"Melanie is my granddaughter, they're about the same age so they should get along well." She said turning back to him.
After the long ride, hot bath, and warm food Thad quickly fell asleep. He was awakened sometime in the night to Shariel screaming, his first reaction was showering the room in a bright light thinking she was in danger but as his eyes focused he noticed her curled up in the fetal position crying. He quickly went to her side as soon as he sat down she grabbed him around the waist tightly. He lay their patting her back, until she fell asleep. After he was sure she was sound asleep he tried to wiggle out of her grasp but she was still holding onto him tightly. Afraid to wake her he decided to give up on detaching her and tried to get some sleep himself.
Thad awoke the next morning to with his back and next stiff from the awkward sleeping position. Shariel was still asleep but she had rolled over sometime in the night releasing him from her death grip. He quickly got dressed and as he went to wake his young charge a knock sounded at the door. He quickly donned his disguise and opened the door to find a wiry, bight eyed, black haired little girl. “Momma said I should come get your girl so we could go play.” The girl rattled off rocking back and forth holding her hands behind her back.
“Well I was just about to wake her up, if you’d like you could do the honor for me.”
A mischievous smile spread across the girls face. Without another word she advanced toward where Shariel was sleeping like a wolf stalking her prey then she pounced, landing right next to Shariel bouncing her slightly in the air as she broke out in laughter, which was quickly joined in by Shariel.
Shariel quickly got dressed and went to run for the door with Melanie but Thad pulled her up short. “One moment Melanie I need to tell her a few things first.” He said to the little girl who pouted a little. “I promise she will be right down.”
He turned back to Shariel and gave her a big smile. “Shariel its time for me to go hunt the bad guys, I have a bag of money here for you keep it hidden and only use it if you have to. I promise I’ll be back as quickly as I can, until then have fun and play with your new friend.” He pushed a bag of gold into her hand and she quickly ran over to her bed and hid it within her pack. Then went to run out of the room turning back before she reached the hallway and gave him a hug, then dashed out of sight.
CHAPTER VI
Thad walked with Spot trailing behind him as he searched the ground for signs of large groups of people entering and leaving the road. Before leaving town he had asked many of the soldiers for the recent news of the brigands, and found that they should still be in the area as they had been plaguing the road from Avael to Shiel using the forest to hide and move about unseen.
Thad was sure that if the brigands had set up shop in the area they would have to have a central base of operations. If they stayed in the forest for cover they would still need campfires to cook and while the smoke from a small fire would be hard to see the different stories he gathered indicated there was quite a large number of people in the gang.
As the sun began to set he looked for a place off the road to make camp. Thankfully all the main trade roads in the Queendom had designated spots every five miles for people to camp, with a large pile of wood stacked for the use of campfires and a brick fireplace. Farlan while one of the smaller countries was one of the richest, being located on the Ceras ocean with the biggest river, allowing for fast shipping into the central portions of Keurt.
Sitting around the campfire he stared over the forest but being surrounded by trees he couldn’t get a good vantage point to see above the canopy far enough to see any smoke. After walking up and down the road in each direction he couldn’t get a find a good vantage point to see over the canopy. Cursing his own stupidity he made his way back to where he had camped.
When he got back to his camp he found three men casually sitting at his fire talking. As he approached the men went silent and one of them men raised his hand and greeted him. “Hello there, hope you don’t mind us sharing your fire, when we first got here we thought the bandits might have already gotten you. I’m Everit, shorty here is Isaac, and that mountain back there is Tack. ”
Thad examined the men closely their clothes were well worn, the man who had called to him was of average height clean shaven with his long hair pulled back behind him. The man next to him reminded Thad of a rat with his short disheveled hair and days of patchy beard growth, he didn't have any visible weapons Thad could see but something about the way the man moved set his nerves on edge. The other man sat across from the fire, it was hard to tell much about the man as he was mostly obscured by the fire pit and flickering flames, his face was clearly visible though and his eyes followed Thad like a hunters.
Thad put a smile on his face and raised his hand greeting the men back. "I doubt the bandits would worry much about a lone traveler let alone a man, I was just out trying to catch me some dinner, with little luck I must say." He forced a smile to his face but kept his eyes trained on the men, watching them closely.
As he drew closer the firelight caught the gems in his staff and he noticed the rat faced smile and lick his lips. Unconsciously Thad moved his hand to the hit of his short sword, and tightened his grip on his staff, his reaction getting a deadly laugh from the man who had greeted him. “I guess it’s too much to ask to talk first?”
"We can talk, but if that little weasel comes near me I'll skewer him." Thad said mentally preparing his shield spell as he moved his hand away from his sword.
“I can see that you don’t have an owners mark, and you look as if you’re doing well for yourself, but I doubt it has been easy. Me and some of my friends have gathered together to demand a change from the crown. Now I want you to think long and hard about your answer, I wouldn’t want there to be a misunderstanding.” While the men never moved for his weapon Thad understood his meaning as he heard movement from the woods behind him.
“I have to admit it hasn’t been an easy life, and I agree that the current system could use a lot of work, but I won’t give up my staff or my sword I worked too hard to get them, so what do we do now.” Thad moved his hand back to his sword, crouching slightly as he eased his left foot out.
The rat faced man dashed toward him as the man who Thad had figured to be this group's leader shouted for him to stop. The little man's movements were fast as his hand flashed almost magically bringing two daggers to his hands. Thad had seen movements like that before, assassins were always a fear of the peerage and he had been trained long and hard on how to deal with them. When the man reached him he lunged forward with both his daggers, in one deft move Thad swung his left leg back as his sword shot out of its sheath severing the little man's head from his neck, then quickly reoriented himself on the two remaining men in the clearing as he let his invisible shield surround him.
The man behind the fire still hadn’t moved while the other man had his hand raised above his head. “Now that was unfortunate Isaac was always a little excitable, but he had his uses. Why don’t you put away your sword, and come back with us to the camp.
Thad weighed his options, if he fought he was sure he could take out the two in the open but he didn't know how many hid in the woods, and while they didn't scare him if any returned to their camp they would be forewarned of his arrival. If he went with them a number of things could go wrong, ranging from being poisoned to catching a knife while he slept. Bending down he cleaned his blade on the fallen man's tunic and place it back in its scabbard, at least this way he would know where they were at. "No reason to waste anymore time out here is there?"
As soon as they were in the safety of the wood they were joined by ten others who as Thad had expected carried bows. Everit introduced them, Thad greeted each one, introducing himself as Mark, it felt odd to use his old name, but it was the only name that came to him besides using his own.
The moon was fully above them by the time they reached the outskirts of the camp. From the rumors he had head he had figured on a rag tag band o
f at most fifty, surveying the massive amount of tenets that littered the large clearing it looked close to near a thousand. Thad let out a low whistle, “quite a bit more than I expected.”
Everit slapped him on the back, Thad knew he was a killer, but just couldn’t make himself hate the man. “Just pick a place to settle in for the night, I have to report the night’s events, but I’ll meet up with you in the morning and show you around.”
Thad watched Everit as he made his way to the center of the camp and went into a large tent. With little else to do Thad picketed Spot on the edge of the camp and laid out his bed roll. Wishing he had a spell to protect him while he slept he clutched his staff tightly as he stared up at the star filled sky.
The next morning Everit met up with him a few hours after the sun had risen. The camp was larger than he thought but there wasn’t much to see. After a quick tour they went to the mess area when they were fed a tasteless gray gruel. Picking up a glob of the gruel and turning over his spoon he Thad watched it plop back into his wooden bowl with disgust. “So how do things work around here?”
Everit swallowed his mouth full of slop, “you get used to it,” he said twirling his spoon in the air. “We have different groups that go out looking for supplies, new members, or hitting the wealthy merchant’s caravans. Most of the time no more than a hundred men are gone from the main camp at a time. Our leader Formir collects information and gives us our assignments, it’s a lot more organized than you would think.”
“When did you join up with these guys?”
“I joined at the beginning; I was a dock worker in Shiphaven working all day barely making enough to eat, and living in a group house when I met Formir. I was in a pub complaining about the injustice of the world drunk off my ass, when the pub owner took offence to something I said and was treating to have me whipped. Something inside me snapped and I beat her to death before I knew what I was doing. Formir saw the whole thing and pulled me from the pub before the city guard could get me. That was over a year ago, we been slowly gathering out strength, and attacking where it will hurt the queen the most her tax money. It hasn’t been until recently we had enough to really make much of a dent, but soon we can bring that bitch to her knees.” Everit spoke passionately, but Thad wasn’t convinced.
"I like the idea of making the laws more equal but I have to admit that some of the things I've heard about have me a bit worried." Thad knew that it was a risk to say such things, especially surrounded as he was, but if he just idly sat it would take too long.
Everit gave him an understanding look. “I thought the same thing but as Formir says you need drastic measures to make drastic changes. Formir supposed to have some big news for us tonight before you make any rash decisions why not hear what he has to say.”
“Sounds fair to me, what do I do until then?”
“Take a walk around, meet some of the other guys, and get to know them.” Everit said scraping the last of his food from his bowl.
Getting to know the others was the last thing he wanted to do, all it would do is make his job harder in the end. Many of these people had just had a hard life, and their actions were a result of the faulted government system, while he could sympathize with the cause he had to remind himself of their actions. If they had simply been targeting taxes, or the peerage he would join with them, but they made no distinction on who they hurt, as long as it furthered their goals. He was positive had he refused their offer the night before they would have tried to kill him, if he allowed them to continue even if they won Farlan would only be trading a neglectful regime for a cruel one. Either way the current government was to blame for the current situation. While the laws didn’t condone the current treatment of men it didn’t prohibit it either.
Farlan had been built around a simple idea. The Fae Wars had dragged on for over a hundred years after Emperor Tremon died, his heir had taken up his quest and his heir after him. Emperor Tremon the fourth was young when he took the throne and while not married had many mistress’s when he was killed many supposed heirs came forth fighting over the imperial throne. A massive and bloody civil war followed and the once great empire collapsed. Lady Farlan a Countess spoke of creating her own country on her land where the crown would be passed down among the female line, while someone could question who had sown the seed no one could question who had carried it. With the civil war fresh in their minds people flocked to the Farlan, and the Queendom was established. The Queendom prospered but after a few generations all peerage tittles were passed down among the female line, a few generations after that all property was done so as well, and after that men lost the ability to own property. What had begun as a brilliant idea had been taken too far and now threated to cause the very civil war it had wanted to stop.
For a long time Thad sat staring at the ground wondering what was the best thing to do. Maybe he could talk to this Formir and talk him into taking a better approach, he wouldn’t know unless he tried. His mind heavy he went back to his camp and brushed spot down, trying to ease the uncomfortable knot that had formed in the pit of his stomach.
As the sun began to hand low on the horizon the commotion started and people began making their way to stand around the large tent in the middle of the camp. Thad followed the group pushing his way as close to the front as he could.
Formir stood in the center of the commotion with two well-dressed men on each side. He was very tall and had a graceful build his clothes were dignified but plain of black and gray; his hooded brown eyes looked like two patches of dried blood, his thick, straight, obsidian hair was tied behind his head in a utilitarian style giving Thad the overall impression of a snake.
Formir held up his hand and the throng of men quieted. “My fellow revolutionaries I have some bad news for you. The queen has ordered five hundred of her soldiers up from Southpass Fort to kill us.” The men around him burst into shouts of anger and profanity, Formir waited for a bit then signaled for them to quiet. “With our present number we could most likely win but at too heavy a cost, what we need is a more defensible base that will force them to take notice of us, if we can make our plight know others will join us. Almost half of the queens army is made up of slaves and the rest are no better than slaves living only off the queen’s good graces, if given the chance many of them will defect to our side.” The crowd erupted in cheers, Formir waited a bit before quieting them down again. “These two men are from the kingdom of Abla and they have pledged to help in our plight. If we can force the queen to move enough of her troops from Southpass then they will march in force, and together we will force the queen to listen to our demands. To the south of here is Avael where everything we need is available, so get some sleep for tomorrow we march and by nightfall Avael will be ours.”
Thad’s heart almost stopped in his chest Avael, They were going to attack Avael. As the speech wound down people excitedly went back to their own camping areas and soon Thad was left alone with his thoughts. He watched as Formir and the two men from Alba went back into the large tent. The sun still stood above the edge of the trees casting an orange glow over the tops of the trees. He had to act quickly before it got too dark out he would never survive the night magic or no.
Looking around everyone else was so busy celebrating he doubted anyone would notice him, he still cast the glamor to help people ignore him. Thad cautiously moved around to the back of the tent, using his dagger he cut a small slit and peeked into the tent. Formir and his two friends were sitting in fancy wooden chairs. Their voices were too soft to hear so he cut a large enough slit in the tent to crawl though. Once he was inside he made his way over to the bed, leaning against the headboard he waited for his chance.
“Soon the queen will have no choice but to weaken her army standing at Southpass and we can take this country for our own.” Formir said greedily.
“Yes and the King will remember you fondly for your support is this my lord.” One of the Ablain’s said reassuringly.
"Remember the deal, you
are to completely break the people here so that no one can rise up to challenge his Majesty, we do not want to have to deal with a rebellion, the kingdom cannot afford it." The other Ablain said so smugly Thad could almost see the smirk on his face.
Thad cursed under his breath it made perfect sense, Abla had been attacking Farlan every decade or so ever since they were founded. While they were also located on the ocean their waterfront was littered with coral reefs making it dangerous for ships to navigate, and inland their soil was rocky, and mountainous, so while they had one of the best sources for metal everything else had to be brought in from the outside, and Farlan made a huge profit off their warlike neighbors.
Not wanting to waste any more of the waning daylight Thad went on the move paralyzing all three of the men before stepping out of his concealment. His stomach tightened in knots as he moved toward the two men from Abla. The reckless group of misplaced revolutionaries were dangerous in their own right but coupled with plots outside the Queendom were even worse. Thad had to keep himself from vomiting as he cut the first man's throat, the second mans was easier, but it still felt wrong killing someone as they simply sat their helplessly. He finally turned to Formir who eyes shook with fear he placed the dagger to the man's throat. "I'm sorry, but I can't let you simply murder any more innocent people, if only you had went about this a different way."
Thad went out the cut he had made in the back of the tent, and moved back down to where Spot grazed. It only took a few moments to have Spot saddled and ready to ride but her knew that the men around him would still most likely attack Avael in the morning even with their leader dead. He had to slow them down so he mounted Spot raised his staff high above his head. Billowing balls of flame began to rain from the sky consuming the main tent as well as anything else they touched. The stench of burnt flesh filled his nose, as the dying screams of hundreds reached his ears, causing his focus to waver and finally collapse as he leaned over the side of his horse to expel the contents of his stomach.
Inexperienced Mage (Reawakening Saga) Page 10
