Normally, a person would have to take out their crown card and pay a fee for the portal to open. Craeft knew that was not the case for this one however, as he saw Sir Finguine press a few buttons and with a popping noise, a black tear in space opened in front of them.
“After you.” Sir Finguine said, waving them forward.
Craeft stepped forward into the portal, holding his breath in as he felt the uncomfortable sensation all over his body, a result of the port system. Tiny prickles ran across his skin like it was being touched by tiny shards of glass, but only for a moment as he arrived at the other side. Veliane and Sir Finguine quickly followed afterward, the tear in space disappearing just as it came, with a quick pop.
The new place was one of concrete and iron, a massive bright red train in the middle of the loading station. Several workers floated a couple containers into one of the cars on the back, while others lifted theirs by hand, the most likely volatile substances within glowing with power.
“Ah, Sir Finguine, good to see you.” A large man walked up to them, dressed in a black suit. He had a large handlebar mustache on his face, and didn’t have any hair on top of his head. “And I see you’ve got some new trainees as well.”
“Ah, glad to see your eyes haven’t gone yet Mr. Smirnov.” Sir Finguine said.
Contrary to what Craeft thought, the man wasn’t angered at all. Rather, he let out a loud laugh that echoed around the train station. “I see you still have that wit about you.”
“Glad to see you noticed. Now, my squires and I have been put on guard duty for the shipment. It’s their first mission.” Sir Finguine asked.
“Ah, newbies. Didn’t know you were feeling up to teaching.” Mr. Smirnov replied, a small smile playing across his face.
“There are many things you don’t know about me.” Sir Finguine shot back. “But enough about that. Any mission specifics we need to know?”
“Well, we’ve got a nice fresh shipment of crys-fuel, straight from the crystal farms. High-grade too. Not expecting any bandits after the last few were hanged, but you never know.” The older man shrugged. “But, I will not turn away help. So, why don’t you take your squires and head to the passenger car and make yourselves comfortable? We’ll be heading out in just over an hour. If I need anything, I’ll let you know.”
“We will and thank you for your hospitality Mr. Smirnov.” Sir Finguine nodded.
“Any time, Sir Finguine, anytime.” The man bowed his head slightly. It would’ve been seen as an insult by the nobility, but Craeft could see the man was clearly past his prime. It was probably the best he could give.
“Come on. Let’s get ourselves settled down.” They followed him onto the crimson train. Within a few moments, they arrived at a small compartment. Craeft spotted a window, two bright red seats, and a small table in between. He set his suitcase down on one of the seats, while Veliane did the same with hers, the two sitting opposite of each other.
Craeft looked at the knight with a questioning glance. “Sir, are we really going to be stuck here in this compartment the whole time? I mean, I know we have to do some small things around the empire, but I just thought-“
“That it’d be more exciting?” Sir Finguine asked, and Craeft nodded. “The life of a squire, and even a knight, isn’t’ as glorious as you think, even if it pays well. For every one mission where we go wipe out the Lusus or take down a corrupt noble, there’s ten where we just guard things or do wall duty. Well, unless we head west to No Man’s Land, but you’re certainly not ready for that.” The man shrugged. “Still, it’s an honorable job, and someone has to do it. Besides, I think you’re looking at it the wrong way.”
Craeft wondered if there even was a right way, his hopes starting to go straight down the drain.
“Just look at it as…as a way to move your career forward. Every squire and knight had to do these jobs, so just think of it as an easy way to look good when promotions start coming around.” Sir Finguine said.
“Okay.” Craeft said, though privately he wondered how many of these he would have to do before he got promoted.
“Good. Now, sit tight while I go talk to Master Berwyn on my talker.” He pulled a small rectangular device from his pocket before walking out and leaving the two alone in the compartment.
An hour rode by and he hadn’t returned, the train started to depart from the station. It let out a loud ‘toot’ from its horn as the engines roared to life and the large mechanical beast began to chug along.
“What a wonderful first mission.” Craeft mumbled to himself as the train left the station.
Chapter Three
The sound of the mechanical beast filled the cabin, the train trudging along the tracks towards its destination. It made a dull noise fill the compartment, though Craeft had long since ignored it in favor of what was in front of him.
A look of concentration was on his face, eyebrows scrunched as his hand moved. His brows were furrowed as he tossed the dice that had been in his hand onto the table in front of him. They tumbled for a bit, before they sat still. “Seven.” Craeft said. There was a board on the table separating the two, a large thing filled with tiles and small paintings of beasts surrounding it filling the board. The piece he had chosen, a small knight about an inch tall, stepped forward gallantly. He landed on a space, and a small scroll made to resemble parchment appeared above the board. “Stepped on the tail of a Fire lizard. Get sent back three spaces back.”
Craeft sighed as his piece burst into little blue flames before rolling on the ground in an exaggerated motion. They weren’t real flames by any stretch, but charms could perform many wonders, and the runes on the board helped keep the magic stuck inside the board game. The piece finally put the false flames out, after having rolled two spaces back.
“You told me you were good at this game.” Veliane said. Her voice was cold, but he could hear a hint of amusement in her tone, covered up by the frost attitude. “Clearly, I am far better at Trials and Tribulations than you are.”
“Just a bit of first-time luck.” Craeft grumbled out. He had taken out the old board game to help pass the time on the trip. The Trials and Tribulations board game was a present his mother had bought him when she had a bit of extra money to scrounge up around Remembrance Day near the end of the year. He had been a little knight obsessed child and adored the gift. “But you’re on the bridge part now. Plenty of spaces to mess up.”
He had seen Veliane’s eye light up in interest as he described the rules to her, and thought that she’d be easy pickings regarding the game. So far, it hadn’t been the case, but Craeft was hoping that perhaps Miion would grant him a bit of luck this game.
“Hmph. As if I would do that.” Veliane said as she grabbed the dice and shook her hand. The twin die rattled in her palm before she tossed them onto the table. She hissed as she saw the results. “Serpent eyes.” Another scroll appeared above the board. “You have fallen off the bridge. Return to the Sanctum.”
She glowered as her piece, a female sailor, plopped off the bridge square and trudged on down to the Sanctum near the middle of the board. “This is rigged.” Veliane frowned as she watched her piece hop onto the sanctum square, her uniform clinging to the pieces skin as if it were actually wet.
“What was that you said? You were better at it than me?” Craeft had a big grin on his face at the look she sent back his way, the normally stoic girl looking at him with annoyance in her violet eyes.
“Be quiet.” She mumbled back as Craeft picked up the dice.
With another roll, the shiny white cubes landed on the board. “Two fours. Doubles.” Craeft said. “Means I get to go twice.” His piece slowly walked forward before reaching the end, conjured confetti popping up out of thin air as he won. The knight piece jumped for joy, before going still and falling over, the magic animating it cutting itself off. “Looks like I win.”
“Eh, it was just a board game anyway.” Veliane said. Craeft widened his eyes at her words, not believing what
she had just said. Trials and Tribulations was not just a board game, it was THE board game. Or at least, it was his favorite one. “Now if it had been Serpents, it would have been a completely different story.”
“I suppose.” Craeft said. She didn’t seem interested in playing another game of it, so he folded up the board and put both it and the pieces back into his suitcase. “It was pretty fun at the very least.”
“Good way to pass the time too. I wish I had thought to bring some games from back home but…” She sighed. “I had far bigger things on my mind then playing games.”
“Like what?” Craeft asked. “I know everyone has their reasons for going to the Ascean Knight Academy. I’m trying to prove myself as more than…well…” He sighed. He knew that he might drive her away if he told her, but it would come out eventually. Better to do it now, then later. “A bastard.”
“Ok.” Veliane said.
“Wait…that’s it?” Craeft asked. He had grown used to rejection so often that someone simply saying it was okay was…well, unheard of.
“I had to admit, I didn’t realize it at first. Blonde hair is decently common in Ascea, and green eyes are too. It was the combination of all your features that gave it away.” Veliane said. “You’ve got the same hair color and eye color that your cousin has, and the height was what really did it. Yet you didn’t look rich, or even act all that well as a noble. There were a few mannerisms here and there, but they looked like they had been hastily taught, not like the years of learning that the noble children deal with.”
“Was it really that easy to tell?” Craeft asked.
“From someone who dealt with them a lot when they spoke with my father…yeah.” Veliane said. She tugged at the pink cloth around her neck when she mentioned her father, running her fingers over it lovingly. It seemed precious to her, her fingers gently running through it. “Also, Cenric made sure to let everyone know. He’s very loud, that one.”
“Of course he did.” Craeft mumbled out, bitterness tinging his tone. His cousin always had to ruin everything. “So…you don’t think less of me for it?” His voice was meek, not portraying the usual false confidence he displayed.
“As long as you don’t get me killed, we’ll be fine.” She replied, and Craeft felt like a weight had been lifted off his chest. “I’d prefer to actually live through my enlistment.”
“You won’t need to worry about that.” A small smile grew across his face.
“We’ll see. Now, back to what you were saying about why you joined, I really can’t see glory being the only reason. Glory is nice and all, but our job isn’t exactly the safest.” Veliane said, tilting her head slightly, an eyebrow raised in a questioning glance, practically demanding he answer her.
“Well, the money didn’t quite hurt either.” Craeft said. “Didn’t have much growing up, and I was pretty good at fighting, so I figured I might as well get paid for fighting. Plus, I saw this knight slay a Lusus when I was really little, and I just thought it was so cool. He was admired for his bravery and I wanted to be just like that, admired by everyone, to have all that glory…” He sighed wistfully. “Wasn’t going to turn down a free education either. Master Riona recommended me to the academy, and so I grabbed the opportunity with both hands.”
“Knight Master Riona? The one who taught us in our charms classes?” Veliane asked, referring to the courses they had taken for the six months they had been in the Ascean Knight Academy. She arched in eyebrow in astonishment. “The really strict one?”
“The one and only.” Craeft replied. It was a small fact that he was very proud of. He may not have been legitimate, and may not have been wealthy or politically powerful, but he did have magic, and plenty of it.
“You must’ve really impressed her.” Veliane’s tone was the same as usual, but her wide eyes showed her surprise.
“Enough about me. What about you? How did you get into the Academy?” Craeft asked. She didn’t speak for a moment, seeming to mull over whether to tell him or not. It seemed that her relent to speak reached an end after a few seconds.
“You ever heard of the Tishan Trading Company?” She asked, and Craeft shook his head. “Well, you probably won’t ever hear anything about them because my idiot brother,” She ground out through clenched teeth. “decided to mess with our contracts and take a few golden crowns for himself. Needless to say, once the authorities got wind of it, our trading contracts were gone, along with our trading license."
“That’s…that’s pretty bad.” Craeft said, a wince on his face. He couldn’t say much more than that, since he knew that the trading companies and merchants relied on those contracts for their source of income. Getting them was difficult enough, though it could be made easier if it was a more personal affair like the one his mother had with a young woman who delivered her runes to other communities in Fleabar. But getting one taken away by the government…that was a terrible prospect in itself. “I may not be the brightest flame in the lantern, but I’m guessing you joined up with the knights to help get your families trading license back?”
“Of course.” She replied. “The knights have been shorthanded ever since the Recusant War fifty years ago, and even now they’re still recovering.” She shrugged. “In exchange for joining, they restored my father’s trading license.” She ran a hand through her hair, letting out a small sigh. “I’m just thankful they let me in to be honest. If it had been before The Rebellion of The Five Houses, I would have had to be eighteen to join and more skilled, but they’re still trying to fill the ranks so they aren’t too picky about who joins. As long as they’re healthy enough to fight, that’s all that matters.”
“I wouldn’t say that. There’s a lot of honor and glory in the knighthood, even if we’re stuck doing jobs like this for a while. The empire wouldn’t have lasted this long without them nor would we have been able to expand westward and to the frontiers with all those vile Lusus out and about.” Craeft said, his fists clenched underneath the table at the way she talked about the knighthood. He had seen it as a great honor to attend the Ascean Knight Academy, not a burden like she seemed to think. But the way she said it, made it seem less like he had been chosen by Master Riona for his potential as a knight and more like cannon fodder to be used and disposed of at a moment’s notice.
Granted, Craeft would admit she was partially right. The Rebellion of The Five Houses had scarred the Ascean Empire, nearly bringing it to its knees from internal fighting. The civil war had lasted five years, but in those five years, the traitors known as the Recusants had run rampant as they spread terror for the goals of their demented leader, Bogdan.
“True. They would’ve fallen to the Lusus long ago, but that doesn’t excuse the lack of quality in some of the initiates.” Veliane said.
“The quality of your comrades is not your concern, that is my since it is my duty to train you both. What should matter is your own quality.” Craeft nearly jumped as he heard the voice of Sir Finguine, the man walking through the door as if he didn’t interrupt their conversation at all. Veliane looked no better, her violet orbs widened in surprise. The knight seemed to notice their surprise as he spoke again. “Oh, sorry to interrupt. May I come in?”
“Would you have stayed out there if we said no?” Veliane asked.
“No, not really.” Sir Finguine said. He stretched his arms above his head, his back cracking a few times loudly as he stretched. “Ah, that’s the spot. Now,” The knight plopped next to Craeft, the teen sliding to the side slightly as personal space seemed to be a foreign concept to the man. “How are my two squires doing?”
“We were just talking.” Craeft replied. “Not much else to do while we wait. Well, besides play some Trials and Tribulations, but she didn’t want to play anymore, so I packed it up.”
“Not much to do? You mean you don’t enjoy seeing all the greenery outside, getting to see those rolling hills and feel the thrill of seeing new places?” Sir Finguine asked. “I remember when I was your age, even missions li
ke these were fun for me because it was always something new.”
“…It’s just trees sir.” Craeft tried to be respectful, but the tone was a bit snarkier than he would have liked. “Just lots and lots of trees. Really pretty ones, nice and green, but that’s it. And a few hills. And the occasional animals. We spotted some Buphelants earlier eating some fruit off the trees with their trunks. Kinda cute with their brown fur and all, but not that exciting.”
Sir Finguine let out a soft chuckle at their replies. “Yes, well, the wilderness isn’t exactly the most exciting place. Too many nasty creatures and possible Lusus in there, at least until the hunters get paid by the empire to make it safe for human habitation. It’s why most of the population is either in the big cities, with only a fraction settling in small towns and on the frontiers. A bit of a throwback to the city-states hundreds of years ago.”
Craeft knew what the man was talking about. It was something that had been ground into his head during his earlier school days in elementary and even more recently in the academy. The empire had once been scattered, more of a few city-states with small armies of their own to fend off invaders and Lusus, till one king who was more powerful than the rest declared himself emperor. He started conquering other city-states, and one thing led to another.
After fifty years, all of them had been conquered and the Ascean Empire had been born, ruled by the emperor and his nobles, those rulers who had joined and had been rewarded accordingly for their loyalty.
His own estranged family was one of them, ruling one of the cities to the north where the snow ran deep and the ice never seemed to melt.
“Though, there are the more adventurous sorts. Those who disagreed and left for the other continents, or settled on islands thinking that the wildlife and Lusus wouldn’t be any worse, or had religious disputes.” Sir Finguine shook his head. “And they still deal with the same problems we have to deal with.” His eyes wandered towards Veliane. “Though yours are of a fishier variety.”
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