TQG 54

54. Traps

“It’s a trap,” Malkios declared.

“Obviously,” Tarisha agreed.  “The question is whether to spring it or avoid it.  Daemon, your thoughts on the matter?”

“I’m afraid I’m not adept enough in the politics of the Natives to be confident in an answer either way.  My counsel would be to speak with someone who is,” the vice guild leader said.  “For the moment, is it possible to delay?”

I sighed.  “I’ll write a response claiming to be indisposed.  I don’t think that Storm has the authority to command my presence until a coronation has taken place, but I don’t want to ‘piss him off’ if he does become the next king.  I’ll only be able to put this thing off for a day or so.”

“That will be long enough to speak with Lady Gwen and Lord Tom,” Malkios said.  “I will go and fetch them.”

“I hate this.  I wanted to just finish writing my grandfather’s final missives then go out on another adventure,” I complained.  “Now half of my family is dead and I don’t know what to do anymore.”

“Well, to start with, I would suggest washing your face,” Malkios teased, turning his back so that he couldn’t see the glare I shot him as he left.

Frustrated, I returned to Daemon’s office where I quickly penned a note to ‘Uncle Storm’ pleading that I was unable to attend him due to ‘resurrection sickness.’  It was the best excuse I could think of at the time.

Glancing at the stack of finished missives, I decided it was time to start procrastinating.  I’d written the most important ones already, and the rest could wait.  I hadn’t checked my status sheet since I’d logged in, so I quickly pulled that up.

[Blue Boxes]

I sighed, annoyed to have lost an entire level of progress, but otherwise my status sheet hadn’t changed much.

“How are you doing, Lord Hail?  I mean, do you need someone to talk to?  You have lost many family members in a short amount of time, and it’s okay if you’re overwhelmed,” Tarisha said, standing in the room with me.

I shook my head.  “I don’t really know my uncles very well.  I’m sorry that they’re dead, and I’ll murder the assassins and those responsible right back if the opportunity arises, but I don’t mourn for the way I mourn for Grandfather.  Or maybe I’m just numb to it, I don’t know.  I just, there’s a lot that I don’t know right now, Tarisha, and how I feel about a lot of things is pretty high on that list.”

I sealed the letter to my uncle and picked up the other letters, then went down to the main floor of the guild hall, where a number of other guild members were lounging around, most of them glowing various shades of blue.  They all perked up when I entered, as they had likely been waiting for me after hearing that I might have some quests to issue.

“Thank you all for waiting.  I have a few letters that need to be delivered, and I figured they’d probably turn into quests, so I thought you all would like to have the opportunity,” I said.  “Although honestly I don’t think they’ll be exciting quests, they’re just to deliver a letter after all.  The most urgent one needs to go to my uncle, but I’ve got a handful of other letters for a number of nobles and officials.  I’m not really sure how you want to divide them up--”

“We worked that out already,” someone said.  I think it was Worple, or something, there are too many guild members for me to keep track of to be honest, but he was glowing faintly blue.  “Getting in the door with any of the nobles is a much bigger thing for a player than you seem to realize, Hail.  We’re really looking forward to this opportunity.  Just tell us where a letter goes and we’ll figure out who takes it, unless for some reason the quest doesn’t generate for them.”

“Right, okay.  Well, this one needs to go to my uncle, Storm Teoran, right away,” I said, and spent several minutes handing out quests.  I had enough letters for all of the Travelers who wanted one, plus two who got to serve double-duty.  A few of them were carrying the letters separately, but traveling together to see if they could jointly complete the quests to earn rewards as a group.  It was all very boring, and I was glad to be done with it until the next batch of letters, which I promised myself I would work on tomorrow.

But first, I needed to find some soap to get the ink stains off my face.

~~~~~~~~~

Malkios returned an hour later with Lord Tom and Lady Gwen.  They were both polite enough not to mention the ink, or the tenderness of my skin from having spent that hour scrubbing.  Having received an official invite from one of the guild leaders, they were able to join us in Daemon’s office, although it was a little cramped, as aside from the four of us, Tarisha and Daemon and Dimple were also present.

“Do you know who’s been killing off my family?” I asked immediately once we were alone.  “Is it Uncle Storm?”

Lady Gwen and Lord Tom exchanged a glance, then shrugged.

“We only know that Travelers are responsible, and that they were following quests given by the assassin’s guild.  Who hired them is a matter of speculation, but both your uncle, Storm, and also Auroras, stand the most to gain from having Sleet and Cloud removed from the line of succession,” Lord Tom explained.  Despite his snake-like appearance, his pronunciation was crisp.  I kept expecting him to hiss.

“Storm is the obvious suspect because he’s now the heir apparent.  But the deaths leave Auroras in second.  He would be third, if not for your illegitimacy, but that ship has sailed, unfortunately,” Lady Gwen continued.  “Although with the question of fratricide, you could potentially make a play.  You were between worlds from the time your grandfather died until just recently, you couldn’t have orchestrated--”

“I don’t want to be king,” I said, interrupting her.  “I’d be happy just being an Earl and and adventurer.”

“I see,” Lady Gwen said, obviously not used to being interrupted.  “Well, the sooner you make your feelings on that known, the safer you’ll be.  As it is, you are just important enough with your new position that both Auroras and Storm will demand your support.  I suspect that is the purpose of the summons you received.  Storm will likely demand you swear allegiance, and you must do no such thing until after the coronation.”

“If you swear to Storm and Auroras is crowned, then your great-uncle will never trust you,” Lord Tom explained.  “If you swear to Auroras and Storm is the next king, then you will always be seen as a traitor.”

“Won’t refusing to swear to either just upset them both?” Tarisha inquired.

“Many nobles are taking a neutral stance until the question of who had Hail’s uncles murdered is answered,” Lady Gwen answered.  “In fact, it’s the popular stance.  Storm and Auroras have claimed about one fifth of the noble’s support each, with the remaining three fifths undeclared.  The church, meanwhile, has officially declared that Thedum will not support a fratricidal king, and has vowed neutrality as well.”

“And the masses?” Daemon inquired.  “What do they think?”

Lady Gwen huffed.  “What do they ever think?  As long as their bellies are full and their lands relatively free of monsters, they don’t care who sits on the throne. The crown prince and two dukes are dead and to them it’s a simple matter of gossip.  I suspect they’ll care significantly more if the matter turns into a civil war and they’re conscripted by one of the competing factions, but at the moment they’re content to leave politics to the nobles.”

“I wish I could be like them,” I lamented.  “I want to find whoever is responsible for killing my uncles, but I don’t care who becomes king, as long as they’re not the ones who hired the assassins.”

“Unfortunately your royal blood precludes you from that luxury,” Lord Tom said.  “You should draft a statement renouncing any ambitions for the throne yourself as soon as possible and have it announced throughout the city.  I will arrange a number of criers to--”

“No, let the guild do it,” I said.  “It’s another quest for those who want them, I’m sure.  It’s not like you need a license to stand on a street corner and shout a message, after all.”

Lord Tom was no more accustomed to being interrupted than Lady Gwen was, but he nodded in agreement.  “I suppose that will suffice.”

“Hail, what do you actually wish to accomplish?” Lady Gwen inquired.  “You don’t wish to be king; will you renounce your lands as Earl as well, and dedicate yourself entirely to adventuring?”

“No, I’m not going that far,” I assured her.  “I think I can be an Earl and an Adventurer both.  Actually, I have a plan where the two will work together, but I can’t really share the details on it.  I promised Grandfather.  He’s the one who helped me come up with it.”

“So then, any plan we come up with must ensure that you are free to adventure, while avoiding making any sort of pledge to either side in this conflict,” Lady Gwen surmised.  “You were right to simply delay the meeting with your uncle.  He does not have the authority to demand your presence as he attempted to do, but as your uncle and as a duke, he does have the ability to send an invitation that would be difficult for an earl to refuse.  What excuse did you use in delaying?”

“I pleaded resurrection sickness,” I answered.  For some reason, the Travelers in the room snorted at that.  “He does know that I was between worlds, does he not?”

“The official story that I spread was that Thedum whisked you away from the battle in order to protect you, as he has done before,” Malkios answered.

“Which is actually the truth, if you leave out the bit about me returning and getting killed as a world boss,” I said.  “Was it not widely known that I was dead then?”

“You’re excuse may have raised some questions in Storm’s mind, but he’ll keep them to himself,” Lord Tom explained.  “It doesn’t make much difference at this point.  Just so long as nobody connects you to being the king’s avenger, everything will be alright.”

“We will come with you tomorrow, Hail, and support you as you navigate this situation,” Lady Gwen pledged.  “It’s the least that we can do for the youngest member of the Dungeon Busters, after all.  Put your trust in us to either speak for you, or put the correct words in your mouth, and you shall avoid becoming entangled in the spider’s web that your uncles are weaving for you.  For now, draft a statement renouncing ambitions on the throne.”

I smiled at her words, but the seriousness of the situation meant my smile did not last long.  “Daemon, would you let the guild know that I have another quest for them, please?”

“I already sent a message in guild chat,” the man answered.  “We have two dozen volunteers who missed out on the letter deliveries.”

Which meant that I had to write two dozen copies.  Frowning, I stretched my aching pen hand and got to work.