The second thing that struck me about walking the Triangle Road was the diversity of peoples. There were five main species making the journey; humans, balt, tall rat-folk Red informed me were called ‘nezumi’ (which don’t get me started on how that was just the Japanese word for ‘rat’), and humanoids with skin in shades of blue and white hair that my traveling companion informed me were the az; the people native to Astonia in the North where we were headed. They, too, stood about a head taller than me on average and had long, gangly limbs and fingers. The last dominant species I wouldn’t have known weren’t just humans if Red hadn’t pointed them out to me, but they shared a general manner of dress that covered their entire bodies in some way, topped off with a more ostentatious head-covering. These were the mordre; ambitious scientists and spellcasters who sought to create a cure-all but instead accidentally birthed a pathogen called the Eternity Plague that devastated their peoples and homogenized them into the rough equivalent of a single species.
“It’s cured now, for the most part,” Red continued to explain, “well, it don’t spread no more. This was almost pre-history sorta stuff. After Promité was s’posed to have been walkin’ around, but long since before I was born, anyhow. They’re the traders that established the calendar, an’ obviously nobody’d wanna trade with ‘em if they were still contagious.”
“But it’s still a thing for them,” I deduced.
“Yeah. They got weak lungs, and a bunch of ‘em are only kept alive by experimental technology an’ magic… or both. I hear they even gotta grow their kids in labs cuz of how dangerous the usual method is. Bad enough everything that happened to ‘em, but they can’t even canoodle?” He shook his head and made an exaggerated frown, but his sentiment seemed genuine enough. A trio of them clad in murky grass coats and large wicker helmets stopped by the roadside, and I watched them sell rope and other sundries to the trail-worn human who flagged them down. There was some debate over the price, though it seemed like they were demanding less instead of more, and only accepted the price when the human insisted. “They’re split up into thirteen tribes, each with a different kinda head covering, though I’m hardly an expert. The ones in the tengai masks there are the ones you see the most on the road, since mercantilism is basically their culture. Always got low prices an’ good gear. Them you can trust.”
There were other varieties of people on the road, though most of them seemed to be anthropomorphized animals; a fox-woman, two large alligator-men, and one that appeared to just be a giant, armored jerboa only a little larger than Red himself. He was less forthcoming about these species, though we’d been on the road for a few days by that point, and he seemed to be deep in thought, his head on a swivel and a frown on his face. I tried to look around when I noticed him doing so, but there didn’t appear to be anything out of the ordinary to me, though I was hardly equipped to make a call on what was or wasn’t ordinary in the Commonwealth. The Crucible’s appointed guards appeared more frequently as the temperature dropped and our proximity to the Astonian border increased. The few local guards in Lion’s Head looked plain enough; men and women in simple armor and a tabard with the expected leonine depiction emblazoned on it who walked with authority. They were commoners policing commoners; largely bored locals dispatched only in emergencies. The Crucible-backed guards on Triangle Road, however, were a different breed. The metal of their amor shone with pristine polish, their tabards made of a more expensive fabric, certainly enough that even a rube like me could tell just by looking at them, and they were each adorned with a triquetra sewn in golden thread. I wasn’t planning on doing anything illegal presently, but they still effortlessly intimidated me. It was the kind of nervousness that felt like it would make me look suspicious, which only made me more nervous. Our trip was certainly less stressful away from their vigilant eyes.
Despite our individual paranoias, we made it across the Astonian border without incident, stopping off in a small town called Varmveg for Red to make his delivery. I welcomed the opportunity to rest somewhere with four walls not made of canvas, a warm fire, and blankets after a week on the road. The warmer set of robes I owned were great, sure, but if I wanted to be more bundled up, I found myself bereft of options. We paid for a night at an inn called The Old Stag before parting ways, he to get his business done and me marching straight to the shops to pick up a few more changes of underclothes, two fluffy winter blankets (one had a lovely green plaid pattern on the non-fluff side, while the other was a chocolatey brown), and an even warmer set of dark-colored winter robes with fur lining. Generally, the cold didn’t bother me that much, but it was already far more frigid on the borders of Astonia than I’d been made to deal with in central Ohio, and I didn’t feel like experiencing anything worse as we moved North unprepared. I also purchased a backpack to keep the more cumbersome gear in; a sturdy brown leather model that I was assured was waterproof. A hot meal was the next priority, as much as I could probably survive just fine off of trail rations it felt nice to treat myself when I was able. I also wanted to make sure Wysteria was getting enough to eat since the insects she fed freely on were harder to find after the temperature started to drop. I was halfway into a hearty chili-like stew with thick, brown broth when a baltic dropped her pack onto my table and plopped into the chair across from me.
“Is this seat taken?”
“No?” I raised an eyebrow, checking around the room to make sure it hadn’t suddenly filled up with customers without my notice. “But there’s plenty of tables that are actually empty, too.”
“Maybe I wanted some company,” she smiled. It seemed warm enough, but an itch developed in the middle of my shoulder blades; the kind I couldn’t actually scratch. Maybe it was me not being used to those bright red eyes so many balt had, or just the brazen way she invited herself to my table, but I felt like she was trying to get something out of me, and it made me uncomfortable and ill-tempered.
“Can I help you?” I tried not to snarl around my soup.
“Touchy, huh?” she pursed her pale lips in a fake pout. “What’s the matter, not used to pretty girls being so close to you?”
“I’m a fan of personal space, yeah.” I hadn’t really taken in her appearance until she mentioned it; I didn’t make a habit of extended eye contact or examining the person I was talking to unless I had a reason. She had a heart-shaped face with shaggy white hair in what was probably once a pixie cut now well past needing a trim to still qualify. Her features were small, but not delicate; cute, but rough around the edges like a well-loved teddy bear. If she was wearing makeup I couldn’t tell, which was typically easier with ghost-white balt skin from what few I’d observed. “This is also a really abrupt, awkward way to introduce yourself to someone. I’m sure you recognize that.”
“Y’know what? You’re absolutely right. Where are my manners?” She extended her hand for a shake, smugness tugging at her lips. “I’m Tanis Vex. Delighted to meet you.”
“Enchanté,” I said without thinking, my inclination toward sarcasm as a defense mechanism temporarily overriding the careful guard I’d been trying to maintain. I hoped either her inexperience with language or the apparent prevalence of a French equivalent in this world would keep my fat out of any fires. Perhaps distracting from that more than politeness saw me accepting her handshake, or possibly it was a desire to move things along and see exactly what her game was. We shared two firm pumps before she released and reclined in her chair. “Glenn Anura.”
“See, Glenn? That wasn’t so hard. Now we’re acquainted and have every reason to be sitting at this table together, eating dinner.” Her beaming smile rang of insincerity in such an obvious way that she had to know. It was tiresome, and it took everything I had in me not to roll my eyes.
“I don’t understand why you’re doing this, exactly. What your game is. I’m amenable to talk, but only if we talk. I don’t need your… sales pitch.” Her smile faded to a smirk as the mask slipped, and a genuine expression of amusement from her earned me more trust than anything else she’d done so far. Perhaps that was the point of the ruse in the first place.
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“All right,” she began, leaning back and crossing her arms over her chest and her leg over her knee, bobbing her foot up and down. “You’re a chainer, right?”
I glanced at Wysteria sitting on the table beside me, slurping at a bowl of mush whose component ingredients I’d rather not think too hard about. She lifted her food-splattered head and looked between Tanis and myself before diving back in. “I am,” I answered.
“There’s money in that, and power.”
“And you want a piece of that,” I surmised.
“Yes and no,” she rolled her head back and forth. “I’ll confess I’ve been following you on the Triangle Road for a few days now. Unless you’re a better spellcaster than you look, you don’t have a lot going for you in terms of defense.” I wanted to be insulted by that, but she was right; I was good enough at throwing knives, better than I had been on Earth somehow, but I doubted that would be enough to take out more than one clumsy brigand taking a chance on my purse. “You got a steady income from esper fights and it just so happens I need three squares and some walkin’ around money.”
“And you’re a good bodyguard? Do you have, like, references? Or is your plan to chat up anyone who tries to pull something on me and make them cringe away from sheer awkwar—” I didn’t finish the sentence before there was a knife at my throat. She wasn’t supernaturally fast in any regard, but she was almost quicker than I could see. A blade I hadn’t noticed was in her hand; curved and glinting sharp with a black handle, and she’d sprung from an almost ridiculous lounging position in her chair to having one foot on the table and the blunt edge of her weapon making a cold, impressive line along my adam’s apple. The only head turned our way was Wysteria’s, since she hadn’t made enough of a sound to draw attention, catching the back of the chair with her heel as she moved to keep it from clattering to the floor. “Okay,” I swallowed. “Your references check out.”
“Sorry,” she smiled again, self-amused. Another real one. Tanis ran a hand through her hair and pulled the weapon from my neck, flipping it to return it to its sheath. “For startling you, I mean. It just… makes an impression.”
“It certainly does.” There was no arguing her ability or my need, but a few squirming concerns in the back of my mind were keeping me from agreeing comfortably. First of all was the gap of knowledge in my head for what the House of Diamonds was, and whether or not she may be a part of it. Second was how oddly familiar she seemed to me. I couldn’t put my finger on it exactly, like I recognized her face from only certain angles and even then not enough to explain any connection eloquently. Something in the way she talked was reminiscent of… something, but it could’ve been anything from a girl I knew in high school to a bit-part actor in a movie, or even just another thing my brain was inventing. The problem with having a strong intuition when you’re as scatterbrained as I am is that it can be hard to trust even the deepest and most prominent of vibes. Intelligence proved a stumbling block as well; there wasn’t a sturdy scientific explanation for why I could read bad juju on a person, so it was easy to convince myself I was just imagining things to make myself seem more unique and interesting. Then again, I was having these thoughts on an alien fantasy world where I had a magic book that told me my stats, so perhaps I shouldn’t heed facts and logic quite as sternly as I once did. “What’s your asking price?”
“I told you; three squares and walkin’ around money. A roof over my head when it’s possible would be nice, too. I figured that was implied, but just in case you wanted to get squirrely about it. Prices change from place to place, and if you’re any good as a chainer you’re gonna get to some pretty fancy places.”
“That sounds reasonable.” It really did, but I didn’t feel comfortable making this decision without Red around, most especially because she had been following us for days and only approached when he wasn’t by my side. “I need some time to think about it. Check my funds and calm my heart down from your… demonstration. Where can I find you when I’ve made a decision?”
“How about that table, over there?” She pointed to a corner spot with a good view of the exits and stood up from her seat. “Barkeep? Bring me your fruitiest wine and open me a tab!” She spoke with all the grinning enthusiasm of someone who always wanted to say that, or perhaps said it often but relished in it each time she did. She patted me on the shoulder as she passed. “Clock’s ticking, Glenn.”
“I’ll try not to keep you waiting.”
Measuring my voice was harder than I wanted it to be. My fight or flight response tended toward the former and I felt keyed up from our entire encounter. When she trod over to her new position and sat down I finally exhaled the last gasp of every breath I’d been holding this entire time, and let the weight fall from my shoulders a bit. The tab, I assumed, would be paid by me upon my agreement to her services. I wasn’t sure what her alternate plan for settling up was, if she was so desperate for coin as to accost random travelers, but perhaps that was the correctness of her confidence. Despite my piling reservations, unless Red had something bad to say about her, she would likely end up in my employ before the night was through. I finished what remained of my chili and Wysteria and I holed up in our room, waiting for the grimalkin’s return. Fortunately, he didn’t keep us much longer. Red’s copy of the key slid into the lock of our room door and turned the tumblers before the man himself padded inside, looking much less hyper-alert and relieved for it.
“Glad that’s over with,” he exhaled. Exhaustion had settled into his expression a little, looking for once as weary as I felt. “Maybe it’s ‘cuz I don’t usually drag other folks into stuff like this, I dunno. More than only my skin in the game.”
“I appreciate your concern. Like… really.” I hesitated, wanting to enjoy the moment for a little longer before bogging us both down with business. But business did need to get done. “So… you told me to wait to ask about the House of Diamonds.”
“I did,” he nodded, hoisting himself up to sit next to me on the bed. “Teren Balt is part of the Commonwealth, so they’re governed by the Crucible. Except there are organizations older than that who don’t share power so good. They’re called the Seven Houses; Flies, Blades, Rooks, Cats, Clubs, Rats, an’ of course Diamonds. Each one is in charge of somethin’ polite society would rather have you think ain’t so organized. Diamonds are the ones I’ve had at my back the most… the quickest way to explain it is that they’re fences; people who buy an’ sell illegally-obtained goods. But it’s more than that. They control illicit supply lines in an’ outta Teren Balt, an’ even quite a few of the more lucrative above-board ones.”
“And they’re after you because you move stuff across borders like this a lot.”
“Yeah,” he nodded. “I have contacts with the other Houses, mostly the Flies and Rats. Both of ‘em deal in information procurement and brokering, but operate in different circles, different ways. Usually they watch my back and keep me informed, but it’s harder for them to operate on Triangle Road. Harder for any of the Houses. It was a calculated risk an’ it paid off, but it still had me on edge. You never know who’s listenin’, yanno?”
“You took a risk taking Triangle Road to get here… for me?”
“Takin’ Triangle Road was part of the plan from the beginning. The redgrass was the wrinkle,” he waved has hand dismissively. “I felt it was a better bet to stay the course an’ chance movin’ in the open with Crucible guards watchin’ us than to try to get us through more dangerous territory quietly on our own. Not that I wouldn’t run a risky plan for your sake, I just don’t wantcha givin’ me credit I ain’t due.” I nodded, feeling a bit foolish for getting ahead of myself on his motivations, but tried to let it go. My encounter with Tanis left me in a strange mood that lingered.
“There was a woman who approached me after you left. She said she’d been shadowing us for a few days and wanted to offer her services as a bodyguard. She made a show of her skill but didn’t offer any threats.”
“The baltic?” Red asked casually. “Short hair, chubby cheeks?”
“You saw her?”
“About a day ago. She wasn’t very sly, honestly, it’s just hard to tell who is an’ ain’t followin’ you on Triangle Road.” He gave another dismissive wave, which was quickly becoming something of a signature gesture. Maybe it was just a sign of how often he got off on tangents talking to me about literally everything under the sun. “I also saw her downstairs, in her cups. There’s more than one tavern in Varmveg, an’ this is far from the best. It’d be an awfully big coincidence if that was the only reason she showed up here.”
“Do you think she’s a member of the House of Diamonds?”
“HA!” his laugh was so loud and sudden I jumped a bit. “No, she’s not quiet or skilled enough, even for a probational member. She looks like decent enough muscle, at least for our purposes, but she’s no House member. Not even for the Clubs.”
“She’s not askin’ for much more than room and board.”
“So there’s somethin’ else she wants from us that she thinks she can get by bein’ at our sides,” Red rubbed his chin in thought. “If we keep her close, I might be able to figure out her game before she plays it. In the meantime, it’d be good to have another set of eyes an’ hands.”
“Sounds like we’re in agreement, then,” I stood and made for the door. “Guess I got a tab to go settle up.”
“Hey,” he called after me, and when I turned a small bag came sailing toward me. To my own surprise, I caught it. “It’s your share of the fee for delivery. Ain’t much, but it should help.”
“You don’t have to—I didn’t really help with that.”
“Maybe not,” he shrugged one shoulder. “But we’re a team, right? We take care of each other.” His smile brightened my heart and did much to tamp down the discomfort Tanis’ act had sown within me. Perhaps over time, she would be part of the team as well.