“That is Caravan Master Laes to you, Guard Master Khalam. I want a report, not an opinion on how I run my enterprise. As for who struck first, it could have been one of your men, no? I could see it in that Aigiam fellow’s eyes that they were not here for sport or treasure. They came for blood. But, please, Khalam, continue with your report,” replied Laes, the flash of annoyance in his eyes quickly smothered by his professional countenance.
I saw Khalam bite down a scathing reply, his face red as he finished with his report. “Caravan Master, Abdul is dead, and Catalina took an arrow to the gut. My so… guard Ubaid, will likely never be able to use his sword arm again. Apart from that, we were lucky, as the rest are minor injuries. I never knew we were in the company of great mages. The little one, according to some of my men, unleashed what appeared to be a crystal forest of spears on the enemy, cutting down a great number of them. My newest guard, Gilgamesh here, seems to be one of those goddess-botherers, a High Priest if I am not mistaken, of all things. I saw him myself, fishing his companion from the Shallow River, the big northman, with temple healing,” reported Khalam, his voice steadily growing louder with each sentence.
The names meant almost nothing to me, except for Abdul, if it was the same Abdul, who had been a fellow guard. The only thing I remembered about him was his creepy lazy eye and his wily skill at cards.
“I see… I suspected that Gilgamesh was a man of hidden depths, and that our little lady was important. She commands a magic that I have never seen before, and so powerful for one so young… I am sure Master Gilgamesh has his reasons for keeping it to himself, and I will not pry. It, however, changes nothing. I will fulfill my promise to Hamsa—a trader’s word is his bond. There will always be death on the trail, Khalam. Their deaths are regrettable, but they knew the risk. Khalam, I have heard that they were, in fact, not cut down to a man. We have a prisoner, do we not?” inquired Laes.
“Yes, one of their Temple knights or paladins. A priestess, if I am not mistaken. We either deal with her or give her a horse and our deepest apologies and beg for forgiveness. There will be no explaining this away, and of Justice is not kind to those who harm her servants. Gah, Laes, this is a hell’s cursed mess you have gotten us into. I suspect Gilgamesh is one of their High Priests’ get or something. Who am I to know of the intrigue of foreign lands? I am, after all, just a humble Guard Master,” answered Khalam flatly.
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“Khalam, to hear you whine and whinge is unsightly. You know of my purpose, when you joined me those long years ago,” replied Laes, sucking in through his teeth, and his brow furrowed in worry as he turned to me, “I know you have your reasons, Honored One, but I have to know, can you save the others of my train?” he entreated, barely able to keep the begging desperation from his voice.
Remembering something Elwin said about Temple healing being valuable… I realized I had a lot of leverage now. It was time to squeeze.
“I make no promises, but I will do what I can. But I have conditions…” I replied, looking him in the eye.
“Of course, anything! Err herm, within reason, of course,” blurted out Laes, his equine face shaded with worry.
“The woman warrior-knight, I want her surrendered to me. She has pledged fealty to me and I would take her on as one of my entourage. I will, of course…” I began, only to be interrupted by Khalam.
“That one is dangerous, Gilgamesh of Uruk. That would be like taming a Zlesh viper,” spat Khalam, his gray eyes narrowing in suspicion.
“You said it yourself, did you not? Avaria is not kind to those who harm her servants. I will, of course, take full responsibility for this Cordelia and keep an eye on her myself,” I added, looking at Khalam before focusing back on Laes, “Her gear. I would have returned to her in its entirety. After all, you would not want to have the Church accusing you of robbery,” I suggested in a reasonable tone.
Laes appeared to be thinking, one hand under his chin before he answered, “This is indeed reasonable, if you swear upon your honor. I will hold you responsible for her good conduct while we are blessed with her company. I am assuming there is more?”
Taking a deep breath, I thought over the current situation before I continued with my requests, “Mana potions for healing those in need now. This little skirmish we had has somewhat drained me considerably of my magical energies. Also, the first choice over the spoils, and an extra silver to the wages of my companions and I.”
The caravan master almost looked relieved at hearing my requests before he clasped me at the elbow, “So it is done, Honored Gilgamesh, in deference to your people’s contributions,” he accepted.
I was genuinely surprised that he had accepted all of my conditions so quickly. It had been my plan to slip in an unreasonable request to increase the chance of the other things being accepted. Perhaps I could have squeezed them for more, but I still needed these people to get me to the city of Al-Lazar. Still, what was done was done and, at the end of the day, I am a reasonable man.