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Chapter LIX

  Chapter LIX

  “What are you doing here?” Nero asks once more.

  Sorana pauses for a few seconds, pcing a hand on her chest as if hurt by Nero’s harsh words. “What? Aren’t you happy to see me?”

  “No. Of course, I’m not happy to see you,” he replies immediately, without the slightest hesitation or pause. Even Adar, who is used to Nero’s ill temper, is left unsure of how to act, as Nero continues. “What on earth made you think I’d be gd to see you again? And how did you find us?”

  For a moment, Sorana seems on the verge of tears, but this fa?ade vanishes as a smile spreads across her face. Looking a bit smug, she gestures at the area around them, saying, “Well, it seems like you want to be found.”

  They can’t help but gnce at the sea of light created by all the glowing orbs conjured by Adar and Seres. Nero shakes his head and grumbles, “How did I let these idiots do this?”

  This makes Adar anxious, knowing that he and Seres will likely pay for it ter. But to his surprise, Nero seems to let it slide for now, as he moves on. “Still, what are you doing here? Weren’t you supposed to be somewhere along the coast by now?”

  “I was going to meet someone in the coastal region. But I’ve already found them. And after that, I decided to reunite with my old friends...” She begins, pausing before adding with a wide smile, gesturing at them with both hands, “...and here they are.”

  Nero, unimpressed, retorts sharply, “How did you find us?”

  “My dear, I wasn’t expecting to find you here...” Sorana begins, adopting a tone as if expining something to children. “When we parted ways for you to go to Central Crossing to sell your giant spider eggs, I knew right away that you’d head to Sagrat from there.” She points her hand in a direction Adar assumes is Sagrat before concluding, “That’s where I pnned to meet you. I only left Farmer’s Harbour three days ago.”

  “But Sorana, how did you know we were going to Sagrat? We could have chosen a different direction after leaving Central Crossing,” Seres questions her, likely beating Nero to the punch. Nero facepalms in exasperation.

  “Well...” Sorana begins, lifting her chin as if quite proud of herself, “...I knew you’d never sell the eggs in Central Crossing. At least not for a price he’d accept.” She finishes by nodding toward Nero.

  Nero lets out a ugh. “Really!? Hey, Grumpy, how much did we sell the eggs for?” the mage asks, turning to Adar.

  Adar has to admit that Sorana has a reason to feel a bit arrogant. Turning to her, he answers, “We sold each egg for four rge silver pieces.”

  Sorana’s mouth and eyes widen in shock. “Four silver coins per egg... in Central Crossing? How?”

  Adar hears her disbelief, but what truly shocks him is her reference to rge silver coins simply as “silver coins.” In his experience, most people mean small silver coins when they say “silver coins.” But considering her gold-accented attire, her perspective isn’t surprising.

  “It’s called knowing how to do business,” Nero replies smugly.

  “You sold all those eggs for four coins each?” she asks, still in disbelief. Adar wonders why, if she knew Central Crossing wasn’t a good pce for the eggs, she hadn’t warned them. They could have gone straight to Sagrat, especially since Nero had decided to avoid the coastal region where prices would have been higher.

  Then, like a sudden fsh of insight, the answer hits him: Sorana had wanted to ensure she could still find them. By now, they might have already left Sagrat. Finding them again would have been nearly impossible. And judging by Nero’s expression, the necromancer has come to the same conclusion.

  “No, unfortunately, we couldn’t sell them all. We only got rid of ten,” Seres answers sadly. Looking at his friend, Adar remembers that much of the bme for their inability to sell all the eggs y with him, as a commotion he allowed had forced them to leave the city prematurely.

  “How many do you still have?” Sorana asks.

  “Nineteen,” Adar replies almost without thinking, gncing at the mule still carrying the remaining eggs. However, he begins to question her interest in the eggs. After all, Nero had already given her some. He doubts she would need more.

  “And why does that matter to you?” Nero asks, still irritated.

  “I know someone willing to pay at least...” Sorana pauses for a few seconds, seemingly deep in thought, “six silver coins per egg.”

  This decration makes both Adar and Seres focus on her. If she’s telling the truth... this would be a fortune. The four gold coins and five rge silver pieces he and Nero had squeezed out of the merchant had already been the greatest amount of wealth he’d ever seen. But this would be nearly sixteen gold coins.

  The enormity of what he’s hearing is only surpassed by Nero’s short, cold response: “No.”

  Adar’s jaw drops as Sorana continues. “What are you talking about? Do you think you’ll get better in Sagrat? If you do, you’re mistaken.”

  Nero doesn’t answer her, leaving Sorana visibly frustrated. Still, she tries to stay composed. “Look, why not just try? Luckily, since I found you here, we’re not far...”

  Nero merely shakes his head, rejecting the offer.

  “Come on, it’s not even half a day’s journey,” she says, her voice almost pleading but with a hint of irritation at his stubbornness. Adar recalls how Sorana often acted this way when she thought Nero was merely a powerful mage. But after discovering he was a necromancer, she’d become more assertive and defiant. Adar suspects she’s trying to recruit Nero into whatever trouble she’s caught up in again.

  “Thank you, but no,” Nero repeats, making it clear he’s reached the same conclusion.

  Sorana tries to respond, but the mule suddenly stomps its hoof, making a noise that draws their attention. The creature moves past her and stops, staring in a specific direction.

  “What’s going on?” Adar asks aloud, suddenly remembering the mule’s orders: to warn them if strangers approached. This order had allowed Sorana to reach them unnoticed. But now, the lights must have attracted someone—or something—else.

  “More people!!” the irritated mage mutters, ignoring Adar’s question. Turning to Seres, he says in a tense, icy voice, “If you ever do this again at night, I’ll be the one training my magic...” He pauses before continuing, “...on both of you.”

  The threat is far from subtle but more than enough to make Adar swallow nervously. They might have caused a major problem.

  “Well!” Sorana says in an almost melodic tone, once again drawing attention to herself. “I think you can rex. They’re probably with me.”

  With their focus on her, she shouts loudly, “Come on out, but slowly! Don’t scare my friends here.”

  “Sorry, but a dy like me can’t travel without an escort,” she expins, gesturing to herself. Looking at the attractive woman in front of him, dressed in valuable and elegant clothing, Adar has to agree.

  At that moment, two mounted men appear from the trees, leading a third horse, as they enter the brightly lit clearing of the camp.

  “I thought it best they stay back while we talked,” Sorana crifies. But this reveals that she had taken some risks coming here alone—it could have been anyone, not them. Still, Adar admits that she isn’t exactly defenseless. After all, she’d helped them defeat the spiders, though most of the work had been done by Nero.

  As the men approach, the mule begins to advance on them, likely viewing them as a threat. Thankfully, Nero’s sharp command prevents any incident. “Stop! Get back here.”

  The mule immediately obeys, returning to stand watchfully by its master. Nero speaks again. “Now that your friends are here, you can leave.”

  Sorana doesn’t back down. “Nero, don’t be like that. The price is negotiable. You might get more.” Shaking her head in exasperation, she finishes, “It’s just one day. Will it really make such a difference?”

  Before Nero can respond, the lights begin to dim as the orbs they had created start to disappear. Nero sighs, stretching out his hand.

  “Sorana, I know how much you don't care about the eggs,” he says, his voice weary as he murmurs, “The st light of magic.” And so creating a new orb of light.

  Then, focusing on her, he says firmly, “But I’m not interested in what you’re really offering. So, you can leave.”

  She locks eyes with him, her gaze fiery, before letting out a frustrated sigh. “If that’s what you want, then...” She turns to her companions, who seem unsure of what to make of the situation. To then look back at Nero. “I’m not leaving.”

  With her furious gaze, she persists, “And not only that, I’m going to keep following you until you agree. It’s just one damn conversation.”

  And so the two stand there, exchanging furious gres. This alone is enough to leave Adar breathless. Aside from Sorana, he doubts anyone else would have the courage to challenge Nero in such a way. Certainly not him or Seres. Of course, their history with the necromancer is very different, and they’ve been lucky that Nero hasn’t called them murderers tely.

  Meanwhile, the other men exchanged wary looks among themselves as they held the reins of their horses, clearly uncertain about how to react to the tension between Nero and Sorana.

  A tension that lingers for a few moments—moments that feel like hours to Adar. He’s convinced Nero might resort to violence. But at st, the mage lets out a loud, “Damn it.”

  Then, without another word, he turns and starts walking toward the spot where he’d pnned to sleep. “Fine. But all I want is to sell the eggs. Consider yourself warned, Sorana.”

  Her reaction is a smile from ear to ear, celebrating her victory over the mage. But that smile quickly vanishes when she hears what the necromancer says next.

  “If any of these three cause trouble… kill all three.”

  Both she and Adar, along with Seres, know exactly who Nero is talking to—and they understand the gravity of the order. This causes them to gnce at the undead mule, now standing vigintly beside its master.

  The expressions of confusion on the two well-armed men atop their horses remind Adar of something that, given Nero’s test command, is now critically important.

  “Sorana! Quickly, move the horses away from the mule,” he says urgently. Seres, immediately realizing what he’s referring to, rushes toward the horses as well. Sorana and her men, however, hesitate, unsure what to make of their sudden reaction.

  “Sorana, we discovered that animals, like horses, don’t react well to the mule. You know, because it’s…” Seres begins expining but leaves the sentence unfinished, not knowing how much these strangers are aware of Nero’s powers.

  But Sorana knows the truth: the mule is an undead.

  “Yes, and now isn’t the best time for them to panic,” Adar expins, though he stops short of mentioning that this could be reason enough for the mule to attack them. Even if Nero changes his mind and restrains the mule, this is all very dangerous.

  “You heard them. Move the animals away from their mule,” Sorana orders her companions, understanding the situation. They quickly obey, showing they are well-disciplined.

  Once they find a good spot for the horses, the st of the glowing light orbs they had made, vanishes into the night. Leaving only the orb created by Nero. Seres turns to Sorana with a genuine smile and says, “Good to see you again, Sorana.”

  She lets out a ugh, while Adar finds himself wanting to strangle his friend.

  Even though it’s amusing to see Nero having to deal with her, there’s a reason the mage treats her this way. And for some reason, Adar has a sinking feeling that new troubles are on the horizon.

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