{-Rennyn-}

They stood at the gates of Lord Aymer’s estate and, instead of being fascinated by its intricate design or size, he could only think to say, “Allyna, please don’t make him think you’re trying to assassinate him.”

“What have I ever done that would make him think that?” Allyna shot back with a huff. Sarcastically, she mumbled, “Damn, I can just feel the brotherly love and trust you must have in me.”

“We’re here to talk with Lord Aymer,” he pointed out. “None of that can happen unless we’re all on our best behavior. That means being careful about what you’re doing and what you’re saying. Think of it this way, if this’ll make it click to you: heroes don’t look like assholes whenever they go to meet someone important. We’re here to get Lord Aymer to help us, not to get on his bad side.”

Noa, when he walked back from trying to get a guard to let the other three in, proved to only half understand the conversation they’d been having. “You don’t have to be worried about Lord Aymer. He’s one of the more casual of the ten—he’s going to care more for what you have to say than how you say it or what you do.”

“Does that mean you’ve gotten them to let us in?” Kaylin prompted.

Noa nodded. “The guard’s are willing to trust my judgment about the three of you. We’re going to have to talk with Lord Aymer separately, though.”

“Why not just get one of the guards to tell him?” Allyna questioned.

“Lord Aymer is… probably more than a little stressed right now. He’ll probably expect me to come back soon and I don’t want him to worry when a guard comes in.”

“I don’t get what those two things have to do with each other.”

Much more bluntly, he stated, “If he sees a guard, then he’s going to think something bad happened, and I don’t want that.”

“Aren’t you just his messenger boy? I figured people like you were pretty disposable.”

“I changed my mind on what I said about ‘how you say it,’” Noa mumbled with a forced smile. He still gestured them inside, though. “You might want to consider talking to him with a little bit more self-awareness than that. You are going to be in the presence of one of Ilatenes’s ten lords, after all.”

Rennyn took the initiative to hopefully get her to really take it to heart, whispering to Allyna as they walked, “What the hell do you think you’re doing?”

“Asking questions!” she defended, only half as quiet. “And stating facts! What’s wrong with that? And why do you care all of a sudden? Usually it’s just been that friend of yours that keeps bothering me about it.”

“This isn’t a fairytale where everything goes in our favor. Keep this up and I’m going to bring you back home—at least that way you’re not going to be risking our chances here.”

She grumbled something but didn’t continue the conversation.

There wasn’t enough time anyway; Noa soon stopped at one of the grand doors and knocked. “Lord Aymer? Are you still in there..?”

The door suddenly opened and who had to have been Lord Aymer appeared. “It’s nearly time for dinner! I was starting to get worried!”

“I actually did it a little quicker than I thought,” Noa said, to half-address Aymer’s concerns. “Look. These three are Rennyn, Kaylin, and Allyna. They helped me deliver some of the letters in exchange for getting to talk with you. I think they have something important to say.”

Aymer, once he realized they were there, just stared. “What is it?” He scanned them each for something, though didn’t look any more relieved not to find what he was looking for. “Did something happen?”

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“Sort of,” Rennyn replied. It was easy to sound calm, though it didn’t seem to do anything for Aymer’s state of mind. “Is there a better place we can talk about this? Other than the hallway?”

“Yes, of course. Come inside, this is the meeting room—just be careful not to mess with anything. I have another meeting tomorrow morning and I doubt they’d like to know that I talked with you before then.” Aymer stepped back and gestured them into the room, though stopped Noa when he went to join them.

Rennyn didn’t really care for the hushed discussion, but found himself listening to it anyway—it wasn’t like there was anything else to do while he waited for Aymer to sit down.

“Why can’t I come with you?” Noa asked in something closer to a whisper.

“This is serious,” Aymer muttered.

“So was before! What makes this different?”

“It’s late.”

“But—”

“I’m sure you’re tired running around Silvium. Why don’t you get something to eat? The servants should be ready with dinner soon. I’ll join you when I can.” Then, without waiting for any more of a response, Aymer ushered Noa further into the hall and shut the door.

Aymer sighed and went to his seat. “Apologies. Was there something important you wanted to tell me? Did you run into any danger..?”

Rennyn nodded. “We came from a village a couple days away from here for… reasons I’ll get to in a minute. Along the way, we encountered some weird forest monsters—vaguely human in form, but they were made up of things like the leaves or dirt.”

“Nothing… similar to shadows?” Aymer’s expression could be mistaken for calm, but it showed a surprising amount of emotion for a leader. With apprehension as clear as that, it was a wonder why he was still in charge of anything.

“No, they were pretty solid. They weren’t just mind tricks.”

“None of you were hurt, were you? Was… this all there was to your group?”

“It was just the three of us. None of us were hurt—I was able to take care of it.”

“You look a bit too young to be traveling completely on your own, let alone standing up against monsters. You had to have had adults with you..?”

Kaylin shook her head. “Rennyn and I are capable of handling ourselves. We have a bit more experience than your average teenagers.”

Aymer didn’t seem to believe it—he had an expression similar to Rennyn’s parents, at the thought of a kid getting hurt—but he, thankfully, decided not to dwell on it. Maybe he realized there were more important matters. “We’ve been hearing reports of shadowy monsters,” he explained. “From the sounds of the reports, though, they never formed something more tangible. Perhaps it was a good thing that I sent those letters of warning…”

So they were already dealing with issues here? Rennyn felt nervous hearing it, knowing that meant Dhymos could be further along than they thought.

“But back to you,” Aymer continued. “What was the other reason that brought you to Silvium..?”

“I’ve been tasked with getting the Goddess’s Sword that, I hope, is somewhere with you.”

Aymer’s answer wasn’t exactly what Rennyn had been expecting, but it was just as annoying. “That old thing has been bouncing between each of the lords for some time now. None of us have ever found a use for it—aside from its historical value, of course. What could you need it for?”

Rennyn tried very hard to suppress his sigh. “I don’t suppose you’d believe ‘two goddesses made me their chosen one and I’ve got to go international treasure hunting for the items needed to defeat the guy who will destroy the world’ as an answer?”

“You’re serious?”

“I wish I wasn’t, trust me. But I mean everything I say—even if I can’t give you much proof for it.”

“You know, under normal circumstances, I would assume that you’re just trying to mess with me. But I’ve seen all the reports first-hand—I know that what’s happening here isn’t something we can handle on our own.”

“So you believe me?”

“Of course. I understand there’s still a chance that you’re lying, but… if you’re right, and there’s a greater danger out there, then we can’t ignore it. Unfortunately, however, I’m not the only one who can make the decision about the sword. All ten of us will need to be present and agree on it—we all need to know that you mean what you say.”

“Is there something I’ll have to do, then? We don’t have forever. I doubt we even have much time at all. The longer we sit around and do nothing, the more time Dhymos has to do whatever he wants. We do not want to see what the end of his plan looks like.”

“I’ll be meeting with them tomorrow. Your attendance and opinion should be enough to give them a good idea of your intentions. I… can’t promise that they’ll listen, though. Letting you speak with all of them about taking the sword is about the best I can do.”

Rennyn nodded, after a moment. “Alright. Thank you, Lord Aymer, for letting us speak with you, and for believing me.”

“It’s not a problem. I’d rather be well-prepared for something awful than expect everything to go well and regret it.” Aymer stood up, and everyone else followed. “The servants should be done making dinner by now. I don’t mind if you’d like to stay the night—it’s late and I doubt you’re going to be able to find a room at an inn in town.”