Chapter 26: There and Back Again (2/2)

Mana absorption: beginner 2

They made camp in the late afternoon, by a lone guard tower. The church hideout was below the derelict, through a grate, and where she thought there might have been a water reservoir. There were a few revenants around the safehouse.

“Would you like to slay a few more foes, Farren?”

She did not mean to be patronizing, yet for an instant, she feared that he would think her mocking. Thankfully, the Voice of Neriad gripped his mace with firm hands and gave her a nod.

“Yes.”

“Marruk, go with him and protect. I’ll start making camp.”

“I go and protect. Yes.”

The horses were already inside drinking water from a trough. She went to the sled and started to unpack their sleeping rolls.

//Your Grace, there is something I would like to bring to your attention.

“Yes?”

//We are being followed.

Viv turned around, suddenly tense. She eyed the opening with worry, before realizing that if Solfis judged the danger to be imminent, he would have reacted.

“Elaborate.”

//Our pursuer is just one, male from their shape. He followed us since the city, and has remained at a respectable distance.

“So he is not undead then. What else can you tell me?”

//The pursuer most likely follows an infiltration or assassination path.

//Their stealth ability is quite impressive.

//Of course, they are no match for my intricate sensor suite.

//However, neither you nor Marruk stand a chance to locate him, even if you tried.

//Additionally, Farren is aware of his presence.

“How do you know?” Viv asked. She removed fire bricks and a pot from the sled and set out to prepare dinner.

//The Voice of Neriad turned around as we crossed the boundaries with the deadlands.

//The pursuer lowered his visual barrier and allowed our companion to see him.

//Following which, Farren showed detectable signs of being less tense.

“He’s bullshitting us.”

//It could be that he prepared something.

//Or it could be that the pursuer is an insurance, in case you are not as well-intentioned as you seem.

“Confronting Farren might be a problem. On the other hand, we are taking a risk by continuing with him. What if we have a battle on our hands and that spy attacks us in the back?”

//I see two difficulties with confronting Farren.

//First, and as far as I could detect, he was truthful when saying that the cause of his coming was to experience the deadlands and fight its denizens.

//Farren may have extensive experience fooling those with ability to detect falsehood.

//Which can be expected from every teenager raised by the church of Neriad.

//Half-truths and technically correct statements are the tools that he has mastered.

//Therefore, an interrogation could lead to a confrontation we might want to avoid, with few chances of success.

“Is it wise to wait, then?”

//We will learn more if the spy acts.

//I propose to wait until after the cave is cleared.

//If Farren acts in a hostile fashion, this is the optimal moment to do so.

“Normally, I would object to taking such a risk, but…”

//You have me, yes.

“Agreed then.”

Fifteen minutes later, Farren and Marruk returned with tales of victory, as well as a few silver bits and a good knife they found on the remains. Sometimes, the dead kept some of their belongings on them, and there were no reasons to let those go to waste. There were probably tens of thousands of bits in goods and coins to harvest over the plains.

Now that she had access to supplies, traveling no longer had to be miserable for Viv. Dinner was a congee with fresh greens, jerky, bread, and a few fruits and nuts for dessert. The evening soon turned festive despite Viv’s suspicion.

“So, can I ask you personal questions, or is it a diplomatic faux-pas in this corner of the world?”

“It would be a diplomatic faux-pas if our social positions were farther apart, and if there were more people to witness our exchange. As it is, your inquiries are tolerable. I will frown appropriately, or even huff through my nose if I decide that you go too far.”

Oh, she quite liked the young man, it would be a shame to have to kill him if he turned out that he was trying to screw her over.

“Appreciated. So, what’s a young man like you with a promising future doing in a senior position at the ass end of Param? A bit curious.”

Farren chuckled, still very much the smooth representative. He was clearly more at ease fending off questions than revenant arms.

“I was raised in the Neriad complex in Mornyr, the largest of the Northern cities. Mornyr hosts the main branches of more than three religions, including our own. My family is old but they have little power, so when I finished my school days, I was given a choice. Either I could stay in Mornyr as a junior attendant to our Knight-Principal, or I could get a position with a lot of responsibility anywhere on Param.”

“Knight-Principal?”

Marruk shook her head with disapproval.

“The head of our religion,” Farren explained without missing a beat.

“So, why choose that one?”

Farren considers the question for a few seconds.

“I wanted to help my fellow man in their struggle against the encroaching darkness of the undead hordes.”

There was a single, awkward moment of silence as Viv waited for a serious answer.

“Not believing me?”

“No.”

“You know, my class is Voice of Neriad, so I am indeed dedicated to the common good.”

“Of this, I have no doubt, but you feel like someone with a plan.”

“Yes, very astute. In this case, my plan is to become the next chancellor to the Knight-Principal. You see, by tradition, a Knight-Principal is not an administrator. They are frontline combatants. Our church is designed this way to prevent money and influence from governing us, rather than what is right. To do so, I need to be recommended by a conclave or administrator… or be picked directly by the Knight-Principal himself. As I mentioned, my family has little political power. If I want to pierce through, it must be done here, on the frontline.”

“Very ambitious.”

“It’s not just about power. I fully intend to contribute to the best of my abilities, and I cannot do so if I am too involved in high level politics. One tends to… lose sight of the reality on the ground by staying their whole life in the protected shades of Mornyr’s towers. I want to be the best Voice and the best Voice must start by listening.”

His eyes shone with determination this time, and Viv could feel… not exactly power, but something that came of it? Did faith have a physical manifestation here? Maybe it did, because the echo of those thoughts was both soothing and a little bit uncomfortable. Like clean water on a wound.

Viv asked more questions about Farren and Mornyr, then answered a few or her own in return. She could remain vague and still share that she had a younger brother and that her dad was a politician. Farren frowned when she mentioned that magic was ‘locked’ where she was. Apparently, a few entities throughout the ages had tried to enslave their spellcasters. It rarely lasted long, and never ended well.

They went to bed early that night, not setting a guard. The safehouses had alarms. Viv thought that it was foolish to rely on magical protection alone. She relied on Solfis.