T. A. Star
patreon
21 - The House of Wayland
🕑 Added 2023-11-06 21:21:00 +0000 UTC
Paul watched Lester lead Phoenix away for a few moments, not liking the feeling settling in his gut, but he wasn’t about to start picking fights with even more gods. So he turned back towards the path, taking the left road that followed the western wall of the International District until he reached the first gate leading into the southwestern section of the city, designated the Martial District.
Most of the city’s defenders were trained here and it was often used as the organization points for missions for various organizations. The Alliance of Adventurer’s Tulim branch was located here, closer to the central gate of the inner wall, which he made his way to first.
As he moved through the tunnel leading into the Martial District, the crowd seemed to shrink back from his presence, making him able to move quickly through. He wasn’t sure if Phoenix had noticed the people subconsciously shying away from his power when she was following behind him earlier but if she had then she had chosen to remain silent about it. Which he preferred.
Paul hadn’t found himself speaking so much in years. Not since pleading his case to the Delegation of Radiance when he denounced his god and separated himself from the Purifier. He had left home shortly after that debacle and hadn’t been back since. Until today.
Before he’d confront his family, however, he had paperwork to fill out. Paperwork that asked almost as many questions as his new student… almost. He couldn’t entirely blame her for seeking answers. He’d likely be stuck doing the same if he had been dumped into a completely new reality. It had made him wish for his old team, though. Miriam would have been much better at handling and comforting the young woman. Gods, even Jerem would have likely been better than he was.
As he entered the AOA building, he felt a shudder of auras as the Adventurers currently occupying the hall all turned their gazes towards him, the only Emerald Caster among them, and he knew he was likely the highest level one in the city. He didn’t let their attention phase him as he moved purposefully towards the desk for turning in mission reports.
Paul handed over a small folder and requested an Unexpected Encounters Addendum form as well as the ones for registering new potential Adventurers for the next trials.
“You’re lucky you arrived today,” the clerk responded as she handed over the forms, “The deadline is this evening and they’ve announced it will be the final one until the blood moon has concluded.”
He simply nodded with a curt, “Thank you,” and took the forms. As he turned to go request a temporary office space, his path was interrupted by a woman he hadn’t seen in almost a decade.
“Glad to see you’re still alive and have come home in time,” the runeforged woman said, brushing back her long hair currently styled into a plethora of small braids. She smiled and teased, “There was a betting pool going around if you would actually show or not.”
The corner of his mouth twitched involuntarily as he observed the smaller Caster and ignored the obvious bait, “Agatha. Congratulations on your promotions.”
“It’s Director Trayvious now. You’ve missed quite a bit in your self-exile,” she prodded again and waved for him to follow her towards the platform lift at the edge of the room, “I’m just glad you at least answered the blood moon summons.”
Paul gave an annoyed huff as he muttered, “A bit hard to simply ignore the orders coming from not just my family but the AOA Central Leadership, the Tulim AOA, and even the Queen of Blomsterang.”
Agatha raised an eyebrow at him as she pressed a rune on the wall, activating the lift, and asked curiously, “You got a missive from the Queen? What did it say?”
The paladin gave her a pointed look, “Exactly what you’d expect: ‘We’re too short-staffed’, ‘As a former local’, ‘Go protect it or else’.”
The Director laughed, “Well, if she wanted to make her lack of love for our little duchy known, then sending you is a pretty clear message.”
The man shook his head and followed her out once the lift stopped at the top floor. The high-rise had a beautiful view over the martial district with the gathering yard close by and currently filled with Adventurers attempting to organize themselves before heading out on their respective missions.
It was one of the very few places in the entire city that had so much open space and he wasn’t sure how much longer that would last to handle the natural population growth of the city. As he walked up to the wall-high windows, he discovered that from this height he could almost make out the picture that the stone mosaic, which made up the paved ground, depicted: a crossed sword and wand over a blue feather centered on a shield.
“Why did you bring me here, Agatha?” he asked quietly, not looking away from the crowds.
“We needed a stronger Emerald Caster that was a dedicated combatant,” she began explaining as she took her seat at the large desk near the center of the space.
“No, here specifically,” the older man clarified as he turned to look at her, “In this office with all the witnesses seeing us enter?”
“I can’t just catch up with an old friend?” the runeforged asked with feigned innocence. Paul gave her a flat look and she instantly caved, “Okay. I just wanted to discuss your role within the AOA while you’re here.”
“You’d trust me with anything more than guard duty?” the ex-paladin questioned, crossing his arms over his chest.
“Please, Paul, you know I’m not the religious type,” she scoffed, “I don’t care that you were excommunicated. What I care about is whether you’re going to agree to taking orders from me or be a pain in my neck.”
“Is that what this is about?” he gave a slight smirk and noticeably relaxed, “You think I’d go against you just because you haven’t hit Emerald yet?”
She stilled, giving him a meaningful look, “You and I both understand the Rule of Caste. People will naturally look to you over me for orders. If you decide to try and overrule-”
“I won’t, Agatha,” he interjected, “I have enough trouble on my plate already and you know I don’t enjoy political games,” the Adventurer assured as he walked over and sat across from her in a sturdy chair, “I wouldn’t mind some… help, with arranging certain things, however, and request you be respectful of other duties I have within the city.”
The director gave a sigh of relief and noticeably relaxed as she nodded while adding, “That actually brings me to my next topic,” then pulled opened one of the desk drawers and pulled out a small marble stamp with a rune engraved on the end that he recognized as she held it up to him.
He almost went slack jawed at the silent inquiry and verified, “You want me to be an Ambassador?”
“You’ve dealt with nobles before-”
“I just said I don’t enjoy political games!”
“Are you going to be honoring your father’s request or not?”
Paul fell silent, glowering for a long moment before saying, “I haven’t discussed it with Patricia yet.”
The director’s eyes narrowed at him as she asked, “Are you Lord Wayland or not?”
He let out an annoyed huff and admitted, “For now. However, that doesn’t mean I want to be the one stuck with all the political missions.”
“Of course not, m’lord,” she said with a victorious grin, “But this will allow me to give you the really important ones that I can’t trust anyone else to do.”
With a soft groan, Paul shuffled slightly and pulled the green marble card from his belt pouch and slid it across the desk. Agatha touched the stamp to the top of it, causing both to glow for a moment as the rune became etched on his AOA license.
She didn’t return his card immediately, though, as she swapped out another stamp from the desk and showed it to him, “Can I add this one too?”
Paul’s expression hardened at the sight of the rune and said darkly, “No.”
“Now, Paul, I think with your track record and connections you would make a decent Delegate as-”
“I’m a Fallen Paladin, Agatha. If you try to make me a Delegate Adventurer, the temples might see that as being hostile on your part,” he stated flatly.
“I thought they raised you back up when the Purifier’s clergy were removed from the Delegation of Radiance.”
“No. Now I’m just a Fallen Paladin to a Fallen God. I would have to rededicate to a different deity that would raise me to Paladin again. No matter which way you look at it, I am the last Adventurer you want handling temple missions,” he insisted.
The runeforged seemed to wilt slightly, as she put the stamp back in her drawer, “Fiiine. Let me know if you decide to do the whole rededication thing, though.”
“I’m not thrilled about the idea of being betrayed by another god; so let’s go ahead and just assume that will not be happening.”
“In that case will you try to convince your sister to join us?” the Director asked with a grin.
“You know Patricia never listens to me. If she turned you down, then my words won’t change her mind,” he said, leaning back slightly, and appreciating the shift away from the topic of deities.
“Well, I would appreciate your words anyways,” she said, mirroring his movements as she asked, “Now, what do you want my help with?”
Paul hesitated. Debating on how much information to divulge to this woman who used to be a friendly acquaintance but he couldn’t truly be sure of her stances on things after a decade of being apart. She had managed to climb the ranks and establish her place at the top of this branch of the AOA, even as a Sapphire Caster, but he wasn’t positive if that showed more skill or cunning. Perhaps both were required.
“I met a young woman during my last mission,” he began, choosing his words carefully, “A Wayfarer. I want to make sure the Order of Magic backs off of her.”
Agatha straightened a bit at the news and asked, “You convinced her to join us instead?”
He nodded, “She was already attacked by one of their members. I’ve been training her to better defend herself.”
“When did she arrive in this world? Will she need Aspects? Most don’t arrive with them. We could probably schedule her for the first trials after the blood moon and get her set up with some sort of temporary position,” she fired off while opening another drawer as though looking for something to get all of the processes started at once.
“A few weeks ago and no. We were able to procure some on our own,” he explained and pulled out the application for new Adventurers he had received earlier, “I was about to give the AOA the details on her current capabilities, since her class being Celestial Astromancer is unheard of as far as I know, and hopefully get her in with this next trial.”
Agatha stared at the slip of paper for a long moment before finally clarifying, “A few weeks of training after becoming Crystal Caste and you, the Blade of Pure Wrath, believe she is ready for the trials leading into a blood moon?”
Paul nodded and her gaze met his and she let out a tiny gasp as she seemed to recognize something and asked, “Are you claiming her as Protégé?”
The ex-paladin kept her gaze, finally making up his mind as he declared, “I am.”
Paul stood at the gate to his family home. It was one of the few buildings in the city that had a small garden easement around it and was the tallest on this particular block within the northwestern quadrant of the inner city. The sigil of a rose wrapped around a sword was emblazoned proudly on the front door and he hesitated at the sight of it.
The weight of wearing that sigil seemed to settle upon him once more as he gently pushed the gate open and slowly walked up to it. It had been six years since he had set foot on this particular doorstep and it still felt too early for him to return; for him to forgive.
‘Not knocking will not make the door open,’ a mechanical voice spoke in his mind.
‘I know, Bela,’ he mentally sighed, ‘Just, don’t distract me while I try to face my family again. You know how they get when I don’t respond to them because I’m talking to you.’
The monotonous voice gave a return sigh as the higher feminine pitch replied, ‘As you command, Wayland.’
Before he could work up the resolve to knock or try the key he had buried in his pack, the door swung open and a runeforged woman slammed into him, hugging him tightly.
“You came back!” she almost sobbed, “I told them you would. I knew you wouldn’t abandon this duty.”
The Adventurer relaxed slightly and a soft smile tugged at his mouth as he said, “Hello, Pati.”
“Don’t ‘Hello Pati’ me!” the woman snapped, pushing away from him and getting a sterner expression despite the clear relief and tears of happiness on display as she swiftly moved into scolding him, “You never once answered any of my questions in the last six years!”
“I see you got my letters, at least,” he sidestepped.
“No, you’re not getting out of it this time,” she said and took his hand, dragging him into the towering family home, “We are going to have a proper catch-up and you are going to give me straight answers!”
He couldn’t stop the chuckle as he asked, “Is that any way to treat your older brother?”
“Oh? Is that what you are?” she snapped back, “And here I thought I had become an only child left behind to care for an entire noble house and ailing father.”
“I thought you wanted to become Head?” he asked, trying not to let his hurt at the reprimand show. It was always like this between him and his baby sister. She would be outrageous and try to control the flow and he would do his best to frustrate her. If after all this time apart they had easily fallen back into this pattern, he had the feeling that everything might actually turn out okay between him and his family.
“That’s besides the point,” the smaller woman waved dismissively as she led him towards her personal study, “Now, are you going to agree to become Head or am I going to have to take it off your hands?”
“Isn’t that what you want?” the ex-paladin asked with a hint of confusion, “I thought you might have wanted to throw me out, despite anything our father might have desired.”
Patricia laughed loudly, “Gods, no. Haven’t you heard, brother? There’s a nasty blood moon coming. The House of Wayland needs to put its strongest asset at the helm.”
Paul shook his head, “Pati, I’m a Fallen Paladin-”
“Who fell because he stood up to the evil he saw his now Fallen god propagating and warned the world of what was to come. It’s not your fault they didn’t listen and now have returned to help defend our city from their mistake. You are redeemed in the eyes of the public,” the younger noble espoused.
He almost laughed at the absurdity of the idea she was trying to paint for him, “You can’t be serious? You know I don’t do politics.”
“You won’t have to,” she promised, grasping his hands in hers to show her sincerity, “Let me manage everything while you be the figurehead we need; the strength we can lean on. Show up and smile, I know that’s hard but we can work on it, and let me handle all the backroom stuff you despise. I know you can play the game-”
“Just because I can play it doesn’t mean I want to do so for the rest of my life!” he interrupted angrily.
“Just for the blood moon, Paul. I’m close to Emerald. I know this moon will push me into the next Caste,” she argued back before softening her stance and pleading, “Please… be our symbol of undeniable strength during this. We need you, I need you, to get through this.”
Paul ran a hand through golden hair as he paused their walk through the last hallway before they would reach her study. The wooden panels along the bottom of the walls separating the white marble of the floors and upper walls were a familiar sight that was both comforting and unnerving with the memories they were steeped in.
His mind raced at the repercussions of actually becoming the Lord of House Wayland and found his thoughts drifting to Phoenix and the struggles she would face once news of her existence spread. He had already made the choice to claim her as his official Protégé in an effort to help shield her. Increasing his own social standing would also increase the strength of that shield and make it easier for him to add more.
Instead of answering right away, he went ahead to Patricia’s study and made his way to the liquor cabinet he knew would be there and fully stocked. When the ex-paladin found what he was looking for, he pulled out the bottle and a glass, pouring himself a drink.
The runeforged smiled brightly at him, “Does the drinking mean you accept my proposal?”
He gave an annoyed huff and downed the glowing pink liquid in the short glass. Then poured another before stating, “I have conditions,” at her raised brow he continued, “There’s a woman I want you to help me shield… politically.”
Patricia gave him a dubious look, “Brother, I know you like to dally now and then but you always shut down my suggestions at finding a marriage partner…” then she gasped, “Is she expecting?”
Paul gave a pained sigh and stared up at the ceiling as though asking the gods for patience then leveled a look at her and said, “She’s my Protégé,” then took another long swig from his glass.
