by Tom Liberman
“What is it?” asked Marianna her eyes wide. “Is it another mission? Is it something about me? Something about Pillswar? The gnolls? War?”
“He says that if we arrive back in town in time he’ll be discussing what was written in the papers we found with the Gray Lord. At the Gray Lord’s house … tonight!”
“The Gray Lord’s house?” said Marianna her eyes wide and looking frantically around.
“Yes, his house,” said Mike looking down at her rather road-worn outfit and frowning.
“I don’t have anything to wear,” said Marianna looking at her own clothes.
“None of us do,” said Rhia shaking her head. “They’ll have to put up with us the way we are. There’s time to get a bath though. At least we won’t stink the place up. Have you ever met the Gray Lord?” she asked Mike.
Mike shook her head, “No. Like I told you, I supposedly bit Jon Gray once but I’ve never met the Gray Lord. Jane seemed nice enough though. I’m sure we’ll be fine. He probably doesn’t want us to say anything anyway. Just to point out we were the ones that found the papers. It might mean an invitation to be Gray Knights!”
Rhia suddenly looked at her own beat up leather armor with a more critical eye. “I wonder if there’s time to get it cleaned up a little? When are we supposed to be there?”
“If Lofo isn’t here then he’s probably on the way or already there,” said Mike her eyes wide at the realization. “We don’t have much time to get changed and cleaned up.” She looked around for a moment and then walked rapidly out the door. “Come on! We have to hurry.”
The three girls ran back to the inn where Rhia and Mike shared a room, hastily bathed, changed clothes, and were back outside and ready to go in short order.
“Where does the Gray Lord live?” asked Rhia as they stood in the street eyes alight with excitement.
Mike stopped and slapped her forehead with her hand, “I don’t know.” She scrambled in her pocket for the piece of parchment but she had left it in her traveling clothes which had been taken to be laundered while they bathed. “Oh no,” she said. “I think the note said where it was.”
“I know where it is,” said Marianna with a smile. She was scrubbed clean but her only clothes were the ones the Gray Knights gave her after her rescue; they were not particularly flattering and did not fit perfectly. She had her share of the money they took from Sunbringer but had not had time to make any purchases. “I look awful. Maybe you should go without me,” she said looking down at her poorly fitting pants.
“Don’t be silly,” said Mike smiling and shaking her head. “You’re coming with us. If they ask questions you can tell them more about Pillswar than either of us. Besides, you have to show us where he lives. How do you know that anyway?”
“Pillswar talked about it. I overheard them talking about raiding it and killing the Gray Lord once.”
“What?” shouted Rhia her hand immediately on the hilt of her sword.
“I don’t think they would do it. They’re all afraid of him. They say he was a great adventurer once and keen with the sword.”
“Stop talking and start leading,” said Mike pointing to the city. The sky was beginning to darken as the sun went down. “If we don’t hurry we’ll miss the dinner altogether. It’s pure luck we got back in time. This is a chance to impress the Gray Lord, Jane Gray, and Valary Gray too. They’ll all be there most likely.”
“Jon too,” said Marianna as she led the way through the streets of Tanelorn. The Gray Lord lived near the center of town in a modest home. Marianna had seen a map of the city Pillswar kept and knew the way pretty well, although she got turned around once in the Arbor District where great tree archways lined the streets. Eventually they arrived at the house with its plain door.
“This is it?” said Mike wrinkling her nose. “My house in the villa is bigger than this. They’re building a house for my brother and it’s about the same size.”
Rhia shrugged, “I’ve certainly seen more impressive homes for the leader of a nation but that’s just the way of the Gray Lord, isn’t it?”
Mike nodded, “I guess so.” She took in a deep breath and blew it out through her nose. “Are you ready?”
Rhia nodded, stood up straight, pulled her shirt down so the wrinkles didn’t show too badly, “Go ahead, Mike.”
Mike looked over at Marianna who was trembling and fidgeting with her collar, “Stop fidgeting. It’ll be fine. You don’t have to say anything.” With that she walked up to the door and rapped on it with her knuckles.
Then they waited.
“Should I knock again?” said Mike looking back at Marianna and Rhia who stood behind her. Rhia’s eyes were wide and Marianna was once again fiddling with her collar. “Stop fiddling,” repeated Mike.
“Sorry,” said Marianna and managed to pull her hand away just as the door opened.
The light from inside the front hallway silhouetted a silver-haired woman who answered the door. She had a kindly smile on her face, “Can I help you, young ladies?” she said in a firm but gentle voice.
“Umm,” said Mike.
The woman looked past Mike and to Marianna who blushed, looked at the ground, and then over to Rhia.
“Lofo sent for us,” blurted out Rhia.
“Oh, I see. Come in then. He didn’t say anything but you know how boys are. They forget everything when there’s a good meal on the table.” She opened the door wide and motioned the trio inside. The front hall had a little rack for dirty boots, a coat stand, and a painting of a vase of flowers. There was a little closet to the left and the woman smiled easily at them. “I’m Claire, why don’t you wait right here for a moment and I’ll go chastise young Lofo for not telling me three such beautiful young ladies would be visiting. You know my son Valary doesn’t have a girlfriend and Jon has far too many, he needs to settle down.”
The girls looked back and forth at each other and didn’t say anything.
Claire then turned, went down the hall, and turned into another room where the sound of silverware clattering on plates filtered back to them along with voices.
“She seems nice,” said Rhia when the silence seemed to become too awful but neither Marianna nor Mike responded.
There was some talking from the other room and then the Gray Lady reappeared, “Right this way, young ladies,” she said with a smile and took a moment to look pointedly at their feet.
“Oh,” said Mike and bent down to untie her shoes. Soon enough all three girls had placed their footwear on the rack and allowed themselves to be led into a comfortable looking dining room where a large table seated seven visitors.
Rhia recognized Jane Gray who was sitting next to her father with a huge hunk of meat on her fork and she didn’t even bother to look up at the girls. On her other side was the warrior Scar and then Sorus Nightwalk whose eyes opened wide as he saw Rhia and he half rose out of his seat, “Shia?”
Everyone looked at Rhia and she shook her head, “Rhia.”
Sorus nodded, smiled, sat back down, and looked at his plate with a bemused grin on his face.
The Gray Lord was a behemoth of a man taking up the entire end of the table with an incredibly thick body. His shoulders were massive but so too was his stomach which forced him back and away from the heavy table. His face showed what appeared to be an expression of boredom and he kept his fork hard at work even while everyone else looked at the girls. He barely allowed them a glance before taking a gulp of wine and cutting off another hunk of flesh from the huge steak on his plate.
Lady Gray sat down at the head of the table opposite the Gray Lord with a pleasant smile on her face. Next to her was Lofo looking decidedly uncomfortable in a finely tailored outfit. He smiled briefly at the girls but his forehead was covered with sweat and he wiped it with his napkin. The final member of the group was a pale Valary Gray with his sunken cheeks, his plate looked untouched, he gazed off at a wall, and didn’t seem to even notice the girls.
Lady Gray prompted Lofo, �
��Lofo,” she said with a nod of her head and a pleasant smile. “Why don’t you introduce the young ladies?”
“Yes, of course,” said Lofo standing up abruptly and knocking the table with his knee while almost tipping his chair over backwards. Chaos threatened to explode as the glasses rocked precipitously but in a moment everything settled down. “These three are the ones who braved Grelm to bring us those papers I brought you Valary. Rhia, Mike, and Marianna,” he finished pointing to each one in turn.
“What did the papers say?” asked Mike with her hands clasped in front of her and her fingers twisting around and around. “We also have news from Ironhome and Acanthus.”
Lofo smiled, “I’m glad you made it back safely and in time to be here. I’ll take your report on Ironhome tomorrow morning. Those papers proved to be quite useful indeed. We now know that Sunbringer plans to bring war to Tanelorn as part of his religious convictions but also that Stav’rol and the armies of the Fist are serving in at least an advisory role. It’s quite likely the entire effort is being financially aided by the dwarves of Craggen Steep. The question we have been discussing is what to do about it.”
“Have you reached any decisions?” asked Rhia quietly her eyes darting back and forth at the gathered luminaries.
“Of course not,” said Jane looking up from her food. “That’s not what we do around here.”
“Jane,” said Lady Gray in a quiet but still rather threatening voice.
“What?” said Jane looking up at her mother. “They’ve worked hard and risked their lives to bring us this information and no one is willing to do anything. Father?”
The big man at the head of the table said nothing.
“Your father has made his opinion on this subject perfectly clear,” said Lady Gray in that same quiet voice.
“He has not made any opinion whatsoever,” said Jane loudly and with a thump of her fist on the table. “We need a leader. This is a time of crisis. He founded this nation and so far I’ve deferred to him, but time is growing short. The gnolls might be capable of fielding an army of fifty-thousand soldiers and stiffened with veterans of the Fist they could prove formidable. Scar can mobilize our forces in less than a week if father just gives us his permission,” she concluded.
“You don’t need your father’s permission to do anything,” said Lady Gray quietly and without the menace. “If you think that is best, then you should act accordingly.”
“I cannot make that order as long as father remains silent on the subject. His opinions on aggressive action are too well known. There are many in the army who will refuse such an order.”
“That threat is internal for the moment,” said Valary in a quiet voice. “As is often the case with a free people.”
“That is true also,” said Jane looking over to her older brother. “We must banish this Pillswar person immediately. We have much evidence of his treasonous behavior.”
“Treason is not technically against the law,” said Valary his eyebrows arching.
“Nothing is against the law in Tanelorn,” said Jane jumping up her voice rising even higher. “That’s the problem. Everyone is free to do as they please. It sounds wonderful in theory but what happens when you have people with no conscience, no ethics, Pillswar will bring down Tanelorn before the gnolls even have a chance to invade. He’s called for a mass public meeting, sent fliers all over the countryside. He’ll convince the people to overthrow father.”
“Technically father cannot be overthrown because he does not rule in actuality,” said Valary not really talking to anyone, the words sort of floating in the air.
“That’s my point!” said Jane waving her arms around. “No one is in charge of this nation. Even my idiot brother understands that. He’d be the first in line if we attacked Grelm.”
“Do you think that’s right, Sorus?” said the calm and quiet voice of Lady Gray.
“Why are we asking him?” said Jane still standing. “I mean no offense, Sir Sorus. What I mean to ask is, why isn’t Jon here himself to answer that question.”
“Jon is otherwise engaged,” said Sorus quietly.
“We all know what that means,” said Jane rolling her eyes. “I’m tired of hearing about what Jon might or might not do. He’s irresponsible. He’s foolish. Even if he were to offer an opinion I would not heed it. He is a terrible soldier.”
“Janey,” said Lady Gray with a worried glance toward her husband.
“What?” said Jane. “Fine, he knows how to use a blade, that’s true. But a soldier? Ha! He doesn’t know how to follow orders and he certainly doesn’t want to give them. He doesn’t care about anything except … I’ll refrain from saying it because I don’t want to hurt your delicate sensibilities, mother.”
“He has the support of the men,” said Scar quietly.
“No, he does not,” said Jane. “They admire him. They want to be like him. He’s brave, yes, I don’t deny he has a very few good qualities, but they are outweighed by his stupidity and his fundamental indifference to anything except momentary pleasure. He is not here at this meeting. He will not be here at future meetings. He cannot help us.”
There was a sudden rumbling of thunder from the end of the table as the Gray Lord pushed his immense bulk up. His expression of quiet indifference was gone. His voice was quiet and yet boomed through the room like an enormous clap of thunder, “I’m of the opinion that Jon will rise to the occasion.” Then he sat back down again and began to eat.
There was silence.
“Girls,” said Lady Gray after long moments. “Thank you for coming to the house and for what you’ve done. You’ve risked your lives for what you think is right and my husband, myself, and my family are deeply grateful. I think we have some family matters to discuss if you’ll excuse us. Scar, Sorus, Lofo, perhaps you can show the ladies out?”
Sorus and Scar stood immediately and dropped their heads in a little bow. “Of course, Lady Gray,” said Scar. “I was just thinking I’d see what is going on with our patrols. Thank you for a lovely dinner.”
Sorus nodded his head, “Thank you, Lady Gray. It is always a pleasure. I’ll pass along your kind words to my wife about the newest addition to my family.”
Lofo just stood awkwardly shifting his weight from one foot to the other.
Lady Gray smiled, “Good bye, and thank you again for your pleasant company.”
With that Lofo lead the way to the front door. As soon as they got out of the house Scar pulled on a cloak and bid farewell to the group while Sorus gaped at Rhia, “When did you arrive in Tanelorn? Why didn’t you tell me you were here?”
“We’ve actually met once before,” said Rhia with a smile and pointed to her nose. “You saved me from Adusko during the Taking of the Gray Ceremony a few weeks back.”
Sorus opened his eyes wide, “That was you on the ground bleeding? No wonder I didn’t recognize you. You’ll have to come to my house and visit.”
“You’re married?” said Rhia quietly.
“Some poor deluded woman took pity on me,” said Sorus with a laugh.
“Sir Sorus,” said Lofo.
“Yes?”
“The girls …,” he paused to smile at Mike. “Have information about Ironhome and Acanthus to report to me that I’d like as soon as possible. Pillswar is planning something and I suspect the more information we have the better we’ll be able to deal with it. Would you mind if I steal Rhia from you for tonight at least?”
Sorus smiled, “Of course not, Lofo. It’s been a dozen years, I don’t see why a few more days would hurt. I want to hear your story, Rhia!” He said and then waved to Lofo. “We’ll need to talk later about everything, yes?”
Lofo nodded his head, “Yes.” Then he turned to the girls. “Mike, you’re looking rather lovely. What prompted this transformation?”
“Nothing,” said Mike. “Treat me like you always did.”
Lofo nodded his head and started to walk down the quiet avenue away from the center of the Gray City,
“Of course. Now, what did you learn at Ironhome and Acanthus?”
“We didn’t learn much in Ironhome,” said Mike shaking her head. “The dwarves are very secretive.”
“They do have that tendency,” said Lofo with a smile. “And the elves?”
“I don’t know one way or the other about them either,” said Mike shaking her head. “My aunt … the queen doesn’t seem to want to help. She thinks they should stay out of the affairs of everyone else but apparently a lot of the young people are more eager to help. They seem to admire Jon, or at least that’s what I was told.”
“There is much to admire in Jon,” said Lofo. “Although it is clear not everyone feels that way.”
Mike, Rhia, and Marianna laughed. “I have an older sister also,” said Rhia. “But she was quite a few years older than me.”
“I have an older brother,” said Mike. “And he’s an idiot. It’s not just my opinion though, everyone agrees. You know Ironhead, don’t you Lofo.”
Lofo smiled and scratched the back of his head, “If you are speaking of Ironhead Fivefist then I do.”
Mike’s eyes widened and she covered her mouth with her hand, but then she laughed, “Oh, who am I kidding. Everyone knows who I am with or without my hair. It was nice of you to pretend you didn’t.”
Lofo smiled, “In Tanelorn if someone wishes something to be private and their own, then it is no one else’s business what they do or when they do it.”
“So says the Gray Lord,” came a voice from the darkness. “It will be different soon.”
“Who’s there?” said Lofo reaching for the blade that would normally be at his side but was absent in his dressy clothes. “Damn.”
“Cousin,” said Adusko stepping out from the darkness and three other rough-looking figures came with him.
“Adusko,” said Lofo. “It has come to this? Violence in the streets of Tanelorn?”
“There is no law against it,” said the orc quietly with little inflection in his voice.
“Do you think this is wise?” said Lofo backing up a few steps as Rhia also sorely regretted that she did not have her sword.