Chapter 102: Clothes Make the Mage

"That's an apprentice's insignia from the Wizard's Sanctum. That's my ring! I'm an apprentice there!" Jess said quickly. "Ask Master Edan Marin in the Mage Quarter. He's my teacher. Master Andromath can confirm it too!"

Hearing Jess rattle off so many names, the shopkeeper suddenly looked less confident.

"He's... he's making them up, Lord Morse."

"I know who Master Andromath is," Morse said. "But I can't summon the High Archmage all the way here just to confirm your story. If you want to clear your name quickly, cooperate. Tell me: what do the two letters on this ring mean?"

"Jess Seso," Jess answered. "They're my initials."

"You're Jess Seso?!" Morse's eyes widened.

The shopkeeper looked even more nervous. He moved closer to Morse and whispered, "You know him, my lord?"

"Jess Seso is a hero who fought off gnolls at Stonewatch Keep," Morse said. "The men in Lakeshire told me Jess Seso was a giant of a fellow who could take on seven or eight gnolls at once. He kept fighting even after they cut off his hand. King Varian met him in person because of it... You're a sturdy enough young man, though not as big as I imagined. But you still have both hands. So tell me: when did you steal our hero's belongings?"

Jess was stunned. What on earth was all that? Seven or eight gnolls at once? Losing a hand?

"You don't believe me? Fine, let me see the king!"

"You think you can just demand an audience with the king?" Morse snapped. "Look. If you can prove you're from the Wizard's Sanctum—"

Before he finished, Jess struggled against the ropes around his wrists, stretched out a finger, and spoke the word.

"Liyusa!"

Arcane light suddenly washed the two men's faces pale. Morse squinted in surprise, while the shopkeeper stumbled back several steps in fright.

"Does that prove I'm a mage?!" Jess shouted.

The light grew even brighter.

"S-stop!" Morse said, shielding his eyes.

"Does it prove it or not?"

"Yes! Now put the spell away so we can talk!"

By the time the light went out, the shopkeeper had backed against the far wall and stood completely still. Soldiers drawn by the sudden brightness crowded around the prison doorway, staring inside.

Morse rubbed his eyes and told a nearby guard, "Send someone to the Mage Quarter. Find that Mage Marin and ask him to come identify this man."

"Understood."

The soldier left the cell. The shopkeeper edged closer.

"My lord, may I go now?"

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"Stay where you are." Morse's tone toward the merchant was noticeably colder than before.

Jess kept his eyes fixed on the shopkeeper throughout the wait. He glared so fiercely that the man went from nervous to openly frightened.

At last, footsteps sounded outside the cell. But it wasn't Marin who arrived. It was his daughter.

"Huh? Jess? How did you get arrested as a thief?"

"Miss, you are...?" Morse asked.

"Amy Marin. Archmage Marin is my father."

"And this man is your father's student?"

"Of course," Amy said. "He's been working for my father for a month. We know each other."

"He's the Seso who killed those gnolls at Stonewatch Keep?"

"Yes. He met the king there."

Hearing that the young man in front of them was supposedly the fighter who'd battled six or seven gnolls alone atop the Stonewatch watchtower, the soldiers looked surprised. A low murmur spread outside the cell.

Jess felt this story was going to get more ridiculous every time someone told it.

"Doesn't look like him... maybe the story wasn't right," Morse muttered.

"You've never even met me!" Jess said angrily. "Let me go. I didn't steal anything!"

"It seems this was a misunderstanding." Morse looked at Jess's hands, then turned to the shopkeeper. "There's no evidence of wrongdoing, sir. You can't decide someone couldn't own something valuable just because of how they're dressed. Don't you think you owe him an apology?"

"I..." the shopkeeper stammered. "I'm sorry, Mr. Seso."

Two soldiers untied Jess. He rubbed his numb wrists.

"An apology, and that's it? One word from you got me punched unconscious and dragged here. My head still hurts."

The shopkeeper dug in his pocket, took out two silver coins, and offered them to Jess.

"This is all I have on me. I sincerely apologize. I shouldn't have judged you by your appearance, sir."

Two silver for taking a punch. That was exactly what The Slaughtered Lamb paid for recruiting a live target.

It wasn't much, but Jess accepted the money and felt some of his anger fade.

A guard led him and Amy upstairs and outside. Sure enough, it was the Stormwind Stockade. The canal ran beside it, and the Mage Quarter wasn't far away.

Amy looked him over. "How did you get into this mess?"

"They saw how I was dressed and decided I was a thief. I never thought something like that would actually happen to me," Jess said helplessly.

"Jess, didn't Master Andromath arrange for you to have mage clothes made at Larson's?" Amy asked.

"I haven't had time. I only met Master Andromath a few days ago."

Jess hadn't been very motivated to go before, but after all this trouble, he realized clothes that suited his new status were pretty important.

"When I joined the Wizard's Sanctum, I met Master Andromath that morning and hurried off to look at clothes by noon," Amy said. "Little brother, I don't know how things are in Lordaeron, but people in Stormwind aren't as innocent as you. They judge everyone by their clothes. If you dress plainly but carry things that should belong to a mage in robes, people will think something's wrong. They'll assume you stole them from a mage or plan to use magic for something bad."

Jess was a little bothered by Amy calling him "innocent." But when he thought about it, he'd spent more than half his time since arriving in Azeroth running around with a gang of children, stealing fruit, stealing horses to ride, and laughing over silly things all day.

Little by little, he'd picked up some of their attitudes and habits as he blended into the group.

Only after leaving Lordaeron on his own had he returned to something like an adult life. Maybe he really did seem like a reckless youngster stumbling from one problem into the next.

"I heard you want to visit Dalaran someday," Amy continued. "If you want people to know you're from the Wizard's Sanctum, you can't go wearing that outfit."

"All right. I'll have a look at Larson's," Jess said. "And hey, thanks for fishing me out."

"Fishing you out?" Amy paused, then laughed. "That's a pretty good way to put it. By the way, what did you show the merchant that made him think you were a thief?"

Jess opened the bag Morse had returned and took out the pearl bracelet and the broken pocket watch.

"Just these two things."

Amy examined the bracelet, then picked up the watch.

"The pearls are pretty. But this watch—how did it get so badly damaged? And there's so much sand inside."

"It was already broken when I found it," Jess said. "I picked it up in an abandoned town in Westfall. Do you think it can be fixed?"

"Give it to me. I know a gnome mage who loves repairing little things like this. I'll ask him to take a look."

Hearing that he might get it fixed for free, Jess brightened immediately.

"Really?"

"I can't promise he'll repair it."

"As long as he can try!"