Questing Sucks (Book 1) (10 page)

Before any other words could be spoken, Patrick quickly made his way over to the man and handed him a small document. From where Sehn stood, he couldn’t make out the words on the paper, but they appeared to have been written by a delicate, artful hand.

The guard held the paper up to his eyes then gasped. He looked as if he would pass out. His eyes widened and his jaw dropped. He whispered something to the guard behind him and then passed the document around to the two other men, who both had similar reactions.

“Please, enter right this way. You are welcome, all of you.”

What in the hell is this?
Sehn thought.

Patrick only made it a single step towards entering the city. Sehn jumped in front of him and threw his arms out, barring Patrick’s passage.

“Sehn, what is the problem now?”

Sehn struggled to contain his anger. “So, you wish to have a Document-war, do you Patrick? Nero! Bring me the Sehn-Seal at once!” Sehn peered at the guard. The man scratched his head. Sehn waited for Nero to bring him over the Sehn-Seal before turning his full attention on the guard.

 
“I demand that you disregard whatever horseshit document this fool has just given you. You are to admit all of us into the city as you have planned, but only because
this
tells you to, not Patrick’s cheap knockoff.” Sehn snapped his fingers. Nero handed him a quill, which he used to sign the rightful paperwork before handing it to the guard.

The guard once again scratched his head and glanced at Patrick, who gave a curt nod. “Very well. As you have said, Great Sehn. You may enter.”

Sehn spat at the man. “I shall return later for your punishment.”

Nero was so filled with excitement as they made their first steps into the city that Cah’lia had to grab him and carry the boy over her shoulder to prevent him from running off. He kicked, screamed, and threatened to burn her home down with his eternal flames.

Foolish boy
.
Only the Great Sehn may call down the flames of judgment.

“I don’t wish to spend more than a day or two here,” Patrick said. “Sehn, I know you don’t want to hear that, but you’re the type to get caught up in one kind of nonsense or another, and then we’ll be stuck here for months.”

Sehn glared at Patrick. “And just what do you mean by that?”

They had come to Koringrath on a few occasions, because many things of value were to be hunted from the animals in the Harrow-Plains, and if you were lucky enough to find and capture a live Rezza-Spider, silk manufacturers in Koringrath would empty entire coin-purses to take it off your hands.

Patrick sighed. “Sehn, the last time we came to Koringrath, don’t you remember what happened?”

“Remind me.”

“We were only moments from exiting the city and returning home with our hunting profits, when on the way out, you spotted three children jumping rope. One said out loud to the other, ‘I’m the best in the world at jumping rope.’ Do you really not remember this, Sehn? You spent three damned weeks in complete solitude while you trained twenty hours a day, just so you could beat a few sniveling children at their game.”

Sehn nodded—it was all coming back to him now. “Yes, I do remember that, Patrick. Those stupid kids learned how great I was.”

Patrick shook his head in disgust. “Sehn, you even forced them to never jump rope again as their punishment for losing. But none of that matters now. Let’s just try and keep our stay here brief and head out within a day or two.”

Sehn shrugged. He had to admit he wanted to be done with this business as soon as possible.

“All right, boys,” Cah’lia said. “Here’s what we’ll do. I know everyone is anxious from the trip here, and Nero is going to lose it if we don’t have some free time. But first we need to find an inn and get settled in. Let’s try and keep things organized.”

The three Humans and Nero nodded, and then began to follow Cah’lia’s lead. It took close to a minute for Sehn to get over his initial shock. He was standing perfectly still with his mouth hanging open in surprise.

“What the fuck!”

Sehn didn’t begin to know how to respond to such an outrageous insult. Never before in his life had someone made such an affront against him.

Cah’lia stopped and turned around, the others mimicking her motion as they all turned and looked at him.

“You dare follow someone else’s orders? Cah’lia, you are to report to the termination-chamber at once!”

Cah’lia laughed and told him to kiss her hide-covered butt. Sehn screeched in anger as he reluctantly followed her to the inn. He didn’t have the energy to start another fight only moments after arriving in Koringrath, but she was so going to pay for all of this later.

They were able to stay in one of the nicer inns located on the northern end of town. Nero kept trying to rush everyone so they could wash up and explore the city. Of the six of them, Nero was the only one who had never before been to Koringrath, and he hadn’t sat still or stopped moving since the moment the city had entered his sights.

The room was much nicer than Sehn was used to: there was a bed for each of the five of them, with Cah’lia wasting their traveling funds to pay for a room of her own. Sehn relaxed on a large, fluffy mattress while he waited for Patrick to finish using the bath.

He lay back and propped his feet on the cushions. Nero, that little brat, had woke him too early, and Sehn supposed that now would be as good a time as any to catch a little extra rest.

 

 

Patrick entered the bathing room and felt his heart skip a beat as a hand covered his mouth and pushed him into the wall, sending a sharp pain into his forehead.

“
Shh. Make a sound and you die.”

Patrick closed his eyes, nodding, and the hand was slowly removed from his mouth. He turned carefully around and then looked at the woman who’d assailed him as if she were mad.

“Cah’lia, what in the Gods?”

Patrick watched in fear as Cah’lia unsheathed her dagger and held it up to his throat. “You aren’t going to be the one asking questions, Patrick—I am. Sehn might not notice your odd behaviors, but I assure you they haven’t been missed by me. What game are you playing at here?”

Patrick forced humor into his voice and laughed. “Cah’lia, don’t be ridiculous. We are going after a treasure. We’re all going to be rich!”

Patrick felt an explosion of pain as Cah’lia jabbed with her free hand, hard, in his gut. “You’re going to answer me right now, Patrick, or the next time I’ll be using my blade instead of my fist.”

Desperation, fear, panic, and even a little sadness—these were the emotions that crept into Patrick as he thought of what to say, and none of it was because of Cah’lia’s actions. Patrick didn’t know how much he could tell her; how much she would understand. But the Elven woman was too smart for her own good, and she could easily tell a lie from truth.

“Cah’lia, there are things in this world that some people would be happier not knowing. Some, I cannot say, not even under the threat of death, and others I can promise you are things you don’t wish to hear.”

She eased up a little, removing her fist from his stomach and easing the press of her dagger against his neck, but her voice remained firm. “I’ll be the judge of that. Start talking.”

Patrick kept his eyes on Cah’lia while he gently pressed down on the dagger and lowered Cah’lia’s arm, until he was no longer in danger.

“You have come to know me as Patrick, for it is truly my name. But others know me by another name. To them, I am Patrick Vasilis, prince-heir to the
Kingdom of the Seven Pillars
.

With a gasp, Cah’lia dropped the dagger; it landed with a clink on the bathroom floor. There was an expression of both fear and doubt in her enchanting eyes.

“Impossible. No, you lie!”

“You seem to pride yourself on separating truth from deceit. Tell me, do I lie?”

Cah’lia shook her head. She backed away. Patrick did not blame her. She couldn’t possibly know of the importance, the significance of his cause.

“But that doesn’t make any sense,” she said. “What are you doing here? With a single command you could have thousands…no, hundreds of thousands of men and women with sword in hand willing to do your bidding. For what reason could you possibly require us to retrieve this treasure for you? Why would one of the most important men in the entire world be wasting away his time with a foolish Elf who thinks he’s an immortal God!”

Patrick sighed. “Because Sehn has a gift, and for reasons I cannot reveal, only he can claim this item. I have spent years and numerous fortunes to discover the truth about Sehn. He was born with an ability that almost none possess. There is but one other who can retrieve this item, and this man is the very reason we have such a great need to recover it in the first place.”

“I don’t understand,” Cah’lia said.

Patrick felt a sudden pang of guilt. The Elven woman was becoming frantic. There was still much Patrick could not say, but he would at the very least try to make her understand.

“My nation and your nation, we are very different. It is true that Human and Elven-folk have many similarities—this cannot be denied—but at the end of the day we have our own traditions, our own hopes and dreams, and our own values. Yet there is one thing we have in common above all else. There is one thing that, no matter how different we may be, we share it just the same.

“Cah’lia, regardless of our differences the following is the truth: when our cities are burned to the ground, our children slain, and everything we have ever loved in life taken away from us, our pain is identical. Elven or Human, in this we are all the same.”

Cah’lia whispered, “What are you trying to say, Patrick?”

“For reasons that I cannot disclose, if we do not retrieve this item, I promise you that your home, my home…everyone’s home—it will all burn to the ground in an ever-consuming fire. I can’t afford to draw any more suspicion to my cause, and it is for this reason that I have befriended Sehn and travel now with such a small group. There are those out there, many we may have already unknowingly encountered, that serve as eyes and ears of those who would see our world burn. You must believe me, Cah’lia. Everything I have done has been out of great need.”

“So what, then? You were just going to snatch this treasure from us and send us home? Perhaps even kill us?”

“Not at all, Cah’lia. From the start I have always intended to reward you for your services. The High-Chief Suhn had assured me that through Nero, you would be certain to accompany me, and that you would be invaluable in assisting with our journey. He also told me you’re not the selfish sort, and as such, you have already been paid for your services in advance. As we speak, wagon after wagon filled with food, water, and building materials are being brought by the score into Elvar to hold you over while you make it through this terrible drought. Of all the cities of the Elven people, I have heard it said that Elvar is the only one to have food shortages due to your treacherous forests. This, at great expense to my own people, should see your kin through these troubled times.”