Kaius eyed his surroundings with suspicion, trying to ignore the cloying smell of perfume that lingered in his nose. The doubleted man they’d passed a block ago seemed to have mistaken a vat of concentrated lavender oil for his morning bath.

They were a stone's throw from the central district of Baanswell, a large hill of noble estates and the Duke’s towering palace drowning them in afternoon shade. This close to the city's seat of power, buildings were no longer tightly packed terraces — not even the large, fine ones he’d seen on their route through the borough.

Swathes of nothing but grass and manicured gardens of roses, magnolias, and other shaped brush surrounded the buildings. They were slices of tightly controlled perfection, so different from the psuedo-wild growth he’d seen elsewhere in the city.

Where the hell was Kenva taking them? Half of the buildings looked fancier than Governor Hanrick’s estate in Deadacre — if a fraction of the size. Not to mention it was so quiet. Barely anyone was on the streets, and the few groups they’d passed had spoken so softly you’d think they were standing next to a sleeping bear.

“Are you sure we haven’t taken a wrong turn?” Kaius asked his friend, who was confidently striding ahead of the rest of them.

“I’m sure! It’s right around the next bend,” she replied, pointing to the corner just ahead of them.

He shot Ianmus a worried look. The mage only shrugged.

“They did say it was one of the nicer places in the city — it makes sense that it’s close to the central district if it's catering to the wealthy and well connected.”

“Not one of — the nicest. Everyone we talked to was quite clear about that,” Porkchop corrected while he peered at their surroundings in curiosity.

A suspicion started to grow in Kaius’s belly — he might have underestimated how much it was going to cost them to stay at the Ruby Crown.

It couldn’t be that much, right? Even with the location, there still had to be a limit to how fancy a place could get — it was just a place to sleep, and if it was too expensive no one would bother.

His thoughts came to a screeching halt as they rounded the bend, and a scarlet roofed monstrosity clawed at his attention.

Three times the size of the surrounding buildings, a stone manor and its surrounding estate dominated a full third of the street. The shingles on its roof had been glazed the colour of blood, but while that feature had been the first to catch his eyes, it was by no means the only thing that demanded recognition.

Pale orange stone had been carved into a grand motif of two slumbering dragons that wrapped around the entire building, their necks snaking up the buildings five stories to ‘rest’ atop an immense arched stained-glass window. Stretching across the top two floors, it was a crown rendered in a dozen shades of red — everything from a rich ruby in the gem at its centre, to the lightest of blush pinks that made up the background.

A hall or lobby lined with mezzanine floors was visible through the glass — and Kaius watched in fascination as an honest to the gods butler made his way across the top floor, balancing a covered tray on nothing but the tip of his finger.

“You’ve got to be joking,” Kaius said, eying the giant red crown in the window, and the wide paved path that stretched from the front doors to the open gates by the street.

“It’s in the right place; looks the piece, too,” Kenva replied, shrugging.

“There’s no sign!” Kaius called after her, still staring at the building. How was that an inn?

Ianmus stepped past him, clapping him on the shoulder as he went. “Kaius, my friend, there is a forty stride ruby crown window on the front of the building. It doesn’t need a sign.”

“Come on! It looks nice, and I want to shower! We’ve got the money!” Kenva called from ahead.

Kaius sighed, giving the building a final look. It wasn’t how much the place would cost — though he was damn certain he was not going to like that — it was the grandeur. It felt uncomfortable, like wearing someone else's coat.

In the end, he supposed it was necessary — they hadn’t found anywhere else that Porkchop could stay.

“Let’s get this over with,” Kaius mumbled to his brother, and followed after his team.

“It’s not a pit of rusty nails, Kaius,” Porkchop said with a laugh. “I’m sure you’ll survive a nice bed.”

Kaius elected to keep his mouth shut. Quickly reaching the rest of their friends, they made their way past the iron fence and rose bush hedge of the Ruby Crown, before they followed the winding path to the front door. A monolith of blackened iron inlaid with silver vines, it towered twice his height, but glided open with the lightest feather touch.

A faint glow from the frame caught his eye — minute runes, so fine that they would be nothing but a blur without his Truesight. They were hidden by more than clever positioning too — a slight niggle at the back of his eyes the only hint of an illusion that his Skill had utterly shattered. Good, clean work, and insanely expensive work for a bloody door of all things. Surely it did more than lighten the metal.

“Welcome to the Ruby Crown, finest establishment in all of Baanswell!” a booming voice said, pulling his attention towards the lobby before he got more than a glance at the work.

It came from a beaming late middle-aged man in a slick black suit, standing behind a mahogany desk at the far end of the lobby — the only furniture present in the room that was large enough to be a ballroom. To his left, a grand hallway lined with unfamiliar portraits led deeper into the building, while his right held a grand staircase that swept up to the floors above.

Kaius gave the receptionist a smile and approached cautiously. The man’s ramrod spine and plastered-on smile were perfect. Too perfect — like he was an automata of etiquette, rather than a man.

“Sirs, madamme,” the man said, nodding politely at him, Ianmus, and Kenva. “I assume you are here to inquire about lodgings? Is this your first time at the Ruby Crown?”

“We are,” Kaius replied. At the very least the receptionist hadn’t even flinched at their garb, or the fact that Porkchop was with them.

Support the creativity of authors by visiting the original site for this novel and more.

“Splended! I do so love to show off our work to those who have never had the chance to appreciate it before. How did you find us? I’m always curious about what brings people to our halls.”

Just for a moment, the man’s mask slipped to reveal genuine enthusiasm. Kaius grinned, some of the weight lifting from his chest. He hadn’t realised it, but he’d been expecting to be brushed off — they didn’t exactly fit the usual clientele of somewhere like this.

“We had a spot of trouble elsewhere in the city. My friend here is a greater beast,” Kaius patted his brother on the shoulder. “And it was difficult to find a place that could house the four of us. Even the places that were understanding were clear he simply wouldn’t fit. After we heard that you do your best to accommodate any request, we came here.” 𝗳𝐫𝚎𝗲𝚠𝚎𝗯𝕟𝐨𝘃𝚎𝗹.𝗰𝗼𝗺

To the receptionist’s credit, he didn’t so much as blink at the presence of a legendary creature trying to rent a room. He simply gave Porkchop the same polite smile and nod that he had given the rest of them a few moments earlier.

“A pleasure to make your acquaintance, sir,” he said, before addressing them as a group. “I must say, you have come to the right place, and I do love a challenge.”

Taking a step back, the receptionist gave them an evaluating look through narrowed eyes. The cloak of etiquette was entirely gone now — replaced by a jovial playfulness that was utterly at odds with their surroundings. It put Kaius at ease all the same.

Bastard was good at his job, he couldn’t deny that.

“Long standing delving team, so likely a suite. Three rooms, not four — with private access, so you may skip the hubbub. Close to staffed sections is fine, perhaps even preferable if you have a view into the kitchens…”

Kaius’s eyebrows made their best attempt at migrating into his hairline. The receptionist only gave him a knowing wink.

“No preference for floor, so I don’t get to surprise anyone with a rush job on a wall remodel, which is a shame. Price…” The receptionist drummed his fingers on his desk.

How in the hells was he doing that — was he telepathic?

“Price is a non-issue — but no expense for expenses sake. Something understated. Comfort and quality, rather than glitz and glam. No preference in style, material or presentation beyond that — so no fun calls to the decorator, either. Fresh boquetes, rather than heavy parfum for room scents… How’d I do?” the receptionist finished, giving them a teasing grin.

For a moment, none of them answered.

“Uncannily well,” Ianmus finally murmured.

“How’d you even do that?”

The man only laughed politely. “I take it you’ve never met someone with a high level service class before? You should see the Duke’s head butler.”

An aura of high Steel emanated from the man where it had once been absent. Kaius barely even blinked at the oddity of the man’s control. A receptionist. High Steel. That was… seriously impressive.

“I have the perfect suite for you,” the man said, quickly scrawling on a slip of paper, before he slid it into a slot in the wall behind him. “Two platinum a night, which is surprisingly at the very low end of what we offer — you’re an easy group to please. Is that acceptable?”

Kaius did his best not to wince at the price — that was months of lodging at the Dusty Stables. They could, however, afford it. He nodded.

“Perfect! Can I borrow one of your guild amulets? I can use it to authorise transfers directly to our accounts — unless you’d like to pay in coin?”

“That works fine,” Kaius replied, handing over his medallion — he wasn’t going to question how the man knew they were with the Guild.

Handing it back, the receptionist left his desk, waving at them to follow as he headed to the front door. As they walked around the edge of the building, the man told them about their rooms.

They reached them quickly, entering through a private roofed garden at the very rear of the western wing. The entire exterior wall was a set of glass cantilever doors — opening up more than large enough for Porkchop to fit.

As for the rooms themselves? They were nice in a way that Kaius didn’t expect — though perhaps he should’ve considering how skilled the receptionist clearly was. Understated hardwood, thick woollen rugs that looked softer than silk, and a plush red lounge set filled the living space. The bedrooms were similarly plain, containing little more than a few armoires and a single, massive bed.

When the receptionist left, Kaius fell into a chair and immediately groaned in relief. It was bloody enchanted, a soothing warmth emanating from the cushions to soak into the very facet of his being. It was the single most comfortable thing he had experienced in his life.

It took an hour for one of them to break the silence.

“So, I know we planned to head to Aanthrast library today, but…” Ianmus said from the four seater sofa he was sprawled across. He looked like he was physically struggling to hold his head up.

“Tomorrow,” Kaius mumbled. He might physically cry if he had to get out of his chair.

Nothing more was said.

…

Walking through the park that surrounded Baanswell’s grand library, Kaius found it hard to focus on the swirling patterns of white and yellow flowers that lined their path. He was too lost in the building at the hill’s sumit, with its ivory white stone and grand columns.

He did, at least, enjoy their smell — light, crisp, and oddly peppery.

It was hard to think that he might actually learn something about his family here. Or, at least, this was the best chance they had. Aanthrast was supposed to be one of the largest archives on this side of the continent. If anywhere held a record of Unterstern, it would be here.

The problem would be finding them. Who knew how many thousands of texts lay in the halls above him — let alone how many more were locked away in archives they wouldn’t be able to access.

At the very least, they should be able to get some help. Ianmus knew one of the archivists. Kanmost — he’d originally been on his way to work under the man before they had met. A fact that had hopefully not left any bad blood in its wake.

“Kanmost — he won’t be upset at you, will he?” Kaius asked, turning to his friend.

“I doubt it,” Ianmus replied. “He’s a pretty genial fellow, and given the timing of it all he likely just assumed I couldn’t make the trip with the phase change. If anything, he’s probably relieved at the lack of distractions for his work — offering an assistant position was more of a favour for me than anything else.”

“How’d you meet him?”

“He was a guest lecturer for a semester in my second to last year at the college. He’s an expert in pre-empire history, though he’s practically an authority on everything that's more than a few millennia old — he liked the interest I took, and offered me a position. Seemed as good a way as any to get out of Mystral, so I accepted.”

A history expert? That explained why Ianmus had always been so certain he would be able to assist them. Even pointing them towards the right sources, or giving them access to restricted collections would be an immense boon.

“You’re certain he’ll help us?” Kaius asked.

Ianmus shrugged. “I don’t see why not, he’s a friendly guy. Though I doubt he’ll drop everything — he’s a bit notorious for getting sucked into his projects. I was supposed to help him with one, actually — he said it had some great potential for my growth as a mage if he was proven right. Regardless, this is potentially a months-long project that’s ahead of us, so don’t be discouraged if we take a while to make any headway at all.”

Looking up at the library, Kaius nodded. He knew that — they had plenty of leads to pursue. Any mention of Unterstern at all would be a boon, but especially anything that had to do with his house’s oaths, lands, and myths would be invaluable for deciphering the message his long-dead ancestor left for him.

If that didn’t work, then details on the Houses of Dynia and Herzog. Of any facet of the Empire, the Risen Houses of the dwarves and elves seemed the most likely to have stood the test of time.

He just hoped Kanmost would help them — someone with insider knowledge would likely make their research go much, much faster.