Chapter 85: Get Me Your Manager

“We want to speak with the magistrate.”

The pretty elf behind the desk blinked up at Dys, her glowing green eyes drawn to the massive tower shield resting on her arm, the huge device casting an intimidating shadow. She made a valiant effort at maintaining a classic customer service professional smile, but a bit of nervousness leaked into her voice as she answered Dys’ demand.

“I’m sorry,” she replied, “but unless you have an appointment, the magistrate isn’t available.”

“If she’s got time enough to disrupt our day, she’s got time enough for us to disrupt hers. Tell her we want to talk.”

“My apologies, but I can’t interrupt—”

“Stop,” Dys cut the clerk off. “I get it. I don’t want to make trouble for you. I’m not pissed at you. Tell me what you can do, and we’ll go from there.”

The elf blinked at Dys’ growling tone. She leaned to the side slightly, eyes wandering over the collection of guards standing at attention behind Dys, her other two selves, and Aila.

All eight of the guards had followed Jadis when she stormed away from the gates and back into the city. They had refused to listen when Jadis had told them she didn’t want them following her out into the hills, insisting that they had their orders to follow. She hadn’t bothered trying to argue with them. They were part of a trained military. No amount of demands or cajoling on her part would dissuade them from their assigned duty.

No, if she wanted to get rid of her unwanted escort, she had to speak with the woman at the top.

As the clerk silently contemplated what to do about the angry giant holding a several hundred-pound shield in one hand and a maul as big as her in the other, Jay and Syd stood behind Dys, facing the guards. Both had arms crossed and scowls on their faces and were glowering at the assembled guards.

Jadis wasn’t about to start a fight, nor could she exactly blame the guards for doing their jobs, but damn if she wasn’t going to be petty and at least make the guards a little uncomfortable. Maybe it wasn’t the smartest thing to do, antagonize the law enforcement in Felsen, but she wasn’t feeling particularly reasonable at the moment.

Eventually, the clerk came to the same conclusion that most every person who had a job that brought them in contact with upset customers did. She got her manager.

“Hugo?” The elf called while holding up one finger to indicate Dys should wait. “I think we need your help over here!”

The well-groomed older man who had previously helped Jadis get her mercenary badges made an appearance, his best conciliatory manners on display. Unfortunately, he wasn’t much more helpful than the clerk.

“I’m sorry, but the earliest appointment I can make for her would be next Fireday,” Hugo explained with an apologetic smile. “She’s really quite the busy woman.”

Fireday was four days away from what Jadis knew of the imperial calendar system Aila had taught her. There was no way she was going to tolerate a squad of meddlesome guards following her around for that long. She’d already missed out on who knew how much experience from just two guards insisting on protecting her in a fight she didn’t need help with. If eight of them trailed after her and jumped in every time a fight looked dangerous by whatever the hell their standard was, then her progress would be brought down to a crawl.

Before a fuming Dys could growl out a harsh reply, Aila stepped in with a more placidly neutral tone and expression.

“Surely you can send her a request, can’t you?” She asked. “We’ll make the appointment for Fireday, certainly, but at least bring her a letter on our behalf. I can pen one right now explaining our concern.”

Hugo pressed his lips thin, one hand twiddling his fine mustache.

“I can deliver your message, but I can’t promise the magistrate will even read it today, you must understand.”

“That’s fine,” Aila nodded, already pulling her pack around to retrieve her notebook and pen. “Just tell her it’s from the Nephilim and I’m sure she’ll at least give it a glance.”

With that small concession made, Jadis decided to stop making a spectacle out of herself, at least no more than she naturally was by her simple presence. The three of her gathered themselves and stepped off to the side with Aila. The tension in the lobby of the city hall lessened quite a bit as the three giants visibly calmed.

There were more guards in the hall than just the eight that had followed Jadis, plus half a dozen clerks and a dozen more citizens of various walks of life. All had been on edge at the threat of violence. Now that she was noticing just how relieved some of the people looked, Jadis felt a little ashamed of having been the one responsible for making them nervous. She didn’t think she was the type of person to threaten workers doing their jobs or to make a scene in a public setting, but the situation had really brought out the worst in her.

“Sorry,” Jay whispered to Aila as the redhead scrawled a hasty letter to the magistrate. “This isn’t how I wanted our day to go today.”

“I know,” Aila murmured, looking up briefly from what she was writing. “It’s not your fault. We’ll get this mess sorted out.”

Jadis appreciated Aila’s patience and calm. Seeing her companion maintain her cool so effortlessly helped her center her emotions and push her anger to the back of her mind.

Once Hugo had taken Aila’s letter and disappeared somewhere behind closed doors, Jadis and Aila stood off in one corner of the large lobby hall discussing battle plans while waiting. Aila had ideas on how to mix her new spells into a fight that she wanted to explore today and Jadis had a few of her own. Jadis let Aila do most of the talking, though. Her mood was still sour which resulted in a pensive atmosphere.

Jadis couldn’t be sure exactly how much time passed, but more than a few mercenaries and traders came and went on their own business while she waited. Perhaps close to an hour later, Hugo came out from one of the side doors and approached, a somewhat harried but professional smile on his mustachioed face.

“The magistrate has agreed to speak with you for a brief moment between meetings,” he announced with a slight bow. “Follow me, if you would.”

Jadis was half surprised that Aila’s letter had been successful. Or that waiting had panned out. She figured the magistrate would have put her off. She’d mostly just stayed to wait for Hugo’s return and a polite rejection, to make a point about her seriousness if nothing else.

Aila and two of the eight guards followed Jadis as Hugo lead them into the back halls. He quickly escorted them to a large and elegantly furnished meeting room dominated by a long, wide table that had a huge, detailed map of Weigrun on it. She couldn’t read any of the notations, but she was beginning to catch on to some of the letters thanks to Aila’s tutelage and she was fairly certain that the city indicated at the southernmost tip of the drawn landmass was titled ‘Far Felsen’. There was also the giant mountain range depicted across the top of the map, a feature Jadis didn’t have trouble identifying as Kalters Wall. She imagined her own little starting village had to be one of the dots drawn into one of the many valleys along the south side of the mountain range.

Jadis had never seen a map of the sub-continent before and one of her bodies studied it closely while the other two took in the room and its occupants.

Standing at one side of the table was the magistrate herself, Vraekae. The blue-skinned elf was wearing a uniform similar to the one Jadis had seen her wearing when they’d first met, all sharp lines and formal. Her dark red eyes were focused on a bundle of papers, her hands leafing through the report with focused concentration. The blood red orb hovering over her shoulder was present as well. Jadis idly wondered what kind of spell could produce that effect, based on what Aila had told her about the different classes and spell types, but put the thought away to focus on the important matters at hand.

There were three other men in the room as well. Two looked like military officials. One an elf, the other a human, both wearing highly polished breastplates that came across as more ornamental than functional especially since the rest of their wardrobe was more cloth uniform like Vraekae’s. Those two had their heads together, whispering off to one side, glancing towards Jadis’ selves surreptitiously.

The third man was an older human with salt and pepper hair. Rather than wearing anything military, he looked more like a priest with thick white robes and a golden medallion displayed prominently on his chest. In fact, Jadis was certain she’d seen almost identical medallions, if not so grand, worn by a few other priests she’d seen at the healing clinic.

The old priest met Syd’s eyes openly, a kindly but curious smile on his face. He nodded to her in greeting, a nod she returned.

Now that she was back in the presence of the intimidating, powerful woman again, Jadis didn’t feel quite as forthrightly indignant. Still, when Vraekae glanced up and motioned for her to approach, Jay strode forward with as much confidence as she could muster, taking the lead while her other selves followed slightly behind with Aila.

“I don’t want your guards following me anymore,” Jay stated in low tones as soon as she was within a few feet of the elf.

“Good morning… whichever you are,” Vraekae said in her usual clipped tones. One shapely eyebrow rose a little higher on her brow. “Your culture does not exchange polite greetings?”

Jay exhaled a heavy sigh through her nose. “Good morning, magistrate. I’m Jay. Call off your guards. Please.”

The last word Jadis added as some small concession to propriety and respect. Not that she would ordinarily care much for such things, but Vraekae exuded a presence that demanded deference.

“No,” the magistrate said succinctly. “Is there anything else?”

Jay stared at the cold elf for a few seconds, her body going stiff with anger at the rejection.

“Why?” Jay asked, keeping her own words brief and to the point.

Vraekae turned to face Jay more directly, her gaze briefly sweeping across the other two of Jadis to rest for a moment on Aila before focusing back on Jay’s eyes.

“On your first day within the Broken Hills you stumbled upon a demon ambush containing a grundwyrm, a species of demon that has not been spotted in these hills before now. On your second day, you found a second grundwyrm. So far as I know you did not leave the city on your third day but on your fourth day, you encountered a corrupted sea bull. Finally, if the report you gave to Captain Renz is accurate, you came across a bone thief matriarch before coming south to Far Felsen. Somehow, you have managed to survive all of these encounters with no lasting harm. However, considering your uncanny ability to find yourself in exceedingly dangerous situations, I can only assume that your luck will run out eventually. You and I both know just how few of your kind there are left in this world, at least whose existence is verifiable. Do you truly expect me, an official of the Empire charged with the protection of its citizens, to do nothing about the danger you are continually putting yourself in?”

“They are our lives to endanger. We have goals that we won’t reach by playing safe,” Jay growled out, struggling to keep her volume in check. “No offense, but we don’t want your unwelcome concern dragging us down.”

Vraekae’s cold expression never changed, not even twitching at Jay’s words, but Jadis could practically feel the temperature in the room drop as the elf regarded her silently.

“I am expending not insignificant resources that could be used elsewhere to make what I deem to be a suitable compromise,” she finally said, breaking the tense silence. “I could have you and your sisters held in a cell instead, at least until I receive word back from his highness the prince concerning what he wishes to do about your situation.”

Aila cleared her throat, stepping forward up to Jay’s side. “Excuse me, ma’am, but I don’t think you can do that. I’m no expert, and you are the magistrate, but I know that Jay, Dys, and Syd haven’t broken any laws. If you hold them without due cause, you could be subject to sanctions and other punishments.”

Her words faltered a bit at the end as the magistrate leveled her foreboding gaze on Aila, but she kept her back straight and face calm. Jadis nodded along to her companion’s words.

“What she said.”

The elf tilted her head to one side slightly, her tone light as she spoke directly to Aila.

“Aila of Red Tree, is it? How versed are you in tax laws?”

The arcanist looked taken aback. She shook her head slightly and answered, “I’m not particularly familiar. I know how to determine taxes owed, but that’s about it.”

“Taxes owed. Yes, indeed. Jay and her kin have admitted to having lived in a village all their lives in the heart of Kalters Wall. Kalters Wall is a mountain range within Weigrun, a territory of the Empire. Do you agree?”

Aila nodded hesitantly. Jadis crossed her arms, not liking the direction Vraekae was going.

“This means all three of your companions are by birth citizens of the empire. So too would their family and indeed all of their village be. There is no record of Jay, Dys, Syd, their family, or anyone from their village ever paying their due taxes to the empire. I can confirm this to be the case for at least as long as these three have been at the age of majority. This means, young Aila, that if I so chose, I could have them incarcerated for failure to pay their due taxes. With how busy my schedule is right now I am sure I could see to their trial in my court sometime next season.”

“Are you seriously threatening me with tax evasion right now?” Jay stared at Vraekae in disbelief.

“I am not threatening you with anything. I am merely informing this intelligent young woman about certain facts of our law system,” the elf said, motioning one hand to an extremely vexed-looking Aila.

“Besides,” Vraekae continued, “If I was unreasonable and unsympathetic to your desires, I could simply revoke your mercenary licenses. Then none of you could legally hunt demons in this territory.”

“And we could leave your territory,” Jay stated, refusing to back down. “We don’t mind disappearing into the forest and mountains. We’re used to it.”

“But is Aila used to it?” Vraekae asked, tilting her head to the other side.

That innocently worded question forced Jadis to glance at Aila. Seeing the concealed worry on her face gave her pause. Would Aila be willing to follow her into wild and dangerous territory, forgoing all civilized conveniences, potentially for a very long time? Maybe they would even have to leave the Empire’s territories just to avoid dealing with Vraekae’s persistent demands, especially if this Second Prince person mirrored the magistrate’s feelings, or worse exceeded them.

Aila had decided to throw in her lot with Jadis, committing her future to Jadis’ in an intimate partnership, but Vraekae was forcing an escalation that Jadis wasn’t sure was reasonable to ask of the redhead. Hell, they hadn’t even known each other all that long. She couldn’t blame her if she chose to wash her hands of the bizarre situation and leave Jadis to flee to the wilds all on her own.

The thought of not having Aila around anymore caused a piercing pain in all three of Jadis’ hearts. She looked down at the redhead, meeting her eyes for a scant moment as she looked up at Jay.

Jadis wasn’t sure where to go with her argument. The magistrate had all the power behind her and the will to use it. She’d cornered Jadis and she knew it. There was no way that she could see around accepting Vraekae’s babysitting guard draining her of experience.

As Jadis’ faces screwed up in frustrated dismay, a gentle voice interrupted, inserting itself in the conversation.

“My apologies, but may I offer some assistance?” The aged priest said, rounding the table and approaching the gathering from Jadis’ side. “I didn’t mean to eavesdrop, but I couldn’t help but overhear at least some of your discussion. Perhaps I can suggest a compromise?”

“High priest Gerhardt,” Vraekae acknowledged the man with a nod. “This is a private matter between these citizens and my office. However, if they do not object, I welcome your council.”

Jadis shrugged her many shoulders, taken slightly off guard by the sudden insertion of the priest. She didn’t see any reason not to hear the old man out, though. He couldn’t make things worse, at least.

He smiled up at Aila, then at the three giants with a disarming warmth. One of his hands he placed on his chest, right over the strange golden medallion. The other arm opened wide in a welcoming gesture.

“Young ladies, how would you feel about having a cleric act as escort on your demon hunting excursions?”

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