A week passed, without any further incidents with the demons, no reply was received from Izril. Bloodstone had healed up though he was still in pain. It was also when a hundred soldiers from the capital came and reinforced the walls that had been breached. As well as hunted down any demons who had been behind the walls.
The resident gold teams had stayed out and defended the outpost, it was the attack on the demon army that broke the siege for the wall. Things finally settled into a more normal state.
Kijala had heard of his request for the full name of the Tidebreaker and his offer to the next of kin to finance a statue to the Drake. She asked the drakes she knew and a few them were intrigued by the idea, and that a human was willing to do it made them a little irritated that not one had thought of it before hand. Donations began trickling in, until a letter arrived from the crown and then they stopped completely. The king had requested that any donations to the Tidebreaker be sent to the crown, where they would be sent to Izril by ship. The king wanted to make sure that Rhir was not forgotten, in the dealing with Izril. The donations collected so far were sent to the crown. The messages sent to Izril had not been responded to.
Brigette had visited Lord Bloodstone daily, to review his books and to talk shop. She was fascinated on his thoughts on magic and even was roped into performing tests, that he requested. It was one morning after such a test, that she leveled. She was in such a state after that the commander came in talk with Bloodstone.
“I have no idea what you said to her she’s been ecstatic almost intolerably so.” He said to Bloodstone who had taken to getting exercise in the morning, by checking in on the walls, visiting the commander, the mage and then taking care of the daily business. Most of the solder he knew by name, and they were surprised when he came around every morning, asking if there was anything they need or any issues.
“I haven’t spoken with her yet, she wasn’t in her office, or the research area.” He said.
“You spoke with her?” He asked.
“She was singing, I have known the woman for almost a decade and I have never heard her singing.” He seemed a little uneasy.
“She’s been hanging around my wife a bunch so that might be the reason. You have anything I need to take care of?” He asked.
“Not now, the supplies for the Fortress are almost gathered up, when did you want to deliver them?” He asked.
“I was thinking tomorrow, or the day after once its altogether. Beth and Newton have two wagons of cement they want to deliver and test.”
“There was one thing I had one of the blacksmiths, deliver a bill it was for two hundred gold coins. I wanted to talk with you before paying it. You have any idea what it is for.” He said handing the paper to Bloodstone.
“Good it’s done, excellent, the two hundred gold is accurate, I will have Coreen take care of this for me.” He said curling the letter into a tube.
“Why did you order that much copper”, he asked.
“Something that I wanted done, it’s also part of the experiments I was having Brigette perform.” Bloodstone said turning to leave.
“There is something else I wanted to ask you about.” He said standing up
Bloodstone stopped and turned back “What did you have questions about?”
“Those metal wasps, the men are a little intimidated by them, are they safe?” he asked.
“They should be, I have safeguards in place. I realize it’s a bit disturbing for a number of people, its one of the reasons I didn’t mention the spiders.”
“Spiders?” The commander said alarmed.
“Uh yeah well, I wanted to have four spiders that are part of the construct defense, I was working on. I haven’t finished anything mostly in the design phase with the spiders.”
“No spiders, so you know how many people are afraid of spiders. Then again maybe not, look we had a spider infestation about three years back, came from the blight, very venomous. Every spring, we worry about what new will come out of the blight to terrorize us. The year before that was the flies. Some insect, monster or other surprise, sometimes its late summer usually in the spring after the rains.” The commander said stating the facts.
“Speaking of the defense, I wanted to ask your approval on something else to do with the wasps. I think I have figured out how to get what they see and hear to a receiver.” He said tapping the bill on his hip.
“I’m not sure I understand, what you are talking about.” He said leaning forward slightly listening.
“Brigette is working on the receiver, I was thinking we could have them setup in a main area. The other advantage is that a Wasp could accompany, patrols, and get real time information back here. I am working on another project, so you can have real time communication, that’s almost figured out as well.”
“How would we control those wasps?” He asked.
“You ask them, right now they are just sitting in one of the rooms that needed to be fixed. The wasps fixed the water coming in by the way and are using the roof to get in and out.”
The commander sat down, “if Brigette is ok with it, then it should be fine. There is another matter that I want to bring to your attention, it involves the men you brought.”
“Did they cause any trouble?” He asked.
“Quite the contrary, its due to a certain young lady and her association with those men that we did not have more servants and staff killed during the attacks.”
“Vella.” Bloodstone said.
“She is still alive and was left here, presumably for you to deal with. She and the men you brought saved a lot of lives, It’s recently come to light and I thought you might want to know.” Commander Uvain said.
“Where is she?” Bloodstone asked.
“She is in the kitchens, doing work until her sentence is up. I have dozens of pages of testimonies as to the efforts of the woman during the demon attack.” He offered.
“Let’s get this fixed then, let me know if you need anything else.” Bloodstone said leaving.
Vella scrubbed the large pot that needed washing. It was hard work and she had even gained two more levels in scullery maid the night before.
She scrubbed, and scrubbed, taking her anger and frustration out on the pot. It was all that lords fault. She tossed the pot under the water rinsing it out.
The hand that reached around and covered her mouth, scared her. The person was strong and pulled her into a closet. The man turned her loose and said gruffly, “I hear you have a grudge against the current lord.”
She looked at the man he was dark haired, with a scruffy beard. She did not recognize him at all. “I have work to do.” She said trying to step past him.
“Oh no missy, you’re going to help me bring that smug bastard down a peg or two.” He said breathing a heavy scent of garlic on her.
“Gross, you will let me pass or I will scream.” She said
“You’re not willing to help me?” The man asked.
“You’re a fool if you think you can take the lord here.” She opened the door. And walked back over to the pots. The man followed her.
“You’re the fool, a lord’s daughter scrubbing pots.” He said and walked off
“What’s wrong with that, someone has to do the work,“ She mumbled, slamming the pots making a racket.
“Vella you break anything, I will take it out of your hide,” The head cook said yelling from the kitchen.
There was a crash, and yelling.
She rushed out to see one of the maid had tripped and dropped a large platter of food on the floor. “I twisted my ankle” She said in tears on the floor.
The head cook stood over the mess, “Vella take this other platter up to the third floor.”
She grabbed the second tray of sandwiches and went up the back steps. Two guardsmen stood at one door, they watched her as she came down the hall.
The guard by the door opened it as she drew closer, she could hear voices as she entered.
“I don’t understand why I can’t go” Isabel said.
“He explained it, we need to move fast, and it is not going to be a fun trip into the blight.” A female voice said.
“I’m not going,I have too much work to do here.” She heard a woman in immaculate clothes say.“The sandwiches are here,” she said seeing Vella with the tray. “You are not the normal maid what happened to Fredia”
“She tripped, hurt her ankle the cook told be to bring these up” Vella said handing her the tray.
“I just wanted to see the other fortress, “ Isabel said.
Kiki grabbed a sandwich off the platter and began eating it down, she grabbed another with her other hand. She mumbled something while chewing.
“Kiki, don’t talk with your mouth full, its rude”, Lady Amethyst chided her.
“Sowwa” she said softly.
“The supplies will get there one way or another,” Rana said getting up to get a sandwich.
The door opened and Kuya and Bloodstone entered, a small goblin followed Kuya.
“Why is there a goblin here!?” Vela said aloud.
Bloodstone looked over at Vella, then the goblin. “He’s a guest.” The goblin cowered behind Kuya.
There was a shuffling as the others in the room, seemed to dislike the goblins presence. “All of you knock it off, the goblin is not going to hurt you.” Kuya said angrily.
It was Kiki that seemed to ignore the adults, she offered the goblin a sandwich. The goblin snatched it and began devouring as if it was going to be taken. Kiki just laughed and got another sandwich.
Bloodstone unfolder the large map. “This is the first time I have seen a map of Rhir that’s not a recent thing. With Kuyas help I deciphered some of the symbols. This map is old, I think it predates the kingdom itself. What intrigues me is this except from the book that was found with it. he opened the book to a marked page.
“I finally got permission to stay at the tower, to study for another year. The archmage said I was a promising student, and that if I do well on the next test I will be initiated. I have a feeling there is more to it than that, the last test made no sense.” He cleared his throat, “Whoever wrote this was a gifted mage. I also think there was something else going on at this school.” He flipped to a point further back in the book. “I went down to the vault last night. I found the way in. I saw wealth and magic beyond anything I could even dream of, and the books, it was the incredible. I was tempted to take one of the books, I left, knowing that I could return there tomorrow night.” He flipped the page.
“I was so stupid, they didn’t want me here for my talents or my skills, they just wanted access to the vault. They are all liars, every one of them. humans can’t be trusted. They grabbed me when I left the vault. I was searched and taken to my room. I didn’t take anything this time. They won’t let me go back in. It’s not like they can threaten me.” He flipped several pages. “They started keeping me awake and beating me. I still refuse to bring anything out. I must get out of here, the archmagi threatened to put me under geas, to make me obey. I’m going to try and get back into the vault. “ He looked around the room, “That’s the last entry, and there is one other thing, that school stood on Rhir a long time ago, and my best guess it’s about a hundred miles north in the blight.”
“You want to go there, see if you can find this vault.” Xyrdiane said.
“There were books there something we can use to find a way home. For all of us.” He said not looking at her.
“You sure you are not being greedy?” Rana asked.
“I.. I hope not, I want you all to help find it.” He said putting the book on the map unfolded on the table in front of them.
“Your all crazy” Vella said, ”The elves are long gone and no one has seen a living elf in what a thousand years?”
“Is this why you asked us here,” Lady Amethyst said, “I don’t think I can walk a hundred miles into the blight.”
“Look I know it sounds crazy, us being here is crazy. I did some research, there is a standing bounty on anything recovered from the blight, maps or books, even magic items. Brigette knows about the book and the translation, she’s keeping it quite because I offered to take her with us if we go.”
“Who were you thinking of taking,” Isabel scowled.
“Lady Amethyst, my son, and daughter, Rana, and Xyediane, Violet, Brigette, Marcus, Hijala and anyone else who want’s to go.”
“What if I tell the commander what you are planning?” Vella said as she turned to leave.
“What?” Bloodstone said.
“I tell the commander he arrests you or confiscates that map and book for the crown.” She said nonchalantly.
“It’s not like I wasn’t going to turn this over to the crown” He said simply.
“You just happen to have a map to this city where there is a supposed elven vault. Where did you get the book from” She chided.
“Off a demon, there were a number of things that suggest they were trying to get there as well.” He said.
“It’s a trap, it’s what I would do. Get rid of any good strong gold teams that find this map.” She said putting her hands on her hips
“I don’t think it is.” He said looking back at the goblin. “Tell them what you told Kuya”
The goblin had finished the sandwich and taken another that Kiki had given him. “White tooth place bad,” The goblin said in broken common.
“White tooth,” Rana said somewhat shocked the goblin looked up at her.
“Big white tooth, death there, no go, goblins no go ever, bad place.” The goblin said finishing the sandwich.
“How does it know what you are talking about?” Vella said staring at the small goblin.
“In book”, the goblin said pointing at the book.
“Oh right, the description of the tower.” He picked up the book, and looked over the translation, “Ah here it is.” And he started to read, “I saw the tower this morning, I don’t know if they will let me take the test again. It rose up and had a glow about it, the tower was like a large spire raising out of the ground. My ancestors built this a long time ago and hid it in plain sight. It was built in such a way that the land around hides it unless you are in the vale itself. The white marble it is made from isn’t like anything here. I asked the driver of the coach and he said there are a lot of rumors about it construction. I don’t want to put them down unless I can get proof.”
“Book” Goblin said walking over and grabbing two more sandwiches, “These good,” He handed one to Kuya.
“Thanks,” she said taking a bite. “They are good.”
“Your going to believe a goblin?” Vella said.
“No lie,” the goblin said, between bites.
“This goblin has no reason to lie, he saved my daughter’s life, when the demons attacked they tried to enter her room, this goblin woke her up.”
“She save, I save” The goblin said finishing the sandwich.
“He wants to go home, and I think we can get the adventurers at least in this district to give the goblins a chance. Kuya has spent the most time with him and he has explained how goblin life works, out in the blight. They are afraid of everything out there, they must it keeps them alive. They are always looking for the next meal. Never staying in one place, because they might get eaten or attacked. Think about that, how would you survive in the blight,” he asked Vella.
“I’m not a goblin, how should I know.” She said turning to leave.
“Vella, what’s it going to take to keep you quiet”, Coreen asked.
“Like I want your money, he’s the reason I’m here in the first place.”
“I am aware of your troubles,” Coreen said getting up from the chair she was sitting on.
“Like I care, I have to head back down before I get in trouble.” She said opening the door.
“Hellen can you help me with this?” Coreen asked.
Coreen and Hellen followed her out into the hallway. The guards watched them leave and go down the servant’s stairs.
“I don’t have anything to say to you two.” Vella said heading down the stairs.
“I have plenty to say to you,” Coreen said.
They arrived on the back hall and Vella entered the kitchen. The head cook, saw who was behind her, “Is there a problem.”
“No, I want to have a few words with that woman.” Coreen said nodding in Vella’s direction.
“Was she disrespectful?” The cook asked.
“Nothing like that,” She said following Vella.
The cook looked relieved, “Sure sure, I have to get back to work.” He started yelling at the other two cooks.
Vella returned to scrubbing the big pot, she saw the two of them walk over,” I really have a lot of work here” She said gesturing to the stack of pots and pans.
“Let me ask you something Vella, if you hadn’t been caught where do you think you would be now?” Coreen asked.
“Married off to some lords or his son, for political connections.” She said acidly.
“You should know your men told my husband what you did for them. He told us.”
“What do you want from me, they were being unfairly taxed. My father didn’t care.”
“You are wrong, he was informed of the situation, and found there were several of his own men using their authority to put pressure on anyone they didn’t like. They were trying to get your father removed.”
“I saw the letters, my father signed them” She said scrubbing harder on the pan.
“So instead of confronting him with the evidence, you took matters into your own hand. You very nearly cost your father his position.”
“I don’t think you understand, your father, found the perpetrators, that were using his good name to harm his own people. You kept it from getting ugly. The only thing is that the men you put up to banditry, well that was a separate issue and your father had no way to help you, not without compromising everything he worked for.”
“He still let me get sent here.” She said picking up another dirty pan.
“He did, men with power tend to wield it like a club. Smash it until it bends or breaks to their will. I have something for you.” she said as she opened a satchel she carried. She pulled out a small leather pouch as well as a sealed letter. Seeing that her hands were wet, she placed them off to one side. “There are people who still care about you, I only receive that letter this morning. When your done here come and see me, I have a position for you if you are interested.”
The two of them turned and left. Leaving her to resume cleaning.
She finished the pot and set it aside. She dried her hands on a rough towel and opened the sealed letter.
Dearest Daughter,
As much as it pains me that you did not have the courage to tell me of the misdeeds in my domain and as much as it pains me to admit, I failed you somehow. I am sorry it came to this, but one crime does not wash another away. I have no recourse, or ability to free you from your servitude. I only hope my letter to Lady Aladeana is taken with the kindness I have expected from the woman.
It was signed with his signature and seal.
She folded the letter and looked inside the small leather pouch, inside were nine gold coins and forty silver ones. A small note.
We pooled our money this is a start to help you buy your servitude back.
Davies.
She growled a little, “Those lay bouts” she started to tear up. She wiped the tears out and went to see if she could find Lady Coreen.
Davies was in the audience chamber, another day where the Lord or Lady heard petitions from the people, or grievances, that were deemed too controversial that the magistrates didn’t want to rule on.
“Let me make sure I have this straight,” Bloodstone said looking at the farmer. “You want the demons who broke your wall, to come out and fix it?”
“Thems the ones who broke it, seems only fair theys fix it.” The farmer said.
“And if the demons are all dead?” He asked.
“Well I hear they had buncha gold and magic, I could hire me a group to fix them broke walls.” He said.
“I see, there is just one problem, all the gold and magic are spoils of war. Now I can hire a crew to assess the damage and if it was caused by us or the demons we can have it repaired. “
“If in you say so” The farmer said.
“Have a team assess the damage, if it is from our actions have it repaired and billed to the district.” The [lawyer] wrote it down and nodded. “Is there anymore?” he asked.
“I have one more request, it’s from your wife, it involves a letter of servitude.”
“Fine let’s get this sorted.” He said somewhat tired.
Coreen and Vella entered the audience chamber.
“Hi, what is this all about?” he asked.
“I wish to purchase her contract of service” She said simply.
“I guess so, I just don’t understand why.” He said looking at Coreen.
“Do we have her contract of service handy?” He asked the [lawyer]
“I took the liberty of pulling the contract.” The lawyer said handing him the sheet. It looked similar to the slave sheets he had seen. There were some listings as to the reasons for the contract. Further down the sum was listed, “The contract is for three hundred crowns for twenty years of service.”
Coreen handed the Lawyer a sack, off to one side the laywer placed the coins into a dish and weighed them. “Everything seems to be in order here” The Lawyer said returning the empty sack. ”Just need to have the processing fee, and we will have that turned over to you.”
Aladeana handed him an additional five gold coins. The lawyer looked over at Bloodstone, “I am assuming you have no problems with this transaction?”
“I would like to know why you are going out of your way for her, this isn’t about the conversation this afternoon is it?”
“No, let’s just say that I see a kindred spirit who also has daddy issues. You also said I could hire whomever I want.” She said smiling.
“Very well, I authorize the transaction.” He smiled slightly as if not really understanding what was going on.
The lawyer had Bloodstone sign the document and then handed it to Coreen.
“Come along Vella there is lots of work to be done.” She turned and left Vella standing there.
“I thought you didn’t like me.” Vella said to Bloodstone.
“I have nothing to do with whatever my wife has planned, she’s her own woman.” He said getting up , “ Though since I am done here, let us both see if we can figure out what she has planned.”
He left the room and Vella followed, Coreen was waiting in the hall, “This way” She said.
The two of them followed Coreen to the third floor, where she had a small room. There was a desk piled with papers, and tables around behind it also piled with papers. There were two wooden chairs in front of the desk.
“Has this gotten bigger?” Bloodstone asked.
Coreen laughed, “No, at least I don’t think so.” She said sitting down at the desk. “Have a seat” she gestured to the two wooden chairs.
“You want to know why I purchased her servitude papers,” she said to Bloodstone. He nodded and sat down.
“Vella here has a nose for sniffing out trouble, she has a good head on her shoulders, she just needs someone to guide her. I just so happen to need someone to visit all the holding on Rhir and see if everything is on the up an up. When I heard about the Alchemists, I was appalled how my father cornered the market on potions.” She looked through a stack of papers and pulled out a stack. “The average income over the past two years for that specific site was close to two million gold annually. Since you turned over control to the alchemists and had them partner, projections based on what Newton gave me have that almost double.” She looked up at Vella, I am assigning several men to you, people you know already and know the tricks people will do to hide things. I want every business venture, every estate, every shop checked. If its fair, then we keep it, if it’s not fair then you are going to make it right. You report directly to me. Now for your contract.” She pulled a contract from the desk and set it in front of Vella. It was a long sheet.
“What if I say no” Vella asked, not looking at the contract.
“Read the contract, then tell me no.” She said putting several deeds under the contract.
Vella picked up the contract, and started reading, Bloodstone leaned over and was reading it over her shoulder.
“Do you mind?” Vella asked him.
“Sorry,” he said leaning back into the seat.
She finished reading it after a bit of silence and Coreen waiting behind the desk. “I don’t get some of these, perks you’re talking about in the contract.”
“For example?” Coreen asked.
Vella looked back to the contract, “While under the employ of the company, you will be given a class needed to perform your work, you will also forfeit any current classes you have. I don’t see how that could be enforced, you can’t make someone have or give up a class.”
“If you believe that then what is the problem,” Coreen asked.
Vella kept reading aloud, “You will also be give an allotment of funds and magic items to assist you in your role.”
“You would be working for me, there is no reason you shouldn’t have access to anything the company owns within reason.”
Vella continued,”You will report directly to the financial officer, or if the need arises the CEO. What is a CEO. And who is the financial officer”
“Chief executive officer. The owner of the company. I am the financial officer.” She said glancing at Bloodstone.
“Hey, I’m staying out of the decisions, you ladies are running things here.” He said holding his hand up in front of him.
“It says here that I will have bodyguards and soldiers, I thought only lords could have soldiers.”
“It’s a technicality, since the CEO is a [Lord], it works out.” Coreen said.
“This last part has me confused. The employee shall be given a residence, that they shall retain even if they leave the company.”
Coreen nodded, “there a several that we already own, and they are right here, you can check them all out and see which one you want.”
Vella hesitated and looked over the deeds, ”I know this place, it’s in my father’s district, isn’t that one of Sutters residences?”
“They all are, since that’s who my father is.” She said.
“Oh, so the CEO is your father?”
“No, Bloodstone is.”
Vella looked over at him, “You put her up to this didn’t you.”
“No, this is all her idea, I am finding out about it right now.” Bloodstone smiled sheepishly at Coreen.
“I will not sign the contract, I don’t care how generous it is. I won’t be blackmailed.”
“Blackmail, hardly.” She looked at Bloodstone, “Can you come back in about an hour, while I have a nice long chat with Miss Vella here.”
“Sure,” he got up and left.
Vella and Coreen stared at each other for a minute when there was a knock on the door.
“Come in”, Coreen said, and a half elf wearing a black shirt and pants stepped into the room. “Ma’am, the last two chests have arrived from the residence. Sorry it took longer than we thought it would, to get everything together.”
“Just bring them to the apartment we will sort through the last of it. Ke’lara, I like the look.”
The half-elf blushed, “Well it’s better than was I was wearing when we first met. I will catch up with you later.” She said leaving the room.
“Well if you are not interested in the contract, then we have nothing else to discuss.”
“What do you want me to do, you have my servitude papers.”
“Oh yes,” She handed her the single sheet. “Good luck Vella”
“Serious you are just going to give this to me.” She said somewhat shocked.
“The contract is still valid, until you leave. Oh, and here I have to sign that.” She took the sheet back and signed it and noted to whom she was selling it to, and then handed it back to her.
“Why?” Vella asked.
“Why all of this? Why go out of my way to help a lords daughter, politics is part of it, it was not the deciding factor, the main thing is that you, have a good head on your shoulders, and are not afraid to walk away. You also are not intimidated by my husband in the slightest. Most of all it’s the right thing to do.”
Vella stared at her, trying to read her. “How can I trust you?”
Coreen laughed, “I’m not asking you to trust me, I am asking you to work for me.”
“How can you be married to.” She waved at the door.
Coreen sighed, “He save me, from a fate worse than death. He never once touched me. I can hide behind his power until I can step forward on my own, and he’s ok with that. His wife is a very strong woman, he keeps strong women around him, not because he’s weak, he wants us to achieve things on our own, if we falter or need help he will give it. Don’t believe me, here the contracts he had written up for his wives. She pulled out the six sheets and set them on the desk.”
Vella looked them over, “Why?” she asked.
Coreen shrugged, “Its who he is, he sees things different than we do. We both have seen the ugliness of the world. He see’s people potential, and the light they have.”
There was a knock on the door, before she could call out, Abagail entered with a potted plant. The plant had small blue flowers growing “Coreen, Coreen, I got the plant to grow!”
“Abigail, that’s wonderful. You can put it on my desk here. These flowers, there were no flowers before.”
“I got another skill, this morning, [accelerated growth]” Abigail beamed.
Vella looked at the young woman, “What class does she have?”
Abigail beamed at her a bright smile, “I’m a level five [druid].”
Vella looked over at Coreen, “Is she your daughter?”
Coreen looked over at Abigail, “She is our adopted daughter, there are enough of us to take care of her and Kiki, and The lords daughter and son are old enough not to need supervision.”
“Is she Lord Bloodstone’s kid?” She asked.
“No, Lord Bloodstone is my new dad. I miss my uncle, he had to leave Rhir.” She said sadly.
“Now don’t you have studies with Hellen?” Coreen asked.
Abigail sighed, “I don’t want to do the rithmatic, numbers make me all fuzzy in the head.” She pouted.
“Abigail, arithmetic is very important for a young lady to learn, so that you know if you are being cheated or not.” Coreen said admonishing her.
Hellen stepped into the room without knocking, “I hope she’s not interrupting anything,” Hellen said seeing Vella. Hellen was wearing a neat and proper maids uniform, her clothes were immaculate not a hair out of place.
“She was just leaving.” Coreen said.
“Abigail, you ready to go back to your studies, Isabel is going to read today from the book she has.”
“Ohhhh!” Abigail ran out the door.
Hellen looked down the hall and then over at Vella, “She so adores Isabel since they are close in age. I am guessing that you are not going to take up her offer.”
“I won’t be coerced into working for that man.” Vella said acidly.
Hellen closed the door, staying inside the room “Forget about him for a moment, are you really willing to throw this opportunity away, you can do a lot of good.”
“What do you know, you are just a maid,” Vella snapped
“That maid, took on four demons by herself and killed them. That maid is a trusted friend and sister. I would watch what you say about Hellen.” Coreen said getting angry.
Hellen shrugged, “I am a [combat butler] I like maid clothes, and no one touches my family. I think I should leave you two to your discussions, and get back to the lessons, last time I left them alone, Kiki ate all the snacks.” She opened the door and left closing the door softly behind her.
“Why do you want me?” Vella asked uncomfortably.
“You know how to deal with men, you are not a push over, and quite frankly you have few options unless you want to go back to being a [scullery maid].” Coreen said leaning over the desk.
“I can just go home.” She replied.
“To do what, get married to some stuck-up lord, have a child or two. From what I understood about you, you had opportunities to do that, and you made sure not one Lordling would approach you. I know all about your dealing with Lord Galaviz’s son, where you went out of your way to put snakes in his bed.”
Vella smiled, “He was such an ass, thinking that just because he was a lord, that I would fawn all over him.”
“That’s the attitude I want, even having a strong man behind you is not a bad thing. You can pick out your own people for protection, and you answer directly to me.” She said sitting back down.
“Are you not sleeping with Lord Bloodstone?” She taunted.
“He has not much as touched me since the ceremony. It has been discussed. I’m not ready for that level of trust right now, he understood.”
“He seems like the bratty lords I have dealt with in the past. Does he even listen to your advice?”
“He does, and I listened to his, and Lady Amethyst’s. She was upset with this multiple marriages more so that I and the others were. We came to an understanding, the six of us. Don’t think for one moment he runs this Hold, and Fortress by himself, he leaves the hard work to us. Lets be frank Vella Jetarious, someone is going to realize who you are and if they don’t think that putting you in danger might sway your father, they will try to a ransom you off. He would send word here and we would tell him that we let you go. It would cause a number of issues, for the lord here and your father. If you decide to leave, without my offer of protection I would have to insist on an escort.”
“I don’t need your charity.” Vella said glaring at Coreen.
“It’s not charity, it’s being smart and practical. Tell you what sleep on it, and if you still don’t want to work for me, we can come to some other arrangement, to get you home if that’s where you want to go.”
“I don’t think I will change my mind,” Vella said standing up and heading for the door.
Coreen watched her leave, not saying anything further.
Vella stood in the hallway, with the servitude papers in her hand. She slowly walked down the hall there was a door partially open, and voices were talking as she drew closer to the door, she could hear the conversation.
“I have no idea where he might be, that’s why I was asking you.” the first voice said
“I know he left about twenty minutes ago, I saw him walk by, why would you think I kept track of him like that,”the second voice replied
“I thought you liked him to?” The first voice asked.
“I never said that, I think your reading too much into what I said the other day Xyre.”, the second voice replied.
“Then why are you all flustered, admit it, at least to me we have known each other what two and a half decades.” Xyre said.
“Why, it’s not like there’s anything to it, I’m a half gazer, humans find us, creepy.” Was the reply.
“You are just afraid to ask, you do this all the time, Rana, you look for the faults and never give people a chance.”
“I gave you a chance, I just want you to be happy.”
“I’m not happy, my best friend in the whole world is jealous, and I want to make it right.”
Vella found herself standing at the door listening.
“It’s not your fault, it’s just how the world is.”
“It’s just not right Rana, I can always take the money and we can go home,” Xyre said.
There was laughter, “You keep saying that, I think you like them as much as I do. Do you know what Kuya said to me this morning?”
“No, I was working with Brigette.”
“She asked, what it was like being resurrected, I didn’t really have an answer.”
“What did you tell her.” Xyre asked.
“I told her the truth, that it both scared me and filled me with awe and wonder. I still find it hard to believe that I was dead.”, Rana replied.
“C’mere” The door was closed, starling Vella with the abrupt slam.
Vella wandered down the hall. She took the servants stairwell to the first floor. She was sure that she had misheard them talking. She found herself back in the kitchen and walked out the side door. She walked out of the gate to the residence and into the town of Hevenas. The town was still in disarray, the damage that had been done weeks ago was still being repaired. Most of it had been fixed, the burned building where still in ruins.
The Fortress was known as Deepwater, because of the well they had to dig to get water when it was build sixty or so years back, at least that’s how the story went. The local wells were deep, much deeper than her home. There were people working and the sound of the smith hammering metal. There was an inn, called ‘the Worthless pile’ from the outside it looks well maintained, cheerful and homey. Sandstone bricks and intricate stone carvings made up most of the building’s outer structure. There was small window covered with curtains, as she entered the bartender was handling some customers, “Morning miss, can I help you?’ He said
“Uh, yeah um, can I get a room?” she asked.
“You want a place to sleep or do you want a suite,” he asked.
“how much for each?” She asked.
“It’s two silvers for the suite, and one for the single bed.”
“I will take a suite”, she placed two silvers on the counter, and took the key from him.
“Can I get a meal?” She asked.
The innkeeper smiled, “Sure thing miss, pick a table and the [barmaid] will be with you shortly.” He said gesturing to the empty tabled to one side of the inn.
Vella looked around and froze, Lord Bloodstone was sitting at a table with a blond woman in mage robes. She picked a table close to them.
The [barmaid] came over to the table after she sat down, “Wat kin I gechu miss” She said.
“What do you have?” She asked.
“Oh, today is a chefs special stew, with bread for a silver. Or if you want we have chicken with tanno stalks for a silver. Ale or wine?”
“Ale,” She said.
“Ok miss be back shortly with yur order,” and walked into the back.
She had missed the conversation, but tried to listen in.
“I had no idea,” Brigette replied.
“I suppose it depends on how each person thinks and what preconceptions they have.” Bloodstone said his back to Vella.
“I still don’t understand how you have such a grasp of magic, I am having trouble even getting through the one book you gave me.”
“It’s more a grasp of how matter and energy work. Magic is just another force, it has its own rules, of course.”
“Just a few hours talking to you last week gave me so many insights, I actually gained a level from the project you have me working on. I think I know how you can do what you want to do, there are some really complex spells in the book you gave me. I am still trying to grasp the spell completely.”
“Glad I was able to help. There is one other thing I wanted to ask about, I know it’s deeply personal, what happened to you and your team?”
“I thought everyone knew what happened to the golden swords. It’s not that it’s a secret. There were six of us, we all came from Izril, to try something more difficult, we were already named adventurers, there were just no big scores to be had back home. Don’t get me wrong there were dungeons, that were never completely searched, and we did go into a couple, we even managed to finance a trip here to Rhir. Worst month of my life, was when we sailed here. We met with the king as we were named adventurers, and he suggested we look for some relics north in the blight. We never found anything worth while. We killed goblin, trolls, and other creatures out there. We found an old city or town in ruins once and came back with some old magic items. We kept looking and we found an underground crypt in that town. We should have known better than opening it. ”
Brigette started her tale…
“You’re the expert Brigette, you ever seen these symbols before?” The gray scaled drake wearing heavy plate mail asked the smaller blond woman.
“Hrak, Em is more an expert on old cultures than I am.”
“I will look, “ Em the very skinny mage said. It was hard to tell the gender of the mage. the robes she wore hung loosely on her frame, the robe was magical and offered protection, from edged and blunt weapons.
“There are two traps, “The gnoll said, pointing out the two pressure plates. The gnoll wore a chain shirt and pants. The fur that was visible was brown almost rust color.
There was a yawn, from the half-elf, “there is another on in the ceiling if the door is opened looks like a way to block the door. I can make it so it doesn’t trigger if you give me a little room.” The half elf woman wore an assortment of tight black leather, with an array of visible blades. She war a bandolier of potions and blades.
“I do not like this place,” Balis the string man said, “all I sense is death and decay.” Balis wore his typical green robe, it was magical and had the ability to blend into the natural plant growth. Here underground it was just its normal green.
Em took two steps back from Balis, “Sorry”
“It’s not you Em.”
“I do not recognize these symbols; the swirl seems to repeat several times. Should I take a rubbing, for when we get back,” Em asked.
“Sure, just be mindful of the pressure plates?” the dark-haired half elf said.
“Yes mum”, Em said softly, she took out a sheet and began taking a rubbing of the glyphs on the door.
“All set,” Em said softly and stepped back putting the rubbing into her bag of holding.
“We ready to go?” Hrak said impatiently.
“You all have your healing potions ready?” Balis asked them.
“Standard formation till we come to the first intersection.” Shen the Gnoll said.
“Ok I am going to open it,” Hrak said
He dug his claws into the door and pulled. Nothing happened, and he kept pulling. There was a grinding sound and the door started to shift, He pulled what we thought was a door, it thick stone plug, there were no hinges. The air inside was putrid, and smelled of rot and decay.
“That smell is horrible.” The gnoll said backing up.
“Light” Hrak said.
Em and Brigette cast light in the air above them, they would follow the mages as they moved. They stepped into the passageway. The passage sloped downwards and appeared to go on beyond where our light could see.
Hrak flexed his claws and got ready as he usually did before a fight, we each had our own set thing we did before delving into a dangerous or unknown area.
“I see no traps in the light, so we take it slow.”Shen said looking down the passage, trying not to acknowledge the smell. We knew Shen , his sense of smell had saved us in the past, and this was going to cause us some issues. He never once refused to go into a dungeon or explore a new place. “This place sets me on edge even more so than any other place we have ever been.”
“Here try this Shen, should help with the smell” Balis said giving him a small ball of leaves.
“It’s better,” Shen said holding it close to his nose, “I can still smell whatever that is thats decaying, I have no idea what it might be. It is unfamiliar.”
“We take it slow then if we find any side passages we come back here and figure out our next step,” Em said voicing our standard tactics.
We all entered the passage; it sloped down for at least a thousand feet, and opened out into a large room. The room was huge and we never saw the other side.
It was mostly a stone floor. We saw groves carved into it. There was a feeling of calm that washed over us, because we started to joke about how tense we were.
“You were worried for nothing It probably some refuse pile”, Balis said.
Hrak laughed, “Not even worth coming down here.”
“What’s wrong with you, “Em asked.
It was then that Balis noticed, “Would you look at that.” He was looking up and there were what looked like tentacles and a glowing deep red eye.
“I’ll poke your eye out,” Yvette our rouge half elf giggled.
“That’s a strange shade, for tentacles,“ Bridgette said looking up.
There was a burst of black energy and each of us was thrown back, in a different direction. Hrak got up fighting mad for just a moment, the thing whatever it was floated in the air just out of reach. Hrak was not of the old blood so he was unable to hit the creature with his claws. Em had time and was able to fire a wave of electrical energy at the creature [Lightning burst]; it didn’t seem to affect it. Shen had fired two arrows at the creature, I don’t know if he hit or not. Balis used a druidic ability to heal wounds, on us. Yvette had also thrown daggers at the creature. Brigette cast [arcane arrows] a spell that creates arrows arranged in a circle and fires each one at the target until they are exhausted, a good mage can keep up the barrage if they knew the spell well. The arcane arrows struck the creature.
What happened next was that it attacked Hrak and he was wrapped in a pulsing blue tentacle. Shen hacked at the tentacle, trying to free Hrack and was grabbed as well.The tentacle had grabbed his sword arm. Balis and Yvette rushed to help free them. Em cast a [fireball] at the beast, and again it didn’t seem to affect it. Brigette began casting her next spell, it was her usual attack against strong foes [Ice prison].
Hrak began screaming as the creature lifted him off the ground and his body began to turn black where the tentacle grabbed him. His arms were pinned to his sides, so he attempted to break free, and was unable to do so. Shen began stabbing at the tentacle that was around his other arm as his hand turned black. Balis cast a barrier of thorns around Shen’s body they glowed in a green light. The tentacle was cut with tiny scratches, and a trickle of blue black blood began to drip. Yvette Threw two more daggers, coated with a green paralytic poison. Only one of the daggers hit home, and the creature pulled it free. Em seeing the results of the battle, suggested, “We need to regroup, get Hrak and Shen free we will come back” She started casting a new spell, a glowing spinning disk began to form, the [spectral disk] hit the creature and cut into it and then stopped. Brigette finished her spell, and the temperature dropped but the ice formed around the creature in a very thin sheet, not enough to stop its movement.
Hrack continued to scream as did Shen and the black corruption under the skin areas began to spread across their bodies. Balis began casting another thorn globe around Hrak and there was a loud black pulse from the creature and all of Balis’s gear dropped as a find sand flowed out of his clothes. The creature had turned his body to powder. Em screamed,” We need to go now!”
A third tentacle grabbed Yvette by the leg as she turned to run. Another grabbed at Em and she had already dived at Brigette knocking them both flat and farther from the creature. Brigettes spell was lost as she was knocked back. Yvette had started stabbing the creature’s tentacle with her daggers, as the creature began to drag her along the ground a fourth tentacle grabber her left wrist.
“Get off Em, you ruined my spell.” Brigette said angrily.
“We need to leave now, help me get them free,” Em said standing back up, and helping Brigette stand.
Brigette began casting, as did Em. The two of them had worked with each other for six years, they knew the others spells. They were always improving and usually would try to out do each other in a moment of crisis unleashing the new spells they had been working on. Em cast a black energy ball that slammed into the creature washing over it, illuminating it a [black flame]. Brigettes spell was four [light javelins] they pierced through the creature’s tough skin. The creature spasmed, from the attack, Yvette was pulled in two directions from the tentacles and there was a sickening sound as her arm was ripped from her body, she screamed as blood sprayed, and she went limp.
Her body was thrown into the darkness, a wet sickening splat was heard, Brigette, seemed indifferent to the plight of the others, as if her emotions were wrapped in a blanket.
Em started screaming, “WE NEED TO LEAVE!” The panic in her voice was noticeable. Brigette looked at the grizzly scene with a calm detachment, it was surreal.
Hrak, continued to try and break free, the black corruption had covered most of his body. Shen switched the sword to his other hand and used the blade to cut off his own arm, freeing himself from the creature. Blood sprayed, and the sharp blade cut through. Shen howled in agony, and stumbled several steps towards Brigette and Em, before falling clutching the stump of his right arm.
There was a disgusting crunch as Hrak was squeezed in half by the tentacle, the corpse that fell looked emaciated and leaked a black blood.
Em pushed Brigette towards the entry way. There was a panic in her voice, “Run!” Brigette turned and ran taking her glowing light source with her. She looked back and Em had turned and began casting. Em’s glowing light orb hung over her shoulder. Brigette watched as four tentacles wrapped around her, and tore her apart in an instant, her glowing light orb flickered and died. Brigette ran back up the passage, She could hear the creature behind her scraping along the walls. The panic and fear hit her as she ran, it was as if a switch had been thrown and she ran faster. At the top of the passage without hesitation she tripped the deadfall trap that would seal the monstrosity in that hole. There was no way she could move the plug back into place. She ran through the caverns they had explored, to the steps and out into the blight. She ran till her sides hurt and she collapsed, gasping for breath.
—-
Brigette teared up as she spoke about her colleagues, “I should have stayed with them”
Bloodstone, leaned across the table, “Survivors guilt, there’s nothing you could have done against such a creature.”
Brigette broke and the tears flowed, Bloodstone stood up and put his arm around her. “I am sorry I had you tell me all that”
“I needed to tell someone, Lady Aladeana wasn’t here, and the fight with the demons, it all came back. I froze; I wasn’t any use to anyone. I was waiting for the report, and I knew you would ask me to step down.” She sniffed.
“Why would I want you to step down? You froze, it happens, after that tale, I understand completely.” He said sitting back down.
“I wasn’t sure; I have nightmares still about it. I have woken up in the middle of the night in a cold sweat.” she said softly looking at her hands.
“Brigette, look me in the eye.” He said formally. She looked up at him. “I have a personal favor to ask, after hearing that” He started to say.
Vella go up angrily and stepped over to the table, “Leave her alone.” Vella said angrily at Bloodstone. “I don’t know what your game is, but I intend to put a stop to it.”
“Really, then why don’t you pull up a chair and keep your comments to yourself until you hear what I have to say to the head mage here.” He said giving her a distasteful look.
“He’s the lord here, I put people in danger.” She started to say.
Bloodstone looked at Vella, daring her to interrupt again. “As I was saying,” he said looking back to Brigette.” I wanted to know if you would tell me where this place is.”
Brigette turned pale, and started to shake, “I.. I.. I couldn’t send some to die there.”
“It’s all right, I think I have an idea what is in that crypt. I want to do something for you. That is if you will let me try.” He said softly.
Brigette wrung her hands, trying to get the fear she felt under control, before speaking. “I can’t, my friends died to save me. I couldn’t ever let someone else die like that.”
“Even if I can bring your friends back to you,” He said.
“We knew we would eventually die exploring a dungeon. I survived I can keep their memory alive. I tried going back to adventuring I couldn’t it was too painful.”
“I would like to know where that place is, if you have told Lady Aladeana I can understand not wanting to betray that confidence.” Bloodstone said.
“It’s not that, you weren’t there, you didn’t feel the indifference when my friends were dying of being able to do anything. I felt helpless. I cried for an hour when I got out of there. I eventually found the horses we had tied up and brought them back. I swore that one day I would try and go back for them, maybe I never will.” She said tears flowing down her face.
“Then show me where, keep your promise. I can help you keep it.”
“She doesn’t want to tell you!” Vella said snapping.
Bloodstone and Brigette looked at Vella. “I know she doesn’t, she has the same problem you do.” He said to Vella.
“What’s that?”, Vella replied looking at Brigette.
“You can’t trust someone.” He got up from the table, “Think about it Brigette, I am offering something more than what you’re thinking, I can explain later, I think you two should to talk.” He looked at Vella, “Go ahead, tell her what you heard; you both decide how you want to handle it.” With that he walked over to the [innkeeper] passed over some coins, gestured to the two of them at the table and then left.
The innkeeper came over, and asks, “He said you two needed something to drink, what can I get you?”
“I’m not thirsty,” Vella said glaring at the [innkeeper].
“Can I have a bottle of wine,” Brigette asked.
“I have a number of wine’s in stock, anything particular you are interested in.” The Innkeeper asked.
“No just bring something good.” She said. The innkeeper turned and took two steps and, Brigette said, “Wait, would you happen to have anything from Izril?”
The innkeeper turned back, “I do, I will bring something from Izril.” The innkeeper returned shortly with two wine glasses and the bottle of wine, he pulled the cork and let it breath. He offered the cork to Brigette.
Brigette took the offered cork and inhaled. “This should be a good wine, thank you”
“Look, if you need anything food more wine, just tell the [barmaid], When the Lord, asks a personal favor you don’t disappoint.”
The innkeeper returned to work, leaving the tow of them at the table.
Brigette poured herself a glass of wine,”You sure you don’t want any”
“Fine pour me some as well.” Vella said as she saw and smelled the wine.
The two of them began drinking then talking.
—–
Vella and Brigette sat and drake wine, until the bottle was empty. “Sounds like you got a great offer to work for one of his wives and you turned it down?” Brigette asked.
“I can’t work for that man.” Vella said.
“Be honest, there must be something about him that you find interesting.” Brigette teased.
“Not in the slightest. You mentioned you were working on something, revolutionary.” Vell asked.
Brigette reached into her robes and pulled out a small piece of curved metal with a gemstone in it. She put it on the table in front of Vella.
“This is it.” she said proudly
“Doesn’t look like much.” Vella said picking it up.
“I have mine right here?” She said pointing it out, it was behind right her ear. It appeared to be a piece of jewelry.
“How does it work?”
“Put in behind your ear then activate it with the commands. Hold on I have the instructions.” She said pulling out a piece of folded parchment.
“Can’t you just tell me?” Vella asked as she put it behind her ear.
“Nope, you have to read this for yourself; it will make more sense once you read it.”
Vella unfolded the parchment, it was written in a perfect script, and had instructions on how to use the earpiece. Vella read over the script, “How was this made, I can feel the letters.” Vella said holding the parchment.
“Something called a printing press. Lord Bloodstone, commissioned one of the local blacksmiths to make it.”
“This is amazing.” Vella said.
Brigette nodded, “He says that eventually spells can be printed the same way, will just require a lot of work.”
Vella put the earpiece behind her ear. “I invoke,” She read a line from the page. “Prototype six” She heard a chime. “Rename to Vella”
There was another chime.
“How to I contact someone.” Vella asked.
“Well you would need to know what their device name is called. Lord Bloodstone says they used numbers back in his world but here we can use whatever we want, there is a list on the back.” Brigette said pointing out the written information on the back.
“Oh, how many of these are there?” She asked.
“I really don’t know, not many have been made. Give it a try, there is a list there of contacts.”
Vella looked over the list, “Really, I don’t want to talk to any of these people.”
“Try it out, if you don’t like it then we can reset it.”
“Might as well get this over with Vella call, ” She looked at the written notes. “Is this right?” She asked.
Bridgette giggled, “I asked him the same thing.”
“Prototype one,” There was a chime and a click.
“Hello Vella,” Bloodstone said in her ear.
“I guess this works, can I ask you a personal question?” Vella asked.
“You can ask, doesn’t mean I will tell you.” He replied.
“Did you put your wife up to making me the offer earlier?”
There was laughter and,”No, she does what she wants. I told her you wouldn’t accept.”
“What makes you say that, you don’t even know me.” She said getting angry at him and he wasn’t even there.
There was a long silence,”You are right, I made some assumptions based on when we first met, some wrong, some right. I was opposed to offering you a job. After you saved people I relented. Her offer to you is her own”
Vella looked over at Brigette, “How do you turn it off?” She asked.
“Just touch the gem on the side,” Brigette said and Bloodstone echoed her.
She touched the gem on the side there was a single note and the connection turned off. She reached up to take it off and it was stuck. “Uh, is it supposed to do that?” She asked.
“Yes, you need to remove it?” Brigette asked.
“Yea,” she said.
Brigette showed here how to remove the earpiece and Vella set it back on the table. “It’s pretty useful if you know who you need to talk to.”
“That’s yours, I was given an extra. You can have it if you think it will be useful.”
“There’s not many of them so why would I need it.”
Brigette laughed, “that’s just the special function, it can let you send [message] like a mage. Anyone using this can’t be overheard, there’s something Bloodstone called encryption, he kind of explained how it works, something about keys and envelopes. I got about half of what he said. As I understand he sent several them to the King, with instructions, and a printing press.”
“A what?” Valla asked.
“A printing press, it’s how the instructions were made. It is remarkable, he said that eventually books can be printed that way, and common folk will be able to read and write.”
Vella looked skeptical, “That’s if the king allows it.”
“why wouldn’t he?” Brigette asked.
“This could be used for all kinds of bad things, propaganda against the king for one thing.”
“Not if he controls it, people could pay the king to print books, poetry, mathematics, magic theory.” She shrugged, “I think that’s why he sent one to the king first.”
Brigette and Vella continued to talk.
—-
Coreen sat with Brigette and Vella. Brigette was looking over the contract that Coreen had read earlier.
“I don’t see anything bad in here, I looks like a great deal.” She looked up at Coreen, “You have any openings for a high-level mage?”
Coreen smiled, “If you’re really interested, I am sure we can work something out that keeps you occupied and fulfilled.”
“I was joking, this job here keeps me busy,” She looked back to the contract and held it out to Vella. “A few of the clauses I don’t understand. Like the one here” She pointed them out to Vella.
Vella looked over the clause,”Yeah that is weird”, She looked over at Coreen and read the clause, “In the event that you receive classes outside of your duties, they will not be changed or removed unless you explicitly request that they be changed. Classes also granted, will not be removed without an explicit request. Then there is this one, Money given to the officer, shall be used exclusively for furtherance of the corporation, anything that falls outside of this will be considered a personal expense and be removed from the remuneration payments made to the officer.”
Coreen nodded, “Its basically if you spend money on things that are for yourself we will take it out of your wages. The first part, well that’s something you will have to discuss with Lord Bloodstone.”
There was a knock on the door, “Come in,” Coreen said.
Kuya entered, “Have you seen my dad?” She asked. She was wearing, dark pants and a white shirt with a green vest. Her hair was braided and tied. She was also wearing what looked like long leather boots.
“Not since earlier,” Coreen said.
“Oh, no one can seem to find him. I thought he was in his room, but even Azalar isn’t there.” She turned and opened the door, “If you see him can you tell him I wanted to talk to him?” She said.
“Sure,” Coreen said, as Kuya left the room.
Brigette said, “Brigette to Prototype one” She waited for a moment, “That’s odd, there was an odd noise it’s not connecting.”
Vella sighed, “Let me try, Vella to Prototype one, that’s odd it made a strange noise.”
Coreen then smiled and tried making a connection, it also failed. “There is only one place I know that these do not work.” she said tapping her earpiece.”
“Where?” Brigette asked.
Coreen looked away, “Well, it’s not my place to say.”
“Meaning what,” Vella asked.
“Coreen looked back at her, “Meaning that it is something that I can’t talk about. We will just have to wait till, we hear from Lord Bloodstone. Do you want to sign or are you still not interested?”
—
About two hours later, there was a general search of the premises and grounds. Lord Bloodstone has been missing for three hours; all of his belongings were missing as well. Azalar it turned out was missing as well. Lady Amethyst has issued a general order to search the grounds; no one else had seen him since he left the inn. The guards had seen him enter, and head to the second floor. Kuya and Zach were looking as well.