Chapter 43: Pay

“What a bastard. This is the jackass I’m supposed to respect and obey?” Adriana didn’t wait too long before laying into Lucas. If nothing else, she kept her voice down to a hushed, angry whisper. The hallways were empty, but sound carried.

“He’s…old fashioned,” said Lucas. “I make no excuses for him, save to say that he’s successfully run this temple for years, and taken care of not only this island, but everywhere in the Children of Stephanos’ range. He is old, crotchety, proud, and thinks everything should be in their proper place, or not at all.”

“My proper place? My proper place?” She took a deep breath. “And what do you think?”

Lucas stopped in his tracks. “I thought I made it clear that I believe you’re strong, capable, and I want you on my side. Give it time, and he’ll be replaced and I am reasonably certain the next Hierophant will be a lot more….moderate.”

“And how do you know that?” Adriana demanded. Lucas raised an eyebrow and waited. “Oh. You’re going to be the next Hierophant? Really?”

Lucas rubbed the back of his head. “If I survive long enough, and continue to prove myself worthy. With Hessius dead, Pailus thinks I should take up the mantle of Sun God, once I get enough Divinity. I don’t think I will, for what I hope are obvious reasons.”

Adriana stared at him, unsure of what to think or say. As awful as Pailus had been in a short time, Lucas hadn’t acted or spoken against her. She nodded and let herself relax. “That would make me your boss, eventually. You realize that, right?”

A wide, genuine smile made her stomach flutter. “If you ever get to that point, you will have earned it. And by that time, you’ll have been taught by me. It’d be better that way, if you think about it. A fiery, strong God out to do the most dangerous fighting, and then someone like me, organizing others and making sure everything runs smoothly. I think that would help the world most.”

“I don’t get you people," said Adriana, but it wasn’t entirely true. The longer she spent around the Children of Stephanos, the more she came to believe they meant what they said, and how fortunate they were to be able to keep that kind of mindset. “So, what now?”

“Well,” Lucas looked over his shoulder. “I believe we owe you a week of pay. Shall we?”

A spark of excitement changed her mood instantly. “We shall!”

Although the front of the temple was huge, the rest of it sprawled out into and around the mountain. Lucas led her around the side of the mountain and through a hallway that opened out to part of the gardens. The odd person here or there would call out a greeting to Lucas, but they ignored Adriana for the most part. Word hadn’t yet gotten around, it seemed.

He took her to a veritable fortress, guarded by what she guessed had to be at least Hero level men. They let Lucas pass without protest, but kept a close eye on Adriana. She blew a kiss to one as they headed inside to a dimly lit room, manned by only one older, heavyset woman with laugh lines behind a steel wire fence. Behind the woman were piles and piles of red haemar coins, stacked neatly in piles and in open chests. The Sun Temple wasn’t short on funds.

“Ahh, welcome back Lucas. About time to pay your crew?” She sounded as amiable as she was bored.

“It is, and with a couple of new members who need their pay as well. Full member rates.” Lucas looked over his shoulder at Adriana and motioned for her to join him. “Amelia, this is Adriana. She’s going to join us and kill the Maw.”

Adriana raised a hand, silently surprised he put that much open faith in her. “Hi. What’s standard pay?”

Amelia laughed, jiggling with the motion. “Full member, for a week? One hundred haemar.”

Oh. That was a fair bit more than she expected, and on top of the free room and board Lucas had promised…

“Oh, does that change things?” Lucas asked, a predatory grin taking over his face. “You’ll eat well, sleep well, and fight well. We put our lives on the lines, and so we live our lives to the fullest. And I can point you to a place that sells Divinity, if you are so inclined.”

“Yes. I would like that,” Adriana said as calmly as she could. Inside, she danced, jumped, and screamed. A hundred haemar a week was more than her group with Synto had been making, split four ways. They’d only managed one job before their fateful trip to Dahkres Island, and now she’d be making four times as much in the same time.

“Amelia, if you would?” Lucas motioned to Adriana.

“Right away, right away. You want everyone else’s pay too?”

“Just one additional week’s pay, for the other newbie. Unless you think Davos won’t accept?” Lucas looked worried.

“No no,” said Adriana. “He’ll take payment in haemar, no problem. I mostly just see him avoid new Divinity, for some reason.”

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Amelia pulled out a couple of small burlap sacks and set them next to one chest. There, she quickly counted out a hundred each and brought them over to the front. “Here you go. I’ll have the rest ready for everyone later.” She slid them through a slat at the bottom of the fence.

“Thanks Amelia,” said Lucas. He took the two sacks and handed one to Adriana. It was heavier than she expected, but it was a welcome weight. “Do you want to grab Davos and go out and explore? He said something about you two promising to visit here together.”

“Well, yeah, that’d be nice,” said Adriana. The surprises just kept on coming, but she wasn’t about to complain. Other than Eva, the Children of Stephanos had been quite good to her. Maybe it would be worth behaving and putting up with the Hierophant for a little bit.

Lucas inclined his head. “Then let’s get you a cloak before you go out. I’d ask if you wanted an escort just in case someone out there gets too close, but…”

Adriana laughed. “I can take care of myself.”

“That’s about what I figured.”

The dormitories were located on the side of the mountain, three floors up. Adriana and Davos had their own room to themselves, with two beds, a table, and a small balcony. It didn’t need anything else to seem luxurious to her. A part of her would always be used to sleeping wherever she could find that wouldn’t be disturbed. Sleeping in a bed regularly was sure to spoil her.

Davos waited on his bed, half napping. He jolted up when Adriana came in with two sacks of money. “Hey! You’re back sooner than I expected. Since you’re here and not locked up, am I to assume you managed to behave around the Hierophant?”

“More or less,” said Adriana. She tossed the sack at him, where it landed between his legs. “And we’re even getting paid for our efforts. Get dressed, asshole. We’re going shopping!”

After opening the sack and seeing the glint of red inside, Davos muttered, “You don’t have to tell me twice.”

By the time they made it to the bottom of the mountain, Adriana already prized going about in a cloak. With temperatures no longer affecting her nearly as much, it was handy to have her hands and hair covered out in the sun. With anonymity on her side, she and Davos were free to explore Hessiopolis on their own terms.

Which, naturally, meant going to where they sold Divinity. Davos just rolled his eyes and let Adriana lead the way to one of the higher end shops near the temple. It was nothing like Apollo’s hushed tomb of a building. The Divinity was still well guarded and in elaborate glass cases that were no doubt enchanted. The proprietor helped customers one by one, but there were only a few people ahead of them.

Unfortunately, when it was their turn, Adriana discovered their wares were…lacking. “What do you mean you don’t carry anything higher than three percent Divinity?” she demanded.

The proprietor, a short, stocky man with a ragged beard grunted. “Too dangerous. You want something like five, ten percent? You’re going to need to go to a private collector. This is for people getting started, or who need and can afford a boost to the next level of ascension. If you want more potent power, we have some good Bestia on hand…”

The next two shops were no better. One had an orb appraised at six percent Divinity, but it was from Iosephos, god of parties and plenty. What the hell would Adriana do with powers that let her cook better, or multiply wine. All the small amounts of power held an additional problem. She wasn’t sure it would be enough to sate the greedy True Divinity inside her. The Mystery of Precision had been judged to be nearly twice as strong as it turned out to be. Would one percent Divinity even affect her?

It was enough to put her in a sour mood, but like usual, Davos had a plan. “Food, drink, and maybe something pretty and stupid,” he said as they ducked under an awning.

They didn’t need to be out of the sun, but it helped to be out of the way of the constant foot traffic. Unlike Mykarkos, Hessiopolis was safer and more well watched, especially around the Sun Temple. A few armed and armored men from the Bulwark were stationed every now and then, and they were famous for keeping the peace without escalating things.

“I thought you were with Cora,” Adriana said, although a drink did sound nice.

He shrugged. “I was talking about for you. We finally made it here. You’re safe, Synto isn’t going to be able to do much here, you survived talking to the Hierophant, and you have a group of friends. Why not celebrate with a handsome idiot you’ll never see again?”

“Tempting,” Adriana muttered before looking around. This many faces moving in and out of vision was almost disorienting if she tried to focus on too much at once. Especially when she focused and the Mystery of Precision showed her where thousands of people would be at the same time as where they were now. She closed her eyes with a wince. “Let’s start with a drink. My treat.”

“Today just gets better and better!” Davos clapped her shoulder and led the way around a group of black robed Mourners, worshipers of the Death God Calix. Most people gave them a wide berth, and Adriana fought the temptation to spend her haemar on trying to contact her parents. It wasn’t easy.

In a city as big as Hessiopolis, you were never out of spitting distance from a place to eat or drink. Davos led her to the northwest, where the city sloped down to a gentle beach. Right before solid ground gave way to sand was a big, open hut with tables and chairs where they served drinks.

“You know me so well,” Adriana said with a pleased laugh. “No tiny, cramped-ass tavern corner to hide in. Fresh air, beautiful scenery, and it looks like there’s good food too.”

Davos threw his arm around her shoulder and gave her the tiniest hug. No one else could get away with it, but the moment was right and Adriana hugged him back. They parted and took two stools right at the bar. Nine other people were around them, mostly minding their own business.

“What’ll you be having?” A sharp-featured woman Davos’ age asked. She had reddish brown hair and a hawkish nose, with startling blue eyes. “You want our special?”

“Two of that and some of that succulent pork I see you cooking over there,” Davos said. He inhaled theatrically, ending with a contented sigh.

The bartender chuckled and shook her head. “You got it, handsome.”

Adriana rolled her eyes and got comfortable. “I’m telling.”

He just shrugged. A couple minutes later, they had red, sweet smelling drinks that hissed and spit. Davos lifted his without hesitation. “To everything turning out better than expected.”

A pit settled in her stomach. A toast like that was asking for trouble. She happily clinked her mug against his. “To nothing bad ever happening again.”

They laughed and drank deeply.