Coldsnap: The Billionaire Alpha's Fated Pregnant Princess (GL)-Chapter 146 - Theology In The Traffic

Chapter 146: Chapter 146 - Theology In The Traffic
"Just let me get cleaned up and we’ll head out. My truck’s not that fancy, but it runs."
Ten minutes later
, after offering to carry the
crate
of my goods to it myself, I found myself in the passenger seat of a well-worn pickup. Martha started the vehicle after unplugging the ’refrigeration unit’ mounted on the flatbed.
As we left, I caught sight of
something I hadn’t noticed coming in
that made my senses sharpen. Carved and painted into the wooden fence posts around her property were symbols I recognized - not from Helene’s memories, but from my own
royal
education.
Protective marks. Landscape
magic
. And the configuration of what is hanging from her rear mirror is similar to the warding-talismans used by traveling merchants in my world. Examples of
specific dried herbs hung at intervals
in tiny glass vials that keep fae entities at bay.
My Intuition tingled gently, not with warning but with recognition of
the sense of safety and protection generated by this woman
. By this... ’witch’, this world may call her. The
odd
scent I’d detected may just have been this.
Martha chatted easily as we drove, pointing out landmarks and
sharing local gossip
with the casual friendliness of someone genuinely glad for company. I responded out of habit for a while, as I tried to decide whether to say anything or not. But I
knew
I would.
"You practice magic."
Eventually I said this quietly while pointing out the
talisman
- right as we pulled up to a stop sign. Better to allow myself the opportunity to not have to
jump out of a moving car
if she takes my statement personally. The old hands tightened on the steering wheel, but she didn’t deny it.
"Not many folks recognize the old ways anymore. They just think I like farm life that much. This may be rude, but you don’t exactly strike me as the believing type."
I chuckled at that. Telling a werewolf,
let alone a transmigrator
that they don’t seem like they believe in magic? It was a good
joke
she didn’t know she was telling! I
believe
in it so much that
the system freaks me out
.
"Is it the human engineered clothes or the hairstyle? I’ve found a lot of people seem to judge me for my choice of hair lately."
Waving one of the twintails of black hair
playfully
at her, she shakes her head and pulls onto the next roadway. I guess that ’ends’ my need to run away. At least
what I’ve said so far
has not turned her against me.
"Don’t listen to an old woman anyway, what the young get up to is their business. Are you a practitioner of The Craft?"
"Likely a different tradition than you, but the principles are surely similar between my homeland and yours."
"Homeland?"
Well, that was a bit of
a slip of the tongue
. Discussing magic openly, after days of only theorizing its existence in this place, made me
lax
. My mental defenses
tightened down
, especially around the warm slab of Composure that Vrika rested on.
"Please don’t do that again."
Rebuffing the
subtle
,
harmless manipulation
she’d surely been doing to increase the friendliness between us was simple. A common charm and
rarely usable by those with ill intention
.
But the last minute or so it must have been ’cranked up’ to the point that it
edged too far
into a spiritual...
impoliteness
. The kind that makes me
more at ease than I want to be
and telling the truths that I did not
want
to.
"So you weren’t just digging in curiosity. I apologize for the little test, young lady. No harm was intended at all."
"I’m sure. Just letting you know that I’ll consider it to be otherwise if you press again."
Traffic on the road increased and we began to wait at lights. The quiet was surprisingly not too
hostile
, as we’d both made our points. And we were both probably thinking about
what to say to one another
.
> She’s likely waiting for me to make the first move, the wisdom of the elderly so often must be sought. <
"What do you think about this region’s connection to the deities we revere?"
I go with something vague enough to not sound leading, but also detailed enough to get her
to speak roughly what I want to hear
. A sort of magic of its own - though it’s really just court
politicking
.
"The Lunar Goddess has always been strong in these parts. Something around here draws her attention, I think. I’ve been following her path for forty years now, since I was a little younger than you look."
Now that I engaged her, testing my theory about this world’s theological structure was my goal. My own had
a large pantheon of deities
, with many of the Lunar Goddesses each married to some God or another.
"And her... companion?"
Part of their domain did cover
fertility
, after all. And if there is only a single one here, it makes sense to think that there would still be
a certain duality of opposites for the sake of balance
. Something to do with the sun, most likely.
"The Solar God... has been quieter these past months."
As expected. The fact that the Duskpaw don’t go into teaching their offspring about him could mean a few things. They are either ignorant of its very
existence
, there was a
problem in the past
with this deity, or they simply have no real reason to venerate them...
But the last two wouldn’t make
failing to mention them at all
make sense. Or explain why Martha’s voice carried a note of
concern
.
"Usually by now, leading up to the solstice, we can feel him stirring in little ways. Preparing for his return to strength through the spring. This year... feels like he is resting too deeply."
She shook her head and the
pieces clicked together in my mind
- if the deity is weakening in some way, that could explain the coming endless winter. But I kept my face blank... because I’m not sure informing her of the
apocalypse
is the best thing yet.
"Well, it might be a bad winter, then. You said the Goddess spends attention here, she must have many children under her protection in the region."
"All sorts. The old families in these hills have always known to respect her children. The ones that hunt by moonlight and exist within her cycles."
My heart rate picked up. That was clearly a
reference
to werewolves. Which means she would not be surprised to learn that one is closer than she thinks, at least...
probably
.
> People do sometimes claim to believe in something and then are frightened when it is at your doorstep. <
A
fang filled smile with glowing eyes
seated beside her when she turns her head around... would be pretty hilarious a
prank
if I wasn’t worried about the potential for heart attacks.