Chapter 34
Horpus froze in front of his drink cart. “Three paladins? In the whole world?”
“That's correct.”
He passed me a whisky and sat behind his desk. “How can you be so certain?”
“The system told me.”
“Yeah, that will do it.” Horpus took a sip. “What happens when this is finished?”
“Nothing?”
“We’d be even.”
“That was the agreement, or am I missing something?”
“No, you're not. I appreciate you being a businessman.”
“I've done a lot of awful things to get ahead, but I wouldn't blackmail you with your niece. I live with hundreds of women, remember? Do you think they could still trust me if that's how I played this?”
“Their opinion means that much to you?” Horpus asked.
“I promised them a certain kind of life, and they stay because I keep my promises.”
“I see. Apologies for drifting off topic. Three paladins to go. We’ll find them.”
“Glad to hear it,” I said. “That was all I needed to share with you.”
“May I ask a frank question? I know I should be mindful not to offend you, but I'm afraid I have to risk it.”
“Go on.”
“What happens to the rest of us when you own everything?”
“The rest of the Guild?”
“Yes, and humanity in general.”
“You make it sound like I'm taking over the world,” I said.
Horpus swirled his whiskey as if considering whether or not he should continue speaking. “I let you down with Bruhelmond. I'm not proud of it, and I don't expect you to like me as a person. But I do hope you'd treat me as though I had more than half a brain.”
“My vision is not what you're describing,” I said. “‘Taking over the world' makes me think of military campaigns, endless revolts, and assassins around every corner. I'm not interested in that, and I'm not interested in being in charge.”
“What are you interested in?”
“Beautiful women. I would rather spend the day in bed with 30 women than run off to fight some fucking paladins or to beg a Guild not to kick me out.
I'm only alive because I was desperate once, and someone in the Guild took pity on me.
Ever since then, I've been on the run from a rotating cast of enemies.
I've had my fill. No more for me, thanks.”
“You will always have enemies,” Horpus countered.
“Yes, I will, but I don't have to be an appealing target. I'll put down problems when I need to, but I won't march across the continent, demanding fealty. What happens to the rest of you, you ask? Live your lives. I don't want them.”
“The lengths you've gone to leave a different impression. You founded a whole new kingdom, for example.”
I shrugged. “They don't need to understand me. They just need to leave me the fuck alone. I wouldn't mind you making that known among your people of influence, actually. If I come to your business or your town or your country, it's because I want to spend money, not take it.”
“Thank you for the candor.”
I stood to leave but paused. “If I may ask, did she get anything out of it?”
“I wouldn't say it healed any of her wounds, but I think the closure and being able to reclaim control reduced her burden a bit.”
“Did you ever have doubts about whether you were doing the right thing for her or not?”
Horpus shook his head. “A cub has to learn how to use its claws. That's the only way it will survive when the pride isn’t around to protect it.”
Podni wore a tiny red crop top and a matching skirt that ran all the way to her ankles. She wrapped her arms around one of mine and pulled her head close to my shoulder as we walked. “Thank you for doing this.”
“Going for a walk?”
“For taking me out of the kingdom. I’ve never traveled this far before, and it’s nice to be doing it with just the two of us.”
“When you described the ceremony you wanted, I thought it sounded nice. So far, it seems you were right.”
Podni teasingly slapped my arm. “Don’t say ‘so far,’ asshole.”
“Do you like it here?” I asked.
“I do. It’s pretty, isn’t it?”
Podni looked around at the mosaic-covered buildings, each one shaped like a bowl turned upside-down.
I had yet to see a building with flat walls and 90-degree corners.
Even the guard towers were dome-topped cylinders.
The air in this city smelled of jasmine, and everyone around us spoke in a bouncy, twangy language neither Podni nor I understood.
The name of this capital city and the country it was in are not important. The chances of it still being around are slim, anyway.
I told Horpus that I didn’t want to own the world, and that was completely sincere.
I liked that Podni and I could be here and walk through the markets like normal people.
We could browse shops and laze about in taverns.
The only attention we received was because we were foreigners, but even that was fleeting.
We were far from the only visitors to this metropolis, so we didn’t stand out that much, all things considered.
“Will this feel less magical once the gate is open?” Podni mused over an ale and a plate of sweets.
She had heard Purity and Solara complain enough about losing their sense of taste that she knew to indulge before she lost hers as well. Once she was undead, that sense would fade.
“Not in this way, no. I don’t think it will. A difficult distance has a way of flavoring how the destination feels, doesn’t it?”
“The farther away it is, the more special it is.”
“And a gate will make it next door, practically speaking.”
“Do you worry about getting bored one day?” Podni asked after a long pause. “That you’ll run out of things to do and see?”
“I think enough will change that experiences will respawn, so to speak, and if this world bores us, nothing is stopping us from moving on to others. Why? Is that something that worries you?”
“I know it should be, like that’s what you talk about when you answer those kinds of questions as a kid. It’s up there with ‘what if you could fly’ and ‘what if you could turn invisible.’ But no, I’m not worried. With you and the girls, it feels… safe.”
“I feel the same way.”
“I would feel safer if you stopped messing with Noble Sacrifice enchantments.”
I laughed. “Me too.”
“If you were less famous, you would be less of a target.”
“I’ve been thinking about that, actually,” I said. “We don’t have to stay famous.”
“What do you mean?” Podni asked with a dash of frosting on her lower lip.
“We have centuries ahead. We could dip out of the public eye. 50 years go by, and nobody would recognize us.”
“I like how that sounds. Sit back and enjoy the spoils of war instead of staying at war forever.”
“My thought exactly.” I took a drink of ale. Now that I had a taste for distilled debauchery, a mediocre brew was especially disappointing. “Can I ask why you chose this as our wedding ritual?”
Podni thought while she chewed. “My crush on you started when we were nobodies just trying to survive. I know that hindsight has a way of making hard moments feel romantic, but I think about how we both left Borja. I didn’t think I’d ever see you again.
Now we’re getting married, like really, really married.
Going back to that first feeling with an escape like this one had felt appropriate. We’re nobodies here, in a way.”
“Full circle.”
“Something like that, yeah.”
“I like it too. Do me a favor? Make sure we do this again, and don’t be afraid to remind me. My sense of time still hasn’t adjusted to being awake 24 hours a day. It either feels like forever or yesterday with no in between. You’ll know what I mean when you’re undead.”
“Yeah, but I’ll have it easy,” Podni replied. “I’ll have everyone to keep me company. You had to do it all on your own.”
She reached out to touch my face.
“That must have been hard sometimes. Lesser men would have let it break them.”
“Are you avoiding the other half of your ritual answer?” I teased. “You explained why you wanted to take this trip. You didn’t explain why you wanted tattoos.”
Podni covered her mouth when she giggled. “I didn’t intentionally leave that out. I must be a little buzzed because I don’t know what you mean.”
Blushing, she continued, “I’ve really liked the abyssal traits.
Marking myself for you… I like what it represents, and I like seeing the depth of this represented on my body.
Reaching under my shirt and feeling my scales reminds me of how far we’ve come.
My wings are the same. I’m a better person, and it shows. ”
“I like it. Do you have designs picked out?”
Podni grinned. “Before you ask, this artist has enchanted needles. Normal tattoo needles wouldn’t get through your constitution. You’re getting a pinup of me on your shoulder.”
“The art is you?”
“Yep.”
“You picked the right ritual. This reminds me of one of the things I love most about you.”
“My narcissism?”
I shook my head. “The way you express your confidence. A little over the top. A little reckless.”
“Well, thank you.”
“Are you getting a tattoo of yourself too?”
Podni giggled again, her face flush with drink. “No. Solara wrote out the word ‘yours’ in Abyssal for me. I thought it would look nice on my upper back, between my wings.”
A warm contentment flowed out from my chest. “I love it.”
She put her hand on mine. “I’m glad. We should probably start the walk to our appointment, actually.”
“We should come back to this spot in 100 years. Don’t forget.”
Podni pulled me out of my chair with both hands. “I won’t.”
Two guards and a servant escorted Podni and me to a dining room in the palace. Instead of chairs, the table was low to the floor and surrounded by fine carpets and pillows.
Earlier that day, before getting our tattoos, Podni picked out a dress in the local style.
The yellow of a daffodil, the fabric was long and unstitched.
8 yards in length, it wrapped around her hips and draped over her shoulder.
Though her toned legs were hidden, the thin material highlighted their form in fleeting glimpses as she walked.