Alister was filled with trepidation as he finally could see the towers of the magic school. It was not just any magic school, it was the one that had extorted coins from him and his family for the past eleven cycles. The chest behind him was filled with golden marks. A chest he had dragged across the Thirteen Kingdom for almost a cycle.

He gulped when he looked at the hard-faced serf riding a horse next to him. On the surface to the world outside, the man was his serf, one of thirteen guards he employed. However, Alister knew the truth. The man was loyal to Lord Karth, just as the golden marks belonged to Lord Karth.

It had been three cycles since Alister had met the strange Lord from another world. Around two cycles since he had been approached by the Lord again. At the time Karth had been looking ill, eyes sunken and red, the large man was pale, slumped over, almost weak looking. His voice hoarse and monotone.

Karth had approached him with an offer his family would be fools to turn down. The Lord wanted to invest in their company. They would be getting close to a thousand wagons and the oxen to move them. They would also be getting employees to man them, as well as several squadrons of guards. There were also fideomancers, aquamancers, and feramancers. They were even given ten thousand marks to buy trade items.

Alister, on his wife’s Melissa urging, was about to decline, on the grounds that their company was only worth a fraction of what the Lord offered. An offer of that size would normally mean they would lose control. However, he was preempted by Karth’s list of demands. It was a simple list of demands.

Karth would get half of the profits, the other half was theirs. The company would need to spread out all over the Thirteen Kingdoms. That they did not interfere or look into the activity of the serfs provided by Karth. Those were his only demands. They hardly believed their ears when he had told them his demands. They would be fools to turn it down, so after Melissa had decided they would accept the agreement, a deal had been struck.

“I’m nervous,” Melissa said from her seat beside him. In the wagon in front of them were his daughter and their son-in-law. The long trip had never been possible before they accepted the deal, but the fideomancer Mina had shown to be a competent manager that kept things running smoothly. So even if they were gone for almost two cycles before returning home, they knew the company would be in good hands.

All of the fideomancer had turned out to be competent managers. At the time they left home, the company had offices run by a fideomancer in twenty-two high holds. Along their long journey, they had opened another thirty-three high holds. The high holds they had passed through on their way here. On their way home, they would take another way home, enabling them two establish offices in another nineteen high holds.

Alister grunted, “So am I. This is the first time we’ll see her since she was less than a moon old.”

“Do you think she’s doing well?”

Alister shrugged. “I don’t know, dear. We’ve only ever exchanged letters with her. If it’s even her.”

“Of course it’s her, we’re paying coins to allow her to get letters and write letters, they wouldn’t be lying, people would be incensed if they did,” Melissa said fiercely, but Alister knew his wife well and could detect the doubt in her voice.

“I’ve seen some awful things done by the Church and Lords, I wouldn’t put it past them,” the leader of the guards said. His name was Bendis. He was a great cook and had a lot of insight into logistics. His insights a few high holds back had earned them a few hundred marks in profit. He was also less gruff-looking than most of the other guards.

“What do you mean?” Melissa asked suspiciously.

“Did you know that the Bastion was not as well fortified as the Church and Kings claimed? It was purposely left vulnerable to tie down the elves,” Bendis asked.

“Well, it worked for a while, didn’t it?” Alister asked.

“Sure, but at the same time hundreds of thousands of humans died, to keep the elves busy,” Bendis said. “Lord Karth has several times been attacked by the Church in secret. They even killed one of his wives and their unborn child.”

“How horrible!” Melissa exclaimed.

Alister narrowed his eyes. “If they really are like that, why haven’t they just removed him?”

“He’s the Great Hero, the one that dared to raid the elven cities, bringing back a fortune in gold,” Bendis said with pride in his voice. “The story of the treasure he returned with has been heard about even on the other side of the Thirteen Kingdoms. Abandoned by his Lord in the Bastion, escaped the great elven siege and stole from Ayda the Immortal. It’s the greatest victory that we humans have won against the elves since we broke free of our chains.”

“I guess you’re right, the bards are still telling the story about his raid in the taverns and marketplaces,” Alister conceded. “Even more so since the Bastion fell.”

They rode on in silence. Alister tried to steel his emotions. He knew he would most likely not recognize his granddaughter. However, that did not matter. They were here to buy her freedom from the school. It would cost them hundreds upon hundreds of marks to get them to release her early.

They arrived before the massive gates leading into the school. It was almost a castle, with several towers. It was one of the most prestigious schools in the Thirteen Kingdom, with a reputation for turning out the best curomancers in the Kingdoms. Because of its status.

“Halt, state your business here,” a dressed guard said. He and three others were guarding the gate.

“My name is Alister, I’m carrying five wagonloads of food supplies ordered from Berman and Sons,” Alister said in a submissive tone.

The guard’s eyes narrowed and looked suspiciously at Alister. “Normally Fjord delivers for Berman.”

“We were able to offer a lower price because we were heading here anyway. We also have personal business with the bursar,” Alister replied.

“We need to inspect the wagons and barrels,” the guard grunted.

“I understand, we don’t have anything to hide,” Alister said.

Fifteen minutes later, the wagons had been checked and the caravan had been let inside the school. Alister was about to direct his men to offload the barrels of wine and ale when Bendis stopped him. “My men need a bit of exercise. Let us handle the big barrels.”

Alister was about to protest but remembered Karth’s instruction. Whatever Bendis wanted to do, he should let him do. The guards were the ones in charge. Alister shrugged. “Sure, you won’t hear my lazy men complain.”

Bendis smiled, looked around furtively, before leaning closer and said in a low voice, “The Lord has instructed me to tell you that whatever price they want for your granddaughter, you should pay it. Take it out of the company’s funds if needed.”

Alister shook his head. “We’ve saved up a thousand marks, that should be more than enough.”

“Just remember what the Lord’s order is when you’re in the office,” Bendis said, before getting busy moving the heavy barrels. Alister looked for a moment as the guards unloaded the barrels. He could not help but frown, some of the barrels seemed much heavier than they should be since they were two people moving them instead of just one.

A few spans later Alister, his wife, his daughter, and his son-in-law were in the bursar’s office. An exceedingly obese and old man, who was sitting behind a desk. He was staring at Amy, Alister’s Daughter with unbridled lust. Something that made Alister’s hair stand on end.

“So, you wish to buy an untrained curomancer?” the disgusting man asked rhetorically in a bored voice. He looked at the form they had filled out. A knock on the door preceded the old man’s assistance to hurry in, handing the old man the scroll, before quickly leaving again.

The bursar opened the scroll and looked it over. His frown deepened, but Alister noticed a bit of greedy excitement in the man’s eyes. The bursar said in a grave voice, “Novice Aoife is a highly valued student of our school. Her power rating is eleven, meaning she is put in the advanced program. That means she still has another nine cycles of training before she’s done.”

“We’re aware, how much is this going to cost us?” Shawn grumbled. Alister’s son-in-law had a hard time holding his anger in.

The bursar ignored Shawn and turned to Amy. “Where are you sending her to learn after this?”

“The Lord where we live has graciously agreed to let his attendants teach her,” Amy answered.

The bursar shook his head. “That won’t do. We’ll have to add an extra surcharge on that. By not having her attending a recognized school, you’re robbing the human race of an important asset. It’ll cost you.”

“How much?” Shawn growled.

The bursar frowned. “She has nine cycles of training left and since you have chosen the premium package for her that’s ten marks per moon. Rounding up for ease, that's a total of twelve hundred marks. Then you’ve got the price for a curomancer with a power rating of eleven at seventy-seven, but let’s round that up to one hundred. Because you won’t continue her education in a recognized institution, we’ll add a surcharge of six hundred marks. For ease of sake, let’s call it two thousand marks.”

“This is bullshit, you’re adding hundreds of marks to the bill,” Shawn protested loudly.

“Oh, if you don’t like the price, you should leave, though we’ll be doubling the price per moon because you’ve wasted our time,” the bursar said with a nasty smile.

“I’ll—” Shawn stood up.

“We’ll pay!” Alister quickly said, getting surprised looks from everyone.

Melissa leaned over, “We don’t have that much unless we take some of the Lord’s coin.”

Alister just nodded. “We’ll pay.”

“Oh, you have the coin?” the bursar asked, surprised. “Well, I guess she’s yours then.”

He rang a bell and the assistant came into the office again. After receiving instructions, he led the family back out to the courtyard where a priest was waiting with a gangly young girl. As soon as he saw her, Alister knew that it was his granddaughter. She looked exactly like her mother did at that age.

“This is the novice Aoife,” the assistant said. He continued with a smirk, “She’ll be yours when you pay the agreed upon coin. Brill, the good priest here will transfer the link to a permanent binding stone, for the modest fee of just a hundred marks.”

Alister could see that Shawn was about to explode again, so he quickly stopped him. With a tight smile, he said, “We’ll gladly pay.”

“Splendid, just show me the coin,” the assistant said with a beaming smile. A few spans later the transaction was complete, and the priest and assistant left the awkward family alone.

Amy stepped forward. Her eyes filled with tears of happiness, her hands trembling with excitement. “Hello Aoife, I’m your mother Amy. Your letters meant a lot to me.”

Aoife just stared blankly ahead, and in a monotone voice said, “Hello Mother.”

Alister saw his daughter blanch at the lack of emotional response. He gave a sigh, he had feared this, the Lord had warned him when they set out on this journey. As she was presented to the other’s, Aoife had the same emotionless reaction. She almost seemed resigned.

“We’re ready to leave,” Bendis proclaimed loudly, interrupting the awkward family reunion. When they left Alister noticed Aoife’s eyes come a bit alive and flitter around taking in the sights. However, she kept staring blankly ahead most of the time.

It was still in the middle of the afternoon, not even out of sight of the school when Bendis called for a halt. Alister asked him, “What’s the meaning of this?”

“We’ll camp here for the night.”

“Why, we can still reach the inn we slept at last night?” Alister asked, a bit irritated. His emotions were a bit raw from the way the family reunion was going.

“Because the Lord wants us to wait here,” Bendis said, giving him a meaningful glare. Alister remembered his place and started organizing everything.

Alister had been distracted for the past few days, and it was only now that he saw that the priest Ethan was not with them. He had been with them the entire trip, going into seclusion for a couple of days every time they had set up a new office. Alister wanted to ask about the missing priest but decided it was better not to do so.

Ethan was not very comfortable. He had spent an entire day hiding uncomfortably in a barrel. If not for the constant use of healing magic, he would have long since given away his hiding spot.

A soft rapping on top of the barrel in the right rhythm made him let out a breath of relief. With a bit of difficulty, he removed the ring that projected an illusion of it being full of wine, just in time for the lid to get removed. A pair of hands reached down and pulled him out of the barrel. A small spell crystal provided light for him and the others in the dark cellar.

Looking around, he saw that he was the last person to get pulled out of the barrel that had hidden the troopers of Wolf Ridge. The leader of the squad, and ostensibly Ethan as well, was Alan. The man had been devastated by Yathanae’s death, his failure to protect his Lord’s lover and unborn child.

Ethan knew that Alan had volunteered for this assignment to seek revenge and rectify his failure as the head bodyguard. A position now held by Nishka. The collar around his neck was something he had asked to be put in. The other members of the strike force were all men and women who had once been freemen but were forced into serfdom by the Church or Lords, having had their families ripped apart unjustly.

All of them held hard glints in their eyes. They had trained for two cycles, they were decked out in an assortment of spell crystals provided by their Lord. Each of them carrying enough mana crystals to power a portal gate. The wonders that the Lord had made with his unique ability was unfathomable.

“We’ve prepared for this for two cycles now,” Alan whispered. “Any questions? Any hesitation?”

Ethan felt that the two questions were mostly for his benefit. The hard-eyed men and women shook their heads. Ethan knew his job was to sit tight until the men had liberated the school. Then he would transfer all the collars to binding stones and send them through the small gate he would construct and when everyone had left, he would destroy it.

Afterwards, he would join the caravan again and continue the journey back to Wolf Ridge Hold. At every office they opened in the high holds, he would build a secret room in the cellar. Inside that room, he would build a gate. Not a large one, just big enough to allow a hand-drawn cart through.

“Good, let’s start paying back the Thirteen Kingdoms and the Church for the crimes they’ve committed against us and our Lord,” Alan said, extinguishing the light provided by the spell crystal.

As Ethan watched the dark shadows of the troopers slip towards the stairs, he once again wondered if he had made the right choice. It was a thought that had entered his mind a lot since the death of Yathanae. When the Lord showed the amazing ability to manipulate the tools of the Gods, he had been certain Karth had been blessed by the Gods.

Putting aside the friction between Karth and the Church back then, which had been because of the idiotic Cardinal, Ethan had wholeheartedly given his service to Karth. Since the death of Yathanae, Ethan had started to doubt and several times he had asked for guidance from Chostus.

However, Chostus had not voiced any concern with the path Ethan was taking, so even if he was in doubt, his God was not. If Chostus had any compunction with Ethan’s path, he would surely have said so. The silence was a sign that Chostus approved of the path.

With a sigh, Ethan buried the doubt deep in his heart and started on his work.

“Fire!” someone shouted, jolting Aoife awake. She looked around in the dark, she was not in the small cell they called her room back at the school. She was inside a tent. The events of the day before came back to her. Once again the cruel Masters played a trick on her. Someone was pretending to be her parents coming to take her away.

They had played that trick twice before. Utterly crushing her hopes and dreams of getting away from the school. This was the third time they were playing the trick on her, probably because she had become a bit too willful again. This was the first time they had gone so far as to take her out of the school. They had even gone so far as to give her the binding stone they had pretended to transfer the collar’s link to.

However, the fact that they camped for the night only a couple of glasses travel away from the school, in the middle of the afternoon, enforced her belief that they were tormenting her. She would not give them the satisfaction of falling for the trick again. She would not be broken again.

“Fire!” someone shouted again, reminding her why she had woken up. Other shouts of bewilderment joined. Afraid that there was a fire in the camp, Aoife got out of her tent. The only fire in the camp was the cooking fire they had started the night before. Looking around she saw that everyone was looking in the same direction.

She looked in the same direction and saw an unbelievable sight. The school was engulfed in flames. The stone towers were aflame. The giant inferno lighting up the sky. She stared in disbelief.

“Aoife, Aoife, where are you?” she heard a voice call. The voice belonging to the woman that claimed to be her mother.

‘Mother,’ the word repeated itself over and over again in her mind. As she watched the school of misery, the only home she had ever known burn, she realized that it was not a trick after all. They would not burn down a building for a simple trick.

“Aoife, there you are!” the woman breathed out a sigh of relief behind her. Aoife turned around and looked at the woman. The woman, maybe her mother, looked relieved, but at the same time sad. Several times it looked like she wanted to reach out and touch Aoife, but she stopped herself.

In a weak voice, Aoife asked, “Are you really my mother?”

“Yes,” her mother replied in a whisper, tears in her eyes. With a sob, Aoife threw her arms around the woman. As she felt the arms of her mother hold her for the first time she could remember, she broke down crying.