by J. T. Wright
“We are an established team, I’m afraid,” Jace said, clasping his hands. His eyebrows drew together apologetically. “The leadership roles have already been taken. We do have plans to expand. Earlier signatories will be the first considered when sub-leader positions open up. Do you have a quill? Should I borrow one?”
Sub-leaders? An archaic term. Teams nowadays preferred lieutenant. It confirmed rank without any implying inferiority. This Jace was really a piece of work. He hadn’t even asked her what her Class and Level were. Eliora almost blew her careful leading of the man by grabbing the charter to study the terms. She would never sign, but she wanted to find out if what she imagined was as bad as what was written.
“Before they sign,” Kerry gently nudged Eliora away from the counter and took her place, “you should point out how reasonable the escape clause is.”
“Just three coins,” Kerry’s hand slapped down on the charter, preventing Jace from tugging it away. “Three coins, and you can’t be stopped from examining the charter any time you would like. It’s written in bold print on the first page. Members always have access. I will demonstrate that right, now.”
Kerry pushed Jace’s hand away. “Three coins, just like these three. You place them in the circles like this. One, two, three. Then announce your intention to quit. The words don’t matter. You can say what you want. For instance.” Kerry sucked in air until his lungs felt like bursting, and shouted, “I quit, you lying coward. May Infernal Vultures eat your liver, you sheep fornicating bastard!”
“You’ve been practicing that for days, haven’t you?” Felicia hid her face in her hands. “Is that the best you could come up with?”
“Don’t spoil this for me, Felicia!” Kerry lifted a finger in her direction without lowering his voice. He could be heard across the Guild and all eyes turned his way. “I have seen this man cast lustful eyes at cows…”
“Cows and sheep? Why were you at a farm together?”
“…Shut up, Felicia… I’ve watched him… him…damn it. I did practice for days and you ruined it. What kind of friend are you?”
“Are you two done? I hope you don’t regret this, Kerry!” The blood of anger and embarrassment that flooded Jace’s face stole the arrogant elegance he always tried to present.
Jace snatched up the charter with one hand. His sudden motion sent the coins rolling away. His other hand grabbed for the escaping gold pieces. His eyes went wide when Eliora’s nimble fingers plucked them away. “What do you think you are doing? That’s my coin!”
“Is it? What does the charter say?” Eliora began to juggle the three coins as she stepped backward. “If it says pay, then yes, they are yours. But if it only says to put three gold in the circle, then they still belong to Kerry. Easy to clear up, show us the charter.”
“We will need a reliable witness. How about a Guardsman? That one should do.” Eliora ducked behind Trent. “Excuse me, Sir, can you settle a dispute for us?”
Jace plowed into Trent as he chased Eliora. Trent’s feet didn’t move so much as an inch, and Jace fell backward, clutching his bruised shoulder. His bruised ego was what sent his hand towards his sword.
“If that blade leaves the sheath, I'll make you eat it.” It was hard to say what froze Jace in place, the words or the hopeful, cheerful way they were delivered. It sounded like the masked man was offering to do him a favor and was eager for the opportunity, not threatening his health.
“After that, I'll arrest you both for disturbing the peace.” Sergeant Gaffney, off duty but still in uniform, got a good look at Trent as he came over. “Strike that. You, I will throw in lockup for a day.” Gaffney pointed a finger at Trent as a space opened around the quarreling group. That finger shifted to Jace. “You, I will have buried. Doesn’t the Academy teach students to pick your fights these days? This one will eat you for lunch.”
Seeing Jace release his sword, Gaffney nodded. Then, not pleased to be called to work when he was popping in for a bite on his way home, he gave his best no-nonsense frown as he asked, “What’s the problem here? Make it fast!”
“No problem,” Jace choked out as he stuffed the charter into his pouch without folding it. There was no way he could let a town official see it. He had had to bribe a Guild Attendant to have it written up. One look from a Guardsman would see him hauled away to face the Duke’s justice in Al’drossford. “It’s a misunderstanding.”
“Misunderstanding, my foot!” Eliora would have continued, but Felicia grabbed her sleeve to silence her.
“My friend here was just saying that Trent was twice the Swordsman this one will ever be.” Felicia jerked a thumb towards Jace and sent a smile fluttering at Gaffney, “It caused some hard feelings.”
“Keep your arguments to the ring, and keep ‘em bloodless,” Gaffney said gruffly, a knowing light in his eye. He frowned at Eliora. “And you! Guardsmen aren’t at your beck and call for petty disputes.”
With that, Gaffney spun on his heel and stalked away. Jace glowered at the group, then followed stiffly.
“Do you have Quests to turn in?” The line in front of the disapproving Guild Attendant had disappeared with the arrival of a Guard Sergeant. The man’s cloudy face had cleared at the chance to hear some gossip about these events while still handling business.
Trent held his hand up and stepped to the counter. “I do, but… I'll need more space.”
“Come with me, young man!” Waving his hand, the attendant led Trent towards a back room.
Kerry stopped Dreq from following, nearly earning himself a bite, and called out, “We'll take Dreq and hold a table, Trent. Don’t worry! You'd like that, huh pup, getting some food?”
Kerry and Felicia pulled the unhappy Dog and a smoldering Eliora to the common area and found a table near the back. Eliora held her tongue the whole way. No one missed the steam that rolled off her, though. Her anger pushed people from their path, making the walk to the commons much easier than was normal in the Guildhall.
However, once seated, Eliora could not hold it in. She leaned forward and said in a loud whisper, “What was that? Three gold is an outrageous price! It’s practically illegal! And if that is the only illegal clause, I'll eat my cloak! I thought this was a lawful territory.”
“It is,” Felicia said calmly, holding up a hand to beckon the waitress. “The Al'dross are as fair as Nobles get, but Adventurers do not report other Adventurers while standing in the Guildhall. It’s not done.”
“So that’s it? That snake gets away with it?” Eliora fumed, “How is that right?”
“Get away with it? I thought he would.” Kerry stared at Felicia with new-found admiration. “I had planned to spread the word quietly. But you? That was pure brilliance. Did you and Gaffney talk about it beforehand? When did you find the time?”
The waitress arrived. Felicia ordered a round of drinks and requested a menu, waiting for the women to leave earshot before answering, “Thank the Sergeant. I just piled on. I wouldn’t have thought of it myself.”
“I missed something,” Eliora relaxed her clenched fists and tapped at the table. “What did I miss?”
“Jace is proud of his place in the Academy.” Felicia’s lips curled upwards. “Top Warrior every year he's attended. And that sword he was wearing is new. The senior students just got back from a field exercise. I imagine Jace won the blade.”
“He didn’t buy it, that’s for sure.” Kerry cracked his knuckles and muttered, “Not when I was in the Dungeon, unable to fill the communal purse for him.”
“So, when the Sergeant said Trent would eat the arrogant jerk for lunch, and you said Trent was twice the swordsman…” Pride Eliora could understand. Playing off pride was an old tactic of court politics. She did not expect to see such underhanded tricks here. “You talk as if the Sergeant did it intentionally.”
“Gaffney is an old hand. He knows Adventurers,” Kerry said, craning his neck to spot the waitress, who still hadn’t brought their drinks though almost a whole minute had pas
sed. “He knows Jace won’t be able to stomach a taunt like that.”
“Doesn’t that mean we'll have to fight him on his terms, on grounds he picks?” Eliora bit her lower lip? “Is that wise? Wouldn’t reporting him—"
“Not in the Guildhall, not over this. This is personal,” Kerry interrupted, slapping the table as he growled.
Kerry missed the “we” in Eliora’s words, but Felicia did not. Her eyes narrowed at the Assassin casually including herself in the group. She didn’t comment on it. “When Jace arrives, he'll think he’s ready. He will tell this story to his friends and gloss over the fear he felt when Trent threatened him. Holly and Silas will build up his confidence and egg him on. They won’t be subtle.”
“And when they come…” Kerry rapped on the table and spoke like he was trying to convince himself. “If we can, we should try and get Trent to spare them. They’re a bunch of bastards, but they don’t deserve to die.”
Chapter Fifty-One
Kerry’s ominous and doubt-filled comment caused a moment of silence to fall on the table, and while it went on, the waitress deposited their drinks along with a sheet of paper listing the day’s menu. She tossed a bone under the table for Dreq, on the house, and the Dog thanked her with a yip. The silence stretched out as the two-legged party members sipped their drinks and passed the menu around.
Trent was a long time coming, and when he took his seat, the air got heavier. He thought it was his fault though he couldn’t say why. Felicia cast a guilty look Trent’s way, undecided as to whether her earlier words had been a set up for Trent or for Jace. Eliora pursed her lips, and tugged the hood of her cloak, considering how she could take control of a group that seemed to fear their party leader.
Kerry mostly wondered if Trent would hold Jace’s arms while he hit the prick. Did he even need the help? He had more XP saved than he had earned in six months at the Academy. He would be able to reach Level 10 easily once he had a quiet moment to spend the accumulated Experience. It would take him days to allocate all the Free Attribute Points he would get in a way that would not overwhelm him.
That turned his thoughts to a game that was played in the Academy. He lost track of what was going on, only coming out of his fog to order a plate when the waitress returned to collect their orders. Kerry chose that moment to speak. He squinted to draw Felicia’s attention and knocked his knuckles on the table. “Thirty!”
Felicia blinked blankly at first before she caught on to Kerry’s meaning. She returned Kerry’s squint and folded her fingers together on the table. “With or without your weapon? In that armor?”
“With my weapon, of course.” Kerry rolled his eyes. “New, better armor.”
“Standard deployment. Twenty Warriors, five Rogues, Four Mages, and a Healer?” Kerry nodded at the question, leaning back from the table to let the waitress place a bowl of stew in front of him.
Felicia accepted her own plate and gestured at Kerry with her fork, saying, “Defend!” before tucking into her meal.
Watching the rest dig in, Kerry mournfully pushed a hunk of meat around his bowl. He sighed as he continued the game he had started. “First three warriors fall quickly, they don’t expect the chain of my flail to grow.”
“They adapt,” Felicia said around a mouthful of vegetables. “Two Mages cast Firebolt, the third… say, Earthen Spike. Rogues split to get behind you.”
“Firebolts I catch on my shield.” Kerry waved his spoon in the air. “Earthen Spike is a slow Spell; I avoid it. I catch two of the Rogues off-guard with a swing, and in a moment of brilliance, throw a third on the spike. I charge the other two and bash them with my shield.”
“Excuse me,” Eliora tapped her plate with her fork, “what are you talking about?”
“It’s a game,” Felicia covered her lips with a napkin, embarrassed by the chewed vegetables that tried to spill from her mouth. “How many Level 1s can you defeat in an hour. Kerry is currently cheating, and he is still about to be overrun.”
“How am I cheating?” He had taken the opportunity to shovel stew into his mouth and was not at all embarrassed by the gravy that began running down his chin. “You’re confusing cheating with winning!”
“You say Charge and Bash like you have the Skills,” Felicia challenged. “Unless you picked up new Skills when I wasn’t looking, you don’t.”
“Did I say I used a Skill? I don’t remember that. You can hit someone with a shield, and charge without Skills!” Gravy spilled across the table as he defended himself, gesturing with his spoon like it was a club.
“Then the Rogues Dodge your charge and use Backstab.” Felicia dabbed at gravy, which flecked her face. “Warriors close in from behind. The Mages cast Firebolt again.”
“Level 1 Rogues with Backstab, I don’t think so,” Kerry complained. “And you just said they were using Dodge! One Skill per is standard!”
“You can dodge without a Skill,” Felicia mimicked Kerry’s earlier tone. “Consulting the judges on Backstab.” She held up a finger and stared at the ceiling. “Judges say it’s possible, attack is allowed!”
“Judges were bribed,” Kerry muttered, chewing a piece of carrot. “Fine, I use my flail, and lengthening the chain, wrap it around a Rogues leg. I use him to block the Spells before flinging him into the oncoming Warriors!”
“Are you strong enough for that?”
“I will be at Level 10!”
“And your Basic Flail Skill will be the same regardless of your Level!”
Kerry saw the announcement of “Attack failed!” coming long before he finished saying, “My Basic Flail is at Level 3.”
The argument grew from there. Trent and Eliora ate bemused as insults, challenges, and rebuttals flew across the table. Kerry claimed one-hit instant kills, and Felicia swatted them out of the air, restoring downed Level Ones with the sentence, “You’re forgetting the Healer!”
Mage Spells slipped off Kerry’s shield. Felicia removed the protective gear with an axe blow. Kerry tried to throw a Warrior across the field to knock out the Spell Casters. Felicia called for a Strength check and then calmly had the wind blow the Warrior back into Kerry when his numbers didn’t add up.
It soon dissolved into bargaining.
“Ten at most, Kerry, and that with no Healer and one Mage!”
“Okay, I admit, thirty was reaching, but you’ve got to give me twenty. Two per level is fair!”
“It’s fair if you can defeat two opponents your own Level. Can you?”
Kerry tapped his empty bowl with his spoon. “Fifteen then. Ten Warriors, three Rogues, and two Casters.”
“The Rogues trip you after the Mages blind you with Flash Ball. Once you are on the ground they pile on and pummel you.” Felicia was merciless in her assault.
“Oh, come on! It’s a game, Felicia!” Kerry whined, slapping the table. “Why are you making it so hard? Back me up here, Trent, tell her I can beat fifteen!”
Trent had been staring at his empty plate. He looked up at Kerry’s demand for assistance. “You shouldn’t play this game here.”
“See, Trent believes in me… wait, what? Why not?” Kerry fumbled the spoon he thrust at Felicia and nearly dropped it.
“Because you are announcing to the entire bar all of your strengths and weaknesses,” Eliora said in a hushed tone. She hadn’t wanted to point it out herself, but now that the topic had been brought up, she was quick to bring an end to the game.
Eliora’s gaze flickered to Trent, wondering if he had figured out like she had, the purpose of this game. Students competed in Academies. She was impressed that one of those students had come up with a way to get their fellows to spill all their tactics in such an innocuous way.
Admiration fled as Eliora caught sight of Trent’s face. His hood was still up, but he had removed his mask to eat. She had never seen him without the silver covering before. Seeing his plainly Al’rashian features and violet eyes now, she settled back in her chair, words of reproach changing to a gasp.
> Trent tightened up at the sharp inhalation, uncertain of what prompted it. He cast a puzzled look at Eliora before saying, “She’s right.”
Felicia blushed and hunched her shoulders. She had been so caught up in the normalcy of the game she had forgotten where they were. The wordplay that students used to brag during breaks was usually played amongst friends and never in the open. Not since the last team competition, at least. She knew better than to play it in the Guild.
“Maybe she is.” Kerry slouched in his chair. “I could still take fifteen.”
“I’m tired,” Trent announced suddenly. He pushed his chair away from the table and stood up. “I think I'll leave now.”
“Ah.” Eliora shivered and came back from whatever thoughts had sealed her lips. She half stood, saying, “So soon? I was hoping we could chat a bit. Get to know each other.”
“Tomorrow. I have things to do before I can sleep. Things that can’t wait.” Trent eyes pushed the cloaked girl back into her chair. He reached into his pouch and withdrew the pearl which had spilt apart Eliora’s party. “I thought about giving this back to you.”
Trent tossed the pearl into the air, and eyes all around the room watched it go up. Trent snatched it out of the air and tucked it away. “I've decided to keep it. If that’s a problem, there’s no need to get to know one another.”
“It’s not,” Eliora said hurriedly. “A problem, that is. But are you sure you must leave? We have a chance to collaborate. I've been trying to find a trustworthy team to work with. I haven’t had much luck yet.”
“You should talk with them,” Trent gestured at Kerry and Felicia. His eyes focused on the far corner of the room, and he seemed to forget the three seated in front of him.
“We were hoping you would want to keep working together, Trent.” Felicia tried to draw his attention back to the group. “We can go with you to settle your errands and talk afterward.”
“In the morning,” Trent said abruptly. “Or later. We need to split our earnings from the Trial. We can talk then, but I need a few hours alone. You can meet me… Do you remember the red boulder near where they held the Burning, Kerry? I'll be there later this evening.”