How Things Stand

I entered the main hall of the Adventurer's Union later than I intended and hoped that Lariss wasn't worried about me. When I did find her, she was sitting rather stiffly talking to her representative Borhildr. I was already having trouble with a woman named Bornhilda, so I didn't want to deal with this. With everything going, the similar names were confusing at this point.

Giving both of them a smile I slid into the seat next to Lariss.

"You have perfect timing. We were just discussing an upcoming quest. There's some trolls causing trouble in some villages up north. The biggest issue is they've been having trouble tracking them. I told them there would be no problem with our Lariss in the party. Of course with you along, it would be much easier." She said.

"We still have a few weeks in our training regiment." I said.

Her smile became strained. "I'm not sure if you are aware but Adventurers need to complete quests to keep their membership in the Union. Lariss has been putting off taking quests for so long that it is becoming an issue."

"If it's such a problem for you, just hand her over to another representative." I said.

This time she took on a mocking smile. "Unfortunately for her no one else is willing to take her on. While other adventurers might like her, her actions have left a less than good impression with us representatives."

"As a C ranked adventure I don't need to take a quest for a year. Plus a few months based on the difficulty of my last quest. It has only been four months. I know you're worried about your own review but if I don't want to take a quest I won't." Lariss said, wiping the smile off Borhildr's face.

"I told you when I took you on that you would need to cooperate or you'd find yourself without a representative. Currently I am disappointed by how uncooperative you are being, while I am just trying to help." Borhildr said with false concern.

"When we're ready to take a quest I'll let Raginhard know. Until then we'll be training." I said with finality.

Her fake smile returned. "I guess I'll just have to wait till then. Just know you can't wait too long." She left after that.

What a manipulative bitch. The similar names must be the heavens trying to tell me something. They couldn't be the same woman, could they be? No, that would be too cliche.

"Thank you for backing me up. It can be a little hard dealing with her since she currently has so much control over my career. The only reason she backed down is because she wants to be your representative and doesn't want to offend you. If you didn't take so long I wouldn't have had to deal with her for so long." Lariss said.

"Sorry about that. My errand took longer to complete than I thought." I hoped she didn't notice that I took a bath and was a little red in the face.

"It's fine. The situation with her is my own fault. Part of how representatives advance is based on how well their adventurers do. Because I guild hopped and didn't take on a lot of quests the times I was a freelancer, I may have negatively impacted a few of their careers." Lariss said.

"Well once Raginhard advances and we get our guild started, you won't have to deal with her." I said.

I got a smile from that before I got a frown and a punch in the arm. "Do you know how worried I was? Thelora just told us our 'side' might be crumbling and you could be a target. Then you disappear for over an hour. If I didn't have to deal with her, I would have gone looking for you."

"Again I'm sorry." Knowing how well of a tracker she was, there was a good possibility that she would have found me at the Jagged Tankard and I wasn't sure how I'd explain that.

Afterward we made our way to the training grounds. This time we focused on hand to hand combat. The unarmed combat I knew was just a few holds and throws. It worked well with the Osgar defensive sword stance that relied on deflection and redirection. I had to alter it a little since it made use of the Osgar Lineage that Lariss didn't have access to.

She then took the opportunity to help me with my bow skills. I had decent training from my fathers people but she was an expert. After a few of her pointers my accuracy started to improve. My nervousness did get in the way as she would come up behind me, pressing her body against mine as she adjusted my stance. A number of male adventurers in the training grounds gave me jealous or dirty looks as this went on.

As it got closer to our meeting time we left the Union. Since I was followed last time, we mostly used back alleys and had our Cloaking spells going the whole time. Once we were sure we had shaken anyone that might have been following us, we entered the Frosty Plate. To my surprise Cedric and Thorarinn were sitting with Thelora in the back.

"We got to the safe house we were told to go to and found it in ruins. We came here to figure out how bad things were going. Once Thelora told me how screwed we are, I thought about just heading south." Cedric said after we sat down.

"Things aren't that bad." Thelora said.

"The hell they aren't. Our boss has been captured by the enemy. No matter what we do next, our side has lost." Cedric said.

"Did you learn something?" I asked.

"I got a ransom demand. Bornhilda claims to have Skadi held captive. She'll return her for 8 gold, 8 silver, and 8 copper." Thelora said.

"I'm guessing that has significance as it seems incredibly low for the circumstances." I said.

"It's a huge insult and a nail in the coffin." Cedric said.

"In the north the number eight is unlucky. The tradition of asking for 8 gold, 8 silver, and 8 copper for a ransom goes back to when the royal family unified the kingdom. They captured a number of nobles and clan chiefs and after they had control they offered that as a ransom for them. It was meant to say the royal family didn't need the money or even see them as a threat if let go." Lariss explained.

"If we pay it, it is the same as saying that Skadi gives up her candidacy to be the Bandit Queen. Once we do that, I can't guarantee anyone's safety." Thelora said.

"So we can either pay the ransom and hope for the best or try to rescue Skadi?" I said.

"That summons up the situation. We have a few days to decide. I don't think Bornhilda cares either way. If she keeps Skadi, she removes a rival, if we pay the ransom and Skadi is set free, she removes a rival." Thelora said.

"Then I'm all for rescuing her." I said.

"Really? This seems like a good opportunity for you to get away from this mess. You could even turn over everything you learned to the authorities." Thelora said.

"That thought has crossed my mind. If I had to give a reason, I'd say I wanted the next Bandit Queen to owe me a favor. There's going to be one either way, so why not be on her good side." I said. That was a major reason but so was protecting Thelora since we shared a spirit mark.

"What can you tell us about Bornhilda's hideout?" Lariss asked, showing that she was also in.

"Crazy idiots." Cedric said.

Thelora filled us in on what she knew about the location, its layout, and the forces that we could be facing. It all lined up with what Floriana told me. She also let us know what we had on our side. Once word got out that Skadi had been captured, Wassa's people started to swoop in and take control of what was left. There were only about a dozen people still willing to stand behind Skadi.

"Hrothgar and Feadr should be here sometime tomorrow. Of course they could also be dead or just unwilling to help us." Thelora finished.

"They outnumber us three to one and have a decently fortified position. This is going to be difficult." I had been trained from a young age in strategy as I was expected to be one of my brothers chief advisors.

"Like I said, heading south doesn't sound like a bad idea." Cedric said after taking another long drink from his mug.

"I said difficult, not impossible. Lariss if you don't mind, I'd like you to head out first. Take Cedric and Thorarinn with you. Scout the immediate area keeping track of any monster dens. Just don't let them be seen." Cedric gave me scowl when I indicated that he might be a weak link in the operation.

"That shouldn't be too difficult." She responded.

"And what are we going to do?" Thelora asked.

"You'll gather any other help you can get and head out two days from now, even if the other two don't show up. I'll see if I can get us some other help. Once we all meet back up, we can go into detail about our plan." After that we went our separate ways.

Back at the Union I sent a message as discreetly as possible. I spent the time waiting for a response reading up on common monsters in the north from the book Raginhard gave me. The main hall was nearly empty for the night when Vesta came and sat down in front of me.

"I thought we agreed that we wouldn't be seen together." She said. "But whatever. Your message was vague, so how can I help you?"

I gave her my most charming smile knowing that what I was about to ask was fairly big.