Astra and Irena

"I see," said Astra. She felt somewhat torn. She did not trust Turik one bit, yet as a noble and an Aqualarian she would have a hard time getting a job elsewhere in this city- state. She noted bitterly how smoothly Turik had manipulated her into a situation where she had little choice but to join him. Still, she was probably better off leaving this city soon anyway. She would watch Turik carefully in the future, though. "Yes," she said to Turik, slightly ruefully "I accept your offer. But only for the duration of this mission."

A wide grin spread across Turik's fleshy face. "That would be an excellent idea. I entirely understand--you see, this is a rather special mission. Now let's have a word with Irena." He left the coach, flashily overtipping the coachman. Astra departed after him, trying to be more inconspicuous in her movements this time, but perhaps not entirely succeeding. She noticed many faces staring at her with lust, envy, anger, and perplexity through the air filled with the stench of unwashed bodies and despair. She wished that there was something she could do to help the people of this city, but realized that she'd probably be much less inclined to help them if she knew them better.

Irena walked up to meet Turik. She was wearing an elegant dress that showed off her figure quite well. It was quite noticeably feminine, yet definitely that of a warrior. Astra found herself admiring this Irena a bit--Turik was anything but a warrior. Even if Irena proved to be as dishonest as Turik in some ways, at least she was something other than a parasite who lived for money. Then again, would she feel as well-disposed toward Irena if she weren't a woman? She'd usually felt some resentment and competition for male warriors, especially in foreign lands... except for Frederigo, somehow. She was slightly annoyed that her mind had wandered back toward him. He had seemed a very corageous and honorable warrior and a good man, and she doubtless would have enjoyed knowing him better, and he was certainly attractive, but she had no reason to have this ridiculous passion for him. She hoped that her resentment toward her emotions wouldn't color her opinion of the man himself. She suspected that part of the reason she felt so strongly towards Fred was the subtle ways he'd reacted to her and treated her. He'd clearly been attracted to her, yet he hadn't reacted to her only on the basis of sex. He'd treated her not as an inferior or even a superior, but simply as another human being.

She realized that Irena and Turik had been talking for the time she'd been distracted. She inwardly cursed herself. She was behaving like the the worst Havnheim stereotype of a woman, ruled totally by her passions and going mad over a handsome man. She tried harder to listen to what Irena and Turik were saying. She'd have to step carefully in this strange situation she'd been thrust into.

"Tregennis, was it?" Turik was saying. "I've heard of him. He's an Allarian, isn't he? It seems that there are scholars of many nations involved here. What would an Allarian be doing all the way out here?"

"Ilios has always been one of his special interests. He's a very good man, I think, but a little monomaniacal."

"And why is it that they're working with Radu, of all people?"

"The university of Klow--that's where the Semyonovs come from--was originally going to finance this expedition, but they suddently decided it was all just a wild goose chase and suddenly cut funding. Perhaps there was some outside influence involved. Count Radu was the only local ruler who would finance them. Tregennis isn't comfortable with accepting money from a despot like Radu, but he believes that the good this expedition could do far outweighs that evil. As I said, he's somewhat monomaniacal when it comes to Ilios, although he's a very good man and I quite enjoyed his company, even if he was a bit of a bore when he went on about archaeology." Astra noticed that Turik seemed slightly incensed by this remark, and Irena had an almost gleeful look.

"What's your opinion of the others, then?"

"The Semyonovs strike me as rather unscrupulous people who are mainly after power and position in their own little niche. Easy enough to figure out. Stefan the Red seems a typical example of the sort of mage who decides to get involved in politics. He might be involved with a faction that's trying to kill Radu. Garok... I honestly can't figure him out. I suspect he might be an agent of some outside power, from the way he reacted to the decision to admit Stefan perhaps a rogue mage of some sort. He may not even be human. From his gestures, he might be a homunculus, which would mean that his master might well be Zerm or Vaeren or someone along those lines. I just hope it's not Castellan..."

"Who's Castellan?" put in Astra.

Irena looked over to Astra. Her eyes narrowed. "Who's that?"

"That would be Alleyne, my new employee. She's an Aqualarian merchant who fell on hard times. She ended up in the Three Kingdoms and tried to set herself up as a travelling fortune teller. She ended up hitting on an accurate prediction, her client blew it wildly out of proportion, and you probably know the rest by now. She had to flee before people realized what a mixed blessing her supposed powers would be. She ended up joining with me for the duration of this mission. She'll accompany me to Ilios while you keep an eye on things here."

Irena did not seem too pleased with this. "I see," she said. "It must be quite an interesting mission."

"Answer her question, dear," said Turik condescendingly.

"Yes. Castellan. If you are an Aqualarian, you would likely know him as Crucius the Fell. In fact, he hails from Vjoricia, although we are far from proud of him."

"I had heard he was dead."

"That's been said many times before," said Irena archly.

"I'll leave you two to get to know each other better," said Turik. "I'll go have a word with the innkeeper."

Astra turned to Irena. She could feel the other woman's hostility. Doubtless she had been quite interested in going on the adventure--Ilios was merely a name to Astra, and probably meant more to her. If Turik's goal had been to manipulate them into being irritated at each other, he had succeeded admirably. Would Astra take the gamble that Irena was someone she could trust? She decided she would--no matter what she might be like, having apparently worked under Turik for some time, she probably hated him as well. Astra found herself very frustrated that she couldn't just slice his head off. "He certainly seems to be trying very hard to create tension between us."

Irena seemed relieved. She smiled slightly. "You're probably quite right. He doesn't want either of us to feel he has any allies other than him. He's a manipulative little bastard, isn't he? I suppose he got his hooks into you because as the supposed fortune teller, you're in a rather precarious situation. You're not really a merchant, by the way, are you?"

"No," said Astra, slightly surprised. "How did you know? You won't tell Turik, will you?"

"Nothing would delight me more than withholding information from that bastard. How did I know? It's more of a suspicion, I'll admit. First off, your build is that of a warrior."

"Well, I might have to train myself in combat because I trade in perilous lands, like Al- Guhl or Lower Aetheopia."

"That would make sense. But I noticed that although you asked about Castellan you didn't ask about Vaeren. Zerm I'll admit most people would have heard of, but Vaeren is fairly obscure outside of Allaria. Unless you're an adventurer like I am, of course. You should still be careful with Turik, though. He's much stronger than he appears. He may have no small amount of bulk, but he's built like one of those sumo wrestlers from Nippon."

"You're quite right. I am an adventurer of sorts. I ended up here as a result of evil magic. Speaking of which, are you a mage or a non-mage? I'm sorry if that's intrusive, I'm just slightly curious. And what hold does Turik have over you?"

"I'd rather not say as to the second point, naturally," said Irena, "and as to the first point, I'm not a mage, no." Astra could feel she was withholding something more, but decided not to press--she was keeping her secrets too, after all. She had no idea how this Irena felt about Princess Astra. "I wasn't well liked by either side, however. You are a mage, though aren't you?"

Astra was extremely taken aback. "No, I am not. That's just a silly rumor."

"Don't insult my intelligence. I won't tell Turik. I've been around mages my entire life. People with an affinity for magic carry themselves in a certain way, without even really knowing it. You definitely have magic. Very powerful magic, it would appear."

Astra couldn't bring herself to answer. She simply gazed off into the bitter streets of Eramni, not really knowing what to think. But Turik soon emerged from the inn, as pompous as ever.

1. "You can come with me now," he told Astra. "I've made sleeping arrangements for you."
2. "You can come with me now," he told Astra. "I've made sleeping arrangements for you. But first, I'd like you to meet some of the people involved in this expedition.

Add New Option

Go Back

View Forward Story Tree
View Back Story Tree