7 Lumaki, 891 ED
Oraw, 18:32
Milagre, Empire of Tyrman
“I’d say this has been a pretty eventful week,” I grunted, pushing the door to the city barracks open with one hand, the other tightly gripping the rope that was binding the archer’s hands together. “Shame we couldn’t find a guard on the way here.”
Gogo gave a short bark of laughter at that. He himself had two of the fighters under his control, holding a short robe that connected their bound wrists. “That’d be taking it too far. We’re not that lucky.”
Even I had to laugh at that, but the sound was cut short as I saw that the inside of the barracks was packed with men in uniform. Must be some kind of shift change, I thought. Either that or something major was happening. Unfazed, I hauled the archer through, making sure he moved in front of me so that I could keep an eye on him. As Gogo entered with the two he had bound, the men and women turned to face us, mild surprise on their faces.
Most of the figures in the room were complete strangers, of course, but I could recognize the man in their center. A man in his late thirties, tall and lean but showing considerable muscle under his uniform, he cast an imposing aura. His bright silver hair was cut short, and apart from some light stubble on his chin, he was clean-shaven. He was, of course, Enri Ciayol, the Captain of the Royal Guard. The highest-ranking member of the general forces in Milagre, he answered directly to the Queen.
“Well now,” he said, half-turning to see the new arrivals in his barracks. His golden eyes flicked from me to the archer I held bound, then to Gogo and his prisoners. “This seems highly interesting.”
Another of the guards, a sergeant by the sigil on his uniform, stepped forward to meet us. “What is the meaning of this, then? We’re quite busy as it is, young men.”
“That will do, Sergeant,” the Captain said. “I’ll handle this. You have your orders, time for you to get to work.”
The sergeant looked a little nonplussed for a moment, then came to stiff attention for a moment, giving his Captain a salute. “Aye, sir. Good day then, Captain. Come on, men. Let’s get a move on.”
The other soldiers marched out of the room with their sergeant, casting curious glances our way as they passed. Eventually, the room was left much emptier, with only Ciayol and another man, a lieutenant. Enri turned to this man now. “We’ll talk more later then, Lieutenant. Excellent work.”
The man gave his Captain a salute. In keeping with his seniority, it was a much more casual gesture, a simple finger brought to his forehead. “Right you are, sir. I’ll get back to that mountain of paperwork.”
Ciayol grinned after the man, then returned his attention to Gogo and me. “Right then. What’s all this about?”
It took me a little to recapture my thought process. Seeing the Captain, who I’d been working hard to meet for the better part of a month had caught me off guard. Still, I wasn’t about to let this opportunity go to waste. I might not get enough favor here to accomplish my goal, but it couldn’t hurt to make a good impression.
“Good evening, Captain Ciayol,” I said, giving the archer a little nudge. “We’re just here to turn in these thieves.”
At once, the archer tried to pull free of my grip. I’d expected it, though, and held firm. “I haven’t done anything wrong, my lord! These two thugs accosted my friends and I in the market. They killed one of my companions, and took us captive!”
Without warning, the Captain’s face set in a firm scowl of displeasure, and his voice cracked out like a whip, making all five of us jump with the strict tone of command. “Hold your tongue, Silver! You can’t fool me for a second!”
The archer took half a step back, and I could see the surprise on his face. Ciayol shook his head from side to side. “You really expect me not to know who you are, you damned fool?”
He reached for the pouch at his belt, and retrieved a small blue pearl. Waving it in the air in front of the archer, his figure began to shift and twist upon itself. Now, instead of the tall and graceful half-elven figure, I was holding a rather short human with scruffy brown hair and a scar across his brow, obviously from a blade. He perfectly matched the description that had been listed on the wanted poster I’d read.
I let out a bark of laughter as I realized his true identity, and turned to glance at Gogo. “Well, that saves us a lot of trouble, doesn’t it? We were going to try and capture him anyway, but to think we got Rohan Silver so easily!”
Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.
“You mean you didn’t know his true identity when you captured him?” Ciayol asked, his eyebrows shooting up. “What on earth made you want to bind him then?”
“Well, to tell you the truth, my lord, this was just my personal revenge,” I said. “This bastard has tried to kill me twice now. I couldn’t let him get away with it again.”
Ciayol nodded his understanding, then cleared his throat loudly. Two figures appeared from behind a nearby door and quickly moved to take custody of the thieves. The captain grinned at my look of surprise. “Apologies, gentlemen. We have to be wary of ambushes and raids, I’m sure you understand.”
“Err, right,” I said, a little thrown by the tactic. The door, which had closed now, looked like nothing more than a panel of the wall. I scanned the rest of the walls around us now, wondering just how many of those panels led to secret areas where guards could spring out and attack. Not for the first time, I found myself completely thrown by things that I hadn’t personally added to the world.
Seeing where I was glancing, Captain Ciayol shook his head. “Worry not, my friend. You are a law-abiding citizen. There is no reason for you to expect harm within these walls.”
“Right,” I said again and took a deep breath. “Well, as I said, my lord-”
“Call me by my name, if you please,” Ciayol said, cutting me off. “Or, if it is more comfortable, by my military rank. I do not feel like a lord most times, and this is no different.”
“Right,” I said, wishing I could think of a more appropriate response. “Captain, then. Silver attacked me first in the market, nearly killing me with arrows. Then, just about a week later, that’s today, he tried again.”
“Ah, yes. I did hear a report about some attempted killing in the markets. That was quite a chaotic scene.”
I nodded my agreement with the sentiment. “He’s telling the truth about the one we killed, though. A monk with a war staff. I struck him down before rushing off after the archer. I chased him down a few streets, then knocked him off a building as he tried to escape and captured him.”
Ciayol let out a low whistle. If I didn’t know any better, I’d say he was impressed by my description. “So the first time, it was two of them, and you fought them off, at great cost to yourself. The second time, it was five versus two, and you managed better?”
I gave a slight shrug of my shoulders. “I was better prepared this time. Both Gogo and I were. And there were three of us, actually. A story mage named Felix assisted.”
“A story mage, you say?” Ciayol asked, his eyebrows shooting up again. “And where is he?”
I opened my mouth to answer, then realized that I didn’t actually know. I’d been so focused on keeping hold of the archer and getting the prisoners here with Gogo that I hadn’t stopped to question Felix’s absence. I looked over my shoulder, and Gogo obliged with an answer.
“He said that he’s got some business to attend to in town,” Gogo said, as usual showing little interest. “He told me he’ll meet up with us at Mandra’s tonight.”
“Shame,” Ciayol commented. “I would have liked to meet a mage that’s pioneering a new branch of magic.”
So he understood the significance of story magic, I realized. He could recognize the name of a new type of magic, even if he had no potential or inclination in the arcane arts. “I’ll be sure to have you meet him if the chance arises again, Captain.”
He nodded his satisfaction with my words. “Well then. That’s enough chatter for now. Let’s get you your reward.”
“Our reward?” I said. For a moment, I was too busy trying to figure out if it was safe to ask the man my request to remember the fact that turning Silver in was worth two hundred and fifty gold. “Oh, right.”
He led us deeper inside the building, passing the spot where a young elven woman was sorting through papers on a large desk, past several open doors to offices that held figures in uniform frowning at more stacks of paper, to a room at the very back of the building. It was larger than the others but simple in design, and the sparse decorations gave the room a very spartan air.
“Not a lot of noble feel to this room,” Gogo commented as he entered behind me. He looked mildly impressed. “Thought you high-ranking Ciayols loved your comfort.”
“Not all of us,” Ciayol replied, sounding a little distracted as he pushed a stack of paper off to the side and slammed down a large pouch of coins. If he was offended by Gogo’s assumption, he didn’t show it. “Here you are, then. Your reward for Silver’s capture. I don’t think I need to tell you that you’ve done a great service to this city, even if by accident.”
I accepted the coins, nodding as I passed them over to Gogo who put them in his pack. “I understand. It was my intention to hunt them down in any event. It was a lucky accident.”
“Still,” Ciayol said, refusing to allow me to shift the praise to the side. “You seem quite skilled, to take down a notorious assassin when you were outnumbered. And you have a level head on your shoulders. That kind of skill is quite rare in my experience. I imagine there are any number of organizations that could employ talent like you two.”
I shared a quick mystified glance with Gogo. Was it going to happen now? It was much too soon, I thought. We hadn’t gotten much of a chance to establish our presence in the city, nor build the kind of impression that would lead to him hiring us.
“Tell me. Would you consider joining the Royal Guard?” He spoke it plainly, without an attempt to flatter or coerce us into a decision. “I understand if you want more gold out of your activities, but we do pay quite well, and you’ll never have to worry about food or lodging while you work for me.”
And there it was, I thought. Much faster than I could have ever expected, but certainly a welcome surprise. Each member of the Royal Guards officers was hand-picked by Enri Ciayol. Men and women that he had assessed himself, and trusted to do their job. It was a high honor for a mercenary or unaffiliated fighter such as myself, and probably the best offer I could get without drawing undue attention. But as shocked and honored as I was, I didn’t consider it for even a second. I had a larger goal in mind, and I wasn’t going to let myself be tempted to forget it.
“I will have to respectfully decline, Captain Ciayol,” I said, hoping that my voice was firm but respectful. “But in fact, I have been trying to get your favor for quite a while. While I cannot work for you directly, I do have a favor to ask of you.”