Glory woke to sound of morning commerce, buzzing like a summer pest, singing like an annoying bird risen too early in the day. The glow of dawn barely touched her curtains, the hint of sun combining with the clatter to drag her, unwilling, from her bed. She dressed and ate, all the while resisting the impulse to check out the window and see what the fuss was about. She'd find out once she was sated, since she couldn't be fully rested. The world could stand to wait, today.
The morning respite ended too quickly and she found herself standing by her empty sink, trying to think if there was anything else she could do to put off the start of her day. She came up with nothing.
She grabbed her bag and stepped out the front door to the unexpected sight of full roads, cluttered streets, and a chorus of voices – some frustrated and yelling, some excited or anxious.
Long lines of carts filled the roads into Vane Gloria, stretching down the main road that ran parallel to her own. Guards made their way up and down the line to keep all the angry people in check and reassure the rest that things were moving along as quickly as possible. Carts and wagons crawled up the street, slowly filling in gaps as soon as those ahead were able to move, filled to the brim with goods or materials or people.
Glory was astonished. This wasn’t supposed to be happening for another few weeks! There was supposed to be time to rest after the end of the Civil War, not an immediate rush to the frontier to get fighting again!
She forced a brisk pace, passing by loaded carts as she climbed up the hill. People leaned out to yell at those in front of them, or at her as she passed them. No one seemed to know who she was – these were all newcomers to the frontier. Exactly as she’d predicted would happen, just far sooner than she thought.
Minutes later, Glory left the lines of carts behind as she turned away from the road that led up towards the guild, heading instead to City Hall. It was a large building, ostentatious in its architecture, supporting tall spires that announced it’s presence to the entire town, overshadowed only by the great building and tower of Vane/Gloria’s behind and above it.
There was a crowd at the Hall, as Glory had expected. They shouted at the closed doors, insisting that they needed to speak to Larami Vane this instant, and that he couldn’t hide away from them forever. Glory walked past them, up the stairs, until she felt a hand on her shoulder.
“Miss. Miss! I’m sorry, but you;ll have to get to the back of the line here. We’ve been waiting to speak with the mayor since before sunrise, you’re just going to have to wait your turn.”
Glory turned to stare at the man, eyes narrowing as he said his piece. Then she reached up, and pinched his fingers with her own, and lifted the offending hand off of her shoulder. He stared dumbly at her as she simply turned without a word and continued up the steps, leaving gaping mouths in her wake. He started to speak again, but the guard at the door quieted him by greeting the rude woman.
“Ah, Glory, Guild Master. Come right inside, I think Larami was hoping to speak with you.” When he announced her title, the crowd quieted, even if those at the front were still quite miffed. Glory entered, and the guard quickly closed the door behind them, muffling the sound of the shouting crowd.
The lobby of the building was as wide and echoing as the outside would lead everyone to believe, the room directing attention to the grand staircase towards the back, which started from the sides of the lobby and arced around to form a stage overlooking the front door and reception area. The Vanes had always designed their buildings to be a bit larger than life, and this one was made to make the mayor of the town the center of attention, when they wanted it – and they expected that mayor to be a Vane.
One of the guards waved to her as she stepped in to the reception area.
“Is he in the back?” Glory asked.
The guard nodded. “On the Telecomm right now, but he should be able to see you shortly.”
She waved to him, nonchalant in her motions, but her voice quietly simmered as she spoke to him. “It'll be fine. Whoever he's talking to is likely someone I need to talk to as well, considering the state of things out there.” She started towards the staircase and the guard reached up as though to stop her, but Glory cast him a glance, forced in its innocence, and he backed down with a nervous twitch.
She made her way around and up to the top floor offices, the quick pace tiring her out, and cooling her temper from the short confrontation at the door. She didn't like that period just after an influx of new people. It took time for everyone to figure out the power structure in town.
She reached the door at the top of the stairs and gave it a firm knock.
Glory waited a moment, expecting Larami to open the door any second. However, after a bit, she reached out to the doorknob. Locked. She sighed. Her left hand glowed blue, and she carefully raked her power against the tumblers inside the lock, as she twisted the keyhole to unlock the door. Then she pushed her way inside.
She was greeted by an astonished Larami, trying to keep his cool as he was interrupted during an already stressful conversation. His suit was hastily thrown on, and sweat beaded on his brow as he dealt with someone far above his station.
“Glory! You can’t just–”
Glory waved him back. “It’s fine, Larami. I was going to have to talk to whoever you’re calling anyways. We may as well be on the same page here.”
Stolen story; please report.
Larami didn’t look like it was ‘fine,’ but he backed off, waving her towards the Telecomm in front of him with an exasperated flick. A man she didn’t recognize was standing there, head cocked in confusion as Larami spoke with someone he couldn’t yet see. Glory approached and placed her glowing hand against the communication stone, injecting mana into it, mixing it with Larami’s.
At once, the man focused on her as her image appeared on his side of the Telecomm.
“Ah, Glory, I presume. I’ve heard much, but never had the pleasure to make your acquaintance.” He was an older man, wearing a similar garb to Durza’s Official attire, but his face was wrinkled and scraggly with a long, narrrow beard, where Durza was fit and clean-shaven. “I’m Inra, assistant director to Durza. He’s told me much about you. I assume you’re here to figure out what’s going in your town?”
Glory nodded. “I was under the impression that the rush wasn’t going to get started for another few weeks. There was supposed to be a respite before we started taking the Demon Lands.”
“Yes, well, we’ve received the reports of how things are going in your neck of the woods. We’ve decided a week ago get started on sending more people your way early, once we heard of the spectre stories making a comeback. Last night, things changed again. This isn’t an offensive operation anymore – it’s a defensive one. We got word last night that one of our Scoutposts was razed to the ground. The whole shift was killed – eaten.” His voice grew softer, concerned. “By the looks of things, it was a Rank 3 force, Glory.”
Too fast, she thought as Inra continued.
“So the vacation is ending early for some of our folks. We’ve sent the call out for Rank 1 and Rank 2 mercenaries to head out there on their own, and the militias will be out in force shortly.”
Larami ran his hands through his hair in frustration. “Sir, you ca-ugh. This is something we needed advance notice for! We won’t be able to provide shelter for everyone – the inns are already nearly full with people already. Where are we going to put them all?”
Inra sighed. “We already instructed those who are volunteering for the frontier to provide their own shelter, that it would take time for the towns to be able to accommodate their moves fully. But yes, I take your meaning. We’ll issue you extra funds for the buildings you’re going to need to build. Are you planning on more homes, or more inns?”
Larami took a moment to think, running his fingers across his jaw as thought over the best move. “Inns first. The people will need beds before they’ll think about settling down here.”
Inra nodded. “Good. We can work with that. Get started on the construction, we’ll be in touch to discuss costs.” He turned to Glory and addressed her. “How about the guild, Glory? How will you hold up?”
Glory took a moment herself. “I think we should be fine. We will be hiring more guards on every shift, now that I’ve heard about the loss of that Scoutpost. We might need to go a bit harder on food and potion supplies, but other than that, the guild was built to take on a large influx of mercenaries. Plus, we’re going to be open all day and night soon, so we should be set to take on the extra people.”
Inra nodded, pleased. “Understood. Let us know if there’s anything else you need in order to make the transition work. I believe that Durza intends to get in touch with you at some point today about other matters. Something about a report that’s been submitted.”
Glory closed her eyes so that she could roll them without giving offense. Finally, she thought. It had only taken an entire week for that to come through. But why the wait? She opened her eyes and looked back at Inra.
“Thank you, sir. I’ll be looking forward to his call.”
With that, Inra and Larami exchanged a few more words of farewell, before Larami disconnected the call. As soon as the image of Inra disappeared from the air, Larami’s face broke into a wide grin. He clapped his hands in excitement and cheered aloud.
Glory watched his outburst with a raised brow, before understanding came over her. She planted a hand on her hip as it sank in.
“You didn’t really need that extra money, did you?”
Larami bit his lip and he shook his head. “Not really, no. It does make the job a lot easier, and I knew the Office would be willing to send a bit of help if I made the case well enough. All I had to do was tell him that his plans undercut my ability to properly fund the new buildings, and he was willing to help out. I thought, when you walked in, that you were going to say something crass and make him suspicious, but you did a good job on holding your tongue.”
Glory chuckled at his audacity. “How is it that you haven’t been audited yet?”
Larami shrugged, wearing a knowing expression. “Rich friends and inherited respect. I imagine at some point they will check my finances out. But I think the settlement has been profitable enough that they won’t mind what little I have skimmed off the top.”
“Depends what you mean by ‘little.’ You can hide a lot of money behind that word.”
Larami waggled his hand to show that she was half-right. “As long as I’m hiding less money behind it than other rich people are, then I’ll be okay. Some kickbacks are expected when you take on the responsibility of one of the high families.” He sat down in a large stuffed office chair tucked behind the desk. “As long as I'm holding up my end of the bargain, the Office won’t do anything to us. Most I’ll hear is a lecture about the ways my self-serving spending habits impact the rest of the economy, yada yada.”
He wore a carefree smile as he told her this, assured in his reasoning, confident that the Office wouldn’t touch him. After a couple seconds of quiet, though, the atmosphere turned slightly tense, and he looked over at Glory to find her glaring at him with a look he hadn’t seen her wearing since she’d taken over the guild. He frowned, trapped beneath her gaze, wondering what he’d said that had put her on edge.
“I just want to make sure you still understand our arrangement,” she said.
Larami gulped, then nodded. “I do.”
“If an audit ever does come down, and you’re found at fault, I won’t give you the chance to make things right. Remember what our families have spent all this time building, Larami, and why we’re building it. All that is about to come to a head with this offensive. Be prepared to sacrifice a bit of that wealth you’ve been hoarding. This is the time we’ll need it for.”
Larami Vane, paler now than he had been a few minutes ago, nodded as she spoke. Sometimes he forgot he weight of the axe that Glory and her whole lineage held over the heads of the Vane family.
Her message sent, Glory smiled at him reassuringly. “I have faith in you, Larami. You’ll probably see me more often now that things are in motion. Keep me informed, ok?”
Larami responded quietly, contrite. “Yeah. Yeah, I will.”
Glory moved to leave, but before she left the room, she looked back at him sitting in his chair. “By the way, there's a bunch of people out front that are dying to speak with you. They're getting a bit pushy.” She waited a long second, staring at him until he held a thumb up in acknowledgment. Then she strode back down the winding staircase and out the front door. The crowd was still there, waiting to hear from the mayor of the town they thought they wanted to move to.
“He’ll be along shortly,” she reassured them all. “He’s just finishing up a call and he’ll be out.” She moved through the people. They weren’t quite as loud to her as they were on her way into the building, and they parted as she approached them. Apparently someone had let slip who she actually was, and they had adjusted their behavior accordingly.
She spotted the rich looking man, the one that had tried to stop her from cutting the line earlier, looking sheepishly down at her side. With a deep breath, Glory decided not to hold his rudeness against him, if he showed up at her guild for work or to make a business deal.
Parting the crowd, she headed back to the main road and up to the guild, to her seat of power in Vane Gloria.