The dimly lit and darkly colored interior of Nightingale's was more tasteful compared to the corner pubs Yarro was used to. To the left was a bar, and to the right was a stage, which currently hosted a pianist, playing low, slow tunes. In the back center was a flight of stairs that led to an open second floor overlooking the first and with a prime view of the stage. Chatter was kept at a minimal volume due to an unspoken mutual agreement. To Yarro, the overall air had an overall mysterious vibe. This was definitely a place royalty would easily hide in.
It was his first time coming here, and he must have looked as lost as he felt. The barkeep piped up as Yarro took it all in. “You Yarro?” they asked. Yarro’s eyes snapped back to the bar and nodded. “She’s upstairs.”
How peculiar they didn’t name her. Surely they knew the Queen was sitting in their bar? Yarro’s eyes looked back at the stairs, which he could barely make out due to it being so dark in that area. There didn't seem to be enough candles which only seemed to enhance the vibe of the bar.
Before he could protest, a firm hand clamped on his shoulder and pushed him forward. There was one person leaning against the wall at the top of the stairs. A stray candle caught the shine of metal hidden beneath her coat. They must have reserved the entire second floor, as all the tables except one were empty, even the ones close to the open floor that gave a view of stage. A man and a woman sat in one such table, watching the pianist below. Yarro didn’t recognize the Queen and King at first, due to their casual clothes.
“Good evening, Your Majesty,” Yarro said as he bowed. Queen Illa seemed more interested in the show downstairs. She didn't even glance at him as she spoke.
“Have a seat. And let’s keep it casual here. Don’t want anyone to know who we are.” Illa winked as she took a sip of her frosted drink. A playful smile hidden behind the glass. She was dressed similarly to the others downstairs. A long thin long sleeve dress, with no frills or ruffles, and her hair covered in cloth. The Queen’s most recognizable trait was her curly red hair, so covering it was the least she would do if she was trying to blend in. The King in comparison was dressed in a long collared coat with a quilted collared shirt. The pants matched the color of the coat.
“Right. So why did you want to meet us?” Kael asked. He leaned back in his chair, one ankle draped over his knee and his arm across the back of his chair. Yarro thought he looked quite nice in the dim light. But he was worried the other was being a bit too casual. Hopefully the Queen didn’t take offense to it.
Queen Illa finally looked directly at them. “The annual Midsummer Ball is coming up in a few days. You two are hereby formally invited as honored guests. To show our…” Illa sighed, and although barely visibly, Yarro could have sworn he saw her roll her eyes. “Utmost appreciation of the Deities and their caring nature towards our kingdom.”
Yarro frowned. There had to be more to it than that. Her voice was dripping with sarcasm and disdain for their entire existence. He squinted at her. “I’ve never been to the Midsummer Ball before.”
“I have,” Kael instantly spoke up. “It’s full of the most politically backstabbing people. Full of Capes just waiting to interject with their own accomplishments and put others down. If we’re looking for corruption, it would be easiest there.”
“Yes, though it might be hard to investigate that type of corruption. The Queen means to introduce you both as the Deities’ Champions,” King Wen said after a sip of his whiskey. “You’ll have all eyes and ears on you.” Yarro saw Kael grimmace in response. Any sleuthing would have to be through conversation and overheard whispers. This made their quest much more difficult that they originally thought.
Queen Illa swirled her drink. “Yes, it would draw attention if two no-name men was found sneaking about. You’d have the guards called on you two in no time flat and I’d be forced to kick you both out. Naturally as I am bound to follow the Deities’ wishes, I cannot allow that.”
“Why help us? What do you get out of it?” Kael asked, still suspicious.
Queen Illa sighed. She had already grown tired of explaining things out to people who had no knowledge of political intricacies. “Announcing you two as the Deities’ Champions and my support for it gets me favor and power among the Capes.”
“But you’re the-” Yarro paused, and lowered his voice into a whisper. “You’re the Queen.”
“Well, she was almost assassinated a few years ago.” Both King Wen and Yarro stared at Kael in horror. The audacity he had in voicing that statement out loud, no matter how true it was. Kael shrugged. "She needs the political support in any way she can get."
After a few moments in terrifying silence, Queen Illa cleared her throat. “Anyways,” she said. “I personally don’t think political corruption is what the deities want you to look for. There’s nothing in the upper class that significantly affects the lower class. If anything you’ll have better luck looking at the guard’s corruption.”
“With all due respect, Madam, I’m a guard and I’ve seen nothing of the sort,” Yarro said.
Queen Illa looked at him with a raised eyebrow and her head slightly tilted towards him. “Everyone knows the guards bully those lower than them. And who’s lower than a guard? Commoners. Farmers. Slaves.”
Yarro had heard of that, but he never saw such acts before. Everyone at the barracks were always so nice and helpful. He couldn’t possibly see any one of them abusing their power. He slunk back in his chair, thinking of all the different kinds of people in the barracks. They were all duty bound to protect the citizens of Listhua. Even if they hated those lower than them, they wouldn't stoop so low as to take it out on them.
Kael put down his feet and leaned his elbows on the table. “If we wanted to get a head start on this sort of political corruption that will be at the Midsummer Ball, where should we look?” He asked.
“The records room, definitely.” King Wen said, almost immediately. “There’s tax records on everyone in there, especially the Capes.”
Queen Illa nodded. “We obviously don’t have the resources to investigate it all, so if you want to take a look you’re welcome to. Stop by tomorrow when you pick up your seals and I’ll have a royal guard walk you guys to the room. I’ll make sure it’s empty. Though I don’t think you’ll find anything there.”
“Thank you,” Kael said. He stood up and respectfully bowed. Yarro stood up in a rush, brought back from his thoughts and followed the bow, before following Kael out the door.
By the time they left the bar the night had set and the stars were out. Grasshoppers chirped all around them and cool winds brushed away the stuffy indoor air. It was just a little too humid though. Yarro took a deep breath and fanned himself with the collar of his shirt. When he looked up, the barest glimmer of a full moon could be seen behind the heavy clouds rolling through the sky.
Kael turned to him. He opened and closed his mouth a couple of times, brows furrowed. Yarro waited patiently for him to speak. After a few moments, he ultimately decided to say whatever it was out loud. “Do you have a place to sleep? You were stationed in Dawic, so I was just wondering if…”
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Yarro was caught off guard by the sudden compassion. “Uh, yeah. I don’t think Guard Captain Lisa has me on duty tonight so I’ll just sleep at my mom’s house. I need to catch her up to speed anyways.” Yarro dropped his hand. He had cooled off, but for some reason his face still felt a bit hot. The possibility of Kael walking him home was enough to make his head race, not unlike when he was in battle.
“Oh, your mom doesn’t know you’re back from Dawic?” Yarro opened his mouth to speak, but Kael continued to rush the words out. “Right! The Master Earth Elemental attacked Dawic and you came straight for help. And then slept in the inn over there. Right. Um...”
Silence. Yarro could tell Kael wanted to ask and he had to stop himself from grinning like an idiot. “If you’re not too busy, I’d love some company on the way there?”
“Yeah, of course. I’d love to,” Kael said. Yarro began to walk east. “Where does your mother live?”
“She lives closer to the wall, away from the main street.” Yarro began pointing some ways west of the direction they were facing. This main road led directly to the eastern gate. They passed a few people on their trip, but the further they got from the commercial area the less people they saw. Carriages full of packages and deliveries rode on by with their horses clip clopping against the cobblestone.
Kael was silent while they walked for a bit before finally speaking up, nearly halfway to Yarro’s home. “So, do you think the Deities are looking for political corruption? I still don’t think it makes sense. It seems so mundane compared to anything else.”
Yarro nodded. He bit his lips, deep in thought for a moment. “I want it to be political. The kind only the Capes commit. Otherwise I don’t know what I’ll do if it turns out it was my co-workers bullying the common people. And I don’t have the slightest idea on how to fix a corruption of nature.”
“Wanting it to be political, and it actually being political are two different things, Yarro,” Kael said. Yarro sighed in agreement.
“How would you fix a corruption of nature?” Yarro asked.
“There are so many ways for nature to be corrupted or destroyed. It could be as simple as replacing what was lost, or destroying what is feeding that corruption. For some things, only time in peace is needed. But if it’s as great as the Deities think, then something must be happening to it right now. Something we need to stop.”
Yarro blinked in surprise at Kael’s thoughtfulness. He only half expected a realistic answer, so when Kael came up with a plan it surprised him. “That does make me feel better. It sounds a lot easier than simply outing some people to tax fraud or confront my co-workers.”
Kael grinned, but the more Yarro thought about it the more it made sense. But he didn’t want to think about that and continued walking in the direction of his mom’s home. The two made a few turns off the main road, and were about to make another one when they heard laughter. “What, you can’t juggle some fire? C’mon, give us a show.”
Chills ran down Yarro’s spine and the two of them began looking around for the source. Common bully words he heard when he was a kid. There was a shout and some more laughter. “Psst,” Kael said, and motioned over for Yarro to follow him. Kael was peeking over a corner.
Yarro crouched down to peek around the corner Kael was looking at. There, a block past them, were 3 people in guard uniforms crowded around a man cowering on the ground. One guard had a ball of fire in her hand. The light flickered off her face. She was clearly getting enjoyment out of this torture. “We need to do something,” Yarro whispered, “but I don’t have any water.”
“Leave it to me,” Kael said. He pulled off a small corner of the brick wall, probably no more than an inch in diameter. Then he easily chipped off another two pieces. With his left hand, Kael threw all three rocks at the same time. Not a moment later the three of the guards yelped.
They looked around for the perpetrator. The one with fire in her hands waved it around to see if she could spot anyone. “Who did that? Come on out!”
Kael and Yarro stood as silent as they could. After a few moments without a response one of them turned to the man on the ground.
“You got one of your little friends out there, huh? Too cowardly to come face us, huh?” The guard pulled up a rock from the ground, and let it fly. However, Kael was faster, and in a split second another small piece of the brick wall hit the rock that was pulled up. All that hit the man cowering on the floor was dust. “Alright, who's doing that!?” The guard turned around and around, looking for anyone.
The woman with the fireball, who seemed to be the leader Yarro now realized, tapped her hand against the other two guards. “Let’s just go. This non-elementalist isn’t worth our time anyways.” The three guards took one last look around before heading north, fireball now gone.
The man looked up from his huddled position, and after making sure they weren’t coming back, he practically ran away from the scene. Yarro sighed in relief. “Thanks for that. You’re really accurate.”
Kael smirked and winked. “Precision is my middle name. Everyone thinks earth elementalists play up a ‘go big or go home’ fighting style but not me. I trained a lot for this sort of manipulation.”
Yarro nodded, clearly impressed. “It paid off.”
“Thanks. Shall we continue?”
Yarro got up off the floor and brushed the dirt off his hands. Then continued on home with Kael by his side. He was torn, in a way, of what he just saw. They both just witnessed these guards bully an innocent non-elementalist, but the question still remained if that’s what the Deities are looking for. He would also have to check later with the Guard Captain who was on patrol in this area tonight. She would want to know if someone was abusing their position.
However Kael interrupted his thoughts. “So. Still think it’s not the guards?” He could hear the smugness without having to even looking at his stupid little face.
Yarro shrugged, not wanting to admit he was wrong. That was all Kael got out of him until they reached his home. All the lights were off and he didn’t have a key. He just hoped his mother wasn’t too deep in sleep. Before he knocked, Yarro turned to Kael. “Thanks for the walk home. And for helping that guy.”
“Hey, I’m happy to help. The poor guy clearly needed it. I told you I’d help in this quest to clear the corruption and I meant it. Whether it’s in nature, or right here in the city.” Kael hesitated, and Yarro thought he was going to get a kiss goodnight. But then all his hopes and dreams were shattered as Kael merely patted his shoulder awkwardly. “See you tomorrow,” he said.
Yarro nodded, and watched Kael’s slim figure disappear into the darkness. When he was gone, Yarro sighed in disappointment. A shoulder pat? Who does that? That’s when the door opened, and a younger woman in pajamas and her hair wrapped in a night scarf opened the door. It was his sister, Mela. Her eyes were wide in shock, jaw on the floor, which slowly turned into a smile. Her hands began to flap and he knew she was about to squeal so he quickly moved to cover her mouth.
“Yarro!? You’re home!” Mela said through muffled hands. She moved to hug him. Her arms wrapped around his neck and she squeezed him down to her level so she wouldn’t have to hug him on her tiptoes. Instead, Yarro lifted her up into a bear hug and dragged her back inside.
Once inside, he put her down and closed the door. “Shhh. I’ll explain tomorrow morning when mom and Luneo are awake. We still have those extra blankets?”
Mela nodded. “I’ll go get them,” she said. She came back a moment later with an arm full of blankets. They had a musty smell to it, probably from a lack of use. “Oh my stars! Mom’s going to be so excited!” Mela did a little dance as she usually does when she couldn’t contain her excitement. Yarro missed it. She gave him one more hug and a kiss on the cheek before leaving, as well as putting out a candle in the kitchen. That's why she was awake. She was snacking.
Yarro fashioned the blankets as best as he could into a makeshift bed on the ground. It wasn’t the most comfortable place to sleep, but it was still much better than the inn floor he slept on the night before. He took off his shoes and breastplate, and eventually drifted off to sleep with the scent of a familiar home in his nose. Hopefully he could finally rest well tonight.
However pleasant the smell, Yarro’s night was filled with nightmares of the Master Earth Elemental rampaging across Dawic. High pitched screams that went on forever and ever. Blood everywhere. His own hands filled with blood, streaming from his head and pouring all around him on the floor. Dozens--no, hundreds of bodies lay at his feet. The smell alone almost made him gag.
Exhaustion. Oh, stars, he was so tired. The run back to the capital was so tiring. He would run and run and run and run but the city only seemed to get father away. Then he was drowning in his own water, surrounded on all sides as it threatened to squeeze him until he popped. Then it turned stark red. Was there this much blood before?
More screams and he was back in Dawic again. The Master Earth Elemental towered over him, reaching as far as the stars. It cast such a long shadow over him. The glint of the jade orb bored into his very soul. Fear seeped into every crevice of himself. When he looked down, a mash of human remains and various stray body parts were scattered at its feet. An insurmountable amount of pressure came from above, and slowly came down upon him. He tried to keep it up, but it was too much. Yarro fell to his knees as the inescapable feeling of doubt and horror weighed his shoulders down and crushed him.