Dual Wielding

It was a cafe. It was a king’s damned cafe. Even worse, from what Kei could tell, it appeared to be a very nice one. Though it had a normal dining room, Udyr had requested “private terrace seating” when they’d arrived, and so they’d been ushered out onto a balcony overlooking The Grass Sea. The outer edge of the balcony was ringed by an ornate silver railing, and the floor was made of a luxurious-looking hardwood that wouldn’t have been out of place in her family’s home in Taravast.

Is that Theyan redwood? She wondered, noting a couple gold spirits hovering around, looking as though they’d drip onto the floor at any moment. They were joined by several wind spirits as well, which seemed ever-present in the city so far.

“Please,” Udyr said, sitting down at the table in the center of the space. It appeared about as luxurious as the rest. “Order whatever you’d like. It’s on me.”

Kei sat, but didn’t order anything; this was a ploy and she knew it. She had no intentions of becoming in any way indebted to this man, and no merchant she’d ever met gave out meals like this for free. Not unless they wanted something. Wyn had a pretty good head on his shoulders, she could admit that. It was likely he would realize this and refrain from ordering as–

“Hmm what do you recommend?” Wyn asked easily, glancing at the parchment menu on the table. “I’ve never even heard of half of these things.”

Udyr hummed. “I must say, my personal favorite dish is the smoked skyeel. Though I should warn you, it’s a bit of an acquired taste.”

“I’m not picky, but is it expensive? I wouldn’t want to impose on your hospitality any more than necessary.”

Udyr laughed. “So polite! In all honesty, knowing you were from Straetum I was expecting you to be a little rougher around the edges.”

“I’d like to think my mother raised me well,” Wyn shrugged.

“Yes it seems so.” He turned to the hostess, “Please, two orders of the eel, and bring us a bottle of grass wine.”

She bowed before turning to Kei, who waved her off. The young woman turned and left, closing the door to their private balcony behind her.

“I’m afraid I’m not much of a drinker,” Wyn apologized.

“Don’t worry, we’ll turn you into one yet,” Udyr winked. “And how about you Miss? I noticed you declined to order. It could be considered rude to refuse my hospitality, you know…”

He glanced at her, his eyes calculating.

Kei measured her response carefully. “Unfortunately you’ve caught me at a bad time, my stomach has been upset since last night. I’m worried any food may worsen it. Please accept my apologies.”

He nodded approvingly, a small smile on his face. “Not a bad excuse, and so quick too. Well at the very least I hope you’ll partake in conversation with the two of us.”

Kei bowed her head slightly. She didn’t want to give him much of anything to work with. The more he knew about her, and the more she talked, the greater his advantage would be. Without any idea of what his motives or intentions were, she couldn’t afford to be careless. The key to negotiation was to find out what the other person wanted and dangle it in front of them. So what did Udyr want?

“Well that’s good enough for me! Tell me, what do you two think of the city so far?”

“It’s incredible,” Wyn said. “I’ve never been to a city before, so it’s all new to me. I’m shocked at how many people there are, it truly is one of those things you can’t picture until you see it.”

Udyr leaned forwards, placing his chin on the back of his hands. “How right you are. I myself grew up in a small village off to the west, Köpa, if you’ve heard of it. I still remember my first time seeing Precipice, though I came in from The Grass Sea, so perhaps it was a slightly different impression. It’s certainly something. Though, even this may only feel like a hamlet compared to where you’re from Miss Ameas. Isn’t that right?”

She held back from clicking her tongue, so he was going to force her into the conversation then.

“Have you ever been to Taravast sir?” She asked, putting the onus back on him. Wyn leaned in closer, clearly interested in what they had to say.

“I can’t say that I have been, though I’ve heard much about it.” Udyr leaned back, looking out to the sea thoughtfully. In the skies above the savanna, flocks of bright orange birds drifted through the air, diving down into the grass before shooting back into the sky. “We do have contracts and dealings with some of the guilds across the continent, including Taravast, but any time I’ve actually met with them it’s been here. Most of our other correspondence is done via letter, or more recently, mirror pairs.”

“Mirror pairs? I’ve never heard of that,” Wyn said.

“That’s not surprising. They’re still quite rare, and painfully expensive, even for my family,” Kei said. “I don’t get exactly how they work, but it's a set of two mirrors that show the other one’s reflection. They can be separated across the whole continent and still work.”

“Yes, it’s truly fascinating technology. Communication has gotten significantly easier as they’ve spread more and more. Though they’re still far too expensive to be used by most people,” Udyr said.

“Incredible.” Wyn said earnestly. “Do they transmit sound as well?”

Kei shook her head. “Only the reflection is shared, so the communication is still done via writing. Nonetheless, it’s much faster than any other method.” She had heard rumors as well about students at the mage’s academy making some breakthroughs in pairing other objects, but kept the information to herself. Even if news had spread to Precipice in the time she’d been gone, she didn’t want to give away potential information for free.

The drinks soon arrived along with a small plate of bread–which Wyn seemed oddly excited about–and they made small talk while waiting for the main courses. It was about what she’d expected, a good negotiator waited until the other person had a bit of alcohol and food in their stomach. It was a tried and true tactic, and she could see the tension slowly leaving Wyn’s body as he relaxed around the imposing man.

Idiot. She thought. He’s just trying to butter you up before selling you on whatever he’s planning.

“So,” Udyr started, “I must say, I’m impressed by you and your friend if you were able to defeat Din Kai on your own.”

“It was nothing, we got lucky is all. I don’t think he was expecting us to put up as good a fight as we did. That bread was fantastic by the way.”

Too humble.

“Don’t be modest Wyn,” Kei said, flashing a smirk at Udyr. “Din Kai was a serious threat, you’ve done a great service to the city. From what I’ve heard he was a serious problem in this area. The bounty hadn’t been raised for years now, but nobody has been able to complete the job. They would’ve had to throw serious money at a knight or an adventuring party from the east to put him down for certain.”

Udyr smiled politely back. “Yes, I agree with Kei. In fact, I’ve been of the mind that the bounty on his head was much too low, I’d love to offer you even more than the posted bounty. I’ll double it out of my own personal funds.”

What?

“Wow really? That’d be a spirit-sent gift. All of our saved funds for this trip were going to be used on crossing The Grass Sea.” Wyn chuckled awkwardly.

Why would you say that? Kei groaned internally.

She decided to switch tactics.“Oh don’t worry Wyn, I was going to pay our way across The Sea as thanks for saving the caravan anyways.” She’d been trying to scare him off, and maybe milk some extra gold out of him, but now she couldn’t help but feel like she was getting cheated. After all, what merchant would willingly part with a single mark more than they had to? There had to be a catch.

Udyr leaned back in his chair, folding his hands in his lap. “As a member of House Ameas, I’m sure your purse is far larger than mine. But nonetheless I must insist you allow me to help you in this matter, as it's something of an expertise. My company employs most of the veldstrider captains in the area. With my help you could find one tomorrow and be on your way. It’s a particularly busy time of year with winter coming up, and I’d hate for you to be unable to find a reliable captain for a fair price.”

Once again, Kei found herself floundering to try and figure out the older merchant’s motives. There was an unspoken threat in his words. If they didn’t help him, their search for a veldstrider to take them across The Grass Sea could prove difficult.

But not impossible.

“No no, we wouldn’t want to impose on your hospitality. I’m sure the original reward for the death of Din Kai will be more than sufficient. Ten gold is nothing to scoff at, right Wyn?”

“Some help getting a good charter would be nice, but I wouldn't want to impose on your hospitality any more than we already have,” he said politely.

Smart boy, good job.

Udyr smiled. “It really wouldn’t be an inconvenience at all. It would be my pleasure to help you. Though if you’d prefer, there is an issue with which I believe you could be some assistance. Then you could consider it a trade rather than any sort of imposition.”

Wyn leaned forward. “What kind of issue?”

Stupid boy! What are you saying?

Kei tried to speak up. “I’m sure it’s–”

Udyr interrupted, pressing past her and talking to Wyn directly. “You see, many of my transports and warehouses have been getting raided over the last couple months. I’ve tried increasing security, but that’s proven entirely useless. What’s worse is I’m not even sure what’s attacking them. I’ve gotten different reports, some saying it’s a person, and others saying it’s some sort of flying beast.”

“Well, I noticed you said ‘raided’ at first. Have things been taken from the warehouses? Or were they just attacked? If you’re being stolen from, I’d have a hard time imagining the thief being a wild beast.” Wyn chuckled.

Kei sat back in her chair quietly, wrapping herself in the feeling of familiarity.

Udyr continued. “That’s true, and I’ve had the same thoughts myself, but these reports are coming from some of my most trustworthy men. I’m certain there’s some trick going on, but I’m unable to say exactly what.”

“So what, you want me to try and solve this problem for you?”

“Well it can’t be too much of an issue for the hero who killed Din Kai,” Udyr said. “You’ve already proven quite adept in dealing with criminals.”

Wyn scratched his chin, looking into the distance as the gears visibly turned in his head, weighing variables she wasn’t sure she understood. “I suppose I can try to help, but I can’t spare more than a week. And as mentioned, if I succeed, you’ll provide an extra ten gold marks and make sure we get a good captain to cross the sea. Does that sound good to you Kei?”

“Of course Wyn. That sounds just fine,” Kei said through a forced smile. They’d already planned on remaining in Precipice for a few days, so in truth it wasn’t a very long delay at all. Still, the thought of using it as an opportunity to leave Corrin and Wyn behind crossed her mind. Oddly, she found that it didn’t appeal to her as much as she would’ve thought. It wasn’t practical either; she’d need to hire more guards and familiarize herself with the transportation anyways. In the end, the timeline would likely end up similar, except she’d be out even more marks and risk offending Wyn and Corrin.

Do you really believe that? A part of her wondered.

“I’m glad to hear it,” Udyr said.

Wyn clapped his hands together. “Sounds like a plan! I’m looking forward to working with you sir, we can discuss any details later yeah? Let’s just try to enjoy this meal.”

A moment after he said it, the food arrived, he must’ve noticed it coming. It really did smell good. They chatted idly while the two of them ate, and Wyn regaled them with an unbelievable story about how he and Corrin had actually left home. Kei hadn’t heard this story before, so she found herself interested. It was definitely a little exaggerated, the whole part with the demon sounded suspect, but the majority of it sounded true, and Wyn was easily able to answer any questions they had.

By the time the food was finished, Wyn and Udyr were laughing and telling stories back and forth, and she had to admit that the atmosphere of the meal was light. They briefly discussed some extra details relating to the job, like the dates of the past raids and their locations, and Udyr seemed in good spirits as they walked towards the exit, even as he handed over the pouch containing the bounty. Wyn happily remarked they’d come back once the work was finished.

Just as they reached the door, Wyn turned around, “Excuse me sir, but do you have any recommendations for where we should stay? I don’t believe we’ve booked an inn yet.”

Udyr snapped his fingers and pulled a pad of paper and pen out of his pocket. He wrote something down and handed it to Wyn. “Follow the street to the west until you see a sign for an inn called The Sleeping Boar. If you head here and tell them I sent you, they’re sure to give you a fantastic deal.”

“Oh and one more thing, would you mind having someone at the guild direct my friend Corrin to the inn? I’d rather not have to wait for him there. He has white hair and will probably look a little clueless. You can’t miss him.”

“Consider it done.” Udyr smiled.

“Thank you elder, I’ll be sure to repay this kindness.” Wyn bowed. “Do you know where you’re staying Kei?”

Kei looked at Udyr out of the corner of her eye, his damn smile had never dropped. “I’ll let you know. We can talk later, go on without me. I’d like to talk to Udyr alone for a moment.”

Wyn raised an eyebrow, but nodded and left, leaving Kei alone with the merchant’s guildmaster of Precipice.

“Well?” Udyr’s grin finally grew a little less friendly. “What is it you’d like to discuss?”