by Cebelius
A moment's searching turned up a fourth person, but whoever it was wasn't important. Terrence Mack's next question returned Albrecht's attention to him.
"For now, do you recall what the Vicereine said about the fate of Florence?"
She'd condemned the city to die if that's what it took for her to lay hands on the template. She threw us all on the mercy of the treacherous Power of the sea.
"I remember."
Terrence pointed at the statue on the throne with his left hand as he said, "She's done. I gave her every chance to be reasonable."
Ross looked at the template, his brow creased with worry. He asked, "So you will tell Cecaelia not to destroy Florence?"
The strange-looking man let his breath out all at once in a soft chuckle as he said, "Cecaelia isn't involved in this. I never told her anything. The city was never in danger, at least, not from her. Whatever deal you people struck with her is still in effect."
"So she is one of your bonds, but you didn't enlist her aid?" Ross asked, and Terrence nodded.
"The people of Florence have done me no wrong. I would never voluntarily put them in that kind of danger, not even to save my own life. It was a bluff, but one I considered necessary to try and reason with the Vicereine. I didn't want to resort to force, and I did everything I could to stop short of violence. But I'm not giving up my freedom, Captain Ross. Not for her. She chose this ending for herself."
Ross nodded as he considered the man before him. Terrence Mack's eyes were the gray-green of a stormy sea and set in a face that, if it resembled anything, looked vaguely elvish. Yet unlike the elves he was bearded — a dwarven trait. His nose and brow were more strongly defined than those of an elf and the former had obviously been broken and reset, but both were much more finely shaped than those of a satyr or a dwarf. His eyes were smaller than an elf's, and his eyebrows thicker. His black hair was spiky, short, and covered only his head, giving way to flesh at his neck. He had no fur that Ross could see, but at the moment he wore a heavy black cloak that hid the rest of his body, disguising all but his height and the width of his shoulders.
Albrecht was about six inches taller than the template and wore armor, but Terrence Mack's shoulders were every bit as broad as his own and the lion man was left with the impression of a man who knew his own strength very well, having honed it through long training. As a warrior he recognized a peer, but though the fighting spirit was there, he carried no visible weapons. Their eyes met, and Terrence didn't flinch. Then again, he'd just laid low over thirty guardsmen, mages, courtiers, and the Vicereine herself. If there was anyone in the room who had cause to fear, it was Albrecht.
"I appreciate you not putting the city I've sworn to serve in danger, but this ..." He waved a hand at the forest of statuary all around them. "This is a slaughter. Is your life really worth all this?"
"It is."
The smooth voice of the dryad was filled with determination as she took a half-step forward. "Tee is destined for greater things than to be a toy for a petty naga with delusions of grandeur."
Ross waved a hand idly at the grandeur of the throne room as he wryly said, "They were not delusions. Vicereine Hart has ruled Florence since before I was born, and ruled it well. The people here are happy and prosperous. She was not an evil woman."
"I disagree for more reasons than you know, but either way that brings us back to you, Captain Ross," Terrence said, glancing at the willowy dryad on his left before returning his attention to the lion man. "I had you restored because I have a proposition for you."
Ross blinked, then waved a hand around him as he said, "You mean they aren't dead?"
"Death as an idea is a bit more fluid than I used to think," he said, reaching up — still with his left hand — to touch a scar just above and between his eyes. It was small and ragged, but given its placement Ross couldn't help but think that whatever had caused it should have been fatal. "I don't intend to give the Vicereine another chance. These others? Well, that depends on you. Florence is fresh out of leaders at the moment, and given what's about to happen it needs good people in charge. I nominate Captain Albrecht Ross."
"Seconded," the dryad said with a smirk.
Laina Lowe folded her arms across her prodigious chest as she said, "Same, he's a good man."
Ross held up both gauntleted hands, palms out as he said, "Woah woah. You can't just come in, kill the Vicereine, and pick me as a replacement!"
With a meaningful glance around, Terrence met Ross' eyes as he asked, "Why not? Listen, man. I'm tired of being chased around. I'm tired of having to hide. I'm tired of having the people I love threatened and abused. So I'm done with that noise.
"You seem like a decent guy. If you're not up to running this place, pick someone who can, but as long as I'm here I'm holding you responsible. I'm not here to upset things any more than I already have, but I will be left the hell alone, and that includes the people with me. As long as you're in charge, I can be reasonably certain that at the very least I won't have to worry about being harassed by the government. If you agree to take responsibility for cleaning up Volai Hart's mess ... then I'll restore whomever you want out of the people in here."
Ross took a slow turn, looking at the silent evidence of the template's power. Many of the people in the room were his friends, and if he took the strange man at his word, they would be spared.
"I'll do it," he said at last, "But only if you restore them all."
"All but one," Terrence replied. "Volai Hart is finished. She is never, ever, ever going to threaten me or my family again. That's non-negotiable."
"She's not evil," Ross said. "You should reconsider. She ... just didn't understand."
"She didn't understand that I was a threat," the template said, unmoved. "She also didn't think there was a problem with depriving the people she's supposed to serve and protect of their lives for the sake of what she wanted. She WAS evil, she just hid it behind bureaucratic success. Now, she's dead."
"She was bluffing, just like you were!" Ross said, though as he remembered the way she'd looked, he couldn't be sure that was actually true. He could tell the template wasn't buying it either.
Before he could say anything else Shy said, "She summoned the zone, Captain Ross. An Arch-Locutor is already on its way here."
Ross was already shaking his heavy, maned head. "I don't believe it. That can't be true!"
"It is!" a familiar voice burbled. Terrence winced and a crimson blob dropped out from under his cloak and slid forward a few feet before it fizzed with sound. "I was there when she contacted them. I swear by my contract that it is true."
"Your contract is dead!" Albrecht spat, revulsion curling his lips back from his teeth as he took a step back. He hated the little blood devil Volai had summoned. It was too far outside his experience, and its intelligence and intentions were utterly alien.
"I have a new contract!" it burbled, and then slid up the template's leg and disappeared from sight to Terrence's obvious consternation.
"Can you not do that?" he asked, presumably of the slime. "It feels really nasty."
The slime chose not to reply, at least, not in a way Albrecht could hear. A moment later though, the expression of vague unease on Terrence's face faded.
"You killed the Vicereine, then stole her familiar?" Albrecht asked, his eyes flickering back to those of the template, who shrugged and said, "It's complicated ... or stupid, I can't decide which. Also not important at the moment. What IS important is that you understand that bitch is dead, and I'm not bringing her back."
"There will be a great many people in the city who will want your life for what you've done," Ross said, changing tactics as he internally conceded that, yes, condemning a city to die for personal gain was pretty much straight evil, and whether bluffing or not, she'd said the words. "Restore her and imprison her if you must. When you leave the city she can be tried and executed if what you say is true."
Terrence shook his head.
"Your loyalty
is misplaced. I didn't want to kill her, and I'm all for second chances, but you have to realize that this was her second chance. Her first was the letter I sent her, and whether or not she chose to leave me alone when I got back to town. Instead she sent the brute squad to pick me up and threatened everything and everyone I love. More than that, she promised the city to the zone in exchange for personal protection from Cecaelia. She. Is. Done. Her death is my responsibility. I own it, and I won't lose any sleep over it either."
Terrence paused, and there was sympathy in his voice when he went on. "I'm trying to find my way in this world, Captain Ross. All I want is to do right by the people who have done right by me. I'll spare anyone and everyone I can, but I'm not Batman. I'm not going to just keep giving my enemies shots at my back until my luck runs out."
Batman?
Albrecht thought it best not to ask. Instead he posed a different question. "So you'll restore everyone else?"
The template turned to look at a diminutive figure that Ross had noticed, but earlier dismissed. Now he focused on her again as Terrence asked, "How much of that stuff do you have?"
She was short, and now that Albrecht was looking directly at her he saw that she was wearing the mask he'd been warned Terrence himself would have. She was also utterly unique in his experience, with black-scaled, red-eyed snakes for hair. She looked lithe, though she wore a tattered gray rain-cloak that concealed most of her figure. He did catch a glimpse of her hands, which looked to be made entirely of living brass, and ended in clawed fingers.
A chirpy, pleasant voice answered from behind the mask. "That will seriously deplete my stock, if not use it up entirely, Master. I would like permission to keep at least three doses: one for you and each of your other women. Captain Ross should lead me around, and do this in order of importance to him."
"That's fine. Captain Ross? I'd like you to meet Euryale, daughter of Ceto, one of the immortal gorgon sisters. Euryale, this is Captain Albrecht Ross, who is — as far as I can tell — an honest man."
Albrecht met the template's gaze as the other spoke of him, and saw in that look that he was being given high praise. There was a quiet hope in those gray-green eyes, and it touched Albrecht that he should have stirred this odd creature to place faith in him. It made him want to live up to those expectations.
What the hell am I thinking? I AM an honest man. I live for my city. This is my home, and I'll do what I can to protect it.
Stepping forward, he offered his hand to Euryale, who reached out and took it. Her grip was firm, but though the metal of her hand moved as though it were flesh, it was cool to the touch.
"It really is a pleasure to meet you. I can't tell you how many times I've wanted to just walk up and talk to someone like this," she said, and though he couldn't see her face, he knew from her tone she was smiling.
"Why not just do that then?" Albrecht asked as he scanned the faces of the statues around him, mentally cataloging everyone and doing his best to not think about what a grim task it was to order them in terms of their importance to government.
Euryale giggled and said, "Well — before Master — anyone who saw me turned to stone before I got the chance to say hi. Apparently my powers are both great and queer, for I've been called the Madsee, dear."
Albrecht dropped her hand, took a long step back, tripped on the edge of the red carpet and almost fell as he backpedaled, which only graduated Euryale's giggling to full-blown laughter.
Terrence's expression was wry as he said, "You did that on purpose."
"Yes, Master. I certainly did. Worth it. It's strange, but seeing the fear in a man's eyes when I don't have to kill him is nice."
The template rolled his eyes as he glanced up at nothing in particular, then shook his head. "So, Captain Ross. Do we have a deal? You'll lay off me and mine?"
The lion man regained his composure and studied Terrence carefully. He sensed no deceit from the template, though as he considered it he realized the man smelled strongly of blood, fear, and anger. None of those smells had been present when he'd spoken to the Vicereine.
Something more happened while I was out. I'll bet my last token he's wounded somehow under that cloak of his. I could probably get to him before anyone could react.
For an instant, he considered attacking, but as quickly as it came the thought left him. Terrence Mack may have caused the tragedy that had or might still befall this city, but not out of malice. It was not in Albrecht to condemn the man simply because he was what he was.
'All I want is to do right by the people who have done right by me.'
... Well-spoken.
"All right, Terrence Mack. I will shelter you as long as you stay here provided you restore this court. I will assume command with your backing. Some of these," he waved a gauntleted hand around at the statuary, "will need to be convinced of my authority. I will start with those, so that the others can serve as warning. You should stay in the keep for now. When word of the Vicereine's death gets out, there will be riots ... or worse. No matter that she turned at the last to evil, she was well-thought of in Florence."
Pain flashed across Terrence's face as he heard this, but he nodded and said simply, "All right. You're in charge ... Commander Ross."
3
Foreseen Consequences
Laina Lowe strode the corridors of Florence Keep with the deliberate step of a woman on a mission. Standing almost seven feet tall and weighing in at just under three hundred pounds, there weren't many who could have stood in her way even if they'd been inclined.
Though she was a minotress, she was cursed with a rare trait that made her into a titan of muscle, in stark contrast to most of the women of her race. She was tremendously well-endowed, but instead of a motherly softness, she had the sort of towering strength that made her almost unapproachable by lesser men, which until Boss had appeared had been all the men she'd ever met.
That singular exception was on her mind now as she swept through the halls of the keep, walking in the center of the corridor to keep her longhorns from rapping the stone. Brown eyes swept the side halls as she passed them, but there was no trace of him. She knew where she was going, but she didn't want to risk passing him.
They needed to talk.
Captain ... now Commander Ross, had asked Boss to make his home in the keep for the duration of his stay in Florence, correctly pointing out that after the petrification of Vicereine Volai Hart, there would be people out for his blood. The Vicereine had apparently been a competent ruler and, though she had been willing to sacrifice the city for the sake of his capture, most of the citizens of Florence thought of her fondly and would probably not believe the truth even if they heard it from Ross himself.
News of her death had not yet been widely circulated, but the newly-minted Commander expected riots when her fate became known. He had agreed to throw his support and protection behind Boss, but asked in return that the template make it easier on him by not walking the streets.
It was now the morning after that fateful meeting in the throne room, and Laina had woken to find him gone from the suite of rooms he shared with her and his other two bonds: Shy, and the Madsee.
She calls herself a gorgon, Laina reminded herself as she strode through the corridors. With black snakes for hair, dark, leathery wings, and claws made of solid brass, she terrified the much larger minotress despite the fact that she was — all things considered — a tiny, chirpy, bizarrely cheerful woman.
That cheerful demeanor became all the more terrifying considering it hadn't wavered yesterday when she'd turned over thirty people to stone in a matter of seconds without a trace of remorse. Euryale was a monster so legendary that she was known on two worlds, Celestine, and wherever it was Terrence Mack hailed from. Laina had yet to hear the full story.
At least I'm not rooming with Cecaelia too. Not sure I could handle that.
When Laina had woken, Boss and Euryale were nowhere to be found. Shy still slept, and the minotress left her to it as she went loo
king for her man.
She'd spoken with the guards posted outside their door, and learned that he had asked for directions to the training yard.
She reached a heavy wooden door banded in iron, opened it, and stepped into a small room with three further doors, one in each wall. Small pyrographs set in the stone next to the doors to the left and right revealed them to be changing areas for males and females respectively, while the last exit directly across from her was a set of double doors already open into what looked like a sizable space.
Dressed as she was in a white sarashi wrap and a red loincloth held in place by a thick leather belt, Laina ignored the changing room and stepped out the double doors, glancing around.
The 'training yard' was a vast cavern inside the mountain into which the keep was built. It was obvious at a glance that it was a natural cave, though the floor had been graded. Luminous balls the size of her head lit the area with a soft white glow, suspended at intervals on iron posts. Most of the space was empty and she saw archery targets easily a hundred yards away and off to her right. There was a track that ran the circumference of the room with painted lines delineating the lanes. Inside the track was a broad field wherein a squad of garrison soldiers were practicing formation drills. It took her a long moment to finally spot Boss.
He was almost directly to her left, stripped down to nothing but the strange, colorful shorts he'd been wearing when they'd first met and a red sash that she knew was the strange, deadly little creature he'd adopted yesterday, exercising in an area of metal bars and cages. Euryale lounged against the cave wall near him, watching. Her wings were folded across her back like a cloak.