Chapter Twenty Six

Visa was staring down each one of the people who entered her office, examining them with a well-trained eye. She had a presence to her that made even Maryam keep her mouth shut.

“Why have you brought these two lost children to my office Maryam? Servianna isn’t known for her charity so I assume you are not here in her stead this time?”

Her voice was calm and controlled, but it had an edge to it that you couldn’t ignore.

“Err, yes. They’re my friends from the orphanage, and I want to help them out. Do you have a book that could help us lift a curse?”

“As direct as always I see. Of course I have a book that could be of use to you. The question is why would I let you see it?”

“I can pay you.”

“With what, your allowance? Unless your mother decided to give you half her hoard, you don’t have enough gold for me to even bother picking it up off the ground.”

The normally energetic and fearless Maryam was starting to look a bit nervous now. Shuka didn’t like that, because she was absolutely terrified.

Why did she drag us into this if she didn’t have a plan past ‘pay her a lot’? Is she going to kill us for wasting her time? No, wait, maybe we can find some other way out of this. Is there something else we can offer her?

Maryam seemed to have had the same thought because she then took off a necklace she had hidden under her clothing and held it out in front of her.

“I may not have much money, but I do have artifacts. This necklace of non-detection was crafted by the archmage of artifice herself. I will give it to you in exchange for the book.”

Visia just gave an unimpressed look at the very magical artifact and gave a bored sigh.

“That necklace isn’t yours anymore than the gold. If I took that from you your mother would fly over here herself to get it back. Not that she would succeed, but dealing with her is more work than it’s worth. Besides, I’ve stolen from her before, that little trinket of yours is hardly the most impressive thing in her hoard.”

“Bu-but I thought you were a pirate! Don’t pirates like treasure and gold? I didn’t think you would care who you were taking it from.”

“What I desire is books and knowledge. If you want to peddle trinkets go find my sister. There is nothing you have in that empty head of yours that I could possibly want. Not that it matters much anyway, you little narcissist. This isn’t your deal, it’s theirs.”

Visia turned her gaze upon Shuka and Xorvos. Shuka was a bit less than enthusiastic about this since, in her opinion, she had interacted with enough criminals to last a lifetime back in Rockmarsh. She was not looking forward to making more back-alley deals, but it was starting to look like she didn’t have much of a choice. She did have a bit more time though, as Maryam wasn’t quite done yet.

“Hey, what the hell! I’m not a narcissist, and I’m definitely not dumb you b-”

She never got to finish her sentence. The moment she started saying something a bit impolite Visia flicked her wand up and shot out a concussive wave of force that knocked Maryam flying backwards. The door that they all entered through flew open right on time to let her fly through it, just to shut close immediately afterwards.

What the hell? She cast that spell as fast as I could blink, and it didn’t seem like a weak spell either. I know she’s using a wand, but I don’t think there’s a single wand in the world who can make you that fast on its own.

“Well then. I believe we have a deal to make.”

“Um, sorry, but uhh… I don’t think we have anything to offer you.”

“Oh, but you do. You see that dullard Validus has decided to make you two his new pet project to focus on and that can be exploited.”

“We’re not going to help you do evil!” Xorvos shouted. “I don’t know what you are planning, but if it involves exploiting the grand paladin, then it can’t be good.”

“What a narrow minded view. Just because I’m a pirate, ah, sorry ex-pirate, doesn’t mean every action I commit is automatically evil. After all, you should know by now that every deed done by a good person isn’t necessarily good right? Sometimes, exceptional circumstances make us act opposite to our usual natures.”

The comparison to Shuka’s situation with Validus was obvious, but it did make her wonder a bit how she knew to make it.

“You say that like we’re innocent, but how do you know him chasing us isn’t just?”

“Perceptive I see. I know about your curse, if not the specifics at least the general idea. And before you ask, no I cannot lift it. Not without some severe repercussions that I’m sure you would like to avoid at least. It seems to be a curse that affects those around you, so I simply cast a spell to protect me from its effects before you entered. I cannot imagine that even a moron like the grand paladin would mistake you as any sort of threat without magical interference, so I assume the curse has changed his perception of you.”

Did she figure this all out before we even walked in? She got it all right without even seeing me. Wait, maybe that helped. She said the curse affected those around me, so maybe it doesn’t work if they’re far away or can’t see me? Without the curse clouding her perception of me, she must have just seen me for what I really am. A normal person who got cursed.

“So what’s this good deed you want us to help you with then?”

“Well it’s quite simple really. I have had tragically few books on demonology for a while now and I wish to rectify that. Luckily an envoy from Draconia has just arrived with their own personal collection of books. I, of course am bound by magical contract to never commit, or hire anyone to commit any crimes against them, so my usual method of looting their corpses won’t work.”

“Hold on.” Xorvos interrupted. “Why would we help you get books on demonology? We don’t even know why they have it, but I’m sure your not going to use it for good.”

“Of course I’m not going to use it for good, I’m not going to use it at all. Summoning demons is just riskier than using golems, and they’re not even the only thing you can summon. If I’m going to summon anything it would probably be an elemental. Those books are going into my collection, and they are not leaving it. And you say you don’t know why they have the books? Well I don’t either, but I don’t think it’s for safe keeping. They are slavers after all.”

That got a reaction out of Xorvos, and it wasn’t a good one.

“Slavers? But slavery is illegal in the Celestial Empire, why haven’t they been arrested yet?”

“Because they are ‘diplomats.’ And it’s not like they brought any of their slaves with them anyway. If I were to guess I would say they are probably planning on summoning a few of the stealthier demons to kidnap some poor souls while they are off on official business, but who can know for sure.”

Xorvos certainly seemed convinced of their evilness, but Shuka was still a bit confused about where she fit into it.

“So, if you can’t do anything to them, and you can’t hire us to do anything to them, then why are we here?”

“To draw Validus’ attention to them. They are technically not criminals in the Celestial Empire, but as I’m sure you’ve already experienced the grand paladin can simply ignore that if the cause is just enough. The only reason he hasn’t already kicked down their door with righteous fury is because the empire is trying to avoid a diplomatic incident so they hid their presence from him. Tip him off though, and he will do what he does best, diplomatic incident be damned.”

“But then how would you get their books? Wouldn’t they be confiscated or destroyed?”

“They would be confiscated before they are destroyed, but yes. You don’t have to worry about that though. I am more than capable of obtaining the books from confiscation myself, and in a perfectly legal manner too.”

It was starting to make sense now, but there was just one more thing Shuka was worried about.

“If I lure Validus over to the slavers wouldn’t that put me in a lot of danger? I’ve escaped from him a few times now, but only barely and with help. And even if I do manage to get away, wouldn’t he just think I was working with the slavers? That’s going to make it a lot harder to convince him I’m innocent after I get the curse removed.”

“Then don’t get caught. The curse should still work even if you don’t look like yourself, so just pretend to be a cultist or something and then escape before he can reveal your identity. Consequences are for the incompetent.”

That’s easy for her to say, who the hell would hold her accountable? Although I guess that’s kind of her point. If you are good enough then you can get away with whatever you want. I just want to go back to not having to get away with anything though.

“Xorvos, what do you think? It’s risky, but this seems like actual progress towards getting my curse removed.”

“It does, but… how do we know she won’t betray us? And besides, Ralisdor is currently looking for a mage to help you, we might not even need the book. We don’t even know what’s in the book, what if we get it and it’s useless?”

A sharp bolt of blue electricity struck Xorvos in his chest, arcing across his armor and body before grounding itself in the floor. Neither him or Shuka saw Visia move, but there she was with her arm outstretched and her wand pointed.

“Question my honour all you want Quanso, you would be foolish not to. But speak ill of my books again and suffer a far worse punishment. And I won’t be using a lightning spell for it.”

Xorvos was gritting his teeth and wincing in pain, despite being naturally resistant to electricity due to his Quanso body. If it had hurt him that much, then Shuka shuddered to think about what it would have done to her. Xorvos just nodded weakly, still convulsing slightly.

“Great. Now, who is this Ralisdor you mentioned? If he’s a local of any worth I would know of him, but as far as I know you two reached this point on your own”

“Really?” Shuka asked, a bit incredulously. “He’s been with us since Rainsburg. And he’s from Lancrin originally.”

Visia’s eyes narrowed as she thought about what Shuka said.

It’s a bit weird she doesn’t know about Ralisdor. I think she was researching me and Xorvos while we were waiting outside her office, was Ralisdor never mentioned? Well, she didn’t have a lot of time, and I guess Ralisdor wasn’t ever actually seen with us, was he? Not when Validus was chasing us at least, and she’s probably getting her information from his reports.

“Well spit it out then, who is he and why is he helping you?”

“He’s just an illusionist. He decided to visit Rainsburg for a few years and took me as his apprentice. When I got cursed he decided to help me.”

“What, out of the kindness of his heart?”

“Umm… yes? I mean, I am his apprentice, so shouldn’t he help me when I’m in trouble?”

Visa had a serious look on her face, deep in thought thinking. Shuka was worried she was going to come to some sort of bad conclusion, but instead she just seemed to relax, as if she figured it wasn’t important anymore.

“Well, I guess he’s just some nobody like you then. I guess it doesn’t really matter as long as he doesn’t get in the way.”

Somehow I don’t think she actually believes that. Should I have not said anything? No, that would just make her even more suspicious. What is there to even be suspicious about though? Is Ralisdor hiding something from me?

“Could we give you our answer later? If Ralisdor does make some progress then this would be an unnecessary risk.”

“Of course. You know where my office is, just make sure you knock first. And if there are any other services you require from me, this job can be used as payment for those as well. Don’t dally too long though, my target won’t stay in Lancrin forever, and I may get impatient.”

And with that the doors they entered through swung open from behind them with another black void in the door frame. With the meeting seemingly over Shuka and Xorvos both got up and walked through the exit. After passing through to the other side Shuka found Maryam nervously pacing in front of the door. She noticed her friends come through and immediately rushed over, grabbing Shuka by the shoulders.

“Are you alright? Did she hurt you or rope you into a bad deal? Please tell me are alright.”

“We’re fine, don’t worry. She just gave us an offer, but we are going to wait to see what Ralisdor has found for us before accepting.”

Maryam let out a deep sigh of relief when she heard that and let go of Shuka. That was especially good since she still had her claws out and Shuka was a bit nervous of getting scratched by them. Although they did seem shorter and she had a few less scales on her hand then before.

“I’m so sorry about bringing you here, I didn’t think she would kick me out like that. We should probably leave now.”

“Yeah. And don’t worry about all this, I think this was still a productive trip.”

“You do?” Xorvos burst out. “She could have killed us, and we didn’t even get anything out of it!”

“We got another option didn’t we? I don’t want to do her job either, but if we can convince Ralisdor to help us with it then it should be a lot easier.”

“But that’s only if we can trust her. She’s a pirate, what’s stopping her from just not giving us the book once we’re done?”

“Actually” Maryam interrupted. “Visia is actually pretty trustworthy when it comes to deals like this. You have to be a bit more careful with her sister, but I don’t think you have anything to worry about with her. Also I’m pretty sure she can still hear us, so we might want to have this conversation at the inn.”

Xorvos looked back at the door and realised how close to her he still was, magical teleportation and/or dimensional travel notwithstanding.

“Right, lets go then. But we’re not done this conversation.”

*

The inn was mostly cleaned up by the time they got back. You could hardly even tell there was a fight, other than the conspicuously missing table and chairs that left an empty spot in the common room. The innkeeper was back behind her bar, and she wasn’t kicking any of them out so that was good. Her fox was hissing at Maryam though, who was just a bit embarrassed remembering the small rampage she had. They all went up to the second floor and entered Shuka and Xorvos’ room. They found it wasn’t empty though as Ralisdor was sitting in a chair facing the door reading a book. When the door opened he looked up at them and had a very cross look on his face. It was the kind face a parent might give to their child after catching them trying to sneak out past curfew. Shuka recognised it well, as her caretakers at the orphanage gave it to her every time Maryam convinced to go on a night time adventure. Not once did they ever succeed, but the caretakers didn’t seem all that upset with them when they tried.

“And where exactly have you two been? I believe I recall telling you to stay here and not get in trouble, and yet when I return you are nowhere to be found.”

The tone of his voice told Shuka that he was much angrier than her caretakers were. He wasn’t going to give a chuckle and tell her to try again next time, he was serious. Xorvos saw how mad he was too and tried to explain everything before Maryam interrupted him.

“Well you see Ralisdor, what happened was-”

“What happened was your rules were dumb so we decided to break them.”

God dammit Maryam, don’t piss him off more.

“And you are? Some meddling miscreant who decided to put their nose into our business? This is none of your concern.”

“What, can’t a gal help out a friend? I bet I’ve done more to help her tonight than you have, you bossy old man!”

“Hey, everyone just calm down.” Xorvos interrupted. “Theres no need for an argument right now, lets all just discuss what we have each done tonight without shouting at each other.”

While neither side seemed to like it, they did both relent. Maryam had to almost physically stop herself from giving a snarky comment though. Ralisdor just redirected targets.

“A rare good idea Xorvos. Shame it only came to you now and not when you decided to ignore what we agreed upon. But fine, you want to know what I did? Exactly what I said I would do, searching for a mage capable of lifting curses. Not an easy task I assure you, especially discreetly. Of course I had some old associates who I went to and they pointed me in the right direction. Tomorrow I shall follow up on those leads, but it was getting quite late so I decided to return, only to find you two missing.”

“Don’t blame Xorvos.” Shuka said, speaking up in his defense. “He was against leaving, but he came with us to keep me safe.”

“Yeah, and I’m the one who suggested leaving, so don’t get on his ass about it.”

Ralisdor seemed a bit irked at Maryams less than polite language, so he focused back on her again.

“And just who are you anyway? Some foul mouthed brat intent getting my apprentice into trouble?”

“Hey, I’m no brat! I’m the daughter of an archmage you know.”

“Truly? You are? Well then, I’m sure she must be very disappointed in you.”

What the hell is going on, why is Ralisdor being such an asshole? This isn’t like him at all. Is he really that mad?

“Ralisdor, wait. This is Maryam, she’s my friend from the orphanage. We met in the inn by chance and she was only trying to help me.”

“And how exactly did she help you?”

“She… took us to the library. To meet the librarian there.”

Ralisdor let out a frustrated sigh.

“I was worried about that. I was hoping not to have the most dangerous person in Lancrin have their eyes on you, but I suppose it’s too late for that now, isn’t it?”

When he says it like that I suppose he has a point. But she can still help us, can’t she?

“We talked for a bit and she offered us a job, but she let me go without a problem when I didn’t accept it. We took a bit of a risk, but it didn’t end badly.”

“It hasn’t ended badly yet, but just you wait. She is a danger even I can’t save you from, pray I won’t need to.”