“You will be rewarded with a noble status.” Fornax replied before Sagittarius was able to even open her mouth, resulting in the woman frowning before Fornax continued. “You will earn a royal title, a king or prince if you will.”
Sagittarius’ eyes narrowed as she looks down at the table. How could Fornax make a suggestion like that when allowing someone a royal title wasn’t in their power. It was an outrageous offer but they needed Irie to be on board with them. She looked up from the table and smiled. “I give you my word that you shall have that reward, if you succeed.”
Soon, the man smiled and nodded.
“Then it is a deal. I’ll start searching as soon as I have everything in my hideout sorted out,” he spoke before standing up and looking towards Fornax and then at Sagittarius. “What should I refer you both by? What do you prefer, I mean,” he asked, fidgeting with the pen he had in his hand.
“‘Lord Varne’ and ‘Lady Kiyoshi’ are perfectly fine.” The lady nodded as she stood up from the seat and clasped her hands in front of her. “I do not advise using a cave as a hideout, sir. The Ikaerah and their draconic brethren have laid claim to all caves, you will not be allowed to camp there without paying a price.”
The man nodded to her words before listening to what she said about the hideouts and how he shouldn’t stay in the caves. He thought for a moment before looking back at Sagittarius. “In that case, could you tell me where I could stay to rest if needed?” He asked, looking at the pattern of Constellations again. As he looked around, he eventually found the drawing of the Bird of Paradise Constellation on the papers. So that’s who I’m after…
“If you travel just north of here, you will find a forest. Within the forest we have an ally who will house you for the time being.” Sagittarius smiled and began rolling the scrolls back up, placing them back in the chest before making her way to the door. “One more thing… We do not know where Aphus is, finding her will be like finding a sapling in a forest.”
The man nodded before he bowed to both of them. “I am to come back with good news, Lord Varne, Lady Kiyoshi,” he said before he left the house and went back to his horse. He got on the horse after he had hooded and masked himself. He then headed into the forest up north, hoping to find this ‘ally’ as quickly as possible.
(Still waiting for something to happen with Ruby, I just don’t want her to fall too far behind)
(Ahhh, I'm sorry, I'm just not sure what to do-)
(Perhaps she could go out and do something? If she leaves where she is then she’ll most likely meet a Constellation)
(Got it!)
Ruby was growing bored. In the end, she pushed herself up from her chair and gathered up the cards, putting them into her pocket. She needed to find something to do, not something to just temporarily distract herself. She walked out of the building, starting her way to anywhere in particular to find something interesting enough to catch her eye.
As Irie continued through the forest, the beginnings of a small, impoverished village opened up in view, with adults and children roamed the streets with their workloads or toys. It was clear, looking at the wooden homes with thatched roofing, that they didn’t have much— but they appeared to be cheerful enough.
In the middle of the square stood a beautiful yet simple stone fountain where the water in the basin glistened brightly in the sun, and a young brunette woman in a ragged dress stood with her hands gestured out in different directions as she sang a beautiful melody. Those that heard her were seemingly entranced by her voice, for they smiled dreamily and immediately applauded after every song she performed. The man stood not too far away from her, with his large muscular arms crossed over the black tunic covering his chest, wore an expression that would make anyone think he had been rudely awoken in the dead of night. He glanced out of the corner of his eye, noticed the mercenary on horseback, and raised an eyebrow.
—————————————————————
While Ruby was wandering around, a lithe man with long ashen blond hair ran into her, knocking her over in a way that would cause him to fall on top of her. He quickly scrambled up to his feet with a distraught expression and reached his hand out to Ruby. “Forgive me, señorita, I was not looking where I was going. You are not hurt, no?”
Ruby wasn't expecting to find herself on the ground with a man on top of her, but here she was. Wondering aimlessly did result in interesting things happening, then.
"No, I'm not, thank you." Dusting herself off, Ruby looked back to the man who had run into her.
"It's partially my fault as well, I wasn't looking either. Are you alright?" Normally, a raunchy joke would have already come out of her lips, something to do with getting Ruby on her back so quickly, but the man's distraught expression made her bite her tongue.
The mercenary had noticed the eyes of the man and assumed immediately that he was the Constellation Lady Kiyoshi had told him about. He slid off his horse as he made his way towards the man. Making sure no one else was too close that they would hear him, the mercenary asked, in a whisper— “Excuse me, do you perhaps know Lady Kiyoshi down south?”
“Yes I am perfectly fine!” The man smiled before letting out a hearty chuckle. “Wow, only just met you and already I have you on your back. How rude of me. My name is Lacer— Uh— Sir Almaraz, and who might you be?”
——————————————————
The tall muscular man turned to look at Irie, his eyes narrowing as he spoke beneath his breath. “Do not utter that name around here. Who are you?”
The shorter man raised a brow at the first statement before sighing and shrugging. “Who are you? I’m not talking until you tell me truthfully as to how you are related to her? Oh, and trust me, I know a liar when I see one,” the mercenary spoke before eyeing the other man, trying to feel his emotions.
"My name's Ruby." It was a bit strange, in Ruby's mind, that the man said exactly the thing she had been thinking, but it wasn't something she was going to question.
"And normally, it takes at least a drink or two before someone manages to get on top of me, but a speedrun doesn't sound so horrible to me." The woman offered a laugh herself, a smirk resting on her lips.
The man fell silent for a moment before turning to the girl who had now finished singing, talking to Irie as he watched her collect the coins that had been put into a small hat at her feet. “She isn’t quite Columba, is she? The human I mean, not Sagittari. What I wouldn’t give to put my hands on that little dove’s body, and toss her aside before she becomes too clingy.” He turned back to Irie and smiled grimly. “You had best follow me, I believe you are to be staying with me for a few days.”
————————————
Lacerta smiled brightly, his face turning red as he laughed at her comment. “My lady, to drink with you would be an honour on my end. It is a little early in the day, but perhaps we could have a drink or two now? I would love to know more about you.”
"I think a drink sounds wonderful," Ruby said, smiling in turn. "Though, I am new to this area; you; ll have to lead the way." Ruby was glad to see even just stepping into the street she still could enjoy herself. Things weren't so boring after all.
Irie nodded before sighing. “You haven’t answered my question yet. State your name, mister,” he let out in a slightly annoyed tone. He wasn’t liking how the man was portraying himself. “Despite her telling me I’ll be staying with someone, it’d be nice to know who I’m staying with before I settle down,” he spoke, following the man’s steps as he dragged his horse along.
Lacerta gestured for Ruby to follow him, smiling warmly as they passed the hardworking citizens of the town outside the citadel. “So, you look like an adventurous lady, what do you do for a living?”
————————————
The man remained silent until they reached a small, hand-built cottage. He pushed the door open, glancing over his shoulder at Irie while he waited for the shorter man to tether the horse up in the garden. “My name is Corvus, I assume her majesty didn’t disclose this to you.”
Irie shook his head. “Corvus huh? I suppose you do live up for such a shady figure,” he commented before pulling down his mask while he was inside. “I do not need too much, just a place to sleep and a map,” he said as he looked around the small cottage. “How long have you been here? This place looks like it’s a tad bit older than me,”
“Esnah was founded in the year 6000, and it is now 1456, so it would make sense that this place is old.” Corvus rolled his eyes and shook his head, sitting down on what looked to be a mountain of cushions as he gestured to a doorway to the left. “Bedroom is in there, you’ll find a detailed map of Esnah pinned up on the wall. Feel free to take it down or whatever, I stole it from the Southern Temple anyway. As if I’m intelligent enough to be a cartographer.”
"I am- was, a hunter," Ruby said, shaking her head. "But I've found myself relying more and more on various tasks and odd jobs to make ends meet. There isn't much at all I can do of my old job in this place." The woman adjusted the straps on her bag, sighing again before looking up with a smirk.
"Though, I much enjoy the people here that I've met so far."
The mercenary nodded and headed into the bedroom. Seeing the map, he slowly took it down and looked at it, trying to pin point where this house was so he could begin his search for this ‘Bird of Paradise’. He sighed and came back out to where Corvus was. “Are you alone here?” He asked, looking out.
“I’m glad to have been at least one of those people.” Lacerta grinned, his ponytail bouncing as he half-skipped beside Ruby. “As for the work situation, I understand,” he lowered his voice to a whisper and leaned closer to her ear. “Since Cephus became dictator, life in Esnah has never been the same. But it is not wise to talk about such things here in the open.”
As they arrived at the tavern—The Bull’s Eye—Lacerta held the door open and gestured for Ruby to enter first. “Milady.”
————————————
At first, Corvus didn’t respond. He seemed to be staring up at the ceiling, his eyes wide and his pupils large, and it wasn’t until his head lolled to the side that he responded. “I live alone until I don’t, but the women never stay for more than a day. Why, are you thinking of bringing someone over?”
