by Philip Read
It is these people’s customs to disarm in the presence of Royalty especially when they stand or sit or whatever with ‘the authority of the Crown’ as this one said she was when she introduced herself. So our openly displayed weapons seem to be making both her guards and the other woman’s guards nervous.
The other woman is also very dangerous and ma agrees I realise as she speaks to the woman amicably and with great respect. The woman, Cynthia of House Alvalon is also very pleasing to look at and has an aura of sensuality that is very… arousing I think is the right word but I observe her passively as she is clearly an Awakened of some sort, not a mage though nor primarily a warrior.
I observe everyone and everything within my range even as my eyes are almost always firmly on the woman next to me, the attention further encouraging her to reveal more of her desire to align us with her way of thinking. If I’m hearing her rambling correctly there is a faction within the Sandie Kingdom that feels the place should become some sort of mageocracy. They are interested in the products coming in from Paradisum to their markets and want to tie themselves in friendship with the fae.
At least that’s the gist of it as far as I can tell. The two fae in our traveling party, a youngish male named Leaf and a one armed female named Earthy are both being talked to death by one of the Master Mages respectfully. I’m sort of glad my position in the hierarchy is ambiguous enough to these people for me to only warrent a Magister and not a Master. I doubt a Master Magicain would give so much away without any concessions or promises in return.
Wagner is seated besides the woman Aphrodite as she scowls at every second thing he says, I bet she smells good. A fight breaks out outside the range of my awareness and I turn my head to watch with my eyes as the spy named Shadow fights with one of the soft soldiers they call nobles, I grin at the distraction.
There are many Southerners and even dwarves and Highlanders that come to Paradisum and start adopting to our behaviour. Growing up in the Tundra I have never known any different but since becoming a travelled man I have picked up that most cultures and ways seem appealing to an outsider looking in. The way of the sword looked like a very peaceful and pure pursuit to me at some point as I watched the Hito live their fulfilled lives.
This Shadow character is having a similar experience looking at the people of Paradisum. There is a freedom to being a Barbarian that I never even realised other people didn’t have. A loosening of social and mental coils that can be found in most people that grow up with the threat of slavery, imprisonment, or poverty hanging over their heads.
There is no such thing as poverty in the tundra. Even now we may build bigger houses and have more valuable weapons but no barbarian would mind sleeping in a hut if needs must. Even the homes of our Village Chiefs used to be small huts the same as everyone else’s for the most case. Everyone that holds people’s esteem in our culture you already know they have earned it, there are no true social classes. We don’t have the debilitating fear of killing these people seem to have either.
Shadow has become captivated by our ways because he has always been rigidly controlled in a class based system, and now he is rebelling. It takes two people to pull him off whoever that was, both tribesmen laughing with amusement at the man’s eager spirit. I haven’t personality met the man yet but ma says he is an agent of the Ministry of Information of Sandoria, I could probably learn a few tricks from him.
“That’s just barbaric behaviour.” Someone at the table says, probably on reflex and there is a moment of silent as everyone stops eating.
I observe the woman who spoke slowly turning red with her head bowed down, the tension at the table getting palpable and I can’t hold it any longer. I giggle at her words and it seems I’ve opened the flood gates of laughter as everyone laughs. Even the Princess smiles before she reminds herself that she hates us on principle.
I grin at her as our eyes meet, I can’t resist a wink but I just get a frosty stare in response. Touchy that one or we did her a great wrong, probably killed some of her siblings or something. I’m sure some Royals died during the war, I turn to the mage beside me and ask.
“Did any Royals die during the war?”
She blinks at me a moment before nodding vigorously, “yes actually there were some nephews and a nice of the king that died and I believe one of his sons was banished.”
OK, I may have underestimated the game being played here but I think this airhead of a mage is getting instructions from elsewhere. I’m not sure how I missed it earlier but that pause and head tilt is a very good tell of mental communication.
“Oh excuse me, I think I will retire early.” She says getting up and holding her hand to my face. I know she expects me to kiss it but I hold it daintily and shake it instead.
She nods to some of her acquaintances and walks from the hall. I’m thinking of joining da and my beautiful mates at another table with talking with the soldiers leading this garrison and our escort here. As I’m about to leave the woman I though was walking past decides to sit at the recently vacated seat.
“Might I entertain you for the rest of the evening?” She asks looking directly into my eyes.
This one is also dangerous but I overlooked her because of her obvious deference to the Alvalon woman, a mistake I hope I don’t make again. I evaluate her with every single sense I can and get nothing surprising out of my examination.
She is a mundane, a very fit, very well trained mundane. She isn’t even close to Awakening as far as I can tell and seems to be about 28 years old. The hands she has placed face down on the table have sword calluses that have been tenderized by alchemy lotions. She has fresh scares on her chest and thight from a bladed weapon, a sword… a rapier.
There is a garrote in the lining of her dress and she is only slightly drunk for someone of her size drinking dwarven ale. I smile at her as she smiles at me pleasantly.
“Of course you can sit with me, but tell me. Have you ever killed a man?” I whisper the question to her and it catches her off guard a moment before she parries the question with a smile.
“That’s an odd question, have you ever killed a woman?” She asks and I smile at her leaning back.
We make small talk and this one gives nothing away as we circle each other. I think it’s me that’s giving my intelligence away as I parry her many questions semi successfully. Her name is Patra Alvalon the great great granddaughter of Cynthia which sort of confirms my estimate of the lady Cynthia’s power. With age comes power, its a given.
*
The setting changes as the night becomes long and I slip away as most of the decision makers collect themselves for the main discusion. I think ive had enough intrigue and listening to politics for one night. Especially political intrigue I have absolutely no interest in, I should write a report to the council about a possible play for power by the Sandie mages though.
I watch my children for over an hour as they play with the other children running around a castle fort for the first time in their lives. The older orc children are especially loud and playful. I spend as much time as I can with them because I don’t know how long I will be away when the time comes.
I keep poking my head into the room were most of the parents with toddlers as the expectant mothers have been placed. I will obviously be sleeping by the door here if I sleep at all and I know the older children will be safe under Kuyoki’s care. I’m surprised to find Cicilia here who smiles at me and I smile back nervously before averting my face.
Gaia brought back a lot of baggage with him from the inner villages. He, his now pregnant mate and his sister Cici have been staying with me at my very full home at Paradisum this past year. The girl has become a big sister to my children and a great help in alleviating the pressure of watching the kids as focused on getting ready for this trip.
Cicilia is only 16 or 17 years old and only 4 or 5 years older than my first child. She is very stubborn, opinionated and loves to play, just like Saya. Which is why I was so shocked w
hen Kuyoki and I asking if I was open to a match between the girl and I, taking her as a fourth mate.
I nearly beat the man there and then but Kuyoki is more patient than I am and listened to his horrible narration of why they no longer have a family, why they are destitute of spirit, and why they came to me a year ago with nothing but the clothes on their backs and a single sack of belongings.
The man cried through his telling and looking at him I could have never guessed at his suffering and the responsibility placed upon him. A burden he says his family has been carrying for generations but won’t elaborate on unless we become one family. I committed myself to nothing but since that conversation a month ago I haven’t been able to look at the girls face for very long.
Kuyoki and I haven’t mentioned any of this to my other mates yet, they have more than enough to deal with as it is. But I think its about time I got ma’s advice on what to do about the situation, when the girl is old enough of course. If I decide to take her, if she wants me. God’s, I’m so confused right now.
I wave at Ingwe and kiss her on the forehead. She smiles back at me and I know everything is still OK. I leave them to it and walk the halls of this cold stone fortress. The stone isn’t even enchanted, a powerful enough Master Magicians could topple this place given enough time and mana stones.
I smile as I feel Patra trying to sneak on ahead of me on the balcony. She is quick and agile, and to think she can move like that in that dress? I walk slower to give her time to catch her breath but she doesn’t seem to need it. I turn the corner and ‘bump’ into her coming in from one of the balconies.
“Fancy seeing you here.” I say as I catch her in my arms.
“Yes, a happy coincidence since I was just thinking about you.” She says untangling from me and fixing her dress.
Chapter 98
Patra
“Where is the man you were speaking to?” Grandmother projects to me as the important people gather into a more comfortable chamber with less drunken soldiers about.
I look around at where I saw the man last and curse under my breath. “Do not be discouraged, you are still young and men you think caught will slither from your grasp until you gain enough experience.” She projects again whilst simultaneously still holding her conversation with the few guests we’ve invited here with us.
I approach one of the other tribespeople, one I saw interact with my quarry earlier in the day and I introduce myself warmly. The woman looks at me up and down with obvious appraisal before nodding and passing me a drink, I seem to have passed some sort of evaluation I assume as I take the cup of ale and place it on my lips for a sip.
As I lower the cup to talk a hand is placed under it and I’m forced to gulp down several more mouthfuls to prevent myself from drowning. I empty the cup and an involuntary burp pops out of my mouth and I quickly place my hand to cover my the offending orifice. The Barbarian woman besides me is laughing uproaringly and the hairy dwarf beside us is grinning at me with amusement. Dear spirits I pray grandmother didn’t notice that mishap in etiquette.
“Its good isn’t it?” The dwarf says in a thick accented gruff voice.
“Yes, quite good thank you.” I say looking at both of them and feeling like I’m being ganged up on for some reason.
“So what did you want to talk about?” The tall femininely muscular woman asks looking at me.
“Oh, I was just making conversation is all, I find your people and your ways fascinatin-”
“What about my people huh?” The dwarf asks with a scowl, but its not easy to tell with how hairy he is. Its mostly on the forehead and the set of the eyes that the scowl is visible.
“I mean Paradisians in general more than I mean the Tribespeople of the Tundra. Is that offensive, calling you ‘Tribespeople’?”
“No, its just-” She stops herself form finishing the sentence then frowns, then a slow smile starts creeping up her face. “Oh you’re good, sneakily changing the focus on the conversation from you to me like that. I nearly missed it but you see I’ve been dealing with people like you a while now.”
“Really? And where might that have been, or are there a lot of people like me in Paradisum?” I feel like I’m finding my feet again in this conversation, that drinking thing was an intentional way to unbalance me I’m now certain. These tribesmen are much cleverer than they look, much cleverer than they make us believe.
We talk abit more about nonsensical things before I hear grandmother mention the real reason the House of Alvalon and the Crown has deigned to lower themselves to accosting travelers. She doesn’t speak loudly but she gets the attention of all present the way she does.
“What do you mean?” One of the older men tribesmen, Dross I think his name is asks.
“Don’t get me wrong I don’t mean war between our peoples could have been avoided, it was inevitable. What I mean is it shouldn’t have gone on as long as it had and been as costly as it was on all our people.” She says to a room that seems to be getting colder and colder as the tribesmen lose their mirth.
“And what pray tell was the cause of your dogged pursuit of our resources?” The woman, Divina I think asks.
The muscular redheaded beauty with the exotic sword on her back snorts bringing everyone’s attention onto herself. “The Sandersonian Kingdom is controlled by greedy nobles that are all out to further their own goals.” She says with a wave of her hand, seemingly tempted to spit on the floor but thinks better of it when she notices the rich carpet.
The room is silent as we all take that in and I and the people of the Ministry I know are present reassess her importance to the hierarchy these people follow which generally seems to be none existant or not following any disearnable pattern. I know the woman was a slave and presumed dead and a wasted investment for House Barathian that sponsored her Awakening.
And that’s about all the information I could get on her on short notice and the source is suspect. She was said to have shredded her meridians valiantly defending against a swarm of Barbarians even before the real war started. But somehow she stands here today as healthy as I’ve ever seen a woman be.
“That may be true to a certain extent dear but that is not my current point.” Grandmother says to her with a voice dripping with patience, and because it has so much patience it’s also very patronising; taking the sting off of what she has just said.
“We have recently been made aware that a group of Sorcerers funded the invasion of the tundra lands when the Crown and the Houses considered it too costly for the meager gains. These same magicians compelled or persuaded some of our most prominent masters of magic to join the war effort.”
“And where are these Sorcerers now?” Another tribesmen asks while two just snort and down their drinks faster. Cauwen, grandmother’s personal servant is the only servant present and quickly refills their cups.
“Most of them we haven’t been able to find, but some we have and we require your aid in apprehending them.”
“Now its all starting to make sense to me. The magicians can’t act openly because of your autonomy regulations and the Crown can’t act unless a law has been broken. But that’s not all is there? You mentioned missing children earlier Cynthia, is the a connection? Ahhh… you found them by following the proclivities of child abduction one of them is probe to.”
“You seem to be very well read in the ways our laws work, Divina.” Grandmother says with a pleasant smile. “Find that man you were talking to and get close to him; he is this creature’s son, get him to talk about his mother if you can.” Grandmother projects as she talks to the woman.
“Excuse me, I think I need some air.” I say to the woman beside me.
“I’m Ava by the way, talk again soon yes?” She says with a suggestive smile if I’ve ever seen one.
“I hope so.” I say and slip out the room. I nod at the guard at the door before heading straight for the House agent moonlighting as a House guard.
“The handsome one I was speaking to with
the two swords.” I say without preamble.
It takes a moment as he thinks through the evening before he speaks, “the wing with the children.” Armed with that information I again pursue my quarry.
*
“Yes, a happy coincidence since I was just thinking about you.” I say to him with all honesty.
“Did I mention I have three wives all here this evening?”
I’m surprised at that with the way he has been flirting and ogling the princess. “No you did not mention that. Will they be jealous if we spend time together?”
“We could always ask them, they aren’t far off.”
I shake my head at that, I’ve seen jealous spouses react before and its never a pretty sight. “No thank you, I would rather not put myself in potentially dangerous situations.”
“Every situation everyday is potentially dangerous in some wag I assure you.”
We remain silent a while as we walk through the corridors and eventually out of this wing into a foyer then outside. There are still active guards on duty even with the drunken rivalry going on in the mass hall and the dining hall. It’s a bit chilly tonight but I don’t really mind, its the kind of crisp with that wakes you up.
“Why did you slip away before the big meeting?” I ask directly trying out a different strategy.
“I was tired of sparring with you. Why aren’t you honest with me?” Again with the surprising questions.
“I haven’t once lied to you since we’ve met.”
“But you’ve been dishonest and you know that. I find it tiresome yo have to sift through everything you say to ensure you’ve actually answered any of the questions I’ve asked. Even the most simple ones that I’m genuinely curious about you dodge and that makes talking to you very exhausting for me though you may seem interesting.”
I digest that as he walks, I think back on our conversation as much as I can. I think back on a lot of my conversations since my training started when I was 13 years old. He may have a point, I was trained to be evasive and its become how I speak half the time yo anyone outside the House.
