“He does seem like a handful,” I admitted. “I don’t think he’ll give you any trouble in the future, but if he does, you let me know, alright?”
“Of course, sir!” He finished cleaning the floor, then stood and watched me in awkward silence as I retrieved the untouched pitcher of water and an empty mug from the table. “Um, sir? If you don’t mind me asking, I’m wondering...why are you being so kind to me?”
I shrugged. “I just don’t like seeing people with power picking on the little guy, you know? You seem like a good kid, and Palo seems like an asshole. Besides, I didn’t really do anything.”
He nodded. “Yes, your friend is very...animated.”
“That’s a word for it, certainly.” We both shared a laugh. “Anyways, we’ll be out of your hair now. I hope the rest of your night is less eventful.” I gave him a parting smile before heading to the stairs.
“Thank you, sir! Enjoy your evening!” Louis called out after me. I climbed the first few stairs, then paused as I heard a commotion on the second floor.
Lia’s voice echoed from the hallway above me. “Wheeeee!” I took the stairs two at a time and popped around the corner just in time to see Lia riding on Val’s shoulders as they entered our bedroom. “Whoa, wait, I—” Her voice cut off as I heard a loud thump. I found her sprawled out sideways on the bed when I entered the room, with Val gently prodding her from the bedside.
“We have just returned from the restroom, and I am now attempting to help her prepare for bed,” Val explained.
“Thank you, Val,” I said apologetically. “I think I can handle her from here.”
“Who?” Lia asked loudly, her head hanging upside down on the far side of the bed.
“I will leave you for the night, then. Have a pleasant evening, both of you,” Val said with a hint of amusement in her voice before leaving the room.
I watched her go, then turned back to Lia when the door was shut. “What am I going to do with you?”
“Who?” She repeated as she wiggled around aimlessly on the bed.
“You.” I set the empty mug on the table and filled it with water. “Here, I want you to drink this. We can’t have you too sick to work tomorrow, right?” I sat down on the edge of the bed next to her.
She swung her arms forward and launched to an upright sitting position beside me, coming dangerously close to flying straight ahead onto the floor. After examining the contents of the mug thoroughly, she nodded and took it in both hands. “I’ve never had a hangover before,” she mused when she had finished the water.
“Well, you’re going to,” I laughed, patting her on the knee. “It won’t be fun, but there are some meditation tricks you can use to get through the worst of it. I’ll help you with it when the time comes.”
“Thanks, Lux,” she said with a wide smile. I took the mug to set it safely on the floor, and not a moment too soon; she threw her arms around my torso in a violent hug. “I love you,” I heard her say into my armpit.
“I love you, too,” I smiled, rubbing her back. “Now, why don’t we get you changed so you can go to bed?”
She leaned back and ran a finger clumsily across my chest. “Are you saying you want to...take my clothes off?” she asked with a breathy voice.
I rolled my eyes and stood up. “Yes, because I’m almost confident you won’t be able to do it yourself, and you won’t sleep comfortably in your armor.”
“That’s not what I meant,” she whispered loudly, fluttering her eyelashes at me.
“I know,” I said with a chuckle. Digging through our belongings, I found the nightgown she had packed and returned to the bed. “But you need sleep. A lot of sleep.”
Lia huffed loudly and pouted as she began to fumble with the straps of her gear. “You’re no fun.”
“I know,” I repeated, softer. It was a much more involved process than usual to remove her armor, but in the end she was successfully dressed in her nightgown and stretched out in the correct direction across the bed. I poured another mug of water for her before I sat down and removed my own gear. “How are you feeling?”
She downed the water, then rubbed her eyes and yawned. “Sleepy, and...spinny,” she answered, burrowing her way underneath the blankets, her desires from the previous moment apparently abandoned. “I’m not spinning, am I?”
“No, you’re not spinning,” I reassured her as I climbed into the bed beside her.
“That’s good,” she murmured into her pillow. I expected her to follow up on the thought, but when I leaned over to check on her, I saw that she had already fallen asleep.
Despite the exciting dinner events it was still early on in the evening, and I knew I had no chance of falling asleep for at least another few hours, so I leaned back against the headboard and began my evening meditation. The anxieties I had pushed away during our evening meal came rushing back, and our encounter with Palo only served to make them worse. My mind was quickly inundated with a never-ending stream of worst case scenarios detailing what we would find when we reached the city the following afternoon.
A soft knock at the door pulled me back to my senses. I was unsure of how much time had passed over the course of my meditation, but the room was still dark, and Lia was still asleep beside me. Carefully, I extricated myself from the bed and padded to the door. Cracking it open just enough to peer through, I found Val on the other side. “Uhm, hey, Val. Do you need something?”
“No...well, yes,” she whispered, her face uncharacteristically uncertain. “Can we talk?”
***
11. SECRETS
I stared out across the moonlit countryside as the uncomfortable silence between Val and me lengthened. We stood at the edge of the roof where a small open-air patio had been set up. Val had led me to the spot without a word after her sudden appearance at my door, and her continued lack of explanation as to what our meeting was about set me on edge. That, and her attire.
Since meeting her, I had only ever seen Val dressed in full armor. It didn’t matter if we were in the wagon, having dinner around a campfire, or sleeping; she had never taken it off, and I never saw a single piece of normal clothing among her belongings. In combination with her brusque mannerisms, it had cemented an image of her as cold, emotionless steel in my mind. Seeing her dressed in normal clothes, a black silk pullover shirt with matching pants, was a strange experience that forced me to reevaluate that image.
As I stood next to her in the crisp night air, I was astounded at how much power she exuded, even without her armor. It was clear that her clothing was tailor made for her; it fit her perfectly and accentuated her muscular figure. Her short sleeves only partially covered her biceps and triceps, which were so developed that they looked flexed even as she rested her forearms on the railing before us. Her perfect posture amplified the imposing breadth of her shoulders, and her neck, which was usually covered in a gorget, was defined and elegant. It was abundantly clear that between the two of us, Val was stronger by far.
“Based on the temperature lately, we’ll probably be seeing snow soon, don’t you think?” I asked, desperate to break the silence. She simply nodded in response, her eyes still staring straight ahead towards Attetsia. I watched her face quietly, looking for any hint as to what was coming, until the anticipation was too great to bear. “Val, why did you bring me out here? Is something wrong?”
Her shoulders tensed at the question, then fell as she let out a quiet sigh. “No, nothing is wrong.” She looked at me directly for the first time since she had led me outside, and the uneasy expression on her face made me want to run back to the comfort of my bed and hide. “Lux...who are you?”
Of the myriad possibilities I expected to be the cause of her concern, the question of who I was did not exist among them. “I...uhm, I’m not sure I follow, Val.”
I could feel the intensity in her olive eyes pierce through me as she continued. “Everything about you seems to be a contradiction. You speak perfect Kaldanic, yet Lia is teaching you the basic writt
en alphabet. You fight with a fearsome strength I have never met before, yet you look no more practiced than any regular man. You lack the common knowledge of common folk, but speak of experience well beyond your years.” A look of relief crept across her face as she spoke; clearly, the questions had plagued her for some time. “Even your name is suspect.”
“My name?” Her unexpected questioning caught me off guard a second time. “What’s wrong with my name? Just because I haven’t given you my family name doesn’t—”
“Lia called you Elden when she was held captive by the Company men two nights ago.”
“Oh.” I had no memory of the moment in question, but as she knew my real name, it was obvious she was telling the truth. My recollection of the night contained a conspicuous hole where I had let my rage overcome me, an uncomfortably common event during my time in Kaldan. “I...can’t really explain any of that.”
“I see,” she murmured, her eyes dropping. “You still cannot trust me.”
“No, that’s not it!” I reassured her. “I do trust you. Despite your stubbornness and your blind devotion to your King, I might even like you.” I looked away, back over the dark countryside. “Even so, I can’t tell you. I’m sorry.” I felt genuinely sad as I realized what I said was true; somewhere over the course of our trip, I had come to consider Val a friend.
From the corner of my eye, I saw her turn back to the railing and join me in avoiding eye contact. “I do not mean to pry, Elden. If I—”
“No,” I snapped, “don’t call me that.” With a heavy sigh, I slouched against the railing and rubbed my temples. “Alright, listen. That was my name in my old life, before I was in Yoria. I had a family then.” It was difficult to decide what information I could give to Val without revealing too much as I continued on haltingly. “I lost them. When I did, I lost who I was, too; Elden isn’t who I am anymore. So please, just forget that name.”
“I will,” Val intoned solemnly. “You have my word.”
“Good. Now, is there anything else you needed?” I asked, eager to be well away from the topic.
“I still do not see why you cannot explain the other discrepancies. If you trust me, I do not understand your reasoning.”
“Val, I said I trust you. I don’t trust your King,” I said, my mood darkening at the thought of Virram. “When we go back to Yoria, you’re going to give him a report of our mission. I know that will specifically include a section about me. I can’t ask you to lie to him for me, so I figured if you don’t know anything about me, you wouldn’t have to.” I looked at her apologetically. “I hope you understand where I’m coming from.”
Her eyebrows flicked up for a brief moment before she could maintain her impassive facade. “I...do. Thank you for your honesty, Lux.”
“Sure,” I nodded. The opening to escape back to the comforting warmth of my bed had arrived, but curiosity got the better of me. “Where did these questions come from, all of a sudden?”
“It is simple curiosity, nothing more. This is our last night before we reach the city, and it seemed to be an appropriate time.” There was a practiced formality to her tone that, along with the tightening of her fingers around the railing, told me it wasn’t the truth.
“You might be a good liar, Val, but you aren’t that good,” I said with a grin. “I thought we were trusting each other here. What’s this really about?”
“I did not lie!” she insisted, her voice breaking with a momentary burst of passion. She turned away to clear her throat before she continued. “It was not a lie. I have considered these questions for some time, and needed an answer before we reached the city. If we are to encounter resistance, I need to trust those fighting beside me. That trust was in question until now.” With a final once over of my person, she gave me an approving nod. “I trust you, Lux.”
I felt as though she was still hiding something, but before I could question her further a gust of wind blew up over the roof and broke my resolve. “Glad to hear it,” I said through chattering teeth. “If you don’t mind, I’d like to get back inside to warm up and check on Lia, and maybe try to get some sleep.” While the statement was mostly true, I had been monitoring Lia closely with Detection over the course of our conversation; at the moment, she was spread eagle across the entire bed and drooling into her pillow.
“Please do. I apologize for disturbing you,” she replied.
I waited for her to join me on my way inside, but she remained at her spot by the railing. “Goodnight, Val,” I called out from the doorway as I entered the building. I shook my head as I quietly padded my way down the hallway to my room. “Every time I think I’m starting to understand her…”
Lia was in the same outstretched position that I saw earlier, and it took a minute of gentle prodding and shoving to make enough room in the bed for me to lay down. I curled up against her to warm my freezing hands and face, planting a soft kiss on her shoulder as I did so. “Whatever happens...I’ll keep you safe.”
Sleep refused to come as I laid in bed, with my thoughts refusing to quiet themselves as time passed. Though they were initially pleasant reflections on the past few days and my developing relationships with both Val and Lia, they soon turned to worries of what was to come in Attetsia. No matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t help but see the monsters from my past lives before me once again, waiting just over the horizon. Thralls of the Dominion. Disciples of Kalateth. Councilor Gorat. Baasch the Betrayer. I realized I was gasping for air as the faces flashed behind my eyes in an endless slideshow, and my limbs began to feel numb. Squeezing my eyes shut tightly, I pressed my forehead between Lia’s shoulder blades and reached out for her mana.
Even as she slept, Lia’s aura was a comforting refuge for my panicked mind. The amber energy enveloped me and immediately banished the onslaught of enemies. As my body began to relax, I heard a soft voice inside my head. Although I knew that Lia was asleep, the voice was unmistakably hers. I’ll keep you safe, too.
---
The late morning sun was bright in my eyes as we drove through the empty city streets. I sat on the driver’s bench beside Val, spinning my thumbs in nervous anticipation of the day to come. Our approach to the city proper had been lackluster in comparison to my first viewings of Yoria and Atsal; the city of Attetsia began without fanfare as a loose collection of farmhouses that gradually grew closer together along the main road. I hadn’t realized we were in the city limits until the road beneath our wagon shifted abruptly from packed dirt to cobblestone and the buildings changed to brick instead of wood. For as much as I had heard of Attetsia as an important center of trade, the ramshackle houses and vacant streets around us painted a conflicting picture.
As we traveled further into the city, our surroundings told the same story from our travels the day before: buildings marked with a red X were battered and broken while those marked with the Company sigil remained in livable, though in far from pristine conditions. My guess was that, as much as things had changed for the worse when the Company arrived, Attetsia had already been experiencing problems for some time before we showed up. Based on the state of the city, it was easy to explain the cause of the revolution, but I couldn’t help but think there was a darker force at work.
Our first human encounter of the day came in the form of two men standing guard at an ornate metal gate that completely blocked the road. The guards were dressed in identical uniforms of chainmail, boiled leather gloves and greaves, and a black tabard with the Elta’sahn Company sigil emblazoned on the chest. Each held a tall spear and wore belts with a weapon on each hip. “Those are Company men,” Val whispered to me as we approached. “Real members, unlike the men at the inn last evening.”
The left guard tapped the butt of his spear loudly against the stone street. “That’s far enough. State your affiliation with the Company and your business here.”
I waited for the wagon to stop, then stood and waved. “Hello there! My friend Palo told me that this is where we should go to join the Compan
y.” I looked back and forth between the guards. “Is that something you can help me with here, or do I need to fill out some paperwork first?”
“This friend of yours has given you bad information,” the man replied in an annoyed tone. “The Company is not recruiting new members, and the Unbound are not accepting groups of strangers on the word of random informants named Palo.” His distinction between the two groups interested me; apparently, official Company personnel had not fully integrated members of the Attetsian rebels, who apparently called themselves Unbound, into their ranks.
“Oh, I forgot,” I laughed airily as I reached into my pocket and retrieved the sigil I had stolen from Palo. “He told me to show this to whoever needed proof that we were legitimate.”
The left guard immediately rolled his eyes when I presented the leather token. “Right. More sellsword rebels,” he sighed without inspecting the sigil. He turned to the second guard and motioned into the city with his head, then turned back to us. “Take a right at the first intersection up ahead and follow the road to the Trader’s Docks. They’ll decide what to do with you there.”
“Excellent! Who should I speak with when we arrive at the docks?”
“I don’t know their fucking names. That’s not my job,” he responded with disdain. “Just follow the road and stay out of the Council district, unless you want an arrow in the head. That’s Company territory.”
The second guard opened the gate, and Val drove the horse forward. “Can do! Thanks for all the help,” I called down cheerfully as we drove past. The guard sighed and followed us until we had completely passed through the gate, then closed it behind us. Once we were out of earshot of the guards, I let the forced smile fade from my face and groaned. “What a miserable lot.”
Our surroundings changed drastically after passing through the checkpoint. While I couldn’t spot any specific signage, I could tell we had entered what would be considered a Noble’s district. The streets were now smooth, well-maintained brick, and the buildings stood taller with signs of quality craftsmanship in their construction and upkeep; intricate scrollwork railings, beautifully painted siding, and no signs of the wear that had plagued the lower districts. While the doors of the buildings we passed were still marked like before, it looked as though the houses marked with X’s had yet to be looted like their earlier counterparts.
Restart Again: Volume 2 Page 20
