Chapter 216: Viv gets her just desert

 

Night fell over Ravinport, after what had been a remarkably bloodless battle. Once the two Sheem warships had been disabled and with their only mage punched to submission in the first minute of battle, the rest of the soldiers had quickly surrendered. To Viv’s surprise, they’d been offered proper treatment. Even the sailors had been promptly fished out of the bay! Wars tended to get more cruel as time went on and each side went lower and lower to get the upper hand, in her limited experience, so maybe it was just a case of early game patience. Her second surprise was that the Opportunity hadn’t returned after its hasty retreat. She wasn’t sure why but she assumed Captain Kass just trusted her to find her way.

 

That still left her in the palace at night with little to do while the city’s inhabitants partied, a bit prematurely if she had to be honest. They didn’t even have a large enough prison to manage all of their captives.

 

The old woman who had so subtly interrogated her as she arrived offered her a tiny room and a place at her table during the following council to which she was not invited. They did summon her at the end as she sampled local pastries. Once again, bored guards accompanied her to the small room, which was now stiflingly hot and smelled of stale sweat. She bowed politely while Lord Dar finished speaking to one of his generals.

 

“ — will answer, but I fear Dawnbay is already under their control. We simply cannot wait to find out. I will send an embassy to Sandsong. If anything, we will be able to find refuge with them should the worst come to pass.”

 

“Milord, the ruling families will never consent to subjecting themselves to Sandsong.”

 

Lord Dar’s gaze hardened. His leadership filled the room. It tasted earnest and proud.

 

“With all due respect to my peers, I have traveled to Sheem while they have not. I have seen their fleets, and their armies. I delayed them as long as I could through compromises while we were trying to build this ‘independent alliance’ they claimed would stand as a bastion against larger kingdoms. That time has passed.”

 

A few bearded men and women in stuffy clothes objected. Viv had enough experience to recognize it was just a show of principle.

 

“We must unite with Sandsong if we hope to ever stop that tide. Even then, I fear it is already too late. The decisions of the Sheem captains, as foolish as it was for them, shall serve the interest of their liege. Ransoming the prisoners will buy us a few days and that is all I can manage. We must reach out. We need… a way out.”

 

He turned to Captain Sin with august dignity.

 

“Captain Sin, you have served us faithfully for over sixteen summers. Your blood also flows through the veins of the queen, and this familial bond may yet serve both our nation and theirs. I ask, nay, I beg of you to lead an expedition west through the Salt Mountains. Ask for their support.”

 

Captain Sin took a valorous step forward. He looked a bit more like a villain with his extremely thick mustache, but the bow and mighty scowl of righteousness were definitive knight attributes.

 

“As I was called, so I shall answer. I will lead the expedition through the Salt Mountains or die trying!”

 

Ah, heroism. Viv still wasn’t sure why she’d been called here.

 

“Die trying is what you will do!” an irascible old man spat from the back.

 

He was almost as well-dressed as the city lord, but while he favored the yellow-dotted blue of the city, he wore deep navy with a fish sigil, and not a trout, a shark. Pretty sure that was a shark equivalent.

 

“Only the foolish and desperate have crossed the Salt Mountains these past five years, or, dare I say, attempted the crossing. Now their bleached bones serve as salty snacks for whatever foul beast roams these desolate lands! You will find only death here, young Sin. And for what! Will you slay the dragon that scours Sandsong? Unless the beast is defeated or at least driven off, the kingdom will turn its back on everyone else. No, I say, no! We must either push for a last ditch effort, or consider terms of surrender. If we can fight, we must. If we cannot win, then there is no honor in wasting the blood of our people.”

 

A few of the elders nodded. Lord Dar replied after a short delay.

 

“You are right in only one regard, old Thon: we must consider defeat. However, I believe there is a hint of light when it comes to the dragon. Lady Jaratalassi…”

 

His serious persona melted into a smile, even if it was only for a moment.

 

“Sai. If you would kindly tell the assembly why you came to Vizim?”

 

Viv sighed. She pretended to feel torn about the situation, though by now everyone assumed she was here to help with the dragon. There was a difference between an obscure arcanist hired as a last ditch effort and the Empress of a sovereign nation with an infamous army coming to the rescue, however, and she intended to keep the secrecy up for now.

 

“I have not sworn an oath of secrecy, however I am still bound by duty not to speak about the specifics of my employer while working for them unless they expressly allow it. I can, however, tell you that I am an arcanist and that I have enchanted many powerful weapons.”

 

Or at least helped for a few of them when Ser Warcrime requested it. It let her put a stop to the mulcher project which was as horrifying as it was an overkill.

 

“You have enchanted weapons to stop a dragon?” Lord Thon jeered.

 

He scoffed, and a few of the elders huffed with him.

 

“My workings have defeated dragons before,” Viv replied.

 

The peanut gallery shut up which was a pleasure in itself. Thom’s expression of disgust turned to anger instead. His leadership hit her full on. It was very strange, more a one-on-one domination tool than a group skill. It tasted of slaps and public dressing down. She didn’t like it one bit.

 

It completely failed to affect her. The only difficulty was in preventing draconic intimidation from roaring back at this idiot. It would be so easy… but it would burn her cover. If the Sheem attacked prematurely, her laziness or lack of control might cost the lives of hundreds of innocents. So she swallowed her pride and curtsied the Viziman way, with her hands laced in front of her.

 

“You lie,” Thon accused.

 

“I do not. Although the dragons didn’t die from their wounds, both were defeated.”

 

Whispers of awe crossed throughout the room. Viv felt the annoying pressure of many inspection skills slamming against her medallion-warded soul like so many birds pecking at a window. She took a deep breath. These people were afraid. It was not a mark of disrespect.

 

“A third step arcanist? Enchanting a dragon-slaying sword?”

 

Viv never said it was a sword but because of Eron the Dragonslayer’s story, everyone thought about the Sword of Baran artifact as the default dragon-killing weapon. It looked like the legend had crossed the ocean after all. And that was fucking stupid. The best weapon was obviously some sort of ballista-propelled harpoon or something. A dragon would be flying most of the time. Why wave a toothpick far under their belly when you could use a giant machine to shove three hands of engraved steel up their nethers? Preposterous.

 

“She has proven herself this afternoon when she discovered a flaw in the throne room’s defenses,” the leading screecher mage replied, eyes respectful under his turban. He gave her a deep nod, which she gracefully returned. Given their difference in status, he was doing her a big favor.

 

“Genius is not measured by steps on a path. Only experience is. I say we have no reason to doubt her.”

 

“Then you will not mind a demonstration?” Thon said in a mellifluous voice.

 

“Did I not already say that time is of the essence? Is my word as witness not enough, or are you calling me a liar? We do not have time for your games, milord,” Dar sternly replied. “The expedition must leave tomorrow morning. Captain Sin, Lady Jaratalassi, can I count on you two to lead the expedition to a successful end?”

 

“You are trusting our diplomats and hopes to an unknown woman?” Thon protested yet again.

 

The attention somehow returned to Viv. It appeared she was expected to defend herself this time.

 

“I will use my enchanting skills for the benefit of the expedition. Free of charge, naturally,” she said. “With my help, a talented blademaster like Sin cannot fail to fend off the competition.”

 

“He is a Janar, not a ‘blademaster’, girl. Those Paramese half-breeds…”

 

“Enough!” Lord Dar said. “You are out of line, Lord Thon. Unless your comments help with the situation, please refrain from sharing your opinions on the matter. Now, is there more for them to discuss?”

 

“If, on the way…”

 

Everyone turned to see a very old woman sitting at the back on a small stool someone must have set up for her. She radiated a calm aura that only now became obvious, since she had everyone’s attention. It had been quiet until now.

 

Viv judged the woman had to be over a hundred, easy.

 

“Yes, Lady Mar?”

 

“If on the way you could find my granddaughter… she left to verify reports of an elemental. Please…”

 

“Naturally, Lady Mar,” Captain Sin replied like he was the main character and of course he would be the one treading the desert searching for someone else. “If we come across any signs of her, we will not fail to give pursuit!”

 

Fucking side quests.

 

***

 

Viv was quietly taken away back to the receiving room where she sat down. An annoyed woman came during the evening.

 

“Excuse me? Would you mind helping in the kitchen? We are a bit overwhelmed with all the guests.”

 

“Yes, I would mind. I am also a guest and my arcanist skills will be needed,” Viv replied.

 

The cook closed her mouth with a click before leaving wordlessly. Viv had no cooking skill and she would have been more hindrance than help, but that wasn’t the reason to refuse. She was a guest of modest status but a guest nonetheless. Asking her to help was a hidden insult. She was still bored though, so she found the older woman who had talked to her before.

 

“Oh, no, I don’t think it’s a good time for you to leave! Too much chaos in the streets right now. You should at least wait for tomorrow!” was the first response.

 

“I believe Captain Sin and I will be traveling west soon,” Viv amended.

 

The news of the diplomatic mission hadn’t spread yet, it seemed.

 

“I would like to make some preparations.”

 

“Let the captain handle it, woman,” she chided.

 

Viv sighed. The temptation was so strong to just use a little bit of leadership. She decided against, of course. This was a test of patience and empathy for all the people who spent their days being condescended to and dismissed out of hand. Viv’s ego was so astronomically massive it had its own accretion disc, so a little bit of humbling was good practice even if she was finding herself missing the Fool’s Garden. The one that was designed to catch people she defenestrated from the throne room.

 

“What I mean to say is that I will need a way to protect myself since it appears this will be very dangerous. I would very much like to… purchase gauntlets which I will be engraving. I will, naturally, also work on the gear of everyone who will come. If you can direct them my way.”

 

“My, of course, of course. Gauntlets, you say? I believe Smith Tal has some that can work with your dainty…”

 

Viv’s hands were not that small and there were some callouses. Obviously they matched her artisan persona. And also because she had to hold her shield during practice when Solar tried to bash her teeth in.

 

Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

“With your hands,” the old woman amended with a smile of embarrassment. “I will provide a guard. You cannot be too careful.”

 

“Thank you, Lady…”

 

“Sai as well, dearie. I am Dar’s aunt, and the mistress of the house until we finally manage to make him marry someone. Curse him. He keeps delaying.”

 

“Well if it can help, I suggest picking a muscular woman with high technical skills.”

 

The other Sai was about to dismiss her out of hand — Viv could tell, but then she frowned as if remembering something. Possibly a long series of occurrences of young Dar asking about female knights or smiths or whatever. Her face twisted into a ‘o’ of revelation. Viv was honestly disappointed it took her so long to realize even a canny city lord could want a buff woman to tell him he’d done a good job as she princess carries him to the marital bed. It probably helped that she was friends with Koro, who’d once cracked the spine of a rathclaw with her bare hands while seven months pregnant.

 

Viv ended up following a confused spearman through the winding roads of the upper city, its white buildings bathed by the sunset light. The place was in an uproar. Messengers and house guards ran around in the fervor of war preparation, many casting glances to the white-uniformed man accompanying her. Maybe he was an elite guard or something. His conical helmet and veiled face sure gave him a cool Arabian nights look.

 

As they crossed a deserted square bordered by closed shops, she noticed one of the estates was going up in flames with no one in any particular hurry to help.

 

“Sellouts,” her stoic guide explained.

 

Viv politely nodded as if he wasn’t here to keep an eye on her. The smith was closed, the evening and riots being good reasons, but her guard gave her the cachet she needed for a late purchase after he banged on the door. She was shown several products by a slightly bemused smith journeyman, all lean muscles under a badly fitting vest. She settled for a pair of armored gloves that cost her several silver talents the journeyman counted with surprised eyes. His gaze lingered on her simple travel dress. She was using more coins than her attire suggested she would have on hand.

 

The gloves themselves were rather thick, lobstered on the fingers which was nice, though didn’t fit her perfectly, but that was fine. What mattered was the available metal surface for engraving. It was decent enough without making her look like she had a cinder-block glued to each arm — some of the armor here could get bulky. Happy with her purchase, she thanked the man and left with her guard leading the way back.

 

Those two gloves would be her self-defense tool and also her improvised shields if things did hit the fan, but not bad enough that she had to betray her identity. As she walked, she considered what enchantment to put on each one except for shield and push. Maybe anchor because pushing without anchoring tended to get a swift answer from Newton’s third law.

 

Viv looked up when she felt something. A tinge. She looked around. The guard was now leading her through tall walls made of slabs of gray stones, with pine trees protecting the pavement from the merciless sun during the day. Now it was dark and unlit. The wind carried the scent of sap and the distant ashes of the ruined estate. Not much blood. So what? Viv grabbed the gloves. She didn’t have time to put them on. Her instincts screamed at her.

 

There, on the left wall, a shadow.

 

“Watch out!”

 

Viv pulled the guard back just as something whistled through the air. She was about to pull him more, but he put his shield up and his spear surged. Something clanged on his defenses but he caught something else in the shoulder. Viv dove behind him while another knife clattered on the ground.

 

“Get her! Her!” a sprinting man at her side yelled while two cloaked assailants engaged her guard. He was holding his own with ease but… shouldn’t they run? Her own opponent closed in.

 

[Kestrel of Sheem: one who follows the path of a scout. Not dangerous. Third step… Good melee combatant.]

 

Fuck it.

 

Viv threw one of the gloves in his face. The improvised weapon barely hit but it was enough to provoke an opening and a very rude word. Feet apart, waist swinging, cross. The punch floored the man with a ghastly crack.

 

“Hmmm!”

 

He was bleeding from a temple but still pointing a shaky finger at her while letting out a muffled yell.

 

“Go!” Her guard said, “Go!”

 

Viv did so. She sprinted away while another shadow crept from behind. She propelled herself into a dead sprint. Cardio time!

 

***

 

The would-be assassin missed his throw. The woman turned right into the next street by placing a foot on the wall and bouncing. He’d expected her to slow down. She had no traversal skill, clearly, so he ran after her. The captain was picking himself up, but Sol and Shan were wasting time trying to take down the guard. Idiots! He ran. Anyone who might be able to help the Sandsong with their dragon problem must be eliminated for the kingdom!

 

As he turned, he realized that the woman was already pretty far. He made after her, jumping over obstacles with all the grace of a bird of prey. She was ahead running her silly run in a straight line. He ran, and ran.

 

She was getting farther away.

 

She disappeared behind a house.