Breaking Providence Ch. 49 (Original)

A/N: This is a big chapter. Hopefully it lands the way I want it to, but that's something only you guys can decide~

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So close. She’d been so close to Marcus she could scream! As she and her companion ride away from the Convent, Elsenthia can’t deny her emotions are in turmoil. The Mother Superior was right to try and cover up Marcus’ involvement in the Paladin Commander’s death. What he and his men had intended to do was monstrous, but Marcus’ presence at the Convent was another thing entirely.

… Fuck! If she’d just been a day earlier. If she’d pushed her mount just a little harder. Truth be told, Elsenthia knew deep down inside that she’d pushed her mount precisely as hard as it could go. Reaching the Convent in only a few days, given its location in the far North of the Holy Empire, was a feat in and of itself. By skipping the town and rushing straight down the length of the valley directly to the Convent, she had definitely brought her horse to the brink… they both had.

And yet… and yet, if she’d been a little faster, if she’d gotten here a smidge sooner, then maybe she could have seen Marcus again. She didn’t want to drag him back to the Capital or anything like that. It wasn’t safe for him there yet. But she knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that she wanted to see him. She’d done almost nothing but think about him over the past several weeks. That and find ways to get him back to her, to make the Holy Empire a place they both could feel good about ruling… together.

The Nobility would soon be cleansed, with the men who had paid the Church gold for the chance to deliver ‘Divine Justice’ upon Roka-Ra dealt with once and for all. At the same time, the clergy of the Church had gone through their own cleansing. Everything… everything was going well so far. Except… the Mother Superior had confirmed that Tobias Williams did in fact have the Writ of Authority before he met his ‘untimely’ demise.

That wasn’t good. That wasn’t good at all. Because that meant Serafina truly had signed the Writ. Elsenthia might have made all of the proper excuses for the Holy Pope back at the Convent, but now that she was stuck in her own head, it was hard to just accept that Serafina was… well, willing to sign off on a thing like that.

She would confront the Holy Pope about her decision when she returned to the Capital. She would force Serafina to explain her actions. Yet, at the same time… she needed to protect Marcus from her Holiness, if the older woman could not be trusted. That was why Elsenthia hadn’t pushed harder on the subject of where Marcus had gone after leaving the Convent.

After all, even if the Mother Superior didn’t know his ultimate destination, she probably could have given them a direction he’d moved in. Elsenthia hadn’t pressed for that direction for one simple reason… she’d remembered where she was and who she was traveling with. Even now, the Pope’s Shadow rides beside her. The two of them are going at a much more sedate pace back towards town, where they will likely have to stable their horses for the night to give the mounts a much needed rest.

And yet… the Shadow’s presence looms over Elsenthia, ominous and dark. Biting her lower lip, the Crown Princess decides some things can’t be left unsaid.

“What will you tell her Holiness about what we discovered out here today?”

Slowly, the Shadow turns and looks at her, even as they continue to ride along. Elsenthia flushes under that unflinching, unfeeling gaze. She can’t even begin reading what the other is thinking, even now. Still…

“It’s just… I would think it might be best to… keep some elements of this to ourselves.”

Even to her own ears, the Crown Princess’ words sound undeniably weak. She expects a harsh rebuke from the Pope’s Shadow. After all, could she really expect an entity that was literally known by her position relevant to her mistress to just… betray said mistress for Elsenthia?

“Oh?”

When the Shadow’s response finally comes, it’s short and almost tinged with amusement. Either that, or Elsenthia is hearing things. The half-elven Princess bites her lower lip, contemplating whether to just fall silent or not. But ultimately, she forges onward.

“I will confront the Holy Pope myself about the Writ of Authority. She needs to know that she made a mistake. I’m sure it was just that… a mistake.”

Though, part of Elsenthia DOES wonder. Was it a mistake? Or had Serafina truly intended to give over the Convent, its Mother Superior, and her entire flock to Commander Williams? No, surely not. And even if she had, she would certainly be chagrined when Elsenthia showed her the letters detailing Commander Williams’ desire to one day become Pope himself, alongside Duke Barnham’s goal of supplanting Elsenthia and her mother.

“Do you think that wise, Princess? To confront the Holy Pope about her mistakes like that?”

Elsenthia startles. This time she’s sure she hears amusement in the Shadow’s voice. Blinking owlishly at the Pope’s right hand woman, the Crown Princess opens her mouth for a moment… and then closes it in thought. Finally though, she flushes and grits her teeth, clutching at her reins.

“… I don’t know if it’s wise or not. But I know one thing for certain… if I had made such a mistake, I would want to know about it. I would want to be told so I could address it, and so that I could do better in the future. Because that’s the sort of ruler I want to be.”

Silence falls as the Shadow seems to digest this. Elsenthia doesn’t know if that’s a good thing or a bad thing. For all she knows, the Pope’s Shadow is considering whether she needs to ‘take care’ of Elsenthia or not. On the one hand, Elsenthia is the Crown Princess. Killing her should be out of the question. On the other hand, she’s suddenly very aware that she’s currently riding alongside the woman who has singlehandedly killed dozens of high-ranking clergymen and nobility in the last several weeks. Hell, Elsenthia had been there for at least one of them.

She held no compunctions on whether she would be able to win a fight against the Pope’s Shadow or not. Her best bet might be to make a run for it, but even then she wasn’t-

“Very well. I shall leave it to you to confront her Holiness about her decision to issue the Writ of Authority.”

Startled, Elsenthia can only stare at the Shadow with wide eyes for a moment. But she can almost immediately tell there will be no further explanation forthcoming. Still, with that victory under her belt, Elsenthia figures she can go for broke.

“Thank you for your consideration. I hope you agree that it would also do the Pope no good to know that Marcus was involved with Commander Williams’ death either.”

Now the Shadow stops completely, and Elsenthia stops as well, forced to wheel her horse around so she can look the other woman in the eye.

“Oh?”

There it is again. Damn it all, would it kill the mysterious woman to give Elsenthia a LITTLE more to work with? Swallowing thickly, heart pounding in her throat, Elsenthia nevertheless nods.

“Y-Yes. I know that Aunt Serafina would want to know that the Destined Hero has been seen… but I don’t know if it would do her any good to know where he’s been, instead of where he IS. It would only… keep her up at night.”

Okay, she’s definitely grasping at straws now. Elsenthia’s hope that the Shadow will go along with her crazy idea is rapidly withering on the vine.

“… Her Holiness and the Church in general currently believe the Destined Hero might have left the Empire’s borders. The last of his trail was discovered even further North than this, going into the mountains before the Church’s trackers lost him.”

Elsenthia bites her lower lip. That wasn’t a no, right? So maybe… just maybe…

“Perhaps it would be best that the Church continues to believe such things. Marcus clearly has his own plans, r-right? As the Destined Hero, wouldn’t it be better for him to be left alone so that he might carry out those plans?”

The Shadow positively radiates amusement by this point. Finally, she shakes her head.

“You are a bold one, Princess. Asking me to lie to my Mistress.”

Blanching, Elsenthia is quick to shake her head.

“N-No! Not lie… just… omit the truth a little bit! I’m sure Marcus will eventually return from whatever he’s doing, and it wouldn’t do for his efforts to be disturbed before then! I’m sure once he’s finished, even Aunt Serafina will agree with me on that!”

“… Perhaps she will. That said, her Holiness will be told what she needs to be told. And you will not try to persuade me otherwise for another moment longer. Am I understood?”

Elsenthia sits stiffly in her horse’s saddle, a shiver going down her spine. If she didn’t know any better, she’d think she just came within a hair’s breadth of death. Hell, she didn’t know better, not really. Perhaps the Shadow HAD contemplated killing her but ultimately decided against it. In the end, Elsenthia bites her tongue and just nods her head, accepting the other woman’s ultimatum. The Pope’s Shadow watches her for a moment longer before nodding sharply.

“Good. Now let’s go. I’ve spent enough nights under the stars with you. I’m looking forward to sleeping in a bed this evening. And we will be taking separate rooms at the tavern.”

Elsenthia squirms and very pointedly does not rise to that provocation. Truth be told, she would have it no other way. She could swear she’d smelt Marcus’ scent permeating through the air back at the Convent, especially after the Mother Superior admitted that he’d been there. Even now, it feels like he’s coating the insides of her nostrils.

She’ll enjoy the privacy of her own inn room tonight. Oh yes, she’ll enjoy it very much indeed…

-x-X-x-

They begin making their way down the dirt path once more, the Convent growing smaller in the distance behind them while the town ahead at the other end of the valley grows bigger. Meanwhile, the Shadow very much does not glance back over her shoulder, though she’s still contemplating the events of the past hour all the same.

It’s been a long time since she was recognized by anyone. Too long, one might say. On the other hand, not long enough. Plans were still in motion. Things had not come to fruition just yet. It would not do to leave any loose ends flapping in the wind.

… But no. Ultimately, she’d decided to spare Sepia and her flock. They were loose ends, yes… but not a true threat. Keeping the wrong people from investigating the Convent would be easy enough, even with the Crown Princess’ plans. No one would uncover Sepia’s true nature, and in turn Sepia had no reason to expose the Shadow at this point in time.

There was no end to the blood that she was willing to spill for her goals, of that there was no doubt. After all, had she not made sure a certain letter was delivered into General Roka-Ra’s hands, even after the courier that Erised paid far too much gold to tried to abscond with both the money AND the letter?

That girl was lucky the Shadow had been in the area keeping careful watch when that happened, or else her letter would likely have found its way into the Church’s hands. Lucky indeed that the Shadow had cut the courier down and taken the letter directly to Roka-Ra herself, disguised as an orc to make sure that the Dark General and ONLY the Dark General had gotten the chance to read it.

Unfortunately, that hadn’t QUITE worked out as intended. In the end, Roka-Ra had failed and gotten herself captured. It had taken another bit of intervention on her part, She’d stashed a drunken nobleman away in a closet at the Palace Banquet and then taken his place so she could lure one of his friends out onto the balcony where she knew a certain half-orc and half-elf were kissing, to spill the beans, so to speak.

… yes, killing and treachery were both things that the Shadow considered a necessary evil when one was carrying out long term plans like she was. But in this case, slaughtering Sepia and her Convent down to the very last woman would be a waste. She would stay her blades… for now.

Likewise, she would stay her blade with the Crown Princess as well. Hmph, it wasn’t as though the Princess wouldn’t have her uses going forward. Even still, when Elsenthia had asked her to lie to Serafina out of nowhere, the Shadow had very nearly acted then and there. How could the Crown Princess have possibly known that the Shadow would be willing to keep anything from her mistress? As far as Elsenthia SHOULD have been concerned, her loyalty to the Pope was supposed to be sacrosanct.

Luckily, it hadn’t taken long to figure out that Elsenthia wasn’t nearly as clever as she first appeared. She was merely desperate. In the end, she didn’t actually think she could convince the Shadow to do anything. She was just scrambling to try and protect her half-orc lover, despite the Shadow knowing for a fact that Elsenthia and Marcus hadn’t actually consummated their relationship in that way just yet.

It was almost commendable. Indeed, Elsenthia might just be worth cultivating further going forward. And so the Shadow had decided to keep the Crown Princess alive for now… so long as she proved to continue having that backbone and spit-fire spirit of hers.

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A/N: Btw, this is also the final chapter of Arc 3. Chapter 50 will be the first chapter of Arc 4. Right now it's looking like the main story will be 70 chapters long in total~

Still, what do you all think? The Shadow is suddenly a proper character with her own agenda separate from Serafina. Who could she be? Hmmm...

As always, hope you enjoyed and please be sure to let me know what you think!