I sent a message to Guildmaster Sinclair on the same day that Mother and I discussed the Houses/Clans situated in and around Sunheart with Grandfather Gabe. I asked her for a meeting to discuss something important. Rather than meet at her office, I wanted to share a drink with her at the same tavern where she liked to drink with Lord Icefall.
Guildmaster Sinclair sent a reply within a few hours. While she was busy that day, she would be free by evening of the next day. With a time and date set, all that was left to do was wait.
At the appointed hour, I walked into the drinking establishment, which I learned was called the Icesong Tavern. Except for Leroy, I arrived alone, since Mother entrusted me to handle this matter by myself. My other disciples didn’t accompany me, since I didn’t think Guildmaster Sinclair wanted Lorelei or Corie to learn about her past. At least, if she did, she would prefer to tell them without me there.
Like before, I made my way to the private room reserved for Guildmaster Sinclair and Lord Icefall while Leroy remained in the public drinking area. Also like before, I brought a bottle of expensive wine from Sturm Hill Hall. For a brief moment, I pondered if this would become a habit for me.
The view from the private room was gorgeous this time as well. The sun had set a while ago, and Icefall City glittered as magelamps illuminated the streets. There weren’t that many lights, at least compared to Sunheart, and they all looked like fireflies from my vantage point. It was cold outside, but magic kept the interior of the Icesong Tavern warm.
The owner had hired a band to play for the night, and the sound of their music filled the air. I could hear them, even from the private room. Their singer, a young woman, had a beautiful voice. She wasn’t the best I’ve ever heard, but her singing was pleasant to listen to nonetheless.
While I waited, I summoned a barmaid to bring cups, as well as a large pitcher of ale. If this meeting went anything like the last one, Guildmaster Sinclair and I would soon polish off the bottle of wine.
The woman herself arrived just as the barmaid left after bringing the pitcher of ale. Guildmaster Sinclair’s remaining eye narrowed when she saw the bottle of wine.
“I may not know as much about wine as Theobald,” she said, nodding at the bottle. “But even I can tell that this stuff is expensive. The only reason why someone like you would waste wine like that on someone like me is because you want something from me. That, or you want to apologize for something.”
She crossed her arms and remained standing.
“So, which is it, Lord Gabriel?” she asked. “Favor or apology?”
“A bit of both,” I confessed. “I need a favor from you, and I don’t think you’ll like me for it, which is where the apology comes in.” I gestured to the seat across from me. “Please, sit.”
Guildmaster Sinclair studied me for several long seconds, before she uncrossed her arms and sat down. I opened the bottle of wine and filled both of our cups. Guildmaster Sinclair took a sip of hers. Her eyes widened.
“This is some good stuff,” she said. “Damn. Theobald has been holding out on me. He told me that he received a bottle of wine from you, but he never mentioned how good it was. I’ll have to see if I can get him to share some of it with me.”
I sipped from my own cup. The wine washed over my tongue, before settling in my stomach and filling me with warmth. She was right. This was some good stuff.
“So,” Guildmaster Sinclair said. “What did you want? It must be something big if you’re willing to share this with me; both to ask for the favor itself and to apologize.”
“I need you to tell me what you know about House Griffin,” I said.
Guildmaster Sinclair, who had been raising her cup to take another sip, froze. After a moment, she placed the cup back down on the table without drinking from it.
“Why do you ask?” she asked in a low voice, her expression an inscrutable mask.
I sighed.
“My House is thinking of allying with them,” I said. “We need to know the best way to catch their attention and befriend them. However, we also need to know what they’re like. There’s no point in trying to make friends with them if they’re the kind of people we can’t work with.” I gestured towards her. “Thanks to Lord Oliver, I know that you have a history with them. Given what he said, and your reaction to his words, I also know that you likely parted with them on bad terms. Thus, the bottle of wine.”
Guildmaster Sinclair didn’t respond right away. She stared at her cup for a while, before she reached over to grab the bottle of wine.
“I’m going to need to be a bit drunker than this if you want me to talk about my past,” she said. “Consider it payment.”
With that, she finished off the wine in her cup, before she started chugging from the bottle of wine. I was pretty impressed by how fast she drained both. After drinking all of the wine in the bottle, Guildmaster Sinclair exhaled.
“Before I start, Lord Gabriel,” she said. “Why do you want to make friends with House Griffin? Does it have to do with the strange magic I smelled off of you some time ago?”
I started at Guildmaster Sinclair in surprise. She just grinned at me, before tapping her nose.
“You aren’t the only one who forgot about my ability to smell magic,” she said. “Plenty of people have, including House Griffin.”
I stared at her. Well, fuck. I didn’t know how much Guildmaster Sinclair knew about cultivation, but it was clear that she knew more than she initially let on.
“How much do you know about this magic?” I asked, trying to gauge her “And why did you pretend it was your first time encountering it when we talked about it before?”
“I don’t know much about this magic of yours,” she admitted with a shrug. “It’s not like I encountered a lot of people like you. Just House Griffin, their most trusted retainers, and a few others. I never let anyone else know that I knew about it, since it seemed like a House Griffin secret. In fact, until you showed up smelling just like them, I thought that they were the only ones with this kind of magic.” She grinned at me. “As for your second question…Well, my past was none of your business back then.”
“And it is now?” I asked.
“Yes,” Guildmaster Sinclair said, tapping the bottle of wine. “You paid for the privilege. Besides, Lorelei says you’re good people. You’ve treated her well ever since you took her in. That’s enough for me.”
I made a mental note to thank Lorelei for putting in the good word for me.
I wondered how much I should tell Guildmaster Sinclair. While she knew a bit about cultivation, it was clear that she didn’t know enough to be considered a threat. However, telling her any more might change that. The less people who knew, the better. Plus, the last thing I wanted to do was catch the Inquisition’s attention.
Still, I had to give Guildmaster Sinclair something. Otherwise, she might not tell me everything she knew about House Griffin.
“It does have something to do with the strange magic,” I said. “It’s a kind of magic that only a select few know about, let alone practice.” I paused. “As for why my House wants to ally with House Griffin, it’s actually not that different from Lord Icefall’s reasons for wanting to ally with us. We have plans and ambitions. To see those plans and ambitions come to fruition, we need to make connections and build alliances.”
“And you figured that you’d start with House Griffin?” Guildmaster Sinclair asked.
I nodded.
“They’re the biggest fish in the pond, so to speak,” I said. “So it makes sense to give them a try first. However, this comes with a lot of risk, so I wanted to ameliorate that risk by learning more about House Griffin. Since you used to fight for them, I figured I’d ask you first.”
Guildmaster Sinclair nodded as I spoke.
“Makes sense,” she said. “All right, I’ll tell you what I know, though it might not be what you’re looking for.” She pointed a finger at me. “You should feel honored. The only person who knows the full truth is my husband. Even Theobald doesn’t know everything.”
I nodded and settled myself in to hear her story. Before she started, Guildmaster Sinclair poured herself a cup of ale and drained it. Given her size, and elemental affinities, I wasn’t worried about her alcohol tolerance.
“About twenty five years ago,” Guildmaster Sinclair began. “I ran away from home. I had just formed my Second Circle, and I wanted to see more of the world.” She gestured to Icefall City. “I didn’t want to spend my entire life stuck in the Icefall Region. As rough as this place is now, it was much rougher back then. I wanted to see new sights, travel to distant lands, and fight dangerous monsters.”
Guildmaster Sinclair spoke in a wistful tone as she reminisced about her youth.
“I even joined the Adventurers Guild in order to pay for my passage down south. My parents warned me that the world was a dangerous place, but I ignored them. I thought I knew better.” Her expression turned sad. “It turned out that they were right, in more ways than one. However, I was too young and stupid to listen.”
It didn’t take me long to realize that this was all an excuse for her to tell her story to someone, rather than just give me the information I wanted. Not that I minded. It wasn’t like I was in a hurry.
I listened with rapt attention as I witnessed a side of Guildmaster Sinclair that I never knew about. A part of me regretted not bringing Lorelei along. I think she would have loved to hear about this.
“It took me about a year to reach Sunheart,” Guildmaster Sinclair continued. “It was…I don’t think I have the words to fully explain what I felt when I first saw the imperial capital. It was my first time seeing a city of that size. Back then, I didn’t even know that cities could be that big. I had seen a few during my travels, but they all paled in comparison.”
I nodded at her words. Sunheart was a large and magnificent city. In terms of size, it rivaled the metropolises of Earth, such as New York City and Tokyo. It had a population in the millions. The architecture was beautiful as well, though not to the same degree as Rosewood City.
One of the reasons why Sunheart was so large were its massive roads. They were wide enough to accommodate hundreds of people, beasts of burden, and carriages without any of them getting in the way of each other.
It was also normal to see hundreds of airships flying over Sunheart. Private airships that were more status symbol than means of transportation, massive barges that carried cargo across the Solarian Empire, flying battleships that belonged to the Imperial Skyguard. All these and more filled the skies above Sunheart.
And above them all was the Solar Palace, home of the Sun Emperor. It was a gleaming edifice, made up of white and gold towers, that floated over the imperial capital. It was about the size of a small city. Few were allowed to enter the Solar Palace. Even scions of House Solaria needed special permission. Those who tried without permission were dealt with swiftly and without mercy.
“I understand what you mean,” I said. “I was a child when I first saw Sunheart. Sturm Manor is a few miles away from the imperial capital. It was…magical.”
That had been a fun day. For my first outing in Sunheart, my parents took me to all kinds of shops. My parents spoiled me with toys, clothing, and delicious foods. I tasted all kinds of treats that day, including Otherworlder food.
The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.
Not every Otherworlder who ended up on Lumina became a great figure. Some settled down to lead quiet lives, including a few that opened up restaurants and sold Otherworlder cuisine. They passed down their recipes to their descendants, creating a legacy of delicious food.
Guildmaster Sinclair nodded.
“It didn’t take me long to get involved with House Griffin’s arena,” she said. “While I don’t specialize in internal magic, I’m pretty good at it.” She chuckled. “It happened completely by accident too. See, I got into an argument with this mouthy House scion and we ended up fighting.”
I raised an eyebrow at that.
“I’m surprised that you’re still alive,” I said. “While the people in the Icefall Region are rather disrespectful towards House scions, the same can’t be said of Sunheart. They take status and nobility seriously down there. A commoner who said the wrong word to a House scion could end up imprisoned, or worse. Wizards and minor nobles aren’t much better off.”
“I know that now, but I didn’t back then.” Guildmaster Sinclair shook her head. “The gods must have been looking out for me that day, otherwise things would have ended differently. The House scion I fought turned out to be Lady Diana Griffin, daughter and heir of the current Lord Griffin.”
My eyes widened when I heard this. Guildmaster Sinclair grinned at my reaction.
“I won the fight and took her axe as a trophy,” she said. “In fact, I still have it. It’s the one hanging in my office.”
I stared at her for several long seconds.
“Not only did you pick a fight with a scion from a Great House,” I said slowly. “But you took her weapon as a trophy.”
“Yes, I did.”
I gave her a baffled look.
“How are you still alive?” I asked in an incredulous voice.
“I’m alive because House Griffin is full of weirdos,” Guildmaster Sinclair said. “During my fight with Lady Diana, I didn’t use any external magic. I just used internal magic. That was a part of the terms of our fight. Lady Diana kept bragging about how she would make me eat dirt, since she specialized in internal magic. When I won, I expected her to be furious. However, she asked me to be her friend instead.”
I blinked at her several times.
“Believe me,” Guildmaster Sinclair said. “That caught me off guard as well. It turned out that by beating her in combat without using external magic meant that I was someone worth knowing, at least to her. I impressed her even more by just using my fists, while she used an enchanted axe.”
Okay, that made a bit of sense. If House Griffin prized martial prowess above all else, then fighting one of them and proving my strength was the best way to earn their respect. Fighting with a handicap, and still winning, would be even more effective.
“Lady Diana even invited me to fight in House Griffin’s arena,” Guildmaster Sinclair said. “She said that I would be a perfect fit. I accepted her invitation, and it was the best decision I’ve ever made in my entire life.”
Guildmaster Sinclair poured herself another cup of ale and took a sip.
“For the next several years, life was good,” she said, a smile on her face. “I earned a lot of money and fame by fighting in House Griffin’s arena. Within my first year, I defeated the arena’s reigning champion, Baldric the Boulder and took his place. After that, I never lost a single fight. I defended my title until…” Her smile faded away. “Well, you’ll see.”
Rather than press her, I decided to leave her be and let her tell her story at her own pace.
“I’m surprised that House Griffin didn’t try to recruit you,” I said instead. “Given your prowess and friendship with Lady Diana.”
“Oh, they tried,” Guildmaster Sinclair said. “Believe me, they tried. They wanted me to become one of their retainers. They even hinted that I could become even more powerful than I already was if I did so.” She gestured to me. “I assumed it had something to do with the strange magic of theirs.”
“Why did you turn them down?” I asked.
Guildmaster Sinclair took a moment before answering.
“I didn’t want to make that kind of commitment,” she said. “I loved Lady Diana as a friend, and enjoyed my time in Sunheart, but I didn’t want to completely abandon my roots. I missed my family. Besides, I always planned to return to Icefall City.”
I nodded. Home and family was important. For many, it was their birthplace and their blood family. For others, it was the home and family they made for themselves.
“During my fifth year as reigning champion of the arena,” Guildmaster Sinclair said. “House Griffin made me a marriage offer. I could join their House if I married Lord Bowen, Lady Diana’s younger brother. However, I had already met Allen by that point, and I knew that I would spend the rest of my life with him, so I turned them down.”
Wow. Most wizards would kill their own kin for the chance to marry into a Great House, and Guildmaster Sinclair turned it down for the sake of her husband-to-be. Talk about true love.
“They must have been pissed about that,” I said.
“Oh, they were. Still, in the end, they respected my decision.” Guildmaster Sinclair grimaced. “Unfortunately, as I was dealing with all this, some bitch from House Shelton took an interest in Allen.”
House Shelton was one of the Houses on the list Grandfather Gabe wrote up. They were also a vassal of House Griffin. I had a bad feeling about this.
“She tried to seduce and lure Allen away from me,” Guildmaster Sinclair said. “But he refused her time and time again. After a while, she grew tired of his rejections and decided that the best way for her to take him was to remove me from the equation. One night, after one of my matches, she tried to kill me.” She pointed to her eye patch. “I killed her, but she took my eye in the process. Unfortunately, that was just the beginning of my problems.”
“Because House Shelton is a vassal of House Griffin,” I stated.
Guildmaster Sinclair nodded.
“Yes,” she said. “House Shelton was furious that a lowly arena fighter like me dared to kill one of their own. They called for my death. House Griffin was angry as well, but on my behalf. After all, it was self defense. However, I was neither a member of House Griffin nor a retainer, so there was little they could do for me. A House scion died, and someone needed to pay for it.”
A mischievous grin spread across her face.
“That was when Lady Diana proposed a solution. House Griffin would exile me to the Icefall Region, the furthest reaches of the Solarian Empire, where I would spend the rest of my days. House Shelton was unhappy with this, but accepted it. It wasn’t like they had a choice in the matter. While Lady Diana framed it as a suggestion, it was more of an order.”
I raised an eyebrow at Guildmaster Sinclair.
“They exiled you to the Icefall Region,” I said. “Your home, and the place you were planning on returning to anyway.”
She sipped her ale.
“I never made it public knowledge that I came from the Icefall Region,” she said, her smile growing wider.
I had to admit, the way Lady Diana tricked House Shelton was pretty devious. The heavens must have really been watching over Guildmaster Sinclair, given the way things turned out for her.
“Lady Diana came through for me that day, and I will always be grateful to her for that,” Guildmaster Sinclair said, her smile fading away. “It’s because of her that I got to marry the love of my life and build a family with him. I have a job that I enjoy, a daughter who I adore, and a home to defend. I’m satisfied with the way things turned out, and I owe it all to Lady Diana.”
“Is she one of the contacts you mentioned when we first met?” I asked.
When I first joined the Adventurers Guild, Guildmaster Sinclair told me that she had contacts down south. That was how she learned that I was coming to the Icefall Region in the first place.
“No,” Guildmaster Sinclair said, shaking her head. “To make the exile seem as legitimate as possible, I cut off all contact with House Griffin. I haven’t spoken to Lady Diana since leaving Sunheart. Still, I consider her one of my dearest friends.” She finished off her ale. “And there you go. That’s my story.”
And what a story it was. A woman from the sticks making her way in the big city, before getting caught up in a tangled web of jealousy, intrigue, and House politics. Honestly, it was the kind of story that would make for a good play. It even had a happy ending, as the two love birds rode off towards the horizon to build a new life together.
As someone who indirectly benefited from it, I thanked the ancestors for their happy ending.
A part of me was surprised that House Griffin managed to keep all of this under wraps. According to Lord Oliver, Charity the Crusher just disappeared one day, never to be seen again. No one knew what had happened to her. Then again, it made sense, now that I thought about it further.
A scandal like this would tarnish a House’s name, and as a Great House, House Griffin had further to fall than most other Houses. If it came out that an arena fighter killed the scion of a vassal House, and got away with it, it would damage relations between House Griffin and its other vassals. They must have paid a dear price to keep this incident from getting out.
“Thank you for telling me your story, Guildmaster Sinclair,” I said. “I learned a lot from it.”
She nodded.
“The scions of House Griffin are cruel and uncaring to those they don’t care about,” Guildmaster Sinclair said. “But if you earn their friendship and loyalty, they will fight tooth and nail for you.”
I nodded. Yes. That answered the most important of my questions, which was this: could my House work with the scions of House Griffin? The answer was yes.
Allying ourselves with them would be worth the risk.
“If you want to befriend House Griffin,” Guildmaster Sinclair said. “I have two pieces of advice for you. One, prove your strength to them in a fair fight while only using internal magic. That’s the fastest way you’ll earn their respect. You don’t have to win the fight, you just have to put up a good showing. Of course, it’s better if you do win. Two, be honest and forthright with them. That’s what I did, and it earned me the friendship of Lady Diana. Don’t try to play games. That will only earn you their distrust.”
I nodded, since that was what I planned to do anyway.
“Oh, make that three pieces of advice,” Guildmaster Sinclair continued. “Don’t let them push you around. Stand up for yourself, even if it means pissing them off. They hate obsequiousness. Boot licking won’t get you far with them. That will only earn you contempt and derision.”
That wouldn’t be a problem for me or Mother.
“Thank you for the advice,” I said. “I will take it to heart.”
“Good,” Guildmaster Sinclair said. “Since I assume you’ll be taking Lorelei with you when you head back down south, you better not make a mistake and ruin things.”
I raised an eyebrow at that.
“I’m surprised to hear you say that,” I said. “Yes, I planned to take Lorelei with me when I returned to Sturm Manor, but I assumed I’d have to convince you and your husband to let her go.”
Guildmaster Sinclair waved off my words.
“Lorelei is at an age where she needs to spread out her wings and find her own place in the world,” she said. “Right now, that place seems to be by your side, learning more about that strange magic of yours.” She gestured to me. “I don’t know much about it, but since you’re now at the Second Circle when you didn’t even have any magic when you first arrived, it must be powerful. I assume this strange magic is how you restored your Circles?”
Huh. I wondered if she had noticed my restored Second Circle. Guess that answered that question. She wasn’t that far off the mark. Cultivators could restore shattered mana veins, though it wasn’t easy. It required one to reach a certain level of knowledge and power. Or, in my case, the knowledge and divine energy of a reincarnated Immortal.
“In a manner of speaking, yes,” I said. “I can’t tell you more than that since it is supposed to be a secret. Honestly, I shouldn’t even be telling you this much.”
Guildmaster Sinclair snorted.
“Don’t worry,” she said. “I won’t tell if you won’t. As long as you teach my daughter this strange magic and help her grow stronger, your secret is safe with me.”
That wouldn’t be a problem, since Lorelei was my disciple. I couldn’t tell Guildmaster Sinclair any of that, however, so I just nodded.
“Would you be willing to write a letter of introduction for me?” I asked.
Guildmaster Sinclair blinked at me.
“To who?” she asked. “House Griffin?”
I nodded.
“The heir of House Griffin is a personal friend of yours,” I said. “A letter of introduction from you could open a lot of doors for me and my House. If nothing else, it could save us a lot of trouble if you vouched for us.”
Guildmaster Sinclair rubbed her chin.
“I’m not sure about that,” she said. “Telling you my story is one thing. Writing a letter of introduction for you is another matter altogether. I’d be putting my name on the line. If you fuck things up, I’d pay for it as well. It’ll take more than a bottle of wine for me to take that kind of risk on your behalf.” She shrugged. “The only reason why I’m even considering it in the first place is because of Lorelei.”
I leaned back in my chair.
“What do you want?” I asked.
Guildmaster Sinclair took a moment before answering.
“Could you teach me that strange magic of yours?” she asked.
I frowned at that.
“That’s…a complicated question to answer,” I said. “I can’t even explain to you the context, since it’s supposed to be a secret. Learning this magic will change how you see the world.”
In both a figurative and a literal sense, though I didn’t say that out loud.
“Go ahead and take your time thinking about it,” Guildmaster Sinclair said. “It’s not like I need an answer right away. I survived this long without that strange magic. I don’t need it.” She nodded at me. “Just like you don’t need a letter of introduction from me. As long as you listen to my advice, it won’t be that difficult for you to befriend House Griffin.”
She was right, though a letter of introduction from her would make things much easier. I needed to think about this more. I also needed to consult with Mother and Grandfather Gabe. As the de facto Matriarch of Clan Sturm, it was Mother’s decision on whether or not we should teach Guildmaster Sinclair cultivation.
Rather, I was pushing the decision onto her since I didn’t want to be responsible for the potential fallout.
“In that case,” I said, standing up. “I’ll take my leave of you, Guildmaster Sinclair. Thank you for meeting with me. It was a productive, and entertaining, conversation.”
Guildmaster Sinclair snorted at that, and didn’t reply. I headed for the door, but stopped just before opening it.
“Oh, before I leave,” I said, facing her again. “Are you fine with me sharing this story with Lorelei? Since she’ll be involved with House Griffin, one way or another, I think it’s best if she knew about your relationship with them.”
Guildmaster Sinclair shook her head.
“No,” she said. “My husband and I will tell her ourselves. She deserves to hear it from us.”
I nodded, before opening the door.
“You have a good night, Guildmaster.”
“You as well, Lord Gabriel.”