The process for Verdan to offer out his services was reasonably well established within the Guild, so he went about it in the usual manner. Finding one of the officials who he recognised from before the change in leadership, Verdan asked to take one of the private rooms for an hour or so.

  “A private room?” The man echoed with a touch of uncertainty. “I can certainly do that, but can I ask what you are going to do?”

  “I’m going to offer my usual services to place temporary enchantments.” Verdan could see that the official wanted to say something, but was hesitating. “Is that a problem?”

  “No, I can arrange that for you,” the other man said, his eyes darting to either side before he continued in a soft tone that was barely audible. “You won’t get many people, if any. Not now.”

  “Why, what’s happened?” Verdan kept a bland smile on his face as he muttered the question.

  “Nothing official has been said, but word has been spread that anyone working with you, or with that alchemist, is out of favour with the Guild. Nobody can prove anything, but the last group to ignore it were forced to leave.”

  “What did they do to them?” Verdan could feel the anger coiling in his gut, and part of him wanted to track down the Guild manager and have it all out with him. He had no evidence though, which meant his hands were tied.

  “They had issues redeeming the jobs they took. Again, it was nothing obviously malicious, but the intent was there. I saw a job be put up for them right as they arrived, and then all trace of it be removed afterwards. They spent two days on that job, for nothing. It’s no wonder they moved on.”

  “I see. Thank you for warning me, but I’ll still take the room, if you will.” Verdan forced himself to relax and ensure the smile was still in place. There was nothing he could do right now, but this was an abuse of power that he wouldn’t soon forget.

  Lines were being drawn, despite his efforts to stay out of the way of the council. If they wanted to push back against him, that was fine. Targeting hard-working adventurers and Natalia though, that was too far. He would make them answer for this, but first, he wanted to test this for himself.

  There was one thing he wanted to know, though. “Why tell me this? Why take this risk?”

  “Because this isn’t what Arthur would have wanted for the Guild,” the official said, his voice rising before he cut himself off and continued in a whisper. “This isn’t right, and while there aren’t many of us left from those days, we’re trying to do what we can to help.”

  Verdan nodded approvingly. “If you need any help, reach out to me. I’ve lost most of my influence in the city, but I can still try.”

  “Thank you,” the official said, flashing Verdan a genuine smile before continuing in a normal tone. “Now, with the details confirmed, let me show you to the room you can use.”

  Following the other man to the room that Natalia had been using, Verdan took a seat at the door and announced that he was open for business. He could hear the whispers and explanations among those present, but there was no immediate response.

  Time slowly passed, until Verdan had to admit that the official seemed to have been telling the truth. He stayed at the Guild for two hours, and provided spellwork for just two groups. Both groups told him something similar to what the official had said, and that they were only taking him up on the offer to pass on the warning before they left the city.

  The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

  It was a touching gesture on their part, and Verdan refused any payment. It just didn’t feel right when they were trying their best to help him.

  A storm of emotions was raging inside him by the time he left. He didn’t even know where to begin with it all, but he knew that he couldn’t do nothing. The chances were that this was a deliberate provocation, of course. That Arber was the driving force behind the enmity between Verdan and the council, and he was expanding that out to the Guild.

  Selling his temporary enchantments was Verdan’s main source of income. He did some trade with the sales of medallions, but those were irregular at best. The cost of the estate and his guards was not inconsiderable, and while he had enough to keep them going for the next month, that was all.

  Natalia’s potion sales were gone until she got get more resources, which meant she wouldn’t be able to pick up the shortfall either. Really, Verdan couldn’t think of a better way to attack his position in the city without bloodshed.

  In the worst case scenario, he’d be unable to pay either his guards or his staff, and losing them would make keeping his oath to Ciaran all the harder. Truly, this was exactly the right approach to undermine everything he was doing. It would be difficult for him to prove any of it though, which was the problem. If he could convince that official, or some of the adventurers, to come forward, that would help, but it would put them in danger.

  Storming into the council building and confronting them directly would get him nowhere as well. No, the best thing to do right now was to deal with the problem. Once he was sure their efforts would come to naught, then he could consider how to return the favour.

  Makk trailed along quietly behind Verdan, giving him the time to work through his emotions as they made their way back to the Crea estate. Distantly, Verdan heard the clamour of angry customers as a hot food vendor sold out early. The destruction of the granary wasn’t actually a problem yet, but fear was a strong driving force.

  The urge was there to help, to try to find some way to shore up the city’s food reserves, but Verdan knew that he couldn’t. He had to prioritise himself, which meant solving his problems before helping the city.

  A small part of him felt a petty satisfaction that the city would suffer more because of how they’d pushed him away, but it was a fleeting thought. The average citizen had done nothing to deserve such ire, and it was those same people who would suffer the most if the potential food shortage became a reality.

  Besides, he knew the council would blame the entire problem on him regardless of if he helped or not. It was a bitter thought, and one that Verdan wished he could cast aside as false, but he couldn’t.

  Pausing at a crossroads, Verdan took a moment to simply breathe and clear his mind. The walk had helped him process the raw emotions, but now was the time to act with a clear mind. The first thing that needed resolving was the reagents situation. Natalia needed herbs, Aether-rich plants and monster organs.

  Ideally, he’d deal with it alone, but he didn’t know enough about what she needed. He could gather the basic parts himself, but the new recipes were what was most important, and he had no real idea of what she needed for them. More importantly, he didn’t know what she could do without or substitute for.

  No, this was a conversation that Natalia had to be part of.

  -**-

  Verdan offered to let Makk leave and tend to his other duties, which the stoic warrior took advantage of, if somewhat reluctantly. In the end though, they both knew that Makk couldn’t coordinate anything if he was traipsing around with Verdan all the time.

  Thankfully, Barb was available to take over, and in short order, Verdan was heading to the Kranjir quarter with Barb, Natalia and Alden.

  “Do you really think they’ll be able to help?” Natalia asked as they neared their destination. “Not that they aren’t capable, but there’s a lot happening right now. I think we’d be better asking Tobias for help. If he can organise some deliveries from other cities we’ll have enough to carry on. As long as I still get some occasional deliveries from the Aira, that is.”

  “I doubt anything will change with the Airta, but I’m not sure we can rely on Tobias for this,” Verdan said, wincing as he saw the look on Natalia’s face. “I know he’s been there for you in the past, but things are changing, and I’m not as confident that he’ll support us as I once was.”

  “He’ll be able to help us,” Natalia said with quiet confidence. “He might be struggling with the council, but this is different.”

  Verdan wasn’t convinced, but now wasn’t the time to argue about it. Besides, she’d known Tobias longer than he had, perhaps she was right. If the Kranjir couldn’t help, then Verdan hoped that she was, for all their sakes.