Chương 25: The Sound of Music

Recollections of Amberlin's death have been greatly exaggerated. We shall not be adding to them.

Havlo woke up that evening to the sound of Lady Amberlin's voice calling to him from outside his room. Somehow he'd slept all the way through the day. He used his inventory to quickly swap into his travel robes and then opened the door. It turned out she wasn't alone. Beside her was the young guard who'd been present at the bandit cave last night.

"Officer Bradley came to return my troll's teeth," Lady Amberlin said.

"He has good news about Restford, but he wanted you there when he delivered it."

"I also wanted to thank you again for saving us last night," Bradley said.

"Don't mention it at all," he quickly replied and squeezed the young man's shoulder to keep him quiet while he addressed Lady Amberlin.

"Sorry to be rude, but would you mind going downstairs and preordering for us? I realize I haven't had any lunch, and I'm famished."

"But I want to be there when he delivers the news," Lady Amberlin said.

"I'll make sure he doesn't say a word of that until we're all together," he promised. Once he and Bradley were alone, he was able to relax. That had almost been ruinous.

"You haven't told her anything about last night, have you?" he asked the private.

"N-no, she took me straight up to see you," Bradley replied.

"Good, that's good." His heart was finally able to calm down.

"Please, I ask that you refrain from speaking of my capabilities around her, and that includes any mention of the events from last night. She thinks I'm just a normal adventurer." The look of realization dawned on Bradley's face.

"Is this why you've been passing yourself off as a bronze-ranker, sir? Don't worry, your secret is safe with me. I haven't mentioned anything to your traveling companion that would give you away."

"Good man." He looked the young officer over. There were still dark circles under his eyes.

"Did they really not give you any time off after what you've been through?"

"Oh, no, sir, I'm not on shift. I just volunteered to run this errand because I wanted to give you a proper thank-you for saving our lives last night."

"That isn't necessary. The only reason you were even in danger was because of me." The two of them made their way downstairs. Lady Amberlin was seated at a table that sported a large paper box. She grinned cheekily when she caught his eye.

"Officer Bradley asked me not to spoil the surprise," she said.

"My father is a baker," Bradley explained.

"I helped him to make you some special treats. If they aren't up to standard, it's my fault." Havlo sat down beside Lady Amberlin, and she urged him to open the box. Inside was a collection of rolls and pastries.

"So are you going to spill the tea on what happened at the party last night?" Lady Amberlin seemed to be in a gossipy mood.

"What spot of trouble did you get into?"

"There was an unruly guest," he said quickly.

"I helped Bradley deal with them."

"It's nothing worth speaking about," Bradley added.

"Uh-huh." Lady Amberlin already seemed to have lost interest in her own question, as she was now eyeing a bagel that he'd picked up.

"Would you like to try one?" he found another one in the box and offered it to her.

"Feel free to take anything, I can't eat it all on my own. You too, Bradley." Lady Amberlin happily accepted the bagel.

"What I'm really waiting for is this good news about Restford. I found us a job guarding a caravan leaving tomorrow morning. The merchant was kind enough to pencil us in, no obligations if we can't make it."

"Is that the Seven Songs caravan to Ardark?" Bradley asked.

"How much are they paying you?"

"I forgot to ask."

"Bradley, could you tell us what the council decided regarding Restford?" Havlo prompted.

"Of course." Bradley cleared his throat.

"The city council has decided to allocate a patrol to the Restwood. They have also approved plans to construct a watchtower near Restford. It will be permanently staffed once construction is complete. But there is a catch." Lady Amberlin waited patiently for Bradley to continue, and Havlo also said nothing.

"The Lorelark garrison currently has a manpower shortage because of the bandits on the northern road. So construction on the watchtower won't actually commence until that problem is taken care of." Bradley turned to Havlo.

"You know what that means, don't you?"

"That watchtower isn't getting finished unless someone helps the city out with the bandits," he replied.

"How frequent are the patrols?" Lady Amberlin asked.

"Captain Hughston still has to work out the details, but depending on the area they're expected to cover, they'll probably be doing a round every one or two weeks, and probably in the vicinity of Restford for half that time," Bradley replied.

"That's all right then," she said.

"The only essential times are the week of the full moon. No one goes into the forest alone after dark at other times."

"I'll pass that detail on to the captain," Bradley promised. Lady Amberlin smiled at Havlo.

"The watchtower is nice, but it sounds like the patrol will be enough. It seems we're all set to leave for Ardark in the morning." It was a relief to hear her say that. He hadn't been looking forward to scouring the hills and forests of the northern roads for the hidden bandit camps. The innkeeper brought out their meals. Seeing Bradley looking surprised at the plate set in front of him, Lady Amberlin said, "Why don't you join us for dinner? I'd love to hear about your adventures."

"Oh, uh, I'm actually quite new to the job. I haven't had much time to get up to any interesting adventures, hahaha." Bradley glanced over at him for help.

"Not everyone seeks out a life of adventure, La... Amberlin," he said smoothly.

"Perhaps our guest would be more interested in discussing the latest noble gossip?"

"Gossip is good," Lady Amberlin agreed.

"Then have I got the scoop for you," Bradley said happily.

"I hear that Lord Wanderbilt hasn't been very happy with his son's nightly pursuits..." They ate and talked, and after they were done eating, Havlo remembered the gift he'd purchased this morning. He pulled the gittar from his inventory and saw his master's eyes light up.

"Is that—" she began excitedly.

"Is that—" Bradley cried in surprise.

"I bought it off a retired bard I met last night," he explained.

"He said it has a few quirks, but I heard him play, and it sounded fine. I thought it would do until we can find a better instrument for you."

"Every instrument has its quirks," Lady Amberlin said, holding the gittar to her chest and giving it a strum.

"I love it, Havlo. You're the best!" Watching with a grin as she went about tuning the instrument, Havlo was glad he'd bought it for her.

If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. The Silverados were looking for a place to eat on their last night in Lorelark. They'd just signed on for a caravan job to Ardark that would leave in the morning. There wasn't much left for them here. Not with the sewers being inaccessible for the foreseeable future due to the roaming alligators. And the rest of the countryside was too safe to be worth their time. No one cared about some harmless slimes.

Besides Ardark, the other option was to head west to Ygg Latten Bay to help with whatever big thing was happening over there. In fact they'd passed by that city on the way down here. They didn't go in because they were told that they wouldn't be allowed back out, and there was something about the atmosphere there that made Jenny uneasy, though she couldn't quite pick out what it was. Buck had wanted to go in to see what all the fuss was about. He thought they could find a way to sneak out afterward.

But she didn't want to risk it, so they'd continued on to Lorelark.

"There's a place that does cheese and tomato sauce on top of a large slab of flatbread," Buck said.

"We had that last night," Duo-Fist said.

"But if we don't have it again tonight, we'll regret when we can't have it tomorrow," Buck pointed out.

"What do you say, Jenny?"

"I don't care," she said.

"Just pick anything." The problem with traveling to Ardark, of course, were the bandits along the northern road. But the caravan was supposed to be large and well defended. They weren't the only adventuring party hired for the job. If there were enough people guarding it, maybe that would deter the bandits from trying their luck. The merchant even claimed that he'd been able to secure insurance for it. That was a good sign that this would be a smooth trip and easy money.

"I want sausages," Keel said.

"There's a place that wraps them in a bun."

"What if we do both?" Buck suggested.

"We get some sausages and ask the flatbread place to stick them on top of the cheese."

"Sausages, cheese, and tomato sauce on flatbread?" Duo-Fist said skeptically.

"Maybe if they flattened the sausages first," Keel said.

"That sounds like a lot of work," Buck admitted. Jenny stopped in her tracks.

"Hey, do you guys hear that music?" It was coming from the building across the street. She looked up at the sign. The Wicked Heart Inn.

"A lot of restaurants have a bard," Buck said.

"Not the flatbread place," Duo pointed out.

"Let's go in and see what they have." Without waiting for an answer, she ran up and pushed her way through the doors. The sound of gittar music filled her ears. And the voice that accompanied it. She didn't care if this place only served flatbread. She wanted to stay and hear the rest of the song. The innkeeper greeted her with a smile.

"Are you looking for a room?"

"Table for four," she replied before peering into the dining room. There she was surprised to find the amber-haired girl responsible for the music. She was seated with an elf mage and an officer of the watch. Amberlin caught her eye and, without any interruption to the song, tilted her head to an empty seat at their table. Mesmerized by the music, Jenny made her way over there and sat down, getting a front-row seat to the performance.

The song went on for a couple more minutes and ended to a round of applause from the other diners. Amberlin set her gittar aside and offered her a bagel.

"You should try it, it's great! Officer Bradley's dad baked it just this morning."

"Uh, thanks."

"And I'm really sorry, Jenny," Amberlin said.

"Sorry for what?"

"I may have singed your clothes a bit." She realized that Amberlin was wearing the clothes she'd given her after their escape from the sewer gators.

"You don't have to worry about it," she said.

"They're yours to keep."

"Are you sure? I was going to find you and return them after dinner."

"I wouldn't be here if it weren't for you. And I think they look better on you." She hadn't been sure if her team was playing a joke on her when they said that Amberlin was nobility. But seeing the way the girl looked in her finest dress, Jenny could believe it.

There was an old man who owned a music shop in Lorelark. His proudest display item was a Stratosaurus original, an instrument favored by Valen the Fast Plucker, the greatest bard in Kalimor. That instrument had sat unsold in his shop for many years. For a normal business owner, this was a disaster. To have money tied up in stock that wouldn't move. But this old man didn't care. He believed that an instrument like that was just waiting for the right owner. Someone who deserved to pluck its strings.

Someone who knew how to make it sing. Because he was a music lover first and a businessman second. That's why every afternoon after he closed up shop, he took to the streets of Lorelark, touring the many buskers that lined the city square, and checking out the taverns and inns to see the latest talents on offer. Today he happened to be wandering out by the west gate way, and he noticed something strange. There was music spilling out into the street from one of the inns.

The front entrance was propped open, and there was a crowd gathered outside eating their cheesy tomato-sauced flatbread while bobbing to the rhythm. It was gittar music, and he would have thought Valen himself had come to town, had the accompanying voice not been that of a woman. A recent memory began bubbling up in his mind, but before it could rise to the surface, he was already pushing his way through the crowded entranceway.

The dining room was completely packed, and the innkeeper had to resort to passing plates of food along a chain of patrons to reach the customers' tables. He scanned the room for the bard. And then he found her, seated behind a table of adventurers who were just starting to knock back the first pitcher of ale for the night. He recognized her immediately. It was the girl he'd allowed to play the Stratosaurus. Of course it had to be her. Who else had arrived in Lorelark recently who could compare to Valen?

How foolish he'd been to allow himself to be influenced by first impressions. Seeing her now, dressed like she was getting ready to perform at a noble's banquet, with an elf mage for a companion, and even an officer of the watch assigned to guard her, her form fully reflected the bearing of her music. If only she'd shown up to his shop like this, he wouldn't have nearly missed the chance to find the Stratosaurus its true owner.

He approached her table and waited for the song to end, torn by the conflicting desire in his heart for it to continue on forever. He allowed himself to close his eyes and indulge for a moment, and only when the room broke out into thunderous applause did he lean in to speak with her from across the table.

"Young lady, I never thought I'd get to hear you play again." She looked over at him.

"I remember you. You run that music shop." Just the fact that she recognized him brought him the greatest joy.

"About the Stratosaurus. I can go way cheaper. If you promise never to sell it, I will practically give it away."

"I don't need it anymore," she replied, tapping her instrument.

"I've got a gittar now."

"But the Stratosaurus will sound so much better." She gestured to the crowded dining hall.

"Will it matter in a place like this? And besides, this gittar was a gift from a friend. It has more meaning than the Strato ever will." From the way her sharp and intelligent eyes stared him down, challenging him to contradict her, he knew he wouldn't be able to change her mind. She was surely aware that the instrument in her hands was a cheap knock-off of a more talented craftsman, yet instead of allowing the flaws to drag at her sound, she'd been able to incorporate it into her performance as an extra flavor.

He worried for the future of the Stratosaurus in his shop now that its true owner had turned it down, but those thoughts evaporated away when the maestro launched into her next song.

A half-elf named Rava was in an underground cave connected to the Lorelark sewers. She stepped around the dais that formed the centerpiece of the cavern and inspected the runes. A demon appeared from the connected tunnels hugging a paper box to her chest.

"Have you seen who you came to see?" she asked the demon. Echo opened up the box to reveal a party cake inside. The icing was splendidly done, the work of a master craftsman.

"We made this stop so you could get some cake?" Rava tried to keep the frustration out of her voice.

"We've already wasted a week because you wanted to break into that temple up in the mountains."

"Don't tell me you weren't curious what that stone guardian was... guarding."

"Too bad we never got to find out," she retorted. Despite their best efforts, the doors to the temple had remained stubbornly impenetrable. And the rock surrounding it also resisted all their attempts to melt it.

"It just feels like that temple should be linked to the keystone somehow, don't you think?" Echo said.

"If we can find a way in, it might hold the clue to defeating the other keystones binding our Supreme."

"Or it could just be filled with useless treasure," she said. Echo took a slice of cake and offered another piece to Rava.

"Rylee makes the best cakes in the region. Try some, it'll make you feel better. I got enough to share with everyone." She accepted the piece. After taking a bite, she had to admit that maybe it was worth making this stop after all.

"Where are the other two anyway?" she asked.

"I have them searching for alligator eggs."

"What?"

"You didn't think I only came here for the cake, did you? I had a little project going on that I haven't checked on in a while, trying to breed a fiercer variety of giant alligator." Echo frowned.

"But it looks like something nasty came along and ate all my work."

"What do you mean ate all your work?"

"All that's left are the bones." She thought about this for a moment.

"It could be they were just slain by adventurers and then rats picked them clean." Echo didn't respond and instead stepped up onto the dais. After looking over the runes, the demon said, "Man, whoever did this were a bunch of amateurs."

"You know what they were trying to do?" she asked. When Echo looked over at her, it was with the most frightfully mischievous grin.

"It's a ritual to summon me." Rava studied the runes again with fresh eyes.

"How would they know how to do that?"

"I thought it would be fun to plant rumors that a demon can be summoned in a ritual, remaining bound until they grant the summoner a wish. Guess which half of that is true?"

"Why would you want random suckers to summon you?" she asked. Echo shrugged.

"A bit of fun. I can always kill them once I get bored. But the main thing..." She pointed to the cages lined up along the cavern wall.

"It delights me to see the things humans are willing to do to each other." Rava suppressed a shudder. The problem with secret societies was that you didn't always end up working with the most stable individuals. She took comfort in the fact that she only had to put up with Echo until they released the Demon Supreme.

"Now that we're done with the detours, we should get back on task and head over to Ygg Latten Bay," she said.

"Didn't you hear what I said about my alligators? I'm not leaving while there's a chance to salvage my project. We might find one of them survived somehow." Rava sighed.

"While you do that, I'll pop up north to Ardark and see if the Supreme Council has any new instructions for us."