I arrived at the Duke’s manor and was greeted and inspected by his personal guard, the Duke’s Dogs, as they were known.

  Clearly, I was expected, and just as clearly, they didn’t care. I was asked to leave my dagger at the door, and I just looked at them like they were insane. I summoned and unsummoned my staff, staring them down. I was in no mood for their foolishness, as if I would rely on a silver dagger as the best offensive weapon when I wore ten magical rings and an arsenal of spells about me.

  I was saved from a confrontation by the timely arrival of Jon Beltman, the Duke’s Steward. “Gwydion, thank you for coming. I realize it is getting late, and you have had an exhausting day. The Duke won’t keep you long. He will be getting ready for bed soon as well, but he wants a firsthand account of events. Only the Majordomo is with him right now.”

  He did not mention the bodyguards as being present, as they were a necessity and more like furniture than notable in most people's eyes.

  We walked down a couple of long hallways and ended in a warm, central room that looked like a private library. It said a lot about the man that he would use such a room filled with wise and wondrous words to meet with guests. But then again, he was meeting with the Majordomo and an enchanter. Maybe this was intentional.

  I shushed my thoughts. I trusted and liked the Duke. I would take this as a good sign and leave it at that.

  I was ushered into the room and took a seat at the third corner of an invisible triangle made up of the Duke, Majordomo, and myself. They both had a cup of wine in their hands. I declined a glass.

  “I am tired enough, I think a glass would push me over the edge,” I said with what I hoped was a disarming smile. I didn’t want to offend the Duke as my host. This was his home after all.

  The Duke stared at me for a long moment. “I consider your father one of my closest advisors. More of a secret advisor than one known regularly at court. His position allows him to come and go pretty much everywhere without much notice or restriction. And he is wise and kind, and has been so for my entire family.”

  He nodded toward the far corner where one of the Duke’s bodyguards was present, and I realized in surprise that it was the Duke’s eldest son.

  “It is a long tradition that the Duke is guarded by his sons.” He nodded to the opposite corner.

  I looked and saw that this guard was a young woman, stern of face but pretty and self-confident.

  He added, “I expanded this to include the Duke’s daughters as well. All my children, no longer young, are capable of defending their liege and themselves.”

  I nodded. “I did not know that. It is a wise decision, my liege.”

  “Gwydion, in my home on a night such as this, with only us together, please call me Philip.”

  I paused and nodded once. “Tonight. I will.” I said, feeling uncomfortable referring to the duke by his first name.

  “Good.” He replied. “I’d like to spend more time socializing and giving you a chance to relax, but it has been a difficult evening and we all need to retire to bed. Could you please describe the evening and your experiences up until Sam and the reinforcements arrived.”

  And so I did. I started at our evening special services meeting and provided updates, which I pulled from my written notes. The Duke was thrilled that we had surpassed initial promises by so much. I then described what had transpired between our departure from the shop and Sam’s arrival.

  “You and your special services team prevented what would have been a much messier situation. We would have still fought off the goblins, but instead of around several hundred landing, there would have been several thousand, and who knows how many shamans and mages.”

  “The warriors fought off the majority of the goblins; we just served as a cork in the bottle,” I said.

  Isaac, the Majordomo, spoke for the first time, “A bottle that would have spilled out all over the residential sections. Some of them would have set fire to the warehouses and granaries, and others would have terrorized neighborhoods, forcing us to split up our patrols into smaller and smaller groups to cover the streets.”

  I had not thought that part through. It had all happened so quickly, and then there was the news about the Bishop and then Ears.

  “I am glad we were there to help.” I finally said.

  The Duke reached out and clasped my hand with his. “I am also very glad you were there to help.”

  He shook his head. “You are a marvel.”

  My eyebrows lifted in surprise. I couldn’t help myself.

  Both men laughed. “The fact that you do not seek special recognition, which you deserve, or honors and privileges, which you will receive, amazes me. I am surrounded by men and women who try to advance their wealth or their power every day.”

  “Or both,” Isaac commented darkly.

  “Or both.” The Duke agreed. “I am thankful for your work, your creativity, and most especially for your presence.”

  They both stared at me, waiting for my reply.

  I finally said into the waiting silence. “Thank you?”

  This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

  They both laughed again.

  “I must retire soon, but I would like you to join us at the morning strategy session. As a Commander, you have the right. And given your recent service and foresight, I think it will be beneficial to have you there.”

  “Of course,” I said. “What time?”

  “Be at the keep by 5:15, we have a bite to eat and start promptly at 5:30.”

  Isaac turned to the Duke. “Tell him what to expect. He deserves to know.”

  I looked back and forth between them. The Duke sighed and said, “You have enemies, or at least, those who are vocally against you on the inner council.”

  “Against me?” I asked in surprise once more. “But why would anyone be against me? I am just trying to save our city.”

  “And because of your success, you have made enemies and called into question others’ competencies, threatening their pride and their rank.”

  It was my turn to sigh. “It is not unlike mages, then,” I stated.

  Isaac said, “No lad, it is much the same. People are people, and greed, avarice, pride, and hunger are present everywhere. It is even so among the non-human races as well.”

  “So I suppose that if I had failed, I would be more popular?” I asked in frustration.

  The Duke raised his hands, and his expression asked for my patience. “For some, yes, it would. For others, they would merely use your failure against you.”

  “What should I do?” I asked.

  “Nothing. Do what you would normally do. Don’t think too much about it. It is not in your wiring, and you would just give yourself stress and headaches for nothing. Isaac and I will do our parts to shield you while you do your part to create as many tricks and trinkets as possible for our upcoming battle.”

  I pondered his words.

  Seeing it was nearly time for the evening to end, I said, “I have two more questions before I depart.”

  “Please, ask.” The Duke replied.

  “First, is there any news about the invading army?”

  The Duke sighed slowly. “Yes, they very nearly broke through the wall defenses today. A group of adventurers happened by and saved the day with a powerful display of magic that caused the goblins to retreat unexpectedly. But we believe that they will break through tomorrow. We may even have news by the morning meeting.”

  “I see.” I had hoped for better news.

  “Your second question?” The Duke prompted.

  “Yes. I would like to set up schools in the seventh and lower 8th boroughs to educate children during the day and their parents at night, and to help increase the number of trade workers to improve their lives.”

  Whatever the Duke had expected, it was not this. “What are you asking of me?” He asked, his face set and expressionless.

  “I would like approval to purchase or acquire abandoned buildings for this purpose. I would like to do so immediately. I believe that while education and training would take many months and years, there are many in these areas of poverty who could be used in the short term to increase our teams and set an example of the benefits of work over poverty, education over ignorance, stability over wandering.”

  The two men exchanged looks. The Duke said, “I will approve these tomorrow and ask Jon to work with you on the details. I shall grant you another delivery of gold, silver, and copper to increase the speed of your work and to begin work on these Special Services Centers. We can worry about names later.”

  “Actually, I have a name in mind for them.”

  “What’s that?” Isaac asked.

  “Ears Academies.”

  The Duke wrinkled his brow in confusion.

  Isaac explained, “They are named after the child Irregular who died setting the alarm that saved the city this evening.”

  The Duke closed his eyes and lowered his head either in a moment of shame or prayer, I could not tell which. He looked up and said with a straight and controlled face. “I approve.”

  After shaking hands and promises to see one another early the next morning, I was escorted out by the Duke’s son and daughter.

  At the door, the daughter, Lady Gwidllyn said, “Father likes and respects you.”

  Her brother, Lord Finndo, commented, “If you need anything at all with regard to the academies, send word to me directly and I will see it done. Having a little more light leak into these dark days is good for all of us.”

  “Thank you both. Keep your father safe.” And after a pause. “And each other. With the death of the Bishop, I fear you all could be in danger.”

  Finndo remarked, “And keep yourself safe. You are an even bigger target right now than either of us.”

  I shook their hands, bowed, and was escorted back to the shoppe without incident. Nobody talked the whole way back, but everyone’s eyes roamed the dark and reacted to quick movements or unusual sounds. Nobody relaxed until we entered the familiarly lit main level of my home. Finndo’s words, which had been overheard by all my guards, made an impression.

  The AL whispered into my ear. Enchanter Gwydion earns an ally with Lord Finndo Medici and Lady Gwidllyn Medici. You have earned two spell or skill points to be placed as desired for earning five or more allies. You have maxed out on this benefit. Spell and skill points must be reclaimed at a guild hall or sanctuary. Additions and notes have been added to your Book of Quests that remain unread.

  Chompers, I mean Cecil, was waiting for me. He pointed with his thumb at a large pile of coin sacks sitting outside the treasure vault.

  “What’s up?” I asked.

  “After today, the Wizard’s guild has decided to make a donation to your ring enchantment magical efforts.”

  I looked at the number of bags; it had to be a fortune. “How much gold is here?” I asked.

  “Not a single coin of it is gold, Patron.” He said with a smile.

  My eyes shot up. “Platinum?”

  “Not a single coin of it is platinum, Patron.” He said with a wider smile.

  “The guild is offering us silver?” I asked, confused.

  “Not a single coin of it is silver, Patron.” He said with an even wider smile.

  I looked at the twinkle in his eyes and then at all the bags. “They filled these bags with copper?” I asked, feeling like the coin options had grown pretty thin without the rarely used hybrid coins, which would have currency value, but I would not bother to separate out their metals.

  “Correct on your fourth guess.” He said, laughing.

  There were many dozens of bags. “How many coins?” I asked in wonder.

  “No idea. Wizard Simplus, our guild hall administrator, refused to count them. He had the apprentices cleaning the copper pieces off his desk and atrium floor for hours.”

  I just stared at him. “Okay, there is a story here.”

  “There is indeed.” He said and explained what had happened in the Keeper’s Games today and that the prize winnings that Klondike earned got sent to the Wizard’s Guild, by way of the often patronizing and difficult Wizard Simplus’s administrative desk in the atrium.

  “I would have liked to see his expression when the coins came pouring out of the air,” I said.

  “There was one witness, a young apprentice who is the most popular wizard in the guild hall, retelling his story over and over again. He charges a copper piece to tell it.”

  We both laughed.

  “Ask him to stop by the shoppe. He will earn his copper piece and a pie or a dozen cookies of his choice.” I offered.

  He agreed to pass that along.

  I stared at the huge pile of bags. “Well, there is no way Daniel will let this get deposited in the vault until it is counted,” I said.

  Cecil’s big, toothy grin spread even wider. “He comes in for the next shift, and I get to be the one to tell him.”

  I shook my head. “For a wizard, you have a bit of an unnatural prankster quality in you.”

  “So they keep telling me.” He waved as he moved over to where he had pulled up a chair next to the bags. “Good night, Patron. Dream copper dreams tonight. I know Daniel will.”

  I chuckled as I walked up the stairs to my rooms. But the weight of the day began to wear on me. I asked Bella to have the late shift leads prepare team reports for me by 5am so I had some new news to share at the Duke’s briefing.

  Should we keep the 7 am meeting as planned? She asked.

  Yes. But I think we will need to make yet more changes to the structure, given what we learned today. Have each be ready for suggestions for changes, as well as their minute updates. Stress that anything is on the table, even if it means a complete rework.

  Understood. She paused for a long moment, but I still sensed her. Finally, she said, I am proud of you. And she left me to wander to my rooms and drop off to bed. I did not even bother to change. I took off my boots and just fell on the bed. I was asleep in moments.