Ember’s cheeks began to blush as she laughed awkwardly, rubbing the back of her neck. “No thank you. I still want to make little fawns one day.” The brief sideways glance she gave William set his ears on fire.
No way. Is she flirting with me?
“But.” Ember looked away, carefully assembling herself a breakfast roll. “I wanted to celebrate having a Ranger candidate for Nastall. There’s only so much I can do near New Ea. Most of the nearby dungeons have been looted ten times over. But, out there in the unexplored dungeons lie the mysteries of ancient Iram, waiting to be discovered” Her eyes glimmered with passionate curiosity as she waved her hand across the imaginary horizon. “Who knows, perhaps I might find something even better than the Letter King did?”
“Hah.” Lidarein restrained her cheer. “Don’t get your hopes up.”
“What? Why not?” Ember demanded in distress.
“Like I said to the Letter King.” William’s smile tensed. “I’m not sure where I’ll be going yet. Her offer is one option, but there are things I want to do and some things I need to do.”
When spoken it out loud the latter part tasted like a lie. No true obligation bound him. He was a free man. More free than he’d ever been, but that is not to say it would be wise to accept the first job offer that crossed his path.
“Right, of course.” Ember’s joy shriveled up. The fake smile she struggled to keep on was painful to look at. “I understand. It would have been too good to be true…”
“Ember.” Lidarein began, her voice firm. “Don’t try to guilt trip him into it.”
“I did—” The faun’s eyes flared up with barely contained irritation. She glared at the elf, but quickly began to calm down as her anger melted into shame. “Yes, you’re right.” A touch of doleful shame remained in her voice. “I’m sorry William. I got too excited. Sorry. You should do what you think is best. I’m sure the Empire will send another Ranger eventually, or the Letter King will find someone else, even if you don’t take the job.”
“It’s alright. It’s all good.” William felt the mood losing its cheer.
Ember nodded, pretending awkwardness was solved, but it haunted their conversations through the rest of the breakfast, and followed them up until the moment they arrived before the Letter King.
That day, she wore jewelry of azure metal and see-through sun-red silks of a downright erotic design. Lounging sideways on her throne, she was fed by ghostly hands holding golden platters of cheeses, nuts, and fruit.
Her lips cracked into a grin when her color-shifting eyes flicked to them. “So, you were a paladin. A marvellous turn of events. Perhaps it was divine will that sent you here to be a Ranger.”
“About that.” William cleared his voice into his fist, keeping his expression firm. “I’ve given this some thought. I understand my old friends caused irreparable damage.”
She snorted, speaking over him, “That’s one way of saying murder.”
He continued, “What I mean to say, is that I intend to find them and though I will not bring capital punishment on them, they are still my friends. I’ll work to pay for what I owe you and Lidarein here, but after that I plan on going out to search for them.”
“I see.” A victorious smugness oozed off of Letter King’ as she accepted a slice of fruit past her lips. “How do you intend to go about finding them?”
“Ask around.” William shrugged. “If humans are a rare sight over here, they should be easy enough to track down eventually.” And Mini should be even easier to find with the crazy triple-race combination she had going on.
“Eventually, yes. The realms are truly infinite my boy, that is not just a saying. Given months, or even years, perhaps you might eventually stumble upon them.” The Letter King straightened herself, crossing her legs while wiggling a foot. “But lucky you, you’ve found me. Instead of letting you stumble about like a blind troll, I offer you a position as the temporary Ranger of Nastall — a cozy little settlement. In exchange for cleaning the place up and keeping it standing for a month I’ll grant you nibirian citizenship and twelve stamps.”
Ember gasped.
Lidarein slapped her cheek, stunned. “Twelve stamps? Did I hear that right? Twelve stamps.”
“Post stamps?” William quirked a brow, confused. They must’ve been stamps for those letters he had seen flying all around Letter King’s fortress. “Are they made of gold or something?”
“Better. They’re magic.” Letter King opened her palm and a ghostly hand placed a stamp on it. Tiny patterns of red-purple glyphs flickered on its surface. “So long as you know the true name of the recipient and said recipient is alive, they will receive the letter in a matter of moments, regardless how far they are.”
With twelve he could send the letters out to each of them, attach an extra stamp for a reply, and even write back. All of a sudden Letter King’s smugness made sense.
Lucky me indeed.
“They are extremely valuable.” Ember stuttered, still avoiding William’s eyes. “You see, this whole colony exists only because of Letter King. The Emperor funded New Ea solely to make it easier to supply her with luxury goods in exchange for stamps. They are the fastest and most reliable way of communicating across the Realms. Economies and political systems lean on their power. Nations rely on her!”
“Heck, there are people whose sole job is to lick her butt and keep her happy,” Lidarein added.
Makes sense. Communication is power. That applies to every reality. “So, twelve stamps would be about how much?” William looked at Ember.
“Lots.”
“I might be able to afford one with my yearly pay,” Lidarein said.
Ember’s eyes widened, jealousy showing on her face. “Must be nice being a Chief Ranger…”
“The
