Chapter 2. The Burden

The stairs were a veritable mountain, but Jeremiah trudged up them one step at a time. The alchemy smells grew stronger as he reached the landing leading to the lab and his own bedroom. He knocked once on the laboratory door, and it sprung open. 

Delilah stood amidst a cloud of steam, her hair bound up in a great mess above goggles and a filter mask. “Toad me,” she said, holding out an ungloved hand.

“Not even a ‘hello’?” asked Jeremiah, slipping past her. He grabbed his own apron and mask off the peg and put them on quickly. Whatever was in the air was starting to make his lips tingle.

“Hello Jay, where's Gus?” said Delilah.

“Here, here, here, calm down,” said Jeremiah. He produced Gus from beneath his apron. The toad wriggled in delight at the sight of Delilah, and settled to contented stillness in her hand.

Delilah stroked Gus’s back. “Thaaaat’s the stuff,” she said, visibly relaxing. “I missed you, my little poison pal.” Gus echoed the sentiment with a low chirp.

“What are we on today?” asked Jeremiah, slipping some the elbow length gloves. He was sweating already. Delilah’s lab had its own tropical climate.

“Two active decants, and one compounding,” said Delilah pointing to where Jeremiah’s attention was needed.

Jeremiah set to work. Delilah’s lab had become a happy space for him over the months. He was glad to actually be useful instead of slaving away over stubborn metal plates that would never be good enough. Plus, she always seemed happy to see him, an experience that was notably absent from Thurok’s workshop. 

As Jeremiah decanted one clear liquid into another, he spotted a few papers clumped together on a rare bare spot on the wooden tables. “No paperwork in the lab,” he reminded Delilah in good humor.

Delilah just grumbled in response.

“That bad, huh?” said Jeremiah.

“How’s enchanting?” asked Delilah pointedly.

“Awful. I feel like I’m not making any progress. Thurok has me practicing the same things over and over and over again,” said Jeremiah.

Delilah held up a flask against the light. “That is how one gets better at things.”

“Yeah, but I don’t think it’s working,” said Jeremiah.

“You’re not special. Practice works for everyone else in the whole wide world. It works for you too,” said Delilah.

Her dismissal of his frustrations stung. Everything about enchanting was hard for him. The attention to detail, the exacting nature of the work, the extreme single-mindedness of intention—it was nothing like necromancy, where his mind could flow in a hundred different directions at once.

“How many runes do you know at this point?” asked Delilah. She had come to work closer to him, maybe sensing his hurt feelings.

“I know eight runes altogether,” said Jeremiah. He counted them off on his fingers. “Decay, Strengthen, Adhere, Heat, Contact, And, If, and Pause.” 

“How many runes are there?”

“Dozens, I think? I have no idea how big the list actually is, Thurok won’t tell me. He just says to focus on the work in front of me and…what was it he said? ‘Don’t gaze at the horizon like a filthy poet.’”

Delilah snorted and set her flasks down quickly to keep from spilling them.

“Delilah, visitor!” called Bruno from downstairs.

Delilah froze, her breath catching. Jeremiah could feel the tension radiating off of her. She’d become practically traumatized to the sound of someone knocking on the door.

“Come on,” said Jeremiah, “maybe it’s nothing.”

“Yeah, maybe,” said Delilah. She still hadn’t moved.

Jeremiah put down his beaker and grinned at her. “I suppose we could hide up here forever. Just you, me, and Gus. We’ll let Bruno do all the talking from now on, what do you say?”

Finally, Delilah moved, fixing him with a look halfway between pleading and amused. A weak smile twitched her lips. “Fun as that sounds, I need to always get the measure of who I’m dealing with.”

“Then let’s get down there before any real damage is done, shall we? I’ll even let you hold Gus the whole time.”

‎

‎

A gnome, smartly dressed beneath a black umbrella, waited on their doorstep. He had a bound collection of papers tucked under one arm.

“Lady Delilah Fortune?” he asked.

“Hey, Billipop.” Delilah held out her hand expectantly.

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“Are you Lady Delilah Fortune?” he asked.

“You know my name, Bill.”

Bill’s gaze was steady. “Rules are rules.”

“Yes, I am Lady Delilah Fortune,” Delilah said.

“Your presence, or the presence of your attorney, is requested before the Fourth Civil Court of Dramir in three weeks time to answer a charge of grand larceny and conspiracy.” Bill thrust the bundle of papers forward.

“Did you go through my mail as well?” said Delilah, accepting and thumbing through the bundle.

“Yes. I took the liberty of picking up your mail for you,” said Billipop.

“And is this all of our mail?” asked Delilah. There was a deadly threat in her voice.

“I was quite thorough, Lady Fortune,” said Billipop. 

“Thank you,” said Delilah. She turned and slammed the door in Billipop’s face.

“Another lawsuit?” asked Allison, still in her spot on the couch.

“Yup,” said Delilah, dropping into a chair to peruse the papers.

“Shouldn’t the King be able to protect us from stuff like this?” asked Jeremiah.

“King Hector has been instrumental in protecting us from everything he has authority over. We’d likely have been hanged long ago without his help,” said Delilah. She had reached the end of the bundle and shook it as though more pages would fall out. “That’s it? There isn’t even a proper case here. They’re just trying to force us to pay more court fees and waste our time.”

“Is it working?” asked Bruno.

“Yes, dammit!” Delilah slammed the most recent delivery onto another stack of documents. “We’re getting picked apart like carrion. Between legal fees, settlements, and cases we actually lose, we’re not exactly running in the black. The money from leasing the desert fortress isn’t keeping up nearly as much as I had hoped.”

“I can’t really pick up any more students,” said Allison.

“Thurok pays what he pays,” said Jeremiah.

“I know, I know.” said Delilah, “I’m not asking you guys to do more, I just…” She sighed. “We need some way out from under this.” She retrieved Gus from her pocket and scratched between his eyes, lost in thought.

“Hey, don’t hog the toad,” said Allison. She made her way from the couch and stroked Gus’s back.

“One for you, Jay,” said Delilah, tossing an envelope to him.

Jeremiah opened and quickly skimmed the letter, “Necromancer…husband sick…one last…please…burial…” He threw it into the fire. Those letters still came from time to time. The thought of charging for his services crossed his mind, but he shooed it away. That wasn’t what he was anymore.

“What do you mean ‘out from under it?’” he asked as the letter burned.

“What I mean is, it’s not a matter of money.” Delilah gestured at the piles, “These… vultures will just keep coming. They’re probably employing people specifically to make our lives miserable. We need influence, or someone with influence on our side, to make this crap stop.”

“And again, the king?” said Bruno.

“Hector has a lot of constraints being an elected king,” said Allison. “I mean, not a LOT of constraints, but limitations on what he can make people do.” Allison started pawing at the papers as well, sinking into the chair beside Delilah’s.

Bruno shot a conspiratorial smirk to Jeremiah at Allison’s use of the monarch’s first name.

Jeremiah stared into the fire as they fell into silence. He felt useless in the face of the bureaucratic wrath that threatened to overwhelm them. At least when he was a necromancer, his name could invoke some respect, or at least fear. Now it felt like Delilah was fighting all their battles and there was nothing he could do to help.

“Wait a minute, wait a minute!” Allison leapt to her feet, a letter in hand. As she scanned the paper, a bright smile spread across her face. “How would we feel about a little adventuring?”

“Gods, yes!” said Delilah. Bruno and Jeremiah laughed at her outburst. “No, I’m serious,” she said. “I am so sick of paperwork. Let's nearly die somewhere!”

“Well, you’re in luck cause I’ve got a newly discovered tomb that’s claimed one life already. Due to–get this–a trap. ” Allison waved the letter enticingly. 

The others oohed and aahed. 

“Any other information?” asked Jeremiah.

“Just a rough location. Mountains, a few days from here. A buddy of mine from the Scout Corp sent this, says it’s thus far unexplored. No payment up front, but we have rights to whatever we find inside. I say we take it. Any objections?”

“Let’s do it,” said Bruno.

“I just need to file some delay requests,” said Delilah.

“I’ll let Thurok know. I don’t think he’ll care, honestly,” said Jeremiah.

There was an awkward silence. Glances were exchanged around the table, none for Jeremiah.

“What?” he asked, a foreboding settling on him.

“It’s just,” Delilah began, “well, now that you’re not a necromancer, we need to consider if it’s safe to bring you adventuring.” She was still holding Gus and began petting the toad again reflexively, looking to Bruno and Allison for confirmation.

“Sorry Jay,” said Bruno, “but you’re a liability. You can definitely help prepare if you want.”

“And you’re a part of this adventuring party, so you’ll still be getting a cut no matter what,” Delilah quickly added.

Bruno’s face screwed up at that for just a moment. “Er, yeah. I suppose. But delving a trapped tomb? Unless you’ve learned enough enchanting to actually help us…”

Jeremiah tried to speak, but found he had no words. He was offended, hurt, sad, and angry, all in the span of a few seconds.

“Jay is coming with us,” said Allison. The room went deadly quiet.

“Something we need to discuss?” asked Bruno, his eyebrows raised.

“Jay is coming with us,” Allison said again. 

Bruno scowled at her. “So our discussion about safety? Cohesion? The whole ‘Jay isn’t ready’ conversation? All of that is just, what? No longer relevant?”

“He’s ready,” Allison said. “We’ve been training his spear fighting. He’s proficient. He’s ready.”

“Al, he’s not your squire,” said Bruno, “this isn’t going to be ‘practice’. We’d be babysitting him.” Bruno barked a laugh at the absurdity.

“If Allison says I’m ready…” Jeremiah started. He wasn’t fully convinced himself. Combat training with Allison had been a bright spot in his days over the last year, but he still couldn’t actually hit her if she didn’t let him.

“Shut up, Jay, this is about not getting someone killed!” Bruno turned towards him, apparently a safer target for a raised voice than Allison, Jeremiah noted.

Delilah tried a softer tact. “Allison, I want Jay to come too. But without his necromancy, he’s only a passable fighter. You said so yourself. There will be other missions.”

“I can still cast acid and do the poison fog,” Jeremiah said.

“Wait, why? Is that not necromancy?” asked Delilah.

“No magic!” Allison shouted, silencing everyone. She moved in front of Jeremiah and looked him in the eye. “No casting from you, at all. All those ‘gray area’ spells, I know where those lead.”

Bruno crossed his arms. “No magic, no Jay,”

Allison glared at Bruno. “It’s my operation. I say he goes,” she growled.

Bruno didn’t flinch. “What rank do you think you’re pulling exactly?”

Jeremiah had to do something. The fracturing cohesion was more than he could stand. He put a hand on Allison’s shoulder. “It’s okay Allison, I’m not worth all this.” 

He might as well have tried to placate a wall. Allison didn’t take her eyes off Bruno, who didn’t take his eyes off her. Some secret battle of wills was going on, one which he and Delilah seemed specifically excluded from.

Bruno broke first. He glanced away and rubbed his eyes. “Fine. He comes. But if he needs to use magic, he can use magic.”

“If it’s life or death,” said Allison, still glaring.

“It’s a dungeon! It’s already–” Bruno stopped himself and sighed. “Fine. Jay, no offense, but don’t get us killed, alright?”

“Deal,” said Jeremiah.

“Great,” Bruno mumbled.

“Hold up,” Allison said. She outstretched her hand towards Bruno. He hesitated for a long moment, then grabbed her by the wrist. She returned the grip, and they quickly released.

"Alright! This is officially an operation! We have three days to prepare. Terrain is mountainous and likely cold. Jay, I want you securing provisions. Bruno, prep for spelunking and trap breaking. Delilah, you…uhh.” Allison looked down at the pile of papers. "You deal with everything I don't understand!"

“Allison, please, I’m only one woman,' said Delilah. She dodged Allison’s swat with practiced ease.