Unwilling Summoned: Chapter 6 – Awkward Partings

It was late afternoon by the time James found himself standing at a gate in front of what he now knew was the palace. It was a small group of people that had come to see him off. There was the princess, for some reason. She was still giving him pleading, mournful looks. There was the Karissa girl, who looked deeply uncomfortable. There was Maggie, who couldn’t seem to decide if she wanted to be angry with him or wanted to cry. There was also the drab little man who, James decided, really did look like he had somehow de-aged. Well, it’s a world of magic, thought James. Maybe he did. What the hell do I know?

He’d spent close to two hours talking with the little man, whose name turned out to be Villem. Villem turned out to be a fount of information, at least about anything related to finances. The map had been helpful as well. The Kingdom of Kollstein was largely landlocked except in the west, where it bumped up against an ocean. The kingdom’s holdings supposedly extended to the edge of the continent in the north, but that was only in theory. Much like back on earth, the north was a cold, desolate place that was largely uninhabited save for a few nomadic people that wandered the wasteland. James had asked about sea trade, but Villem just shook his head sadly.

“It exists. It’s even shatteringly profitable, but very few people have the nerve for it. After all, the ocean is home to many strange and terrible monsters.”

James lifted an eyebrow at that and asked, “Isn’t the land home to many strange and terrible monsters.”

Villem chuckled and said, “That’s true, but those threats are at least somewhat known and managed. On the ocean, there is no kingdom, no armies, and no adventurers. Your only protection is your own strength.”

“No navy to defend the coast?” asked James.

“It’s been tried by several nations.”

“And?”

“It’s been an unmitigated disaster every time. So much money was lost,” said Villem on the verge of tears.

James found himself thinking more about the lives that were lost but, he supposed, to each their own. The land to the immediate east, Solstice, was apparently home to the demihumans. It was small compared to Kollstein or Rolivan, the land to south that was controlled by the demons. James had lots of questions about the demons, the answers to which were both relieving and mundane. The demons were not what his western mythology had primed him to expect. They weren’t monstrous, bat-winged beasts, nor, as far as anyone knew, spawned from the pit of some hell dimension. They were just another race, and the children of a different god. Some could even pass for human if the light was dim.

That wasn’t to say that all was well between the human and demons, which had come as exactly zero surprise to James. There had been wars stretching back to before written history. The grudges were old and ran deep, with accusations of massacres and atrocities on both sides. James had his suspicions but did not ask if the demons were what Maggie was going to be sent off to fight. Apparently, the demihumans weren’t well regarded either, although it seemed that no one had made a dedicated effort to exterminate them. They were just treated like crap. James had to suppress a sigh. He supposed that it had been too much to hope that coming to a new world would mean leaving bigotry behind. It turned out, there were assholes everywhere.

There were more lands to the east, but Villem knew less about them. He could talk about the various kinds of trade with them, but not much about their actual cultures. Looking at the map, James supposed he probably wouldn’t be going there anytime soon. Not that the map was terribly helpful to the east. It was more a vague suggestion of a land mass, rather than anything detailed. It was the same south of Rolivan where, supposedly, there were more kingdoms. However, almost nothing was known about them save rumors of their existence. Still, having that information helped stabilize James. He no longer felt completely lost in this new place, for which he felt a deep sense of gratitude to Villem.

He also knew that feeling of not being lost was largely illusory. Understanding the of general geography did nothing to remedy the fact that he was still a stranger here. He didn’t actually know anything about the kingdom or the people who lived there. Except for Maggie, who he was half-convinced wouldn’t ever to talk to him again after he left the palace. He looked at her, but it was the princess who spoke first.

“Is there nothing I can say, nothing I can do, that would convince you to change your mind?” asked Princess Ariana.

James hesitated for a moment. Some of his anger had bled away with the realization that king meant to keep his word. There was so much James didn’t know, and hadn’t bothered to learn, about the situation before declaring he wouldn’t help. He had no idea how dire the situation really was or what kind of desperation had led to the choice to drag him and Maggie to this world. Even if he did know those things, James suspected it wouldn’t make a difference. He didn’t want to have to fight for his life in someone else’s conflict. He didn’t want to have to fight for life at all if he could help it.

Finally, he shook his head and said, “No.”

The princess gave him a stiff nod and said, “Then, I bid you fair fortune on the road ahead.”

Villem jumped in then, striding forward, seizing James’s hand and shaking it vigorously.

“You feel free to come and see me any time you’d like,” enthused Villem.

That drew an irritated glare from the princess that Villem either didn’t notice or chose to ignore.

“Oh,” said James. “Thanks. I’ll keep that mind.”

Karissa took a tiny step forward and curtsied again.

She spoke in an uncertain voice when she said, “I hope I was helpful to you.”

“You were. Thank you.”

Seeming relieved, she swiftly stepped back. At a gesture from the princess, Villem and Karissa fell in behind her as they walked back toward the palace. The silence they left in their wake was palpable as James and Maggie did more looking past each other than at each other. Maggie broke the silence first.

“Be careful out there, James.”

He lifted an eyebrow and said, “Shouldn’t that be my line? You’re the one whose going off to fight.”

“Oh, right,” murmured Maggie. “Still, be careful.”

“I will,” said James.

The two stood there fidgeting for several moments before James spoke again.

“I know it’s not what you want to hear but don’t be a hero. If you come against a fight you can’t win, run away. Dead people can’t save anyone.”

Maggie tried to smile at him, but it looked positively ghastly. He seriously considered knocking her out, throwing her over his shoulder, and leaving. If there hadn’t been so many guards around to immediately intervene or report the incident, he might have even done it. Although, as things stood now, he wasn’t sure that he could knock her out. Plus, he had the sinking feeling that even if he did manage it, she’d just march right back to the castle the second she woke up. Realizing that there was nothing left to do but go, James gave Maggie a weak smile of his own.

“I guess I’ll see you around. Maybe in a parade someday after you win. Don’t forget the little people like me.”

“Yeah. I won’t.”

Feeling the awkward quotient in the air growing by the second, James turned to go.

“James, I—” Maggie started.

He looked over his shoulder at her. She made another doomed attempt at a bright smile.

“I’ll see you. Soon. I promise,” she said.

James nodded at what he was pretty sure was a lie and marched through the gate. When he got outside, he glanced back, but Maggie was gone. I guess that’s that, he thought with more than a touch of melancholy, before he looked at one of the guards stationed outside the gate.

“Do you think you could help me?” he asked the guard.

The man gave James a dubious look but said, “I can try.”

“Can you tell me where the regular people are in this city?”

“Regular people?” asked the guard.

“Yeah, like the craftspeople. Or, maybe this will be easier. If you were going to go get something to eat and a room for the night, where would you go?”

The guard didn’t hesitate for a second.

“That’s easy enough. The Verdant Field.”

“Is it good?”

“My sister owns it, so I’m obligated to say yes, but the food is pretty good.”

“How are the rooms?” asked James.

The guard hemmed and hawed for a few seconds before he said, “They’re small, but they are clean.”

James laughed and said, “Well, I guess that’s fair. Where can I find it?”

Getting directions proved to be trickier than James expected since he literally didn’t know where anything was in the city. The guard finally figured out some landmarks for James to look out for on the way. When he finally arrived outside The Verdant Field, he was startled to realize that he didn’t really remember much of the city itself. He’d been so focused on finding those landmarks that he’d mentally glossed over everything else. He felt like that had probably been a wasted opportunity, but it wasn’t like he was going to walk all the way back to the palace just to see what he’d missed. He was hungry now and wanted somewhere he could call his room, even if it would just be for a few days. Feeling oddly nervous, he opened the door and went inside.