Chapter 19. Faerûn

The sound of flapping wings, followed by the rumble and clang of the old castle doors covered in centuries-old snow, announced the arrival of a tall man with long hair the colour of a ripe chestnut, who let a shower of snowflakes fall into the hall, which was lit only by the flames of the huge fireplace.

The man walked cautiously to the round oak table, where six people were already seated, and there was a sepulchral silence. 

One of the men, a stocky, grey-haired man with piercing blue eyes framed by a slight network of wrinkles, stood up and greeted the next brother warmly, the others only glancing in his direction and gesturing a greeting.

"Alomar, how many years has it been since we last met?"

"Eighteen, Elder."

The Elder nodded and patted him on the shoulder, waiting for the newcomer to sit down:

"Brothers, I think we can begin our council. Jurad is absent due to his duties, and today it is up to you and me to decide the fate of the world entrusted to us. I think we all felt that flash of energy in the east that shifted the clock of the universe? What do you think about it?"

"What is there to think about? Either it's another girl who got bored and crawled to the surface, or ....."

 At this, they all looked at each other intently.

Rubbing his temple with the palm of his hand, the Elder looked at each of his clansmen in turn.

"I have awakened and gathered you here today, not only because the battle for the balance of the Universe is out of our control, but also because I am concerned that one of the Children of the Most High, or one of equal power, has made himself known in the East. "

"Elder, shall we eliminate this creature?"

 Alomar asked directly, not one to beat around the bush.

The Elder thought for a moment and shook his head.

"We paid a heavy price for the destruction of our brother last time. We will wait until the end of the battle, when we have regained our strength, and then we will decide. So, brothers, please, until our goal is threatened, do not take any overt action."

***

Once they were a decent distance away from the savage fight, Cornflower's strength finally gave out and he hung dead weight on Cardus' shoulders.

Cursing through his teeth, Cardus lifted the falling body onto his shoulders and, finding a good place to catch his breath, looked around at the young man.

Apart from the deep cuts on his back and the restless flow of energy within him, Cornflower was fine, just sleeping peacefully.

After hastily treating his wounds with some of the herbs growing nearby, he waited for the young man to finally wake up to tell about what he thought of him.

"I'm sorry, I couldn't stay away from the situation, and no, I didn't know the man personally, except that he owned a theatre where I once performed."

Gritting his teeth, Kardus had many other things on the tip of his tongue, but seeing the dejected and lost look on the young man's face, he stopped asking questions at once. 

But the fact that he had not seen the end of the battle between the masters of the famous schools, he still remembered that for the man who could find adventures at his heels in an empty place. 

And now that they had reached the capital, the two of them had taken a job as food carriers in one of the popular taverns during the day, and in the evenings they gave performances there, not without credit to Cornflower's looks, which the noxious raccoon boasted about at every opportunity, driving Cornflower into a state of angry blushing. 

If it was a chance for Cardus to earn a good tip to spend with dignity in entertainment establishments, it was a good source of information for Cornflower, given the tavern's popularity among several segments of the local population. 

Despite the fact that he had completely sealed his aura after the incident in the suburbs, so that the man couldn't find him from his remains, he couldn't help but feel someone's presence looming over him like a shadow.

Perhaps it was just a heightened suspicion in the midst of the terrible headaches that had plagued him since entering Faerûn, the capital of Virdis.

From time to time he heard the call of a woman's singing voice, begging him to find her.

But he had another task before him - to retrieve the magnificent sword that was carefully guarded in the 

in the main treasury of the Imperial Palace.

From the gossip in the tavern, he learned that the sword had indeed been presented to the local emperor upon his accession to the throne, and that it was the only gift that could please His Majesty that day.

Cornflower realised that it would be pure suicide to fight his way into the treasury, as the palace was a concentration of martial artists of various ranks. 

He was tempted to steal it, but he had no idea how to do it, since all the servants were strictly selected and he didn't have time to study all the courtly wisdom and etiquette. 

His heartbeat quickened with every thought that he must return to the North to find out what had happened to his teacher and take revenge on all the traitors.

Standing on the porch of the tavern's service entrance, he watched from the shadows as the stream of people flowed smoothly down the main street.

Slightly pulling back the light shawl that covered the mark, he scratched his neck thoughtfully when something suddenly fell at his feet, flying directly in front of him.

Bending down, he picked up the fallen object and a sigh of surprise escaped his chest. Without thinking, he raised his head and in a few easy jumps reached the roof of the building, but there was no one there or on the surrounding rooftops.

Standing on the ridge of the roof, he twirled the object in his hands for a long time, looking at it in fascination. 

What fell from the roof was a flower. The azure petals of this flower, surrounded by humble cilia, looked up at him in welcome, reflecting all the beauty of the sky and the purity of the clouds.

"But where did it come from? Cornflowers are rare in these parts," thought the young man, and he carefully tucked it away in his breast pocket, about to return to his work, when a sudden headache shot through his head and another vision appeared before his eyes.

He saw the man from his dreams sitting in the middle of a large hall with a sword in his hands.

 Threads of sunlight wriggled out of the sword. 

The vision faded, and Vasilek remained bent over, staring at his feet for a few more minutes, until he had an epiphany, and in an instant formed a plan to get into the palace at night without attracting attention, using a few tricks Twinkle had taught him.

His heart ached at the memory of the girl he loved. 

***

Crumpling the letter she had just read, Xiao Hong couldn't help but smile. 

According to the information she had received, their mission had been successfully completed and Korbu and Shuka would soon be returning to Faerun. 

Much as she disliked the men, they were the only ones besides herself that the Lord trusted completely.

She wished they would return soon, so she could pass on at least some care to the Lord from them... 

He hadn't been himself since that incident, even though that golden-haired shameless man had saved him from death, it didn't seem to have healed him completely.

Now, Lord Akihiro seems to be seriously ill. 

If before he had been able to hang around in various places of entertainment, at the same time gaining the trust of those close to the Imperial Court under the guise of looseness, now he was withdrawing from everything.

Xiao Hong occasionally noticed a strange gleam in her Lord's eyes and an uncharacteristically soft, almost gentle smile that made her girlish heart beat strangely at the sight of it.

From time to time, she found herself thinking that his transformation had somehow affected the general atmosphere in their residence. 

It was as if someone had loosened a tight cord.

Although the usual restraint and composure of her master had not disappeared, the changes were fantastic, so the girl waited for the sweet couple who might be able to gently return the master from heaven to earth, who was disappearing more and more for a whole day, without telling anyone where he was staying and covering his tracks so cleverly that Xiao Hong's spies return to her with nothing.

At the same time, the Master increasingly avoided all communication, even with his loved ones from the red light district, appearing strangely pensive and giving brief orders without any hint of explanation. 

At the same time, he began to show an irascibility that had not been characteristic of him before, when 

Xiao Hong tried to gently elicit if there was anything she could do to help Lord to bring him back to normal.

But the thing that made Xiao Hong most sick was the fact that while he was doing the paperwork, he would hum a few tunes from time to time. It made her blood run cold.

And now, as she was about to report to the Lord about the imminent return of Korbu and his assistant, he was sitting at his desk in his office, reading an old scroll thoughtfully, while unconsciously humming.

"Lord, Korbu and Shuka have cleared another southern anthill. This time our losses were avoided. Twenty more of them have joined our family. According to their calculations, if there are no difficulties, they will arrive here next week. Tell me, where should I place the newcomers? All the troops are full at the moment, no replacements are needed. Shall I send them directly to the manager's office? "

Akihiro nodded briefly.

"The End of Summer Festival is approaching, and the palace has ordered fifty workers and ten craftsmen to prepare the Reserved Forest for the arrival of His Imperial Majesty and his dignitaries. May I have the right to dispose of these men as I see fit?"

Another nod and a slight wave of the hand in agreement.

"Lord Akihiro, His Imperial Majesty's advisor urges you to attend the festival in person, at least for the first few days."

Akihiro froze and slowly raised his eyes to Xiao Hong and said:

"I don't want to, I have other plans."

"??!"

"The old monkey will get over it somehow, as if I have nothing else to do but wander among these pompous and solemn faces and audibly admire the new emperor every time he wipes his arse."

After a moment's silence, he looked at the scroll, then added:

"People say that the fate of the world may be decided during this festival, and with the Battle of the Ancients in full swing, why not enjoy the spectacle from a spectator's perspective?"

"Accepted. I'll think of something to say to the Councilman. "

"Xiao Hong, there is a facility I need to acquire, the information about it is here."

With that, he pointed to a piece of paper on the corner of his desk. Carefully taking it, she quickly scanned what was written and raised an eyebrow in surprise.

"Forgive me, sir, but why do we need this? What plans and spheres shall I include it in?"

"None, consider it my whim."

"Accepted. "Xiao Hong was about to leave when Lord Akihiro asked:

"Xiao Hong, where can I find St John's Wort?"

"..."

***

Faerûn was home to several secret societies. 

But the two most important were the Order of Former Slaves, led by the last head of the Nine-Tailed Fox Clan, a scarlet demon called Aki-no-Hiro-no-Ka, who could easily obtain any information for a price, and the Order of Thieves, who could obtain any object no matter how many people guarded it or how many locks it was kept under.

Many of the powerful knew of their existence even outside Virdis and sometimes did not hesitate to use their services, paying generously for the quality of their work.

The sect of thieves was led by the enchanting Madame Camomiru, rumoured to be the most beautiful woman in the capital of Virdis.

Waving her painted fan lightly, she looked at the man in front of her without emotion, of course his request was rather strange considering his position in society and raised many questions, but a job is a job.

Bowing her head gracefully, crowned with a beautiful diamond-crowned hairpin, she rustled her long robe, took a small bell and rang it exactly three times, causing a figure to emerge from the shadows to her right, its face hidden beneath a cloth mask.

"Did you hear everything?" Madame Camomiru murmured to her subordinate in a velvety voice.

"Yes, Madam."

"Very well, you may go."

And after waiting for the girl's figure to disappear as it had appeared, she looked at the guest and gave him a pleasant smile:

"Would you like some tea?"

***

Cornflower liked the pre-evening buzz in the tavern, when the citizens of the capital flocked there after a hard day's work to relax with friendly conversation and music. Cardus had a knack for choosing places to make his money, and this tavern was unlike most that Vasilek had seen. The spirit of the place was filled with a friendly atmosphere. 

And when the owner of the tavern picked up a horn, Cornflower's body danced, and to the accompaniment of the horn and the perfectly beaten rhythm of Cardus, Cornflower sang song after song about themes familiar to everyone - the eternal victory of good over evil, the joy of being and the value of friendship in his melodious voice, attracting more and more customers to the tavern and thus increasing his earnings. 

From time to time, his songs were replaced by those of Cardus, who was also a good singer, but whose songs were a little more salacious - about the adventures of lovers, troublemakers and girls who had lost all shame.

However, the audience liked the change of themes in his compositions, and at the climax of his songs, Kardus would sometimes allow himself to jump on a table or two to give the impression of unrestrained idleness, to the applause of the audience.

 And this went on until late in the evening, when most of the crowd hurried home to get a good night's sleep before the next day's work.

Kardus, as was his custom, after collecting his earnings, said farewell to all his friends, whom he had quickly made thanks to his simple-minded and not overly gregarious nature, and hurried off to the red-light district, and Cornflower, having left part of his earnings with the tavern keeper by agreement, took large baskets of fresh fruit and vegetables and hurried off to the orphanage, whose needs he had once heard about from a visitor, and from then on he often went there to give the director money and whatever food he could get.

The orphanage was on the outskirts of town, away from the busy streets and crowded houses. 

As soon as he entered through the low gate, which creaked as it opened, three modestly dressed girls of different heights and sizes ran out from the side of the pavilion at the entrance to the orphanage and ran headlong into Cornflower as he walked along the path.

"Cornflower, we've been waiting for you!" they shouted almost in unison as they leapt down and grabbed him by the sleeve or arm.

The door of the shelter opened and a woman with a tall, severe haircut that set off her pointed ears peered out.

"Inez, Enya, Celine! Calm down, can't you see you almost knocked him down? It's late, go to bed."

"But Madame Romer..." they said in unison, a little dejectedly.

"No, but Mr Cornflower must be tired and you are hanging on him like a tree, let go immediately!"

"No, no, no, it's all right. " He came closer with a slight smile. "I brought some food, tell me, how are you? Is there anything you need?"

Madame Romera smiled back, motioned him inside and said:

"We are very grateful for your help. You may not have heard, but a very powerful man has taken an interest in our humble orphanage after buying it from its old owner, and it seems he has big plans to improve conditions for our students."

"I'm very glad to hear that. Where should I put the baskets?"

"There, please."

As soon as he had freed his hands, the girls began pulling him by the hands into the common room to tell him an interesting story. 

At that moment, several more children came downstairs, accompanied by the sleepy governess, who looked questioningly at Madame Romera, and the chorus of children's voices grew louder.

Cornflower agreed to a short story if all the children promised to go straight to bed afterwards.

Madame Romera just shook her head at the governess and said nothing.

Cornflower told his story like a skilled storyteller, changing his voice to suit the tone of the story and gesticulating masterfully at the most striking moments of the narrative. 

The children listened breathlessly. 

He ended his tale with a fiery speech, announcing the happy ending of the story, and received a round of applause, accompanied by the joyful approval of the audience.

"Your artistic ability is beyond praise." said Madame Romera with a smile.

"Thank you very much."

He smiled back at the children:

"Now off to bed."

Cornflower said goodbye to everyone and left the orphanage in high spirits.

As he was walking down the street towards his hotel, he heard the gate creak behind him and turned to see a young governess catching up with him.

"Excuse me, Madame Romer forgot that your friend came in this afternoon and asked me to give you this when we see you." With these words she thrust a parcel into Cornflower's hands. 

It was the size of a palm and quite heavy.

"What friend?" Cornflower asked, confused.

"I'm sorry, I was with the children at the moment, you'll have to ask Madame, if you wait a bit I'll be quick...."

"No need to worry, thank you."

He said goodbye once more and looked after her until he was sure she was safely back at the orphanage.