"You're a Hero?"
"Yes."
"Then why are we here?"
"My question exactly."
"Well, Lemon, as has been explained to you, there are a number of benefits to working as a group."
"And as I've explained before, a lot of those benefits are negated by a massive power imbalance within the group."
"Well, you were selected to lead this group, which means they trust you to overcome that. I, for one, believe you can."
"Thanks for that, I suppose, although we'll just have to see how this goes and whether I get booted when we get back."
"I doubt he'd remove or replace you after one mistake, but it also depends on what his plan is and his timeline for it."
"You two are talking about the Pope, right?"
"Yeah. Keep up."
Lemon replied without sparing me a glance and immediately continued his and Clare's conversation.
"You know him better than I do, and neither of us know him well. We have no idea what's going through his head or what he has planned. All we know is what we know. I'm guessing it's a short timeline given the fact that we're immediately getting a mission like this, but I have no idea what his end goal is. 'Why us?' and 'Why now?', I think, are the two biggest questions. We'll know by whether you get preoccupied when we arrive if you're meant to be our fallback option in case things go wrong or if you're just supposed to be a voice of reason to me."
"'Just.'"
"You know what I mean."
"I do."
"Everything else we'll just have to wait and see on. As for what the intention with this mission specifically is, I think I have a good idea, but I'm still thinking out some other possibilities."
We fell into silence, and I waited to make sure neither had anything more to say.
"I enjoyed your telling of the story, Lemon."
"I just copied a version of it I heard from someone in a bar."
"Oh."
"Lemon, just take the damn compliment."
"Right."
***
After a brief period of waiting, focusing on the vibrations of the carriage and the faint noises of the animals pulling it, the ever-present rain outside dulled, and the outline of trees surrounding us could be made out through the darkness. A short while later, the Wizonen slowed to a stop, and we alighted.
Once the animals were released, temporarily, from their bindings, we gathered in an area where the rain was mostly stopped by the canopy above and, whilst illuminated by the same ball of light Clare had created in the wagon, discussed our next steps.
"Does anyone have anything pressing they'd like to discuss before we get into things?"
Lemon initiated the meeting, his eyes passing from person to person
"Nothing? Okay. First off, timeline. The stop earlier delayed us, but not by much. We should still be on time. As for why we stopped, a group of road bandits tried –"
"Ah, Lemon, hold on. You don't need to explain. Syz poked his head out after you and Slate left your carriage. He told us everything that happened."
"Well, then, that's covered. Onto the next order of business, the matter I said we'd be discussing. I don't think our job is going to be as simple as it seems. I've been debating whether the best course of action would be to simply patrol the streets and make sure the city doesn't explode under our watch. Ninety percent of an Adjudicators job is just that, so if that's what we do for the time we're there, then we can't be said to have failed. Problem is, if the goal is for us to do the other ten percent, then our job is going to be significantly more complicated."
"Lemon, I have a question."
"Clare, just speak your mind."
"Well, frankly, I understand being prepared, but we're only taking over for a day. We have the six of us to do one person's job. Our focus should be on keeping things stable for so long as it takes the next Adjudicator to arrive."
"I don't disagree. This, I think, is a question of intent. Why were we given this task? It's possible this is simply a way for us to get used to doing things together before we have a real mission, and for any issues to show themselves when it isn't urgent, but…."
"You don't think that's all it is."
"No, and the issue is the timeline. What you all may not know is that I was approached about this group being formed well before anything was official, and while I don't know exactly how long this was in the works before I was told, I do know the total time is quite a bit, and that we were meant to have some other mission last week that got cancelled. I didn't hear the details, but from what I have heard, it sounds like it was something simple. So, that makes me think that that was meant to be our breaking-in mission, and this was meant to be our first real one. However, there's also a chance this was given to us because an opportunity presented itself. The thing that keeps bugging me is the timeframe. A single day is nothing. Someone, somewhere could've been pulled to fill this spot, yet it was given to us."
"You're thinking this was already in the pipeline?"
"Yes."
"And if it was, it means this is of some import."
"Precisely. Thing is, added complexity is expected, that being the case, but there weren't any clues in the briefing as to what that might be. Luckily, Slate here knew someone who was aware of the current goings-on in Bervil, and through them we know there's some sort of family conflict brewing. Chances are, if it explodes, we'll be dragged into it as representatives of the Church."
The theory made sense, but the timing still felt strange.
"Sorry, but we're only supposed to be there for a day. The chances thing blow up on the one day we're there have to be one in a million, right?"
"Well, see, that's the thing. I don't think it's going to be just the one day. My guess is, we get word, sometime near the end of what would be our first and only day, saying there's been some delay with the Adjudicator, and we'll have to stay for at least another day, and my guess is it continues until the situation diffuses in some way."
"Is there any chance you're wrong?"
"Of course, but that partly depends on what you're talking about."
"Is there no chance this mission is exactly what it says on paper?"
He raised an eyebrow and smirked at me.
"Slate, I've been working in or around the Church for longer than you've been alive, and the two things I've learned you can always be sure of are that nothing can ever be as simple as you'd like it to be, and that the Pope always has a secondary or tertiary motive. Shit, half the time he probably has a quaternary or quinary objective."
"Those words exist?"
"Yes. You should read a book sometime."
"You're literate?"
"You want me to make your nose an innie?"
"I'm surprised your eyes are good enough at your age to be able to see it."
"Oh, so I'm not only stupid, I'm also decrepit?"
"Your words, not mine."
"Do I need to hit you again?"
"I can shut up."
"Good. Now, the reality is, we don't know what's going to happen when we get there, even if we have a good idea of the general parameters, so the most we can do is be prepared for anything. Also, remember that the thing that'll reflect the worst on us would be besmirching the Church, so do your best to not do that. Understood? Alright, now we only need to wait for the animals to be rested before we set off again. Do what you need to in the meantime."
Everyone broke off to do as they were instructed, all of us interpreting what Lemon said in our own ways. I spent my time wandering the rough perimeter of the area we were in, observing the forest around us and listening to the soft patter of rain. When I had completed a full loop, I went to stand amongst the animals, who mostly treated me as if I wasn't there.
After slowly approaching one of the Wizonen, gauging its reaction to an unfamiliar person, and seeing that it didn't particularly mind my presence near it, I ran my fingers through its fur. To my surprise, its fur, though thick, was incredibly soft. Its coat was roughly finger-length deep, which I realized meant the animal was quite a bit smaller than it looked, and any predator trying to take a bite out of it would get a mouthful of fur. I also thought it would make a night carpet or coat, and, oddly, as soon as the thought entered my mind, the creature snorted and stood up, walking away from me to join a few others that were eating some ground cover around the base of a large tree.
Before long, all the Wizonen regrouped in front of the carriages, already in place to be re-attached. As we loaded ourselves back into the carriages, I decided to join the other carriage, feeling that whatever Simon was going to be doing would be more interesting than Lemon's lectures about life. I didn't share my reasons, but no one objected when I expressed my intention. With four of us in the carriage, it became a little cramped, but not unbearably so. Simon, as I expected, spent the whole trip tinkering with something, which provided a good deal of entertainment.
After a long stretch of time and a handful of stops, the wilderness around us began to show more signs of people, and soon thereafter, the mountain range Bervil was built into could be seen on the horizon on the opposite side of what we could see out the back of the carriage.