The Silver Prince's palace was actually a bit more impressive up close than it was at a distance. While it looked ancient, likely because it was, I could feel the magic emanating from the bricks at this range. It would be atrocious expensive to build the entire structure out of them for anything less than a monarch, and I supposed he had some claim to being a prince after all if his could afford to have this built. It obviously wasn't the same red and yellow scheme as the rest of the city either.

More than anything it reminded me of early-modern redoubts, or other forts designed to absorb cannon fire.

Still, despite the magic, there was grunge on the stone that indicated that the Prince may no longer have as much wealth as his family had once possessed.

I approached ahead of Mary and Karsten, knocking on the door lightly with my staff. The door was a heavy oak thing, coated in iron, and it was a bit louder than I expected when I knocked.

A moment passed and a peephole visor slid open.

“Down here.”

I was greeted by a pair of eyes turning down towards me, just barely peeking past the edge of the hole.

“Er..” the voice from the other side was masculine and gruff. “Ah, what are you here for, small priest.”

“I'm here to see the Chamberlain about licensing, I have a recommendation letter here from Archbishop Ethelred.”

“From the Archbishop? Hold the seal up where I can see it, child.”

I did as he asked, lifting the letter up to the hatch.

“My word… ah, sorry, just a moment. I'll call the Chamberlain.” the metal door clanked open. “Are the couple there your party? Feel free to bring them with you.”

I turned back to where Karsten and Mary were standing a few yards away, and I couldn't keep the smile off my face as I saw they were holding hands. ‘Cute.’ they seemed to be in a conversation with each other, so I spoke up a little bit as I waved them over.

“Hey guys, you can come in too.”

The two snapped towards me at that, and I spotted a trace of a blush on Mary's face as she glanced down towards there hands, but it only lasted a moment before she just pulled Karsten over.

The doorman nodded, before leading us over to the right of the door into a mid-sized room with some nice, if clearly antique, furniture. Had any of us been at all large, I might have worried about damaging it, given how old and fragile it appeared.

After a few moments, the doorman came back down the stairs, an elderly man with a Monacle following him. The elderly chamberlain wore a neat burgundy blazer over a nice if plain, white shirt. His pants were baggy in what seemed to be the current aristocratic style and he brought a small writing board and some paper down with him. What little hair he possessed was represented on his chin in a wispy thin goatee.

“You said something about the arch-” The man seemed to realize we were all in the room and he turned away from the doorman, who stood a ways behind him. “Ah, greetings, I am Rigel, Rigel Durn, if I may have your names?”

I returned the man's smile with one of my own, though the monocle immediately put me on guard. ‘He definitely looks like a bad guy.’ Still, I tried not to immediately leap to conclusions. “My name is Abbot. Nice to meet you”

“Karsten” the Spearman answered, before turning to the older girl. He was probably just going for the bad as silent look, he could kind of pull it off actually, maybe if he got a haircut. Still, I knew better.

“Mary Goldwin, it's good to meet you, Sir Rigel.”

“And you as well, though I am no knight.” the old man nodded, before sitting down on a chair across from the couch my friends had sat on. “Now I believe Johnathan had said something about a letter of introduction from the Archbishop of Brindon?”

I nodded, handing him the letter.

He pulled the wax seal away, breaking it, and rolled the letter out. The eye behind his monocle moved swiftly, reading down the lines.

“Oh my…”

______________________________________

Mary stared balefully down at the contract on the table before her. After about fifteen minutes of watching Abbot and Karsten trying and failing to negotiate she had decided they would all be better off if she did it herself, Karsten for his part was barely literate, and while Abbot seemed to understand what a contract was, his notions of what the laws in Bryndon were were frankly moronic. Half the things he talked about didn't exist and the rest were off in some way. Then again maybe he'd read about what they were a thousand years ago or something. He also seemed a little suspicious of sir Rigel, but that was understandable for contract negotiation.

No, this would be her arena, one of the first things she'd learned as an adventurer was just how important contract law was.

Still, the old man seemed to be enjoying the haggling well enough himself, now that the other two had left the room, and she had to admit the final contract was a fair deal, mostly because she had managed to get him to shave off the extraneous clauses and regulations. Sure she could get the cut they owed the prince lower if she needed too, but fines and violations were where they got you. With this, they would be operating as a free agent while keeping 35% more of their accrued gear.

It was a good deal, and at this point, both of them knew it.

Finally, she decided to break the silence. “Alright. Let me show this to those two. But I'm sure this is acceptable.”

“Very well. You should know that that is as low a rate as I can possibly give you, given a lack of other stipulations.”

“I know.”

She stepped out of the parlor and into the hallway, where it seemed Abbot was busy repeatedly beating her man in some sort of game where they made hand signs at each other.

“Gah, I was sure you'd go rock.”

“That's why I chose scissors. I've got mind power Karsten, mind power.” the child gestured at his head before turning to face her. “Hey Mary, are you done with the contract negotiations?”

“Yes.” She said, handing the child the sheet of thick paper. He took it gingerly before reading over the short lines.

“So just don't break the law in the fort and hand over 25% of our loot at the gate? That's pretty good.” He scratched his tiny chin and she got an image of the angelic face she had first seen him with. The one that had lasted all of ten minutes.

‘If only he'd stop singing and attracting bugs.’

The child handed it off to Karsten, who read it down quietly and nodded, though she felt he probably didn't care much. He was the type who liked fighting more than money anyhow. She was honestly lucky her other party members held so little attachment to coin. Though that might well be changing soon. “Alright, then let's go sign it with Sir Rigel.”

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“That's uh, definitely an interesting way of phrasing things.”

I ignored the judgment coming over my shoulder from Mary, the job offer I was posting on the noticeboard was lined up next to several others, even if mine was a bit different it should still have worked.

“I think it'll be fine Mary, now cmon, let's ask around at the bar about conditions in the city.” Karsten turned to look at me as I rejoined the pair of them. “You coming too, Abbot?”

“No” I shook my head, there were other preparations I needed to make. “I'll be up in our room, I want to work on some stuff to help us out in the city.” It had been too cramped on the boat for me to really assess the maps I had of the old city as well, but those were valuable things and I didn't want to shout out loud that I was carrying what amounted to ancient relics.

While the two of them made their way over to the bar proper, I walked upstairs to our shared room. After making sure the door was securely locked, I popped one of the old vellum scrolls out of its case, laying it out on the wooden floor. It was an alright map, though I could hardly rely on it to have much precision, and unfortunately, the old empire did not seem to have much in the way of city planning, at least for their capital.

‘Darn, and here I was hoping they'd build on a grid.’ Instead, dozens of snake-like alleyways stretched across the terrain, a clear hallmark of an unplanned city. It was a bit overwhelming, but after a few minutes, I had managed to pinpoint most of the locations of interest. We were currently on the outskirts, at a fortress just on the shores of the river. To the south of us and just across the river there was a fairly large temple complex, and further past that was the big market square. Finally, at the center of the city, there was the imperial palace. There were other large buildings scattered about, but those three seemed the most important and easily accessible for someone starting where we were.

‘Well, it's a good enough start at least.’ I opened my journal and sketched down a rough copy of the map, along with an intended route of sorts that would take us to the three locations. I dared not write on the map, the soft vellum was quite fragile from age. Sighing, I returned it to its tube.

“squeek?”

‘ah’ I turned down towards my pocket, Rem, short for Remy, the little rat who had given so much for me at Brindon had poked her head out of my pocket and begun sniffing around. Smiling I rubbed the top not her head, which elicited happy squeaks from the small creature. “You want some food girl?”

The rat cheerfully nodded as I brought my hand over to the cornucopia, scooping a few grains out and feeding them to the small creature, who happily nibbled away at them as I turned to the back of my journal, where I had spent the trip b down drawing.

I glanced at the circle intended to help me channel my light magic more efficiently, it was a basic device, it could be used to store a spell or ward a lock, just a double circle with various iconography that I associated with light in between the lines. The connection that was created through my own beliefs would let me draw on the light more completely through it.

Well, that was how the theory went anyway, it was why most people used channeling implements like my staff with magic circles carved into them, but the staff was a gift from the old oak and I would be wrong to besmirch it that way. This would do for now, and I would need it if I wanted to cast some of my more powerful spells against the undead without exhausting myself too quickly.

Flipping over to the next page revealed another circle of a slightly different type. I had drawn a total of fifteen pages worth on the way down the river, careful to make sure they were as perfect as I could manage. Though I could hardly test them on the boat, which meant I hadn't really settled on a currently suitable design just yet.

I opened the shutters, glancing at the steadily darkening sky. I weighed the risks of testing them out now.

‘The courtyards probably not good for it.’ I glanced down at the people sitting around in groups and talking. ‘I need to focus for the spells they're supposed to help with.’ I glanced out at the gate to the outside of the fort, it was shut but I could probably get through the small door at its base with a simple unlocking spell. ‘That'll work then.’

Grabbing my things, I made for the stairs and down into the inn. ‘Best tell Karsten where I'm going.’ I glanced around towards the bar, but couldn't spot the two of them.

‘I guess they're off on a date then. Well, far be it from me to try to interrupt them. I'll just put up a warding circle when I practice.’

I wandered out into the courtyard, and with a quick spell, the gate door opened fairly easily. I made for the grassy area by the riverside. With the base of my staff, I drew a crude ring about ten feet across in the ground before placing my hands down at its center. “Olnadia” The spell would keep out most things for at least an hour with a repulsive effect, it wasn't a proper barrier since I wasn’t supporting it with anything but it lasted a good long while and give me time to react should something attack.

That done I gently placed Rem down to my side as I pulled out my journal, tearing the first of the circles from my book. I channeled magic through it experimentally and felt the connection established with the power of light. It was different than doing it myself, like looking at it through sunglasses, but I could feel how much more control and efficiency I might be able to pull off this way.

I let my staff down to the side, instead placing my hands on either side of the sheet of paper, preparing to cast one of the more powerful spells I had in my arsenal, against undead at least.

“Jiruanosyfen”

I felt the power surge as I spoke. This was what I thought of as a composite spell, though no such terminology existed to my knowledge, at least for light magic. If cast properly it created an area wherein small motes of light rained down from above, as with the merciful light spell “Jiruana”, however, in addition to their normal healing properties, this included the purifying light spell “Syfogalus” which could normally only be attached to a weapon or perhaps an arrow one wanted to attack with, making them strike with a burning light much like a “Flurm”. Each mote had far less power than a regular casting of it, but the spell was especially effective against undead.

For my part the spell was immediately exhausting, a short burst of lightheadedness coming over me as I cast it. The area around me for perhaps fifty feet became a starscape of flickering lights in the night, illuminating the grass of the riverbank like fireflies. While they would heal most any living creature, they would be like floating landmines to the undead. It might not kill one outright, but it would certainly disrupt the magic that held them together.

The circle, for its part, seemed to do its job well enough, though I noted that the edges of the paper were beginning to smolder slightly, the power of the spell likely a bit much for the medium. Still, the light-headedness passed quickly, clearly showing the circles effectiveness in supporting my magic. I was soon fresh enough to cast again.

‘Alright, let's try the next one then.’

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*thump thump, thump thump*

‘I should have taken a nap.’ Hansen's footsteps kept a steady March as he walked the wall, the crossbow held up on his shoulder at the ready as always as he glanced occasionally into the dark city. The balefires of the undead occasionally moving back and forth deeper in. Their glowing eyes had chilled him when he first signed on as a guard but by now they were painfully dull. He only even bothered shooting them nowadays if they were too close to the walls. They'd just get back up soon enough anyhow, the curse would let anything stay dead in the city past midnight.

He kept his pace for quite a while, despite the soreness of his legs, occasionally picking off a skeleton that strayed a bit too close as was his role, peaking over the battlements for such targets every fifty feet or so.

He smiled as he spotted the river gate in the distance, that meant he was almost back after his circuit. A warm bunk would be his soon enough, the twenty-five mile March around the city was finally coming to an end. As he crossed it however he found himself transfixed by a rather unearthly sight, leaning against the battlements to get a better look he stared gaping mouthed as the field alongside the river stood awash with golden light.

Through the air strange strings of light slithered like snakes, seemingly of their own will, points of light floated there too, and the very soil itself seemed to glow. All seemed to be moving around as if caught in the wind swirling around the center of the great cloud of lights.

“God above.” Hansen made the sign of God on his chest as he watched the priest, and he was obviously a priest, in the light he was illuminated bright as day, brighter maybe, at the center of the great fanfare, a sheet of paper, perhaps a hymn, was held before him, and the shapes changed, some fading as others appeared when he spoke.

Strangely, the sight was calming for Hansen, and he felt himself relax, it was as if he was being held in the very hands of God as he saw the child bring forth light in great clouds.

Occasionally he seemed to create great bursts of light at a distance, the other bank of the Greater Montauk being shortly illuminated in bursts of brilliant golden light.

Hansen stood there and watched for some time, before the child finally seemed to tire of his magic, the lights beginning to dim and disappear.

The child had long since left by the time that he felt his senses return to him, and he gave a quick prayer as he thought about what he had seen.

‘The prince ought to know about this.’ He finally decided. Perhaps the child priest would return to practice his magic again and that would give him proof?

He would be waiting.