Idol, Part 4

Morne woke up before the sun had risen, a habit instilled in him during his eight years as a slave, and found a fresh set of clothes and armor hanging on his door, with a sheathed sword and belt leaning against the wall next to it.

He stripped out of his current clothes, which he had slept in, and changed into a fresh set.

He tossed the old clothes in the hamper and grabbed the breastplate off of the door. He struggled to put it on at first, unused as he was to donning armor, but figured it out after a little trial and error.

Then came the rest of the armor. When Morne was finished, he looked at himself in the mirror in the bathroom to make sure it looked right.

The armor was lighter than it looked. It covered him entirely from the neck down, and the helmet provided cover for every part of his head except the face.

The gaps at the joints and hips were filled in with chainmail the same brown color as the rest of the armor, while also continuing the leaf decorations between the pieces, and the whole set weighed less than 25 pounds.

After some light stretching to test how mobile he was, he was pleasantly surprised that he kept his entire range of motion.

He strapped the sword belt around his waist and started practicing his draw.

He made sure to be careful doing so. The scabbard was made of wood and covered in leather, and he didn't want to damage the scabbard by accident.

When he first unsheathed his sword, he rotated his wrist to get a feel for it.

It was a standard short sword, with the only remarkable thing about it being its hilt, the leather of which had the same green leaves as his armor. He wouldn't be swinging it around like a master anytime soon, but it would do.

He kept practicing until he heard a knock on his door, opening it to find Hamlen, the guard from yesterday.

Hamlen gave Morne a once-over, nodding in approval when he saw that Morne had already donned his armor. "Your first assignment is to guard the priestess at the top of the temple.

"We have enough volunteers to cover the rest of the temple, so guarding the priestess is all we'll need you for, aside from the occasional parade."

Hamlen saw the look on Morne's face and answered the question he knew the rookie was thinking. "No, your assignment will not be to train. You are expected to do that on your own time. Some of the guards have experience teaching, and will do so for free since you're an official member of the temple now.

"If we find you lacking during the monthly evaluations, you will be fired, so if you want to keep this gig, you will be wise to take the proper precautions."

Morne nodded sharply, the weight of his helmet making the movement slightly awkward.

Hamlin directed Morne to the kitchens to fix himself a meal, which the latter ate with gusto.

As Morne ate, Hamlin started to fill Morne in on the basics of his new position, a one-sided conversation that ended only when they were outside the throne room.

"We'll finish this afterward," Hamlin told Morne. "Just remember what I told you, and you'll be fine for today."

.......

'This might take a while,' Morne thought.

He stood in the priestess' throne room, to the left of and a few feet from the doorway.

On the way here, he had been told by Hamlin that you stood closer to the door the newer you were. Only those who proved themselves trustworthy would be allowed to stand close to the priestess.

"There needs to be ten guards around the priestess at all times," Hamlin had told Morne, "And your induction rounded our numbers out to exactly thirty. That means no more double shifts, and we only have to stand around for eight hours at a time."

Morne and the others were currently four hours in, and he had to admit it was extremely boring.

The priestess regularly repositioned herself on the throne, to the dismay of the guards whose duty it was to remain expressionless and serious. A hard task when their blood refused to cooperate.

Only three of the ten guards present were unaffected by her antics. The first was Morne, the second was Hamlin, and the third was one of the two women guards the priestess had in her fold.

She was currently the only woman on shift, and her mouth was set in a thin line at the antics of her peers. She had black hair and green eyes, and the left side of her jaw had a nasty burn scar on it.

Morne had noticed that everyone in Selkseb had either black or blonde hair and green eyes. He was unaware of what nationality this appearance originated from, as he had never heard of Selkseb before this trial.

Hamlen, the captain of the guard, had blonde hair matching the priestess, which was kept tucked under his helmet.

Both of these guards stood the closest to the priestess, one on either side, proof of their experience.

Morne kept his gaze on the doorway, eyes focused as he thought about his next move.

'How am I supposed to get the Idol like this?' he wondered.

Somehow, he needed to get into the priestess' quarters, but that was easier said than done.

When the priestess wasn't in there, it was guarded by four volunteer guards, and had an entire retinue of ten paid guards in and around it when she was inside. It had a single window, according to Hamlen, but was so high up that it wasn't possible to get to from the outside with Morne's current skills.

The outside walls of the temple were steep and smooth, providing no handholds to climb with, and he couldn't waltz right in with the guards at the front.

Morne calmed himself. He had only been here for two days. The Jiklok cult had given him until the end of the month, which was three weeks away. He had time.

He just needed to wait a bit. He was sure an opportunity would present itself.

And if it didn't, he'd make one himself.