The Snow Song

by Heath Pfaff

  "Upon being given your share, your right palm will be marked with a symbol that will not wash off for two weeks. If you attempt to cheat the system, I assure you the punishment will be swift and terrible." The cacophony of voices, which had silenced as I spoke, arose again. This time, however, there was a general sense of exuberant joy. Some people started to cheer, and then others joined. Suddenly, the hated king was very popular with the people. They did not care that giving out money in such a way would drive the kingdom to financial ruin, and that giving out all of the kingdom's land would lower the amount of food that could be produced for the public.

  What I had done, in one bold move, was destroy the self-sustaining economy of the country of men. The people of the kingdom, who did not understand the ramifications of my actions, were overjoyed. In truth, they only stood to benefit from my decision. It was Lord Lheec who would suffer. He would come into the kingdom only to find that its vaults were empty, and its lands divided and owned by the people. He would either have to take the lands back from the people, or cart in supplies from his own lands, thus depleting his own resources to uphold the entire economy. Either way, he would find himself in a precarious and unpopular position.

  "The gifting starts tomorrow at dawn, and will be carried out at the taxation office. There will be plenty of time for everyone to receive their due, so do not fret. No one will be left out." I called over the shouts and voices. Another round of cheering filled the air. My eyes gazed across the crowed, specifically across the eyes that watched me from my own party. Some of the Knights looked away as I attempted to gauge their reaction. Ethaniel met my gaze, and may have even cracked the slightest smile. I couldn't be certain, but I did not see any outward anger. That, at least, was a good sign. Snow's eyes sparkled with mischief as she realized exactly what I had done. Malice looked excited, though I doubted she fully understood the situation. I couldn't help but smile.

  I stepped down from the dais, and voices rose all around me. "King Noble! King Noble!" The people chanted. It was a good moment. Despite all that I had hated being a king, at that moment it felt good to wear the crown, and better yet to know that I was nearly done with it.

  The black cloaks and the Knights of Ethan, formed up around me as I made my way through the mass of people towards the exit of the city. We did not travel with war-sows or reave haulers, as I felt the animals would be too difficult to maintain on a long march. Bringing animals just meant that I would need to bring supplies for those animals. It was better to travel light. People pressed in all around us as we traveled, no longer throwing the occasional rock, or icy stare, but now throwing flowers, and well wishes for the hunt. It was remarkable to see how quickly the attitudes of the people could change.

  It had taken a good deal of effort to set everything up for my plan, and to assure that it was carried out fairly. Sums would be given out until there was no longer anyone who had not received a dividend. This would leave some money and land still available to be signed over. This land and money was to be divided among the staff of the castle. They would, in the end, get the largest share, but then they were responsible for assuring that the rest of my plan was properly carried out. In the end, everyone would be a little richer, and have a little more land to call their own. Well, everyone but Lord Lheec, who would find himself hard pressed to fund the repairs for the country, and to pay off all those owed money by the kingdom.

  "You're bankrupting the nation so that you can have one last jab at Lheec." A voice said, close to my left side. I recognized the tones immediately. It was Ethaniel.

  "I know, but I wasn't going to hand everything over to him without doing something." I answered.

  "He'll hate you for this." Ethaniel said, his voice neither a reprimand nor an encouragement.

  "I thought he already hated me." I replied. Lheec had tried to kill me on many occasions. That seemed a strange thing to do to someone you didn't hate.

  Ethaniel shook his head. "No, he just needed you out of the way. After this, though, he will hate you. You might not be able to come back here."

  "That is the least of my problems. You know as well as I, that there is a significant chance that I will never have the opportunity to return here anyway. What we're doing is dangerous. We could die." I locked eyes with the old Knight. His jaw was set firm, and his face showed determination. I ignored the gray, hostile eyes that seemed to give off an entirely different state of being than the rest of Ethaniel's face.

  The old Knight said something then that I did not expect. His eyes seemed to focus somewhere far away as he spoke, the gray eyes, as well, seemed to lose their malignant fire.

  "I have fought for this country so long that I don't know anything else. I am afraid of what this means for us. I fear what might come next. . ." His voice, in that moment, sounded like the voice of a lost child. I turned to look more closely at my advisor.

  "Ethaniel, are you alright?" I asked him, suddenly worried. The vacant expression fled his features, his eyes sharpened, and the gray eyes grew fiery once more.

  "Yes." He replied. ". . . just lost in thought for a moment." He flexed the wings wresting on his shoulders. "Things have been hard these last few years. Whatever fate awaits us, it will be better than being locked in this dying city."

  I nodded, for I agreed with him, but I was still troubled by his lapse in composure. I had never seen Ethaniel less than totally focused before. Ethaniel was the oldest of the Knights, and he seemed to be experiencing more and more instability as the years passed. I had to wonder if it was an indication of the direction that all Knight's would eventually take, becoming more and more morbid and dark as our minds were forced to adapt to the traumas of a hard life that stretched on without foreseeable end. I had never contemplated the reality of my long life-span, or what it could mean to me over the course of hundreds of years.

  Lucidil had been mad, power hungry, and driven to extremes beyond reason. Had that been due to living too long? Of the first couple generations of Knights, only Ethaniel still remained. There were no others by which to compare. Had the others been as dark and demented as Lucidil had been, or as frightening as Ethaniel was becoming? Perhaps I was reading too much into the perceived problem.

  I put it from my mind, knowing that I would need to address those questions at some time in the not so distant future. I relied too heavily upon Ethaniel to not question his actions when they were suspect. The castle gates loomed ahead, and all my worries fled. The road awaited me. Kaylien needed me.

  We had traveled for two days when Ethaniel came to me after we'd made camp for the evening. The black cloaks went mechanically about their preparations for the night. They split off into groups, some bedding down, and others preparing for their shift on watch. It was eerie to observe them as they went about their work in near complete silence. I was almost thankful when the four-eyed Knight approached me, but I knew, even before he spoke, that I wasn't going to like what he had in mind. He approached in a stiff and terse manner; his face hard set like it was any time he planned on telling me something he knew would be a point of contention between us.

  "I'm going back to Kreo." He said, making it a statement, and not a request for my permission.

  I shook my head in negative reply. "No, you're not. We've finished with Kreo. There is no reason to go back. Our goal lays ahead of us now."

  "I left something dangerous in a place where it might be found. I need to put it someplace where it will not fall into the wrong hands. I must go back to Kreo." He reaffirmed his decision. I knew already that he would be going back, but I did not intend upon giving in so easily. Ethaniel had made his decision, and he could have avoided coming to me all together. I should have simply let him do what he wanted. He was going to, whether I agreed or not.

  "What is so important that you'd risk going back to Kreo now?" I pressed, and not just to push the frightening Knight to anger. I really couldn't imagine what would necessitate a trip back to the capital.

  "The research for
the creation of the Black Patch Brigade, and the method for creating Knights of Ethan. If I don't go back and erase the research, Lord Lheec will have access to that information. Those are secrets best kept out of the hands of men like Lheec. I will go back and take care of things." Ethaniel's point struck home. I had thought all such information was destroyed, or at least locked away where it might never be found. I had never been specific on my orders regarding the disuse of those magics. I was at fault as much as anyone else for my lack of care.

  I found myself nodding despite my best intentions. The black cloaks and the Knights of Ethan should never be placed in the hands of a man like Lheec. He would exploit their strengths to spread his own power mercilessly. He'd already proved that he would not wince in the face of murder if it would obtain his goals. A man like that would be unstoppable with the Knights and Black Patch Brigade at his call.

  We had traveled for two days. It would take Ethaniel less than that to get back to the city, if he made fast time. Lheec's forces needed at least a week to reach Kreo from his borders, and that was at a forced march. Four days had passed since he'd left the capital. That left time for Ethaniel to get in and out of Kreo. It would be close.

  There was still a risk that something could go wrong. Lheec might have sent a sprinter ahead for his army, then they would arrive earlier than anticipated, or Ethaniel might be slowed down by adverse weather. It was a big risk to allow him to go back to Kreo. We were still almost two weeks away from the ships. Ethaniel could get to Kreo, and return to us in a matter of days if he traveled hard. We would, of course, have to keep moving.

  "You can go, but you need to be quick and careful. Lheec could be in Kreo at any time. We've assumed that we had a week from the time he left, but we could be wrong. We've spent two days traveling, and another two days preparing to leave. At the most, you have three days. It shouldn't take you two to reach Kreo if you press hard, and another two to meet up with us again. We'll keep moving." I tried to stress the urgency of our need to work quickly.

  Ethaniel nodded. "This will not take me long. I will be gone before Lheec reaches Kreo."

  I looked at the old Knight, and he looked back at me. His gray eyes held an unfamiliar sparkle. It might have been the fire light playing off of them, or perhaps some trick of the moon which hung full and heavy above, but in that dim light those eyes looked as though they brimmed with terrible glee. A shiver ran down my back.

  "Go then, but travel fast, travel safe." I said, dismissing Ethaniel, suddenly quite eager to have those terrible eyes as far from me as possible, though I knew that they could see me from any distance away if given the right motivation. What motivated those eyes, however, was something I, or even Ethaniel, did not understand.

  Ethaniel left without another word, vanishing from the edge of the campsite and into the darkness of the world beyond. I followed his progress for a few moments, until his movements were too far away for even my sensitive motion-tracking vision.

  It shouldn't have bothered me, but I found myself wrought with a feeling of distrust towards the old Knight. Was he really going back to Kreo to do what he claimed he intended? His words hadn't rang false, but Ethaniel was a difficult individual to read. His emotions were, generally, so tightly restrained. What other purpose could he have for returning to the city? There was nothing of importance left there. At least, nothing of importance that I knew of.

  I was assuming that he was telling the truth when he said he was returning to Kreo. What if he was going somewhere else? That was something I hadn't considered initially. Where else would he be going? That I didn't know. I was letting my paranoia get the best of me. It did little good to ponder the unknown, when it posed no immediate threat.

  Snow approached me. She was dressed in a Knight's attire, her hood pulled back, and her white-furred arms crossed over her chest. Her face bore a curious expression. I knew what the subject of conversation would be before she even opened her mouth.

  "He's returning to Kreo to dispose of some dangerous information pertaining to the origin of the black cloaks, and the Knights of Ethan." I told her, preempting the question I thought was coming.

  "I heard," She said, twitching her white capped ears to emphasize the reality of her exceptional hearing. I sometimes forgot that I wasn't the only one with the ears of the Fell Beast. "But what concerns me is that, as far as I know, all such information has already been destroyed."

  "What?" I asked incredulously, suddenly finding myself confused.

  "When you ordered the research stopped, we destroyed the written documentation that went with it." Snow explained, her eyes scanning the tree line into which Ethaniel had vanished.

  "Perhaps there were copies hidden somewhere else." I said, trying desperately to put Ethaniel's actions in a better light. I didn't want to believe that he would outright lie to me.

  Snow shrugged. "It's a possibility. If there were still copies hidden, Ethaniel would be the one to know about them, but. . ." Her words trailed off. "He's been acting strangely lately. Something isn't right with him." She added after a pause.

  "It could be the stress of the situation." I offered forth one of my own theories.

  "Ethaniel was dealing with tense situations for hundreds of years before you were born. Why would he only start to show signs of instability now?" Snow asked, putting voice to the very concerns that had filled my mind many times over the prior few weeks.

  "I'll need to question him on this when he gets back." I said, my voice heavy with the weight of exactly what those words entailed. Directly questioning Ethaniel in such a way would be like accusing him of betrayal. That was a big step to take, and one that could never be undone.

  Snow shook her head. "No, I don't think that would be advisable." Her voice dropped, becoming so quiet I had to lean in to hear her, even with my sensitive ears. "You're the king, and what you want to do is your decision, but perhaps it would be better to watch him for a time. Ethaniel has served this country well, and many of the Knights would sooner side with him than you if things came to a split. It would be best to be cautious here."

  I looked into Snow's black, almost pink, eyes. There was no deception there, and I sensed no intent to trick or otherwise mislead me. For all I could tell, she was being honest with me. It was comforting to know that I wasn't the only who had noticed Ethaniel acting strangely.

  "Who would you side with?" I asked her, not entirely sure of the answer I might get. We had become good friends, but Snow was a Knight, and she had always been loyal to the Knights.

  She grinned. "I came to you, didn't I?" With that, she turned and walked back the way she'd come, leaving me to my thoughts. Malice sat by my feet, on her bedroll. She had witnessed both interactions, watching in silence. Sometimes it was easy to forget that she was even there.

  "You see, other people know it too. Ethaniel is a monster." She reiterated her earlier sentiment, this time quietly, in cospiratory tones.

  I placed my hand on her head and messed her hair. "I'll be certain to watch out for him. You need to get some sleep. We've another long day of walking tomorrow." Malice stuck her tongue out at me before curling up under her cloak and falling quickly asleep. I sat on my own bed roll, prepared to stay up the night, watching in silence. I suddenly felt as though the entire world was stalking me, waiting for me to drop my guard for a second so that it might attack. Little did I know that my paranoia was well justified.

  Hours of darkness passed around me before a figure came silently through the camp in my direction. The shifting cloak and stiff posture told me immediately that it was a Knight of Ethan. I stood at his approach. I could tell by the way he moved that he was coming on business. He drew down his hood as he neared.

  "Rampage," I identified him, and offered him a nod of my head. I spoke in a low voice so as not to wake the others around me. "What brings you to me so late at night?"

  Rampage bowed evenly before speaking. "Our border patrol has captured something you'll want to see." He said, look
ing urgently back the direction he'd come. I pulled the strap on my scabbard, sliding the blade to the center of my back and nodded.

  "What is it?" I asked, falling in behind him as he turned about. Two of my guards fell in at my side, Black Patch Brigade soldiers who would have followed me whether invited or not. It was their job. I would have to individually order each of them to stay behind if I wanted them gone, and I had not looked closely enough to determine who each of them was. Besides, their black cloak names were ever difficult to remember.

  "It's better if you see for yourself, your Majesty." Rampage was old blood. He wasn't as old as Ethaniel, but he had served the Knights for a long time. If he felt that there was something I needed to see, I was willing to take his word on it. I followed him in silence as he lead the way past the edge of camp and out into the dark wood beyond.

  The night air was crisp and fresh, and I drew great breaths of it, filling my lungs with the invigorating chill. It felt good to move, and better still to breathe the fresh, untainted air of the open wilderness. Far beyond the city, the air was free of smoke, and the smells of civilized life. That particular stench, a smell that only appeared in places where men amassed in large numbers, was impossible to pinpoint, but impossible to forget as well. I was happy to leave it behind.

  I kept my eyes on Rampage's back, following the older Knight through the twists and turns of the deep forest. I looked forward, but for the few times I glanced to the sky to check our position. I wasn't sure where we were going, but we seemed be traveling a long way. We walked for several minutes, and I was just about to ask Rampage how far out we were to go, when he stopped dead in his tracks.

  I stopped as well, and that is when I heard the rustling in the woods. It came fast, and I barely had time to react. My two guards, the black cloaks that had been on duty that night, were not fast enough. Blood misted through the air as they were struck, heads cleanly separated from their bodies. I dashed away and to the side, coming in close to Rampage so that I might provide a line of sight at his back. I wasn't sure what was happening around me, but I knew we were being attacked.