World Sphere - 51 - Misguided Guile

Chapter 51: Misguided Guile

The ship landed in the upper city, giving us an easier walking route to the Colosseum. The streets were packed, and excitement was in the air. It was clear to me that the Triumvirate was using the Annuals to help the people forget about the recent Sadian attacks.

Many people were talking about tomorrow's Annual Tournament that was open to everyone. The elite fighters of the islands participated. From what Callem told Gareth, there were 16 participants left, having started with 64. Tickets to see the finals were 50 silver. I already heard Gareth trying to convince Callem to stay another day so he could watch those matches.

We were given a different room by Callem’s friend this time, and he winked as he left us. I had been smart and brought a satchel this time. That way, I could reach in and withdraw items from my dimensional closet if I was being observed. I ignored the appetizing food on the tables and retrieved some mixed nuts and a bladder of red juice. I took a sip and passed the skin to Gareth, who drained it.

“Thanks,” he said, but I could see his nervousness showing. “Stormy, let’s bet who wins their match quicker. Let’s say two gold,” Gareth suggested.

“Sure, Gareth, I bet two gold that you finish first,” I said smugly. His frown made me realize he got my twist. It was probably the fourth or fifth time I tried to pull the same trick. It only worked the first time.

“Never mind,” Gareth mumbled, annoyed. I think he realized that I was planning to lose and was trying to trick me into winning.

Callem finally arrived with his fighter intel. He had a spring in his step and came to me first, “Storme, you have an interesting opponent. He wields a bastard sword and goes from one to two-handed style freely. He has solid skills but lacks speed. You can just keep your distance and whittle away at him. He should be similar to fighting Gareth, but not as fast.” I was already trying to think of a good way to lose so I wouldn’t get injured too badly. I planned to stall on defense until I got his measure.

Callem was finishing up with Gareth, who looked excited and confident. I pulled out a water skin and drank. I laid down on the couch, put my staff next to me, and caressed my hand along the smooth black wood.

I think I fell asleep as Callem shook me awake. “Storme, Gareth just left. You should stretch and center yourself.” Callem then also left to watch Gareth fight. My mental exercises had progressed, and I assumed the clarity I had gotten from them had contributed to my jump in skill with the staff. We hadn’t progressed to focusing through pain yet, but I knew that was just around the corner. Callem had been busy preparing the barracks for the academy, so my mental training had lapsed slightly.

A light knock on my door a short time later surprised me. It was too quick from Callem’s departure for my own call to fight. I cautiously went and opened the door. A small female Wolfsguard stood on the other side. She had a brilliant white coat and lively blue eyes.

She bowed, “Master Storme Hardlight. I have a message requiring a reply.” Her voice was soft and silky, despite having an extended jaw. I had never talked to or heard a Wolfsguard before and had just assumed they would sound bestial.

Getting past my shock, I said, “Yes, you can relay your message.” The Wolfsguard had the mark of the Miaden family on her tight-fitting and expensive-looking outfit. The Miaden family was responsible for commerce in Skyholme, but Callem had lectured us that they were securely under the thumb of the Bricios due to debts owed.

“My mistress wishes for you to lose your match. She will pay you ten platinum to do so,” the young Wolfsguard stated. This offer might be tempting if I hadn’t had access to unlimited wealth. However, I was planning to lose anyway. I pretended to toss the thought around in my mind before replying.

“My counter-offer is ten platinum and a small favor. The favor will not be anything grand. Just help in buying some property in Aegis City,” I stated. The Wolfsguard looked uncomfortable. She probably wasn’t able to negotiate, or maybe I was overplaying my hand. “You should hurry back and get an answer. I expect to be called shortly.” The Wolfsguard looked about to speak but turned and sped away.

She returned ten minutes later with a small bag and handed it to me, shocking me again by paying me before I completed the task. “It is agreed.” She turned to leave, and I dropped the new coin into my dimensional space.

“Who is your mistress?” I asked to ease my curiosity before she raced away, but thought she wouldn’t tell me anyway.

“Loriel Handram Miaden,” the Wolfsguard bowed and rushed away. Handram Miaden was the son of the current ruling member of the Triumvirate. I guessed this must be his daughter. I wished I had paid slightly more attention to the genealogy charts of the Triumvirate. Since Loriel had a Wolfsguard, it either meant she was one of the 23 in the line of succession or her grandfather on the Triumvirate really favored her.

Each family had only 200 personal Wolfsguard to command. Most patrolled their residence, according to Callem, while the remainder served as companions for important family members. Typically, the sitting member of the Triumvirate had twenty-three personnel guards that he was allowed to bring into the council. I remembered that last bit because I noted that if I ever saw anyone walking with twenty-three Wolfsguard around him, I was to make haste in the other direction.

Gareth returned a few moments later, looking tired but wearing a cheeky grin. “Storme, you are up after the next match! I won handily and can’t wait for you to join me in the final four! Can you…” He indicated my satchel, and I pulled out a roast beef sandwich on cheese bread with spicy mayo. He didn’t want to risk eating anything on the buffet table in the room.

As he ate, he regaled me with the tale of his most recent victory while I stretched and limbered up. I guessed his match was not as close as he was making it sound, but dominating your opponent doesn’t make for a good hero’s tale. With a sharp knock and an announcement, I was to make my way to the arena floor.

I clasped arms with Gareth and headed out with my blackwood staff. My opponent looked old, maybe 20. He had decided to drop the soft leather armor most participants used in favor of some stiffer leather. This would be more effective against my blunt weapon, but it didn’t really matter. I tuned out the announcer as he droned on, and the two of us faced off. I just studied the man opposite me.

He seemed slightly nervous, and his eyes said he was apprehensive about engaging. When the announcer finished, the man was already in a defensive stance with one hand on his bastard sword. It was massive and heavy. I was surprised he could wield it one-handed. He had two hands on it right now, giving him a pivot point to leverage the blade quicker.

I went after him with a sequence and watched him block aptly. When he didn’t press after the exchange, the crowd booed him. I needed him to attack, so I increased my tempo and chained some attacks together. He defended well, and I only got two glancing blows. But something was wrong. I paused. Could he have been paid to lose as well? That seemed ridiculous, but then again, maybe Loriel had bet a larger sum on my opponent to win, and someone was countering her. I should have just said no and not gotten involved.

His lack of an offense or any probing attacks made me more and more certain. I had to get bribed because my opponent had been bribed as well. My following sequence targeted his blade. If he wasn’t going to fight me, then I would make it appear he was, directly slamming my staff into his blade.

At least the crowd loved the faux fighting. I was sure any staff masters or blade masters in the stands would see through my farce of attacks, but it was all I could do. I had committed to losing this match, but wanted it to appear like I had tried extremely hard.

Finally, I got him to give a weak thrust and moved the tip enough to strike and get a glance on my shoulder, creating a sizable cut and a steady flow of blood. I pretended outrage as I stepped back, healed the wound, and then used my cleanliness spell to clean my clothes, leaving no evidence other than a slice on my heavy canvas shirt. The crowd roared. I stepped back into him, twirling my staff for the enjoyment of the screaming crowd.

I went through a long and varied sequence that would make Elora proud. Except for the fact that I pulled the strike every time I connected with my opponent to minimize the damage. He was completely on the defensive now. It took him a few moments to realize that he was not taking much damage when I connected. He started to understand my intentions. Now we both knew we planned to let the other win. The panic on his face told me he couldn’t allow himself to win for whatever reason.

It caused me to panic a little as well to be the first to lose. I stupidly deflected his blade thrust into my stomach during a poor lunge on his part. A half dozen healing mages were present, so I expected this would end the match, and it should look like I had just made a slight mistake, not deflecting the blade completely across my body.

Now I had been in a few life-or-death situations from injuries in the past. This was a bit weird, allowing myself to be impaled. I was in shock, and shortly after followed the pain. I immediately went to my knees as the entire crowd went silent.

My opponent didn’t know what to do, so he slowly withdrew the sword. I was surprised as I maintained eye contact with him. I could feel the hole filling with bile and blood. I went and focused on mending my internal damage. I would have to tell Callem I could use my healing while in extreme pain now. Maybe it would make him not be upset with me for intentionally losing.

This hadn’t been my plan. I had planned to take a few glancing strikes, heal up, pretend to be out of aether, and then tap out after taking another light injury when I realized I couldn’t heal. Unfortunately, I read that my opponent planned to end the match sooner, so I took this drastic action.

I shot my fist into the air and opened it. This signaled to the judges that I was conceding. There was shock still going through the crowd. I had dominated my opponent throughout, and I had lost. My organs were healed enough that I wasn’t worried, but I didn’t close the gaping wound in my belly.

I let the healing mages rush in, heal me, and help me off the arena floor as cheers slowly rained down for the victor. He was still stunned, standing there looking at the sword that had betrayed him and won him the match.

Whatever penalty he would have to endure for winning instead of losing was his to bear. The mages led me down a different corridor—the loser’s corridor. The room I was left in was rather plain compared to the competitor’s room. A man dressed in heavy ornate robes entered.

“Storme Hardlight. Congratulations on your performance in the pre-Annual tournament. I am here to give you your reward for making it to the top 8,” he fished into his robe and pulled out a bag, and left it on the table with a chink of coins. He read a parchment and spoke, “Seventeen gold, 73 silver, and 40 copper coins. Thank you for participating.” His words seemed completely disingenuous. Before he could leave, I asked a question.

“Lord, what will the winner get?” Callem hadn’t told us what prize coin we would receive.

The lord or magistrate seemed a little peeved but did look at his parchment and told me, “Eight large golds and one dungeon essence. Lord Holland will decide what the essence will be.” He made an irritated gesture at me.

“Can I leave?” I asked him a final question.

“Your mentor or sponsor will come and escort you to the stands,” he said. I waved him away as I had no more questions. I now had to wait for Callem. I started preparing responses to the questions I knew he would ask.

A soft knock came at my door, and I opened it to find the small white-furred Wolfsguard there, “My mistress wishes to meet with you.” Before I could say no, she moved aside, and a short young woman in a black and deep purple hooded cloak entered.

Rich, silky black hair cascaded around her shoulders. She was a head shorter than I and had a beautiful heart-shaped face. The woman introduced herself, “I am Loriel Miaden, and I wanted to thank you in person for losing for me and explain. I had a bet with a Bricio on who would win your match and had been informed your opponent was paid to lose. That is why I took such drastic measures. Your match was entertaining, and it was clear you could have defeated your opponent, so I came to apologize in person for asking you to do so for my benefit.” She motioned to her Wolfsguard, but I was enthralled with Loriel’s golden brown eyes.

Something in my aether core told me she was trying to influence our interaction with magic, but resisting felt like trying to hold a greased pig tail. The Wolfsguard produced another coin pouch and handed it to me. Loriel continued, “I would like to make you an offer. I will be your sponsor for whatever academy you wish to attend, and in return, I will only ask for ten years of service after you graduate.”

Who wouldn’t want to work for such a beautiful and charming young woman? Maybe she would even invite me to share her bed. She was so charming and—I realized the trap. I started to draw on my focusing exercises to clear my mind. This innocent-looking young woman was a pit viper in disguise.

As my mind cleared, she started to look confused since I hadn’t agreed immediately. She smiled, “Well, aren’t you just full of surprises? Excellent mental fortitude. Don’t be angry with me. I was using a tier 1 ability persuasion on you. It wouldn’t have let you do something you didn’t want to do. My ability cuts to the core of a person’s true desires.”

She was so unapologetic for her actions that it was hard not to angrily rebuke her. I steeled myself since she still owed me a favor. I would get my favor and cut all ties with this woman. “Loriel, you promised me a favor, and I wish to collect,” I said evenly. “I wish to purchase a large inn in Aegis City. Something near the skyship docks or trade district.”

Confusion clouded her face at the request. I clarified it for her, “You are of the Miaden family, the commerce faction. So you can help smooth my transaction.” Understanding of my request spread on her face.

“A large inn? In Aegis City? I have visited the city a few times. I am just the 22nd in line for our Triumvirate seat, so I am not sure how much sway I hold on Titan’s Shield, but I can ask my uncle. He is responsible for land transactions on your island.” She looked at me again, slightly upset, probably because I hadn’t succumbed to her will.

I handed her back the pouch she had given me without looking at it. “I will pay for the property myself. I just need you to expedite the wheels of bureaucracy, and I don’t want to be beholden to anyone. When I find a property, I will send you a message.” I paused, “Uh, how do I send you a message?”

Loriel stepped back and looked me up and down again. “I don’t know what game you are playing, Storme. Inns are not profitable. It would take you years to recoup your investment.” She took a breath, “But it is a small favor, relatively speaking, and acceptable for how I misused you and tried to influence you.”

I relaxed as I was afraid she was going to ask me for something else. A devilish smile overcame her, “In return for this favor, I want one of the rooms to always be reserved for me in perpetuity. If I perish, you can rent the room to someone else. But until that day, I will always be welcome to stay at your inn.”

She seemed to be plotting a way to keep me tied to her. “Bylura will stay with you, and you can send her to me when you find the property you wish to purchase.” The Wolfsguard’s face looked shocked, but she hid it quickly.

Loriel concluded the conversation by stating, “No contract is necessary. My word is good.” I considered voicing an objection but held my tongue.

Kicking myself for my curiosity, I asked anyway, “What was the bet I helped you win?”

An amused Loriel grinned, “It was for letting Abaddon escort me to the Triumvirate Ball. He has been trying to maneuver himself to get me into a marriage pact. You may know him. He has assaulted various navy cadets, including your friend Cilia.” My heart increased its pace from anger. Don’t get involved in politics, Storme, was ringing in my head repeatedly. Still, I was at least appeased my actions had hurt my friend’s attacker.

While I was processing her words, she leaned in, gave me a peck on my cheek, and left. Another Wolfsguard in the corridor, this one clearly a warrior, fell in behind her. This one was an old and grizzled brut. I looked at the small, white one left behind and gave a half-smile.

I wasn’t skilled in reading the facial expressions of the Wolfsguard, but the young woman just shook her head. Her soft, somewhat melodic voice filled the room, “I thought you had been smart. Do you realize why Loriel left me to shadow you and carry a message to her? Everyone knows I am attached to Loriel. Now by seeing me with you, they will think you are now attached to her. She has casually drawn you in, boy.”

A cold chill went down my spine. “Why are you telling me this? Isn’t this a betrayal of your mistress?”  I asked, looking over at the young wolf woman.

“I am not a Wolfsguard, you idiot. Do I look like a Wolfsguard with large muscles and weapons hidden all over my body? I am just Loriel’s companion. We grew up together, and I have been at her side most of my life,” she said it with no malice. “I would never harm her, but I also hate how she manipulates the common people to her own ends.” She seemed finished with her mini-rant.

“Then don’t follow me.” I pulled out my prize money from the pre-Annuals and handed her five gold. “Go and stay in Aegis City. I should be there tomorrow with my teacher Callem.”

The white wolf woman seemed to think and then nodded. “Smart. I will be in the Lyrical Nymph, it is a tavern near the primary docks in the city.

“Bylura—it is a pretty name. Thank you for warning me.” I said as she was leaving.

“It means white storm in wolfkin speech,” she said with a smirk. Then she was gone.

I didn’t have to wait long before Callem arrived. “Storme, I was detained at the end of the corridor. Is there anything wrong? Is that why you threw the match?” Concern laced his voice. He was looking me over for injuries, but they had long since healed.

“I am fine. And yes, I was paid to throw the match, as was my opponent. I foolishly let myself get trapped in the web of politics,” I said morosely. Callem listened intently as I told him what had happened and finally responded.

“You did well sending the wolfkin away. Being seen with her would probably draw eyes to you. The Miaden family holds so little power these days, as most of their upper-tier members have been tied to the Bricios by marriage or debt. Loriel and Abaddon are just another chain the Bricios are looking to connect.” Callem sat and looked thoughtful.

He finally looked at me, “You did the right thing, taking the coin. A boy like you turning down ten platinum may have drawn more attention than was warranted.” I winced as I had rejected the second pouch without even looking.

“As for your plans to build a restaurant and sponsor an adventuring team in Aegis….” He sighed, “The death toll from the Sadian attack was heavy there. I inquired with some friends in the stands today, and there are some decent opportunities to invest. I assume you plan to spend your following years of Academy there instead of the capital?” He asked with knowing eyes.

Callem was insightful. I nodded, “Yes. I don’t want to go near the capital, even if they have better academies. Especially after dealing with Loriel today. I was considering the Aegis Adventuring Academy. I really wanted to attend the Mage Academy in the capital, but that seems too dangerous. The Aegis Adventuring Academy has an inferior mage program, but good enough for me,” I revealed my plans going forward. Callem nodded in what I hoped was approval.

“Very good, Storme. We can leave tomorrow for Aegis or go directly after the tournament,” Callem said, asking my preference.

“Tomorrow. It is better to wait a day, plus I want to celebrate Gareth’s victory with him.” We both grinned.

“Well, let’s go and watch young Gareth take the capital by storm,” Callem assented with a wink.

“Hopefully, his head doesn’t get too large,” I mumbled. Callem slapped me hard on the back.

“I am sure, as his friend, you won’t let that happen,” Callem said, and we laughed as we headed to the stands.

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