Wish upon the Stars chapter 934

Once my cousins were gone, Crell approached me about another meeting, this one with one of the locals. “Well, the plan worked like a charm,” my advisor said as he dropped down into the chair across from me. “One of the more deadly local bosses has reached out to us to speak to you. The current Lord of the Hall of Steel, Fade Genix, has expressed interest in a potential alliance.”

“The Hall of Steel?” I asked with interest. “Sounds impressive, what do they…do?”

“Bodyguards and mercenaries mostly,” he shrugged. “But they have an excellent reputation. Hall fo Steel guards are prized for their discretion and adherence to contracts. As well as their nearly invincible skills in single combat. They’re particularly popular as stand ins for duels, and one Hall of Steel Centurion is worth ten regular fighters…and costs about thirty times as much. Getting them to sign on with us as actual contracted supporters would be HUGE.”

Callie beamed at me. “And they want to work with YOU. So many of your cousins in the city and they approached us, I’m so proud of you honey. You’ve done so much with so little coming into this war, and someone has taken notice. This is where things turn around for us, you’ll see.”

I laughed at that. I wasn’t sure how much we NEEDED to turn them around, honestly. Despite the Void nonsense we hadn’t been doing too badly for ourselves to begin with. But I wouldn’t say that to Callie. She was the one who was haunted by all this Void bullshit to begin with, and I absolutely did not want to downplay what must be a terrible and frightening experience for her. I wrapped my arms around her, pulling her against me and sending love and reassurance through the bond.

She relaxed against me, melting into my embrace for a second, and we just ignored everything around us for a moment, enjoying a world where we were the only two people in existence.

“This is very sweet, but we DO have a meeting beginning any minute,” Crell said with a frustrated groan. “Benny was right, you two ARE insufferable when you’re feeling affectionate. You’re giving me a toothache.”

“Philistine,” Ellie said with a sneer. “I think it’s wonderful the little lord has found such a caring and devoted partner. Your mother told me how much you two adore each other, but seeing it myself is so sweet. I feel obligated to mention that my master has only refrained from expressing her fervent desire for grandbabies to give you two your space. Aunty thoughts on when we’re going to see some little angels flying around?”

Callie squeaked in mortification. “That’s…ELLIE! We’re twenty! You can’t just…we’re not..but WAR!”

“And if you WIN that war, you’d be in a perfect position to have kids!” she chirped happily. “Shane would be the Wishmaster, and you’d have the full resources of the WCP to dedicate to the safety and health of your children.”

I narrowed my eyes at her suspiciously. “You know, you seem awfully invested in the parental potential of a pair of twenty year olds for someone who claims she WASN’T instigated by my mother.” She froze, her eyes darting left and right desperately. I considered just outright busting her on it…but I honestly didn’t blame my mom. Not that I was ready to be a father yet, but given how she’d lost so many years with me, now that the family was back together, it only made sense that she’d want a grandchild to spoil. In fact there was no reas- my mind shut down, a horrified look crawling across my face.

Callie, who noticed my horror through the bond, turned to look at me in concern. “Shane? What is it?”

“I just realized I left my parents alone in the A-rank city for the first extended period of time since my sister and I were separated,” I said, my voice filled with indescribable discomfort. “You don’t think I’m going to end up with a sibling by the time we get there, do you?”

Ellie burst out laughing. “Oh, buddy. It sounds like you don’t want the answer to that question.”

I cringed. Nobody wanted to think about their parents getting together, but the fact that mine looked about the same age as me and that I was really just getting to know them properly made it infinitely more awkward. I shook the thoughts out of my head firmly. Not my business, didn’t want to think about it. “Speaking of subject changes,” I said in a forced cheerful tone. “When exactly is Fade going to get here?”

“Announcing his excellency, Lord Fade Genix,” came a pompous booming voice from outside the tavern. “Lord of the House of Steel, grand protector of the iron fields, fist of the unflagging, saint of the sword, blade of-”

“For the love of the gods Dremman, enough,” came a tired voice. “I understand you want to establish my credentials, but we’re going to be here all day, and half of those titles don’t even make sense. You don’t have to list EVERY single name anyone has ever called me. I doubt Master Wyndham is so petty as to be swayed by a few meaningless titles in any case.” Despite the harsh words, his voice sounded easy and confident, not angry or perturbed at all.

I glanced at Crell, who shrugged. It wasn’t odd we could hear them talking, our Perceptions were all well north of five or six digits. I cleared my throat. “Please, enter and be welcome Lord Fade,” I called casually. Sure enough, as soon as I spoke, the door of the room pushed open, and one of the most intimidating people I’d ever met stepped inside.

B-rankers, by and large, came in many flavors. Some of them were terrifying, some of the unassuming. Zeke had a unique knack for masking his nature and coming across as a freewheeling fun loving layabout, whereas some of my more combat focused B-rank retainers were more the type to impose their will on the world around them through force.

It wasn’t anything as direct of notable as a Domain, obviously, but B-rankers with condensed Chronicles tended to EXUDE their Path in the same way that Abel used to do during combat. I wasn’t sure if that was just very strong ones or if they had always done that and I just lacked the senses to perceive it, but it was pretty clear to me that Fade was incredibly in tune with his path and Chronicle, to the point where they bled through his every movement.

All I could see when I looked at him was metal. Not literally, though his irises did gleam like polished steel, but subconsciously. His gaze was razor sharp, his steps solid and implacable, and every gesture and movement resembled some form of metallic item or concept. It was frankly staggering, a level of communion between man and Path I had never experienced before, and one far beyond the normal leakage that I got from B-rankers. Of course, a case could be made that most of the more powerful Ascendants I’d met had control too good to show this kind of external signage, but still, it made an impression either way.

I stepped away from Callie, beaming at the B-ranker and offering my hand. “Lord Fade, good to see you. I appreciate you requesting this meeting. I had planned to reach out myself if you hadn’t, the Hall of Steel is famed for its discretion and ability, and I’d be a fool not to express interest in working with such an effective force.”

Judging by his raised eyebrow, I was laying it on a little thick, but thankfully not thick enough to warrant any annoyance. Which was fair, I wasn’t quite as polished at sweet talking people in this context as some of my friends and advisors. Still, I didn’t think I’d done too badly, and Fade happily joined us at the table alongside his herald Dremman, a goliath of a man with tan skin, a shaved head, and tattoos around one eye.

We all sat down, ready to eat yet more pot pies (I loved them so much), and I finally decided to get down to business. “So. Now that we’re settled in, I suppose the obvious questions need to be asked. Namely, what do you want, and what can you offer? I’m not naive enough to assume I’m the best of my cousins from a power or utility standpoint. Admittedly I have some impressive allies, and there ARE benefits to working on my side, but as one of the premiere B-rankers in this ring you could have your pick of basically any Wyndham.”

Far from being offended, Fade looked pleased at my candor. “An excellent question. My offering, of course, is the full strength of the Hall of Steel. Ninety peak C-rankers and ten B-rankers including myself. A hundred of the most talented and well trained warriors on the heirworld. And a faction unaffiliated with any of the higher level machinations you might trip over with the other potential allies you have available.”

That was solid. Ten B-rankers was double my current number, and another ninety C-rankers on top of that was staggering. Not to mention they were all elites, and should be able to hold their own with people like Ellie. Considering how lopsided things got dealing with the twins, I was excited to expand my forces so mightily.

“Which brings us too my second question,” I pointed out. “Why me? Like I said, there are better options. I’ll do my best to work with you, but this isn’t going to be easy. I MIGHT lose. I’ll still try to get as many of you out as possible when I leave, but you might need to leave some of your forces behind. Are you willing to risk that?”

Fade grinned wolfishly. “Honest as well as flattering. Not a bad combination. I never like sycophants, and I’m going to be working for you, not the other way around. In fact, that’s part of what drew me to you. That and the stories surrounding your father. Competence aside, the Wish Devil is infamous and celebrated in equal measure for his commitment to contracts. As someone who prides myself on his word, having an employer so motivated to keep to our agreement appeals to me.

“While many will sign a contract, adherence to the letter and spirit of an agreement are different things,” he explained, sitting back as he cut into his pot pie. “While I certainly expect you to try to get the best deal possible, I have confidence you’ll act in good faith beyond such negotiations. I can’t say the same for many of your cousins.”

That…was probably fair, honestly. Wyndhams were slippery bastards. Hell, our signature skill was literally predicated on milking triple the value of our stats to our benefit. As much water as the “fair compensation” clause carried in the wish power, the fact was that we were all predisposed to try to get something for nothing.

I, at least, respected my contracts and did my best to abide by them. Knowing that implied an excellent information source, which I hoped to pick Fade’s brain about at some point, but regardless. I understood his purpose for coming here.

“Alright,” I said with a solemn nod. “I get that. So, I suppose all we have left to deal with is the contract.”

He smiled grimly, his eyes gleaming like an unsheathed blade. “Not quite. Respect for contracts is well and good, but my reputation is not merely contractual. It’s built on competence. If you want my people to work for you, we’re going to need a demonstration of your own capabilities. Coincidentally, this will allow you to announce your capability to the rest of the city as well, strengthening your position in Veltheim. 

“But make no mistake, I do not speak of a representative. I speak of YOU. If you want to earn my fealty, I expect you to shed blood for it.” His gaze bored into me like a drill. “Be it yours or someone else’s, blood must spill. So, what do you say? Are you willing to engage in a personal exhibition match in front of the entire city?” The room went silent, so quiet you could have heard a pin drop. Well. Hadn’t been expecting that.