Valkyrie's Shadow-Chapter 23Before the Storm: Act 11,

Chapter 23

“Are you sure about giving them so much leeway?”

“A better outcome doesn’t come to mind. While I may be behind when it comes to matters of rural administration, being raised in the city has provided me with ample exposure to the Guilds. Viscount Ranford isn’t wrong about his misgivings: the city is a world apart from our provincial holdings, and the cityfolk will only work with the nobility so long as it aligns with their interests. Is it not the same in the Sorcerous Kingdom?”

“I’m pretty sure most of them were too scared to try anything until recently,” Liam replied.

Now that they were trying something, he couldn’t say that Countess Beaumont was incorrect in her assessment. With the rural industries of E-Rantel exploding in productivity, the city was seeing a productive explosion of its own. Unprecedented yields resulted in unprecedented power, and no group experienced this as much as the Guilds, through which the raw resources of the duchy were funnelled on their way to markets abroad.

How the multitude of powers within the Sorcerous Kingdom reacted to this change varied depending on how it affected them. Merchant Nobles like Countess Wagner were aware of what would happen well in advance and used their influence and authority to position their resources to take advantage of as much as they could. Baroness Zahradnik, despite being friends with Countess Wagner and the other Merchant Nobles, rejected the advances of the Guilds outright. The rest of the Sorcerous Kingdom’s nobility were more reactive in their approach, though it was mostly because they were still playing catch-up with what had occurred since the annexation of the Duchy.

As for the common person, Liam could only say it was a familiar tale told with different details. Change was something that happened to the average person, and they could only wonder about it in hindsight while dealing with the aftermath. The only big difference from before was that the ‘average person’ now also included the various Demihumans, Heteromorphs, and Monsters that had become subjects of the Sorcerous Kingdom. Even an idiot could tell that this would inevitably lead to problems in the future, but, as Raul would say, knowledge wasn’t power.

Only those with power would be able to guide the people through what troubles came. Or leave them floundering, but he couldn’t imagine the Kingdom’s administration tolerating any of that. Few things got an Elder Lich more worked up than the appearance of ‘productive anomalies caused by the incomprehensible frivolities of biological units’.

I wonder how these guys will deal with all that.

That was something that might be amusing to watch as a bystander, but Liam was fairly certain he would already be off on some other assignment by then. That, or buried in homework. Personally, he would prefer a new assignment.

Liam frowned through the window as their carriage struggled to make its way out of the crowded plaza. Save for the improvised weapons sported by a few people and the makeshift barricades erected at its entrances, the space could be mistaken for a bustling market. With the early hours of the morning now past them, Merchants hawked their wares and labourers carried goods and materials to and fro. Some of it could be forgiven, as a city needed things to run regardless of its situation, but a lot of it felt highly imprudent.

“I don’t think these people will be ready for what’s coming,” Liam said. “I know the guildmasters said they’d take care of things on their end, but you saw how they were. They thought they already had everything under control.” 𝐟𝕣𝗲𝕖𝕨𝗲𝐛𝗻𝗼𝐯𝗲𝚕.𝗰𝚘𝐦

“Imposing our will on them would be counterproductive,” Lady Beaumont replied. “Instead of the citizens being somewhat prepared, we’d be at each other’s throats. I believe they will become more amenable to our urgings once House Blumrush’s army arrives, but, until then, it is as you say: they believe they have everything under control. They will not relinquish their position of perceived superiority so readily.”

His sigh fogged up a corner of the carriage window. She was right, but he still wanted something more to be done.

“What will happen when the Sorcerous Kingdom takes over?” The young noblewoman’s voice came over his shoulder.

“You mean at first? Well, when E-Rantel was annexed, my sister and I were still living in our hometown. Lots of people ran away, but nothing really happened.”

“Nothing?”

“Yeah, literally nothing. I guess Darkness – the Adamantite Adventurer party working in the area – showed up to assure us that the Sorcerer King wouldn’t do anything bad to us as long as we behaved ourselves and followed the rules. There were some food shipments to make up for what we were lacking, as well, but it took over a month for E-Rantel to finally send people over.”

“What happened then?”

An awkward pause filled the cabin as Liam thought about what he would say. What had happened to Fassett Town was the very thing that the people of Re-Estize feared would happen to their own homes if the Sorcerous Kingdom decided to conquer them. Worse, even.

“They discovered that we weren’t behaving or following the rules,” he said. “Fassett Town’s just a meadow along the highway now.”

“…I would hope that we will at least know the rules before that happens to us,” Lady Beaumont said quietly.

“You already know them,” Liam said. “Count Fassett and his kids knew them, too, but they thought they could keep going like they always did. Everyone in town worked for one side or another. Bandits; smugglers; thugs; thieves. Even kids like me were always spying, stealing, or causing trouble for coin.”

“I doubt babies would be complicit.”

“Maybe not, but how many babies survive when their parents are dead? At any rate, the point is that the Sorcerous Kingdom isn’t weak like Re-Estize. The Crown there is more than strong enough to keep criminals, corrupt Nobles, and anyone else that runs afoul of the law in check. The tricks I’ve seen people use here won’t work, either. Mind control magic is used to force the truth out of people, and the letter of the law won’t protect you against the spirit of the law.”

“Are Undead and Demons capable of grasping the spirit of Human laws?”

Liam looked over his shoulder to find the young noblewoman holding a slender hand up to cover her mouth, as if doing so could snatch her words back out of the air. He turned in his seat to face her, smiling wryly at the all-too-familiar scene.

“Questioning authority is not against the rules,” he told her, “but defying it is. There were a lot of people who expressed their doubts about the new government, especially early on. As for what you asked, most of the officials in the judiciary are Humans from E-Rantel’s aristocratic houses. They’re the only ones right now with the education required to serve in that role, after all.”

“The judiciary?”

“Uh…I guess that’s not something that exists in Re-Estize. It’s basically a court above the local courts that handles the legal cases that make their way up to it.”

“Would that not be the purview of the Royal Court?”

“I think they decided it would be better to have a dedicated ministry for doing that kind of thing. A handful of people who are already working on other stuff aren’t going to have the time to do it properly.”

As he struggled to find words to explain how the Sorcerous Kingdom’s government worked, the bald head of the Blacksmith guildmaster flashed by the far window. Something about his expression raised an alarm in Liam’s head.

“I need to take care of something,” he said as he placed his hand on the door latch. “Make sure you head straight to the gatehouse.”

Liam stepped out of the carriage, stopping to repeat his instructions to the driver before slipping into the crowd to tail the guildmaster. The man walked with unhurried, yet purposeful steps that led him along one side of the plaza to leave on its western end. It appeared that he was lacking an escort as he separated from the crowd, yet he forged on with a single-minded determination that erased any wariness he should have possessed walking through potentially contested streets.

They skirted the city’s main intersection with its jumble of improvised barricades and crossed the city’s high street along its southern side. It was only when the peal of a bell carried over the rooftops that Liam realised where the man was going.

He’s reporting to the cathedral…

Liam’s footsteps quickened. He clenched a leather-clad hand to keep it from instinctively going to the dagger at his waist. Could there be another reason? There was no chance that a guildmaster’s home would be on the city’s temple row. Was he simply attending a service? The cathedral bell was calling its faithful to prayer and worship. No, that didn’t make any sense. The city was in imminent peril, and he should have been preparing his members for the coming siege.

What if this was simply a part of those preparations? Maybe the Guilds sent him to inform the Temples about what was happening. They would inevitably be called upon to tend to the wounded and calm the masses, after all. Not including them would be pretty dumb.

He ducked into an alley to alter his appearance, assuming the guise of a common labourer coming off a morning of toil. By the time he caught up to the master of the Blacksmith Guild, the man had joined the queue of parishioners ascending the cathedral steps. Liam hesitated before joining the line and taking a seat on the pew behind his mark. Once the majority of the congregation had entered, a set of Priests walked up the aisles bearing censers that filled the air with a scent that made his nose itch.

Is he just here for the service, then?

It still didn’t make any sense. Then again, the Faith of the Four was an orthodoxy, unlike the Faith of the Six. Their members did all sorts of stupid, arbitrary things to observe the mess of nonsensical practices that they called a religion.

Liam leaned back in his seat, weathering the stream of inane droning issuing from the Priest at the pulpit. It wasn’t his first time attending one of their services, but it was surprising how little things had changed from the time when his parents occasionally brought him to the temple in Fassett Town. Back then, he had tried to get out of it whenever he could, and it wasn’t until Lady Zahradnik introduced him to the Faith of the Six that he found a religion that he didn’t feel was just a fancy kind of scam.

A grating snore from the man sitting beside him broke through the constant drone of the Priest, rousing the dozing people sitting in his vicinity. The Priest shot the man a reproachful look. Liam poked him in the ribs. The snoring stopped abruptly, then resumed several seconds later.

The Priest resumed his sermon, which was something about withstanding the evils of society assailing their daily lives. What that had to do with the four gods who represented the elements, Liam had no idea. The Priest seemed quite convinced in the truth of his words, however, and his message continued for a good fifteen minutes before he mercifully imparted his benediction.

Did I just waste my time here?

He could have done a lot in the time it took to sit through the midmorning service. With most of the business in the lower city now out of his hands, he was free to finally find out what Lord Reginald and his allies were up to.

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Still, something intangible urged him to stick with his mark. He knelt where he was, pretending to pray as the temple’s congregation shuffled slowly out of the building. His alertness rose as time passed: in front of him, the guildmaster still hadn’t moved. Liam did everything he could to remain inconspicuous as the Priest dismissed the choir and stepped down from his dais to approach them.

“Does something weigh upon you, Guildmaster Dorian?” The Priest asked.

“Erm…yes,” the Guildmaster replied, then paused to lick his lips. “I’d like to speak with the Vicar.”

“You should be well aware that the Viscount doesn’t take any meetings before noon–”

“It’s important. It’s close enough to noon that he should at least be around, yeah?”

The Priest gave the Guildmaster a reproachful look before releasing a resigned sigh and motioning for the man to follow. Liam watched as the two disappeared through a passage leading to the rest of the cathedral complex.

Fortunately, he was familiar with most of the place due to his unasked-for stay after the Nobles’ battle with the Mercenaries. As with large temples in other cities, the cathedral occupied a much larger area than any guild office or warehouse, but it wasn’t so large that one could lose their mark easily. After exiting the main cathedral building through its front entrance, he circled the perimeter of the complex and slipped into the stables in the back. Aside from an old grey mare that snorted as he padded by, there were none present to take note of his infiltration. From the stable, he made his way up an empty corridor lined with darkened storerooms stocked with unmarked crates and shelves filled with the various odds and ends used in the daily running of a temple.

“I cannot guarantee that the Vicar will see you. It might help if you told me what the exact nature of your business with him is…”

Liam paused to cock an ear at the voice of the Priest drifting down the hallway.

“It’s about what’s going on in the city,” Guildmaster Dorian said.

“Do you mean your insane fight with the Nobles? You should know that Vicar Emberson is quite cross over recent events. The people have already suffered terribly through the winter. Peace and harmony are what we need to recover – not bouts of senseless violence.”

“You should be telling the Nobles that, not us! They’re the ones who…ugh, look, can you just get the Vicar? I don’t know how much time we have.”

He followed the voices deeper into the complex, eventually arriving at a well-tended garden in the cathedral’s inner cloister. Guildmaster Dorian was seated alone on a stone bench, his meaty arms crossed as he tapped a booted foot. He kept glancing impatiently at one corner of the garden, which was presumably where he expected the Vicar to appear.

Liam frowned as he scanned the garden from behind one of the many columns along its perimeter. It was an open space with few places to hide. He would need to swiftly escape from the entire complex after taking action…if it was required.

Fifteen minutes later, the sound of shuffling feet alerted Liam to someone’s approach. Vicar Emberson stepped out into the sunlit garden, squinting as if he had just been roused from his sleep. The man’s state of dress suggested the same: in the place of his priestly vestments was a luxurious crimson nightrobe tied loosely at the waist. There didn’t appear to be any magic items on his person, but that didn’t mean something wasn’t tucked inside his robe.

Liam’s frown deepened as his gaze went past the Vicar to search for an attendant or an escort from the temple guard. As far as he could tell, the man had come alone. Even the Priest from before was absent.

Were they that negligent? With what was going on in the city, they should have at least put some thought into protecting themselves. Then again, he supposed that they wouldn’t expect to be attacked in their own temple.

“Guildmaster Dorian,” the Vicar said, “this had better be worth my time.”

…or maybe it was just how he conducted his ‘business’. Given the apparent nature of Vicar Emberson, private meetings with prominent individuals probably involved various things that he would rather keep for himself.

Guildmaster Dorian rose to his feet, brushing off the seat of his pants.

“Vicar Emberson,” he said, “thank the gods you’re awake. We’re in trouble. Big trouble.”

“We?” The Vicar said between yawns, “As in the Guilds?”

“Not just the guilds,” the Guildmaster said in low tones. “Everyone. House Blumrush is bringing an army to the city. We–”

“That’s something you and your associates should have considered before deciding to rebel against the Nobles,” Vicar Emberson said. “I suppose you expect us to tend to your wounded and conduct rites for the dead.”

“Let me finish, damn it!” Guildmaster Dorian hissed, “It’s a trap. We’re all being played! Everything that’s happened, we’ve been sold–”

The Guildmaster’s head exploded, drenching Vicar Emberson in gore. The Vicar blinked twice before letting out a terrified squeal, tripping over his blood-soaked robes before escaping the garden. Liam looked down at his hand as he made an escape of his own. He had applied venom to his kunai just in case he wasn’t able to silence the Guildmaster outright, but the precaution was evidently unnecessary.

“Retrieve my weapon,” Liam told his Shadow Demon. “Make sure no one sees you.”

He slowed his pace as he came out of the cathedral’s stables, strolling casually across the street to enter the nearest alley. The Shadow Demon was already waiting for him when he pulled himself onto the rooftops.

“How are they reacting?” Liam asked as it dropped his kunai into his palm.

The Shadow Demon shrugged and shook its head. Across the street below them, there was none of the commotion that should have come from a gruesome murder being committed on the temple grounds. A full minute passed; then another. It was only when Liam turned to leave that a woman’s scream filtered from the depths of the cathedral.

“Lorraine! You dare disturb the sanctity of–by the gods, what evil is this?!”

“I didn’t–! I-I was just fetching some fresh candles from the back, and…and…”

Calls for the temple guard filled the air. Liam leaned forward intently, measuring the response below. Compared to their counterparts in Roble, they were too slow by far. Was it because the people of Roble had been constantly under threat by their Demihuman neighbours? It seemed that generations of unearned peace had worn away the edge Re-Estize required to survive as a civilisation. They had delegated their security to Adventurers and Mercenaries, turning their gaze inwards as their entire society slowly spiralled down the path of decadence and decay.

“Where’s Vicar Emberson? He was supposed to be meeting with Guildmaster Dorian.”

“He wasn’t here when I found…this.”

“The door to his chambers is barred. Maybe he’s locked himself in?”

Maybe I should have killed him too…

Liam shook his head free of the thought. Vicar Emberson’s very existence was offensive: he was a heretic Priest who had fully embraced his apostasy, but the ineptitude he had fostered in himself and his organisation made it easy for Liam to operate. Even if they had turned away from the gods, the gods still had a use for them.

Satisfied that he had gotten away cleanly, he returned to the city’s main plaza to see what the Guilds were up to. To his annoyance, the lack of urgency in the atmosphere remained. If anything, it had gotten worse. Everywhere he looked, boys and men were gathered as if they were victors in war, boasting amongst themselves and making merry while eating, drinking, and horsing about.

What were the guildmasters doing? Maybe they never intended to cooperate with Countess Beaumont. Perhaps they had sent Guildmaster Dorian to get the Temples on their side, and now they were merely waiting for their response. With their influence, they could easily turn the entire city against the Sorcerous Kingdom’s collaborators.

Was there anything he could do to prevent catastrophe? He had silenced Guildmaster Dorian before he could convey any critical information, but the cathedral would surely send someone to find out what was going on. The other guildmasters were essential for getting the people to cooperate, so killing them wouldn’t help. Even if he did, there was no telling who else they had shared compromising information with.

Liam scratched his head in frustration as he made his way across the plaza. Was that it, then? So many months of work, only to fail? Was it just for hundreds of thousands of souls to be damned just because a handful of heretics clung to their sham of a religion?

No. He refused to believe it would end that way. There was something he was missing.

Upon arriving at the steps of the Merchant Guild, he found Steve and his ‘gang’ loitering near the door. None of them paid Liam any mind as he ascended, save for Steve, who fixed him with a wary look.

“Stop right there,” Steve said. “What do you want?”

“What are the guildmasters doing?” Liam asked.

“That’s none of your business, kid,” Steve answered. “Get lost.”

The youths squatting on the stairs rose to bar Liam’s path. Liam’s irritation rose by another notch. It wasn’t the best time for Steve to be so committed to his act…or had he betrayed them, as well?

“Make way!”

Steve and his goons looked past Liam to the sounds of a party making their way across the crowded square.

“Make way! Make way!”

Four armed and armoured men atop massive warhorses eased their mounts through the crowd. One of them held a flagstaff aloft, which bore the emblems of the Four Great Gods.

Liam pressed his lips into a thin line as he watched the Paladins dismount at the base of the stairs. They handed their reins off to a set of Squires before ascending to the entrance of the Merchant Guild. Steve and his gang scrambled out of their way, doing nothing to impede them. Liam took advantage of the disruption to slip through the doors behind the temple guard. The reception staff looked up from their counter in surprise at the new arrivals.

“We would speak with the guildmaster,” the lead Paladin said as he stepped forward.

“Might we inquire as to why you’ve come?” One of the receptionists asked. “If it’s about compensation for temple services…”

“It is nothing of the sort,” the Paladin answered sternly. “This matter is best addressed directly with your head.”

The receptionists exchanged glances. One of them rose from her seat and disappeared into the back offices.

“Mister Rundale is serving as the provisional Guildmaster,” the first receptionist ventured a pleasant smile. “He is in a meeting right now, but I’m sure some time can be made for the Temples.”

Liam’s mind raced as he tried to figure out how to keep the situation under control. He couldn’t kill his way out of it. There was no guarantee that he could dispatch all of the guildmasters, especially with four Paladins getting in his way. Even if he somehow managed to prevail over them, many members of the guild staff would escape.

If they go to speak in a room, I could try using sleeping gas on them.

“Brother Jacques,” Guildmaster Rundale said as he stepped around the reception counter, accompanied by the other guildmasters. “How may the Guild be of service?”

“Guildmaster Dorian is dead,” the lead Paladin said.

Liam gripped the dagger in his vest as a silent curse escaped him. Whether they be from Roble or Re-Estize, Paladins were the furthest thing from discreet.

“Dead?” Guildmaster Rundale gasped, “When? How?”

“It couldn’t have been half an hour since he was slain,” Brother Jacques replied. “We found him brutally murdered in the inner cloister. One of our brethren mentioned that he was demanding to meet with Vicar Emberson about a matter of utmost urgency. Do you have any idea what it could have been?”

Moments passed in deathly silence. The blood slowly drained from Guildmaster Rundale’s face. Behind him, the other Guildmasters mirrored his ashen visage.

“I can’t say that we have,” Guildmaster Rundale said carefully.

“Shouldn’t it be about the coming battle?” The guildmaster behind his left shoulder offered.

“Ah, of course,” Guildmaster Rundale nodded a bit too eagerly. “There are rumours that House Blumrush will be assaulting the city with an army soon. Perhaps Guildmaster Dorian hoped that the Temples would intercede on the people’s behalf.”

“Why would he have had to suffer such a gruesome death over something like that?” Brother Jacques asked.

“You know as well as everyone in the city how terrible the Nobles are!” Guildmaster Rundale answered, “Only they would be capable of resorting to such foul play.”

“That’s right!”

“The Temples must do something!”

“For the love of all that is good!”

One by one, the guildmasters regained their colour as they raised their voices to support their interim leader. Brother Jacques lifted a gauntleted hand to call for silence.

“Everyone here should know very well that the Temples do not intervene in matters of governance,” he said. “As for what happened to Guildmaster Dorian, we will speak with House Blumrush about it when the opportunity presents itself.”

With that, the Paladin turned on his heel, leading his contingent out of the guild office. Guildmaster Rundale and his associates heaved a collective sigh of relief.

“That…that was them who did Dorian in, wasn’t it?” One of them said, “The idiot couldn’t even say anything before they got him.”

Audible swallows echoed off the foyer walls as the gathering of guildmasters turned pale once more.

Liam released the dagger from his grip. Following his instincts had been the right move, after all.