141: The Familiar and the New (Patreon)

“I’m sorry, Vir. The Pagan Order’s heresy must be brought to light,” Tia said, standing in front of the leaders of every major nation in the Known World. “Tell your people. Tell everyone that the Order is a haven for demons. They plot to overthrow you even as we speak!”

“No! Tia, stop!” Vir shouted, but his voice wasn’t heard by any of those assembled.

The scene rippled, like a drop of water falling on a perfectly calm lake. Now Tia stood in front of an Executor.

“Did you know? Your Acolyte not only failed to complete his contract, but he actively went against your wishes. He helped the Pagan Order. That band of evil demons!”

“We shall excise him at once. The Brotherhood’s doors will be forever barred to him. Issue the bounty for his head immediately!”

“Wait! It was all just a test!” Vir shouted, but yet again, his voice fell on deaf ears. “They didn’t want me to kill the demon! I swear!”

Without warning, the scene shifted yet again, and this time, Vir’s heart nearly stopped.

“No. Don’t,” he whispered.

“You betrayed me, Vir,” Tia said, holding her spear up to Bumpy’s neck. “If only you’d told me who you were, we could have avoided this.”

“Stop!” Vir screamed, right before Tia plunged her spear into the Ash’va’s neck. Bumpy neighed violently… then went deathly still.

“I did him a favor, Vir. He’ll no longer have to serve demon filth.”

“No!” Vir roared, shooting up with his hand outstretched.

“What’s wrong?” Maiya asked, startled awake by Vir’s cry. “Vir? Are you alright? Gods, you’re drenched in sweat.”

Vir looked around dazedly for a moment before recognizing where he was.

With a great sigh, he brought a hand to his face. “Sorry. Just nightmares.”

“Still bothered by what happened last night?” Maiya asked, holding his hand. “You can tell me anything, you know?”

There was no lie in her eyes, and Vir knew that he truly could talk about anything and everything with her. Unlike Tia.

“Tia… was more than just the leader of Spear’s Edge to me,” Vir said, gazing down at the waves that crashed against Balindam’s walls in the distance. The city was still waking up, with the sun having just poked its head above the horizon, painting the sky amber. Under any other circumstance, he’d have gazed at it, enraptured.

“You mean, like… you liked her?”

“Huh? Oh, no. She was a friend. Just… a good friend. Now she’s gone.”

“Friends with a princess in hiding. Look at you!”

Vir frowned. “I never even suspected. Sawai, sure. But royalty? Never. She never did explain why she was gallivanting as a Brotherhood Mercenary, though. I got the feeling Rani knew who she was, but I never guessed she might’ve been doing it to hide from some threat.”

Was she hiding to protect herself? Like me…

Maiya shook her head. “No, it makes perfect sense. With the death of her parents, her brother took the crown, but Matali is a dying kingdom. There are plenty of people out there who’d love to hasten their demise. Hate to admit it, but Kin’jal’s one of them.”

“So they can move in and take over when they finally fall, huh?” Vir said grimly.

“It’s how the Kin’jals are. When Matali does fall, it’ll be chaotic and treacherous. The Kin’jal might actually restore order and save some lives in the process.”

“Lives they themselves put in jeopardy by precipitating their downfall… What a mess.”

“Truly is. But a princess, huh? You have a thing for princesses, Vir? I’m… I'm afraid I'm not a princess, milord,” she said, batting her eyelids, pretending to look bashful. “I might be but a plain village girl, milord, but I've own my charm, I assure you.“

Vir punched her lightly on the shoulder. “I'm glad you're not. Believe me, I’m rather sick of them. Royalty’s nothing but trouble.”

“Truth. You are so incredibly right about that. She's like an overgrown baby. That girl seriously needs to grow up.”

“I can attest to that. Though, she did have her redeeming traits.”

Maiya’s stomach grumbled, making her blush and look away. “You didn’t hear anything.”

“Sure didn’t,” Vir said with a grin. “How about we go grab something to eat? Still some time before my meeting with the Tribunal, and I’d love to show you around the city.”

“Works for me,” Maiya said, taking Vir’s hand to stand up. “Can you go fetch Neel, though? Been dying to see him!”

Vir thought for a moment. “Sure, but I can’t take you with me. Not yet, anyway. Mind waiting out here?”

“Oh, what? In this terrible place? With that awful sunrise and that annoying breeze? Take your time. I could spend all day here.”

Vir rolled his eyes. “Be right back.”

For no reason at all, Vir Leaped away as fast as he could, just barely catching Maiya’s “Show off!” before he was out of earshot.

Rushing to the nearest entrance to the Undercity, he Leaped through the tunnels, powered by a sense of inner warmth he couldn’t quite explain. Arriving at his home in just minutes, he found Neel sleeping on the floor in a pool of his own dribble.

The moment he entered, though, the Bandy sprung up, wagging his tail and running circles around Vir, howling in joy.

“Haha! Missed you too, buddy,” he said, kneeling to scratch his friend behind the ears. “Hey, wanna go meet a friend you haven’t seen in a while? Promise you’ll like it!”

Awoo Awooo!

“Good boy! Race you there!” Vir said as he locked the door behind them, then took off Leaping again. There was a time when Neel would’ve beaten him handily, looking back at him with disappointment. These days, the bandy had no chance. Not with Vir’s powers. The Voidlands sapped the poor bandy’s strength. Here, Vir didn’t even need his Talents to give his friend some serious competition.

They slowed only when approaching the hidden trapdoor that led to the surface. Strategically placed inside a locked building, and guarded by Order demons, nobody was getting in or out without approval.

Vir waved to the guards before exiting and rushing back to Maiya.

“Neeeeeeeeel!” Maiya shouted, running up to the bandy with open arms. Neel jumped up, tackling her and sending them both crashing to the ground.

“Hahaha! Still as energetic as ever, aren’t you, Neel?” Maiya said as the bandy furiously licked her face.

She embraced him in a deep hug, rocking gently back and forth. “It’s good to see you again, boy.”

Aroooooo!

“Surprised he hasn’t forgotten you by now,” Vir said sarcastically, eliciting a scowl from Maiya.

“He’d never forget me! He loves me the most out of anyone in this whole wide realm. Right, boy?”

Woof woof.

“See?”

“He’s just excited to find someone to give him food and pets.”

The two of them played with Neel awhile longer, making him go fetch on the grass, before the bandy had had his fill and tired out. Given the lack of prana here, Vir felt that was quite an impressive showing.

“You’ve really grown close to the Order, huh?” Maiya asked as they waited for Neel to recover. “I get that they’re demons, but you haven’t even known them all that long, have you?”

“Just a few days, now that I think of it,” Vir replied. “But, well… they’ve created something amazing here, Maiya. I won’t lie. Some of the stuff they say scares me. They’re a little extreme when it comes to humans, but everything else? It’s like a dream come true.”

While he couldn’t wait to tell her all about the Undercity, he wouldn’t dare without obtaining permission first. He planned to ask the Tribunal about it during their meeting later.

“I imagine it is, Vir. I’m… glad that you’ve found some people who accept you.”

“Yeah. Me too. Hasn’t been an easy road getting here, though. There’s more to that Princess Tiyana story. A lot more.”

“Tell me,” Maiya said, hooking her arm in his as they walked down the hill into town.

“I ran into Tia and her party, Spear’s Edge, back at Zorin.”

“Pfft! Spear’s Edge? What kind of name is that?”

“Inside joke,” Vir said with a pained smile. He still didn’t know how to treat all the fond memories of his time with Tia's party. Was he to banish them from his memory? Or was it okay to value those moments for what they were?

“Anyway, I traveled with them for a time, and eventually joined their party after we arrived at Avi. A stupid decision, granted. Most of what I’ve been doing since fleeing from Daha is collecting information about the Pagan Order. Mainly by accumulating enough karma with Brotherhood contracts, though I ended up not needing it.”

“How’d you even know to seek the Order, though? Their identity might be an open secret amongst royalty, but it’s definitely not common knowledge.”

“That’s… Maiya, deep beneath Daha, I found something. An ancient Imperium outpost—an outpost of the gods. Intact and functional.”

Maiya stopped walking. “No way. That’s… how? The Kin’jal have no records of anything like that!”

Vir shot her a glance. “You sure know an awful lot.”

“Well, yeah. It’s kinda my job. I work directly for Princess Ira, so I have access to the most sensitive Kin’jal intelligence. If Kin’jal knows about it, chances are I can get my hands on it. You have no idea how many hours I’ve spent combing over intelligence reports. It’s mostly just awful, honestly.”

“Still. The princess must trust you a lot.”

“She does,” Maiya said with a frown.

“You haven’t told her about how you were working for Riyan, have you?”

“Of course not! I don’t have a death wish. But if she does find out, that’s probably what’s gonna happen to me, anyway. But hey, tell me more about this outpost. What was it like?”

“Magical. Prana was everywhere. And not just randomly. I think… I think the gods could see prana like I do, Maiya. The way they inlaid prana into their buildings, it had to be that way.”

They’d just entered the hustle and bustle of Balindam’s city streets, though there weren’t quite as many people out at this hour, allowing them a leisurely stroll down the cobblestone paths.

“Amazing. To be honest, I didn’t believe you way back when we arrived at Riyan’s place. When you said you could see prana. But I’d be lying if I said I haven’t benefited immensely from it. Your prana manipulation techniques, Vir… The Kin’jal think I’m a prodigy for progressing so quickly with my magic.”

Vir had peered at Maiya’s prana earlier, and had found it to be mostly the same as before, so what she said came as a surprise.

“I can manipulate prana so much more freely now. I’m at the cusp of becoming a Greater Mejai of Ash! It’s all thanks to you. You can’t know how much you’ve helped me.”

“That’s… wow. That’s seriously impressive, Maiya. What’s your Balar Rank?”

“Well, around a hundred. Probably more, now.”

Vir’s eyes bulged. “V-very impressive, Maiya!”

“What’s… um, what’s yours?” Maiya asked, looking at her feet.

Vir pursed his lips. “Sixty. I’ve gained some power since then, though. Still, dunno if I’d rank a hundred. Look at you, racing past me.”

“It’s not a competition, Vir.”

“Maiya, if you’re gonna lie, try to do it without a grin plastered all over your face?”

“O-oh. Sorry. Ha! I mean, okay, yeah. Cut me some slack, will you? Me being stronger than you now makes me a little happy, you know? After so long being weaker than you.”

“I’m sure it must. I’m happy for you, Maiya. Really,” Vir said.

“But let’s be honest. I’m just practicing your technique. When you make your next breakthrough, you’re gonna Leap past me again,” Maiya quipped, prompting a chuckle from Vir.

“Really, though. I’m happy for you, Maiya.” Vir said. He meant it. Sure, he was a little jealous, but he also beamed with pride. To have come so far meant she’d slogged for it. If she was Balar 100, she’d earned every last digit. All while learning the Kin’jal arts, too.

She must truly be a force to be reckoned with now, Vir thought. Maybe we’ll fight side by side one day.

“What is that?” Maiya said, gawking at an apothecary’s assortment of healing implements. It was the same stall Vir had stopped at on the day he’d arrived at Balindam. “That a bone isn’t it? That looks awfully like a bone. Yep, that’s definitely a bone.”

“Why, it is, dearie,” the kindly woman said. “Cures all kinds of poisons. You need only dip it into your drink before consuming it.”

“Does that really work?” Maiya whispered in Vir’s ear.

“Doubt it… If it did, why wouldn’t everyone use it?”

“Good point.”

“But some of this stuff does really work well,” Vir said after they’d thanked the woman and left the stall behind. “They have to live without magic here, so they’ve come up with some really innovative ways of doing things.”

The non-magical lighting that illuminated the Undercity still shocked him.

Can’t wait to see Maiya’s reaction to ‘that’, he thought.

At some point, they’d begun holding hands, just like they did in the old days. It was more a habit than anything intentional, though Vir still felt giddy, feeling her palm in his.

“Vir! Look at that one! Look at those pastries! They look delish!” Maiya said, pulling him along. This, too, hadn’t changed one bit. She’d always led him back at Brij. At the time, he’d found it annoying and pushy, but now, he just thought it cute.

Vir shook his head. Why do I keep thinking of stuff like that? It was terribly distracting.

And yet, his friend had changed. She was working directly for a Kin’jali princess. Working for those who would happily gobble up Tia’s country without a second thought. The very country Riyan considered an enemy.

“Say, Maiya?” Vir said as Maiya chomped down on her grilled veggie skewer.

“Mmhmm?” she said with her cheeks full of a fried sugar pastry.

“Do you ever feel bad about working for Kin’jal? I mean, I don’t have any love for Hiranya, but Kin’jal seems… I dunno. I wouldn’t call them good guys, you know?”

“Owo shuzzies. Wirash gunnashput nend todat.”

“Ira’s going to put an end to that?” Vir clarified with a bemused expression. Her lack of etiquette ought to have felt unsightly to him, but even her puffy cheeks as she ate somehow came off as endearing. He wondered how her handmaiden colleagues would react if they saw her like this.

If only I had that moving painting device at Valaka Amara. If he could capture this moment, there’d be no end of tormenting the girl about it later.

Maybe it’s for the best that things like that don’t exist, he thought. If they did, everyone would be walking around with people's worst moments… and that sounded downright terrifying.

“That’s right,” Maiya replied, having swallowed her snack. “Princess Ira wants to end Kin’jal’s expansionist policies and establish better diplomatic ties with its neighbors. She wants to oust Imperator Andros—her father—to make that happen. And she wants me to help with all this. Can you believe that?”

Vir stopped and looked furtively around. Luckily, the crowd had thickened to the point where any conversations would be lost in the noise.

“Maiya, that is not the kind of thing you ought to be telling me in public! What if someone overheard?”

Maiya’s eyes went as wide as saucers and she put her hand over her mouth. “Grak! Oh no. I, uh… I think we’re okay?”

Vir shook his head. “We should be alright. But be more careful, please? For your own sake.”

Maiya nodded vigorously.

If the princess wanted to change Kin’jal’s policies, it would represent a windfall for Riyan. Had the man placed Maiya there knowingly? Or had this been mere luck?

There was something else that bothered Vir, though.

“You… like working there, don’t you?”

A pang of pain shot through Vir’s chest, though he couldn’t explain why.

“I do. I truly do. It’s… you know how I used to fantasize as a girl? This is literally my dream come true.”

“Guess you have your big city life,” Vir replied, chuckling.

“Sonam’s the biggest city in the Known World. It’s… staggering, honestly. And I’ve got magic now, even if it’s not fire magic. I live in the royal castle, Vir! And I work directly for a princess, though she’s kind of a workaholic. And the money. The prestige! If you told me I’d have all of these things a year ago, I’d have thrown myself into Riyan’s arms and begged him to send me there.”

Wish I could say the same, Vir thought. He’d grown more powerful, sure, but he was now a fugitive. He doubted he could ever return to the country of his youth. He’d killed people. Yes, he’d grown from those experiences, but he felt as though he’d lost something along the way. Something precious.

“Vir, trust me. You’ll love Sonam. And you could live in the castle with me! If, erm, y’know… if you wanted to.”

Vir smiled. “How about we deal with that later? Let’s head back to the castle. You won’t be able to attend the Tribunal’s meeting, but I’d love to show you the castle grounds after. Maybe even some other stuff, if we’re lucky.”

“I’d love that,” Maiya said, brushing her hair out of her eyes.

It was such a simple, benign action, and yet, once again, Vir’s capacity for thought sailed away to the horizon.

“G-good, then.”