Waking up at the crack of dawn wasn’t unusual for Sarbie. The church often asked for her to assist in small projects such as baking bread or just general cleaning. What was strange was waking up in an unfamiliar bed, a boy's bed, no less. None of this felt real. She’d practically collapsed into the bed in a state of fugue. She had never once thought that she might be doing something this crazy, this dumb, and yet here she was. All of this over a phrase. To raise the Iron Castle. If she survived this adventure, then by Kushang, she prayed she at least got to learn WHY that phrase was so important. TaeCol hadn’t told her. He had been very secretive about the entire thing. She went about her routine and joined everyone downstairs.
Food was already served. Sorali, their young maid, was already hard at work earning her keep. Eggs, bacon, and bread were already on the table, as well as several bricks of cheese. “Food might be a bit less interesting once you're well and on the road, so I thought it might be nice to see you all off with a good breakfast,” Sorali said.
Sarbie approached the table cautiously; she wasn’t sure how much of this was really meant for her. She should have to supply her own for sure. “I, uh, didn’t bring any money with me; I can’t pay anyone for this right now,” Sarbie said.
“What in the name of Dahn Daluzi are you talking about, Sarbie? You’re with us; this is yours to partake in as much as anyone else's,” Illaria said.
Sarbie took a seat and grabbed a plate, digging in. It was an excellent breakfast. “So what now?”
“We’re still waiting on our princesses,” Illaria stated.
Naya barged in from outside. “It's not exactly their fault that magic takes so much time to recover. It's just a way of the universe, you know?”
“Bait want dem to get beauty sleep. Make more explosions and throw more lightning that way.”
Alvec followed not far behind Naya. “Believe me, if I knew a way to shortcut the whole full night's rest requirement, I would,” Alvec said before walking up to Sorali and handing her a piece of paper and a coin purse. “Make this happen as soon as you can. There won’t be much cleaning needed here for the foreseeable future. So mostly just feed the cats and make sure to occasionally dust.” Alvec said before joining the table and digging into his own plate of food.
“We’re heading to Ac-Aziza. Do you have any thoughts on it?” Illaria asked.
“A few,” Alvec replied before taking a large bite of a piece of bread. He swallowed and then drank a whole glass of water before responding further. “First. I won’t be taking watch for the first several nights. You’ve asked for many enchantments, Illaria, and I’m delighted to provide them, but with that said, we need them before your rematch with Crowley. Meaning, I’m going to pull twelve hours of enchanting each day to make that happen. Finally, the wagon we secured fits five beds, and there are six of us. Somebody will have to double up... and we all know no one wants to sleep with Bait,” Alvec replied.
“Bait would take offense to dat, but Bait no want to sleep with any of you either. Too clean.”
“I can sleep outside with Echo most nights,” Naya suggested.
“Naya, you can share a bed with me whenever you be needing it,” Illaria said.
“Well, that takes care of that then,” Alvec said. Eventually, Mavec joined them downstairs. By the time the sun had lifted above the horizon, the group was ready to depart. It would be the second time in as many days that she’d left the city walls of Sha-Laial. Her home.
It made her more than a little anxious.
She piled into the wagon and took a seat at the back. Her crossbow was loaded and ready. She hoped she wouldn’t need to use it for some time yet. She wasn’t particularly great with it. It was the favored weapon of her deity, a simple ranged weapon usable by just about anyone. It was common for clerics to be drilled using one such weapon. Indeed, she’d been to the firing range several times, but it was by far the worst part of her training as a cleric.
Alvec, Sarbie, and Mavec were the only three who stayed inside the wagon as it wound down the main artery out of Sha-Laial and east toward the sea. Illaria, Bait, and Naya spent little time in the tent as they traveled. Worse, while busy with his work, neither Alvec nor Rem were good conversationalists. The first few days passed in blissful silence. Once in the first few days, she reached for the crossbow. Only to have Naya laughing as Echo scared away an entire pack of wolves by growing even larger and growling. About a week into traveling, Alvec presented Illaria and the group with several magic items. With that, the nights got a little more interesting.
Alvec was still enchanted during the days, but no longer was he burning the candle at both ends. Instead, she found herself sitting on the opposite end of the bed from him, learning to play many card games. Go fish, Goblin War, and eventually, games like Three Dragon Ante and poker.
“Where did you learn all of these games? I didn’t take you for a gambling sort?” Sarbie asked.
“I feel like I mentioned this before: my mother used to be something of a card shark in Jai-Najan,” Alvec said. “She actually helps fundraise for the church nowadays.”
“That sounds like quite a transition. How did that happen?”
“Dad took a job in town; it was some middle management position, but it put them in contact, and surprise, surprise, they fell in love, got married, had me, and she stepped away from the things she had been involved in.”
“They sound like a bit of an odd couple.”
“Yeah, they get that a lot,” Alvec admitted. “She said it was his dependability and inability to be threatened. Apparently, many people tried to talk him into falsifying cargo records. Dad wouldn’t do it, wouldn’t take their bribes, and didn’t tolerate any threats. Accurate accounting means that the Gold Banner doesn’t get sent to rectify tax errors.”
Stolen novel; please report.
“So why did you get into magic, Alvec? And why have I only ever heard TaeCol refer to you by your last name?” she asked.
“The first one I’ll give you for free, but you’ll have to beat me in a game to get the second.”
“Deal.”
“Not so fast; I’m putting a secret on the line. What exactly are you offering up?”
“I’m not sure I have anything worth offering up. I don’t have any money to place on this... and uh, not sure what else I could gamble.”
“First rule, nothing you're afraid to lose. So how about I make a suggestion. Tell me something about yourself. Favorite book, why you joined the church, anything you wouldn’t mind telling me.”
“Deal, for a moment there, I was worried you might ask me like strip. That's a thing, right?” she said, her face flushing a bit.
Alvec let out a laugh. “Yes, it's a thing, but I’m not suggesting it. Feels more like something Naya would suggest over a bottle of wine.”
“Good, I definitely don’t want to lose my shirt. Alright, let's go a round, then. Winner takes all,” she said. Alvec dealt the cards, and they played their game. A few minutes later, Alvec laid down a winning hand.
“Damn, ok, give me a moment to think.” What could she tell him that would count as a secret. She wasn’t all that exciting of a person. Not really. Not when compared to the people she was traveling with. Naya is a self-taught swordsman with a dire wolf searching for a cure for her village. Illaria, a strikingly beautiful swordsman who served in the blue banner searching for Cutthroat Crowely. Bait, a goblin searching for his lost clan obsessed with cheese and guns. Mavec is another wizard who worked on clockwork. Then there was Alvec himself, a Tiefling wizard who became an Abjurer. “I feel like this is a copout, but I haven’t lived nearly as exciting of a life as you guys have... so here we go. I love helping bake the first apple pie of the season. It's one of my fondest memories with my mother.”
“That's very sweet, and hush about not living an exciting life. Any one of us will tell you it's not all that great. Want to go again? Same deal.”
“Yeah, deal it,” she said. This time, she noticed something: he cheated. She almost went to call him on it, but he shook his head.
“Well, luck must be on your side, my hands shit,” he assured her before casually laying down what was most certainly a losing hand. She laughed for a moment, sure she’d seen him flick his tail and swap cards. She wasn’t sure how she felt about him choosing to lose. It wouldn’t have been very fair to have just kept crushing her round after round. “So it was why I don’t use my last name, right?”
“Yes, TaeCol used it, but I’ve never heard anyone else use it. They just call you Snaptail.”
“Do you know who the Reynore’s are?” Alvec asked.
“No, not at all.”
“They're somewhat similar to a merchant family. Except they deal in magic. Before the academy system, they were private tutors, court advisors, and prominent figures within the capital and the armies. Even now, many of my cousins hold positions in the Blue and Red Banner armies and other households or academies teaching magic.”
“So why would you hide that?” She asked.
“My grandfather, Iridel, is the one that introduced devil's blood into our veins. We’re a bastard offshoot of the family created by him. My not grandmother, Annel, is a mighty and furious woman. If she heard I was running around using the family name, I’ve no doubt she’d try to interfere in some bad ways in my life. Hell, she tried to keep me out of the academy. She’s the Head of Conjuration at the capitals academy. Her voice carries a lot of weight. The family name carries a lot of weight, and using it would make my life simpler, but not better.”
“Alright, can I ask a follow-up question?” She asked.
“I’ll make a deal instead. We put away the cards, and I get to ask a question for everyone you get: sound good?”
“Only if we reserve the right to skip questions,” she said.
“I like that idea. So what's your question?”
“Why abjuration? It's not exactly a school of magic you see a lot of people specialize in. Evocation tends to be the more evocative one... and aren’t Teiflings known for being able to do some conjuration involving devils, too?”
“Second part first, yes. Tieflings specializing in conjuration can call up stronger creatures using their connection to the hells. That's the problem, though. Relying on my infernal blood would make people even more suspicious of me. Easy power, sure, but it's problematic. Evocation is similar. Sure, I can lash out with fire and lightning, which I do... but if I specialized in it, people might treat me with the same fear. Just another pyromaniac. So, I wanted to lean as far away from those stereotypes as possible. Abjuration is the antithesis of evocation. I protect people and things, and I resist elemental assaults and physical ones better than most anyone would anticipate. Doing so makes me stand out, and it also forces people to confront those preconceived notions. Is that satisfactory of enough answer?”
“Yeah, I get it. It's your turn. What do you want to know?”
“Did you really think I was proposing when I gave you the cloak?” he said, smiling, laughter dancing behind his eyes.
“That's not fair.”
“Sure it is.”
“I didn’t know what to think,” she said, tugging at the edge of it. He hadn’t asked for it back yet. “Look, my family deals in silver pieces, and the church has given me gold before to get stuff for them, but usually, it's less than a hundred pieces. You just casually gifted me an item worth over three thousand gold pieces! There are literally noble women on the other side of the river who haven’t received a gift worth half as much as this cape that you gave me. What was I supposed to think?” she said, flushing bright red.
“Well, it wasn’t; it would be kind of rude to propose to a woman I’ve shared a single dance with and little else.”
“Yeah, well, why did you give this to me?” She asked.
“Because this is all my fault. You shouldn’t be here right now; you shouldn’t have been heading off to the Valley of Steam. Everyone else has a reason to be here; everyone has chosen to be here. You weren’t given that choice.”
Hearing him say it hurt. He was right, of course, but hearing how badly it weighed on him hurt. She moved forward towards him, quickly wrapped her arms around his shoulders, and pulled him into a hug.
“No. I don’t want to hear another word about that. This is the fault of those devils and the iron castle, whatever that means. Just promise you’ll help find that answer. I want to know why I’m out here risking my life.” The wagon came to a stop suddenly, and she jolted further forward into him.
His arms finally wrapped around her and held her steady. They stayed awkwardly for a moment before he let her go, and she swung her legs off the bed.
“Are we good?” Alvec called out as he stood up and used magic to whip his buckler to himself.
“We’re fine, but it's dark enough now that we might want to make camp. Pushing much further through the rice fields will be dangerous for us. A wrong turn would sink our wagon.” Illaria replied.
She scooted a bit further away from him. “Besides, so far, this hasn’t been all that bad. We had those wolves, but Echo ran them off before I saw them.” A few minutes passed in relative silence as a campfire was lit behind the wagon, and the group began cooking food.
“Actually, Alvec, I do be thinking we have a problem. Can you guys get out here?” Illaria shouted as she squinted off into the darkness. Sarbie and Alvec exchanged a quick worried glance before he took the lead out the back of the wagon.