Paladins: The Tekilans and the Tower

The town was called Northshore, and it was too small to appear on the map that Laina carried with her. Still, it had an inn, a blacksmith, and no less than three families of potters who used clay from the nearby banks of the Caveta river to produce fine ceramics. The Tekilan family was one of the oldest in Northshore, and had made their fortune shipping those ceramics all over Sol Povos. They were tightly bound to all three of the clans of potters, and frequently served as a referee in their squabbles. 

Sarha's husband had been one of them, Mileth Tekilan, a third son with ambitions to become first in prominence. He'd had, Sarha explained, no interest in conducting trade himself; he detested travel and disliked having to deal with common shopkeepers, let alone their customers. He preferred to remain at the family home, overseeing the ones who traveled the roads and made the sales. Becoming a vampire, Sarha said with a sort of tired irony, was the natural next step for him. And it helped him: he became stronger, more certain and more persuasive. People found it harder to argue with him. A couple of people who truly disliked him had bad accidents -- animal attack, illness -- and for a short time there were some ugly rumors, but after a while those subsided. 

Mileth hadn't taken over. He didn't have to; he only had to wait. His father was still head of the trading house, and his older brothers were honored for their skill and savvy in travel and trade. All Mileth did was stay at home and watch the books, and occasionally offer his father advice or make certain sorts of problems go away. He was the favored son. Nobody doubted that he would inherit control when his father died. 

But, Sarha had told them, he wouldn't sleep in the house. Oh, he had a suite of rooms reserved for his use, and the servants kept them fresh for him. But he seldom visited them, and never slept in them. 

"I suspect," Sarha had said, "that he makes his home in the tower. It's an old place, nearly a ruin, crumbling and overgrown but still too solid to collapse. It was built to watch for fires, when everything around was farmland and fields grew dry in the summer. And, of course, it's sitting on his native soil."

Laina and Raven had waited until the sun was well and truly up before departing the farm, and then headed into town. The Tekilan manor was sprawling and well-maintained, but they couldn't very well stroll up the walk and demand to slay the resident vampire; nor could they risk sneaking into the place at night. 

So they found their way to the Faithful Hound and paid for a room, then went to scout with as much of daylight as remained. 

The tower Sarha had described was out near the border of a neighboring farm; they might be able to slip over the fence and get inside unseen, even in daylight, if they were careful. Despite their wealth, the Tekilan clan didn't seem to have invested in magical wards, or at least not any that Raven could detect. Out here, a simple wooden fence and the family reputation was probably more than adequate defense against intrusions. 

We're going to be in so much trouble if we pull this off, Laina thought as they returned to the Faithful Hound. If the favored son of the richest traders in town goes missing, there are going to be questions for any strangers in sight -- and that's going to be us. Nepthys, we're going to need your favor. Hell, if you want to lend us your support as well, Amun, I wouldn't even grumble. 

Raven laid a hand on her shoulder, and Laina felt herself relax. "We can do this," Laina said, more to reassure herself than the girl at her side. 

"Life is a lie," said Raven. 

"Death is the truth," Laina answered, remembering. "Nobody can hide from the truth forever."

Raven smiled a particularly disconcerting smile. "So let's go remind this Mileth fucker what the truth really is." 

Laina found herself smiling back. "Let's do that," she said, as they stepped back into the inn for another night's rest.