It feels like childhood all over again. Everything was going well—well, not everything. But things were going reasonably well and then a storm came and destroyed the entire beach cropland. Now I don’t know what we’ll do. Those crops feed us, feed the oxen, feed the chickens… it seems the only animals pleased are the not-cats, pouncing on the rats feeding off the unripe crops.
“As all of you were necessarily made aware, the storm flooded the crops and, while we attempt to grow salt-tolerant plants, much of the earth itself was washed away. Tourmaline, the dragon of Tourmaline Isle, informed us that we had violated the terms of her compact with us by the bringing in of a spirit mage.” Well that’s a rather harsh statement against Vaterin. I’m sure she didn’t know. Heads swiveled to look at Vaterin, sitting next to Marble on the pew. “This is not an indemnification of our student, and evidently Tourmaline feels she wreaked undue devastation, as she will not be exacting further punishment nor requiring the removal of the student.” Then why tell us about it? Do you want to make Vaterin feel bad? Create bad feelings between her and the other students? And what do you intend to do about this thing that is not in any way Vaterin’s fault?
“However, seeing as our crops were drowned and it is too late in the season to replant, we will have to find alternative means of sustaining our community. While less than ideal, the College maintains a reserve of funds for emergencies, which we will be calling upon. It is not, however, sufficient for the All Saviors’ Day feast, and so there will be a change to the curriculum. Your grade will not be based entirely off of the quality of a final work, but upon all the works you show at the expo, and extra credit will be given for each sale of a work to a buyer. With luck, this change will not only replenish the emergency fund but also allow our traditional feast, to which our patrons are accustomed.” Well. I guess it’s a good thing I was already going to pursue selling my candlelight still life. I guess this means Vaterin will be asking the clergy of the Chapel of the Power of Ariel whether she might paint their portraits. I rather liked being her only subject, but I know variety is the key to selling a variety of portraits. If it looks like she can only paint one person, that could even hinder her getting a patron.
Marble glanced over at Vaterin. She had her head held high in a defiant posture, and a quick glance confirmed that the other students were still looking away from Father Sauer towards her. There was even whispering, something I have not heard hardly ever in my time as a student here. The students are devout, or they would have picked a more secular-leaning college, and we all find value and calm in our Father’s sermons. Marble reached over and gave Vaterin’s hand a squeeze. She glanced over and nodded, then jerked her head in the direction of Father Sauer and folded her hands in her lap.
“We all know the… eccentricities to which the artistic temperament is prone. The Virtue has in her domain the Powers of Individuality, Self-Expression, and even Pain. It is not unheard-of for an artist to miss meals, bend their pack, or put blisters on their fingers working at their art. However, now might be the time to encourage, rather than moderate such things. The Power of William, the Power of Obsessiveness, should be liberally appealed in the creation of your art. Create well, create prolifically, and ‘whatever you do, do it for the glory of the One God.’
“Further, think of the Virtue most commonly paired with the Jester. This is our time of trial, and while we are a college devoted to the Power of Ariel, the Knight and the Jester are complementary. And in him we find the Powers upon which we might call in a spirit of moderation from obsessiveness. Gerhauss, Power of Determination, and Alben, Power of Struggle, particularly of struggle against steep odds. And as you saw of the devastation wrought by the storm, we have steep odds indeed to overcome. We must supply food for our clergy, our students, our animals, and it must be shipped by sea.” I don’t recall, but I think Vaterin said that access to the College was several days’ trek by ocean. That’s so frustrating. Why did the Spheres have to be arranged such that there was not a convenient trip… I mean, land is just over the horizon to the south!
“I apologize for taking up so much time of our service addressing this issue, but it is a pressing one, and it is the most convenient place in which to address the entire pieces which make up our body of the Savior in miniature. Today’s sermon is drawn from the teachings of the Savior, blessed be his name, as recorded by the Apostle—” Marble only listened with half her mind as Father Sauer went on. She didn’t feel terribly much guilt over failing to pay rapt attention to the sermon, after several years of twice-daily services—it’s not that there’s not more to be said about the stories recorded by the Apostles. I am not so bold. Even the Mother Superior, when she preaches, expresses new insights and depths of experience. But I do not think that missing one sermon will be the division between me and the illumination of the Savior. Oh, but is it a sin to think while the Father preaches? With difficulty, Marble paid closer attention to the sermon, but it was an effortful work and she reached the end of services with difficulty.
Filing out of the Chapel of the Power of Ariel, the student body was buzzing with excitement and nervousness. Marble, of course, gravitated towards Vaterin, ignoring the smirking looks of the other students as she took her hand. I am no Sister of the Church, and even if I were, marriages come from somewhere and marriage is so holy as to be a Sacrament. Would you smirk were the Mother Superior’s husband still alive, and joined her after services? “Vaterin? Are you okay?”
“Yeah. Fine.”
“It was strange of Father Sauer to single you out like that. I don’t know why he did it and I think it was just terrible of him.”
“To be fair, it wasn’t just his fault. Someone arrived after me, but I’m not subtle about invoking my angel. Until recently, I was rather proud of my Muse… well, I’m still proud of her, just perhaps a bit less lofty about it.” While I’m glad she acknowledges that hard work can provide results, I do wish she wouldn’t derogate the purity of intention and spirit necessary to channel an angel.
“Hey, couple! Pick up the pace or get out of my way! I have sculptures to make!” Felspar called from behind them. Students tittered their amusement.
“What makes your art so much more important than ours?” Vaterin retorted hotly.
”Sculptures sell for more than paintings. I’ll be the one to carry us through this season of trial. Trial brought upon us thanks to—”
“Don’t you dare finish that sentence, Felspar! Even Father Sauer said it wasn’t the fault of Vaterin! And the only reason statues sell for more is that they’re sold by the pound!”If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.
Felspar gaped like a fish out of water, his dark olive face flushing with umbrage. Vaterin, much more interesting to Marble’s eye, was looking at her as though she were utterly smitten. Mind you, she’s done that increasingly more over the last while. But this would appear to be a whole new level of adoration. I wonder if it’s because I defended her or—“Are you looking at me like that because I leapt to your defense, or because I got Felspar to shut up?”
“It wouldn’t make me a very good Wholist to delight in the downfall of a fool.”
“It doesn’t make you a very good Wholist to call Felspar a fool. And I’d swear there’s something in Scripture about the downfall of the wicked.”
“Oh, so Felspar is wicked now? He’s just a pompous blowhard with a fixation on foreign ciphering.” Oh good, she’s in high spirits again. I’m so glad. She had her head held high but she does that when she’s putting on a brave face. Reminds me of noble families; when you’re losing an argument just stare at the person like they’re a bug and then dismiss them from your notice. I think she’s mentioned having dealings with nobles, that might be where she got it.
“He’s new this year. It will be interesting to see whether his abstract ‘algebraic’ expressions of the Supreme’s Creation will sell for anything at all.”
“Ooh, that’s a harsh burn! You doubt he’ll even sell for much?”
That wasn’t what I meant, but I see… “I just don’t know. Nobles in Fief don’t tend to highly regard the works of foreigners. That our seat of government also houses the First Bishop has promoted arrogance.”
“I’m surprised to hear nobles take pride in that. In my experience, they gripe and groan about their tithes to no end, and resent that in all technicality a common pastoral pastor—pun unintended—outranks them.” She’s been hanging out with the wrong kind of noblewoman, then. My family was pious even before we were reduced to penury, which played no small part in securing my scholarship and ongoing tutelage here. We give generously, donating wool and food… I should write home again and ask if we can divert any grains or other food crops to the College. Every little bit helps.
“Well. That’s not how every noble feels. Service to the One God is a high calling, and if some are too arrogant to understand that Orth is the Lord’s and they merely rent their titled estates, then let them stew in their envy and suffer for it.”
“You really do embody the Jester. You’re a brilliant artist—” please let that not turn south. “—and you aren’t afraid to assert yourself, you are humble before the One God and view Him with a loving reverence…” Oh thank goodness that she didn’t fixate on the art.
“I am a little prideful. I judge others.”
“But you live up to your own expectations. You will be judged according to your heart, and yours steers you clearly towards the light.” Marble sighed happily. She’s so dear when she’s being sweet.
“I think the Savior might have something to say about your encouraging me to judge others, Vaterin.”
“‘Cursed are those who tempt others to sin.’ So I’ll spend an eternity or two in Purgatory. Anything to raise your spirits, Marble.”
Marble laughed. That is not an appropriate attitude, but it’s adorable. “You should not place my mood over your salvation, Vaterin.”
“Bah. The Savior uttered imprecations against loving one’s parents or children more than Him. He said nothing about—”
“Vaterin Lime, you are getting ahead of yourself if you think to assign such weight to our relationship as a holy Union.” Though I can’t get too mad at the seeming presumption, because I was thinking about that when the other students were teasing us for our hand holding. I wonder what we should paint together. We forgot to ask Father Sauer whether such a thing would even be permitted. I’m guessing not, given that they’re grading us on number of works produced. Still… “Hey, Vaterin, I don’t think they’ll let us do a joint project, but what if we did a joint project on two canvases? We wanted to get the same patron, so complementary works would satisfy both our ends and those of the College.”
“Sure. Did you have something specific you wanted to paint?”
“Not really. Maybe a grassland. It might be nice to have our patron live somewhere warmer than the College.”
“Hmmm. I know what a lion looks like, I could paint—ooh, how about an idealized landscape? Golden grass, a luminous lion with a coppery mane.” I’m glad she’s getting so excited for this. A great improvement over the weird competitive spirit the other day. I still don’t know what got into her about that. As they filed into the practice room, Marble’s thoughts turned inward, though she painted with the same skill she always did, the back of her mind was pondering Vaterin’s insecurity. So her angel has limits. Only the One God is perfect. It seemed like she was attributing it to some failing of her faith, or something? She took a shortcut, and those rarely lend themselves to the results one wants. She summoned an angel rather than go through the time and effort necessary to learn to paint. But then, she didn’t have much choice. I shouldn’t judge her for the fact she hurried when her parents are so eager to bring her into the family business. I’m guessing they wouldn’t have allowed her the time necessary to develop her talents. But she’s impatient by nature, so who knows. She’ll get a good grade, I have no doubt, she goes through her paintings with incredible speed—Marble glanced over at Vaterin. Holy Savior look at her go!
Vaterin was painting with deft lightning speed, jumping all over her canvas with her brush, painting in cycles which Marble’s trained eye could tell were necessary just to let the paint set. She paused and caught Marble’s eye and grinned. “I can do more than just commune with my Muse. I can manifest a special talent, trading life from my celestial hourglass to finish a work in time.” Yep. Definitely a very impatient little merchant woman. It figures that she would know such a trick.
Marble sighed and returned to her own painting, moving slower but no less deftly. Some day she will have to learn the value of doing things right rather than doing them fast, but cursed if I know when. There’s a rush now that we’re being graded on quantity as well as quality, and she won’t want to look incompetent in front of a new patron if she gets one… she’ll be forty by the time she’s ready to learn painting herself and by then she’ll have traded—wait, life from her celestial hourglass?! Poetry for—“Vaterin Lime, you stop that right this instant! I expect to keep you around for as long as possible! You are not trading spans of your life to paint like some kind of—of—I don’t even know what! You channel your angel and paint at a mortal speed!”
Vaterin gave her a hangdog look as she lifted her brush from her canvas, pausing, but she nodded and resumed at a slower pace. Several sandglasses later—will I forever associate sandglasses with her impatient nature now?—Vaterin said softly, smiling, “You want to keep me around as long as possible?”