B3 Chapter 22

CHAPTER 22

Lucan tilted his head, giving Cedric a meaningful look before amending the freeblade’s address of him, “Lucan.”

Cedric frowned, but then, looking around and at Lucan’s apparel, he seemed to understand the cause for such a demand. It made little sense that a noble would be at a place such as this, even if it was not a low wetwood establishment. “It is a pleasure to see you again, Master Lucan.”

“In that we share, my friend,” Lucan said. Cedric had been a reliable companion during their flight from the Wilderlands after the campaign. Lucan had even hoped to recruit him into his service, but the freeblade had been intent on keeping to his title, a wandering soul at heart. “What are you doing in the Union?” Lucan got up and nodded aside towards a lone table.

The freeblade heeded his nod, following him to the table, and they both took a seat. “The road has brought me to Varencourt…Master Lucan. I wished to hone my craft fighting beasts more than men, and perhaps to empower my Blessing further.”

“I see. And how has fate seen to your wishes?”

“Well.” Cedric smiled. “I have been hunting in the wilderness with some loose adventurers of the land. I have even been allowed into the dungeon once, when they overflowed.”

“So you have been fortunate. I am glad!” Lucan smiled. “You were a good brother to have, Cedric.”

“I thank you, Si–Master Lucan.” The freeblade gave him an apologetic smile. “I have been fortunate, but not as well as I would have wished. The guilds wield the most power here, and their men get the most ripe of opportunities. I am not willing to give them my loyalty nor feign it, and so my horizons are narrower than I would like.”

Lucan nodded. He could admire the freeblade’s honesty. The Elder Lands didn’t lack for men who would swear oaths fated for forsaking, but Cedric was not one of those men. “Tell me about these dungeons then.”

“Aye.” Cedric sipped his drink. “The practice is said to have arisen somewhere east, where it’s farthest from the Roots. As you well know, Master Lucan, one of the reasons the Union has survived is by making a trade out of fighting beasts. The adventurers hunt, harvest, and clean up the hinterlands from the beasts that Break out of the Labyrinth. And even when it is not gainful to do so, the cities and their merchants are happy to pay them good coin for their services. This has made the land livable in some measure. However…” He paused, raising a forefinger. “There was one matter of concern. Even if it was not too common, the beasts could Break out inside a city, and the consequences of that were ruinous.”

“How did that lead to beast imprisonment?” Lucan asked.

Cedric seemed to hold back a guffaw, hiding it behind another sip from his tankard. “Master Lucan, the dungeons are not prisons. They are a trap. Instead of waiting for the beasts to dig their way up to the city, the city has dug down, carving several levels of winding paths underground. The beasts follow the path of least resistance, choosing to tread the dungeon passages once they Break out into them. Adventurers can then be sent to clear out dungeons that they know quite intimately.”

Lucan rocked back in his seat with a frown. “How is this…”

“It is a costly affair, but its expense is momentary, and it protects the city as long as the adventurers do their part. In truth, I’ve met some adventurers who swear the surrounding lands are safer due to it as well. The beasts seem more likely to Break out in the deep passages of the dungeon than they are to Break out on the surface nearby.”

It was brilliant. Lucan could only accept that, and he could also curse the folly that caused ignorance of such knowledge in Barwalis. He assumed it was due to the royals’ mistrust of all that came from the guilds. “And you went into this dungeon once?” he asked.

Cedric nodded with a proud smile. “It is a treasure trove for those wishing to empower their Blessing. The dungeon is built so that ambushes and encirclements can be executed upon the beasts with utter ease. The only concern is that one cannot know what they may find down there. Seven adventurers met their ends in it at the hands of a Herald not two moons ago.”

“Such an interesting undertaking,” Lucan said, rubbing his chin. “It’s like each city has its very own small Labyrinth, one that also protects it from Breaks.”

“Most times, the dungeons are rough ventures, but they do what they were built to do most of the time too.” Cedric nodded. “The Union couldn’t have survived without them.”

Lucan nodded. The history of the Union was quite recent, and there were few things to read about it, but it seemed as though they’d found their own way to thriving. The shortcoming of their chosen course was that few villages could survive in their hinterlands, particularly in the east. Even with their great wealth, the merchants couldn’t build a dungeon under every small village and hamlet. 

He knew that in the east of the Shattered Kingdom, some villages had peasants hardened by oft-seen Breaks. There, the villages survived by their own grit, though some still perished from time to time. The warlords and nobles cleaned up the wilderness as they marched, and with war as their companion, they always had the means to go after significant Breaks.

Both realms, however, relied on trade to fulfill their need for foodstuffs, a weakness that–when it came to the Union–could prove lethal.

After the moment of silence Lucan’s thinking allowed, Cedric leaned forward and whispered, “What brings you here, Master Lucan?”

Lucan glanced around them. While no one seemed intent on throwing an ear into their conversation, he’d already received his first cut today with the innkeeper overhearing his title, or rather, his previous title. Cedric didn’t know yet that he’d been elevated to lord.

“I do not wish to discuss this with company nearby.” Lucan tilted his head in the nearby patrons’ direction.

“I was about to go brush down my horse. The stable boy here barely deserves the name.” Cedric shrugged meaningfully.

“I miss brushing down my steed. Let me join you then,” Lucan said with a knowing smile.

They stood up, and before they stepped outside, Lucan approached the counter, placing five silvers on it, hidden under his palm. He gave the innkeep a sharp look and said, “You will keep what you heard and will hear from us to yourself, good man, or we will have trouble.” His voice was a needle-thin hiss that made his intent unquestionable. The innkeeper nodded silently.

Lucan followed Cedric out of the back door, circling around to a small stable beside the inn proper. They entered and saw a boy sitting on a stool with his back to them. He seemed to be preoccupied with something, but once he heard the door, he stuffed an item into his pouch and turned around as though caught with stolen goods, eyes wide and face white. “Masters?”

“Leave us,” Cedric commanded.

“But, masters, the horses–”

“None of them will bolt while you’re away,” Cedrid nodded towards the door. “Out with you, go on.”

With some reluctance, the boy left his stool and walked out of the door through which they had entered. They approached one of the stalls, and Cedric rubbed the head poking out of it. Lucan could only assume it was his horse.

“Is the matter so discreet, Sir?” Cedric said with a suppressed voice.

“More discreet than you would think,” Lucan said. “And I am not a Sir.”

Cedric paused the petting of his steed and turned towards him with a frown. “Did the prince not knight you in Epiza as I’d heard?”

“He did.” Lucan smiled. “I suppose it would be more proper to say that I am no longer a Sir.”

Cedric’s frown deepened, posing another question, this one unspoken but clear.

“I am Lord Zesh now.”

The freeblade’s brows rose, and his eyes widened as though he’d seen a giant of myth. “Truly?” He sputtered for a moment. “My felicitations, my lord.” He bowed.

Lucan waved it away. “It is too late for that, my friend, and I wish for no bows or titles in these lands, at least for a time. Call me Master Lucan, as you’ve been calling me.”

“As you wish, Master Lucan.”

“Thank you, my friend.”

“Do you wish to share this matter with me, then?”

Lucan gave him an apologetic smile. “Not in its entirety, but I may yet need your help. How well do you know the guilds in this city?”

“Well enough, I suppose.” Cedric shrugged. “Which ones interest you?”

“The Silver Blades, The Blue Guild, The Golden Wheel, and The Yellow Hides.”

Cedric leaned back against the stall, sighing. “The Blades are a menace and an overbearing lot. I would tread carefully around them. The Blue Guild’s reputation precedes it, but I haven’t dealt with their folk. The Wheel is a guild of great weight in the city. I have sold plenty of goods to their shops. I wouldn’t cross them as well.”

Lucan gave him a side nod. “I do not intend to do so.”

Cedric bobbed his head. “As for the Yellow…” He started and stopped several times, seemingly forgetting the name.

“Yellow Hides,” Lucan said.

“Never have I heard their name. I don’t suppose they’re an adventurer’s guild?”

“They are not.” Lucan sighed. “They’re a mercantile guild from another city.”

Cedric nodded thoughtfully. “I have had no dealings with them. Do you wish to tell me your dealings with these guilds, Master Lucan?”

“Not yet, my friend,” Lucan said with a smile. “Though perhaps I ought to tell you that I may end up at odds with The Silver Blades.”

“Then perhaps I ought to tell you, Master Lucan, to be wary, for their lot is not above underhanded means.”

“Few people are, my friend. I will be cautious.”

Cedric gave him a heavy nod. “Is there anything with which I could aid you, Master Lucan?”

Lucan shook his head, then they heard light steps approaching the door before it was pushed open, and the stableboy stepped in. “Masters. One of the patrons demands his horse. Forgive me.”

Lucan dismissed his worries with a nod, then turned back to his friend, patting him on the shoulder. “Thank you, Cedric.”

Cedric gave him a sincere smile, and they made to step outside, before being stopped by the boy.

“Masters!”

Lucan turned towards the boy again with pressed lips, and he saw him eying the weapons on their hips and gulping. “Surely…you have heard of the gangs…the treasure the gangs are chasing.”

Cedric only raised a suspicious brow, and Lucan cocked his head. “What treasure?”

The boy gestured with his hands above himself. “A great, great treasure. Its cost is beyond buying.”

“That defeats the purpose of having a cost,” Lucan said flatly.

The boy swallowed again, his eyes shifting between them, as though fearful that he would lose their heed. “Masters, I know the gangs, I swear–”

“And I suppose you know what treasure they’re chasing and where it is?” Cedric interrupted him with a smirk.

Lucan, likewise, scoffed and walked past the boy, hearing Cedric slapping him upside the head. “There are honest ways to make coin, boy. Swindling armed men is no wise venture.”

Lucan glanced back at the boy before stepping through the door. “Good advice if ever there was any.”

They parted ways then, as Cedric had to meet certain acquaintances of his, and Lucan still had to wait for his men. From there, the day saw little of note.

The next day, however, was not so unremarkable. First order of the day was his men’s immediate return with word that the Blue Guild asked for his presence. That was not all, however, for when they left the inn to head towards the Emporium, they heard a commotion and a scuffle from behind the inn.

Lucan, leading his two men, went into the alley to their left and followed the noise. They came out of it into a slightly wider dead-end of a street behind the inn, and there, they saw three men armed with cudgels and knives cornering the shivering stableboy.