Alburet tangled his hands in her hair, “Oh, yes, you are correct.” He pulled her hair and kissed her roughly, then stepped away from her. “We are going to check on our guild mates. We will continue this later.”
Stacia dropped to her knees before him, her eyes glowing as she reached for his belt. “Mayhap after a short delay, master? I need ya so badly right now.”
Alburet swallowed hard but didn’t stop her. He gathered her hair in his hands. “Okay, a short delay. But you are not going to be setting this pace, I will.”
“Yes master,” Stacia husked at him, “take me as ya will.”
They made it to the Portal guild almost half an hour later. The receptionist stared steadily at him until he was past the desk. Alburet ignored it as best he could as they went up the stairs. On the same floor with the Orc Grasslands were the Goblin Villages and the Cursed Woods. Stepping onto the last rune, they appeared before a fort with just one guard on the gate.
“More Alpha Company?” the guard asked as he took in the emblem on their armor. “Two Half-bloods? I thought Alpha Company was a two-soul only guild?”
“No, we have a few native Alpha Worlders in our ranks,” Alburet informed the guard. “Which way did my recruits go?”
“Your recruits?” the guard asked, confused.
“Yes, my recruits,” Alburet replied, “I’m the leader of Alpha Company.”
“Alburet Two-souled, the head of Alpha Company is a human who has earned the favor of the king. You are obviously not him. If you persist in this farce of trying to claim his name, I will be forced to arrest you, sir,” the guard said with heat, “Now, who are you?”
“Look at my name, then,” Alburet snapped. “Better yet, take me to your sergeant.”
“Calm, Asthore,” Stacia said, squeezing Alburet’s arm. “He is only followin’ the laws. It be illegal to claim another’s name as ya own.”
“It,” the guard spat the word, “is correct. So at least one of you has some sense.”
“It?!” Alburet snarled as he felt his blood come to a boil. “Did you just call my wife an it, soldier?” The question came out flat and cold, in spite of the rage Alburet felt. He gently removed Stacia’s arm from his and pointed behind the guard, then made a brief gesture. “I will not abide that insult.”
The guard pulled a whistle from his tunic and blew a loud note on it before he drew his sword. “You are under arrest…”
“No,” Tiny rumbled from behind the guard as Bob appeared beside Alburet.
“Who we fighting?” Bob asked as he looked around.
“Stand down, or face the wrath of the Guard!” an old dwarf with a beard to his knees bellowed as he came through the gate. “Dismiss ye minions, sir!”
Alburet was breathing hard, his eyes were locked on the offending guard. “Your man has insulted me and my wife. I am only trying to defend our honor.”
Tiny growled as he flexed his hands and Bob conjured a flame to his hand. Tiny rumbled, “He insulted Stacia?”
“Stand down, or we be forced to arrest ye. As it be I will be lodging a complaint with ye guild master. Do nay make it worse by adding assault charges.” The dwarf went right past Tiny as if the Destroyer was not even worth his notice.
“Tiny, Bob,” Alburet grunted as he pulled his eyes off the first guard and gauged the dwarf. “You are dismissed.”
“Call us back if you need us,” Bob said with feeling with Tiny nodding silent agreement as they both vanished.
“Now that they be gone,” the dwarf sighed, “we can look into what the fuck is going on out here.” The dwarf turned to the guard, “Whelan, wha’ in Justice’s name jus’ happened?”
“This person is claiming to be Alburet Two-souled, sir. I informed him that falsely claiming another’s name is a crime. He then summoned his minions and threatened to attack me.”
The dwarf squinted at Alburet, then face-palmed, “Whelan, look at his name.”
Whelan squinted at Alburet then went pale, “Err…”
The dwarf turned to Alburet, “I’m Sergeant Grayson, sir. Wha’ did me man say tha’ insulted ye wife?”
Alburet was still pissed, but managed a civil tone as he related the incident to the sergeant. “He insulted our blood and then called my wife ‘it’. At that point I summoned my minions, as I cannot let that insult pass.”
Grayson sucked in a breath through his teeth, “Whelan?”
“Sir?” Whelan was white as he snapped to attention.
“Report to the Captain. Give him the full story, and I be checking tha’ it be correctly and fully told. Ye going to be pullin’ cleanin’ duty for the next month. Dismissed.”
Whelan snapped a salute and retreated into the fort as another guard came out with a blank face. The new guard glanced at Alburet and Stacia and looked away, clearly not wanting to provoke any further issues.
“Alburet, I apologize on me men’s behalf. Ye be viewed with respect by the guard, and he thought he was trying to stop another from using ye name. Word only just came in today tha’ ye became a Half-blood. The news has nay had time to work its way down the ranks yet.”
Alburet forced his hands to unclench, “Understood. However, that doesn’t address the gross misconduct of calling my wife an ‘It’.”
Grayson turned to Stacia and bowed from the waist, “Mrs. Two-souled, on behalf of the Stormguard Guard, I apologize for any slight given to ye.”
Stacia gently touched the dwarf’s shoulder, “I accept, sir.” She turned to Alburet and touched his arm, “Let it go, me husband.”
A wave of calming energy flowed through Alburet’s veins and he let out a huff, “Okay.”
Grayson stood back upright, “Sir, I also apologize to ye. Ye have done a great deal for the guards and it be horrible tha’ any of us would act in such a way.”
Nodding, Alburet took Stacia’s arm, “It’s fine. Do you know which way my recruits went? That’s the reason I’m out here to begin with.”
“Three squads of ye guild have ventured into the trees, sir. They be going from stone to stone, purging some of the Imps.”
“Well, then, I shall go and find them. I’ll probably be back sometime in the next day or two, along with my officers, to help out more here. We’re visiting all the keeps as we level, trying to help out as much as possible. Until then, I wish you a good day.”
“To ye as well,” Sergeant Grayson replied.
As Alburet walked away with Stacia, the sergeant turned to look at the guard on the gate. “Well. I hope he doesn’t lodge a complaint with Captain Roberto at the capital. Goodness knows the Captain would be less than amused, considering all the positive things he has to say about Alburet.”
The last traces of Alburet’s anger ebbed as he and Stacia walked away from the keep. “It’s you making me calmer, isn’t it Kitten?”
“Aye, Asthore,” Stacia replied, squeezing his arm. “Ya anger nay be somethin’ ya be proud of, and ya wish to change it. Me talents let me help ya with tha’.”
Chuckling, Alburet shook his head, “Life with you is never going to be simple, but at least it will be full of love.”
“Tha’ it will, Asthore,” she giggled. “Are we huntin’ with them or just stoppin’ in to say hi?”
“Mostly the second if we can find any of them,” Alburet replied as they entered the tree line. “Well, at least the paths here are clearly defined.” He walked with her down the path, wondering if he should call Bob and Tiny back to his side or wait. He shrugged and summoned them both as they walked, using his new ability to silently cast spells. Two puffs of smoke announced the appearance of his minions. “Welcome back, guys. The guards apologized, so all is well. We’re now heading into the Cursed Woods to seek out Alpha Company groups.”
“I wanted to burn him,” Bob sniffed. “No one should insult my soon to be niece.”