Advent of Eternity - Chapter 91 (Patreon)

Knell glanced at Cyll out of the corner of his eye, then clasped Maria’s hand. The immortal man pursed his lips tried his best to look innocent, which wasn’t very convincing at all.

“You can’t tell me you’re still pretending like it didn’t happen,” Maria said, looking to Cyll.

“I am now letting my captain do all the talking for me,” Cyll declared. “Direct any complaints or compliments in his direction, as I am no longer taking communication requests.”

Maria sighed. “You deal with this every day?”

“Unfortunately. Perhaps we could find somewhere less public if you wish to discuss something?” Knell suggested. “I prefer not to air my business where everyone can see it.”

“Very well,” Maria said, nodding to her guards. “Would my room be more appropriate?”

Knell doubted Maria was about to just let them go considering the giant fuss she’d caused to find Cyll. He wasn’t certain what her end goal was, but the less eyes they had on them while they talked, the better. If she really did want to just reward Cyll, he could already think of more than a few things that having a favor from a Guild Leader’s daughter could accomplish.

“It will suffice.”

The strange group headed up the inn stairs, Maria’s guards staying back to eye the crowd before following after everyone had passed. They walked down the hall and entered a room at the back. It was considerably larger than the ones they’d stayed in before, with multiple large beds furnished with quality sheets.

A large desk at in the center of the room with a dozen chairs arranged around it. Food was distributed across it, ranging from crackers and salads to an entire roast turkey. Knell’s eye twitched.

“That’s a lot of food for the three of you,” Knell observed.

“I was expecting company,” Maria said, pulling a chair at the head of the table out and sitting down. She gestured for them to do the same. Knell considered the table for a moment, then gave his crew a slight nod and sat across from her, in the other seat of power.

Cyll sat to his right and Stix took his left. Maya pondered for a moment before taking the chair beside Stix. Neither of Maria’s guards sat. They both flanked her, standing like iron statues behind her chair.

“How convenient,” Knell said. “I’m not one to refuse a free meal, though. Cyll, please. Try something from our benefactor to avoid showing disrespect.”

Cyll scrunched his nose, but he had no problems complying. He grabbed the entire turkey from its plate and tore it apart, stuffing the entire bird into his mouth in less than a minute while the rest of them watched him with a mixture of awe and horror.

“Very impressive,” Knell said, not missing a stride. “Cyll has always been quite the drain on my finances. I appreciate your contribution to the cause, Maria.”

“I-it’s no problem,” the blonde woman said, clearing her throat. She shook her head and leaned forward. “You’ll have to forgive me for the stir. I didn’t realize you were trying to keep a low profile.”

“How’s that possible?” Cyll asked, grabbing a handful of crackers and stuffing them into his mouth. He continued speaking, somehow managing to avoid spraying a single crumb of food. “I told you at least ten times last night that the best thing you could do was forget you ever saw me. Instead, you told the entire bloody town.”

“I have a duty as the Guild Leader’s daughter to properly reward anyone who does the town a favor,” Maria said, jutting her chin out. “And my father insisted that you receive at least something. Trust me, I did try to tell him that it wasn’t a good idea.”

“I’m sure,” Cyll said, moving his gaze to a platter of cured meat in front of Stix. The elf sighed and pushed it across to the table so he could reach it.

“That’s very kind of you,” Knell said, interlacing his fingers. “And what kind of gift are you attempting to offer?”

“That depends on what you want,” Maria replied. “I can’t give you anything ridiculous, but it’s clear you’re pirates. Pirates are always looking for gold and riches, are they not?”

“We are,” Knell said, pretending to consider her words. He’d already decided on what he wanted, and gold was on the very bottom of his list. There were countless ways they could easily make money, but a favor… that was worth so much more. “But I’m afraid we’ve come into quite the sum of coin recently. We aren’t in need of any more.”

“Who doesn’t need gold?” Maria asked, baffled. “I have a sizable sum that I’m ready to give you, no strings attached.”

“That would make you look very good in the eyes of the citizens, wouldn’t it?” Knell asked, a knowing grin playing across his face. “The magnanimous Guild Leader’s daughter, giving the lowly adventurers who saved her a very public reward. It would show how gracious you are and cost considerably less than many other moves that would garner you fame.”

Maria choked on the grape she’d been chewing, and the flash of surprise that passed through her eyes was more than enough for Knell to confirm that he’d read her correctly.

“What? I would never–”

“Please don’t waste my time,” Knell said, raising a hand. “I have no complaint to letting you play things in a way that would aide your own situation, but I want something in return.”

One of the guards stepped forward, but Maria held a hand up and shook her head. She studied Knell’s face for a moment, then gave him a slight nod.

“You’re astute. Fine, I’ll play above board with you. If not gold, what do you want? There’s only so much I can promise.”

“Information,” Knell replied. “And it isn’t anything directly related to the safety of Melwood or its citizens.”

“Are you going to tell me what information first?”

“No. Should it matter? You’ll be getting far more from this than we will. I’m assuming you’re trying to ensure you’re elected the next Guild Leader, and your father doesn’t have the influence to pull the strings for you. This will be instrumental in showing how gracious and caring of a leader you are.”

“No questions about my family or anything that could potentially harm this city,” Maria said after a few moments. “And you do realize that I could just lie, right?”

“You could,” Knell agreed. “And my crew could start a giant fuss in the city after you show us your appreciation, showing that you just paid a group of pirates that went on to destroy half the market square. How good would that look?”

Maria’s eyes narrowed. “I see. Fine. I’ll give you a sack that appears to be full of gold after gathering a crowd. You will not look inside, you’ll just accept it gratefully. In return, I’ll answer your question. Does that sound fair?”

“Perfectly,” Knell replied. “I have two questions, though. One of them should actually help you, while the other is in my own interests.”

“Fine,” Maria said. She took a small bite of the food, then frowned. “Why is the old man the only one eating?”

“They’re waiting for my permission,” Knell replied. “Well done, by the way. I didn’t even have to tell you. And, in the spirit of our newfound honesty, that’s because there’s a chance this food is poisoned.”

“But you had him eat?” Maria asked, glancing at Cyll.

“He’s expendable.”

“Hey!” Cyll snapped, taking a bite out of an orange – skin and all. “I most certainly am not. I’m just very hungry. This physique takes quite a lot of effort to keep up.”

“The food isn’t poisoned,” Maria said with a sigh. “It wouldn’t look very good on me if the people I thanked dropped dead a day later.”

“I see,” Knell said. He made no move to touch the food, and Stix and Maya did the same. “Shall we take care of this, then? There’s no point wasting any more of our time.”

“Fine with me. I’ll give you the ‘gift’ tomorrow morning,” Maria said. “It’ll be functionally worthless, but you aren’t going to complain about that. Ask your questions.”

“First – I want to know about the local area. Have there been any reports of disturbance from large groups, monsters, or gods?” Knell asked. “Anything of interest in that vein, really.”

Maria pursed her lips and thought for almost a minute. “There are always rumors like that. The problem is telling which ones are worth your time and which ones aren’t. There are obviously the Named Hunts, but there aren’t any monsters on there that are bigger news than normal. There might be more deeper inland.”

“What about the other two points? Shards are always fighting against each other,” Knell said. “Have there been any major clashes in the area?”

“I think I did hear about an attack on Golden River,” Maria said, rubbing her chin. “I don’t know how much of it was true, and I know the city repelled it. Golden River has a lot of people that follow a Shard of Holen, including at least one Scion.”

“Perfect,” Knell said. “Do you know who attacked?”

“I believe it was followers of one of Vorgen’s Shards,” Maria replied. “I’m honestly not sure.”

“The God of the Beasts?” Knell asked. “Curious. That answers my first question. Thank you. There’s one more.”

Maria cocked an eyebrow and waved for him to continue.

“I want to know if you have any information about a moon elf that went missing within the Guild some years ago,” Knell replied, turning to Stix. “What was his name?”

Stix choked on her saliva. “What?”

“The person you’re looking for,” Knell replied. “His name.”

“Alan,” Stix stammered. “I don’t know what last name he would have been going with, though.”

“That’s fine,” Knell replied. “I don’t believe there are many Moon Elves that leave the forests, so I doubt there would be many that both enter and vanished within the Guild. So, Maria, that is my second question.”

“How would I know anything about that?” Maria frowned and dabbed at her mouth with a napkin. “That’s such a general question.”

“I don’t expect you to know anything off the top of your head. There should be records and I know the Guild has methods of remote communication between their branches. Dig around tonight. If there’s anything to be found, tell us tomorrow.”

“Fine. I’ll look into it and see if anything can be dug up.”

“Good,” Knell said, pushing his chair back and rising to his feet with the aid of his staff. “And please make sure you do your best. I would hate to find out that you’d skirted the goodwill of our deal. That wouldn’t turn out well for either of us.”

“I keep my word,” Maria said. “You won’t have to worry about that. Just hold up your own end of the bargain.”

“Then we’ll see you tomorrow morning,” Knell said. The rest of his crew rose to their feet, and they left the room, leaving Maria and her guards alone with the rest of the feast they’d prepared.