The Royal Cassun staff gathered downstairs. Taisha and Deena recovered the pieces of what they believed was Adelas Esir and stored them in a mana-infused chest for now. Through augury, Aura was able to detect residual mana emanating from the body. Not that Adelas was a mage in life, but that unnatural mana had been coursing through the cadaver.
"I need you to explain to us what you know."
Piper had her eyes cast to the ground. There was a lot she could say but feared what their reaction would be. Having sensed her reservation, Vic put a hand on her head and ruffled her hair.
"You can tell us."
She found comfort in holding Vic's hand and said, "Adelas wasn't my real master. It's true that he owned me, but he served someone else— a necromancer whom we all belonged to."
Aura's face grew dark. "Necromancy was outlawed by the four kingdoms prior to the war. Are you telling me the Republic dabbled in it in spite of the accord?"
Piper nodded. "For as long as I can remember, yes."
"Do you have a name to this degenerate sorcerer?"
"Adelas was always careful not to speak his true name. He did refer to the necromancer as a 'horned bastard.'"
"At the very least we know he is a half-demon."
"I ain't that knowledgeable on necromancy, but putting two and two together means that whoever Adelas served raised him from the dead?"
"Did the body have a wound on the chest where the heart should be?"
Deena thought for a moment. "Yeah."
"Then he must have been. I stabbed him through the heart… and watched him bleed out."
"Oh, come here, my dear." Aura drew Piper into her arms. "Frankly, I am proud of you. Perhaps we can put the body back together for you to stab a second time."
"Let's not do that. We don't know what other enchantments were put into the corpse."
Taisha, who had taken the chest containing Adelas' body as a seat, was deep in thought. She finally lifted her head and asked, "Could this necromancer be in the Royal Cassun right now?"
"Among our guests, only thirteen are half-demons." Aura flipped through the ledger and shrugged. "A rather bold move to come here when he has already sent a thrall."
"Someone had to have strung up those body parts."
Vic's horns were aching again. Something about these circumstances didn't add up. Did the necromancer send Adelas just to spook Piper? He sounded confident in himself when he talked about taking her back.
Wait…
"Adelas spoke to me, but I assume it wasn't him talking?"
"That is correct." Aura had reached the same conclusion. "Adelas is nothing more than a puppet. It must have been the necromancer speaking through him."
"What a time for this to happen. The Adventurer's Guild is arriving tomorrow morning, and we have this to deal with."
"Oh! I cannot wait to see my fledgling band of adventurers again!"
"Piper, until we confirm the necromancer or his thralls are not on the premise I'm going to suspend you from work."
The dark elf's ears dropped. "Okay…"
"We'll find something for you to do down here in the meantime."
"Hang in there, buddy. We'll get this sorted out."
⚔ ⚔ ⚔
The next morning, Vic was giving out orders on how they were to proceed with the arrival of the Adventurer's Guild.
A small portion of the west wing has been partitioned off exclusively for the forty members. Allocating four people to each room maybe cramped, but it should allow the Royal Cassun to continue servicing other incoming patrons.
Aura was overjoyed. The creation of the guild meant several things: The Kingdom of Cassun would finally have a standing army, a stronger buffer zone in case of an invasion, and an organized faction to see to the needs of its fellow citizens. As the crown princess, there was no greater joy than to see her young kingdom prosper.
In order to see that day come, the Adventurer's Guild must exceed expectations. That was why, unbeknownst to the guild members, Aura has planned a trial in secret to test them even further. Not even Vic knows about this plan. It was planned it in secret after all!
"Okay." Vic laid out the last of the bed sheets for the final room. Aura, Taisha, and Deena gathered to listen to her final briefing before they begin the day.
"About forty members of the Adventurer's Guild will be arriving within the hour. Since we will still be operating as usual, prioritize your attention to our paid guests. Our patrons come first, then the guild."
Deena raised her hand. "We're really leaving Piper in the servant's quarters?"
"Yes. I don't want to risk the chance of the necromancer getting his hands on her. This means we need to be extra vigilant."
"If anything were to happen, I hope it happens after the guild leaves." Taisha rubbed her eyes, no doubt exhausted like the rest of them.
"Man, I'd rather nothing happen at all. But that's too much to ask."
"Deena and Aura will take care of the first floor. Aura on the west wing, and Deena on the east."
"Appropriate. Seeing as I am Guildmaster."
The others groaned audibly for her to hear.
"I said, I am the—"
"Continuing… Taisha and I will continue to service the VIP suites."
"Additionally, I shall act as standby for both the west and east wing should either of you need help."
"It may be best to set their dining hours before the other patrons. They are a rowdy bunch, I assure you."
"In that case, I can have Piper help me in food prep. She must be lonely down there."
"There's gotta be more we can do for her."
"It does not sit right with me either. She was just as excited to treat the Guild as we were."
"You mean you, you, and you?"
"Deena, I will take away your gold ingot."
"Don't joke like that… I'm sorry, okay?"
"I do doubt the sincerity of your apology."
"Ladies, enough." Vic clapped her hands to get their attention. "Everyone knows their role. Let's show the Adventurer's Guild a good week, and send them back to Greenwick with something to remember."
"Yes, ma'am!"
⚔ ⚔ ⚔
Vic went downstairs to check on Piper but she was nowhere to be seen. Fortunately, there was no need to panic. She knew her well enough to know where her subordinate had gone.
She grabbed a jacket and went outside to the stables. When she peeked in, Piper was sitting by the dreadsteed egg. Vic watched for a bit, and noticed the dark elf's lips would occasionally rise and fall. A quiet hum filled the otherwise tranquil scene.
"Shirking your duties, Piper?" Vic said, revealing herself.
Piper shot up and stood at attention. "S-s-sorry! I thought—"
"At ease, Piper." Vic took a seat by the egg. "Just now, were you singing to the faol?"
"My mom used to hum to me when I had trouble sleeping."
"I like it."
"I miss her voice."
"My mother used to hum a lullaby to me, too. I'd actually forgotten how the tune went until Father reminded me."
"It's hard to imagine Captain as a baby."
"I used to be young, too. Well, I still am young."
"I'm sorry for sneaking away. I know you don't want me out."
"It's alright. We've finished preparing the rooms for the Adventurer's Guild. Now we're just waiting for their arrival."
"I wish I could meet them, too."
"You will."
"Huh?"
"You'll welcome them alongside us."
"But, I thought you wanted me downstairs?"
"We aren't the Royal Cassun staff without you. Besides, I need you to tease Deena about Itsuki."
"Okay!" Piper giggled to herself and fiddled with her fingers.
Vic leaned her head against the egg to bask in its warmth. "I wonder when it'll hatch. You know a lot about dreadsteeds. How long do you think?"
"A week, give or take a few days."
"So soon?"
"It started kicking. I could feel it through the shell."
"Guess We'll have to come up with a name for it."
"Him. It's a boy."
"How do you know?"
"Just a feeling. Hehe." She couldn't stop fidgeting in her seat. "I think you should sing to it, too!"
"I… me? Why?"
"That way, he'll recognize your voice when it's born. And also… " Piper drew the sweetest smile Vic couldn't resist. "I want to hear your mom's lullaby, too!"
Vic had to look away from Piper. "It… won't be perfect."
"It's fine!"
"If it sounds weird…"
"We'll definitely like it!"
"And who's we?"
"Me… and Valor." Piper said, patting the molten shell.
"Valor, huh. Valor..." Vic savoured the name on her tongue. "Fine. Only for a little bit and it's back to work."
"Yes, ma'am!"
⚔ ⚔ ⚔
The five staff gathered at the south gate ready to receive the Adventurer's Guild.
Taisha leaned into Vic and whispered, "We're having Piper in the open?"
"The more friendly eyes on her the better. If anything were to happen, we could count on the guild's support."
"Clever."
"They have arrived!" Aura exclaimed.
The sound of wood grinding against snow and gravel signaled the arrival of the Adventurer's Guild. Six wagons, each pulled by three horses, were climbing the hill with great effort. Some of the members had hopped off and tried to push the vehicles to no avail. Some of the unlucky ones slipped and slid all the way downhill to make the labourish journey back.
Eventually, the wagons stopped moving altogether. Wheels cracked, horses collapsed, the ones that were still in one piece got stuck in the slush just before the crest.
"This is painful to watch. We're going in to help, Deena."
"Ayo, Captain."
The two of them grabbed ropes from the storage shed and descended to help. They each tied a rope to the wagon and had all the adventurers vacate to lessen the weight and help. One by one, the wagons were finally hauled onto the field for Piper to fix.
Deena went down to help the last one when she saw Itsuki and several other people exiting the wagon. "Hey!! Itsuki!"
Itsuki turned around to meet her, but he didn't wear the same passion the day he first left here. She saw what was clearly a forced smile.
"Deena! Long time no see!"
"Looks like you've been through a lot."
He struggled to find the right words. "It was kind of…"
"You don't gotta say anything. Get inside, get warm, and we'll talk later."
"The laundry room, again?" He finally managed a genuine smile.
Deena raised a fist intended to punch him, instead she hung it in front. Itsuki pounded her fist with his own.
"Non-staff aren't allowed downstairs, dummy."
"You two lovebirds going to help or what?" Vic called out as she tugged on the rope.
"D-damn it, Vic! IT'S NOT LIKE THAT!"
⚔ ⚔ ⚔
Thirty-nine members of the Adventurer's Guild lined up just outside of the Royal Cassun. Some of them were still shaking the frost off, but for the most part the heated grounds were beginning to warm them up. Aura took center stage to address them.
"Greetings, my fledglings! Do you know who I am?"
A resounding shout answered back, "Guildmaster Aurora!"
"Again!"
"Guildmaster Aurora!"
"One more time for Arabor to hear!"
"Guildmaster… Aurora…?" It was a much weaker and confused response.
Deena put a hand to her face. "Could you hurry this up??"
"Ahem. Yes, it is I, your Guildmaster."
Taisha rolled her eyes. "I'm going to freeze."
"I know this is sudden, but from now on I want you to refer to me as Guildmaster Aura instead. Is that understood?"
"Yes, Guildmaster Aura!"
Aura's grin was quivering with joy. "I could get used to this."
"Aura… could you please?" Vic pleaded.
"I would like to introduce to you Proprietress Vic. She and her staff Taisha, Deena, and Piper will be seeing to your comfort during the week's stay. Be good to them, and they shall be good to you."
Vic and the original staff stepped forward and bowed. "Welcome to the Royal Cassun. We hope your stay is warm and full of bliss."