118 Rumors (1/2)

My feet touched ground on the smooth stone of the tower's top floor. Waiting for me there were Aura, Luca, and Varda.

All three of them looked like they had something to say, but I raised my hand before any of them could speak up, and said, \”Me first.\”

I went on to explain to them what had happened in Mudgard, how my friend Ty had been abducted by a person or group I suspected of being fairies, and how the McCord twins had arrived at the Elfwood Circle Stones and found evidence that Ty may have been taken to the Fayne.

\”May have?\” Aura asked, her arms crossing over her chest. \”You believe this could be a ruse?\”

I nodded. \”I'm not sure… it could very well be an elaborate smoking gun to keep us off their trail…\”

\”But you'd like to make sure all the bases are covered?\” Aura prompted.

I really loved how we were both so in sync during a crisis.

\”I made a promise to Arah that I would find Ty,\” I said quietly. It was all I could do to keep a calm face. But deep inside, I was boiling like a volcano ready to explode. \”So, any suggestions on how we can make sure I keep my promise?\”

Luca advocated we storm the Trickster capital and threaten Kairon to divulge where he'd stashed Ty.

His obvious hatred for the fairy who stole away his future was peeking out there, but I wasn't sure Kairon had anything to do with Ty's abduction. Otherwise, Aura would have been in the know. It was a fact she pointed out to Luca, deflating his hopes of an early revenge, or at least a chance to make that old bastard quake in his boots.

Still, I agreed to send Nike back to Orryn tonight so we could get information on human kidnapping directly from the horse's mouth as soon as possible.

Varda suggested we send out the kobolds with new orders to gather information across the Westmarch. When I asked her why it had to be the Westmarch, she responded with, \”Because we're here. It's likely whatever bad situation is happening is somehow connected to you and to us, right?\”

Somehow, I found her logic infallible. Leave it to the dwarf to suggest connecting all my misfortunes into one big giant mess just waiting to explode on all of us.

I laughed. Although it was bordering hysterics, it was the first real bout of laughter to come out of me since learning of Ty's abduction, and not for the first time was I glad I had Varda on my team.

\”Okay, send Fila to Thor so he can relay the new orders,\” I said after I'd calmed down. \”And have the rest of the kobolds in the tower head out as soon as they can.\”

After a second or two had passed, Varda raised her hand. \”And the orders are…?\”

\”I want any news on recent human abductions and slave auctions happening in the region,\” I instructed.

Varda nodded. She prepared to head down to find Fila, but then stopped in her tracks to look back at me.

\”Yeah?\” I asked.

I furrowed my brow. \”What merchants?\”

\”The ones who are here to interview for renting space in the tower grounds… you do remember you asked to meet prospects, right?\” she explained in a tone that suggested she didn't think I remembered.

I vaguely recall a hurried discussion about inviting merchants to visit the tower to see if we could do business together way back when my rivals visited.

\”And they're here now?\” I asked, annoyed this sudden interruption.

Varda nodded. \”Should I tell them to come back another time?\”

I had half a mind to say yes, but seeing the worried look on Varda's face cooled my head somewhat. It must have taken a lot of haggling for her to get these merchants to come visit.

I sighed, shaking my head as I did. \”It's alright. We'll meet them.\” I glanced at each of them in turns. \”But I want to stress that getting news about Ty is our priority for the foreseeable future.\” My gaze lingered on Aura. \”You okay with this? It'll mean putting Darah's orders on the back burner.\”

Aura didn't even hesitate when she took my forearm and lightly squeezed it with one of her delicate elven hands. \”Finding Tiberius comes first.\”

With my orders relayed,  Luca went in search of the sprites while Varda, Aura and I made our way down to the second floor of the tower in order to meet our latest batch of guests. Not knowing what to expect, I found myself gazing out at a larger gathering of fairy merchants than I expected.

\”What's going on?\” I asked, my brow furrowing once again. As if my nerves weren't frayed enough by the whole Ty situation.

\”There was quite a lot of interest among the local merchant guilds when we let the word out we were considering opening shop here, Commander,\” Varda chirped in, sounding very pleased with herself. \”Apparently, a lot of people aren't satisfied with the huge number of taxes and regulations inside Jester's Court and Broken Sellsword's Canyon is just too far south from the greater Westmarch region.\”

\”Making the possibility of a new shopping hub an enticing invitation for these merchants,\” Aura added.