A New Star Chapter 109 (Patreon)

Cambria, being a farming city at its heart, was more sprawling than the capital or many other cities in the country. Having grown organically over years, and grown around warehouses and granaries used to contain and distribute the harvests, it was a sprawling agglomeration of buildings and districts that covered miles of terrain. With no shortage of open land, it had spread out, though mostly towards the nearby Vyn river. It was already at the point that the land between the ‘city’ and the docks at the river contained as many houses as farms, with various businesses having cropped up along the road haphazardly.

We weren’t concerned about, for now, but it was good to understand the lay of the land. Considering we were incognito, or as much as could be, we entered the city like everyone else, which was standing in a long line for nearly an hour and then answering several questions about the purpose of our visit. The city might have charged a fee, in worse times, but there wasn’t a need for that with the current structure of the taxes. It was more detrimental to slow the flow of people in and out of the city with fees and blocks than it was to have more people doing business in the city and contributing with various taxes.

Having kept our coin purses intact, our first order of business was finding a place to stay. We could either get rooms at an inn or rent a room or building somewhere; the second sounded crazy, but in a less developed society, there weren’t so many rules and regulations around renting and staying in different properties. Then again, that often meant renting a room, just a single room, in someone else’s house with that person or family still living there, which wasn’t exactly conducive to privacy, but it was rather convenient. Still, our privacy was more important than anything, not that an inn would necessarily be very private, but it wasn’t that hard to find a small building to rent, given the wealth I had at my disposal.

“Now,” I said to the others after we were all gathered in the house. “What do we know?”

“Necromantic goods are smuggled into the city,” Fran said, shuddering a bit. “Then, there’s no trace of them being smuggled back out, even along the river.”

“Good. What else?” I asked.

“There’s been no visible sign of cult presence in the city,” Angela continued. “Our reports show nothing noteworthy has happened in months outside the standard crime that one would expect. There’s no pattern of increased crime, notes of anything about death magic or necromancy or anything like that, and very little suspicious flow of funds.”

“Well, that means we really have our work cut out for us, doesn’t it?” I said with a frown. “So, here’s the plan. Let’s split up for today and investigate. Cain, warehouse district. Look around and speak to the people there; see if there’s anything strange. Fran, merchants. Much of the same, but see if you can ferret out any strange transactions or large volumes moving. Angela, city guard and mercenaries. See if you can get an inside scoop. That leaves me with the nobles and rich débutantes. Not the most thrilling of jobs, but I’ll see if I can find an ‘in’ into just who knows about the cult’s activities. Meet back here after sundown.”

“Understood,” was the response from the other three and then we split up.

I first moved to the city center, which was still where the nobles and richest lived in most cities. Not yet were the days of the luxury districts and private mansions outside the city bounds, not for the city-based nobility. Many still had their own estates, such as my family, but anyone that lived in the city with wealth and influence was in the city center. That meant heading there and making myself known, at least to an extent, though I didn’t need to trumpet my presence. A few words in the right ear and I could get in the right meeting or sit down with the right people with yelling all over the city that I was here.

The first person to speak with would be the mayor, though he wasn’t necessarily the most important person in the city. The city mayor wasn’t always the highest noble or the richest person in the city, but they would be incredibly influential and have plenty of connections that I could lean on if the pressure was applied correctly. Finding the man wouldn’t be hard, nor would be arranging a meeting, but trying to keep things quiet without the man throwing some massive gala was going to take more work.

“Your Grace,” the mayor, an overweight man with a thick mustache and heavy jowls greeted me enthusiastically. Getting a meeting had meant wading through four functionaries and aides, which was three too many, in my opinion, but the man had practically fallen over himself to meet me once he realized who was in the city hall. All it really took was showing my signet, a small plaque that I carried on a chain with the family’s heraldry that was only usable by the family, quite literally on pain of death.

“Sir Mayor,” I said, not correcting him on referring to me with the term ‘your grace’ even though I didn’t have an official title or position in the family.

“I had no idea you would be visiting us this week, Your Grace. Your parents are not right behind you, are they?” he said with a rather greasy smile, though there was a very slight undercurrent of tension in his voice. It wasn’t something others would notice, but I had many centuries of dealing with people, even if I hated politics, and I could sense that there was more than just nerves that an important noble would visit.

“Have no fear, sir mayor, the rest of the family won’t be showing up any time soon,” I said, watching his reaction closely. It seemed to me he displayed just a little bit too much relief at that, but maybe I was reading slightly too much into it, given that I didn’t have a great first impression of the man and his business already.

“Good, good,” he said in an absentminded manner before correcting himself. “Well, not good, of course. I would love to meet with your parents, but it’s good that you still decided to stop in despite all that. What can I help you with? Do you need an escort, Your Grace? Or would you like to sample some of the finery of the city?”

“Well, Sir Mayor, I would say I would like very much to experience what the city has to offer,” I replied, saying nothing and something both at the same time. “I don’t want my presence here spread far and wide, but I would like to meet with some of the movers and shakers in the city. I have been venturing out into the Wilds with small expeditions and have quite a bit to share with those in positions of power.”

I could have said more, but it was always best to say as little as possible in these scenarios while implying as much as possible. Speaking about expeditions and news to share would spark all kinds of wild imagination and rumors without actually having said anything at all concrete. That alone would get me in many doors that might have otherwise remained closed or been more difficult to interest. The Wilds were an eternal fascination and something that everyone dreamed of, though for very different reasons. For many, it was wealth, and relaying that wealth into power, but for nobles it was also about prestige, which could be hard to build. The royal family considered merits and achievements in many of their decisions, and pioneering new land in the Wilds counted quite highly.

“Such things can easily be arranged, Your Grace,” the mayor responded with a wide grin, perhaps a touch too wide.

“I will be in the city for several days, Sir Mayor. Feel no need to rush things along, especially if that keeps the news within certain…important circles,” I replied, giving him a knowing look, which prompted another too-wide grin.

“Of course, Your Grace, of course. I understand perfectly well what you mean,” he replied, rubbing his fat-fingered hands together, every one of those sausage fingers glittering with golden rings set with gems and cut stones.

“And how is the city these days? Anything notable to report?” I asked, keeping a casual tone as the mayor waved for a maid to serve a round of tea. We were seated in a large sitting area in his office, perhaps too large. His office had much more the feel of a lounge than an office, leading me to believe he spent a lot more time entertaining nobles than he did doing any real work.

Noting things like that was important, and it was actually very important for our purposes. If the city was still humming along nicely, which it was, that meant the real work of running the place and making sure everything was in order was falling on other shoulders. I would guess the guards here took things more seriously, though we would have to see what that amounted to, and that the mayor’s subordinates took on most of the work he was supposed to be doing as the person nominally in charge of the city.

“Oh, the usual little problems with riff raff,” the mayor assured me, skipping over an encyclopedia’s worth of trouble with a wave. “We have quite a fine guard contingent for the city, and they handle everything. Why, the city positively hums along because of their fine work. And the trade we’re doing now! The river docks have just been expanded, and those new barges they’re running! They’ve dredged the river quite deep these days, makes it safer to, you know. The flow of fine salts, seafood, cloth, and even the eastern silks from the isles east of the eastern empire is, why, like the flow of the river itself. If you’re looking for something to invest in, the trade of grains for fish is causing gold to pour into the coffers.”

The man gave a nod and wink at the last line, which definitely raised a suspicious of some corruption there. I wouldn’t really come down on someone for skimming a tiny bit, not in this world at this time, but it was a huge hint. I would have to figure out a way to get a look at his books, and I was in a good position to do so. Despite the twins being our infiltrators, they were weak in it compared to me, at least when my affinity was considered. If people started shielding themselves from The Dark, which was possible, then I would be on the back foot, but until that point, I could break into anywhere at any time with ease. I would have to use that to dig up some dirt on the mayor, which I was happy to do, given the kind of impression he was already giving me. The bigger question was whether he was actually involved in the cult; I didn’t, or rather, Alex didn’t sense a trace of death in his office, so it didn’t appear likely, but who knew.

“That sounds like a good opportunity,” I said with a small smile. “Nothing of great interest? No new dungeons, no big scandals, no amazing treasure discovered recently? Come now, Sir Mayor, give me something interesting; the North gets so dreary, outside our quick trips into the Wilds. I need some excitement!”

I wasn’t the best actor, but the mayor was all too eager, far too eager, to get on my good side and get in my good graces. “Of course, Your Grace! Something thrilling, hmm? Let’s see, what’s been happening in society recently. Well, the count of Braun has announced a contest. It isn’t something that I would think you might be interested in, but then again, with you going into the Wilds…”

“A contest? How interesting. And what is this contest pertaining to, Sir Mayor?” I replied, doing my best to appear fascinated.

“Well, it concerns the honor of his daughter, you see?” he said, and I did. This would be for her hand in marriage, very likely, and was likely due to some form of impropriety. That really dimmed my interest in it, but I continued to play along.

“And is this a series of duels? Even going to watch such fights would be fascinating! And in the company of society, as well,” I said enthusiastically. When he had mentioned ‘society,’ he wasn’t talking about general civilization, but about high society, the nobility.

“A young lady like you would do very well in such company,” the mayor said with a smile. “I have no doubt your peers at the academy will be there, and, of course, those with some influence in trade will be presence. I could introduce you, if you like…”

He had trailed off at the end, but the intimation was clear. “Of course, I would love nothing more. As I said, I’ve been so bored up in the North; we never have any society amusements, considering that my parents are the grand duke and duchess. Our life is so boring up on the frontier.”

I gave a dramatic sigh, hoping I wasn’t laying it on too thickly, but the mayor didn’t seem to think so. He responded in earnest, saying, “My lady, of course not! There’s so much to do here in the heartland, and so many people to see. Why, you could spend every day at contests, tourneys, and in society gatherings without a moment’s boredom! Give me just today to make arrangements and I’ll have a full schedule set for you, and I understand your need for discretion. Never worry, I know how to handle these matters.”

“Then, Sir Mayor, I will leave it in your very capable hands,” I said, having only mostly pretended to sip the tea. I didn’t trust this many in the slightest, and I wasn’t going to trust the tea he served, let alone the tea served anywhere in this city while I didn’t know who was doing the bidding of liches.

“Let me walk you out, Your Grace,” he said with another greasy smile, heaving up his bulk and gesturing towards the door.

I let the man walk me out, making a few pleasant remarks along the way before we parted with an enthusiastic goodbye. Little did the fellow know that I would be back far sooner than tomorrow, and that he was not at all going to appreciate what I was going to do the next time I was here. Of course, he wasn’t the only stop of the day, but he was likely going to be the most important, unless I managed to stumble right into the cult with the others I wanted to visit.

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