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„Not sure this is such a good idea,” Jullanar said, doubtfully eyeing the man in the distance. They’ve spent all afternoon spying on him, trying to learn which hotel he was staying at.
“Yeah, well, what else are you proposing?” Pali responded irritably. She has been thinking much the same thing as Jullanar but tried to keep it to herself so far.
“We could just steal the jewel,” Masseo grunted. On the other side of the street, their man entered a building and moments later appeared in the window of what must have been his room.
“That would mean trouble for the people in the Palace,” Pali snapped. “That might mean trouble for his people in the Palace.”
And that was what brought them here in the first place, wasn't it? They really needed the Jewel of Jainan in order to get the rest of their friends out of the cage in the depths of the Sea Country - but Fitzroy wouldn’t thank them to upset the people he cared for.
And so, instead of crashing into the treasury and stealing the Jewel, the famed rogues of the Red Company went for an audience with the Lord Chancellor to ask nicely.
At least they requested the audience by way of climbing through the window of his hotel room. That made them feel better.
+
Once the ruckus caused by their unexpected appearance died down and Cliopher Mdang waved away the startled guards, they all sat down to have a talk. He listened to their story attentively and seemed properly appreciative that they settled on coming to him instead of just robbing the Palace. He was, however, adamantly unwilling to bend the rules and just let them take the jewel.
“I can’t just give it to you. It’s not my property to do so. And it has considerable magical and scholarly value, as I understand.”
“Oh come on. We can even promise to return it after we're done with it. It will take three days tops.” Jullanar argued stubbornly.
“That’s reassuring. But breaking through the windows of the head of state is not the way these things should be done. You should send through a formal request." He nodded decisively as if it was the most natural thing to be said in the presence of known outlaws.
“Formal request? What do you mean formal request?”
“There are proper channels to raise such unexpected requests to the Palace. Once it goes through them, I can approve it. Or some other clerk can.” He sounded like it all made sense to him. They stared at him in baffled silence for a couple of seconds but it didn't seem to move him at all.
“Excuse me,” Masseo said, incredulous laughter bubbling up in his voice. “Did we somehow miss the introductions? We are the Red Company. Yes, the Red Company. Notorious lawbreakers wanted across the five worlds.”
Cliopher’s mouth raised in a lopsided smile. “Not anymore, if the pardon I wrote for you is worth anything.”
“Wait. You wrote it?” Pali asked sharply.
“Well, His Radiancy signed it of course, but…” He shrugged. “It was my pleasure, believe me. And technically, Domina Black is a good, law-abiding citizen. It could be all in her name if you don’t wish to attract unwanted attention.” He nodded towards Pali.
There was a beat of silence in which three of them exchanged stupefied looks. They expected to either argue the Lord Chancellor into agreeing with them or to get laughed out of the room. They didn’t expect… this. Then again, Fitzroy always regaled them with stories of how much Cliopher delighted in defying expectations. Perhaps they should have foreseen this.
“I can’t believe this.” Pali massaged her forehead. “I can’t believe this," she said again as if trying to make her disappointment in all of them known.
She sighed heavily.
“Where do I get those documents?”
+
Once they obtained the Jewel and freed the rest of their company, once they ran through the Sea Country while being chased by beasts made of shadow and starlight, once they jumped and skipped through portals between worlds, once they reached a forest far away from any danger - then they could finally sit and catch their breath in peace. They set camp around the fire, good meal warming them up from the inside, and took the chance to share stories about the time they were parted.
Fitzroy was first, of course, spinning the tale about their part of the group swinging in the air in a cage, and about how they befriended their guards so that when the rescue finally came and the cages were opened, nobody stood between them and their freedom. It was heartwarming and riveting, as every story he ever told.
Then came their turn.
When they finished, Fitzroy laughed for a long, long time.
“Oh, Kip.” He wheezed. “My dear, dear Kip.” He wiped his eyes. “Only him. Only that man would be able to convince the Red Company to follow the legal procedures.”
“I’m glad you are finding it funny,” Jullanar said dryly, “because we also got a receipt. We must bring it back before tomorrow or we’ll miss the deadline.”
“Must we really?” asked Damian wistfully, examining the jewel in his hand. It was a thing of beauty and emanated powerful energy. His eyes sparkled with interest.
“But of course we must! Kip would be upset if we didn’t.” Fitzroy exclaimed, aghast.
There was a collective swarm of sighs and nine sets of eyes raised towards the sky, because that was exactly what landed them in this ridiculous situation in the first place, wasn't it? Of course, they couldn't just steal it and of course, they had to return it.
Otherwise, Fitzroy’s Kip would be upset.
+
When Masseo, Jullanar, and Pali came back after returning the Jewel to the office, they had peculiar expressions on their faces.
“What happened?” Fitzroy asked. He didn’t go into the city himself, not wanting to get discovered just yet, but his curiosity was neverending.
“This Lord Chancellor of yours,” said Pali, handing him a flyer she must have taken from the office. “Interesting man.”
Fitzroy raised an eyebrow at her and then looked down at the flyer.
It was an announcement by Lord Chancellor of Zunidh. As of right now, the Palace treasury was to be freely accessible to any citizen who requested it. The flyer listed a couple of criteria the applicant needed to fulfill and then went on to describe which items could be borrowed out of the Palace and which ones could be accessed only on-site.
Fitzroy could feel something warm grow in his chest.
Oh Kip, he thought helplessly, do you never get tired of making the world a better place?
It was not anything big or flashy or life-changing. It was plain and small, but certain to make the life of simple people just a little bit easier. Just like all of his reforms did.
As a rule, Fitzroy did not lie. He couldn't claim in clear conscience that he missed his life at the Palace. But at this moment, looking down at the flyer, he missed a certain brilliant, bold, ruthlessly efficient man rather fiercely.
+
Cliopher looked at Prince Rufus' mansion with quiet weariness.
His visit to the Amboloyo was an unfortunate necessity. There were things he had to make sure of before signing proper documents, and besides the Lord Chancellor needed to make appearances. Conju laughed at the tone he used when he talked about it, but it was true. He couldn't bar himself in the Palace, nor did he believe any ruler should.
Which unfortunately meant that sometimes he had to spend his days traveling to a distant province to meet with Prince Rufus who either despised him as a barbarian or looked up to him as a politician, and alternated between the two depending on his mood. These unpredictable changes made Cliopher’s head spin. He was beginning to think that was Prince Rufus' aim.
After a couple of days of constant discussions, he managed to escape the mansion for an evening stroll through the city streets. Commander Omo was at his back, and while he couldn’t talk to his friend when he was on duty, the friendly face alone was enough to help him relax.
It was ten months since His Radiancy left, and there was no sign of him save for one abrupt and bizarre appearance of his friends a couple of weeks back. It was a privilege to meet members of the Red Company, the very people whose adventures he followed with bated breath when he was younger. Though of course, that didn't mean he could do anything below the board for them. He didn't spend so many years painfully devising ways for the palace bureaucracy to be easily accessible for common people, just to have it ignored at the first opportunity that presented itself.
He checked later, and knew they managed to obtain the Jewel in the end. He felt a quiet pride that the system worked. He hoped the Jewel was as useful as they thought it would be.
He hoped that, wherever he was, his Radiancy was doing well.
He looked over at the market. People were bustling around in the overhead glow of colorful lanterns that slowly lit up in the last rays of the sun. The evening was warm, and the air was rich with the scent of summer. He breathed in deeply, letting his thoughts settle down and his muscles relax.
And then the market exploded.
Or at least that was his first thought when he heard the loud bang and saw something being blasted up like a fluttery cloud. Omo was quick as lighting, pulling him away from the square into the relative safety near the buildings on the other side of the street.
But by then they could both see it there was no real danger. What was slowly drifting down was colorful confetti. Judging by the surprise on the townspeople's faces, it was not a planned part of the evening. Suddenly, the music started playing somewhere, and glowing, flying fish swarmed at the center of the square, moving like cheerful little dancers. Someone exclaimed in shock, and between the stalls Cliopher caught the sigh of a person clad in red, seemingly riding a hippopotamus.
His throat closed up.
Then he saw another person, this one on a camel, and another on a rhino, and by then everyone understood that it was the Red Company making their appearance, sweeping through the market like a laughing sea tide, causing wonder and merriment. Kip looked at them from the distance, his heart hammering.
But none of them were the Radiancy.
“Ah, my dear Kip.” Behind him, a voice from the back alley startled him. “You should know that a good trick is all about misdirection.”
His Radiancy approached him riding a huge, black panther. In the deepening shadow of the alley, he was like a shimmering specter, mysterious, ready to disappear any second. His hair had time to grow back and was now a wild cloud around his head. His smile was all teeth, his golden eyes were sparkling with mischief and power. He was a vision of a vibrant, untamed folk hero, and Cliopher couldn’t believe how any of them could have been so foolish as to believe that a man so full of life could ever be happy in a monastery.
He had to resist the urge to run up to him. Instead, he slowly stepped deeper into the alley. It seemed clear that His Radiancy wished to avoid being seen by the people.
“It’s very good to see you, Tor,” he said, his sincere happiness plain for everyone to hear.
“And you, my dear Kip.” Fitzroy’s smile softened when he looked down on him from his panther. “I came to kidnap you.”
It was so abrupt that for a second Cliopher could do nothing but stare. “Excuse me?”
“Only for a couple of days,” he rushed to explain as if it made it any less bizarre. “There is, well, there is some kind of ceremony and it requires a representative of law and power, and it won’t accept me alone, can you believe it? I mean, it’s right of course, it’s you who does all governing around here, but all these years, all these years of being an Emperor and this is the treatment I get? Unbelievable.” He sighed with irritation, as dazed Cliopher tried to fit together the words the Radiancy and ranting. “I apologize it’s on your watch Ludvic. I know you treat your duty very seriously.”
“I will organize a search party.” Commander Omo deadpanned and Fitzroy laughed.
“There’s a good man. Thank you, my friend. Well then, Kip. What do you say? You can stay, of course. We can look for another way to complete the ceremony. Or,” he grinned, “book an appointment with you on a different date.”
“I’m not sure you’d be able to,” he teased right back, because even through his shock it was a natural thing to do, “I’m in such high demand that the last people who wanted an appointment had to climb through the window.“
"All the more reason to steal you only for myself, then. Well?” He spread his arms in an inviting gesture. “Would you like to come?”
‘Would you like to come’ he asks, Cliopher thought a bit hysterically. As if traveling with the Red Company wasn't a dream of almost everyone in this realm. As if he didn’t spend his younger days imagining what it would be like to receive an invitation just like this.
A self-sufficient, decentralized government without the need of an overpowered leader was what he was striving towards all these years. Perhaps it was time to see if all of his hard work has paid off. He would be back before anything got a chance to truly fall apart, he reasoned. And really, nobody should hold against him wanting to go on an adventure with the Red Company.
He looked up. Fitzroy took in his expression and grinned, reaching out his hand.
Cliopher took it and allowed himself to be stolen by the Fitzroy Angursell himself.