle on my own." Her legs were burning and she was ready to stop, so she did just that.
She found a rock, sat down on it, and began rubbing her aching calves. Even her feet hurt. "You are so rubbing my feet, Castle." Kate resolved that she was going to be pampered when they got home.
"I'd kill for some coffee right now." She sighed longingly. But she got back up and started walking up the mountain. "And just where is everyone? Why is it just me? Because you're stupid enough to walk it, Katie, that's why. Everyone else is smarter than you." Kate kept trudging up the mountain.
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"Please let this be far enough away." She was kicking herself that she hadn't marked it before she started the trip down so she could find it easier. Still there was a rock so she sat down on it and watched as the sun started to set.
It was time. "Richard Castle, I need you."
"Kate?" She heard his voice, turned her head, and saw him.
Aching legs and feet aside, she was up instantly and wrapped her arms around him. "Castle! I'm so happy to see you!"
"You summoned me. Can we go now?" He didn't want to be there any longer than he had to.
"Yes, please take me home." Kate was tired and hurting.
She instantly found herself on the Astral Plane and had to walk all the way to their ship. At least it wasn't uphill all the way.
"Did you get them?" Rick needed to know while they walked. He couldn't lose her and if that city didn't have them, they would have to try another. He also needed to know if he had given her enough gold.
"I got all four of them. The priestess just gave them to me. I still don't know why. She even gave me this ring." Kate held up her hand to show him her new ring.
It was pretty and it sort of looked like a diamond, but something was off about it. "So you had enough gold then?" How much did she have left?
"She wouldn't take any payment, she just gave it all to me. Do they do things like that?" She hadn't paid for anything, none of it.
"Castle, she even sent me to see real live elves. They said my chestplate, weapon, and bracers were all magic. The elves made them stronger. Can you believe that?" Kate was still reeling by all that had happened.
"Oh, and they have a way across the river that you can't see. Talk about scary." She wasn't sure she ever wanted to do any of that again.
Rick was silent as he listened to her. His mind had trouble keeping up with all she told him. "So you still have all the gold I gave you?" It was mind-numbing.
"I had to pay the city guard to enter Silverymoon. Oh, and I bought some fresh produce. But I have all the rest." She took the bag off her belt and handed it to him. "It was an amazing city, though. Very pretty, lots and lots of green everywhere." She kept walking while Rick ran his hand through his bag and felt gold coins.
He didn't understand why. "Was there someone you knew there? People don't just give you things. That scroll of Miracle's expensive." The others were relatively cheap.
"How would I know anyone in that city?" Of course she didn't know anyone there. Kate shook her head and kept walking. She still needed to read all of the scrolls and wear his ring to keep from dying. This had to have been worth it.
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K'hanowena was in the main Temple area. The Temple was closed; it was quite late and she was all alone. She looked up at her God. "Please, I beg of you. Keep my Katie safe. Free her from cancer. She is a good girl, always has been. …I wish I knew more about the man in her life. I pray that he loves her until the day they both die. The Astral Plane can be a dangerous place." She murmured a spell and returned to her prayers.
"I love you, Katie, I always will. I wish I could have asked how Jim has been doing. …So many restrictions in this life." The woman who was once known as Johanna Beckett shook her head. She had a new life here and was doing the best she could. "Be safe, my darling girl, my prayers are with you. Always!"