[A letter for Mirit the Liar]

[cmenden]

Dear Mirit the Liar,

I have sent a letter to the High Priestess, but I still wish to make amends, and it seems you are required to mollify as well.

Find me or write back what you wish, but it must be a reasonable, singular act of contrition and one which I am capable of performing.

Regards,
Estellise Azimi

[Amon-Si]

Dear Estellise

I have written and rewritten this letter several times now but have come to the conclusion that I am simply unable to put the feelings regarding what you did into words.
I have been assaulted many times,
I have had my arms hacked up with an axe,
I have had my jaw broken,
I have been beaten black and blue,
I have suffered for my faith, as was my choice and I blame none for their actions.
If you test others, you cannot hold failure against them.
Pain is something I am very familiar with, so keep that in mind when you read this:

No one has ever hurt me as deeply as you have.

You have made it clear that it was your intention to do so, and I bow to your skill.

You win.

I desire nothing from you, Estellise.
Some things cannot be undone.
Some wounds never heal.
Some memories never fade.

-Mirit.

[cmenden]

Dear Mirit,

Cease this melodramatic nonsense. You didn't factor into my equations at all, I merely wished to destroy the altar to see the High Priestess react to something.

I find her mask irritating.

Normally, I would delight in having won, but you have taken all the joy out of such a victory.

Regards,
Estellise Azimi

[Amon-Si]

Dear Estellise,

I do not know what it is you want from me.
I cannot grant you absolution.
I cannot forgive you, as you are unrepentant.
I want nothing from you and there is nothing I can give you that you want.
I am deeply sorry.

-Mirit

[cmenden]

Dear Mirit,

It's not like I wanted to write you!

The High Priestess said it had to be you owing to how busy she is with campaigning.

This is even more irritating to deal with than your incessant public humiliations!

It was a stone slab and will be simply repaired or replaced. I am attacked in far worse ways on a daily basis and I do not fold, as you appear to be doing over this.

Tell me what is required to soothe your distress and ensure you do not harangue me over this incessantly or I will tell the High Priestess of your refusal.

Best,
Estellise Azimi

[Amon-Si]

Dear Estellise

I have decided to begin again and explain some things that people might get wrong at times. I will pray for forgiveness from my lord and lady for being so candid and accept their punishment should it attract their ire. Please bear with me as this may be a long letter.

Firstly, the Altar. I am not certain you are able to understand why its destruction hurt me so deeply. For you it is a simple object, little more than a lump of stone, but to me it was much more, I know there are people and objects you cherish and their loss would be agony. That is what happened to me when our altar was destroyed, a pain soul deep. Even as our altar is replaced it is not the one that was lost.  I asked that you repair it with your own hands not to humiliate you, but to try to have you in the temple more so that you could learn of my heart and my love for all who live within the well, beneath the Wheel. I knew full well that you are no builder, no stoneworker, but that said, a repaired altar crafted with contrite hands, with the help and guidance of the faithful would have helped to close the wound. I was not going to stand by and watch you fail and mock you, but hoped to lead you, guide you, support you and help ease your fears about Gellema. Alas, it was not to be... I fear the people you are surrounded by actually do little to try to guide and nurture you without the intent of their own aggrandizement.

The relationship between myself and Mari is not one of subservience on either of our parts. We work together and with our personal strengths and beliefs in mind. High priestess and Low priestess are something of an in joke of my own invention, for in the eyes of our lord and lady, we are equals. You may write to her and say whatever it is you wish, she will not punish me, has no power or even desire to curtail or restrain me. I worry that the people you surround yourself with are so focused on their hierarchies that they harm your ability to work together harmoniously, even in trying times. I have watched all of the members of accord, with their rigid structures, crack or even shatter under the pressures of their own internal politics and conflicts alongside the struggles of the world at large and I feel sad for them. There is none of that within the temple of our lord and lady. We support, we advise, but never have I heard a harsh word or condemnation for any member trying in earnest to embrace the aspect of They within themselves. I truly wished to expose you to that as I fear that many have abused you for their own ends and you may lose your own ability to see beyond those structures.

The Altar has been replaced and the temple is whole once more.
I will never be as I was before.
Change has occurred, as it always will, as it always must.
I forgive you, but will speak truth in the defence of my temple, of my people, of They.
Thank you for the gift of suffering and chaos, I accept it with love.

-Mirit

[cmenden]

[After reading the letter, a troubled Estellise promptly burns it.]