Hodger sat in silence for several moments, one finger resting lightly on the words he'd just written.
At length he nodded to himself.
"Yes."
He carefully blotted the ink before setting the quill aside.
"I believe it is time we speak with His Grace."
Brenn frowned.
"The Duke?"
"The Duke."
The old mage looked directly at me.
"This has moved beyond the ordinary."
"I... have?"
"You have."
He smiled apologetically.
"I'm afraid you've become something of a curiosity."
I wasn't sure I liked the sound of that.
My stomach tightened.
If I was being honest...
I was half tempted to choose Teamster right then and there.
No mysteries.
No strange classes.
No dukes.
Just horses, wagons, and honest work.
That was a life I understood.
One where, when my service ended, I could return home.
I could earn an honest living.
Feed my sister and brothers.
Repair the roof before winter.
Maybe buy them proper shoes.
Or, better yet, honest work boots before the snow came.
That sounded like a grand life.
A safe life.
The other choices...
They led somewhere I couldn't even imagine.
I wasn't too proud to choose the safer path.
The thought crossed my mind.
Choose Teamster.
Thank everyone politely.
Go back to being another soldier.
I doubted Mage Hodger would hold it against me.
My stomach twisted.
I was suddenly very grateful I hadn't eaten breakfast.
"S-so... the Duke?" I stammered.
The mage looked at me and nodded.
"Yes, I believe so."
He glanced toward the tent flap as though judging the time.
"It is nearly the eighth hour. His Grace should be available."
A faint smile touched his lips.
"Though I rather suspect he would make himself available at any hour for this."
He rose from behind the desk.
"Come, both of you."
His eyes fell to the wooden chest.
"And bring your remuneration."
I bent and lifted it once more.
"I would recommend lodging it with your company."
I looked over at Brenn.
I had no idea what he meant by lodging my money.
Brenn's eyes, however, had gone noticeably wider.
He looked from me...
...to the chest...
...then back to Hodger.
The old mage caught the exchange and chuckled.
"Yes."
He nodded toward the chest.
"Those rings proved considerably more valuable than any of us first believed."
Brenn let out a slow breath.
"How valuable?"
Hodger smiled.
"Enough that I would advise against a thirteen-year-old carrying it around camp."
The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there.
He turned toward the flap.
"Which is why I suggest your captain keep it in safekeeping until you decide what to do with it."
I tightened my grip on the chest.
That sounded like far more money than I'd imagined.
“Definitely good boots,” I muttered.
Brenn glanced over. “What?”
“For my brothers. Old Pratt says cheap boots cost more in the long run.”
Brenn raised an eyebrow.
“A cheap pair wears out before winter's through,” I explained. “Then you have to buy another. If you can afford good boots at the start, you only pay once.”
I looked down at my own patched boots.
“Poor folk know that. We just don't often have enough money to do anything about it.”
Brenn regarded me for a moment before nodding.
“Good boots, then.”
“And a winter cloak for my sister.”
***
We stood outside a grand pavilion, me clutching a wooden chest while wearing patched, stained clothes that certainly weren't fit for meeting a duke.
I kept glancing at Brenn.
He kept glancing back at me.
Finally I mouthed,
"Why do I feel like I'm in a lot of trouble?"
The old veteran looked around to make sure Hodger wasn't listening before leaning closer.
"Because," he whispered, "you're feeling like a bug somebody's looking at through a magnifying glass."
I frowned.
"What's a magnifying glass?"
Brenn blinked.
"...Fair enough."
He scratched at his beard.
"Like a bug somebody's about to pin to a board."
That...
Somehow made me feel worse.
Finally we were ushered into the pavilion's sitting room.
“You found him!”
The young lady from yesterday hurried to her feet.
“Father, that's the boy who saved my life!”
The man beside her rose. They had the same eyes and the same shape to their faces. Her father, presumably.
Then I recognized the man seated at the head of the room.
The Duke.
My stomach dropped somewhere around my boots.
I hurriedly bowed.
"S-sir... M-my lady."
Out of the corner of my eye I caught Brenn doing much the same.
The young lady laughed softly.
"I told you he was polite."
I wasn't listening anymore.
Yesterday I'd calmed a frightened horse.
Today...
I rather understood how it had felt.
For one desperate moment I considered whether I could quietly back out of the pavilion before anyone noticed.
Unfortunately...
Everyone was already looking at me.
Then I noticed the man standing beside the young lady.
Same eyes.
Same nose.
Same chin.
Father and daughter.
Which meant...
My eyes slowly drifted toward the Duke.
They looked enough alike...
Oh.
Oh no.
I had somehow managed to involve the entire family.
Lord preserve me... what have I walked into?
"Hodger," the Duke said with an amused smile, "is this the matter you wished to speak with me about?"
He glanced toward me.
"You've found the errant soldier who saved my niece?"
"Oh?"
The old mage turned to look at me before letting out a quiet chuckle.
"No, my lord."
He smiled more broadly than I'd yet seen.
"This is... perhaps a rather more pressing concern."
"The map, then?" the Duke asked. "You deciphered something from yesterday's discovery?"
By now Mage Hodger was openly laughing.
"I confess, my lord, I had almost forgotten the map."
I wasn't sure how wide my own eyes had become, but judging by Brenn beside me...
Very.
Hodger spread his hands.
"Every time I think young Rowan has exhausted his supply of surprises..."
He gestured toward me.
"...he finds another."
The Duke leaned back in his chair.
"That is either very promising..."
He smiled.
"...or very worrying."
"Yes," the old mage said.
He folded his hands behind his back.
“What is the greatest number of offerings you have encountered upon awakening?” Hodger asked.
The Duke considered. “King Arenthal received seven.”
Hodger waited until the Duke lifted his mug.
“Elias received ten.”
The Duke sprayed his drink across the table.
Beside me, Brenn made a strangled sound that might have been a cough.
I suspected Hodger had timed that deliberately.
Once the Duke recovered, Hodger continued.
“More importantly, one of those classes is unknown to me and has no surviving instructional archive.”
The Duke's amusement disappeared.
"You are certain?"
"I questioned the System through the boy."
Hodger nodded once.
"It responded."
"And?"
"It confirmed compatibility."
He drew a slow breath.
"But stated that no surviving instructional archive exists."
Silence settled over the pavilion once more.
Finally the Duke spoke.
"Read them."
Hodger began to read from his notes.
"Far—"
"Not you, Hodger."
The Count held up a hand.
"The boy."
The old mage stopped without the slightest sign of offense.
"As you wish."
I gulped.
Stepping forward, I carefully set the wooden chest on the carpet before bowing.
"Sirs... My Lady."
I called the list back before my eyes.
I read the seven familiar offerings first: Farmer, Laborer, Craftsman’s Apprentice, Soldier, Scout, Teamster, and Hunter.
Then I reached the final three.
“Guardian. Spear Adept. Fated Swordsman.”
Silence.
I looked from one face to another.
I wasn't entirely sure why the Count had insisted I read them instead of Mage Hodger.
The Count looked toward the old scholar.
"The same list?"
"Word for word, my lord."
Hodger handed over the pages he'd just written.
"I wished to ensure I had not misheard."
The Count nodded approvingly.
"Quite."
He glanced toward me.
"It is surprisingly easy for a man to hear what he expects to hear."
The Count studied me for a long moment.
“The boy was reading, not reciting,” he said. “I watched his eyes move from one entry to the next.”
He glanced toward Hodger.
“He didn't invent the list.”
Hodger inclined his head, almost as though he understood more in the Count's words than I did.
The Count's attention returned to me.
"Boy..."
His voice was gentler than before.
"Which would you choose?"
"And why?"
I swallowed.
"Sir..."
I looked down at my boots for a moment before answering.
"I never thought I'd be much."
I shrugged.
"My folks left us a stable."
“I always figured I'd go home, run our stable, and look after my sister and brothers. Teamster would help me do that.”
I glanced at the list only I could see.
“But the System offered me those other classes for a reason. I don't want to choose Teamster simply because it's the one I understand.”
I met the Count's eyes.
“I need to know what I'd be giving up.”
The Duke and the Count exchanged a long look before both nodded.
"We must discuss this," the Duke said at last.
His eyes settled on me.
"Elias... please remain."
Then he looked around the room.
"Everyone else..."
Hodger inclined his head.
"My lord, I would respectfully ask to remain."
The Duke smiled faintly.
"I assumed as much."
He looked toward Brenn.
"You may wait just outside. I doubt we'll keep the lad long."
Brenn glanced at me.
I gave him what I hoped looked like a confident nod.
He didn't seem convinced.
"Aye, Your Grace."
One by one the others filed from the pavilion until only the Duke, the Count, Hodger, and I remained.
The silence that followed somehow felt louder than the crowded room had.
I bent to pick up the chest.
"Leave it there," the Duke said gently.
"No one in this pavilion will take what is yours."