I spent the night sleeping on the cold hard ground. Delaney had deigned to grace me with a pillow and a comforter to sleep on. Well, it was kind of my fault for asking if she wanted me to sleep with her. I thought those posters meant I had a chance but alas. I woke up the next morning with a start. I looked around, noting the empty bed and note on one of the tables. The handwriting was outstanding but the contents were less so.

“Ryze, I could no longer handle your stupid fucking snoring and have decided to leave early to attend to my duties. If you have any problems or concerns you may ask my mother. Please do not do anything you will regret.”

Delaney of Hightower

“That’s not very nice.” I sniffed. Then I sniffed again. The air smelled of roast meats and spices. A rather welcoming smell that I could get behind. Strapping on my sword, I kicked the door open and strolled through the courtyard. A few elderly men and women stood around the fountain doing morning calisthenics. I wandered over to the kitchen for a bite to eat when a hand firmly grasped my left cheek. I stiffened as a familiar silky, sultry voice whispered into my ear, “looking for something?”

For a moment my mind went blank and I said the first thing that came to mind, “Bacon.”

“W-well then.” Natalia stammered, “there should be some on the table. I’ll take you to the Guildhouse after you’re done.”

“Thanks, let me just make a sandwich. I’ll eat as we go.” I said and started piling bacon, avocado, and eggs onto a piece of toast. I grabbed another piece of toast, squeezed them together, and nodded to her, “lead the way.”

We passed the gate and out into the streets of the upper class. Though there were no walls to separate the rich from the poor in Rosegarden, but the stratification was still incredibly obvious. The Guildhouse would be the separating line in the main market where both the rich and the poor would mingle. The rich to check in on their caravans and business. The poor to check in on their families and friends.

As we walked past the Rose Castle, Natalia turned to me and abruptly asked, “so do you go by Varus, or should I continue to call you Maimer?”

My mind blanked, “I beg your pardon?”

"though I play the part of an airhead in front of my husband, do not take me for one, Ryze. I was the one who signed the peace treaty with your uncle all those years ago. I know a dragon when I see one.” she gave me a patronizing smile.

“Uhhh.” I wasn’t sure what to say.

“So, why are you really here boy? Don’t give me only nonsense about saving peasants. I know that you don’t care about them.”

“But that’s actually why I’m here.” I protested, “just because you’ve met my uncle doesn’t mean you know a thing about me.”

“Mhm.” she made an unbelieving sound, “I assumed you were going to the guild to send a report to your uncle, which is why I followed you. But then I received news that Kaedin’s in the deep south fighting with the legions. Meaning that the letter can’t be for him and that the Dragon isn’t coming for an uninvited party.”

“Look lady, I have no idea what you are talking about. The only reason I’m in your god-forsaken city is for a mission. If you don’t believe me, send a message to Athena.”

“Your cousin?” she scoffed, “of course she would back you up. She’s related to you. I tell you, that girl is more devious than her father.”

That was a claim that I couldn’t argue against. Athena was a slippery girl whose intelligence was only matched by her ability to cause trouble. She had no wish to take up the throne, as that would leave her with more responsibility and less time to make everyone's lives difficult. “fine, but do you really think I’d just come here alone if I had poor intentions?”

"How do I know you're alone?"

"Think about it, I'd need a massive army to take this city. An army that big would gather a lot of attention."

"True."

"Have you heard of a large army approaching recently?"

"No."

"so..." I trailed off, "Is that enough proof?"

She thought about it for several seconds. Then her face brightened visibly, “excellent! It would have been rather difficult to explain to my daughter if I’d had to kill you.”

“What?”

“You see,” she sighed, “my daughter really is quite fond of you. She even has a pin-up of you in her room.”

“You know about that?” I asked, “wait no, don’t change the subject. What do you mean about the killing me part.”

She decidedly ignored me, “it all started around two years ago when she watched your duel against that Tourel fellow. She was absolutely smitten by your skill with a sword.”

“Really?” I asked with surprise. Yeah, she had a photo of me in her room but she also had twelve photos of hot girls in bikinis so I thought that evened it out.

“Why yes,” she nodded gravely, “my husband thought it bordered on an obsession.”

I paled visibly, “I slept in the same room as her.”

She looked me directly in the eyes, “I would not be opposed to a union between our houses.”

“I don’t know abo-”

“However, I heard the inflection in your voice when you talked about the princess. Therefore I will not push for a marriage.”

Not knowing what to say, I kept my mouth shut until we reached the Guildhouse.

Most Guildhouses would be surrounded by markets, mercenary camps, taverns, and brothels. This one was no exception, thousands of people milled up and down the main road. Street vendors yelled at people, grimy, dirty-looking men sharpened weapons and obviously drunk vagabonds slept in the alleyways in between. I looked at the sight with disgust. In Varus, order and law were held to such high esteem that such behavior was unfathomable. It was not uncommon to find people in stockades or doing menial labor for disorderly conduct.

“Quickly now.” Natalia said, “we don’t want many people getting a good look at your face.”

I grunted and slipped inside the large building. At such an early time in the morning, it was mostly empty. A dozen bored guards played cards in the corner of the reception area and they gave me an analytical glance before returning to their game.

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“Ahhh, Natalia. What a coincidence to see you here!” a middle-aged man said, waving to us.

She glanced at him and I heard her suppress a sigh, “Bartholomew, what a surprise.”

He smiled winningly at her, “really?”

“Of course,” she said in a tone that said she really wasn’t surprised at all, “and what might you be doing here this early in the morning?”

“Why I’m just making sure my caravans are all on time.” he said, “you know what the situation’s been like recently with all the raiding.”

I frowned, “raiding?”

Bartholomew’s eyes flicked to me, “My! And who might this dashing young man be?”

“A friend of my daughter’s,” Natalia said with a wave, “he’s on an assignment from the battle school.”

“It’s that time of year already?” he asked, scratching his beard.

“That’s right, and you were saying something about raiders. Please continue, I’d like to gather as much information as I can before we head in.”

“Bandits and the like have been snatching up caravans left and right for the past two or three weeks. A couple of business associates have gone bankrupt ‘cause of them. Hell, I’m on the verge of going into the red myself.” he shook his head, “I’ve upped the guard details around them to a dozen or so but still.”

“Are you sure it’s just raiders?” I asked, this seemed like a much larger problem than simple hillmen or brigands.

He sighed, “We can hope, anything more and a couple of guards won’t be enough.”

I raised a brow, “looks like they already aren’t enough.”

“Yes, I know,” he rubbed his forehead, “but as long as the insurance companies don’t, they’ll keep on paying us for damages.”

“Have you lost any on the way to Pitzer?” I asked, attempting to fish some information out of him.

“I take it that’s where your mission is?” he asked, I nodded and he continued, “Makes sense. To answer your question, no I haven’t. Not because they made it there, only that I don’t dare send my men to the town. Especially after what’s been going on over there.”

“What has been going on over there?” I asked. The man seemed to be as good a source of information as any.

Bartholomew waved a hand, “There’s some demon terrorizing the population. Killed twenty of the militia and their only traited citizen. That’s about all anyone knows.”

“That’s it?” I asked, “Hasn’t the Highlord sent men there yet?” In Varus that would have been the first thing a local lord would have done. In cases of emergencies, they could easily just call upon the local legionary encampment for assistance and the men would be happy to have something to do.

“Nope, mobilizing the army would cost too much, and sending some of the garrison would leave the city vulnerable. It really isn’t worth the cost in my opinion. Who cares if a couple of dozen peasants die in some backwater town?”

I rubbed my forehead, “surprising how that’s what everyone says when they’re not the ones being hunted down.”

“If they can not afford even half-decent protection then they are not worth saving,” he said with the false bravado I knew was common with most merchants.

“Right.” I said dryly, “so I guess your caravans’ aren’t worth saving. Since you know,” I gave a hand-waving gesture, “you can’t afford to give them better protection.”

He opened his mouth to speak but I cut him off, “I think I’ve heard everything I need to. Natalia, I’ll be outside in the market. Just give me a holler when you’re done.”

The smell of piss, cheap beer, and unwashed bodies wafted through the air, and once again I was caught off guard by how backward this city seemed to be. With time to spare, I decided to look around the market for some more cooking supplies.

I passed stands selling everything from dresses to swords, and hard drugs before stopping in front of a stall with cuts of meat laid out on a table. The girl behind it couldn’t have been more than fifteen, short, skinny, with a high-pitched voice. But the rifle-scythe combination that leaned against one wall said that she was a hunter.

“Heya mister!” she called cheerfully, “would you like some fresh venison? It’s fresh from the forest. Shot the deer myself!”

I looked at the cuts of meat, noting the intramuscular fat and bright red color. “Sure why not?”

She beamed at me, silver eyes shining just a little bit brighter, “Terrific, what would you like?”

“How about two pounds of tenderloin and that rack of ribs,” I said pointing at the individual cuts. She nodded and deftly wrapped them in butcher's paper.

“So what’s a girl your age doing as a hunter?” I asked curiously.

“Well you see sir, my name is Ruby of Rose.” She emphasized her last name. I nodded, it was common for orphans to take on the names of the fiefs they lived in. “I’m working as a hunter so that I can afford to go to battle school next year.”

“Oh?” I asked in surprise, “you’ve got a trait?”

“Yep, and training to boot. That’s where most of my money’s gone for the last four years. I’m going to follow in my mother’s footsteps.” She handed me the packaged meat. “That’ll be three bronze chips, sir,” she said and I fished them out of my money bag. From the corner of my eye, I saw one of the mercenaries watching me. Or more likely, watching where I kept my money.

“I guess I’ll see you there next year if all goes well.” I grinned at her. She looked puzzled for a few seconds, thinking over what I had just said. Then she gave me an excited look.

“You’re a student at Leviathan?”

“Yep, first-year student. I’m on a mission right now.” I said and her eyes widened even more.

“That’s sooooo cool!”

I waved a hand, “it’s really nothing, and you should get back to your other customers. I think they’re getting impatient.”

She blushed and zipped over to a woman waving for her attention without another word. Shaking my head I turned around and walked right into one of the mercenaries. He slammed into me with the full force of his armor-clad body. I went down and he snarled an insult and kept walking. I sat up and felt my pockets. Sure enough, my coins were gone.

Leaping to my feet I followed him through the market. Always just a few paces behind at all times until he returned to the alleyway where his friends sat around a table playing cards. They grinned at each other as he threw the purse in front of them. I counted nine men in total, including the thief. All were dressed in cheap metal-studded cloth gambeson, spears resting against a wall, short swords at their hips.

Clearing my throat I walked behind my thief and tapped him on the shoulder. He turned around with a look of irritation that shifted into anger when he saw me.

“Hi.” I smiled at him, “I think you have something that belongs to me.”

The thief turned around and gave his friends a disbelieving look before saying, “get lost bud.”

“I don’t think that’s happening. Let me try again. You have something that I want back.” I placed a hand on the sword at my hip, “and if you don’t return it…”

He grinned at me, “what are you going to do pretty boy? I don’t see any guards around here.”

I looked around in mock surprise, “huh, neither do I.”

The man’s confidence grew and he gave me an up-down, “so now that you understand the situation. Why don’t you hand over that belt and those boots? I could use some new ones myself.”

I shook my head, “I don’t think you understand the situation. There're no guards here, meaning there’s no one to stop me from gutting you like a fish. So I’ll give you one more chance to give me back my money.”

The mercenaries behind him gaffed and looked at each other. The one in front laughed, “you’ve got a lot of balls I’ll give you that. But I think it’s time you fucked off.”

He stepped forwards to shove me, but at the last moment, I sidestepped around him and slammed the hilt of my sword into his kidney, unsheathing its blade. The once blood-red color had shifted to a dull pink. A side effect of not having been used for some time. The thief stumbled and cursed in pain, holding his side. His friends shot out of their chairs and drew their swords.

“I-I’m going to-to make yo- you regret that boy.” he gasped, I rolled my eyes and swept his legs from under him. He hit the ground with an oof and I quickly snatched the purse off the table. Fighting multiple trained men at once was not something I felt like doing. Especially not in a cramped space where I couldn’t open up the distance between me and them.

“Right, I’ll be on my way.” I said, resheathing my sword and straightening out my shirt, “and if any of you follow me, I’ll kill you.”

Ignoring my warning, one of them began tossing spears to his friends. I sighed heavily and took up a fighting stance. Sword held firmly in both hands, eyes scanning the mercenaries, I waited for one of them to make the first move.