Chapter 300: Hearth and Home

Chapter 300: Hearth and Home

“Hail!” A deep man’s voice called out, the sound muffled by the snow that was falling faster and faster as the day progressed.

“Hail!” Willa called back, riding her horse ahead of the expedition, both Jaxton and Landry riding next to her. Then, by way of introduction, she shouted, “Captain Willa, returning with the mercenary company Fortune’s Favored from their expedition to search Kalters Wall for Nephilim survivors.”

“Of course you are,” a different man’s voice, one that Jadis very well recognized, said just loud enough to be heard but just quietly enough that it was obvious that he should have been keeping his mouth shut. “Can’t mistake those three great big giants for anyone else, can we?”

“Shut it, Ludwas,” Captain Renz, the first voice, snapped. “Captain Willa! With permission, we will scan the expedition with our detect stones before proceeding. It seems there have been additions made to the group from when last you passed by the fort.”

“You have no idea,” Jay mumbled under her breath as Willa called out her agreement.

In short order, Captain Renz and the seven men with him all began quickly scanning the expedition members to confirm none had been possessed by demons. The men were all business, moving quickly and efficiently to get the job done. Once the soldiers moved close enough, Jadis found that her suspicions had been proven right. Both Gerwas and Ludwas were among their numbers, though none of the other men were anyone she recognized other than Captain Renz. The two brothers smiled and nodded at Jadis and the others, but otherwise stayed professional and didn’t stop to converse, instead focusing on getting everyone scanned. To help, Jadis made sure to ask Sabina and Sorcha to come out of the wagon.

Better that the inspectors didn’t go inside the wagon and risk seeing something that they shouldn’t.

“Level fifty now, is it?” Ludwas said quietly as he stood near to his niece, Aila. “What in the frozen skies have you all been up to for the past few weeks?”

“More than you can imagine,” Aila answered just as quietly.

“I can see that...” Ludwas drawled as his gaze flitted between the giant goats, Tegwyn, Noll, and the Reavers.

“We’ll talk once we get inside the fort,” Aila assured her uncle.

“No, no we won’t,” Ludwas said, drawing a slight frown from the arcanist.

Jadis frowned too, though in the same moment as she was overhearing Aila and Ludwas, she was also a part of a conversation between Renz and Willa. Between those two, she was given more context.

“The magistrate has ordered we escort you back to the city immediately,” Renz told both Willa and Jay. “No delays. We’ll need to push on through the snow.”

“What’s the rush?” Jay asked, folding her arms across her chest. “We’re within our expected travel time, aren’t we? Did something happen?”

“The orders came four days ago. I have no official word as to why, simply that we are to escort you back to the city as quickly as possible. We’ve been keeping scouts on the road looking for you. They were only driven back due to the blizzard.”

“No official word,” Willa repeated, her own frown creasing her brow. “What’s the unofficial word?”

Renz’ face was hidden by his helmet, but by the way he shifted on his saddle, Jadis got the impression that the man was uncomfortable, either with the question or the answer.

“Nothing definite. There’s been a lot of scuttle around the barracks in the city. Arrests have been made in the army. Multiple ships departing in the night. The magistrate is furious.”

“General Egilhard?” Jay asked, drawing a sharp look from Willa.

“Still in the city so far as I know,” Renz answered. “Why?”

“Best not talked about here,” Willa cut Jay off from saying more. “Not where the seeds of rumors will grow.”

“Don’t be a stick in the mud, Renz,” Dys groaned. “Let us at least eat before we have to deal with whatever bullshit Vraekae has waiting for us.”

Tossing a look at Willa, Renz heaved a sigh before motioning towards Gerwas and Ludwas.

“You two. Stick with the Nephilim. We’re going on to report to the magistrate.”

“Get the prisoners down first,” Willa ordered her own troops. “We’ll take them straight to the dungeon to be held until proper proceedings can be done.”

Unfortunately, Willa’s orders included Sorcha too. It made Jadis uncomfortable to see the goblin women taken away with the rest of the Reavers, but the captain assured her that Sorcha would be kept separate from the others. She had defected, after all, and thus there was a real risk of reprisal. Sabina wasn’t happy to see the witch go, but Jadis told her that they would check on Sorcha in the morning. Jadis had every intention of following through on her promise to get Sorcha remanded to Fortune’s Favored as soon as she could. There were other priorities, however. Not the least of which was getting Alex into their private building where there was less chance of any unwelcome surprises happening.

Leaving the extra wagon behind, Jadis and the rest of Fortune’s Favored parted ways with the soldiers. There weren’t any hugs or tears, but Jadis did feel strongly that she would see the soldiers soon. They had proven themselves to be stalwart allies over the days and weeks of the expedition. At the very least, she owed them all a round of drinks.

Tegwyn and the goats came with her as well, of course. The Dryad wasn’t registered as a mercenary yet, but he would be soon enough and Jadis had no qualms about hosting him in their headquarters. Where exactly they were going to find a room for him, she wasn’t sure. The building wasn’t large and the second floor had basically been converted into a single bedroom and bathroom meant just for Jadis and her lovers. They’d figure something out, she was sure. Though where the hell they were going to keep the goats, Jadis couldn’t quite picture.

Noll also followed along. Jadis wasn’t entirely surprised, though she had thought the old merc would have headed off to his own accommodations in the city. She thought about asking, then realized there was no point. Noll wanted to be near her in case Vraekae really did come calling in the night, she was sure.

He probably wanted to eat some of Hans’ pies too.

The streets were empty due to the blizzard and they made their way to the two-story building Fortune’s Favored called home without issue. There was nowhere else to park it, so for the time being Jadis just left the Behemoth in front, blocking off more than half of the road with its bulk. While Dys moved to unload the crate containing Alex from the wagon, Syd showed Tegwyn the way to the back courtyard they owned. The goats would have to stay there for the time being, and Tegwyn would need help getting food for the big animals.

Jay, along with everyone else, piled in through the open doors of the mercenary hall, making a huge clatter of noise.

“Thank the gods,” Kerr sighed in relief as she collapsed onto her knees in an overdramatic fashion. “I need to sleep for about a week, starting now. Jay, carry me to our bed.”

“Why don’t you carry me?” Jay laughed as she pulled her helmet off, shaking the snow from the dark metal. “You’re strong enough to do it.”

Kerr looked up at Jay, towering over her figure, still geared in her heavy plate armor.

“Take all that shit off and we’ll talk.”

“Hans? Are you—oh! You are here,” Aila called out, her sentence interrupted as the barman pushed his way out of the kitchen carrying a platter of food. “Good. I’m glad you kept the fire going for us.”

He looked surprised to see them, which was no shock to Jadis. It wasn’t as though they had had any way of giving the man warning that they were on their way. They’d told him approximately when they would be back, so she supposed he had been ready for their return since they were in the correct date range. Jadis appreciated greatly that he had been preparing food for them just on the chance that they might return that night, though if he had been doing that for days now it was probably a bit wasteful.

Then again, looking at the platter the man carried, maybe it wasn’t meant for them and was instead his own dinner. It was only one meat pie, along with a mug of ale and a... bowl of milk? An odd combination, Jadis mused as she looked over the sight. Well, hopefully Hans could get them some kind of dinner going on short notice, even if he didn’t have enough pies ready for the whole lot of them. At least, as Aila had pointed out, Hans had kept the fire going in the hearth.

As everyone continued to shake the snow off of their cloaks and boots, Jay moved towards the fireplace on one side of the large room. The hall was still fairly empty since they hadn’t had time to fill it with furniture before their departure on their expedition. But there was a nice fire glowing brightly along with a few simple chairs placed around the fireplace.

Maybe placed a little too close to the fireplace. Was one of them on fire?

To Jadis’ utter shock, a ball of fire was burning on the seat of one of the three chairs that they had scrounged up to put near the fireplace. Only, the chair itself wasn’t burning. There wasn’t even any smoke coming from it. Instead, as Jadis watched, the ball of flames uncurled itself, two paws stretching out before it as a tail rose high in the air. It took a second for her to process what she was seeing, but finally the strange sight clicked in her head and Jadis realized that the flames weren’t just fire, but fur.

Sitting upright, the creature turned bright green eyes in Jays direction, a gentle purr filling the room as everyone else took notice of the odd apparition.

“Oh, my,” the fiery cat said as it smiled kindly up at Jay. “It seems Ulya has once more guided me true. I’m so pleased to finally meet you, Child of Lyssandria. My name is Vita, High Priestess of Ulya’s Temple in Eldingholt. May I have a word with you?”