Louise

  "Louise?" One of the many servants peered cautiously through the door. Louise did not know whether he had knocked before. If he had, she hadn't heard it.

  Surprised, she pressed the light tunic she was about to wear on her chest. She wore only her underdress. "Yes?" Blinking she blushed.

  The servant stared at the young priestess with equally red cheeks. Who could bme him? Louise was very pretty. "Excuse me... I knocked! Really! But there was no... Answer."

  "Oh."

  "Yes." The servant's cheeks grew all the redder. In the meantime, it resembled a bzing fire, about to explode. "Should I wait outside the door?"

  But Louise shook her head. "Why are you here?" She sat down on her bed, pressing the fabric of her dress tightly to her. Nanette was not there. They had argued in the morning. Louise wasn't sure about what. Suddenly, Nanette was angry with her, accused her of being a fool, and left the room to go about her duties. She hadn't come back since.

  "I am supposed to announce that the investigation is over. You are expected by the Wise Men." The servant chewed his lower lip briefly. "Immediately!"

  "I'm just getting dressed quickly... Would you?" She pointed to the door.

  The servant nodded quickly and disappeared again behind the door, which he now closed. "You're coming when you're done?" he called to her.

  "Yes..." It didn't take Louise long to get dressed. The light fabric of her clothes made her look like a saint. Satisfied, she looked at her reflection, nodded to herself encouragingly, and then stepped outside the door. They have to believe me! But if not, then Lou's dragons save me. I have nothing to fear!

  Not only the servant was waiting, but also one of the guards. A muscur guy with a disgruntled expression on his face and a badly healed burn wound on it.

  "Then let's go!" he grumbled, grabbed Louise by the arm, and dragged her rudely behind him. Her protests, and those of the servant, were ignored by the man. Louise stumbled after him with trembling knees. The previous courage left her faster than it had come. Only when they arrived at the Wise Men did he let go of her.

  "There's the accused!" he grumbled and left the room, which the Wise Men now used as a conference hall. Narrower and less ostentatious. Again the prayer and meditation room. One of the old men with the young faces shook his head indignantly.

  "Didn't we tell him to monitor? Not...", Louise heard him mutter to the person sitting next to him. The man next to him just shrugged his shoulders in boredom.

  "Louise!" Asen smiled friendly. He had risen from his seat and was now coming to her. "There you are. Sorry for the rough treatment. We'll talk to him ter." He id a hand on her shoulder. Louise dodged.

  "Yes?" Louise looked nervously at each of the Wise Men. Albert was missing. Instead, Asen, Fidan, and Cosimo sat where Mitko had once sat. What had happened? Did they believe her? Or... "Where..."

  "Ah!" Cosimo grinned boldly. "Your innocence has been proven."

  Asen sighed and shook his head. "I wanted to announce it more solemnly. Well, you are free and can resume your duties."

  "What?" Louise hadn't really expected that. Not after she was so rudely led to the here. Not even after Asen apologized to her for it. "I..."

  "The priest involved in the crime has admitted, after several interrogations, that he colborated with Albert. Conrad will be held accountable for this. Just like Albert. Be sure, you have nothing to fear." Fidan sighed. "We found older visions, the same images as the ones Conrad saw. Only these... Were over a hundred years old and did not agree with Conrads. The gods have never changed their minds. Your innocence is thus proven."

  Asen nodded solemnly to her and then returned to his seat with dignity. "Albert will no longer work in the position of the Elder among us. We have taken our rightful pce among our brothers. And we owe you an apology. We shouldn't have suspected you."

  "And my brother?" Louise now looked hopefully into the round. But Asen shook his head.

  "There was no vision to suggest that the curse was not real. We must continue to assume that your brother is cursed. This was not a lie", Cosimo grumbled. "And there was none that objected to an execution."

  "Or agreed with it, or clearly demanded an execution!" added Asen. "We can't be sure here. There were individual visions. Only pictures. But their interpretation is not easy. But the curse is real. A lot is pointing to it."

  I would like to see these visions. But would she be granted access? Normally, only the Wise had access to the records. So could she ask for it?

  "As for the curse and its authenticity. Even if it were not real, we would risk unrest among the people, should we procim the curse as not real. We can't afford that. Not after the popution is already restless. The attack of the dragons has left its mark. The people are afraid and need someone to bme, as well as stability. If we were to procim the curse as fake, it would cause an uprising. Chaos", Fidan added. "In order not to further jeopardize our retionship with the dragons, we have unanimously decided not to prosecute your brother any further. As long as he stays with the dragons."

  "No further... Does that mean?" They wouldn’t execute him? That was good news.

  "He is forbidden to return to the city." Asen's words, on the other hand, made Louise shudder. The small spark of hope was extinguished.

  "And that means?" she asked.

  "Well, the gods don't seem to have demanded his death. There were a few visions about his fate. Conrad saw three of them. However, we cannot judge to what extent these have been 'changed'. Conrad insists that he has only changed one vision. And the other visions are too unclear. But the people..." Asen sighed. "It's not an easy decision. But we have to bring stability to the people."

  "As long as your brother stays in the mountains, he has nothing to fear. If he returns..." Fidan said no more. The message was clear. If Lou returned, they would execute him. They could not (yet) rule out that this was the will of the gods.

  "All priests are instructed to ask the gods for crity", Cosimo finally said. "If something changes, we'll let you know. If there are clear words from the gods, then we can let your brother back to the city. Then the people will accept it. Perhaps all this was a test of the gods? You can return to your tasks. Surely you want to see your family first? You must be worried. You can go. We have already sent a messenger to the dragons."

  Louise nodded. "Thank you." For nothing.

  "And one more thing."

  "Yes?" Louise bit her lower lip.

  "You and your family are forbidden to seek out the cursed one in the mountains until we have crity from the gods. If they allow a meeting, we won't stand in the way of that either."

  "And... Out of town?" asked Louise. "The river is not part of the city."

  "But not part of the mountains either!" Asen reminded her. "We have pntations there. Let's wait for the words of the gods. For the time being, your brother has to stay in the mountains."

  "May I see the recordings of the visions?" she tried her luck now.

  "What?" one of the other old people shouted. "How cheeky!"

  But Cosimo silently instructed him to be silent. "Not without the permission of the gods, dear. Now that the investigation is over, we do not want to arouse the wrath of the gods. The priests see, and the wise interpret. That's how it has to be. We cannot grant you any access to the visions. Go now. Do your duty. The eyes and hopes of the people rest on all of us."

  Louise nodded slightly shocked. Then she left the room and hurried home. As fast as she could. She didn’t notice that the security guard was spitting after her.

  sasi