by B. T. Narro
bridge of realms
By B.T. Narro
Book 2
The Stalwart Link Series
Copyright 2019 by B.T. Narro
Cover and Map by Beatriz Rare
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are fictitious. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is coincidental. All rights reserved. This book may not be reproduced in whole or in part without the express written permission of the copyright holder.
CHAPTER ONE
Leo had no idea where his father could be, but in his heart, he knew his father was still alive. After his father’s disappearance, Leo had gone through the day with strength and courage, arriving at the Bookbinding Guild at sunrise, ready to work. By sunset however, he had no strength left.
On the way back to his home, two realizations came that scared him so much they halted his steps. One was that he might never see his father again. But that did not scare him as much as the other. His small abode, where he had lived all ten years of his life with his brother, might not be their home any longer.
Their neighbor Rygen worked beside Leo at the Bookbinding Guild. Leo had not seen courage in her eyes that day, only a sadness that seemed so strong that Leo worried he would never see Rygen smile again. She had watched her mother die last night when the soldiers came. It had been a terrible, bloody death.
She would stay with Leo and his older brother from now on. The three of them would have to take care of one another.
Andar was home when Leo and Rygen arrived. Leo hugged his brother, clinging to Andar as Leo’s legs threatened to collapse.
“It’s all right,” Andar soothed. “You made it through the hardest day.”
That was true. They just had to prepare supper, then they could finally rest and put this day behind them.
The three of them combined what they had acquired from the market, making a stew that didn’t taste very good. No one complained, however. They had purchased only what they’d deemed to be sold at a good price, except for Andar, who had stolen a large potato from someone who didn’t need it as much as the three of them did.
It was mostly a quiet meal until the door to their home banged open and a soldier stumbled into the kitchen. Leo had recently learned what he could about the king’s army. A soldier’s rank was always obvious upon first gaze from what he wore; the fancier the uniform or armor, the higher the rank. This man’s uniform was in the simple style of all the low-ranking footmen, with no buttons or stars, only the sigil of the king sewn into its front.
Leo had already grown to hate that sigil, especially because the design itself was beautiful. It was complicated, reminding Leo of a diamond. The scene it seemed to depict was a cloaked figure with an oversized crown above his head. A shield representing the army outlined the figure. It seemed to say that the crown and army were designed to protect him. But this cloaked figure no longer resembled the common man to Leo, not after soldiers had come and destroyed much of the city without showing a hint of regard for the people’s lives they’d ruined. The cloaked figure could only be the king now. He and his royal family were the only ones protected.
A soldier barging in could mean that the army had found out finally that Leo and Andar’s father, who had gone by the name of Darren Litxer, was someone far more important than the brothers had claimed yesterday during questioning. But instead of speaking, the soldier glared at them as if he owned this house and they should be the ones to leave.
Andar was the first to stand. “You’re drunk. This isn’t your home.”
Leo noticed him swaying then. What was he here for?
The drunken soldier ignored Andar as he walked around the table and grabbed Rygen by the collar of her shirt. He lifted her up. There was something in his eyes that Leo had never seen before. He was about to jump on the soldier’s back, but he knew doing so could mean not only his death but everyone’s here. Leo froze instead, like his brother had.
Rygen looked so small in the man’s grasp, like a terrified mouse. The man seemed large for a grown adult, with a bulky body and massive arms. Leo didn’t know exactly what the soldier was looking for as his gaze traveled up and down Rygen’s body, but Leo knew enough to tell that it was something heinous.
“She’s only ten,” Andar said, his hands up as if ready to use them.
Leo couldn’t stand around any longer. He ran outside through the open door. There were soldiers all around Jatn now, so it should be easy to find another one. Tens of thousands of them had entered the city yesterday to drive out the rebels, Leo’s father probably among them. Leo might never know that for sure, though. It’s not as if a rebel would come back to tell them that Darren Litxer had joined Erisena and the others and that he was still alive. Leo was surprised the worry was potent enough to pierce his fear for Rygen, even as he ran his fastest to look for help.
He found a soldier quickly, this one leaving a neighboring house while rolling up a scroll. He didn’t appear to be drunk, thankfully. In fact, the way he glanced over at Leo with a spark in his eyes made him seem keenly aware of a problem that he might need to solve.
“A drunk soldier just entered our home and grabbed my sister!” Leo hadn’t planned to lie about his relation to Rygen. It just seemed easier, or perhaps faster. That’s all that mattered now.
“Lead me.” The man spoke with a voice that told Leo he would resolve this matter.
Leo’s heart lifted with hope as he ran with the older man. They returned to the kitchen to a scene that filled Leo with horror. His brother was entangled with the guard of the king’s army. It did not matter the reason. Everyone knew it was treason to fight a soldier. That meant a hanging. Leo was on the verge of weeping as he imagined his brother swinging.
Andar was merely thirteen. He still had years of growth left. Not only did he lack height, but he most certainly lacked the girth and strength needed to have any hope of overpowering the larger man. But then he surprised Leo as Andar squirmed out of the soldier’s hold and shoved the man back hard enough to separate them by a few steps.
“You need to leave!” Andar yelled, neither aware of Leo nor the other man in uniform.
The drunken soldier drew his sword. Andar started toward the counter where they kept a long knife, but the other man finally spoke.
“Halt!” he yelled.
“Commander,” the drunk soldier muttered, the redness draining from his face. He tried to put his sword back in its sheath as quickly as he could, as if hoping his leader hadn’t seen it yet. But the sword dropped to the wooden floor with a loud clank. Rather than pick it up, the soldier stood straight as if awaiting orders. But his drunkenness seemed to pull him backward by his shoulders, forcing him to stumble quicker with each thumping step until he hit a wall. He grumbled a curse Leo knew to be one of the worst ones as the soldier fell to his knees and crawled toward his sword.
The commander waited with his arms folded as he watched the man finally get his hands around the hilt of his sword. He stood with a wobble, then sloppily put the weapon back in its sheath.
Having seen this drunken intruder take out the deadly weapon in preparation to stab Andar, Leo felt an onset of rage that ground his teeth together. Why were men like this allowed such power? Someone had not only put a sword in this man’s hand, they had put him in a uniform with a symbol on it that said no one could stop him no matter what he did.
No one but his commanding officer, at least.
Now that his panic had dissolved, Leo noticed the difference between the two. While the rank-and-file soldier had on a gray coat of long sleeves with buttons down its center, the commander wore a chest plate. It was made of leather, not steel, though it was certainly fancy. There was an extra layer of pad
ding across the chest and stomach that was bolted to its under layer with bright silver pins of some kind. It made the commander appear like a true swordsman, not just some drunkard who had managed to fit his fat arms through some armor.
“What’s your name?” the commander asked his underling.
“Marcus Dowl,” he answered sheepishly.
The commander made a note on a scroll, then checked over some of the other scrolls. He didn’t seem to find anything of interest. He looked back up with disapproving eyes.
“This better be the first and last time you enter someone’s home without permission, or I will find out. I don’t care how poor the people are here. The laws apply to them and protect them just as they do the rich. Now find your own bed, Marcus, and stay there until you realize how lucky you are that this young man came and fetched me when he did.” He gestured at Leo.
“Yes sir.” The soldier hurried out.
Andar put himself in front of the commander and held out his hand. “Thank you.”
But the commander ignored his hand, looking him in the eyes instead. “Sit. I have questions for you.”
Andar slowly retracted his hand. He sat in front of his unfinished bowl of stew. Leo never saw his brother nervous or scared, not even now, his breathing even as he waited for the commander to begin.
“What’s your name?” the commander asked first.
He took a moment before answering. “Andar Litxer.” It was the name on his identification papers, but there was so much more to it that Leo hoped this man would not find out.
“You are clearly the oldest here in this moment,” the commander said, “and it’s too late for anyone else to still be out. Who is your guardian?”
“My father, Darren Litxer. He works for the Digging Guild.” Andar showed a face of worry that seemed surprisingly genuine to Leo. “He didn’t come home yesterday. We don’t know where he is.” Leo supposed that was true, actually.
Unfortunately, the commander seemed to sense there was more to the story as he leaned over Andar with a scowl. “What do you know about his disappearance?”
“What do you mean?” Andar asked, in his typical way of buying himself time.
The commander sucked in a breath as he leaned closer to Andar. He was large, his chest like a barrel. He had a wide face with high cheekbones. His eyes were slits beneath thin eyebrows. His mouth seemed to be set in his face, incapable of arcing enough to ever be called either a smile or a frown.
“I will take your withholding of the truth as a lie,” he informed Andar somewhat calmly, his voice a contrast to his expression. “And if you lie under interrogation, you’re subject to punishment. So now you will speak and tell me everything you know of your father.”
“There is nothing to tell,” Andar answered quickly. “We didn’t see him yesterday after the morning. Soldiers came into our home in the evening and we told them the truth. We hadn’t seen our father. I asked for their help to find him, but they didn’t care. No one does. We still haven’t seen him. We have no idea where he is.” Andar’s face twisted as if he might cry, but Leo suspected he was forcing it. His brother always had control over his tears. It was his urge to talk back to authority that he had the most difficulty stopping.
Andar continued with his voice shaking, “We barely slept a wink last night as we waited for him. Meanwhile, her mother was killed by a beast that one of your summoners unleashed into this area.” He gestured at Rygen, who had held a face of fear until just now, when she hung her head over her still steaming stew.
“The creature broke into her home,” Andar went on. “It would’ve killed her after it killed her mother if it wasn’t for my brother, who was brave enough to run next door and fight it. He’s only ten!” Andar had steeled his voice, anger pushing through. “We worked all day today just to make enough for this lousy stew. Besides this food here, we have nothing. No coin. No food. No other family. Nothing!”
The commander put his palms on the table and leaned even closer. Andar didn’t lean away, though Leo found himself shrinking back. He felt smothered by this commander, caged. Leo could feel his brother’s instincts to shove the man away. Even though the three of them had each other, they were still so very alone. It was up to them to protect each other. They were wounded animals, scared yet dangerous. Especially Andar.
“Let me explain something to you,” the commander lectured. “A group of rebels was found here in Jatn. Many of them were killed, while the rest escaped. But there still must be some who reside here, their true identities still a secret to us. Are you following so far? This next part is very important.”
Andar nodded reluctantly.
The commander continued, “A few innocent citizens were injured yesterday when my army took the city, but I have not yet heard of one innocent citizen who has gone missing. Not one. Now I am not calling you a liar, yet. Instead, I have a question for you. What possible scenario could cause your father to go missing if he is indeed innocent? I ask you because you know your father and I do not. I’m giving you the chance to provide a reason for his disappearance before I mark that he is likely a rebel.”
Leo had always told the truth and dealt with the repercussions, and he had always wished Andar would do the same. But their father had met with the leader of the rebels before the attack. Even if he was merely speaking with Erisena to tell her once and for all that he and his family would not be joining her, no one would believe that. His meeting with her would make him a rebel to the king even if he wasn’t one.
What’s worse was that he had probably been swept up and forced to fight alongside the rebels in the heat of the battle. Leo figured his father must’ve escaped because of his talent with a sword. Hopefully he was unharmed, but that didn’t seem likely. There were just too many soldiers to fight through.
Darren Litxer was really DVend Quim, a hero known as the strongest swordsmen in the world. But where was he now? Telling even some of the truth to the commander would only make it harder for Leo’s father to ever come back, and it certainly wouldn’t make life easier for Leo or his brother. Their father had told them that the offspring of rebels, especially males, were often arrested or hung so they would not one day avenge their fathers.
Fortunately, Leo knew his brother to be a skilled liar. His mind was quick. He would figure a way out of this line of questioning.
But Leo worried more the longer Andar went without speaking. He stared back at the commander with big eyes, silently asking for mercy.
“I will not give you time to think of excuses or lies,” the commander said. “You will answer right now.”
But still Andar would not speak. Fear stole Leo’s breath. Was there no lie that would get them out of this? Leo had put too much responsibility on his brother. He tried to think of something himself.
“Answer me!” demanded the commander.
“I don’t know.” Andar stood. “Our father always went to the Digging Guild in the morning and came back here in the evening, but he didn’t last night! That’s all I know! A man like him does not have time to rebel. Like the rest of us, he works, he eats, and he sleeps.”
The commander let out his breath. “I’m sure he did not return home at the same time every evening.”
“He did!” Andar lied. “He can’t be a rebel. He cares too much about my safety and my brother’s to risk everything. And what would he gain from joining the rebels? We have nothing to show for rebel support, can’t you see that? Go ahead and search the house. You will find no coins. Here, look.” Andar turned his pockets inside out. “Show him,” he told Leo and Rygen.
They stood and turned their own pockets inside out.
“Look for coin anywhere else!” Andar continued. “You will find none.”
The commander straightened his back and put up his hand. “All right. You can calm down.”
It was silent except for Andar’s loud breaths.
“You have convinced me…for now,” the commander said.
Leo’s next b
reath was of relief. He felt as if his lungs had been holding in air. The three of them sat, but tension filled the air with the commander’s next word.
“However…” He paused, gesturing at Andar’s seat and waiting until Andar sat before continuing. “There is one other thing I have tasked myself with that you need to hear. I’m telling everyone in Jatn the same message, which is I’m not leaving this city until I have done everything I can for it. I will have every man, woman, and child working so long as they are able. None are to beg or thieve.” He eyed Andar specifically before letting his gaze drift between the three of them again.
“I will have all the laws followed,” the commander continued, “including by my own men. Marcus will be punished in the same way that you will, Andar, if I catch you lying or thieving.”
Leo felt his eyes go wide, wondering if this man already knew something about Andar. Leo made sure to fix his expression as the commander glanced his way. He didn’t want to give up that his brother was a thief. Maybe it was just that the commander suspected Andar stole because of his impassioned speech about how little they possessed.
“Now give me your papers, all of you. And tell me of your work.”
They went to fetch their rolled up papers that were sitting on the beds in the other room. There seemed little point in storing them elsewhere when soldiers were rampant in the town.
“Be careful of what we say to him,” Andar whispered to the two of them.
“We will,” Leo answered as Rygen nodded. Leo worried that the incident with Marcus, so soon after losing her mother, had stolen her voice.
But she surprised him by being the first to address the commander and hand over the single scroll that had her name, birthplace, and the names of her parents. “I live in the neighboring house to this one, but my mother…is gone like Andar explained. I work at the Bookbinding Guild.”
“And your father?” the commander asked as he glanced over her papers.
