Ken sat under an awning, munching an apple and relaxing. A man walked over and took a seat on the cobblestone beside him, it was Sebastian.
“Enjoying your stay in Mordain my dear fellow?”
Ken gulped, “It’s alright. Quieter than Alphindale, but not in a bad way. That city got so busy at times, and was much too large to explore in a day. Only thing that’s sad is the food, we had apples imported from Everland, those were the best. Here the only decent thing is… fish.”
“Yes well it is a coastal area, and fish are their whole deal as I hear. That and dead lumber. Not really a place I’d like to retire to, but it beats half the places in Zauberia.”
“I meant to ask about that earlier. Why did you and… what’s his name… Zander? Why did you two come all the way down here to Glade? Must be dangerous, I’m surprised you got past the border.”
“Well if the Barrens didn’t kill me, Glade border patrol was the least of my worries. Zander got an easy pass from a personal connection, as for me I’m slippery enough they weren’t an issue.”
“Slippery, like a snake.” Ken took another bite, “I suppose skills like that do come in useful for you unsavory types.”
“A rat.”
“Hmm?”
“If you’re going to call me a name, call me what I am. A rat.”
“Fine then, a rat.”
“And you say I’m unsavory. Look at yourself and present company. You’re just as wanted for dead in Glade as I am.”
Ken looked off at the bustling streets and took another bite, “Yes. You’re right I suppose.”
“As for why we’re here, it’s mostly personal matters. Zander was joining up with a mercenary gang but they dropped him, so he went to doing monster hunting bounties to get by for a while. For me, I came here because I heard these cultist types are in possession of a rather rare magical tome.”
“That all?”
“What do you mean ‘that all’?”
“I just figured two guys like you had a lot more going on.” He chuckled, “The dark brooding types do always have such things.”
Sebastian sighed, “Yes well, it was also an excuse to leave Zauberia for a while. Twenty seven years of bitter cold make you long to taste some warmth.”
“Fair enough.” Ken finished off his apple.
Sebastian scooted closer to Ken and leaned in, “So, now that we’ve got our character building chat out of the way… are you in?”
“Oh, that. Yes, we are.”
“Good. I was afraid when I saw you two leave without a word earlier.”
“My apologies, I didn’t think about it. We have an audience with the Duke in a few hours to ask if he’ll pardon us should we succeed.”
“My my, asking before you get the job done. How bold. And what if he has you arrested on the spot?”
Ken was silent.
“Well, paladin?”
“I’ve fought my way out of worse. And if you’re going to call me a name, call me what I am. Oathbreaker.”
Sebastian slapped his knee and laughed, “Oh look at you! A budding dark emotional adventurer in the making!” He laughed harder, “Soon enough you may give Zander a run for his money!”
Ken gave him a glare, “That’s not funny! People have genuine problems and feelings, you can’t just-”
“Please! You’re killing me!” Sebastian threw his head back and laughed, then patted Ken’s shoulder, “Don’t worry, in time you’ll learn the best way to deal with pain is to laugh. It’s how I’ve learned anyway.”
Ken brushed the hand from his shoulder, “I think we’re done for now.”
No sooner had he spoken came a shout from down the street, it was Mira yet again.
“Ah, there they are."
Mira skipped happily down the street with Anna in tow, back to her usual emotionless self.
“Oh! Anna” Said Ken.
She looked much nicer than before, no more tattered clothes and mud stains. She wore a long loose fitting short sleeved blue shirt, some black shorts cut off around her thighs, a pair of high leather boots, and a loose belt around her waist.
Ken smiled, “You look great Anna! Like a true adventurer!”
She seemed bashful, “T-thanks.”
Mira put her hands on her hips proudly, “It took some trial and error, but Anna picked this out all on her own!”
Sebastian strolled on over and inspected her, “Yes, I agree. Simple enough and quite practical for someone in our line of work.”
He reached in his robes and pulled out a small leather bound notebook and a pen, “Here, I got this for you.”
She took it and flipped it open, the pages were blank.
“What is it?”
“A spellbook. You’ll have to fill it in yourself obviously, which will take some time, but it should serve you well.”
She tucked it into her belt nice and snug, “Thank you.”
Sebastian smiled and patted her head, “Our little wizard. Good luck.”
Anna flinched slightly at his touch but accepted the gesture.
Ken grabbed his coin pouch from his belt and twirled it around, “Well now, all of you take a rest here at the tavern and I’ve got my own shopping to do before we meet the Duke.”
“You? Why didn’t you go while we were gone?”
“It was a girl’s trip, remember?”
Mira huffed.
“So if you’ll excuse me, I have to buy some armor.”
Sebastian watched him with a smug look as he departed, “A brooding adventurer in the making. A curse this intuition is sometimes.”
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