Freya lounged on her settee and watched her newest champion through the television display while munching on a bowl of blueberries set on a marble plinth covered in fornicating women.
"Really?" Freya threw a blueberry at the screen when her champion lifted then slammed the local baron's son into the water.
"It amazes me sometimes how much some of us adapt to the technologies of our followers and yet others remain mired in the past," Odin said by way of greeting.
"Oh hey, Old fart," Freya acknowledged his presence with a limp wave; not bothering to look back.
The Allfather moved into her peripheral before producing a tall backed wooden chair with a burst of magic and taking a seat.
He didn't speak again for long minutes, and Freya kept her attention on her champion.
"I start to see why you choose her," Odin said, as they watched Chess play in the water with a few other young people on the screen.
"She’s a hard worker when she needs to be, but still knows how to have fun," Freya agreed.
"I was referring to her ability to cope and adapt. You made her so ridiculously attractive that fun and persuasion should be easy for her when taken with her personality. Has she discovered all the changes you made yet?" Odin asked.
"I see you have made a move of your own. Do you intend to take his eye as is your way?"
"He possesses wisdom of his own," the Allfather said noncommittally.
Freya smiled at his nonanswer. "Loki won't be pleased."
Odin snorted and shrugged one large shoulder. "He hasn't found what he's looking for yet. This was him trying to throw you off a bit. He didn't even mention that I usurped his blessing on the dwarf."
"Why are you here? It's surely not to praise my choice of agent," Freya asked.
"I wanted to propose a truce of sorts. I've already spoken to Loki on the matter."
Freya arched an elegant eyebrow at him.
"It's no more than you're already doing. Simply that we won't pit our Astrian agents against each other for a few years. We will have enough to do dealing with the locals," Odin explained.
"You're not wrong. I had a recent run-in with Helgrew. He's an—unpleasant sort. As is every major god my champion has discovered. Only, how did you get Loki to agree?"
"I pointed out it's only the four of us so far with, and I hesitate to use this word, a champion each.
"Four?" Freya asked with a frown.
The All Father smiled. "You didn't think Heimdall would take the opportunity?"
"No," Freya groaned. "Who did he choose?"
"I don't know."
"Really?" She eyed him suspiciously.
"Really. I don't exactly have a good view of this new world. My champion has seen less than yours," he pointed out.
"You left Loki's curse alone," Freya said.
"That's no curse," Odin disagreed, then turned back to watch the display.
On it, Chess and the others were swimming back to shore to meet an important-looking human waiting for them with a scowl.
"About Luminous," Odin started.
"He's a prick," Freya muttered.
Odin chuckled. "He's a prick we are in no real position to oppose at the moment. We are the interlopers here."
"It's not the first time we've done this," Freya said dryly.
"And how exactly did that work out for us?" He gave her a stern look.
Freya sighed. "I'll try to be careful… for now. These people will need their help soon."
Odin nodded.
The pair watched as their champions were ushered into a meeting room with the local lord before Freya switched the view to another man. This one was bound and collared in magic-infused silver.
Odin seemed impressed. "When did you convert him?" he asked.
"I didn't. Not yet. But he's been asking me to warn his people."
"Not to be freed?"
"No."
Odin sat forward to study the middle-aged Count more intently.
A smile formed on Freya's lips.
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Baron Gilles Bedfurst sat back and eyed them each in turn for the third time in as many minutes, finishing with his bare-chested son, Richard, standing to his right in a pair of the boardshorts Chess had the seamstresses make.
The baron had been silent for the better part of half an hour after Chess and Amber had finished their abridged account of their time in the Dryad's woods, and Chess was starting to fidget.
Richard caught her and gave her a half-smile.
Chess resisted giving him a friendly middle finger. She was still unsure if the gesture had a similar meaning. Despite the now open use of it in her group.
Her wet ass didn’t help her mood as she yearned to scratch it, which would definitely not be ladylike. Was making us come without changing some sort of flex of power? Chess wondered. She took the opportunity of the prolonged silence to use the free edge of her towel wrap to wipe the water trickling from her hair and soaking into her plush seat.
"So, let me get this straight. My lord Aaron Caldur and his squire have been taken captive by the very ne'er-do-wells that he was out hunting, and his entire squad, aside from that poor soldier Steven, have been killed. And somehow you and your lady managed to dodge their clutches by stumbling on a new rift?" he summarized.
Amber nodded. "That about sums it up." She once again didn’t correct his assumption of Chess station. They’d been careful not to say it themselves.
Gilles sighed and rubbed the bridge of his nose. He leaned forward and placed two fingers on the glowing truth sphere that occupied the center of the table, and the steady purple light quickly dimmed. It had only turned blue once when he’d asked them each to tell a deliberate lie at the start of the conversation. He had questioned each of them in turn, starting with Chess and Gramps, before subjecting Amber to a more thorough interrogation.
"The Canfree involvement is pure speculation. All you have to support it is the supposed involvement of one errant bastard." He held up a hand to forestall Amber's objections. "I know how he raises them, but that doesn't prove anything; regardless of what you believe you know. It's what we can prove that is important. And since Lord Caldur was taken by bandits, we have to move forward with the assumption that he's a ransom hostage at best—dead at worst. Either way, we need to inform his family immediately." He glanced out of the study’s window and sighed. Chess followed his gaze, noting the sun had begun its descent.
Chess almost broke down and told the man about Nathan Canfree but stopped short. Amber is right: the fewer people that know about that the better.
"That's a worrying use of the word we," Amber observed.
The Baron gave them a tight-lipped smile. "With the problem in Secondstep, I can't afford to spare anyone to take it just now."
Amber frowned. "Surely there is a boy, or girl, willing to make the ride?"
Chess sighed and gave Richard Bedfurst the stink eye. He held up his hands in a what can you do gesture. His sister, Eleanor, had been hustled off by a pair of disapproving maids as soon as they'd been coaxed out of the lake by the outwardly affable baron.
Eleanor is right: Richard’s subtle. I've yet to catch him checking me out yet, unlike some of the village men. She shifted a little uncomfortably at the thought. She didn’t know quite what to do with or about the attention yet. She had found wearing her armor cut it down to nearly nothing. I did pick him up and throw him though...
"I won't risk a newly awakened or an unawakened on the lesser trails. We've had more than one dire badger take up residence in the border forest this year. Not to mention the constant threat of the Forest Gnolls and Goblin tribes causing problems," he insisted.
"You expressed your desire to join the delver's guild. I’d be willing to write each of you a recommendation. It will go a long way to having the guild believe you about discovering the rift first. I can even sweeten the deal by throwing in a legitimate merchant's license and proper travel papers." The baron graced them with a knowing grin.
The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.
Amber cursed softly under her breath.
"The wagons are slow and we planned to stop at each town on the trip, this will have a heavy impact on our plans," Gramps spoke up.
"It doesn't take all of you to deliver a message. Besides I was hoping you'd be willing to lend your assistance to the problem in Secondstep master dwarf."
“Oh?” Gramps sat forward. “What did you have in mind?”
“Well, if I’m not mistaken you have considerable skill with animals.” Gilles smiled and matched Gramps in sitting forward.
“I’ve been around,” Gramps hedged.
“Well, if the count and his men are missing, we will need to find an alternative way to deal with the problem,” Gilles said.
“Hold up, before you both get into the weeds,” Chess forestalled them after a nudge from Amber. “We get the papers upfront.”
“I’ll give you the travel papers. When you return or I receive the word you’ve spoken to the Count’s family, I’ll give you the merchant's license and recommendations,” Gilles countered.
“Travel papers for them and the recommendations, Ashley and I can wait for our papers and the license,” Gramps said. Chess shot him a frown. He shook his head, mouthing ‘not now'.
“That’s acceptable,” Baron Gilles agreed. “Would you ladies mind if I talked to grandmaster Ken alone?”
Amber stood and Chess followed suit. “It’s been a pleasure,” Chess said with a small curtsy, and Amber echoed her.
“I’ll have a dispatch of letters brought to you at first light,” Gilles agreed as Amber and Chess excused themselves from the planning.
When they’d made their way back outside Chess sighed and readjusted her wrap. “I felt totally in over my head there. Should we have asked for some sort of payment?”
Amber shook her head. “No, we would have done this anyway, albeit slower, leave it to your grandfather to extract payment for his help with Secondstep. The license is worth a significant sum and will make selling the wood much easier.”
“I’m not sure it’s a good idea to split up. I mean we only found him a couple of days ago,” Chess said bitterly.
“They should be safe enough here. There is no way Canfree is ready to move openly yet if that’s even his game, and the manor is safe enough from gnolls and goblins.”
“What about gophers?” Chess asked wryly.
“Well, it sounds like they are happy in Secondstep.”
“Fair enough. Want to come swimming?” Chess asked.
“I’ve had more than enough swimming for a year,” Amber laughed and shook her head. “I think I’ll see if Stace wants to start on some training we discussed. Would you mind digging Dent out of your inventory for us?”
“Fine, suit yourself.” Chess shrugged.
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"I'm a pirate on the river Saskatchewan! And a heave-ho, heave-ho coming down the lane! Stealing wheat and barley and all the other grains…" Chess sang at the top of her lungs. Richard and the bear cub Kliny had the raft rocking like a ship sliding sideways down a swell on a particularly bad sea as Chess paced triumphantly atop it. Riding each movement with the ease of an old salt, even when Richard and his little helper tilted the surface more than 60 degrees. The deck just seems to rise to meet her feet with each step.
"That is so unfair!" Richard finally declared and pushed himself away. "What's your agility anyway? 24?"
Chess pumped an arm triumphantly as she sang the last few words of the song before responding with a grin. "Wouldn't you like to know?"
"Yeah, I…"
"That's a silly song. No pirate lurks around on a river robbing farmers," Kliny interrupted with a grin.
"Lurks? That's a big word for such a small cub!" Ashley said, before tossing a disc far out over the lake for her pets.
"Smith Thorpe is always saying I lurk about his place too much," Kliny said sagely.
"I thought it was a fun song," Eleanor put in. "Though I agree your agility must be monstrous."
"I'm no monster! My lady, you wound me!" Chess put a hand to her chest in mock offense.
Eleanor snorted and shot a spray of water at Chess with a small spell.
Chess went stiff and fell dead off the back of the raft, splashing her daughter with the backslap.
When she surfaced, the group was laughing and she grinned with them.
A whistle caught their attention, and they looked to shore, spotting one of the baron's guards waving at them to come in.
"Ah shit, duty calls," Richard muttered.
"Language!" Eleanor admonished him with another water spell to his face before she turned and made for shore.
Boy, I'm glad she was able to keep that swimsuit, Chess thought as she watched Eleanor's hips sway as she walked up the short strip of sand from the edge of the lake.
"Come on Kliny, we should head in too," Chess said and tilted him into the water from the raft.
"Ahhh!"
"I'm sure your mother has food waiting." Chess nodded at the sinking sun for emphasis once he surfaced with a weak glare.
The boy managed to give a hangdog look despite the fact he was treading water.
"Ashley, you too," she said over her shoulder to her daughter before heading in herself.
Ashley merely nodded and started a slow backstroke toward the shore, still maintaining the game with her pets. It had been a surprise to everyone when they discovered the Heliwr were a lot like ducks in their ability on the water; skittering around on the surface with ease. Even being able to dive for the discs and launch themselves into the air after a catlike shake. Chess was starting to wonder if there was something they couldn't do. Well other than talk or use tools.
Once she’d found her feet, Chess headed towards Stace and Amber. The pair of women each had an easel set up with a small folding card table between them, holding a smattering of mixed paint. Dent’s limbless form sat behind the pair in the sand.
"You two are such girls," Chess said as she plopped her wet ass down in the grass behind Stace and Amber. She threw an arm around Dent’s boney shoulders and straightened him out while spending a moment adjusting to the terror aura.
Kliny had given the skeleton a wide berth as he’d left for home, but Chess had noted that both of the Baron’s kids and their guards had simply ignored the aura.
Chess studied each of the ladies’ projects in turn. Amber was painting a landscape of the lake with the orchards on the other side while Stace was painting Amber complete with a half-finished lake painting in her image.
"You're both good at that though," she conceded and flopped back to stare at the sky. "Stace might be better."
"We both had a bit of free time, and I find it relaxing. Besides, Stace agreed to teach me some techniques from your home. Her portrait work is exquisite."
“I don’t know how you're managing with the shiver aura going,” Chess said.
“It’s part of the challenge. You could join us,” Amber suggested.
“Sure, I guess,” Chess said, and brought out her arrow-making gear and some of the cherrywood they’d acquired. After a long discussion with Amber and Gramps, they had concluded that if Chess made sure all the magic used in forming the arrows and heads could take place within the various jigs she used, most people would think they were specialized tools for the job. Though she had to leave the fletching until she was out of sight or pass the work off to a local that Gramps had made friends with.
The entire task had become routine for her and she let her hands and magic do the work while they talked.
“The problem with that idea is Earth doesn't have magic. How do you know if it counts? It’s a huge risk,” Amber said.
“Talking about runes again?” Chess clarified and, receiving a nod, added her own two cents. “I was thinking about that too, we need to be asking how big Brastia is and if there are other more common languages. I imagine Elven and Dwarven have less drift over time as well. Which might be a consideration.” Chess paused. “Wait, no, elven is a phonetic language. At least Wood Elven is.”
“Dwarven would be best, Elven languages are diverse. But even across clans, the dwarven runes are largely the same. Though some runes have more meanings in some clans than others. I don’t know any Dwarven though,” Amber said.
“Does Gramps know any?” Chess asked.
“I’m mostly done with this,” Amber said, swirling her brush in a cup of pungent cleaner before standing. “I’ll ask him and acquire some useful runes if he does. Do you have any preferences?” she asked Stace.
“Yeah, I have a list of concepts I was trying to work with, but none of the letter combinations were working without a lot more letters,” Stace said, pulling a sheet from the satchel of paintings she had before reading, “Strengthen, reinforce, or brace. Shield, protect, or defend. Wind, blow, or Breath. Increase, expand, or grow. Reduce, Lessen, or diminish. Might, vigor, or brawn.”
Amber mouthed the list to herself for a minute before nodding and turning towards Gramps’ bustling mercantile stand.
"Hey, I've been meaning to ask you something." Chess turned to Stace after watching Amber until she had slipped behind a tent.
"What's that?" Stace looked up from her project.
"Can you…" Chess coughed. "...Scratch your head with your foot?"
"What?" Stace let out a startled laugh.
"I mean, house cats can do it," Chess smiled lasciviously.
"You know, I've never tried," Stace said slowly, then studied Chess's face closely for a moment. "What were you gonna ask?" she asked suspiciously.
Chess felt the blush start between her breasts and quickly fill her face. She held her hands out to placate the catkin.
"Perv," Stace said and leaned back to smack Chess's arm hard.
"But you're thinking about it now," Chess chuckled and got up, rubbing her shoulder. She waited until the water lapped at her ankles before speaking again. "I just thought if you tried it, maybe you'll develop a taste for it?" she said, then bolted for the lake.
"Ohh you! Hey! Get back here!" Stace protested, kicking her stool aside as she dashed Chess. She stopped short of the water when Chess dove in.
"You'll have to come out eventually!" Stace's voice echoed over the water.
When Chess looked back, she saw a scowling Catkin standing with her hands on her hips.
Chess turned onto her back and swam to her raft laughing maniacally.
Once she'd leveraged herself out of the water, she stuck her tongue out at the foot-tapping catkin and pulled a fishing rod, some worms, and a big block of wood from her vault and settled in to do some lazy fishing and work.
----------------------------------------
Chess and Amber were both shaken awake before the sun had risen by Gramps, who dragged them out to the pasture to select two horses each for the trip to Portheel. They spent a few hours brushing the horses’ coats and getting them saddled before they headed back to their camp in the village green where Kan had breakfast ready.
Chess spent a while emptying some of the extra dryad wood into boxes they slid under the other wagons to make room in her inventory for some more food and feed for the horses. She also stored a few items Gramps had acquired to make camping on the road easier, including a small copper pot and a proper stand to hold it over the fire.
Soon after, one of the Baron’s men delivered a thick bundle of letters that Chess also tucked into her vault.
After the pair had gotten their armor on and were ready and triple-checked, everyone gathered around to say their goodbyes.
“Here,” Gramps said giving her a firm hug before stepping back and passing Chess a small sack.
She snuck a peek. 31 doses of Thump the window said. Chess smiled, giving him another tight hug. “You’re the best.”
Amber and Stace were having a conversation of their own over a list of supplies. Chess patted the catkin on the shoulder in farewell before turning to Ashley.
"You stay out of trouble," Chess wrapped her daughter in a tight hug. She was already having more than second thoughts about leaving her behind.
"Don't worry. We'll keep her too busy training to get into trouble," Hilkan assured her. "And I'll be dying again before any harm comes to her. I promise."
"Keep her well away from the trouble in Secondstep," Chess added. "I know you both have something planned for that." She looked between her grandfather and the golem.
"We'll do our best," Gramps agreed. Kan nodded in agreement.
Chess raised an eyebrow at the evasion but sighed, closed her eyes, and squeezed Ashley a little tighter before turning to go. A solid knot of worry had built in her belly. Gramps has this. He raised you, she reasoned with herself to little effect.
Chess traded a forearm grasp with Kan around her daughter.
"See you in a week," she told them, and with another sigh, she kissed Ashley's forehead.
“See you, mom,” Ashley said into Chess’s hair.
Chess’s stomach caught in her throat as she gave her one more squeeze, nodded mutely, and turned to mount Petal.