Operation Wigry - Part 1

Podlaskie Voivodeship, Poland

Aldona sat on the bed and took a deep breath to steady herself. The rocking of the vardo helped - as did the sight of her Knight sitting between her and the door, sword in hand. Should any try to disturb her while she was .... away, he would protect her earthly form. Of that she was certain.

She was certain because of the expression on his face. He was the soldier on duty, with orders he didn't like - but orders that he was determined to follow any way. It's a very particular expression.

She couldn't blame him. What she had asked... no... ordered.... it was.....
It had disgusted her to have said it.

"If any fiends attack the wagon while I am gone, you can not kill them."

But... he wasn't the only one operating on orders.

He gave her a nod to say that he was ready - so she lay back onto the bed and.... let go of her body.

Her astral form was in full skirts, red velvet, gold brocade, and the crown jewels of Poland that she had worn for her coronation. She gave a mental sigh.... such an appearance could complicate things.

She tried to change her image, but it was of no use - on royal progress with a Knight Commander and a Royal Prince.... there was simply no way for her subconscious to have any self image other than that of the Queen inside.

With another sigh, she stepped through the wall of the moving wagon and flew down the road in the direction they had come from. The forest was frosted with white and the picture of her ideal winter beauty. She took a brief moment again to curse Live and his errand.

When the road curved, it brought her to the lake edge. It too was frosted slightly, but the ice was far too thin to hold the weight of a body. A good thing for her she had left hers behind. Her thoughts flew her across the icy waters towards her destination - the Cameldolite Monastery on the island in the middle of the lake.

She remembered when she had heard that King Jan had gifted the land to the monks. She had nearly frenzied. It had been Corydon who had talked her down, reminded her that she had been gone from her lands long enough that her sway was no longer felt and she could not blame the kindred for not holding to her design for her country when she had not been there to guide them. In the end, it was the conversation that had pushed her dive into politics again - had driven her to find Elzbieta Sieniawska and get involved in the whole issue between Sweden and Poland. King Jan's Vassa House had just been too Swedish to understand the needs of her land. He gave blood to the water instead of the land - proof was that he found this island to be prime spiritual land.

She found herself on the frosted island and had to admit, that Jan might not have been completely wrong... which of course, made her task all that more distasteful.

She looked for signs of the Fiends she was here to find - to figure out how it was that they hunted. But the new snow must have covered such traces and there were simply no kine around to follow as bait. The only kine at all seemed to be the caretaker.

With lack of other choices, she followed the grumpy man to his home.... which was filled with shotguns and swords and.... stakes?? Dear Gabija! Had Live lured her to the territory of hunters?

She peered at the man's aura to see if she could spot any sign of the powers of faith about him - only to find that his aura told her that he was a ghoul.

Hrm... a ghoul....
There was the possibility of course that he was the sort of ghoul who knew nothing of his masters.... but Aldona only had this one chance and this one day to pull off this assignment.... so she took the risk.

She pushed her thoughts into his mind to deliver a simple message in Polish.

"I need to speak with your Regnant."