News of Sami and Jahid’s return from Fort Krek arrived in the manor as a summons to the Sternways’ guild house. I knew that they’d been preparing to escort merchants along the trade route, but I wasn’t aware they’d sent anyone all the way to Fort Krek. Had I known, I would have given them a shopping list for the town. It disappointed me no one running the guard guild had asked for a meeting in person.

  What little I understood about administration, I knew enough that independent operators weren’t supposed to beckon the governor. Iris hadn’t even contacted Ida. A note seemed disrespectful, something I would have never expected from Iris. Val, one of their Fort Krek buddies, left the message on my desk while I trained, leaving me no way to reply.

  I grew apprehensive about an unannounced meeting, but I planned for Fabulosa and me to meet with the Sternways that evening, as they requested.

  Fabulosa and my perennial sidekick, Beaker, accompanied me to her guild house later that evening. My griffon made short flights nowadays, and Fabulosa tossed small chunks of talax ram meat into the air for him to catch. She aimed high to give Beaker time to track the projectile. He missed nearly every morsel, but she clapped whenever he caught one. “On the wing, Beaker! Good boy!”

  The sound of beating wings and screeching heralded my arrival, and it came to me as no surprise that the guild house door opened before I could knock. Lloyd leaned against the doorway. “Ahoy, Cap’n! Me son expects you presently.” He cordially nodded to Fabulosa and my Familiar as he ushered them inside the structure.

  Fabulosa hugged him as she passed. “Hey, Lloyd. How’s the wind these days?”

  Lloyd shook his head disapprovingly at the towering tree line. “Naught but eddies and whirlwinds to stir me whiskers. Leave it to the young’uns to build the guild house in the lee of the trees where a man cannot feel the kiss of a breeze.”

  Fletcher appeared from around the corner. “Only my father could find fault with the cool summer shade. Let the governors pass, you old pirate.”

  Fletcher escorted us into the guild house while Lloyd remained outside. We passed an empty dinner table and entered a private office. Jahid and Sami stood nearby, and the cramped room made me wonder why we weren’t using their dining area or, better still, the manor’s meeting table. I had to move aside to let Fletcher close the door behind us.

  Iris slightly bowed when we entered. “Thank you, Governor, for coming up here. You’ll appreciate why I didn’t go to the manor when you hear my reports. I thought it better that Ida, Ally, and Greenie know nothing about what’s happening at Fort Krek. It’s your decision how big you want the circle.”

  Sami’s or Jahid’s faces remained unreadable. They obediently stood at attention while their commander spoke.

  Iris continued in her usual businesslike manner. “Fort Krek has been in a leadership crisis these past months. I would never speak ill of Commander Thaxter, certainly not to anyone outside the chain of command, but I owe Hawkhurst an honest report of Krek’s state of affairs.”

  I inwardly sighed at the ominous preamble and prepared for the bad news.

  “In short, the staff has lost confidence in the commander. There are rumors that he has been incapacitated, though to what degree, we cannot say. Some officers consider him unfit for duty, let alone for command. This past month, Commander Thaxter’s been under restraint, and the relieving officers have divided themselves over how best to proceed. Rami knows some soldiers who say he’s lucid, but it’s impossible to know what’s happening.”

  Fabulosa squinted. “Could it be a coup of some sort?”

  Iris shook her head and looked at Rami, who stepped forward and spoke. “The fort is on lockdown. I gained admittance because I’m an off-duty reserve and once bunked with the guards. They’re not letting civilians inside for fear that word might reach the marauding orcs. The staff can’t agree on how to operate, and no one trusts anyone. You see, sir—everyone is loyal to Thaxter, but his orders are irregular.”

  I crossed my arms. “What makes people think he’s crazy?”

  Rami looked at Iris before answering. “My friends at the gate say he wants to send sorties to the south instead of north.”

  When she saw my confusion, Iris explained. “It makes no operational sense. I spent years at Fort Krek, and there’s nothing down there but thickets and swamps. They disassembled their mailbox, which explains why my letters haven’t received replies.”

  “How long has this been going on? And why am I first hearing about this now?”

  Iris shifted her posture uncomfortably—I’d never seen her conflicted before. “It’s unclear. And I confess, I have split loyalties. I cannot undermine confidence in Krek’s command, and wartime rumors are typically unfounded. I wouldn’t have believed it until Sami and Jahid returned with news of the fort on lockdown. Since the goblin wars, no post has held a higher reputation than Fort Krek. Thaxter and his staff are the most westward base on the Jarva River, and they’ve been stalwart against the orcs.”

  Fletcher leaned toward us. “When Iris and I served, things weren’t as active—the enemy didn’t raid homesteads and travelers. The civilians outside the fort became prosperous. We had time for cultural events, festivals, and trade. But everyone’s armor is heavier these days.”

  Iris exhaled audibly. “And that’s where the staff falters. It takes a decisive team to coordinate, prepare, and execute sorties. Without a coherent and vigilant strategy, the orcs could establish a foothold, which would not be good for Krek or Hawkhurst.”

  I stepped forward. “What can we do?”

  Iris held up her hand. “There’s nothing you can do, but I might help. I know the staff, and I’m the only senior officer outside their chain of command who could arbitrate. Regarding the orcs, our destinies are the same. Krek’s problems are our own. I’m taking Sami, Jahid, and Val to Fort Krek to suss out the situation. You’ll have Fletch and the rest of the guild take care of things while I’m gone.”

  Greenie’s letters proved how he considered Hawkhurst’s independence paramount. He emphasized the importance of establishing contact with merchants in the East. The Sternways shouldn’t be the only ones in Hawkhurst with connections, so joining this trip made sense.

  I shrugged. “Unless it gums up your mission, I’d like to tag along.”

  Iris narrowed her eyes, considering the suggestion, and nodded slowly.

  I turned to Fabulosa. “Are you up for a tour of the Eastern continent? It could be fun.”

  It had been months since Winterbyte’s last stand, and I hoped to have mended some trust. She hadn’t contributed to the discussion and usually acted keen to adventure.

  Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

  Fabulosa only shrugged and nodded.

  After leaving the guild house, I turned to Fabulosa. “What’s wrong? Aren’t you ready for a road trip?”

  “Yeah, I reckon, but I want to do more than diplomacy. I’m hankering for action.”

  I laughed, trying to put a positive spin on the mission. “You probably won’t have to wait long. We always seem to do things the hard way.”

  “We might face a swarm. I’m taking back Rainbow’s end from Blane. He won’t be happy about giving it up.”

  “That’s fine. He has less exotic hand-me-downs to choose from.”

  We harbored only minimal concerns about our trip. Hawkhurst patrols reported nothing worrisome. Errant dinosaurs occasionally traversed our borders, but nothing serious posed a threat. The town’s infrastructure seemed solid, and the work crew finished upgrading the third dock to a shipyard. When they finished another storehouse, their next project focused on a ferry—the keystone of The Inner Passage trade route. Lloyd and Greenie customized a ferry’s blueprint to something sturdy and big enough to carry a caravan.

  After Hawkhurst built its first ferry, my build orders included another barn, storehouse, and a pub and inn on both sides of the river. If big-city visitors from the East complained about rustic accommodations, it would harm our reputation. Establishing a foothold on the far side of the river would take over a month, but I didn’t expect to return later than that.

  When we returned to the manor, Ida bore nothing but bad news. She got the jump on me after Beaker announced my arrival. Her droll, scratchy voice greeted me with problems as soon as I crossed the threshold.

  “Rocky wants a meat grinder for his ward worm sausages. It’s been on your shopping list, and I promised to remind you since you forgot it on your trip to Arlington. I also received this letter after breakfast.”

  “Rocky’s been asking for a meat grinder for a while now. We were on the clock in Arlington. I didn’t have time to buy one. What’s the letter? If it’s from Grayton, give it to Greenie.”

  “Greenie isn’t his true name, so the mail system doesn’t recognize him. That’s why all mail is going through me—which is beyond my understanding because you’re the Governor. Shouldn’t this correspondence go to you?”

  I couldn’t explain why I issued a standing order to keep my name and Fabulosa’s name out of circulation. After the update to The Great RPG Contest, any use of our names might alert enemy contestants to our whereabouts.

  “What is the message? Can it wait until I return?”

  “I suppose so. It’s a petition from someone in Grayton who wants to use our battle college. Someone named LabRat31. What do you want me to tell them?”

  My back stiffened at the mention of another contestant. We’d seen his name listed in Crimson’s contest update. “Let me see that.”

  Without looking up, Ida picked up the parchment and handed it over.

  I snatched it and read it.

  I resisted the urge to crumble the parchment into my fist. Instead of asking for permission, he assumed we’d roll out the red carpet. Labrat31 acted presumptuous enough to be a gamer. Did NPCs regard players to be pushy?

  Two more implications became clear. The training facility wasn’t a secret anymore. I erected the battle college in front of Glenn and Oscar, trying to impress them—this letter proved that I’d succeeded in impressing them. The stunt had been a mistake. Now, two of the most well-connected business people in the West evangelized one of Hawkhurst’s marvels.

  The battle college could become a magnet for contestants, something I wanted to avoid. I knew players would eventually find out long after we’d reached rank 30 in our combat skills, but I didn’t think the news would travel faster than caravans.

  Ida gave me a curious look.

  I handed the parchment back to Ida. “Tell Mr. LabRat31 that a fire destroyed the battle college. Tell them it burned down, and there’s nothing left.”

  Ida waited longer than I’d hoped to confirm my order. “If you say so.”

  I sighed and explained myself. “I don’t want anyone outside of Hawkhurst using the battle college. It’s for civil defense.”

  Ida poked holes in my logic, enunciating as if talking to a simpleton. “Won’t foreigners see it when they cross through? Aren’t we trying to promote traffic?”

  I couldn’t easily explain the difference between NPC merchants and adventure-seeking contestants, so I gave up. “Yeah, but—we’re promoting the trade route, not the arena.”

  “If you say so.” Her tone simultaneously suggested she didn’t believe me but didn’t care enough to object. “Don’t forget the meat grinder—and Murdina’s sheepdog.”

  I left instructions with Fletcher, Yula, Greenie, and everyone involved with Hawkhurst’s security that the battle college stood off-limits to outsiders. With LabRat horning in on our training facility, I wanted the town alert over enemy contestants.

  Dino couldn’t prevent noncitizens from forcing themselves into the arena since he couldn’t inflict damage. The game deemed attacks initiated inside the battle college to be duels, and anyone dueling stood immune to death—it counted as one of the arena’s key features. It allowed us to simulate combat without spellcasters using illusions to fake wounds and pain.

  As a perfect pugilist, Dino could disarm and humiliate uninvited guests, knocking around anyone bold enough to force their way into his domain. I’d been on the receiving end of his harmless demonstrations to know that he could make things unpleasant. He could make intruders wish they were dead.

  After organizing my things and packing for our trip, I hurried away from the manor before Ida could give me more headaches.

  It took two trips to cross everyone heading east to the other side of Otter Lake—but our new docks made leaving and entering the watercraft easier.

  Beaker’s eyes widened on the water, and I couldn’t tell if he felt more nervous about the canoe or the lake. He leaned from one side to the other, tipping the boat, too excited to heed my commands to relax and sit still in the middle.

  As we paddled, I looked back at the western dock. Next to it, the new shipyard lay idle. Greenie and Lloyd hadn’t finished their ferry plans yet. Greenie wasn’t used to maritime designs, and Lloyd didn’t know how to draft and held impossibly high standards, so their collaboration moved slowly.

  Our upcoming trip embodied an open agenda. Sure, we had diplomatic duties and shopping lists, but our schedule wasn’t as frantic as our trip to Arlington.

  Iris would contribute most of the legwork in arbitrating a cooperative relationship with the Fort Krek staff. Greenie had assured me we should leave negotiations to her. The fort would be more agreeable to working with an ex-officer.

  Fabulosa and I didn’t plan to stay at Fort Krek long. While Iris, Sami, Jahid, and Val immersed themselves in fort politics, we’d travel further downriver to assure merchants and regional officials that Hawkhurst’s Inner Passage worked. We also wanted to drum up interest in immigration. Increasing our population meant more settlement powers and more favor for Forren. Lastly, if it meant another adventure, we’d stick our noses into anyone’s business.

  Lloyd and Fletcher paddled the six of us and my griffon across Otter Lake to the eastern dock. We expected to ride back on a brand new ferry when we returned from our journey.

  Aside from the hum of insects, the eastern dock stood quieter than the west. It looked out of place on the edge of the untamed wilderness. A few dwarves had surveyed the area, and I saw the telltale stakes and strings marking where they planned to build an inn and its support structures.

  Fabulosa unceremoniously tossed her paddle into the canoe, climbed onto the dock, and began cutting her way through a swath of tall grass. She smiled and waved back as Fletcher and Lloyd took the canoes back to Hawkhurst. “We’re back in the bush!”

  After Iris hugged her husband and stepfather, we cleared a path wide enough for carts. The trio of guards traveled ahead while Iris stayed with us.

  I tried to make conversation with Iris. “I’m surprised you aren’t with your troops.”

  “If I’m with you, they’ll be able to talk amongst themselves freely.”

  Fabulosa snorted. “No one relaxes when the boss is around.”

  Watching them work to clear a path made me doubt any of them relaxed, but since Iris made no motion to join them, I hung back as well.

  Did the soldiers think of me as their boss? I protected the town and made decisions, but I wasn’t involved in their daily chain of command. Did I make others nervous?

  Iris’s decision to give them their space made me wonder if I should distance myself when citizens socialize. Was I spoiling their good time, or would that come across as aloof? I wanted to buck the cliché of being lonely at the top, but shouldn’t I follow Iris’s example?

  I dismissed these questions, wanting not to spoil a good hike with self-doubts.