Chronicles of Metal: Chapter 6 - The Lady of the City

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The sun was beginning to set, and the many merchants of Hashigin were beginning to close up shop for the day. Many of the town guards where either starting their watch, ending it, or wasting time in one of the town's many pubs. One however, was headed to the Viscount's manor. Aeirfin had spent the better part of the day trying to corner one of the captains, trying to get more details as to their plan to deal with the mysterious cathedral downriver.

Someone was living there. He didn’t know who, but he was certain they wouldn't respond to kindly to them trying to burn their residence to the ground. It would be foolish to do that without at least making contact with them. More so without knowing exactly what kind of force they could bring to bare in retaliation.

Of course, none of the others thought the same. Bandits, some claimed. Vagabonds, said others. One of the newer guards even suggested it was a monster nest. None of which was considered a very viable threat. He couldn't even get the captains to admit that's what they where doing. Whenever he asked about all the oil they where stockpiling, or the carts that sat empty in the town stables, most of them averted their eyes and muttered something about not having a clue. His direct superior, Capitan Anders, even told him to mind his own business. They where about to kick a potential hornet's nest, and it was his job to protect people. How could this not be his business?

Unfortunately, the guards standing watch outside the Viscount's manor didn't share his sympathies. "Look, I just need to talk to the Viscount." He urged for maybe the tenth time. "It's important."

"And I told you, elf." The man spat, resting his halberd over his shoulder just past the huge iron gate. "The Viscount is busy. He doesn't have time to entertain every commoner with concerns beyond their paygrade."

"If you're so worried 'bout this, take it up with your captain." The other guard added, leaning against the property fence with a bottle of what must've been wine, judging from the scent on his breath. "I'm sure if you catch him in a good mood, he'll listen to your little story."

Tired and frustrated, Aeirfin snapped back. "In case you haven't noticed, listening to people isn't exactly what we're known for."

"Alright, that's it!" The first guard swiftly slammed the dull end of his halberd into the gate, surprising Aeirfin enough to jump back and his hand to jump to the hilt of his sword. "I've had enough of your mewling, elf. Find somewhere else to be, or I swear to the gods I'll-."

"You'll what?" An icy cold voice called to them, sending a shiver up all there of their spines. They turned in unison to see a woman approach, tanned skin, white hair, red eyes, clad in a simple black dress. She tilted her head slightly, offering a small smile. "I'm curious. What will you do?"

"Lady Arbias." All three of them dropped to one knee, bowing their heads respectfully. "I'm sorry, my lady, this rabble refuses to leave." The first guard murmured, loosing any and all vitriol instantly. "I'll remove him at once."

Aeirfin rose his head, ready to plead his case. But the noblewoman approached the guard first, her hands behind her back. "That's not what I asked." She said, her smile persisting. "I asked what you'd do if he doesn't leave."

Again, Aeirfin felt a shiver un up his back. as did the guard. "W-well..." He stammered, obviously at a loss. "I'd do whatever I needed to, to ensure the safety of you and the Viscount, my lady."

The noblewoman stepped closer, crouching down to lift the guard head by the chin. "You wouldn't hurt my guest, now would you?"

The guard was practically flabbergasted. Then again, so was Aeirfin. He'd arrived unannounced, he hadn't received any summons. Had he? "N-no my lady... Of course not." The guard stammered. "I'd never dream of-."

"Good." The lady rose to her feet, clasping her hands behind her back again, all the while wearing that same small smile. "Then would you be so kind as to let him in? We have business with the Viscount to attend to."

Without a word, both guards rose to their feet and made for the gate. The heavy metal lock dropped to the ground a moment later, and the gates swung open. Aeirfin didn't know what to make of this, but an invitation into the Viscount's manor was exactly what he was after. It didn't hurt seeing the two guards struggle to look him in the eye as he passed either.

Following the noble, Aeirfin made his way inside. Maids stopped and bowed as they approached, but every single one of them looked up with a sideways glance when they saw him. He was use to people giving him that look by now, but that was just about the only familiar thing happening at the moment.

"M-my Lady..." He said, craving some answers. "I believe my-."

"My name is Astra." She corrected, not looking back at him. "You may call me that, Sir Thyocrei."

Aeirfin paused again. He knew well enough who she was. Wife of the Viscount Roth Durns, Astra Aribas. One of many daughters to the king of the Lazuli Kingdom. And being the only elf within a hundred miles of the city, it wasn't that farfetched to assume she knew of him as well. But that was exactly it. They knew of each other, but didn't actually know one-another.

He had no ideas where this familiarity was coming from, but he certainly wanted to know. "Lady Astra... I don't believe I was summoned here."

"But you're here none the less." She said with a small shrug. "You wanted an audience with my husband, yes?"

That didn't sit right with him at all. The viscount and Lady Astra where both young. Barely adults. Yet they both where able to run the city with impunity. Some sort of joke that the nobles in the faraway capital had set up, no doubt. But seeing someone so young in charge never sat right with him.

"Yes... I would." He finally answered, as the two came before a large wooden door. "What do you know about the cathedral downriver?"

"Nothing." She answered with surprising speed, but he didn't have any time to think on it before she spun around, and Aeirfin found himself lost in her empty red eyes and perpetual smile. "I'm just the Viscount's wife, Sir Thyocrei. I know what my husband tells me." There was an abrupt click, and Lady Astra began to back into the slowly opening door. "Perhaps he will tell you differently."

The door swung open, revealing a scene that left Aeirfin stunned. It was a massive bedroom full of lavish furniture that stunk of whine and must. A woman lay sprawled out on the bed, another performing a rather sensual dance in the center of the room, while two more sat flanking the Viscount on the couch. All of them looked intoxicated and, aside from the Viscount himself, barely clothed. The woman on the bed appeared to be wearing nothing but a bedsheet, and the whole scene left Aeirfin not knowing where he should be looking.

"Lord Roth?" Lady Astra stepped forward, completely unfazed by the debauchery before them. "You have a visitor." The Viscount looked up, and Lady Astra began backing out of the room. "I'll be waiting outside."

"W-what?" Aeirfin gasped, watching her just as the door closed. They'd just caught her husband, the lord of the city, holding company with prostitutes. One of which had yet to stop her dance. Yet Lady Astra hadn't even dropped her smile. Was this a common thing? Was that why he was more bothered by it than she seemed to be?

"Aaaaahhh..." The viscount groaned, lifting himself off the couch and running a hand through his shiny blond hair. "I thought I told the guards to turn everyone away..." He strolled across the room, running a hand across the stomach of the dancing woman, and poured himself a cup of wine. He gulped it down in a single swing. "Alright, what is it?" He demanded, wiping the corner of his mouth and tossing the goblet aside. "What is so important that you have to interrupt me and my lovely guests?"

"M-my lord, it's..." He had a hard time concentrating. Any time he looked anywhere that wasn't the Viscount, one of the women would wave at him or giggle and look away. Had he known this is the satiation he'd find himself in an hour ago, he'd have stayed at his post. "It's about the cathedral downriver."

"That's all?" Lord Roth moaned. "You've interrupted my personal time..." He paused, taking one of the women by the hip and pulling her in close. "To complain about that blight on the horizon?"

This took Aeirfin aback. He had been getting reports from the town guard, hadn't he? "My lord... There's someone living there." The Viscount's expression didn't change, so Aeirfin assumed he knew that at least. "We don't know what they're capable of, but us showing up with barrels of oil isn't going to-."

Lord Roth raised an eyebrow. "What do you know of oil?" Aeirfin was at a loss. That was hardly the problem here. "Explain it to me. What do you think you've uncovered?"

If this guy had shut up and listened, he'd have done just that. "I've seen merchants bringing oil into the city by the cart. And we keep being sent to investigate the cathedral. I asked Capitan Anders about it, and he said we was preparing for something." Aeirfin finished with a huff, wanting to move this along as quickly as possible. "We're launching an attack on the cathedral, aren't we?"

Now both the Viscount's eyebrows raised. He suppressed a laugh, kissing the woman he held on the cheek before waving her off and stepping closer. "Look, the captains have their orders. In a few days, this'll all be over with." Aeirfin tried not to let his disappointment show. He knew exactly where this was going. "Just do what your Capitan says. Understand?"

Deflating on the spot, Aeirfin grimaced. "But... My lord-."

"You're that elf, aren't you?" Lord Roth asked, resting a hand on Aeirfin's shoulder. He didn't know how to respond, his pointed ears where a dead giveaway after all. "And this must be your famous sword, is it not?" Roth’s hand drifted to his hip, but Aierfin backed away instinctively. The Viscount put on a coy grin. "May I?"

This... Was a mistake. Coming here was a mistake. A total waste of time, in fact. Whatever he could do to just end this conversation, Aeirfin was willing to do it. "Yes, My lord..."

He unbuckled the scabbard from his belt and handed it over. Quicker than anything Lord Roth drew the weapon, bathing the room in a soft blue glow. "My my..." He said, turning the weapon over in his hand. A cold wave of air followed when it moved, and frost began to build across the metal. "Tell me, elf. Where did you get such a weapon?"

"It belonged to my father. And his father before him." He muttered, trying to get this over with. "Frostbite has been in my family for generations."

"Quite a name for an enchanted sword." Lord Roth murmured, performing a few shallow sword swings. His grin grew larger as the sword hummed through the air. "What do you say ladies?" He asked the women watching them. "Want to play with the elf's family sword?"

The women all giggled, but Aeirfin had had enough. He was right, this was a complete waste of time. "My lord, if I may?" He said, fighting to retain his blank expression. "I should get back to my post."

He held his hand out expectedly, but the Viscount's grin vanished in that same moment. He turned back to glare at Aeirfin, looking more upset now than when he'd first arrived. Aeirfin couldn't tell what he was thinking, but didn't have to ask again. The Viscount shoved the sword back into its sheath and pushed it into his hand after just a moment.

"Now leave us." He demanded.

Wishing for nothing more, Aeirfin turned around and pushed through the doors. He was irritated, wishing he could just get back to his post. He hadn't even bother strapping his sword back onto his belt. Forget the Viscount, and forget the Capitan. As soon as he was able, he'd ride out to the cathedral and make contact himself.

So caught up with his thoughts, he didn't even notice he wasn't alone until a familiar voice called out to him. "So did you have any luck?"

Aeirfin whirled around, finding lady Astra following behind him, her hands clasped behind her back and wearing the same smile. "N-no... My lady." He stuttered, a creeping feeling of shame welling up in his gut. Both for his failure, and for the scene he walked in on. "Those... Women in there-."

"A weekly occurrence. Pay it no mind." Aeirfin's stomach dropped, but the lady's expression never changed. "Lord Roth enjoys many vices. And so long as nobody interrupts him, he remains cordial. He tells me whatever he believes me worthy of knowing, and together we manage to run Hashigin as husband and wife." That explained his sudden change in mood when Aeirfin asked for Frostbite to be returned. But he also found it incredibly sad. Lady Astra was barely an adult, but seemingly was treated as nothing more than a servant herself. The moment he had this thought however, Lady Astra's eyes narrowed slightly. "Luckily, I have other people to tell me things as well. Tyr?"

A shadow dropped to the floor next to her. In the span of a blink, a woman with white hair dressed in blue and white ninja garb knelt down between them with her head bowed. "Yes, my lady?"

Aeirfin's confusion must've been palpable, but Lady Astra didn't offer any explanation. "Tell Sir Thyocrei what you told me this morning."

The woman lifted her head, locking eyes with him. "The oil the Viscount has been stockpiling has been distributed throughout the town. Concentrated in the stables at the town entrances."

That made no since. If they were going to burn the cathedral, they'd have kept the oil loaded in the carts. They weren't very well going to carry the barrels downriver by hand. What the hell was it all for if not to launch an attack?

"Thank you, Tyr. You may leave us." The woman bowed her head again, and vanished just as suddenly as she'd appeared. "You have good intuition, Sir Thyocrei." She spoke again, tilting her head like she was amused. "If you have any friends or family in the City, I'd stay close to them in the coming days."

Again, Aeirfin didn't know what to make of that. Lady Astra was a lord of the city. If she suspected something, could she not intervene herself? Then again, the Viscount had been so brazen in his adultery, and the guards seemed less than interested in helping with anything, maybe she was just as stuck as he was? It was a hard thing to believe, but far from unlikely.

"Yes... Lady Astra..." Aeirfin gave a small bow, and turned to exit the manor.

He had more questions now than when he arrived, but Lady Astra's warning to him was all he could think about. Aki, Hazel, Aoi... They where some of the only people in this city that treated him decently. He had to warn them. But... Warn them of what? An excess of oil around the city? Some sort of market manipulation by the Viscount? Aoi would laugh him right out of town for being worried about something like that.

"Fine then..." He muttered to himself as he exited the property, the large gate slamming closed behind him. He didn't have to warn them to keep them safe. He just had to be there if something went wrong. "Me and my magic sword..." He said with a smile, clipping Frostbite back onto his hip. "Will keep you safe, Aoi."

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