The soldiers on the escort ships were professionals. Once they’d met with and confirmed Jaeger’s invitation, they escorted the Melodom to a designated port space and accompanied the two invitees.

  “Thank you for allowing us to accompany you, Sir Gosvis. The Duke is quite serious when it comes to his guest’s safety.” The lead officer said.

  Jaeger waved a hand.

  “Yes, yes. I also imagine that other guests quite enjoy having a few well-dressed and well-armed men guarding them. The good Duke never misses a chance to trade one coin in exchange for two.” He said with a bland smile.

  The escorting officer offered a hesitant laugh.

  “Right you are, sir, right you are.”

  This group of five soldiers had led Jaeger and Kaeleth from their ship and across the grounds of this booming estate. For all the jadedness his life had installed in him, Jaeger still found the landscape around him to be breathtaking. Statues, pillars, and standing structures from tens of different architectural styles were placed around the area, lending the air a timeless nature. Each architectural style was set up in a small zone that was different from the others, filled with unique plants and trees. Yet each zone played off one another, building, through their disharmony, a larger complex and fulfilling whole. It was, to Jaeger, a sign of what money, power, and magic could do.

  “Well, if nothing else, this certainly disproves those rumors I’d heard floating around.” A deep, bass voice called out. “No one else I know is quite as taken by the shifting gardens as you.”

  Shaken from his introspection, Jaeger turned to the speaker and found himself face to face with a hobgoblin. The man was well-groomed, with smoothed-back hair and a neat, cropped beard. His face was accentuated by battle scars that contrasted with his dark blue skin. A sharp smile rested across his face that never seemed to reach his cold, calculating brass eyes. He wore a form of ceremonial warrior’s robe, crafted of the finest silks and leathers that could be obtained. Here stood, Chevalia Bloodgeld, merchant duke of Danse Macre.

  “Duke.”

  “Flesh Trader.”

  Jaeger shook his head with a cold smile of his own.

  “You know, when I’m not on business, it is Gosvis.”

  The hobgoblin duke’s smile widened, giving a small flash of his fang-like teeth.

  “Of course, a minor slip of the tongue.”

  “As minor as these rumors you’ve heard?”

  The duke offered a short bark of laughter.

  “Yes, now that I’ve met you, they must be.” He stepped closer, hands held serenely behind his back. “Word reached me that not only was your residence raided by a guild alliance team but that you were killed.”

  “Rumors of my demise, as so often the case, are quite exaggerated.” Jaeger let a cold flash of hate, one from his own encounter with a shape shifter, cross his eyes. “The raid, though, is no rumor. A small team did in fact raid my home, killing my security guards and causing me no small amount of hassle.”

  The duke raised an eyebrow.

  “Oh? Did you see which guilds they belonged to?”

  “The usual suspects. The Adventurers Guild, The Law Association, the Magician’s Lodge, and The Religious Order.”

  The duke ran a hand through his beard in contemplation, the sleeve of his long formal robes falling slightly to reveal his wrist as he did.

  “Odd.” He stared off at the grounds for a moment before patting Jaeger on the back and walking forward. “So long as you are alive and well, raids like this are simply a misunderstanding. Did you lose anything important?”

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  Jaeger considered the ledger and documents he’d seen and taken.

  “No, it’s all quite safe.”

  “Have you taken safety precautions? While you are safe on my estate, the wide world is outside of my control.”

  Jaeger offered a slight chuckle that was met with one in return. He reached out to Kaeleth, his arm stretched to gesture towards her.

  “I present Samicent, the best bodyguard I could bother to hire.”

  “High praise indeed.” He said, eyeing the elf. “Well, I must attend to the other guests. I simply wanted to come and see you before the party got started properly; offer my condolences and the like. Guardsmen led the good Trader and his companion to the ballroom. Make sure a proper apology is given to him for this diversion.” Chevalia said, turning to the guardsman for the first time.

  Snapping a salute, the officer replies.

  “Yes sir, your grace.” He put his men back in formation and offered a gesture to Jaeger.

  “Sir, if you please?”

  With a sedated smile, Jaeger watched the Duke continue walking away, heading deeper into the grounds, before he turned to the officer and nodded.

  “Lead the way.”

  “Here we are, sir.” Said the officer with a wave of his arm.

  The soldiers now stood in front of a large ornate door and slowly pulled it open. Jaeger stood and watched as the door opened finger by finger; he exchanged a subtle look with Kaeleth, but ultimately said nothing. It took thirty or so seconds of the soldiers pulling before the door was fully open, and the way was cleared for the duo.

  “Excellent.” With that, Jaeger led Kaeleth through.

  “Announcing the good Trader Gosvis and guest.” Announced a loudly dressed man standing just inside the doorway.

  “I have a name.” Muttered Kaeleth.

  Behind them, the moment they stepped through, the door smoothly and quickly shut. With an eye roll, Jaeger stepped forward and took in the room. The ballroom was a large room with a wraparound balcony overlooking a packed floor. The balcony was taken up with standing tables, servers with drinks, and a few mingling guests. While the bottom floor was dominated by a large walkway stage, a large bar fully stocked from what he could see, and a variety of tables and privacy booths. From where he stood, just inside, he could see a roped-off area blocked by guards.

  “Mr. Gosvis? If you would like to follow me, I can lead you to your private booth.” A dark velvet-clad woman bowed and spoke.

  “Lead on.” He waved his hand to her.

  She led them down the stairs and weaved through the crowds. As they went, a few guests greeted Jaeger and were met with a cold demeanor, which they all readily accepted as the norm.

  “You have many admirers here.”

  “Sycophants and phelbians, the low rabble.”

  “Careful, if they hear you, they might turn rebellious.”

  “Ha. If they had the stomach for such emotions, I might be inclined to recognize them. No, they will simply accept what I do, because I have what they want.”

  Kaeleth eyed him as he spoke, a calculating look in her eye.

  “You’re good at this.” Her tone implied a second meaning.

  “My dear, I’m a hunter, and these people’s money is my prey. And any good huntsman knows that understanding your prey and showing them what they expect is key to a good trap.” He side-eyed her.

  She gave a grudging nod.

  “Makes sense.”

  “Here is your booth, Mr. Gosvis. Simply twist the obelisk, and the privacy array shall activate. Is there anything I can offer you?” She gestured towards a small black obelisk on the table before stepping back.

  “Bring my usual and an elvish wine for my companion.”

  “Right away, sir.” She stood from her bow and hustled off.

  “How would she know you’re regular?”

  Jaeger twisted the obelisk, and as a rush of magic pushed out and enveloped the booth, he spoke.

  “The Flesh Trader is a known entity here; if they didn’t know his regular, he’s liable to have off-handedly killed servers until they did.”

  Kaeleth laughed.

  “Oh, you think he could get away with killing a duke’s servants? On his private estate?”

  “Any other duke? Unlikely, this one though.” He rolled up his sleeve and tapped the tattoo. “This one is a part of his special club.”

  Kaeleth frowned.

  “Yes, I saw that too. Do you think it was on purpose? A test, maybe.”

  “I imagine so. The fact that we made it inside means that we passed it.”

  “Or he doesn’t care.”

  Jaeger shrugged.

  “We’re in regardless. Now we just need to find our target and identify any threats to the plan.”

  “I haven’t seen Jean, but I have spotted a few threats.”

  Kaeleth nodded towards a group, which consisted of a man and woman dressed in finely tailored suits, of a style inconsistent with the other guests. Alongside five half-golem men who glared at anyone who drew close.

  “Now that’s interesting. I haven’t seen a suit like that since I came to Rangaea. Everything here is more old-world.”

  “I don’t know what you mean, but those people are most likely from the technocracy out past the necromancer lands. For the Duke to have the power and clout to have invited them, that’s concerning.”

  “Yeah, some were fairly obvious.” Jaeger nodded towards a different group.

  This group stood out as some of the only openly armored and armed individuals in this room, not wearing the duke’s colors.

  “Melissa and the other Cerorinth slayers.”

  He then gestured towards a group of people, a mix of humans, elves, and tentacle beings.

  “I don’t know what that group is, but I recognize the tentacle being as a servant of the Ygsolutz. Which can’t be good.”

  Kaeleth tilted her head and really stared at the group.