Chapter 91 — The Benefits of Backing and Connections

Ria spun and swatted down another crossbow quarrel with the flat of her dagger as she, Miela, and Ranger ducked into an intersecting side alley with laundry hanging on lines between the buildings.

As ridiculous as it was, not only had there been more thugs hidden in the alleys, but whoever was targeting her had even gone to the trouble to place crossbowmen on the roofs and balconies of the buildings around the ambush area. Just how badly did someone want her dead? Just how many people were involved?!

Should she feel flattered that her enemy considered her that important or that dangerous?

Rather, the annoyance and inconvenience of it all—and that they even dared—had her seed flaring with the need to mete out her justice.

A curse from Miela and sudden halt to their mad dash drew Ria’s attention from monitoring for attacks with the Sensing Sphere spell and toward the alleyway’s far entrance where a robed man and several competent-seeming cloaked figures were rushing into the alley from a largish but unremarkable enclosed coach.

Ranger smelled armor and weapons under their cloaks.

Miela’s eyes were darting to the doors of the rear store entries and homes around them. Escape through the buildings to get back to a main road? Was that what she was thinking?

“Wuff?” Ranger queried and sent her a memory of the man in robes ahead of them.

From the temple of Ellnys?

Ria blinked. It was.

Was he waving to get their attention? Motioning for them to hurry up?

Had High Priestess Elora sent help?

“They might be here for us,” Ria breathed out.

Meila seemed on the verge of saying something sarcastic, but daring to believe, Ria grabbed Miela’s hand and ran toward them.

“Quick, into the carriage!” the robed priest quietly urged once they were close enough.

One of the cloaked group, a man, held the coach door open, and the robed man and a man and woman followed behind Ria and her group into the coach, which started moving before they had all found seats. Ranger’s head swiveled from window to window, nostrils flaring as he stayed alert.

“Saintess Ria, we haven’t been formally introduced, but I am Renner, a priest of Ellnys currently assigned to your protection,” the priest explained. “Where should we be taking you?”

Saintess? Ria’s eyebrows couldn’t raise any higher. Miela eyed her with her own questioning eyebrow, but what could be said?

She would deal with that later, the priest was waiting on her answer. Should she change her plans? She was still having difficulty processing the events that had just happened, and retreating to safety was the sensible choice. She knew it was, even if her pride hated the idea.

But on the other hand, if her enemies had reached the point of directly attacking her, she couldn’t afford to waste a chance to gain the protection of another powerful ally—a powerful ally she could make use of in retaliating against those who had targeted her. Besides, if that lightning mage was an example of the Ravelle’s power, where could be safer than a Revelle estate? They were already most of the way there. Continuing just made sense.

Her determination settled, she decided. “Lord Rente Ravelle’s estate please.”

The priest, Renner, nodded and relayed the instructions to the driver through the window behind him.

While the priest was busy, the hooded man beside him addressed Ria, “Guess we should probably introduce ourselves. I’m Lorthe, leader of the Skulking Shadows. We’re adventurer’s under contract by the Temple of Ellnys.” He gestured to the woman beside him guarding the door, her eyes actively tracking for threats. “This is Lendra.”

The woman nodded in Ria’s direction, gaze not leaving her duty. She was a shadow mage judging by her aura and focus tool.

“Armand, and Certi, Tauffe,” he continued, directing her attention to the three adventurers still outside the now quietly trundling coach—the driver whose dark-hair-framed roguish face and all-too-smooth smile had been visible while discussing their destination with the priest through the front window, a crossbow woman with a wind aura on the driver’s bench beside him, and a burly tough clinging to the footman’s ledge, his bulk obstructing a fair amount of the rear window's view.

“We sent Jeffers to follow you, but the entrance to the alley you entered was barriered-off before he could get there.”

Ria scrunched her forehead. How had she not noticed a barrier going up behind her? And following her and ‘saintess’-stuff aside, there was something else suspicious about these too-convenient adventurers. “How did you know where we’d come out?”

“Brother Renner was able to perform a divination on the Vorshan maid,” the adventurer admitted to a narrowing of eyes from said maid.

Brother Renner nodded confirmation and shrugged helplessly. “It was a bit of a rushed effort, but Ellnys favored us. The important thing is that you are safe, Saintess.”

“It was good that we split up today’s watch duty,” Lorthe agreed. “Whoever your attackers were, they not only caused or staged the accident, but had agents positioned to obstruct anyone from moving to assist you. Jeffers found the ‘anchor stones’ for the barrier among the spilled ore, but they were surprisingly powerful, and he couldn’t figure out how to disable them without causing a dangerous explosion.”

“Whoever it was knew she would be there,” Lendra pointed out. "Whether through adjacent divination such as we did or otherwise."

That thought of 'otherwise' caused Ria’s chest to tighten. Other than her friends at the Vorshan Estate, only Leriah and her father knew where she was headed. Could House Ravelle have targeted her? Possibly also arranged the lightning mage who saved her—so she would be in their debt?

Would they really go that far? People died…

The image of the man Miela stabbed with such ease flitted through her mind alongside the rockshot spells likely intended to kill her. Would Leriah’s father really be fine with her dying after all his effort to bring her into his faction?

Could someone be trying to frame the Ravelles? Or not want her to improve her relationship with them?

It seemed too much.

“So far, not seeing any pursuit,” Lendra reported as they rolled up to a large iron-and-stone-fenced estate with Ravelle-liveried guards outside a closed entry gate. Ranger quietly whuffed his agreement with the woman’s assessment.

“Your business here?” one of the guards asked the driver dubiously, eyeing the group of adventurers and the enclosed unmarked coach.

“Milady is attending an event inside,” Miela spoke up, her voice carrying to the guard from the coach’s open windows.

The guard who spoke approached the coach window. “Invitation?”

Ria passed the invitation to Miela to hand to the guard, and after briefly looking at it, he handed it back. “Please wait here. The gate mage will be with you shortly.”

The guard returned to his post and said something to one of the guards inside, who disappeared into the gatehouse.

Was such normal? Or were they delaying on purpose to keep her exposed on the street?

A glance in Miela’s direction showed Keira’s maid making a distinctly unhappy face.

Before she could worry further, the gatehouse’s door opened and a well-groomed and robed man mantled in the Order of Oduron’s Oath exited the door and approached the coach.

The mage spoke and held up a ball of vaguely pink crystal to the window, “Young miss, I apologize for the inconvenience, but the lord is a person of public importance, and after a prior incident, it has become necessary for us to magically verify visitors’ identities. Could you remove or deactivate any divination obstructing tools or magics and place your hand on this crystal ball?”

Ria hesitated.

“So, that’s how they knew…,” she heard Renner mumble under his breath. When he saw her inquiring gaze, he shook his head and motioned for her to continue. “Changing the future will not change what has already happened. You’ve already faced the consequences for this, so might as well. The sooner we can get you inside, the better.”

She tilted her head in confusion. What did any of that mean?

“Mistress, we should hurry,” Miela also prompted.

With a huff, Ria did as asked, removing her ring and placing her hand on the crystal.

“The young miss is expected,” the mage confirmed after a short moment spent gazing into the crystal, after which he glanced at her companions and grimaced slightly. “There is a possible problem though. The young miss’ maid and coach driver are fine, but accommodating the entry of other guards and other attendants without the say of the lord…”

Though she tried to keep a neutral expression as she put her ring back on and the man trailed off meaningfully, she couldn’t help frowning. The priest and Miela were right that any further delay was putting her at increased risk from her attackers, but if the Ravelle really did want her dead, she’d be stupid to leave her guards behind.

As if guessing her thoughts, Miela leaned close, whispering in her ear, “It’s for the best. Bringing this many guards with us to a tea party would be seen as exceptionally rude. It shows a lack of trust.”

Ria mentally groaned at her almost-blunder. Insulting the hosts when attending an apology lunch was a terrible look!

She took a deep breath and nodded to Lendra and Lorthe and the priest. “I should be fine. This is the estate of one of the academy’s administrators.”

Priest Renner opened his mouth to reply, but shadows of winged beasts suddenly passing caused Ria to snap her gaze to the coach’s window and resummon her wand.

“Gryphon Knights from the castle,” Lendra reported, shielding her eyes with her hand as she leaned out the window. “On their way to investigate the disturbance, no doubt.”

“Worry not. We’ll be watching the estate perimeter and will escort you afterward,” Priest Renner assured her, adding, “Returning to Vorshan Estate might not be advisable, but we can discuss that later.”

“Have fun,” the roguish adventurer, Armand, offered with a wink as he drove off to take the coach to the stables and carriage house, leaving Ria, Ranger, and Miela standing in the manor’s roundabout opposite the manor’s crisply-attired butler and a young maid that didn’t look that much older than Ana.

How was that an appropriate farewell after she had just fought for her life and killed people?

Ria would have stared after the adventurer incredulously if not for a quiet cough from Miela.

“This way, young miss,” the butler directed and let them into the manor’s fancy foyer with marble pillars and floors that reflected the view of the ornate chandelier lighting the open space. “Does the miss require freshening up? Raselle, here, can see to that if you’d like. I can also take your cloaks or anything else you would like held for you.”

The condition of her slippers wasn’t readily visible beneath her skirts, but could probably do with some tending to. Who knew what she stepped in?

“Thank you, I’d appreciate that,” Ria replied but held up a hand. “There’s no need to bother about the cloak.”

They were still close enough to the academy that sending her cloak to her tower vault through the key worked fine, and she reluctantly did so after reminding herself that she could just as easily resummon it this way.

“Is that Ria?” a familiar voice called, soon followed by the appearance of Administrator Rente from a nearby archway, his familiar actinic smell preceding him. “It’s good you could come! You have my thanks.”

Ria bowed politely to the administrator. “I am thankful for the opportunity.”

Interestingly, Ria noted that Miela didn’t bow, just stayed silently behind her. Lady Janacythe had mentioned that servants weren’t expected to do so unless directly addressed and for her to be careful to not inconvenience the servants by acknowledging them unless she needed something. It was her first time actually noting the etiquette difference practiced.

“There’s no need to be so nervous, Ria,” Administrator Rente assured with a chuckle. “Leriah has promised me she will accept your apology, and I had a little talk with her about your situation. I’m sure it will go well.”

Huh?

Ria caught herself tilting her head in confusion, and covered with an agreeing nod and polite smile. “Thank you, Administrator. Leriah received my debut invitation with grace, and I have some confidence in the gift I’ve sourced, so I too am optimistic.”

She was pretty sure she had performed the bow correctly… Was it something else in her manner that made him think she was feeling uneasy?

“Oh? If it’s not that, then…” His gaze went to Ranger, who was still on alert, looking from archway to archway, ears twitching, and he frowned. “Did something happen that I should know about?”

Ria narrowed her eyes. If he was pretending not to know, he was doing a good job of it. Though even if his House was involved, she supposed that it was possible that his branch might not have been involved. Now that she thought about it, competing factions within a House were probably just as likely to act to impede another branch’s rise as an enemy House would—if not more so.

Telling him might also be a chance to learn the identity of the mage that saved her.

“I’m not sure I want Leriah to know, but I… came under attack on the way here,” Ria admitted.

Administrator Rente’s eyebrows rose in surprise and then fell with a nod of understanding. “That would explain why your grasp on the air around you is giving off the feeling of a snake coiled to strike. You’re worried that someone with knowledge of where you were going might have been involved. Hmm… I’ll have to look into that just in case. You have my word.”

Ria started to nod in thanks then blinked as she parsed what he said.

The air around her?

Ah-!

She was indeed unconsciously seizing the energy in the air around her. With two calming breaths, she relaxed her tension enough to withdraw her control of the surroundings.

“My apology, Lord Rente. I’m still a bit shaken by the narrow escape.”

He waved her apology off. “No, no. That’s to be expected. If it’s not too much, can you describe the attack in detail?”

“I can,” Ria agreed and readily described the events, only glossing over Miela’s method for killing some of the attackers. He did cast some curious glances Miela’s way, which the maid responded to with a deep bow, but kept her silence as she wasn’t directly addressed.

“You said this master of lightning magic was young? Academy-aged?”

Ria nodded and offered, “Or a recent graduate, maybe?”

Administrator Rente’s brows creased. “Pure white hair and lightning-traced eyes?”

Ria nodded again.

Leriah’s father’s brows creased further. “There hasn’t been anyone in the recent generation who has inherited the bloodline so strongly. No name was given?”

Ria shook her head. “None.”

“Curious.”

After looking into the distance and rubbing his meticulously trimmed villain’s beard for a measure or two, the dark-haired Ravelle man nodded to himself and returned his attention to Ria.

“Such brazen use of dangerous magics within the city walls is deeply concerning. I’ll arrange guards and a master mage to accompany you when you continue your day, until then, why don’t you avail yourself of our hospitality as planned. Leriah and her friends are in the east garden, just down the hallway. Raselle can show you the way.”

Friends?

All of Ria’s self-control and practice with Lady Janacythe was required to keep from frowning, but the administrator was already heading toward one of the archways and motioning to his butler to follow. “Come with me, Horanci. There is much to get started on.”

Ria turned her attention to the girl patiently waiting with an awkward but not insincere smile.

Had she stepped from one sort of ambush into another?

The island of calm that was Lord Rente’s estate still felt jarring against Ria’s nerves and senses that were primed by the violence just a few measures of sand earlier. Closing her eyes for a moment to briefly work her Soulkeeper calming technique, she put on her best smile and welcoming facade and kindly motioned for Raselle to lead on. Regardless of what was going on outside, she had things that needed to be done here and now, and even if this current task was another battle on enemy ground, this one at least, she had prepared for.