5 – Sponsor

  When Ward finally returned to his room, ready for a good night’s sleep, he braced himself for a barrage of questions from Grace. To his surprise, though, her first concern had nothing to do with this duel, his close call with his wolfen alter ego, or the new spell he’d acquired. She met him inside the door, wringing her hands, and asked, “Where’s Haley?”

  “Huh?”

  “She didn’t talk to you after the duel or come over to the bar with you and your drunken new friend. She didn’t join you for dinner! Aren’t you worried?”

  “I saw her talking to that guy, and she gave me a thumbs up. We’re on a ship in space, Grace; she can’t have gone far.” Ward sighed, hung his sword belt by the door, and stripped off his blood-stained shirt. It was hard to believe he’d spent the afternoon and evening in it, but he supposed whiskey and good company could make up for a bit of discomfort. It had been good company, too. Trent Roy had proven to be a pretty damn interesting guy, and he and True had swapped many stories that had entertained Ward for hours.

  “Ward, it’s a big ship! What if he had ill intentions? What if he put something in her drink? What if—”

  “Seriously? Haley would beat the ever-living shit out of someone who even tried to get a little handsy with her. Think about who—”

  “She’s tough, but she’s also innocent. You know I’m right!”

  “Ah, jeez, Grace. All right, let me change my clothes, then I’ll go look around.” Ward locked up his grimoire, then threw his cut, blood-stained clothes in a pile. He pulled on some clean trousers and a shirt, stuffed his feet back into his boots, and returned to the hallway. The first stop on his little missing person search was the next door over. He knocked on it several times, but neither True nor Haley responded.

  “True was still drinking when you went to your room.”

  Ward looked at Grace, then up and down the empty hallway. “Out in the open, huh?”

  “I’ll hide if someone comes.” She shrugged and smiled, but Ward could see the worry in her eyes.

  “Relax. She’s fine; I’m sure of it.” With a heavy sigh, Ward stomped down the carpeted hallway toward the stairs. “She’s probably in one of the dining rooms.” He wanted to say she might have gone to the young man’s room with him, but he didn’t really believe it. Haley was, as Grace said, relatively innocent. She wouldn’t go back to a stranger’s room after just meeting him. He wandered the halls, going from gallery to gallery, and when he didn’t find her on the main deck, he moved up to the entertainment deck, which was situated above the guest cabins.

  He peered into the theater, scanning the seats for signs of Haley’s dark hair and pale skin. When he didn’t see her, he looked into the first dining hall and immediately felt a wash of relief when he saw her sitting on the far side, near a tall bank of windows, with the same young man from earlier. “There she is. Told you,” he said to the empty air, knowing Grace would hear him. He almost left, not wanting to interrupt her dinner, but Haley spotted him peering through the arched opening and waved him over.

  When he approached the table, the stranger stood, and Haley said, “Ward! This is Lexington Fitzwallace.”

  “A pleasure, sir!” The young man stretched out a hand, and Ward shook it, smiling at the firm grip. “Please just call me ‘Fitz,’ sir.”

  “Fitz? Well, good to meet you.” Ward looked at Haley, “I was just wandering around. Didn’t mean to interrupt.”

  “Nonsense, sir!” Fitz said, pulling a chair from a neighboring table. “Join us, please!”

  “Ward, Fitz is interested in sponsoring us.”

  “Huh?” Ward stepped out of the way as Fitz pushed the chair toward the center of the table.

  “For challenges!” Haley sat down, and Ward saw she had a half-empty pint of beer near her empty plate. He wondered how long they’d been drinking.

  Ward stood near the chair but didn’t sit. He looked at Fitz, noting his neat mustache and clear, gray eyes. He didn’t look like a con artist, but Ward was inherently suspicious, and doubly so when it came to people offering to help strangers. “Why would we need a sponsor?”

  “Well, sir, on Primus, not everyone can enter the challenges. You have to apply for access, and it's a lengthy, expensive process.” He nodded toward the chair. “Won’t you sit with us a while? I’d be happy to explain.”

  Ward sighed but acquiesced, sitting down. He was tired, and the buzz of his drinking had long since worn off, to be replaced by a dull ache behind his eyes and a dry mouth. “Honestly, we aren’t exactly going to Primus to find challenges. We’re going for business—Assembly business. I’m sure Haley told you that much?”

  “Naturally, sir—”

  “Just ‘Ward’ is fine.”

  “Ah, of course, Ward. Thank you.” Fitz smiled, perhaps a little uneasily, at Ward’s gruffness, and it wasn’t lost on Ward that Haley was scowling at him. Was he being unfair? “Well, as to your question, yes, Miss Haley did inform me of your summons to Primus. What a stroke of luck! You’ll clear the Gatekeepers with ease, which means that you’ll be in a position to seize opportunities that will make you the envy of millions of Vainglory citizens on the far-flung worlds.”

  “Fitz is a Primus citizen, Ward. His family holds property near the capital city,” Haley added.

  “Yeah?” Ward didn’t want to say what he was thinking. As far as he was concerned, Fitz was probably a spoiled little shit, and he was trying to impress Haley with his wealth and the “opportunities” he could open up for her with his connections. He didn’t say that, though, because he’d learned plenty of times that first impressions were often wrong, and he also knew that he was woefully ignorant about how things worked on Primus. Maybe “sponsoring” was really a thing.

  “That’s right, sir. I’ve been on a bit of a tour—finding myself, as they say. Rather an embarrassing turn of phrase, I know, but it is what it is. I won’t deny my privilege; my family’s wealth has afforded me opportunities at a young age that many people would work all of their lives to experience. That doesn’t mean I don’t have responsibilities, one of which was to return with a plan for my future. My father won’t be very welcoming if I don’t have something to present to him.”

  “And you see Haley and me as part of that?”

  “Well, yes, but not just you two. I intend to put together an adventuring company, and, before you ask, this idea didn’t just come to me when I met this talented and altogether striking young woman.” Fitz smiled at Haley, and Ward wanted to say it was a smarmy expression, but it wasn’t; he looked genuinely pleasant, and the admiration in his eyes was evident. “No, on my travels, I met many a challenger. Some I met before they entered, and others I met in taverns, on practice fields, and even on academic grounds after they’d completed their feats of adventure.”

  Ward was beginning to feel his interest piqued, and somewhere in the back of his mind, he must have made the decision to hear the guy out. “Yeah?” he grunted again.

  “Indeed. I was fascinated by the mettle of those men and women, just as I’m fascinated by Haley and, indeed, yourself. What a different quality of character you have from the social elites I’ve come to know—the rich and privileged that make up my circles of society! Sure, my father is a crafty businessman and cutthroat at that! Even so, he’d quake at some of the tales I’ve heard. I’ll say, Ward, your duel earlier today cemented my desire to get to know you. I was thrilled when Miss Haley, here, told me you two were heading to Primus.”

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  “So…” Ward paused and looked around, trying to find a waiter. When he caught a young man’s eye, he waved him over. “Hope you don’t mind; I need something to drink.”

  Fitz shook his head emphatically. “Not at all! I should have offered!”

  Haley pushed her half-drunk beer toward him, and Ward shook his head. “No, I mean water. I’ve had enough booze today.”

  “How about some dessert?” she asked.

  “Yeah,” he nodded. “I could go for that.”

  Haley smiled and looked at Fitz. “He’s always hungry.”

  “Ahh!” Fitz nodded, and he gave Haley a look that made Ward think she’d been talking about him a little more than maybe she should have been. The waiter came, they ordered some pastries and a pitcher of water for Ward, and then Fitz cleared his throat and looked at him. “You were going to ask something?”

  “Yeah, tell me more about Primus. Why is it so hard to get through the Gatekeepers? Why are the challenges so exclusive, and are there other ‘adventuring companies?’ How many other adventurers have you recruited?”

  “Ah, a man who cuts right through to the point. I appreciate that. Let’s see, I’ll start with Primus. I suppose, if you’re clever at all—and I think you are—then you’ll have discerned that there’s a bit of a class system on the Vainglory capital. More than that, it extends to the other worlds in that the rich and powerful on Primus regulate who can come and go. They keep the population where they like it, and they keep the ratio of haves and have-nots just as closely controlled. Obviously, I can’t complain; I’ve benefited from this arrangement, directly and indirectly. My family is wealthy because of things my ancestors did, not by any genius of mine or my father’s or even his father’s.”

  Ward stifled a yawn, and Haley kicked him under the table. Grumbling, throwing her a frown, he said, “Listen, Fitz, I know how classism works. What else can you tell me?”

  “Pardon, Ward. You did ask me to tell you more about Primus. I apologize if my introduction was banal. Suffice it to say that the cities are quite populous, and very little countryside is not owned by one wealthy family or another. The challenges are likewise claimed by members of the nobility, and they closely regulate entrants. I’m sure you can find how the rest of the puzzle pieces fit.” He sounded a little peeved, and Ward decided to try to be a little more pleasant, for Haley’s sake if not Fitz’s.

  “Sorry if I was short with you, Fitz. It’s been a long day. Explain to me, then, how the Assembly fits into all this. I had in my mind a more egalitarian system when I first learned about the Assembly and their traveling marshals.”

  “Oh, the noblefolk of Primus make up the Assembly, Ward. Of course, they have rules to follow, and ostensibly, they provide important governance—they establish laws, fund courts and judges, and, as you mentioned, law enforcement agents. They aren’t above corruption, however. Assembly members are people, after all, and we all know that people are fallible.”

  Ward nodded, smiling at the waitress as she delivered a tray of small pastry bites to their table. He put one into his mouth, chewed the doughy, sugary treat for several seconds, and then washed it down with a gulp of water. “And the Gatekeepers? They serve the Assembly?”

  “Well, yes. Look, Ward, I know I’m jaded, and I can see you have your own opinion of things, but I’ll be fair enough to say that if the Assembly didn’t regulate the population of Primus, the world would be overwhelmed. Are you familiar with the other worlds of the Vainglory System?”

  “Only Cinder, and the others by name.”

  “Well, you should know that conditions from world to world differ vastly. Springsea is an enormous world, but most of it is covered with water. A few island nations exist, but the vast majority of the population lives on artificial islands crafted from the trunks of the great kelp forests. Even so, there are twice as many people on Springsea alone than live on Primus. If half the population fled, seeking a life away from water, Primus would suffer famines. That’s only one world. You’re aware of the transient wall of fire on Cinder, yes? How many people would flee that situation if given the opportunity?”

  Ward snorted. “So Primus locks the doors to keep people from dreaming of escape?”

  “Essentially, yes. Each of the other six worlds has a less-than-ideal situation that would make Primus an attractive destination.”

  Haley frowned, swallowing a bite of dessert. She cleared her throat, getting their attention before asking, “What about Brighthome? I thought it was considered a paradise.”

  “Oh, Glass City is beautiful, and it shields the population from the sun’s harsh rays, but most people don’t live there—there isn’t enough room. No, millions make their homes in vast underground caverns. Even so, there are wonders to be seen in that underground world. I could go on—”

  “Why don’t they make more glass cities?” Haley interjected.

  “I’m sure ‘they’ would if they could,” Fitz chuckled. “That city is leftover from the ancients, just like the catacombs.”

  “Oh.” Haley looked down, and Ward felt sorry for her because her unnaturally pale flesh made her blush all too evident.

  Fitz must have noticed, too, for he was quick to add, “Few people on the far-flung worlds would know that much, Haley. There aren’t many academies on Cinder, and those few focus more on practical matters than the nuanced history of the various worlds. I’m impressed that you knew of Glass City at all.”

  Haley’s lips curled up, and she almost nervously reached for another pastry. It was clear to Ward that she had a crush on Fitz. He was a nice guy and pleasant-looking, Ward supposed, but he still didn’t trust him. “You haven’t answered my other question, Fitz.”

  “What was that, good sir?”

  “How many adventurers have you recruited?”

  “Ah, yes, of course. Well, to be honest, you’d be my first. I hadn’t planned to begin recruiting until I returned home. What would be the use of finding great challengers on the far-flung worlds only to have them denied entry by the Gatekeepers? When Haley told me that the Assembly summoned you, however…” He trailed off, shrugging, as he, too, partook in the dessert.

  “We can think about it, at least! Right, Ward?” Haley nudged his shin with her toe, gently this time.

  “Yeah, sure. I’ll give it some thought. I’ll want to get my feet on the ground and see the lay of the land, so to speak, but I’ll keep an open mind.”

  Fitz swallowed, cleared his throat, and nodded. “I assume the decision will be yours, yes? In that case—”

  “No.” Ward thumped his fist on the table, interrupting him. “Haley and I are partners. We’ll make the decision together.”

  Fitz smiled, holding up his hands, palms out. “Apologies! That’s excellent news. We’ve three weeks or so left to travel together. I’m sure we’ll become fast friends before we set down on Primus.” He pushed his chair back and stood. “I think, however, that I’ve more than overstayed my welcome, talking poor Haley’s ear off about my travels.” He performed a perfunctory bow and, with a smile, added, “Until tomorrow, Miss Haley, and good sir.”

  Haley didn’t stand but looked at Ward with an arched eyebrow. He sighed, set his napkin on the table, and stood, offering Fitz his hand. “Talk to you soon.”

  “Goodbye, Fitz! Thank you for the company today,” Haley added.

  The young man waved and walked away, perhaps a little stiffly, and Ward sat down again. “Sorry if I intruded.”

  Haley blushed again. “I called you over!”

  Ward chuckled and had the good grace to look away and pretend he didn’t notice. He gulped down the rest of his water, then said, “So, I get you like the guy and think it sounds like a good idea, but we don’t know jack or squat about Primus. Let’s not commit to anything yet, all right? I’d like to see what True has to say about it. She’s been to Primus before, you know.”

  “Yes, of course. She trained at the Citadel.”

  “You know,” Ward added, “this all might be a moot point.”

  Haley scooted closer, shifting in her seat and leaning an elbow on the table. He could tell she was uncomfortable, and he didn’t blame her; she’d been sitting around talking to that guy for hours. “What do you mean?” she asked.

  “Well, the Gatekeepers might let us through because the Assembly summoned us, but that doesn’t mean they’ll let us stay. We might testify one day and then get kicked off-world the next.”

  Haley frowned but slowly nodded. “I suppose that’s true. It’s a little embarrassing to admit, but I had a story playing through my mind about what would happen when we got there.” She stifled a yawn and shook her head a little ruefully

  Ward grinned, leaning closer. “Wanna tell me about it?”

  “Promise you won’t tease me?”

  “Well, I can’t promise that! What fun would we have, especially once Grace starts showing her face around us more often?”

  “You know what I mean!” She idly pushed a half-eaten pastry around on her little plate. “Anyway, I kept imagining the Assembly would want you to train at the Citadel—you know, to be a marshal. And I thought they might want me to go too since we work so well together.” She looked up, her cheeks red, and Ward laughed, shaking his head.

  “Don’t be so embarrassed! That’s a neat dream, especially for someone who grew up reading about marshals going around the system, solving crimes, and generally being heroic. I’m not so sure I’d be willing to do it, but I’d certainly talk to you if the opportunity came up.”

  “Well, after talking to Fitz today, let’s just say that there are a lot more dreams going through my mind. There are so many opportunities on Primus, Ward! He says there are many Gopah masters—true masters of all the forms. He says the Scriptorium Aeternum—a great library in Primus—has more books inside its walls than every other library in the entire system combined. He says—”

  Ward chuckled and held up his hands. “I surrender, Haley. I’ll admit I’m very intrigued and curious about all this stuff, but my head’s spinning. I need to get some sleep—even my stomach’s tired. Let’s head back to our rooms, yeah? We can talk some more tomorrow.”

  She nodded, her eyes bright, even as she stifled another yawn. “Thank you for having an open mind, Ward.”

  “I wasn’t lying, kid. We’re partners.” He held out his hand, thumb up, and she clasped it, squeezing tightly with her always-hot fingers. “Pull me up, would ya?” She stood and heaved, and Ward had some fun resisting her for a minute, and when he finally relented and let her pull him to his feet, red-faced and laughing, he threw his arm over her shoulders, and together, they walked back to their rooms, another day on the living ship done.