Chapter 18 – Windfall blues

“It’s yours by default, you are going to have to wear it,” said Julia uncomfortably.

Fenris looked at her, “I’m certain I misheard you.”

Julia sighed, looking down at the suit of black armor longingly for a moment and then shook her head.  “That is the armor of the Commander of the Army of Windfall, and you are the army’s commander.”

“That is the King’s armor, and even though HarCharles has passed, I’m sure there is another member of the nobility who will be happy to take it from you, since you are offering up my kingdom’s priceless heirlooms so freely,” said Fenris, stepping back from the black Cauldron Steel armor that formerly made up the kingly regalia of the north.  It was fashioned nearly identically to the armor of TimSimons, which Julia also now had in her possession.

A fact that Fenris was going to bring up to SueLeeta shortly.

A tiny part of Fenris wanted the armor, if only to keep it away from the Falconians.  He grew up in the Kingdom of HarCharles. That armor belonged to the ruler of the city of Fillidelphia.  However, the city had fallen, and Fenris was pretty sure that it wasn’t going to be rebuilt again in his lifetime.

But Fenris was a youth during the investment ceremony for HarCharles, so he knew all of the claptrap that came with wearing that armor.  The burdens that armor represented would weigh heavily on anyone who chose to wear it.  

His back hurt, always.

“Any of the Lord Protectors would be more qualified than I,” said Fenris finally.  The title of Har was an old one that meant protector of.  HarCharles was the most well-known version of the name, but the Northern Kingdom had a dozen Har’s of some variety or another.  Fillidelphia had at least six that were just in charge of protecting the city.

“They are all dead,” said Princess Julia, holding her posture perfectly.  She seemed to intrinsically know what moments the ‘camera’ would focus on.  The scene of the Princess of Falcon standing across from the Commander of the Armies of Windfall was a powerful one, of course.

“How?” Fenris asked.  He was a good northern lad.  He’d been born in Fillidelphia before his turning where he had to go out into the wilderness.  By the time he’d gotten to level ten, he’d cut ties with the city, but he still had a brother there who would occasionally visit him.

A brother who’d joined the army and perished unnoticed somewhere in a field west of the wall.

“The Sphinx went on an assassination spree when she got back to Fillidelphia from her fight with Professor Badgington,” said Julia.  That story had made the news.  There were a handful of long-range communication items on Ordinal, and many of them came from Zentarim Academy.

The Sphinx had struck right at the heart of one of the few places still training substantial numbers of adventurers on Ordinal and had more or less burned the campus to the ground.  By accounts, Professor Badgington and the Dean had fought her to a standstill on the roof of the main library before she’d killed both.

Fenris had always wanted to meet Professor Badgington, but he was increasingly becoming concerned that it would be like when he met Badgelor. He still couldn’t quite understand the badger, but from the bits and pieces he did understand he was coming to grips that the real Badgelor was nothing like the stories. That badger was never going to tell Fenris that he was going to save the world and he needed Fenris’ help to do it.

Badger’s promise indeed.

“There must be someone,” said Fenris uncomfortably.  It was all a bit too real.  He liked to hold out the faint hope that Jim was just kidding around and this whole Mayor thing of his was an elaborate joke.

But not really.  Fenris was beyond the point where he knew with absolute certainty that Jim was truly the Mayor, and that a lowly Warden who had tried his best to just be a humble woodsman was now in command of the army of Windfall.

Which meant the Mayor wanted him to be in charge when a whole bunch of people died.  Worse, if he screwed up Fenris could very easily be the cause of everything coming apart at the seams.

And all of it because Jim believed in him.

Fenris knew that he was one of the few people that Jim trusted absolutely.  Obviously, Fenris knew that Jim trusted Badgelor absolutely as well for the war badger was the height of nobility, but that meant lowly Fenris was looped into a very small circle of great heroes, a circle he certainly had no place in.

Fenris remembered Glorious Robert balking when the weight of the world fell onto his shoulders.  There were adventurers in the world who could rise to any challenge, and those who thought themselves incapable.  Fenris thought he’d seen too much already.  There had to be a limit for him, there was only so much luck to go around.

Worse, Jim would understand if he refused. Jim would accept that Fenris wasn’t able to rise to the task. Jim wouldn’t judge him for his failure because Jim was his friend.

“Jim is counting on me,” whispered Fenris before standing perfectly straight.  “Give me the damn armor.”