Lunetta di Sarvos [Empire LARP] : "The Journey Begins"

[Josée's Note: Lunetta's parents were both  Bishops of Loyalty, so I thought I should have a bit of fun and write up their reactions to their Priestess daughter running away with a Free Company of Mercenaries!]

“Mea?” Mea, a woman in her early forties, turned to face the speaker and her eyes lit up.

“Lunetta!” She smiled, “Or is it Bishop Lunetta, now?” She asked, warmly.

“Not quite.” Responded Lunetta, flushing slightly pink. ““Priestess” will do me just fine for now…at least until I’ve proven myself.” She added, with a slight shrug and raise of her eyebrows. “Mea, you wouldn’t happen to have seen my fa…I mean, Bishop Gianfrancisco at all, would you?” She seemed nervy and fidgety.

“Yes, he’s in the vestry.” Mea responded. “Are you alright, my dear?” She asked, reaching out towards Lunetta’s arm.

“Yes…I’m fine…” She replied, her eyes fixed on the corridor to the vestry. “I’m really sorry but I need to go and speak with the Bishop. I’ll return soon, I promise.” She smiled hurriedly and then made her way through the congregation who were heading towards the exit. Once through the throng, her pace picked up and she almost ran down the corridor, her speed slowing as quickly as it had picked up as soon as she saw the door to the vestry. Feeling her stomach fluttering, she knocked on the heavy wooden door and waited.

“Enter.” Came her father’s voice, through the door. She let out a slow breath and gathered her courage, pushing the door open.

“Father?” She asked, as his back came into view. He turned around, somewhat taken aback.

“Lunetta! You were with your mother this week, were you not?” He asked, concerned. “Is everything well in Glass Point?” He walked towards her, taking her hand in his.

“I was aiding her, yes.” She replied, hurriedly, trying to calm him. “Mother is well, everything is going splendidly in Glass Point. There is no need to worry, father, none at all. I did not mean to panic you so.” She added, bowing her head in apology. “I came to you…” her voice faltered and she hesistated on her next words, “…to speak of a pilgrimage I wish to pursue, and…ask for your permission and blessing.” She finished, her heart racing.

“A pilgrimage?” Questioned her father. “Of what sort?”

“Of Loyalty.” She replied, slightly stung. “What other kind would you expect me to carry out?” She rebutted, and then cringed inwardly.

“Exercise wisdom in your words, my daughter.” Gianfrancisco warned her, looking over his spectacles at her. “Courage is stupidity without…” Lunetta cut him off.

“…being tempered by wisdom.” She completed, her head dipping lower. “I am sorry, father.” Gianfrancisco nodded, quietly pleased with his daughter’s speed of thinking. He lead her through to an antechamber, gesturing to a stool as he sat himself in his grand wooden chair, a thanks from his congregation.

“You wish to make a pilgrimage of Loyalty, my daughter. How, where and to what purpose?” He asked, looking down at her.

“Well…” The uncertainty once again entered her voice. “I suppose ‘pilgrimage’ is something of a misnomer…I…wish to travel with a…free company…and…” Her father’s voice boomed across her.

“WHAT?” He asked, staring down at her. “Bravos and mercenaries?!” Lunetta shrunk into her stool.

“Yes…but…” She began.

“Battlefields and war; death and destruction?! That is no place for my daughter!” He exclaimed in shock.

“I won’t be on the battlefields!” She cried, matching his volume. This somewhat stopped her father in his tracks. She looked slightly shocked at her own tenacity, and then continued, her voice returning to its usual, deferential, level. “I…I mean…that is not why I wish to go with them. I…” She paused, gathering her thoughts. “They – the men of this company – display loyalty to one another unlike anything I have ever seen before in this short life of mine.” She explained, her voice quiet but full of determination and sincerity. “Their numbers are few and their loyalty is unwavering. They care for one another as if they were flesh and blood, and they each would give up their lives for the other.” She looked at her father with pleading eyes. “I would not even consider leaving Sarvos were it not for their strength of loyalty and conviction to one another. I wish to learn of the loyalties that can be seen only in warriors and brothers-in-arms. I wish to learn how to care for people so deeply that you would lay your life on the line for them without a second thought. I wish to learn how I can deliver such loyalty to my congregation and those I love most dearly, without the need for battle or harm to be threatened upon myself or my dearest friends.” She exhaled deeply. Her eyes closed and her face creased for a moment, before she shuffled herself off her stool, kneeling on the floor at her father’s feet. “They belong to a banner, the Carta Bellamarina; they do not fight without a cause. I will not be a warrior but an aid to them from the sidelines; from wherever they stop and choose to call home. Please, father, I do not often beg, but this time…this time I will. This time I do.” She bowed her head once more.

Gianfrancisco looked down at his daughter, the chain headband he had given to her on her dedication glinting in the sunlight passing through the stained glass, and he sighed. “My daughter…my only, precious, sweet daughter.” He murmured, her head raising and her eyes meeting his. “Are you sure this is the path you wish to walk; that of an itinerant priest, wandering the world?” He asked her, concern in his eyes.

“I would return to Sarvos regularly.” She replied, earnestly. “Or at least as regularly as I could. I do not intend to leave my fledgling congregation without direction.” She added, a nervous smile growing on the corners of her lips. Gianfrancisco frowned slightly.

“I will give you my blessing, Lunetta.” He began, thinking hard. “But promise me you will avoid the battlefield if you can.”

“What if I can serve the Empire better by being there, father?” She asked, and then added, “What if I can better serve those I care for by joining the battle?” Gianfrancisco frowned more. After a time, he responded.

“Then do what you see to be most wise. But do not throw yourself into battle for no reason, my child. I do not wish for messengers to end up at my doorstep telling me of your loss.” His voice cracked slightly. “I could not bear to lose you to the Labyrinth, Lunetta. Neither could your mother. You have too much good to do in this life, first.” She nodded in understanding and her father then spoke once more. “Have you spoken to your mother about this…course of action?”

“Not yet.” Lunetta replied, shiftily. “Though I imagine she expects it. She has seen the bravos I speak of regularly, this past week. I thought I should ask for your permission first, father.” Gianfrancisco nodded and then added, with a note of caution.

“Should your mother refuse, then my blessing counts for nothing.”

“Then I need to return to her at once.” Replied Lunetta, with a smile. She stood herself up, with a helping hand from her father, and they embraced, warmly. “Thank you, father. I will take care, and I will write as regularly is practicable. Should there be any issues with yourself or mother, please let me know. I will return as soon as I can.” She added, embracing him tightly.

“Take care, my child.” He replied, as she began to leave, and then he added, nodding to her, stood in his finery. “And may you go in virtue.”

“Thank you, Bishop Gianfrancisco.” She replied, smiling softly, as she shut the vestry door behind her.

She all but ran to Glass Point, and bounded into her mother’s small church. She stopped herself as she got to the door and with poise and dignity (and a very flushed face) pushed the door open.

“Ah, Lunetta!” said Paolo, the altar boy. “Bishop Isotta was looking for you; she’s in her study.” Lunetta’s eyebrows raised and she nodded.

“Thank you, Paolo. I should go and find out why she wishes to speak with me. I’ll return soon.” She replied, and hurriedly walked up the steps to her mother’s small study. She knocked on the door. “Mother, it’s me…” She called, softly. The door opened, and her mother stood there, more ashen-faced than usual.

“Mother?” Lunetta asked, softly. “Are you feeling well?” Her mother said nothing, but gestured for her to enter. The door clicked shut behind her, and as she sat on a bench near the wall, she heard her mother’s voice.

“You wish to go with these bravos, yes?” Isotta asked, sat at her dressing table, studying Lunetta as a teacher would a set of naughty schoolchildren.

“I…how did you know?” Lunetta replied, taken aback.

“You’ve been spending so much time fawning over every word they say, and tagging around after them like a lost lamb,” responded her mother, holding her hands out to her sides and shrugging. “You are not the hardest of people to read, my darling.” Lunetta went slightly pink, and smiled nervously.

“They’re truly loyal to one another, mother.” She began. “They care for each other more than I think I have ever…”

“Stop.” Her mother cut across her, shaking her head and running a hand across her brow. “Stop the grand speech, my dear. I don’t need to hear it.” She sighed. Lunetta’s mouth snapped shut and she sat with her hands crossed demurely in her lap, her eyes scrutinising her fingers intensely, as if they were the most interesting things in the world. “Let me guess, you made this elaborate, extremely well thought out speech to your father, and were on your way to make it to me, yes?” Lunetta nodded slowly, the blush rapidly increasing in colour. “It is unnecessary.” She waved her hand dismissively. “All I need to know is: are you intending to fight, and are you intending to return to us. And,” she added, quickly, “a one-word answer to each, will suffice.”

Lunetta gulped. “I…” She looked at her mother, and contemplated her words, knowing her first response was unlikely to be a single word. “Well…not nece…”

“Lunetta.” Her mother warned, sighing, a hand on her temple. “One word. I care for substance, not quantity; and what a quantity you usually offer...”

“…No.” Lunetta replied, begrudgingly. “…And yes, to your second question.”

“Very well.” Isotte nodded, and then silence fell. After a minute or two, Lunetta looked uncertainly at her mother.

“Well…?” She asked, quietly.

“Well what?” replied Isotte.

“Am…I…allowed to go with them?” Lunetta asked, slightly unnerved.

“You are twenty-four, Lunetta. You are old enough to make your own decisions.” Replied her mother. Lunetta looked at her, completely taken aback by her mother’s reaction. And then Isotte spoke once more. “But I have given my blessing to your travelling companions. I believe they are awaiting your arrival in the city.” Her mother’s face cracked into a knowing smile, and Lunetta narrowed her eyes, though her grin betrayed her true emotions. “You don’t truly believe I would stop you from seeing the Empire under the care of two who, you are correct, seem to show incredible loyalty to one another, do you?” Her mother chided. “Just take care of them and of yourself. And don’t let your foolhardiness overtake your wisdom.” She added, raising an eyebrow as Lunetta gave her a huge hug. “You are not a fool, my child” She commented, “but you do rather let your bravado overtake your common sense…your father’s fault, of course.” She smiled, and held her daughter close. After a few seconds, they parted. “Go now, gather your belongings and meet them.” Lunetta grinned and kissed her mother on the cheek. As she opened the door, her mother stopped her for a moment. “Lunetta…” she turned back to face her mother. “Your father and I are very proud of you. You’ll do great things someday and we know it.” She smiled lovingly at her daughter. “Remember where home is. We will be thinking of you.” Lunetta smiled, raising herself to her fullest height.

“And I will think of you. I will return. I promise you and father, I will return.”