42 Sense and Sensibility (1/2)

After giving Darah his blessing seemingly caused him pain, Auranos Trickhaven was whisked away by his sister with the help of her bodyguard. They half-carried him through the side door he'd entered from and vanished into whatever lay beyond.

No one had moved until he was gone but the reactions to his abrupt departure were a mixed bag. Both Grimthorn and Folkor were visibly annoyed, although neither of them scowled angrily at the side door as Kairon did.

The Chancellor of the Moon rose from his seat in a huff and stormed out of the hall in a really bad mood. His three aids shuffled in his wake looking as livid as their boss.

I watched them go while thinking I needed to stay clear from that crowd. Even without using Fool's Insight, I knew they were trouble. In fact, I could smell crazy coming off them.

Orryn just scratched his curly-haired head and sighed. He tapped on Darah's shoulder and then walked over to the side door to follow the Patriarch's group. However, before he vanished completely through it, he looked over to me and gestured for me to join him.

I looked puzzledly at him and then pointed to myself for clarification. This earned me an eye roll from Chancellor Orryn.

”I was told you had a brain, boy... perhaps that's been exaggerated as much as your recent exploits I've heard so much about,” he said.

As if in response to his mocking tone, an audible chuckling could be heard from the one person who hadn't moved since the Patriarch's departure. After her fit of giggles subsided, Darah, who'd been kneeling this whole time, finally rose and looked over to where Commander Thors and I stood.

”Come along, boys,” she ordered. Then she followed Orryn who'd already gone through the side door.

Commander Thors nudged me forward. ”Come on. We don't want to keep those two waiting.”

Darah and Orryn were already far into the passage by the time Thors and I walked through the arch of the side door. We found ourselves in a high-ceilinged hallway with curved walls similar to the hall we'd just vacated. Above us, a canopy of tree limbs and leaves served as a roof for what felt like a five-minute walk. The passage was that long.

When we finally exited on the other side, we arrived in an enclosed garden surrounded by walkways on each side. I think this place was called a cloister, but it was unlike any cloister back on Mudgard.

The flowers growing on the green shrubs were of a size and color you'd be hard-pressed to find back home. They were huge and too bright like their contrast had been dialed up to max. Even the grass looked like something you'd see on an Instagram post, almost like a landscape photo that had been edited to perfection.

However, it was the smell that really showed off the beauty around me. The pleasing scent of a dozen flowers and herbs like lavender and thyme and peppermint and rose floated all around me—and even more amazing was how each scent didn't overpower the other. Instead, they melded into each other and produced a strangely calming effect on me.

At the center of this perfect scenery was a wooden gazebo fashioned to look like four white trees bending at the center so that their branches were a roof for the people inside it.

To the right side of the gazebo stood Darah and Orryn who were paying their respects to the clan Patriarch while he rested on a plush antique lounge chair. On his left stood Aura.

I just stood there and looked at her. Her hair was back to that shoulder-length blonde I'd gotten used to. Although the smile she had when she was with the Foolhardies was still out of sight. It had been replaced by the worry on her face as she looked down at Auranos.

I'm not sure how long I stood there, but Thors had already gone ahead when someone shoved me from behind and broke my daze. When I turned around to see who did it, I found the stoic face of Edo looking down at me.

”Stare at her any harder and I'll poke your eyes out, kid,” he said in a non-threatening way.

”Is that any way to talk to your Commander?” I countered jokingly.

Edo snorted. ”Tell you what, Dean... you make sure Aura survives the coming war and I'll sing your praises until the golden moon loses its luster.”

It was just like Edo to take a swing at my penchant for semi-reckless ideas while reminding me what I would be putting at stake if things turned for the worse.

I nodded. ”I hear you loud and clear, big guy...”

An unwritten agreement formed between us then. Whatever happened, we would make sure Aura survived.

I waved goodbye to my fellow soldier and made my way over to the gazebo where expectant eyes watched for my approach. When I arrived just outside it, I followed the rules as I was taught them back in the beginning. I knelt and gave my greetings to the Patriarch.

”This visere of Lady Aurana greets the Patriarch of the Trickster Pavilion,” I said.

”Ah... I remember you. Aurana brought you to me only a short while ago...” the Patriarch's voice was almost a whisper. ”I understand you are instrumental in our victory over the Clamlands.”

I raised my head and looked into the Patriarch's face.

The golden mask that covered his face had the shape and features of an elf. Even the nose was long and pointed. the eyes hiding behind the slits were of a darker blue than Aura's and was as deep as staring into depths of the sea.

”Rise, Dean... and come closer,” the Patriarch whispered.

I did as he asked, and when I got close enough, he held onto my arm and pulled himself into a sitting position.

Both Orryn and Darah moved to assist him but he held them back with a wave of his other hand. As if to say he wasn't so weak he needed three people to help him sit upright.

”My sister has regailed me with your recent exploits.. your victory in the Western Calmlands and your conquering of a lost drow clan...” Although his voice was still weak, Auranos' tone was more at ease now.

I glanced over to Aura who just shrugged at me.

It seemed she was the culprit who, as Orryn put it, exaggerated my achievements. Sure, I did win the hilltop but I'd gotten too many of my soldiers killed and almost died myself. As for conquering a lost drow clan, well, that would be the loosest definition of what really happened.

All I could do was shrug at Auranos which in hindsight might have been rude to royalty, but he didn't seem to mind.