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Even though our disguises seemed to be working, I couldn’t keep my anxiety under control as we helped out in the vast, bustling kitchen. Orders were barked and cross-checked, utensils were passed back and forth as flames roared, and the staff moved with a swift grace and rhythm that I struggled to match. As my slow responses became evident, I was demoted from food prep duty with Nora to hauling firewood alone. Vernie, after delivering the note she had crafted with my supposedly long and convoluted list of food requests, joined me, most likely to keep me from falling apart as we waited for our shift to end.
“Heh, that should keep the cooks busy for a while,” she snickered. “Though they might cuss you out later for it.”
“The guards!” I gasped, almost dropping an armload of wood. “They’re in the kitchen!”
We had told them we’d be back, but apparently, our time had run out. How could we have made such a big mistake?
She glanced around the corner and simply uttered an “Mmm” in reply.
“They’re going to realize we’re not here and tell everyone we’re missing!”
“Those two?” Vernie shook her head. “Nah.”
“Did you… bribe them?”
“No, didn’t need to.” She stretched, picking up a few small pieces of tinder. “You’re thinking about this from your perspective. The guards are loyal to the temple. They’ll report any absence right away. But you need to think about the situation from their perspective.”
I frowned, trying to imagine it. “I lost sight of the Chosen One. She snuck off under my watch!”
Vernie smiled. “That’s a good start.”
“I need to tell someone right away!”
Vernie scowled. “Wrong! You’re a guard, and today has been terrible!”
“It… has?”
“Your entire squad is under suspicion of disloyalty,” she said. “You and your cohorts were accused of working for Procul and hiding an imposter hero within the walls. And now, you lost sight of the real hero? What will everyone think?”
Guilt crawled through my veins. “Oh no…”
Vernie nodded. “Of course, you would next rationalize the situation. Why do I have to guard the Chosen One? Can’t she take care of herself? Unless she’s just another imposter, and in that case, it’s probably a good thing she fled. Either way, reporting her missing now will cause me more trouble than it’s worth.”
“But… that’s not how it’s supposed to work! The guard is supposed to report any incidents immediately! Right? Otherwise, that’s not mere rationalizing; that’s…” I struggled for a moment, trying to recall the phrase. “Normalization of deviant behavior!”
Vernie shrugged. “That’s what happens when those in charge shoot the messenger. People need to feel safe to speak up, right?”
“Yeah...”
“I’ll give them credit for searching,” Vernie said as she watched them. “But they’re going to give up soon. Look, they’re already whispering to each other about what they should do. But they’ll reach the conclusion we just did.”
I tried my best to watch them surreptitiously, and after a few moments, they both nodded and quietly left the kitchen.
“See? What did I tell you? If they were going to report it right away, they’d have locked this entire area down first.”
“I shouldn’t be upset, but I kinda wish at least some of them had my back.”
“Of course they do, to an extent,” Vernie replied. “But you’re supposed to be able to do anything, right? Giving someone the illusion of safety and security is a lot cheaper than putting your neck on the line for real. In the end, it’s all about how much effort and risk it’s going to cost someone to do something.”
“They’ll be in trouble anyway,” I murmured. “They were the last guards in charge of escorting us.”
“They’ll flee before they can be questioned. I considered a plan to follow them to see if they knew of a secret exit, but they’d be desperate at that point, and I didn’t want to risk a physical encounter. Better to just go with the flow here.”
I sighed, feeling defeated.
“It’s the wave of fanatics outside that are the real problem,” Vernie continued. “You could have simply told the guards to back off and waltzed through the front door, but the mob surrounding this place won’t listen to your commands because they don’t have that relationship with you. Just hold out a little longer and follow my lead; we’ll make it to the Periphery in no time.”
Despite her assurances, I kept my ears tuned for the telltale sound of clanking armor. With all the noises in the kitchen, I had a few false starts. Time seemed to pass slowly, and I found myself sweltering in the layers of clothes I was wrapped in. Every time I bent down to gather more firewood, the holy sword strapped to my back kept hitting me in the head, making the whole experience that much more frustrating. After a while, Nora found a few excuses to sneak away from her post, meeting up with us near a large firepit.
This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.
“How much longer?” she asked, her brow covered in sweat.
“It shouldn’t be long now,” Vernie said, watching the other workers clean up their stations. “Are you going to be able to sustain the spell throughout the day?”
“As long as you two stick close,” she mumbled. “I’m sweating because of the physical labor, not the mental.”
Vernie clucked her tongue in surprise. “In some ways, I think you’re better at this dark mage stuff than even he was. He couldn’t hold illusions for more than an hour, tops.”
Nora suddenly smiled, her eyes once again burning brightly. “Well now, I’ll be sure to put him to shame!”
Maybe the lessons are paying off...?
A bell sounded from high above us, and everyone scrambled to line up at the door. We ended up somewhere in the middle of the group, and I watched as the workers filed out. On our way, we were handed a few coins as payment for the shift, and within minutes, we were all escorted out into the Forums. The mob had thinned out since I had last looked at them, but the ones who stayed seemed all the more desperate. Although a few hard eyes searched over us, most of the group simply sighed, their expectations unmet as the hero still had failed to appear before them. A few members of the Order of Silver had cordoned off a path for us and stood ever watchful, parting the sea of people so we could reach the translocating magic circle at the end of the Forums, where we waited for our turn to transport.
“H7,” Vernie announced confidently when it was our turn. “Three.”
“That’ll be seventy-five pence,” the priest declared, holding out his hand.
“Extortion!” she shouted. “We’re traveling all together!”
The priest sniffed. “You need a minimum of four to get the discount. Find some more friends who live near you next time.”
Vernie turned to us. “Well? I’m not paying for this all by myself.”
Nora and I looked furtively at each other and then showed Vernie the coins we had. After taking a quarter of them, Vernie handed them and her own pile over to the priest, who quickly shooed us onto the platform.
“H7,” he repeated to the dark mage, who didn’t bother to tell us anything before we were sent on our merry way.
“Seventy-five pence!” Vernie screeched once we made it to the other side and regained our balance. “I’ve been robbed!”
“Technically, it only cost you twenty-five,” I replied.
“That’s still too much! It’s the same effort for singles, doubles, or triples!”
I glanced at Nora to see if she could confirm or deny it, but she just gave me a weird look. “How should I know?”
“Anyway...” I sighed, getting my bearings. “From what I understand, the local civil engineer’s office shouldn’t be too far from the crystal.”
Vernie nodded. “I know where it is.”
“You do?”
“Of course I do. You said you wanted to talk to the people in charge of it, right?”
“Yes.”
“Well, first thing’s first,” she replied, taking point. “We don’t know how long it will take before word reaches the temple that we’re out here, so let’s prioritize our schedule.”
“I hope I get a chance to shop for a staff,” Nora murmured, going next. “You brought some real money too, right?”
“Of course, of course,” Vernie laughed. “I’ve got enough on me to make sure you can afford the staff of your dreams!”
Nora wriggled her nose. “Then why did you make such a big deal about a few pennies?”
“It’s the principle of the whole thing. We work a full shift, and we lose half just for transporting back and forth.”
Nora nodded glumly. “I guess it really is extortion. You can’t exactly walk to work until current conditions change.”
Vernie leaned in and whispered, “It’s also important to act like regular workers even outside of work. Nothing says commoner like complaining about the man.”
We arrived outside the office a few minutes later, but there was a bit of a problem.
“I’m next!” an old man cried, barring our path with the help of several toadies. “I have been waiting here since sunrise, and I’m going in first!”
The others surrounding him cheered him on, shaking their fists and holding up makeshift signs.
‘Turn down the lights!’
‘The crystal drives me crazy!’
‘Fix the sparkle!’
“We need to talk to the director right away,” I objected. “It’s important!”
“You ain’t more important than me!” he howled. “I’m gonna tell that director that enough is enough. We haven’t been able to sleep in weeks! They need to fix whatever’s causing that crystal to sparkle!”
They didn’t use to sparkle like that?
“Hear, hear!” the crowd shouted.
Nora narrowed her eyes. “Why should the director listen to you? Are you someone special?”
The old man puffed up and struck an arrogant pose. “I’ve been living in this neighborhood for the past four decades!”
Nora folded her arms. “So not really, huh.”
“How dare you—”
“Let me guess,” Nora interjected. “You’ve been rallying the locals, but they still haven’t let you inside to talk. Am I right?”
The old man lifted his sign as if he were about to clobber her with it, but then a knowing look passed over his face. “So, what, you got a better idea?”
Nora gave me a guilty glance that told me her entire plan.
“You can’t be serious!” I gasped. “After all the trouble I went to... I mean, I’m wearing a wimple, for goodness sake!”
Nora turned her appealing gaze to Vernie.
“You did say it was a priority...” Vernie mumbled. “And you said you knew you’d get caught eventually. So what if it’s sooner rather than later? Go out with a bang!”
Oh, FFS…! That stands for...
“Fine, fine! Sure, whatever...” I took off the sword and shield strapped to my back, handed them to Nora, and started to pull at my clothing.
“Indecent exposure!” someone gasped, and I froze. “She’s going to distract them by getting naked!”
“I have clothes on under these!” I shouted, trying to worm my way out of the heavy dress. “Just... hold on... I’m just stuck!”
After eventually whipping myself out of my linens, I unleashed my full-blown aura and re-equipped myself.
Someone let out a high-pitched scream. “It’s the Chosen One!”
“Or the imposter!” another yelled. “I heard there was someone else playing hero.”
Nora shrugged. “Either way, we’ll certainly get their attention with this, don’t you think?”
After a few shrill whispers and rude finger points, the small crowd stepped out of my way so I could march forward.
“I must speak to the director!” I shouted at the strangely quiet building. “The safety of the entire Holy City is at stake!”
A minute passed, but there was no answer, at least none that we could hear over the rowdy onlookers.
Nora stood on her tiptoes expectantly. “Can I—”
“Absolutely not. I’ll do it.”
I grabbed the knob, took a deep breath, and tore the entire door off its hinges, only to find an office practically stripped bare of everything save for a desk, a single oil lamp, and a few scattered papers. Behind it sat a woman in white robes who cowered in sheer terror at the sight of me.
“Uh. We need to talk,” I announced, tossing the door aside. “And, sorry about the mess. I’ll make sure repairs are paid for.”
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