“How can I help ye, Miss?” His smile was welcoming, if a bit eager and some of the apprehension that she had gained on the road began to lift.
“A room, please, with the biggest, hottest hearth you have.” Tia noticed belatedly that she was dripping into a puddle around her feet. She went red right up to the tips of her ears.
The innkeeper peered over the counter and chuckled, nodding to her.
“Aye, Miss...And don’t you be worrying about that. These floors have seen far worse than a little rainwater.” He winked at her before he turned to the pegboard behind the counter, lifting a key from its neatly numbered peg. He laid the key on the counter and looked at her expectantly.
The intervening pause was uncomfortable, with the innkeeper staring at her and Tia having no idea what he expected of her. She was used to the Imperium where the cost of goods was posted, or if it wasn’t, then the vendor or merchant was more than willing to tell you exactly how many crowns something cost.
“I, um--” She stammered, her voice the barest whisper. “How much for the room?”
The innkeeper leaned forward on his elbows. “Depends on what you’ve got, Miss. Three average garnets is the going rate. Or a good quality sapphire. Trade goods, well, depends what you’ve got.”
“I don’t have any of those things,” Tia replied, her heart sinking. She was so close to a bed, and a fire, and...and! She wanted to cry. “I only just arrived from the Imperium. All I have is crowns.”
“Well why didn’t you say so?” The innkeeper smiled tolerantly at her, producing a thin metal block that he placed on the counter. “Gold is gold, doesn’t matter whose stamp is on it. Let’s see then?”
Tia took her purse and reached inside, unsure what to offer and not wanting to offend or seem foolish. She took a five crown piece from the small leather bag and handed it to the old man. He raised an eyebrow, but took the coin and rang it against the block of metal on the counter, catching it on the first bounce. Tiadaria watched in amazement as he made the coin dance over his knuckles before it disappeared into his palm.
“How long did you plan on staying, Miss--”
“Tiadaria. Two nights? Maybe three?”
The innkeeper scratched his chin, then nodded. “Three nights, blackrock for the hearth, and meals, yes?”
“Yes, please.”
Tiadaria was starting to wonder if she wasn’t being taken advantage of. Five crowns was a lot of money. In Dragonfell, a five crown piece would get you a week in the finest inn with all the accoutrements. She supposed some value was lost in the exchange, but even so!
Deciding that looking foolish was better than being ignorant, Tiadaria had decided to ask about the costs when the man sat a red velvet bag on the counter. He slipped the crown piece inside and rooted around in the depths of the bag. He placed four blood-red stones on the counter and deposited next to them a slightly larger sapphire. The innkeeper pushed the stones toward her.
“This’ll help you trade while you’re in Ethergate. I did you right on the exchange, since you won’t have had a chance to visit the brokerage yet.” He laid a finger aside of his nose as if he had involved her in some grand conspiracy. He offered her the key. “End of the hall, last door on the left. I’ll send a boy to tend the fire.”
Tiadaria reached over the counter and clasped the innkeeper’s hands in hers. “Thank you. Thank you so much.”
The old man smiled. “Ethergate isn’t that much different from Dragonfell or Blackbeach, Miss Tiadaria. Just different enough to keep you on your toes.” With another wink, he withdrew his hands from hers and shuffled to the end of the counter where another patron was patiently waiting.
Tia took the key and following the hallway to its end, opened the last door on the left and slipped inside. A small oil lamp burned on the table. The hearth was banked, and put off a warmth that, though it was meager, felt amazing. She struggled out of her boots and had shucked her breeches when there was a knock at the door. Choosing urgency over modesty, she threw the door open to find a young man standing there with a bucket of blackrock.
“Come in,” she said, standing aside. “Please hurry, I’m freezing.”
The young man entered the room, pointedly not looking in Tiadaria’s direction. He prodded the fire to life and laid out a layer of blackrock on the grate. He kept his back to her for the duration of the process.
“Generally wearing clothes helps with the whole freezing thing,” he said, still facing the hearth.
Tiadaria couldn’t help but laugh. “I was soaked straight through and couldn’t stand being in wet clothes another minute. Once you’ve properly tended the hearth, I promise I’ll dry my clothes and be more presentable.” More for his comfort than hers, she took the blanket from the foot of the bed and wrapped it around her shoulders.
“Blackrock takes a minute to catch,” he remarked as he turned toward the door. Seeing that she had covered up, he breathed an audible sigh and glanced at her. “I’ll come check on it in a minute. Can I get you anything?”
“Something hot to drink? And eat? I’m starving! All I’ve had is trail rations for days.”
The young man’s wrinkled nose told Tiadaria all she needed to know about his opinion of travel rations. “Bess made a pot roast for the working folk, there’s probably some left.”
“Please and thank you. That would be perfect.”
The porter slipped out of the room without another word and Tiadaria set about shucking the rest of her clothes. She wrapped the blanket around her naked frame and spread out her clothing as near the hearth as she could manage without worrying that she’d catch something on fire and burn the inn down.
By the time she had managed the arrangement to her satisfaction, the young man had returned with a blanket under one arm and a laden tray balanced on the fingertips of his other hand. He tossed the blanket on the bed, and deftly transferred the tray to the little table. Nodding to Tiadaria, he crossed in front of her to check the fire and gave a half smile at the array of clothing laid out before it.
“I thought the extra blanket was in order,” he said, apparently satisfied with the state of the fire. “I brought you some things from the kitchen. Nothing fancy, but I suspect it’s better than travel rations.” He wrinkled his nose again, shaking his head. “Goodnight!”
Before she could offer a word of thanks, he had passed through into the hallway, closing the door behind him. She threw the bar on the door, guaranteeing her privacy, and turned to inspect the tray.
It was a banquet. It was more than a banquet! It was a feast! There was a metal plate with a few slices of roast beef, some carrots, a piece of crusty bread, a small crock of butter, and most importantly, a mug of hot spiced cider. This she took carefully from the tray, cradling it in her hands and wishing its warmth to spread through her palms into the rest of her body.
She ate more quickly than was probably advisable, or ladylike, and then tucked herself into bed with both blankets wrapped around her like a cocoon. Tiadaria was asleep almost as soon as her head hit the pillow.
* * *
The next morning, Tiadaria was awoken by an insistent pounding on the door. She dragged the blanket up over her head, willing whoever was causing such a racket to just go away and leave her alone.
“Miss Tiadaria?” She recognized the muffled voice as that of the innkeeper she had spoken to last night. It would do her well not to alienate that old man. He had given her far more information about how to get on in Ethergate than anyone else had. “Miss Tiadaria? Open up please, there’s someone here who needs to speak to you.”
“Just a minute,” she called. Tia doubted she had time to get dressed, so she wrapped the blanket around herself once again and went to the door, lifting the bolt and hauling it open.
The innkeeper stood there with a man she recognized as the gate guard who had told her she would need to present herself. Her heart went to her throat for a minute before she realized he was grinning at her.
“Sorry to
bother you, Miss,” the guard said with a smile. “But we thought you might want these.” From behind his back, he produced her saddlebags, offering them to her with a wide grin. “All apologies, but we went through them to find your papers. I’ve already sent word to the Guard Captain, so you’re free to stay in Ethergate as long as you like.”
“Oh thank you!” Tiadaria flung herself at the guard, trying to hug him, take the saddlebags, and hold the blanket all at the same time. The old innkeeper laughed and took the saddlebags from the guard, laying them on the table and retrieving the tray. He excused himself and disappeared down the hall. Belatedly, Tiadaria realized that she had her saddlebags. “Nightwind!” she gasped.
“He’s fine,” the guard assured her, nodding. “We gave him a good rub down, a bag of oats, and put him in the guard livery. He’ll be fine there until you move him to the livery here, or wherever.”
“How can I repay you? I don’t even know your name!”
The guard smiled. “My name is Thomas, Lady Tiadaria. You paid me in full when you sent those mangy dogs back into their hole.” He paused just a moment as he turned to leave. “My brother, Cabot, says to tell you hello.” With a grin and a little wave, he closed the door.
Tiadaria glanced around the room, almost unable to believe her good fortune. She flipped open her saddlebags. The contents were still fairly waterlogged, but her traveling clothes were dry, and that was a start. She dressed quickly, delighting in the warm cloth against her skin. Even her boots were mostly dry. She looked out the window and realized that the sun was shining. Things were definitely looking up.
Locking her room behind her, Tia made her way to the common room. It was much less crowded than the night before and seemed much more welcoming. Though she strongly suspected that was mostly due to her no longer being soaking wet and dripping on the floor.
She approached the innkeeper who was leaning on his counter. It seemed to be his customary spot.
“I never got your name, sir.”
“No, Miss Tiadaria, you didn’t. You can call me Harold. You’ve already met my boys.”
“Your boys?” For a moment, she thought he meant the porter from last night, but he had said boys, plural.
“Cabot and Thomas, Miss.”
“Cabot is your son? And the guard, Thomas?”
“Aye, and fine boys they are...but you’re not standing here looking to climb my family tree. What can I do for you?”
Tiadaria fingered her collar before answering. “I’m looking for someone, an apprentice of Master Faxon Indra’s. I suspect I can find him in the library, if you can point me in the right direction.”
Harold’s brow furrowed. “That might present a problem, Miss.”
Tia’s heart dropped. If she had come all this way and Faxon’s apprentice wasn’t here, she didn’t know what she was going to do. “A problem? Why?”
“Well,” Harold began, running a hand over his wrinkled scalp. “There are eleven libraries in Ethergate.”
CHAPTER FOUR
“How much further?” Xenir growled. “I’m about to roast alive.”
Zarfensis could appreciate the Warleader’s sentiment. The heat was stifling and as they descended deep into the tunnels under the Warrens, it had grown exponentially more cumbersome. His metal leg was now too hot to comfortably touch and their thick fur was suffocating them slowly.
“Not much further,” Zarfensis grunted. “Relish the heat, brother. Soon enough you’ll long for it.”
The Warleader grunted something non-committal and followed the High Priest deeper into the twisting tunnel. Zarfensis kept quiet. It was better if the Warleader stayed ignorant of the true nature of their destination until he had to experience it for himself.
Zarfensis was well aware of what awaited them below. He remembered, in vivid detail, the long hours that he had spent descending through the twists and turns at the heel of his grand-sire. The elder High Priest had ensured that his kin knew where to find the Deep Oracle. It was the duty of the High Priest to maintain the rituals that kept the thing bound to its ancient prison.
It had also been his grand-sire who had taught him of the thing’s craving for runedust and the information that could be gleaned from the Oracle by making the merest offering of the magically-imbued powder. He had watched on in tandem awe and horror as his elder made an offering to the creature and then asked it about Zarfensis’s deepest, most hidden secret.
Just a whelp then, Zarfensis hadn’t had more of a secret than some playful experimentation with a bitch several years his elder, of which he was more prideful than ashamed. It was the ease with which the Deep Oracle laid out his transgressions, in all their torrid detail, as if it had been present during the acts themselves. That was what had sent a shiver of terror up his spine and forced his tail between his legs. His grand-sire had scolded him then, berating him for showing weakness to an inferior. Zarfensis often thought, even now, that the scolding he received was more bravado than anything else. The Deep Oracle was anything but inferior. It was a power not to be trifled with and Zarfensis had vowed then and there not to repeat the mistakes of those who had come before him.
“Mind your head,” Zarfensis said, ducking into a low fissure in the rock. This tunnel was shorter than any they had encountered so far and the High Priest knew they were nearing the end of their travel. It took them quite a long time to reach the end, where another crack in the rock let them out into a small circular cavern.
Zarfensis dropped lightly to the floor of the subterranean chamber, taking most of the impact on his new leg. The novelty hadn’t yet worn off and he was wondering if it ever would. He turned to see the Warleader drop to the floor behind him and heard the sudden intake of breath.
“It’s cold!” Xenir’s exclamation was accompanied by a puff of condensation from his breath. The High Priest nodded. The difference in temperature between the room and the tunnel beyond was staggering. It was easily as cold here as in the northern reaches of the Frozen Frontier.
“I told you that you’d soon relish the heat.” Zarfensis motioned to a simple shaft of rock in the center of the chamber where a pale green light bobbed to and fro. Its light flickered dimly, throwing shadows upon the wall that weren’t, Zarfensis realized with a shudder, the shadows of anything that existed in the room.
Xenir growled, his claws slipping from their sheaths. Zarfensis turned toward the pillar and saw that the light had vanished. It was replaced by the translucent form of a human female whose shape and endowments would be the envy of many vermin. The High Priest felt a wave of rutting passion wash over him and he struggled to fight against the powerful magic being used against him. The Warleader’s aspect had entirely changed. Gone was any pretense of threat, he bounded toward the image as he would toward a bitch in heat.
As Xenir reached the illusion, there was a blinding flash of light and a howl of pain. His vision was a mass of purple, but Zarfensis heard the heavy thud of Xenir’s body hitting the wall beside him. Closing his eyes, Zarfensis slipped into the Quintessential Sphere. In that magical realm, just beyond the physical world, he could see clearly. He saw the pillar and the writhing mass of blackness there, the Deep Oracle’s true form exposed. Black tendrils shot forward, a thousand snakes intent on devouring his very essence.
With an extended claw, Zarfensis traced runes in the air, speaking the ancient words of power. Words so old that their true meanings had been forgotten. Words that, nonetheless, shackled the Oracle to its pillar as surely as the heaviest chain. The tendrils receded with a roar of frustration that the High Priest felt in his bones. He heard a groan, as if across a great distance, and he breathed a sigh of relief. Xenir was still alive then. Zarfensis was as concerned for his friend, but more worried about what the Oracle could, or would, do with the power of a life forcefully taken.
Withdrawing from the sphere, he knelt and felt for the pulse at Xenir’s throat. It was there, strong and steady. The Warleader seemed no worse for his ill-advised adventure.
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“Speak,” the voice came not in sound, but within his head. It was thick and sultry and oozed a sensuality not to be denied. “Speak your desires so that we may bargain and my need be fulfilled.”
Zarfensis struggled against the physical urges that were surging through him. He opened his belt pouch and withdrew a vial of faintly glowing runedust.
“This is what will sate your needs, Oracle.” Zarfensis waved the vial. “You will not sate yourself on the urges of the flesh.”
“You may not be willing...but the other...”
Zarfensis waved at the still unconscious form of the Warleader. “The other is outside your control. You will bargain with me, or bargain not at all.”
There was another rumbling roar and Zarfensis focused all his thoughts on the idea of slipping the vial back into his pouch and returning to the Warrens. The rutting urges vanished as quickly as they had appeared and were replaced with the intense feeling of a whelp’s sulking.
“I will bargain with you,” the Oracle agreed sullenly. “Or not at all.”
Zarfensis unstopped the vial of runedust and poured some of the fine crystals into his palm. Stepping toward the pillar, but being careful to keep a safe distance, he puffed and blew a cloud of the crystals toward the Oracle. The powder was consumed in a shower of sparks and the Oracle’s orb glowed a bit brighter.
The sound of claws on rock from behind him alerted Zarfensis that Xenir had regained consciousness. The High Priest turned and watched as the Warleader slowly got to his feet, shaking his head. His eyes met Zarfensis’s and then slid away. The embarrassment would serve him well, Zarfensis thought. He’d be more on his guard next time. If there was a next time.
“More!” the Oracle demanded imperiously.
“Tell me what I wish to know,” Zarfensis countered, twisting the vial between his fingers. “Then you shall have the rest.”
“We need it,” the Oracle whined. “Please!”
“Tell me what I wish to know,” the High Priest demanded, reinforcing his words with the mental image of the vial of runedust shattered on the floor beyond the Oracle’s reach.
The Swordmage Trilogy Bundle, Volumes 1-3 Page 20
