It was apparently not until a few days later that I finally came out of my coma, and by then we were almost to Blossom City.
As I expected, Alverd was the first thing I saw when my eyes fluttered open. I was in the back of the wagon, staring up at the fabric covering. Room had been made for me to be laid down on one side, and he was seated next to me, making sure no stray barrel or box would shift and fall on me. When he saw me wake, he gave me his signature smile and I felt more at ease than I had since we first arrived in Kierhai.
“Good afternoon, sleepyhead.” He said as he ruffled my hair gently. “You gave us all a bit of a scare. We thought for sure we’d need to bring you to a cleric in Blossom City when you didn’t wake up yesterday.” He took hold of my hand and pulled me up, propping my back against a nearby crate. My head swam a bit from the sudden motion. More importantly, my stomach loudly rumbled.
“I thought you’d be hungry. I saved the last of the boar jerky for you.” He handed me a few slices of dried meat that smelled absolutely heavenly. Without any more words I took the food and crammed it into my mouth. He waited patiently for me to finish eating before he brought me up to speed.
“Yuzuruha says that, barring any further unforeseen issues, we should arrive in Blossom City just after sundown. She’s going to let us stay at her home while we conduct the Steadfast’s business. All we have to do is mind the others in her home.” He grimaced. “We’re imposing on her so much already. The least we can do is make sure the Steadfast can’t threaten her any longer.”
My instincts told me that Alverd was hiding the true extent of his anger about the matter, so I poked and prodded a bit. “The way the Steadfast manipulated you. It really got under your skin, didn’t it? Why is that, if you don’t mind me asking?”
Alverd cleared his throat. “Any self-respecting knight would balk at the idea of anyone using blackmail in such a way, especially to wield the law to add legitimacy to it.” His hand balled into a fist, the metal parts of his gauntlet grinding together. “The law exists to maintain order. But there will always be those in positions of power who use the law to shield themselves while bending it to their will. One in my place would be expected to obey, not question his superiors.” There was noticeable disgust in the way he said ‘superiors’, so much so that even I could pick up on it.
“My mentor Sir Chandler used to tell me that it was a knight’s duty to serve, but a good man’s duty to do what was right, and that on an ideal day one could be both at the same time.” His hand unfurled and his posture relaxed a bit. “He was one of the only ones who thought that way. Even some of his other pupils would mock his views as naive. There was one who went so far as to call Sir Chandler a fool to his face.” He chuckled, which was something I wasn’t expecting.
“So what happened to that guy?” I asked.
“His name was Rickard, the son of a noble family who paid for his chance to be a squire with old money. But he soon learned that all the money in the world can’t buy a true knight’s honor.” He smirked at me. “Sir Chandler forced him to wash the chamber pots for the entire barracks. With his bare hands.”
I snorted. “Sounds like he got dealt a shit hand there.”
Alverd let out a loud bark of laughter, spontaneous and genuine, and in that moment he was just a normal young man laughing at literal toilet humor. I grinned at him. “You have a nice laugh.”
The words were out my mouth before I even knew what I was saying. The air became way too thick, and suddenly the inside of the wagon was unbearably stuffy. He continued to try and contain himself, but I was feeling heat rise in my cheeks. Why the hell did you say that? What a weird thing to compliment someone on. Just because you’re alone in here with him doesn’t mean you get to let yourself get all overconfident.
Stammering, I deflected the conversation away from my stupid comment. “A-A-Anyway, tell me more about this mentor of yours. He sounds like a good man.” Alverd’s laughter died down immediately.
“He was,” he said. “He died during the invasion. Some of our knights went to find out what happened to the city on our border with Ishmar. He came back with dragon riders on his heels.” He cast his eyes downward, unwilling to meet mine. “Alicia, before you say anything, know that I don’t blame you. It’s very important that you know that.”
Instantly my heart sank in my chest. “Even still, my country was responsible for what happened. My fath-”
“Your father made choices, yes. He did so as your king. You are not him, nor were you in any position to stop him. So please understand that I harbor no ill will for you.” His eyes were clear, and the way he was staring into my soul made me believe that he was telling me the truth.
“I spent half a decade consumed by anger. Anger at the King of Dragontamers, at Ishmar, at myself. But knowing what I know now about your father, about Albrecht, their plan? I see more than I did five years ago. Armed with that, a good man would reconsider his feelings and try to make the best of his circumstances.”
I looked back at Alverd unflinchingly. “What would a good knight do?”
He sighed. “A good knight would’ve died in Marevar fighting to the death for his liege, his people, and his kingdom. So I guess in Sir Chandler’s eyes, I’m doing right by him. Even if it doesn’t feel like it sometimes.”
It was my turn to sigh. Then I took his hands in mine and squeezed. “To quote something I heard Kuro say a while back, nuances suck.”
He squeezed my hands back, and I found comfort in his act. “Indeed.”
Mercifully, Sheena had fallen asleep in the front of the wagon next to Yuzuruha, who was driving. Kuro had elected to sit on the back stoop and kept to himself for the rest of the ride. Well, if the others are going to give me this much free time with Alverd, then as the saying goes, you snooze you lose.
I listened to Alverd tell me more stories of his youth. Most of it were things I’d heard from Kuro during our night shifts together, but it was nice to hear them from his perspective. Despite the fact that it was obviously painful for him to recall most of it, there were some things that still brought that smile to his face that I was so fond of.
“My mother would make the greatest shepherd’s pie. It was the pride of my parents’ tavern.” His eyes lit up for a moment as he described his mother and father. They were wholesome, hardworking people who were proud of the fact that their son managed to excel so much in the militia that he had gained the attention of a knight like Sir Chandler to the point where he had been invited to compete for the right to become his squire.
“Dad was sure I’d be a laborer like him, but he was so proud that I was eventually selected to be a squire. Mom was more on the fence about it. She was terrified about my safety but ultimately she said it was alright if I was learning how to fight from Sir Chandler.” I’m so tempted to know about his parents. He’s so lucky he had such a good relationship with them. My own mother cared for me I’m sure, but I can’t be certain she didn’t have her own agendas for me. And I don’t even want to get started on where I am about my father. But I know that asking him would be like digging at an old wound. The last thing I want to do is open it up again and make this harder on him.
“Not to get distracted, but what’s shepherd’s pie?” I asked, hoping to steer the topic away before Alverd touched on something that would drudge up a bad memory. His face lit up again.
“So you take meat and potatoes… “
By the time the sun was dipping on the horizon, my stomach was rumbling all over again. I had a desperate need to try shepherd’s pie with all the different choices in meat availability. “I wonder if they have it in Blossom City,” I asked aloud. Alverd thought about it for a moment.
“Blossom City has a lot of different dishes, but being situated on the east coast of Selarune means they have access to a lot of seafood. That alone might be a new range of things for you to try.”
I nodded. “True. Ishmar isn’t landlocked, but all our coast is dominated by mountain ranges, and a lot of them are infested with wild dragons. I’m definitely eager to try a few new things.”
The wagon ground to a halt, and I heard Yuzuruha say something that sounded like it was probably some kind of region-specific slang, though given her tone it was probably vile in nature. Alverd and I exchanged glances, then got up and looked out the wagon.
Ahead of us, a platoon of soldiers in silver colored armor were standing on both sides of the road. They were flanking a pair of wagons whose occupants were lined up on the edge of the beaten dirt path, being interrogated one by one. At first it looked like a routine inspection, but when a pair of soldiers lifted a man covered in bloody bandages from the back of one of the wagons, it was clear something else had happened.
Yuzuruha waited until one of the soldiers walked up alongside the wagon before addressing them. “Hey. What’s the hold up?”
The soldier reached out his hand, waiting for documents. “A caravan was attacked earlier today. Another group of traders were passing through, stumbled on the aftermath. Looks like the handiwork of the Divernian Swords.”
Pressing her mercenary credentials into the guard’s palm, Yuzuruha growled at him. “Don’t y’all think it would be better ta’ let these people into Blossom City ta’ get help instead of detainin’ ‘em outside city limits? Man looks liable ta’ die if he don’t get help soon.”
The soldier took his time examining her identification, turning the small piece of parchment to hold it up to the fading light as if trying to determine whether it was fake. “A medic has been dispatched from a local guild to deal with the injured. We don’t want any potential infiltrators to get an easy ticket into our city.” Yuzuruha snorted.
“Yeah, because lettin’ myself get stabbed is a surefire way to get in.”
Grimacing, the soldier handed her back her documents. “Look lady, I get paid, I do what I’m told. And I was told to bar entry until we determine these people aren’t spies for the Swords. Now state your purpose and cargo.” Alverd leaned out of the wagon and over the driver’s seating area to address him.
“Mercenaries returning to Blossom City. No cargo to speak of.” The soldier squinted at Alverd, sizing him up.
“You don’t look like a Wolf. In fact, you look foreign.” His hand slid down to the hilt of his sword, sheathed at his side. “Far as we can tell, most of the Swords are foreign types. How do I know you’re not responsible for the attack that happened on the road?” Great. We’re not even in the city yet and already we’re not welcome.
Before Alverd could reply, something smacked into the back of his head. By reflex I caught it before it hit the ground. It was a scroll, affixed with the wax seal of the Steadfast. Looking over my shoulder, I saw Kuro making his way through the wagon to us. “Show him that. It’s our all-access pass, courtesy of Mingsheng.” I handed the scroll to Alverd, who passed it to the guard.
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He was skeptical at first, but after examining the seal of the Steadfast, he waved us through. The soldiers made enough room for our wagon to pass by the stalled ones, and we pulled ahead to where the imposing outer gate of Blossom City opened to allow us entry.
Unlike the gate of Standing Stone, which had been built with militaristic practicality, Blossom City’s gates were a work of art. The thirty foot tall double door was a slab of polished metal depicting twin warriors locked in battle dressed in fantastic armor. The walls surrounding the city were made from a gleaming white stone that looked sturdy enough to take a hit from a trebuchet. Even the guardhouses stationed along the wall at regular intervals incorporated animal decorations at the points of their sloped rooftops. It took me a moment to realize that they were fish with mouths open in a wide circle.
More of the city’s guards parted ways so that we could stop in front of the gate. The one in charge raised an eyebrow when shown Mingsheng’s seal, but rather than make a stink out of it he motioned to the guards on the parapet above the gate to let us in. I guess the idea of things being above one’s pay isn’t a concept solely unique to Ishmar.
Two teams of eight guards began to pull at a pair of massive chains flanking the guardhouse above the gate. The doors began to pull back and inward, revealing the city inside. The architecture inside the city was similar to the buildings in Standing Stone, although there was a subtle difference that took me a second to place.
The area on the immediate other side of the gate was a large wide open space, a round-about with a small statue of a fox standing on its hind legs dressed in a flowing robe and holding a long scroll that reached all the way to its feet. Other wagons were dispersed throughout the round-about, tended by workers who were either loading or off-loading crates of cargo. Several workers motioned for us to fall in with the wagons circulating the round-about so that we could enter the city seeing as we had no cargo to be rid of.
The inside of the city isn’t the same in terms of its defensive capabilities. Standing Stone’s streets were narrow and designed to stall large numbers of invaders trying to spill in from the gates. The streets here are wide and there’s so much space between the buildings. There were a number of wheeled carts operated by duos of shopkeepers, many of them selling various food dishes. As our wagon rolled past them, the smells wafted over to us and my stomach rumbled again.
The majority of the vendors had meat based dishes. I could detect the familiar scents of chicken and beef, and even a few pork entrees. Some were being cooked on grills that were slabs of stone heated by miniature furnaces in the wagons themselves. One wagon had a giant pot built into it where the vendor was lowering thin strips of beef into boiling water alongside fresh vegetables.
“Mmm. That’s hotpot. I’ll treat y’all ta’ that later. Ain’t nothin’ like it.” Yuzuruha said as she licked her lips.
A group of about a dozen young men and women wearing white and red robes were moving with speed towards us with one other woman trailing behind them. She was trying to have a conversation with one man in the back, who looked to be older than the rest. As our wagon got closer, I heard the tail end of their conversation.
“I’m sorry, miss. Until your guild certification is processed I cannot allow you to assist. Now, I must ask that you leave. I have a job to do.” The group hurried towards the gate, and I saw that each of them was carrying a handbag overflowing with strange tools and bandages.
The girl in the back stopped as our wagon pulled up beside her. “Yuzu? Is that you?” Her soft voice was unlike the gruff ones native to Kierhai, and I detected an accent that I couldn’t place.
Yuzuruha pulled the wagon to a swift halt and I nearly bucked forward and over the driver’s seat as it lurched. “Well I’ll be damned. Lou! What are y’all doin’ out here?”
Lou was barely taller than me, with short black hair in a bob and wide green eyes. She wore a powder blue vest with matching pants that brimmed with pouches, and a leather bandolier over her chest that contained an unusual curved object that I didn’t recognize and several small metal objects, as well as a tiny but easily accessible knife. When I saw the silver pin on her vest’s collar, however, I knew exactly who she was. I pulled myself into the seat and sat down next to Yuzuruha to get a better look at the girl.
“You’re Margloomian. Forgeborn Army, if that pin is right.” The pin in question was a long silver valve spewing steam, with a small circle at its bottom with a cross in it. The cross part was unfamiliar to me, but even I knew enough about Ishmar’s neighbors to know the insignia of one of its most dangerous potential enemies. “What’s a Margloomian soldier doing so far from home? Isn’t Margloom on the far side of the continent from here?”
She recoiled away from me with such speed that at first I thought she was about to attack me. Yuzuruha threw up her hands. “No no, Lou! It’s okay. I know she’s Ishmarian, but it’s alright. She ain’t gonna hurt ya.” She scowled at me. “Come ‘ere. I’m sure she didn’t mean ta’ scare ya.” Like a startled animal, Lou took a tentative step forward, then after seeing I wasn’t going to bite her, rushed over to Yuzuruha and tried to hug her.
The huge mercenary jumped down from the seat and enveloped the smaller girl in a giant bear hug, lifting her off the ground and nuzzling her cheek to cheek. “Awww, I’m so glad ta’ see ya. Where’s yer brother? Where’s my little guardian angel?” She’s like a whole different person now. A second ago she looked ready to tear my tongue out, but now she’s giddy and carefree with her.
Lou whined a bit as she tried not to get crushed. “Yuzu! Stop! You’ll set my gun off.” Yuzuruha let the small girl go, and she immediately pulled the curved object out of its holster and did something with it.
“Good. No residual powder. These things are sensitive, Yuzu, unlike you.” The remark drew an overblown and sarcastic response as Yuzuruha flung her arms open with faux shock.
“What are y’all on about? I’m plenty sensitive. That’s me, sensitivity coming out my ass all day long.” Lou cracked a smile, and the two women hugged again, albeit more tamely this time.
“What are y’all doin’ out here? Was that punk givin’ y’all trouble?” There was an edge to her voice after they separated.
Lou put up her hands and shook her head. “No, no. You know how it is. The Wolves are just taking their sweet time processing our applications. So until I’m an official mercenary, I’m not allowed to assist on certain jobs. Even when it’s something as crucial as medical support.” She patted the handbag slung around her waist weighed down with tools similar to the others we’d seen.
“I can hardly blame them. The entire city has been on high alert since the attempted break in at the Repository a few days ago.” Behind me, Kuro was about to say something; he inhaled but then caught himself, disguising his intentions with an awkward cough. “Break in? At the Repository? Who the hell’d be stupid enough ta’ try that?” Yuzuruha scoffed.
“This woman would,” Lou said as she dug a wanted poster out of her bag. She held it up for us to see. The arrogant face of a smirking wolf beast woman with braided hair looked back at us. The poster declared her to be “Monaco the Swift, known associate of the Four Winds Retrieval Guild based in Margloom” and offering a hefty sum of one hundred thousand gold coins to anyone who brought her in, although the poster stipulated that she was wanted alive.
Both Alverd and Kuro groaned in unison. Kuro swore loudly, forgetting he was in public and drawing the ire of several customers at the nearby food stalls. Yuzuruha hoisted herself back up into the driver’s seat and motioned for me to make room. “Well hop on, Lou. Y’all can tell us all about it while we head back home. Is Rol there?” Lou nodded as she reached up to grab the metal bar on the side of the driver’s seat, and I held out my hand to help. She hesitated, but then grabbed my hand and pulled herself up. She was still wary of me, but at least I was doing my part to try and win her trust.
“Yeah, Rol’s been worried sick about you. You know how he gets when you’re not around. You said you were only going to be gone a few days, and then you disappear for almost two weeks. He’s like a big dumb puppy. I’ll bet he might have started chewing the couch up at this rate.”
I leaned over to Alverd. “Why would there be Margloomian soldiers here in Kierhai?”
He shook his head. “I don’t know. Margloom is too far away to have any treaties or alliances with Kierhai. The Forgeborn Army is well known across Selarune but they have no real presence outside their own country. But that pin on her collar tells me she’s a field medic. I saw dozens more like her during the humanitarian crisis that followed the Ishmarian invasion. They all wore pins like that.”
Guilt pulled at my heart for a moment. Ugh, I knew I was gonna step in that sooner or later, like a giant pile of dragon shit. Well, might as well go with it if we’re already knee deep in turd. “You mean when the Forgeborn Army had to occupy Elorik to establish the refugee zone.” He nodded.
“Yes. Hundreds of people turned up, many of them frightened and injured. Some didn’t survive wounds inflicted on them by the invaders. Others had traveled miles on barely any food and water. Kuro himself needed to be tended by a medic for a short time.”
“I can hear you two gossiping back there,” Lou said, causing us both to jump. “I’ve got very good hearing. Yes, my brother and I were there when the Forgeborn Army created the refugee zone. I was treating people fleeing the Ishmarians.” She turned around and fixed me with her steely gaze, boring holes into me with her accusatory stare. “Hard to forget that.”
Part of me wanted to bite back at her but something in her voice told me that she was more than game to start some scrap with me if I did. Despite what she said, I kind of like this girl. She’s a tiny, skinny little twig of a thing yet she isn’t scared of me. I can respect that. I just wish I had a chance to explain to her that I’m not like the rest of my family. Lou turned back around and sulked in the front seat, and I chewed on my food for thought for the rest of the trip.
Sheena finally decided to grace everyone with her presence by choosing that moment to wake up from her ridiculously long nap. She climbed over the partition behind the driver’s seat and settled in with Alverd, Kuro and I. “Goodness. I must have been more tired than I thought,” she said as she yawned, putting her hand up and over her open mouth.
“I’ll say. The last few days you’ve slept like the dead. Even when you were awake you looked like you were in a daze.” She didn’t respond to Alverd’s comment, instead seating herself on a nearby crate.
“My head feels so foggy. I can’t remember much from the last few days.”
Before I could say anything Kuro chimed in. “Maybe it was something you ate.” She mumbled a bit before rubbing her palms against her face, trying to wipe the sleep from her eyes.
We caught her up to speed as the wagon made its way through the streets. I didn’t have much to offer seeing as how I’d been unconscious for part of the journey myself, so I looked at the scenery instead. Stone lanterns built into the sidewalks held orange flames that glittered in the dimming light. Colorful streamers depicting various animals were hung from the sides of buildings and over the streets. I noted with curiosity that despite the beauty of the buildings themselves, many of them had thin parchment over their windows instead of glass.
The people of Blossom City were adorned much like those in Standing Stone, favoring light robes that seemed easy to move around in. Wealthier folks wore silk, which were dyed in bright colors like red or orange and had detailed embroidery depicting everything from the beautiful trees with the pink flowers to fierce animals like tigers or wolves. Not many people wore jewelry, and those who did limited them to rings or earrings rather than the armlets or necklaces that were common in Ishmar.
Guard presence was high with every patrol I saw having no fewer than five per group. They moved in tight formation and marched almost in unison, carrying long polearms with curved silver blades. The hafts of the blade each had a long ribbon attached to them, each symbolizing one of the clans that protected Kierhai. It must be because of that break in that Lou mentioned. I want to ask her about it, but maybe I’m not the best one to do so.
Kuro, probably because of his paranoia or curiosity or some combination of both, read my mind and asked for me. “So what happened to make routine patrols like this so necessary?”
Lou leaned back in her seat. “Someone tried to steal something from the Repository. It’s a fortified storehouse for magical artifacts left over from the War of the Five Kings. Think of a massive vault with both magical and physical security measures to safeguard some of the most dangerous weapons left over from a war that nearly destroyed all of reality.”
Well that sounds just great. Last thing anyone needs is one of those out in the wind. Lou continued, “Nobody knows if the perpetrator succeeded or not, or what they wanted. All I know is that the Imperials say nothing is missing, which sounds to me like damage control. Last thing they want to admit is that they failed.”
Alverd spoke up. “So how does Monaco factor into this?”
“The Four Winds legitimize themselves outside of Margloom by calling themselves a retrieval service. Back home, everyone knows they’re just some gussied up thieves’ guild. But that means outside Margloom, the Four Winds has to play by other countries’ rules regarding mercenary guild regulations. Here in Kierhai, that means submitting identification and proof of guild membership to the Imperial Authority.”
She handed us the wanted poster again. I took it and unfurled it to take a closer look. “When the break in occurred a few days ago, the Imperial Authority checked the travel records stretching back a few weeks and found out that Monaco and her team had been here for two weeks. That put them squarely at the top of the suspect pool. She hasn’t been seen in public so the Authority decided to put out these posters. They’ve already made up their minds that she’s the culprit.”
Kuro chuckled. “Well what did you expect? Registering with the Authority was her biggest mistake.” The smile on his face vanished. “Which is kind of odd, honestly. Monaco doesn’t strike me as the type to make such a rookie mistake. So maybe there’s something else at play here.”
The wagon ground to a stop in front of a series of buildings, medium sized homes that looked uniform in design. Each of them were two stories with sloped shingled rooftops, and the one we’d stopped in front of had a plaque mounted to its entryway. When I got out to move to the door with the others, I examined it. In the common tongue, the plaque declared that the home belonged to the Tanaka family. Beneath it was a metal piece inscribed with the name “Tanaka, Yuzuruha”. Five other plates beneath it, however, had been defaced with a sharp object to scratch out the names written on them.
Yikes. She wasn’t kidding when she said that there was some drama involved. The gouge marks were deep and haphazard, making me think it had to be done in anger. Was it her or her sister who did this? Guess bad sibling relationships are alike no matter what nation you come from. Underneath the ruined plates were two brand new ones made of pewter. They were inscribed with the names “Roland Veillantif” and “Alouette Veillantif”.
So they’re basically like her new family. I wonder if I’ll have something like that someday? Alverd passed by me to wait by the door and my heart beat a little faster in my chest. Okay, calm down. That’s a whole different thing you’re thinking about. Don’t get ahead of yourself. The last thing you need is to make Sheena hyperfocus on stupid shit again.
Yuzuruha was reaching for the front door when her hand stopped. “Wait. Where’s Rol? None of the lights are on.” She was right. No light streamed out of the parchment covered windows on the first or second floor.
“Maybe he went out.” Sheena chimed in, still yawning behind all of us.
Lou shook her head. “I dunno. He’s barely left the house since the robbery.”
Sliding the door open, we stepped into the house. The entryway was an open room with several pieces of furniture, including some imported from out of the country like an easy chair and a couch. Sitting on the couch was a young man with messy white hair and green eyes the same shade as Lou’s. He was of average build, with a babyface that made him look way too young to be her older brother. He was sweating profusely, a look of intense shock on his face. Before anyone could say anything, though, he winced. The light from the street lamps outside spilled enough through the open door to illuminate who was sitting on the couch next to him. A tall woman with long legs, brown skin, braided black hair and wolf ears and tail was holding a serrated knife against Roland’s torso, positioned just beneath his rib cage.
Monaco the Swift smiled, although it was terse. “Took you long enough. All of you inside, now. No sudden moves. Close the door behind you.” When no one made any immediate moves to comply with her demand, she pushed the tip of the dagger against the side of the young man’s body, causing him to flinch.
“We’ve got some things to discuss.”