by Lars M.
Darya couldn't stop sniggering. "You work in a bank? You?"
"Yeah, well..." My voice trailed off when I realized this was the first time I'd given anything away about my job. I ignored her sniggers and pointed at the opened page. "Moving on. If we're lucky, we'll be able to learn a lot. Some of it's bound to be just numbers, but I'm sure we can decipher something else from it. Business partners, that sort of thing."
"Yeah. I... how about I check out that chest over here, and you do that. Economics were never my thing."
I laughed and focused on the pages before me. His ledgers were simple, but thorough - plain text defining the items he bought and items he sold, aligned with the dates. Some of the entries were confusing at first, consisting mostly of abbreviations, but I eventually decided that they might be the details of slaves.
Darya spoke up after a while. "I'm not really finding anything here. There's a stack of old love letters - they're rather explicit, but not that helpful. How about you? Are the numbers talking to you?"
"Nah, I'm mostly just realising, again, how little I actually know about economics. But yeah, there's a handful of things I can tell from this." I rifled back through the pages, trying to gather my thoughts. "First, Lord Tergeth earned money on his raids and the slaves he caught - like, a lot. Second, if I read the dates right, the gains from the caravans had been substantial - I can very well understand why he'd been upset we disturbed his business. Third, he didn't pay wages to his people-"
"What? How on earth do you keep a bunch of bloodthirsty bandits happy if you don't pay them?"
"Not sure. However, if Aron back in High Hold is any indication, my guess is that they're actually believers of the cause."
"The cause being?"
"’Down with the system’? That part is still unclear to me, even though they have that whole 'The Cabal are crooks' vibe going. Where was I? Oh yeah. Fourth, he didn't keep the money. Well, at least not here in the keep."
"Now I know you're fibbing."
"No. Check this out." I indicated a spot on each page. "Fixed monthly debits marked only as Fraithe. They pretty much emptied the coffers every time too. However, this one time - here - they hadn't made any gains in the month before and they received a payment marked Fraithe instead."
"So you're saying that this Fraithe bailed them out on a bad month?" She looked unconvinced.
"Yup. My guess would be that this Fraithe, if it even is a name, is the owner or puppeteer or mastermind behind our former gaggle of villains."
Darya nodded thoughtfully. "Sounds like fun; nothing like a good conspiracy to unravel."
We continued our search in companionable silence for a while until Darya grunted. "Huh. Listen to this. It's the final letter in the stack, and it's way more tattered than the rest of them, like he's worn it out by reading it repeatedly." She cleared her throat. "The love I hold for you is taller than the mountains, higher than... okay, let me skip that part, it goes on for a bit. Here. I understand why you must leave and I support you with my entire heart. While I still believe the Rothian Republic to be clean, the black heart that is the Cabal is pumping contaminated blood into our veins. Your battle will be the backbone of our central struggles, and your sacrifice will be known among the entire Order. Still, while it pains me to stay, stay I must. The siege I must stage here is both cleaner and dirtier at the same time, but no less important. If we want a chance, we need to find allies within the filthy structures of the court itself. Then it's all goodbye, I love you, and so forth... but still." Darya's smile was infectious.
"Yeah. That's it. Great job!" I went to join her and brushed away a few braids, kissing her. I grinned. "Not only do they intend to tear down the Cabal, they also have people in place within the court. Is it signed?"
"No - that would be too easy. Just an E."
"Ah well. It's enough to conclude, without a doubt, that they're up to no good. The system seems to agree with us - I've just received a quest update. Just need to bring everything back to Greck, and it's done"
Quest updated:
Layers And Layers – Part 1
Greck Derzim has asked you to discover who is responsible for holding back the progress in Grant’s Crossing.
Updated: You have found evidence that the assailants behind all the attacks in the Dawnlight forest were the Order of the Broken Earth and that they were backed by somebody in the capital. Return to Greck with proof to complete the quest.
Reward:
30 silver
1000 experience points.
1000 Reputation with Greck Derzim and the party backing him
She frowned. "Greck? Why Greck, of all people?"
"Oh." I grimaced as I realized that she, and most of the rest of the village, was still in the dark as to Greck's true nature. "It's his secret to tell. Let's just say that, like Benneth, there's more to him than meets the eye. In his lucid moments, he cares about the village - a lot."
She smiled. "I'm glad to hear that. Now, how about we wrap it up and go explore?"
The frenzy of the initial looting was dying down. Instead, inside the keep, people were taking the time to relax. Jebediah had decided to avail himself of the kitchen and was preparing an early morning buffet for everybody. Kiff, Morak, and a few of the others were still searching the castle, looking for valuables, but the rest of us were enjoying a well-earned break in what had been the mess hall, discussing the events of the battle.
Naevys' cheery laughter preceded the bubbly elf as she waltzed through the door to address us all. "Come outside, already, my friends. This is a horrid place - it reeks of pain and decay."
I laughed. "I just sat down. It'll take another Separation to part my behind from this chair. Besides, I thought you wanted to look out for your scaly friends below?"
"Benneth discovered a contraption they used to raise goods and people up. My pets are resting with the items you all desire. Now, if I have to suffer this dark prison, you had better indulge my curiosity. What have you found?" That induced everybody to start talking at once, and she jumped up to sit on one of the tables, legs dangling under her. "All right, one at a time. My mind yearns for mysteries and sordid tales. Darya, if you please."
I laughed at the way she went from pouting to ruling imperiously within moments. Darya just grinned. "They're rebels of a sort. Fighting against the Cabal because they think they were the ones who caused the Separation."
Naevys sat up straight. "Ooh. Conspiracies and revolutionaries. Pray, continue."
"The Lord's former love interest is still in the court, trying to undermine the Cabal... and that's all I've got." Darya shrugged.
Lyle jumped in, "They have a smithy outside. The anvil is incredible. Their iron is crap, but there's lots of it."
"Language." Lyle's dad glared at him in warning before continuing, "Guessing the place is dwarven. Proportions are off for larger species, and the chapel's dedicated to Beren."
Naevys nodded graciously. "That also explains the horrible connection with nature here. Their love of rock confounds me."
"They've been in the castle since forever." Arack mulled, hiding a yawn behind her fist. "I found a journal. Well. Of sorts. More like a list of how awesome this girl was at fighting and gambling. I mean, Archie's a bit weird, but this girl had issues. Anyway, it went back seven years!"
Naevys clapped her hands. "What a wonderful tale. Digging up the roots of a wicked vine that's sucking the nourishment from the proud tree that is our home."
"Well. How about this addition to the tale? If it doesn't insult your noble elfish senses, of course." Kiff drawled as he entered the room. "They weren't just revolutionaries. They were also filthy bloody slavers. They've got a prison downstairs, fully equipped with a dungeon and I can promise you this much: they've been used. Often."
Naevys huffed. "The length to which some races will go to degrade others has ceased to surprise me."
Kiff's smirk made me want to wipe it off his face. "Well, isn't that fancy? You know, I killed an elf
out there myself during the battle. Some races, right?"
I cut in. "You've made your point, Kiff. Anybody else find anything interesting? Otherwise, I think we've earned a nap." Jebediah's voice was low enough that I didn't hear him the first time around. "What was that, Jeb?" I asked.
"...found sum'n weird."
Heh. For the last few days, Jebediah had been focused, serious, and driven. Now that the danger had passed, he apparently reverted to his regular teenage self. "Could you elaborate a little on that, Jebediah?"
"Weird compass thing. 's in the chapel or whatever. You go. Or don't. I don't care."
I took a deep breath, remembering that I'd been a teenager too myself, once. Surely not this obnoxious, though. "Where would this chapel be?"
Jebediah hinted at a general direction and up - and I relented. That was probably the best I was going to get. "Thanks, Jeb. I'm not quite ready to rest yet… is anybody else curious?"
A chorus of groans were my only response, but Darya did end up tagging along. Arack waved me off – she was busy working on a sketch of Lord Tergeth. Looking at the image, I shuddered – I did not need to revisit our encounter right this moment.
The chapel was easy to find. Where the first story of the castle had been dedicated to personal chambers, rooms on the second story were used for more practical purposes. The chapel was the smallest room on the floor, placed just before the tower stairs. A squarish enclosure, it was furnished with stone pews and murals on all sides. It was almost somber enough to ignore the wind howling in through the smashed windows. All told... "Forget about weird. This place is depressing. You know anything about this Beren figure? I mean, besides him being the dwarf god?"
Darya investigated one of the murals. "Not really. Lawrence talks about him sometimes-"
"Lyle's dad?"
"Yeah, he makes me arrowheads."
I smiled. ”Sorry. Please continue."
"Yeah. Beren is supposed to be this strict father figure, but caring deep down. Totally obsessed with crafting, though. Surprise, with him being a dwarf, right?"
I sniggered. "Yeah. And no clue why somebody like Lawrence would possibly worship him."
"Heh. The parallels are there - no doubt." She let her hand slide over the mural. "Impressive workmanship, this - and lots to learn from it, too. I’m not seeing anything weird, though."
I frowned down at the table. "That's because you're supposed to look over here." What I had expected to be an altar instead held a large map depicting the continent of Aeion, framed by all the gods of the realm. I scratched my head. "Okay, I know I'm slow at times - but this castle's from before the Separation, right? Then why is this map up to date?"
Darya knelt beside me, looking under the table. "Because it's a recent addition. Look. It's bolted onto this huge anvil - the dwarf version of an altar, I reckon."
I thumbed my lip. "So we've got a bunch of believers who take over the castle when it returns from who-knows-where. They dislike the Beren monopoly and decide to include the entire pantheon and a map. That sounds reasonable. Except what the hell is that?" I pointed at the contraption hanging from the ceiling on four crude chains. "Why would they include a real-life compass inside a chapel? It looks like it works too."
Darya grabbed the compass and turned it slightly. "Yeah-"
I watched as she froze, her eyes unfocused as she stared off into nothing. "What? Are you okay?"
She shook her head, blinking. Grabbing my hand, she pulled it towards the compass. The moment I touched it, a notification popped up.
Control gem missing. Activation impossible.
Wide-eyed, I stared into Darya's eyes. "We missed something."
A couple of minutes later, we were searching through the tower room again. This time, however, we went over every rift, stone, and floorboard. "It has to be here somewhere, right? He didn't keep it on him."
"Exactly. It's that or he's hidden it somewhere else entirely and-" her voice cut out, and I turned my head to see her removing a half plank near the edge of the room.
I scrambled over and knelt down just as she extracted a glittering, oblong gem, pulsing with prismatic light. Breathless, I asked, "Is that it?"
Wordlessly, she nodded - and then she held it towards me, whispering. "I want you to have it.”
I blinked, trying to take in the gesture. My voice cracked, and I had to try again. "Does this mean... are you sure? I mean, you were the one who found it."
Darya just met my eyes with an earnest expression. "I know what this could mean to you. I know you are running away. With this, you'll be well defended and can go where you please."
"I can't tell you how much this means to me. Thank you. Thank you so damn much." I embraced her. "You're not entirely right, though."
"What? How?"
I studied her intently. I barely even noted her pointed ears and large fangs anymore. Instead, the tiny movements of her expressive mouth and serious brown eyes drew me in. One of her many braids had escaped her ponytail, and I brushed it back over her ear. "We can go where we please. If you want to, I mean."
Her mouth curled up, ever so slightly, and she placed her hand over mine. "Like you're getting rid of me that easily. Now take it already. I want to know what it does!"
"I will. But first..." I held a theatrical pose and extracted my violin from my inventory, "a song."
"Daniel, you are such a dork."
"I know - but I'm never getting this opportunity again, and I'm not letting it go to waste."
Early in the morning, from the depths of an old dwarven keep that had known its share of pain and wickedness, tones spread forth. They were wonderful tones, too, vibrant, triumphant notes chasing away the seriousness of the events that had just occurred, and my own situation, too. I could feel my emotions well up along with the music, and I soon could not restrain myself, letting my voice float towards the heavens. I barely noticed Darya joining in, and we heralded in a new dawn with our voices cheering on the song, "I don't care, I'm still free. You can't take the sky from me."
Congratulations
You have accepted ownership over Berekson Castle. New menus are now available.
The end of The Emissary Bard. Book 3 of 6 in the World of Chains series.
Postscript
First, well done! You made it through to the end of the book and didn’t burn your phone or Kindle. That’s cause for celebration right there!
Please take your time to leave a review. Good or negative, the importance is honesty. I feel like the more I learn about writing, the more I realize I still need to learn. Tell it straight.
Apart from that? Spread the word. Tell the tale. Leave a post. Share the horror of Chertog’s puns. Now, on to the real talk:
The hell? You made us wait a year for a book? Who does that? Except for GRRM, obviously.
Somebody with kids. So many kids! Somehow, it seems like they’re multiplying, magic ooze-style. Anywho, it looks like I should be able to pick up the pace from now on – by a lot!
You seem like a weird fella. I kinda want to prod you. Can I prod you?
As long as you use gloves, I guess? I’m happily married, though, and she’s not really into all this fancy experimentation all the cool kids get up to these days. On second thought, we’d better keep it online.
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Faith and Strength Supreme!
Lars M.
Appreciations
This book is dedicated to Corona, you absolute bitch! I finally managed to complete the book in spite of you, not because of you.
Stephanie of Lit Forge Edits – my wonderful editor. Knowledgeable and a joy to communicate with. https://www.facebook.com/litforgeedits/
William Blake - https://www.artstation.com/wblake - the artist and a dear friend of mine. I look forward to getting back to planning our next cover!
Michael Poulsen Dürr: My bestest alpha reader! Also the person to make me groan the most in 2020. Dude. Those puns!
Morgan Searle: I still can’t believe you managed to redo all those comments after the webpage broke. You’re a beast!
My amazing Beta readers: Morgan, Arthur, Augustus, Lars, Jan, Taj and Thomas. There is no doubt that the book would have been a lot poorer without your help – from the bottom of my heart, I thank you.
My Patreons: I can’t thank you enough. The sketches I’m including in the book this time around only came into being due to your support!
Everybody else: A truly astounding number of people have helped me with advice, knowledge and tips. If you haven’t been mentioned directly, it’s just because the book would double in size.
Active Quests at the end of The Emissary Bard
Layers And Layers – Part 1
Greck Derzim has asked you to discover who is responsible for holding back the progress in Grant’s Crossing.