ALL NOVEL ARC 7-Cursed Fates-114-Lucas
The estate was orderly, with no signs of violence or ransacking. That was good. It was important that the Teppin family was recovered without harm. As nobles appointed to govern Quest and its surrounding territory, they were officers of the court. Their life, death, and affairs were the business of the crown. If they came to harm, there would be no way to keep the king from intervening in their affairs and that was something the guilds couldn’t abide.
Quest had a complicated relationship with its monarch. When the kingdom was founded, there were essentially three capitals; Summer Spire where the politically minded gathered to rebuild human civilization, Quest where the adventurous worked together to explore their new home, and Victory where the career soldiers held back the endless tide of threats in the north. In those times, they may as well have been different kingdoms, operating largely independent of one another. Their different circumstances, pursuits, and ideals ensured that the people once united in the single goal of conquest developed different cultures.
When the continent was settled and some measure of peace was established, Summer Spire attempted to assert the authority of the crown. The laws and demands of the capital weren’t met with open arms. Rather, unsheathed swords.
The fledgling Harvest was too unstable to handle a civil war. The king of the time decided it was best to leave the other major settlements be so long as they paid a token amount of taxes and took care of their people. It became a tradition that persisted through generations. But the longer peace lasted, the more secure the royal family’s authority became and the more courageous they became in trying to put the City of Adventure under its thumb.
The crown’s methods were insidious. The royal court never used threats of violence and not for the reasons the prideful natives of Quest thought. Young and brash hunters believed that the city could fend off any army mustered by the king. An idea the leaders of the guilds supported despite knowing it was completely false.
The royal army had thousands of fighters trained to fight together rather than in small hunting parties. They had the skill and the experience to rival any hunter, some of the captains having the power if not the versatility of named hunters. More importantly, they had the royal guard to support them, each one a master caster. Some of them were even trained at the Hall. They also could raise greater numbers with a draft and had the gold to hire mercenaries.
In the best-case scenario, it would take days or weeks of sieging to bring down Quest’s walls but it was an eventuality, not a possibility. The crown would bleed for it and then they’d have to contend with dissent in the city, as the populace wouldn’t go along with the change peacefully. A lot of trouble for only more trouble as a reward.
The crown preferred more subtle methods. Winning over the merchants of the city through beneficial trade agreements and the offer of family names, poaching the city’s talents, and pushing its agenda through the Teppin family. It was a conflict that ebbed and flowed, as the guilds did whatever it took to keep the capital’s influence from spreading. It was their city and they weren’t interested in surrendering it to anyone.
The murder of a lord would be the perfect excuse for royal agents to descend on the city. Some of the Shields suggested involving the king in their negotiations with Victory, hoping he would safeguard the interests of the city. In truth, nothing would suit the capital more than having its two greatest concerns at each other’s throat. If the crown got involved, everything was guaranteed to go straight into the Abyss.
Lucas felt a twinge of pain as he cast a spell and the sounds around him sharpened. Sound magic, specifically communication magic, was a diverse field. Like most magic, its difficulty depended on the task. As he had a full house to cover and a long night ahead of him, Lucas chose the spell that would be the least taxing on his mana pool. The size of the area he needed to cover made it costly but simply raising the volume of all sounds in a designated area was simple.
Raised voices drew him to the kitchen and the cellar attached to it. A man with red hair and dark green eyes leaned against the closest wall to the door in the floor between two pantries, arms crossed over his broad chest. He cursed and then jumped at how loud his word was.
Lucas smothered a chuckle as he canceled his spell and drew a short blade. “Step away from the cellar and surrender,” he demanded calmly. The guilds had extensively researched Lourianne Tome’s connections in the city and there was none that matched the other man’s description. As such, Lucas was hopeful that he wouldn’t have to fight him.
The man raised his head, brows furrowed as he stared at nothing. Lucas almost raised his gaze to see what had caught his attention when the redhead suddenly shrugged and stepped away, raising his hands. “Sure, whatever.”
“…who are you?” He wanted a peaceful resolution, but he hadn’t expected one. At the very least, he’d expected to do a lot more convincing.
“Gordon Mason, sorriest bastard in Harvest. You?”
“Lucas Macklemore. Interim guildmaster of the Torchbearers.”
“A hunter, huh? From what I heard, I didn’t think you guys would care enough to rescue the nobles here. That’s what you want, isn’t it? Don’t give me that look. I’m not fucking with you. They’re all fine, doing their best impersonations of rats.”
“You are being very cooperative for an enemy.”
Gordon scoffed. “I’m not an enemy. I’m…” He trailed off, brows once again coming down as he looked around the room. “…did you come with some other guys? And are they fighting a woman with a tail?”
“If you mean the succubus, then yes.”
“Are they strong? Strong enough to win?”
“Of course. Do you think we would raid this estate without being prepared?”
“FUCK!”
Lucas was so shocked by the sudden shout that he reflexively reached for his mana. The only thing that stopped him was the fear on the other man’s face. It was overwhelming and visceral. He wasn’t just scared, he was terrified.
“You need to listen to me,” Gordon hissed. “Before she dies—"
“Is that what has you worried? We have no intention of killing anyone.”
“That’s even worse and don’t interrupt again, just listen!” the other man snapped. “She won’t let you take her alive to be interrogated. And don’t tell me you don’t have mental casters. Any power with the ability to hide and train them has mental casters and the guilds qualify. She will do whatever it takes to avoid giving up her secrets, which means we only have a little time. I can’t say much but…ah…dammit, not that either…do not touch Lou’s family! Fuck!”
Lucas opened his mouth to ask a question, but Gordon spoke over him in a hurried mess. “You people don’t know who, what, you’re angering. Succubi are monsters. No, that’s not the word. Hunters fight against monsters every day. You think you know monsters. Those things are abominations. They’re another fucking Aggro, creatures that can and will chew this kingdom up and swallow it whole, even the bones. Why do you think the king banned their very fucking existence? Ah, I’m getting sidetracked.
“Okay. The succubi want to horde all the resources of this world. Before, my father kept strict control of them because he enjoyed being a villain and holding the capital in the palm of his hand. Lou? She doesn’t give a damn about that, this kingdom, or this world. The only thing she cares about is playing house. If you take that away from her, we’re all fucked right to the Abyss. Are you hearing me?”
“…you need to calm down.”
“Agggh! If you’re not going to listen properly now, at least remember what I’m saying. If it all goes to hell, go to the blondie. Alana. She may be a crazy northerner, but she’s got a sense of justice. At least she isn’t eager to slaughter everyone like that damn elf. If you can, keep that savage out of the room. Saints, what else. What else?”
“Hey!” Lucas stepped forward when Gordon grabbed his hair and tugged at it anxiously, but the other man stepped away from him.
“Guh! Can’t…come on…you can’t beat Lou! I know what you guys are thinking. There has to be a trick, a gimmick, a spell. Something that can be broken down and understood. There isn’t. She’s another abomination. You. Will. Not. Kill. Her. You need to accept that and incorporate that into your plans. Ah…ah…”
Lucas watched with amazement as tears formed in the corner of Gordon’s eyes. He sniffed and tilted his head back, fighting them. “…I can’t tell you the important things. So…so…you need to know what kind of person Lou is. Why you need to be scared of her.”
He hunched his shoulders. “I’ve known her since we were children. It was Grimoire tradition to destroy the Tomes. I didn’t think about what I was doing. I enjoyed it, because my father praised me. I…we hurt her. We hit her, we threw things at her, we mocked her, we humiliated her. And we didn’t stop until her own family abandoned her, kicking her and her father out of the capital. I did all those things. She cried and she cried until she cried no more.
“Her eyes were so empty, I used to think she had the Abyss in her. It gave me fucking nightmares. I almost didn’t recognize her when she came back, smiling and laughing. And as much of a pain as she is, it’s still better than before. If all that power is left in the hands of that broken girl she used to be, we’re—"
His words cut off suddenly as his eyes glowed with channeled mana. Lucas was halfway through forming a spell when Gordon collapsed.