Chapitre 9: An Ally?
Lord Colm narrowed his eyes at Goleil.
Tyria continued: "Guardsman Goleil has nowhere to go, my Lord. He has no loyalties, as his nation has been destroyed. He will staunchly defend us from the Krodians and Adal, and I see no reason not to allow him to stay and potentially help us. Perhaps he can tell us how the Vrean Sun Guard train."
Goleil's eyes narrowed. He hated those names.
"The Sun Guard's training methods are not secret, Tyria, and they are simply barbaric. No sane man would go through it willingly, so it is useless to our city, and we don't have the population to waste on such a foolish venture."
"Barbaric? Certainly. Insane? Perhaps. Useless? Waste? Foolish? Is that what you tell yourself to sleep at night, Lord Colm?" Goleil said. He stared into Colm's eyes, his body calm and relaxed. The healers took a step back. Despite his composure, they could feel that his thin muscles had started to twitch.
Lord Colm scoffed. He was about to retort when Tyria shouted: "Enough!"
The two men looked at the young lady. "Father, you would do well not to offend our guest. Are you so brutish to disrespect a dead civilization, especially when you feared them only a few months ago? And Goleil, you will not insult the Lord of Redvale so easily. I realize my father provoked you, but this will go on for no longer!" She shouted.
Despite what she said, she still felt embarrassed, for she had done something similar to her father only a few minutes before!
'Things are not going well, and Lord Colm attempts to provoke me. Perhaps this is why I came here. Tyria doesn't seem much better. I don't know why Lord Colm dislikes me, but I will not survive for long, even with Tyria's protection. I am skilled but not nearly strong enough. I must improve,' Goleil thought.
"I apologize for my insults, Lord Colm. Lady Tyria Colm, if you would be so generous as to show me to your training grounds, I would be most appreciative."
Lord Colm nodded. 'This man is a threat to my people, we have survived for centuries without him, even the Upheaval, and we can do without him, and he will only create unrest that can not be tolerated, especially now.'
A knock at the open door, and it was a guard who had Goleil's torn cloak.
"Thank you, Lord Colm, for not disposing of my equipment. You may not know this, but a Guardsman's cloak is what marks him a member of the Sun Guard."
"You're welcome. Tyria, come with me. Have your men escort Goleil to the training grounds."
"Yes, my Lord. Mord, Gwen. You will escort him to the complex." She said.
The two left along with their guard. The two healers had finished their work.
"Everyone leave. I must discuss something with my patient. You too, my son." Healer Freya said.
They seemed hesitant, but Junior Healer Freya left immediately, giving the guards confidence.
As soon as Mord shut the door, the healer cast a quick spell, causing the air to go stiff.
"Don't worry. It's just a simple spell to prevent eavesdropping. You are healthy, and you can train to your heart's content. However, your body is weird, and we recorded a strange phenomenon while you were out." She whispered.
Goleil nodded. He suspected something strange was happening to his body as he slept.
"After you fainted the second time, diagnostic spells stopped working on you. Nothing as easy as no information. Once we cast our spells on you, it was like the mana disappeared in your body. I don't know what it means, but be careful. Mana poisoning is a serious affliction. You may not have a core or circuits, but it can still affect you." She said. Healer Freya raised her eyebrow in a silent question.
"Thank you for telling me, ma'am, but I have no idea why that's happening. Thank you for keeping my condition stable while I was unconscious. Healers are often undervalued by their companions when they are the most important in any unit." He said, bowing his head.
She smiled. "Thanks for your kind words. Be careful." She walked out the door, and he could feel the air return to normal.
He walked out after donning his cloak, his skin delighting in the familiar fabric. The faint magic emanating from the cloak soothed him as no armor could. Although the enchantments were extremely weak after being nearly destroyed, they comforted him.
Mord walked in as he wrapped the cloak around him and pushed up the cowl.
"Ready to go, your Majesty?" He said with a grin.
"What?"
Gwen pushed him out of the doorway. "Nothing, don't mind him. We are going to head across the city to the Praetorian Training Grounds, and it's where the personal guards of the Colm Family train. It was snowing outside when we arrived, and it might still be cold."
...
Lord Colm stared out his window at the streets below. His people were starving, and they always had been. Food could not be grown here, and they were too close to the Outerlands, one of the last city-states left on the border of the Four Kingdoms and that barren wasteland.
The trade from Vrea had been enough to keep them well-fed, but Lord Colm had underestimated the Krodians. Now that four were three, they wanted to pull them into the Empire under their banner. The Kingdom of Krodia was already resettling the Vrean's lands, and they needed to secure the border.
"Damn it, Tyria... we are already suffering as it is. Starvation, the Krodians, and now news of an impending attack. The Krodians offer their assistance at the 'small' cost of our independence. And now, this Vrean Sun Guard? I have done all I can to make sure news of this does not escape our city, but I don't know how long I can keep the city's gates closed. The next trade caravan will arrive within a month. We must do something by then!" He shouted, turning around to face his daughter.
"My Lord, we can not forsake this chance! He may be weak now, but he could save us from the Y'tyrix! We need him!" She said, getting up from her chair in the center of the room.
A young man leaned against a bookshelf, reading a book and occasionally looking up to watch them bicker.
"William, speak some sense to your sister! We must get rid of the Guardsman!" He said, imploring his heir to support him.
The young man sighed. "Father, you are being too narrow-minded. Both of you are correct. For now, the Vrean is a problem but could also be the solution to another, much larger problem. The most the Krodians would do if they found out we were harboring the guard, is demand we turn him over. The Y'tyrix is eldritch, and it can't be reasoned with. I know you have faith in our walls, my Lord, but against the might of a true Eldritch, the walls that protected us against the Upheaval and many invasions between would become nothing more than a cage."
He put down his book.
"I have a proposition. We give this 'Goleil' whatever resources he needs. Even locraf, that accursed potion. Then, once he has repelled the abomination, we accept him as a true citizen of Redvale. Should the Krodians invade, the citizens will no longer blame the Vrean and us but the Empire for trying to take their savior, who we graciously accepted as one of our own. This would effectively end the foolish argument between the family heads and solidify the power of the Colm Dynasty."
He looked at Lord Colm, picked up his book again, and spoke without looking up.
"This should satisfy both of you. Our walls may not hold back Eldritch, but the Krodians are severely weakened after the Battle of Three Kingdoms at Gruumsh's Gate. The Qutary will not support them, and the Adal has cut off all contact with them, believing that the Empire tricked them. Furthermore, we will be safe from the Outerlands and have a Sun Guard employed. Besides, despite his arrogance, Murdoc is a very powerful mage. Our guest Dr. Favar might even assist, though I doubt it."
Lord Colm nodded, looking back out his window.
"And the food situation? What shall we do about that? Without the Krodians, we will have no trade routes."
William Colm sighed and looked out the window. He wished he was out there instead.
"There are rumors of tribes that survive in the Mountains, where the snow is black and the sun blazes. I met a pilgrim returning from a journey to the Outerlands, and of the nonsense he said, I deciphered that the tribes were real. He had run out of food weeks ago and survived on his companions. The tribes found him and delivered him to our borders. I didn't see them, but the pilgrim could not walk and wasn't a legendary soldier like the Golden One. We will need the assistance of the Mountain Tribes."
It would've been foolish for most to stake their lives on nothing but a rumor.
Aldritch Colm nodded his head. "Very well, Tyria, continue your operations. We will follow William's plan."
Tyria nodded, smiling appreciatively at her elder brother. He nodded back in acknowledgment.
The Vrean would survive, the Eldritch killed, and Redvale would survive.
'Hopefully...' Tyria thought.
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