The King's Knights

Chapter Seven: Threats and Letters

'School is up, time to dream,' murmured Kiyora to herself.

It was a decadent, loathsome place of scented candles and bookcases. Ajax saw in a comfortable chair in a waiting room, arms crossed, and looked out the window. Brushing a strand of hair from his face, he sighed and wished there were some trees.

A line of trees was on one side of the avenue leading up to the door. He longed to be away from this awful place, in the forests and fields of the wildlands. There, the air was free, there were creatures to hunt at leisure. In this cursed golden city, Ajax was a prisoner of criminals.

Because Relma needed him.

"...Not a single tree in this entire city," said Ajax. The bushes swayed in the wind.

"There are trees, Ajax," said Fayn, reading a book across from him.

The Sorcerer's Guild was a secretive and manipulative organization. Officially, it was based here. In practice, however, their higher-up membership was highly secretive. Aside from those trained as Magicora and assigned here, no one knew them.

And right now, the Sorcerer's Guild wanted Relma to go through Vines.

"Not nearly enough," said Ajax. "I hate this place. Every stone of it."

"Yes, I know that," said Fayn, flipping the page. "I still can't believe we had that much many malas in one location. Especially with the reduced supply."

"There is no way Duke Vanion is that sloppy," said Ajax. "Even if he was, Relma poured most of this year's harvest into the river. So the more they harvest now, the less they'll have. They'll be producing the bare minimum to cover costs."

"So you think they are shipping it in from off-world?" asked Fayn.

"Maybe," said Ajax. "Korlac examined a lot of the chests for those goods. Most of them were from ships coming in from the Islands of Power.

"We think they were headed for Port Otter or one of the Seathorius ports. There aren't any real laws against that sort of material yet."

"Well, Saphra won't be happy about that," said Fayn, flipping a page. She was childhood friends with Baroness De Chevlon. "So they got it from another source?"

"Offworld, maybe," said Ajax, though that was just a guess. "I don't think you could set up a new source of the stuff this quickly without anyone knowing."

"Well, aren't they cheeky," said Fayn, smiling in that cruel fashion she usually did. "I'm sure my Uncle will know a thing or two about this."

"I'm sure he will," said Ajax. "Just don't act without the say-so from Relma."

"Are you implying something, Ajax?" asked Fayn, looking up.

"I don't have to imply anything, Fayn," said Ajax.  "We both know that House Hawkthorne has a reputation."

"I suppose we do," said Fayn.

Her loyalty to Relma was her only redeeming quality.

"Didn't Aklus used to work for your House?" asked Ajax.

"Aklus worked for Jezebel and Cervan," said Fayn. "Legally, they are my parents. I got rid of him and his people the moment they left. Anything else?"

Ajax considered things. "...What are you reading?"

"A document on the legendary weapon, the Devouring Sword," said Fayn. "There was a search for it a decade ago when it manifested. Even Duke Vanion and Raynald De Chevlon got involved in it. Nobody got the thing, but they learned a lot about it.