Chương 39: Dinner in Ardark

Before heading back to the inn, Maelle stopped by Virdis's safe house again. There she did the secret knock and waited. No one answered. She knocked again and waited a little longer. He must still be out looking for Marina. She hadn't really expected him to be back yet, but a part of her had hoped. It looked like she would have to return at midnight. On returning to the Witch's Hearth Inn, she went upstairs and found that the others were still out. Boots was on Amberlin's bed licking himself clean.

She'd heard that cats did that a lot, like it was their favorite thing to do, but that never prepared her for how much time they actually spent doing it. Or maybe Boots was just vain. He turned and glared at her like he'd read her thoughts.

"Don't worry, Boots. I'd be vain too if I looked half as cute as you." She realized she'd just spoken to him unprompted. Luckily Amberlin wasn't around to see this. Since there was still some time before dinner, she flopped on the bed, summoned the magic training manual that Virdis had given her, and started reading. There were a lot of exercises in there for helping a mage break through into Tier 3. Most of them were the same ones Marina had her doing. So why hadn't it been working? Could her level be too low?

It was taboo to ask for another person's stats, and not even Marina knew what hers were. But an experienced warrior could always get an idea when they saw you in action. The better your stats, the harder you were to hurt. Like the bear she'd fought today. It had to be a very high level to shrug off a [Firebolt] like that. Or maybe it just had good fire resistance. She didn't know enough about bears to say. But Marina had said that levels weren't what held mages back.

The book compared getting to Tier 3 with stepping off a short ledge while blindfolded. Something that's safe when sighted became dangerous when you weren't familiar with it. But fear also held us back. A mage could retreat without ever knowing that they'd come within a hair's breadth of reaching that next step. Maelle had never really felt anything dangerous in her practice. Did this mean that she was nowhere near a breakthrough?

She was pulled out of her thoughts by a knock followed by Havlo's voice calling through the door.

"Maelle? Would you like to head downstairs for dinner?" She stowed the book back into her inventory and joined him in the hallway.

"Lady Amberlin isn't with you?"

"She wanted to look around the city a bit more," he explained.

"It seems she hasn't found a good cake shop yet. She said we can get started without her." Downstairs in the dining room, Havlo asked about her day. She told him about how she'd registered as an adventurer, though she left out the parts about the bribe and her failure of a first mission. If she was to stick around, they had to see her as an asset.

"I'm surprised they let you register," Havlo said with clear disapproval.

"I'd have thought there'd be some rather strict safety standards for children."

"They made an exception for me on account of my abilities," she said cryptically while planting the seed that she would be useful to keep around. He stroked his smooth chin, an idle habit of his that she'd noticed.

"I suppose they'd want to give orphans the opportunity to make a living. I still don't like it, but considering how the city is currently struggling to provide enough alms to feed its poor, I suppose it's better than letting the orphans starve. And a Tier 2 mage doing bronze-rank quests should be quite safe."

"You don't think I'd be ready to take on a silver quest?" she asked.

"I wouldn't recommend it until you've proven yourself at bronze level first," he said.

"Pushing yourself too hard too fast is how adventurers die." So that was her problem. She'd had silver coins in her eyes and tried to soar high into the sun, and it almost did cost her her life.

"You don't have to tell me your level, but I'm guessing it's quite low," he continued.

"While levels aren't as important for a mage, it does mean you're in more danger if a monster ever manages to land a hit."

"Would being underlevel affect the quality of my spells?" she asked, still puzzled by how the monster had taken her elevated [Firebolt] without so much as a flinch.

"Not directly, but there are many factors that can make it hard to cast a spell at its full potential, and some of them can be improved by gaining levels." At that moment Amberlin burst into the inn. She spotted the two of them and marched right up to their table, plopping herself down in an empty chair.

"This is the worst city ever," Amberlin grumbled.

"All the cake shops are closed because sugar is too expensive. Everything is too expensive here, have you noticed?" What Maelle did notice was that Amberlin had set a bag at her feet. Despite complaining about prices, she'd gone and done some shopping. Before settling into her seat, Amberlin went upstairs to get Boots, and then she gave him his own seat at the dinner table, though all he seemed interested in doing was sleep. The innkeeper came around with Havlo and Maelle's food, and then Amberlin made her order.

As she was leaving, the innkeeper said, "Hold on, I've got something for you," and then returned a moment later with a small porcelain jar that fit snug in two hands. It was tied up with ribbons and had a handwritten note attached to it.

"The delivery boy said it came from the Seven Songs." The innkeeper set it down in front of Amberlin and then stepped away into the kitchen. If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. Amberlin read the note and sighed.

"Who's it from?" Maelle asked eagerly.

"Alder Song, the guy who runs the trading company. He says he hopes for a great future in business together." Amberlin looked helplessly at Havlo.

"I only did one transaction with him. Why would he send me this?"

"You must have made quite an impression on him," he replied.

"Go on, open it up and see what's in it," Maelle urged. When Amberlin untied the ribbons and lifted the lid, a familiar aroma met Maelle's nose.

"It's peppermint tea!" she cried excitedly. Amberlin looked at her.

"Do you like peppermint tea, Maelle?" She realized that it wouldn't be wise to confess her familiarity with it. Proper peppermint tea was a luxury few could afford because both ingredients—peppermint and tea—were expensive, and then it required a skilled alchemist to combine them into the final product. She couldn't allow them to figure out that she used to be royalty. Then her cover would be blown.

"I may have had the opportunity to try some once," she said.

"Then why don't we all have some tonight?" Amberlin said cheerily. She called the innkeeper over and handed over the jar, asking for the kitchen to brew them a pot. The innkeeper looked like she'd just been handed ambershard. On her way to the kitchen, she held the jar defensively, afraid to let it get damaged. Amberlin wasn't paying attention to any of this as she'd already turned her mind to other matters.

"Have you guys had any lucky getting intel on the kidnappers?"

"I didn't know we were supposed to be out gathering intel," Maelle said nervously. Why had no one told her?

"So that's a no from you. What about you, Havlo?" Havlo took a moment to think before responding.

"I've heard that while the locals have been spared, visitors to the city have been targeted. So if anyone is planning to be out on the streets tonight, they should make sure to be very careful." Maelle stared wide-eyed at Havlo. How did he know she was planning on sneaking out tonight?

"That's what I heard too," Amberlin agreed slowly.

"And I'm sure that that person will be extra careful when they do sneak out." Wait. Amberlin figured it out too? How had she slipped up so badly? The tense mood at the table was short-lived, as Amberlin was cheery when she next turned to her.

"So, Maelle, how did you get along with Boots today?" The rest of the conversation at dinner was light. She got to ask Havlo some more questions about magic, and his opinion on some exercises in the new training manual. At first he seemed surprised when she brought them up, but then agreed that they were worth trying. Her mood lifted when the innkeeper returned with the pot of peppermint tea. But Maelle found that she didn't enjoy it as much as she used to.

It reminded her too much of her old life and everyone and everything that she'd lost. If the others noticed, they were careful not to say anything. The magic talk ended when Amberlin brought out her gittar and played them some songs. If Maelle was being honest with herself, she would admit that Amberlin's music was a big reason she wanted to stick around with these people. On the caravan's way to Ardark, Amberlin's songs around the evening campfire had been Maelle's favorite part of the day.

Afterward Amberlin gave her the jar of peppermint tea to keep and then they went upstairs, where Maelle joined Havlo in his room for some more tutoring in magic. When it was time to get ready for bed, she headed over to the room that she was going to share with Amberlin. The door was locked. She knocked.

"Amberlin? It's Maelle."

"Just a moment!" Amberlin called from inside.

"I'm getting changed!" When the door finally opened, she saw that Amberlin's old merchant's formalwear had been thrown on her bed, and now she wore the more robust everyday garb you might find on a traveling merchant.

"What do you think?" Amberlin asked, showing off with a twirl.

"You changed into that for bed?" she asked. Amberlin paused.

"I suppose I did."

"You look good in it," she said.

"Though I don't understand why you had to lock the door to get changed. Couldn't you just switch out your gear in your inventory?" Like a normal person, she added quietly to herself.

"Haha, Maelle, you sure ask a lot of really astute questions," Amberlin said stiffly.

"I guess we could say that my inventory can't fit any more things in it?" She briefly wondered if she'd fallen in with a band of suspicious people. It was hard to tell because adventurers were known to be a bunch of oddballs. You had to be, to choose a career that involved running toward danger rather than away from it. Maybe in Amberlin's case she ran toward danger because she was running away from something else.

Maelle spent the next couple of minutes speculating about what sort of contraband Amberlin might have stashed in her inventory. When they went to bed at last, Maelle only pretended to sleep. All the while she was actually waiting for Amberlin to fall asleep, and she spent that time thinking over her day. There was a lot of uncertainty regarding her status in the party, and no one had brought the topic up yet. They'd discussed sticking together until they got to Ardark, but never what would happen afterward.

She supposed that the others had their minds full with the people-trafficking investigation. As for her, her biggest hope had been to find Marina and return to the protection of her bodyguard. But Virdis believed that it could take some time for Marina to show up, so she should try to stick with the adventurers. But there hadn't been a good opportunity to bring the topic up with the party. Particularly not after it came out at dinner that she hadn't done anything to contribute to Amberlin's investigation.

Things might have been different, had she been able to prove her worth by slaying that weird bear monster today, but that quest had been a disaster. After some time had passed, and she believed Amberlin was asleep, she mentally prepared herself to make her move. Then she heard some rustling from the other bed. Followed by a strange silence. Sensing that something wasn't right, she carefully angled her head to get a better view of the room.

With her innate [Infravision] she saw Amberlin's heat silhouette climbing out of bed and quietly making its way to the door. Amberlin slipped out and closed it behind her without making a single noise. Maelle lay there in quiet contemplation of what she'd just witnessed. All the pieces started falling into place. Amberlin was a bard. Every story Maelle had ever heard about bards portrayed them as tricksters, rogues, mischiefs, cheats.

Marina had warned her to beware of bards as they would try to take off with her garments. Amberlin had complained about the high prices in Ardark. Yet she'd gone out and "bought" new garments anyway when her old ones were already quite fashionable. Nobody was able to move so silently without a lot of practice. There were spells for it if Amberlin had been a mage—like the Tier 4 spell [Muffle]. But she'd never seen Amberlin cast anything more complicated than a basic [Fireball] at Tier 3.

Which was more than Maelle was capable of, but it also seemed to be the only spell Amberlin knew, since she delighted in wasting it on slimes when a simple [Firebolt] would do. Besides, she hadn't sensed any flux, and it would have been impossible for most mages to completely suppress that when casting a Tier 4 spell. No, it wasn't magic, it was practice. And nobody got that sort of practice unless they were in the habit of sneaking into other people's business. And what sort of person snuck out at night?

No one had legitimate business at this hour. Maelle being the exception of course. She was only going out to see her friends. She spared a moment to feel sorry for poor Havlo. He must have no idea about Amberlin's late-night shenanigans. He thought his master was just a powerful mage pretending to be weak, and hadn't realized that she was a trickster pretending to be a powerful mage pretending to be weak.

Maelle waited a little longer in case Amberlin decided to return, and then slipped out of bed when it felt safe enough. She didn't want to leave through the door like Amberlin, as she would have to sneak past Havlo's room to get to the stairs, and she didn't trust herself to move as silently as the bard. Instead she opened the window and peered out. After checking that the coast was clear, she manifested her wings just long enough to help her land softly on the street outside before dismissing them.

It wouldn't be wise to fly in Ardark, since the assassins might have someone posted here keeping a look-out over the airspace. She made her way through the streets toward Veridical Creations.