A Quest for Chumps (Departed Dimensions Book 1)

by G. M. Reinstra

  “Now go!” Rialta shouted at Edward.

  “Go where?” he growled.

  “I could not care less, so long as it isn’t here,” Rialta replied. “See him off,” she added to the soldiers. “Report to the new viceroy for further instructions once you have done so.” They obeyed at once, grabbing Edward by the shoulders and marching him down the street. As soon as they had turned the corner onto the next road, Rialta fell to her knees. Her flames instantly dissipated. The effort of maintaining her magic and her fierce demeanor had pushed her to the outer limits of her abilities.

  “That. Was. Amazing!” Lorenza squealed, running forward and hugging Rialta. “How in the world did you pull that off?”

  “With some quick thinking from Remmy and a hell of a lot of luck,” Rialta said between her labored breaths.

  “You were both incredible!” Lorenza shouted. “I just can’t believe it! I really thought the Pampered Quail was done for back there! And me, the new viceroy, I just—I just—I can’t thank you enough!”

  “It was nothing,” Rialta said with a forced smile.

  “It was not nothing!” Lorenza said, and she helped Rialta onto her feet. “Let’s go inside and celebrate!” she added, nodding toward the door of the inn.

  “You go ahead,” Rialta said. “I just need a minute to catch my breath. I’ll be with you in a few minutes, okay?”

  “You sure?” Lorenza said as she let go of Rialta. “You look pretty rough. I can help you go inside if you want.”

  Rialta shook her head. “No, really, I’m fine. I’ll meet you all inside, okay?”

  Lorenza looked to John, who shrugged. They both headed inside, Remmy close behind them. Nivin looked back at Rialta, then began to walk toward the inn as well.

  Rialta took a few shallow breaths and began to head into the Pampered Quail. But on her way to the door, her legs gave out, and she fell to her knees. Nivin turned around and ran to her side. He tried to help her up, but she slapped his hands away.

  “Can’t you let me be for one minute?” she snapped. “Or do you only reserve that special treatment for when there’s someone trying to strangle me to death?”

  Nivin relented at once. He let go of her arm and stood up, taking a few steps back to allow Rialta some room to recover.

  “I’m sorry,” Rialta said, and she truly meant it. A powerful sense of regret and embarrassment grew within her for every moment Nivin remained by her side. “It’s no excuse for how I treated you just now, but I just—I can’t take this anymore,” she said, shaking her head as she stared down into the snow.

  Nivin slowly knelt by her side and offered her his hand. She took it, and they stood up together.

  “How did you do it, Nivin?” Rialta asked. “How did you manage to stay here for five years without losing your mind?”

  Nivin didn’t respond. He simply looked into Rialta’s eyes as she spoke.

  “I just hate knowing that my fortune is tied to the whims of this ‘H’ person. Someone I’ve never even met. I hate feeling like… I don’t know, like…”

  “Like you have no control over your own destiny?” Nivin asked.

  Rialta gasped. “You spoke!”

  “I suppose I did,” Nivin said with a smile.

  Rialta stared at him in disbelief. She had always supposed that if Nivin could talk, his voice would be deep and gravelly—something to match his aloof and mysterious demeanor. In reality, Nivin’s voice was surprisingly airy and bright.

  “I thought you were sworn to silence,” Rialta said.

  “Yes, well, that’s a bit complicated,” Nivin said with a sigh.

  “Explain it to me then,” Rialta insisted.

  Nivin looked over his shoulder toward the Pampered Quail, apparently to make sure that he and Rialta were alone, then nodded toward a bench situated below one of the lampposts. Rialta followed him to it and sat down beside him. Nivin collapsed against the back of the bench, his face screwed up with the effort of his thoughts. “I took the oath of silence when Sera died,” he finally blurted out. “See, I had a pretty big family back on Raorik. My family believed that we could win favor with the gods by virtue of any number of oaths. An oath of solitude, an oath of piety, an oath of silence, and so on. And so, I took the oath when Sera was killed. I meant to win the gods’ favor by making a personal sacrifice. I figured that if I made such an oath, I would have the upper hand against H if and when we were finally destined to cross paths.”

  “It doesn’t seem that complicated to me,” Rialta said.

  “Well, some would consider it foolish superstition,” Nivin said. “Giving up speech for a benefit I cannot confirm I truly received in return is unbelievable to some people.”

  “Not me,” Rialta said. “Though I can’t help but notice you’ve broken your oath by talking to me.”

  Nivin smiled. “Not exactly,” he said. “I don’t think the gods are as dogmatic as some people make them out to be. I don’t think I’ll face any repercussions for making an effort to help someone other than myself. The whole point of the sacrifice of speech is to show one’s ability to be selfless. If I’m only talking to you because I think I can help you, I think I’m still carrying on the spirit of the sacrifice.”

  “How noble of you,” Rialta said with a grin, although she did mean it on some level.

  “I guess I am pretty great,” Nivin said, mirroring her smile. “Humble, too.”

  “Hah.”

  “In any event, you said something that resonated with me. That frustration that comes with helplessness, I know how it feels.”

  “I’m sure you do,” Rialta said. “But how did you ever overcome it? The thought of being stuck here for years, or even my whole life without anything I can do about it, it’s just driving me absolutely crazy!”

  “Why did you team up with Remmy and John in the first place?” Nivin asked. “What motivated you to take on that absolutely reckless quest back on Ro?”

  Rialta chuckled under her breath. “I wanted to buy my mother’s old house,” she said. “I didn’t have anywhere near enough money, and time was running out before it went to someone with the means to make the purchase. I thought that maybe if I could make some money quick enough, there was a small chance I’d come up with the funds in time. So much for that. The house was probably sold weeks ago.”

  “So why are you so desperate to go back to Ro? Did you have a lot of friends or family there?”

  “No family,” Rialta said. “And no friends, if I’m being honest. A few acquaintances from work who I’d have dinner or drinks with occasionally, but that’s about it.”

  Nivin nodded. “If that’s the case, I’d say Remmy and John have become your best friends, at least from what I’ve observed.”

  Rialta sat up straight, her eyebrows narrowing as she considered what Nivin had said. “Oh my god, I think you’re right,” she said.

  Nivin laughed. “So even if you somehow returned to Ro right this instant, you’d be going back to a home with no family, no friends, and no hope of buying your mother’s house. Is that right?”

  “I… guess so?” Rialta said.

  “So why go back at all?”

  And Rialta blushed as she finally realized the answer that had been lingering in the back of her mind for the past several weeks. “I think it’s because my friends want to go back, and it would make me happy… to make them happy.”

  “I see,” Nivin said with a nod. He leaned back in his seat and looked up at the gentle flurries of snow falling from above. “You’re a lot like her,” he said.

  “Who?”

  “Sera. She always put on this tough, self-interested façade, but deep down, she wanted nothing more than to make everyone around her happy.”

  A chill breeze rushed through the streets, and the flames of the lanterns fluttered. Rialta shivered.

  “Anyway,” Nivin said, standing up, “you can choose what to focus on. You can choose to think about what you have right here and now, and that’s something
that H can never take away from you.”

  “I suppose so,” Rialta said, and she also stood up.

  “And uh, by the way,” he said, looking down at the ground, “I am truly sorry for that first scrape we got into with those thugs. I can’t tell you how much I regret not helping you sooner. I still think about it every day.”

  “Apology accepted,” Rialta said with a smile. “I could never be too upset with you. After all, you did end up saving my life that day.”

  Nivin shrugged. “Well, I think I could do with some food,” he said, nodding toward the Pampered Quail. “Care to join me?”

  “Absolutely. It seems warping the entire geopolitical climate of this planet in a single night works up an appetite,” Rialta said.

  Nivin nodded and began to walk toward the inn, but Rialta grabbed him by the shoulder. He turned to face her.

  “Uh, Nivin, if I can be so bold…”

  “Yes?” he asked.

  “Did you love her? Sera?”

  Nivin drew a deep breath, then shrugged his shoulders. He pointed to his mouth and shook his head.

  “Oh come on!” Rialta said, but she was laughing at his non-response. “Fine, whatever, you jerk. Let’s just get out of the cold already.”

  The pair made their way back through the door. Nivin hung his cloak in the vestibule and opened the next door for Rialta. The moment Rialta walked through the entrance of the Pampered Quail, Amy collapsed onto her, hugging her so tightly that Rialta was barely able to breathe.

  “Amy! Please!” Rialta begged.

  “How can I ever thank you enough?” Amy said through a fit of sobs.

  Rialta awkwardly patted Amy on the back. “It was nothing!” Rialta insisted. “Edward is a disgrace. It was only right he get his comeuppance. And besides, it was really sort of our own fault that he gave you any trouble to begin with. If Remmy hadn’t sung his stupid song, Edward probably would have left you alone.”

  Amy straightened up and wiped her eyes with the sleeve of her dress. “You’ll never pay for anything in the Pampered Quail so long as you live, Your Grace,” Amy said with a low bow.

  “Please, just call me by my name! And your offer is very kind, but it’s really not necessary!” Rialta said.

  “Of course it is! I won’t hear another word about it,” Amy said. “Your friends already have a table. Please, go sit!”

  With that, Amy turned to face the bar area, which was now completely packed with patrons, many of whom suddenly ignored their drinks while trying to steal surreptitious glances at Rialta.

  “We have a lot to celebrate tonight, everyone!” Amy shouted. “Drinks are on the house!”

  The roar of cheers from the patrons was so intense that the floorboards began to quake. A pack of old men at the end of the bar immediately began to break into a chorus of a drinking song, and many of those around them began to dance. Rialta smiled as she and Nivin went to take their seats with Remmy, John, and Lorenza.

  “So much for keeping the whole princess thing on the down low,” John said with a wink as Rialta took her seat. “I wish you and Remmy had told me you were planning a coup; I would have come with. But no, you just told me you were off to buy snacks.”

  “Ha-ha,” Rialta said dryly.

  “I still can’t believe it,” Lorenza said.

  “I’m really happy it worked out the way it did,” Rialta said. “Although I’m sorry I didn’t think to give the manor house to you instead. I was kind of shooting from the hip back there and I didn’t really think things through.”

  Lorenza scoffed. “You think I’d want to live in that gaudy, creepy mansion? You know me better than that. I’m much happier with our little cottage,” she said, nodding to Nivin. Rialta caught his eye; he gave her a little grin before craning his neck over their booth to get a look at the offerings available at the bar.

  The remainder of the night passed by in a blur of food and drink and revelry and laughter. By the end of the night, Rialta’s face ached from hours of sustaining her smile.

  When Amy finally made the last call for the evening, Rialta traipsed up the staircase to her room feeling wonderfully full and warm. For the first time since she had arrived on Tyntala, there was no gnawing anxiety in the back of her mind—only blissful contentedness. She yawned as she approached the door to her room, but then she paused, and that feeling of peace that had flourished throughout the night disappeared in an instant. A note had been pinned to the door.

  Rialta,

  Pardon my brevity. Not much time. Collect the scroll from the place where Sera died. Should you succeed, I will meet with you at once, and I shall send you home.

  -H

  ∗ ∗ ∗

  Rialta sat on the corner of her bed re-reading H’s short message for the fiftieth time. It was too much to take in. If he was being truthful, this final quest was it. If she and the others managed to do this, they would all get to go home. All the same, she could not help but recall the conversation she had with Lorenza on the first day she met her. This quest—H’s final directive— could only be the same mission on which he had sent Lorenza, Nivin, and Sera. Failure meant the potential death of herself or one of her friends, and success brought with it only the slimmest possibility that she and her friends would return home.

  The troubling thoughts rattling around her brain kept her from lying in bed despite her exhaustion. She resigned herself to wakefulness. She snuck out of her room and crept down the stairs into the lobby, which was now completely dark and empty.

  Seeing that she was completely alone, Rialta walked over to the window facing the street and pressed her hand to the cold glass, leaving a ghostly handprint in its wake as she took a step back from the window. She looked outside and watched the snow fall into the light of the sparsely spaced lanterns lining the street. The scene before her felt so familiar, and for the briefest of moments, she had forgotten that she was on Tyntala.

  Rialta jolted and swiveled on the spot at the sound of someone clearing his throat. She turned to discover that Nivin was still awake, staring at her from across the lobby.

  “Oh,” Rialta said, sighing with relief. “It’s just you.”

  Nivin smirked and nodded, offering a placating hand.

  Sorry if I scared you just now.

  Rialta smiled. “Don’t worry about it,” she said.

  Neither of them spoke for a moment as they considered each other.

  “I thought you were done talking to me. What are you doing up at this hour?” Rialta asked.

  At her words, Nivin approached the window and stood beside her. He made a sweeping gesture toward the view out the window, then turned and sat down on a large armchair in the lobby with a heaving sigh.

  Rialta looked out the window and watched the thick, puffy snowflakes drift in and out of the pale rays of light cast by the lanterns lining either side of the Chasm’s streets. A gentle, howling wind whispered through the night air like the hum of ghostly voices.

  “I think I know what you mean,” said Rialta. “There’s something so alluring and yet so sad about it, isn’t there? It’s like—”

  She considered her words as she looked into Nivin’s curious expression.

  “It’s so beautiful, yet so depressing. You can’t look away, but every moment you watch, it just sort of… hurts.”

  Rialta trailed off, lost in thought. She considered showing him the note from H, but her intuition told her now was not a good time. There was no need to ruin Nivin’s chance for a decent night’s sleep with the note just now.

  Nivin broke her concentration by nudging her shoulder with his hand. She turned to look at him, and he made a waving gesture, then pointed to the large leather belt around her hips.

  “My wand?” Rialta asked.

  Nivin nodded.

  “You want to see it?”

  He nodded again.

  Rialta shrugged, withdrawing her wand from her belt. As she handed it to Nivin, she was struck by the fact that she had never before let a
nyone even touch her wand, let alone relinquish it to anyone else voluntarily. Nivin must have noticed her last-minute hesitation, for when he took the wand, he seemed to handle it with the gentle care of a parent holding a newborn child. He carefully turned it over in his hands, narrowing his eyes as he inspected it. He stopped abruptly and shot Rialta a hesitant glance. Before Rialta could question what he was doing, she saw Nivin produce a glittering red object in his hand so quickly that it seemed to come from nowhere. He held the object, whatever it was, over her wand, and his face contorted with concentration and apparent effort.

  “Wait, Nivin, what are you—”

  But before she could finish the question, Nivin had handed her wand back to her. Rialta gasped when she saw the large, glimmering enchanted ruby fused into the handle of her wand. As she took the wand back from Nivin, it issued a pulsing crimson glow, reacting to the magic in her blood. Rialta simply stared down at the ruby in disbelief. It took her a moment before she was able to speak.

  “Nivin, you should have kept it for yourself,” she whispered as she studied the glittering edges of the gemstone. “I’ve seen gems like these for sale on Ro. They’re quite coveted.”

  Nivin shook his head, pointing first to her wand, then himself.

  I’ve got no use for it.

  “All the same, you could have sold it for a fortune,” Rialta said.

  Nivin withdrew a fat wallet from beneath his cloak and rolled his eyes before stashing it away again.

  “Showoff,” Rialta said with a smirk.

  Nivin smiled and winked.

  “In all seriousness, though. Thank you. It’s a very generous gift.”

  Nivin’s sly smile lingered for a moment, but then he became impassive and thoughtful. He stared at the wand in her hand for a moment, then began to reach out as if to take her hand in his own. Rialta felt a swooping sensation as he moved closer to her—but then he paused. His eyes opened wide like he had suddenly come out of a trance. He immediately withdrew his hand and scratched at his neck.

  “…Nivin?”