"What?" Mareen blinked. Had he just said what she thought he said?
George looked uncomfortable. "Well, I know you never courted before, but you and Jason have been spending a lot of time together lately, and I just--"
"Stop right there, Grandfather." Mareen snorted and rolled her eyes. "First of all, that doesn't even make any sense. Second, what is wrong with all the men I know? Are you blind? I am not interested in Jason!" She realized that she was raising her voice. She didn't mean to yell at George, but the turn the conversation had taken was ridiculous.
"But--"
"But nothing! I don't want to hear about this again. And I don't want to be cruel. You practically raised me and I love you dearly, but I'm a grown woman and this is my decision!"
It took George a while to reply. "Fine," he grumbled. "There is too much of your father in you. I still don't have to like it, though. Please settle an old man's heart and come visit me a week or two after we get to Mirana. I want to know that everything is okay. I knew you wouldn't stay with me forever, but I can't help worrying. I happen to love you, and you're my only family on this entire planet."
Mareen smiled gently at the old man, ignoring George's wet eyes and the unshed tears in her own. "It's a deal," she said.
* * *
The closer the caravan got to the city, the more nervous Mareen had felt. She'd been sure of herself when she first made her decision, but a few days of traveling had provided ample time for doubts to settle in. By the time they'd actually reached the city gates, she felt like a bundle of nerves on two legs.
The pit of her stomach dropped when she learned they no longer had enough to pay for a land lease, even reduced by fifty percent. It was terrible. But then Jason had given up the last serious weapon he and Henry owned and asked for nothing in return. Again.
The combination of Mareen's respect for the two strange men from Earth and her community's shame caused all of her doubts to vanish. She would follow through with her decision. If she didn't, she wouldn't be able to live with herself.
After the villagers started moving away from the city gate, she said goodbye to George with her eyes. She refused to cry. Everything that needed to be said had already been said. Then she told Henry and Jason to stay where she could find them. She tried to make it clear that she was serious. She'd never given orders to people before, and the sensation felt strange, but she needed to get used to it. If she was going to keep her new charges out of trouble, they needed to take her seriously.
She approached City Counselor Hirine after the men from Earth were gone and told her what she wanted to do. The equipment Mareen needed wasn't cheap, but it wasn't too expensive either. Her promise to pay the city back was satisfactory. If indentured servants didn't cover their bills, their employers would be liable too.
Hirine seemed surprised, but she agreed to get Mareen what she asked for and meet her at the City Planning Office as soon as possible.
Mareen wasn't familiar with the city of Mirana, but she was able to find the City Planning Office without too much trouble by following signs. She walked in and went straight to the Adventuring Affairs department, where the Adventuring Guild had a help desk.
The bored woman at the counter saw Mareen and didn't seem impressed. The woman wore the orange-and-brown outfit of an Adventuring Guild clerk, her only accessory a necklace of polished wooden beads. Her appearance was otherwise unremarkable, her hair pulled back into a severe bun. "What's your business?" she asked.
Mareen straightened her back. "I have come for a submission packet to form an adventuring company.
The clerk gave Mareen a level look. "You know you can't get the form without paying the fees for the city, the country, and the Adventuring Guild first, right? It's very expensive."
"I have special circumstances." Mareen smiled without humor and produced her inheritance. On the counter, she reverently placed a folded letter and an embossed coin--the portrait on one side was of her father.
With a puzzled expression, the clerk opened the letter and her eyes widened. "You're Thato Jacobs' daughter? Even I recognize that name! Ah, this makes sense now."
The clerk glanced at the coin. "All of this must be what, thirteen years old now?"
Mareen nodded. The old hurts still pained her, but her parents had been murdered over a decade ago. She said, "Yes. And as you can see, the Adventuring Guild area manager, Vala Hanel entrusted this to me for when I came of age. This is a one-time voucher for the creation of an adventuring company and membership of the Adventurer Inner Circle for life.
"I see that." The clerk said, "Sit down in the lobby for a few minutes while I do the paperwork. Now that I understand the situation, this is fairly straightforward."
"Thank you." Mareen did as the clerk directed. A few minutes later, the clerk walked out holding a fancy-looking parchment with official seals and a satchel. She placed the parchment in the satchel and said, "There are a few extra items in here that come with VIP adventuring company creations. I felt this would be an appropriate time to include them. Also, I don't think I have to tell you to keep the parchment hidden until you fill it out and turn it in, right? This packet is valuable."
"Yes, I understand."
"Good," the woman said. She seemed to relax, her official duties complete. "For what it's worth, I was a fan of your father's when I was a girl. I hope you do well and find a good team."
Mareen smiled. "I think I'm off to a good start."
Bread Heel
Jason and Henry sat outside a store near the Mirana city gates. Their benches were attached to the wall of a small meat-on-a-stick shop, and the savory smells kept wafting outside. Jason was finding it hard to concentrate on anything other than his grumbling stomach.
Jason knew Mareen was up to something, but he couldn't figure out what. He glanced over at Henry, who was eyeing the people entering and exiting the city gates. Jason figured his friend was looking at their clothing and weapons.
Jason tried to do some people watching himself, but he couldn't shake the feeling that something major was about to happen. He usually listened to his instincts, so he didn't just dismiss the feeling. He started looking around everywhere, attempting to spot any trouble before it could pose a threat. Unfortunately, he utterly failed.
A young boy, about twelve years old and thin as a rail, stepped timidly from a nearby alley and groveled. He pleaded, "Sirs, could you help me, sirs? My mom is hurt, and I don't know what to do!" He was near tears. Jason could see fresh bruises and cuts on the boy's face and arms. His clothes were almost rags.
Jason's first instinct was to be cautious, but Henry immediately asked, "Where is she?"
Damn Henry and his damn code of honor sometimes. Seriously.
Jason thought quickly and asked, "Why are you asking us? There are guards right over there." Jason pointed at the city gate. He wouldn't normally have been so suspicious and confrontational, but his weird premonition just wasn't going away.
The boy sniffled and crouched down a bit, looking both directions. "Sirs, please don't tell the guards. They caught me pickpocketin' a few times, and they'll take me, they will, sirs!"
Jason glanced at Henry and saw his friend's face softening. No, no, no, no, no, no! Henry had a soft spot for kids, sick mothers, and rough childhoods! The kid was using the perfect play to tug on Henry's heartstrings. Jason shook his head slightly and asked, "But why come to us? There are all sorts of people aroun--"
"Please, sirs! She needs help!" the boy begged.
Henry got up and started following the boy to an alley. He said over his shoulder, "Time may be important. I'm going, but you don't have to if you don't want to."
Jason squeezed his eyes closed tightly and sighed. Fuck! He sincerely hoped his gut was trying to warn him about something other than following this kid into an alley, but he didn't have any choice anymore. He had to follow his friend; Jason did not want to be on a dangerous alien world by himself.
They followed the boy through the
alley and took several twists and turns, the shadows got larger and darker as they continued. The buildings also got dingier and more unkempt; the boy was obviously leading them into a seedy area of the city.
Henry, what the hell are you thinking?
Jason's uneasy feeling was as strong as ever when they rounded a corner and he suddenly felt something sharp pressed into his back. He noticed Henry stiffen at his side and figured his friend was being held at knifepoint too. Sometimes Jason really hated being right.
A man stepped out of a recessed doorway before them, clapping his hands while looking at the boy. The man was wearing a threadbare outfit cut similarly to a suit. His hat was old but well cared for. His deeply lined face spoke of a long, hard life, but his grey eyes were clear as he watched Jason and Henry. "Well done, Timmo! Well done indeed! Here is your reward."
The man held out a torn bread heel, and the boy greedily darted forward, snatching the food and tearing into it as he ran away. The man chuckled to himself, winking at Henry and Jason conspiratorially. "The young ones will work for so little! It's worth keeping a few pieces of bread on hand to see what interesting new people we can meet!
"By the way, each man behind you is a mage." The man smiled slyly, "If you happen to be mages and you try using magic, they will feel it and cut you down. We'd prefer not to kill you, but we can't let you get away either. We like to keep our little operation discreet. Do you understand?"
Jason glared at the man but he didn't say anything. In a show of good judgement, Henry stayed silent too. The man smiled and said, "Good, I'm glad we understand each other. You may call me Honorable Ben if you need my attention."
To Jason's right, Henry said, "You're despicable for hurting children like this."
"Hurting them?" Honorable Ben was aghast. "These little urchins wouldn't get any extra specks of food if it weren't for me. Sometimes I give them rags during the winter too. I am their savior!"
Henry spat and snarled, "What do you want with us?"
"Oh, that's simple," said the man. "Our boss asked us to collect all strange-looking or new-to-Ludus type people that came through the gates. We're looking for people who don't fit in, especially people wearing strange clothing like you." Honorable Ben looked behind them at the dagger holders. "Boys, put the hoods on them and bind their hands."
Jason's head was covered with what felt and smelled like a burlap sack. He seriously considered teleporting away. He knew he could use his magic at any time, but if he disappeared he would be leaving Henry behind. Jason was furious with his friend, but there was no way he would leave him behind like that. The hood robbed him of his senses, but he tried to stay calm.
Friggin' Henry and his friggin'... gah! Jason's internal grumbling was interrupted when his wrists were bound tightly behind him.
The next few minutes were spent stumbling through alleys while the thug behind him prodded him in the back with a blade. Jason concentrated on keeping his feet; he did not want to fall into anything he smelled in the alleys they walked through.
Eventually they were lead down some steps and through a building. Jason could barely see any light through his hood. They walked slowly for a time though the large building until Jason was shoved without warning. His shoulder hit a doorway as he fell to the ground, causing pain to erupt in his shoulder. Gosh, this is fun. Thank you again, Henry!
Behind him, Honorable Ben said, "Take their hoods off. Let's get a look at them. Check their pockets and that green bag they had too."
The two mage thugs weren't gentle as they went about their search. Before long, they found Jason's bronze dagger in the waistline of his pants. Honorable Ben chuckled as he studied the dagger. "This isn't too bad. Crude but functional. I think I will be keeping this." He tucked the knife away under his clothing. "Boys, now we just gotta wait for the boss to get back. We'll get our cut soon."
Honorable Ben pointed at the two on the floor. "Don't even think of trying to escape. If you do, you'll just get beat. Also, these two fine mages will be guarding your door. They will kill you before they let you escape. No funny business!"
One of the goons looked confused. "Honorable Ben, why don't you just ask them if they can use magic?" As he listened, Jason realized the "honorable" before Ben's name was the Luda version of "mister." It was a polite way of addressing someone in a position of authority. He made a few mental adjustments so the conversation would sound more natural to him.
Mr. Ben looked irritated. "Nead, if you were in their position, would you tell me that you could use magic?"
"Well, I guess not."
"Exactly. Get out here and guard the door. If you feel them using any magic, turn this rotted cell into an oven. Or do you have questions about that too?"
Nead dropped his head and replied sullenly, "No, Mr. Ben."
As the kidnappers were leaving the cell and closing the door, Jason shook his head. He couldn't believe Henry's paranoid bullshit had ended up being so useful. He knew Henry kept the blessed steel Swiss Army knife in a pouch tied around his ankle. The goons had missed it.
Jason stared at the wall and thought furiously. He couldn't believe that the magic practice Henry had insisted they do was going to be so useful so quickly.
During their nightly magic practices while they'd traveled with the caravan, they'd eventually realized that they could feel magic being used. Henry suggested they learn what they could about this phenomenon and insisted they practice hiding the use of their magic from each other at various distances. It took a lot of control and practice, but releasing magic slowly was a good way to avoid detection.
What's more, Henry's Magic Perception skill allowed him to sense Jason's magic much easier than Jason could sense his. They'd theorized that Henry's skill could allow him to tell if another person could use magic or not.
All of this meant Jason wasn't too worried about escaping. He knew Henry would probably be unbound any minute now. He just wasn't sure what they'd do as soon as they were free.
Sure enough, a short time later, he felt Henry cutting through the rope on his wrists with a blade he'd slowly extended from his arm. After he was free, Jason rubbed his wrists and glared at Henry.
To his credit, Henry looked embarrassed and shrugged his shoulders. "What can I say?" he whispered. "I should have listened."
"Damn right!" Jason whispered back. "Now what are we going to do about this situation?"
Suddenly, a soft, female voice from behind the wall to their cell asked, "How did you do that?"
Jason almost jumped out of his skin and covered his mouth to hold in a yelp. Henry didn't even look startled and just frowned intensely. Bastard. Jason clenched his teeth and glared in the direction the voice had come from. "Who are you?" he asked.
"I'm a captive too. My name is Uluula, an Areva!" the voice hissed. "I am sharing a cell with a Bezzi-ibbi, a Mo'hali boy. If you are going to escape, please help us too! We were both kidnapped a few days ago. I believe they are going to ship us to an underground slave market soon."
Jason moved closer and saw a bright, slanted blue eye peering at him from behind a crack in the wall. "Please help us," Uluula pleaded softly.
"Hold on a moment," whispered Jason. He moved back and glanced at Henry. His friend slightly shook his head in resignation. It looked like they had an unspoken understanding. How do these things keep happening to us? "Okay, what's the plan?"
Henry ran a hand over his face while he collected his thoughts. "You still can't teleport anyone else with you, right?"
Jason nodded and whispered back, "Correct."
Henry thought a moment longer and said, "I was going to tell you to just teleport yourself, especially since this is mostly my fault, but I know you won't do it even if I say you should. Since that is the case, I think we should wait until the boss gets here and try to find out what is going on."
Jason frowned. "Why? Why not just escape?"
Henry grinned, his eyes hard, and said, "Because my Enhanced Senses skill made my hearing so go
od I can faintly hear the fucking guards talking outside our door. They're complaining about how they wish the girl and the boy in the cell next to ours weren't virgins so they could rape them.
"Fun fact, life mages can easily figure out if a prisoner is a virgin or not. These piece of shit guards are not happy about it.
"Apparently their boss doesn't let them spoil merchandise, and virgins sell for more. They're also laughing as they remember beating a kid to death about a month ago."
Jason sighed--this was the goblin cave all over again. "They were specifically targeting newcomers to Ludus. Why?"
"I figured you caught that too," Henry whispered. "We're still flying blind. I want to find out what we can and then break free."
Jason swallowed, his stomach began to churn. "We might have to kill people, won't we?"
"Yes." Henry looked Jason right in the eye. "It's almost a certainty now. This is a hard world. I know this is a messed up situation, but we're not in Seattle anymore, dude. Can you do this?"
Jason paused before answering. He looked deep inside himself and didn't exactly like what he saw. Ludus was changing him, making him harder.
For him, practicing martial arts and sword fighting had always been about exercise or self-defense. Before the goblins and the demon wolves, there'd have been no way he would have seriously considered killing another person in cold blood. Things had changed.
He steeled himself and said, "I won't freeze. I'm not even mad at you anymore. This sort of thing was bound to happen sooner or later. This world sucks."
"Agreed, but at least we have our magic." Henry idly picked up a piece of straw from the floor and broke it in half. "Maybe we can even do some good and shut down these slaver pieces of shit."
Jason nodded. He wasn't a hero; Henry was. But if his friend kept dragging him into these dangerous situations, at least he knew it was for a good cause. The beautiful eye he'd seen through the wall and the fear in Uluula's voice haunted him.
Delvers LLC: Welcome to Ludus Page 11
