Orphan At The Edge Of The World

Days spent discussing future plans with Claudius produced the desired effect. When the older brother got positive a.s.sent from his little brother back at the consulate, Orison drafted a preliminary doc.u.ment to get cosigned by his mother that would appoint Claudius and his brother as the police for his little province. A couple of days later, Orison was wiping tears of laughter from his eyes over a frosty request to wait on further poaching of talent from the security unit until fully staffed from a less than enthused Nadir.

Of the many oddities that caught his attention, Orison realized that his mind"s special energy source finder was on the fritz. Not for a second did he believe there wasn"t any around yet there were no sources pinging but at the same time, he would get a feeling of static electricity every time he focused on it. That sensation would get even more intense the further he went out into the bay. Determined to investigate, he was on the lookout for an opportunity but he knew he needed to be patient.

After a week of intense underwater education, The Fvaris clan leader was satisfied that her people could handle affairs from there on out. Unfortunately, the other clans weren"t okay with getting their information second-hand. After a round of discussion and advis.e.m.e.nt, each clan would be given a specialty to focus on and Orison would conduct an information share for each. To not wear the poor kid out, the clan leaders decided to give him a couple day"s rest before he began round two.

Orison found it strange how suddenly the two Revivalist supporting clans were respectful and even courteous to him. He wasn"t about to question having it easier but the nicer they were the more on edge he felt. Knowing that the specialty granted to one of the two clans would lead him deep into the bay, he was both dreading and excited about their turn. He would be a lot more worried about treachery but between Rithus and his own secrets all the Revivalists would likely buy themselves is death if they were to try anything foolish with the fishbowl and buoy anch.o.r.ed snorkel tubes they were using.

The brief sojourn back at the consulate brought the pleasant reunion of familiar faces. Unsurprisingly, most of Morrel"s joy of reunion was reserved for Rithus who got fussed over as if he was still a young thing instead of the nearly venerable Marshlander he was. After hearing of the teleportation mishap while still on the road, Morrel was in a cold rage for days, according to Gan. Antic.i.p.ating Morrel"s need of a target for vent, Orison presented his steward and part-time martial instructor with the preserved head of the teleportation specialist responsible.

Orison had the mage"s heart too but when offered, Morrel responded, "I"d never eat a Centerland aristocrat. They have notoriously bad diets."

Orison thought, "I was offering an opportunity for righteous and gory vindication, not a snack..."

While Droya was catching up with Morrel and Rithus, Gan strolled around with Orison as if it was a matter of course. With what felt like half a lifetime of eventfulness happening on the boy"s side, Gan had a rough but ultimately boring journey. To the Northland scout, he was just picking up his duties where he left off, a house warrior attending his house leader.

Orison"s ungenerous thought, "Hehe, probably afraid mom"s going to hand him a grocery list or worse, a dish rag."

Noting Captain Nadir looking on bitterly as Centerland masons laid the foundation for two new structures on to the consulate, Orison couldn"t help but ask, "Why so glum, chum?"

Captain Nadir looked at Orison unkindly and said with cold professionalism, "Legate-in-Training Cantrip, the masons are prioritizing basic accommodations, as they should. After all, in consideration of the arrival of Acting Legate Droya"s retinue, she needs a proper servant"s quarters and guest dignitary quarters for her indefinitely visiting urban prefect and his deputy. What is there to be glum about? I no longer have to worry myself over whether I need a dinning hall or stable more. I can just let them build the wall a little higher."

Orison retorted, "Oh, you mean the wall I built? How about the bathhouse? Maybe you"d like to forget about how a dining hall and a stable or even the training grounds you already f***ing have, would still be a pipe dream without me busting my a** for you and your soldiers for nearly a week! I"m so sorry that I"ve spent the last week and a half drowning myself slowly to buy the peace that allows this place to still be here instead of a cinder pit of corpses. I obviously would have been better spending my time building more comfortable accommodations for you since waiting a little longer offends you so!"

Captain Nadir, an emotional iceberg, gave Orison a mechanical half bow before he turned to walk away.

Calming down, Orison said to Nadir"s back, "Send a building material list to me before I leave tomorrow afternoon. Mortar is cheaper here and the local quarry stone can be faced with the leftovers brought over. I"ll cover three times what we took for our additions.

"The requisition of one man, since the other was going to leave anyway, and a bit of stone probably isn"t what you"re really mad about. Whatever it is, speak it out with mom. You aren"t dealing with some backstabbing socialites. If you come to us with your problems and that chip on your shoulder stored away, you"d find a lot less to be mad about. Pa.s.sive-aggressive, impotent seething like a jilted mistress won"t earn you a d.a.m.n thing except scorn."

As they walked away, Gan said, "Dressing the man down in front of his warriors isn"t going to make a friend out of him."

Orison sighed and said, "He"s a good commander who puts the needs of his men first. That"s a good thing, except mom and I aren"t one of his men. No matter how well things are going, when there"s a benefit to be had, he wants to fight for it. I blame that on the people he"s had to serve before. To be honest, I don"t know if I even want to earn his friendship when it"s so easy for him to throw my efforts away. Let him see the futility of trying to compete with a ten year old over who can be more petty. At least he"ll appreciate my mom a little more."

Later, near the half finished dock, Orison was overlooking the magnificent ship when he saw a richly dressed man making a ruckus. Cray was helping a fresh off the ship dock worker pick up some goods that the man had dropped when the wealthy man kicked him. From the distance that Orison was, he couldn"t tell exactly what the man was saying but after pushing Cray away, the rich man grabbed the archer"s belt off and smacked him in the face with it. Orison heard loud and clear the shout of "thief".

Guessing that the merchant was up to no good, Orison was going to rush down when he saw the rich man order two mercenary men to take Cray below deck. The man was obviously not a small potato and Orison"s gears started turning. He looked at himself then at Gan and a light bulb lit up in his head.

From his vantage point, Orison saw Captain Nadir making his way to the harbor like a summer storm. Quickly, he changed out of his robe and into his swimming set that Fvaris clan had provided him, being slightly disturbed at the sight of a preteen exhibitionist. Taking a bit of dirt, Orison rubbed it in his hair and across his exposed skin as he explained his plan to Gan.

Rushing down to the dock, dragging Gan by the hand and ignoring the shouting merchant attempting to extort Nadir, Orison slowed down near the merchant and said, "Gan you said you"d swim with me today but can we look at the boat first?"

Gan turned nervously toward the merchant and said, "I don"t think it"s a good time. Maybe we can swim now and look at the boat later."

The merchant turned towards the two as he said to Nadir, "And you expect me to believe I"m mistaken about accusing your man of theft when common detritus can walk right past your security detail. Hones-"

Cutting off the merchant, Orison asked him, "What does detritus mean?"

With a greasy smile, the merchant said, "It"s what little vagabonds like you are, trash. If you were properly schooled you would know that, savage."

Orison"s child like smile dipped to a sad frown and said, "You can"t call me that, detritus."

The merchant lashed out and backhanded Orison to the ground. Before Nadir came to Orison"s aid, Gan held him back and said in a strange and not entirely believable tone, "Please don"t hurt him."

The merchant, drunk on his own power and authority, apparently didn"t particularly care what kind of setup this was. He waked over to Orison, who had crawled to the edge of the dock and raised his foot to stomp Orison"s neck. Taking out the steel dagger, Orison rolled to the side and snaked his dagger into the merchant"s crotch, dragging it down in a curvy line to slice the merchant"s femoral artery. It was only partially successful as a mercenary mage cast a shield of force on the merchant.

The merchant, stumbled into the water holding his crotch and while the mage was attempting to grab the merchant with telekinesis, an earth golem cannon balled on top of the bleeding man. Causing them both to sink into the water.

For the two seconds of indecision the mage was in to save his employer or try to find the mage that cast the golem, Orison exclaimed, "I am Patrician Legate-in-Training Orison Cantrip. Any further actions to aid the condemned or against my personage and this Consulate will make you a person guilty of treason against the Centerland Empire."

In a panic but still grasping for a way to save his employer, the mage said, "A patrician of any t.i.tle can"t execute murder in cold blood."

Orison sneered and said, "But one can kill another in self defense, which this clearly was. Witness, Captain Nadir, am I a murderer or did I kill in self defense?"

Scowling at Orison for all he was worth, Captain Nadir said, "Patrician Felix first insulted then struck Patrician Orison. After Orison"s personal guard attempted to dissuade with words only, Patrician Felix attempted to stomp Patrician Orison"s neck."

While the mage struggled with whether or not to ignore and attack with the other two mercenaries, Orison addressed everyone, "Aside from the law abiding mercenaries" fees all this merchant"s goods will be confiscated by the consul. Captain Nadir please have someone direct the good mercenaries and crew to the consulate for further considerations. Gan, have Morrel take inventory...You sir, if you don"t put that down you will be joining the merchant."

Keeping everyone off balance and moving, by force of personality and the ten soldiers who rushed to the dock, Orison managed to clear the ship.

Captain Nadir turned to Orison and bellowed, "Do you know what you"ve done? That man-"

Orison interjected woodenly, "Is dead. His goods belong to us and as long as we set half of it back to be claimed by the very next merchant who comes, we"ll have another merchant. One who I guarantee won"t try to frame one of your men for theft... And the other half of his goods will be split between your budget and ours. We"ll recoup some losses you"ll actually have a surplus to spend as you like and the next merchant who steps foot here will have some respect... Anything else you"d like to address, Captain?"

Captain nadir sighed and said, "That"s not how the game is played. There will be the Abyss to pay for this."

Orison said, "We are diplomats on Obsidian. As long as New Fvaris gets a benefit from this, which they will by getting the goods they were expecting at market price, then their accolades at our swift and unerring justice will clear the board again for the next so called "game"."

Exasperated, Nadir attempted to explain, "You"re over simplifying this. That man had families behind him. Those families will be out for blood."

Orison replied, "I"m showing you how simple it can be, Captain. Between you and mom, find out what families and express condolences for their losses at the hands of a madman and a.s.sure them we won"t hold them responsible for such a terrible turn of events. a.s.sure them that we hold them in the highest esteem and would never seek out their rivals to benefit from their misfortune. If they"re too dense to read between the lines then we"ll do just as we subtly threatened.

"We are on an island, far away from the heart of the empire. We can see them coming for days, Captain. All you have to do is be hard but play it fair. Keep Fvaris b.u.t.tered up and don"t p*ss on the empire"s bottom line. It is, in fact, that simple."

Captain Nadir informed wearily, "Maybe now but in the future you are going to find many avenues that may have been opened to you will be closed."

Orison smiled and said, "Maybe in the future, I will be an academy graduate with the whole world hoping the empire"s p*ssed me off enough I"d be happier with them. If I don"t die, I"m going to be a large boat with a wide and messy wake but a still as gla.s.s water to glide behind me in. If being in front of me to help my way, behind me to protect that peace or by my side to stir the wake don"t appeal to you, get the f*** away from my boat."

Orison walked away, leisurely ambling towards the consulate to help his mom deal with the chaos. Inside, he was a screaming wreck of nerves.

He thought, "What the f.u.c.k was I thinking? One slip and that journeyman mage could have roasted my goose! d.a.m.n that felt good though. But what"s coming next, a big pain in the..."

It took hours to take inventory, settle accounts and deal with minor claims here and there but with diplomacy, flattery and a bit of intimidation, they survived. The next half-hour of tongue lashing was even more grueling as Orison defended his actions and Droya tore those defenses away until finally, Droya"s tears trumped all and Orison apologized for the points that could have been better. Captain Nadir"s curtness during his involvement didn"t help Droya"s mood but Orison rationalized that when the captain finally calmed down enough to think it through, he"d either be all in or out. Nadir no longer had the luxury of lukewarm support. For good or ill, Orison had made sure of that.

Emotionally spent, Orison headed straight to his room after dinner only to be summoned out again as an obsidian elf courier coasted to a stop in front of the consulate main building on the verge of collapse. Recognizing the man, Orison got Gan to help him take the courier to his room, claiming that the man was dehydrated and was nothing to be alarmed over. As soon as they were in the room, Orison surprised Gan by saying that it was important for their privacy to be protected and if anyone asked later, to say he"d seen the man leave.

Pulling out his second to last wine bottle of blood, Orison handed it over after doctoring it up. Nub chugged it like his life was on the line and still didn"t look fully recovered until the sun finally dipped over the horizon nearly an hour later.

Knocking one of Nub"s feet out of the way, Orison sat at the foot of the bed looking down at the dusty vampire sprawled on it and said, "If you"re done dirtying up my bed, could you please tell me why you were so Abyss bent on getting here you did a suicide run?"