Kalos slipped through the crowd with Nava by his side. In the distance he saw Grimm inspecting wares across the table from a surly old man who was expecting to be ambushed with a low-ball offer at any moment. Nava grasped a tuft of the boy’s shirt and pulled him aside before Grimm could catch sight of them.

“Well, are you gonna' tell him what happened?” She rocked from one foot to the other, nervously waiting for his response.

“What do you mean?” Kalos asked with a confused expression.

“What I mean is that you have no idea why that man gave you that bar, or what it really is at all!”

Her face glowed with irritation as she glanced down at the black bundle in his hand, “And you agreed not to tell anyone about it. What if he put a curse on you or something?”

“I don’t think curses work that way, Nava.” Kalos placed the bundle under his arm, hiding it from her altogether. Suddenly he found himself trapped between commitment to honor that which he had promised the storyteller and the very important need to ask his father’s advice about what to do next. Abruptly, he was shaken from his thoughts by an unfamiliar voice that made him cringe just from the sound of it.

“Why ‘ello, my lost lil Lord...”

Two disheveled-looking men only a few steps away seemed overly pleased with the first impression they had made.

Kalos was caught off-guard by how close the men had gotten without either one of them noticing. The unnaturally rigid posture they carried themselves with revealed how hard they were trying to maintain an approachable, refined image despite the incriminating nature of their smug expressions and filthy outward appearance. Covered in rotten, colorful garb from the dark blue, dyed-leather trousers to their thin, burgundy tunics, light green sashes, and purple headscarves, they immediately made Kalos and Nava uncomfortable just by being present.

With a condescending tone, the one who greeted them spoke again, “Enjoyin’ a lorvely stroll are we?” His smooth, greasy voice reeked of fermented fish and tooth decay, which caused Kalos’ stomach to flip each time he smelled it. Nava didn’t seem to be feeling any better than he, for her lips immediately sank into a straight line while the color flushed from her cheeks entirely.

Kalos desperately wanted to get away in case her stomach turned inside-out all at once, but he refused to budge, “It’s a nice day, after all... Always happy to see the fair when it comes to town, as well.” Kalos’ attempt to be polite only earned sarcasm in response.

“Oh, excellent, excellent. I particularly enjoy hearin’ a goot story’r two myself here and there. Ow’bout you, Reid? You like a good story now’n again too, yeah?” The fowl-breathed speaker flashed his counterpart a toothy grin though the fellow had been staring intensely at Nava the whole time with a dark smile of his own.

“O fo’shor, Sef, fo’shor,” he muttered while leaning forward like he might lunge forward and grab Nava at any moment.

Nava’s shoulders sagged anxiously as she stepped closer to Kalos. Instinctively, he tightened his jaw and leaned in front of her like a human shield.

Within seconds, tension increased between the four of them to such a degree that Sef and Reid started visibly brimming with anticipation. Just as they were about to leap forward at Kalos and Nava, Grimm silently brushed by them from behind, causing everyone to freeze where they stood.

Grimm paused an arm's length from Sef and Reid with one hand casually resting on the hilt of his sword. He was the perfect range to cut them down in as little as a single stroke should the need arise. They wouldn't be able to move away in time to save themselves if he decided to draw his blade. The flamboyantly-dressed men backed away from the other three quicker than Kalos anticipated once they realized the bad position they were in relative to the warrior and his sword.

Grimm’s presence shocked Kalos and Nava just as much as Sef and Reid were, which was more than enough to disrupt the encounter entirely.

The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

“Kalos, Nava,” Grimm said with a nod before slowly turning to face the men square-on, now that they were several steps away. He was holding himself with the kind of uncanny grace and deadly intent that made everyone around him nervous, especially Kalos.

“Thanks for the hospitality you’ve shown my kids, gentlemen.” Grimm’s voice was calm and dismissive.

Sef offered an extravagant flourish with one arm and bowed ever-so-slightly at the hip, “Pleasure, Sir. Always’appy welcoming friendly sorts to our lorvely fair you know...”

The men simply turned and walked off without another word.

Grimm immediately started walking back toward the village with Kalos and Nava close behind. The two glanced over their shoulders every few steps as if they could somehow prevent Sef and Reid from doing anything else to them so long as they were constantly watching behind them.

Eventually they reached a quiet area several minutes away from the caravan where Grimm came to a stop right in front of them to talk about what happened.

“I think that’s enough excitement for one day. You two alright?”

“Yes,” Kalos said while Nava nodded at him. “Who were they?”

“Yeah, I would like to know that, too. They looked like criminals. Who would let men like that into the fair?” Nava chimed in as a chill ran down her spine.

“Well, they definitely weren’t Mercari. Probably just acting like servants while providing labor as payment for traveling with the caravan.” Grimm sounded aloof and Kalos didn't like his answer. His father was notorious for being vague at times, but he could tell when the old man was intentionally avoiding any given topic. He couldn’t just leave it at that.

“So why would they be allowed to walk around at their leisure, then?” Kalos’ inquiry earned a questioning gaze from his father, but he couldn’t tell if it was because of how he had spoken to him, or because he was just trying to decide the best way to respond. Grimm slowly lifted his eyes toward the horizon to think.

After a few paces more, he finally elaborated his thoughts, “They likely weren’t supposed to be there at all. I believe they were looking for something.., or someone, perhaps. Spies tend to do things like that sometimes.”

He looked straight at them with a hard expression, “My question now, is why might they be interested in you two?”

Kalos hesitated only a moment, “We saw a storyteller earlier, after you went to shop...” He proceeded to recant everything that’d happened from the Dark Assassin’s tale up to the point where Sef and Reid intercepted them after leaving the Storyteller’s wagon. It didn’t take as long as he thought it would to tell the story, even with including every possible detail he could recall.

“You’re sure he said Sultrani Ostele? And that’s what you’re carrying with you, now?”

Kalos glanced down, having forgotten about it altogether after the two ruffians made their appearance.

“Yes, Sir. The teller wrapped it up and gave it to me right before he made me agree not to mention it to anyone. I didn’t steal it or anything...”

Grimm responded quickly, “Yes, I’m sure you didn’t. If you had, you would be in much worse condition than you are now. You may not realize it, but you put that storyteller in a very awkward predicament. Sultrani Ostele is known for binding to wielders through irreversible blood bonds. In an untempered state, even a small scratch would be enough to do it. Which hand did you hold it in?” He sharply latched onto his son's wrist for a closer look.

“This is the...”

Grimm firmly flipped his hand palm-up before he could even finish his sentence, making him flinch. His eyes widened as soon as he noticed several jagged scratches where the rough metal of the Ostele bar had caused the tiniest blood droplets to form, as if he had simply tripped and landed against stony ground like a child who ran too fast while he was playing. He hadn’t even noticed the stinging of the scrapes until just then.

Nava suddenly punched Kalos in the arm as hard as she could.

“I told you it was cursed!” she growled.

Grimm’s serious, stony façade twisted into a wry grin as he let go of Kalos’ hand and continued walking.

“It’s not like I meant to do that,” Kalos grumbled before they ran to catch up.

Kalos wanted to keep arguing that he hadn’t done anything wrong, but the shock of everything that’d happened rendered him speechless. As soon as he came close enough, Grimm spoke again, “This changes everything.”

“I'm sorry, I should’ve been more careful. Thank you for allowing me to go to the fair, at least.”

“Are you suggesting that we shouldn’t go to Blefcynn after all?” Grimm waited only a second before continuing, “On the contrary, we must leave today. We no longer have the luxury of taking it slow. We have to get ahead of the Mercari merchants and their spies to avoid any other confrontations with them...”

“I thought you'd be furious and we wouldn’t get to go at all...”

“Nevermind all of that, what you need to know is that we’re still going to Blefcynn, and there's an old friend I must see once we get there... Now, I wanted this to be more of a surprise, but he’s the one who will forge your first blade for you. He’s the most skilled Warblack in all Ceirlan, and I bet he'll even have some rare wisdom to give us about that Ostele chunk of yours before he begins. Actually, any insight he has to offer will be invaluable to us for what comes next...”

Nava watched quietly while Grimm placed one hand on his shoulder, “Let's go, Kalos. There’s no time to waste.”

©2024, K. M. Plum, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED