“Uh, hi! Hi. I’m Lara, and I am here to speak with your ambassador.”
All eyes went to the rear of the ship, where a man stood up. He wore a pale blue vest and pants, with straps over his shoulders to keep the latter up.
“I am Laoui. Why do you wish to speak with me?”
“Hello, your grace. Felas sends me with a message,” Lara said, holding up the arm with the seal on it. “I have not been informed what your business is here, but I must caution against going about that business.”
“Ha! You have no idea who I am, do you?”
“No, sir.”
“Then it would also be reasonable to assume you do not know why I’m here, do you?”
“It would.”
“Let us go further. Perhaps, I may know something you do not. Is this possible?”
Lara shrugged.
“Assume I do. Assume I am aware of what is happening here, because it is true.”
“And what is going on here?”
“War is about to engulf you, my friend. I am here to help.”
Lara and Nami looked at each other, one eyebrow raised each.
“First off, I don’t even want to know why you know about this. That is the least of my problems right now. Second, what are you going to do about it?”
“I have connections, and they tell me you need help fending off this threat of yours. The orcs may not be fast enough. With me around, you will survive until they arrive.”
“Wow! Just in time, my hero!” Nami said before Lara elbowed her.
“Pardon her, but this does seem a little timely. Who are you, anyway? What do you want in return for your help?”
“Felas and I go way back. I am not here for profit or power. If what I have heard is true, my dear...” Laoui said while pointing to Nami. “We may have more in common than you think. I do enjoy a good fight, and this seems to be the best one I’ve caught wind of in a while.”
“That’s it? You want to fight?”
Laoui nodded.
“Uh… I’ll tell Felas you’re here, then, to be sure. Are you familiar with the city? We’re gathering people in the courtyard tonight at sundown to work out a plan.”
“I will be there. Send your dear king my regards. It’s been ages since I’ve seen him, I hope he is well.”
“Thank you, Laoui. We will.”
Once they were out of earshot, Lara and Nami darted down a side street towards the castle.
“Who was that guy?!”
“I don’t know, Nami. I don’t like it, though. People are keeping secrets from us. Has he been spying on us the whole time? Does Felas know? Do we want to even tell him first?”
“Who else can we tell? Diedra, maybe. She’s pretty in the know about these things,” Nami said, before dropping to a whisper. “And we’ve fought together. That’s trustworthy, right there. Felas? There’s already a lot he hasn’t told us about. Making me wonder what Danae knows, too, cause she doesn’t seem so happy.”
“Thank you! I’m glad I’m not the only one that’s noticed!”
“Haven’t slowed down often enough to talk about it much. I don’t like what’s going on here, Lara.”
“Me either. Robert never mentioned most of this. I guess maybe I was too busy learning to keep myself from getting killed. If we make it out of this alive, I’m going to have tons of questions and I don't plan on doing anything for our dear king until I get some answers.”
“Yeah, but the one that matters is what do we do now?”
“We go back to the castle. We wait for Diedra and Cecile, and we tell them first. I’ll tell Felas about this Laoui guy, but not let on that we’re digging deeper.”
“Can we trust Cecile? I don’t mean I think she’s going to tell anyone, but I also don’t think any of this matters to her. You’ve seen the look in her eyes when a grog comes by. I still think if we told her it could work, she’d try to murder everything under the mountain by herself.”
“She’ll be fine. We can frame this as-”
Lara paused to talk with a butcher who wondered what was going on. She managed to distill the troubles into a few points, none of which were truly alarming. Inside, she felt a pang of regret that she did not tell the man the whole story. She rationalized that a citywide panic would put quite a damper on some of her plans. After wishing Lara well, the butcher kept walking.
“Anyway, we can frame this as finding the real culprit behind wanting Robert dead, or something. I feel bad even saying that, but something is happening in Thogt that I don’t think will be brought to light easily.”
“So… this will be a better fight than I hoped for?”
Lara’s eyes rolled.
“Nami, you ever think you could get more fight than you bargained for?”
“Never. What’s the point?”
“Oh, if only I could see things like you do.”
Nami smiled to no one in particular as they walked. Lara’s hopes seemed to come true: the town had not devolved into panic, much like the docks. Farther inland, the pair wriggled their way through a particularly busy avenue on the way to the castle. As far as either of them could tell, the hustle and bustle was a result of business, not worry. Lara checked in on a few people along the way she knew, whether through her own travels or Robert’s. She kept conversation short, to keep from blurting anything out. The sun drew nearer to the horizon. They rushed faster, finally arriving shortly before the new recruits' briefing. Before that, Lara wanted to check and see if Diedra and Cecile made it back. In the office, they were sitting in Lara and Nami’s chairs.
“Oh! I’m sorry, we didn’t expect you back before meeting the soldiers, I’ll get up, don’t-”
“Cecile! It’s fine, we’re actually glad to see you. Can we talk for a minute, though?” Lara said, closing the door after she and Nami got in.
“Of course. Is something wrong?” Diedra asked.
“I’m not sure. Along with recruiting people to fight, we informed important visitors it would be in their best interests to leave.”
“As did we.”
“One diplomat we met seemed anxious to get into the thick of things, unfortunately. His name is Laoui, and he said he knew Felas. Seemed like it was on a personal level. Have you heard of him?”
“I know of him, but I do not know him. He comes from the southern continent, where I was told he made a name for himself. Laoui united a few clans of roving barbarians. Turned them into something closer to a nation.”
“Good for him, but why would he know the king?”
“I do not know. He was born somewhere on this continent. If I recall, he is older than you, but slightly younger than Felas.”
“He did say he wasn’t here for power or money, though. Maybe he knew Felas ages ago. Could have been kicked out of the city, could have gotten jealous. Maybe he thought he could do a better job.”
“If one of those reasons holds true, I have not been told.”
“Well, we’ll have to keep an eye on him. I’m going to go tell the king he’s here, but I’m not going to mention that I want to know more. Can I count on you two not to say anything? If he turns out to be an enemy, this could be key in finding out more about Robert’s death.”
“Robert’s death?” Cecile asked, suddenly focused.
“I don’t think it was an accident that we happened upon that gray that day. I haven’t remembered anything different, but there’s too much going on and it’s grown too fast. Not too long ago, we kept stray grog from killing merchants on the roads. Now, we try harder to stamp them out and this all happens? Why weren’t we told?”
“General panic, I imagine,” Diedra said.
“True, but even then, something’s rotten here. So please, keep this between the four of us for now. I’m going to speak to the king, then talk to the soldiers we gathered. If you can, find out more about Laoui, but not in the castle. Nami, maybe you know some people?”
She smiled.
“It’ll cost some coin, but I’ll see
what the old crew knows. Back before bedtime, then.”
Nami opened the door and walked off.
“What about us?” Diedra said.
“I’d like for you two to join me. Diedra, you knew more about the situation than I did in the beginning. Maybe you can pick up on something I wouldn’t. Cecile, I just like having you around. You’re very kind, but much more adept with a weapon than I ever expected. If you don’t mind, I’d like to make an example of you to the soldiers. You could tell them how you held off grays by yourself. It was a respectable thing you did, after all. Inspiring.”
“Me? It wasn’t much, I mean…”
Lara smirked.
“Wasn’t much?”
“I guess it was. I’ll tell them about it, then. Thank you, Lara. It’s nice when other people recognize you. Not that I didn’t like it from Robert, but I always wondered if he was just being a good husband.”
“I bet he was, but I would imagine being a good husband also involves not lying to you. So, you can be sure he was being serious.”
Cecile blushed. Lara smiled, then beckoned them all to join her on the way to the council chambers. There, she met the guards again, this time asking politely for an audience. Lara assured them several times she would not be attempting to barge right in. One disappeared into the chamber. A short while later, he returned.
“Felas is ready for you.”
Lara went in first, followed by the others.
“Lara! Good to see you. Have you recruited help?”
“Yes, sir. They are to arrive at sundown in the courtyard, to find out what they’re up against. However, when I was informing some visitors about our situation, one in particular acted a bit odd.”
“Odd, you say?”
“Yes, his name was Laoui. Said he was here for the fight. Seems strange to me that he would know about what’s happening. He also mentioned he knew you.”
“I recall him, somewhat. Laoui and I were friends in a past life, before I became king. I thought he would be too busy with his own city to ever see me again.”
“Well, he is here, and he’ll be showing up with the others to my briefing. Should we let him stay? I don’t know diplomacy that well, but I do know that if I’m going to organize soldiers for the worst of the fighting, I’d rather not have any conflicts of interest. We’ll need everyone at their best.”
Felas sighed.
“I don’t know why he’s here, and I certainly don’t know who told him about any of this. He always did want more from Thogt, even though he wasn’t anywhere near a government position the entire time he lived here.”
“Does he have some kind of grudge?”
“It was a long time ago, Lara. I talked to the right people, made sure to be in the right places. He would always complain about things, saying life wasn’t fair, all that.”
“Alright, sounds like he’s got a grudge. Is this going to interfere with my plans? If we’re going to defend the city, I need everyone focused on that. You don’t think he’ll try something, do you?”
“I haven’t the faintest clue, unfortunately. It is worrisome, though. Perhaps it would be best for you to give the briefing. I will try to find out why he’s here, and attend to other matters.”
“Will do, sir. Please, keep me informed if you hear anything about him that could disrupt our defense. I have to go speak with the soldiers now,” Lara said, bowing.
Felas nodded back, and the trio left him. They went back to the office.
“I don’t like the sound of this. Felas passed that off as nothing more than a nuisance, it seems, but…”
“It does not add up,” Diedra said.
“Right!”
“I cannot tell if he legitimately does not perceive Laoui as someone who would have such intentions, or if he does not care. Either way, it seems as if the ambassador is a blind spot to the king. We should keep an eye on him as well. Hopefully, someone finds out something, and we can deal with him.”
“I agree. Even though I’ve got other things to do, having this man be a part of them doesn’t seem right. Like he just wants to be around to see what he can get out of the situation.”
“Lara?” Cecile asked. “Isn’t that him out there?”
Below, on the streets outside the office window, stood Laoui and his retinue.
“Well, he’s on time. Let’s go speak to our recruits. Cecile, you should be the one to keep an eye on him, if you don’t mind. I’m going to have to focus on speaking, and Diedra stands out enough as is.”
“I’ll do my best. What should be I looking out for?”
“If I knew, I’d tell you. Maybe he perks up at some parts of the speech, maybe he tries to talk to our soldiers to steal them away or something. Anything but standing there and listening to me could be strange. I know that’s not helpful, so just do your best.”
Cecile sighed and nodded. Lara led them back out of the office and out into the courtyard. Low in the sky, a deep orange sun barely touched the horizon. Roughly fifty people stood near a large, sturdy oak. Once Lara reached it, they all turned to face her. Laoui and his cohort stood off to the side, but paid her the same attention as the others.
“Thank you all for coming! I don’t think everyone is here yet, but I’m going to start anyway,” Lara yelled. “I’d like to lead with the most important part: this is incredibly dangerous. I’d go so far as to say it’s more dangerous than anything Robert’s ever taken us on. I'd bet it's more dangerous than anything you might have done on your own time.”
Several people groaned, and a few others took a step or two back.
“But! But, we’re doing this for a very important reason. We’re gathering today, and tomorrow, and until the job is done. We’re doing this for Thogt, for you, for me, for everyone we know, and everyone that makes our lives the way they are. If I have my way, not a single one of you will be left behind. If I have my way, you will all go home safe. If I have my way, we will resist those who want to take our land away from us!”
Now, the soldiers grouped up closer. A few cheered.
“I’m not sure what these creatures want with Thogt. All we know is that they want us out, and they’re willing to remove us by force. We can’t let them do that!”
More cheered.
“We need to keep our city safe, so we can keep our families safe. A great many people outside of these walls rely on us as well. I bet quite a few of you have helped merchants into the city. Maybe you’ve given directions to someone traveling further inland. They all count on us to be here, and I intend to make sure we’ll always be there for them!”
One giant hurrah.
“Now, the reasoning behind our task is fine. Actually defending our walls is another matter. We have to be more careful than ever before, considering how powerful our foes will be. For the most part, the regular army will be holding off the grog and the grays, creatures I imagine have become well known throughout the city these past few days. Now, I have seen their king, or at least what passes for one, and he is fearsome.
But, if we stay together, watch each others’ backs, and fight well, we can defeat him. With the army slowly but surely wearing down the grog and us handling the rest, Thogt will be ours once again!”
The crowd cheered, aside from Laoui. Lara had to calm them down before she could go on.
“What I need from you is to be here bright and early tomorrow morning. Just like most work with Robert, you have time to be with family, friends, whoever. Maybe you just want a drink before bed. Please, take this time to prepare, mentally. In the morning, we begin to fortify the city. We also need to train ourselves to handle the demand of fighting such powerful enemies. Thank you all, and I hope to see you all in the morning. Dismissed.”
After another cheer, the soldiers began to march out in one excited mob. Laoui stayed behind, and after the others cleared out, approached Lara and the others.
“A fine speech, madam.”
“Thank you. Is there anything I can help you with? I imagine
you have a little less than a city to lose, but I still appreciate you being here.”
“Ah, thanks, but you are mistaken. If I were to flee to my home, I would miss out on possibly one of the greatest fights of our time. I only ask that you give me a position close to the front lines. I want to be in the enemy’s face, close enough to make them bleed.”
“Ask and you shall receive. I'll get you right in the thick of it, if that's what you want. At worst, you’ll have to help cut through grog before you get to the tough ones. I've got to ask, though. Why?”
“To see if I can, my friend. That’s all. Thank you. I’ll be back in the morning.”
Laoui and his assistants walked past Lara and the others. When they disappeared inside the castle, Lara turned to Diedra and Cecile.
“I don’t understand him. Does he have a death wish?”
“It is not for us to understand. If he wishes to fight and die for our freedom, I say let him.”
“I agree with her, Lara. I watched him, just like you said. He had a strange look in his eyes the whole time, and a smile on his face that made me feel ill.”
“What about his-”
“Lara! Lara, come quick!”
In the distance, closer to the north wall, a messenger stood and yelled.
“Follow me!” he said.
Lara, Diedra, and Cecile broke out in a run. The messenger kept ahead of the humans, though Diedra caught up. They had a short conversation before the orc ran off ahead. Once the whole group reached the north wall, the messenger sprinted up stairs to the wall.
“Grog! Tons, Lara!”
She followed the messenger up. Most of the fields’ illumination came from the fires Lara arranged for. In their warm glow sat a small horde of a few hundred grog a fair distance away from the wall.
“When did they show up?!”
“Within the hour. We’ve alerted the army, but the creatures won’t come any closer and our generals won’t risk fighting them out in the open.”
“Good. Keep the fire burning bright, and if anything at all happens, let me know. I’ve got people to organize in the morning. For now, make sure the walls have enough soldiers to light any grog up that decides to advance. A woman has to know her limits, and I need to sleep. But, if anything happens, send for me.”
What Lurks Below Page 18