by Unknown
“We’re here to answer the marquess’s summons,” Cora told the guards, inclining her head respectfully.
“Of course,” one of the guards replied, and the man rapped on the door behind him once, then called out, “Milady, your guests have arrived.”
“Send them in,” a severe voice replied, and Cora winced. She didn’t know much about Marquess Clarion, but the little she’d heard indicated that the woman wasn’t fond of levity and was rather cold. That was part of the reason she’d cautioned Joy not to stick out her tongue, to keep from angering the woman who ruled the city they were in, as well as the entire march.
While Cora was thinking, the guards opened the door and Joy stepped in, with Cora immediately on her heels. Cora might not be as knowledgeable about human etiquette as Brianna was, but she wasn’t going to let her go into this alone.
Inside the room were three people around a broad map table, the room illuminated by the dying light outside and lanterns set in front of polished mirrors. The room was relatively bare, save for what Cora assumed was a map case along the wall and a cabinet of drawers, and a carpet beneath the table made it slightly more comfortable-looking. On the table was a map of the region with tiny wooden icons in the shape of soldiers placed here and there on it, particularly in Clarion, while another set of tokens was somewhat to the southeast of the city. That looked foreboding to Cora.
She tore her gaze away from the map to study those around it, though. She already knew Sir Wilbert and Silverhoof, so she focused on the woman in the room and was a little surprised at how ordinary Marquess Clarion was, aside from the hard glint from her eyes and severe expression. Cora would have thought she was a governess or the like in most situations, though the woman wearing full plate rather dissuaded her of that opinion.
“You must be the Marquess! Hello, I’m Joy!” the apis said, bowing deeply and holding it, somewhat to Cora’s surprise, though she quickly followed suit, and heard creaking from behind her as Brianna and Stella did as well.
“Mm, I’ve heard of you, Joy. Rise, all of you,” the marquess said, her voice cool and controlled, and as Cora straightened she saw her make a gesture, and the door closed behind them. The woman examined Joy for a few seconds, then spoke. “Sir Wilbert hired you to make contact with the apis in the Shimmerwood and request their assistance. What was their response?”
“If you’d keep it quick, that would also be appreciated,” Silverhoof rumbled, prompting the marquess to shoot him a glower, but the centaur didn’t seem to mind.
“Okay!” Joy said, tilting her head as she paused, obviously thinking, then nodded. “We went into the forest, found tracks, fought a few times, then met the apis. Their hive doesn’t have a name, but is interesting! I told them what was going on and asked for their help. The queen said she would have to think about it and would decide in a day or two. They told us that the guards around the seal thingy were attacked, so we went to check on them, and escorted them out of the forest. Then we came here.”
Joy fell silent at that, folding her hands behind her back and bouncing on her toes as Silverhoof, Sir Wilbert, and the marquess stared at her. When she didn’t say anything more, Sir Wilbert asked, “That’s it? They were going to decide in a day or two? The spider could destroy them utterly!”
“Yes, it could. But they asked me if we could guarantee that the spider would come after them. I couldn’t, and they’d know if I tried to lie, like some other species do. I wouldn’t want to lie, anyway,” Joy replied, her voice still startlingly cheerful. “We’re not in their territory, and neither is the spider, plus they recently fought a giant wasp nest and destroyed it. I don’t know how many of them they lost, how big the hive is, or anything else. They’ll decide, then they’ll carry out their decision.”
“Damn,” Silverhoof muttered, his voice heavy as he looked at the map. “I’d hoped they’d give their assistance, but a day or two… that doesn’t give much time. Even if apis do mobilize quickly.”
“It doesn’t,” Marquess Clarion said, her voice icy as she looked at the map. “The invaders are advancing even now, and we expect to meet them in battle the day after tomorrow. You had best get some rest so you can set out with us—”
“No,” Silverhoof interrupted bluntly, crossing his arms in front of his chest, and Cora cringed a little as she saw the anger flicker across the noblewoman’s face as she looked at the centaur.
“What was that?” Marquess Clarion asked, her voice icy.
“I said no. You have no authority to give them orders,” Silverhoof said, not a hint of give in his voice. “The treaty regarding members of the Adventurer’s Guild that Astonia signed is quite clear. While the guild can be asked to offer generous rewards to adventurers to gain their assistance in battles, the adventurers cannot be compelled into service of any nation. We choose to assist.”
For an instant the tension in the room was as thick as a sheet of ice, but then Cora cleared her throat nervously and spoke. “Ah… to be fair, we already planned on participating. We need the attackers to be driven off as much as any of you.”
The marquess looked at Cora sharply, then nodded. “Good. The army sets out to make preparations at dawn, so I suggest you prepare to set out. It will be an ugly battle.”
“That it will,” Sir Wilbert said, nodding slowly.
“Thank you for your understanding,” Stella said from behind them, and Cora caught a glimpse of her bowing her head and followed suit. Joy imitated her a second later, then they withdrew.
Brianna waited until the door was closed to speak, and when she did, her tone was wry. “Well, that was fun. She’s even more difficult than I’d heard. Yeesh… trying to order around adventurers isn’t the best idea. Even the king doesn’t do that.”
“Stress can do funny things to people,” Cora said, letting out a sigh, then glanced at Joy. “Do you think the apis will make a decision in time?”
“Yep!” Joy chirped, visibly relaxing as she began to retrace the route they’d taken earlier. The guard who’d been their guide quickly moved to take the lead, which amused Cora somewhat. “What it will be, I don’t know, but they’ll make a decision either way. I think they’ll help, but I don’t know.”
“That’s good enough for me,” Cora said, feeling a little more at ease.
“Agreed. Are you still going to read tonight, with us leaving in the morning?” Stella asked, and Joy gave her a grin.
“Of course! I need to learn while I can, and we’ve got a whole day before the Skyfishers get here, from what they said! That’s plenty of time to rest,” Joy replied, prompting a laugh from Cora.
“Well, try not to keep me up, hm?” Cora asked, hugging the apis gently, and Joy giggled, nodding enthusiastically.
It was just a matter of making their way to the inn, then she could rest, Cora knew. For good or ill, they’d see what happened in two days.
Chapter 33
“This doesn’t look good,” Besalk said, the god of luck looking down on the mortal world as he drummed his fingers against the edge of the viewing pool.
“You don’t say?” Xinra replied sarcastically, her gaze piercing as she pointed at the armies arrayed on the battlefield. The goddess of strategy and warfare didn’t look happy at all, which was likely made even worse by some of the others present. “We have a well-prepared army of over seven thousand that’s going to be facing an army of less than four thousand lower-level people. This is going to be a massacre, assuming the apis don’t help. I never thought that I’d be hoping that one of Yonra’s creations would be stepping in, but this looks bad.”
“Agreed,” Ithran said, the dark god of strategy and Xinra’s primary rival, his voice deep and booming as he crossed his arms unhappily. He had dark hair and eyes, and Fayliss often wished he hadn’t ended up on the other side. Regardless of her wishes, he continued. “Oh, I wouldn’t mind him kicking the stuffing out of one of your followers; it’s what he has planned after that that has me concerned. I haven’t seen a single ind
ication of a Hero rising, and if he becomes a Dark Lord, we could have a severe problem.”
“Then do something about it,” Xinra demanded, slapping her hand down on the rim of the pool hard enough that the image of Alethus’s army rippled.
“I can’t. No more than you or Besalk can,” Ithran retorted in annoyance. “If he’d asked me for advice, or my clergy, I’d have advised against it, but the rules are in place for a reason, and unless you think we can convene a full conclave of deities in time to change them, we’re stuck with this. Stop blaming everyone else for when your plans go awry.”
Xinra scowled, but she didn’t have a retort for that, to Fayliss’s relief. Instead, Fayliss mentally focused on her own subject of interest, and couldn’t help a smile at how Joy was poring over the book about gardening. The apis was an enthusiastic reader on the subject, and it made Fayliss happy. As did what the apis were doing.
“I believe the apis will come to the assistance of the defenders. In how much force, I’m uncertain, but if even a quarter of their numbers arrive, it will tilt the balance sharply,” Fayliss said, and paused before continuing. “For that matter… I’m not entirely sure what condition the spider is in, but it’s possible that they could kill it if they threw enough of them at it. Most armies broke and ran before beasts such as it, but the apis are fearless in the defense of their hives.”
That made everyone pause, and Ithran’s gaze grew slightly distant for a few moments. Then he shook his head. “No, I don’t think so. The spider was nearly unscathed, and while the apis could put out its eyes and do a great deal of damage to it, there are only forty thousand of them. They’d be slaughtered in the end.”
“Perhaps, but it would buy Astonia time. With a bit of luck, that could make the difference,” Besalk said hopefully. “I hate to think about what that would do to the hive, but that could make all the difference in the world.”
“Yet it isn’t something I want,” Fayliss said, shuddering at the thought of all the dead bodies. Even now she was a touch disturbed by how strangely the apis reacted to their own dead, but that was their nature. She did hope they’d learn to treat their dead more respectfully, but that was an entirely different subject, not one which affected the balance of power of the entire world. She just found it disturbing how they treated the bodies like meaningless husks.
“Yes, yes, we know, you’re trying to become the patron of the apis,” Xinra replied, rolling her eyes. “But when our fate is at stake, it stands to reason that some sacrifices may have to be made.”
“I may not agree with you often, but here I concur,” Ithran said, prompting a nod from Besalk, and Fayliss’s lips pressed together more tightly.
She didn’t say anything more, not since it was obvious that there was little she could do to change their opinions. Instead, she looked at the pool once more, with the rippling images of a city and an army, and made a decision. Joy may have only prayed to her once, but that was more attention than she’d paid to any other deity. So Fayliss silently stretched out her power and laid a blessing on the apis.
It wasn’t much, and it wouldn’t help in battle. That wasn’t a domain where Fayliss’s power extended, but even so… she had to give Joy something of a fighting chance. Unlike so many other deities, Fayliss was convinced that the apis were going to have a far greater impact on the future than expected.
Why else would Yonra have pushed so hard for their creation? He was a god of chaos, which meant any element he introduced was going to have unpredictable consequences.
Joy paused in reading the book, tilting her head curiously as an odd perfume swirled around her. It was from a rose, that much she knew, but it was strange, more potent than it should be indoors, and she sniffed once, then twitched her antennae. It hadn’t come from the door or window, and it certainly hadn’t come from Cora, who was sleeping on her bed soundly. No, it’d come from somewhere else entirely, and that puzzled Joy.
Sniffing a couple more times, Joy looked out the window and realized that it was later than she’d thought, with the moon now high in the night sky, and she whispered. “Uh-oh. If I don’t get some rest, Cora will scold me again. I’ll just have to read more later.”
Slipping the ribbon into place, Joy closed her book gently, giving the cover a gentle pat, then blew out the candle with a single, precise breath. Joy didn’t like the candle, but it wasn’t easy to read without it. It made her think she might have to get a magical lantern… or maybe she should just find another piece of luminous titansteel to put in a lamp. Then she stopped and shook her head.
“I’m dumb! I have the core from that elemental thing still, I could use it!” Joy murmured, smiling in amusement as she considered the idea, then froze as she heard Cora stir.
The apis held still while the elf squirmed into a new position, then slowly let herself breathe again. She hadn’t meant to disturb Cora, but apparently she needed to be quieter. And as much as Joy longed to join Cora in bed for the warmth and company, she’d learned that the woman wasn’t comfortable with that.
So instead Joy crept over to her own bed, removing her armor as quietly as she could, then slipped under the covers. The perfume was gone now, she realized. So she quietly murmured. “Must’ve been from someone else passing by… it was nice perfume.”
Then she snuggled into the covers to sleep, falling unconscious in a matter of seconds.
Chapter 34
“This is weird,” Joy said, perching on the waystone, almost looking like an odd sort of gargoyle, with how she was crouched with her knees angled outward beside her.
“Why is it weird?” Cora asked, looking up at Joy in amusement. “I mean, most of us would say you are weird, with how you’re perched up there.”
“Yup,” Brianna agreed, pulling the stem of grass she’d been chewing on out of her mouth and smirking up at Joy. “You’re really odd, Joy. It’s why I enjoy your company so much.”
Ahead of them was the army moving slowly down the road, with even ranks of common soldiers bobbing along, while knights and their horses filed by on their flanks. Above circled a dozen griffins with their riders, and Cora gave them frequent glances. Like most of the adventurers, Brianna, Cora, Joy, and Stella had chosen to let the army take the lead so they didn’t have to deal with quite as much crowding.
Joy simply giggled, nodding ahead of them as she explained. “They’re just so… so disorganized! I’ve seen a bunch of them nearly knock each another over, and the road isn’t that bumpy. I guess they aren’t terrible… but I wouldn’t want to march alongside them.”
“Ah. I’m afraid that not everyone is as instinctively organized as the apis are, Joy,” Cora replied, looking at Brianna in amusement. “Humans, elves… we learn to work together, but even then there’s plenty of room for misunderstandings. Personally, I think that your hives look like complete chaos, even if you get things done quickly. I just can’t see the order to it.”
“Huh. Maybe it’s the lack of pheromones…” Joy said, her tone musing, which prompted a laugh from Stella.
“Regardless, I believe it’s time to get moving,” the priestess interjected gently. “Unless we want to be the last people to the site. I doubt we want to deal with whatever work they’ll push on whoever’s last… no matter what Silverhoof might say, he has to keep the marquess reasonably happy.”
“Too true,” Brianna said, wrinkling her nose. “And if we can keep out of her sight, so much the better. I think today is going to be unpleasant, and tomorrow will be worse.”
Cora’s smile faded, and she nodded grimly as she thought about the battle to come. They didn’t have good odds, that much she knew… but that was also why they’d all made certain to not change their resurrection point away from Irador. If the worst came about, they could always run from there, where they’d have better odds.
That would likely be a death sentence for Joy, though, so it was the last thing Cora wanted to do. Almost as though she knew what Cora was thinking, the apis looked down at her and
grinned.
“Let’s go, then!” Joy chirped warmly, launching herself off the waystone vigorously, her wings buzzing loudly as they took control of her flight and guided her to the ground nearly twenty feet away. “The sooner we get there, the sooner we can get rid of those Skyfishers!”
Cora’s worry eased, and she laughed as they began to move. At least Joy didn’t change.
The wyvern roared as it came in for a landing, and Alethus shielded his face just to be safe. The creature’s wings sent debris flying in every direction, then the ground shook as it touched down heavily. It snarled and snapped once, then settled down as its rider patted the side of the wyvern’s neck and dismounted.
“You have news?” Minna asked impatiently, tapping her foot on the ground as she scowled at the man, and Phillip gave her a lopsided smile.
“Of course! I wouldn’t be back if I didn’t,” the blond man replied breezily, stretching, then bowed his head respectfully to Alethus, his fit figure shrouded in the dark blue leather he favored. “I have returned, my lord.”
“I can see that. How was your flight, Phil?” Alethus said, resisting the urge to smile. Phillip and Minna had never quite seen eye to eye, but as long as they didn’t actively fight he didn’t mind. They didn’t like each other, but at least they respected the other’s skills.
“It was good! Real good, since there are nice thermals in the area,” Phillip said, grinning broadly at Alethus as he straightened. “Better, I was able to spot the enemy moving. I couldn’t get too close, not with their griffin’s patrolling, but it looks like you’re right. I saw at least eight columns of soldiers and horses moving toward the passage between Clarion and the Shimmerwood, and they might’ve been digging pitfalls. I can’t be sure, could be ramparts as well, but I doubt it. They don’t have time to do that right.”