Knock knock knock.

“Come in!”

The heavy wooden door creaked open, and a pale figure peered from behind it into the room.

“Sir Weiss!”

“Great Absolver. I have returned from Pascen.”

Adelbern Weiss entered the room and bowed his head in deference.

“And is our mutual friend well?”

“He is.”

Adelbern studied the office. There was no bare wall to be seen – all four corners of the space were covered with fine art of landscapes and people, even stretching behind the various bookshelves that lined each side. A set of ornate, ceremonial armour stood behind the Absolver’s desk. For a man who was recipient of such reverence from the Inquisition he still held earthly attachments that confounded him. The Absolver was a lover of all things art, both written and painted.

The Absolver gave him a friendly smile and clasped his hands together, “How did you like Pascen? I have not been there in a long while.”

“…Cold. Wet.”

He laughed, “Yes, yes it is. A hardier group of people you will not find on this continent. Have a seat, you must have a lot to ask of me.”

Adelbern detached his sword from his belt and placed it by the entrance, as was proper etiquette when dealing with a knight of higher rank. He then turned and sat on the presented seat. The chair creaked menacingly as the full weight of his heavy armour bore down upon the spindly wooden legs.

The Absolver adjusted his small, round spectacles with the tip of his finger. He then rifled through a large pile of reports to his left, “I’ve been hearing a lot of good things recently.”

“Good for us,” Adel nodded.

“Exarch’s Bend, Blackwake, Pascen… did you speak with him?”

“Who?”

“Did you give him his payment?”

Adel caught on, “Yes.”

The Absolver’s expression turned sour, “I never did like bribing people; but sometimes we have to compromise on our principles to reach our real goals. I know you would never pass up a chance to speak with another one of your kin. What was your impression of the man?”

“Imperfect, but honest. Not as sceptical as he likes to think.”

The Absolver waved his hand in the air wistfully, “We’re all slaves to expectation and time. Life is a performance, and we are the actors. I must say – he is my favourite of the people who have tried thus far. I found the tale of him defeating a group of mercenaries bare-handed rather riveting, taken straight from the pages of a great adventure novel.”

“I did spare some of the more gruesome details.”

He laughed again, “Are you certain? Your rather characterful description of one of their faces being ‘like pounded mince’ did turn the stomach. Where is he now?”

“Versia.”

“Versia? What ever is he doing there?”

“From what I could gather, a local scholar hired him to assist her with an expedition. He should be back within the month.”

“He is in good company then. There is no man or woman who can not benefit from speaking with a great scholar or two.”

Adelbern had heard this speech a thousand times before. Ever since the Absolver had requested his assistance personally, he had taken him under his wings as a sort of protégé. The other high-ranking members like Petty-King John were extremely vocal about their opposition to a relatively inexperienced knight getting so close to the order’s great leader.

But just because he was in charge, didn’t mean he had control.

Every move, every word, they were carefully calculated with a cold decisive manner that betrayed his warm exterior. Behind the jovial smile and bushy white beard were the eyes of a man who had a very specific target in mind. Even Adelbern didn’t know the full picture, and that was the only thing that he did know for sure.

“Where was I? Ah, yes, our mutual friend! When he does return from Versia, I would like you to shepherd him back to the Federation.” He reached under his desk and retrieved a small wooden casket, the kind you would use to carry a valuable family heirloom. A white envelope stamped with his personal seal was placed on top.

More marching orders.

Adelbern stood from his seat and gripped the box with both hands, before realizing that he’d leave his sword behind if he did so. He retrieved it and then came back to try again. “I shouldn’t need to say this, but do try to keep the contents of that box a secret. The archivist would throw a fit if he found out.”

“Yes, Great Absolver.”

As Adelbern left the chamber, he couldn’t help his curiosity. He checked both sides to make sure that he wasn’t being watched and propped the box up on his knees. He peeled open the top and took a look inside.

“Scheiße!”

Even if it was from the Absolver, his head was going to roll for this if someone found out.

He slammed the lid shut and straightened his back – he needed to leave the keep before someone became overly curious about what he was doing.

I should have known that something was up from the moment the idea of a reward had been aired by Tahar. This was a village of hunter gatherers, the prospects of them carrying legal tender were slim to say the least. They also had little need to high level weapons and armour. Some people would be happy to say that the adventure ‘was its own reward,’ I tend to disagree. ‘Adventure’ doesn’t keep a metaphorical roof over my head.

Tahar did not seem to find the idea of being pawned off to me as a trophy wife insulting in the least. This was allegedly a regular occurrence when a powerful warrior from another place arrived. They’d marry off their daughters to try and have strong children.

“Strong warriors. Bonds forged between peoples.”

She followed me back out of the village. I didn’t really plan on sticking around any longer than I had to. Tahar’s sudden marriage to me was an issue. I wasn’t going to stay on Versia forever. I could have asked her, but I also didn’t want to give the false impression that I was just suddenly on board with being her partner. Tahar was attractive, didn’t like wearing clothes, was very strong, and she had helped me out a few times – but it’d take more than that to convince me to wed and bed her.

That was a big responsibility; one I wasn’t sure I was ready for when I lived on the road and did odd-jobs to make money. Benadora found the whole thing deeply hilarious. After she’d finished doubling over from laughter, she patted my shoulder as patronizingly as possible. Tahar hovered by the entrance to her tent.

“Curious! What an interesting custom.”

I scowled, “Not so amusing when you’re on the receiving end of it.”

“Aw, don’t be such a grump Ren. You’ve got a pretty girl throwing herself at you! A good woman can change your life.”

“I’ve got two women in my life already and they drive me insane.”

Benadora returned to her table, “Two?”

“Nothing. Never mind.”

Cali bowed her head, “I apologize for being so troublesome.”

“Sure, sure…”

“I suppose that it is a rational and logical choice for their tribe to marry sons and daughters to strong warriors. It can ensure the continued survival of their species and settlement.”

I shrugged, “They picked the wrong person then. We’re not sticking around once this study is over and done with.”

Tahar had grown tired of listening in from the outside. She leaned over and entered the tent proper, “Victory in hunt, reward is great honour - rarely refused. In eyes of village, already mates. I go where you go, as you please.”

Tahar was helpful, and she’d curried some trust with me during the process of hunting down the burrowing terror. But was it enough for me to bring her back overseas? I didn’t think so. Not to mention that Cali had been looking at me weird ever since we left the village. She must have been feeling off-put by the sudden arrival of my newly acquired wife.

I changed the subject, “How’s the study going?”

“Exceptionally well. In fact, I fear that we may soon run out of material to record all of our discoveries! Your usage of an ancient weapon to open previously unseen chambers has completely turned things on its head.” Said weapon was lying on the table beside her. It was the one that I had given to Medalie the evening before.

I wandered over to the table. The parchment that covered it was filled top to bottom with images, notes and theories. The Tall School’s creators used some kind of hieroglyphic language. It had captivated the minds of enough people to justify this trip. Their advanced technology was also a point of interest. Genetic manipulation, advanced mechanisms that could survive thousands and thousands of years, the unique alloy that their weapons were made from…

“The dirt and sedimentary layer on top of the School is being dated by one of my team members. He estimates that, with the extent to which the School is integrated with the surrounding landscape, that it has stood here for tens of thousands of years at least. On the high end, over one-hundred thousand.”

Tahar smiled, “Home, long history! Many secrets.”

“So how long are we going to be sticking around?”

Benadora thought on it for a moment, “Well, with the initial delay I had feared we hadn’t been given enough time to find what we needed. I was incorrect. The zeal of the team and the sheer quantity of our findings has shortened our timeframe considerably. Five or six days is all we need – lest the member’s of Tahar’s tribe discover how to make highly resistant paper.”

I turned to the harpy. “Paper?” I held up one of the blank pieces to demonstrate.

“No. Cannot make. Teachings passed down through word.”

Benadora adjusted the front of her dress, “That puts a hard limit on what we can do. We are a linguistics team first, and everything else comes second. The client won’t be happy if we stick around and eat up these expensive supplies when the job is already done.”

While I had my own share of questions about this mysterious culture, I also was extremely sick and tired of walking through their terrible constructions. Whoever they were, they did not care for the finer art of interior decoration.

“You three can go find some trouble, if you’d prefer.”

“You’re paying me to guard you.”

“And you’ve done an admirable job! But I don’t want you to die of boredom waiting on us. There’s nothing left down there. Our preliminary environment survey states that no living being could survive. While there are some scant sources of water, food is another matter.”

The problem was two-fold. What I wanted to do was find some powerful creatures to hunt down and kill, but from what I’d seen of the area so far, this part of Versia was actually rather calm in comparison to some of the stories I’d heard. That meant that to go out and find one I’d need to pack a bunch of supplies and potentially dedicate several days to the endeavour. It was entirely possible that I’d miss my trip back.

Second was my contract. I had a particular hang-up about ditching people who were paying me for something. Benadora had paid an extremely high premium to have me in the camp keeping an eye on things. She needed to get her money’s worth. What good would I be as a guard if I left the camp under the assumption that things were safe when they really weren’t? I could come back to find the entire expedition dead to some unknown attacker.

It wasn’t exciting or optimal. But life generally wasn’t. I was going to sit tight, do my job quietly, and try to get my thoughts in order about the Tahar situation.

“I’ll stick around.”

I turned and left. I was hungry. I didn’t notice that Cali hadn’t followed.

Cali watched as Ren’s form disappeared back into the camp with Tahar in pursuit. She felt another needle pierce her heart. It was a feeling that Cali was extremely unfamiliar with, and it had started ever since they visited Tahar’s village. Benadora watched the Ashmorn warmage with a teasing grin.

“Ah, to see the blossoming of a young maiden in love.”

Cali’s voice did not waver, “…Love?”

Benadora giggled, “What? Do you not know what love is?”

“I understand the concept. I cannot say I have ever experienced it myself.”

“Not even with your family?”

Her gaze hardened, “Lady Benadora - as someone familiar with the La’Corvan family, you should know better than to imply that we enjoy such a sensation.”

“Okay, okay. So, maybe not familial love. But why do you think you can’t feel it?”

“I don’t feel many things.”

“Ren told me that you love the thrill of combat.”

“I do, but only such an extreme situation can stir my heart.”

Benadora looked up from her work and frowned, “Tell me what you feel when Tahar is stood next to Ren.”

“…I feel sick. My chest hurts.”

“And what do you want to happen?”

“I want her to stop being close to him.”

Benadora shrugged, “You’re jealous.”

“…Jealous…”

Benadora had never been good at talking feelings with other people, but Cali’s frankness made it easy. “You want to be Ren’s ‘mate,’ as Tahar so artfully puts it. When you see another woman with him, you feel envy because you aren’t doing the same thing. You want to be in that position.”

“I see. So, this is ‘love?’ I must admit that Ren is much more tolerable than many others I have met and spoken with.”

Benadora nodded. ‘Tolerable’ was about as good as most couples got, but to hear it from a girl who had clearly suffered a good deal of emotional trauma was a different matter. “I’m not one for romance myself, and it seems that Ren is focused on other things at the moment. You shouldn’t worry yourself too much right now.”

“I understand.”

Benadora chewed on her words to try and phrase it gently, “But don’t you think it’s a good thing? You’re… coming out of your shell a little! Would you have ever considered being in love before you met him?”

“No. I would not.”

Cali still remained mostly unreadable. Benadora had to wonder how Ren got to know a girl like this. He wasn’t the most trusting person. When she considered Cali’s emotional isolation and Ren’s practical isolation, in some ways they were the perfect match. They’d both brought a new side out of each other.

“I think it’s a good thing. Think about that pain and what it means to you.”

Cali removed her hat and held it to her chest in respect, “Thank you.”

“No need to thank me. If you want to talk again, I’m always here for you.”

Cali left the tent. Cali was never one to panic. She had lived life by setting a target and steadfastly moving towards it. This new ‘feeling’ wasn’t going to change that. She simply added another errand to her list. To really understand what it meant.