Rico had said that there were not as many guards here as there had been the first time that we had been in here. It seemed as though he was right. The prison chambers below the castle were empty of guards. They were filled with the cries of the dying, the injured. They were filled with the smell of blood, of rotting flesh as people who had been forgotten in their chambers were allowed to die and decay. They were filled with growing mould from the leaks in the wall that made life in the prisons even more unbearable. Rats, insects, and fear filled the prison. But not guards.

Perhaps the executioner had been enough to keep the prisoners in check. But now he was dead.

I had to stop frequently, listening to the sounds in the prison just in case there was a guard walking down the hallways for some reason. However, I heard nothing. Even if I had heard something, there was nothing that I would have been able to do. I couldn't run, I couldn't fight, I couldn't even hide. Though the light was dull and dim with the few torches on the walls, the hallways were long and empty. Nothing to hide behind.

I was alright though. I made it back to the prison cell that I had been dragged from. The blood on the floor was dried, and looked almost black in the dim light. The door was locked with a rusty padlock. I leaned against the wall for a few moments. I was covered in sweat and the blood from my wound was still seeping, though much less than before. The concoction was working to stop that.

When I felt as though I could stand to move again, I leaned against the door and unsheathed my dagger. With one strong movement, I drove my dagger into the padlock. The rusted metal broke, and the padlock fell to the ground. I pulled myself from the door, and pulled it open.

I looked into the darkness. After a moment, I heard Christen's cry.

“Stiri! What happened to you!” She ran out from the cell and ran to my side, helping to hold me up. The stick I had fell from my hands.

“I'm-” I hesitated. “I'll live,” I said. I took her dagger out from it's hiding place, and handed it to her. “Here, I found this.”

Christen helped me to the floor, and took the dagger from me once I was sitting. Rico was helping Joss to his feet. The elf slunk from the shadows into the light. Now I could see his ears. His cat-like eyes were a paler green than I had seen in other elves, but they were green, like his short, cropped hair.

“What about guards?” Mic asked.

“None on this floor.” I said, “I think that there was only the executioner here. He's dead now.”

Rico came out from the hallway. The old man was on his own two feet now, walking slowly.

“You killed the executioner?” Rico asked.

“I'll tell the story another time,” I said, “For now, I would very much like to just get out of here.” I looked to the elf, “I got us out of the cell. Now it's time for our part. Get us out of the castle.”

Mic looked at me silently for a few moments. “Did you bring weapons for the rest of us?”

I stared at Mic for a few moments. Inwardly, I cursed. That would have been a great idea, bringing weapons for everyone.

“I think he's lucky.” Joss said, “ He looks like he was beaten up badly. And he has a new scar on his face too.”

Christen looked at me carefully for a few moments, then brushed my hair, which had been stuck to my face with sweat, behind my ear. She gasped

“What happened?” She said.

I shrugged, “Torture,” I said, “I've had worse.” I brought my hand up for my face and gently brushed against the burns on my face. Four parallel lines where the corkscrew had pressed against my cheek.

“You were burned.” She whispered.

I nodded, “I have something in the caravan for that. We need to get out of here for that though.”

Mic nodded. “Indeed, let us escape from this place as quickly as possible. I do have a suggestion though.” He said.

“What's your suggestion?”

We release other prisoners.” he said, “The guards will have a harder time dealing with us then.”

“No.” Joss said, “Too many people would die. We can free them, but not now, not yet.” Joss looked to me, “That's why we came here. To free some prisoners. We thought his parents might be here.”

“They didn't have powers either.” Mic said.

I pulled myself up. “Alright,” I said, “That's fine. I should go on ahead and see if the passage you speak of is useable, see where it leads me. After that, I'll come back.”

“You can't go alone.” Christen said. “I'll go with you.”

“We need you, Christen.” Mic said, “As a certain someone failed to bring weapons for everyone, you need to come with us. We're going to free a few prisoners... I want to try to find my parents.”

“Fine.” I snapped. “Rico, you come with me.” As much as I hated to admit it, I couldn't make it on my own. ”You won't be much help, though. Unless you've decided to use our powers again?”

Rico shook his head, “I promised Justin I wouldn't.”

“He wouldn't know..”

“That's not the point!”

I sighed. “Whatever.”

“The passage,” Mic said, ignoring the squabbling happening between the humans, “Is down one floor from there. There is a dead end between two prison cells with two torches on them. If you push enough, it should open. It takes a great deal of force to open it though, and you will have to close it after otherwise we perhaps won't be able to get out if it is found.”

“Fine.” I said, “You do what you need to do, and try to meet us at that place when your done. If Rico and I get back, and you're not there...”

“We'll search the prisons for you.” Rico said. He handed me the stick that I had been walking on. “Let's go.”

Rico and I turned to leave, but Christen gently tugged at my wrist. I turned to look at her.

“Yes?”

“... Be careful. Both of you.”

I smirked. “We'll be fine.” I said. “I'm Stiri, born of cold! I'll be just fine.”

***

There were no guards in the prisons, not even in the lower levels. The lower levels had less light though, and more screams. The walls were chiseled out of the stone that lay beneath the castle, chiseled by prisoners who had been made slaves for the construction of the prison, then slain inside. There is no torture for the prisoners here, they do not have the reprieve of pain. The prisoners here are chained to the walls, and left to starve listening to the cries of their fellow inmates and, as Almond told me when I was very very young, the cries of the ghosts of those who had been slain here.

Almond had escaped once. I wondered if he fought his way through a legion of guards, as he said he did, or if he too knew of the secret passage.

The twisting and turning passages were dark and confusing, and Rico and I were left to mostly wander about and figure out our path by intuition alone. There were few places with torches, so that helped. We found the hallway by the light that came from it, flickering brighter in the darkness than it should have.

I limped up to the wall to take a look at it. Before I could though, Rico ran to the wall and pushed with all his might, the wall was still for a moment, and Rico almost slipped. However, he gained his footing back, and the wall moved backwards into the darkness.

“I got it,” he said.

“I can see.” I stumbled over to the door, almost tripping in the rough floor. Rico ran up to me, and grabbed me by the arm.

“I got it.” I said.

“No, you don't!” Rico said, “you're injured.”

“I'll be fine. I've gotten out of worse before.”

Silently, Rico led me to the dark passage. When we were inside, I gripped a wall in the blackness. Rico grabbed a torch off the wall, then pushed it closed.

By the light of the torch, I could see before us a long staircase, winding up into blackness. The stairs were wooden, and looked as though they were half rotted. I clutched the stick tightly. I couldn't see the top of the stairs. It wouldn't be a nice walk.

“Are you going to be ok?” Rico asked as he watched me eyeing the staircase.

“I'll be fine!” I snapped, “I've done worse, and in worse shape!” I walked over to the stairs, and started to hobble up them, one stair at a time.

Then, Rico was next to me. He took the stick from me and took most of my weight on his own shoulders.

“I told you, I can do this, I've-”

“Done worse, I know,” Rico muttered. “You could get through this, I know. You could get up the stairs. It might take a while, and you might suffer a lot of pain, but you could get up to the top all on your own.”

“Right.”

“But I'll help you anyway. You don't have to do it on your own, so if I can help you, and if it will get you to the top of the stairs faster....”

I grunted, and let him help me.

The stairs seemed endless, they creaked, and it often felt as though they were going to give way under us. I cringed thinking of falling through several flights of stairs, perhaps through many supporting beams on my way to the ground.

“Tell me.” I said, “If you had used your powers-”

“I won't”

“I know, I know, you promised your brother you wouldn't use your powers inside the city. I know that. But if you had, we perhaps could have saved Christen easier, and we could have gotten out of the city earlier.”

“Maybe.”

“You could have started a fire in the city square. Or, even if you were worried about injuring people, you could have used your flames to burn down the cell door. You could have used your flames to get out of the prison. Why didn't you?”

“What does it matter.”

I shrugged as much as I could with Rico holding up my shoulder. “It doesn't, I suppose.” I said, “I'm just wondering. Your brother doesn't seem to like you much, so it confuses me why you would keep a promise, even when it injures your own safety.”

For a long time, Rico was silent. I thought he was ignoring me, and let it slide. Of course, he was allowed to ignore me if he so choose, and if he had asked me a question I didn't want to answer, I would have ignored him. However, he would have pressed the issue no doubt.

However, eventually, he said, “Is there anything you've always wanted?”

“What do you mean?”

“Anything you've wanted, ever since you were small?”

I wondered about that for a moment. I tried to remember when I was really very small what I wanted. I remembered I wanted food, and a warm place to sleep. I snuck into warm houses and stole food for those means.

“When I was younger, I wanted to be a great assassin.” I lied.

Rico smiled. “When I was younger,” He said as he stared off into darkness, “I wanted to be just like my brother.”

“Just like Justin?”

Rico nodded. “Our parents... Well, you know that we lived in Artem, yes?”

“I do,”

“And you know that I was blamed for the destruction of Artem?”

“I do.”

Rico sighed. “My father was the lord of Artem. Lord Fides. However, he was not like the other lords, like Lord Emmerson. He was called lord only because he led the people. He really led them. Because of him, we had new systems of distributing our food, so very few people starved, and if they did, it was because they didn't work for their food.

“My brother, of course, is older than I am. I'm of eighteen years, he is of twenty six. So of course-”

“He was chosen to follow you're father's footsteps.” I said. I've heard this story before. It was the same thing with different characters. Two sons, one wants power, so he has the other slain. Younger son gets power.

“He was.” Rico said, “And when I was born... Well, there was nothing for me to do. I could do whatever I wanted. If only Justin and I could have switched places. He wanted to be a knight. I wanted to lead the people.

“There was another man in the village, whose name was F'er. He was a mage. Well, he used to be. No one in the village had seen him do anything with his power, so it was assumed either his powers were too unspeakable to mention, or that he had no powers. Because fear lent itself to former suggestion... That's what we believed.

“I met Fer for the first time, in person when I was six. I had been out fishing by a river, and I fell in. F'er found me and brought me to his hut just outside the village. I had no magic powers at this time, so I couldn't have warmed myself up. He lit a fire in his hut, and bid me to rest while I dried off.

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His hut was filled with all kinds of oddities. Glowing stones, powders, candles that glowed with different colored flames... It was obviously magical, and the general rule in the village, and in other villages so I had been told was that you simply do not ask when it comes to magic. If you don't know, you don't ask. Such information is not for humans to possess. However...”

“You asked.” I said. “You're too curious to have left it alone.”

“I asked.” He said. “I asked what the stones were, why they glowed, how he got the candles to glimmer with such strange light, what the powders were for... He asked me if I could read, and I could. He showed me a book about fire. I couldn't understand it then, and I scarcely remember what he was saying, but when he had finished, he explained it very simply for me. He was trying to seal the power of the elements into items. Then, any human could use it. He told me to imagine a world where drought was ended with the wave of a hand, where the land was tilled with a whisper. Where the flames obeyed when you spoke to them. I said there were already such people who could do these things: mages. He told me that when he was finished with his work... He hoped that anyone could use the powers. However, his work was hindered by his own magical abilities. As weak as they were, for they were weak, he couldn't be sure if the results of his experiments had to do with the item or himself.

“I suppose I imagined myself, tilling the soil with a wave of my hand, saving the village from fire, and drought... I admit, I imagined by father, and my brother praising me, the village thankful for my existence, rather than so indifferent to it... As it was, they had Justin, who already seemed to be wise, brave, and compassionate-”

“Compassionate!?”

“This was a long time ago. Then he was compassionate. They didn't think they needed me. So, I begged the mage to let me help him.”

“And it worked, I take it?”

“Not as I had wanted...” Rico sighed. “I worked very hard, doing all my chores very early so that I could sneak off to the mage's house. When I couldn't leave early, I snuck out in the dead of night, and often stayed there until dawn. He was working with fire first, and I watched as he mixed powders and potions. most of them were very dangerous, and I vowed never to use them. F'er was using them in his experiments though, and not on people.”

I thought of the potion that had burned through the executioner's skin, and wondered if that may have been one such potion.

“When he was finished his work for the day, he took a red orb, and he would hand it to me. He would tell me to light candles with my mind, to make the flames from the fireplace dance. For the first few months, nothing happened... Then it did. Then I lit a candle all on my own.

“After that, I worked even harder. I imagined being able to use the powers the mage was working with to fix any problem that might threaten the village. I imagined living in prosperity, with my father, and Justin adoring me, and my skills. They would respect me, I thought. They would need me. I would be important. I wished that I could have taken the orb home with me, because I wasn't able to do anything without the orb. I wondered what my parents would say, what Justin would say if they saw my budding powers. I knew they would disapprove, so I decided to wait until I could do something amazing.

“I suppose that didn't work out the way you wanted it to, did it?”

“No... It didn't” Rico stopped and shifted my weight, then continued walking. “One day, we were trying something with the orb. The power therein got to be... To much for me. The pure power of the flames within surged through me, and out of me. The house burned into nothing, Foer along with it. The orb shattered and the power that had been held within escaped, and came into me. The riverside boiled, and flames rained down from the sky because of the force of the power I had evoked

“I was able to use my power to save only a few villagers. They saw that I had powers and blamed me entirely for what had happened. I was twelve then, and I denied their blame, but now... Now I am older, and I can take responsibility for what happened.”

“And the villagers?”

“Of course, they wanted to kill me.” Rico was very quiet for a few moments. “They thought... Oh, they thought so many different things. I was possessed by the mage. I was consumed by power. I desired to kill my brother and father in order to take their place as leader of the village. In short, they thought that if they were to rebuild Artem, I had to be killed. I was no longer human, because I used powers no human should have. I was to be slain and thrown to the edge of the mountains for my body to be devoured by wolves.”

“Lovely people.”

“They were afraid, Stiri, and angry. I can't blame them. I think that if they were thinking with clearer heads, they would not have suggested such things.

“Justin, however...He still felt pity and sympathy for me, because I am his brother, and we are bound by the blood that runs through us.” He smirked. “I've heard it said that Magus can smell their own blood. On weapons, in the ground, even in the veins of others. I suppose the same is not said of mage. The only things I could sense from Justin was... Was anger, and rage. I had destroyed his future, and even though he had been bound by it-”

“Now that it was gone, he wanted it back.”

Rico nodded. “However, even though I was at fault for the destruction of Artem, he begged the villagers to spare my life. After a while, they did, but only on one condition: Justin and I had to exhile ourselves from the village. That meant that we would never be able to know where to mourn our parents, we could never return to the ruins of Artem, and if ever we were to see someone from our own village, we were not to acknowledge them, and they would forget us.

“But, Justin had done this for me. He could have let me die, but he didn't. Instead, he let this terrible thing happen to himself...And I suppose after that, I wanted only what I had wanted in the beginning. I had wanted to be important to Justin. Our parents were dead, so I could only be important to them by helping my brother. So, I begged him to accept me. I threw myself at his feet and offered myself into his slavery until such a time that he would see me as a brother again... that's all I want now.”

“And not using your power?”

“Justin doesn't approve of my power, of course. It's useful to him, but he hates it. He thinks that so long as I use it, I am inhuman. That's part of the punishment. I serve him, using my powers until he's done what he's doing now. As soon as Kos is stopped, I will stop using my power. I did have to promise never to use my power inside Teans. Exceptions are made, but only when it's terribly necessary.”

“...Well,” I said, “I'll probably just make you angry saying this, but it doesn't seem to me like Justin will forgive you. It doesn't seem like he will ever see you as family, not from how coldly he treats you... Not only that, but if he does blame you for the loss of his parents, his friends, and his future... That kind of grudge doesn't disappears. I've known people to ask me to slay the children of some dead man just because he... Well, a variety of things. Murder, adultery, even simple thievery.”

“He will forgive me.” Rico said. “You underestimate the power of our blood.”

“We'll, I've seen the strength of blood bonds... I've seen them weaken and snap. I've been hired to-” I suddenly felt my foot catch one something. The underside of the next stair perhaps, I fell, Half dragging Rico down with me. I caught myself on my hands, scraping them badly and falling, striking my head hard on one of the stairs. I lay still for a moment, more shocked than hurt.”

“Are you alright?”

I grunted and sat up. Pain shot through my arm and leg, and I left a low throbbing in my head. Perfect. I let Rico help me up, then pushed him away to lean on the wall.

It wasn't good. My leg was still very badly hurt. The concoction was helping, the wound itself was bearable, and the bleeding had stopped, but it still hurt. And now I was bruised, now my head hurt. I was useless.

“It hurt's doesn't it?” Rico asked.

“Yes. It hurts like pain.”

Rico smirked. “Let me see?”

I moved the bloodstained rip on my clothes apart and untied the wrappings. The concoction made the injury look infected and green.

“When we get out of the city,” Rico said, “Let me use my powers to close up the wound.. It'll hurt a lot though.”

“Don't care.” I said. I re-wrapped the wound, cringing as I did. This was no good. What was the point of having a weapon if I couldn't use it? And at the rate I was going, I wouldn't be able to use it. I couldn't even walk up a flight of stairs on my own.

I took my dagger out of it's sheath, and held it up in my hand. I watched the flames from the torch glittering off the light.

“What are you doing with your dagger, Stiri?” Rico asked.

I flipped the dagger over, catching it by it's blade and handed it hilt-first to Rico. “Take it.” I said.

“But, it's-”

“It's something I cannot use right now, Rico.” I said. “My leg hurts too much for me to fight. I could try, but I would be easily overcome, and killed. You take it. You can fight, but you won't use your only weapon... So you may as well take mine.”

Rico hesitated for a few moments, then took the dagger, “I'll do my best.” he said.

***

Finally, we reached the end of the staircase. We saw it first, a flicker of light in the distance. Then, as we neared it, we saw it was just the glimmer of torchlight on the stones. It was another dead end, but a leather strap set into the stones told us that the wall before us was another secret passage

“Through here.” Rico said. “I hope there's no one on the other side.”

I released myself from Rico's grip, and stumbled over to the wall I placed my ear against the stone, and listened carefully, but all I could hear was the crackling of the torch. I motioned for Rico to put out the torch. He set the torch's flame into the wall, and it extinguished itself.

I listened at the wall, but I heard nothing.

“Only one way to know for sure.” I said. I let Rico help me down a few steps, then let him push at the wall.

A moment passed, and then light flowed through the doorway in the wall. I groaned and held my hand up to the light. I heard Rico walked back down the stairs, and help me up

“I was almost blinded by the light-”

“I was blinded. I can't see!”

“- But it's empty there. It's just some office with a few large windows. I haven't looked out the window yet.” When my feet touched solid stone floors, Rico handed the stick back to me. I squinted and looked around. There were books scattered all over the place, a map of the kingdom and the islands on the wall, and a desk under the windows. I stumbled over to the desk, and sat at the chair with my back facing the window. I gave a great sigh of pleasure as I sat down.

“I'll never underestimate the power of a padded chair ever again.” I said. I let the burning in my eyes settle down as I rubbed my leg. It was likely only my mind, but sitting in a comfortable chair made me feel better.

“I can't see well,” Rico said, “The sun is setting, and the light's in my eyes. There are roofs of other towers that we can climb down, and if we're lucky, we might be able to get outside the castle... But with your leg, and with the old man... and if they find Mic's parents I don't know if we can make it.”

“Wonderful.” I muttered. My eyes adjusted to the light in the room, and I looked around. “Well, at least I got to sit in a nice chair.” I looked before me, at the papers on the desk. “I wonder where we are exactly anyway.” I looked over a few documents on the table while Rico stared out the window, trying to figure out a better way to get out of the castle.

“I think we're in Lord Emmerson's office.” I said finally.

“We are?”

“Likely: His signature's on everything here.”

“Then we need to get out of here!” Rico said, “Lord Emmerson is a fair man, but against criminals, he's ruthless and heartless.”

“It's true, I am.”

Rico and I both turned, and looked at the door at the far end of the office. Neither of us had heard it open, and Lord Emmerson had slipped inside silently. His white cloak flowed around him, the light material alive in a breeze created only by the slightest movements. His voice was like gravel, disguised by the potion. White gloves, white boots, but no weapon.

“Rico!” I cried, “Get him!”

Rico dropped the dagger that I had given him, which was in my mind a bad choice to make. I thought at first that he was intending to use his own powers. However, he simply tackled Lord Emmerson. There was a struggle, and at first, it seemed like Rico had him down. Lord Emmerson gave a fierce howl, and reared up, throwing Rico to the bookshelf behind him. Books and glass ornaments fell to the ground, shattering and casting deep red light from the setting sun onto the wooden floor. Rico got up quickly, pulling a large book up with him. He smacked Lord Emmerson over the head with it. Lord Emmerson fell to the ground, but got up again and ran to the wall where a long-sword hung.

Rico lunged and grabbed him by his legs. Lord Emmerson fell to the ground, and struggled to get away from Rico. I stumbled over to the sword on the wall and took it down. I couldn't fight right now, but I could keep this with me.

Rico glanced up from the floor, and seeing I had the sword seemed to brighten. He balled his hand up into a fish and slammed it into Lord Emmerson's stomach once, twice, three times before lord Emmerson turned and punched Rico in the face. Rico cried out and clutched his bleeding nose. Lord Emmerson stood before him, looking at him, and then to me. Would he try to take the sword from me?

He should have moved faster. Rico, still holding his nose tripped him from behind. Lord Emmerson fell backwards, and Rico followed him down, slamming his knee into Lord Emmerson's stomach. There was a strained series of coughs as Rico took the time that Lord Emmerson was out of breath to turn him over and pin him down to the floor, his hands held behind his back.

I stumbled out from behind the desk, and walked over to Lord Emmerson. I carefully bent down to pick up my dagger on the way, though it hurt to do so. When I came to lord Emmerson, I stood before him, looking down at his masked face.

“Did you really think a mask would save you from death?” I hissed, “A mask won't deter an assassin.” I knocked the mask off with the end of my stick, and ripped his hood off his head.

It was Justin.

Justin lay under the white cloaks, his hands held by Rico. Rico looked at him a moment, and looked as though he might have let go of Justin's hands.

“Don't” I snapped. “He was willing to fight you then, he might be-”

“I attacked him!” Rico cried out, “I-”

“Be quiet.” I snapped. “He sentenced Christen to death, he would have let you rot in prison.”

Rico was silent for a few moments. Then, he looked at Justin. “Why.. what's going on? Why are you dressed like Lord Emmerson?”

Justin stared straight ahead, looking neither at myself, nor at Rico. he was focused instead on a small shard of red glass laying in front of him. “This was the best way to help the Vanguard.”

“Was it now?” I said.

“Of course!” Justin snapped, “Wealth, information on prisoners, closer contact to Kos. I had the wealth to hire an assassin such as yourself-”

“That why the guards were lacking!” Rico said, “You paid Stiri out of the city's funds!”

“Of course I did. It's to save the city in the end as well as the rest of the kingdom! You should know that, Rico.”

“I don't really care about the money, or where it came from. But you sentenced Christen to death... Threw your own assassin into prison, along with your own brother.”

“I had no control over Christen.” he said, “And I couldn't just pardon her. I can't act out of the normal for Lord Emmerson.”

“But you are Lord Emmerson, surly-”

“I wasn't always.” Justin said, “I just happened to be in a place where I could take advantage of a situation.”

There was a few long moments of silence. I hit Justin with my stick, enough to convince him to continue but not enough to really hurt him.

“When the real Lord Emmerson was sick...” Justin said, “I was around... I was acting as a scribe for him. When he got sick, I-”

“You killed him, didn't you.” I said dully. “You killed him, and pretended to be him. Then you made up stories about having seen the demons of death so that you could hide your body and face, but still go around as Lord Emmerson.”

“That's right.” Justin said, “And you have no idea how much it helped! True, The Vanguard hasn't yet gotten any of the items... Not until now.”

“Ah, yes, my pendant. I assume it's in the desk?” Justin said nothing, I stumbled back to the desk and started to rummage through things, looking for my pendant.

“Maybe you should just leave it.” Rico said, “I mean, they have it now.”

“They, is it?” I looked carefully at Rico, then turned back to my rummaging. “Maybe, but I want it. It might be a bartering chip as I try to kill Kos.”

“You're still going to do that?” Rico asked. Justin looked over at me.

“I might as well, provided I'm still being paid.” I glanced at Justin, who nodded.

“But the money comes from-”

“I really don't care.” I snapped, “Blame your brother for killing Lord Emmerson, and for using the town funds. Blame him for taking a trusted figure and using him to further his own little-”

“I would hardly say that keeping this world from descending into chaos and darkness is little!”

“His little issues. I am surprised, though... No one questioned that it wasn't Lord Emmerson?”

Justin smirked. “People are very forgiving of strange changes after death. So long as they thought I was the Lord Emmerson that the people loved before his death-”

I rummaged through one of the drawers in the desk, and found not only my pendant, but also a small bottle of yellow liquid.

“And I take it this is how you disguised your voice?” I opened the bottle and took a smell. It was sour, and reminded me of the forest in the spring.

“It is.” he said.

“Excellent”

***

“Lord Emmerson!”

I turned, and looked through the white mask at the armor clad guard standing at the doorway of the office.

“What?” I snapped. My voice felt like gravel and nails from the potion. It was a strain to speak, and I knew I would be losing my voice after this for a while.

“Everything is ready. The prisoners are ready for transport to Rawlin. The money from the treasury has been taken and put into chests for you to bring to Lord Kos.”

“Good... Did you find the elves I told you of?”

The guard stood tall at attention before me. “No sir, nothing but bodies.”

“I see... And what about the horses that I told you of?”

The stable master was reluctant at first, but when he heard it was your orders, he gave up the horses Dawn and Night. Odd names for horses though.”

“Indeed. But, I'm told there are none truer. Belonged to one of the prisoners captured.”

“The red- headed boy you caught here, and his accomplice, Justin are ready to go as well-”

“I am of the belief now that the one called Justin is mostly innocent. I may have been a little rash in having him captured. Wait until I have taken my leave with the other prisoners, then let him go. Tell him it is by my mercy alone that he lives, and that he should keep from associating with criminals.”

“Yes sir.”

I took the longsword from the wall and tied it to my waist. I would have preferred my dagger, but it would look odd if Lord Emmerson left town without his longsword.

“I only hope the small offerings I have for the king is enough.” I muttered. “But, we can't afford to have these prisoners in our prisons anymore. Five almost escaped yesterday. We cannot afford to let that happen again.”

“You really think that.. Well, the four prisoners from the other day, and a handful of other prisoners-”

“The other prisoners are indeed the runaway slaves, yes?”

“Yes Milord.”

“Good. They will learn better discipline under the King and his own guards. Hopefully the King will be merciful and take them with our small offerings of gold.”

“Must you leave now though? Would it not be better to leave in the spring, when the weather-”

“It is my belief that it is better to leave sooner rather than later... Are you questioning me?”

“No, Milord.”

Silently, I passed the guard and walked down the hall. The guard caught up to me and walked before me, ready to die for me.

Behind my mask I smirked, Justin had been right; it was too easy to fool people like this. Now, if only I could fool Kos as well, I could walk right into the castle, into Rawlin's Keep