Charlie
“Hey Miss Girl!” Charlie said excitedly as their palli friend arrived.
“Miss girl?” the girl palli asked. She carried four trays of food, each of them expertly layered across one of her arms. Charlie was impressed. It couldn’t be easy balancing the wide, circular trays she was carrying, but she made it look effortless.
Merlin laughed from his chair at the table in the room. “Charlie didn’t feel right calling you girl, so we put our heads together and came up with a more respectful way to address you. We came up with Miss Girl. As for your brother, we were thinking Mister Boy.”
“I was going to offer to name you two, but Merlin said that was rude!” Charlie added. He shrunk back when he noticed Merlin glaring at him. Oh, it was probably rude to even bring that up. Merlin was right though, they were people, not beasts.
Miss Girl laughed. “I see! Miss Girl is fine if you prefer, but I assure you it’s not necessary.” She used her free hand to position each of the trays on the small dining table. Her brother had brought it the previous night while Merlin and Charlie were getting settled in. It was clear they’d be spending most of their time at the Rawlin estate in this room.
Merlin scooted closer to the table to inspect their breakfast. Charlie sat on the table itself since he wouldn’t be able to see if he sat in a chair. The trays were filled with scrambled eggs, freshly cut fruit, and biscuits and jam. Charlie wasn’t usually hungry, but he had to admit the food smelled really good. He leaned forward and picked up an orange slice. He sniffed it. The citrus scent was pleasant. Charlie squeezed it, hoping to strengthen the scent. Instead, juice splattered all over his face and onesie. He giggled so hard he dropped the orange slice. It bounced off the table and on to the ground.
Merlin looked over and rolled his eyes. “Don’t play with your food. If you want to try it, that’s okay. But don’t waste it.”
Charlie frowned, staring at the orange slice on the ground. Bleedy scurried from under the bed, gingerly picked it up in his mouth, and then jumped up off a chair and on to the table. He offered it back to Charlie, who took it and chomped down on it.
Charlie had let Bleedy out of the dungeon before they went to bed the previous night. Mousifer stayed behind to keep Marvin comfortable. Being in the dungeon alone was probably stressful for him, so they thought some company would be nice for the horse.
“Ugh! Charlie, don’t eat off the floor!” Merlin groaned when he noticed. “That was in Bleedy’s mouth.”
Charlie hummed happily as he enjoyed the orange slice. When he’d sucked all the juice out of it, he reached up and grabbed another. “You said not to waste it,” he said in between slurps.
Miss Girl smiled. “I’m glad you’re enjoying it. We prepared it ourselves. I was surprised you requested a double portion. You must have enjoyed dinner.” Miss Girl said.
“Oh, sorry. I actually asked you to bring extra trays because I was hoping you and your brother might join us,” Merlin said. He motioned toward the empty seats across the table from him.
She blinked in surprise and looked at her brother, who stood guard outside the room. The Rawlins had left Merlin and Charlie alone so far, so the boy palli wasn’t guarding them from the assassins in the building. Not that he could guard them from the assassins. He mostly stood outside to keep watch. Merlin and Charlie had spent a long time talking with the twins about things they were certain Vedic might not appreciate them talking about. So, the boy stood outside to make sure no one was eavesdropping on them. It left him the odd man out during most of their conversations. But he assured them his hearing was good, and that he was fine with it.
“We really aren’t supposed to do that. We’re supposed to take our meals in the servant quarters,” Miss Girl said.
“Nonsense. It won’t hurt anything, and you’ve already prepared far more food than we can eat. Besides, we aren’t really comfortable with the whole servant dynamic. We’d prefer if you just acted like our friends while you’re with us,” Merlin said. He nodded his head toward the seat again.
Her brother looked in. “It should be fine. We’re supposed to treat them like we would any guest. If they ask us to eat with them, there’s no harm in it.”
Miss Girl nodded and slowly took a seat. She looked almost uncomfortable, and Charlie wondered if making Merlin ask the twins to join them for breakfast was a mistake. But after a while, she settled in, and Charlie’s doubts faded away. Miss Girl took a big bite of a biscuit and then grabbed a handful of eggs and plopped them into her mouth as well. Charlie giggled. When she realized he was watching her, she blushed, or at least the palli version of blushing. Her grey cheeks grew white.
“Sorry, we aren’t normally allowed to eat stuff like this,” she said, covering her mouth.
Outside the room, her brother pulled an orange slice out of his pocket and plopped it into his mouth as he stared down the hallway. An orange slice he’d already had on his person. Apparently, he wasn’t as keen on the rules as his sister was.
Merlin nodded. “Enjoy it. I certainly am. You’re a good cook.” He was slowly and methodically using a knife to spread a copious amount of jam over a biscuit. Charlie knew Merlin was biding his time to ask her about Vetica’s upcoming trial, but Charlie wanted to let her enjoy her food a while longer. So instead, he asked a question to Merlin.
“Hey Merlin, you knew about the Rawlins before, right? Didn’t you ever suspect Vetica might be one of them?” he asked.
That caught Merlin off guard. The knife in his hand slipped and a glob of jam fell to the ground. Bleedy wasted no time in licking it up. Merlin sighed. “No. It’s an open secret that the Rawlins have a near monopoly on organized assassinations. But there are those who still work on their own. Besides, Vetica broke her contract when she chose not to kill me. I would never imagine a Rawlin being brave enough to do something like that. It certainly paints her in a whole new light, that’s for sure. It also makes me wonder why.”
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Charlie tilted his head. “Because she’s a good person,” he said.
“Good people do bad things out of fear all the time, Charlie. It was my throat on the line, and knowing what I know now…well, I couldn’t have blamed her even if she went through with it. The fact that she didn’t…well, I owe her a lot.” Merlin’s gaze fell to the biscuit in his hand. He returned it to his plate and pushed both away.
“I suppose you don’t actually know much about the Rawlins. They’ve been around for a long time. A really long time. I’ve mostly heard rumors. You hear a lot in my line of—former line of work. The Rawlins aren’t as active in Aysela now. Mostly because they’ve contracted with so many of the nobles, and probably even the royal family, that most of their targets aren’t household names around here. But they’re still very active in other kingdoms. Let’s just say if a noble in Aysela wants a noble in another kingdom killed, they’d probably go to the Rawlins and the Rawlins would get it done,” Merlin said.
Charlie frowned at that. “Why don’t the hex knights do anything about it?” he asked.
Miss Girl paused a second before taking another bite of her food. “The Rawlins used to work closely with the crown. That lasted for generations until the previous king and the hero from another world put an end to it. But now things are going back to the old ways. The King who rose to power after the hero from another world left is working with the Rawlins again. At least…that’s the rumor. We can’t be sure. We overhear a lot of things working for Vedic, but there are some clients that he meets with alone.”
“From what we’ve learned about the King, that doesn’t surprise me. He was involved with some shady people back in Sange,” Merlin said, stroking his beard. “Still, I’m surprised myself. If I was a king, I wouldn’t really want an entire assassin family working within my kingdom. I mean…you get on their bad side and—” Merlin sliced two fingers through the air in front of his throat. His head fell, and he stuck his tongue out. “You’re dead,” he finished.
Charlie smiled. Merlin had certainly made such a gruesome thing seem amusing.
Miss Girl’s brother peeked over his shoulder into the room. It looked like he might want to say something, but he decided against it. He turned to face forward once again and scanned the hallway. Charlie shrugged. Maybe the brother was shy.
“Even if the king wanted to shut down the Rawlin’s it wouldn’t be easy. There aren’t many people who would stand a chance against Vedic in combat. My brother and I have watched him train. He’s unparalleled. Even his top advisor, Hosuyo, is known as ‘The Serpent who Poisons Kingdoms,’” the female palli said.
Orb popped out of Charlie’s onesie. He’d been quiet since they’d been brought to this room. So quiet that Charlie hadn’t even realized the dungeon core had slipped inside his onesie. “Wait, should they be eating any of this food then? Hosuyo didn’t seem too fond of Vetica, and if that’s the case, he probably doesn’t like her friends by extension.”
Charlie eyed the orange stains on his onesie. Merlin stared wide-eyed at his breakfast. “Oh. I suppose I should’ve thought about the possibility of poison,” Merlin said.
Orb flew over and straight into the side of Merlin’s head. “This is your second meal here and you’re just now realizing that!”
Merlin swatted him away.
Miss Girl covered her mouth to stifle laugher. “Don’t worry, the food is safe! Like I said, we prepared it ourselves. His name refers to a different kind of poison.” She grew more serious. “Master Hosuyo is widely considered a very attractive man. He’s seduced the queens and consorts of many kings and whispered things in their ears that led kingdoms to ruin. He’s a master of spies and can extract secrets from the most private of people. Master Hosuyo is a man who kills many without lifting a blade. His contracts aren’t for people. They’re for entire houses, bloodlines, and kingdoms.”
Merlin swallowed. “An assassin who takes contracts on entire kingdoms? That’s a bit much. No wonder Vedic keeps him close. That’s not the kind of man you want turning on you.” Merlin looked over at Charlie. Charlie could tell Merlin was ready to ask the question he’d been dying to. He nodded toward Merlin. Now was as good a time as any.
Merlin turned back toward her. “So, Vetica’s trial is coming up. Is there anything you can tell us about it? What can we expect? Anything would be helpful.”
“Well,” Miss Girl said, looking off to the side. “Normally, all of Vedic’s advisors would be present for something like this. Vedic would, of course, have the final say, but it would be frowned upon if he ignored the advice of all his advisors. With them missing, and unaware of anything happening here, the only one to push back against him is Hosuyo. That’s unlikely to sway him. So, the outcome will mostly depend on what Vedic wants.”
“I see. On the one hand, that means we only need to convince one person to spare her. But on the other, if he wants to make an example out of Vetica, then we won’t have many ways to stop him. Without doing something drastic, that is.” Merlin crossed his arms as a frown settled on his face.
The door slammed shut. They all looked up to see the boy palli standing there.
Charlie blinked. Why had he shut the door all of a sudden? Why had he come inside? “Is someone out there, Mister Boy? Were you trying to make sure nobody heard us?” he asked.
The boy palli had a hard look on his face. “Please don’t call me that. If you insist on calling me something besides boy, you may call me brother. That is how my sister and I address each other. Brother and sister. You may refer to me in that same way.” He hesitated for just a moment before collecting himself and staring at Charlie and Merlin. “Vedic might seek to make an example out of her. But despite your fears, I don’t believe that he will kill her.”
Merlin pushed his chair back and stood. “You know something. What is it?”
Charlie looked up at Merlin and then turned to lean over the table towards brother. This was interesting.
“Vedic once had many children. Vetica and Lilica were only two among them. Each child had a different mother. Some members of the household believed he was trying to secure an heir. But I’ve overheard Vedic and Hosuyo talking when they thought they were alone.”
His sister’s jaw dropped. “Brother…you spied on the masters?” she asked. Her voice was filled with dread. A terrified expression riddled across her face.
“We’ve spent our entire lives in a household of assassins. I’ve observed their tricks. I’ve watched them. It matters not.” He turned back to look at Charlie and Merlin. “The blood of the Rawlin family contains a rare and tremendous power. It only manifests every other generation. Vedic doesn’t have it.” He let the meaning of his words linger in the air.
Merlin turned his gaze to the wooden floorboards. “So Vetica and Lilica…”
Brother shook his head. “No. Not both. One of them. The power hasn’t developed yet, but it will develop in one of them. The problem is, Vedic doesn’t know which, and until he does, he will not allow either of them to die. If the one with the power was to fall, then the power would crumble with them. There will be a punishment. But if it’s up to Vedic, that punishment will not be death.”
“Well, that’s one less thing to worry about. Vetica scrubs a few toilets with her toothbrush and then we’ll be back on the road. That’s way better than death!” Orb said.
The palli siblings exchanged a look. “Vedic is capable of things…of punishments way worse than death,” the brother said.
Charlie frowned. There was a secret power that would be passed down to one of Vedic’s children? A power that might go to Vetica? That was interesting. But Brother’s words worried him.
What punishment would be worse than death?