Arch-mage Jennings waved his hand over the impromptu hologram, adding ‘Marriage to Heleema’ under the column labeled ‘Offers’. He looked over the board, frowning at the hodgepodge of ideas. The problem was, he wasn’t sure what the little shit actually wanted. Would they be dealing with Nero, or his proxy? Why won’t Nero answer his pings?
“Let’s do our best to save that as a last resort,” complained the city-lord.
Jennings turned to look at the full conference room tables. Their little emergency-session of the leadership council was full of nobles and aids who all had their own agendas. Sighing, he wondered who in the room actually cared if Dorchester still existed in six months.
General Branson, along with aids, was invested in Dorchester’s future. He and his men had been working hard to prepare for the density shift.
Next to them was the city-lord and her group. Her aide, Ms. Chandler, looked haggard and resigned to whatever fate had in store for them. Meanwhile, her remaining consorts, Dustin Mosgrave and Francis Howard, were more interested in keeping House Cosgrave’s losses to the minimum. They actually seemed to believe there was a way to save Deidre Cosgrave, and adamantly believed killing Derek would be enough to placate House Walker. Luckily, City-Lord Heleema Cosgrave was smart enough to know that she couldn’t avoid a reckoning.
As far as Jennings could tell, three of the remaining council lords didn’t seem worried in the least. For them, this was nothing more than an opportunity to bleed House Cosgrave, and move up the ladder of power. After all, Lords Newling, York, and Voltan could all evacuate their houses in the event of an evacuation. They wouldn’t be the ones paying with their lives, that honor would be reserved for the commoners.
Next was Lord Bennings. Who, as the director of the Tower of Law, was more interested in performing her duties than saving lives.
The last council lord was Lord Peyton. The man looked disgruntled, but hadn’t said much. Jennings couldn’t figure out what had the man so concerned. Was it the situation Dorchester was facing, or was it something else?
With a firm voice, Jennings said, “I think we’ve done all we can to prepare. Until we hear from House Walker, this is all just theory-crafting. Our strategy will have to adapt to whoever is actually leading the negotiations. Regardless of whether it’s his proxy or Lord Walker himself, hopefully we can convince them to be reasonable. But, if possible, we should try to isolate Lord Walker. He’ll most likely be easier to convince.”
Scoffing, Lord Newling muttered, “Would any of us be ‘reasonable’ in his position?”
Lord York responded, “My vote remains with Lord Bennings’ proposal. We should follow the law, even if it results in the abandonment of the city. We can always return and rebuild. Worst case scenario, we lose half of our assets. With the support of the crown, we can rebuild under new management. After all, House Cosgrave should suffer the consequences of their actions.”
Bristling in her seat, City-Lord Cosgrave replied, “I shall remind you once again that it is not that simple. My idiotic children do not represent my house. And we have no intention of ignoring the law. The goal of this council should be to find a way to ensure Dorchester’s survival while ensuring that justice is served.”
Arch-mage Jennings cut off any rebuttals by saying, “Well said, City-Lord. Now, I’ve been watching Nero and he has just dropped off the assassin with a representative from Gate 14’s Tower of Law. When he manages to extricate himself from his companions, I’ll go and collect him. Our goal must be to inform him of the larger picture. I’m sure when he understands what’s at stake, he’ll be amenable to a compromise.”
General Branson’s strong voice rang out, “And I say again, that is a mistake. He’s going to eat you all alive if you bring him here against his will. That young man is petty, selfish, and couldn’t care less about your ‘larger picture’. He thinks like a warrior, not a politician. Until proven otherwise, everyone is his enemy. For heaven’s sake man, he’s been ignoring your pings ever since he entered the city. That should tell you everything you need to know. You should be doing everything you can to include Mrs. Salvatore-Verena in the negotiations. She is the only one who could restrain him. If you don’t, you’ll end up having to give him the city. He’ll demand it just to spite you. And, even worse, he’ll make it sound like he’s only accepting the city because he’s ‘worried about the common man’.”
Lord York’s mocking voice answered the general. “Your input is appreciated. However, considering that it was your army which allowed this to happen, perhaps we shouldn’t rely on your ‘tactical’ analysis.”
General Branson glared at Lord York, but didn’t otherwise react to the provocation.
Over the next hour, they argued. No one’s opinions changed, and there were no decisions were made. Jennings’ efforts were in vain, and the conversation went around and around in circles, accomplishing nothing.
But eventually, the situation outside the council chambers evolved, and Jennings anticipated a possible opportunity presenting itself. While he hadn’t had a chance to catch Nero alone, as the young man had been surrounded by mercenaries, Jennings was pleased to see Nero finally arriving at the newly renamed Verena estate. Now, all he had to do was wait, and soon he should be able to grab Nero without anyone knowing.
While the room was filled with the sounds of competing agendas, he smiled in anticipation. ‘The boy likes me. I’m sure the general is just being overly pessimistic,’ he thought.
-----
After dropping Mike off at the tower of law, Nero and his companions were brought into a ‘testimonial’ room. Apparently, in order to make an official statement, citizens had to provide the relevant memory engram.
Nero watched as Nick walked up to a large stone pillar with a 2ft wide crystal embedded in the middle. He could see runes etched along thin strips of metal crisscrossing over the slightly glowing crystal. It was officially the most ‘fantasy’ thing he had seen since arriving in this world.
Glancing at his group, they all seemed perfectly fine with the idea of someone recording their memories. Not wanting to make a fuss, he kept his reservations to himself.
Nick stood in front of the pillar, and Nero watched as the large crystal lit up a light blue. After a few seconds, Nick turned around and rejoined the group. Cathleen stepped up next, and the scene repeated itself.
Leaning over, Nero quietly asked Nick, “OK. So how does this work? How do I do this?”
Nick looked down at Nero with a look of confusion. “It’s just like the link. Just connect with the inducer, then provide the memory. Don’t overthink it.”
Shooting Nick a look of annoyance, he walked up to the pillar, which was apparently called an ‘inducer’, and tried to reach out to it.
Nero felt the connection establish, and he could feel his focus improve drastically. It was an odd feeling, like he was looking into a mental mirror. He could play whatever memory he wanted on the mirror, while keeping his perception of current events totally separate. While it should have been extremely disorienting, it just… wasn’t. He had no trouble recalling the assassination attempt.
He easily isolated the memory, and watched the events play out from his perspective. It was like his sensory inputs were being isolated and displayed, while his perspective and thoughts were stripped from the memory. But as interesting as he found the experience, he decided it was better not to dawdle.
Once he had the memory chosen, he tried to figure out where the ‘record’ button was. However, the moment the thought appeared, he felt the memory being copied. It was like a duplicate was appearing right next to his mental projection. It only took a few seconds. He couldn’t believe how easy it was.
After completing his task, Nero dropped the connection, and then took a step back. He stared at the inducer with a complicated look on his face, as if he weren’t entirely sure how to feel about what just happened.
Nick’s voice broke his concentration. “You figure it out?” he asked.
Suppressing the urge to say something rude, Nero returned to the group and replied, “Yeah. No problem.”
Rose went next. As she walked up to the inducer, she looked over at the technician standing off to the side. “Just so you know, I’m going to include everything that happened. But be aware, I didn’t see much,” she said.
The technician didn’t seem to care. After briefly looking up from their workstation, they offered Rose a polite nod of acknowledgment, then returned to the holograms they were staring at.
She dropped off her memory then returned to the group. Everyone turned to sergeant Wesker, who was standing there with his arms crossed and a frown on his face. Seconds passed, as he blatantly ignored everyone around him.
Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
Lawbringer Mavis, who had escorted them here, took a step closer to him. With a frown on her face, she said, “Sergeant, please provide your testimony.”
Turning to look at the much smaller lawbrigner, he glared down at her and replied, “Until my link is returned, and I’m able to make contact with army command, I refuse to participate.” After saying his piece, he returned to staring blankly at the walls, while avoiding eye contact with anyone.
Nero shared a glance with the lawbringer, and she asked with some accusation in her tone, “You took his link?”
Shrugging, he replied, “I didn’t want anyone knowing we were here. The last thing we needed was an information leak. Now that we’re safe in the Tower of Law, I have no problem returning everyone’s links. Here is Mike’s link and what he had on him.”
Between Nero and Nick, they returned everyone’s links, and then turned Mike’s effects over to Lawbringer Mavis. The only one who seemed to think the moment was in any way important was Sergeant Wesker, who immediately used his link to report in.
Nero smiled at the sergeant’s actions, but frowned at the look of hesitation on Rose’s face. ‘She must not know what to do in this situation,’ he thought.
Taking a few steps closer, he whispered to her, “Hey, don’t worry about it. You should go with the sergeant. The next steps aren’t going to have anything to do with you. Feel free to report in, and tell them whatever you want. I’m sure I’ll be seeing the general soon anyway.”
Seeing her thinking through what to say, he didn’t give her a chance to respond. Turning away quickly, he walked back over to the lawbringer and asked, “Did you need anything else from us, or are we free to go?”
Raising an eyebrow in surprise, she asked, “Don’t you want to watch the interrogation? As a noble, you are entitled to be present during the questioning.”
Nero snorted, and replied, “I already know what he’s going to say. I included our interrogation of him with my memory. And keep in mind that any threats I made at the time were purely an intimidation tactic, as I had no intention of ever following through with them. Now if you’ll excuse me, I have to meet with my proxy, and then find a shower.”
Lawbringer Mavis nodded, and said, “Very well, Lord Walker. I’ll be sure to keep your proxy apprised of any developments. Rest assured, the Tower of Law will handle this.”
Smiling up at the serious woman, he reached out to pat her arm in appreciation. “Thank you for your help. I know that this case is in good hands. Let me know if you need anything else.” He then turned to share a look with Nick, and gestured with his head toward the door.
In no time at all, they exited the Gate 14 Tower of Law, and reunited with Natalie and her guards who were waiting for them outside. After having left Rose, Wesker, and Mike inside the tower, Nero, Cathleen and Nick were the only remaining companions.
They grouped up, while Natalie’s guards took up positions surrounding them.
Nero crossed his arms, and said, “All right. So we’ve achieved our primary objective. Mike’s going to point the finger, and all hell is going to break loose. We’re going to be hearing from the people in charge soon enough. Let’s meet up with Vera, and plan our next steps. Remember, if something unexpected happens, don’t do anything until checking in with Vera. We did our part, now we let Vera do hers.”
Receiving nods of agreement from Nick and Cathleen, he turned to Natalie and said, “Can you take us to Vera? And hopefully get us some real food and a shower?”
Natalie gave him a firm nod, then turned to her team and shouted, “Protection detail! Let’s move out.”
Their group marched through the streets, and Nero didn’t even bother to ask where they were going.
After a carriage ride and some more walking, Nero and his companions were finally led into a private teleportation platform located in the transport hub. Annoyed at how large the city was, Nero just wanted to find a couch to collapse on. But when Nero was about to step up onto the platform, he felt Nick tug on his sleeve.
Turning around, Nero asked, “What?”
Nick gave Nero a blank look and asked, “Aren’t you forgetting something?”
Confused, Nero asked, “What the hell are you talking about? I just stand on the platform right?”
Rolling his eyes, Nick pointed at Nero’s satchel and said, “You can’t teleport with essence crystals. They’ll just dissipate into the ether during transport. Hand them over to Natalie. She’ll deliver them to one of Vera’s storage facilities for processing. Do you have any idea how much money you’re carrying around?”
Nero lifted up his satchel, staring at it. The bag had been his constant companion for the past few days. It felt weird to let it go.
Taking it off his shoulder, he handed it to Natalie. Staring her down, he said, “I’ll expect this back.”
Natalie took the bag, while nodding seriously and saying, “I’ll guard it with my life, m’lord.”
Stunned at her overly serious response, he mumbled, “Um… good. Thanks.”
Nick patted Nero on the back, consoling him for his loss while guiding him up onto the platform. Soon enough, they were transported to Nick and Vera’s estate.
Nero looked around at the familiar décor, and sighed in relief. They were finally somewhere safe. Not letting them enjoy the moment, Nick immediately walked off, gesturing for Cathleen and Nero to follow him through the halls.
Over his shoulder, Nick said, “Vera says she’s ready when we are, but I told her we’re going to shower first, and then we can talk while we eat. The kitchen is preparing a feast as we speak.” Nick seemed excited to be having a real meal again.
Nero smiled at the idea of eating a good meal, but couldn’t suppress a feeling of nervousness. He kept looking around, expecting something to jump out at them.
Cathleen’s quiet voice spoke up, “Calm down little lord. We’re back behind the walls. There is no danger here. It’s only nobles, weaklings, and politics that we have to look forward to for the immediate future.”
Nero looked over at her, and saw how unhappy she was about being back. ‘She really hates it here, huh?’ he thought.
Trying to lighten the mood, he said, “Well, I don’t know about you, but I’m looking forward to taking a dump in a place where it’s not necessary for someone to watch me. After what we just went through, I feel as though I know way too much about both of you. And, if it’s all the same to you, I’d prefer us to spend some time recalling how to properly distance ourselves.”
Nick chuckled and said, “I’m looking forward to seeing my wife. It’s only been a few weeks, but I’d forgotten what it was like to not have her around. I didn’t realize how much I’d miss her.”
Cathleen said, “Sure, that all sounds great. But when are we returning to our training?”
Nero and Nick glared at her. Yet, Nero was the first to speak. “I’m not sure if we’re rejoining the elites. We’ll have to see what happens.”
Cathleen’s hard stare froze Nero’s blood. She said, “You’re going to return to training. Whether it’s with the elites, or on our own, you’re not nearly ready to face the world on your own.”
Nick chimed in, “He did save us all. I wouldn’t say he is defenseless.”
Heading off an argument, Nero said, “Cathleen’s right. I have a lot more to learn. I’m just not sure how things are going to play out. Let’s hold off on any long term plans and just focus on what’s happening right now. First we talk to Vera, then we make a plan. I’m sure she has it all figured out.”
Receiving nods, Nero let the matter drop.
Nick led them to individual guest rooms, and then went off to go find his wife.
As Nero closed the door to his room, his eyes scanned every corner. Realizing what he was doing, he closed his eyes and took a few deep breaths. He wasn’t in the wilds anymore. He needed to lighten up. The battles coming up would be with words, and he needed to let his combat instincts adapt to the current environment.
After letting the tension in his shoulders release, he headed off toward the bathroom. He smiled at the prospect of finally having some privacy. Whether it made sense or not, the worst part about being in the wilds was the fact that he was NEVER alone. As the danger was always there, so were his team-mates. The fact that he knew what Nick’s face looked like when he did his business was something he would have to deal with on an emotional level at some point.
Walking into the bathroom, he saw the shower and toilet. For Nero, they were almost glowing and he felt like he heard orchestral music heralding their appearance. With a wide smile, he saw the fluffy towels hanging off the hooks, and the soap dispensers filled with scents that reminded him of all the beauty he had recently been denied. The smell of cleanliness made his heart rate rise with anticipation.
Taking a step forward, the world flashed with gold, and he felt himself hurtle through space. Moments later, he blinked at the change of scenery. Looking around, he saw conference room tables arranged in around a central open area. Well dressed people stared at him with expressions ranging from glares to smiles.
From behind him on his right, he heard a voice, “Nero my boy, I’m sorry to bring you here like this, but we need to talk.”
Nero spun around to see Arch-mage Jennings standing their with a proud smile on his face, holding out a mug of steaming coffee for Nero to take.
Instead of responding, Nero looked around the room. It was a massive conference hall. Wood walls were filled with fancy carvings and crown moldings. There were hanging chandeliers with glowing lights. Beautiful artwork along with tapestries adorned the walls. And the floor had the seal of Dorchester in the middle of the room. It took him only a minute to realize that he had been transported to the keep.
Furious at the realization, he grabbed the cup of coffee, ripping it out of Jennings hand. Glaring at Jennings, he said, “I was just about to have my first private shit in a week, and you had to pull this crap! Just wait until Vera hears about this. You are so screwed.”
Jennings smile withered, and he replied hastily, “Now there’s no reason to be-”
“Save it for your trial, old man,” Nero said bitingly. Looking around, he said, “Now someone better show me to a bathroom, or I’m taking a dump right here. I’ve been in the woods for the past week, so any shyness I might have had has been beaten out of me.”
As the stunned looks of the nobles acted like a balm on his soul, he added, “And I also want pancakes….with butter… and syrup.”
Nero cast the purification spell he always used on the coffee Jennings had just handed him, then marched off to see about finding a bathroom.
As the door to the room slammed shut behind Nero, Jennings turned to look at the gathered nobles. Everyone was still sitting in stunned shock, unused to being talked to like that.
Lamely, he said, “Well, that went about as well as we could have expected. Let’s make sure the pancakes are here by the time he gets back. We want him in a good mood.”