I'd drank, chewed, smoked, and stabbed just about every fluid, root, rare animal organ, and bark I could to try and free up my magic. Turns out all it really did was make me an irritable person (well more irritable) I did manage to make my urine bright purple too, but I figured outside of a really cool party trick, that was functionally useless. My home looked like some exercise in alchemy gone horribly wrong. I hadn't left home in two weeks, my beard was scraggly and I'm sure I smelled awful. So when a messenger knocked on my door I was less than happy for the incovenience. I was even less happy that it was the Prince requesting my assistance yet again (and I didn't even have a made up issue, so this one was clearly a real problem).
I harumphed told him I'd get there when I did and slammed the door in his face (see I didn't shoot him, I just told him to piss off, completely different dismissal all good). It sucked for my overall plan I had to humor the Prince. I thought by now I'd put in place enough good things that the local monarchy could run itself, alas when you do a good job people start thinking you're the best at what you do and rely on you to fix every little damn problem that comes along. All this means I cleaned myself up, got a pair of my pistols (because honestly carrying four was a bit much) and made my way to the castle to see what the little jerk wanted.
"You look awful Trezlan." I took it he wasn't commenting on my outfit, which I thought was fairly nice looking. Even cleaned up my eyes were bloodshot, my skin a kind of ash grey and I'd lost some hair from my beard despite it growing wild (damn strange remedies have no respect for the human body).
"Well thank you my liege, if you only called me here to comment on my appearence you can check that box off your day." The Prince in the time since I'd been serving him had gotten fat off my work, literrally, he was getting quite bulbous, such is the nature of making someones life easier, they just go on and get fat on you. I made a move to leave because honestly I had more important things to do than get insulted.
"I called you here to help me, but if you look as awful as you do, I don't know if you can help." I kept walking, because again he insulted me and then did it again. I made it to the doors of the throne room doors before he called out, "Wait!"
I turned, in another time I'd be smiling because I'd gotten him to rely on me so much that trying to solve problems without me was a win, but right now it was more an annoyance, "Yes my liege what do you need?"
"I'm being blackmailed Trezlan!" He was crying now, it was kind of sad, I was magicless and his big concern was someone was extorting him for something or other.
"For what?" It was kind of confusing, how can you extort an unmarried guy who sleeps with everything that walks by him?
"They've got my son Trezlan, if I don't help them they'll kill him." I was taken a bit back, he had a child and I didn't know about it? I started to wonder what else I didn't know about the person I'd been playing.
"I was completely unaware you had any children."
"Me too! But I got a letter..."
"You're an idiot!" I screamed it a bit louder than I wanted to, but annoyance and surprise don't exactly make for subtlety. "This is the oldest con of them all, suddenly you have some surprise heir they are threatening? Come on you can't really be this stupid."
"Its all in this letter Trezlan you have to help me!" He was crying now, I felt disgust, I couldn't use magic and this idiot was being taken by a simple con? I almost wanted to take a pistol out and put a bullet in his head to save the world another damn fool. I snatched the letter out of his hand and read it, it was pretty simple with threats and areas to pay the blackmail, no proof of anything of course.
"You haven't paid them yet have you?"
"I was going to, do you want to deliver and get my son?"
"Oh I'll deliver something, and I'll find your 'son', but promise me something."
"Whats that?"
"Whatever the solution here is you don't get all blubbery on me again, you look worse than I feel." I heard his sniffling a thank you behind me, as I left the throne room. So now on top of trying to find a way to free my magic up, I had to figure out why petty criminals were exploiting an idiot. It was one of those lose/piss me off scenarios I had been so good about getting myself into. I swore to myself leaving that this whole political intrigue to destroy my enemies was more trouble than it was damn worth!
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