Chương 102: Book 2 Chapter 54 - Breaking And Entering

Kiara slipped inside the house, and the door was shut and barred behind her again. Eight pairs of scared eyes stared at her once she was inside. Six adults, the small child that had been peeking out the window at her, and a young teenager. She didn't recognize any of them.

"Are the Jensens not home then?" she asked softly, trying to respect these peoples' desire for quiet and secrecy.

"Do you know where they might be?" One of the men raised his hand.

"I'm Bryce Jensen, ma'am. Are you truly Lady Yountal?" Kiara nodded earnestly. The man stepped forward with relief on his face and bowed.

"Well praise be. We thought no one could get in or out. It's a pleasure to make your acquaintance, Lady Yountal." Dustin had hired plenty of people that Kiara had never met, including the Jensens. She bowed in response.

"The pleasure is mine. Is everyone here part of your family, Bryce?" Bryce shook his head and stepped towards his wife.

"This is my wife, Nancy, and that there is our daughter Kelly." He pointed to the teenager. He pointed to the other two couples.

"These are the Vellens and the Hortons, both neighbors of ours, and the young one is the Horton's son. This is actually the Horton's house, we all holed up here to avoid being near the street in case any fighting breaks out."

"I see," Kiara replied with a nod.

"We've been low on food for weeks, ever since Lord Goren sectioned off this entire area. We didn't really have much saved up, never knew we'd need it. With no way in or out we've been rationing, but the past few days have been pretty desperate, if we're being honest, ma'am. We didn't think any help would come." Kiara looked at each of them. They did appear desperate for food. She couldn't very well leave the other two families here to starve. She would have to get them all out.

She suddenly wished she was in the habit of carrying food around in her soul space.

"Well, where can I find Lord Goren?" she asked.

"I'm going to ask him for permission to take you all out of here, you can live at my estate until things blow over. We're setting up tents in the yard, and we have plenty of food." Hopeful tears welled up in most everyone's eyes at the invitation. The adults shared some looks, then Bryce gestured for Kiara to follow him to the other room.

"It's a generous offer, my lady, but I fear it may not be possible. Lord Goren has made it quite clear that no one goes in or out. He's afraid of spies reporting to his enemies. I didn't want to dash the young ones' hopes, which is why I asked you to follow me back here." He studied her for a moment.

"How did you get in, anyway? They have the whole area blocked off." She smiled and winked.

"I have my ways. And don't you worry about Lord Goren, I'll take care of that. I promise I'll get you all out of here by tonight. Do you know where I can find Lord Goren?" Bryce's eyes took on a look of guarded hope at her reassurance.

"Tonight? We'll keep our fingers crossed, my lady. I know the building Lord Goren is using for his headquarters here. It's dangerous, but I can show you the way."

"No need," Kiara said, pulling the map from her soul storage.

"Can you show me on this map? We're here." She pointed to the Jensen's house. Bryce studied the map for a moment.

"I see. Okay, so this is our house, and here is the Hortons. You go three streets over, then down a bit. Just here. This is where Lord Goren spends most of the day now. We go out periodically to see how things are progressing, to better plan our rations out, you see. Some other heads of house have been coming around now too, part of Lord Goren's faction. It seems they're preparing for something." Kiara memorized the location on the map, then returned it to her soul storage.

"Thank you, Bryce. I'll be back, hopefully soon." He bowed respectfully, then showed her to the door. The latch clicked shut behind her as the door closed. She re-activated [Invisibility 2], and made her way to the building Bryce had shown her on the map. It was a large, three story building, and looked to be some sort of warehouse or storage facility, with living or office space on the second and third floors.

Being inside the sectioned off area, most of the buildings lacked any official guards posted at them, but this building was the exception. Two sets of tier 2 guards loitered outside the doors, and people were occasionally moving in and out of the building, probably delivering reports. Kiara followed one of the people in, still invisible. As she passed through the door, [Artifact Compass] alerted her that there was some form of enchantment on the doorway.

She stopped momentarily to analyze it with [Artifact Sage 3], and found it to be some sort of defensive ward geared towards protecting the building from magical damage. Probably a precaution against any upcoming fighting in the area. She hurried after the man she had followed in, and tailed him to the second floor. He entered a large room, which normally was probably used for group gatherings or coordination meetings for warehouse operations.

A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation. Once inside, he made his way to a group of people gathered inside, where he delivered his report.

"Afternoon report for section 5, nothing to report, it was a quiet afternoon." The man that he was addressing nodded, taking notes on a piece of parchment. He looked up.

"Thanks, Ned, we appreciate your house's support. How's your wife and kids doing?" Ned smiled.

"Anytime, Devon. My family's doing alright. We'll be better once this whole thing gets resolved. Hopefully those scumbags at Houses Norse and Heniton kill each other off and leave us out of the next round." Devon snorted out a laugh.

"Wouldn't that be something. Don't worry though, Lord Goren has a plan. Those idiots will get what's coming to 'em." Ned smirked.

"Good to hear. I'm gonna head back out. See you around, Devon." Once Ned was gone, another person came in to give their report. A few moments later, a familiar face appeared. Haden, the man who had accosted Kiara when she first approached the area, came in.

"Hey Devon, I'm here to deliver the afternoon report for section 2." Devon looked up.

"Haden, good to see you. Any news?" Haden nodded.

"Yeah, actually. Some lady came by, asking if she could get in to 'see her people'." He used his fingers for air quotes.

"Seemed pretty suspicious to me. Jess was there, told her to get lost."

"Ha!" Devon laughed.

"Good, good. Did you catch the woman's name?" Haden nodded.

"She said her name was Shian Yountal." Devon's face soured.

"Hmm. I probably better let Lord Goren know about that." He tapped the desk with his finger a few times.

"Alright, thanks for the report, Haden. Dismissed." Haden turned and left. Devon called over one of the people standing nearby.

"I need to run a message up to Lord Goren. Jump in for me here for a bit. There should only be a few more reports coming in."

"Yes, sir," the man said with a sharp salute. Devon left, and Kiara followed. He took the stairs to the third floor, then knocked on a door a few hallways over.

"Come in," a deep voice boomed from inside. Devon entered, and Kiara slipped in through the open door before it could close. Inside, Lord Goren stood near a table, the top of which had been repurposed to house a large map of Easton. Strategic markers were on the map, as if he were a general analyzing a battlefield. Three other heads of house stood around him, all of which Kiara recognized from the parties she'd been to.

The edges of the room were filled with the bodyguards of these various house heads, mostly tier 2s and a few tier 3s. The house heads themselves were all tier 2, except for Lord Goren, who was tier 3. Kiara wondered if that was why he had become the de facto leader of this faction. Devon delivered the report in a hushed tone, while Kiara was still analyzing the people in the room, so she missed what he said, but surmised it was probably identical to the report that Haden had delivered to him.

Lord Goren's face soured at the news, but he thanked Devon for it all the same. Devon left, and Kiara followed him out. It would be weird if she suddenly appeared in the room, and she didn't want to startle them. Hopefully she could convince Lord Goren to let her take those three families and leave. She remained in the hallway outside the room after Devon left. There were no guards in the hallway, as the building was already secure and the house heads had their bodyguards inside.

She wondered if not having guards in the hallway was an oversight, but wasn't enough of a strategist to say for certain. She waited five minutes so the timing of her arrival wouldn't seem coincidental to Devon's departure, then dropped her invisibility and knocked on the door.

"Come in," boomed the same deep voice from inside, which Kiara now recognized as Lord Goren's. She opened the door and stepped inside, earning looks of surprise from everyone inside. She was sure they were shocked to see her standing there just minutes after a report about her had been delivered to this very room. Lord Goren's eyebrows shot up to his hairline and he blinked rapidly a few times. After a moment of shock, he cleared his throat.

"Ahem. Lady Yountal, what a… surprise." She bowed.

"I appreciate you giving me some of your time, Lord Goren. You are truly a difficult man to get an audience with.

"... Not difficult enough, it would seem." His reply was more of a mutter than it was conversational. Kiara stepped forward towards the four gathered house heads. She knew Lord Goren's faction consisted of more than just four houses, but these seemed to be the most prominent ones. As she approached, the bodyguards lining the walls all tensed, and a few of them even stepped forward to intercept her. She slowed when she saw it.

"My apologies, Lord Goren, I can see you are busy, so I will keep this short." Lord Goren raised a hand to steady the approaching guards, who immediately paused their advances.

"Very well, Lady Yountal. What is this about?" She flashed him an appreciative smile.

"Some of my employees are quarantined in this area you have claimed here in the Benson district. A few families, some of them with young children. They are short on food, and I fear for their safety. I've come to request your permission to take them with me back to my estate, away from the escalating tensions." Lord Goren shook his head.

"I'm sorry, Lady Yountal, but that is not possible. No one is allowed in or out, House Heniton has already tried to slip too many spies past our fortifications. I can assure you that no harm will come to them while they are here." Kiara cocked her head to the side.

"How can you assure that no harm will come to them? Harm is already befalling them as they run out of food. If Houses Norse or Heniton attack, will you station men at their residence to keep them safe? What kind of assurance can you truly provide? My employees are not spies, they are simply scared people, mortals at that, who need a safe haven." He raised an eyebrow at her boldness.

"As you said, I am a busy man, Lady Yountal. I don't have time to mince words with you. You've made your petition, and I've given my verdict." He turned to two of the guards.

"Gentlement, show Miss Yountal out." The two guards approaching her were both tier 2. Most everyone in Easton still assumed she was a mortal herself, despite her claims to have bested Lord Grivalt and his guards months ago. As they arrived, they both put out gentle hands to corral her toward the door. She was a lady, after all, and they assumed she would go quietly. She remembered the hopeful looks of the three families as she promised to help, as well as the desperation in their eyes when she first arrived.

All she wanted to do was help, and this… self-proclaimed warlord was getting in the way. [Magical Sense 4] once again confirmed that there were only a handful of tier 3s in the room, and the rest were tier 2. They wouldn't be a problem. She could take them.