Chapter 11: Of Aristocrats and Scavs


Ugh

Okay.

Let me share how my first day in The Crown went.

When we reached the district called The March, I saw what looked like a small wall that protected the inner fortifications of several barracks. I'd imagine the infrastructure inside this district was built for the purposes of protecting the aristocrats and nobles further in, especially if a large-scale invasion assails Arisota's Hold. It would make sense why they use hill-dogs in the outer perimeter. They're just a buffer to buy the peasantry time to evacuate into the inner districts. If they had the time to evacuate into the inner districts.

Once we reached The March, I had a leash attached to my neck before we left the carriage-sized sedan chair. After that, we headed further into Arisota's Hold. Once we made our way past a set of heavy doors, beyond a conscription office, and through some heavily armored guards protecting some checkpoints, we boarded a pulley-operated elevator platform and began ascending up. We passed by many floors as we ascended, though I surmised that there could be basement levels below the ground floor too. I didn't ask Arrinoka how many levels there were, in case some passerby or eavesdropper grew curious of my intelligence. Thankfully, since my leash was currently in Arrinoka's hands, their curiosity of my existence would have to be left wanting and drop any questions they might have had after seeing me in his company.

When the elevator lift finally stopped, we departed and was quickly acquainted with the Exotic Animals Registry Guild. The people that ran it seemed like overly swell people, all things considered. ... ... ... Well, except for the times where they stuck a hand up my ass to determine if I really was a male and not pretending to be a flat-chested, tailpoof-less female, asking questions about what kind of swamp plants I like to eat, and determining how 'house trained' I am. I found the whole thing to be kinda invasive, but Arrinoka said that this was perfectly normal. Whatever. It's just another embarrassing hurdle I need to jump over in this obstacle course that is my new life.

Again: Ugh.

But at least I am now registered as a pet to Arrinoka.

And speaking of now, I'm also being acquainted with some of Arrinoka's acquaintances, friends, servants, and scary-as-hell bodyguard.

... Huh? You want to know about Arrinoka's bodyguard? Well okay then. It's pretty much what's happening to me at the present.

Anyway, picture me standing beside Arrinoka Arisota and a tall, burly dude with a thick X-shaped scar on his furry chest, brown and sharply kept beard and mustache, brows seemingly as thick as liquid mahogany-colored mercury, tan yet slightly sun-burnt skin, and steel-gray eyes that can almost see your deepest darkest fears. He wore what looked like a finely tailored gray and green suit, with a cloth hat in the shape of a ball that had plated steel surrounding it and feathers poking out the sides and back. As far as I can remember, I think Arrinoka said his name was Borafous Bel DaggerKnuckle. I think he's a baron that maintains a scouting force on the edge of Arisota's Hold's most outer territories or something.

Currently, we were talking about how I had became Arrinoka's pet. Borafous bellowed a laugh at me as we walked our way through another corridor, this one quite lavish than any others I have yet to travel through. "Sixty nine thousand grain for this wee beasty?! Hoh hoh hoh hoh hoh! And I thought your brother made some odd deals before!"

Arrinoka chuckled. "Well, you know me. Always playing mind games with my little brother. But I won Roy in a bid, and have decided to have him registered as my exotic pet."

Borafous then made a meaty smack on my back with his calloused hands, roaring zestfully. "Well let's hope this scav won't cause too much trouble for everyone here! Who knows what kind of things his ratty little mits might get into!"

I nearly fell forward. "Guh! You're an awfully friendly person, so uh, I doubt I'd want to take anyzhing from you wizhout your permission."

"Ah! Good lad! Already learned a modicum of respecting the property and belongings of others! I'm sure you'll get along with most everyone here just fine!" Borafous boomed.

When we turned a corner, we came across a giant serpentine creature, with two dominant claws that is longer than almost twice my body from snout to tail-tip. It had six black eyes, and was covered in an assortment of draping cloths of green, gold, black and red, and metal plates that were buckled to its sides and chest. It grumbled when we were within its sight. Out of instinct, I screeched and hid behind Arrinoka.

Arrinoka patted my head. "Oh don't be rude, Roy." He then gestured to the giant bone worm in a friendly manner. "Thaladine! It is great to see you again. How was Ingred's children?"

"Hhhhnnnnrrrr-Arrisota-rrrrrnnnn." It said in a droning tone, which made the walls rumble somewhat. Apparently, this baxxid is Arrinoka's bodyguard. "Hnnnr-Ingred's childrennn are wellll-rrrnnn." It paused to look at me. "... Rrr-Arrinoka. What is that scav doing onnnnn your leg-hhh?" It said, pointing a claw at me.

Arrinoka chuckled and gestured dismissively at this baxxid named Thaladine. "Oh he's nothing to worry about, Thala. I got him registered as my pet recently." He then turned to me. "Roy. This baxxid is my bodyguard, known as Lady Thaladine. Lady Thaladine, this is my new exotic pet, Roy."

By the way, this was Arrinoka's bodyguard. I know. Shock of the century.

I slowly stepped out from behind Arrinoka and approached Thaladine a little ways. "Uh... He-he-hello." I said with a meek wave. "Having a n-n-nice day?"

The baxxid stared at me for several seconds before huffing and facing Arrinoka. "Hnnng-Where did you get this scav?"

"I followed after my brother to the Beast-Tamers Guild, and learned he was doing an errand on the Exotic Animal Registry Guild's behalf. But before he could give them their reward money, I stepped in and offered a deal of my own." Arrinoka leaned down to pat my head. "A little auction took place, and I came out of it sixty nine thousand grains less. But I got this yinglet out of it."

"Hnn?" Thaladine tilted her head. I suppose the body language she was using is supposed to suggest she was confused about something. "Sixty nine thouuuuusand grains for a yellow-furrrrrred scavvvvv-nnng. Zuddul probably wannnnted his fur or for something-gggnnnn important-ng. Also, you shouldnnnn't have gone to the guild without meeee." She said slowly with a rumble.

"Yes, and I'm sorry for that. However, I can't exactly be subtle with a baxxid bodyguard accompanying me, wouldn't I?" Arrinoka said, straightening up and smiling whimsically. "But with a bit of luck, I'll find out why he wants this scav so much."

I turned around to look at Arrinoka. A curious thought came into my head. "So uh... I'm confused. Is sixty nine zhousand grains supposed to be a significant amount of money?"

Borafous chuckled. "Not really. It just happens to be quite a bit for bidding on a scav in an auction!"

"So how much is zhat number worzh in Arisota's Hold anyway? How many loaves of bread could you buy wizh zhat money?" I asked.

"Well, for about thirty grains, you'd be able to buy one fancy loaf with berries mixed in from the market." Arrinoka stated, looking up in thought.

I blinked. "Oh! So I'm worzh about... um... two zhousand and zhree hundred fancy loaves of bread?"

"Hnnn-precisely correct, scavvv-nnn." Thaladine nodded. "... Hn. Iiiii meannnn... Rrrroy."

I turned to Thaladine and smiled nervously. Despite being a giant bone snake, this baxxid did seem okay to me. "Heh. Zhanks, Zhaladine."

Thaladine huffed.

Borafous blinked his eyes. "A scav that knows math? Hm! Roy sure is hiding a lot of surprises beneath his fuzzy little head!" He began laughing again. "But if I had that kind of money, I'd probably spend it all at a brothel and enjoy a vacation for a week and a half!"

Arrinoka patted Borafous' shoulder. "Now now. If you spent all your time with wenches of questionable bedroom practices, then how would we muster our troops once the southern tribes decide to invade us?"

Borafous nodded and calmed down. "Well it's not our fault the tribals down south refuse to give up their fertile lands. Having trade routes with farms growing crops and livestock in the Southlands could feed a lot of hungry bellies up in our fort, and everyone living near it!"

Arrinoka nodded. "Yes indeed. Alas, they are unfortunately more bull-headed than you in that regards, my friend."

Borafous pumped his chest with pride. "Well, this talk has made me peckish! I think I'll have a small raid on your larder. Perhaps some jerky will hold me over till suppertime?"

I looked down at my belly. "You know what? Now zhat I remembered, I haven't had anyzhing to eat in a while." And on top of that, that was when I noticed my naked state. "... And maybe wearing some pants while I eat would be good too."

Borafous gestured to me and let out another loud laugh. "Ho ho ho! A panted yinglet living with our dear Fortmaster would certainly turn heads around here!" He said, elbow-nudging Arrinoka. "Anyway, see you all later! I'm off to the larder!" And with that, Borafous strutted away with purpose.

Thaladine tapped her long claws on the ground. "Hnnn-Shall I go to the kitchenette and have the cooks prepare you a mealllll?"

Arrinoka nodded. "Yes, that would be wonderful. Please have the chefs deliver it to my room."

Thaladine bowed. "Nnn-As you wish, my lord-hhnnng." She then slithered away after Borafous, possibly suggesting that this fort's larder is next to a kitchenette.

Once I was sure both the baron and bodyguard were out of earshot, I turned to Arrinoka in surprise. "Okay, I have one more question. How zhe fek did you get a baxxid as a bodyguard?"

Arrinoka chuckled and gestured. "Walk with me." I came to his side and matched his speed while he began recanting a piece of his past. "Many decades before I had ever been born, my great grandfather discovered some baxxids south and west of this hold. It was later learned that they had been separated from their migratory swarm, but some speculated that they had defected from the migration. Either way, they had became feral and survived in the wild. Most died by the arrows and clubs of the tribals in the Southlands, or had been picked apart by vicious packs of hunting animals. Though baxxids are known to tear the great plain beasts apart with their impressively sharp claws, they did little against sufficiently starved predators. When I was but a year-old babe, my father managed to save a wounded baxxid from certain death. Upon saving her life, healing her of her injuries, and feeding her, she took the name of Thaladine and swore an oath to protect my father's family bloodline until the debt she has with us is fully paid, or if the conditions for the exit clause is met."

I nodded along. "Must be wonderful having someone as powerfully strong as her to protect your hide."

Arrinoka nodded at me with a smile. "Indeed. Though there have been occasions where Thala had been a mite bit too protective sometimes. Ah! And here we are." He stopped at a set of regally-designed doors and opened them. I looked past the doors and noticed a lavish interior, decorated with the finest furniture that a rich noble could buy. It was tacky, yet Arrinoka certainly had the money to throw around to afford it all. A wide-as-hell king-sized bed with drapes on the sides, easy access to a fireplace, a trunk at the foot of the royal bed, a partition, an airy balcony that could be closed off by ornate wooden doors, and an elaborately decorated tapestry with gilded threads on the edges, which had a tree with several fruits bearing cloth faces sewn onto them.

If I still had my human lips, I would've made an impressed whistle. "Wowzers. Is zhis your bedroom?"

"It is." Arrinoka answered. He then pointed to the doors to the sides of this room. "That door leads to my personal privy. That door leads to my office, which connects to the corridor outside this room. That door leads to my wardrobe, where I keep my personal effects and other accessories. And that room is where I store my trophies and family heirlooms."

Quite impressive. "I bet wizh all zhose rooms combined, it would be about as big as a large house!"

Arrinoka nodded and smiled. "Indeed. Though technically my home is the entire fort itself."

I nodded with him. "Well, since zhis is going to be my home for zhe foreseeable future, I'll be needing a few zhings."

"I'm sure my servants can fetch what you might need. Within reason, of course." Arrinoka added.

I looked down and thought about what I needed. "First and foremost, I need a set of clozhes. After zhat, I need a place where I can sleep. I doubt zhat you'll let me on your bed."

Arrinoka gently slammed a fist into the palm of his hand once the realization hit him. "Ah! Right! I think I can find something you can use until my errand runners can find a small child's bed for you, while the seamstresses can make you a small set of your own clothes." He went to the trunk at the foot of his bed and fetched out a folded sheet. He then went to the head of his bed and took a pillow. He then offered the sheet and pillow to me. "Will these serve your sleeping needs?" He then changed to a curt tone. "And before you say anything, yes. My bed is off limits."

I sighed. "Ah. I see. Uh... I guess you can drop zhem on a comfy chair." I pointed to the trunk at the foot of the bed. "But if you don't have a chair to spare, zhen next to zhat chest please."

"Very well." Arrinoka said as he unceremoniously dropped the sheet and pillow next to his trunk.

"Zhank you." I then sighed again, but was dreading what I wanted to ask next. "Now, before we wait for zhe food to get here and I take an hour of sleep, zhe next zhing I need is more important."

"More important than sleep and food?" Arrinoka asked with a raised eyebrow. "Fine. Let's hear it."

I turned to Arrinoka. "I need your help sending a letter to someone. I would write it myself, but I don't know how zhis hold's mailing system works."

"A letter? Hm! Interesting!" He gestured for me to follow, and I did. "Also, I didn't know you were legible!" We entered into his office, which had several shelves that were lined with books. Some had reading material that consisted mostly of fictional stories and historical tales, while others are law books. A big desk sat in the middle of this room.

"Most yinglets aren't legible. But alas, zhis letter is not going to a yinglet." I answered as I hopped on the smaller chair facing the desk in this room. "It's actually going to a trademaster."

Arrinoka paused as he sat on his chair. "... A trademaster?" He said, pausing as he took out parchment and a writing instrument of some type.

"Yeah. What was his name again?" I asked aloud as I drummed my fingers along my head and on my ears in concentration. "Kaz? No. Kazzer? Wait... Kazzis? Zackis? Zackis somezhing, I believe. He had a pet dog and a daughter zhat ran away from home two days ago."

Arrinoka turned to me in surprise. "What?! You want me to deliver a letter to Zackis Lecknart?!"

I danced excitedly as I pointed at Arrinoka. "Yes yes yes! I remember now! He's zhe trademaster of zhe Lecknart Tradehouse! His daughter is named Jerrla! And her hill-dog's name is Duchess!" When I realized I was dancing, I stopped. "I mean... Uh... Yes. I managed to meet Jerrla at a farm zhat belongs to somebody named Climp. I found her inside of a hole in zhe ground wizh her dog near some farmland and a barn."

"Climp's farm, is it? ... The farming district would take about a quarter of a day's travel to get there on foot. And I know of the disappearance of Zackis' daughter. How would you know of her disappearance?" Arrinoka inquisitively probed.

"I just told you. I found her." I replied plainly. I then placed my hands on his desk and leaned forward. "She asked me to look into zhe Beast-Tamers Guild and why zhey were rounding up all zhe hill-dogs. Zhat's one of zhe reasons why I was lurking around in zhe kennels, and why I was caught zhere. I was getting information on Jerrla's behalf. Anyway, zhe letter will be a message to her, but I want to have it veiled like a secret message. Furzhermore, I would like to be reacquainted wizh Jerrla in zhe next few days so I can tell her what I discovered face-to-face."

Arrinoka blinked his eyes a few times. He then placed his writing instrument on his desk before he looked at me suspiciously. "I find this to be highly inappropriate."

"Inappropriate?" I parroted, my face scrunching into a scowl.

"Yes. Trademaster Zackis' daughter went missing a few days ago and you want me to send a secret message to her when she still happens to be missing. And furthermore, you don't have any proof that Zackis' daughter is at this farm. Why would you want to meddle into a trademaster's affairs?" Arrinoka probed further.

"Because she told me she was going to be back at her tradehouse home in a few days, and she expects me to deliver what information I discovered about zhe earwig infestation and why zhat was zhe reason zhe Beast-Tamers Guild was taking everyone's hill-dogs from zheir homes." I explained. I noticed that I was almost completely off of the seat I was sitting in. Arrinoka must have been agitating me with this line of questioning. I took a breath and sighed before taking a seat. Sadly, due to how short I was, I was only able to see Arrinoka's face from my perspective. "Jerrla ran away from home because she was worried zhat zhe Beast-Tamers would take her pet, and she zhought zhey would never return her."

"And how does this relate to your precious missing female yinglets?" Arrinoka asked.

I paused. I then gave Arrinoka a so-so gesture. "Well... Okay, finding zhe females is my main mission. Zhis zhing I'm doing for Jerrla is technically a side quest. I was trying to be sneaky, but her dog ended up ruining my stealzh mission and I had to do her a favor or else I could have been caught, or worse, she might have tattled."

"Tattled on by a girl." Arrinoka said, unimpressed.

"Uh... Yeah? She seemed to have been ten years old to me." I answered. Honestly, I didn't know how old she was. Had to have been in her pre-teens or something.

A door knocked behind me. "Enter!" Arrinoka called. The door opened to reveal a woman in a brown dress. She had brown eyes, black hair, and pale medium-fair skin. She was pushing a cart filled with various items on it.

"Pardon me, sir. I knocked on your bedroom door several times, so I figured you were in your study." She paused to look at the both of us. "Oh! Isn't this cute! Is the scav having an important business meeting with our Fortmaster?"

"Heh, uh, not at all. We were discussing current events miss uh... What is your name?" I replied to the maid.

"Teecam." She replied with a kind smile.

"Miss Teecam. Very pretty name by zhe way." I added with a smile of my own. She smiled more broadly from that compliment. "Anyway, I was talking wizh Master Arrinoka about zhe earwig infestation in Arisota's Hold. Kinda boring stuff, really. I zhink zhe topic about a trademaster's missing daughter was brought up somehow, but we kinda petered away from zhat."

Teecam blinked. "Oh! I guess you didn't hear the news?"

"The news?" Arrinoka parroted.

"Yes, the news. I heard from passing conversation that Master Lecknart's daughter had been found near Dannolt Climp's farm just northwest from here." Teecam said with a cheery tone.

Arrinoka blinked a few times. I so wanted to beam an 'I told you so' smile at Arrinoka, but I'd have to wait until the maid left the room. After a few seconds of hesitation, Arrinoka shook himself out of his stupor. "Oh. uh. That's great. Perhaps I should visit him to see how he is doing?"

"Oh he should be in high spirits, now that his daughter has been found. Though I'd imagine his little lady would be grounded for a time after stealing away one of the family's hill-dogs, what with the earwig infestation plaguing them all. I'm glad nothing serious came of it." Teecam reported. She gestured to the food trolley. "Shall I leave this here and allow you two to your conversation, master?"

"Please do, and thank you for telling us of the good news with Trademaster Lecknart." Arrinoka replied.

Oh how terribly convenient. Thank you, Teecam. Once Miss Teecam curtsied and left Arrinoka's office, I took the chance to beam a smug smile to Arrinoka himself. He was half-annoyed at my expression, yet half-surprised that my alibi had a wealth of truth to it. "SO!" I said, breaking the pause in our conversation. "Want to help me wizh zhat letter, or do we eat first?"

After another pause, a pained and defeated sigh escaped Arrinoka's lungs. He got up from his seat and took what looked like a muffin from the food trolley. Once he was back in his seat, he broke the silence. "I'm getting the feeling you might be more trouble than I bargained for, but now I'm too damn invested to see what might become of this."

I took my turn to pick something off of the trolley. Most of it was bread and pastries, but I found something similar to salami, cheese, and what I guess was tomatoes. I stacked them up and gobbled a morsel before I returned my attention to Arrinoka. "Zhat reminds me of a quote someone said. 'You had my curiosity… but now you have my attention.' "

"Do you know who said it?" Arrinoka asked before taking a bite of his muffin and putting his writing instrument to the parchment.

I paused. Technically speaking, that quote came from Leonardo DiCaprio from the movie Django Unchained. An exceptionally good movie, with the unfortunate heavy usage of ethnic slurs. However, since movies are not a thing within this world I am in, I decided to wing it. "Uh? Oh, I guess from some actor from a popular play or somezhing. I can't really remember zhe names of eizher, sadly."

"Mm." Arrinoka responded. He then focused on the parchment before him. "Alright. How should we compose this?"

I smiled with glee. "I zhink we should start wizh a few rough drafts before we focus on zhe finalized product."

And with that, the fortmaster and his new pet, moi, have begun a scheme so grand that even I knew not of the outcome. I only hoped that I would be able to contact the yinglets from my enclave and somehow tell them that I have a powerful ally that might help with finding the abducted yinglet females in Arisota's Hold. Piece of cake, really!


A/N: Man, have I turned out to be quite lazy writing these, huh? I'll try and make more in a timely schedule or something.