Four guards stared Lyall down upon his approach. Two were of standard human fare: a stocky, muscled man with red hair and the other a tall woman with coppery skin and silver vine tattoos around her fingers. The remaining two were more unusual to see on a day-to-day basis. Though her burgundy uniform had clearly been tailored, the seven-foot half-orc woman on Lyall’s left threatened to burst the golden hawk emblem on her chest as her every subtle movement tightly stretched the fabric. She bore an ashen hue reminiscent of the northern orc clans, maintained a shaved head, and graced Lyall a small smile and nod as his eyes met her brown ones. The last was a member of the wildkin. Androgynous and older with a lynx-like mane shining white around skin smooth as Lyall’s, their tufted ears wiggled as they were the one to step forward. 

“Judging by your appearance and that Riath knows no other half-elves, I take it you are Mr. Lyall Blakely? I am Captain Noro of the Anthurium guards,” Captain Noro introduced, voice scratchy but enunciated. 

“I am Lyall Blakely. A pleasure to meet you,” Lyall replied. He met Captain Noro’s handshake and noticed their sharper fingers and nails like claws. Too closely under the captain’s watch, Lyall didn’t dare take a glimpse of any tail that there might be. He extended the envelope instead. “I have received your lady’s summons.” 

Lady Sabine had been direct and to the point. She introduced herself, stated she needed to talk to him, and expressed a desire for his visit whenever he wished, although she hoped within a few days. Captain Noro took the envelope. 

“We thank you for coming expediently. Please follow me inside.” 

Lyall, naturally, did not decline the offer. The human man opened the wooden gate strengthened with iron, and Lyall trailed Captain Noro—no tail—inside. Lyall did his best to not gawk. He’d been on the grounds of a particularly affluent mayor before, but the estate of ruling nobility boasted grandeur not even the hand-me-down picture books of heroic bluebloods his mother salvaged every scrap of coin to buy could capture. How could every blade of grass be so symmetrically cut? The fresh dirt in the marble planters running along their path did not dare stain the white stone. Flowers with plump petals danced in harmony to even the wind that rolled and swelled in perfect time to an unheard metronome, and the brushing breeze carried along sweet florality of the blooms stretching out of sight bidding him welcome. 

The road brought them to a circular courtyard centered with a three-tiered fountain enchanted with illusionary water pixies dancing and splashing. His neck craning up revealed a manor of three stories, although a cluster of rooms reached five in the middle of the building. Burgundy banners fluttered every window on the first floor like extravagant neck ties while Captain Noro guiding Lyall through the double doors opened by staff brought him into a high ceiling entrance hall featuring a mural on the floor with yet another golden hawk proudly flying within its circled border. Halls long enough to escape reality peeled off in every direction, several oil paintings moved, and he was most glad for keeping his shoes clean as they walked a floor glassy as a mirror. 

Captain Noro knocked on a door along a second-floor hallway. “My lady, Mr. Blakely has arrived.” 

“Please send him in,” came the muted, feminine voice, though one lower in pitch than most. 

Lyall’s feet passed from glossy mirror to dark wood. Lady Sabine’s office was large enough for a rug of green bigger than his room at home to not feel out of place before the tall windows providing abundant light across a desk longer than his body was tall. Bookshelves tightly packed with neat rows of elegantly bound tomes claimed much of the walls of creamy white, and potted plants settled on high shelves with their vines hanging low added a touch of pleasant spice to the clean, if stiff, air. 

Surprisingly, Lady Sabine presented herself simply for the head of a major city’s ruling lady. She wore tight, high-waisted pants of black, a white blouse with flowing sleeves, and earrings in her house’s color that sparkled against her long, unbound waves of dark brown. Standing and leaving paperwork on the desk, Lady Sabine stepped around the barrier between them to smile deeply, highlighting the laughter lines around her pewter eyes. 

“Welcome, Mr. Blakely. I am Lady Sabine of House Anthurium. Thank you for coming, and please do not worry about any trite formalities of station. They have their time and place, but I mostly find them distracting in moments like this.” She’d clearly noticed the odd bend in Lyall’s shoulders of him questioning whether or not he should be bowing. “Have a seat.” 

“Thank you,” Lyall gently lowered himself into the right of the two armchairs before the desk, which Lady Sabine returned to. She stacked and set aside her papers.

“Since I gave you no sort of explanation in your summons, I can only imagine you are rather confused as to your presence here,” she began. 

“I assume it pertains to one of the jobs I have completed at the adventuring guild.” 

“You are close to correct. It is your actions after one of your jobs that called you to my attention.” Lady Sabine paused, and she continued when Lyall couldn’t reason which of his many actions after his many jobs would warrant his visitation today. “I refer to you retrieving the bodies of your fallen adventurers from the military bunker down south.” 

“Ah. Yes. Is...that something I should not have done?” Lyall gripped his knees. 

“Quite the opposite. Your decision to do so proved the catalyst on a long swelling situation that finally erupted in a way allowing me to take care of a most troublesome nuisance.” 

“That ‘nuisance’ wouldn’t happen to be Lord Tancred, would it?” Lyall checked with subtle trepidation. 

“He has forever been a thorn in my side,” Lady Sabine leaned back, sighing to the ceiling. “He is of a powerful noble family, however, and not someone I could punish easily even with my position. Thankfully, his persistence to prey on those looking to serve morphed into a sword against him. Your selfless decision to pay out of your own pocket and undertake the grim collection of those poor souls all alone when the responsibility should have been on Lord Tancred rallied the families of those whose bodies you recovered alongside those who have no hope for the same into a shout he could no longer brush aside.” 

“I simply,” Lyall glanced at his shoes, “couldn’t bear the thought of leaving all those sons and daughters, brothers and sisters mangled and rotting in that cold place.” 

“Thanks to you, they have each been buried with the honor they deserve. On Lord Tancred’s coin too. That is the least of the punishment he has earned. The whole matter allowed me to dig deep into the altered records the adventuring guild was keeping, discover the depth of complaints Lord Tancred had hidden, and earn enough legitimacy for me to start combing through his regular paperwork already turning up many ‘inevitable little errors’. I can’t discuss the intricate details of the investigation with someone not affiliated in the work, but don’t be surprised if you find yourself no longer having to call Lord Tancred by a title,” Lady Sabine winked. 

“I am most glad justice has found him, and I am ever more grateful to know those who passed had proper rest. Thank you for letting me know of this,” Lyall said. Then he waited for the expected continuation of the conversation by Lady Sabine. His hands that had loosened their grip on his knees squeezed tighter again when she said nothing. She merely stared, and her stare quickly gained a strange glaze when he, too, said nothing. “Is there something else, my lady?” 

“I was waiting for you to make a request of me, but perhaps I have worked amongst the greedy for so long that I forgot some can be noble instead of noble.” Lady Sabine leaned forward. “You deserved better as well, Mr. Blakely. Lord Tancred’s active dismissal of the danger could have gotten you killed, and what I’ve discovered showed me you spent half of your meager pay on something you shouldn’t have been the one to do. Plus buying a new shield, I’ve also heard.” 

“What you’ve heard is true,” Lyall confirmed. 

“You likely understand now what I was anticipating you might ask. Mr. Blakely, please accept this.” Lady Sabine took from the edge of her desk a wooden lock box. “Two-hundred gold, which is what the payment should have been for a job that dangerous, plus an additional fifty gold to show my gratitude. I understand this is a lot to carry around, so let me know if there’s an account in which you’d like me to deposit it.” 

“Not even a chance to deny it, I see,” Lyall chuckled quietly, and Lady Sabine smirked. “I won’t deny it though. I can give the information of the account my mother keeps at home to send it there, for I have plenty from my last job to see me on.” 

“Your mother is?” 

“Madeline Blakely. We live in the town of Luteria.” 

“That’s in southern Evaritia by the border with Caetshire, yes?” 

“Correct.” 

“You are far from home. There are adventuring guilds closer to where you live, so may I ask why you picked Riath?” 

“The guilds near Luteria are smaller. I originally thought to start at the capital, but then I realized the competition for work would be too fierce. Riath is the perfect combination of size and availability of accessible work.” 

“Well, we are certainly happy to have you. I can track down your mother’s account easily enough and will send you a copy of the successful deposit.” Lady Sabine set the lock box off to the side again. “I had another reason to summon you here besides ensuring you were given your earned payment. I’d like to personally offer you a job. It would be alongside a man I have scouted and a woman recommended by a friend.” 

“I would be honored. What does the task entail?” Lyall asked. He maintained a steady cadence to his voice despite his heart skipping erratic beats. It’d already gone out of sync from the unanticipated windfall, and now he had the interest of a high-ranking noble? His toes squeezed into tiny balls in his shoes knowing the rarity of this luck. 

“The matter is of a sensitive nature. What I can say for now is that the three of you will be investigating a location up on the mountains further west. More details will come once everyone is gathered. Head to the city of Perrine and check in at the adventuring guild there, for Mr. Luther Rubeus should be arriving in Perrine shortly as well.” 

“What is Mr. Rubeus’s style to offer?” 

“He is a wizard. Your other companion, Ms. Aurea Crimson, is a cleric of Caxtune. With your martial prowess, I believe it will be a good mixing of skills. Take this token with you. It will grant you easier passage through checkpoints and alert the staff at Perrine’s guild that you’re one of mine.” Lady Sabine held out a silver, coin-like token etched with a simpler version of the Anthurium crest. Lyall stood to take it. “Do you have any questions?” 

“Only of what awaits at the end on the side of success.” 

“What an amusing way to ask of the payment,” Lady Sabine giggled, brushing her hair behind her ear. “It will be a respectable amount of coin, perhaps some items of the enchanted variety, and definitely my favor.” 

Enchanted items didn’t appeal heavily to Lyall. Money was crucial, and an influential lady’s favor was even more so. Despite the assuaging that formalities weren’t required, Lyall bowed. 

“I’ll accept.” 

“Wonderful. Please head out no later than tomorrow morning.” 

“I can gather my things from my inn and depart immediately.” 

“Even more wonderful.” Lady Sabine stood, came back around the desk, and put out her hand. Lyall shook it. “I look forward to your success.”