The companions split up and walked around. Xander walked to the left side of the room between the pews and approached the altar reverently from the left side of the sanctuary. He found himself standing directly in front of the altar, feeling Fortuna’s presence very strongly in the room. He went down on both knees and folded his hands on the railing separating the altar from the rest of the sanctuary.
After some time had passed, Xander could not say how much, he felt the hand of the monk come to rest on his shoulder. “We are going to have service here immediately after the sun goes down tonight. You should feel free to join us if you like.”
Xander stood up and turned around to face the monk. All of the companions were standing close by with curious looks on their faces. Xander questioningly looked around the sanctuary and thought that even the position of the sun’s rays shining through the stain glass windows had changed. How long had he been kneeling before the altar?
He said, “Yes, I would like that very much. Do you think I could stay and pray into the night after the service?”
The monk nodded his head in respect. “That is what the Basilica is for – to provide every follower of Fortuna the opportunity to touch what our goddess left behind in this room.
“But for now, why don’t I take you to your rooms so that you can freshen up before the service?”
It was difficult for Xander to tear himself away from the sanctuary, but he managed to follow the monk out into the hallway and back up the spiral staircase. As he walked, the monk again talked on about his religion.
“Ordinarily, pilgrims such as yourselves are highly respected inside the Basilica. Unfortunately, that may not be true today.”
Evisar said, “Is that because of the refugees staying at the church right now?”
“That’s right. I see someone already complained about them to you. Yes, we recently received one hundred fifty refugees from one of our border towns that was wiped out.”
Evisar was the first to chime in. “Wiped out? By what?”
“I can’t say for sure. The Captain of the garrison at the border town talked about giants, ghosts, and elves.”
Evisar said, “Giants I believe, but ghosts and elves – those are just tall tales we tell our children to get them to go to sleep.”
The monk shrugged his shoulders. “The hundred fifty refugees are real enough. The Captain of the garrison at the border town told us himself that everyone in the town had been forced to flee for their life into the woods. The poor things. Most of them were starving by the time they made it to our doorstep.” The monk had made it up three floors of the spiral staircase when he exited out into a long hall. He waited patiently for all of the companions to catch up before he turned around and continued down the stone hallway. “The Captain who dropped off the refugees actually came through here recently with a large Kentarian army on the way to the frontier. I guess he managed to convince the King that the threat is real enough.”
Evisar was about to speak again when the monk held up his hand sharply, inviting Evisar to remain silent. The monk continued, “I don’t mean to argue with you. I just brought up the refugees as a way to say that ordinarily you would all get your own room, but we’ve asked everyone to double up, and I am forced to ask you to do the same.”
Everyone looked to Evisar, who said, “That is not a problem. We are happy with any hospitality you can provide.”
“Good. Then here is the first room.” The monk opened a wooden door to a standard interior room with a fireplace, table and chairs, and a bed. “Why don’t we make this the lady’s room for the night?”
Everyone looked at Ellen. The human woman was holding onto her daughter’s hand very tightly. She looked sheepishly around, took Mestel’s hand strongly in her own, and walked into the room. Faye and Mestel went with her. They thanked the monk and then shut the door behind them.
Xander didn’t give a hoot that Mestel and Ellen were together, although he didn’t see what Ellen could possibly see in him, but Evisar was clearly upset. He didn’t say anything, and he quickly covered his feelings, but the raw emotions were there. The monk went across the hall and opened up another door. Xander saw that this was an exterior room with two windows facing out toward the forum.
Before anyone could say anything, Nero stepped forward and spoke for the first time since they came to the Basilica. “Evisar, would you mind if Xander and I roomed here for the night? I’d like to ask him some more questions about Fortuna.”
Evisar raised his eyebrows and said, “No, not at all. I’ll see you in the morning. Valihorn, it looks like you’re with me tonight.”
Xander walked into the room with Nero close behind. After they shut the door, Xander turned a curious eye to Nero and said, “I may not be in the room much. I’m going to go to the service soon, and then I may stay to pray into the night.”
“That’s fine. Take as long as you want. I’ll just stay in the room and have a restful evening. We can talk when you get back, unless you have the time to answer a few questions now.”
Xander didn’t understand Nero’s sudden fascination with his religion, but he was more than happy to talk about it. “Ask away. I still have a little time before the sun sets.”
_______________________________________
Nero walked down the hall with the monk in the lead and the companions close behind. Mestel and Ellen took the first room, along with the woman’s daughter. Nero had to give Mestel credit. He was a self-righteous religious bastard with more power than common sense, but he was the only one out of the group with a woman by his side. A human woman, too. Human women were certainly better known for their passion and imagination in the reproductive arts than elven females. Although, with Ellen’s daughter in the room, they would have a more difficult time of it.
That made Nero think of Arun, the Krone slut he slept with not long ago. If Arun was any representation of the Krone physique and prowess in bed, then he needed to find one. If Nero was honest with himself, which he always was (he lied so much to others that it was important to be truthful with himself), then he knew Arun had been the most exciting lover he had ever had. Even the elven prostitute the Guildmaster personally hired for him could not compare. Nero wondered if he would ever see Arun again as the monk moved across the hall and opened the door to the next room.
Nero looked in and saw that the room had two outside windows that would suit his needs nicely. He had to make sure that he and Xander shared this room. His future and the livelihood of the Talon Guild depended on it.
Nero thought quickly on his feet, a skill he had acquired out of necessity over the years. “Evisar, would you mind if Xander and I roomed here for the night? I’d like to ask him some more questions about Fortuna.” In truth, Nero didn’t give a rat’s ass about Xander’s goddess since he was a follower of Venal, but it was a viable excuse everyone would believe.
Evisar had no problem believing his lie, so he and Xander went into the room and shut the door. Nero feigned interest in Xander’s backward goddess until finally the sun went down and Xander excused himself to go down to the service.
Nero was more than happy to see him go, and as soon as the door shut, Nero’s mind kicked into gear and started contemplating options. Evisar had foolishly agreed to spend the night in Locus, thinking that he and his companions could escape the Guild’s notice for one evening. Ordinarily, Evisar’s strategic thinking would have been right on target, but he did not know a Guild spy was watching him.
Nero moved to one of the windows and opened it. The sun had just gone down and soon it would be dark. The room was on the third floor, which presented a small challenge. Nero could easily use the rope in his pack to get down, but he wanted some form of deniability in case someone discovered he was missing. Nero noticed the gate they came through earlier was down and several hundred feet to the left. One of the Knights of Luck happened to be looking in his direction when he stuck his head out. Nero put on his most infectious smile and waved at the knight.
The knight half-heartedly waved back. Nero turned his head to the right where he couldn’t help but smile at what he saw. Not eight feet away from the window was a flying buttress that offered a gentler angle with more numerous handholds than the shear granite walls of the Basilica itself. Nero shut the window and contemplated his next move. The longer he sat there the more pleased with himself he became. It took a good deal of self-control not to crawl out the window as he waited for darkness to settle across the land.
The Guild was going to get the gem back because of his genius. He was one of the Thirteen, and he had already seen that power did indeed have its privileges, but he wanted more. He wanted recognition for what he was. Then he would break the Krone beneath his boot and Venal would proclaim him a hero for all eternity.
A dark blanket of night finally fell over the city. Nero opened the window once again and climbed out onto the flying buttress. With the sixth sense that Venal had bestowed on him, Nero could feel the two knights at the gate as well as the mixture of souls in the temple behind him. The half-moon in the sky let him see just far enough to grab onto the next foothold. He made his way silently down the rock face until he landed on the ground thirty feet below the window.
No one was around, so Nero silently snuck across the lawn and climbed the eight-foot iron fence. Once he was outside the grounds of the Basilica, he was free to move about the city. The peasants had long ago gone indoors for the evening, fearing thieves in the darkness, but being a thief in the darkness himself, Nero was unafraid. He went from street to street and alley to alley until he finally approached Guild headquarters. The guards wouldn’t recognize him as a human, but he was confident he could overcome that minor obstacle. This was not a night to quibble over minutiae, for tonight was a moment of destiny.
Chapter 93: It All Hinges on What We do this Night
Nero ran through the black streets of Locus with his way partially lit by lamps in a few windows, as well as the half-moon in the sky. He had visited Talon Guild headquarters a few times in the past, but since he was an elf, it had always been under escort using the cover of darkness. He had never wandered through the streets of Locus on his own. He had always considered the security precautions unnecessary, but based on what he had seen take place at the forum this afternoon, he thought perhaps the Guildmaster had not taken enough precautions.
The image of the Krone hanging lifeless from the gallows of the forum brought a smile to Nero’s face as he ran at a reckless pace through the city. He was a Krone who deserved what he got; there was no question about that. As a follower of Venal, Nero had no qualms about killing every Krone he could get his hands on. However, Nero also realized that what had happened to the Krone could easily have happened to him. Today he got to see firsthand what might have happened if he had ever been discovered by the citizens of Kentar. Why were humans so ignorant and impulsive? Was it because of their short lifespans?
Thinking about the dead Krone made Nero question the motives of the Talon Guild itself. The Guildmaster had formed an alliance with the Krone of the Underworld in order to help establish his own kingdom. As a follower of Venal, any alliance with the Krone went against every fiber of his being, but his uneasiness stemmed from more than an alliance between the Krone and the Talon Guild. It went deeper than his concern over his own safety. Something tugged at his subconscious. What was it?
The Krone that hung in the forum had been caught trying to bring a kidnapped girl to the Talon Guild. Why? Was it so Gram could use her in his spell, or was there another reason? Nero had seen Gram disappear into the blue portal. So, was he dead, or had the Guildmaster managed to bring him back? Ordinarily, Nero had no qualms about using anyone to further the goals of the Guild, but kidnapping and sacrificing an innocent child?
Nero suddenly stopped running through the streets as an idea crashed into his mind. It was these damned elf brothers he was traveling with. Without realizing it, the brothers had begun to change the way he thought about things, making him question things he had taken for granted for decades. The brothers were different from anyone else he had spent time with. They were certainly radically different from Gaston, or any other member of the Guild. Is that what was nagging at his subconscious?
Nero shook his head as another possibility occurred to him. The child had been kidnapped because of her magical potential. She had been brought all the way to Locus in order to be used in a spell that Gram had been working on for several turns of the moon. What was the spell supposed to accomplish? The answer to that question was one of the closest held secrets of the Guild. As a member of the Inner Circle, Nero had learned that the spell was supposed to grant victory over the elves of Armena. As to what that meant, Nero could only speculate, but the secrecy behind Gram’s work bothered Nero to no end.
Nero put all of these thoughts aside and broke out into a run once again. He needed more power. That was the best way to serve Venal. The way to gain more power was to continue his impressive rise through the Guild ranks. If he gained enough power in the Guild, then he could turn the entire organization against the Krone and kill them all.
Nero eventually fumbled his way into Guild territory and was stopped at the first checkpoint outside of a warehouse. Timing was critical to Nero’s plan, so he didn’t dawdle. He quickly convinced the guards that he was a member of the Guild and was allowed to pass. He was taken under escort through a series of tunnels until eventually he stood on the surface in front of an ordinary-looking blacksmith shop. It was hard to believe that beneath this shop was the most powerful thieves guild in all of Tellus, with a history that spanned more than three hundred years. He was escorted inside the smithy where he found two more men guarding the stairs that led underground. Unfortunately, the guards at the second checkpoint were more diligent – or annoying – than their brethren at the warehouse. They insisted on holding him there until someone vouched for him. Since Nero hardly ever returned to Guild headquarters, and since the wizard Austen had magically transformed him into a human, finding someone who knew him proved difficult; especially since you were put to death if the person you vouched for betrayed the Guild. While he waited, Nero offhandedly wondered what happened to the person who vouched for Xander after he stole the gem and left. Given that Xander ran away with one of the Guild’s most important artifacts, Nero was guessing that he did not want to know.
The vouching system was the only security measure required to enter Guild headquarters – and it was enough. Staking your life on the trustworthiness of someone attached a personal level of responsibility to the decision that could not be replicated using any other method.
Time continued to tick by, and Nero gained a new appreciation for the old saying that a watched pot never boils. He sat there looking at the staircase leading down into Guild headquarters, waiting for anyone to come up from below. His future, not to mention the future of the Guild, hung in the balance based on what happened this night.
Eventually, four new guards and the halfling member of the Thirteen, Sivan, came up from below. Sivan did not waste any time. He walked over to within a few feet of where Nero sat and took a moment to look him up and down.
“My guards tell me you claim to be a member of the Guild, yet none of them recognize you, and I don’t recognize you either.”
“My name is Nero. I am of the Thirteen. We met for the first time at the last Inner Circle meeting.”
Sivan nodded his head and a cocky smile came to his mouth. “You don’t look like Nero.”
“I was temporarily transformed into a human by a wizard named Austen.”
“You’re going to have a tough time convincing me of that.”
Nero let the humor fall away from his face for the first time. “It is critical to the future of the Guild that I speak with the Guildmaster as soon as possible.”
“That may be true, but there is no one here who will vouch for you and now you have seen too much.” With his mind made up, Sivan turned his back on him and said, “Take him out to the stabl
e and kill him. Dispose of the body quickly and quietly.”
The guards moved toward him as Sivan walked back to the stairs. Even now, Nero was not scared. He had been in worse situations, but the prospect of death did tend to sharpen his mind.
“What about the last Inner Circle meeting?”
Sivan turned around and said, “What about it?”
“It was only my first Inner Circle meeting, but my guess is that it was highly unusual.”
He had Sivan’s interest. “Why do you say that?”
“I’m guessing the Guildmaster doesn’t lose his temper that often, and I’m virtually certain he has never lost his temper with Gaston and threatened him like that in front of everyone else.”
Sivan walked back over to within a few feet of Nero and said, “I’ll vouch for him. He is one of the Thirteen.”
The guards who had been ready to seize Nero and drag him out to the stables immediately moved back out of reverence. They treated him with the respect and authority due a member of the Thirteen. Nero rose to his feet and thought to himself that rank did indeed have its privileges.
Sivan looked at him with newfound respect and said, “Come with me. I will take you all the way down to the Guildmaster, so there aren’t any more misunderstandings.” Sivan started down the steps to the first level of Guild headquarters with Nero close on his heels. “What is so urgent that you need to speak to the Guildmaster about?”
“If we move quickly, we can take back the gem that contains the High Wizard of the Sorcerers, thus insuring that the Sorcerers of Kentar don’t interfere with the Guildmaster’s plans.”
“In that case, we should get moving,” Sivan said.
The halfling began descending the stairs twice as fast as before. They passed through the first and second levels, bypassing the shops, dining halls, training halls, and quarters for the common Guild members. They passed through another checkpoint before descending to the third level where the Thirteen’s luxury apartments were, along with their staff and private dining area. Finally, Sivan led Nero through the final checkpoint and walked down to the fourth floor, occupied entirely by the Guildmaster and his private staff.
Do the Gods Give Us Hope? Page 16