Something had gone terribly wrong in Sinco.
Being told to look out for vampires in Sinco was a big warning sign of the state of things. But even without that, there could be no other reason the minor court of Aubria would have otherwise sent Sarina and her squire to the tiny mining city near the coast. Why else would they send a Valkyrie as a messenger? She was meant to be the tip of the spear in any charge, to break through the enemy’s shield and shatter their spirits.
In the city of Aubria, her role was to be the looming hammer overhead. When she met with the underbelly, she was there as a reminder of who was in charge. Because while she wasn’t the most powerful knight, she was a Valkyrie.
And a Valkyrie never stopped until the task was done.
That she was going to Sinco boded poorly.
There had been a flurry of barely disguised panic upon the reception of a report from the city. Sarina hadn’t been given many details, only that there was a parasitic plant that had driven the ferals into a frenzy. But the things that the report said were not the cause for concern, it was the things that weren’t said. Such as the report lacking Lord Thorley’s signature. Such as the lack of reports on the state of Sinco.
Sarina suspected the court had not expected this, in the same way you wouldn’t expect a house you lit on fire to be destroyed by a flash flood.
It was no secret the Aubrian court and Thorley were at odds. Why else would they have put the Darkton whelp in Sinco and then sidelined him? Most likely it had to do with the head of the family’s heir seeing his cousin as a reasonable threat to his position. Unfortunately for Aubria, Thorley had used his position as a supplier of elemental stones to coerce concessions. No one had been happy about that, and Sarina had suspected at the time someone’s head would roll.
And now here she was, having been thrown into this messenger mission with barely any time to prepare for it. The fact that no one had bothered to clarify why she should keep an eye out for vampires was worse, though. The implications as to why she’d received such a warning were staggering to say the least.
Four days trailing behind the messengers. The Neigix had done a damnably good job of dropping their message and rushing away as fast as possible. Sarina and Lyri could reach them if they pushed themselves, but doing so would've left them exhausted and open to a potential ambush. Thus, they'd done the next best thing: slowly catch up.
Now that Sinco was in view, Sarina was trying to figure out exactly what had happened since the last time she’d seen it.
“There are a lot of orcs down there,” Lyri said nervously.
Sarina squinted but didn’t comment. Her eyesight was far worse than the Angel’s when it came to distances. Her focus was elsewhere, mainly, playing the part of spy and messenger at the same time was going to be grating. To make it worse, Lyri hadn’t reached a point where she could protect herself from esoteric forms of mental intrusion. So, there were details she couldn’t be made privy to.
Like how any sighted Orcs were to be assumed allied with Vampires. Sarina would’ve given her left tit for answers about where the information had come from and how trustworthy it might be.
“They’re digging fortifications,” she commented as they approached. Even from this distance, she could spot the trenches scattered in geometric patterns, with rock being laid deep underground. It would’ve looked as if the city were attempting to expand past its walls. But not even half the chimneys had smoke in them, so she doubted that was the case.
“Should we drop our bond-keeper somewhere safe?”
Sarina pondered on that. The human was ultimately trash that was being paid to bond them and keep them from going feral during the trip. He’d behaved during the trip, acting his part of being little more than a sack of flour. “I don’t want to risk it, we need our heads clear,” she ultimately decided. Better to come at this with their full mental acuity than potentially struggling against the feral curse.
If worse came to worst, they could break their bonds and escape.
There was also a risk of ferals, but neither of them had seen so much as a whiff for the past day. The feral rush had been thorough; perhaps the report about the parasitic plant had more heft to it than she’d originally thought. If that was the case, then perhaps the road between Sinco and Aubria would become far safer for the next few years.
The closer they got, the less recognizable the city was.
The fortress in the center of it was gone, replaced by an entirely flat and empty plaza. Similarly, most houses were made out of wood, which was as clear a sign as any that deep devastation had swept across its streets very recently. “The walls are intact,” Sirrana commented with a frown.
Having the city destroyed but the walls still standing was unnerving. The destruction clearly couldn’t have been the ferals. The Orcs, perhaps? If that was the case, then had they unleashed devastation after entering the city through false pretenses… or had they just gotten over it? Neither thought was reassuring.
“Keep an eye out for blood energy,” Sarina instructed as they got closer, dipping their path nearer to the ground. The other option was that the Vampires might have opened the gates for the tribals.
Even if they hadn’t, if there were Vampires in the city, then no doubt they’d be using their powers to keep the population in check. Their rituals were known to be able to push their victims into panic, an effective tool to sow discord and control a city. A tool that left easily identifiable traces that could linger around for months, if you knew what to look for.
Sarina wasn’t certain whether the lack of any such sign was good or not. It raised more questions than it answered, and it didn’t confirm whether there were Vampires running Sinco or not, just that none of them had done anything overt.
“Two humans in the… wow,” Lyri’s eyes widened until it seemed her eyes might pop out. “The beach, look at the beach!”
Sarina spotted two humans near the shore. The area had been cleared out and left empty on purpose. It was an ideal location to land, with enough open space and a potential viable escape towards the sea. The invitation was clear, though the feeling it was a trap was just as strong.
Not that they had many options.
The woman raised far more alarms.
The blue-haired woman was dressed head to toe in purple, imperial purple. There was so much of it! She might as well have decked herself in gold! Sarina forgot herself for a moment, overshooting her arc as she tried to take in the regal figure. For a moment she suspected trickery, and nearly dared to send out a pulse of power to confirm it wasn’t an illusion, never mind that it would’ve been a sign of impending combat to any nearby maiden.
Whatever was going on, they couldn’t just stay aloft gawking at the woman.
Sarina folded her wings and dove first, boots crunching against the sand. Behind her, Lyri landed more carefully, making sure to take an escape-ready position. As strong as a Valkyrie might be, neither of them had any intention of sticking around if things got ugly.
The mission priority was to get back and report to the Aubrian court.
“Who are you?” the Angel asked first, completely breaking any semblance of protocol or propriety.
The woman in the dress laughed, her voice ringing like bell chimes. “A little forward, this one, isn’t she? I am Kiara, Lady of this city.”
“Oh, excuse me… uh…”
Sarina took the reins. “We are knights.” She bowed in a show of minimal courtesy for someone of the Lady’s station. Her focus was on scrutinizing the woman, trying to figure her out. She couldn’t feel any traces of energy from her, so it was hard to believe she was a maiden. “We bring a message from Duke Darkton for his nephew. Is Lord Thorley available?”
This narrative has been purloined without the author's approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.
The question was not for the sake of confirming whether Thorley was dead or not, but for the sake of propriety. If Thorley were alive, he’d be on the beach right now. But Sarina couldn’t start this interaction as if he actually was.
“No, he isn’t. My husband is the current Lord of Sinco.” The Lady made a gesture at the man next to her. “Lord Richard Cross.”
Both maidens only now turned to glance at the human who had been standing in the background. He was a stark contrast to Kiara. His clothes were humble, muted, practical. His expression and posture were neutral. The man’s face revealed nothing, and… Sarina’s nose curled. Was that the smell of urine?
She would’ve doubted Kiara’s claim about the importance of the man if not for the fact that the truth detection pendant hadn’t gone off. It meant that, in all likelihood, this was indeed a trap of some sort. Perhaps they’d taken a hoodlum and proclaimed him Lord of the city just for the sake of this conversation. And if that wasn’t the case… Sarina didn’t much like where this might lead.
“And… what happened to Lord Thorley?” She turned her attention back to the apparent noblewoman. Sarina’s thoughts were turning, trying to figure out what was going on. Blue hair was a clear sign of maiden ancestry, yet the woman had a presence to her that just couldn’t be ignored. The same kind Sarina had seen amongst royals. Was she foreign nobility, then? What was she doing here of all places? How had she reached Sinco without raising a storm in Aubria along the way?
The only possibilities were that she had hid herself… or came here through other means than the one road.
“Sentenced to death, for conspiring with vampires.” Kiara’s response knocked every thought out of Sarina’s head into the sand.
The very first instinct to cross Sarina’s mind was to draw her blade then and there. To kill a noble, even under justifiable circumstances, was a grave sin. Only the King had the authority, and not even then would it be without repercussions. Thorley might not have been an important piece within the Darkton household, but he was a Darkton.
Next to her, Lyri had frozen in place, the squire looking at her leader, waiting for confirmation that this was the time to take action.
With a moment to calm her thoughts, she held back the impulse. Her mission came first; she could not come back empty-handed. Every scrap of information was crucial; this was not her war, not yet.
“That… is a very heavy accusation,” Sarina spoke tentatively. “Was there proof?”
Too many questions were exploding through her. It shouldn’t be possible that Thorley had conspired with vampires. A part of her was certain Aubria would’ve taken measures against such a possibility, but then again, how did they know about vampires being in Sinco?
The male was the one to speak up and answer. “He sold out hunters and knights that weren’t too happy with him locking down the city and keeping all the food. Threw them as a snack to the blood-suckers.” Rick stepped closer to his wife, looking them over. “The Orc tribe was under their control at the time and took them in as slaves. When we conquered the tribe, we asked around. Then we confirmed it with Thorley while in the presence of a truth-detecting artifact.”
Sarina’s pendant didn’t so much as twitch, she kept the grimace inward. This did not look good at all. If there were at least some other confirmed noble in Sinco…
“And… Thorley’s death?”
Rick stepped closer. “I executed him.” His expression hadn’t changed, his tone hadn’t changed; it was an unreadable wall. Black eyes looked upon them as if neither maiden really stood there. “It was painless, just one swing. The city cheered.”
Sarina’s lips drew thin. “Under what authority?” Her tone was cold, her wings tightened behind her, ready to push her forward.
“I’m an otherworlder. The decision was my own, though I’m led to believe the laws of this place put me directly under the king’s authority? I didn’t really get much of a chance to ask.” Rick smiled, a feral show of teeth. “Earl Vittchat told me about how the laws about people like me were mostly inherited from the Northern Empire, but otherwise kept untouched due to how rare otherworlders are.”
The pendant didn’t move.
Sarina’s blood ran cold. She wanted to rage, to flare out, to attack them then and there. She wanted to cut them to ribbons and bathe in their blood as she sent Lyri back to fulfill their mission and inform Aubria. But she couldn’t. She couldn’t because she knew this was exactly what they wanted from her. A messenger attacking the lord of a city was a quick way to start trouble.
It would put Aubria in a very bad spot if it were brought up in the royal court.
There was no other explanation for the tactic. Her eyes shifted between the two humans, and she tried to sense anything nearby. There were no maidens as far as she could tell, which was bad. If they were goading her to attack, and she couldn’t sense any maiden, then it meant whatever protections they had in place outclassed her own capabilities to find them.
Was Kiara a maiden? Was Rick? Was there something lurking nearby, invisible? Sarina’s jaw tightened, her molars complaining from the pressure. Maybe they were both just obvious sacrifices, left entirely helpless for the sake of the true mastermind.
It would've been so much easier if this were a battlefield.
Fortunately, Sarina had learned a few tricks over the years. If your enemy wanted you to attack, all you had to do was… not. “I must apologize.” She forced herself to relax, forced herself to bow, forced herself to swallow her anger. Next to her, Lyri let out a strangled sound of indignation, but one she kept in place. “This was surely a poor introduction. My name is Veronica.”
The tingling from her pendant confirmed the truth-detection still worked. At least that much was still reliable. It would have to work as her shield, no matter how impossible to believe everything else was.
“Hm?”
Kiara’s questioning sound betrayed that she too possessed some form of truth detection. Sarina kept pushing forward, no hope to turn back now. Best to assess the full scope of the situation, minimize collateral, and run back to report. The mission was what mattered. It was not her place to put Aubria in a weakened position.
Which meant she had to pretend to respect their authority.
Her insides roiled at the thought of it.
But it was her duty. “The Darktons seek to reestablish trade, now that the feral rush is over and the road is safe for travel.” Sarina bowed deeper. “We verified its condition during our journey here. It's rough, but serviceable. There are already plans to repair the damage.”
The male considered her for a moment. “Sure, done. We’ll have the mines reopened since we were a bit too busy fighting ferals for a while there.”
She could sense his gaze on the back of her head. Sarina could only hope her adherence to propriety would chafe. Sarina waited for his next move, allowing the silence to serve her as a tool to pressure them.
“Ah, I think Aubria will appreciate the silk,” Kiara spoke with a delighted purr. “Yasir made this delightful dress. No doubt the nobles of the kingdom would want such a beautiful purple. Marvelous, isn't it?”
Sarina’s neck was stiff enough that raising her head was an effort. She looked at the noblewoman and tried not to focus too hard. The dress was indeed stunning, but the silk had been dyed so perfectly, and the woman was so graceful, that she could have worn a silk sack and still made it appear worthy of the king.
“Actually, we prepared a present for your masters.” She clapped twice, glancing at one of the Orcs at the edge of the city.
The warrior reached behind herself, lifted a metal box roughly large enough to fit a torso, and approached unarmed. Sarina stared, waiting for whatever trap might lie therein, her hand against the pommel of her sword. Lyri was no less tense, her wings spread and ready to take off with their bond-holder at the slightest sign of trouble.
Their tension wasn’t respectful by any measure, but it didn't infringe on minimum courtesy. That was as far as Sarina would allow herself to go.
Rick moved closer to them, entirely uncaring that he was now within striking distance. He made a shooing motion at the Orc as she dropped the box, and he opened it to reveal the contents within. “What do you think?”
What Sarina was thinking was that she could cut him down. And that he was this close, this calm, this unflinchingly amused, meant that she should not. It was so blatant and open an invitation to attack that it made every hair on her body stand on edge. Where was the threat? How could he possibly trust he wouldn't come to harm!?
“I can make three times this much every week or so, probably faster if we put some elbow grease into it.” He took a cloth from within the box, a purple sash with a golden symbol embroidered onto it. The human stepped closer, holding it out to her. Holding it out to her while standing so close she could decapitate him without taking a step. “Here, you can wear it if you want.”
She’d sooner cut her own arm off. Instead, she put up an icy grin. “Thank you,” she declared through gritted teeth, snatching the thing from his hand.
There had not been a single lie uttered by the man. Sarina knew that the details of his claims would have been earth-shattering under any other circumstance. The metal box had enough purple silk to leave a common farmer well-off for the remainder of their life. Three times that every week? Even a nobleman’s mouth would water at the idea.
Rick was trying to coax Aubria into not making a move.
Aubria was already deemed the heart of the kingdom when it came to its enchantments. But this? The ability to produce purple dye at ridiculous volumes? It would make their reach stretch far outside the borders, all the way to the Northern Empire! That kind of promise was being used to make the Aubrian court hesitate.
Sarina could see how greed would taint honor, she could even see the sense in the idea. Why wouldn't Aubria strike peace with this upstart monster? Why wouldn't it sell its pride for the chance at having economic power that could span the continent? Why wouldn’t they seek out the otherworlder’s benevolence and find out what other gifts he might be willing to share?
And every day they stalled, arguing over whether or not to make a move, it would be a day where those fortifications outside the city would grow larger. Every moment Sarina stalled, the less able the Darktons would be to react. They needed to bring the news to the court immediately.
“We will make sure to bring this gift to our masters.” The Valkyrie’s proclamation was prompt. Stepping towards the metal box, she gave Lyri a meaningful look.
With a nod, they both took off. They would need to hurry back… and hope that righteousness would trump greed in Aubria’s court.