“That we don’t have the time to tell right now,” Lazarus said somewhat forcefully to Ransom before looking back towards me. “But in either case, Sawyer is right. First and foremost, we need your help, which is why we’re warning you about Stanton and what he’s planning in an attempt to build some goodwill between us.”
“Okay,” I replied uneasily, still feeling like I was missing a substantial part of the bigger picture. “And what exactly would my help entail?”
“We need you and your guild’s help to fix the Ley Line and restore the flow of Æther to Eberia, like Stanton no doubt asked you,” Ransom said. “After all, that is the reason why we were sent here to support him.”
Ransom paused for a moment, looking briefly at Lazarus and Sawyer before continuing, “But we need you to do it in such a way that doesn’t force Stanton to order us to try and take control of the town from you.”
“Are you crazy?” I exclaimed while staring at Ransom numbly for a moment as I tried to process what he had just told me. My eyes then shifted towards Sawyer and Lazarus, seeing them both staring at me expectantly. “My own ego aside, none of you would survive attempting that. You are all simply far outnumbered.”
“Then you understand our problem,” Lazarus said grimly. “We’ve been here long enough to hear what you did to some guy named Graves and the last thing I want to do with my time is be stuck in a meaningless territory skirmish on the edge of the frontier when I could be back in Eberia.”
“Actually, I’m not so sure that I do.” I looked at the man with confusion, his candid nature at odds at what I was expecting from a clandestine meeting such as this. Why is he so set on getting back to Eberia? That’s the second time he’s mentioned it now.
“The three of us need to keep Stanton alive,” Sawyer told me, keeping his attention focused on Lazarus as he spoke. “He and his…mistress…have hostages back in Eberia and have arranged some sort of magical dead man’s switch. If we don’t fix whatever this Ley Line thing is and bring Stanton back to Eberia in one piece…”
“Then some of our friends will die,” Lazarus finished. “And others will be…lost to us, possibly for a very long time, if not forever.”
“His mistress?” I queried while making a mental note of what Lazarus had just told me regarding hostages. “You mean, Emilia Denarius?”
“Yeah,” Lazarus replied with a nod as a scowl came across his face. “That bitch.”
“I’ve heard Aldwin refer to her the same way,” I replied dryly as I slowly began to understand the trio’s motivations for making contact.
Had Stanton and Veronia actually tried to annex Aldford by force, they’d have to deal with several dozen angry Adventurers who wouldn’t even hesitate to put a dagger in one of their eyes if it meant keeping the town free of an outsider’s influence. Not to forget the other Adventurers that had arrived with Stanton who would leap to our assistance over the prickly nobleman.
“Nice to know it isn’t because of my charming personality,” Lazarus said flippantly before schooling his features back into a serious expression. “I’m going to be honest with you, Lyrian. Reaching out to you wasn’t our original plan, or our backup plan, or our backup-backup plan. Based on everything that Stanton had told us, we were expecting to find a small village barely eking out an existence out here, starving for supplies and ready to cave the moment we arrived, not a fortified settlement that has more manpower and resources than the majority of the Guild Estates surrounding Coldscar.”
“So, you were ready to just take over the village on arrival?” I queried, meeting Lazarus’s eyes unflinchingly and seeing him nod in response.
“Stanton told us to prepare for that option,” he admitted. “That or simply burning it to the ground and rebuilding on top of it.”
“You should be telling Aldwin this,” I said through gritted teeth. “He thinks that Stanton is here as an ally, not as a would-be conqueror.”
“It was hard enough finding a chance to talk to you without anyone listening in, let alone sneaking into the Town Hall without Stanton seeing,” Lazarus told me pointedly while waving a hand dismissively at my suggestion. “Besides, we’ve only been here for a day, and after asking around town, it’s clearly obvious that you and your Guild are the ones that are really in charge here, even if Aldwin is technically the leader.”
I instinctively readied a reply to correct Lazarus but found myself unable to completely disagree with what he was saying. Every single major decision that had been made within Aldford over the last few weeks had gone through both Aldwin and me, the two of us effectively guiding the town’s development. Thinking about it in hindsight, however, I suddenly realized just how much Aldwin had began deferring to me, trusting me to keep the settlement’s best interests in mind.
“Fair enough,” I replied slowly, still trying to wrap my head around what exactly Lazarus and his friends wanted me to do. Keeping Stanton from even attempting to annex Aldford was going to be a difficult prospect, considering that I didn’t know the full scope of his plans or his motivations.
Assuming I even believed what they were telling me.
Taking a moment to consider my words carefully, I slowly scanned the group, meeting everyone’s eye in turn before speaking. “Let’s say for a moment that I believe what you’re all telling me, and that Stanton has plans to seize Aldford for Eberia. I still don’t fully understand why. Sure, he mentioned that The Ascendancy is breathing down Eberia’s neck, which you three have confirmed, and that restoring access to the Ley Line would help with the coming conflict.
“But that doesn’t seem enough to me to warrant annexation. If war breaks out, Eberia will be cut off from the rest of the continent and Aldford will wither on the vine.”
“It’s politics from what I understand,” Ransom replied. “The noble houses in Eberia are currently…having a few…disagreements with the King—”
“Don’t sugarcoat it, Ransom. Lyrian needs to know the unvarnished truth if he’s going to even have a chance at helping us,” Sawyer interrupted before glancing at me. “The noble houses are inches away from a flat-out rebellion against the King and open warfare between one another. As it is, they haven’t paid their taxes in weeks and have split up the city districts into their own fortified camps, patrolled exclusively by House Guards and not the Eberian Military. The city is a powder keg ready to go off at any second. Assuming it hasn’t already since we left.”
“And somehow annexing Aldford is going to stop that from happening?” I asked, unsure of how a frontier town a week’s travel away figured into that equation.
“Not annexing Aldford might set everything off,” Ransom told me. “You know just how…unpopular Aldwin is back in Eberia…don’t you?”
“I have a vague idea…based on what he himself has told me,” I told Ransom with a shrug, despite feeling a sense of worry bloom in my gut. I had known that Aldwin’s past could have posed problems with Eberia down the road, but I hadn’t expected for it to be this big an issue. “From what I understand though, that shouldn’t be a problem. He’s been out of the public eye for a while and out here for the last few months.”
“That’s not what I’ve overheard Stanton and Veronia say,” Lazarus told me. “The way they talk about Aldwin…”
The half-giant paused to shake his head. “They believe that the moment that the rest of the Nobility learn that he controls all of Eberia’s Æther, they’ll do something reckless, thinking that one of the other Houses is holding an unfair advantage over the other…”
“So, Emilia thinks that the best way forward is to remove him from power,” I finished bitterly, a bad taste filling my mouth as I spoke. “That is nothing but bullshit! She is the one who exiled Aldwin out here anyway.”
“I agree, Lyrian,” Lazarus told me with a shrug. “But this is the reality of the situation back in Eberia.”
“So, what exactly is the endgame here for Emilia?” I asked, feeling a surge of anger shoot through me as I began to reali
ze that Eberian politics had finally reached far enough to affect Aldford and that there was going to be no easy way to escape them. “Based on what I’ve heard about her, I didn’t expect for her to be one to try and play the mediator in this situation or even care what the other houses do.
“Besides, if everything is as dire as you say it is, what is she going to do when the next situation arises? Today it might be Aldwin being in control of Aldford, tomorrow the sun might cast a shadow on the wrong noble house. What will happen then?”
“This is a shitty situation for all of us, Lyrian,” Sawyer replied. “But we’re hoping that we can work together in some capacity to keep everything from falling apart.”
“That’s where I’m stuck at,” I said as a group of loud voices on the opposite side of the building began to draw closer, causing the three men to look around nervously. “In order to work together, we’re going to need to trust one another, and I’m not quite there yet. For all I know you could be working towards your own ends, telling me exactly what I need to hear to do something rash.”
“Has Stanton told you specifically how he found out about the Ley Line’s rupture?” Lazarus asked me, brushing my statement aside as he made a sudden motion with his hand, indicating that we should all move away from the building and whomever was walking by.
“No,” I replied in a neutral tone as I moved to follow the group. “Only that the Mage’s Guild found it.”
“Like fucking hell they found it,” Ransom spat, drawing a grunt from Lazarus due to the volume of his voice.
“He’s not wrong,” Sawyer added a heartbeat after, meeting Lazarus’s eye unflinchingly as the big man shifted his gaze.
“What is it?” I pressed, starting to become concerned by Lazarus’s lack of response.
“The Mage’s Guild sure as hell didn’t find it,” he replied meeting my eyes as he spoke. “And the fact that Stanton isn’t being completely honest with you on at least that basic level, should worry you, a lot.”
“That doesn’t prove—” Before I could finish replying to Lazarus’s statement, the man held up a hand and shook his head.
“Look, Lyrian, we don’t expect you to trust anything that we’ve told you right away, and frankly we wouldn’t believe you if you said you did,” Lazarus told me while inclining his head in the direction of the tent we had set up outside Aldford for the new arrivals. “We need to get back to our minders and reassure them we haven’t flown the coop, but take some time to think about what we’ve told you and pay attention to just how much Stanton doesn’t tell you over the next few days. The three of us need to take our rest cycle tonight anyway, so we’ll be out of touch for a day or so. But if things don’t start adding up by the time we’re back, then send one of us a message, and we’ll go from there.”
Without giving me a chance to even acknowledge his statement, Lazarus and his companions turned on their heels and sped away from me, ducking behind the Crafting Hall as they avoided the main street that cut through the center of Aldford, vanishing from sight almost immediately.
“What the hell have I just gotten myself involved in,” I asked myself while letting out a heavy sigh and checking the in-game clock. “I’ve only been logged in for what… two hours so far? The way today’s going, I’m going to need a shot by the time the day’s over.”
No sooner did I finish my statement than an all-too-familiar chime echoed in my ear, causing my heart to skip a beat as a wall of text appeared in my vision.
New Quest! Statecraft, Deception and Veracity! (Evolving Quest) (Espionage Quest)
After meeting a trio of Adventurers who claim to be working with Lord Adrian Stanton of House Denarius, you have been warned that he and his companion, Commander Veronia Tarius, have come to Aldford with less than altruistic motivations, seeking to annex Aldford in Eberia’s name, rather than honoring the contract originally signed by Aldwin and House Denarius. The Adventurers have provided you with a great deal of information that Lord Stanton has yet to reveal to you, assuming he will at all.
Going forward, will you trust what Lord Stanton has already told you? Will you expose the Adventurers to him? Or will you listen to the Adventurers who have approached you for help?
Collect more information before making a decision!
Evidence supporting the Adventurers’ story: 0/?
Evidence supporting Stanton’s story: 0/?
Difficulty: Very Hard
Reward: Unknown
Penalty for Failure: Unknown
My mouth dropped open as I scanned through the new quest, feeling a heavy stone of stress and anxiety sink deep into my stomach.
On second thought, forget just a single shot. I’m going to need an entire bottle.
Chapter 13
Walking into the Town Hall, I passed through the main room of the building with barely a second glance at all the people seated at long tables sharing meals with one another. Many were putting together their plan for the day or simply sat together, enjoying a moment of rest before beginning on their next task. My feet carried me into the back corner of the large hall and up a flight of stairs that led to Aldwin’s study, where I was hoping to find the man so that the two of us could begin to make sense of everything that Lazarus had just told me.
I hope Aldwin has a few ideas on how to deal with all this political shit that just landed in our lap, I thought fervently while mentally replaying everything that Stanton had said in the meeting just a short while ago and re-examining it in a new light. I don’t even know if I’m going to be able to look at Stanton or Veronia in the eye without appearing suspicious as hell. If it were as simple as fighting a battle, I’d know better how to deal with all this. But figuring out who’s lying and telling the truth…I don’t even know where to start!
Leaving the clamor of the Adventurers behind, I finally reached the top of the stairs, enjoying a brief moment of silence before a familiar feminine voice erupted from Aldwin’s office on the far side of the hall ahead of me.
“It’s your fault he left, Fredric!” Veronia’s voice barked. “It’s your damned fault all of this happened!” “Shit, Ronia! How many times do I have to tell you? He saved my life!” I heard Aldwin shout back as I crossed the hall, hearing a loud thump as something was knocked over in the room. “I was ready to die! Hell, I should have died! He pulled me back from the brink and practically dragged me back to Eberia after the battle! I was as heartbroken as you when he vanished!”
“Damn you, Fredric, don’t tell me anything about being heartbroken!” Veronia’s voice echoed back once more just as I placed my hand on the door and pushed. “I was the one engaged to him!”
Swinging with a creak, the door opened, revealing Aldwin standing behind his desk as Veronia leaned over it from the other side, the chair she had been sitting on lying on the floor behind her. Sensing my intrusion, the pair whipped their heads to look at me, Aldwin’s face shifting to one of relief, whereas Veronia’s remained angry.
“Lyrian—” Aldwin began to speak before Veronia’s reply drowned him out.
“Get. Out.” The armored woman snapped at me, her voice dripping with venom, a far departure from her earlier emotionless behavior during our meeting with Stanton.
“I don’t think so,” I retorted, matching her stare unflinchingly as her face turned red with rage. “I can hear you from down the hall, which means everyone downstairs can hear you as well. What the hell is going on here?”
“That doesn’t concern you, Adventurer,” Veronia spat while slashing her hand at the door. “I’m telling you—”
“I beg to differ,” I interrupted the angry woman. “You are making a scene, and you are screaming at my friend—”
“The Kingkiller doesn’t have friends,” Veronia stated, casting a hard look at Aldwin who winced as if struck, then turned to look back at me. “Only victims. I strongly suggest that you reconsider any affiliation that you have with this man.”
“I think you need to leave, Commander,” I said, fee
ling a cold sensation sweep over my body as I glared at Veronia, barely containing my anger. “Before you say something you can’t take back or something that I won’t be able to forgive.”
Veronia glared at me for a moment before shifting her gaze towards Aldwin, “I will never forget, or forgive what you’ve done or what you’ve cost me.”
“Ronia…please understand,” Aldwin managed to grind out, his voice heavy with emotion as Veronia pushed herself off the table and turned her back on him. “I—”
“I understand everything that I need to, Fredric,” she replied firmly while stalking across the room towards the door that I held open and passing through it with an angry glare at me before I closed it behind her.
Barely a second after the door was closed, I heard Aldwin practically collapse in his chair with a loud sigh, followed by several curse words I couldn’t make out.
“Are you okay?” I asked as I crossed the room and picked up the chair that Veronia had knocked over during their argument and righted it. “That sounded…bad.”
“It is nothing I haven’t heard before,” Aldwin replied, despite the heaviness in his voice. “Though this is the first time I’ve heard the word ‘Kingkiller’ coming from her lips.”
“Is that what they called you, back in Eberia?” I asked the man gently as I took a seat in front of his desk and for the first time noticed the tears in Aldwin’s eyes as he stared up at the ceiling.
“That’s what they called all of us back in Eberia,” Aldwin said with a bitter note in his voice. “Kingkillers. The survivors of Rainier and Cyril’s death. I just happened to be the only one who stayed around long enough to be associated with the title.”
“I’m sorry about that,” I told the knight, who simply shrugged in response.
“It isn’t the first time that Veronia and I have had that argument,” he stated. “I had hoped some time would have cooled her emotions. I was wrong.”
“What was the argument about?” I asked carefully, not wanting to pry any more than Aldwin was willing to reveal. “If you don’t mind me asking, that is.”
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