Godless and Faithless 2: Ch 4

In the oval council room, Rayner and Axel watched the one woman and three men present. The captain of the town guard had just arrived and sat puffing a cigar that exuded a purple smoke. A nameplate was on the roundtable in front of him reading: Kreg. A lazy air hung about him but his body looked ready for violence at any moment.

All Axel knew of the man was that he clashed with Evans who also held the rank of captain. Their roles differed in that Evans patrolled the outside of the city and Kreg patrolled the inside. Evans received greater attention and accolades for his work, spawning jealously from the longtime captain.

At the other side of the table the representative of the merchant class, Ivan, poured over a ledger. He would remove his nose from the ledger only to scribble notes. Every so often he would remove his glasses and scratch his dark hair as if shocked at what he read.

Axel remembered the prices he set for food. Though Grace kept them fed, seeing the prices at the market made his stomach churn.

Grace and the Mayor were the only ones speaking with one another. Axel resisted coming up with lewd theories and instead remembered what Grace said about the man: “He does his best for everyone.” She’d said it as a rebuke.

The Mayor, who was also the leading lawyer of Ridgehill, must have felt Axel’s gaze on him, for he turned to Axel to inquire about his mood. “I know you’ve been patient, but I have a great dish ready and it is running late.”

Axel shrugged. “This is work, I don’t mind waiting around for food.”

“Oh good!”

Axel thought he meant it was good he wasn’t upset but the slim mayor walked past him to thank the assistant who arrived with the food. Once they were all seated and food in front of them, the meeting began in earnest.

“I, Joseph, start this gathering of esteemed council members on behalf of the honored citizens of Ridgehill. The…” the Mayor went on like that for some time and nobody stopped him. The council members looked resigned to it. “ … and so, we will discuss the recent events. In particular, the battle outside Ridgehill.”

“First the matter of loans. Defaults are up and delinquency is rampant. Enforcement has been lax,” Ivan quickly spoke as soon as the Mayor ended his introduction.

“Yes, we spoke of that at the last meeting but today—”

“Today is the best time to review the issue. If people don’t pay their loans, we merchants don’t get our money, and then we can’t buy food for the people and armies.”

“As if anyone could afford the food you bring to market. Even the Coalition is complaining,” Grace said.

Ivan chortled. “The Coalition, I have heard, refuse to pay when it’s inconvenient. Their complaints don’t matter.”

While Axel knew Ivan’s claim was true from the merchant Garman’s experiences, he also knew that the complaints of an army squatting outside a town always mattered.

“We of the town guard are not responsible for collecting debts. It’s a service we provide out of our good graces,” Kreg said, releasing a halo of purple smoke from his mouth.

Axel looked at the cigar with jealously. Grace had told him the making of such cigars was quite expensive and the ingredients addictive and highly illegal. That didn’t stop Kreg. Likely a benefit of being an enforcer of the law.

“Word around town is that you have had an easy time collecting debts, but I am not seeing a single coin,” Ivan said.

“What are you trying to say?” Kreg’s voice lowered.

“Gentlemen, the purpose of this meeting is to find out what to do about the disunity of the armies and the survival of Ridgehill,” Grace said, raising her voice as much as was appropriate for a woman of her stature.

Joseph rejoined the conversation. “Yes, that’s right Grace. Now I have come up with a few ideas but admittedly, they are not feasible. The first was to raise a militia of our own with the town guard as its base.”

Kreg noticeably perked up at that. The man liked the idea of obtaining more power.

“But our population could not support it. We would have to take the strongest and healthiest men and women who are better suited in the regular workforce. Our population has increased but most are refugees who don’t meet any physical standards to fight.”

Kreg returned to somehow slouching in his straight-backed seat.

“The next idea was to hire an army, mercenaries. Always a risk of them turning on you but with three other armies close by they would be kept in line.”

“That sounds like a good idea,” Ivan said, perking up in his seat. Axel wondered why he was so eager for that idea. Such people would likely rob a merchant rather than protect his goods.

“They all said no. Many are from Inimi lands and the others are from the Coalition who don’t want to be seen as hostile to their homeland.” Ivan too settled back down in disappointment. Joseph gave the two men a placating smile. “Only one of my ideas worked out but now shows mixed results.”

“Oh?” Grace raised her brow.

“Inviting the Prime Minister’s army here.”

Everyone in the room became alert. Kreg even put out his cigarette, the Mayor now having the captain’s full attention. “How did you do that and why did you not inform us?”

Joseph leaned back, shocked by the reaction, his slim figure blown away by the councilors’ stares. “It is part of my powers as Mayor. I assure you this was not a secret. As to how, the Prime Minister is a boyhood friend of mine. He is a bit of dirty dog but is competent in all that he sets his mind to.”

The Prime Minister. A man that should be spoken of more often but Axel heard very little of him. It could have been the Altan people’s anxiety about having a new ruler of their country. Maybe they didn’t believe it.

Then again, big political plays like that often go outside the notice of the common folk. They were more concerned about feeding their families than who sits on fancy and uncomfortable chairs like the ones in this room.

While Grace looked interested in this new information about the Mayor and the Prime Minister, the others were livid. The meeting broke down into accusations and finger-pointing.

Axel knew this might happen. Meetings were stressful at the best of times. Now that war had come to their town, the councilors looked for someone to blame. In this case, each other. Even Grace, there as a moderating influence, made angry gestures at Ivan for his merchants trying to buy her girls away from her.

Axel and Rayner shared a look before Rayner bellowed. “Shut up!” He needed no mana behind the shout to cause the occupants of the room, including Axel, to cover their ears.

Once Rayner gained all their attention Axel spoke. “It looks like all of you have the same problem as the three armies: disunity. Maybe you can all table your grievances for a later meeting and focus on the matter at hand. Like, ya know, living till tomorrow. Because we still don’t know how an army of kobolds got past all the natural and constructed defenses of Ridgehill.”

“And who exactly are you?” Ivan said, pushing his glasses up haughtily.

“Me? I’m the help.” He gestured to Grace. “Nothing more.”

“He’s right,” Grace said.

“He works for you, naturally you agree with him,” Kreg said.

“Yes, and it would still make him correct.