The new bolt hole was similar to the others a bit more room and the furniture seemed to be a bit higher quality but other than that the layout was the same. It was about a half day outside of the next city, Palarin. It was closer to the center of the human kingdom, larger than the last and of course more expensive. We had packed everything we wanted into the ring last night so after a quick meal we headed to the city.
Cutting directly across the woods we hit the road in no time and turned toward the city. The road itself was packed clay, magically hardened to withstand the wagons and avoid ruts. Another sign of the wealth and trade that passed through the area. Walking along the path beside the road I enjoyed the decorative carriages that passed by. The wealthy and elite traveling in luxury passing casually by the heavier merchants wagons. A variety of beasts pulled the different wheeled vehicles as they traveled.
The mundane horses of course but there was some pulled by more exotic magical beasts. A pair of devil lizards on one, another pulled by the long necked colorful birds commonly called trotters. The most surprising was an elaborately decorated carriage pulled by four steel runners, they resembled common deer if you envisioned them made of shining metal. Defensive creatures for the most part but their metal horns could easily kill you. An older dwarf in a heavy wagon pulled by ice rams trudged to a stop ahead of me. The dwarf looked back over his shoulder casually as Badb and I trudged along in silence.
“Aye, if ya’d like a ride hop in.” His voice was deep with a heavy rumble.
“My thanks master dwarf.” I said picking up speed and hopping into the back of the wagon.
“Bah, ain’t no master ere boy. Names Roderick.”
“Syn, my thanks either way.” The cart started moving again as I settled into a nook between two crates.
“Mind da pointy bits if any o’em poke ya let me know.” His laughter carried over the creaking of the cart. “Smith’n takes time an gettin ta town ain’t a priority. Damn umans I’ll buy em no matter when I get thar.”
“I’ll pay attention to them, appreciate the warning.” I laughed back at the grumbling dwarf.
The rest of the morning was spent relaxing in the back of the cart as it rolled down the road. Brief flashes of conversation between me and the dwarf off and on through the day, mostly gossip or stories from the road. Eventually the tree lined road broke as farmers fields opened up in front of them. The city walls rising in the distance, it was impossible to tell how tall they were from here. Tall was all I really needed to know but it did raise the question of why? What possible need did a city this far into the kingdom for walls that tall?
“Aye boyo, at da gates haveta get out er cart, guards won’t let folks ride by without pay’n.” The deep rumble of Roderick’s voice broke through my thoughts.
“Right, appreciate the ride master smith.” The cart slowed with the line I climbed out of the back waving farewell to Roderick before walking to the shorter line for people on foot. The city guards were efficient, the line moved along and it didn’t take long for me to get to the check in.
“Business in Palarin?” The guard asked.
“Visiting and some shopping.” I answered the man plainly.
“Half elf’s are stricted to the north quarter unless you can pay the tax to move freely.” He glared studying my rough travel clothes.
“And where do I pay this tax?” I asked but already felt like I knew the answer. This man was a single shard mage and didn’t like half breeds.
“Right here smart mouth and it’s ten gold.” The guard snapped annoyed with my arrogance.
“Oh?” I asked while casually flaring my magic to about three shards. “Does that include mages?”
“What the hell are you doing Kerick?” A guard captain had just stepped around the corner, sensing my magic flare.
“I ummm I was ummm” I cut him off before he could come up with an excuse.
“He was telling me about the ten gold tax for half elves if I wanted to leave the northern quarter.” The smile on my face was icy cold, and the captain didn’t like it. Thankfully he hated crooked guards more.
“Kerick you’re relieved and I don’t care who your father is!” He snapped harshly. “Report to my office and wait for me, we will deal with this there.”
“You wouldn’t dare!” Kerick snapped back having recovered from his shock. “Over this filthy breed!”
“Over the laws of the city! Now get out of my sight.” The captain snapped and put some
Magical force behind it, inspiring the weaker mage to move.
“You will pay half breed!” Kerick threatened over his shoulder. Once he was out of ear shot the captain looked back to me. “I don’t appreciate the problems mage, you won’t either. His father is a lower noble but he will make trouble for you.”
“Not my concern, if he does I’ll deal with it.” Came my flat cold response.
“Don’t cause trouble in my city.” He warned.
“If I understand you, his father will start it.” The cold tone of my voice must have caught the man off guard.
“I can’t legally stop you from entering but I can tell you if trouble starts his father won’t be blamed.”
“Make no mistake captain, if they come after me you’ll not know there was a problem.” The man didn’t miss my threat and unconsciously took a step back at the naked hostility in it.
“Go!” He snapped after he recovered. “It’s your death stranger.”
I stalked through the gate into the city, feeling completely unwelcome. I caught the guard standing around the corner watching me, evidently having ignored his captain in ordered to deal with me. I didn’t waste a glance on him and walked to a merchent whose wealth showed in his carriage.
“Master merchant, what’s the best inn in this city?” I asked the smiling man before he stepped up to his wagon.
“The Ruby Crane would be the best my lord, follow this road straight to the city center, you can’t miss it.”
“My thanks.” I said before walking down the road toward the city center. The guard tailed me all the way to the inn, lurking from alley to alley. Mentally I asked Badb to track his movement after I went in.
“I’ll let you know where he goes.” He agreed as I walked into the inn.
“Greetings master, how can we be of service?” The man standing behind the counter greeted me as I approached.
“What is the best room you have open for the next week or so?” I asked casually, it amused me to watch the man almost hesitate to answer.
“That would be the penthouse, it is forty gold a night my lord.” He mentioned the price hesitantly.
“Fine, I’ll take it.” The look on his face was fun to watch, especially when I produced four platinum coins to pay for the next ten days. To his credit he recovered quickly enough.
“Yes master! Boy lead this gentlemen to the penthouse.” A small boy of maybe ten or eleven came running up as the bell rang. He was clean and dressed in the livery of the inn and looked at me with his mouth hanging open.
“Boy! Stop gapping at the man and take him to his room.” The man snapped trying to get the boy to move, it worked.
“Yes sir sorry sir please follow me.” He jumped into action and lead me to a platform off to the left of the counter. When I joined him he infused a bit of mana into the controls and the power started to rise. “This is easy to use sir, just a touch of mana and it’s up or down lickity split, no muss no fuss you understand sir.”
“Thanks.” I responded, amazed at the boys ability to string that many words together without taking a breath. He managed to chatter away like that all the way up but his voice faded off as we reached the top floor.
“The entire floor is yours sir, there are four balcony’s, three bedrooms, the study and living area. You’ll find a bell rope in each room that will allow you to order room service at anytime.” This part he said like he was reading off of a card.
“Thank you again.” Handing him a gold as I stepped out of the platform and toward the door.
“Hold you hand on the door for a few seconds and the locks will attune to you sir.” He added the final instruction before he was headed back down. I helf my hand on the door long enough for the magic to attune to me, then pushed inside. The room was as luxurious as advertised, the entry led into an open living room with two comfortable couches. A pleasent fire warmed the room, on a whim I pulled the bell to the left of the door.
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“Yes sir?” A disembodied voice asked.
“Meat and cheese try please with fruit and wine.”
“We will have it up in a few moments.” I could feel the magic that operated the device, a simple voice transmission to the kitchen below.
After that I explored the room, stepping out into the balconies to view the city below. The bedrooms each had a smaller balcony with the main one off the living room. A mental note to Badb told him to return here when he was ready and I would have some food for him. The food arrived soon and I had the waiter place the trays on the main balcony. After setting my own magical wards around the rooms I sat on the balcony enjoying the fresh air. The selection of cheeses was decent, not earthy shattering but about what I expected from the city. After an hour or so Badb returned landing on the table next to the wine I left for him.
“He ran to his daddy.” Badb laughed after he ate a few pieces of meat and had a drink. “He is a minor noble, no one important but with enough power to swagger around amongst the commoners. His father wasn’t thrilled when he heard you were staying here, he’s pretty sure his kid fucked up.”
“So nothing to worry about.” I asked.
“I wouldn’t say that, daddy did dispatch a couple of men to pay you a visit tonight. Evidently he takes his kids troubles personally, that and he hates half elves. Two mages, one has two shards the other just one.”
“Well that should be interesting, can you find daddy again, might want to return the favor.”
“Oh easily.” Badb cackled out his laughter.
We enjoyed the rest of the day lounging on the balcony until the sunset. Once full dark settled around us I dimmed all the lights and waited for the company to arrive. It didn’t take long for them to make their move. Two men stepped out of a shadow, the one looked shakey almost grabbing the others arm to avoid falling.
“Damn it Kimo get it together the boss said this is important.” The taller of the two said.
“You know I hate that shadow step crap.” He hissed back.
“Still the boss said this kid had plenty of coin and we could keep it.” I had heard enough, with a flick of my will I froze the two solid, perfect ice sculptures of the two stood frozen in the shadow of a corner. Now what to do with them, I think returning them to their owner seemed appropriate.
“Badb ready to play guide?” I asked taking the two frozen corpses into my ring.
“Sure this ought to be good.” His amusement was evident.
Not wanting to draw attention with a giant flying raven instead I shifted myself into a shadow and followed him out of the balcony window. We glided through the city on the soft night breeze before landing on a balcony in a more upscale area of town. Slipping under the locked door I entered the house, ignoring the weak wards completely. In ten minutes I knew everything I wanted to about the house, already examining the vault contents. Nothing of interest except for the deed to a small lot of land with a cottage on it. It drew my attention because it was odd, the cottage was located outside of a small town on the border or the wilds. Not sure why it had caught my attention but I didn’t question it, taking the deed with me to the master bedroom.
The room was over decorated like someone trying to show off their wealth. As I slipped into the room I ignored the lavish decor and made for the bed, the man asleep on it snoring heavily. His round body was buried under a heap of blankets sleeping happily. It was time to put an end to that.
Reshaping myself I stood at the foot of his bed and placed the ice figures at the end of the bed. Then I walked up to the bedside, slowly casting a cold spell on the bed than I waited. The chill slowly crept across the man and making him start to shake, finally it woke the man up.
“Why the ….” His voice froze in his mouth as he saw the two statues at the end of the bed.
“I thought I would return them.” I spoke for the first time beside him making him jump in fright.
“What? Who? How?” His shock had him babbling.
“You sent them to educate me correct?” I offered helpfully.
“You killed them?!?” He was starting to get a grip and I could feel his magic responding to his call, I put a stop to that immediately by shutting his shards down completely. I just did it, it wasn’t something that was supposed to be possible. You shouldn’t be able to shut down another mages magic but I had done it. Completely cut off from his magic the man fell back in fear gasping at the sensation.
“Wouldn’t want you doing something stupid lord.” I spoke casually but internally I was still shocked at being able to do that.
“Please what do you want?” He pleaded.
“Right now I am going to be generous and not empty the vault you have, I’m taking one simple piece of land as payment. You don’t mind do you?”
“No just please don’t kill me take whatever.” He would agree to anything right now but I needed to make sure it never came back to bite me.
“You do understand I am something you’ve never faced before don’t you?” Putting every bit of intimidation I could into my words.
“Yes yes I do.” I could feel his fear now, like a physical thing holding the man I place.
“Good! Should you ever cross my path again the. End won’t be as pleasent as this.” I smiled knowing, from the feeling radiating off him, that he would never cross me. “Infuse this document so its ownership is transferred and I’ll leave you with your lackeys as a reminder.”
I held out the document and let him grasp just a trace of his magic, enough to infuse the ownership document. He didn’t hesitate, immediately infusing the the deed as quickly as he could. That done I only had one thing left for the this man to learn.
“Your son needs to grow up, leave him to the captain, cut him off until he learns to be a decent man. Don’t make me come back, those two will still be frozen long after your natural death as a reminder of this night. Now sleep.” I commanded and the man collapsed back into the bed fast asleep. Releasing my hold on his shards, allowing his shards to return their power before tucking the document into my ring, still not sure why I wanted the place. Then shifted back into a shade and followed Badb back to the inn. Once we returned I went to bed, the lush mattress let me sink into a deep sleep.