by Brian Beam
So now the stolen gem that I had stolen had been stolen. Fancy that.
As much as I would have loved to spring to my feet and take chase, a quick tilt of my head revealed Brennor and his fellow fists-for-hire charging towards me. With my head still spinning and vision slightly blurred, I pushed myself to my feet as fast as my body would allow and spun to face my possible executioners.
The quick motion left me slightly nauseous and my pounding head slowed my thinking. The world seemed to be moving in slow motion, matching the speed my brain was processing it. The man on the ground beside me was pushing himself to his feet. Brennor and the three other thugs charged at me like bulls through the pipe smoke. The scene was hazy as if I were dreaming the whole thing. In order to live I would have to run. That plan may not have worked before, but there was no way I could have taken on these men and survived. Not with my brain feeling like mush and a bump painfully growing on the back of my head.
My stomach turned again as I spun quickly to attempt diving through the crowd towards the exit yet again. You know how they say that your life flashes before your eyes just before you die? Well, the only thing that flashed before my eyes was a fist.
Chapter 2
A Count, A Contract, And A Cat. Oh My!
Death didn’t seem so bad. It was like taking a nap. It was filled with the same visions as in my dreams: my only memories of my parents.
First there’s the memory of my parents’ faces hovering above me with loving smiles, their faces blurry as if my mind is unable to fully recall the details. Then again, how clear can you expect a memory from when you were a baby to be? With my father, however, I can always identify a shining golden crown encrusted with jewels on his head, a sign that maybe, as unlikely as it seems, I came from nobility. As for my mother, I can clearly recognize her golden hair hanging in ringlets past her shoulders and a smile that could warm even the coldest day.
The second memory of my parents is far less pleasant. I can feel myself slowly drifting away, screaming and crying, into a blindingly bright silver light as my parents watch with tears in their eyes. My mother reaches out as if to stop me from drifting away, but is held back by my father’s hands on her shoulders. I can tell that neither of them wants me to go wherever I am being taken, but for some reason they either cannot or will not stop me.
I may have only been a baby, but somehow I know that these scenes are memories and not just dreams. There is a gap between these and my first memories as a child of four or five with Mathual and Harriet Karell, my adoptive parents. According to them, they found me as an infant crying on their kitchen floor. Seeing as they couldn’t have children of their own, they took me in after they could find no one in town that I may have belonged to. I could not have asked for better parents growing up. If it weren’t for my nightly dreams, I would never have questioned their being my birth parents.
After mentioning my dreams to them, though, they were honest about how they found me. However, what little I could remember of my birth parents did not match the description of any of the royalty in the kingdom of Alandrin where they lived.
For now I’ll spare the details, but long story short, I grew up, decided to leave home to find my parents, trained with my ex-military uncle for a few years to prepare for the journey, and here I was, dead at twenty-three at the hands of some lout.
Well, maybe not dead since my eyelids slowly flickered open and the world started to come into focus. I was in an uncomfortable wooden chair with my hands bound by my wrists and tied to the chair’s laddered back. My awakening brought with it the pain of the lump on the back of my head, a dull ache in my stomach, too-tight rope digging into my crossed wrists, and a potential broken nose evidenced by the feel of blood on my upper lip.
Before me stood Count Galius Firmon himself with two large, plainly dressed, short-haired men, one to each side of him. As hard as it was to believe, the other two men were larger than the men I had recently fought.
I was still in the Boar’s Pen, empty except for me, Galius, and thugs number one and two. The only light came from two lanterns, one hanging on either side of the entry door. In other words, everything was just peachy.
Galius was everything you would expect a pompous lord to be. He had a fairly large build with a visible gut common to men of his station who have servants to do all their work for them. His oiled goatee and receding, short-cropped black hair had a look of excessive grooming. He couldn’t quite pass for handsome, but his sharp facial features and status would be able to draw plenty of ladies seeking money and power. His ghostly pale skin was a sharp contrast to the darker skin tones common in the south as was displayed on his two lackeys.
His blue silk shirt was tucked into fine, pleated black pants and bore an insignia I couldn’t quite make out between my still blurred vision and the dim light of the lanterns. Over his shoulders draped a dark-blue silk cloak lined with gold. His clothing was immaculately clean. A noble such as Galius would not be caught dead bearing the dirt of travelling; he obviously had taken a carriage from Byweather.
His dark gray eyes narrowed and his thin lips compressed into a tight line below a long, thin nose. His hands were firmly pressed against his hips. I think I was supposed to be intimidated.
“Finally awake, are we, Mr. Karell?” Although I should have been annoyed by the arrogance in his voice, it was hard to take a man seriously when his voice was high-pitched and nasal like a child with a cold. I take back what I said about ladies possibly trying to sweep him away for his looks, money, or power. No adult could regularly put up with that voice from a grown man for more than a single conversation.
I looked up into his eyes through my still adjusting vision with a grin. “I sure hope so. I’d hope that if I were asleep, I would dream of someone much more attractive.” I could have let him feel like he was intimidating me with some sort of meek response, but it’s usually more fun being a smart ass. Besides, I figured that if he had come like this in the middle of an Activated Contract and had me tied up, I probably couldn’t get myself into a worse mess.
Galius’ mouth turned up into a smirk. “Ah, clever joke,” he chuckled, nodding to thug number one on his right. This led to a punch to my already painful stomach. Apparently I could get myself in a worse mess. I’ll have to thank my adoptive uncle and my cat one day for my unfortunate wit. I’ll explain later. For now, a little advice: in situations like this, try to make whoever’s got you tied up happy.
Trying to take my own advice, I gasped, “Sorry, Count Firmon,” before trying to completely regain my breath.
Thug number one stepped back and Galius resumed his firm, narrow-eyed stare. I assumed that Galius didn’t think I was doing what I should to fulfill the Contract Terms I had with him. That meant he had probably come to try to set me straight. Quite honestly, whatever his reason was would not have led to a pleasurable exchange. My best course of action would be to just sit still and let what was going to happen, happen. I figured if I just held my tongue that maybe I could get through the ordeal as painlessly as possible.
Clasping his hands behind his back, Galius crouched down to look me in the eyes. “Korin, I made a simple Contract with you for a simple task.” His tone was so condescending that it made me wish I could punch him. Then again, the sound of his voice did the same thing. He sounded like a child trying to scold another child. “Just retrieve a stolen gem. Simply take a red gem from a man I described to you in enough detail that it should have been a quick matter once you had found him. I don’t remember paying you three gold rounds to learn to play cards,” he finished with a sneer. Rounds were what they called money in the kingdom of Urdale, but through my travels, I had learned that no matter the kingdom, gold was gold and silver was silver.
Without even having to voice the question on how he knew about the cards, Galius continued. “Oh yes, I had you followed. After the gem was stolen from me, I’m not exactly trusting.” With a self-important smile, as if having me followed was the cleverest thi
ng ever, Galius rose back to his feet.
“I still have over a week left according to your Terms,” I retorted. No more witty replies for me. Alas, apparently any reply was going to lead to another punch to the gut as thug number two proved. I had been hoping he had just been there for show.
“Do you think this is a game?” Galius’ anger finally broke through as his voice rose to a whiny scream just short of comical. Scratch that, it was comical. I just couldn’t laugh, though, unless I felt like being pummeled. “You enter a binding Activated Contract, waste the first two weeks of it, and then let the gem slip through your fingers to some thief who’s taken it to the gods know where.” Spittle shot from his mouth onto my face and in my current position, I just had to take it.
Nodding again to thug number one, Galius got me a punch to my jaw. How thoughtful it was of the thug to take the attention away from my stomach.
“As you can see,” Galius continued in a more controlled tone, my subordinates are quite zealous. Maybe too much so. Their orders were to take you into custody after you retrieved the gem, not knock you senseless after you had it foolishly stolen from you.” Galius shot an annoyed look at thug number two. At least I knew who to thank for the broken nose.
Trying my best to ignore the throbbing in my jaw along with my other pains and the blood slowly oozing from the corner of my mouth, I brought my head up to look Galius right in the eye. “I still have over a week,” I repeated gruffly. Now that I was feeling intimidated, I couldn’t show it. See, if I didn’t fulfill my end of the Activated Contract, I would be bound to Galius basically as a slave. Again, I’ll explain later.
For a wonder, Galius didn’t nod to the thugs and instead crouched down before me, his anger slightly more controlled on his face. “As much as I hate to admit it, your Soul Contract makes you the only one I can trust to do this job and actually bring the gem back to me.” Those last words were forced from between clenched teeth.
Galius’ lack of trust in hiring someone without a Contract was the reason for my current employment. Otherwise, he could have commissioned simple guildsmen or brutes like thugs number one and two beside him.
Speaking of thugs number one and two, as Galius stood back to his feet, they turned for the door and started to leave. Anger flashed across Galius’ face.
“Where are you going?” This guy really had a spit problem when he screamed. Thankfully he had been facing away from me.
“Your paid time’s up with us, Count,” thug number one grumbled as he turned, crossing his muscled arms over his gray shirt, his chest hair popping out from the unlaced collar.
Galius’ face reddened to a shade not unlike the setting sun. “Y-you, you work for me,” he stammered, sounding like a child throwing a temper tantrum. “You are on my payroll!”
Thug number one was in no way perturbed. Thug number two didn’t even have the courtesy of turning around. “Was until tonight,” he amended in a nonchalant bass with a heavy emphasis on the “was”. “You won’t be in power much longer. Julan Bertal has offered us better pay and I’m sure you know he’ll be taking your place as Second to Lord Vauhs soon.” With those words, thug number one turned and joined thug number two in exiting The Boar’s Pen. Twilight outside indicated the end of the evening. That meant that I must have been out for at least an hour. I brought my gaze back to Galius.
Fury may have still painted Galius’ face, but his mouth working to form words that would not come out showed that he was shocked by this turn of events. To tell the truth, I was pretty shocked myself. Nothing about what had just happened made sense.
The two thugs had been on Galius’ leash just moments before. Even if they had received a better offer to serve someone else, why did they just then reveal it? Whoever Julan was, he must have had some legitimate pull to convert the men to his side when he must have had a lower political rank than Galius. With Galius being in an elected position as Second, I wondered how this Julan planned on usurping it.
Well, I could have tried to puzzle the situation out or just settle on the fact that it had little to do with getting me out of the binding ropes or staunching the blood still oozing from my nose.
After a lengthy pause, Galius nasally screamed, “Come back! You have no right—” His words died as he seemingly realized how ridiculous he sounded yelling for men long gone from earshot.
Galius’ eyes narrowed when he turned back to me. “You will get me that gem, or your life is mine.” It was really unfortunate that what he said was literally true.
Taking a deep breath and spitting away the blood that had been pooling on my lips as I exhaled, I replied, “One week may be pushing it. I don’t even know where the gem could be now.” I hated to admit that I probably couldn’t get the gem in a week since the alternative was serving this man until my death otherwise.
“Lucky for you,” his voice rasped, or rather, squeaked, “I took the liberty of taking your Soul Contract to a local guild for you and increased your time to two weeks. It only needs your mark before the Guildmaster to confirm it.”
My eyes widened with shock before I could control myself. All of a sudden it hit me that this man could have set any Terms on the Contract that he wanted to and if I accepted with my blood, I would be bound to them. I was going to have to find the exact guild he went to and speak to the exact Guildmaster he met with. Galius must’ve known exactly what I was thinking with the dry smile he gave me. There was no way I was going to give him the satisfaction of asking which guild he used.
“Yes, I could have set any Terms I wanted and you would either have to follow blindly or fulfill the original Terms in the week you already have,” he explained, echoing my thoughts in answer to the shock on my face. “However, I do not have the time to deal with tricks. Enough time has been wasted between your idiocy and cretins who can’t follow orders. You have two weeks.” With those words, he spun on his heels and made for the door.
Struggling against the ropes binding my wrists, causing the chair to dance across the floor, I called, “Hey, what about this?”
“Goodbye, Korin. Two weeks.” Galius didn’t even turn. He just extinguished the lanterns and shut the door softly behind him. That was probably a good thing, because if I had seen his face again to go along with that whiny voice, I may have chased him down and really punched him. Well, if I could have stood up. And if the Contract would have let me. As for the reality, though, I was alone in an empty tavern with only the lewd pictures carved on the support beams and what little smell of musty pipe smoke could make it through the inflammation and blood in my nose to keep me company.
“Good work picking out this job,” I muttered to myself. I figured it would be an easy one, especially when I found Brennor and realized his gambling problem. And I had thought that Brennor was the stupid one.
Sighing, I let my head drop. I wished that I could simply not go to the guild. If I didn’t, though, the original Terms of the Contract would remain, and after a week’s time I could find myself with a death sentence or worse. Yes, it could be worse than death. Trust me.
So, I guess I could describe the next thirty minutes of trying to get out of the binding ropes which may or may not have ended with me knocking the chair over backwards like an idiot, but maybe I should finally explain the whole Contract thing now. Galius may have called it a Soul Contract—that is what they call them in the kingdom of Urdale—but that is quite the misnomer. Your soul is not on the line. Maybe your freedom, but not your soul.
Contracts are extremely rare with perhaps only a hundred or so known to be in use at this time. They go back about a thousand years to the Power Wars when the kingdoms of Amirand were still being established. One of those vying for power was named King Lyrak Es’Tal, ruler of the growing kingdom of Gualain in the east. To this day, he has been the only ruler of a kingdom who was also a wizard and for good reason.
In order to keep his army under strict control, he created Contracts that would magically bind his soldiers to his will. The conc
ept was simple; Lyrak would issue orders through the Contract and his soldiers would accept the orders to receive their pay. His soldiers, becoming Contract Holders, would then be bound to fulfill those orders within a time frame established by Lyrak.
Now, the reason that some regard these magical items as Soul Contracts is that if a Contract Holder fails to follow through with the Terms of the Contract within the specified time frame, he is forever linked to the Setter—the one who sets the Terms of the Contract. This link somehow alters the Contract Holder’s mind to be subject to the will of the Setter. In all reality, using this link, if the Contract Setter told the Holder of an unfulfilled Contract to jump, they would jump. If the Setter told the Holder to die…well, you get the picture. It is quite the means of motivation for those with Contracts to follow through with their orders in a timely manner.
If a Holder is unable to fulfill a Setter’s Terms they can just try to run away and never see the Setter again. However, the link created after the Setter’s stated time frame expires makes the Setter a part of what the Holder needs to live. I can’t explain it and I don’t know if anyone can, but without the Setter giving the Holder orders after a lapsed time frame, the longest the Holder can expect to live is roughly a month. This same link makes the Holder feel drawn to the Setter until they find them. Or until the Holder’s death.
However, Contracts can not easily be used to purposefully create slaves for the Setter. When a Contract is Activated, both parties are prohibited from causing harm to one another and the Setter is prohibited from interfering with the Holder’s fulfillment of the Contract Terms. Magically prohibited, that is. This prohibition applies to not only the Setter and Holder’s actions, but anyone else they involve with the Contract Terms such as Galius’ thugs number one and two. This means that I could not have punched Galius even if I had tried. In truth, Galius’ thugs should not have been able to tie me up and attack me since it was interfering with me completing the Contract Terms and caused harm to me. Still, they were able to somehow…
