Judith Slays Holofernes, Pt III

I didn't get up early this morning, so instead I'm staying up a bit late to write.  To be completely honest, I spent about an hour doing research to churn out maybe fifteen minutes worth of writing, and writing I'm not over-pleased with, at that.  But I have a bit of a better grounding in the ancient world I'm playing in, now, so I'm sure it will all turn out fine in the end...

***

It is strange to have to play such a passive role.  All my life I’ve been trained to be active- not physically active, perhaps, but mentally so.  I’ve always done the research to find the tools to eradicate the threats. Sometimes that tool was information that was passed along to others, but sometimes it was magic that I myself was perfectly capable of performing.  Now, however, I am expected to sit here like a stone in a storm while all around me documents are forged, bribes are exchanged, and further transportation is arranged. I am to focus on perfecting my Judaean accent, which, frankly, needs no improving, but I think primarily they want me out of the way while the men work.  The agent taking on the role of “old family retainer” spends all his spare moments refining the glamoire that will allow him to present me with no suspicion, and although I attempted to help him adjust his technique to the current moon phase, he dismissed me in no uncertain terms. Oh well, he’s the one who will have squinty-looking eyes.

We are less than a handful of days out from Bethulia, and the travel has been fairly uneventful.  I cannot decide if I am surprised, or not. On the one hand, it seems as though people are always talking about times of war bringing out brigands and such to harass travelers, because they fear no reprisal.  On the other hand, it seems logical to believe that the brigands are just as likely to have been killed in battle as anyone else.

Thinking of battles brings my mind back to Babylon.  How I miss it! Miss it as it was, I mean- full of beauty and art and culture and learning.  The Watcher’s Council had been there for nearly a thousand years- it seems impossible we will not return and help rebuild.  But there are those who mutter that before we were in Babylon, we were in Egypt, and perhaps we should go back, especially now that an Egyptian Slayer has been called.

Fah, enough of such speculation.  Better I turn my mind to Bethulia, and how to inform my ward of her sacred duty.  Because, as serene a face as I gave the Elders when accepting this assignment, the truth is that I have no idea how to convince her of the truth of the world and her role in it.