by Aaron Oster
Ten minutes later, Morgan stood before a trembling and red-faced Hu Vah. Hair damp and sticking out in odd directions, he listened to the Queen berate him for nearly fifteen minutes. She insulted him in just about every way he could imagine, even going so far as to accuse his mother of having relations with a donkey and siring him as a result.
Morgan stood through the tirade, more amused than upset. He didn’t even process half the insults, instead focusing on the delicious smells wafting in from the hallway. He guessed that supper was waiting for him, so he hoped that if he let the Queen yell without answering, she might leave him alone sooner. She didn’t.
Finally, having had enough of the Queen’s ranting, Morgan spoke up.
“If you wanted to win so badly, why don’t you just have Percival take my place?”
The Queen stopped mid-rant, and glared at him.
“I can’t. The only way to have you replaced would be if you were to die in the middle of a challenge. I’m actually disappointed you didn’t die today.”
“Sorry to disappoint,” Morgan replied in a flat tone. “If you really want me to win, get them to lift the ban on flying. They didn’t place restrictions on any of the others, and fighting without it is like tying both hands behind my back.”
It was true. Since he’d incorporated his flight into his fighting style, he’d become dependent on it to win. Time and time again he’d found openings that he’d been unable to take, due to the restriction. Furthermore, it greatly hampered his mobility. While he was quick on his feet, it couldn’t compare to his speed in the air and flying didn’t physically tax him nearly as much.
The Queen grimaced once again, before turning her back and heading to the door, completely ignoring his last comment.
“If you fail to take first tomorrow, do me a favor and at least have the decency to die. This way I might still have a shot at winning the prize.”
With that, she left, taking her guards with her.
The others kept a careful eye on Morgan as the Queen left. Both Eric and Percival seemed a bit nervous, but Sarah was as relaxed as ever, though it was a clear effort on her part. Morgan might not have cared about what the Queen had said, but Sarah was just about ready to kill the bitch.
For his part, Morgan had eyes only on the food being carted in. He watched the two servants set it down on the table before scurrying out. Percival just shook his head, rubbing at his temples.
“Try to get some sleep. I’ll be back in the morning before the start of the second challenge.”
He then motioned to Eric and the two of them left, closing the heavy steel door behind them and bolting it shut.
Morgan was already halfway to the table by that point, and had completely missed what the man had said. He sat down and immediately set to demolishing the large plate of beef, chicken, and potatoes.
Sitting down across from him, Sarah let out an annoyed huff.
“I had a visit from Gold while you were competing,” she said in a low voice.
Morgan halted,a forkful of meat hovering halfway to his mouth. It was still too full of food for him to speak, so he just rolled the hand holding the fork in a ‘go on’ gesture.
Sarah then went on to explain what he’d hinted at regarding Samuel, and that his best chance to win the next challenge would be to head into a beast zone and increase his rank.
“I’ve already dug through all the keys we have,” she said, pulling a shining key with a red 36 on it. “This is the highest rank key we have. The only one higher is not an Advanced zone key, so I figured this one would be best.”
Morgan took a moment to swallow before giving his reply.
“Not interested.”
Sarah faltered for a moment, before her face turned red in anger.
“What do you mean, not interested? You did hear the part where I told you about Samuel actively making it more difficult for you, right?”
Morgan nodded, taking another bite of his meat.
“So why don’t you want to increase your rank? If you’re as strong as the others and the challenges are more difficult for you, we can prove that someone is cheating! They may not be able to figure out who, but they’ll definitely have to re-do the first challenge. That’ll give you a fair chance.”
“I don’t think a couple of ranks will make much of a difference,” Morgan replied, finally setting down his fork. “And besides, I’m exhausted. I couldn’t go into a beast zone now even if I wanted to.”
“Don’t you care about winning?”
“Yes. But I won’t stand any chance of winning if I go into a beast zone and die because I was too exhausted to fight.”
Sarah glared at him for another long moment before rising abruptly and sending her chair clattering to the ground.
“Fine! If you don’t care enough to help yourself, I guess I’ll have to do it for you!”
Before Morgan could ask what she meant, Sarah stuck the key into the air and opened a portal. Giving him one last glare, she walked right in, the portal winking out just a second later. He stared at the spot where she’d just disappeared for a few seconds in dumbfounded shock. Then finally, he relaxed, letting out a deep sigh and lowering his fork as he did so.
Despite his ever-increasing understanding of people, Sarah still surprised him sometimes. He knew she was angry that Samuel was making things difficult for him, but he couldn’t say that he was surprised. He had threatened him, after all, and since the god couldn’t act directly against him, he’d found other ways of making life difficult for him.
His motivations were obvious though. All he wanted to do was make sure he wouldn’t win the Skyflare. Otherwise, he’d have nothing to hold over his head. However, what Samuel seemed to be failing to realize was that he didn’t care either way. If he lost, he wouldn’t go crawling back to him. He would just continue with his plan of leaving the Five Kingdoms. In fact, he would be doing that either way. Win or lose, he wouldn’t be staying here.
Rising from his seat, Morgan stretched out his back and walked tiredly over to the bed. Though it was barely eight, his eyes were already drooping. As he fell into bed, his mind cast briefly to Sarah and wondered if she’d be alright on her own. He dismissed his worry almost immediately. Despite her not doing much in the last few days, Sarah was more than capable of taking care of herself. She was an extremely powerful mage, and should have no problem fighting off any number of beasts. And if worst came to worst, she could always leave.
Despite the way she’d gone about it, Morgan was actually quite touched that she cared enough to go into a beast zone alone to collect cores for him. It was nice that despite all the backstabbing and blackmail from people, that he could count on at least one person.
***
“And after that, I’m going to tear open his chest and rip his still beating heart out and eat it!”
“Getting a little morbid, aren’t we?” Simon asked his sister with a raised eyebrow.
The two of them were eating dinner in her room on the ground level of the arena. Or at least, he was.
Sing had been beside herself with rage for the last hour, ranting and raving about the nerve of that boy. Simon could well understand her rage, but he had something else on his mind. Now that he knew Morgan was here, he was certain that Sarah was here as well. He’d sent Weasel out to look for her once the challenge had started and was expecting an answer back from him at any moment.
“Oh don’t give me that!” Sing shot back, glaring at him. “You hate that kid more than anyone, so don’t try and pretend otherwise!”
“Yes. I do hate him. But ranting and yelling will get you nothing. In case you’re forgetting, you still have two challenges ahead of you, and two more opportunities to kill him.”
Sing let out a snort, leaning back in her chair and folding her arms over her chest. The two of them sat in silence after that, until a knock at the door interrupted them. The door opened a moment later to reveal Weasel, and Simon stood up to greet the man.
“So?
What did you find?” he asked, excitement clear in his voice.
Weasel took a moment to bow to both Simon and his sister, before going into his report.
“I did as you asked and checked around the area where Morgan first appeared in the arena. It seems that whoever created these rooms knew what they were doing, as I couldn’t find anything. I stuck with the crowd until the challenge was over and tried to track Morgan once he entered back into the private area, but encountered an unforeseeable problem. The boy doesn’t seem to exist.”
Simon’s previous excitement had been rapidly fading the longer Weasel spoke, and when he said that last bit, he finally lost his patience.
“What do you mean, he doesn’t exist?! He clearly does, as he was right here and competing!”
Weasel cleared his throat nervously, and Sing sniggered behind him. She was likely enjoying seeing him lose his temper just as she had before. He wasn’t going to give her the satisfaction of acknowledging the fact.
“I know he’s physically there,” Weasel said, doing his best to explain. “But when I try to track him, it’s as though I’m attempting to search for thin air. He’s just not there!”
While Weasel had never told anyone exactly how he tracked people, Simon could take a few guesses. As far as he could tell, it had something to do with tracking their mana or chi, so maybe it was impossible for him to be tracked, since Morgan had neither.
“Did you follow any of the others?” Simon finally asked. Much to his relief, Weasel nodded.
“I tracked the two that were with him and waited for them to leave, then I retraced the path they took. It wasn’t exactly hard to find where he was staying, but it might be a bit of a challenge to get to him.”
“And why’s that?” Simon asked, already feeling his anger fading.
“The hallway leading up to their door is being heavily guarded.”
“How many?”
“Fifteen,” Weasel replied, causing Simon to grit his teeth.
If he was correct in thinking that Sarah was with Morgan, then she was undoubtedly in that room with him. And if it was being guarded by that many soldiers, it would be impossible for him to retrieve her.
“Very well,” he finally said to the man. “You can go. I’ll call for you again in the morning.”
Bobbing his head once, Weasel quickly scurried out of the room, undoubtedly glad to be getting away from Simon and his rage.
“So, looks like you’ve got a little wrench in your plan, haven’t you?” Sing asked as the door slammed shut.
Simon resisted the urge to begin smashing things as Sing’s smile became even smugger. Finally, he turned around, heading quickly for the exit.
“Aww, don’t leave. I was just kidding,” Sing called after him.
Simon turned back to her as he pulled the door open, but he was no longer frowning.
“Don’t worry yourself. I’ll be back soon. I’m just going to visit a colleague of mine. They may just be able to help us with our current situation.”
***
When the knock came on Loquin’s door, she wasn’t at all surprised. She’d been expecting him for the last few hours, and had taken the liberty of having tea prepared. Arnold was currently in his own room back at the arena, so she didn’t have to worry about the risk of a violent confrontation, though she was sure he would be voicing his opinion on the matter at some point during their conversation.
One of her men opened the door to reveal Lord Simon, standing there with his hand outstretched to knock again.
“Lord Simon, what an unexpected pleasure,” Loquin said as he entered.
“Please,” Simon said with a snort, noticing the table set for two. “Don’t pretend that you haven’t been expecting me.”
Loquin shrugged, giving him a sly grin.
“Guilty as charged I guess, but please, have a seat. We have much to discuss and I’m expecting another visitor soon.”
Simon raised an eyebrow, but took a seat across from the woman. He always felt off guard when speaking with her, though he wasn’t entirely sure why. She was a commoner, a nobody who had held positions of power for years. First at the Academy and now as the Deputy head of the Merchants Guild.
It wasn’t hard to see how she’d done it, as she seemed to be better informed than just about anyone in all the Five Kingdoms. And Simon knew that out of all currencies, information was the most valuable.
“How did you know Morgan would be here?” he asked, getting straight to the point.
“That’s for me to know,” Loquin replied.
Simon had expected as much, but it hadn’t hurt to ask.
“Is my daughter here with him?” This is what he really wanted to know. He suspected, sure, but he could always be wrong. Sarah and Morgan could have split ways months ago.
“She is indeed,” Loquin answered, taking Simon off guard.
He’d been expecting her to ask some sort of price for the information, but if she was as well informed as he suspected, then she already knew why he was here. He still had to confirm it, however.
“So you know why I’m here?”
“Of course,” she replied, taking a sip from her steaming cup. “You need help getting past all those troublesome guards standing outside Morgan’s room.”
Simon made a visible effort of not crushing his cup. Loquin may have been the best-informed person in the Five Kingdoms, but the way she spoke irritated him to no end. Was it really necessary to talk to him as though he were a child?
“Can you help me?” he asked, carefully setting the cup down and placing his hands beneath the table.
“Of course I can, but it’ll cost you,” she said in that same aggravating tone.
“How much?”
“Two favors this time, and one of them has to be from Edmund,” she replied. “I know how eager he is to see his future daughter-in-law, so it’s only right he offer something in return. Don’t you agree?”
Loquin’s grin had turned predatory, and all traces of the teasing woman from a moment ago were now gone.
Simon’s jaw clenched, but he nodded slowly. The King wouldn’t be happy with him making deals on his behalf, but if he succeeded, he would be forgiven.
“I’ll have that in writing,” Loquin said, snapping her fingers.
A moment later, a servant approached the table, setting a piece of paper on the table before him. He also placed a small bowl of half-melted wax, and Simon had to suppress another grimace.
“Go on, then,” she said, motioning to the pen.
Grumbling to himself, Simon lifted the pen, carefully scanning the document for any tricks or traps that she may have included. Oddly enough, the contract was simple and straightforward. Simon and Edmund agreed to one favor each, on top of the ones already owed, and she would provide him with the means of extricating his daughter. The contract didn’t stipulate any limitations to the favors, which made Simon feel distinctly uneasy. But seeing as she was his only option for success, he didn’t think he had any other choice. Once the contract was signed and his seal placed on the bottom, Loquin had it whisked away.
“I’ve signed your contract,” Simon said after the man had disappeared. “Now how are you going to help me?”
Loquin grinned once again, and pulled a small wooden box out from under the table.
“I believe you will find the contents of the box sufficient.”
Simon lifted the lid, then his eyes went wide.
“How on earth…”
“Don’t ask questions that you well know I won’t answer,” Loquin cut him off. “Now if that’s all…?”
Simon nodded, rising from his seat and heading for the door.
“And don’t forget about those favors, Simon. I’ll be collecting on them soon.”
Then the door closed with a click, and her next guest appeared in the chair that Simon had just vacated just a moment later.
38
Sarah stepped through the portal, still seething in anger over Morgan’s appar
ent lack of care when it came to winning. She’d told him that Samuel was making things difficult, and had offered him a solution, but he hadn’t wanted to do anything about it! She allowed her anger to run hot for a few moments, even as she examined her surroundings.
She was in a wide-open field of swaying grass that stretched in all directions for as far as the eye could see. It was bright out, despite it being nighttime outside, and she figured it must be a quirk of this particular beast zone. After taking a few deep breaths of the fresh air, Sarah felt her anger beginning to cool.
She couldn’t blame Morgan for not wanting to come. It wasn’t that he didn’t care about winning, he was just exhausted. She felt her cheeks coloring again, but this time, in shame. She had jumped down his throat, yelling and screaming at him because he didn’t want to come with her. He didn’t deserve that.
Letting out a sigh, she began walking through the open fields. She knew that verbal apologies would mean little to him, so she would have to kill as many beasts as she could. If she could get enough cores, he might be able to advance his ability. If anything could make a real difference, it was definitely that. Plus, if she killed some Advanced beasts, he would have the extra attribute points to sink into his skills.
It didn’t take her long to figure out that running a beast zone solo was not an easy thing. Without Morgan there with her, she was forced to walk instead of riding on his back. She was also forced to wander aimlessly, as she didn’t have his tracking skill to rely on. There was also the matter of not knowing how powerful a beast would be before she fought it.
Coming to a sudden halt, Sarah found herself grinning. She hadn’t realized how reliant she’d become on her friend as of late. Here she was, complaining about having to walk through a beast zone, when most people would never even get the opportunity to visit one. Shaking her head, Sarah decided that from now on, she would have to be more active in their training together. She’d been way too lazy, allowing Morgan to do the bulk of the fighting, while she reaped the rewards.
