Chapter 10 Royal Climbers

Unedited

Chapter 10

The follies of arrogance

After spending time between floors, the Tower totaled up her rewards. She got a staggering amount of power coins for the fifth ten set. Twelve to be exact. Three per the four floors where they didn’t get attacked by the elementals. It didn’t say exactly why she got them, only that she did. Kat chuckled as she found herself back in Massachusetts city for the first time in about two years.

She found a dark haired woman that looked strangely familiar for some reason standing in front of the pensile. Behind her, holding a book, was a pretty man with an open book in his hands. The woman was dressed in Army blue and gray with a crooked hat under her arm that looked identical to the Dukes except that it didn’t have the white feathers. The woman had the same gold fringe hanging from her shoulder boards like the general. The biggest difference in the two uniforms that Kat noticed was that the woman in front of her had a red sash running across her chest with some kind of emblem in the middle of it.

Just from looking at the woman, Kat knew she was the more powerful one of them even if the woman had been higher in the Tower. She was not sure why, but she knew it. After seeing the woman’s expression she knew that the woman in front of them also knew it as well. She also looked like she didn’t like the fact that Kat was the stronger one.

The pretty man had a smile on his face. Like the woman, he too was wearing an army officer's uniform, but without the crooked hat. His hat was a tall round shako hat with gold rope over the small brim and a short stubby red feather sticking up from the front top part of the hat. It also had a yellow metal medallion with the royal army insignia on it. He was also wearing his pants way too tight.

He also caught her looking downwards which would have made her embarrassed if she wasn’t so tired. She wasn’t physically tired, it was that she was more mentally tired. she felt like it was too hard to think any complicated thoughts. As it was, she could only shake her head as his smile grew wider.

“Kat, curtsy.” Emily whispered loudly, making Kat turn around to look at her. “That’s the princess.”

“Oh.” Kat said, and turned back around to face the princess once more. She did a quick curtsy towards the crown princess.

“Don’t get up.” Emily whispered as soon as Kat was finished curtsying. “You have to wait until she allows you to stand in her presence.”

Trying her best not to roll her eyes, Kat curtseyed, but this time she stayed down holding her imaginary dress out to her sides. Her Tower given pants were not suited for curtseying.  She remembered something about not looking the royals in the eye, but since she already had she looked up at the princess from her position hoping she could get this over with and take a nap. She still had to meet with General Arnold before she could do that, though.

“You need courtly lessons, but we are not at court.” The princess said with an oddly soft voice. Kat hid her smile as she heard the royal accent. She could remember a lot of jokes that made fun of that accent. “You may rise.” Kat did her best to keep her sigh internal.

“Duke Arnold is away at his estates for holiday.” The Princess told them. “I’m the temporary viceroy until he returns. I assumed you are the Lady Katherine, and you are the Lady Turmbul.”

“Yes, your Majesty.” Kat replied for the both of them mentally clapping herself on the back for remembering to call the princess her Majesty.

“Very good.” She said, as Kat thought how patronising the royal accent sounded sometimes. “What is your highest floor?”

“Forty-nine.” Kat said, but Emly corrected her.

“This is our fiftieth floor, Your Majesty.” She corrected Kat.

“Right, Fifty.” Kat corrected, realising her mistake.

“Is she always this slow?” The princess asked, making it clear that she was looking at Emily.

“No, your majesty.” Emily replied, shaking her head. “She hasn’t slept in months, I assumed she is just tired.”

“Months, you say.” The princess remarked her eyebrow rising.

“I don’t need food either.” Kat said feeling amused. “Tip the pot and watch me grow.” She said, raising her hand in the air like a fancy tea pot.

“Kat!” Emily whispered scandalized.

“You're a funny one.” The princess replied without a single ounce of amusement in her voice or a smile on her face.

“Sorry.” Kat muttered to them. “Sounded funnier in my head.”

“I understand that you are from the north shore?” The princess asked, but not stopping for an answer, she continued. “I have a battalion that is being built for Duke Knox’s regiment. It is to be stationed along the border to protect the engineers as they rebuild the shield station near Winnekenni castle.”

Kat wanted to ask what happened, but for once held her tongue.

“You both will be attached to the battalion as Lieutenant’s and you will not let on what station the Tower has granted you. You will say, if asked, that you are on your third ten set, and are lords. You will be stationed at Winnekenni castle until such time as your commanders see fit to relieve you. You will report to Captain Thomas in one week. That is all.”

Kat saw out of the corner of her eye that Emily was curtsying again so she followed suit. “Emily, you are not in the Tower guard any more .You are in the Royal army now. A salute is the appropriate response to a commanding officer no matter their station in life.”

“Sorry, Your majesty.” The noble woman replied, and Kat saw her stand up and salute so she did as well.

“When you are done with your squire duties, you may visit.” The princess said, making it clear that she was talking to Kat’s friend and not her.

“We have much to discuss.” Emily replied, confusing Kat on what their relationship was.

“I look forward to it.” The princess replied. “Lieutenants.” She said in a commanding voice as she saluted them. Kat didn't prompt any prompting and quickly saluted the true royal. The princess dropped her salute and walked off to the left hand side of the crown statue.

“You know that she can have you tried in the high court for that?” Emily said as soon as the princess was out of ear shot. “Public house humor with the princess. Tip the pot and watch me grow, indeed.”

“It was funny.” Kat said with a smile as she followed the princess’ exit.

“Your humor may get us killed one day, Kat.” The noble woman replied.

“At least we will go out with a laugh.” Kat said with a big smile as she started up the stairs.

“By the Maker stop.” The noble woman cried, before she stopped and looked around. “Where are we going?”

“Our rooms.” Kat said, before she realized that she wasn’t going to the same room as before. “Our new rooms are on the third floor, the same door as our last one.” She told her friend as she recited what she hadn’t known until just then. At least consciously.

“Kat, you have to be very cautious from now on.” Emily said, sounding very serious. “The Tower has given you a room higher than the Kings. This will cause us problems.”

“Are we higher than the princesses?” Kat asked curiously.

“No, she is on the fourth floor.” Emily replied shaking her head.

“It’s only because she’s on a higher floor.” Kat said thinking out loud. “I’m stronger than she is.”

“By the maker, shut up.” Emily nearly shouted. “Things like that get people killed. I’m your squire, that means that if you get in trouble, then you get me in trouble. Please, take my advice, and keep that mouth of yours shut.”

“Sorry.” Kat replied.

“What is wrong with you?” She asked Kat. “You are not normally this stupid. Are you okay?”

Kat thought it over and replied. “It’s being back here. Everything is moving too fast. I don’t like it. It makes me irritable.”

“Get over it or you are going to get us killed.” Emily said hotly, then stomped up the stairs angrily.

Kat sighed, knowing her friend was right, but everything was irritating her. The people, the stupid paintings on the walls, even the stairs she was walking on were driving her mad. What was worse, she didn’t know why. Not knowing why made her irritation even worse.

The third floor looked exactly like the first floor, except that the paintings were different. She didn’t notice any painting of her, but there she wasn’t really paying attention. She was too caught up in her own emotions to really pay attention.  The door to her room looked exactly like her old one except the doorknob was gold instead of silver.

Emily was waiting on her by their new home, so Kat didn’t waste any time and opened the door. She ignored the tingle zap she got from the magic coming off the door, and pulled the door open. The room inside was identical to her old room with a beige couch, two high back chairs, a fireplace between four windows. The only difference was that her stuff was in the room.

She spotted her father’s sergeant’s knife hanging on the wall. She looked at Emily as the other woman stormed in, but she kept on going towards her room ignoring Kat. Shrugging, Kat closed the door and looked around, spotting a few other things that were not there before. There was a skull from an undead skeleton sitting on a shelf that was still glowing purple placed on the shelf above the fireplace. Beside it was a little gold beetle that infested the swamps during her climb through the thirties floors. Kat didn’t realize that Emily had picked one up.

There was more stuff too hanging on the wall besides her fathers knife. There was a musket rifle from the rats that was hanging by one of the guest rooms. It butt end was covered in dried blood. Near Emily’s door was a tiny poisonous plant that Kat recognized as one that nearly killed Emily more times than she could ount, just by brushing up against it. She had no idea why Emily wanted it, but it was sitting near the window doing fine in it’s clay pot.

Kat looked at Emily’s door and thought about knocking to apologize for her behavior, but decided her squire needed time alone. Turning around, she went to her bedroom. It looked just like it had before except there was a huge chest sitting at the end of her bed. Curious, Kat opened it and found thousands of paper notes, worth two pounds each. The entire thing was full of it. In shock, Kat reached down and picked up a stack and leafed through it. Shaking her head at her new found wealth she put it back and closed the lid.

Wanting a bath desperately, Kat stripped on the way to the bathroom. A few minutes later she was neck deep in scalding hot water. She felt her muscles relax for the first time in what seemed like forever. Closing her eyes she rested her head against the back of the tub. She heard Emily shout something through the door, but she was too relaxed to do anything about it. Sometime later, the water had cooled off, and she reluctantly climbed out.

She didn’t bother putting her clothes back on and slipped into her bed. She felt scandalized by wearing nothing to bed, but she was just too tired to get up and get dressed. She tossed and turned for a short while as the bed was far too soft and uncomfortable for her to get any rest. Huffing in irritation, she climbed off her beautiful bed and laid down beside it on the ground pulling the bed sheet off to cover her modesty. To her relief she found it far more comfortable than the soft bed was. Her body relaxed and her tension faded. Closing her eyes she was asleep in seconds.

Kat dreamed. It was an old dream that dated back when she was nine. She was outside near her village. It was very cold, but no snow had fallen yet. Her father was away at the Tower and she was staying with a Quaker family that lived nearby.

In her dream Anne, the pregnant Quaker lady she was staying with, were walking in the woods when the sounds of musket fire echoed through the forest. She remembered Anne telling her to hide in a pile of rocks that the farmers had pulled from the fields. She and some of the village kids had created a fort of sorts in the rocks. The entrance was well hidden from all but in front of it, and even if someone did find it, it was so small that only a child on their bellies would be able to crawl into.

The rocks were cold that day, she remembered as she looked out from the small hole between them. She could see Ann as a man dressed in red and white of the Sons and Daughters of liberty came out of nowhere and started yelling at Anne. In her dream as in real life she wasn’t able to see the man’s face, but she did see when he pulled out his sword. She remembered how he staggered like her Uncle when he had too many cups in him.

She remembered the sword being very long, and shiny like her fathers crafted Tower sword. She also remembered how the flintlock pistol sounded as it fell to the ground. It made an odd hollow sound as it hit the forest floor. In her dream, the pistol fell for a really long time like a leaf from a tree as it fell to the coming of winter.

In her dream, Anne backed up in fear as the man bellowed, swinging his sword around. Holding on to the cold rocks, she watched as Anne shook her head no. In real life the sword strike was too fast for Kat to see, but in her dream she saw the man as he lunged at Anne in a classic swordsman strike. The shiny sword went in Anne’s fat belly then continued on to hit the tree behind her.

It was the cry that stayed with Kat the longest. The utter despair of a mother losing her unborn child. In her dream, Anne watched helplessly as the man in red and white laughed and laughed. It was the laugh that brought Kat out of her rock fort. It was the laugh that made her pick up the fallen pistol and point it at the back of the man’s head. It was the laugh that made her pull the trigger just like her father had taught her.

She dreamed how heavy the pistol was, and how loud the shot sounded. The shot went on forever, but unlike in real life, the man stayed on his feet. He didn’t fall like he did when he was struck. In the dream the man spun around. He had a monster’s face with horns not unlike sharp and pointy horns of the fell ram beasts that sometimes made it past the kingdom's shields to attack and eat the sheep her village raised.

The man made that perfect lunge again, but this time it was her who was stabbed in the belly. It was her unborn child that died in her womb. It was her that cried that awful cry. In her dream she looked down at the blood in her hands.

Kat shot up from the ground and into her fighting stance. She charged her musket balls of vitality while waiting for the man in red and white to attack. For the first few seconds, she didn’t remember where she was. She looked around, but nothing made sense. It was only when she saw her mess unmade bed did she realize where she was.

She let her skill fade and took a deep breath letting her head drop as she closed her eyes. In her chest her heart slowed its pace as the fight left her. Knowing that she wouldn’t be able to sleep anymore she moved to get dressed. As she did so, she saw her blue dress in her closet. It was the same dress that she had worn the day she had left her fathers home and the same one she had taken off before she entered the Tower. Since she was already dressed in her Tower given clothes, she simply threw it over her head without taking it off. The sleeves of her shirt poked through, but she easily fixed it by rolling the sleeve up so it wouldn’t show from under the sleeves of her dress.

She moved over to the mirror that was hanging by the bath door, and looked at herself and smiled. But as she did the dream came back to her. She had been lucky that day. The man had been a climber on his third ten set. Her father later told her that he was a swordsman who relied on his body attribute to survive. He had very little vitality, and had counted on his speed and grace to avoid getting hurt. His low vitality allowed him to get drunk, and it also allowed a single shot from a flintlock to kill him.

She turned away from herself in the mirror and left her room. She had to get out, and do something. In her living room she looked around wanting to do something, but couldn’t figure what. She thought about doing her morning exercise, but they seemed so useless now that her body attribute was so high. She went to the window and looked out at the city laid out before her. It was still dark out, but she spotted some lights in the nearby noble quarter.

As she was looking over the city her restlessness kept growing. She needed to be out. Turning to the right, she spotted her power coins. Noting that there was a large pile of them, she went over and counted them. As each one disappeared into her hand, she found that there were twenty-two of them which surprised her until she remembered how many she got for the last ten set.

Close to her squires door she could feel Emily in her room. It was just a general sensation that she was that way and close. Since they were in the Palace of royals she assumed that meant Emly was in her room. Thinking about their past conversations she got an idea and smiled. A quick detour to her room to pick up a handful of notes, and she was to leave her new home hoping that the surprise would improve Emily’s disposition. But first, she had some coins to spend.

Taking the crown gate to the lion’s gate she entered the noble quarter. It was just down a side street and then across Royal way and she was there. While it was still early she did see a few people running around. They didn’t look like lords or ladies, but more like servants. She did note that while not all of them were carrying food items, there were more of them that weren’t.

The Tower store was empty at this time of the day so she had no problems getting her vitality stones. Her body and magic attributes were really getting high, but nowhere as high as her monstrous vitality attribute. After consuming the stones, her vitality stomach stretched once more. It was an oddly pleasant feeling.

She had added every reward she got from each floor plus all of her power coins into her vitality which when she did the math came out to be 75 attributes. That was not including how much her skill had stolen from the undead, the only monster that gave her vitality so far. If she had to guess, she would have to say her vitality was roughly around one-seventy-five or maybe a bit higher.

Which would be insane considering that her father had told her that his highest attribute was Twenty-six which was in body, the most common attribute people used. He had three attributes in vitality so he could survive some attacks from Tower monsters. He had only gotten one power coin which he spent on a bow which broke before he reached the fortieth floor. That meant she had more than six times the attributes than he did. That wasn’t taking into account her body or magic attributes. And it was all because of her father that she didn’t pick a lesser skill when she had the chance. She knew the sword art would be powerful, but to her attributes far surpassed it in pure power.

Shaking her head at the thought, she allowed her stolen sense of smell to return and taking a sniff turned and started walking following a heavenly scent. She followed the scent all the way past the Dragon statue which was in the commoners quarter near the peasants quarter.

The Dragon statue was one of the most famous gates in the city. It was situated between the peasant and commonr’s quarters. It wasn’t the only one in those quarters. The peasant alone was the largest section in the city. It completely encircled the outer edge of the city by the huge wall. The commoner’s quarters was just inside that ring, with the noble quarters inside the commoner’s quarter. There were a few more between the two, but the dragon gate was more famous because of the food shops and public houses. There were four streets that were close to the gate and around there you could find a plethora of pubs, food carts that seemed to be open all hours of the night, and restaurants that catered to the drunkards that stumbled out from the pubs. They weren’t known for upscale food, but if one was interested in drinking, and food, it was the place to go

Sitting on Dogwood street, a small cafe stood open. There was a line of people waiting to go in. She caught a strong scent of alcohol in the air before she turned off her stolen power. It was for naught though as she stood behind four climbers who were dressed in armor complete with weapons and reeked of alcohol. She reconsidered after a few seconds of smelling the people in front of her. Her sense of smell would have made the smell overpowering more than it already was.The guy in front of her turned around and gave her a smile.

“Hello, beautiful.” He said leaning forward.

Incensed at his inappropriate greeting she turned away hoping he would take the hint. He did not.

“Hey now, that’s not nice.” He told her, sounding like he was mocking her.

Kat turned and gave him a cold look meeting his eyes. He frowned in response.

“Hey now, there is no need for the evil eye, love.” He said, raising his hands. She continued to look him in the eye.

“Lay off, Derrick.” A woman said from further up the line.

“What?” The man named Derrick asked looking over her shoulder. “Dressed that way she is, she must be a peasant getting her master his morning breakfast.”

“How do you figure?” The woman asked. Kat looked away from the man and saw a woman with a bow standing near the front of the line looking back at them.

“She ain’t got any weapons. No jewelry aside from the earring. What climber but a peasant goes out in public like that?” The man asked, turning back to look at her.

Kat’s anger disappeared in a flash as she felt, mischiefly. “What kind of climber indeed.” She replied.

The man must have seen something in her eyes as his pleased smile faded slightly for a few seconds before it returned in full force. “How about a duel?” He asked her. “If I win, you go out on a date with me.”

“And if I win?” Kat asked, feeling excited. She wasn’t excited about going on a date with the fool, but fighting her first duel.

“If you win, I shall give you my dagger.” He said, pulling out his dagger, making people laugh.

Kat, pretending to look closer at it, said, “It would be a dishonor for a lady like me to accept a wager so small.”

That made the crowd laugh even harder. “I bet a ten pence on the lady.” The woman shouted in the background. Kat ignored the bet and shouting that occurred afterwards as she looked up at the man who was not looking pleased at the moment.

“I was going to go easy on you, love. But now you made my hackles rise.” The man said, stepping back away from her. He pulled off a ring from his finger and showed it to her. “This is a Tower chest ring. It gives a person a plus one to my body attribute. I found it on floor eighteen. If you win you get this.”

“That and the dagger should be sufficient.” Kat replied with a smirk.

“Fine.” The man said, putting his ring back on his finger. “I challenge you to a duel!”

“I accept.” Kat said with a big smile on her face.

‘Protected Duel between climbers. Rules, no outside help. Duel to deathblow, communicating in some way to accept defeat, or unconsciousness. No death is allowed in the city. You are protected from death, but no other wounds will be protected. Wages. Date with the male climber if you lose. Gain a weak body attribute ring and poor dagger if you win.’ The Tower spoke in its non verbal way.

The man in front of her pulled his sword from his belt and gave her a fairly decent salute with it. Kat dipped her head a bit as she raised her arms to her sides and gave the man a big grin. She watched as his facial expression changed from arrogant to confused as he looked at her.

‘Begin’, the Tower whispered to her.

Kat stayed where she was and held her hands wide as she waited on him. The man named Derrick leaned forward and swiped his sword at her waist. It was so slow she would have assumed he wasn’t being serious if it wasn’t for his facial expression. She reached out and caught his sword then still holding the blade she stepped in and gently slapped the man in the face.

To her surprise, he glowed yellow for a second then the Tower spoke again. ‘Duel over. Deathblow administered to your opponent. You win a weak body attribute ring, and a poor dagger.’

“What?” The man named Derrick said looking confused as his dagger and ring appeared in Kat’s hand.

She let go of the man’s sword and smiled at her winnings. The ring was alright for an attribute ring, but it was big, gaudy, and ugly as all get up. The dagger, after a bit of testing, turned out to be fake. It looked like it was made out of some kind of Tower metal, but it was just plain steel. She bent the blade until it broke in the middle. It was easy to do, but then again it was not made from any Tower metal. It was crap, but the ring? That was worth a bit more.

But, before she saw to that, she turned her eyes back to her would be dueler. “Call me love one more time, and I will take you outside the Tower for a real duel.” She warned the startled man. She waited until she saw from the man's facial expression that he realized what she meant before turning around to face the crowd in front of the cafe. She smiled and spoke.

“Selling a plus one Body ring!” Kat yelled out, holding the ring in the air. “What’s your offer?”

“Five pence.” Someone in the crowd yelled out which illicated a laugh from the crowd.

“Real offers only.” Kat said dryly. The offers got up to ten notes, nowhere the worth of the ring when she heard Derrick speak from behind her.

“Twenty notes.” He told her. Turning she saw that he was holding the paper money in his hands. Looking at him, she noted he looked desperate. He confirmed it seconds later. “It’s all I got.”

Kat knew that if the prices hadn’t changed since she had been climbing the floors in the two years she had been away then she knew she could get at least thirty notes for the ugly ring. Still, she had a lot of money in her chest in her room. In fact, she had far more than that on her. With a sigh, she nodded and opened her palm for the money. She collected the money and tossed him the ring. Tossing the broken knife into the gutter, she got back in line. Before long she got what she was after and made her way out of the cafe.

There were signs for the dragon gate everywhere. All Kat had to do was follow the signs to find the gate again. She waited in line, once more, for her turn to step through the glowing blue gate. Asking the Tower to send her to the Palace of Royals, she traveled back to her home.

After closing the door to her room, she set her package on one of the tables by the wall near Emily’s door. She went in search of the cups she had bought two years or so ago. They were in a small cabinet on the opposite side of the room. Smiling, she poured her and her roommate some tea and opened the wax paper wrapped food. With everything ready, she went and knocked on Emily's door.

The woman in question answered the door after the fourth time Kat knocked. “What?” She asked harshly.

It was all Kat could do not to laugh at her squire's appearance. Her brown hair was sticking up in all directions. She wore a silky see-through overcoat that looked like it was created in the old world, which she was currently holding closed, over her expensive looking sleeping clothes. To complete the ensemble, Kat spotted that the woman even wore matching house shoes.

“I brought breakfast.” She told her friend and waved her hand at the food on the table.

“Meat pies?” The rumpled, but finley dress noble woman asked.

“And breakfast tea.” Kat said with a smile.

“You are forgiven.” The noble woman said, her eyes never leaving the food on the table.

There was no talking for the next five minutes as both of them ate and drank their breakfast. Kat, who had never had a meat pie, absolutely fell in love with the greasy chicken, vegetables, and white gravy under a thin but crunchy bread concoction. The tea was, to Kat’s great surprise, very good.

She was not normally a tea drinker as the only tea she had ever drank was the mostly dark but sharp tasting brew that most army people drank. This was sweeter, and had a flowery taste to it. She promised herself, after her cup was empty, to get a stock of it for when she climbed the Tower. Granted, she knew that it would be hard to brew it while she was climbing, but she swore to herself she would find a way.

“The princess wanted me to pass on that you are forgiven for your discretion.” Emily told her, sipping her tea. “She told me that most climbers who spend too long climbing the floors get battle fatigue. She told me it tends to make people irritable and do stupid things like making jokes to their betters. I strongly suggest you don’t do that again.”

“I won’t.” Kat said feeling embarrassed now that she thought about what she did. It had just kind of slipped out. If she was being honest with herself, she knew it was because at that moment she knew she was more powerful than the true royal that had stood in front of her. It was, she admitted to herself, pure arrogance on her part. She promised herself to do better in the future.

“Good.” Emily said, putting her cup down on the table. “I have more information for our next command. Captain Tomas is currently building a four company battalion to support Coronel Theon at Winnekenni castle. Coronel Theon’s regiment is in charge of protecting the merrimack river, and all the supplies that flow out to the sea. He was given permission to enlarge his command temporarily until the shield station is rebuilt.”

“Is Winnekenni really a castle?” Kat asked, leaning back in her seat.

“Yes.” Emily said with a small smile. “I don’t remember his name, but a merchant went to the old world and fell in love with some castle he saw over there. He was, I believe, building it for himself, but after nearly dying to a monster attack he built it for the Army. It’s now one of the forts that protects our borders.”

“So what destroyed the shielding station?” Kat asked, as the other woman picked up her fork and ate another small bite of food.

After taking the time to swallow her food, Emily answered. “We don’t know. Officially, it’s listed as an accident, but the princess told me they suspect something untold happened.”

“Who would be daff enough to want to damage a shielding station?” Kat asked, frowning.

“Not damaged, destroyed.” Emily told her. “It’s why they have to rebuild it. The shielding crystals, overloaded. Now, what I have to say, stays between us. You cannot speak of this anywhere else, Kat. I’m serious. We could be tried as tractors before the royal court.”

“Okay.” Kat said, nodding her head in agreement.

“King Jasper had to make a deal with the Sun Climber King for the crystals. We didn’t have any to spare.” Emily told her. “We cannot let anything happen to those crystals, Kat. We may not be able to get another in the future.”

Kat sucked on her teeth as she thought of the implications of not having a shielding station in the north. For one, all the nearby villages would be right at the edge of the Kingdom shield instead of being behind two of them. That included the town of Lowell which was a huge industrial town. The Memerrarch river, the most important river in the north, would have to be abandoned as it would be far too dangerous to travel down without the protection of at least two shields.

“I see you understand what’s at stake.” Emily said, with a serious look. “Good, we need to go shopping for our uniforms and paraphernalia after this.”

“I thought the army issued all of our equipment.” Kat said, frowning.

“On dear, we are officers now.” Emily told her. “Only the enlisted get issued their equipment. We can get most of what we need inside the Tower, but for the rest we will have to go to Boston itself. It’s best we get this over with as a lot of it will have to be tailored to us. That will take time, and we have only a week, after all.”

“Whenever you are ready.” Kat said, as she watched the noble woman sip on her tea.

An hour later they left for a Tailor that Emily knew to get fitted for their uniforms. It turned out to be a two hour ordeal. They had to get three sets of working uniforms and one dress uniform for winter clothing as well as a second set for the summer. They had to be enchanted with cleanliness, and self repair. Emily ended up getting a few more enchantments, but Kat didn’t bother. Increasing her attributes by one or two wouldn’t do that much for her. She wanted the tempracontrolling enchantment, but the tailor didn’t know how to do that, nor did she know anyone who could do that. At the end of the fitting Kat ended up paying almost fifty notes just for her uniforms. The tailor assured them it would be ready in four days.

The female officer army uniforms were a white blouse with a silver vest and a darker silver coat that went down to Kat’s waist. It was also very tight, but didn’t limite her movements. She also had to get a large back coat that looked like a wide hemmed dress when buttoned up. It went from her shoulders to all the way down to her about an inch from her heels. The mele officers, according to the tailor, had to wear a large overcoat that looked more like a cloak than a coat instead of the wide hemmed coat that the female officers had to wear.

Then they had to go to the hatters to get their shako hats. Like their uniforms it had to have the enchantments to self clean and self repair. They had to have a small red feather that was from a fire bird only found in the Towers. It was, she found out, to keep them warm in the winter, and cool in the summer. It wasn’t as good as her old clothes that she lost in the swamps, but it would do in the weather outside of the Tower.

From there they visited the coopers to get boots. They had to be self cleaning and self repairing just like the rest of their uniforms. The boots were black and went all the way to just below their knees. They were built more for riding horses than marching. The cooper told them that they would be ready the following day.

Then they had to get pistols and a sword. Kat got a single pistol that cost as much as her everything she had spent so far. It was a mana crystal lock pistol. The hammer of the pistol had a mana crystal instead of a flint, and it struck a fire crystal that was embedded in the gun. When the two touched it caused a small explosion that would propel a led ball. It did away with the old black powder of the old loads. That meant that all she needed to do was drop a musket ball down the barrel and put a wad of cotton in it to prevent the ball from falling out. It could also be used even if the pistol got soaked unlike the black powder versions. Emily got two, more elaborate, pistols that were enchanted to give her more mana.

The swords were the most expensive single thing Kat had to buy even after what she had to pay for the pistols. The swords had to be from some kind of Tower metal, and enchanted for self sharpening. Kat got the cheapest sword she could find and it still cost her two hundred notes. Emily got one that also increased her spell casting and mana absorption. Kat didn’t know how much it cost, but for once Emily looked pained when she handed over the notes.

From there Kat went back to her room to drop off the only purchase she had in hand so far which were her weapons. Emily decided to keep her weapons on her. Kat suspected it was because it helped with her skill. She didn fault the other woman for doing so. She had no idea what she would do if she couldn’t use her skill because she didn’t have enough vitality.

After she was done, Emily informed her over dinner at the same restaurant that they had gone to two years ago that served fish stew, that they would have to go to Boston the following day to get the rest of their required kit. Oddly enough, Kat wasn’t looking forward to leaving the Tower. She didn’t know why, but the Tower felt like home to her. She still felt that way when she slept on the floor again that night after her hour-long bath and washing her blue dress.  Thankfully, she didn’t dream that night and woke up refreshed in the morning.