They watched as the shadow flew into the sky, disappearing out of sight in a flash.
“Holy…” Ben uttered, mouth agape.
“No,” came Tyrene’s voice from the table, his head held up by Heather. “There’s nothing holy going on here."
Chapter Twenty-Two
Purging the darkness from Blueballs took a little more effort but was far less messy than Tyrene’s healing.
Whether it was because of the biological makeup of the toffet, the creature being notoriously tougher than many creatures they’d met before, or because the darkness had had less time to take hold, they didn’t know.
What they did know was that after the darkness had been purged and the small cloud of shadow had emerged and disappeared into the atmosphere, the whole party needed rest. The wedding of their friend and the king was to take place at sunset, and they were all exhausted.
Luckily for the party, the inn wasn’t too far from the outpost. Gideon hung back for a few moments longer to say goodbye to Heather in private before they took to the streets. They were shortly in the warm glow of the public house.
“I’ve got to hand it to you, I didn’t think you had it in you,” Ben said as they took the stairs and headed to their rooms.
“It was nothing,” Veronica said. “It’s actually one of the innate skills clerics have. Some call it exorcism. I call it purging.”
“I wasn’t talking about you.” Ben chuckled. “I was talking about Romeo there.”
Gideon’s ears burned and he looked up meekly. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Sure you don’t, stud.” Ben winked. “All I’m saying is that it’s okay to have a digital girlfriend. Just be careful you don’t get too attached, okay? Those kinds of relationships don’t always last.”
They all fell silent, no one needing to say what the others were thinking. Their minds had gone to their comrade, still lying at the inn at Killink View.
The party split into their respective rooms. Chloe helped Blueballs through the door, the great beast ducking to gain entry. He was visibly exhausted from the fight and his battle with the darkness. All too soon, he was curled up and snoring in the corner.
“I suppose I best log out for a bit, too,” Gideon said. “It’s been some time since my mom has heard from me. She’ll likely be going nuts, wondering how to reset the pod.”
Chloe laughed. “Really? She’d do that?”
“Nah.” Gideon grinned. “She’s a pure technophobe. She can’t even turn her phone on without help.”
He said his goodbyes and laid down on his bed. Chloe rested on hers, checking her stats and seeing that her stamina had taken a beating as the night had progressed. Maybe a little sleep wouldn’t be a bad thing, after all.
As she lay in bed, she couldn’t help but think about all that had happened in the last few hours. She had found several dozen city folk willing to help her in her quest to open the Nether Realm, the party and city had been attacked by infected, and the news that the doc’s warning was right and Fukmos was back and had brought company was unsettling.
She couldn’t help but begin to think this was personal. Before, she had been more than aware that she was completing a quest. She had been following instructions and piecing the puzzle together in order to unite KieraFreya.
But ever since she had defeated Fukmos and his host in the mountains and acquired the last of the goddess’ body armor, she had somehow known that it would come to this. You couldn’t upset a god without expecting some form of retribution.
She wondered about these two new additions to the game, Myaris and Dryana. If the illness was but a taste of their power, she feared what was to come. The infection was clearly the product of the Goddess of Disease, but what monsters might the Goddess of Ghosts bring forth?
Chloe rolled over in bed, watching Gideon. Blueballs’ snoring was a welcome sound in the otherwise empty room.
She had made a start. That was good. Although those who had shown up at the barn were of…questionable ability, at least she had people already willing to fight for her cause. If the battle against the infected hadn’t put them off, she’d be interested to see how they got on tomorrow night, when they met once again and began their training.
Would they bring more people with them?
That remained to be seen.
Loose change rattled, the sound caressing Chloe’s ears. She smiled.
The Heroes-for-Hire board was working. That was something, at least. That also meant people were reading her notices about her cause, and maybe more people would come tomorrow.
As she closed her eyes once more, she thought ahead to Therese’s wedding, picturing the ludicrousness of what a dwarfish marital ceremony might look like.
Who’d have believed I’d be here just a few months ago? Chloe thought. When life was partying and shallow gossip. Who’d have thought I’d be recruiting an army in a medieval realm and celebrating the marriage of one of my dwarvish best friends?
She chuckled and closed her eyes. With that, she slept.
To anyone arriving in the city that afternoon, it would have looked as if nothing had happened the night before.
No one seemed worried or stressed, and there were no signs that a battle had taken place. The guards had cleaned up the remains of the infected, and the city gate had been cleaned. By early afternoon, the streets were filled with spectators, ready for the wedding.
Children darted between their parents’ legs. The merchants were back on the street, peddling their wares. Flags flew, horns blew, bunting decorated every street, and spirits were higher than ever before.
This wasn’t just any wedding. This was a wedding that signaled change. A wedding that would supersede all weddings which had come before. The king had changed the laws and chosen a commoner. A nobody, someone with no royal standing.
And that had given the little girls and women of the city hope for the future. Given them the dream that any girl could be a princess.
The wedding was to take place on an outcrop of rock that towered over the city, on a platform hewn from the stone. The location could be viewed from nearly every street. The bride and groom would take their place at its edge, their tiny figures bringing tears to the eyes of thousands as they took their vows and became one.
The afternoon wore on, and the streets grew more choked. People could barely move. The temperature rose, and on a few occasions, a punch was thrown by an irritated, dehydrated bystander who had lost his patience.
There was nothing the guards could do. They had taken their places at the front gates of the city and at their posts around the palace. They couldn’t get involved in the squabbles of the peasants, not on this day.
Yet, while the atmosphere was alive and electric for the many thousands waiting for the union, for the dwarf still sleeping in her chambers, the excitement was lost.
“Miss Therese!” Beverley’s voice snapped.
Therese jumped up and a trail of drool stuck to the sheets. “Hmmm?”
Beverley stood in the doorway with a pile of folded laundry in her hands. She marched over to Therese, laid the laundry down carefully, and grabbed her by the ear.
“Hey! You can’t do that. I’m your queen.”
“Not yet, you’re not,” Beverley scolded. “And since you’re in no way prepared for today’s ceremony, there’s a good chance you won’t be queen. I left you to get ready. Why were you asleep again?”
She released Therese’s ear.
“I had a long night, okay? I couldn’t help it.”
“Well, the king personally instructed me to ensure you’re as ready and prepared as you can be, so here.” She snatched the wedding dress from the door and passed it to Therese. “Wash yourself, put this on, and meet me in my quarters in twenty minutes. I’m not having my reputation as a server put at risk because you can’t keep your eyes open.”
Despite herself, Therese smiled.
“What is it?” Beverley said.
�
�Thank you.”
Caught off-guard by the comment, Beverley nodded and said, “Yes, well, chop-chop, now, Miss Therese.”
Therese obeyed Beverley, standing up, stretching and getting herself prepared. She joined the handmaiden in her chambers a short while later and groaned and moaned as she was examined from every angle and made as presentable as possible.
When she was done, she looked in the mirror and couldn’t believe what she was seeing. She had never imagined a dwarf could look so beautiful. Even in her dress—which had been a compromise with Abe, that she could wear whatever she wanted the rest of the time, as long as she obeyed custom during their wedding day—she found she actually liked the frills and laces.
“You’re almost ready,” Beverley said, standing behind Therese and appreciating her handiwork.
“What’s missing?”
Beverley reached around Therese and gently nudged her cheeks into a smile. “There. Perfect.”
Therese laughed, fanning her dress around her in appreciation. “Do you think he’ll like it?”
“He’ll love it.”
Therese imagined it, standing atop the precipice and looking down at her future subjects. The wind blowing around her as she towered above the city that she would soon rule. It was status and power she’d never experienced in a game before, and she knew she wouldn’t ever get the chance to experience in real life.
“And the people?” Therese asked, her smile slipping. “Will they like me?”
“A queen’s duty is not to be liked. It is to be respected and loved. If you can make them respect you, you’ll make a perfect queen.”
Although Beverley said the words, Therese wasn’t convinced. She knew that Beverley was having trouble with the king’s decision not to marry royalty. As a handmaiden who had served the city for years, Beverley had made it clear in a hissed conversation with Abe, which Therese had overheard one night, that she thought it was a mistake.
“Come,” Beverley said with a wry smile on her face.
She led Therese into another room with a wide balcony at the far end. She guided her to the open air, and they looked out upon the kingdom.
Therese’s breath caught; she couldn’t believe the number of bodies in the streets. A few in the streets below her looked up and pointed, the action creating a wave of pointing fingers and smiling faces. A moment later, the crowd was cheering for her.
Therese’s eyes pricked with tears. She was overwhelmed by what she was seeing and hearing.
“You see?” Beverley said. “I don’t think you’ve got anything to worry about.”
Therese nodded, her heart filling with joy.
“Okay,” she agreed, finding her resolve. “Let’s rule a kingdom.”
Chapter Twenty-Three
It had taken so long to squeeze their way through the crowds that Chloe thought they’d never make it in time. Therese had arranged it so the KieraSlayers could watch the ceremony from the outcrop, and it was only a few moments before the sun first kissed the horizon that they emerged at the top.
After identifying themselves, they were hurried through the palace by the guards and eventually emerged onto the platform.
They lined up neatly beside a row of guards, taking positions on either side of a long, flower-strewn aisle.
“Talk about a wedding with a view,” Ben said out of the side of his mouth to Chloe. “And I thought my friends were showing off when they wanted to get hitched in Ibiza.”
“Shhh.” Chloe giggled.
They waited patiently, each party member as scrubbed and neat as they had ever been. Chloe’s armor shone dazzling gold and emerald, catching the eye of many of the spectators down below, who began to ask questions as to who this mystery figure could be.
Blueballs had been the only member of the party to stay behind, his deep recovering slumber not yet over. The party had decided it would be hard enough to get themselves through the crowd without dragging the lumbering toffet behind them.
Still, Chloe thought. He would’ve made a great usher.
The air was chilly but calm. The sun slowly sank beyond the forest, fracturing the azure sky into a hypnotic array of fiery hues. When the time was right, a series of horned instruments blew to declare the arrival of the king.
King Abaxis appeared in the stone archway, adorned in his finest clothes. Around his shoulders, he wore a long, trailing cape made of rich black material and studded with jewels. He had a crown upon his head and held a scepter in his hand.
Chloe could barely recognize him as the scruffy runaway they had met just a few days ago. He looked ethereal, glorious, beyond any dwarf she had previously met.
As he passed the KieraSlayers, he turned his head and gave a curt nod. Chloe couldn’t resist the urge to curtsey and lowered herself, head bowed.
Ben shook his head and laughed.
“Any excuse to drop to your knees.”
Chloe blushed. “Shut up. Is that not what you do in the presence of a king?”
“Look around,” Ben whispered. “No one else is. Maybe that bit comes later.”
King Abaxis made his way to the end of the platform. A short wall, about two feet in height was the only barrier to prevent the king from falling a hundred feet to his death, yet he showed no fear.
He spread his arms wide, eliciting an enormous eruption of cheers from the spectators. When he spoke, his voice was impossibly loud. Chloe realized that this platform had been built for optimum acoustics, an anomaly where the sound traveled around the city without resistance.
“My lords, ladies, gentlemen, and gentlewomen…”
There was a ripple of laughter.
“I thank you for your attendance on this wonderful occasion. The union of the king and his bride and the coronation of a new member of our royal family are traditions that date back generations.
“Although the manner in which my bride was selected was a little…unorthodox…”
More laughter. Some groans and cries of protest.
“The ceremony will remain much the same as our forebears. I am more than happy that you have joined me on this occasion, under this glorious sunset, and I wish you all health, vitality, and strength as our kingdom proceeds into its next generation and faces whatever challenges are to come.”
With that, he bowed and turned toward the stone archway.
“Send her forth,” he said to his waiting guards with an enormous smile on his face.
Chloe’s breath caught with excitement. She hadn’t been aware that she was looking forward to this moment, but now her eyes were locked on the stone archway.
Jeesh, girl. Relax. It’s only a wedding, KieraFreya said.
Chloe chose to ignore her, all thoughts of KF pushed aside when she saw an impossibly beautiful dwarf appear.
At first, Chloe didn’t recognize her. She had never seen Therese in anything other than her armor. What she realized now was that the armor had widened the figure beneath and added weight to her body that wasn’t there. As she began to walk down the aisle, Chloe’s jaw dropped at her figure. The train of her dress flowed behind her like ripples in a stream. Without a helmet on, Chloe could see the fire of her hair, braided tightly to her scalp.
Therese struggled to meet their eyes as she passed. Ben, Talbot, and Gideon wolf-whistled, ignoring the odd looks they received from the guards. Leonie and Veronica laughed and smiled.
Throwing caution to the winds, Chloe broke rank and stepped into the aisle, wrapping her arms around Therese.
The guards reacted instantly, aiming their pikes at Chloe. The king laughed, calming them with a wave of his hand while the women had their moment. Veronica joining in shortly after the disturbance died down.
“You look so beautiful,” Chloe said, fighting the tears in her eyes. She never knew she could care this much for someone, let alone an entire party. “I’m so proud of you.”
Veronica echoed the sentiment, and soon they wiped their tears and stepped back into the ranks of the guests.
&
nbsp; Therese continued toward Abe, pausing at the end and taking his hands.
The ceremony was short but sweet. The crowds cheered at the right moments. The officiator was an elder cleric with much experience in marital unions, and he flowed through the wedding without any issues. When the service was complete, Therese tossed several bouquets of flowers behind her and watched them rain down into the hands of the squealing women below.
Chloe took screenshot after screenshot, determined to remember this moment. A moment in which she had her friends surrounding her, all troubles had been put aside for one day, and she had allowed herself to be swallowed by happiness and joy.
The semi-regular cha-ching of coins on coins only enhanced her enjoyment of the day.
When the officiator had finished his sermon, Abe offered his arm to his new wife. Therese smiled thoughtfully, but before she obliged, she turned and looked over the crowd.
There was an immediate explosion of applause and adulation.
Therese raised her arms, then lowered them, a technique she’d picked up from primary schools to hush children.
It worked. The crowd instantly fell silent.
“People of Hammersworth,” she began, surprised by her booming voice echoing back at her. She cleared her throat. “I thank you all for your adoration and celebration on this happy day. It is with great pride that I am blessed with the role of your queen, a role that would not have been available to anyone had our gracious king not found his courage and been true to his heart.
“It is a time of great change, not just for Hammersworth, but for every city across Obsidian. Though many do not know, I have traveled from afar with mighty adventurers who have seen many corners of this realm.
“It is because of these experiences that I can tell you the darkness is coming.”
A murmur of voices made its way through the crowd, caused by those who weren’t quite sure they’d heard their queen correctly, and those who couldn’t believe what she’d said.
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