by Philip Blood
As Dono and Aerin sparred they discussed their friend.
“You have any idea what is wrong with Lor?” Aerin inquired.
Dono grunted noncommittally.
Aerin scowled, he knew Dono was keeping something from him.
“Come on, tell me!”
Dono just circled with his practice sword ready.
Aerin concentrated on the bout for a few moments, and when he saw his opening he came in with a quick feint, followed by a circular move that got through Dono’s defense. Aerin brought his sword down on the other boy’s wrist with good force, and Dono nearly dropped his sword.
“Ow!”
“Got what you deserved, I’m only trying to help Lor!” Aerin explained.
“Well, you can’t beat it out of me!” Dono complained, rubbing at his wrist.
Aerin smiled, “I wasn’t trying to beat it out of you, in truth I just wanted to make sure I had your attention.”
“All right, I don’t really know what is wrong with him.”
“But...” Aerin prompted.
“I might have a guess,” Dono said sheepishly.
“Spill it.”
Dono glanced over to where Tocor was working with Gandarel on his lunge. They were out of casual earshot.
“I saw him with a couple of the Skulls, two days ago.”
Aerin straightened up out of his sword stance.
“Skulls, what would he be doing with them? He’s been trying to stay away from that rat pack since the first day we met!”
“I know, and that’s why I found it strange. I sort of followed them,” Dono said, his gaze locked onto Aerin’s eyes as if seeking some approval for doing wrong.
“Well, what did you find out?”
“I think they have him stealing for them.”
“Dread take me, we better go to Mara about this, she will know...”
“NO, they have something on Lor, I don’t know what, but he wouldn’t work for them unless he didn’t dare to cross ‘em. If he is willing to do their dirty work, it must be something he don’t want anyone ta know. Not you, not me and certainly not anyone else.”
“All right, let's get together after practice and see what we can figure out.”
During the rest of practice, Aerin thought over what Dono had told him. Gandarel had to return to the Seat right after practice, so Dono and Aerin went out into the street together and found a place to talk.
Aerin had an idea of what they were holding over Lor’s head. “Could it be that brand mark you told me about?” he asked Dono.
“Maybe, I don’t know.”
“What else do you know?” Aerin demanded, “Come on, I can’t help him if you hold out on me.”
Dono wouldn’t meet Aerin’s eyes.
Aerin took him by the shoulders and shook him, “Tell me, Dono, or I will have to go to Mara.”
“They have been wanting to get Lor ‘cause of the way he can move on the high road.”
“Yes, I know how good he is, but what good does that do them?”
“There is a job they want done and they think Lor can get in.”
“Job?”
“You know, a night lifter.”
“You mean burglary?”
“Yeah.”
Aerin considered his next words; “I know Lor has done some of that in the past...”
Dono shook his head, “Not lately, and not like this! He might have lifted a purse or two in the past, or filched some bread, but not like this, not a night lifter.”
“What about that brand?” Aerin prompted.
“I never done seen it. I just supposed it was true as he never takes his shirt off.”
“I see.”
“Meanwise, if he does have the brand, the next time he’s caught he’ll be pole mounted.”
“Pole mounted?”
“Yeah, just his head; they feed the body to the dogs.”
Aerin shuddered at the thought of his friend being beheaded. “Gandarel will stop them; he won’t allow Lor to be... pole mounted.”
“He won’t have a chance, the Guard will see his brand and do it to him right on the spot, that is the law, no waiting. They don’t go bothering the Seat of Stone for petty thieves.”
Aerin considered for a moment. “Wait, Lor wouldn’t allow the Skulls to make him risk beheading just to hide a brand, would he? They must be holding something else over him.”
“Could be, but I dunno what,” Dono answered.
“Well, we had best find out if we are going to help him.”
“He won’t tell you, remember how proud Lor is,” Dono warned.
Aerin nodded, “I know. All right, we’ll have to do this secretly. We will take turns following him; it is our duty to help our friend, even if he doesn’t want help.”
“I don’t know Aerin; it is kinda like betraying his trust.”
“Look, you did it already, and we will both promise to keep any secrets we learn between the two of us... deal?”
“Deal.”
“All right, here is the problem: you and I aren’t as good as Lor at traveling the High Road so we will need to be smart. When following Lor keep back and risk losing him rather than being discovered, got it?”
“Right, I’ll let you know what I learn.”
“Meanwhile, I’ll explain to Mara that you and Lor have some other business to attend to that I don’t know about. That’s pretty close to the truth without saying too much.”
Dono nodded.
“Come get me if you find out something, I’ll be ready,” Aerin promised.
Dono sighed and gave Aerin a weary smile, and then departed for the rooftops.
The next day, when Aerin went out into the city in search of Dono, he couldn’t believe all the decorations that were being put up for the upcoming Freedom day. The lamp poles that lined the streets were wrapped in colorful flowers and ropes, and banners were strung across the streets. Even shop windows were painted with scenes of victory. Some people were already cavorting in fancy costumes depicting fierce and horrible creatures, as well as Lords and Ladies of the Worthy. By far the most popular costume was that of the NexLord, Ragol, and his four bondsmen: Juman the fearless, Hazlerfeld of Westerock, Kor of the twin swords and Sethra the true. Legends all, these were the five heroes who led the armies to victory in the ‘Last Fight’ against the Dreadmaster and his legions of the Togroth, three hundred and twenty-one years ago.
The streets were busier than normal, so it took Aerin longer to reach his meeting place with Dono. He found his nervous friend leaning against one of the decorated lamp poles, with a sour expression of worry pasted on his round face
“There you are at last,” Dono greeted Aerin.
“Yes, I can’t believe all the stir in the city about Freedom day,” Aerin said to explain his tardiness.
“It is always like this, any excuse for a party, and this is the biggest one of the year.”
“I didn’t realize people knew the history of Ragol so well,” Aerin answered.
Dono laughed, “They don’t! I didn’t, for that matter, not until I met you. Somehow you manage to talk about Ragol all the time, I bring up food, and you talk about Ragol. I mention a favorite Gladiator and you talk about Ragol. I don’t think you realize you’re obsessed!”
Aerin poked him in the ribs with a finger. “I’m not that bad!”
“Worse, but anyway, most people just celebrate Freedom day without really knowing anything. They wear costumes and cavort around pretending to be Ragol, but they couldn’t tell you much about him if you asked them. He lived so long ago that now his great victory is just an excuse to have a party.”
Aerin looked serious, “Someone should teach them. After the war, Ragol said the Togroths would return and…”
“Obsessed, I tell you, see what I mean?” Dono interrupted.
“All right, you win,” said Aerin with a grin. “But he was right, about the Togroths...”
Dono put his hands over his ears and started walking away, “I’m not li
stening!”
Aerin hurried to catch up as he called out, “OK I’ll quit, but only if you tell me what you learned about Lor.”
Dono’s playful smile evaporated and he looked worried once again. “I followed him last night, he was checking out a place... it ain’t good.”
“What place?”
“The merchant master’s villa.”
“Merchant master?”
“He controls the Merchant Council; he is a very powerful and rich man. He has lots of guards, lots of locks and lots of grief if you mess with him. Only a fool would try to steal from a man with that kind of power. He could call in every Guardsmen, not personally assigned to Gandarel’s protection, and send them to overturn every stone in the city until the culprit was found.”
“And how do you know Lor was ‘checking’ his place?” Aerin asked.
“I know, I’ve done a little of that work myself, not lately, but you know, times were hard a while back,” Dono said, a little sheepish.
Aerin patted him on the shoulder, “It’s OK, Dono, I understand. Got any ideas on what to do? We could talk to Lor...”
“And he will tell us to butt out. You know how he is,” Dono said miserably.
“We could go to Gandarel.”
Dono shook his head negatively. “You know how he puts ‘duty’ ahead of sense. He would go to Lor and tell him not to rob the merchant, then Lor would be belligerent and Gandarel would tell him he would have to follow the law. Lor would tell him to do as he pleases and then things would just be worse because Lor would do it anyway, and the Guard would be waiting and... ”
Aerin placed a hand on his arm, “Slow down, you’re rambling; besides, I see your point. Then we will have to do this from the other end.”
“What do you mean?”
“It’s the Skulls who are pushing him; we’ll have to push back.”
“There are a lot of them, and many of ‘em are older boys. There are only two of us.”
“Four, if you count Gandarel and Lor. They have something to hold over Lor, we need to know what that is so we can remove it. Then we’ll see what’s up.”
“Lor won’t tell us.”
“I didn’t say we would ask him! I wonder how much time we have to figure it out? Any idea when Lor will move on the Merchant?”
Dono considered for a moment. “I’ll have to look into it, but a holiday is always a good time, there is lots of confusion, people leave their houses to go to parties all night. Yeah, I would guess he’ll do it on Freedom day.”
“That is at the end of the week, five days.”
Dono nodded, “That would be about right. Well, I doubt Lor is going to do anything until later tonight, but if you want to keep track of him, he is juggling two streets over.”
“I’ll watch him,” Aerin promised.
“Good, then you can tell me where to find him when I take over again come nightfall. Meet me here again at lamp light.”
“I’ll be here, but if not, don’t wait more than about an hour.”
“Right.”
Aerin found Lor easily by the crowd gathered around to see his latest juggling performance. Lor cleaned out the can after he was finished, and then headed down the street and Aerin followed.
Curiously, Lor went into an herb supplier for a time. Aerin waited outside, wondering what he could be buying in such a place. The shop was way too small to risk going inside; Lor would have seen him instantly.
After the other boy came out he headed to a part of town Aerin had never been to before. The streets became dirtier and a higher number were boarded up.
Aerin peeked around the last corner where he had seen Lor turn and jerked his head back. Lor was only a few feet away, though luckily his back was to the corner. He had stopped at an old woman who was sitting on a small stool with a bucket of flowers next to her, obviously for sale.
Aerin listened.
“Any luck today?” Lor asked the woman.
“No, but I’m sure someone will buy something soon, never fear,” she replied.
“Come inside for a while, mother, I have something to help your cough,” Lor said.
Aerin nearly gasped, Lor had sworn he had no parents, more than once! This old flower seller was his mother.
He heard Lor's mother coughing, a deep and rasping sound issuing from her chest.
Lor’s voice was full of concern, “Mother, please come inside and lie down on the bed for awhile.”
Lor picked up the bucket of flowers, and they went up three steps and into the door of the building. Aerin heard the sound of a door opening and closing.
Aerin backed off to a better vantage point, further away, where he could watch the door, and have time to get away should Lor come out and head in his direction. Some time later, he heard the door open and a young girl wearing a simple brown dress came out of the door and headed away down the street. The distance was far, but Aerin thought she looked enough like Lor that she must be his sister.
“A mother and a sister,” Aerin thought. Lor had more family than Aerin had ever dreamed. He waited for a long time but Lor did not come out. When it was nearing time to light the street lamps, Aerin went to meet Dono and tell him where to find Lor. Dono was as surprised as Aerin had been that Lor had a mother and a sister.
That night Aerin went to Mara’s room and knocked.
“Yes?” her voice called from within.
“It’s Aerin.”
“I know that. Come in,” she replied.
When he opened the door, he saw Mara placing an old and yellowed document onto a pile of similarly aged papers. Aerin noted that her eyes were uncharacteristically red and tired looking.
“I... I have a favor to ask,” he stammered.
“Indeed? Well, out with it, I won’t bite,” replied Mara with a bit too much force.
Aerin paused a moment, “Is everything all right?”
Mara took a deep breath and recovered her emotions, the tension washed from her face, as she attempted to put away her own pain before the boy.
She swallowed, and then in a more normal voice said, “Everything is fine… this is just a bad time of year for me.”
“Is there anything I can do?” Aerin asked, and then flushed as he thought about how foolish his helping Mara sounded.
Mara managed a smile; “It’s just the ghosts of pain come to bother an old woman. Never fear, it will pass. Now I believe you were here to ask me something?”
Aerin looked away from her face and asked in a subdued voice, “I need to borrow some money.”
Mara’s expressive eyes looked suddenly inquisitive. “How much do you need?”
Aerin considered; he hadn’t really thought that part through. “Well, how much does a doctor cost for a house visit?”
Now Mara was intrigued, “Quite a bit, actually. Who is sick?”
“I can’t tell you,” Aerin said in an agonized voice.
“I see, and yet you wish me to give you the money?”
“Yes, but I’ll pay it all back, once I find a job.”
She considered him for a moment, “A job... doing what?”
“I don’t know, cleaning stables, washing windows, sweeping floors, I can find something,” he explained quickly.
Mara shrugged, “If it means so much to you that you are willing to shovel horse manure, it must be important. All right, here you are,” she said, fishing out a purse and extracted one fifty-mark coin and a twenty-penny. “This should cover much more than a single doctor visit, but tell me, will this sick person accept your charity?”
“What do you mean?” he asked.
“Some people will not allow others to spend money on them; it can be a pride issue.”
Aerin considered, “I’ll think of something.”
Mara gave him an encouraging smile, “I’m sure you will. If you need anything else, you let me know. And don’t go looking for a job; I have plenty for you to do around here, so you can work this off that way.”
Aerin relaxed a
nd said, “Thank you very much, Sen Mara, I will do anything you want.”
“All right then, for now, I had better get back to reading and I think you had better be getting to bed.”
Aerin nodded and looked down at the top of the document pile. The words on the old documents were written in a bold flowing script. Aerin read the top line of the page Mara had been reading, it said, “...pulsing out her life’s blood she will be the first to bond to the new NexLord.”
Mara noted where he was looking and in a suddenly stern voice said, “Is it your habit to read other people's documents without asking?”
Aerin cast his eyes down, “No, Sen Mara, I was just... I’m sorry.”
“Will there be anything else?”
“No, I’ll be going now,” he said sheepishly.
“Good, and ask Tocor to come in on your way to your room, I think you need a hard lesson tomorrow on courtesy.”
Aerin flushed, “Yes, Sen Mara.”
“Are you still here?”
“No,” Aerin said and fled the room.
Tocor arrived a few minutes later and entered Mara’s room.
“Young Aerin looked as if you had told him the Togroths were coming for him tonight,” the Quarian said in an amused tone.
Mara shrugged, “He needed a little shaking up, I caught him reading off the top of the stack there,” she said, pointing at the papers on her table.
“The Prophecy, I don’t suppose that would be too good for him at the moment.”
“No, I should say not,” Mara agreed.
Tocor looked over the page, “I see, this mention of the girl puzzles me, shouldn’t she be here by now?”
Mara nodded. “Yes, she should, but don’t worry, I have seen her about.”
Tocor looked surprised and said, “And have I seen her?”
“Oh yes, I believe you have met her.”
Tocor looked puzzled as he replied, “All right, Mara, you can keep your secrets for the moment. What about this part where it says he should be ready for the test at the youngest age ever? Aerin is outpacing Gandarel at this point! Your new NexLord is falling behind.”
Mara sighed, “Yes that is a problem. Are you pushing him?”
“Yes and your ploy of rewarding Aerin ahead of Gandarel to that mythical second level did seem to have an effect. Gandarel is studying twice as hard, but ploy or not, Aerin is ahead of Gandarel.”
