And Jason?
After walking for a short time, Nolan began to sprint. Chasing after him, Jason yearned for the comfort of his bed. Aware of this instinctual desire for refuge, he fell to a new level of self-hatred.
This world had wrought many changes on him, but the most pronounced was the degree to which he had begun to despise his skittish and submissive nature. Nolan’s words had gripped him with a stirring clutch that had prompted a small heat to settle in his belly as thoughts of omnipresent threats filled his beleaguered mind.
When he woke up in this world, he couldn’t understand a word anyone said. He had no choice but to learn the Universal Language, did his best until he’d achieved near fluency. He knew that he was weak, was fully aware of his cowardice. As far as he was concerned he was just a useless, deadweight burden to the group.
I don’t want to die, and I don’t want my friends to suffer because I’m such a bitch. He realized that his greatest weapon wasn’t the short sword at his hip, nor the explosives in his spatial bag. His greatest asset was his desire to live, his willpower to resist the cruelties of this world. He was just like a dull blade, but even a blunt sword could be sharpened.
A subtle change took place in his heart.
If Nolan were to turn his head, he’d notice that Jason’s posture had noticeably straightened. His head no longer dipped when met with sudden sounds and his gaze remained levelled when passing others in the street.
Matching Nolan’s pace, he pushed his spiritual sense to its meager limits, intent on keeping it active until the moment he settled into bed. The pavement glowed beneath a long train of simple streetlamps, the scarce traffic allowing for a clear view of the moonless night. For the first time in his life, Jason was staring straight ahead. The habitual flinch that’d come to define him had all but disappeared.
Chapter Ten: The Merchant Heir
Kam took a lengthy pull from his wineskin, which felt rather light after a day of keeping to the streets like a starved rodent in search of scraps. He stood amidst a crowd of bobbing heads, hundreds of people milling about the square as he awaited the peculiar youths from the southern mountain range that he’d recently become acquainted with.
He hadn’t been well in recent days, hadn’t been himself. First there was Elisa, a healer for hire who’d mentored him in the ways of medicine over the many years she’d spent under Remus’s employ. She’d had her own room within his manor, had accompanied them on every business trip throughout the province, eventually drawing his affections after many long days on the road. Traveling the countryside was dangerous, and they’d had their fair share of perilous encounters. This time around, however…
He’d watched helplessly as Elisa’s life was stolen away in an instant, claimed by the dull edge of an unremarkable bandit’s stolen sword. She’d been the first victim of the unsuspecting ambush, he the second.
Though this was the most vulnerable period of his life, his family wasn’t exactly one in which he could so easily share his pains and worries. As always, he’d kept his troubles to himself and shuttered himself away in grieving solitude. All he could think about were Elise’s last words, a statement that he hadn’t even had time to respond to before those miscreants attacked their caravan.
Kam, I’m…I’m with child.
He smothered dozens of once-warm memories, now thorns in a heart that ached for the love that he’d lost and the future that was taken from him.
A woman caught his notice where she stood by one of the many food vendors in the square, as she handed her freckled son a chunk of grilled meat that was pierced through with a sharpened stick. The smile on the boy’s face told of how the simple gesture was worth the world to him.
Kam was reminded of the second major misfortune to beleaguer him this week. What better timing could Remus have taken to tell him that he wasn’t his actual blood father, and that Kole wasn’t truly his younger brother? The detestable man had given him some piss-poor explanation of how he deserved to know the truth of his decent now that he’d reached his twentieth year.
The truth of my descent. Pah!
All he’d been told after that was a single sentence, that Remus had been blackmailed into raising him. Without further explanation he’d been expelled from the house that he’d lived in for all of his life and forbidden from returning. He hadn’t even been allowed to gather any of his things.
Time passed as Kam glared at the bronze warrior that stood sentinel over the square, occasionally clutching at the silver locket that hung limply around his neck. He’d come an hour early, had no choice, really. He’d run out of money and couldn’t afford another night at the inn he’d been living at. With nowhere to go and not a copper card to his name, he figured that he might as well head to the meeting place he’d designated with those four bumpkins who’d saved Kole on the day of Elise’s death. If anything was going to lift his downtrodden spirits then it would be witnessing the awesomeness of the grand tournament, in the company of some pleasant acquaintances.
Thinking about Nolan and the others, he released a drawn out sigh. Their claims of a simple life in a rural village of the southern mountain range were quite dubious, yet he was sure that they were decent people. He didn’t put much stock into the facade as nearly all travellers would fabricate the truths of their origins while on the road, which was common sense for any journeyman. Even so, he’d wondered many times whether or not they would actually spend so many golden cards on a basic ticket to the tournament for someone they hardly knew, since such a sum was a veritable fortune for most people.
Time drifted by as Kam lost his thoughts to his troubles. It wasn’t long before he detected someone’s gaze on him, and looked up to see that a neatly dressed old man approached under the support of a gnarled cane.
“Excuse me there, sonny!” The man panted to a stop, his simple robes of soft azure showing signs of wetness at the collar. “I haven’t been to this city in a while and I was hoping that you could help me find an acquaintance of mine.”
An uplifting ray of surprise melted away Kam’s despondency like dragon’s breath on snow.
“Uncle?” He considered the wrinkled face and wizened expression of the balding geezer before him. Although the appearance was different from the proud stature and shrew face that commanded all of the respect that Kam had to give, he could never mistake that mischievous, husky voice. Seeing the playful light that flickered in and out of those dark blue eyes, Kam let out a rare laugh. “Has your job been so stressful that your youth has escaped you?”
He received a light smack on the head.
“Were you always one to tease the elderly?”
“Fath—Remus didn’t mention that you were coming for a visit.”
“Remus doesn’t know.” The man’s eyes narrowed for a quick second. “I take it you’ve been made aware of your parentage?”
Kam froze. “How did…?”
“What did he tell you?”
“That I’m not his son.”
His uncle was quiet for a few moments as he waited for Kam to continue. “Is that all?”
“He expelled me from the family without notice. I wasn’t even allowed to say goodbye to Kole.”
“Sounds like him.”
Kam’s mind touched upon a dreadful possibility. “Wait, Uncle, could it be that we’re also not related?”
“Don’t worry, lad. I am indeed your uncle.”
“And my father…?”
“Certainly not the petty lowlife you thought him to be.” Scratching at his balding head, the man grabbed Kam by the arm and dragged him to the far side of the square.
“Uncle, what are you doing?”
“Why don’t we go pay our dear old Remus a visit?”
Kam tried to break free, but his uncle’s grip was an iron shackle. “Uncle. Just what is going on? Is what my—is what Remus said the truth? Was he really blackmailed into raising me?”
“Remus owes you a proper explanation. We’ll go to his estate and ha
ve him tell you the truth of the matter, as he should have done in the first place.”
His uncle’s disguise was impeccable, undoubtedly achieved through the use of an advanced martial skill. Only at his level would one be able to project their inner essence into their surroundings, in this case to create some sort of illusion about his body.
“Uncle, I’m supposed to meet someone here any minute. I can’t just walk away.”
“I’m afraid it will have to wait. We don’t have much time, so I need to fill you in on as much as possible before we leave the city. The only reason I’m having Remus explain the first portion is because regardless of his behavior, he is the man who raised you.”
“Wait, what do you mean by ‘leave the city?’”
“My sole purpose in coming to Greenwall this time around is to fetch you and bring you back to the capital. Don’t you want to meet your father?”
My father… Kam glanced back at the large statue, the others still nowhere in sight. Releasing a reluctant and conflicted sigh, he ceased any efforts at resistance and obediently followed after his uncle. Looks like I’m not destined to behold the grand tournament in this life. Nor am I to make any friends, for that matter.
It wasn’t long before the two of them arrived at the front gates to Remus’s estate, neither having said a word on the walk over.
“Uncle,” sighed Kam. “I don’t want to see him. I’ve only come to say my farewells to Kole. Remus always treated me like a servant, and not one that he held much affection for. As he’s already cast me out, I have nothing left to say to him.”
As if he hadn’t heard a single of Kam’s words, his uncle stared at the massive estate that hid behind a giant outline of iron fencing.
“Uncle?”
“On your guard, lad.” He strode forward and gave the matted metal gates a casual shove. They swung open on silent hinges, having already been ajar as if someone had forgotten to close them.
Kam was no fool. Now that he stopped to think for a moment, neither of the two guards that usually guarded the front gates were standing at attention. Following in his uncle’s soundless footsteps, he crept fifty paces across the cobblestone pathway and over to the heavyset front doors.
His uncle paused for a moment, turning to him with a sombre look. “Something isn’t right. I only sense seven people inside the manor and they’re all in the dining hall.”
Seven people? Remus had dozens of servants and at least six relatives living under his roof. Rarely were there so few people within these walls.
“Not that you’ll need it, but you’d best draw your weapon.” His uncle cocked an eyebrow when his suggestion was met with a helpless shrug. “Where’s your sword?”
“It should be in my room. Remus didn’t give me time to grab it.”
His uncle rolled his eyes and entered the manor. Kam stuck close to him like a shadow.
“Felicia!” Kam gasped.
The body of a woman came into view the moment that they stepped into the roomy vestibule. Slumped against the wall just a few paces ahead of them was the decapitated corpse of a one of Remus’s four concubines, a captivating woman in her early thirties who’d shown Kam a great amount of kindness over the years. Her head had toppled a couple of paces away from her bloodstained skirts, her dying expression veiled by long, chestnut hair.
His uncle broke into a quiet trot, motioning for him to match his pace.
They passed over a dozen bodies on their way through the outer corridors, Kam recognizing one after the other with growing levels of horror. These were people he’d lived with since before he could walk. Even if he hadn’t had the best relationship with all of them, there were many that he had been quite close with.
A minute later and they were closing in on the yawning archway that opened up to a spacious dining hall where he had eaten most of his meals. His uncle held up a hand as several voices drifted out into the hallway, though an arrogant tone quickly overwhelmed the others.
“Have your boss send twenty more men into the city. Just because the merchant recommended an inn to them doesn’t mean they chose to stay at it. We’ll have to search all the inns within the southern district. If you can’t find them, just leave a few men to keep watch for a while.”
“But there are dozens of—” The speaker was quickly hushed into silence before the room went quiet.
“Seems they’ve noticed you,” said Kam’s uncle. “Stay here a moment.” He disappeared into the room like a fading mirage. The silence was shattered as a succession of guttural screams and panicked voices echoed throughout the halls.
“This isn’t one of the lesser kingdoms that you’re used to running around.”
“Release me!”
“Heh, I think not.” His uncle’s voice was filled with revulsion. “I’ll leave your fate to the city lord. After all, where there’s a rat, there’s a nest, and I don’t have time to deal with filth such as you.”
A cold silence followed.
“U—Uncle?”
“Don’t come in!”
“But what of the family…?” Kam stepped into the great dining hall where he’d shared many memories with Kole and the other residents of the manor.
What came into his line of sight was nothing short of an exaggerated nightmare. Several sections of the stone walls were stained with sickly splatters of wet scarlet. The expensive furniture and rich rugs that carpeted the room also showed signs of slaughter. Five people had died with their backs to a wall, the rest arranged in locations and positions that hinted at the way things had played out in their final moments.
A pair of men sat slumped over unfinished meals at the long table that centred the room, the backs of their chairs splintered where blades had pierced straight through into their bodies. These two had been Remus’s closest friends. The portly merchant’s remaining concubines lay in severed heaps around the dishevelled table, their dismembered limbs mixing with those of the dozen or so servants that would have waited on the afternoon meal as they were so accustomed to doing.
Fearsome vitality swirled behind his uncle’s altered eyes. “An atrocious act befitting of animals such as these…” His strong hands firmly trapped the pale, slim boy that seemed to be the leader of the assailants, and held him up in the air by the neck. He emanated a burning fury that seemed to raise the temperature of the room by several degrees.
“Those are Kole’s trousers!” Kam dropped to the ground at the sight of a small figure that lay several paces behind Remus’s bisected body. The small face had been smashed in to the point of unrecognition. A single strike had imploded the bright, ignorant smile that used to rain questions down upon him with a childish curiosity that could have tried the patience of a saint. Tears poured out of Kam’s gaping eyes. “These are Kole’s trousers. These are Kole’s…”
As the pallid youth began to stir in his uncle’s hands, his dazed expression quickly gave rise to a look of indignant fear. “Let go of me!”
“Humph, did you really think nobody would be able to detect your vile aura?” Kam’s uncle strengthened his grip around the boy’s neck and spoke in a low, threatening tone. “Do you represent your sect in what you’ve done here? To what end would you take the risk of infiltrating this border city to slaughter a small branch family of the largest merchant clan of this kingdom?”
“Do you wish to draw the wrath of—”
Kam’s uncle squeezed the dangling youth’s right hand, grinding bones and flesh into a bloody paste. “When I ask, you answer. Now speak.”
The youth was reluctant to talk, but several broken fingers, a flayed arm and whispered threats of castration had him begging to share all that he knew about his apparent assignment.
An empty realization dawned on Kam’s frozen mind as he absentmindedly took stalk of the screaming youth’s words. “He’s looking for Nolan…”
After rendering the boy unconscious, his uncle turned on him with pitying eyes and sighed. “The boy he spoke about, you know of him?”
“I—we’re friends.”
“Your friend seems to have made a terrible enemy.” Though he wore the appearance of an old man, his uncle’s frail-looking body leaked an unimaginably heavy aura. “You heard it yourself. They invested over forty-five spirit stones in order to pay off Remus’s guards. That’s why none of the bastards were around. To a disciple of their sect, that’s no small sum.”
Kam blanked out for a moment, his pant legs soaked through with Kole’s blood. “Is Nolan in danger?” he asked emptily.
“More likely than not.” The ‘old man’ cursed. “I’m sorry Kam, but I can’t help your friend. It’s of the utmost importance that I get you to the capital before the end of the month.”
Kam’s mind felt as if it were about to explode. Elisa’s death, Remus’s abrupt and unexplained disownment of him, the peculiarities behind his uncle’s unannounced arrival and now the sudden murders of everyone who’d lived within the household where he’d spent most of his life. What was next? Even the friends that he had recently made seemed destined to die.
An electric shock crawled down his neck and settled in his spine, his mind growing hazy before he could react to the unwelcomed feeling. Before he lost consciousness, he heard his uncle speak in a regretful, saddened tone. “Life has been hard on you in recent days. You…shouldn’t have seen this. When you wake up, I’ll tell you everything about your father, and every detail behind how Remus was charged with your care.”
Kam’s consciousness plummeted into a dreary blackness as if drawn in by the icy hands of an army of lost souls. He fell to the lowest level of distress in these final and fleeting moments, and honestly didn’t have much of a desire to ever open his eyes again.
The Grey Ghost: Book Two of the Archaic Ring Series Page 11
