(1)
After a morning spent running errands, Toran did the same thing he did most days, he headed into Sanctuary Tasos to bother Pelkha. Despite having been completely rebuilt after the bombing, the sanctuary looked the same as it always had. Toran wondered if that was because of Pelkha's personal preferences or because the King was lazy and didn't want to have to learn a new layout for his home.
When he reached the top of the elevator and entered Pelkha's domain—where clerks and shadow clerks alike skittered back and forth like scared beetles under their mistress's watchful eye—Toran strolled right through the center of the administrative space and plonked his weathered ass right on Pelkha's desk. Pelkha, used to such displays of puerility, ignored him and continued writing in a heavy ledger. Toran wondered how many of those she went through in a day.
"How goes?" said Toran.
Pelkha continued to ignore him until she'd reached the end of the page, flipped it, scribbled another half page of notes, and then closed the ledger altogether.
"You're late," she said.
"You never gave me a time to be here."
"No, but you're normally here an hour earlier."
Toran shrugged, he was feeling light today. "I had some errands to run and they took a little longer than expected."
"Errands such as?"
"Such as writing this letter." Toran placed a plain envelope down on the desk between them. The only word written on it was, 'Roran'.
"A final will?" asked Pelkha.
"No, just a few things I wanted my son to know in case I die. It's nothing I haven't told him before, but I think he'll listen a little more carefully if he hears it after I'm gone."
"So you're committed to going through with this then?"
Toran nodded.
"You still have a lot of life left in you, life that could be spent guiding and mentoring your son. This doesn't have to be the end."
"I agree, and I certainly hope this isn't the end for me. Roran is a shit swordsman and I'd like to see him fight like a proper Champion someday. But, this is something I have to do. For his sake."
"You want to be a Chosen Champion to protect your son?"
"We can sit here all day and argue over my motivations but it won't change a thing. At the end of the week, I'm entering the arena with Mentass and one of us is going to die."
Pelkha sighed. "I don't look forward to that. I'll have to replace one of you and explain what happened to the family. Everything you two do causes me more work."
"Maybe you'll get lucky and we'll both die. Then you won't have to deal with either of us anymore."
"I would certainly suffer less headaches. If you're committed to this course of action then I assume you're here for the referral?"
"Aye."
Pelkha produced a silver envelope from her desk and handed it to Toran.
"Tomorrow, somewhere out in the neglected parts of Balaki. It's one of Rhout's people. Everything has already been paid for so don't let her bilk you out of any money."
Toran accepted the envelope. He hated how gaudy the missives from the King were, but they always contained precious favors.
"I appreciate it," said Toran.
"While I don't look forward to cleaning up the mess you leave behind, I am interested to see you fight at full strength. I've heard a lot about the Sentinels of Aurandale and their combat abilities. None of it is very flattering, especially the things I've heard about you in particular."
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Kings Game
Adventure[Updates Daily] THE FINALE BEGINS!!! After losing friends and family, fighting in two wars, and suffering through more than they could possibly imagine, Roran and his comrades set their sights on the Kings. Every obstacle has been cleared from their...
