Chapter 14: Allegiances

Back to the present now. For simplicity's sake also, I will now be doing dialogue more straightforward. While I believe narrating is superior, it's just so much easier to write this way and I can spend less time worrying about how to make someone say something. 

Krajek, Mordain and Aexia had left the city almost as soon as they had been released. Initially, his companions had been reticent about leaving without resupplying but a few displays of what he had in his dimensional pocket changed their minds. 

Aexia tried to glean some information out of him, almost constantly asking him questions as they travelled. 

Aexia: "So, what is the extent of what you can do? 

Krajek rolled his eyes and tried to think of ways he could avoid answering her. After all, knowledge is power. 

Krajek:" Well, I haven't experimented a lot with it, it remains to be seen. "

That was a big lie if there ever was one. In fact, he wasn't sure what was left to experiment with. Those weeks he had stayed on his world, he couldn't stop himself for seeing what he could do. As far as he knew, he was the only person with these kinds of powers. It did make him think that perhaps he wasn't unique and did make him reconsider the veracity of old myths and legends. 

He sighed and realized that she wouldn't drop the subject until she got some kind of answer. 

Krajek: "Here's what I know. I can use this.. portal like power to bring things from my country, directly to me. There is a limit to the size of the object however and I can't do people." 

Best to lie about that part, he thought. She might want to travel to his country and there's no telling how that would go. 

Aexia:" Right, another country. That we've never heard of before, not on any map. What did you say it's called again? "

Fuck, she's not buying it. When telling lies, it's best to stick somewhat closer to the truth, especially for someone not in the habit of saying lies. 

Krajek: " Canada. It's pretty far, need to go across the eastern sea. We'll, west for you and east for us. I don't think your ships can make the trip, ours are more… advanced you could say." 

Krajek: "Anyways, how far is this swamp? Do you know anything about that necromancer?" 

Krajek was pretty upset at this whole situation. Ideally he wanted to get back to trading, making himself rich in the process but he was now involved in some conflict that didn't regard him and found himself made to serve the local ruler. 

Aexia: "Not too far, should reach the swamps by tomorrow late afternoon. Not much is known, allegedly this necromancer was a pupil of Sharie, the one that almost became a Lich 20 years ago. I'm curious to see how you'll deal with this." 

Travel up north had gone without a hitch thus far. The three unlikely partners stopped at the nearest village when sunlight went away and spent the night there. Being in such a remote area, the fare was quite cheap and Krajek still had plenty of coins. Aexia took a separate room as he expected, he wasn't sure how to feel about her yet. 

She was obviously there to spy on them but it looked like there was something else too. She was distant but not cold and uncaring. 

Krajek looked into his coin pouch and considered his finances. 

(Still have near 190 or so coins, from the sale of those steel bars. Didn't even cost me anything either, it's scrap from work. If I do get this trading thing bigger though, I'll need an official front for the business to do it legally. I'll need to start melting coins to fund all my purchases soon too. Oh dang, I forgot about the Smith. He's supposed to sell the sword to Lord Sera and we get 80% of that sale. Maybe he'll want more steel too, need to check up on him when I have the time.) 

If he could just complete this task regarding the necromancer, the future was looking bright. 

Mordain: "Krajek? Should we go up, you're daydreaming standing up." 

Krajek: "Yep yep. Need to talk to you anyways. See you in the morning Aexia." 

She narroyed her eyes and retorted back. 

Aexia: "It's Exalted Aexia for the likes of you." 

He rolled his eyes at her remark. If there's one thing he had trouble tolerating, its snobs who insist on their titles. 

Not wanting to create drama however, he quickly got out of sight and headed up to the room. He'd ask for his meal to be brought up later, in case she'd be in the dining area. 

He could have easily eaten some of the provisions he stored for this exact purpose but there is a certain.. fun to eating foreign and exotic dishes. He did have a large amount of domestic food in storage though, never know when it can be useful. 

Especially considering that what entered his dimensional portal also retained its current properties, be it cold or warm. In theory, he could cook a pizza and store it, keeping it warm for eternity. It seemed that objects did not age, as had experiments with a clock shown him. 

Mordain followed him up and closed the door behind them. 

Krajek: "We haven't been alone ever since she joined up and I've been meaning to ask, what do you know and what do you think about Aexia?" 

Mordain: "For starters, you need to be more polite towards her. She may seem young but she's accomplished quite a lot. She deserves the respect befitting her position." 

Krajek: "Position? You mean that 'exalted' title. So what's her deal then?" 

Mordain motioned for him to sit and he did so on the edge of the bed. He knew he was in for a history lesson when he saw Mordain take a chair and turn it to face towards him. 

Mordain: "This goes back a very long time ago, near 200 years to be more precise. The mages whom had fled the empire and  decided to go to the free time of Kaden due to its strategic position, were now in a precarious position with the city's ruler."

"The mayor was also a mage and wanted to help his brethren but could not put his city in danger for their sake. He also had trouble keeping all of these individuals in check, the city guard not being up to the task of policing mages." 

"The leader of the renegades, Aexia's great grandfather, helped negotiate terms to try and bring everything in balance. He proposed that a strong mage be in charge of the city, with a council to help run it. When none could agree on a leader to take over, an idea came that he would father a single child with the mayor's daughter. That child would continue this tradition forever. "

Krajek: "How would they know the child will become strong?" 

Mordain: "Ah, I forget you are not familiar with our world. When a child is born, it's marked by the magic, if it's parent is a mage. If more than one child is conceived, the power they receive is lessened. A half blood mage is still very strong. But what they did back then had not been done before. A full blooded mage had a child with a half blooded woman, making the child a mage and a half. Granted, this is only potential that needs to be trained but also assisting the child is a whole city of mages. "

" In the end, a council of mages was formed and a deal was struck with the Empire. The free city of Kaden would help in wars involving the Faclar Theocracy and the council of mages would share its knowledge with the Empire's mages, sometimes training them as well. "

Krajek: " So they just ended up fighting anyways? I don't see how they came out ahead in that deal. "

" Many saw the forced conscription as a slippery slope. What if the empire wanted another war a few years later but with Yondir instead? Both parties agreed that the Theocracy represented a serious threat to their well-being and joined forces for that reason. "

" It also meant that the Empire recognized the sovereignty of Kaden, something it had not done before. This gave them some influence and weight with the other neighboring countries. Every now and then however, the Empire makes some requests of the Exalted and in order to preserve their status, help out the emperor. "

Krajek: " I suppose, so it's more of an alliance of necessity than anything else. So this Aexia is the descendant of this person? No wonder she seems so full of herself. "

Mordain: "She is quite capable, do not underestimate her. There must be a reason she is here, likely the emperor asking a favor of her to watch me. If he knows I now possess magic, he will want to force me to come back into the fold." 

Krajek:  "I'm not sure about that. I heard her mention something about notes owned by the mage we accidentally killed. Can she be trusted?" 

Mordain thought long and hard on the question before replying. 

Mordain:  "I believe so. She is not a bad person from what I've heard of her. She will have her own motives and interests however." 

Krajek:  "Hmm, alright then. Well, I'll go see if she's still  downstairs and get something to eat."

Mordain nodded and started unpacking his bag. Krajek had offered to transport everything in his portal but Mordain had refused, insisting on carrying his bad 'just in case'.

As he came down the stairs, Krajek looked carefully around, trying to see if his parole officer was still around. After a satisfactory glance and no sightings, he proceeded down to the dining area.

The rest of the evening was spent eating and relaxing before going to sleep. They would need all their forces and wits tomorrow, for what was to come.