by Sam Sea
“The job… it cannot fail. It has to be done right.”
“Yes, you are absolutely right about that.”
“Somehow I see it as a long term employment… I could use people like that, who could be bought…”
“Yes, they have their value…”
“I really do understand my uncle who always said that the taverns are made for conducting businesses much better than the king’s dining table.” The other man chuckled.
“If you do that, and I help you in that matter. I want something in return.,..”
“I would expect nothing else. Just say it.”
“My family, as you might have known has originated from Vabia, a southern region of Pehrezia…”
“Yes I know. Your family was cast out of there, some forty years ago, if I recollect it right.”
“Yes, you are right…It was the outmost injustice. And I want that injustice to be corrected...”
“Why not go to Tormar, the king of Pehrezia, directly? He may reconsider your claims now, after all these years.”
The other man spit on the ground, and with the outmost disgust continued. “I have no plan to ever bow before kinds of his and asking for favors! Who do you see me as, a beggar?! A beggar for my own rights?” The man was more than upset. His voice was furious enough that even the darkness of the wall might not cover its shrieking. The other man wished he would not be so loud and he lifted his hand up.
It took a moment for him to compose himself before continuing. “I do not want to beg for what is mine. You would not beg for what is yours either. That’s what unites us. I… plan on taking what is mine. And those that have hurt my family, have a payment to make… with the interest paid in blood.”
They took a few steps along the wall before the other man dared to whisper his words out. “So you are not only proposing to me to become a king, but also to make a war on another kingdom?”
“You are looking at it from the wrong point of view… Consider this,” the man worked hard to compose himself. “If you are not a man for a job, if you are not a man to correct such injustices as they had happen before, then, who knows if you are meant to be the righteous king at all.”
“Yeah, that’s all nice and easy to say, but how do you plan to accomplish just that?”
“If the other kingdom is weakened, then it will be open for a taking…”
“Yes, but how do you weaken it enough?”
“It cannot be done overnight.”
“No, it cannot be. But steps can be taken now that would ultimately lead to it… If the king is taken down and replaced by someone who is not so… capable… things may start to unravel.”
“My informants say that the next in line is just as smart as the king himself, just as righteous… he will not lead their people astray.”
“No, you are right. He has to be taken cared off as well. And we have to place someone in that court would teach the one that comes after him all the things that are wrong. He should not know how to rule and then we will have the discontent in the kingdom we want. We’ll have rebellions, and we will take it all for ourselves. In twenty years when we ride in we will be seen not as a invaders but as liberators…That is the best way.”
“Yes, but I do not want to wait twenty years…I will be an old man then…”
“But what is twenty years if you consider that you will be the one to give your family the power-“
“No, I want it faster…I want everything to be done in a year or two…Twenty is way too long. I do not plan to wait that long.” Now that the seed was planted, he wanted it now, not in a lifetime. “If we are to do it, it has to be done faster.”
“Well, you could always try to invade it, but other kingdoms will not stand for it… They will fight you.”
“Not if we make them busy with something else…make them buried in their own problems. Sure they would offer help if they could, but what if they can’t?”
“Seems you gave this already a lot of thought. What exactly do you have in mind?”
“I do not know yet. But then, that’s why I have you, you certainly can come up with something…”
“Well, you’ve got a good point there… sure…”
“The problem is, how do we remain hidden? We certainly don’t want anyone to know about this…”
“There are people we can contract to do our bidding… For example, one of my informants has told me that one of the spies has been caught here recently. I wonder who sent him. I wonder who paid for it…”
“It would be good to talk to that man.”
“Yes, there are people like that… who are very good at what they do, and what they do is very good for people like us. We will of course need gold for all of that. They are seldom cheap…”
The other man knew exactly what that meant and that’s why he took a long time exhaling his breath. “If I do finance all of this, I need assurance…”
“Yes of course…”
“Assurances that go beyond your own words…”
“What do you have in mind?” The man was suddenly curious.
“You have a lovely daughter…they say she is your pride and joy…Twelve, isn’t she?” The man asked wondering why people would ever be attacked to their family if that was what was making them weak and predictable, to be used against them. Better never love your son or anyone like that, or else…
The man cleared his throat. “You know we can seal this deal in the most professional manner.”
“Your son?”
“Yes… As soon as steps are starting to be taken, I expect your daughter to be brought to my estate, and the marriage will be announced. Do we have a deal?”
“I want the whole vineyards of Fall and the Riviera of Skoz… I want them all!”
“My god, you are ambitious fellow, no?”
“Yes, and you are not?”
“well, if we are to take that kingdom apart, I’ll settle for the pastures of the east, for the cattle, sheep and horses I keep on its border. That would be good for me. Also the mines of Sky Mountain.”
“We might need something to trade with the other kingdoms so that they do not go along…”
“Well, there is still wheat fields of northern plains, and forests which lay to the west…”
“Yeah, but who would want those? They are being raided by the wildmen constantly…”
“Well, I can share the mines with… others, if need be…but share, not give it up…”
“I think we will probably be able to work with that.”
“Stir enough trouble with the wildmen, and have them-”
“That my dear friend, has already been done.”
“Yeah?”
“Certainly… But not by us. I was approached to be part of this very risky plan. I decided not to say ‘yes’ or ‘no’, but I am afraid things are already in motion. That’s why I wanted to talk to you…Somebody else might have similar plans as us and might be even one step in front of us.”
“How do we conteract them?”
“Well, we let them expose themsleves, and as I am sure their plan will not succed, we let them take a fall. And then we step in. In the meantime, we listen and watch…and pay for the information when it becomes available.”
“What do we do with the duke here? He will oppose any such outcomes.”
“Yes, he will need to be taken cared off. He is a good little servant to our king, a very loyal one I have to say. He may be a problem and needs to be taken cared off.”
“But how do we do that?”
The man chuckled. “My dear, you have no idea how to get rid of people you want destroyed, do you?”
“No…”
“You just need to make them angry, that is all. That is all..”
The man looked at him, seeing his cunning smile, seeing the wheels already being set in a motion, and felt something inside rising, a joy, an outmost joy realizing that one day he will be a king, and owner of everything he sees and touches.
Hi
s face gave in the crooked smile before a thought cut him off. Never ever cross this man… He is way too evil and cunning for your kind.
Ch
apter 6 - The Northern Road
Oh, dear blessing lord, almighty Ra, let me feel no more pain. Let me find peace… Let me live, or die… But pain, I can take no more… Let this be not the last day of my life, but the first day of my new life, and I will do whatever you want from me… I will become your loyal servant, your messenger, your warrior. Oh dear lord, give me another chance… It will not be wasted. I swear… it will not be wasted.
The cold was one of the first things that Les became aware of as he opened his eyes. His lips shivered without control, but a joyful thought that he was still alive danced in his mind.
“How am I still alive?”
“Must be the grace of the god himself… He must have saved you. He must have heard your prayers. You were jabbering a whole lot since you passed out.”
“But I am feeling… almost fine. How can that be?” Les could not believe how good he felt. It has been such a long time that he lived without pain. The joy of it made him almost jump up and scream.
“How can this be?” he asked again in the outmost disbelief.
“Don’t you believe in your god? Don’t you believe he saved you?”
“I… I do not know… But I think somehow… you saved me… my angel… You must had touched me, and healed me…You are a goddess!” the voice following each new thoughts was raising in volume until it became a shout.
“Stop that! Nonsense!” Mikka would have none of it. “If you want to know, I’ll tell you. I took half of your blood out… The way you said it, the poison that works slowly… It must be that it stays in your blood for a long time. So I took as much blood out of you as I could. You are not healed.”
“But wouldn’t that kill me?”
“Sure it would. But at the same time, I gave you some of mine…” Only then did Les realize how pale Mikka was, white as a ghost.
“How can that be done? If the blood leaves your body, it becomes dead…”
“You are all stupid! What would you know?” Mikka brushed him off, not ready to tolerate his ignorance or educate him any further. But at seeing his unbelieving and gullible stare, she started to feel sorry and offered him an explanation. “I have special type of blood. It does not die. And anyone can use it. It’s special blood. Understand?”
“You are the goddess…”
“Stop it!”
“An angel…. My angel.” Les just could not stop himself. His mumbling words from his quivering lips were the outcome of unexplained happiness that was not departing him. “I always knew it. But how did you give me your blood?” He tried to feel its taste it his mouth, but he could taste it not.
“No, stupid! Not through your mouth. Blood has to go straight to blood, to the blood channels that transfers it… Don’t you know anything?”
“How?”
She lifted his sleeve, pointing to two small needle-sized incisions.
“How?”
“I have tools that can do that…” Mikka padded her abdominals and pockets that covered it, but her face frowned indicating that she was tired of talking and explaining herself, her eyes searching through the horizon and looking for any signs of a human presence.
They exited the forest of willow trees banking the fast-flowing river and the noise of rushing water was substituted with the sound of breeze whispering in tall grasses. The ox pulled the car steadily, and they advanced on the dry dirt road with no sign of other travelers.
“You’re an angel, and not of this world…” He said with an owe in his voice. “I will sin no more, dear lord, thank you for sending me this angel…”
“Sure, sure I am…” Mikka stopped him, not ready to listen to him anymore. “Just continue thinking that. But if you ever get any more stupid ideas, I’ll show you if I’m an angel or not. Understand?”
Les nodded his head in a complete obedience.
“Now, you need to sit up. I gave you all the miracle water I had. You are not cured. And when the pain returns, you are on your own. So, sit up and eat. Give your body some strength. I left you half of the chicken from the other day. There is also some grilled fish I got at the river crossing, but eat little of it. Your stomach probably won’t be able to take much, being so empty for so long.”
“Oh, don’t worry about me anymore… I feel much better. I never thought I would ever feel this good again. Really…” Les said too fast because as he moved up, he felt the outskirt of pain jolt him again.
“What did you do with the peasant?” Les asked realizing for the first time he was still in the same hay wagon, although almost all of the hay seemed gone. He thought he must have been out good day at least, if not two.
“It seems he was happy to part from it for five of those gold coins.”
Les grinned. “Yeah, five would do it… Probably less if he knew who he was dealing with. That’s probably more gold than he touches in his whole life.”
Les looked around as he anxiously bit into a cold chicken, the taste of it exploding suddenly in his dry mouth. “I had nothing this good for the last weeks. Don’t remember the last time I ate… Do we have any water, or wine better still.” He did not chew on chicken, but swallowed it readily.
“Maybe you want to stop in some tavern and have some pints?” Mikka looked at him crossed while she threw water bag to his head.
“Oh, I don’t think we will see any taverns here for a while…”
“Is it always this empty here?”
“I bet a lot of people traveled to the Castle for the gathering. Usually peasants can sell anything they bring in during that time. But then, I have not been through here in years. Last time, must have been like five years ago. Priests were just building this road… you know, for all the pilgrims that travel during the summer to their monetary…”
“Monetary of Vartta?”
“Yes, on a good road like this, it should not take more than a day riding a fast horse until he foams.” As all the chicken was gone, Les started to lick his fingers.
“Didn’t your mother teach you how to eat properly?”
“I didn’t have a mother.” Les answered while he eagerly took the wooden basket full of stone-grilled fish. But then he stopped, realizing that Mikka was right and that he will have a stomach ache and cramping if he continues eating the fish too, the first serious meal he had in more than a month.
“Sure you had a mother, or was that your case in which a great, big warrior fucked one unlucky bear and then you were born?”
Les chuckled. “All the stories, huh? No, no, I mean, I had a mother, but… that was a long time ago, and I rather not think about it now…”
Mikka saw his stare turn melancholic and her thoughts turned to her own past, and decided to change the subject. “You were right about cold. I would have never made through those mountains…” Mikka said as she pointed to ice ironed mountain tops which covered their south-western view.
“How long ago have we crossed the river?”
“Yesterday…”
“So I was out for two days?”
“YEs, we did not stop during the night. That ox is a good steady animal. I do not know how much strength there is still left in him, but he got us this far.”
“Anything else happened?”
“No.”
“Now, please, tell me, why do you want to take me up the mountains? What do they want with me in the monetary? Why save my life?”
“Stop asking questions. I’ve already told you more than I am willing… Just be glad you are still alive. I do not ask those kind of questions. All you need to know is that someone over there wants you alive. And I… I was offered a job to save your sorry ass and I took it. That’s all you need to know. Now, tell me, you are supposed to be… what exactly? Some kind of an assassin?”
***
Dicson was once a thriving mining town, but as no new deposits of gold had been disc
overed and the old ones started to dry out, so did the town. A few people still remained living there as the amount of ore taken from the mines could support not more than that. If it was not for all the stone/build homes that could last for generations, the town would look in worse shape that it did. Those houses made of wood had long been abandoned, and their structures used as a heating material in cold northern winters.
As Les and Mikka rode in, they could see their empty lots. If not for being the only town close to thriving Monastery of Vartta, many doubted it would still exist.
Les and Mikka slowly wagoned through town’s main street looking back at a few locals which had no other business but to stare at anybody who came through.
“I plan to have a decent meal here. You said you knew this town. So what is the best place for that?”
“The place is straight ahead, next to the water fountain in the center of the town. And our ox needs water so you can tie him to the fountain. There is a merchandise store here which used to sell warm coats… I think we should get some. It’s only going to get colder going into the mountains. ”
“Yes, that sounds good…” Mikka answered with her lip shivering.
“Maybe we can even get horses here. They would get us to the monastery much faster.”
“I doubt you could ride. You do not understand. Just because you do not feel pain, your body has not healed. I am not even sure you are going to be able to walk to that store there…”
Les, before answering, stepped down from the cart, and stretched his legs. The pain was there, he felt it as soon as he put some weight on his toes. But he could move. “I’ll be fine. you can go and hurry to the tavern and warm up there. I’ll be joining you soon.”
Mikka accepted his help and threw him two coins from her money bag. “Go crazy.”
Les found two thick furry coats and hats that could cover ears. He didn’t want to bargain with the shop owner, but asked for a set of small knives to be included in the price. They were not the sharpest ones around, but he felt much better as he placed them in the coat’s inner pocket, right next to his breast.
