The Lure of Fools

by Jason James King

  “What are you doing with a weapon talis, Ez?” Jekaran demanded.

  He lowered the sword and looked him in the eyes. “I’m a criminal, Jek, an infamous criminal. You ever hear of the Rikujo Band?”

  He nodded, still unable to look away from the weapon. “They still cause problems for travelers along the eastern highway.”

  Ez placed the sword on a nearby crate and then tapped on the inside of his forearm where there was a discolored patch of scarred skin. “I burned myself to hide the crescent moon tattoo, so no one would ever know what I was.”

  “Those men are looking for you?” He shook his head. “No,” he said. “No, that’s not possible. You’re not a bandit.”

  “I am afraid it’s true.” Ez sighed and a bit of the tension seemed to leave his shoulders. “I left that life behind over sixteen years ago, when Anarilee died and you were born.” He chuckled nervously and cast his eyes to the ground. “There I was, a hardened criminal, a man of the world as the monks of Rasheera would say, alone with a brand new baby boy and absolutely no idea how to care for him. Almost funny, if you think about it.”

  Ez looked up at him and must’ve mistaken his bewildered expression for a question, because he asked rhetorically, “Then why didn’t I just abandon you?” He shook his head. “Your mother was the only one in our family who didn’t disown me. She never approved of the life I had chosen, but she always treated me with love and kindness. Because of that, leaving her baby with a wet-nurse or on the steps of an orphanage just felt wrong.” Ezra scoffed. “I tell you Jek, if you knew me like I was then, you would understand just how remarkable it was for me to consider anything wrong.”

  Jekaran scratched the back of his neck. “But no one leaves the Rikujo.”

  Ez nodded again. “Which is why I changed my name, burned off my tattoo, and became a farmer.”

  “Changed your name?” His mind suddenly reeled at the revelation that his uncle Ezra, the man who had selflessly raised him, was actually another person.

  Ez hesitated. “Argentus.”

  “Argentus, The Invincible Shadow?”

  Ez chuckled nervously. “Some people called me that.”

  “Everyone called him,” Jekaran corrected himself, “called you, that. You were one of the Rikujo lords?”

  Ez shook his head. “Who I once was is not important.”

  “Then why tell me?” Jekaran asked, his mind a mass of confusion.

  “I hadn’t planned to, but it seems that my sins have returned to haunt me.”

  “They’ve come to kill you for leaving the Rikujo?”

  Ez glanced at the sword. “Probably.”

  Jekaran followed his uncle’s gaze and pointed at the jeweled weapon. “They want that?”

  “It is very valuable,” he slowly said.

  He guessed that, but couldn’t begin to come up with a reasonable amount. Probably guessing too high, he figured. “How much is it worth?”

  Ez shook his head as he stared thoughtfully at the sword. “Kingdoms and glory,” he softly said, almost as if to himself.

  Jekaran didn’t understand. “What?”

  Ez’s eyes hardened. “We have to leave.”

  Jekaran felt his head begin to swim and he blinked, trying to make quick sense of the flood of information. If anyone else would have told him his uncle was a wanted criminal, he would have laughed and then punched them in the nose for accusing the old man. This couldn’t be happening. “We can’t just …”

  “They’ll find me and kill me,” Ez said as he begun re-bundling the sword. “And anyone close to me.”

  “Will they leave you alone if you just give them the sword?”

  Ez’s eyes flashed with a dangerous look Jekaran had never seen on his uncle’s face. “They must NEVER get this sword.” The fierceness of his words startled Jekaran. “Especially not the man with the mismatched eyes.”

  “You know him, don’t you?” Jekaran said. “I saw it in your face when I mentioned him.”

  Ez began tying twine around the bundled cloth. “His name is Kaul. He was my,” Ez corrected himself, “Argentus’ lieutenant. He is as wicked and dangerous as they come, a sadistic and ambitious monster with an unpredictable temper.”

  Jekaran took a deep breath in an effort to calm himself. His whole life felt like it was being stolen from him. “But where are we going to go?”

  Ez picked up the bundled sword and ascended the ladder out of the cellar. “You are going to rejoin the well-find expedition.”

  “What?” Jekaran snapped as he took hold of the ladder and stared up at his uncle. “Just over an hour ago you said I was forbidden from going.” He climbed the five rungs and emerged from the squared opening in the floor.

  Ez helped him out before letting the trapdoor fall and slam shut. “We need to leave and the smartest way to do that is by splitting up. Besides, you’ll be safer leaving with Gymal’s company.”

  “But my name’s been taken off the roll.”

  Ez opened a closet, rummaged through it until he found a large, animal-hide duffel bag and slid the sword into it. “They’re shorthanded this year, and won’t turn away any extra help.”

  Talking of the well-find reminded Jekaran of the explanation he intended to wrench from his uncle. Although it now seemed like such a small thing, he couldn’t help but ask, “Why did you stop me from going?”

  Ez sighed, keeping his back to him. “Because you feel the lure.”

  He groaned. “What does that even mean?”

  “When I started recognizing the same thirst for adventure in you that had led me into a life of violence and crime, I had to stop you from making the same mistakes I did.”

  “I wouldn’t join the Rikujo,” Jekaran protested.

  “No, boy!” He turned to face him. “You don’t understand!” He closed his eyes and drew in a deep breath. “When I was young like you, I never set out intending to become an infamous crime lord.” He shook his head. “Like you, I simply wanted adventure. I felt the Lure and was unhappy with my life as a farmer, a life I thought was dull. So, like you, I left my small town looking for what I thought would bring me excitement and pleasure.”

  “And did it?”

  He slowly nodded. “I found plenty of both, but what I should’ve wanted was happiness. Excitement and pleasure are short-lived, but happiness endures.” He picked up the satchel with the sword in it and looked Jekaran directly in the eyes. “I didn’t want you to end up like me – an old fool with a list of haunting regrets. I want you to be able to live the simple life, the happy life.”

  Jekaran felt ashamed for being so angry with his uncle. Ez hadn’t been trying to unfairly oppress him by forcing him to quit the expedition. He had only been trying to protect him. He had been doing exactly what a good parent was supposed to do, making sure that their child avoided the pitfalls they themselves had fallen into.

  Ez walked out of the back room and into Jekaran’s bedroom. “And now, damn me, I’m sending you straight into the very world I was trying to protect you from.” He put some of Jekaran’s clothing into the bag.

  “This season’s well-find will take you through the city of Rasha. I have an old friend who lives there, a man named Irvis. He was in the same business that I …” again Ez corrected himself, “… that Argentus was in, and like me, he has retired. I want you to hide this talis in your things and take it to Irvis when you reach Rasha.”

  “Wait, I’m taking the sword?” Jekaran blurted out.

  Ez nodded as he retrieved an inkwell and some paper from a trunk on the floor. He then moved to a small desk where he pulled open a drawer and rifled through it until he found a quill. He settled at the desk and began quickly scrawling on the paper. “I’m writing Irvis a letter that I want you to give to him. It will explain what’s happening, and ask him to help you keep the sword safe.” He finished writing the letter and handed it to Jekaran.

  He looked down at it and was surprised to find a dozen unreadable symbols.

&n
bsp; Ez must’ve noticed his confusion because he said, “It’s in a cipher. Irvis is the only one who knows the key.”

  “Where are you going?” Jekaran folded the paper and shoved it into a trouser pocket.

  “I will wait until you leave and then go to Jeryn. I have a safe-house there that I have kept over the years. Irvis knows where it is, and he will take you to meet me there.”

  “Are we coming back?”

  Ez looked at him and ruefully shook his head. “I don’t think so, Jek.”

  “What about Mae and Mull?” The sudden realization that he would never again see his adopted siblings stabbed his heart.

  Ez sighed. “They’re old enough now to take care of themselves, and I will leave Maely a note telling her that she can have our house and farm. I’ve also saved some money over the years, and I can leave them whatever we don’t need for traveling.” He shook his head. “I really am sorry, Jek. I never thought this would happen, I never thought Kaul would find me, and I certainly never wanted you to learn who I was.”

  With everything weighing so heavily on him, Jekaran was only able to manage a trite, “It’s ok,” as a reply.

  “No, it’s not,” Ez said, and then he surprised Jekaran by pulling him into a tight embrace. “You deserve better than this.”

  Jekaran felt tears threatening but choked them back. He pulled away from Ez and looked his uncle in the eyes. They were not the eyes of a wicked man. Whatever his uncle had been, whoever he had been, Jekaran knew Ez had changed.

  Changed for me.

  “You can find Irvis by making inquiry at the Rasheeran Monastery.”

  “The Monastery?” Jekaran asked. “Why there?”

  Ez tightened the drawstring of the duffle, just barely able to close the mouth over the sword’s cloth-wrapped pommel. “I can tell you the full story another day. For now, just promise me that you will hide this well, and no matter what you do, don’t touch it! Keep it wrapped in the cloth, even when you present it to Irvis.”

  “Why can’t I touch it? Is it cursed?” Jekaran was suddenly wary of the bag.

  An odd look came over his uncle’s face, an expression Jekaran wasn’t sure he recognized, though if he had to name it, he would’ve called it regret.

  “You could say that.” Ez put the long duffle into Jekaran’s arms. “I am sorry to have to do this to you, son, but you must trust me. You will be safer leaving Genra without me.” He shook his head. “Kaul would never expect me to part with the sword, and so he should ignore you, even if he finds out that you’re my nephew.”

  “I’m more worried about you,” Jekaran said honestly.

  “I’m not so old that I can’t take care of myself, Jek” he said. “And, at the risk of sounding like a proud fool, I can claim that I have always been a clever man.” Ez grinned at him, and for some reason that made Jekaran feel as though there was at least one part of his world that wasn’t falling apart.

  Maely stared at herself in the full-length mirror. The breeches she wore were loose enough to hide the curve of her hips, and a chest wrap covered by a baggy tunic did a decent job of flattening her breasts, although she was still young enough that there wasn’t a whole lot to flatten. There was only one thing that she needed to do now. Maely looked down at the pair of shears in her right hand, hesitating as she wistfully touched her shoulder-length hair with her free hand.

  Divine Mother! What am I doing? She had lost count of how many times she asked herself that question. But even as often as she had asked it, she still didn’t have a real answer, at least not a rational one. Maely glanced at the sealed envelope lying on her bed. In her explanatory letter to Ez, she had listed several reasons why she was leaving, all of which sounded weak when she read them back to herself. Why was she doing this? Certainly Jekaran would return, and he didn’t need her to keep him safe. She rolled her eyes at the thought. How had she ever thought she could protect him? She didn’t even know how to fight.

  So it wasn’t to protect him.

  The road to the western rock lands did pass through several towns and villages, and even a large city. Those places all held pitfalls of a different sort, especially for a young man. She could make sure Jekaran wasn’t tempted with the poppy dens or the whorehouses, but he was never the kind to indulge in such things.

  So it wasn’t to anchor him.

  Three months was a very long time to be away from home. Surely, Jekaran would miss his uncle. Perhaps having someone with him would help him when he became homesick. But then, Jekaran had gone on last year’s well-find and hadn’t said a word about yearning for home while he traveled. In fact, he sounded as though he had thoroughly enjoyed himself.

  So if it wasn’t to keep him company, then why?

  The sound of Mulladin snoring drew her attention, and Maely peeked out from behind her dressing screen at her brother sleeping on his cot in the far corner. The sight of his peaceful face evoked a pang of guilt, and her shame for abandoning him intensified. Ez will take care of him, she told herself—again.

  Maely let go of her hair and closed the shears. She had written to Ez that she was going to take care of Jekaran, but it was obvious he needed no one to look after him. The truth was, Maely already knew that he didn’t need her to go with him. Then was she going for herself? Last year’s well-find was the first time they had been apart since Ez had adopted Maely and her brother. It had impacted her more than she expected. She hadn’t let anyone know—who was there to tell anyway—but she had cried herself to sleep the night he left, worry and insecurity gnawing at her every day thereafter.

  “I’m being a stupid, silly girl,” she whispered to herself. What did she think was going to happen anyway? That Jekaran see her, discover what lengths she had taken to be with him, and then—what?

  Mulladin’s snoring stopped, and she heard him turning over on his cot. A moment later, the snoring resumed. Maely closed her eyes, knowing her brother would be near-inconsolable when he found out both she and Jek had left him. She wanted to say goodbye, but to do so would ruin her opportunity to slip away. She already said goodbye anyway, after a sort. She had fixed Mulladin his favorite dinner that night and told him he could sleep in this morning. Was that love, or guilt? She wondered. Probably guilt, but perhaps guilt because she loved him and knew what she would be doing to him. I’ll be gone and he won’t know it until he wakes up. That was when she instructed him to take the letter to Ez.

  Maely felt a tear rolling down her right cheek, and she wiped her eyes with the sleeve of her oversized tunic. She sniffed, composed herself, and then held the shears in front of her face. No, she shook her head, this was madness. She set the shears down on a table, gripped the bottom of her tunic and began to lift it up. She caught sight of herself in the mirror and stopped, letting the tunic fall back down.

  She stared at the face looking back at her in the mirror, and that’s when she realized the simple truth. She had known the why of her insane plan this whole time. It was just that it sounded too simplistic, too foolish, too embarrassing to admit. Oddly, that realization drove home her decision, and she whispered, “I’m going because I have to go. I just have to.”

  Maely turned away from her reflection and peeked again at Mulladin. He will be fine, she told herself. Ez will take care of him, and maybe the separation will be good for him. She returned to staring at her reflection in the mirror.

  A long moment passed. Then, without further hesitation, she grabbed the shears, lifted them to the back of her head, and began to cut. When she was done with the back, she clipped away her bangs and then shortened the sides. She lifted her hand and tentatively ran it through what was left of her hair. She had never worn it long, but this was very different. Still, she thought, I don’t look like a boy. Jekaran will still be able to recognize me.

  Maely washed her face of makeup before smearing some soot she had collected from the hearth onto her cheeks. She rumpled her hair so that she had a cowlick, and put on a pair of Ez’s old reading spectacles. Last
of all, she retrieved an old tan hat, also something she stole from Ez. The short rimmed, poofy-topped hat was the keystone to make the rest of the disguise work.

  Maely smiled at the boyish reflection. Women were not allowed to go on well-finds by order of Lord Gymal. He claimed the sex was too much of a distraction for the finders, and the delicacy of the women slowed down the company. What a pig, Maely thought. Then again, perhaps it was a veiled protection from abuses. She knew all too well what women suffered when they took to the road with a group of men. Her mother had told her. She shrugged off the moral question and straightened her hat. Now all she needed was a name.

  She looked like a pre-pubescent boy of perhaps twelve, and so she needed a name that fit the persona. She mentally cycled through several boy names before finally settling on Lyam. She had known a boy named Lyam when she was little, before her mother died. Last she heard, his family stilled lived in the province, which would lend credibility to her disguise should anyone ask where Lyam was from. She nodded with satisfaction and then quietly practiced talking in a lower tone. After a few pathetic attempts, she decided her male voice was going to take some work. She should probably keep talking to a minimum. Lyam would be quiet and shy.

  The first rays of the morning sun shone through her window, signaling it was time to go. She quickly grabbed her satchel and turned toward the door, and then hurried back to the dresser to stuff a ring with a piece of twine threaded around the band. It was her mother’s lucky ring, credited for getting the richest, safest clients. She wasn’t sure why she felt she should take it with her. Perhaps it was because she always associated it with the comfort and security her mother once provided. Just as she was about to bury it beneath her spare clothing, she paused. Somehow it didn’t seem respectful to keep it at the bottom of her satchel. Maely stared at it for a moment and then pulled the twine over her head. The cold metal pressed against her skin as she tucked the ring beneath her shirt.

  Her mother’s lucky ring. Hope it works for me, like it did for you, Mother. Well, maybe not exactly like it worked for you, she corrected.