Glade carefully shut the stable door behind him so as not to wake Riya before walking outside. Naturally, she had refused to leave her father’s bonded Gen’Sheld. Not that he could blame her. The past hour had been eye opening enough for the both of them.
A lone figure broke off from a group of guards who were busy loading their prisoners into carts.
“How’s she doing?” Kedryn asked as he trotted up, his voice filled with concern.
“About as good as can be expected,” Glade said softly as he took in the work going on around him. “I’ll tell you all about it later when there are fewer listening ears.”
“Good,” Kedryn breathed, some of his tension melting away. “Is there anything I can do to, you know, help?”
The last was said with such an earnest expression that Glade’s normally stoic demeanor cracked.
Glade closed his eyes and sighed before shaking his head.
“She needs time to process the… news,” he replied, his voice faltering. Managing grief was a delicate art that even the greatest of experts approached with caution. Unfortunately, Riya was stuck with him. A wrung out soldier who was doing his best to navigate through those troubled waters himself. The best he could do for her now was to be a listening ear and provide a safe place for her to rest. In this case, that safe space happened to be next to a massive magical horse that looked to have been painted into reality with moonlight and shadow.
It had been a shock to learn that the Gen’Sheld they had liberated had been bound to Riya’s father, with an emphasis on the word ‘had.’ The horse lord himself had confirmed his rider had fallen. Naturally, there had been even more world shaking revelations that he refused to consider at present, focusing instead on the aftermath of the battle.
“What about you?” he asked, giving Kedryn a sidelong glance. When they had first seen each other the Corporal’s face had been as white as a ghost and looked to be barely standing.
Kedryn grimaced, his hand going to his stomach which burbled loud enough for even Glade to hear.
“Doing well enough, I suppose,” he sighed, glancing nervously at the tallest of the armored men who was walking around the courtyard giving out back slaps and laughing uproariously with guards and townsfolk alike.
“Did I miss anything important?” Glade asked, giving Kedryn a concerned look. As he did, Glade’s gaze was drawn to what he could only describe as a macabre scene. The broad shouldered Bailiff was kneeling over a massive corpse of what had to be the largest and ugliest humanoid he had ever seen, something his aura sense told him was a Grassland Ogre. “Wait, is Cirea butchering the Ogre?” he asked, unable to hide his shock.
“What? Oh, yeah. She’s looking to see if the big guy had a mana shard or not,” Kedryn replied, giving an indifferent shrug as if to say such a thing was part of everyday life. “Apparently, the monsters that are focused on physical attributes like dexterity, endurance, constitution, or, like our Ogre friend there, strength, have the chance to develop a corporeal mana shard as they get higher in level. Though, the other guards told me its not very likely given that the ambient mana in the grasslands is so low.”
“Right…” Glade drew his response out, not entirely comfortable with the idea of butchering something that looked so human.
“My friends!” the tall, armored man approached them both with a wide smile and his arms held out as if he was about to give them a hug.
“Patriarch Aldorn,” Kedryn stammered out right before he was enveloped in a massive bear hug. For reasons beyond Glade’s understanding, the Corporal glanced down at the man’s boots after he was set back down. “I take it everything is well in hand?”
“Yes, indeed it is! The curs have been thwarted and my people are safe thanks to you!” the Patriarch laughed boisterously before turning his way. “And this must be the mysterious Glade that everyone keeps talking about!”
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“A pleasure to make your acquaintance,” Glade said in as formal a tone as he could make, holding out his hand in hopes that the energetic man before them would take the hint.
The Patriarch pulled off his helmet and placed it under the crook of his arm, grabbing Glade’s hand and shaking it vigorously. The man’s hair was matted down with sweat, the hairs of his red beard framing his face like the mane of a lion.
“I hear its thanks to you that all of my beauties have been returned to me!” he laughed, refusing to let go of Glade’s hand as he shouted. “Practically took out the bloody gang yourself, or so I’m told. Even brought back the crown jewel of my stable yards!”
“Patriarch, I appreciate the praise…” Glade began, but was interrupted by their host.
“Call me Holo!” the Patriarch beamed at him, still refusing to let go of his hand. “Holosno Aldorn is the full of it, but I’ve found it to be a mouthful myself.”
“Yes, of course… Holo… As I was saying, I appreciate your attention, but I have to point out that those hunters, Rorick and Jenna, did most of the work. Then there was Toran who organized everyone. Without them, we wouldn’t have found where the bandits were staging from, much less rescue your, um, beauties,” Glade replied, downplaying his own accomplishments. The only reason they had helped at all was because of Riya’s obsession with the horse lord. He still had a small hope they could avoid too much unwanted attention.
For some reason, Glade heard a faint laugh carried to him on the evening breeze. It sounded a lot like Acumen.
“Yes, my people are among the bravest in all of the Free Cities!” the Patriarch bellowed, the guards and townsfolk raising their hands in a cheer. “And they shall be rewarded as such!” The group cheered even louder. “But they all agree that if you, or those who came with you on the Dragonling, hadn’t stepped in when you did, not only would I have lost my beauties to these worms,” he spat, sneering at the bandits who were still alive. “But I would have lost many of my people. For that, I would like to honor you.”
Glade’s jaw clenched. So much for staying under the radar.
“And you!” Holo bellowed, finally releasing Glade’s hand only to slam both hands down onto Kedryn’s shoulders with a mighty smack. “Without your timely magics, my men and I would have fallen for sure!”
“It was our pleasure, Holo,” Kedryn said, staggering under the weight of the patriarch’s hands.
“I never did catch you name, son,” Holo asked.
“Please, call me… Ked,” Kedryn stammered. They had decided to not share his actual name with others for fear of drawing unwanted attention. Not that they were being successful in that area.
“Well met Ked! A much better introduction this go around if I do say so myself! Now, where did that celestial go?” Holo asked, looking around the yard. “She was an elf as well, was she not? She saved the lives of the men I thought lost. Out of all the shocks tonight, having one of the celestials lower herself to come to my aid, well, I’m almost speechless!”
Glade very much doubted that.
“She is spending time with the horse lord,” he replied tentatively, hoping Holo could read between the lines. The last thing Riya needed was an over energetic man barging in while she grieved.
“Ah, yes,” Holo said, his voice quieting to a low roar. “I saw what had transpired between the two. Likely an elf thing that I wouldn’t understand.”
“You are most astute,” Glade said, encouraging that line of thinking. Though if that was all he had to worry about then he would have counted himself lucky. Instead, his mind raced on how best to leverage the patriarch in the hopes that he could get all of them out of this mess. Somehow, he needed to get Riya out of there and back to her homeland, all the while avoiding raising the suspicions of the patriarch that she was a banished elf, that they were trying to use house Aldorn to swindle house Fellu, that their traveling companions were liberated slaves, and that Kedryn was a royal elf in disguise. Then there was the little matter of what to do about the horse lord. He knew that Riya wouldn’t leave without her father’s bonded horse. He doubted they had the funds to buy it outright. Which meant they would likely have to steal him.
The laugh on the wind got louder.
“She will likely desire to stay near the horse lord for the foreseeable future...,” Glade began, but was immediately interrupted by Holo.
“Of course!! I am more than happy to welcome you and yours as welcome guests under my roof!” he declared; his arms held out wide. “I have already sent word to have your men and belongings brought up. Come, enjoy my hospitality. It is the very least I can do for such august personages from another house!”
The patriarch held out his hand for Glade to shake, the men and women again cheering loudly.
There was something about that smile that felt… off. Like it was hiding secrets.
If he had his way, Glade would have politely refused the invitation and promptly left. Not just the manor, but the town of Aldorna itself. But his people were scattered, Riya was grieving, and quite frankly, he was too tired to figure out another way out of the invitation.
When all you can do is move forward, do it with a smile.
“We graciously accept your invitation, Patriarch Holo,” Glade responded, forcing a small smile.
“Wonderful!!” Holo laughed, his own smile widening to show all of his gleaming white teeth. “Now, if it isn’t too bold of me to say, I’d suggest a bath for both you and your elf friend here. If I can smell you over the corpse of that ogre, then you know it’s bad!”