“Has the undead made contact recently?”
“No,” Sylphia replied while maintaining her calm. Taking a drag from her pipe, she exhaled through her nose and added; “sh- it hasn’t contacted me since the last time you came asking.”
That had been the previous day. Ever since the Paladin summoned her to the Shean Church branch of Yshta, the woman had been budging into her establishment every day at unexpected times to ask the same question; which always received the same answer.
“You have not heard news of it recently?” Ana pressed.
Her behaviour was the same as always; a glary stare, a deeply etched frown and a quaking fist ready to be brought down on Sylphia’s prized table and destroy it for the umpteenth time. Although she was capable of fixing the damage left in the Paladin’s wake, it did not make the ordeal any less annoying.
What in the gods’ names did I do to deserve this? she asked herself as she inhaled her pipe’s smoke, deeper this time.
“No,” she replied while exhaling the fumes. “I used my sources everywhere, but can’t locate h- it.”
Sage Maverick was likely not in Ysh anymore. After killing one revered figure and seemingly abducting another, there was no way she would stay in the country. The undead woman had most likely climbed over the Highlands into Lethia.
Although Ana was a bit of a fanatic, she did not appear to be a moron; which meant she likely had thought of this probability. The problem with reaching this conclusion though, was that she could not budge into Lethia demanding locals cooperate with her; the Church of Life had no authority among Lethians. It was the probably why the blonde bothered her everyday instead; hoping against indomitable odds she would catch ‘Lady Maverick’ on the doorstep of the Enchanted Flower.
“Are your underground criminal friends so inept they can’t spot a single undead?” the Paladin sneered.
Even after weeks of negative responses, this was always how Ana reacted.
If they’re inept, what does that make you? Sylphia wanted to say. You are part of an organisation that spans all of Rekke but also can’t find that undead.
Sylphia quelled the desire to let those words spill out by jamming her pipe in her mouth, pulling smoke into her lungs before pushing it out her mouth and nose. If she went ahead and said something of that nature, she would definitely be left with another broken table. The only thing she could say was fortunate in that scenario was that she would not be directly attacked; probably. The Paladin had not made threats of bodily harm since Savandor returned.
“I apologise for my sources falling short of your expectations my lady,” she responded calmly.
For a moment, Ana’s gaze intensified. She opened her mouth to say something, but then seemed to think better of it. The Paladin closed her mouth and took a deep breath through her nose. When she exhaled, she seemed to have calmed down a little. Abruptly, she pushed back her sofa and shot to her feet, an act that elicited a surprised yelp from the priestess who the whole time had been silently standing behind her like an attendant.
“That’s it for now,” Ana decided, her eyes never leaving Sylphia. “I’ll be back tomorrow.”
Then she swivelled her blonde head around and stomped out of her study. The elven priestess, Krystelle, followed behind her after taking a few uncertain looks at Sylphia.
When the door closed behind the two Church agents, Sylphia dropped the smile she had forced on for them. She listened for several seconds until their footsteps faded before letting out a groan.
After weeks of these types of ambushes, she was getting tired of them. If not for the fact that the Paladin was a member of a religion almost all of Ysh ascribed to, she would have barred her long ago from the establishment. The way she budges in like she owns the place… and she’s asking me to use my resources to locate her fugitive while not offering compensation. The only saving grace was that Ana was not harassing the employees of the Enchanted Flower, otherwise she would have truly forbidden the silver armoured bitch from entering. The reason why she cooperated with the Sheans to a degree, was to avoid any backlash from rejecting them. However, if Ana went after her people…
Knowing the Church- and really all organisations with a lot of power- if she barred their entry, they would have strong-armed her into a corner; at which point she would have had no hope but to either abandon her establishment, or fight back by revealing the dirty deeds of the clergy in these parts. In fact, she had half a mind of doing so, though to Ana alone. If she revealed the activities of priests in Yshta to Ana, maybe the Paladin would get off her back and spend the next week purging the local branch. Imagining the frustrating woman’s face if she revealed the information, caused Sylphia’s lips to quirk upwards.
Your colleagues are tolerable because they are getting laid on a regular basis, she imagined herself saying in that moment. Maybe what you need is a good fuck as well to stop being a bitch.
Of course, the reason such a scenario could never leave the confines of her imagination, was because those words would definitely kill the Paladin’s inhibitions; which would result in receiving a punch from her. As someone without an ounce of athleticism, Sylphia reconned a single punch from someone who’s physique was likely nearing the limit of mortality would be enough to put her down permanently, probably by sending her head scuttering off her shoulders. As she was attached to her head being on her shoulders, she did not particularly fancy antagonising Ana to the point where such a scenario became reality.
Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original.
Also, ratting out the clergy members who visit the Red District would be foolish considering the heaps of coin they dumped into her establishment. Besides that, if she revealed her clients’ names, she would gain the reputation of a snitch, which would undo all the goodwill she had accumulated over the years. The last thing needed was for a single act done in a heated moment to bring down her entire business. People were already wary as it was with the Paladin budging in everyday without bothering to don a disguise.
She leaned back into her couch and placed her feet on the table, took a lengthy drag from her pipe and expelled it; trying to rid herself of her frustrations at the same time.
It only worked partially.
Maybe I need a good fuck as well, she thought, reaching for the knob of her drawer.
She only managed to pull the damn thing open when a change occurred in the room.
A figure suddenly appeared in the middle of the study, hovering above the table. It was female, or at least she thought so with how it wore a dress, a very familiar black dress. It had scars across the body. Face, neck, arms; even the barely exposed feet bore stitches. The dress likely concealed more scars on the legs, was what she concluded.
Recognition of the figure came to her when she remembered a poster Talia brought in the study several days ago. The stitched face of the individual was the same as the one the sheet. The distinctive dress too was a confirmation of the identity of the person.
No alarm, Sylphia thought as she forced herself not to react.
Her study was the most valuable place in the entire establishment. As such, she had made sure it was the most well-guarded as well. The materials she had commissioned for the study alone had almost been as valuable as half the materials used to construct the rest of the building. She had even begged Savandor to enchant the place with all sorts of magic circles and traps, among which had been anti-teleportation circles. While it was easy to [Teleport] out of the room, doing so from the outside into the room was impossible. In the event that a more powerful teleportation spell, like [Gate], was used, the traps in the room would activate and an alarm would go off.
None of that happened when woman responsible for most of her current woes appeared. Sylphia quickly caught onto the reason why.
The way the woman’s figure hovered above the table with her dress fluttering in the absence of wind; from the way she could see through the translucent woman’s body; from the fact that the woman had appeared before her without material covering her face; it did not take long to figure out what she was looking at.
A [Spirit Projection].
Sylphia smoked her pipe deeply to keep herself from reacting. This time, she pulled even longer than other times to calm herself. As one who traded in information, even showing an expression was detrimental. In all honesty though, she did not want the woman to know her actual thoughts on what she was witnessing. The fact that the undead woman could use [Spirit Projection] was no small shock for her; after all, the last time they met the woman was still in the 7th Order. Now, in the span of a less than two months, she had leapt over the 8th Order and entered the 9th. This woman was more dangerous than the Church thought.
She exhaled and forced a smile on her lips as she watched the woman glide over to the recently deserted seat and made herself as comfortable as an apparition could appear.
“It’s been a while Madam Sylphia,” the ghostly woman said, flashing a smile that would have been pretty if not for the scars and stitches.
“What do I owe the pleasure of your visit Lady Maverick?” Sylphia replied casually.
“We haven’t met in a while,” Sage responded. “So I came to check. What’s the progress on tracking down the Elixir of Rejuvenation.”
Sylphia took a long drag before responding. “Nothing. It’s been a while since there have been rumours of Elixirs anywhere.”
Years it had been since news of anyone finding an Elixir in the wilderness. This quest to find one was so hopeless it should have never been attempted in the first place. Taking Sage Maverick up on her offer had been a dumb choice even before the Sheans started hunting her; however, the reason she had done so was because, as part of their agreement, she would not be held accountable if nothing was found. Now, if she could turn back time, she would have flat-out rejected her.
“Nothing at all?” Sage asked. She did not sound happy.
“I did warn you that this endeavour would end up being fruitless,” she responded after taking another drag from her pipe.
Really, the Great Alchemist vanished long ago. Perhaps all the Elixirs he left in the wild had been found and there were no more. Either way, ‘Lady Maverick’ would have a better chance getting her hands on an Elixir of Rejuvenation if she travelled to Methos and kneeled in front of Tavina Ruuh to beg for one. If, by some miracle, she could gather enough money to pay for one, the Grand Magister might even overlook the fact that the request came from an undead.
“Very well,” Sage said after a minute of silence. “I’ll be back another time.”
Hearing this, Sylphia felt a headache coming on. If Sage had appeared a few minutes earlier, all hell would have broken lose. For the undead woman to keep visiting her on a regular basis like the Paladin was, there was no way it was not a recipe for disaster. It was luck that the two did not meet this time, but what about the next time, or the time after that; if one pushed luck far enough, it would eventually fail. The last thing she needed was a Shean fanatic tearing up her establishment because she got an unexpected visit from an undead fugitive’s apparition.
“I would not advise it,” she said quietly.
“Oh?” the apparition quirked up an eyebrow. “Is it the Sheans? Were they here? What did you tell them?”
“There was nothing to tell.” Sage had concealed herself well all the times she had visited her; apart from that first time. The revelation of the Ysran girl had the Church hounding them as well. This, the undead did not need to learn from her. “Just your name.”
“And the reason for my visit?”
“Never,” she lied. “Confidentiality is the most important part of information trade.”
Sage looked at her for half a minute before she silently dematerialised.
Sylphia waited a whole five minutes until she was certain the undead would not be returning before letting out a sigh. I’m sick and tired of this shit.
It would be great if she could just tell both the Paladin and the undead to go to hell, but that would cause a new breed of problems. She needed to take a break from all this before she before she formulated a plan on how to deal with the two pains-in-the-arse.
But before that… Remembering what she was about to do before she was interrupted, she reached into her drawer, grabbed the bell and rang it.