Mark of the Fool
Chapter 667: The Fool's Story

“Good morning, young miss.” A voice called. “Could you do something for an old lady and please tell her what this ‘Fool’ business is about?”

Theresa Lu froze, slowly turning around, squinting in the early morning sunlight. Brutus, who had been sniffing a barrel offletching nearby—looked up, suddenly alert—one head watching the old woman, sensing his master’s distress through their blood link.

And Theresa was very distressed.

The huntress’ face was set in its customary ‘deathstalker mask’—as Alex called it—while looking completely calm. Inside though, her heart was pounding like a war-drum.

Her expression remained neutral. “Pardon?” she said.

The woman who’d caught her attention was getting on in years—her hair was greyer than not, her face weather-beaten by the Generasi sun, and her eyes were framed by fine lines when she smiled at the huntress—and did not look like she belonged in the store.

Theresa was at The Arcane Archery, a workshop of wizards, fletchers and bowyers. She was, at long last, ready to get the bow Alex had given her for her nineteenth birthday enhanced with some lethal magics, but presently, she was standing beside a display of enchanted arrows looking at fletching.

It was at that moment the woman—one of a few others visiting the bowyer that morning—spoke to her. Theresa had noticed her staring earlier, but hadn’t really given it much thought; between moving through the city with an enhanced cerberus by her side, being recognised for her skills in the Games and standing against demons on Oreca’s Fall, and teleporting around with a wizard who looked like he could wrestle several bears at once, she’d gotten used to the stares.

‘Maybe I should be paying better attention,’ she thought.

“Oh, I’m sorry, young lady, I was so curious I couldn’t hold back any longer,” the older woman smiled sweetly. “You’re…Theresa Lu, right? You won the Grand Melee and Grand Battle this year.”

“Yeah…” the huntress said slowly, her proverbial hackles rising. She was used to the attention, but that didn’t mean it wasn’t unnerving at times, especially when it was this bold.

“And that was Alex Roth who teleported you here, right? I thought I recognised him,” the woman continued.

Other customers in the shop were now watching them, paying close attention.

“Yeah, that was my fiance…?” Theresa started, wishing—not for the first time—that she had her fiance’s quick social skills.

“Oh, where are my manners? My name is Maria, just Maria of Generasi, I don’t have any fancy surname or anything like that.” The old woman’s eyes sparkled. She collapsed her hands together. “Wait, fiance? Oh, how wonderful! You two are to be married. It’s good that you’re getting married young: I didn’t meet my husband until I was nearly thirty and I still mourn all of those lost years of marital bliss we could have shared. He was a guard for the city, you know—so stern, but the sweetest man you’d ever meet, my Federico was! Ah, how I still miss him.”

“Oh um, nice to meet you Maria?” Theresa’s heart beat faster.

A stream of thoughts raced through her mind like a storm of crossbow bolts. She could barely sort through them.

‘What is this? Did this woman just ask me about the Fool? Was I hearing things? Should I ask her? What if she didn’t and you open that door? Wait—’ Fear spread in her chest. ‘What if she’s someone from the church? It’s been months since Uldar’s Rise, so they would have had more than enough time to send agents to Generasi.’

It wasn’t like Theresa to let so many thoughts run loose in her head like this.

She was calm by nature—her mental control and patience had developed over years of silently tracking prey through the Coille forest, then sharpened through life enforcement meditation—but for some reason, right now, she just couldn’t get rid of the torrent of anxiety whirling around inside her.

“Well, um, he sounds like he was a wonderful man…um…your Federico, I mean,” she said cautiously, deciding not to address the Fool comment, if there actually was a comment. She was wondering if she’d imagined it since she’d been so nervous lately, expecting agents from the hidden church to spring from the shadows at any moment.

Ya, she probably was hearing things.

“Yes, he is a wonderful man, and my son and daughter are good people too. My son went into mercenary work, but Federico never approved. I never agreed with my husband though, it wasn’t his place to decide our boy’s choices, or his life for that matter. Oh dearie me, sorry I’m chattering on like a brainless bird, but what is all of this Fool business about, anyway?” she said without hesitation.

No, it seemed Theresa hadn’t been hearing things.

‘But wasn’t she just referring to her husband in the past tense?’ Theresa thought. ‘Now she’s referring to him in the present? What’s going on?’

“What…what do you mean?” the huntress said, immediately wondering if she’d made a mistake. Maybe it would’ve been better to end the conversation and leave, even if she seemed rude.

Alex, Khalik and Isolde were much better at handling these situations, they would have known exactly what to do. Even Grimloch would have shut her down, whether it seemed rude or not, but it was too late now.

Maria had latched onto the topic like a leech on a swimmer in a bog. There was no stopping her.

“Well, my son, Giovanni—he’s the mercenary, you see—fought beside you when that girl died. Terrible thing, though he said he’d been witness to a miracle.”

“What?” Theresa’s eyebrow rose.

“Oh yes, but we can get to that in a bit. I heard that your boyfrie—Oops! Sorry, I mean fiance was the ‘Fool of Thameland?’ That’s one of Uldar’s Heroes, isn’t it?”

“How do you know about Uldar?” Theresa asked. “Most people here don’t know anything about Thameland?”

“Well, I didn’t!” Maria laughed. “This old thing didn’t have much use for any goings on beyond the Prinean—farthest I’ve ever been from home is Mausarr in the Rhinean for our honeymoon—but after all this ‘dungeon core’ business, the name Thameland is going around faster than a head cold through a nursery. ‘Thameland’ this, ‘Dungeon Core’ that, ‘Magical Revolution’ this. It’s everywhere, especially with your fiance opening so many shops recently, and your team winning the Games of Roal! You’re the talk of the town, young lady!”

Theresa’s mind reeled.

She knew Alex had been working to spread his name across Generasi, and so many of his ventures—from entering the Games to starting the first bakery—were part of that plan.

But she had no idea his strategy was working out so well.

“But yes, my son said he heard that your fiance was the Fool; since I can read, being a merchant’s daughter and all, I went to the closest public library and looked Thameland up. No offence, but what I read was pretty shocking. I’d seen cruelty, but making a young person defenceless and then sending them off to their deaths? Bah, reminds me of old dead Oreca.”

“Yeah…a dead god…” Theresa murmured.

But the woman didn’t react to the words ‘dead god’; maybe her son hadn’t told her Uldar was dead.

“Cruel things, them deities can be. But well, your fiance seems to be quite the wizard! How did he do it? Good for him, I say. Oh, and what’s all this about ghosts, speaking of gods? My son said that this young Carey woman came back from the dead and saved your lives with some miracle!” she laughed, though it sounded unsettled. “And now, all of a sudden he’s talking about this ‘Traveller’ goddess. He never had much to do with deities before, but suddenly, he’s a blasted zealot! He made himself his own symbols and shrine, and he’s even been preaching to his sister whenever he gets the chance. I’ll say this though, this Traveller sounds nice enough—as far as goddesses go—but it’s just so strange. Our family’s never been much for religion...so I guess I’m asking…did all of that business really happen?”

“Yes.” Theresa found herself saying. “Carey saved us, and so did the Traveller. She’s also helped Alex a lot…I don’t think he would have gotten as far into his studies without her help.”

“Really? Well that’s nice, then. It’s good when deities actually help and don’t just sit there, waiting for goats to be sacrificed in their temples. I tell you, it’s a cruel shame, that practise is. Goat milk is good and goats are good eating! Better they be on someone’s farm or in someone’s belly than burning to ash on some altar in a smoky temple somewhere.”

“Yeah, I guess, goats do taste good…” Theresa’s emotions ran wild—panic, confusion, shock, awe, curiosity, fear—all hit her so hard, she wondered how come wasn’t screaming.

Alex had warned her that people would start talking.

She and the other expedition members had sworn an oath before Watcher Hill and Professor Jules to keep certain things about Uldar’s Rise secret; the fact that Uldar was dead, the location of his sanctum, even the existence of the hidden church.

But that oath hadn’t included Alex being the Fool, or what had happened with Carey.

If anything, Alex wanted news of the Traveller to spread…and his identity as the Fool was going to get out no matter what. Even if the mercenaries or Watcher’s hadn’t spread it, the church would have.

And better to have people who’d seen Alex fight for his friends and use great power tell the story, rather than some Uldarite priest. In the end, it was the lesser of two evils.

Now that the story was out, Theresa had no idea what would happen next.

“Well, you tell him he has my sympathies. The sympathies of some chatty, old, woman!” she laughed. “But anyway, I’ve talked your ear off. So, it was the Traveller who made it so that he did well at the university, even with all those nasty limits?”

“No,” Theresa said defensively, realising she’d given this woman the wrong impression. “She helped him, she really did, but most of his success was from his own efforts. Alex is one of the smartest, most iron willed, most decent men around. He’s a Hero in every sense of the word,” the huntress continued. Passion boiled inside her, negating those feelings of confusion and panic. If people were going to know about her fiance, then they were going to know that he was great—by his own efforts—not from the blessing of any deity.

Not even one as wonderful as Hannah.

“Alex studies hard and works so much…” She felt a twinge in her chest. “...he works so much that I hardly ever see him lately. And it’s all for our family. He’s a great brother too. The Traveller helped him, sure, but most of what he did was on his own.”

Silence filled The Arcane Archery, people’s heads turned toward the huntress. If her conversation with Maria hadn’t caught their attention, then her impassioned words certainly had.

Theresa felt the heat of a blush washing over her face.

“Oh, don’t get all shy, young lady.” Maria grinned. “It’s good to love your man so much. I used to talk about Federico all the time. I still do!” her grin turned into laughter. “And it’s wonderful to hear that your future husband’s going to be a self-made man. Yes, it’s so good to hear that. You’re a very lucky young woman, from the sound of it.”

The older woman glanced out the window, noting the position of the sun. “But here I am, going on and on and on. You came here for business, no doubt, not for me to talk your ear off. Would you believe I came here for crossbow bolts! So many monstrous pests keep getting into our gardens out in the countryside, you see! Pests! Stray beast-goblins, always lurking around, trying to raid the chicken coop, but shoot a couple, and the rest go running! Anyway, I’ll let you go about your business, my dear. Just say hello to your fiance for me. Oh, and to that handsome Khalik friend of his, haha!”

Before Theresa could get another word out, Maria had swept over to the counter where she made an order for twenty crossbow bolts. The clerk bundled them up for her, while the huntress pretended to be looking at enchanted arrows.

She took several deep breaths, practising her meditation techniques, calming her mind, feeling rational thought return.

Suspicion returned too, as did the instincts of a huntress.

Was this woman truly the mother of one of the mercenaries who’d been at Uldar’s Rise?

Wouldn’t that be an odd coincidence that they both just happened to be in the same shop at the same time? And what about all those questions? Was she just gossiping or was she digging for information. She wasn’t subtle, but maybe that was part of the role she was playing, trying to make herself seem harmless?

If Theresa confronted and threatened her….would she cry out in fear and call for the guards? Or would those friendly eyes turn hard.

And would Uldar’s name suddenly fly from her lips?

As those thoughts brewed in her mind, Theresa continued browsing the arrow display, conscious of the stares still lingering on her and Brutus while Maria completed her purchase.

When she finally left the shop after briefly chatting with another customer, Theresa still continued looking at arrowheads.

She counted to twenty in her head.

Then casually slipped through the front door of The Arcane Archery, her enhanced senses picking out the woman’s silhouette in the crowd.

Brutus stood beside her, three noses sniffing the air, knowing what his master wanted.

After quickly glancing around, the huntress and her hound began following Maria.