CHAPTER THREE
I PROMISE
Siggy headed for the nearby well. It had a thin, shabbily put-together wooden wall separating it from the rest of the courtyard.
Dragging his tired body up to its mouth, he reached his hands for the winch and brought the bucket full of water up from the well.
Looking down he saw a young boy. With his dusty ash brown hair, piercing steel-grey eyes and lightly sun-kissed complexion, he possessed an undeniable roughish charm.
"I look like shit." He murmured under his breath.
As he washed, relief finally came to his tired body from the sticky sludge of the docks. As he wrapped up, he realised he hadn’t brought the change of clothes Leo offered him.
"Hey guys, can one of you bring me some clothes!" he said loudly.
Before any answer came, a set of fresh clothes fell on his head as a woman’s voice entered his ears.
"Here ya go brat."
As he looked up, a tall woman with long shaggy dark hair and green eyes entered his vision. She had a grin on her face with a slight hint of greed.
With a swift motion, he grabbed the attire and put it on after drying up.
"I heard you hit it big, not bad, not bad."
"Ugh, just tell me what you want Lisa."
"Now is that any way to greet me? I am saddened by such mistreatment." She feigned a hurt expression.
The boy gave an annoyed glance at the woman.
"Aaah, I should have just kept my mouth shut. How much do you want?"
"Hey, don’t give me that look. Most others wouldn’t even bother training street kids like you."
"And I am sure this is all out of the kindness of your heart, you giving us your guidance."
"A woman’s gotta eat and there ain’t no such thing as a free lunch in this world." She said as she caressed her leg with a forlorn expression on her face.
Siggy looked at her, scratched his head and said.
"Fine, sorry, my mistake. How goes the saving for the treatment."
Lisa stopped caressing her leg and looked at Siggy with a face like a fish out of water.
"Ah, yeah, it’s going good. I almost got enough to get a decent elixir. I will soon be the picture of health."
"You spent most of your money on boozing and cards again, haven’t you?"
She stared sideways at the ground and said in a flustered voice.
"Me? N-no way. I am straight as an arrow these days, Look at this face, honest as the day I was born.
"I can clearly smell the booze on you, plus, your purse is empty."
"You little rascal! Is this the first thing you do when looking at someone, sizing up their purse?!?"
"I was taught well." he said with a snarky smirk.
She burst into laughter and rubbed Siggy’s hair.
"That I did, that I did. Speaking of teaching you well. Dontcha think it’d only be polite to pay me for my services? I can’t fill my stomach with promises."
"Fair, how much do you want?"
"One denar for the last three months of training."
The boy’s eyes almost bulged out of his head.
"Are you trying to ruin me already after I just hit it!? 50 shillings!"
She looked at him with an irritated scowl.
"You little miser! Is this the thanks I get for looking after you guys!? Who taught you how to read and write? You could only pay in promises for the last 3 months! 85 shillings!"
"I finally got enough to get myself ‘the dagger’ I wanted, and you want to take it from me? 75 shillings and that is including any extra costs which came with not paying on time."
"The dagger? What dagger? Aaaaa, that one!" Her eyes flared up in realization "Very well. Just cause I don’t wanna see you with that rusty razer you got as a blade. 65 it is, go and buy yourself a proper dagger you silver-tongued imp."
Siggy took out 65 shillings from the purse he put all his money in and put it in the empty leftover bag. He gave it to her with a heavy hand.
"See? I told you that you are a groat-pincher. Can’t even part with coin without drama."
Siggy stared at the ground as if recalling something unpleasant.
She noticed how he was acting and immediately embraced him in a tight hug.
"It’s fine now, don’t worry. We’re here. One big, happy, peculiar family."
"I am not a small child you know."
"To me, you are just a little brat still so bear with it.
His hands hovered around her until he finally decided to return the hug. His hands shaking, as if he refused to let go. Then after a while, they separated and Lisa started patting his head.
"A kid like you should just be that, a kid. Don’t try to act all tough and gruff all the time."
He let his mind wander as he reluctantly accepted his head getting stroked.
"Speaking of kids, how has that girly your old man’s been teaching? Last time I popped in, she was all rearing to go."
She gripped his hair at the mention of the source of her annoyance.
"She is…. Enthusiastic for sure. So much so that she won’t stop bugging me to help her out with her carvings. Reminds me of another annoying squirt that would just not leave me alone either."
"R-really?" he lightly groaned "I could not possibly be that person, look at how lovably huggable I am. Innocent as can be!" he pleaded his case and it seemed to work as Lisa’s grip loosened and she grabbed a hold of both of his cheeks squishing his face instead, staring at him in amusement.
"Well, you are certainly an entertaining one, I look forward to seeing you develop."
A confident, or from another’s view, an arrogant smile formed on his face as he said.
"Jusht wah meh!" he freed himself from her grasp "Puah! I’ll leave everyone in the dust."
Her index finger landed on the boy’s forehead with a small thud.
"First you should graduate from hunting rabbits and small game. But I like your spirit, so here’s hoping."
He rubbed his head with a pained expression.
"Anyways, I gotta go, got something to take care of. See ya later."
"Aye, see ya later."
Siggy took a couple steps but then came to a halt and turned around with a cocky grin.
"Oh, you might want this back though."
A purse, full of coins formed an arch in the air and landed straight in the woman’s hands.
"Wha-."
He cackled whilst running away.
Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
"Later!"
"You little!"
Her expression however betrayed her words as she was simply seeing him off with a smile. She muttered in a low voice so nobody could hear her.
"You think I didn’t notice? A brat like you is a hundred years too early to pull the wool over my eyes."
She left with a satisfied, yet somehow sad smile.
— — —
Chuckling to himself, Siggy headed to Leo to make for his day’s final duty. Before, however, he took the item he obtained out of his pocket and began to study it.
‘Should I even mention this? Knowing him, he’ll just tell me to throw it. Why shouldn’t I just keep it? I did most of the work on the job anyway.’
After examining it further, he discovered some new features on the orb. There seemed to be patterns running on the inside as well connecting to the center of it. The middle contained two lines of something red, one of which was deeper and the other faintly glowing.
"Watcha got there?"
Siggy briefly jolted forward in fright and hid the item in his pocket.
"Rosa! You scared the life out of me! How long have you been stalking me? Did you follow Lisa here?"
It was a girl around his age with shoulder-length platinum blonde hair, a fair face with spotless caramel skin and similar grey eyes to Siggy.
"Since you’ve been staring at whatever was in your hand as if it’s the most precious thing in this world and yes. Speaking of, what was it?"
He tensed up and looked to the side. He reached into his pocket and took out a purse.
"I got a big haul today, finally able to afford something. Just happy life is looking up for once."
She squinted her eyes and snorted.
"You know Lisa told me that when you lie, sometimes, your head tilts to the side and your nose twitches.
"No, its ju-"
Before he could finish digging himself even deeper, she interrupted him.
"Look, I am not going to say anything to anyone."
Thinking he was in the clear he breathed a sigh of relief.
"That being said, I don’t like that you lied to me. So I demand compensation."
Giving her a cautious stare, he asked with a small crack in his voice
"A-and what exactly would you like from me?"
"I wanna go on a walk outside the walls by the farms."
Siggy looked at her as if she had grown a second head, he paced around nervously.
"Ah, yeah, sure, outside the walls. Right this way, your ladyship… ARE YOU MAD?!?!?"
She held her hands to her ears, squinting one eye shut.
"You don’t have to yell, you oaf! We’d still be close to the walls, and besides, the guards are still patrolling around there, so I am sure it’d be fine…maybe…" she said somewhat sheepishly, her previous confidence progressively fading.
Siggy vehemently shook his head.
"A walk, I can do, in fact, I-I am kind of happy. But what part of getting eaten by some passing predator or other sounds like either "fine" or equals to a "good time"?"
She scrunched up her nose and frowned at him.
"Ya big wuss, that’s exactly why I am bringing you. You’ve been outside the walls with Lizzy. But I see that you are not up for it, perhaps I should have gone and asked someone else…"
"Me? A wuss? How is not wanting to get eaten alive, being a wuss?!? Lisa knows what she is doing, I am just a beginner!"
"Wuss, wuss, wuss! I can’t believe you’d let such a fair maiden go outside the walls on her own."
To his chagrin, the bombard of goading continued until he finally retorted.
"Sure! As soon as I see such a fair maiden, I’ll jump right at the opportunity."
"Hey!"
Chuckling for a few moments, he looked at her with a bemused expression and spoke.
"Okay, jokes aside. How are you even proposing to leave the town, the guards won’t let us leave and who knows what they’ll do if they catch us outside the walls."
Chest puffed, with triumphant glee she declared.
"Worry not. I found a crack in the wall a few days ago when I was looking for a way out. We should be able to slip in and out without anyone noticing, we have a little adventure, then slip back in without anyone noticing. In and out, simplicity itself!"
A mirthless smile formed on his lips, contemplating the idea.
"Aw, what the hell, let’s do it! Why not? But we’ll do it tomorrow afternoon. I’ve got some errands to run in town and I am dead tired now."
She jumped up in joy and gave him a big hug.
"Yay! I knew you’d come through in the end. Tomorrow afternoon, you promise right?"
With a light smirk, he closed his eyes, held one hand to his heart and raised the other.
"I promise."
"You better!" she gave a big toothy smile.
— — —
Behind his office table, Lucius was diligently sorting out his papers until a knock came on his door.
"Enter."
Alderic entered with relative haste. His lord looked up with his now tired eyes and gaunt cheeks.
"I hope you have good news for me."
"Greetings sire, I bring news of progress in our operation of tracking down the missing artefact."
Relief visible in his gaze, he asked:
"Where is it? What have your men discovered?"
"The guards have not yet discovered its exact location, but we have found some clues. The men you’ve brought with you on your inspection of the town have found some footprints in the blood near the agent’s corpse upon their return to the area."
"Any clues as to the owner of these tracks and their whereabouts?"
"Only that the prints seem to belong to a child, the tracks terminate in the mud as it bleeds into the rest of the street."
Lucius slammed the table with a closed fist, making everything on it clatter.
"Damn it!"
Alderic flinched at the display.
"W-worry not, sire! I have my people on the job and your men are also tirelessly at work. Surely, we will find the culprit."
A now clearly irritated man looked up at the governor with a piercing gaze.
"And what exactly is your plan? Ask every child in town if they looted a corpse?"
"T-that won’t be necessary sire, there are several disenfranchised youths in the settlement. Hell, if that doesn’t yield a result it may not be far-fetched to assume one among the bottom-feeder vermin nabbed it and made a run for it."
" ’Vermin’ huh? And may I ask you why are these so-called ‘vermin’ resorting to such antics? Robbing the dead is not something anyone just does because they feel bored."
Feeling as if he did something inappropriate, Alderic took a step back.
"I don’t understand sire, they are simply low-lives. It is expected of them to act in such a manner. It is only by our good graces they are even allowed behind the walls in the first place."
Lucius shot up from his chair, fury seething from his expression. In his immense rage, he cleaved the table in half with his bare hands as they shimmered in a misty glow, leaving the room in a cloud of dust and wood debris. Alderic fell on his backside with a look of terror in his eyes.
"I’ve had it up to HERE with your constant excuses about the ‘nulls’! Every damned report I read, a thousand ills are befalling the settlement, yet not a single solution from you! I placed you here to govern Dal Flarren in my absence. Our brave soldiers and explorers have fought tooth and nail trying to reclaim this isle in the name of humanity. Your job is no less vital than theirs, make no mistake. Which is why, your inability, or better yet, unwillingness to provide basic opportunities for a workforce, clearly capable of increasing our productivity behind the walls so as to not rile the dangers lurking in the wilds infuriates me so."
He circled the room, pieces of wood crunching under his feet until he reached the ornate clock in his room. He touched it whilst looking at its pendulum swing.
"Since I came here, I’ve been doing nothing but fixing the problems your lack of initiative caused! The ‘nulls’ as they are called and the local kintari, are productive members of society, like anyone else. Their difference between us and them doesn’t even matter as it simply puts them in the same boat as most of our society! Your fixation on the mainland’s ‘us and them’ mentality has far enough to affect your better judgement."
They can be of use to us as normal citizens, as PEOPLE, damn it!"
Despite his rage, he made sure his temper caused no further damage to the room. Calming down, Lucius was about to continue but Alderic spoke first.
"T-that’s untrue sire! Look at the market district! It’s bustling with people and a large variety of goods that the other colonies do not even have access to!"
"Indeed, the market district is in better shape than the rest of the town, and your ability to acquire goods for it is commendable."
Alderic looked hopeful for a moment.
"Then-"
His hope was short-lived as Lucius continued
"But, the rest of the town is in shambles, and the production is managed abysmally. We are overproducing irrelevant luxury goods and the items we do need at the front are in short supply."
"B-but, the marke-"
"Which leads to my greatest gripe with you in your use of slaves. Indentured servants, I don’t care about, but I have clearly stated in no uncertain terms that I needed you to continue innovating and NOT to regress. What use is a free man who’s done no crime to be reduced to being a slave?!? They are much more productive otherwise and we don’t have to feed or look after them."
He walked up to Alderic and looked him dead in the eye.
"Your continued failure has caused me to lose what little confidence I had left in you since the start of my visit."
"M-my lord, please, if this is about the package, I am sure we can still recover it."
"Forget the damn package for now! This fiasco with the black market isn’t an isolated incident. We have much bigger issues at hand! Unless you want to scour the entire city, causing even more damage. Hell, you could even alert the black market that we are onto them. No, I have sent for my eldest daughter to replace you as the regional governor. She should be reaching us in the next couple of days. Your job, when she arrives, will be to assist her in settling into her new position."
Alderic’s became tense, his eyes wide and teeth grit.
"No! Let me prove what I can do! I can be of so much more use to this town!"
Lucius came even closer to him, his figure towering over Alderic by a head and a half. He looked down at him with exhausted and narrowed eyes.
"I think you have proven quite enough."
Alderic stood there with a downcast gaze and clenched fists.
"I understand..." his lips trembled, but he forced his next words out "What will my duties be afterwards."
"You will serve as an economic analyst." Said Lucius nonchalantly with his head now turned away, assessing the damage to the room.
"An… analyst? Sire?" He slowly looked up, eyes unblinking and lips trembling.
A rush of footsteps came from the corridor, followed by a loud knock on the door and a muffled male voice.
"Is everything alright your lordships?!? We heard a large crash!"
"Yes, no need to worry. Do send for the maids, I seem to have caused them some trouble."
"Understood."
Footsteps echoed through the door as the guards left after they made sure the situation was under control.
Lucius raised his arm, pointing diagonally at the ground. A shimmering, pale green aura surrounded it, followed by bright dancing particles in the air orbiting around his glowing forearm with bolts of energy crackling between them. Soon, a gust of gentle wind filled the room. Blowing the wooden debris in one of the corners, without making so much as a sound, bar the whispers of the wind.
He firmly grasped his chair and slid it against the window, the screeching noise piercing the air. With a contemplative expression, he settled into the seat, his chin resting on his fist, and turned his gaze toward the tranquil afternoon sun.
Without turning, he addressed Alderic.
"What are you still doing here? Go, I believe you’ve got preparations to make."
Stirring awake from his stupor, he asked.
"B-but what of my position afterwards?"
A frown formed on Lucius’ face as he once again faced his former governor.
"What of it? I believe I’ve made myself abundantly clear that you will no longer be serving in the capacity of higher government. I will send a letter to House del Mantes on the mainland to notify them of my decision. I will let them know of your blunders make no mistake. Now get out!"
"R-right away!"
He hastily reached for the door and saw himself out shutting it with a loud bang.
"Halfwit."
— — —
Alderic stood in the hallway, motionless, in front of the Viceroy’s office. His unblinking, expressionless eyes stared at the wall, head slightly slanted. When he came back to his senses, his mind started to race, trying to come up with a solution. It didn’t take long until an idea came to mind. Walking down the corridor he noticed a young soldier on patrol and immediately grabbed him by the shoulder causing his armour to clank.
"You! I want you to post a notice in the guard barracks for any potential crimes being committed by either children or people with a smaller stature today. Once you find ANY clue, bring the involved parties before ME!"
"But, sire, the viceroy ha-"
Alderic forcefully grabbed him by the arm and looked straight at his face with bloodshot eyes.
"I am still your governor! Do as you are TOLD! I don’t care if you have to scour under every rock in this shithole of a town! Find me what I want! I will send for someone to replace you in the next 15 minutes. Remember, anyone with evidence, reports to me."
The young man frowned but ultimately gave a nod. Alderic stomped on his heel and turned around, heading down the hallway.
"Nobody sullies my name, not that fucking Viceroy, not some low-life muckworm kid off the streets and certainly not those damned kintari sub-humans! I will sooner see this to-"
As he cursed under his breath, a sinister idea formed in his mind.
"Wait… that’s IT!"
Finding renewed vigour, the man stormed off to his office.