Dungeon Deposed Page 16

  “It’s a bit different when you are the monster, or the problem,” Lauren complained.

  “I… can only imagine. Though in that case, isn’t the simple answer to go in the direction they don’t want you to? Marrying an older prince who isn’t interested in your position solves it immediately. And while it isn’t an ideal solution for you on your own personal wishes, it’d end the whole situation.”

  “Yes… yes.” The queen closed her eyes with a sigh.

  “Sorry. I’m no good for this kind of thing. Simple solutions and answers are great for me. Complicated problems like this aren’t my thing,” Ryker said apologetically.

  “No, I appreciate your direct answers. It pains me to admit it, but I really am at fault in this one. I could solve this problem whenever I want and I’m dragging my feet. I’ve just been hoping for—” She paused, her eyebrows rising upwards.

  “Hoping for?”

  “Nothing. Nevermind. Anyways. Everything is already in process for your appointment tomorrow. I also took the liberty of having clothes made for you to wear. The tailor will be around later today to measure you out and get you fitted. Just come back to the palace sometime after our meeting. The cost is negligible so don’t fret over it.”

  “I won’t.” Ryker immediately leaned into the table, looking into the cheeses again.

  Lauren snorted at that, opening an eye to peer at him. “You really are direct in all things, aren’t you.”

  “So I’m told. Wizards are prideful to begin with. Being direct is second nature. Being a farmer only made it worse. I’m as blunt as a sledgehammer to the forehead,” he said. With a frown, he flicked a piece of rather smelly cheese off the plate to tumble along the table. “That stinks.” Happily he scooped up another piece of a type he couldn’t identify, but was definitely enjoying.

  “You just said a rather expensive piece of cheese stinks and chose a rather common one.”

  “Expensive doesn’t dictate if it tastes good or not. That one stunk like feet. You want the stinky foot cheese? You eat it. You can have all the stinky foot cheese. I’m going to eat the tasty, dirty, common cheese. Because it’s delicious and it’s what I want.”

  Laughing at that Lauren licked her lips before shaking her head. Then she held out her hand to him.

  “You know what, you’re right. No one wants stinky foot cheese. Don’t hog that and hand me some.”

  “This is my commoner cheese, get your own,” Ryker said chewing visibly at her.

  Chapter 15- Donations -

  Sighing, Lauren laid her hands in her lap and stared at the ceiling.

  “I’m afraid our time is up. I should have you get me into my dress.”

  They’d spent the last hour in casual conversation. Nothing and everything. From the dungeon to the citizens here in Queensrest.

  “Alright. I guess just… stand in the middle of it and I’ll lift it up?” Ryker asked, unsure.

  “That’ll work. I’ll have my chambermaids help me adjust it before I have to go to my next meeting,” Lauren said, her face starting to revert to the impassive mask he’d seen a few times.

  Nodding his head, Ryker got up and made his way to the pooled fabrics.

  “Come on then. Let’s get this rolling.”

  “Trying to get rid of me so quickly?” Lauren asked, standing up. She walked over to the dress and stepped into the opening of it.

  “No, but I think your guards would murder me if they walked in on me getting you into a dress, which looks a lot like getting you out of one. Better off getting it done quickly.”

  “Ah. So no plans for the rest of the day?” Lauren reached down and picked up the dress and began lifting it up past her legs and hips.

  “Not really. I think I’ll comb the city for cores, maybe hit the temples, make some offerings. Other than that… Wondering if I can dodge Adele and Claire. I don’t mind them but… they’re both a bit much for me.”

  Lauren chuckled darkly at that. “Yes. My cousins are seemingly opposite sides of the same coin. I thank my mother for giving me the genes she did.”

  “Your mother did give you some solid genes. You’re put together pretty well,” Ryker said, grabbing the fabric around her hips and lifting it up.

  “Are you always like this?” Lauren asked, sliding her arms into the sleeves.

  “Like what?”

  “Flirty. Charming.”

  “Uh… huh? No. Furthest thing from it if you ask anyone who knows me long enough. I’m just answering you directly,” Ryker said honestly. He didn’t think he’d been charming or flirty.

  “One second. I need to get these… things… settled before you button me.”

  Ryker nodded his head and waited as Lauren fiddled with something inside her dress.

  “That’s all it is?” Lauren asked.

  “All what is.”

  “What you said.”

  “My thoughts? Yeah. Why?”

  “No reason. Ready for you to button me up.”

  Ryker didn’t reply and instead started hooking the buttons back into the fabric.

  Upon finishing, he patted her on the back and took a few steps away from her.

  “Time to face your murderous public again. Try not to die, you’re pretty interesting,” Ryker said.

  Lauren gave him a strange look and then scoffed at him. “Not all of us have immortal avatars protecting us.”

  “That’s a fair point. Do you want me to ask if they can provide you with some? I’m sure there’s a trade that could be reached. The dungeon does have wants.”

  “Hm.” Lauren turned her head to face forward, turning away from him. “An interesting thought.”

  “Oh, what time should I be here tomorrow?”

  “The morning. Before the eighth bell. We’ll have breakfast afterward so try not to eat too much until then,” Lauren said, running her hands over her dress. “I’ll see you then.” Without looking back at him, Lauren marched off in the same direction she’d come from.

  Shrugging his shoulders at the odd dismissal, Ryker headed for the exit and left the room.

  There were things to do.

  He did want to visit the temples. Look for cores.

  And a whole bunch of stuff to buy and dump into the dungeon.

  Shame we can’t take back any monsters. They’d be impossible to take back.

  ***

  Ryker had detoured back to their inn for a quick change of clothes, and now regretted that.

  Immensely.

  There weren’t just one or two messengers trying to ambush him in the inn. There were nine.

  Nine young men who were all trying to invite him to one thing or another, or press parchment into his hands with an invitation.

  Staring around at the crowd Ryker could feel his lips peeling back in a snarl. Everyone was so intent on giving him their message that they didn’t even hear him.

  It worked for the kids… why not here.

  Holding his left hand up he flashed a bolt of lightning into his right. Letting the sound go undampened.

  The effect was as immediate as it had been before.

  Everyone jumped, fell over themselves, and fell quiet.

  “That’s enough!” Ryker said loudly. “If you want to give me a message, fine, get in line. I don’t care in what order it is because, surprise, I’m not going anywhere, with anyone! If you have a question, save it. I don’t care. You each have one minute, starting with you.”

  Ryker pointed at a boy who couldn’t be older than thirteen on the ground. Scrambling to his feet the boy held up a messenger case.

  “My lord would like to invite—”

  “Yeah, yeah. Hand me the case and go. I’ll read it and decide from there. In fact, you should all have a formal invitation, right? If you don’t have one, tough shit. If you do, hand it over and piss off,” Ryker growled.

  Glaring at a few who tried to talk to him until they left, eventually Ryker was alone. With an armload of invitations he had no desire to even read, let
alone accept. Once he was sure they were all gone, Ryker immediately walked over to the fireplace and tossed all the invitations in. Flicking his fingers at the hearth he fed it some mana. It roared to life in a merry, crackling fire.

  Tris, Marybelle, and Charlotte were all watching him. There wasn’t anything for them to do since he wasn’t in danger. They also tended to not speak when anyone else was around.

  Or do much of anything.

  Letting out a soft grumbling breath, Ryker watched as all the paper burned up.

  “Not one for society niceties, are you,” said a smooth voice from one side.

  Glancing over, Ryker found an older woman to be the speaker. She was clearly more mature than she looked. Her face looked as if she were only in her late twenties, but the way she carried herself hinted more towards her thirties.

  She was also a very well put together, mature woman. She sported simple brown hair and brown eyes with straight features and clear skin.

  Sitting next to her was a younger version of herself who couldn’t have been much older than seventeen or eighteen. She had far more in the chest and hips than the woman he assumed was her mother. Her hair was also a touch darker as were her eyes.

  Those dark eyes latched onto him and Ryker couldn’t deny she was beautiful.

  “Niceties would be waiting until they even know who I am. They’re all just trying to find out who I am before anything is said. That’s all,” Ryker said, turning back to the fire, breaking eye contact. “That or to see if they can use me for their own ends.”

  “I could think of a few uses for you,” purred the older woman.

  If he hadn’t spent a week playing sex roulette with three willing Fairies he might have actually considered a quick romp with her.

  She was pretty and seemingly willing.

  And we have a dick that’s almost always willing. Why not use it.

  “Heh. Coming from you I’ll take that as a compliment. Fair evening to you,” Ryker said, and turned to leave the inn.

  He had things to do, and little time.

  “Will you be coming back for dinner? I’m sure I could keep something warm for you if you are,” called the younger woman. Her voice was a bit deeper than her mother’s, but it carried that same sultry pitch to it.

  Ryker felt the first hints of arousal and he squashed it as roughly as he could. He really did have things to do.

  There was no reason not to be nice to them though.

  Besides, just because I’m not into it right now, doesn’t mean I won’t take the plunge later.

  “I’ll be coming back tonight, yeah,” Ryker said, sparing the young woman a look. Then he turned and left the inn.

  Standing outside, Ryker surveyed the street while trying to decide what to do first.

  “You need to see the tailor,” Tris said, stepping close on his right side. “It would be wise to take care of the necessary chore first.”

  Ryker glanced to one side, eying her.

  So she heard everything then.

  “The floor was tiled. It echoed enough that I could hear some of what was said. No one else could,” she said, as if reading his mind.

  “No. I’d rather avoid that for the time being. Honestly, I’d half expect Adele or Claire to show up while I was with the tailor. I’d rather not deal with them right now.”

  Marybelle laid her hand gently in the middle of his back and leaned in close to him. “They’re not that bad, are they? They seem like nice people.”

  “In small doses, sure. The problem is they both want to use me for their own ends,” Ryker grumbled. “So far the only person I can get along with without a time limit is Edwin. Or Lauren. Whatever. Let’s go hit the local blacksmith. I want to see if we can find any small bits of ore or metal. Then a tanner. After that, a general store. Last but not least, a quick stop over to the temples. I figure it’d be a good idea to leave a small offering to each of the three in Dungeon. Just to… well… just in case.”

  “Never hurts,” said Charlotte.

  Tris stopped a passerby to get directions and then set off at a determined walk. Marybelle kept to his side and Charlotte at his back. No one approached them as they went, but Ryker felt like they were being watched.

  Senses long unused were creeping back to life in a rusty, creaking fashion. Feelings and training he’d developed for dungeon diving and had barely been given a chance to use.

  He was almost certain people were watching that didn’t mean him well.

  Tris stepped to one side at the entry to a building and laid a hand on her sword. Charlotte skirted around him and entered before him, pushing the door wide.

  Marybelle took a step closer to him as he went through the doorway.

  Paranoid much?

  Nothing happened.

  Walking to the counter, Ryker smiled at the old gentleman manning the counter.

  “Good morning to you. I was wondering if you had…” Ryker paused to consider his words. “I’d like to display every type of metal. A collection of sorts. I was wondering if you perhaps had small samples of each metal or alloy for sale. I already have gold, iron, and silver.”

  Frowning, the man scratched at his beard. “Might be I could work something together for you. Just small bits? Maybe as big as my thumbnail?”

  “That’d work,” Ryker said, agreeing.

  “Mm. Copper, tin, bronze then. Truesilver and Fire Iron?”

  “Yes, please. And whatever alloys you have. Even the stranger metals, too.”

  The man eyed him for a wary second, and then shrugged his shoulders. “Your coin.”

  An hour later and Ryker had finished up with the leather worker as well. The general store had been a bust and hadn’t had a single item worth note that he hadn’t already picked up in Warrenton.

  “Don’t be so pissy,” Charlotte said as they went up the steps to the temple of Tali. “Just because they didn’t have what we wanted, there’s no reason to carry on like that.”

  “I’m not being pissy. I just wish he could have admitted up front he didn’t have anything magical instead of wasting our time. His little assistant probably ate lunch back there while his boss showed us around and tried to get me to buy that damn fancy table.”

  “It was a nice table,” Marybelle interjected.

  “Whatever,” Ryker said. Letting out an explosive sigh he gave himself a shake. “There, better. Okay?”

  Tris snorted at that and then tossed a thumb at the temple. “Be good in there. Holy ground can be temperamental. Go with him, Marybelle.”

  Ryker rolled his eyes at her and cleared the doorway with Marybelle in tow.

  There was no antechamber or entry corridor, but instead, it opened straight into a large open room.

  It was clearly where they conducted their ceremonies and worship. Pews were laid out in rows and a pulpit was at the front. Displayed upon the walls was the iconography of Tali. Off to one side was a stall with curios laid out in front of an old woman. She had white hair, calm brown eyes, and looked to be rapidly approaching “ancient” instead of old.

  Just to one side of the stall was the donation box. A stone pillar with a carved slot at the top to receive coins. He imagined it either dropped into a room below, or behind the wall.

  There was no one else inside, which was surprising.

  Not wanting to waste even more time, Ryker walked up to the donation box and pushed a gold coin through the slot.

  “That’s generous of you,” said the old woman inside the stall. She had watched him since he entered. “What are you hoping to buy?”

  “Nothing right now,” Ryker said, looking to the woman. “Tali is one of the few whose worshipers work with the needy and the poor directly. I’m not a good person, and donating to her serves my purposes well.”

  The old woman chuckled at that. “Not a good person?”

  “The furthest thing from it,” Ryker said, pausing as he noticed the wares on the shelf behind the woman.

  Small bottles filled with d
ifferent colored liquids were lined up. Each glowed dimly, creating a shifting riot of color on the shelf. They were all made of magical ingredients or with magic.

  If she has those, might she have others?

  “And is that how others judge you, or how you judge yourself?”

  “Both? What’ya got there by the way?” Ryker asked, indicating the potions.

  “Oh… you noticed those did you?” the old woman said coyly. “Simple potions. The like you’ve seen elsewhere I’m sure.”

  “I’m a bit of a collector of various things,” Ryker said, going with the backstory he’d used earlier. “What are they, and how much?”

  “They’re not that special. Simple resistance potions. Temporary spell effects. Though I’m afraid their prices are probably higher than normal. We charge a bit more because most of the money goes to helping out others. Consider it a donation.”

  Definitely simple, but we don’t have any of those. And they don’t look like the normal ones. If we drop them as loot, that’ll just be another unique feature.

  “What’s the price then?” Ryker asked.

  “A gold each. Forgive me bu—”

  “Done. I’ll take them all. I count forty-two?”

  “Ah… yes,” the woman said, startled.

  “Great. Now, tell me about these curios? Or anything else that might be unique or interesting,” Ryker said, indicating the small trinkets on the counter.

  Reaching over, he pulled Marybelle closer and opened her bag. He casually pulled a large sack out of it.

  Inside that sack were multiple rolls of leather. They were all filled with coins and packed in tight to one another. They’d packed fifteen coins in each.

  Ryker had spent enough time in cities to know how people made themselves targets.

  Retrieving three rolls he set them down on the counter. Peeling them apart quickly he pulled three coins out of the gleaming pile.

  “I… they’re charms. A gold each. They give minor increases to your card. Blessed by Tali and—”

  “I’ll take one of each,” Ryker said, pulling out another roll of coins. He’d come with a small fortune with the idea to spend all of it if possible.