Tales of Cubonia

The Golden Hourglass 6 - The Deal

"Wait, wait, wait," Broderick said. "You want me to sneak into Castle Andora on the princess's name day and steal a necklace from the birthday girl herself, and then sneak back out without being noticed? What kind of damned wizard do you think I am?"

Varuq, ever impassive, said, "Again, your title means nothing to me. Nor do your methods. Whether you sneak in using only your cunning or with magic, my masters care not. What is important is that the necklace is recovered no earlier than midnight on the princess's name day, and delivered promptly."

"Let's say I manage to get into the castle, swipe the necklace, and get back out without being captured and beheaded," Broderick posed a hypothetical, "where exactly do you want me to deliver this little piece of jewelry?"

"The necklace is to be given to the Witch of the Wastes," Varuq said flatly.

"No way," said Broderick vehemently. "That nasty old hag knows I don't take jobs from her anymore. Forget it."

The Witch of the Wastes was a particularly nasty creature that had taken up residence in a particularly nasty place called The Wastelands of Time, or The Wastes to the locals. The Wastes sat in the far southwest region of Elazio. The land was not completely unlike the rest of the continent. The grass was lush, the soil fertile, but time didn't flow in the same way as the rest of Cubonia. A traveler can spend mere minutes within The Wastes and when they exit years will have passed or they may have travelled backwards in time. Many people had gone insane upon leaving The Wastes when they ran in to their very selves on the road. Before The Witch found a way to control The Wastes, time's movement was erratic. Once she found a way to become Master of The Wastes, time moved how she wished it to. One acre could move at double time, while the next would jump backward one week with each step. What she willed was so within The Wastes.

It was true that Broderick had taken a few jobs from The Witch many years previous, but his last had enforced the decision to never take another job from her. He had spent six weeks time as a janitor in Father Jenkins School for the Wayward before it was burned to the ground. Not only did he have to clean up after a bunch of shapeshifters – a group that is surprisingly messy, especially when they're young – but he had almost died in the resulting fire trying to recover the Headmaster's Amulet of Power. As far as he knew, most everyone had assumed Barth the Janitor died in the blaze. He preferred to keep it that way.

"This task was not set forth by the Witch," Varuq corrected him. "My masters wish the necklace to be delivered to the Witch for their own purposes, and payment will come from them, not The Witch."

"Sure," conceded Broderick, "but I still have to deal with her. I don't know about this."

Varuq smirked. "You have already taken partial payment, and, therefore, the job itself. You are bound by a code, are you not?"

Broderick glared at Varuq. He briefly considered going against the code, without the code he was nothing more than a petty thief stealing whatever he wanted whenever he felt like it, and he was better than that. "Fine," he said begrudgingly. "I'll do it."

This time Varuq smiled broadly, revealing a row of sickly yellow teeth. "Very good," he said. "I will inform my masters. They will be most pleased."

"Whatever," Broderick said dismissively. "You better pony up the loot when this is all over."

"You will be rewarded most handsomely, Mr. Porter," Varuq reassured him. The bizarre man stood from the table and bowed to Broderick. "Until we meet again."

A drunken man stumbled into a waitress, spilling a tray full of tankards. Broderick looked away for only a moment. When he looked back, Varuq was gone.

"Ah, hell," he groaned to himself. "I'm going to regret this. I can tell already."

He stood up from the table and made his way for the door.

"Maybe Adhemar got Zubin to cook up some more sticky buns," he said aloud to no one in particular.

As he exited the stale air of The Angry Dogfish and entered the fresh air of Laketown, Broderick caught the faint smell of baking bread and cinnamon and smiled. He was relatively certain that a fresh sticky bun was exactly what he need at that particular moment.