The Deceiver's Path - Chapter 143 - Cold Wings and Warm Barns (Patreon)

Piper leaned back from the cow and shifted her feet to avoid kicking the wooden bucket that was nearly overflowing with milk. A strong wind rustled through the barn’s thatched roof and nearly drowned out the gentle lowing of the animals.

Another snowstorm had arrived at the villa.

Over the last two days, the mood had grown progressively darker among the Silver Hippogriffs. She’d heard that even with the help of the surviving weather mages it was becoming nearly impossible to keep the road open to Helidros. It didn’t help that the mages had to be accompanied by powerful groups in case the redcaps struck again.

But luckily, there had been no sightings of the raiding party since Piper had tangled with them. And more importantly, no one had stumbled upon the body of Gretch, whom she had buried in the snow.

The weather wasn’t the only thing dragging down the mood at the villa. Since the poisoning, the high-ranking guild members had been conducting room-to-room searches. So far, they hadn’t discovered who had poisoned the food. Or if they had, then they hadn’t bothered announcing it to the aspirants.

However, she had a feeling that when the guild finally caught the person who had poisoned them, they’d announce it from the rooftops. And that same person would probably be swinging from a rope not long afterward.

This world wasn’t big on due process.

Wiping her brow with the sleeve of her dress, she bent forward to continue milking the cow. Everyone she knew thought she was crazy to help on the farm, but doing this kind of work always made her happy. Truthfully, it reminded her of better times back on the farm.

Piper placed a fresh bucket under the udder and then continued with her work. A short time later, she finished and rose from the stool. She squeezed her aching fingers together and then stretched to the side. This was the last cow she needed to milk, and her back ached from sitting in an awkward position.

A whoop from further down in the barn indicated a worker had gained a level. She shook her head at the thought of someone leveling up from milking a cow. Sometimes, she felt like the Holy System was too hard on combat classes.

I wish I could gain levels sitting inside a warm barn without risking my life.

Shrugging her shoulders, she walked over to the end of the barn and deposited her full buckets on the floor. An older woman, with grey hair spilling out of her bonnet, smiled her thanks.

Piper turned around and surveyed the room. All the milking should be done, which left feeding the animals, mucking out the stalls, and sweeping the floor. She decided she would head over to the other barn and retrieve some hay for the cows.

Wrapping her thick cloak tightly around herself, she headed for the door leading outside. She pushed it open and stepped outside into a blustering snowstorm. The wind assailed her with surprising force, making her slide back half a pace on the icy ground.

After bracing herself against the gale, she trudged through the fresh snow toward the other barn. A stable hand she recognized, named Georgios, was headed in the same direction. He reached the door first and opened it for her. She slipped inside, and the young man followed a moment later.

Georgios pulled off his cap and slapped it against his thigh to knock off some of the snow. He grinned at her, his eyes lighting up. “Glad to see you here today, Piper. We all feel safer with you around.”

Piper arched her eyebrow at the young man’s words. “Why wouldn’t you feel safe?”

His grin faded slightly. “You know, with all the poisonings and dark rumours about an undead attack.”

“Undead attack?” Piper felt her alarm rising. “Where did you hear that?”

Georgios shrugged. “Why else would they be summoning a storm like this one? As my ma used to say, the dead come on cold wings. Mark my words, they’re going to try to take the villa and the town while we’re cut off from the outside world.”

“I promise that I’ll keep you all safe,” Piper said, doing her best to reassure him.

“I didn’t doubt it. You know, you’re not like the others.”

“I’m not?”

“You know, all stuck up and stuff. The rest of the guild members all look down on us, but you help every chance you get. Don’t even want no money.”

“I think I told you I grew up on a farm. I enjoy this kind of work.”

“The rest of us are having a dance next week…” The young man trailed off for a moment before continuing. “Would you like to accompany me?”

Piper froze mid-step on her way to the pile of hay. She turned around and examined the young man. His dark hair stuck up after removing his cap, and his round face made him look younger than he was. But he wasn’t bad-looking.

Is he asking me out on a date?

As the silence dragged on, the young man's face crumpled. Her heart nearly broke at the sight, and she quickly said, “I’d love to accompany you!”

The relief was palpable on Georgios’ face, and she fervently hoped that this didn’t mean they were betrothed or something. But after the recent events, she needed something where she could blow off some steam. And a dance would be perfect for that.

“Would it be alright if I invited my friends?”

“I suppose… no nobles, though.”

Piper laughed. “I wouldn’t want them there either. I just meant my sister and maybe my groupmate.”

Georgios smiled again and ran a hand through his hair. “In that case, they’re more than welcome. Your groupmate is Zenos, right? He seems like a good fellow.”

Piper picked up a pitchfork and positioned a handcart near a pile of hay. Then she set about spearing the hay and placing it on the cart. “Do you have many dances here?”

“Not really.” Georgios picked up a pitchfork of his own and set about helping her load the hay. “There’s too much work the rest of the year to have time for a dance. But in winter we’ve got idle hands. Why not throw a dance with good drinks and music? A few of us are half-decent musicians and singers. I play a mean lute myself.”

“You do?” She placed the end of the pitchfork against the ground and leaned on it. “Why aren’t you playing in a tavern then?”

“That’s not the life for me,” he said. “Travelling around, practically begging for coin and lodging? The Silver Hippogriffs have been good to me. I have a sick mother back in Kalmyros. This way, I can send her money regularly. No way I could do that as a bard.”

“That’s very nice of you,” she said with a smile.

Georgios blushed and rubbed the back of his neck. “I imagine anyone would do the same for their parents.”

“I haven’t seen a lot of kindness like that so far.”

“It’s out there,” he said. “Not with the nobles, mind you. But the common people like us got to look out for each other.”

“I just wish someone looked after aspirants.”

“Yeah. Never liked how they threw the poor to the wolves like that. Guess it solves two problems at once.”

Piper wiped a piece of loose hay from her cheek. “What problems?”

“Thins out the poor and creates powerful adventurers out of the ones who survive.”

“That’s terrible,” she gasped. “Do you think they’re doing it on purpose?”

Georgios gave her a look as if she’d lost her mind. “You never realized that’s what they’re doing? Fewer poor people means fewer mouths that need feeding.”

Piper frowned and recalled her experiences in Kalmyros. She’d always thought that it was cruel indifference that got aspirants killed. But the idea that it was planned to thin out the poor turned her stomach. With each passing day, she liked this empire a little less.

Astaroth was right. It’s time for us to leave this place.

She decided it was time to change the topic. “What do you know about the northern kingdoms?”

“That depends.”

“On what?”

“If you’re going to report me to an inquisitor.”

“I don’t exactly get along with inquisitors.”

The young man chuckled. “Who does? Thank the Emperor we haven’t had one in here in ages. Apparently, an inquisitor came to Helidros about a decade ago. From what I heard, they burned everyone who looked at them wrong. I heard Kalmyros had some problems with one as well recently.”

“They did,” she whispered. “A lot of good people died.”

Georgios looked at her for a moment before continuing. “The northern kingdoms are successor states to the Empire. The way I hear it is that the Arrissian Empire is barely a quarter the size it was a couple of centuries ago.”

“I hadn’t heard that before.”

“The noble types would never admit to it. But we common people have no trouble speaking the truth. Well, at least in private. We still don’t want to get into trouble.”

“What’s it like there?”

“Depends where you go. There are republics, kingdoms, and even an empire, from what I hear. They’re all united in hating our guts, though.”

Piper nodded along with the young man. Anywhere that hated the empire was probably a better place than here. “What about the beastmen?”

“Nasty business, that,” he said. “Mind you, I’ve only heard tales. But after Thronefall, the elves were so angry at what the emperor had done that they twisted the local human provinces into mindless beasts.”

Piper’s eyes grew large. “I thought they were like dogmen and stuff.”

“I wish. My dad told me about them when I was young, mostly to scare me. There’s everything from deer to worms with human faces out west. I’ve heard it said some of them are getting their humanity back, but many are just frenzied killing machines.”

At the revelation of the true nature of beastmen, she couldn’t understand why Astaroth had said to head west. Maybe he’d meant for her to head toward the elves instead of the beastmen.

“The empire is constantly fighting against the beastmen,” Georgie continued, placing another pile of hay in the cart. “The elves filled them with dark magic as well.”

Piper stopped and decided to ask a follow-up question. No one had been able to tell her anything about Thronefall yet, but Georgios seemed well-versed in this world. Perhaps he could finally explain the mystery.

“What do you know about Thronefall?”

The young man shrugged. “The same as you, I imagine. The Undying Emperor fought to save us from the tyranny of the realms, but he was betrayed. Now he, along with the 13 sovereigns, lies trapped between life and death in the Imperial Palace in Ariss.”

“Wait… who betrayed him?

Georgios frowned. “You’re not from around here, are you?”

She smiled. “Didn’t my hair tip you off? I’m from the Bloodveil Empire.”

“I should have known.” He shook his head. “They teach all this stuff to us in the temple as children. The story I’ve heard is that three of the dragons refused to help the Undying Emperor save the world from Oros. Because of that, he and the sovereigns were trapped between the realms. At least he slew most of the traitorous dragons in the final battle.”

Piper blinked several times at the information. Apparently, the Emperor had launched a war against the realms, and some of the dragons had assisted him. That meant she probably couldn’t count on support from the other realms if she was ever unmasked.

She opened her mouth to ask a follow-up question when the doors swung open with a bang, sending a blast of wind into the barn. A servant appeared from the blizzard and peered around the room before her eyes alighted on Piper.

Hurrying over, the woman handed Piper a rolled-up piece of parchment. “This is for you.” With that, she turned on her heel and plunged back into the blowing snow.

Piper looked down to see a wax seal with the stylized image of a person juggling three balls. With a look at Georgios, who had stopped piling hay on the cart, she cracked open the seal. Unrolling the paper, she scanned the contents quickly.

Her mouth twitched up into a smile as she read the signature at the bottom. The letter was from Selene. She quickly skimmed the contents, reading over a brief apology for missing her last week, before reading several paragraphs of pleasantries. It wasn’t until the end of the letter that Selene asked Piper to meet her in town next week.

Piper brightened at receiving the invitation from her friend. Once she met up with Selene, they could set out and find the infernal cult. If everything went well, they might even gain some powerful new allies.

All in all, things were shaping up nicely for the next little while. Maybe she could even invite Selene to the dance. She had a feeling this was going to be a very good week—starting with what should be an easy escort quest.