* * *
Earlier that day, shortly after lunch and right about the time that Joe’s three apprentices had collapsed from their staff training, Kukurnal found himself coming upon the entrance of the Galgandar Clan, current clan lord of Coushar. The Matriarch awaited him, and he was ushered inside quickly enough. Such a thing was not unusual as Kukurnal, while only a priest, he was more than just a priest, known to often consult several clans and their leadership.
Granted, he was a simple priest and his consultations were rare and unique, only because of his strange scholarly focus. Despite the normality of being called before clans, and even one as weak as a small side branch of the Galgandar clan, something of the request left him on edge. The inner city walls were easy for him to pass, given his position, but the inner clan walls were significantly more guarded, with him waiting a short time before he was admitted as the guards verified his person and his appointment.
The longer wait came when he was led to the waiting room at the foot of the audience hall made for petitioners of the Matriarch or Patriarch of a clan. The room was richly set by most commoner standards, but was quiet simplistic, even threadbare, by most clans’ standards. Most would have not noticed, especially those in this small town, but his experience gave lie to the clan’s current economic position and its position in the Galgandar clan.
As expected, the Matriarch was a fair lady and she did not make him wait long, her seneschal coming to retrieve him after only ten or so minutes. He was led to a side entrance which brought him to the side where the Matriarch sat, the room split down the center separating the Matriarch from any petitioner by several security measures. The petitioner entrance was a grand double door almost three times the height of an average person and gave weight and a sense of awe to any who entered.
The side door was smaller and more intimate, opening directly onto the stage where the Matriarch's seat of power was. He came in, the room still empty as the Matriarch still had not arrived, and he settled into the chair provided him; an overly done table with tea setting with intricate and rich decorations. The table was set to the side of the clan seat so as not to intrude on the Matriarch’s presence or the petitioner’s view of the Matriarch. Still, it was a private meeting that illustrated the Matriarch’s trust of him to meet in the same room without the significance defenses separating the normal petitioner from the clan head.
Kukurnal settled, accepting the tea the Seneschal set before him. Kukurnal glanced up at the seneschal.
“Thank you for the tea,” Kukurnal nodded his head slightly in thanks.
“It is only my duty,” the seneschal responded with a deeper bow of his own.
Kukurnal turned away and released the Seneschal, as was only right considering his position. The seneschal stepped back from the table and settled into a small alcove designed for attentive servants. Kukurnal turned away and settled in to wait, although did note that it was unusual and a sign of the Coushar Galgandar clan branch’s current economic status.
Only a few moments later, Kukurnal stood and offered a deeper bow, bending slightly at the waist while the Matriarch offered a deep nod of her head before she passed the clan seat and settled gracefully in a seat opposite Kukurnal, her movement smooth and controlled; proof of her high attributes. Despite the shocking movement, it was the Matriarch’s choice of sitting intimately as an equal at the table with him that shook him. This is not… a normal visit!
The Matriarch stared straight into Kukurnal’s eyes and he found himself quite uncomfortable with the Matriarch’s intimacy. Her face melted and a friendly smile graced her face and Kukurnal’s discomfort raced straight past worry straight into fear. He hid his own emotions and smiled comfortably.
“How may I help the Matriarch today?”
The Matriarch shook her head and waved her hand away, speaking simply, “Kukurnal. You have no need to fear. I only seek to know if there is a danger for my clan and my city. Or of any… opportunity.”
Kukurnal’s hard earned emotional control vanished and his eyebrows flickered even as his smile froze for a split second before he subtly brought up his teacup to hide his shock and give himself time to respond, “I do not know of any danger. You have heard of danger?”
“No. I have heard of no danger. I have only heard of an incredibly powerful unknown… clansman who seems to be shaking my city with his actions.”
“These actions have concerned you?”
The Matriarch tilted her head to the side, her eyes narrowing in consideration before responding, “The power behind them does.”
Kukurnal nodded his head, sipping the tea again before he continued, “So how can I help you? I am not an incredibly powerful unknown clansman.”
“Do not belittle yourself so.”
Kukurnal smiled and said nothing. The Matriarch waited before sighing and continuing with a shake of her head, “I do not wish to come at you as an enemy nor do I wish any harm to your friend. I am seeking information and you are a priest of Mimir, yes? Please satisfy my thirst for knowledge.”
Kukurnal nodded before waving to the Matriarch, offering her to continue.
She nodded in thanks in reply and began, “Who is he?”
“I truly do not know. I have little I can tell you.”
“You have been with him every night for the past week.”
Kukurnal nodded, unsurprised by the Galgandar’s curiosity as Joe would bring upon himself scrutiny anywhere he could go. “I have.”
“But you know nothing of him?”
“We met only a week or so ago. He… intrigued me and offered a free exchange of ideas. I took him up on his offer and have had such conversation with him every night when he has finished training his apprentices in the dungeon.”
“A priest of Mimir intrigued by an adventurer and clanner and willing to freely exchange information? More!”
Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author.
Kukurnal sighed and shook his head, “I do not know who he is. He is a scholar of some kind, and he is…”
“A scholar! Impossible! He took the goblin king and the goblin dungeon!”
Kukurnal’s eyes shot up at that and he sat forward, “He captured the goblin dungeon? Truly?”
The Matriarch sat with a sigh, “He is polite. He did nothing, leaving it to return to us, but yes. Are his… are you sure they are his apprentices? Are they perhaps his slave combat team?”
“No! The one, Garnedell, might be an unknown, although he does not seem to hide who he is or his capabilities. Garnedell claims to be an adventurer and has been grown by his Master to double digits. The other two are not of any significance either, both children of an independent clothier couple who have recently suffered tragedy, likely the work of an effort to gain them as slaves or to bring the clothier couple to heel. The children were desperately dungeonneering to raise funds to pay off their parent’s debt. They do not…”
“Ah… I heard this. He paid their debt. He also took them as apprentices?”
“I believe so, yes.”
“Then they truly do not have skills for such. This third one, Garnedell, he is not… he could not be a source of strength for this clanner?”
“Possibly, but then he is hiding his strength well. Rumors that I have heard, and the truth I have verified from those rumors, seem to show he is no more than a simple village child taken under his wing and raised as apprentice.”
“Then you are saying a scholar defeated the goblin dungeon alone,” the matriarch sat back with a sigh of shock.
Kukurnal himself felt a shudder of surprise vibrate through his body and he took a deep breath, “He is strong. He is… very strong.”
The Matriarch’s eyes flashed at this and looked back at him, “How do you know he is a scholar? Did you see his status?”
Kukurnal nodded slowly, saying nothing.
“Tell me!”
“He is a scholar.”
“Do not play the fool! Tell me!”
“I saw seven and eight digits,” Kukurnal said quietly, sipping his tea calmly after, not for effect but needing to calm his own heart at the absurdity.
The Matriarch was not so calm, her entire body stiffening rigidly before standing slowly, her Presence roiling even as it washed outward in a wave that almost flattened Kukurnal. Kukurnal’s grunt of pain roused the Matriarch and she quickly reigned in her Presence, breathing quickly before sitting down with quite a bit less grace than previously.
“Seven!”
Kukurnal ignored the Matriarch’s rude lack of apology, but truly did not notice it as his mind was also still on what he’d given voice.
“And eight.”
The Matriarch’s calm façade cracked completely and her fear oozed over her entire face, her calm appearance losing the fight.
“He… he…”
Kukurnal broke in on the Matriarch’s thoughts, “He is a kind man, and a just one. Nor is he easily vindictive or one to seek revenge. It seems to be his motto to defend the weak.”
Her eyes rose at this and she looked at him, calming herself once more, “Explain.”
“I was there when he confronted the usurer that was seeking to enslave the two clothier children. He did not harm the usurer, although he was infuriated by him, and all his actions were truthful and consistent. He was angry at the injustice and was pushing forth for the truth, no more and no less.”
“You have truth claimed this?”
“I was asked to truth claim the event itself.”
The Matriarch seemed to consider carefully, falling into silence as her mind seemed to be considering. Kukurnal said nothing and waited, allowing her time to think. After a few moments, she looked back to him.
“Is he … how willing would he be to … be acquired… or at the least hired.”
Kukurnal thought for a few moments before he shook his head, “He did not retaliate against me at any time, even when I have … noticeably irritated him. He seems… a child, even, willing to show his emotions easily on his face, but despite the lack of control, he does not allow them to come out as action against others, but he seems dedicated to his task, whatever it may be, and was not willing to deviate from that task at any time.”
“Do you know his task?”
“I am uncertain. I do know he has lost someone to dungeon madness, and is on a quest for a cure of such.”
“Dungeon madness! It is futile, how… but… seven digits.”
Kukurnal nodded but did not look at the Matriarch, his eyes staring into the depths of his tea, “When I first learned of it, I thought it folly as well, but when I saw his digits…”
The matriarch nodded, both falling silent in contemplation for a few moments before she began again, “Would he join?”
Kukurnal though for a moment before shaking his head, “I am uncertain, but … I truly believe he is unwilling and has no desire to do so.”
“And… other methods of … persuasion would be poss…”
“No! No… I apologize Matriarch, but no! He has an intelligence and a knowledge that… he has greater training than most cardinals, even patriarchs, I dare say, of Mimir. You would be a fo… It would be quite unwise to seek such a thing.”
The Matriarch shook her head in surprise, “He has more training than cardinals of Mimir?”
“He thinks of himself as average, but I can only believe that his people are scholars and all their clan are trained as such. His training is over twelve years, possibly fifteen, although he did not explain how much more after the initial twelve he received. And this initial twelve is given to all of his clan’s people, without exception. He is knowledgeable to…”
The Matriarch raised her hand, bringing his tirade to an end as she thought carefully, “How many were seven or eight?”
Kukurnal stopped at this, surprised, before closing his eyes and then opening them again, “Almost all. I believe only the last two or three were only a few digits.”
“The last had more than a single digit?”
“All were more than single digits and he had… a hidden one as well.”
The Matriarch sighed at this, unsurprised but nodding silently, “Both his combat, crafting, and knowledge focused digits… they are all… seven or eight?”
Kukurnal nodded, sucking in a breath at this statement, “He will not be easily deceived, nor will he appreciate it if it was done so to him.”
“You are certain of this?”
“You did not see how he … easily overwhelmed the usurer with only words. He did not use his presence once, nor did he intimidate the usurer. It was not until after his loss that the usurer learned of his great strength.”
They again fell silent, thoughts considering the shocking news until they both looked up again at the same time and simply stared at each other before both sighing deeply. A few moments later, the Matriarch interrupted the silence.
“He is a good man?”
“I would vouch for him, yes.”
The Matriarch’s eyebrows climbed into her bangs, “A personal verification?”
“Yes, although he is fiercely protective and loyal, it seems.”
“Ah… yes… the healing of his apprentice.”
“Yes. As I said, a good man.”
“A good man who broke the law!”
Kukurnal stopped at that, thoughts rearranging in his mind before he continued, “I… do not believe he knows he has done so at all.”
This caused the Matriarch’s eyes to flinch in subtle anger, “You defend him?”
“No, I truly do not. He… I believe that he believes he was … disciplining lazy troops who were too selfish to do their duty.”
At this, the Matriarch sat forward in surprise, “My dungeon guards are not lazy!”
“Ha! I did not dare say so, but, some of his ideas on governance, education, ideas, knowledge… they are truly strange and extreme, but… strangely compelling.”
“And you believe his argument on my dungeon guards would be … strangely compelling.”
“This would be an extrapolation on his argument against my temples ‘hoarding of knowledge,’ as he said, but he…”
“He took Mimir and his believers to task for ‘hoarding’ knowledge?!”
Kukurnal laughed, nodding his head, “He did, in the very temple itself.”
“And you remained his friend.”
“As I said, his argument was… very compelling; pointed, but compelling.”
“And you believe you understand why my dungeon guards are lazy?”
Kukurnal nodded, sitting forward excitedly and began speaking, “He spoke of … scaling production. He seems to apply this in many areas; merchants, business, education, knowledge… many things. He would likely argue …”
Kukurnal had long lost his reserve and quickly found himself in the world of thought and debate, excited to speak with the Matriarch, exploring the ideas of Joe McConnell with a true leader of a clan would likely expose them for truth or folly easily, and Kukurnal tenaciously grasped the chance to verify such thoughts. The Matriarch proved to be as avidly interested and the two lost themselves for hours, racing past afternoon and evening and plunging into the night, the Seneschal dutifully refilling tea, bringing snacks and dinner, and finally candles to light the room deep into the night.
* * *