by Sarah Lin
"Do you really gamble for blood on Fithe?" The noble stared at him a moment longer, then suddenly grinned and knocked his tiles over. "I'm out. You've got to be cheating, Bartolo."
Here, that was essentially a compliment. Theo carelessly turned his tiles face down and placed them with the others, hiding the fact that he'd had absolutely nothing. He was glad to sweep the pile of winnings over to his side, but didn't feel particularly satisfied about it: playing against children might as well be rigged odds.
But he had no interest in games, just in the benefits. The money he'd earned gambling was a pittance compared to the information he'd learned about the upcoming hunt, notably common strategies and the limits of the rainhorn region. Perhaps more importantly, he'd learned that a few lesser noble houses without good hunters were desperate to buy antlers to improve their standing, which could be exploited when the contest began.
He needed to relocate throughout the city, though, or he'd attract too much attention. So long as he didn't win too much or make a name for himself, he could increase their earnings in the evenings and pick up a few more sublime emblems. Better than nothing, and since Nauda and Fiyu were deep in their own soulcrafting, he had nothing better to do.
It worked out well, so long as Senka didn't manage to tag along. The one time she had done so, she'd gone out of her way to make the night a living hell.
They tried to get him to stay and play a while longer, but Theo made excuses and bowed out. He wasn't only planning to gamble, he also intended to visit the court library. A heavy pack of family emblems hung in one coat pocket, which he hoped would be enough. It would have been nice if he'd managed to get someone to bet a major sublime material or armament, but this would do.
After moving through one of the upper markets to shake potential tails, Theo headed to the court library. Deuxan might not value learning, at least not compared to Arbai or Siata, but he'd learned that they did have a library not controlled by any single house. It was a modest building, befitting its place in society, so he missed it the first time before turning back and buying his way in with the emblems.
Perhaps that would be wasted, but Theo had decided that missing a chance to potentially learn more was a greater risk than giving up a small amount of money and sublime materials. As desperately as he needed power, he had a feeling that he wouldn't be able to win any conflict against his mysterious opponents with strength alone.
"What?" The librarian, a lean man with a soulhome that seemed purely functional, regarded him over finely crafted spectacles. "A foreigner? What is it you want to look up?"
"I don't suppose you use an organizational system either."
"This is the Anguedan court library, not some trivial bookstore. If I don't know the location of what you want to know, then it doesn't exist here."
He hadn't really expected better, but Theo still sighed and accepted it. "I need to know any information you have about a noble family from another court, possibly another continent. They were the ai Teraeves family... a small family, but known for their powerful soulcrafters about 110 years ago."
"That name sounds more mythological to me than anything. We certainly don't have anything current that mentions such a name, but let me look into the older books." With that, the librarian retreated into the shelves.
Alone, Theo noted that the opening chamber of this library was set up even more hostilely than the one in Nlukoko. He could easily have vaulted the fence of desks, but on the other side he could see that the shelves were a mess, probably ordered by date of acquisition instead of anything sensible. At least relying on the librarian would get him a result faster than searching himself.
The fact that the name sounded mythological didn't really surprise him. Brigana ai Teraeves had said her family was ancient and simply down on its luck in recent times. If she had lived... Theo took a deep breath, still trying to come to grips with the fact that Brigana was almost certainly dead. If she had lived, she might have turned her family's fortunes around, but it seemed that they had passed from history altogether.
"I didn't expect to see you here." Esaire's voice came from the door and he turned to see the Armeau family noble step into the library with a grin. "Imagine my shock, finding you in the location where I tracked you."
"No entourage of supporters this time?" Theo didn't think the noble would attack in the court library, so he adopted a different sort of bluff. "Either you're feeling much more confident or you aren't here for a duel today."
"I'm just curious why you're here. What exactly are you looking for, and what use would an outsider have for obscure Deuxan knowledge?"
"I have some outdated texts about Deuxan. If I can figure them out, I might be able to uncover an ancient cache of sublime materials." That was actually partially truth, given that he'd left some things near Brigana's family home, and Esaire seemed to hear the honesty. After a moment's hesitation, he only shrugged.
"Are you sure you wouldn't accept an alliance with us? The Anguedan court has some influence with much larger courts, you know, so if you did our family a substantial enough favor, we could track down... whatever it is you seek."
"Perhaps another time." There was no safe way to refuse, so Theo just approached it directly.
He saw a frown flicker across the young noble's face, but before he could find something to say, the librarian emerged. "No record of the Teraeves family, but-" He cut off as he saw Esaire, who promptly waved him on.
"Oh, don't mind me," Esaire said. "What invaluable information have you discovered for our friend?"
"Well... there's absolutely nothing about them in any of the court documents we have here, which include a great many international agreements. One reference to a similar name, but it was over a thousand years old and a different form. Is it possible that you misread the family name?"
"Not likely." Though he could have pushed, on some level Theo believed it. He was far from where he'd last been on Deuxan and over a century had passed, so he didn't really expect to find valuable information. That didn't mean he couldn't try. "Thank you for your time."
The librarian promptly turned away, perhaps to return to his work or perhaps getting out of the way of a potential conflict between combat soulcrafters. Esaire started to follow Theo as they left the library, but stopped on the walkway outside and folded his arms.
"That's all? I was expecting something more scandalous, I have to admit."
"I'm not an interesting man." Theo regarded him with the neutral expression he'd used not so long ago. "If you'll excuse me, I have some mundane tasks to perform."
As he left, Esaire actually did seem disappointed, and Theo almost hoped that the young noble had grown bored with him. Theo didn't see any advantage in pursing that conflict, so he'd hope so. At the very least, he got away from the court without any trouble that day.
That had been the best he could do. If he really wanted to track down his old memories, he needed to find a Deuxan weirkey, and using one of those meant becoming at least an Authority. That was so far beyond him that Theo set it out of mind: the goal he needed to focus on in the short term was reaching this hub city Nauda had mentioned, which meant a thousand lesser goals along the way.
Still, part of him felt as though those old experiences from his past life were slipping further away...
Chapter 20
The day the Great Rainhorn Hunt began, the city erupted with celebrations, but Theo had no part in them. For the common people who didn't care about court politics, it was a joyous day filled with feasting, then preparing meat and hides for the coming year. Some among the noble families celebrated, but everyone who intended to participate in the hunt could only prepare.
All the worthiest soulcrafters of the noble families lined up outside the city, eyeing one another, making wagers and promises of future duels. Their chosen mercenaries prepared as well, shabbier but not necessarily weaker. Many carried sacks or other hunting tools, but others carried only weapons.
At least, t
hat was how it looked from so far away.
Theo and the others sat far outside the city, away from the starting line. He'd received an invitation from Esaire to join the other Armeau mercenaries, giving them an enviable position near the front of the line, but he judged that would be a mistake. Not appearing among the others would make them lose respect, but he didn't care about that, and he suspected that the line was not the ideal position.
A great horn sounded over the plains... and the house Rulers leapt into action. Their elders and greatest warriors might usually sit out conflicts, but for the Great Rainhorn Hunt, they held nothing back. Faster than any of the other soulcrafters could move, they exploded from the city, already hurling techniques at one another and exchanging blows.
"So that's why we're all the way out here." Nauda shielded her eyes and stared out at the expanding conflict. "It looks like they're trying to establish zones of control so their families can hunt in peace."
"Exactly." Theo finally stood up and stretched. "But it will take a long time for that to work out, and in the meantime they'll scare away a lot of the rainhorns. We can't fight Rulers, so we might as well begin on the hinterlands while everyone else is still fighting."
They headed into a far edge of the forested region, clad in Fiyu's stealth technique. Though information about hunting the rainhorns was hotly contested, the basic terms of the contest gave him quite a few answers. Breaking the antlers significantly reduced their efficacy as sublime materials, and kills wouldn't be accepted if the bodies or hides were too damaged. That meant no one would be blowing the rainhorns apart, requiring a much more limited set of strategies.
Of course, they didn't run across a rainhorn immediately. They were spread out over a large forest, and if the initial battle pushed them directly into the hinterlands then Deuxans would have used his strategy long ago. Still, they were able to move deep into the forest while the battle for territory was still raging in the distance.
Something rustled in the leaves and they leapt to defensive positions... but it was their first rainhorn, suddenly freezing as it stared at them.
It only froze for a moment, but that was a fatal mistake. Theo cast a gravitational field, tensely prepared to add more if the rainhorn resisted. Instead, it drifted into the air, legs flailing wildly. Sublime beasts could have extremely dangerous cantae in their natural roles, but they were rarely able to apply it flexibly against threats outside their environment. Unsurprisingly, its environment didn't include a complete loss of gravity.
When the rainhorn began to bleat, Fiyu slid up beside it, her dark blade striking the animal in the side of the head. The beast twitched once and then lay still, apparently dying without any great pain. Killing it had been easier and cleaner than he expected, so he walked forward to-
Another rainhorn burst from the foliage, its horns lowered, charging directly at him. Theo desperately cast a gravitational field, but he couldn't stop the beast's momentum and it sailed directly toward him, sharp horns gleaming...
He threw himself back just before it hit... and the rainhorn abruptly froze in midair. Nauda stood a short distance away, her staff raised to bind it in place. The beast's eyes bulged and its muscles flexed against her cantae, but it couldn't overcome an Archcrafter technique.
Though shaken by the experience, Fiyu soon moved to kill the second rainhorn mercifully as well. Theo got back up and brushed himself off, wishing that he had developed his techniques to the point where he could apply gravity more flexibly. Still, he couldn't be disappointed by their first hunt, considering that they'd already taken down two of their quarry.
"Is this a mated pair?" Nauda pulled one of the floating bodies over with her staff and examined them before she bound the two together. "This one has antlers, but the second one just has a single set of horns. Are they worth any different?"
"They both have their uses, so the reward money doesn't discriminate. Larger antlers or horns are worth a bit more as sublime materials, but they all have equal value for the houses. Anything that's old enough to have mature antlers is a valid target."
"I am sorry that we must end their lives for a mere contest," Fiyu said.
"Don't be." Nauda finished binding the bodies, carefully but not reverently. "They eat the villagers' food and, because no one is allowed to do anything to them, they're a menace. It would be better if they managed the population throughout the year instead of having these dramatic hunts, but they need to be kept under control."
"It is still sad. Are there young rainhorns at this time of year?"
Theo didn't think so, but he also didn't particularly care. It was just as well that Fiyu killed them painlessly, but there were too many evils in the world for him to get worked up over a few animals. In fact, all he really felt was a sense of satisfaction that they had already acquired two rainhorns. Even if the hunting grew more difficult over time, they were off to a good start.
After some time, they managed to ambush a third, drinking at a pool far away... but not far enough to be outside his range. That one had an extraordinarily large set of antlers, enough that he considered keeping them if they could afford it. Unfortunately, after the third they failed to locate any others, despite ranging widely and not yet encountering any of the other hunters.
Wondering if the other rainhorns could smell the blood from the bodies floating behind him, Theo decided that they should return to get rid of them and confirm their participation in the hunt. Since the others agreed and they didn't want to split up while so many soulcrafters were on the field, they walked back to one of the main paths and headed back toward the city.
He spotted something ahead and immediately prepared another gravitational field, only to pull back as he realized it was a Deuxan sleigh. It raced over the ground faster than a car and he worried that it was going to run them down, but before he needed to react, it swerved to the side, sliding through the air before coming to a halt not far from them.
"Bartolo! You decided to participate after all!" Esaire stood from the front seat, putting one foot up on the side. "You're going to be left behind if you stay on foot, though."
"Think of it as proving my worth to the Armeau family." As they spoke, Theo glanced at the four others in the back seats, noting the nominal Archcrafter from before and three who had soulhomes that gave him an immediate sense of a hunting lodge. It seemed that Esaire was working with skilled hunters, but there was no sign of Delarde or Hauloe.
"Suit yourself. Let's make a little wager: if your group can find even half as many rainhorns as mine, the Armeau family will pay you double their value. What do you say?"
"And if we don't?"
"We buy them at normal price... and you duel with me." Esaire cast him a careful look that made Theo wonder if he suspected their last encounter had been a bluff. At the moment, all his best options were bluffs, so he responded noncommittally.
"We'll see who hunts the most, then."
Esaire snorted and sat back down, touching something hidden beneath the wooden paneling. A moment later the sleigh floated away through the trees, utterly silent even as it accelerated back to full speed. Theo watched after it, considering. Other noble families would no doubt have their own vehicles, which would let them run down some rainhorns far faster than he could. If they wanted to compete, they needed to hunt in the deeper forests, where the rainhorns would be driven by all the other hunters.
For the moment, he thought it best to get credit for their first hunt. As they continued walking back, they saw other hunters just now emerging from the city, who simply glowered jealously at them. After they had traveled in silence for some time, Fiyu spoke up.
"That was a well-constructed sleigh. Considerable speed, a sublime binding, and moderate defenses built into the base. I... do not think that we can afford such a thing."
"More importantly," Nauda said, "how many people do you think it could carry?"
"I believe the flight materials are more than strong enough, so the question is space. It
could hold four normal people, eight Deuxans, or twelve Tatians."
Nauda looked over at her sharply and Fiyu only smiled back, leaving it entirely uncertain if she had been joking. Theo chose to laugh and gestured for them all to start running. Their first gambit had been successful, but the hunt would continue for days. Time for the second gambit.
Chapter 21
By the third day, the three of them had rainhorn hunting down to an art. Maybe not as proficient as the experienced Deuxan hunters, but their group had Fiyu's stealth and two immobilization techniques. Other groups tried to use soulcrafting to their advantage as well, but they often ended up using it to fight rival families, leaving Theo's team to continue hunting around them.
The first day they caught five rainhorns, then eight on the second day. So far the third day they had only found one, despite the sun reaching its zenith overhead, but Theo was leading them further away from the city, to a region he hoped hadn't been thoroughly hunted. Judging from rumors in the city, the hunt that year was more intense than usual, so many feared that the court would call it off sooner to preserve the rainhorn population.
Fortunately, it didn't really matter. They had sold the rainhorns not to the Armeau family, but to the mercantile family he'd heard about during his gambling sessions. Of all the false rumors, that one proved correct: the family was desperate to use its wealth to achieve greater prominence. The prices had been so good that they had 1400 Silver Crowns, even though they'd held back the two best sets of antlers for their own soulcrafting.
Normally he would have guided them on a broader arc that took several days, but the rules forbade hunting during the night. Though some bent those rules, he didn't think they should take that risk. How zealously the "daylight only" restriction was enforced depended on what bribes you could afford and which families were involved. Everyone became sticklers for fairness when those standards were applied against their opponents, and their group had little defense against such court politics.