Time to Read:
— Horde Master!
— Master! Master!
— Listen!
— Listen!
— See!
— Watch!
— Listen!
— Horde Master!
— You are so very noisy. Can you not be a little quieter if you have something to tell me?
— Horde Master!
— Horde Master responds!
— Horde Master! Listen to me!
— Horde Master! Me! Me!
— Report! I have! Horde Master!
— …Do as you will then…
Thadus saw the light from the array before he saw his deceptor. Only as Linden pulled down the hood, so their fiery hair and earrings could catch the light and the pale complexion would be visible, did he see them.
“Lord Thadus,” they greeted him, bowing their head. “I see you have indeed returned.”
“Unfortunately,” Thadus replied and approached them.
“Unfortunate indeed,” Linden said. “But I can appreciate honouring one’s promises.”
Thadus handed them the skewers.
“I merely asked for one.”
“I only carry silver and the trader only had this amount of change, as no one paid in silver,” Thadus said and placed the pouch of copper coins in Linden’s other hand. “You owe me five silver.”
Linden blinked up at Thadus and weighed the pouch in their hand.
“Well, I can certainly pay the tavern for my meal with this amount. This much must be nearly sixty or seventy copper, no?” They stuffed the pouch within their lapels. “As for your five silver, I will repay my debt for the skewers once I have retrieved some money. I hope Lord Thadus can accept my apologies for being unable to repay him at this time.”
Thadus humphed. He turned his focus to the array. “Are you not done yet?”
“Lord Thadus may not know this, as he must have servants, but dust does not move particularly fast. This is true for Dust as well. The horde, even when moving individually, still are covering a large portion of the town to search. However, my humble self must say it would take longer to do to each part of this district, and it would be impossible to do so undetected if I went in person.”
“You are indeed rather cumbersome in size,” Thadus replied dryly.
Linden chuckled lightly.
“Not only am I cumbersome to move about, I also have been taught I am troublesome to deal with. An elder once told me that only once I stopped sneaking out to the markets would I learn proper discipline.”
“You clearly still sneak to markets,” he noted.
“And I sneak everywhere else as well,” Linden said in agreement.
“Unsurprising.”
The fiend chuckled and held a skewer to Thadus. “I can’t eat all three. I’m peckish, not starving.”
“I do not wish to consume filthy food.”
“Street food is not filthy. Nobles seldom eat it, but it is truly good food.”
Thadus refused to take it and pointedly got his handkerchief to clean his fingers. They didn’t push the matter further.
It was quiet for some time as Linden quietly ate while their eyes were trained on the array.
“Tell me, mortal,” Thadus broke the silence, “if it were so that you hold an answer.”
Linden looked back at him. “Yes, Lord Thadus?” They then added smoothly, “I shall tell what I may be knowledgeable of and speak of possibilities about what I do not.”
Thadus was not surprised. Naturally, this mortal knew how to respond. He had no will to pursue this matter at this time, and would forget all about it when he returned to Eden and his home. It was nothing to dwell on.
“Why do mortals have nightdwellers who make purchases past sunset rather than during the day?”
“Because the day market is too expensive for the poor and when the shops are open. Some merchants have servants, but unless they have an apprentice, few can do their shopping during the day. It’s also an ideal time for bakers to buy flour that has been milled in the morning and transported during the day.”
“A skewer is priced in coppers; the meal before as well. How could one not afford the so-called day market?” Thadus asked, not expecting an answer.
“This, Lord Thadus, is difficult for me to answer. I am not educated in interstate commerce. However, this is what I have understood from my days here: silver and salt are Rockforge’s greatest exports, and these are also not as valuable as they would be in the United Territories of Spellcasters, or my own home state. If you and I were to exchange our silver to Rockforge silver, we would get twice the amount, if not more. If we pay in our coins, we get more copper coins than those with local silver. Oversaturation of silver has led to many silversmiths, despite the small governance of merely the city lord and the Minister of Commerce and Diplomacy and Minister of Law and Military, as well as a small number of officials.”
Linden was quiet for a few beats, then said, “My humble conjecture, if Lord Thadus is willing to entertain such a thought, is this: Poverty comes from hard work in the mines, which comes with little worth. They get paid in silver, so they hold only half of what you and I would. Salt is exported by those who are richer. Food is often from outside the state, as is almost all textiles one can find. And as such, the poor lives on copper, and the rich on gold, while you and I, Lord Thadus, can comfortably use the silver we hold without feeling the loss.”
Thadus pondered this for a moment.
“Oh, I see,” he finally said.
“Does Lord Thadus understand now?”
“Not at all. I merely concluded your conjecture and explanation were both subpar.”
“It is indeed the teacher’s failure when the student does not understand,” Linden responded. “However, your initial query was answered.”
“Indeed, my query was answered. I accept this answer about the nightdwellers as plausible. Peculiar, I admit, yet plausible.”
“Because mortals are foolish?” they asked.
“Because mortals are truly foolish,” Thadus replied.
At least this mortal was aware of their flaws. He’d acknowledge this much.
Linden looked somewhat amused, but agreed nonetheless, “Mortals are indeed foolish.”
The amusement lingered for a moment before they then said, “We struggle so much through such a short life. We do not try to make it easier for one another, but instead try to make things worse. This I have seen since I left my home state. I was unaware that life could be this unfair to those who do not deserve it before I left my home some years prior. This is not how it was where I lived back then, but it might be when I return.”
“Then do not return,” Thadus replied. “Who are you obligated to return to? Such a mortal does not exist. It is not worth spending time with these matters if they only cause grief to everyone. You have makings of a spellcaster, although not quite properly educated. You know how to hold discourse, you know how to address us. This is not something you are not unknowledgeable of. You belong in the United Territories, not in these filth-ridden lands of lowly mortals. Go study at the Tower of Babel; that is where those of lower kin can go to seek proper knowledge. Being mortal is beneath you. Even if you cannot commune with the elements fully, the spirits seem to take a liking to you, for better or for worse.”
Linden smiled. “If Lord Thadus says so, I shall consider it at some point. For now, I need my token back, and I need to repay the maiden so she doesn’t pawn my belongings.”
“In Eden—”
“Shhh!”
The rude fiend hushed him!
They tilted their head to the side as if listening and closed their eyes.
Thadus felt the touch that was keeping him grounded squeeze his wrist to remind him not to lose his temper anymore.
You can rest. I will be fine. Go to sleep, he thought.
He wouldn’t lose his temper. He wasn’t that volatile. As long as he simply let all the insult brush passed and ignored the wind spirit constantly tugging at his clothes…
He could ignore it.
He would.
He did not notice it.
Indeed, he stared at the mortal focussed on something he couldn’t perceive, the earrings dangling and catching the magenta light.
“Goodness, the taverns are truly loud, despite the time of day. Must be travellers and merchants,” Linden suddenly commented. “Though,” they added and opened their eyes and looked toward the array. “I might know where the token is.”
Thadus didn’t ask.
They replied nonetheless. “There is a silversmith in the slums. That is likely where you can find it. Go look for it for me, would you not, Lord Thadus?”
“Why must I go to some slums?”
“Did you not promise to help me out with this matter? It will take all of Dust some time to return, and were I to leave and lose this scribble, it would be difficult to find it again, since it is not visible once it is no longer active.”
Thadus wished he had just gone home. This… was even worse.
“Fine,” he said. “Fine. I will go. But this is more than I accepted to.”
“We will find a way to determine the fairness of this matter once I have my token and belongings. Can this be acceptable?”
“No. But I unfortunately have no choice in the matter.”
“I appreciate the sacrifice Lord Thadus is doing for my lowly self.”
Thadus huffed and retrieved his sceptre from his sleeve and pointed it straight at the mortal. Linden looked confused. The next moment they had ducked as vines whipped out and caught the wind spirit.
I will entertain you now, you fish-stinking sea breeze.
The wind struggled as the vines pulled it Thadus and wrapped themselves around the handle to remain stable against the wind trying to flee.
He sealed the infuriating spirit into the crown of his sceptre. The vines hardened into wood, gold glinting between the bark.
We’ll play a game called, you show me the way, or you’ll remain in there.
“What are you doing, if I may ask?” Linden asked as they stood up at full length, looking curiously at the sceptre as shoots sprouted from the encaged crown.
Thadus lowered it as leaves sprouted from each shoot. “I merely caught a rogue spirit. It’s nothing particularly important.”
“I see.”
They still watched it, as Thadus changed hand’s. He conjured up another vine to fill the gap where his hand had been. A flower bud appeared from the shoot that grew out of this branch.
“Should I offer Lord Thadus my gratitude?”
“No, but I will keep the perfume pouch for the time being.”
The corners of Linden’s mouth quirked up. “Please do. Do you need another? I have a second one.”
“In the filthy slums of this awful mortal settlement? Don’t mind if I do take the second one as well.”
Linden took out a second pouch and held it towards Thadus. As he was about to take it, they pulled their hand back.
“Wait, what happened to your ornament? That must have taken weeks, if not months, for someone to make.”
He snatched the pouch and strode past them towards the slums. “It got stolen, thanks to you,” he spat out.
— Go with him. Don’t interact with him, he can’t sense you. I will wait here for your return.
— Of course, Horde Master. This speck will go.
— Be careful. I don’t want to lose even a speck of you.
— Dust understands.
— Hurry, go, before you lose him!
The small speck of glowing dust floated away from where it had been on Horde Master’s shoulder. It hurried and hurried and attached itself to the strange human’s sleeve.
The Anny Blog 