"Elymas wishes to speak to you," Liam said calmly. He only seemed to sit calmly around him but it was just as easy for Eero to keep him calm as it was for him to snap his fingers and have a head brought back to him later that day. He made a good spy – he had the sensitive hearing and still possessed the finesse of a cat. Even Eero had better hearing than most beorc and didn't hear Liam coming most of the time. However, Liam was an assassin first. Liam and Eero had a good partnership – Eero got several people out of the way and some companionship while Liam was sheltered from persecution and had a chance to exploit his inner sadist without punishment. It was easy to tame an animal if you let it in and fed it and Liam was no different, despite his feelings about it.
However, Eero didn't like the words that came out of his helper's mouth. He preferred to leave Elymas to himself and reap the rewards. It was strictly business. However, he was too useful to deny him any resources he needed and he was often in need of something. With a sigh, he followed Liam to the castle's basement where Elymas was leaning against the door of his study room.
"What do you need?"
"Ah... long story. What do you say about a living host for your dear Ike? You know, it might be like the apostle Begnion used to love so much and this host of ours would be able to hear the voice of Ike! I think I'm coming close but... I ran out of test subjects."
Eero raised a brow. Didn't he have an entire village? He had almost everyone in there, aside from the babies and toddlers that were too young to be of any true use. There weren't many of them so he had some soldiers find homes for them, complete with a little bit of gold to make them more appealing. After all, if Ike's teachings were going to have any effect, he needed young impressionable minds. Babies growing up under the current rules won't question anything when they were older so he had them spared. However, that left over a hundred people who were old enough for the experiments and he went through them all? What the heck was he doing to go through them so fast? He couldn't make another village disappear without raising suspicions.
There was only so many times you could blame the rebellion.
"But that's not what I needed. Daevala's out now trying to get whores to come with her because nobody cares about them. Might as well clean the vermin off the streets," Elymas said with a shrug. "However, it's the language that's the problem. The spells seem to require more complex language structure than I anticipated. With the right words, one could make the spirits do anything but I doubt either one of us are that familiar with the ancient language... except for the spirit but he doesn't tell me anything. He likes to watch us squirm.."
That was an issue, he had to admit. Eero did not spend most of his old life trying to study the old language beyond what he needed to know for magic. There was no reason for him to know the conversational form of the ancient language so he never bothered. He had no idea it would ever be useful for his cause and he was cursing himself for not trying harder. Though, it would be extremely difficult to just pick up. For one, it was a dead language in Tellius so the only phrases that survived and was available to learn where the ones used in magic. This limited magic from what it could be, though from what he heard from Elymas about Soren, or whatever name he decided to go by, he was not the only one trying to think outside of conventional magic. It was Eero who came up with the idea of the sandmen, it was just Elymas who helped him make it something real.
And since then, he decided to just relay his final vision to Elymas and let him work on it. Eero had no idea if Elymas himself was actually curious about the magical goings of these projects, or if it was the spirit he charmed into giving him his abilities that was interested or even if it was sentient enough to want to explore such magic. Elymas said, on more than one occasion, that his spirit talks. It whispers. It was constantly referred to as a 'he' whenever Elymas brought it up. People talking to themselves was something Eero did not enjoy but it did interest him that Elymas seemed to communicate with the spirit he contracted himself with. If Elymas' spirit could communicate, then it might have been a real person at some point. He was sure that Elymas was but a simple flesh puppet for the spirit's need to expand its knowledge but either way, it made him happy.
Suddenly, Ike was so much closer. They just had to find him and call him forth and give himself sort of medium to work with, whether it be a person under his possession or a refined sand creature.
"I will figure something out," Eero mumbled.
"Oooh! The birds! Don't the white ones know the stupid language?" Liam offered. Of course! Leave it to Eero's eyes and ears to figure something like that out. He almost forgot about the damn herons, considering how many of them existed. They were still in the single digits.
"I can work with that," Eero smirked. He had an idea already, and he could kill two birds with one stone. If nothing else, he could stir trouble. "Elymas, keep doing whatever you are doing. In the mean time, I'll have Liam fetch one of the servants for you."
"Make sure they're young adults. They have a better tolerance for it. That's why I went through so many – the old and the children died immediately. They're only useful for a blood supply, which seems to help a lot when it comes to summoning those spirits. It was disappointing how fast they went. It's no fun when they're not suffering."
"You could always break their limbs first – your blood supply I mean. They won't have any use for them and it's really painful!" Liam offered with a smile. "Dislocate the shoulders, pop the knees, then start off by breaking their fingers since those are easy. The long bones are harder because they're stronger, but a big blunt object can do the trick."
"Well, I can't have them bruise too much. It's easiest to keep the blood in the vessels so I can extract the greatest quantity of blood. Humans only have so much," Elymas said with a grin. Apparently, the only time Elymas could get along with anyone, aside from Daevala, was in conversation about how to best make your victims suffer before you kill them. Eero had an odd knack for attracting the insane but hey, if they could do work why complain about their mental stability? As long as they didn't impose danger onto him, he was fine.
"Liam, you have a job to do. And when Daevala is back, send her to my office. I need to borrow her for something. Remember, as long as you do as I say, all of this goes unpunished. You can torture and kill to your heart's content so long as you give me results," Eero warned. Elymas chuckled as Liam bounded away.
"I do have one thing to say though... one more bump in the road," Elymas stated. "Spirits are powerful. Even if I could get one to answer with improved language, we'll have to go out to try and find someone who can withstand that spirit's power and survive the procedure."
"Do you have any theories?"
"I think that with language, we could restrict a spirit's power and maybe then they wouldn't immediately exhaust the life out of the body they're set into. Theoretically, us spirit charmers are fine if we make a contract with them, so they can suppress their power for a time. We only die because our bodies fizzle out eventually when the spirit gets its fill. The whole experiment relies on being able to force a contract carefully enough but I'm starting to think that despite these efforts, we may still need a suitable host."
"Work on being able to force a contract first. If we can have a weak host survive long enough to prove that we can get the spirit to possess a living person, then we'll work on finding a suitable host," Eero demanded. Really, he didn't have an answer for that but he had time to think about it and so did Elymas. Well, he never did think he would get so far with his dreams. For the longest time, he thought it was a cute idea to entertain and try but he could see it working. He could see Ike coming back in his lifetime, coming back to charm his way into listening to what he had to say. Ike would create the peace that no one managed to create since Ashera cast her judgement.
Elymas nodded and went back int his study, probably to wait for his next victim. Eero let out a sigh and made his way to the opposite end of the castle. Since he was down in the basements anyway, he decided to to travel to the other side of the castle where the prisoners were kept.
The prison was generally unkempt. Why would he waste anyone's time cleaning up for prisoners when he couldn't care less if they got sick? That's just another layer of torture. For the most part, he wouldn't even be all that concerned that they died, only that it would look bad on him if one particular one died. It was also dark and the only time the prisoners got light was when they had visitors or it was time for their meals. He put a lit torch in the holder and leaned against the wall beside it.
He only had two but they were very special guests who he kept around to remind himself of where he had gone with his life. One of them was King Ramon himself, or rather the former king. He was no longer in the outfit he had as a king and instead he was wearing the same sort of rags one would find a beggar wearing. They hung off his limp frame, as he lost a considerable amount of weight since his special return from Daein, and it came down to his knees. Ramon had one shackle fit for a child around his ankle, which dug into his skin. Eero, from the light of the torch, could see the skin beginning to fester underneath. He was the only prisoner that Eero cared about saving so he decided that he would have the person who brought food for him keep an eye on it. If Ramon developed a fever, he would have to actually care for him.
"Hmm... if that ankle gets any worse we might have amputate," he said with a grin. He didn't really need that foot if it got that far. He didn't plan on it getting that bad but he knew it would annoy his other guest more than it would annoy Ramon.
"You bastard," his other guest said. He was one of Ramon's retainers, the only one who stayed annoyingly loyal to Ramon. He must have nothing to lose, as the other knights who held any sort of command had a reason or two for staying on their side. Family, tradition, an income... so even if their beliefs did not see eye to eye, they were smart enough to keep that to themselves but Sir Geoffrey chose to throw all of it.
It was funny really, how everything at the moment somehow seemed to relate to Elinicia. Ramon was named after her father. Geoffrey was named after her husband and Ramon was the grandchild of some greats to Elinica and Geoffrey. There was also the fun fact that Elinicia also faced a rebellion in her time, but Ludveck... was that his name? Eero couldn't remember because he found the entire rebellion unremarkable. All he managed to do was capture Geoffrey's sister and he didn't even kill her. His rebellion was useless and got nowhere.
Eero did not make the same mistakes. He toppled the king, he had the whole of Crimea in fear of speaking out and he had a sand army in waiting.
"Oh, what's wrong?" he cooed.
"You know damn well! King Ramon has done nothing wrong!"
"You'll find that he made the biggest mistake – he trusted all the decisions to four advisers, one of them being me. The other three were comrades until they made the fatal mistake of second-guessing what they got themselves into. Liam had fun playing with those guys, if I remember correctly..." Eero mumbled. He couldn't remember their names. Ah well, they must not have been that important. "If Ramon had been able to make decisions on his own, had he not trusted the opinion of others so whole-heartedly like he did, this could have ended differently. I mean, one of us might as well have king since Ramon wasn't doing anything to warrant his presence on the throne. You were just a fragile doll – pretty too look at and good for nothing else."
"So they're dead," Ramon said quietly.
"Died rather slowly," Eero added. "Liam doesn't usually take his time because he plays rough but he managed to keep them around for a few days. But it's not just them either. There were many citizens who were executed for being too loud and knights who were slain by the rebellion. All because you couldn't be a better king."
"I stand by my words. Ramon hasn't do anything wrong. All of this was your doing – you are the reason why there's a rebellion, you are the reason why people have to be silenced. Don't blame the king for your own stupid actions!" Geoffrey yelled. He was always yelling. "He's just trying to get under your skin, Milord, don't heed his words."
He decided not to listen to him. He felt like it was a bad case of semantics. He had his reasons and if people were going to be loud and ruin it for him, he would call for their deaths. Besides, he was doing it for the greater good. They needed Ike. Their society was getting nothing meaningful done whereas great strides occurred with Ike's presence. He was the key to the whole thing. He had a hard time wrapping his mind around the fact that were people who weren't going to call him a god, as they revered him as such anyway, and why wouldn't they want Ike back? Why was Syrin or whatever his face was fighting so hard and for so long? He was Ike's shadow, Ike's brilliance, and he was the one who started the whole rebellion. Even when he no one to agree with him, he was making trouble with the guards in Melior and somehow managed to escape all the time, even though he had a limb arm.
"Where do you think we would be right now if you weren't sitting in a cell?" Eero asked. He could see the confusion on Ramon's face. He didn't seem to know who he should be listening to and Eero knew he was winning at that point. If he was confused, then he was considering both sides. He was in doubt.
Eero smirked.
"Are you saying that if I was a better king, you wouldn't have done any of this?" Ramon asked with a hiss.
"To you? Nope. I would leave a strong king alone because they would not be swayed. Why do you think I didn't try anything with your father? He never gave me the opportunity, even though I was also his adviser. It was unfortunate he passed so young with that illness of his," Eero said with a simple shrug. In truth, the king only died because Liam slipped something into his tea, some sort of slow acting poison. Ramon's mother died some time long before that, perhaps just after Ramon's birth. "But no, if it wasn't you, it might have been one of your children, or maybe their children. I have lots of time. It doesn't matter who it was, so long as they let me pull the carpet out from under their feet."
Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Geoffrey jump up in his cell. Eero chanted a few words under his breath and knocked Geoffrey to the back of cell with a wind spell.
"Don't forget who is on the outside of the prison, Geoffrey," Eero warned. "It will make everything so much easier for all of us if you decided that you didn't have to pretend to be a hero all the time. Is screaming nonsense and standing up to try and be intimidating the only thing one has to do in order to be a hero?"
Geoffrey growled as he slowly picked himself off the floor. "Keep saying shit like this. You and all of your lies will one day be exposed. The rebellion will win."
"Hardly but whatever makes you feel better about yourself. Unfortunately, I have other things to do so I have to take my leave here. Enjoy yourself, Ramon," Eero said with a smirk. By the time he settled back into his bedroom with a warm cup of tea, Liam returned to his side, distracting himself by polishing a particularly ornate dagger. Eero noted that he had his hood down and his ears were flickering around as Eero found his seat, something he only did around Eero.
"You found a servant already?"
He nodded.
"Have you heard back from the spies we sent to Daein's castle?" Eero asked. Liam shook his head.
"If they haven't returned, then they're dead. Not that they were particularly good ones but still not a good message," Liam answered, keeping his eyes on his daggers. He offered a small shrug though. "Want to send more of them?"
"If you can find someone have decent. I don't want you to go." He meant it too. Not only did Liam prove to be useful but Eero would honestly miss the companionship he had with Liam. He found himself dreading the thought of Liam dying and when he thought about it, he was sure he would actually be sad if he died. Liam was sort of like a son, and though Eero knew that Liam was possibly older and Eero was not any taller than Liam was, he certainly acted like a child.
"I'll find two people. Someone should come back to tell us what happened."
"Sounds good," Eero said, sipping his tea as Liam moved himself closer to the chair Eero seated himself in.
Adrien was surprised when Vaughn and an armoured laguz walked into his study. The armoured laguz was one of six that he hired to keep spies out of the castle so he was only surprised by his appearance because he should be in the basement. It wasn't so much his safety that he was worried about – he could fight and Gander and Vaughn were more than capable of protecting him – but he had something in progress in the bottom of the keep and if that ended up in Eero's hand, then it could be disastrous for the rebellion.
Especially for the Daeins involved. Mostly his son because he was the reason why the other two were still there. He sighed. Why did he think it would turn out differently than it did? Why did he think Joel would talk Kaetar into coming home? He certainly underestimated Joel's protectiveness but he didn't think much of it because they did spend so many years apart. He knew they played when they were younger, so of course he we defend his friend as soon as he was ready and could get to him. He had a feeling that Issac had him trained to protect their family's social status anyway but it had the second benefit of being another bodyguard. Adrien wasn't blind to Issac's bid to have Joel in that sort of position but he overlooked it only because he had a feeling that Joel really did care abut Kaetar.
"What do you have to report?"
"The kill count for the week is three," the laguz answered. Adrien was initially shocked by his presence when they first met because he was a wolf laguz, found in the deserts of Daein with a partner who rested himself up and returned to Hatari to tell the news. Adrien believed his name was Volug. Rotem had long greyish hair that was tied up and fell to his right. He wore mostly armour and cotton pants from the waist down but above his waist, he was mostly unclothed with the exception of some armoured gauntlets. Adrien suspected that Rotem did this to show off the markings that ran down the middle of his chest, down his arms, and finally stopping under his grey eyes. He seemed very proud of them.
Rotem arriving in Daein was a good sign though. It meant that soon, Hatari would be ready to move across the desert and when the rebellion was over, it meant that Daein would have the supplies to assist the move. Daein would certainly be the resting place for anyone who moved across the desert and he wanted to make sure he could accommodate them. Rotem said they weren't quite ready yet, especially with the unrest in Crimea, but perhaps by the end of the next year they could do it.
"It's a shame we gotta kill them all, huh?" Vaughn mumbled. "Seems like a waste of life."
"All conflict is a waste of life," Rotem mumbled. "However, it's a necessarily evil. Killing one those spies will save more lives."
"Heh, is that how everyone in Hatari speaks?"
"No," Rotem mumbled. "I'm in the presence of royalty so my tone must be one of respect."
"You don't have to be so serious around Adrien," Vaughn chuckled.
"I would like to say otherwise," Issac suddenly piped up. Adrien only found himself mildly annoyed that not one person knocked but he had more pressing matters to worry about. "Adrien, if you don't mind me asking, what is it exactly that you have our best mages working on that we needed to hire laguz officers?"
"Laguz and beorc mixed armies were bound to come eventually anyway," Adrien mumbled. It was a good way to try and introduce laguz to Daein. If there were laguz in high-standing positions, like an officer in the military, then perhaps others would see that Daein was no longer a dangerous place for them. "But I refuse to discuss here. I would rather do that in the basement with the other laguz officers there."
Vaughn frowned. "So this is super serious."
"So far, it's between myself, the mages, and the laguz."
"Excuse me, but why are only laguz guarding this secret?" Issac asked.
"Because the laguz have some pride and dignity. Their loyalty cannot be swayed by gold like beorc loyalty. All laguz types have a history with Ike, so there is no way they abandon such a history for Crimea's stupid ideals. I'm only paying them so they can stay in Daein even when they no longer have to guard the basement."
Issac shook his head. "That's a pretty broad statement for someone who hasn't met many laguz."
"I think I've met more than you have," Adrien mumbled, raising an eyebrow. "But do you think I'm wrong? Perhaps you should go meet the other laguz officers because I'm sure Rotem's opinion would not sway you." Besides, it wasn't Issac's place to judge why he decided on laguz instead of beorc. The decision was already final. They had been inside the keep for a while and he was not wrong so far. He hired them shortly after his meeting with Eero and the work they've done was impressive. He had no idea that there had been so many spies trying to get in but he supposed that Eero felt a little threatened after their meeting. Perhaps Eero suspected that he working on something to combat their sand creatures. He wasn't wrong.
"Shall I fetch Ummie?"
"No, let her have her break," Adrien said with a sigh.
"What exactly is the nature of this secret then? It's not like you to keep us riders in the dark and go hire new people behind our backs," Issac muttered. Adrien glanced at him. Was he jealous?
"You both have your own duties and I didn't want to take you away from then. Issac, you've been supremely helpful in gathering the locations of key Crimean forts and you've been a great help to my wife lately. Vaughn, you've kept steady control of an army who wants nothing more than to fight. I know you haven't been spending as much time with those wyverns as of late," Adrien answered. "First and foremost, my closest advisers and confidants are my riders but I need you to continue what you are doing. I can't pull you away from those duties to guard what these laguz are guarding. Additionally..."
"You're try to appeal to laguz?"
"Yes. If we want to integrate more laguz into Daein life, then we have to prove to laguz that Daein is a different country. One way to do this is to give laguz high military positions and show laguz that they can have a living here. There is also the problem with the Hatari citizens. Rotem is here as some sort of representative of a bond that will further be nourished – there is no doubt that their first time in Tellius will be in the Daein deserts." Rotem nodded at that. "I know what I'm doing."
Vaughn chuckled and looked at Issac, hitting his elbow against Issac's ribs. "You know, you should apologize for doubting him."
"A little bit of doubt is healthy," Adrien said with a shrug. He liked Issac for that reason. Instead of saying what he wanted to hear, Issac forced him to go back and think and explain his reasoning and processing. If his explanation was stupid, then the idea was probably stupid too and Issac was the type to let him know. However, he was confident about his choices concerning the laguz.
"So I suppose it's safe to assume that you have your eyes set on the rebellion then?"
Adrien sighed and rested his arms behind his head. "How could I not? Kaetar's still in it and Saira seems to have a hard time with getting past them to get to him. Their leader is supposedly a master tactician who has been able to balance the rebellion and Saira at the same time. He certainly has her hands tied up so ending this one way or the other is the fastest way to get him home. Besides, Eero's stunt not only caused great injury to me but it greatly inconvenienced my citizens so my army and I intend to repay him in full."
"Ooh, Adrien's mean streak has resurfaced!" Vaughn chuckled. "I like this. I'll get to stretch my legs soon! It's been awhile since I could go all out and Issac needs a reminder of why I'm a rider."
"Please, enlighten me. I can understand why Saira and Gander are riders but you? You dumped Kaetar on Gander more times than anyone can count so you be with your wyverns. You take nothing seriously!"
"And you take things too seriously," Vaughn said, his smile immediately disappearing from his face. It was the only good way to gauge emotion from Vaughn when he was sitting instead of bouncing around like he usually did. Adrien didn't know how he could see with his hair covering his eyes but he clearly could so he never told him to get a hair cut.
Adrien cleared his throat, silencing both of them immediately. He wished Saira was around because she had no tolerance for their childish bickering and she did a good job of keeping them from bickering. She just had to look at them the right way to tell them that she reached her limit and they were going to get a piece of her mind if they didn't stop. However, she was tracking down his elusive son.
"Can you spare any of your laguz, Adrien? Perhaps Saira needs someone on par with her skills to assist her. Kaetar doesn't need to break away from the rebellion completely," Issac stated. Rotem's eyes followed Issac and Issac certainly had Adrien's attention.
Gander came not too longer after the room was emptied. When Adrien saw him, he went back to his room to grab his cloak. Adalyn was once again on their shared bed with a book in hand, sprawled out as much as she could be while carrying a child. She liked to lay on her stomach but she had to opt for at least laying on her side. "Where are you going this time?"
"There's a merchant outside of Nevassa that I'm going to go see. He's holding a weapon for me that used to be one of Daein's national treasures until it was given to Micaiah's party. I thought it well to return it to where it belongs," he answered. "It shouldn't take long. Will you be fine?"
She nodded. "I'll be fine. If I'm not, there are plenty of healers and I only need to yell. There's no need for you worry about me all the time."
"I know, I know. It's just that it's so easy for something to go wrong with the pregnancy... and I can't help but to worry about how our two children will get along with seventeen years between them. Kaetar's not too far from having his own children."
"I think he'll wait a little longer to have children than a typical royal. He just doesn't seem to the type to jump right in. He'll need time to warm up to his fiance... Arianna was it? As for the age difference, Kaetar is generally a nice person. They should be fine," she said with an indifferent shrug.
He decided not to argue. She probably knew Kaetar better than he did anyway. Maybe that was part of the reason why Kaetar seemed so upset with him before he left. He thought Kaetar wasn't taking his studies seriously without recognizing Kaetar's need for a break... and a need for more interaction with his father. In retrospect, Kaetar wasn't asking for much.
"Be back soon, alright? I want to see this weapon that you're so excited about."
Adalyn didn't use any weapons but she was keen on looking at ornate and custom made ones. She liked to find beauty in weird places. Adrien nodded and smiled at her, waving as he walked out. Gander had abandoned his heavy armour for some leather armour so he could fit under a cloak without looking so out of place. He carried a lance, the one thing Gander wouldn't leave with out. "We aren't going far, right?" Gander asked when they were outside the castle's gates.
"Not very. It's a little outside the ways of Nevassa. Think of where our main military base is, then thinking of it in the opposite direction. That's where this merchant is."
"And does he know why you want it so badly?"
"He does and he drives a hard bargain because of it. I didn't tell them though, he already knew. the worth and he looked at it. However, he only thinks I'm a noble trying to kiss up the king with it. We settled on twenty thousand since I'm getting a discount to see to it that he returns to its proper place," he said with a shrug. Twenty thousand wasn't bad at all when he considered what shape he first saw it in. In fact, it was kind of a steal. The bow, Lughnasadh, had been quite broken when he first saw it in the shop so the repair and the restoration of it had to quite expensive. He also understood that a merchant was not out to be somebody's friend and he was out for a profit first and foremost.
"I see. It does make things harder when they also know the value," Gander mumbled.
"Indeed. I would have gladly taken it for cheaper," Adrien said with a sigh. "I heard you were adopting children though?"
"Two young boys. They're orphaned brothers. Since my wife passed and my children are all married and busy with their own children, it's gotten quite lonely in the home. I thought kids would make things lively again but they're a handful those two are," he said with a small chuckle. It was good to see Gander happy again. It also meant that now more than ever he needed Saira home so Gander could spend some time with the two boys.
"Have you thought of a house sitter for those kids yet?"
"I tried. I hope you don't mind but I stole one of your servants for the job. I don't believe they're strict enough though."
"Meaning that you will never let Vaughn babysit, right?"
"I don't think he can discipline children, so no. However, I've seen him be an absolute demon to some of the soldiers who are acting up lately. I think their desire for revenge is starting to put him on edge. It's stuff like that Issac doesn't see despite being your military adviser," Gander said. Adrien nodded. He knew Vaughn was busy at the moment and Gander was also in charge of controlling and training his military just as Vaughn was, but it was weird to hear what Gander had to say about it. Vaughn wasn't known to have to be mean, perhaps a little strict sometimes but he was generally laid back if you tried and you listened. For Vaughn to need to be harsh at all, then both he and Issac were out of touch of the military's mood. Vaughn never really brought it up though, he's always been all smiles.
He knew that they wanted to fight Crimea because of what happened with the sand creatures but he didn't know to what extent this was. "Has it been that badly lately? Vaughn doesn't act like that."
Gander nodded. "He doesn't. I'm usually the one that's in charge of discipline yet Vaughn's stepped up with unusually harsh punishments. I make them clean but he's been making them do pointless physical activities until they nearly pass out from exhaustion. It seems to be working because they have no extra energy to act out but I'm a little bit worried about the state of the army. I don't know how long you can quell their anger for."
"I will address the army tomorrow then. That cannot be allowed to continue," Adrien decided. He's been so busy with make sure that Adalyn was well and happy and his mages' project that he made little time with the army. He only knew of their want for revenge because Gander and Vaughn have been telling him but he could see that another tour would do everyone some good. He had to remind people who was king.
"Thank you," Gander muttered. "Is that the merchant?"
There was a lone but large building just outside of Nevassa where the fields eventually became grassy or muddy, depending on the time of year. Adrien nodded and quickly, the two of them welcomed themselves inside where the merchant was quick to greet them. He was a short fellow, strangely fit for a merchant, with greying hair and blue eyes.
"Here to pick it up?"
"Yes... I hope you don't mind that I'm paying with white gems. It would do me no good to carry around that much gold," Adrien stated.
"I understand. Let me see?" Adrien walked over and gently placed the white gems into the man's hand from his pocket. "Ah, these look fine," the merchant said after some time of examining it. Of course, Adrien only got the best of gems. Any cracks or imperfections depreciated their value, so he was careful about taking care of them. Wordlessly, the merchant reached down and pulled out a bundle of cloth that when unravelled revealed a beautiful bow.
It certainly looked like a royal treasure – elaborate but still functional.
"Turned out nice, don't you think? I didn't think it would look like that when the thing was practically busted in half and rusted through," he said with a shrug. Adrien agreed. "Well, it's all yours!"
Adrien was about to grab it when someone burst through the door. "JONATHAN!" a boy with green hair and eyes, though his hair was a darker shade, shouted. "I need some stuff."
"Clearly. I haven't seen you in a while, Mike, where have you been?"
Mike was panting. Adrien grabbed his bow carefully and gave the boy some room as he produced a list. "Believe it or not, with the rebellion in Crimea. I got caught and they wouldn't let me go but it's been fun enough, I think! Or maybe fun is the wrong word for it but you know, it's not as bad as it sounded. All that stuff is for the rebellion."
"I see. Well, it'll be three days or so for me to get all this stuff. I, unfortunately, don't have much in stock for weapons at the moment... You have enough for all of this? I mean, you ain't rolling in gold here," the merchant responded.
"I got the rebellion's gold," Mike answered.
"I see... oh yeah, I should introduce you guys. Mike, this a Daein noble named Alexander." Gander gave Adrien a strange look but if Adrien was going to play the part of a regular noble and not the king, he couldn't use his own name. "And I guess that's his bodyguard. Alexander, this is my occasional worker, Mike. He makes deliveries sometimes with his wyvern. Makken, was it?"
"Yup, that's his name," Mike said proudly.
"So you're truly with the rebellion?" Adrien asked. "Then I'll pay for all his stuff in three day's time."
"Wait, seriously?" the boy asked, clearly quite surprised by the offer.
"Yes, if you entertain me for a while," he answered. He didn't mind letting Mike stay at the castle in one of the guest bedrooms and dealing with a guest wyvern would certainly cheer Vaughn up. However, he had some questions for Mike and this was his only chance to get information about the rebellion from within the rebellion. There was no need for guess work on Saira's part and her reports could only come so fast while be so updated on their planning. "Your wyvern can come along too, I'll send someone for him since wyverns need permission to be in Nevassa."
"Sounds good to me, I guess. Well, our leader will have our hides if I don't have some sort of deal for him. I said I would use my connections."
"You know that only really works with my cousin in Begnion right? I don't do stuff like that, you know that Mike," Jonathan said with a chuckle. "However, if that's what you two agree on then I'll write up the cost and I'll see you both in three days."
"Um, thanks a lot for everything," Mike said nervously as soon as they were out of the merchant's building. Adrien was holding the bow in the cloth that the merchant had it in. He could see Makken and Mike immediately ran up to greet his friend with a hug around his neck. He was big and grey but looked well behaved and patient with the boy's behaviour. "Hey buddy! You can't follow me right now but someone is going to come get you so be good like always, 'kay?"
"Shouldn't you tell him who you really are?" Gander whispered into his ear.
Adrien motioned for his silence. As they began walking back towards the palace, he spoke up. "I have a son in the rebellion, you know. That's why I agreed to pay for everything. Can you tell how me how he's doing? His name is Kaetar."
Mike was quiet for a moment, then gasped. "... No way. That means you're the king!"
"Not so loud," Gander warned.
"Right, right, sorry, you're disguised for a reason," Mike said quietly and quite animatedly if Adrien said so himself. He noticed that Mike tended to move around a lot when he was excited like he had boundless energy and some passion for life. "But Kaetar's fine. So are Joel and Loiya... uh, Your Highness." He was definitely part of the rebellion. He hadn't said anything about Loiya or Joel but Mike could recite the names easily and knew they were Daein. It was a good sign.
Adrien smirked. He struck quite a bit of luck, hadn't he? Things were looking up.
I would be a bad appraiser. Maybe a national treasure should be worth way more.
Anyway, I think this maybe a 'speaks for itself chapter' so I'll comment on how glad to hear that somebody still like my writing. While I like the last couple of chapters, for some reason I keep thinking that they weren't as good. I feel like there's a dip in quality, though that may just be my own hypersensitivity after reading other reviews for other stories. I also have less reviews but I think that it's probably more due to school and life being mean than my writing being a problem. You would tell if it wasn't good, right?
Also! Since I am finally FREE from assignments, papers, quizzes, lab finals, and whatever else my classes threw at me until I need to write finals, I may actually update twice this month. It depends on how far I get with writing the other chapter since I've ran into a little bit of a roadblock. I've wanted a double update month since May and somehow never got around to it.