The guards seemed to relay something important to Tyr because his eyebrows furrowed and a scowl marred his handsome face. He interrupted them and spurred his mount quickly inside. After he dismounted, he picked Macha up by the waist and placed her on a bench that lay beneath a yellow flowering tree. Making a motion with his hand, as one would to a dog, he stormed off.She got the impression he wanted her to wait there. After he left, the other party members dismounted and disappeared into the tall building. They all seemed to be in a hurry and she wondered what happened.
Macha looked at the towering structure that stood before her. It resembled the gla.s.s skysc.r.a.pers found in major cities. The courtyard was busy despite it being nighttime and many people walked in and out of the building. The hustle and bustle around her put her mind at ease.
Being in this environment made her realize that her extended solitude in the forest had begun to eat away at her sanity. The memory of complete loneliness had scared her, and she realized she never wanted to experience that again. The beautiful sound of men and women moving about was something she missed. At one point she thought she would never encounter this beautiful noise again.
She closed her eyes and whispered, "Thank you." Now that she returned to civilization, she believed everything would be all right.
After a while, a small group came out of the building to unload the mounts. Macha had never seen these people before and watched as each saddled creature disappeared into a wisp of smoke and light. The porters who unpacked the beasts dressed in brown linen tunics with brown berets topping their heads.
A beautiful woman entered the courtyard with the porters. She had dark brown hair that was pulled up into a high ponytail. She did not wear the same dull linens and hats as the others but instead wore a red silk dress and a book hung at her waist. Her gown had golden leaves embroidered on it, which were similar to the ones that adorned Tyr"s armor. The woman held a wooden tablet and wrote notes down on pieces of parchment. The porters showed her each item they unloaded before going into the building.
A chilly gust of wind blew and a few of the papers the woman carried drifted towards Macha. Macha"s eyes widened, and she sprung off the bench. The doc.u.ments were probably important, and she did not want the woman to get in trouble.
The last paper was being especially difficult, and she chased it across the gra.s.s. "Get over her," she growled as she ran it down. After she finally caught it, she held the stack up in the air to show the woman that she got them all. The woman had picked a few of the other papers up and was jogging to catch up to her.
After accepting the parchments from Macha, the dark-haired woman nodded her head and said something. Her voice sounded friendly and free, reminding Macha of a warm summer day.
Unable to understand the woman"s words, she gave a small nod and smiled.
****
Inside the building, Tyr had been shouting at a middle-aged looking man for half an hour. A vein popped out of his forehead and his hair was askew, ruining his usually handsome face. He paced back and forth in front of a desk, making the younger workers agitated. The older man had his arms crossed and leaned back in his chair with one leg over his knee. He did not seem to be phased by Tyr"s words or actions.
"Look. Tyr. I already told you, everything Fenrir did is completely within her right. There is nothing we can do about it," the middle-aged man stated the facts frankly as he tugged his black beard. It exasperated him that he had to explain this to Tyr a third time.
"Bartosz, are you sure you looked through all the laws? Every single one? Isn"t there something we can charge her with?" Tyr, realizing that his anger did not work, now tried pleading.
He knew Fenrir could leave the guild at any moment, but she chose a terrible time to do so. Frustration clawed at him because he trusted her word. Thinking back on it, he should never have depended on her to keep any promises.
"Checked. Double checked. Triple checked. She did everything by the book. She took what she was ent.i.tled to and the people that followed did too. I realize the situation looks bad, but you returned with some new goods at least." Bartosz understood Tyr"s reaction. Fenrir left when she did out of spite, which annoyed him as well.
When Bartosz first heard she planned to leave the Obsidian Dragons with half the guildmates and savings, he forced the whole legal department to search through the laws and contracts. He tried his best to find a way to stop her. Unfortunately, she had started the guild with Tyr and was a founding member, so everything she took belonged to her. The people who followed her were also under no obligation to stay. In Bartosz"s opinion, the guild was better off without them since they were loyal to Fenrir.
"All right," Tyr said grasping the edge of the desk. He tried to control his temper. Shifting his mind back into focus, all emotion left his face. "Thanks for your hard work. This month I"ll take on some extra missions. Did we have any orders come in recently?"
Bartosz grabbed a stack of papers that lay on his desktop. Flipping through them he answered, "These requests were too difficult to put up on the mission board outside. This one here pays pretty well and has a good return rate on it." As he mentioned this, he picked out a paper and handed it to Tyr. "It"s a request from the King to deal with a kraken that appeared."
Tyr took the sheet and his eyes scanned over it. Quickly calculating travel time verse income he nodded, "This would be almost a two-week journey, but it would dig us out of the hole we"re in." He did not like going out on a boat during the monsoon season but was willing to this one time.
Bartosz tossed the stack of papers back onto his desk. "Yeah. The request would cover the share Fenrir took when she left, but it"s a pretty difficult one. None of the other guilds are touching this mission. I would prefer to trash it because I feel it"s too risky."
He reached into his desk and pulled out a cigar. He picked up a small stick on his desk and the tip began to glow red. He used the end to light his cigar before tossing the stick back onto the desktop.
Tyr nodded at Bartosz and walked out of the room holding the piece of paper. He cursed Fenrir. Throughout his relationship with her, she lied to him. Even now she had lied to him about how long she would stay in the guild.
****
Macha"s body ached from sitting for so long. She got up to stretch and walk around the movement helped to relieve her stiff body. The thought of exploring the area entered her mind, but if Tyr came out and she was missing, she worried he might forget about her.
Since she was unable to communicate, she felt it would be safer to stay where she was. As she waited, she looked up at the flowers that bloomed on the tree. The yellow blossoms grew in long cl.u.s.ters which draped to the ground. She liked that they swayed with the warm breeze above her.
The woman that Macha helped earlier came out of the building. She held a tray of food and two cups and she walked towards the bench. She gave a warm smile and put the tray down.
Macha waved at the woman and tried the same tactic of tapping her chest and saying her name to introduce herself. The woman"s green eyes twinkled with amus.e.m.e.nt. She giggled and said a few words that Macha did not recognize.
Realizing that the girl in front of her did not understand, she touched her hand to her collarbone and introduced herself, "Luna." Luna then tried to speak in various languages to Macha, but the small woman did not comprehend any of the sentences.
Macha shook her head and explained, "I"m sorry, I don"t understand what you"re saying to me." Once again, she grew frustrated at her ability to communicate. Her hand gripped the edge of the cool bench in frustration.
Luna nodded and sighed heavily. She had never heard the language that this woman spoke. They now had a communication barrier, so she offered her new acquaintance some sandwiches and juice.
Macha accepted the food and wished she could thank her new friend. A strong gamey flavor overpowered the dry sandwich meat and a thick gravy-like sauce covered the flavorless oat bread. Overall, she thought it tasted terrible, but it was definitely better than the weeks of figs and fish she endured.
As she ate, Luna pointed at various things and named them. She understood that Luna was trying to teach her new words, so she hung on every word that the woman shared with her. The language sounded harsh to her, and she found it hard to p.r.o.nounce.
The two moons hung high in the sky and Luna realized she had been outside with Macha for a long time. As she collected the empty dishes, she explained, "Sorry, I have to get back inside and check on my brother." Although the small woman did not understand her, she still felt the need to explain.
Macha recognized that Luna was packing up to go. When the beautiful woman waved and said one last word, Macha repeated it. It was probably safe to a.s.sume that it was the word for goodnight or goodbye. She was grateful for the acquaintance she made and wondered what happened to Tyr or Krystof. She expected one of them to come out, but in the end, no one came.
It was late and the day of traveling tired her. She laid down on the bench and closed her eyes, reviewing the words she learned as she drifted to sleep.