So yes, time for consequences.

Fertility Rite

Chapter Six: Be Careful What You Wish For...

Goblin Slayer and High Elf Archer arrived late for breakfast, the rest of their party already seated and eating. The way that they walked in holding hands and the undeniable spring in the Elf's step didn't go unnoticed by Dwarf Shaman, who whispered something to Priestess that made the young women blush a deep crimson.

"Do you have to be so crude first thing in the morning?" High Elf Archer asked as she sat, a servent placing a bowl of oatmeal and a cup of fresh tea before her.

"What's the matter: Beard Cutter keep you up all night?" her rotund friend asked with a smile, "Or should I say, did you keep him up all night?"

Goblin Slayer grunted, which only made the Dwarfs smile grow.

"By all my years, I never thought I'd see the day when he put as much energy into anything as he did hunting goblins." the Shaman laughed, nudging Lizard Priest with his elbow, "Who knew you had it in you, Anvil."

High Elf Archer looked ready to launch herself across the table, while Priestess mumbled a prayer for the ground beneath her seat to open up and swallow her whole, but the impending argument was cut short by the arrival of Sword Maiden, who stood at the head of the table like a work of art, with not a hair out of place.

"Goodmorning to you all." Her voice was calm and neutral, giving not hint of how she had spent the night before, "I just wanted to say thank you again for attending before you head back to Frontier Town."

"It was an honour, Your Grace." Priestess smiled, glad that the topic of conversation had changed to something she was more at ease discussing, "Thank you for hosting us during our visit."

"It was the last I could do for my friends." The Archbishop smiled serenely, "I hope your time with us was... productive."

High Elf Archer almost choked on her oatmeal, while Goblin Slayer was his usual unreadable self behind his helmet.

"Why thank you, it was." Priestess nodded happily, oblivious to her companions reactions, "I met some amazing people, and have made new friends that will help our little temple back home to grow from strength to strength."

"Yes, it's good to see things grow." Sword Maiden agreed, somehow managing to keep a straight face, "I must be going. I bid you all a safe journey home."

Thankfully their return journey was far less eventful than their outbound one had been, without even the slightest hint of trouble.

They passed by the Inn of the Dancing Cow without stopping, but it was clear by the work being done that it was being expanded and fortified, with what looked to be a small garrison post being established. Which was hardly unexpected, given that the increase in trade through the area would only draw in more bandits, which was the kind of thing that the army was generally held responsible for. It was just another sign that the Frontier was fast becoming civilised.

For some reason, that worried Goblin Slayer.

They arrived back at the Guild Hall to little fanfare: escorting a cleric from one temple to another was hardly a deed worthy of song, but they gave their report and collected the pay before splitting up to their separate ways. Dwarf Shaman and Lizard Priest walked Priestess back to the temple of the Earth Mother, leaving Goblin Slayer and High Elf Archer free to return home.

To say that the mood in the cottages was tense would have been an understatement. Goblin Slayer and High Elf Archer sat on one side of the kitchen table, while Cow Girl and Guild Girl sat one the other. The Ranger had taken it upon herself to tell their wives everything that had transpired in Water Town, including the details of the Fertility Ritual. They had sat in silence as she confessed breaking their marriage vows, their faces impassive and unreadable.

The four of them sat in silence for what felt like an eternity, High Elf Archer growing more and more uncomfortable with every passing second.

"I'm sorry, more sorry than I have words for." She pleeded with them, "But I couldn't see any other way..."

"I will not condem your actions," Guild Girls voice was soft, and it was clear that she was struggling to contain her emotions, "but nore can I condone them."

"I just wish you had come to us." Cow Girl reached across the table to take the Elf's hands, "Why couldn't you talk to us about this?"

"I was... ashamed." the Ranger admitted, "I'm a High Elf, and we're taught from birth to consider ourselves... superior, to the other races. Now that's not something I believe for a moment, but it does make it hard to admit when we have a problem."

"And you?" Guild Girl turned to face Goblin Slayer, who had removed his helmet and placed it on the table, "What do you have to say for yourself?"

"I did what I did." while it's customary calm, his voice did have a hint of emotion in it, "No words will change that."

"He only did what I asked of him." High Elf Archer came to his defence, "He only had made love to me: I'm the one who... broke my promise."

Guild Girl looked at the two of them, her brow furled.

"As I said, I can neither condemn nor condone your actions." She admitted with a sigh, "But I can understand them. We've hardly been subtle in expressing our joy at being pregnant with our husbands children, and we should have been more thoughtful about how that might have affected you. Under those circumstances, and knowing what you have since explained to us... I would have been willing to consider giving my permission for you to go ahead with the Ritual, even knowing what would happen afterwards."

Her words shocked High Elf Archer, who could only sit there, jaw agape.

"I want you to be happy." Her wife admitted, "And if this ritual has worked, then I am happy for you. I just wish that you'd been more open with us beforehand."

"We need to be open with each other if this marriage is going to work." Cow Girl agreed, "No more secrets."

"And if you are pregnant, no more Quests until after the baby is born." Guild Girl insisted, "You need to take better care of yourself: it's not just your life on the line now!"

Sword Maiden sat before the desk behind which sat the representative of the Council of Cardinals that governed the Church of the Supreme God, doing her best to maintain a neutral expression despite the conflict of emotions inside her. She'd had no choice but to report what had happened to her superiors, but she had never expected them to send one of their number all the way to Water Town to see her in person.

"So, you performed the Ritual as is written in the Holy Text?" The Cardinal asked, holding before him the very letter she had sent, "You had never done this before?"

"No." She admitted.

"And yet you chose to on this occasion." He looked at her over the top of his spectacles, "Why is that?"

"I... I felt I owed them a great debt." She lowered her head, "You read the report on the incident with the goblins in the sewers?"

"Yes, and I have to say that I think you handled the situation admirably: I doubt I could have done any better in a similar situation." The Cardinal nodded, "But there are... questions that I must ask. Perceived inconsistencies in your report."

"Such as?"

"You stated that you did not... have physical relations with the... husband, just the wife."

"Yes."

"And yet, well..."

"And yet according to the best healers we have, I am with child, something I have been told should be impossible."

"Improbable, but not impossible. Before I left the Capital, I looked through our archives for any records relating to the Ritual you performed. There have been a few isolated cases in the past when a priestess performing the Rite also fell pregnant, but they were all cases where she... became too involved and had relations with the husband."

"But I did not."

"Indeed, and I for one see no reason to question your word on the matter, but the fact of the matter remain: you are pregnant."

"indeed." Sword Maiden took a deep breath, "So, what is to be done with me?"

"Done with you? My child, no one is looking to censure you over this, especially given that it seems to be the will of the Gods. The question is what do you want to do?"

"I do not know." Sword Maiden admitted, "I had long ago accepted that motherhood was a role I was never to play."

"The Church has no official position on the matter: given your standing, it is felt best to leave it to you to decide how to proceed. But if I may offer some advice?"

"Please do."

"Insee three options open to you. Firstly, you can announce your pregnancy, but if you wish keep the identity of the father a secret. People will talk, but such is the way of the world. Second, you can announce the pregnancy and name the father..."

"That would be unfair on him. He never asked for this, and indeed did nothing that should have resulted in my predicament."

"Then I recommend a third way: you take a sabbatical, go visit an isolated monetary or shrine for a while. You can give birth to the child there, then either give it up for adoption, or return with it and claim that it is a foundling you have taken in."

"I think that that may be the least worst option."

"The I suggest that you decide where you wish to spend your sabbatical, so we can arrange your journey before your situation becomes self evident."

"Thank you, your Eminence."

The End

(story will continue back in Married Life)