Chương 76: Secrets exposed?
"You think I have magic?"
"You've killed 4 wyverns, a ground spider and chased off a rock-worm dragon, and those are the only ones I know of. Of course, you are a mage."
"What do you want?" Barda was at a loss on what to do. He had wanted to confront the woman of her true intentions for a long time but never had good reason to. Now he had. However, she chanted something and an object appeared on the forging desk.
"Where did you get that?" Barda asked with his eyes wide open as he tried to reach for the object on the table. However, his hands went through it as though was a hologram.
"Magic Mirror Spell," Lady Arnea said proudly. "Of course I wouldn't come with the real thing here."
"How do I know you have it then?" Barda asked.
"It's a Magic Mirror Spell. Surely you know I wouldn't be able to show you the object if I didn't have the original to mirror from." Lady Arnea asked, irritated by this line of questioning.
"I want to know where you came from, who you are and what you want." Lady Arnea spoke each word powerfully, trying to intimidate Barda. She had to admit that if he was affected in any way, he was a very good actor since nothing showed on the surface.
However, she knew the object she had shown him had shocked him since it was directly related to his darkest secrets, of which she was demanding.
"All that for just that?" Barda tried to conceal the importance of the object on the table, but secretly he was panicking. If she had this, what did she know, how much did she know?
"If you don't want it, and the other pieces it came with, I'll just keep it," Lady Arnea said dismissively. Barda knew he was cornered now. Other pieces?
"How many do you have?"
"All of them."
***
After Barda managed to chase off the beast, he was tempted to go after it, but he relented. He still had no proper way of killing it. Wounding it and killing were 2 very different things. Moreover, Barda felt he had more important things. The beast had been severely wounded and would not be attacking any time soon. In the meantime, he had some investigating to do.
Barda had wanted to go to Lady Arnea directly, but he quickly learned that that was not possible. He was the hero of the city and people were coming out to celebrate him. It was not lost on them that the only reason they had been able to put up such a defense was because of this man's ingenious creations. Now he had been able to single-handedly deter a beast from destroying the city.
In the eyes of the people, Barda had proven first intellectually and later physically to be a great asset to the city and her residents. Many soldiers of both Tristan and Crane had a deep trust in the man's capability. He was truly a reliable partner to have.
"Hooray!"
"We are saved!"
"All hail our hero!"
"All hail Soft Hands!"
"All hail Barda the great!"
"Can I have your babies?"
"All hail the Queen's rod!"
As the people rushed at Barda, they were shouting great things at him. That last one was one of Barda's latest nicknames. It was an open secret that Barda and the Queen had a fling going, and given that it was the Queen, there was no such thing as a fling. Many girls burned with jealously at the Queen, also wishing to have such a marvelous man.
Lady Maara's cheeks burned as she blushed heavily. Listening to the people, she could barely maintain her regal composure. Deep inside, she was simultaneously brimming with pride and so angry at him for fighting such a beast head-on. How could he make such a risky move?
From start to finish her heart had been in her mouth. Watching him fight was the definition of torture. The poor girl was worried sick for him. Seeing him win now, she was so relieved she almost cried. Tears would be shed later, for now, she had to hold it in. She had a city to repair.
Walking through the crowd as first responders rushed in to help the wounded and rescue the buried, Barda kept his eye on Lady Arnea. However, to his shock, she vanished in thin air. One minute she was in his sights the next she was gone. Furthermore, she disappeared completely, none of his scans could find her. It was as though she had gone off to some different dimension.
He didn't find her until much later when he went to his workshop to pick up some supplies. She was seated by the forging desk and the conversation ensued.
***
Barda ran the scan thrice but still couldn't detect the object. His camera lens told him that the object looked like a piece of his old space pod. Thinking back, he remembered how the pod had shattered as he entered the atmosphere. Some pieces had been burned out, but it was only natural that some pieces survived.
The object was barely the size of a small chest. It was molten in some parts while others showed signs of breakage. Despite that, it was recognizable, but barely. If he could get his hands on some other parts, then he might end up rebuilding things faster than he had anticipated. Once he got the information grid, then life would only look up from there.
That being said, that was not a proper reason for him to start blabbering off his secrets. Moreover, how could he begin to come clean about his secrets, would the people of this world even understand it? What was he going to say, he was a machine from a world that was evolutionary more than 5 millennia ahead?
"I would gladly part with a great many things for those pieces, but your asking price is too high," Barda turned to walk away, hoping to make it as dramatic as possible.
"What are you hiding?" Lady Arnea was now more curious. She knew he was interested in the pieces. Even she didn't know where they came from, but she had been given the Magic Mirror Spell by her instructor. She was only to show it to Barda and only after he confronted her. However, despite the apparent value of the objects, Barda would rather walk away than disclose his past? Something fishy was going on.
"My secrets are my own to keep." Barda was walking out the door as he spoke.
"Not if they involve us all."
"They don't."
"And I am just supposed to believe that?"
"What do you want? You never did answer my question either."
"I will gladly answer your questions, as soon as you answer mine."
"We all have our secrets," Barda conceded, "When we trust one another we can open up to each other as we sing Kumbayah. Till then, is there no other price for the piece?"
"Not unless you are willing to part with a wyvern's essence," Lady Arnea tempted. This was her real objective as she didn't expect to get answers from him.
"Time and place?"
"Bring it to me in my chambers before dusk 2 days hence." Lady Arnea said before walking out.
***
"He is willing to trade a wyvern's essence?" Krib asked incredulously. "So he does know what the pieces are?" As her partner in this assignment, Krib was privy to the details of the mission, including the pieces. Neither knew what they were, but they wouldn't ask their supervisor.
"Yes, but wouldn't give out a licker of information on anything." Lady Arnea said in frustration.
"To be expected. Also, why did you call him over to your chambers, do you want to get alone with him, do what the Queen did?" Krib teased, as usual, unable to remain serious for a lengthy period.
"Hardly not!" Lady Arnea denied vehemently, "I am not copying or stealing boyfriends from children."
"Just wondering, in the past, I have made many jokes at your expense but never had you had the urge to deny or justify, why now?" Naturally, Lady Arnea could not be blamed for the fierce gale that blasted away at the cloud Krib was at. Krib was laughing his heart off as he took off to hand in Lady Arnea's latest report.
All this conversation was being conducted telepathically. Looking up, Lady Arnea smiled at the cloud, unaware of someone observing her like a hawk.
Barda saw her chuckle at the cloud. Using every scanner at his disposal, Barda analyzed the cloud. To his shock, Barda detected a faint energy signature on the cloud, but the signature seemed to be moving away.
Barda felt it was too fast to pursue, so he set up a subroutine to continuously scan the clouds for the signature. If he did find it, he could track it. The cat and mouse games had just begun.
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