Valkyrie's Shadow

Winter's Crown: Act 3, Chapter 16

Winter's Crown: Act 3, Chapter 16

Chapter 16

The keel of the knarr broke through the thick mists of the early morning, gliding against the river current towards the harbour. Ludmila stood on the shore near the end of the pier, watching as the ship’s sails were lowered. With the assistance of its skeletal oarsmen, the vessel was expertly guided in – the Death Warrior captain had become quite proficient at operating with its Skeleton crew.

At some point, someone had given it a strange sort of cap, of which it appeared to be quite proud. She never figured out where it had gotten the cap from, but it never seemed to leave the captain’s head.

She shifted her attention to the two figures standing at the bow of the ship, who she assumed were the passengers that she was waiting for. At the least, Ludmila was hard-pressed to consider that they could be anyone else. Attired in black robes and draped in black mantles with black hoods that concealed their faces within dark shadows, they may well have just held up signs that had “Evil Cultist” scribed in bold upon them. The other passengers gave them a wide berth, lingering on the edges of the space reserved for them, and a tinge of annoyance coloured her thoughts when she considered that they had all been stuck together on the ship for over a day.

The two black-robed figures disembarked as soon as the vessel settled against the pier, each carrying a black satchel in one hand; a gnarled staff in the other. They made their way forward, the tapping of their staves on the wooden planks sounding in time with every other step. Moren Boer sighed to her left. To her right, Nonna also sighed, though it was more likely because the two figures were slowing the transfer of passengers and cargo down. Ludmila had to keep a conscious effort to refrain from leaning forward in an attempt to peer inside their cowls.

After a whole minute, the pair’s painfully slow procession ended as they came to stand before her.

“Welcome, Isabella,” Moren stepped forward and spoke to the figure standing at the head of the pair. “I have the pleasure of introducing you to…”

His voice trailed off into a frown, for Isabella was not paying him any attention whatsoever.

The opening of her cowl pointed towards Nonna, and she leaned slowly forward. The bottom half of a pale face appeared. Like the dark cowl that framed her youthful, feminine features, the full lips under her petite nose were painted black. Expecting perhaps an aged individual with a bent and withered appearance, Ludmila was taken somewhat aback that the woman would actually be considered attractive by most.

The black lips parted, and the pink tip of her tongue appeared. Isabella leaned even further forward, tongue worming out like a fleshy probe.

Ludmila snatched Nonna’s arm, pulling the Elder Lich back and behind her. The woman snapped her head up and towards Ludmila, expression transitioning from surprise to annoyance to anger.

“How dare you! Who are you to mmph mm mmgh!”

“I beg your forgiveness for my associate’s improper conduct, my lady!” Moren said as he struggled with the woman, “They probably chose her to come first for appearance’s sake.”

“Appearances?” Ludmila was incredulous, “She just tried to lick my Lich! Forgive my poor imagination, but I really cannot think of anything stranger than that at this very moment.”

She released her hold on Nonna and turned to address the Elder Lich.

“Take care of yourself around these…people,” Ludmila warned her. “We have no idea where they have been. You might want to let the others know, as well.”

“It will be done.”

Nonna walked in a wide circle around the restrained cultist. Isabella’s eyes desperately followed the Elder Lich.

“Ow!”

Moren snatched his hand away from the woman’s mouth.

“No, come back!” She shouted, “Dammit Moren, get your hands off of me! You’re still every bit the horny farm boy from years ago!”

“What!”

Moren released her, but he continued blocking the way as Isabella tried to get past him to reach Nonna.

“Why are you in my way?! That’s an Elder Lich!” She shouted, “An Elder Lich, Moren! Our hopes and dreams are right in front of us! Wait, I know: you’ve been trying to hide this paradise from us this entire time! I bet you get your fill every day…shame, Moren! Shame on you!”

Crazy necromantic cultist indeed. The only things Nonna tended to fill people with were statistics and projections.

Ludmila’s gaze travelled over to the other figure that had arrived with Isabella. It hadn’t moved since the commotion started, standing eerily still.

“Noooo! Don’t fly away! Uwehhh…”

Nonna floated off towards the timber yard, and Isabella fell to her hands and knees with a sob. Several children from the families disembarking pointed at her, voicing their curiosity, and their parents pulled them away.

It took several minutes for the downcast woman to return to her feet. Her soles scraped over the gravel as she shuffled back to join them. With her cowl pulled back after the brief struggle with Moren, Ludmila saw that Isabella was a young woman with straight black hair and a generally well-kept appearance. In her current state, however, she had the look of a dead fish.

“You are acquainted with one another?” Ludmila asked.

“Yes, my lady,” Moren bobbed his head. “She was the member of the group that recruited me back at my old home.”

Based on the exchange between them, Ludmila figured that she wouldn’t have to think too hard about how this woman ‘recruited’ people.

“Isabella Aguado, my lady,” she said in a flat, dead voice. “A pleasure to meet you…”

The end of her sentence dragged out, and Ludmila turned her gaze to the second figure. The cowl started to tremble violently. This one wasn’t going to explode, was it?

“Ch-cha-ch-andler.”

She waited for a moment, but nothing further appeared to be forthcoming.

“Welcome to Warden’s Vale,” she greeted them. “I am Baroness Ludmila Zahradnik. Your accommodations have been readied in the first village west of here, so we should be on our way.”

She stepped aside and motioned for them to accompany her. Isabella pulled her cowl forward again, took two steps, then stopped.

“We’re walking?” She asked.

“Yes?”

“What kinda noble walks anywh-ow! Dammit, Moren! If this turns into a bruise, you’re paying for my losses.”

“Are you some sort of…merchant?” Ludmila asked.

“Yes, my lady,” she replied. “I’m an Artificer. That’s the actual reason I was sent first – it wasn’t because I was just a pretty face. Selling magic items was just a side thing, though. My real work was…well, y’know…”

“Recruiting.”

“Yep…no, wait! I’m an esteemed member of Zurrernorn! It’s not my fault that men are so easy to reel in.”

“Is there any need to retain your affiliation now that you’re in a place that won’t persecute you for practising Necromancy?” Ludmila asked as she led them across the front of the hill, “If any of your disparate branches conduct harmful activities outside of the Sorcerous Kingdom, we may suffer political backlash for harbouring your organization despite any claims that you share no direct association.”

“I figured the Sorcerous Kingdom wouldn’t even care, considering how powerful it is. Anyone looks at you funny and…”

Isabella held her thumb out upside-down in the air, making a squishing noise as she lowered it.

“Right?”

“The diplomatic and political stance of our government is not so unreasonable,” Ludmila told her. “In fact, most of our relations are amicable, or at least neutral. If your organization tarnishes our national image, you may be expelled.”

“Uh…really?” Isabella frowned.

“Yes, really,” Ludmila replied. “I suppose that perception might be a bit coloured in Re-Estize…”

“That might be just a tiny bit of an understatement,” Isabella snorted. “Still…I guess the places we came through looked disappointingly normal. Thought there’d be Undead swarming all over the place.”

“They are being kept mostly out of view since merchant traffic is still unfamiliar with how things are now. Out here, however, they will be a common sight…considering your reaction to an Elder Lich, you weren’t interested in the Undead crew or the Death Knights?”

“They were quite the sight, actually,” Isabella said, “but the news that came back with the merchants who started coming from this direction made it sound like there were powerful Undead everywhere you looked. I guess it felt like a whole lot of buildup for not much at all.”

“What about the city?”

“Our instructions were to come straight here, without any detours.”

Ludmila pondered the odd mix of obedience and willfulness in the other woman. Then again, perhaps it wasn’t so odd: the stated objective of these Zurrernorn members was to gain entry to the nation rather than a specific desire to live under her rule. She did make preparations in order for them to feel welcome and appreciated, but she was uncertain how they would receive that treatment, or how they would even perceive themselves as subjects of the Sorcerous Kingdom. These magic casters were far removed from the regular sort of tenant that she was used to dealing with.

“Then back at the pier,” she asked, “why did you try to, uh…”

“I’d appreciate it if you forgot about that, my lady. It was just a passing bout of excitement.”

“Does that mean that I’m to expect a ‘passing bout excitement’ every time one of your associates arrives?”

She stared at Isabella for a good while as they walked along, and the woman started to shift uncomfortably.

“Yes,” Isabella started quietly, then her voice rose. “Yes, damn it! Who wouldn’t get excited at the sight of an Elder Lich – one that doesn’t try to Fireball you right away, at that!”

“Personally,” Ludmila told her, “I would say that the only ‘excitement’ most people feel when they first encounter an Elder Lich is the sort that encourages you to run for your life.”

“Plebeians,” Isabella waved her hand dismissively. “They don’t understand what it means – how wondrous of an existence it is.”

They crossed the entrance to the harbour village, and Ludmila called down a Death Knight to help carry their luggage before continuing on towards the bridge. Several men and women stared at the cloaked figures as they passed.

“Forgive this plebeian for her ignorance,” Ludmila said, “but you will have to explain what it means to you and your associates.”

Isabella looked at her curiously for a moment before answering.

“It’s a chance,” she said.

“A chance?”

“Yes,” Isabella nodded. “A chance to learn and study – to discover the secrets of lichdom.”

“You realize that these Elder Liches are His Majesty’s summons, yes?”

“Better than the nothing we had before,” Isabella told her. “I’m sure every member of Zurrernorn has thought about becoming an Elder Lich at least a few times. For most, it’s more than just a thought…except it’s decidedly difficult to study them when they actively try to kill you on sight.”

Was it really such a widespread goal? Bohdan had considered it a likely possibility for Fluder Paradyne back when she had been entirely ignorant of events beyond her demesne.

“I find that there is nothing wrong with being a Human,” Ludmila said.

“Humans have to eat and sleep,” Isabella replied. “They get sick, grow old and die. Don’t you want to live forever?”

“It’s not something I’ve considered, no.”

“You live in a place full of the Undead,” Isabella furrowed her brow. “How have you not considered it?”

“I have a busy schedule.”

“Busy!” The woman laughed, “If you were immortal, you’d have all the time in the world!”

“His Majesty’s Undead servants are always busy as well, so that assertion does not really stand up to scrutiny. My Liege, Lady Shalltear, is also a busy woman.”

“Lady Shalltear…some sort of Undead Lord?” Isabella’s brows drew together, “I’ll admit I’ve never heard of that before…”

“My lady is a Vampire,” Ludmila told her.

“Oh…OH! I see how it is. You’re just being complacent because you can just turn into a Vampire at any time! Damn nobles have leeway no matter where they are,” she muttered darkly, then peered at her suspiciously. “Wait, you’re not a Vampire already, are you?”

“Do I look like a Vampire?”

“I guess not…still, us poor, unprivileged common folk have to find our own way, y’know? We can’t just bide our time until we feel like asking our Vampire Liege to turn us.”

“I have never considered asking,” Ludmila said, “neither has my lady made any mention of it.”

“Huh?” Isabella’s brows drew together, and she gave Ludmila a confused look, “That’s silly – why wouldn’t you? Why wouldn’t they? If there’s a useful person, why wouldn’t they keep them around forever? That’s the first thing anyone in charge thinks about, right? Finding talented people and figuring out how to keep them. Maybe they’re just not letting on because everyone would start begging for it.”

“What about family? Undead cannot have children, can they?”

“You nobles and your bloodlines…even if that’s the case, all you need to do is have them as a Human, right?” Isabella gave her an appraising look, “You’re still young – you could probably pop out a dozen brats before you’re thirty! And then you won’t get tired raising ‘em because Undead don’t get tired. You could watch over your family through all the ages, making sure they do well for themselves. The best ones you could turn yourself! Just one big happy family of Vampires.”

“The age of majority for worshippers of The Six is twenty,” Ludmila told her. “A dozen is probably impossible – not that I want that many. Also, if what you say is true, there would surely be a nation entirely made out of Vampires somewhere.”

“Hmm…Moren did say something along those lines: that you worship The Six. Don’t tell me that you plan on just dying as a Human.”

“I have no qualms about staying Human, and Lord Surshana is owed his due – it is He that holds ultimate purview over our souls.”

Isabella let out a disappointed-sounding sigh but said nothing more. She looked out to the fields as they walked along, where the Skeleton labourers directed by Farmers were busy with the harvest.

“Despite what you said, my lady,” she waved her staff out towards the nearest group, “you appear perfectly fine with having Undead all over the place.”

“That’s just a strange superstition held by worshippers of The Four. These Undead are just summons – they aren’t souls bound to an undying existence.”

“Then…you won’t mind if I summon a bunch of my own?”

“The remains of the deceased are the property of His Majesty,” Ludmila told her. “If you desire Undead servitors, they can be ordered on your behalf. As I understand it, His Majesty’s Undead are far superior to their regular counterparts, and leasing them will save you precious mana for your work.”

Isabella appeared to think to herself for some time, after which she turned to look at Ludmila with a small frown.

“You’re a noble of Re-Estize, right?” She asked, “One of the ones that went with this duchy, I mean.”

“That is correct,” Ludmila answered.

The woman turned to look back forward, shaking her head.

“It sure doesn’t seem like it,” she said. “Aside from a few noble families that might have some associated businesses, they don’t care much for any kind of magic. It’s just a mysterious convenience to them at best; parlour tricks most of the time. They pay for healing, items and Adventurers, yet they somehow hold no value in it beyond that.”

“I had a good village priest who tutored me,” Ludmila told her, “but it was my time so far as a noble of the Sorcerous Kingdom that really opened my eyes to the applications of magic. Having casters as a part of everyday life allows one to establish a base of knowledge to work off of. With that knowledge, I have been able to start applying it practically to my demesne. This should be where most of the difference lies – Re-Estize never really promoted magic in any substantial way, and with this lack of exposure comes ignorance to it’s value.”

“I dunno if it’s just that…” Isabella said, “Well, I guess it’s a pointless discussion now that I don’t have to worry about those jerks anymore. Since you’ve carried our conversation in this direction, I’m guessing you want to get down to business then?”

“I do,” Ludmila replied, “but let’s finish making our way to the village for now. We can begin discussing those matters in the comfort of your new workshop.”