I am Sylenia, high priestess of Lineria

There is a soft knock on the door.

"Your Grace?"

Kneeling on the floor of the inn's room, I revel in the love of the Lady of Light for a few more seconds before opening my eyes. I can feel her energy in me, warm, luminous, and plentiful, more than I’ve ever gathered before. Silently, I pray that it will be enough for what awaits me.

"Just sister, please." I answer.

I get up and quickly put on my custom made glasses. Some think of them as an affectation of my rank. Some in the priesthood of the Lady have even taken to wearing non corrected ones to emulate me. As for me, I am just nearsighted. Always have been since I was fifteen years old or so.

"You can come in."

The door opens and a young man wearing the uniform of the Linerian army comes in. He looks down at me, I believe specifically at my bosom, before looking away, apparently ashamed. Well, I have learned that apparently men can’t really help it. Even under a nun's habit, my breasts are very big, especially considering how small the rest of me is… I am used to men ogling me, even if it definitely is improper to see a woman of faith like me in such a light, but I try to ignore it.

"Err... Sorry your Grace, I didn't want to disturb your prayers, but..."

"Please, call me sister." I repeat with a smile.

"Ah. Yes, my apologies your... Sister."

How old can he be, twenty? Maybe twenty five... And already a soldier. Already eager to risk his life to protect others. So courageous, and so sad at the same time...

"His Highness said that we should be on our way so... Where are your things?" he asks, his eyes searching the opulent inn's room, probably to avoid looking at me.

"Oh, right here." I say, pointing at a medium sized canvas bag on the bed.

"Err, That's it?" he asks.

"Well, I am a nun. I have 3 other habits like the one I am wearing, some under clothes and soap, my prayer book and that's it."

"Oh I... Well, I guess that you are right."

He grabs the bag and laughs.

"Well, I am happy that I was sent to carry your things and not the Queen’s. I imagine that she has way more to carry than such a little light bag."

Well, I guess it is light for him, I mean, look at his arms…

"Probably, after all, being a nun or queen doesn’t involve the same decorum. I also don't have arms or armor to carry. Still, I appreciate the help. What's light for you isn't so much for me and I kind of dreaded having to carry it down the stairs to get to the carriage to tell you the truth." I say, amused.

"Oh, I meant no offense." he says, suddenly intimidated again.

By the Lady, am I so scary that he has to apologize all the time?

"None taken, that was a thank you, not a rebuke. Tell me, did you fight during the battle with the Empire a few moons back?" I ask, following him down the stairs.

"Alas no. I stayed with my garrison to guard the city. I didn't have the honor to be sent to fight to protect us."

The honor to be at a battle where less than half of the men sent there came back… Boys really have a strange way to look at life. I almost tell him that he shouldn't be so hungry for danger, or for the opportunity to take someone else's life, be it an invader, but decide against it. The poor boy is intimidated enough as it is without me scolding him.

I realize there is something strange in me thinking about him as a boy. Not only is he much taller, bigger and stronger than I’ll ever be, but he is also a soldier, and has probably been considered an adult for quite a few years already. He probably looks older than me too, but he isn't, not by far...

Actually, I don't know of anybody older than me. Nobody knows who my parents are since I was abandoned as an infant on the steps of a countryside church in Lineria, but a lot of people think that one of them was an elf. The last documented time an elf was seen, apart from drunken boasting late at night, was a few centuries back. I have pointy ears, but in itself that isn’t proof enough. I actually encountered a few people, mostly women, who had the same. It is something of a fashion and there are some ways to acquire ears like mine. I am pretty sure to have been born with mine but in itself that isn’t proof enough of any elven ancestry. However, some other facts are. First, that it took me around 35 years to start looking like a grown woman, albeit a very small one, and second, that I seem not to have aged at all since that even though I was taken in as a ward of the church a hundred and ten years ago…

When we step outside, the thirty something soldiers making up our escort are gathered, making sure that everything is ready for our departure. A small number to venture in the Empire who just tried to invade Lineria a few moons back, but considering the might of the country we're about to visit, were we to take all that's left of Lineria's army we'd still be badly outnumbered.

Already in the saddle, Aidan is directing the men. Him too is so young, and still, so capable. Just twenty five springs, how time flies. I still remember him as a babe in his mother's arms and now there he is, a brilliant strategist, a sensible and righteous young man, leading the soldiers, ready to assume the regency in his younger sister's absence...

Seeing me, he smiles, jumps down from his horse and joins me.

He is tall and lean, with blond hair and fair skin, and the same open and honest face as his sister. He is dressed in a simple riding attire with some partial armor and a cavalry sword hilted at his waist.

"Sylenia. I am happy to see you up. We didn't wake you I hope? We still have quite some way to the border and I'd rather get there while there is still enough light to see in case the envoy from the Empire is as traitorous as his emperor."

"Don't worry Aidan, I have been awake for a while. And I know that your troops fought against this Armand character, but despite him being an enemy for now, I heard some pretty good things about this man. He is known as a tactician and a warrior more than as a brute, and I was told that he has a tendency to treat his prisoners in a human fashion and values honor more than fame. Obviously, we should be wary of him as we would be of any imperial, but I heard that he was trustworthy."

"I pray to the Lady that you're right. If he were to launch an attack when we meet them, he could kill or capture the three most important persons of Lineria in one fell swoop. I don’t care to think about what would happen to Lineria if that were the case, or to us for that matter."

Aidan. So prudent and foreseeing. The opposite of his sister. They are like fire and water, those two. He isn't wrong actually. However, filled to the brim as I am right now with the holy light of the Lady, I might be harder to kill or capture than those barbarians may think, but I see no reason to tell him that.

"I am sure that you, your guards and your sister are more than able to take care of yourself and to protect me. Speaking of your sister. Is she ready yet?"

Aidan sighs, obviously frustrated.

"Well, her majesty the queen of the realm was up amongst the first to get up. But since I quote: Sylenia is too dainty to ride a horse and has asked me to travel by coach with her, I'll exercise a bit before leaving."

"So... You're telling me that Leona, Queen ruling of Lineria went for a run at less than a day's ride of the border of an enemy nation? Did she take an escort with her at least?"

"Of course she did. I insisted. But they've been back for a while now. As soon as she was away from the tavern, she dashed and lost them. For all I know, she's already a captive of the empire. Or dead. Or back in her castle!" He fumes, exasperated.

I understand him. Leona is bright, energetic, kind, courageous... And completely immune to any form of authority. Her mother, the former queen, died two years ago and frankly, she is far too young and reckless to be queen. Without Aidan and me, she probably would have bankrupted the country three times over. I understand why she reacts like that. She has been blessed by the lady from a young age, just like me in fact and hasn’t been able to have a normal young girl’s life. And with her mother’s untimely ****, she had to wear the crown much earlier than she thought. On the other hand, her carelessness is especially hard on someone like aidan. The boy is serious and dedicated, and seeing his sister being so irresponsible is pretty infuriating for him. Lately, there has been some tension between the two, which is a pity since they would be so complementary...

I see all the soldiers around stop what they are doing to turn and bow. Leona has just stepped out of the woods. Looking at her, same as Aidan, I can still remember as a babe. However she's a grown woman now. She has her copper hair in a ponytail, her face is covered in sweat, as are her clothes. She is pretty tall, if not as much as her older brother, very attractive in an athletic way. Even if she doesn't really take care of her looks, she still is more than pretty, nature having been generous with her forms if not as much as it has with mine. I actually would happily trade with her. My assets would become her more since she has no celibacy vows. However transference of bosom is not amongst the abilities that the Lady of Light has granted either of us.

I can see that some of the men are trying not to look up at her. I can't really blame them. She's their queen, but she's not only beautiful, she’s also very immodestly clothed, wearing some kind of very tight pants on her shapely long legs in lieu of the kind of dress that would be proper on a lady, especially a queen..

Well, She is too old for me to scold like a teenage girl, especially in front of her guards, so I bow also. Aidan though, shows no such restraint.

"Well, here comes the queen of the country, late, gone without weapons or an escort close to a disputed country. She's also sweaty as a hog and shows more skin than a drunken sailor. But why should she care about her image or her duties, after all, she does what she wants, She always has. All hail the queen!"

There it goes again. Lately it seems as if those two can't speak to each other without starting to argue. Not that Aidan is in the wrong here.

"Well, maybe it is because I am a warrior and supposed to train as such. Sylenia was still sleeping and you had things well in hand. Also I’ll have to be more prudent on the other side of the border, so that was possibly my last training for a while. And I was bored, too."

I see Aidan's face reddening.

"You were bored?"

Well, these two are going to start arguing for real now. And I don't think that any of them is in the mood to hear a call to reason.