Page 45 of Triadic

"Consider it done," answered Ulbrecht.

"We would also..."—I struggled with how to word this—"We are free citizens of the Republic of Helvetica, and as monks we are sworn to our gods before anyone else. We thus would need your word that we could come and go as we pleased and return to our homeland with Wren should we ever decide to."

Fear shook me like a windowpane rattling in a storm, especially when Ulbrecht's eyes had darkened at my mention of Wren.

"You have always been free citizens, and that will never stop," promised Ulbrecht. "While you are in my lands, you come under my protection, but that doesn't make you mine. I've discussed this with Wren and Awariye."

"You'd move to thecapital?" Wren asked, coming over with hope in his eyes.

"I'll discuss it with Marit and Peter," I confirmed, knowing they'd both been willing to leave the monastery, but we hadn't yet settled on the details.

That was when Marit went in for his hug with Wren, who sniffled against Marit's shoulder and nearly set us all off into a weepy mess.

Ceridor came over, and Ulbrecht nodded at him, shaking his hand. "I heard from Awariye about your mugging. Needless to say, when you're traveling in my lands, you can take one of my emblems with you if you want it."

Bards were also apolitical unless they took on a patron, but carrying such an emblem would offer safe passage and protection. Ceridor thanked him and threw in a word for us. "Corbi's trained enough he can run the whole clinic himself, and Marit has accomplished feats recently that only our more skilled instructors were capable of. If anyone is fit to start a branch of our monastery on Danubian lands, it's him."

We fell quiet, since that was quite the gutsy thing to say.

Ulbrecht's smile belied that he knew he was talking to a clever person. "I'm not allowing a monastery full of warrior monks near my capital unless they're fighting in my campaigns and sworn to me."

"One reason the Helvetican border stretches that far into the mountains is because our monks fought for it to be there," replied Ceridor. "We are an asset to a king, thoughpreferably to a republic. We require absolute freedom of religion and a sworn word to never ban magic."

"You're speaking to someone who is protected by gods that haven't even told us their names," answered Ulbrecht, with the implication clear: he was hardly the exclusive Christian that a lot of his people believed he was. Whatever his spiritual loyalties, they were at the very least more complex than that.

Ceridor nodded, and Ulbrecht sent him a knowing smirk. "I'll consider a monastery on one of my troubled borders, then."

Once Wren and Marit were finished hugging, Peter opened his arms, and Wren went to him. My heart warmed at seeing this. Marit and I were definitely keen to make sure Peter never thought he could ever be replaced.

Marit spoke up. "The three of us will return to Diana Monastery until the end of the planting season. Now that we have job offers elsewhere, I'll take that to the instructors in hopes that they will negotiate and not block us from ever returning again."

"I'll go with you," offered Ceridor. "They always let me back in, but that's because I pay them. If their interests are truly that shallow, then they should be willing to allow you back with payment. You can build their legacy, even if the stodgy oldsters in charge right now are too blind to see it."

Awariye chimed in. "I'll take the little chain Peter got from the river nymph and see if it responds to songs and prayers. I should have an update when next I see you, and we'll know whether the lanterns wish to be propagated."

Andfinally Peter piped up. "I'll train as hard as I can and see what I'm able to do come summer!"

We all beamed at him, pleased he was so eager.

"The planting season is late in the mountains," I said, drawing our plans to a close. "May this fellowship reconvene come the summer solstice."

Chapter Twenty-Three: Peter

I hugged Wren and felt a strange soothing calm run over me. The closest feeling I could connect it to was when I hugged Corbi, that soft comfort like a healing balm. Nothing could be more different from Marit's hugs, since Marit's fiery strength had me feeling like I needed to go for a run afterward. But Wren's differed from Corbi's, less medicinal, and more like I needed to get my center of calm in place so that he could show me something from the spirit world that would be truly incredible.

When we separated, Wren suggested to the group, "Let's go into town and buy enough for a meal together before we head our separate ways. If the monastery takes you back and you stay for the planting season, then it'll be some months before we can see each other again."

Ulbrecht—the High King?!—pulled his hood up and over his head, as if that could truly disguise him. "And ifthe monastery rejects you, head to my capital and think about starting your own monastery and training students. I need to consult with Evelyn, who acts as my stateswoman even though she is not my queen, regarding what kind of oath she might want from monks who could become warrior monks."

Marit nodded and shook Ulbrecht's hand. "Corbi, Peter and I will stay behind and watch the lanterns."

Wren sent us a knowing look. "At the mountain hut we have a little privacy screen that separates the space enough to be polite. Maybe a far corner would work."

Everyone shuffled out except for my partners, who stayed at my side. The dog, Bello, at first was confused whether he needed to stay with us, but when Wren called him, he bounded out the door.

As the lanterns burned themselves out—Wren informed us that was the custom when the sun was up—my partners and I moved some of the blankets into the far corner and barricaded our bags around us for something to lean on. Corbi sat down first and reclined a bit, extending his arms to me in invitation. I snuggled in, my back to his chest, our legs sprawled out as Marit crawled around us to get close.

Corbi spoke first. "We wanted to clear something up with you and needed a bit of privacy."

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