Proselytising with a Sword

The grunts of several men reach your ears as you enter the training grounds that had been set up for the training of the town watch. You look over the courtyard and see men running drills with their pikes, practicing on posts and learning how to use short swords for when the enemy is too close for pikes. You scan the crowd and find the girl you are after.

“Vera” you call, striding over to her. The girl instantly blushes and then stands straight at attention, her body locking into a textbook perfect salute.

“Hail!” she shouts a little too loudly, causing everyone to stop and look at you. You smile as the girl screws her eyes shut to fight off a ferocious blush.

“Could you step out for a minute? Got some things to discuss” you say as you got to her. “As you were” you say after a moment of her being stuck in her salute. Vera finally took that and deflated from her rigid military stance, nodding at you. You point towards an alleyway where you won't be disturbed and the girl makes for it without question.

Once out of sight and earshot of the others you turn to Vera, watching as she scuffs her foot against the cobblestone before starting as she realises you are watching her.

“That sword I gave you after the battle” you say “The original owner of the sword wants it back” you explain. Vera deflated as she dutifully unsheathed the sword she’d been carrying on her belt, handing it over with her eyes shut. “Of course, after hearing of your exploits . . .”, you say casually, “I believe you deserve some reward” you add, taking the sword from the girl and holding out another sheathed blade. It had taken you a good bit of effort to fabricate the sword as it was something of a work of art. Vera’s eyes go wide, her hands gingerly reaching out towards the weapon before snatching them back and giving you a questioning look. You nod to the girl and push the sword closer. With reverence, she took the weapon.

The hilt of the weapon consisted of a hand-and-a-half grip with an eagle carved into one side of the pommel and a tigress carved into the other. The grip itself was made of polished mahogany, with a slight enchantment so that her hand won’t slip too much. The guard was a golden eagle stretching its wings out in flight, a level of detail that made the bird look alive.

Vera, ever so gently, began pulling the sword from its sheath, gasping as the steel caught what little light there was. The steel of the blade was made in such a way that it had a faint golden undertone, almost like it was reflecting sunlight even when it was not. It also attracted sunlight where there was any to be had. The girl fully unsheathed the blade and thrusted it into the sky, a ray of sunlight descending from the heavens to strike it like some sort of Arthurian legend.

Vera’s hands were shaking as she returned the blade to its sheath. She fumbled somewhat with the cheap wooden scabbard she’d had fashioned for her other sword, but soon it was on the floor and the girl had replaced it with her new blade.

“So what do you think of it?” you ask with a smile, now getting a much more noticable sensation from the girl, indicating she definitely worshipped you now.

“It uhh” Vera said, getting a faraway look before snapping back to you. “It feels nice in the hand, it’s about as long as the other one but the weight’s more in the hand so it balances better” she told you.

“It’s intended to be used one or two handed” you tell her and she nods. “Here” you say before handing her an amulet with your icon on it.

“What’s this?” Vera asked, frowning in confusion as she took the amulet and blinked at it.

“It’s my symbol, my icon” you tell her. Vera’s eyes went wide once again as her hand began to shake once more. “Let me put it on you” you say and the girl held out her hand. You take the amulet and notice her legs were shaking a little. Her breathing hitched as you got closer, getting heavier as you wrapped the amulet around her neck. When you finally step back the poor girl was practically panting. She took a deep breath and smiled at you. “Why don’t you take a break and recover some composure, I’ll fill in for you” you tell her “The bathhouse is open at the moment” you add, handing her some coins to use the service building. You take your leave of the girl, heading for the commander of the unit so you could inform him of the development. It probably wasn’t good to be playing around with the chain of command like this, but you resolve to deal with that another day.