3. An enormous sum of gold
An enormous sum of gold
N obody bothered to look for her for quite a while, despite Lord Trevalyan’s assurance of being back soon.
Felix’s arm was numb from holding the lantern, so he set it down at his feet.
He glanced sideways at his charge, who was as pale and motionless as before, her breathing shallow but steady.
Her dark hair, pinned in some elaborate style before, was a mess of tangles and loose strands.
Her dress had torn at the hem and sleeves, and one earring was missing.
She was his age, about halfway between twenty and thirty.
Maybe a bit younger. Old enough to be married with children of her own, he guessed.
Was there a husband somewhere looking for her?
It didn’t seem like it. There had been only her father.
She was beautiful in a soft, ethereal way.
He didn’t think pretty girls from rich families normally stayed unwed long into their twenties.
But what did he know about that? Stop staring at the poor girl.
He focused his attention firmly back toward the house.
After watching the lantern wicks burn low, relighting them, and then walking up and down the path countless times to prevent himself from nodding off, Felix finally spotted lights bobbing in the distance.
He glanced over at Isolde, who had still not stirred, and then walked ahead to meet the approaching figures. “Over here,” he called in a low voice.
Two men emerged into view. One of them looked like a guard; the other was Isolde’s father. Lord Trevalyan’s face was tight with urgency as he strode forward. He looked around, eyebrows raised, then his eyes landed on Felix.
“Where is my daughter?” he demanded, his tone clipped.
Felix’s jaw tightened. “I did as I was told,” he replied. “Took her away from the ley line. She’s still… asleep. I left her back there.” He gestured toward the small seating area.
Lord Trevalyan didn’t bother with a response. He glanced at the faint glow of the lantern Felix had lit and strode off in that direction. “Go speak to the mage,” he barked over his shoulder, like an afterthought.
Felix bristled. Not a word of thanks, not even a nod of acknowledgment. As if he had not spent the past hour watching over this man’s incapacitated daughter. It shouldn’t surprise him. Nobles were used to talking to everyone as if they were dogs.
The guard accompanying Lord Trevalyan stared at Felix with an odd expression.
“What?” Felix snapped, his patience long gone. “I have nothing to do with any of this. What do they want?”
“Oh, uh, no idea,” the guard said with a shrug. “Just got told to bring you back to the mage.”
“Fine.” Felix heaved a sigh and started toward the house. “Let’s go then.”
Once inside, the guard darted ahead, leading him through a long hallway that ended at a closed door, and knocked briefly.
“Enter,” a voice from within said.
Felix stepped into what appeared to be a study. Scroll cases and bookshelves lined the room, and a heavy desk dominated the space. Standing by the window was the green-robed leader of the mages, who had so coldly told a man his daughter was beyond help earlier that night .
The mage turned and waved a hand dismissively at Felix’s companion. “You. Out. Go see Lord Trevalyan.”
The guard hesitated, casting Felix a sheepish look, then obeyed, closing the door behind him.
Felix crossed his arms and waited.
“You are a capable mercenary with a decent enough reputation,” the mage began, his tone as casual as if they were discussing the weather.
It wasn’t a question, so Felix didn’t respond.
“You served in the Duskrend mercenary band for a time, but left their company two years ago due to a dispute with your captain, one Alwin?” The mage raised an eyebrow.
“Since then, you’ve been working alone. You live in a boarding house well below the means of a man with your skills.
The logical assumption is that you are in debt. Am I correct?”
The fuck? Felix’s expression twisted in disbelief. “I don’t see how that’s relevant.” The Trevalyan spymaster must be the best in the city.
“Answer the question.”
He scowled. “Yes.”
“Good.”
Felix raised his eyebrows. “Good? What does my personal situation have to do with any of… this?”
The mage ignored his irritation. “I’ll get to that. You have no magical abilities of any kind.”
“Do I look like I bloody do?”
“Indeed not. Any relatives with magic?”
“Not that I know of.” His patience was wearing thin. “Are we done with the interrogation?”
“Not quite.” The mage straightened. “The event that took place tonight… The young lady has been leytouched.”
Felix had heard the term before, once or twice, as an insult. He did not know what it actually meant.
“It is exceedingly rare,” the mage continued, “but does happen. A leytouched individual will, involuntarily, drain the magic out of anything around them that possesses it, causing untold death and destruction. Circle protocol dictates they be put to the sword. However…” He hesitated.
“The… circumstances here require a different approach. An attempt to preserve the young lady’s life, given her birth and status. ”
“So, what? You want me to stand guard while you figure it out?” Felix asked flatly.
“Not exactly.” The mage clasped his hands behind his back. “This attempt can only be made at the Nexus, at the foot of the Veilcrag Mountains.”
Felix balked. “The Veilcrags? That’s thousands of leagues away. Weeks, possibly months of travel, awful weather, the Surgelands…”
“You have some basic knowledge of geography. Good. You’ll need it.”
Felix stiffened. “I’ll – wait. No. Absolutely not.”
He was finally catching on to the mage’s intentions, and he was not having it. He was not travelling to the bloody Veilcrags with anyone, least of all escorting some pampered princess with unstable magical powers.
The mage raised an eyebrow, unperturbed. “Six thousand golden crowns. For bringing the girl safely to the Nexus. A thousand up front.”
Felix couldn’t hide a brief look of astonishment.
Six thousand bloody crowns. More than enough to pay all his debts, buy himself a small house by the lake, and spend the rest of his days fishing.
Or to travel south, and see if maybe life in the land of his supposed parents suited him better…
His mind was racing with the possibilities.
“Why me?” he finally asked. “Lord Trevalyan is a man of means. He has a personal household guard. Why would he pay some mercenary a fortune to escort his daughter into the wilderness?”
Before the mage could answer, the door to the study slammed open and another mage burst into the room. This one was older, wearing blue robes.
“Kaeloth! What is the meaning of this? A leytouched is marked in your very presence, and instead of following protocol, you go rogue and plot with a noble! Firaes, Ellana, Gideon; all dead! The girl must die. Trevalyan’s wealth is entirely irrelevant! ”
The mage in green shifted his attention from Felix to the new arrival. He looked down his nose at the man, who was significantly shorter than he was, and sighed.
“Of course, that fool Elend went straight to you. You know as well as I do what is at stake here, Harald. The binding is weak. We have an opportunity here. We cannot simply look away from what is happening. And there is the Aetherglass to think about, too. Now,” and at this he glanced pointedly at Felix, then back to the other mage, “let me finish here, and we will speak further.”
Lord Trevalyan owned and controlled the vast majority of Aetherglass in the region, the only material mages could use to create items with magical properties.
As a result, Felix figured, the mages would go to quite some lengths to keep him on their side and ensure their steady supply of Aetherglass.
The blue-robed mage scoffed, then crossed his arms. “You cannot simply dismiss me like one of your long-suffering apprentices, Kaeloth.”
Kaeloth glared at his colleague. Felix shifted his weight, decidedly not thrilled at the prospect of being caught in some kind of magical standoff between two mages.
Finally, Harald threw his hands in the air and stomped out of the room without another word. Kaeloth waved a hand, and the door closed behind him. He gave Felix an odd look, then collected himself and looked at him expectantly.
“I asked why me,” Felix repeated. “Before your colleague joined our little chat.”
The mage’s lips twitched. He had probably expected Felix to leap at the massive sum of gold, not for him to ask questions. He paused, choosing his next words carefully.
“You attempted to carry out your guard duties even in the face of unknown magic and were, in fact, the only guard to do so. You seem to be inclined to behave protectively.” His grin turned wolfish. “You spent the better part of two hours alone with the lady and did not act… inappropriately.”
Felix’s brows shot up. “That is what it takes? Your standards seem rather low.”
The mage waved the comment away. “Irrelevant. I require your answer.”
Felix hesitated, his mind racing. He let his gaze wander around the room while considering his options.
He did not have any other job prospects right now, and could probably make all kinds of demands.
The mages and Lord Trevalyan clearly wanted to keep this quiet, though he doubted they would succeed.
Part of him was rather fond of travelling. It was an enormous sum of gold.
Finally, he gave a nod. “I’ll need supplies.”
The mage smiled widely. “Naturally.”
“How will we travel? Does the lady even ride?”
“Her father tells me she’s a capable horsewoman. She will travel anonymously.”
Felix frowned. “No retinue? No honour guard?”
“No. A small group is best in this… sensitive situation.”
“When do we leave?”