LIGHTNOVELONLINE Chapter 6 - Temple Shenanigans
Chapter 6 – Temple Shenanigans
When standard strategies fail, extraordinary strategies must be employed.
The Book of Lost Wisdom, Kalutu
Seventeenth of Learning 1142
Captain Jericho made his way to the Adventurer’s Guild, still annoyed that High Priest Veloran had refused to obey King Terrence’s command to attend him at the palace. He had listened to Veloran’s excuses, but he couldn’t fathom what could be more important than Prince Eric and Prince Dahr’s kidnapping. He even briefly wondered if Veloran might be somehow involved, but quickly dismissed the idea. Sheba would never allow it, and he couldn’t hide his intentions from her. Still, the high priest’s attitude annoyed him so much, he reached the guild building without having noticed any of the temples he’d passed on the way.
Once inside, the woman at the desk recognized him immediately and waved him through. Captain Jericho was a long standing member of the guild, even though he was registered without a team. While his position as captain of the guard didn’t guarantee him membership, having him as a member made sense. He often provided work for adventurers during times when available contracts were slow, by offering bounties to hunt down nearby creatures or bandits that might threaten travelers.
Already annoyed by Veloran, he had little patience for the barrage of people that came forward to greet him. Still, he maintained his cool and told them he was on important business for the king as an excuse to avoid extended conversations. At any other time, he’d have stopped and chatted, but at the moment, he had to find Andeon Walsh.
He and Andeon had known each other for a long time. The guild leader was one of Jericho’s few friends, and one of the very few people he trusted completely. More importantly, if anyone knew about interrogating high level mages, anyone that would share that information at least, Andeon Walsh was the man.
He met Andeon on the way to his office. The guild master was talking to a few adventurers in a hallway. Jericho caught his eye and stayed back, in case what they were saying was confidential, though if it was truly confidential they would have been in a warded room.
Eventually the group moved off, and Jericho made his way to the guild master.
“Anywhere we can talk privately?” he asked.
Andeon studied him. “So not a social call?”
“I’m afraid not.”
“Let’s head to my office then.”
Andeon walked quickly, and Jericho fell in beside him but didn’t say anything else until they were behind a closed door. Once they were, the captain wasted no time.
“What’s the best way to interrogate a high-level mage?”
“What level?”
“I don’t know for sure, but probably close to thirty. Maybe even higher.”
“A Tier 3 mage? That’s a tough call. Tier 2 there are options, but once you hit Tier 3, there are all sorts of spells that can defeat most interrogation techniques.”
“Ah. So bad news then.”
“What’s this about…if you can tell me.”
“It’ll be public knowledge soon enough. You can’t keep this kind of secret for long anyway. Just keep it to yourself until you hear it from someone else and pretend you didn’t know. Prince Eric and Prince Dahr have been taken from the palace.”
Andeon’s jaw dropped. “And a mage was involved?”
“We don’t know, but it does look likely that someone inside the palace was involved, and there is evidence that magic was used. Against Maynor.”
“Ah. Tier 3 for sure then. There are no Tier 4 mages in the city at the moment, at least none I’m aware of. Anything less would be inconclusive at best. Detecting lies is tricky. You always want to use a mage of at least the next tier if you can.”
Jericho looked defeated. “So, there’s nothing we can do.”
“Well,” Andeon looked thoughtful. “I hesitate to bring this up, and if it was anyone but you, I might not, but..”
Jericho leaned forward. “Go on.”
“Okay, look. There’s a rumor, I don’t know how true it is, but it’s said the king has in his possession a holy relic called Sarith’s Cloak.”
Jericho looked thoughtful. “What does it do?”
“It’s for interrogation. And I don’t care how powerful you are, no mortal is a match for a god. But it’s considered a cursed item, even if it’s not actually cursed. When you lie, it rends your soul. It’s unlikely the king would ever agree to use it.”
“His sons are missing. You might be surprised at what a man would do under those circumstances. And I have to bring it up, because that was the task I was assigned. Whether he uses it or not, that’s not my decision. It might be our only way to find out what happened to the princes though.”
Andeon scowled. “I don’t know if Sheba would be pleased to know the king was even considering it.”
Jericho nodded. “You might be right, but I have an obligation to report what I know. And anyway, it’s just a rumor. It’s possible he doesn’t have it at all.”
Andeon looked doubtful. “Maybe. Just be careful. I don’t know that I’d want to be anywhere around when that thing is used, cursed or not cursed.
“I’ll bear that in mind.”
Jericho didn’t waste any time. He’d gotten what he’d come for. A way forward. He bid farewell to the guild master and made his way out of the building, again avoiding any attempts at conversation. He would deliver the information to the king and convince him to use Sarith’s Cloak to interrogate Lord Ormund, and finally, after all this time, Lord Ormund would be made to pay for his crimes.
*
The Adventurer’s Guild building in Rish was the most impressive structure Kalutu had ever seen, more impressive than even the temples he’d passed on the way. He stopped to stare at it only briefly before hurrying on his way. Chari was depending on him, and Eric and Dahr were getting further and further away from the city.
He walked through the door, taking in the surrounding area with peripheral vision. Owls often depend on peripheral vision when hunting, which he hadn’t been doing, and it felt good to exercise his eyes this way. He could see tables and chairs and people who he assumed to be adventurers scattered among them. Some sat chatting with their compatriots, while others ate and drank alone. Ahead of him was a desk behind which sat a middle-aged woman, who wore spectacles of all things. Kalutu had seldom seen spectacles, and it made him stop for a second before approaching.
The woman behind the desk was slightly overweight, and her face was pale. She was actually quite attractive, he thought. The round spectacles made her look like an owl. The only thing missing was a beak. He shook himself. Was he that lonely? He hadn’t thought so, but it suddenly hit him that he might be the only were-owl in this entire world. That was the true definition of alone. The thought depressed him. Still, there was nothing he could do about it, and he had other business to be about. Important business. He forced the thoughts from his mind and approached the desk.
“Welcome to the Rish branch of the Adventure society. How can I help you?”
Her voice was deeper than Kalutu thought it would be.
“I’m looking for a society of familiars that I understand has rooms here.”
“Yes, that would be the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Familiars. I’m familiar with it.”
She looked up expectantly to see if he got the joke. Kalutu laughed politely.
“Anyway, I spoke with Chet and Sam, and they asked me if I’d like to join. I’m here to speak further with them.
The woman behind the desk raised her voice. “Are you here, Bruce?”
Almost immediately, a large brown spider appeared on her desk. At least it looked like a spider, except that it was as large as a cat, with small spines along its entire carapace, a nasty pair of fangs, and two eyes that looked at him with determined malevolence. Its body wasn’t lying flat on the desk but was supported on eight impossibly long legs. If an assassin could somehow shape-shift into a spider, it would look exactly like this.
Kalutu yelped, leapt backwards, and almost reached for the weapon he wasn’t carrying.
“Ah there you are. This gentleman is looking to…”
But the spider was already scurrying off toward the back of the room.
The woman looked at Kalutu apologetically. “Bruce is a Demin spider. He’s a familiar who’s lost his master, poor thing.”
“A demon spider?”
“Demin. Short for dimensional. They’re like spider phase shifters.”
“Ah,” said Kalutu.
“They can turn invisible, you see. Bruce likes to hang out at my desk and scare people sometimes. It gives him something to do, bless his heart.”
Kalutu looked after the retreating spider, who had stopped and turned back. It seemed to be tapping four of its feet impatiently.
“So, ummm, am I supposed to follow it?”
“Oh yes,” said the woman. “Bruce will sort you out all right.”
“Excuse me?”
“He’ll take you to the society office.”
“Ah, well, good day to you then.”
“Have a nice day,” said the woman.
Kalutu followed the spider away from the main hallway and down a corridor in the back. Kalutu let the spider stay a couple of steps ahead and half-jumped each time the spider turned to look back at him. It was the single scariest thing he had ever seen, and he’d seen some pretty scary things in his relatively short life.
Eventually the spider walked into a room with an open door, and Kalutu followed. The room was rectangular, smallish, with boxes, benches and only a couple of comfortable chairs. Sam was there, standing in a small group of what he assumed to be familiars.
There was a medium-sized, tan and black dog of a breed Kalutu didn’t recognize sitting on a box. A brown and white falcon stood atop a black bear. It pecked at the bears back to get its attention, then turned to look curiously toward the door, cocking its head to one side. The bear looked back at the falcon and then turned his attention to the entrance as well. A fat beaver stood beside a six-legged lizard about two feet long, the likes of which Kalutu had never seen. A white and black goat stood on another wooden crate and something that looked like an ice cube made of black glass stood beside it.
The moment Sam saw him, he abandoned what he had been saying and rushed over.
“Thank you, Bruce, I’ll take it from here.”
Bruce waved a single leg toward Kalutu, as if saying goodbye, then scuttled off toward the small group of familiars.
“Kalutu, I must say, I’m surprised to see you so soon after our last meeting.”
“Surprise would seem to be the word of the day. That spider is terrifying.”
“Bruce? Harmless as a kitten. So, if you’re a mouse, you’re pretty much screwed. Are you here to join us?”
“I’m here because my masters have been taken.”
Sam didn’t say anything, but Kalutu had said it loud enough so that every familiar in the room could hear. They all turned to face him now. The dog even took a couple of involuntary steps forward, stopping only at the edge of the box he was on, like he wanted to approach but didn’t know if he should. Then everything froze like this was a painting, and nothing would ever happen again. But Kalutu didn’t have time for drama.
“It’s true. They were kidnapped by…it’s a long story. They’ve been taken from the city by forces we assume to be hostile. They’re getting further and further away as we speak. Princess Chari and I would like to go after them, but...she won’t be allowed.”
Sam looked Kalutu directly in the eyes. “What do you need?”
Kalutu was surprised. There was no humor now. No mention of beer. No hesitation, just an honest desire to help if he could. It was something he had not expected from the manamal.
“A way out of the city, undetected.”
“I can help you with that, but you have to help us as well.”
“I’ll join the organization, of course.”
“No, not that. You’re going to have to get us into the palace.”
“No, we need to leave the city. The whole idea is to get away from the palace.”
“Well, we need to get into the palace, because there’s a way out of the city from there.”
“There is?”
Sam smiled wistfully. “There is. The palace has plumbing. Architecture that supports among other things, sewers that take the waste away. Those sewers eventually run under the walls and out to the river which takes the waste out to sea.”
“So I just need to get down into the sewers. Why do I have to get you into the palace?”
“Because you’ll never be able to navigate them without someone who knows the way. I can guide you.”
“Out of the palace? How?”
“My master was a very powerful mage, but he was also a brewer of some of the best beer you’ll ever taste. He was well known in the palace and often invited to events there. Through a strange set of circumstances that we don’t have time to go into, he needed to get out of the palace quickly one day, without anyone knowing.”
“Noble’s wife?” asked Kalutu.
“Maybe it’s not that long a story. So we escaped and never set foot in the palace again. But I think I can remember the way.”
“And the others? Why do I have to sneak them in?”
“Because we’ve had nothing to do for a long time, and now that you’re a member of our organization, we’re not going to let you face danger alone. Not if we can help. We all know what it’s like to lose a master, because we’ve all felt it. It’s not like someone you know dying. It’s like a part of you dying. It’s an amputation. You never stop feeling that connection, even though the end of that connection is dangling in the wind. If your masters are in danger, we’re coming. Because we know what that pain is like and wouldn’t wish it on anyone. Am I right, lads?”
One by one, the familiars approached, their steps heavy with sadness, their movements tentative. Like they were still in mourning, which Kalutu thought might very well be the truth of things. He looked at them all, and smiled.
“Thank you. We need to get to the Temple of Sheba. Hopefully we’ll figure out some way for Princess Chari to shake her guards.”
*
The vast majority of people don’t think about what goes into temple design. Even fewer consider the planning required and organization necessary to construct amenities for worshipers and those who actually live there. As a result, the methods of waste disposal in temples is a topic that hardly ever comes up in polite conversation. Yet, it requires almost no effort for gods to remove waste product and convert it into something more useful, so no actual plumbing is required. The layout of areas dedicated to this differs from temple to temple, but the way waste is handled is always the same.
In the Temple of Sheba in Rish, there is a single area designated to relieve yourself, should the need arise. Obviously, this is mostly used by the priests who live and work there, but anyone can use the facilities, which are housed in an area downstairs in the back of the main worship hall. Anyone can walk downstairs and go through an archway leading to a long corridor, ending in a door. The room beyond contains a multitude of doors along the right wall, and a long bar on the opposite side with sinks set into it. This allows people to wash after they visit the facility.
The urge to relieve himself struck Veloran quite suddenly, and he scurried to the stairway. In his urgency, he hurried through the main worship hall without looking at any of the people who had come to worship. Normally he would stop and have a chat if he recognized someone, but that was out of the question at the moment. In fact, he didn’t just ignore the people worshiping there, but studiously ignored them, hoping against hope no one called out to him or tried to ask him a question. Which meant he never saw Princess Chari sitting on one of the benches, lost in thought. And she never raised her head as he passed. He reached the stairs without incident, thanked Sheba for that and descended. He half walked, half ran down the corridor, entered the room and started toward one of the closest stalls, when he heard the goddess’s voice in his head.
Veloran…
“This is going to be one of those days, isn’t it?”
You might want to drink that potion I gave you.
“Now?”
That would be ideal.
Veloran shrugged, took the potion out of his pocket and downed it in a single gulp. It didn’t taste bad at all. Without thinking, he placed the vial down on a small, white shelf above one of the sinks and went to enter a nearby stall, which was spotless as usual.
The seat was colder than he would have liked. As he sat there, he thought about the king and the goddess’s request that he ignore the royal summons. In all his years of service, he’d never been asked to ignore a direct command from the king, and he wasn’t sure how he felt about it. That and the princes being missing, though at some point, he had expected something like that would happen. For one thing, they had been warned it would, for another, it didn’t seem like Dahr was all that easy to keep pinned down. He wondered, not for the first time, about George, and Dahr’s class. He didn’t understand what all the mystery was about, but he didn’t need to. Sheba seemed to be quite pleased with everything that was going on, and he had little doubt the princes going missing were part of her plan, whatever it was. As always, he’d trust her, as he had for his entire adult life.
He spent quite a bit longer sitting there than he would have liked, an occurrence that happened more often as he got older. By the time he was done, he’d completely forgotten the vial he’d left sitting on the sink in the outer room, nor did he see it as he left.
It would have interested him to know that though he had left the vial empty, it was now full again.
*
Chari sat in the temple, pretending to pray. She had prayed for a bit at first, but after a while, her mind began to wander. What she was really doing was waiting for Kalutu. She still had no idea how she was going to lose the guards, or what she would do after that, but perhaps Sheba would provide. Certainly that would be the case if she wanted Chari to go after Eric and Dahr. That too was an unknown.
Her mind started going back through what she had learned in the throne room. She thought about the Misfits of Karmenon. She thought about Striker. She thought about Maynor. It was all so confusing. Nothing made sense.
That was when the cramps started.
“Oh god, not now.”
She recognized the cramps. Most women of a certain age would. This was not the time or place for this to happen. Of course, temples were designed to handle these problems, but Chari had never had to find a toilet in a temple before. It was embarrassing. She doubled over in pain and at once, the guard was on her.
“Your Highness, are you all right?”
“Do I look like I’m all right? I need to use the washroom.”
The guard studied her for only a second as if he didn’t believe her, but then he made up his mind, and asked a nearby priest where it was located, as well as if there was some sort of back exit that people could leave by. Satisfied that such an exit didn’t exist, he returned to Chari and escorted her downstairs.
He didn’t enter the washroom himself but stood outside guarding the door. Chari walked in and was about to make her way toward the back as she usually did, but a familiar bottle on a shelf above the sink caught her attention.
Back home, when she had cramps at that time of month, she took medicine that came in a bottle that looked just like this one. She looked around, but no one else was in the room. She walked over to it, opened it and sniffed. It was exactly the same as the stuff she used.
A wave of pain swept over her and she doubled over.
“Dammit!”
She knew she shouldn’t use the strange medicine. For one thing, she really didn’t know what was in it, but also, it didn’t belong to her. Then she thought about it. She was in the temple, she was suffering, and this bottle just happened to be there. What were the odds of that happening? Was it possible this had been left for her?
It was absolutely possible, considering everything else going on. But the pain was getting worse, so she downed the potion, then ran into the closest stall. As she sat, she whispered, “I sure hope I didn’t just steal someone’s medicine.”
There was no answer, not that she expected any. The goddess didn’t talk to her. Not like she did to Eric. That must be so weird. Then again, Sheba talked to priests. Was a Tank some kind of priest?
Chari had no idea. Nor did she have any idea the vial she had picked up and drank from had recently been in Veloran’s possession, and that even at the moment, he was only a couple of stalls away from her, thinking about the kidnapped princes.
*
Veloran walked to the closest sink, washed his hands and left the facility, wondering what else was going to happen today.
He was surprised to find an armed man wearing the red and yellow of the Melar royal family standing just outside the door waiting. Of course, no one could get away with anything in the temple, and weapons weren’t prohibited there, so he ignored the man and walked up the stairs.
He was only a bit surprised when the man followed him up, but he knew he was safe in the temple, so he didn’t say anything.
Finally, the man spoke.
“Are you feeling better, princess?”
“Excuse me?”
“Are you feeling better?”
“Ummm…yes?”
“Do you want to return to the palace?”
“I think so?”
The guard nodded, and led the high priest outside where a group of guards waited. One of them approached.
“The princess isn’t feeling well, she wants to go back to the palace.”
The guard looked him over suspiciously, then nodded and motioned for him to follow. Veloran shrugged, and complied.
“Is this why I was required to stay in the temple today?” he asked under his breath.
There was no answer. Not for the first time in his life, he wondered if other priests had these sorts of problems with their gods.
*
Almost immediately, Chari started to feel better. To her great surprise, she hadn’t gotten her period after all. She wondered about the cramps, tried to remember how much time was left before she was supposed to get it, realized with the trip and everything else that had happened, she’d lost all track of time, and finally gave up in a fit of frustration. It was just one more annoyance in a vast sea of annoyances. She left the stall, and though she hadn’t needed to, she stopped to wash her hands. Then she left through the door, amazed to find the guard was gone. Suspiciously she climbed the stairs, but even upstairs, there wasn’t a guard in sight. Kalutu, however, was.
What the hell is going on?
Kalutu walked directly toward her. “High Priest Veloran, have you seen Princess Chari?”
She looked at him like he was mad. “Kalutu, don’t you recognize me?”
“Of course. You’re the High Priest of Sheba for Rish.”
“It’s me, Chari.”
If at all possible, Kalutu’s round eyes widened. “Are you sure?”
“Of course, I’m sure. I have no idea what’s going on, but I have a strong feeling I’m not meant to.”
“That’s reassuring. Because I am very confused.”
“Join the club. We should be able to walk out of the city, though.”
“Just one problem.”
“Oh?”
“We have to go back to the palace.”
“What do you mean?”
“I’ll explain on the way.”
Kalutu led the way out, where a small group of familiars and a single manamal waited. Chari hadn’t really thought through what the help Kalutu had gone to get might look like. Several priests nodded to her as she passed but none interfered.
“I suppose, if the familiars are with the high priest, they’ll let them into the palace, at least,” said Chari.
“It seems likely,” said Kalutu. “This is Sam, he’s in charge…I think.”
“I am, since I’m the only one of us who can talk.”
“What happened to Chet?” asked Kalutu.
“He’s doing a bit of traveling to recruit. He won’t be back for a while, and I have no way to contact him, but I’ll figure something out, eventually.”
“Would you give us a moment?” asked Chari. “I’d like to talk to Kalutu privately.”
“Of course,” said Sam. “I’ll be over there with the others.”
He walked out of earshot and began talking to the familiars. Chari wondered if he could somehow understand them, and if that was a familiar thing or something all manamals could do.
That was the one thing she was certain of—Sam was a manamal, an animal made sentient after being exposed to high concentrations of magic. Chari had never seen a manamal before, but every child knew what they looked like, because manamals appeared in so many children’s stories. She even had a stuffed manamal toy when she was little, a horse named Lucky. She had never heard of a squirrel manamal before, but of course, any animal could become one.
Sam was essentially a bipedal squirrel. And he was adorable. She had to stop herself from grinning at the sight of him. Fortunately, the huge spider standing next to him made that considerably easier. There was also a dog, a goat, a very strange looking cube, a bear, a six-legged lizard and a beaver. Kalutu had promised help, and this was it. And she had thought her life couldn’t get any stranger.
Chari returned her attention to Kalutu.
“You said we have to go to the palace?”
“Yes, there’s a way to get out of the city from there. Why do you look like Veloran?”
“I don’t.”
“You do. You sound like him too. In fact, how do I know you’re not Veloran?”
Chari glared at him. “You really want me to prove it?”
“Perhaps not. We should get back. We have no idea how long this…disguise will last. I wish I knew how this happened.”
But Chari remembered the potion and she had an idea. Was it possible…no, of course not. That was ridiculous.
I can be ridiculous if I want. Who’s going to call me on it?
Chari’s eyes widened, and she nodded. “Right. So, the palace. Why would we go back, when we can just walk out of the city? And why do we need to bring the familiars?”
“We can walk out, sure, but I’ll be recognized, and so will you…or Veloran for that matter. Once they figure out what’s going on, they’ll ride us down and bring us back for sure. But if we can leave from the palace, no one will even know we’re gone. As for the familiars, we need the help. There’s no way we can do this alone.”
“That may be true, but having all these familiars brings up all kinds of problems. Kalutu, we don’t even have provisions for ourselves.”
Kalutu looked thoughtful. “Yes, it would be a lot of mouths for us to feed. But I wonder if that’s also true for High Priest Veloran.”
Chari grinned. “Kalutu, you’re a genius! I’ll be right back.”
Chari walked back into the temple and found the closest priest.
“What’s the supply situation like?”
“Supply situation?”
“I want to provision a party of say half a dozen, how hard would that be?”
“It depends on the party, but we have ample supplies, certainly.”
“Make it happen.”
“Yes, High Priest Veloran.”
Chari walked to the front of the main room and looked at the altars on either side of the main altar, once used for blood sacrifices, but now used to display weapons.
“I shouldn’t,” she said aloud.
To her surprise, Sheba’s voice graced her for a second time that day. Maybe Eric was rubbing off on her.
Princess Chari, you are on a quest for me. Some would call it a holy quest. Which of the people who proudly display their weapons in my temple would object to those weapons being used on a holy quest for the goddess herself.
“They are not mine to take.”
You’re spending too much time with Prince Eric. Would you have hesitated two weeks ago?
Chari thought about it. If she needed something, and it was there, would she have questioned the right and wrong of it? Particularly if it was important? What was happening to her?
She looked over the weapons first on one altar, then on the other. There were two swords there, displayed with their scabbards, that were of obviously high quality. In fact, both had small runes indicating they were magical. Chari reached out and tentatively touched one of them.
“This one?”
What do you think?
Chari nodded. Of course the most powerful swords were what she was looking for. She was on a holy quest. And surely no one would question Veloran taking them.
She walked back outside the temple with the swords, handing one to Kalutu, who once again stood beside Sam.
“Princess Chari, where did you get these?”
“They were a donation from the faithful. Don’t worry about it. The priests are gathering the supplies we need right now, and then it’s off to the palace. Maybe you’d like to introduce me to your friends while we wait?
Kalutu looked embarrassed. “I didn’t get all their names yet. I am so sorry.”
Sam shrugged it off. “We understand. Your masters are in danger. You have other matters on your mind. It’s only natural.
The other familiars all nodded in understanding, except for the cube, which simply wiggled a bit.
Sam flashed Chari an expression she took as a smile. “May I introduce Bruce, Mutt, Bear, Flapper, Drake, Gruff and Obby. Wingman is around somewhere, up there.”
They all looked up, but none of them could see anything.
When Chari spoke again, all eyes returned to her. “This had better work. I’m still not sure we shouldn’t just find a way to sneak out the gates. It has to be easier than sneaking out of the palace.”
“Princess Chari, the guards around you are gone. You look like High Priest Veloran, and we’ve been given a team, unorthodox as it is, to help us survive. Do you not feel the goddess’s hand in all this?”
“Oh, I’m feeling it.” Chari looked to the sky and raised her voice. “It’s getting a bit intrusive.”
Kalutu shook his head, but it was Sam who spoke.
“Do you not worry about angering the goddess?”
“Not really,” said Chari. “She chose me, and she’s pretty smart. I have to assume she knew what she was getting.”
“That’s particularly well thought out,” said Kalutu. “I hadn’t considered that.”
Chari shrugged. “I can’t be anything other than what I am, and I assume that’s what Sheba would want anyway. We can talk more while on the way. I’m going to hurry those priests along. I’ll be back.”
Chari returned to the temple, leaving behind a gaggle of perplexed familiars.
“Is she always like this?” asked Sam.
Kalutu shrugged. “More or less, though I think today might be one of her more days.”