A gasp of awe rippled through the crowd as a pink flame erupted from Leta’s dagger. It licked the air and left a ribbon-like trail as she danced across the arena towards Nero. Blade met blade and sunset-coloured sparks flew in a multitude of directions. She spun around and brought their blades together again, and Nero pulled away, gritting his teeth.
This was not the fighter that Lucas had seen at the bar and it certainly wasn’t the one who taught him self-defence. This was a theatre and she was the main character. He watched Nero lunge and swing at her repeatedly, but she kept twirling back and forth, pink lights illuminating each movement. Nero’s companion was on her rear, swiping at her with his bare fists, but gracefully she moved out of the way, keeping the duo’s attacks at bay.
“How’s the trend in external interest?”
“Steadily decreasing ever since…”
Amongst the mutters of excitement in the crowd, a few hushed murmurs were the ones that caught Lucas’ attention. Out of his peripheral vision, he saw Cole’s blue-violet hair bobbing up and down, receding further away into the crowd. He stepped forward and followed him.
Lucas slipped through the crowd, who were unattentive to his movements. He circled the arena, making it around halfway before he spotted Cole moving just in front of a small alleyway between the shops. Next to him was a female who he did not recognise.
“It’ll only keep decreasing once the candidates are sent off to the capital,” The female said.
Lucas inched closer, sticking to the corner of the building just behind the crowd.
“But if the capital takes a liking to our candidates, the town will be promoted as a byproduct,” Cole replied.
There was a pause between their conversation. “How about the other trades? Wheat, fruit and dairy export should be fairly stable, right?”
Cole sighed. “The lower region’s refusing to pay taxes and we can’t have protests whilst its peak season for travellers. Not to mention there’s still the problem of electing my successor…”
There was a muffled bang, drawing Lucas’ attention to the arena. Leta had created a variety of fireworks, and Nero brought his arm up to shield his eyes. Leta took the opportunity to slice at his stomach, which he narrowly dodged. Nero’s companion was laying on the floor, completely still.
There was laughter from the female who was talking to Cole. “Quite the show, hey? Taure’s got her under his thumb.”
Lucas furrowed his brow. Then the part of Leta who appealed to the ‘higher’ part of society was due to her father’s demands?
“Indeed,” Cole replied. “I will have to cut this conversation short, unfortunately. I’ll see you at the next meeting.” Lucas merged back into the crowd as he heard footsteps coming out of the alleyway.
The crowd erupted into cheers as Nero kneeled, Leta’s dagger pointed at his neck. She moved away, allowing him to stand up and brush off his pants. He gestured to his companion and surprisingly, the colossal man stood up, seemingly unharmed. Cole walked through the barrier towards Leta, forcefully grabbing her hand and lifting it.
She grinned, lifting her other hand and waving at the audience. They cheered and clapped for her again, which went on for what seemed like an eternity before the crowd was eventually ushered back into the town hall.
The barrier dissipated and Cole pulled Nero and his companion aside, talking to them with a stern expression. Leta was next to her father, laughing with him as he proudly held her shoulder.
The less he knew the happier Lucas would be. If Mika had enforced the classic ‘ignorance is bliss’ onto him, then there was something frothing and bubbling deep beneath the surface of the town.
He could either stay around and wait for things to happen or he could begin digging and find out. He doubted that Cole would have another conversation that he could listen to by chance.
Leta made her way back inside and cleaned herself up. The celebration had continued and Lucas was back again at her side. She was conversing with the people once again.
He looked to his left and glasses were being filled, lifted, and placed. He looked to his right and there were people sluggishly moving to the music. Time ticked by and the night went on, and on, and on…
~~~
Leta stumbled towards the bedroom, clutching her head and slamming the door shut. There still wasn’t sufficient furniture for the both of them to rest on, so Lucas was left alone in the living room. The noise in her room died down, and he began to move.
He opened Leta’s bag and picked up the bulging coin bag, still full from their haul at the casino. It felt unbelievable that she had just left such a belonging out in the open, but this wasn’t an opportunity he was just going to let slip by. He fiddled awkwardly with the string of light that was tied securely around the bag. No matter how hard he tugged, the knot would not come undone.
The longer he struggled with the string though, the more he noticed that the glowing pink colour was fading away. Soon enough, it became a regular string made of hemp and he was able to untie the knot. He took a few gold coins and retied the coin bag. He couldn’t bring back the light property it had, so as he tucked it back into its original position, he prayed that Leta wouldn’t notice the difference.
Lucas grabbed the cape that Leta had given him on the first night, which had been lying next to the table for the last few days. He put it on, the familiar pink tint returning to his vision. He slowly opened the front door and closed it, following the thin streaks of colour along the streets towards the main road.
This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it
Just ahead, there was a hanging wooden sign, with a beer mug carved into it. He took off his cape and pushed the door open, a few heads turning briefly upon his entrance. There was a deficit of people compared to the last time he was there, though it was much later into the night now.
He looked around and didn’t find a single person he recognised, except for the bartender. He had hoped to spot Pierre, or Tiaru even. Maybe he could have pried more information out of Mika if she was there. But of course, they wouldn’t be here. He scratched his head. He was just here to ask a few questions and get out, a simple plan that could easily be improvised. He shifted uncomfortably at the lack of familiar faces.
Lucas exhaled and walked up to the bar, signalling to the bartender. Surely this would be the most reliable method of gathering information.
“Sorry, we’re all out today.” The bartender was staring straight at him with a sour expression.
He swallowed and gave him a crooked smile. “Oh no, no, I just wanted to ask a few questions that’s all.”
“My job is to serve drinks, not answer questions.”
“Right.”
There was a silence between the two and Lucas stood up, turning away. Arguing here would only make things worse, and maybe even get him kicked out.
He turned around, focusing on two men who were playing a card game. They were betting against each other and slurping up their frothing drinks. Each man had a small pile of silver coins next to them and they hid their cards from each other. Every turn, they took a card from the other’s hand and placed down a pair if they had one. Old Maid, huh?
“Mind if I join in?” He asked the men, pulling out a seat between them.
They looked at each other and then at Lucas. “Sure.”
“Can I borrow some money?” He asked.
One of the men tossed him a silver coin. “Pay it back later.”
Lucas nodded. If his intuition was correct then a gold coin should be more valuable than a silver coin. But if the value was substantially larger, then a loss would be devastating, and the men could probably target him in the future.
They shuffled the deck and split it between the three. Lucas put down three pairs and the game began.
“So what do you guys do for a living?” Lucas picked up a card from the man on his left. He coupled it with a king of spades from his hand and placed the pair on the table.
“We transport raw materials to retailers and manufacturers," one of the men said, as he placed a pair of threes down on the table.
“You mean we sit our asses down on the backs of horses for hours on end, just so we can get underpaid," the second man replied, leaning towards Lucas. "You’re with Leta, right? Ask her to increase our pay.” He groaned as the first man elbowed him in the gut.
“Sorry about him. We know Leta can’t do anything about it. It’s all up to the Mayor,” the first man said.
“The Mayor?” Asked Lucas.
“Yeah, that middle-aged blue-haired swindler,” said the second man.
So he was referring to Cole. Lucas had a two, a queen and a jack, and he had eight pairs of cards on the table. “What’d he do to make things so bad?” He asked, holding his hand up to the first man.
“He lowered our pay, increased our taxes and withheld funding for infrastructure in the lower region,” the first man sighed, taking the queen from Lucas. “It’s to fund the candidacy program and make the capital favour this town more. But everyone knows that’s ridiculous.”
“Ah, so that’s why you guys aren’t paying your taxes?” Lucas asked, recalling what Cole had said. The second man violently slammed a pair of cards down onto the table, causing Lucas to hastily added, “Sorry, I wasn’t trying to be condescending or anything.”
“Yeah, we know.” the second man cleared his throat. “We have to stand up to those greedy council dogs, somehow.”
“The lower region doesn’t even have a representative on the council. This is the only way our voices will be heard,” said the first man. “Ah, looks like I’ve lost.” He put down the single card he was holding, the lone queen now laying in the middle of the table.
“And you have more pairs to me,” said the second man to Lucas, sliding a single silver coin over to Lucas.
“The tavern will be closing soon,” the first man said, also sliding over a silver coin. Lucas nodded but slid the coins back to them. He rummaged through his pocket and took out two gold coins, giving them to the men.
“Consider this my thanks.” The men’s mouths were agape, and the second man tried to slide it back but was promptly stopped by the first man.
“I’m sure you’ll find more use for it than I will,” Lucas said, causing the first man to chuckle.
“Should’ve expected that Leta’s ‘companion’ would be a strange one, huh?” They laughed and stood up, making their way to the door. “We’re in your debt.”
Lucas watched the door creak shut with a smile and picked up his cloak. He turned around to leave but stopped when he felt a hand on his shoulder.
“You’re planning to extort them later, aren’t you?” The bartender’s grip on him tightened.
“Sorry, is it a crime here to give people money out of goodwill?” Lucas asked.
“Goodwill isn’t a word in the upper region’s vocabulary. Leta is just a puppet that belongs to her father, and you’re the same.” The bartender’s eyes glinted. “Drop the mask already. You’re both slaves to the council and all you can bring us are the false comfort of lies.”
Lucas looked down. The bartender’s words brought him back to his workplace again. I’m sure you’ll get that promotion, next time. A thoughtless lie that was told to him by his uncaring colleagues as they all moved up. They had no room in their heads for creativity. They were just puppets who served only to appease their seniors.
Lucas was a no-one then, and a no-one here. He had nothing. If he did something good, he was bad. If he did something bad, he would be killed.
“It’s unfair, isn’t it?” Lucas’ voice was small and tired. “Everything’s hopeless and there’s nothing you can do about it but persevere, right? Follow their instructions, or else you’ll be the whipping boy. I understand.”
“No, you couldn’t possibly know what it’s like,” the bartender spat back.
Lucas clasped the bartender’s wrist. “Just because I’ve filled the position of Leta’s ‘companion’, does that make me any less of a person? Am I just a mindless drone who has no will of their own? Tell me, is that what I look like?” He glared into the bartender’s eyes. “Is it?”
He shoved the bartender away from him and put on his cloak. “Just as I can’t speak for Leta, you can’t speak for people who you know nothing about.”
Before Lucas could hear a response, he stepped through the door and said “We’re not all the same,” as he left.