Three Hours Later

It had been some time since the sisters had left to help care for the exhausted ritual participants. Having washed and clothed the girl in attire befitting a convalescing patient that had deemed the room ‘in order’ and went about their daily tasks elsewhere.

Eric had spent the past hour staring at the sleeping form on the small bed, his mind abuzz with worry, fear, confusion, and not a small amount of regret. He had a job to do, one he did not think he would feel any conflicting emotions about.

“What happened…” he muttered into the room, knowing that the sleeping form would not hear his words.

He had been tasked with infiltrating the church some years back, and he had excelled at his task. He would report on the machinations of the clergy, letting Miss Avery know of the activities of the church, activities that he saw as inconsequential. Now, though. Now, he had a sinking feeling that he had somehow betrayed not only his new friends, and associates in the church, but also himself. He did not recall when he had considered the people he had seen every day, most in passing and only for the briefest of moments as friends.

Regardless, he had a role to play. He had lit the candle in the belltower, a signal to the men waiting on the other side of the town to bring the cart around to the service entrance at the rear of the church. He would do his tasks as ordered. He could then approach his employer and get them to reconsider the plans they had.

He had come too far and done too much to think he could stop now and be forgiven by his peers. He had to continue with the plan and take the girl downstairs and through the kitchens. Not a challenging task as most everyone was busy assisting in the recovery of their fellows.

Most of the participants had only suffered minor mana fatigue, some like Darius had been burdened with channeling the bulk of the energies and had also suffered from stamina depletion.

Eric had never suffered from the latter, but he had flatlined his mana on several occasions. It would always leave him feeling slightly lethargic, but still whole. Afterward his mana regeneration would be no less than halved until he had had time to fully recover. Stamina depletion was similar in that it left the body feeling slow to respond until your stamina recovered to above the halfway point; it was nothing that a good rest and a hot meal would not cure.

Having both at once though, he had been told that the resources were so vital that to be without both could endanger your life. Indeed, Darius had yet to awaken, and it looked as if he would remain in that state for another day, depending on his recovery rates. He had no doubt that the mans mana regeneration was astonishing, his stamina though. Most priestly followers would neglect raising their constitution and strength, both of which were vital for stamina recovery.

“Enough of this.” Eric whispered to no one at all. He had to get moving now, before anyone came in to check on their mystery patient. He would need to dismiss the things he had seen in that chamber for now. He had a job to do.

In committing his act of treason, he knew he would not be able to return to the church. Not tonight, nor ever. He would be firmly tying his cart to that of the organization that had taken him in and trained him up to be a passable spy, barely a fly on the wall in most cases.

Standing from his chair by the door, he approached the sleeping girl and began wrapping her firmly in her own bed sheets. He would be damaging his employer’s property, for that was what this was now, property. It was best that he got accustomed to the idea now so as to avoid developing feelings for the small creature in his arms, he would not be reminded of the sister he himself had lost as a child.

After he had finished the wrapping of his bundle he went out into the hallway and removed the cart from the adjacent room, one normally used for laundry detail and brought it back inside before closing the door to the hallway.

He emptied the cart of the small number of aged linens before storing his package inside, and then gently covered the form over with the aforementioned linens. He told himself he was only being careful so as to avoid noise, and unnecessary damage to the property.

That done he opened the door once more and peeked outside, it had only been a few minutes, but he had to be sure that he was uninterrupted as he took his leave. He would not be able to resist apprehension if caught, he just was not strong enough.

The coast was clear, so he made his way back into the room and began pushing his burden to the rear of the church. There were only a few halls to walk before reaching his destination, with intersections along the way that branched off into other chambers used by the kitchens and other essentials of the church. He was still unsure of why they needed an apiary, or even what that was as he had never ventured beyond the small gardens at the heart of the church but now, he would never know. Most likely.

Shaking his head to clear his thoughts; really what was wrong with him. He moved onward, nearly there.

“Eric, hello!” came the chipper voice of a younger boy.

Eric stopped dead.

“Laundry duty? Why would you be tasked such after the ordeal you went through earlier?” again the boy asked, not waiting for Eric’s brain to catch up.

“Ummn.” Eric stammered. “I am merely helping where I can. It is best that we all aide those we can when we can.” He spouted out the first reasonable excuse he could, being careful to emphasize the values he had been taught here, even if he were betraying them in this very same instant.

“Gosh. That is wonderful news brother Eric, may I help you then?” came the earnest response.

“No, no, no, thank you. I am fine, though I hear that Marty needs some assistance juicing the berries for tomorrow’s breakfast.”

“Berry juicing? Really? And are you sure you need no help, that cart looks heavy.”

Yes, yes. You must be getting along if you want to benefit, err, be of assistance to Marty, I even saw Evalynn there.”

Eric noticed the slight blush forming on the face of the pale faced youth as he turned and made a quick-step getaway down the hall. He was sure Marty would be in the kitchens still, even though he doubted Evalynn would be anywhere in sight as she was one of the women currently helping in the recovery efforts.

A short while later Eric arrived at the rear entrance and made his way out into the alley. The men were waiting for him with a small wagon bearing the symbol of merchants on the side of the wooden rails. This is where the job would be smoother as merchants would rarely be searched in this city as they left, even in the evenings. Most people were more concerned about dangerous things coming in than they were about valuable things leaving.

Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

The men were the typical sort of no-nonsense ruffian he had come to commonly see working for his employer. They both wore the same brown assortment of rough-spun pants and shirts with a green headband wrapped above the eyes. He knew he would not be enjoying any idle conversation as they made their way to the meeting point, and he was in no mood to participate in such things now anyway.

No, Eric was still conflicted, though for what reason he was not sure, or more to the point he refused to acknowledge the feelings he had been experiencing for the past few hours.

The sheer weight of potential that had been focused on that room not three hours earlier was such an eye-opening experience that his mind had yet to catch up. He had no way to process such profound sensory input. They had taught Eric through the years that the gods were always mindful of mortal men’s deeds, and always there to aid how they could in the struggles of the body and soul if we were to but listen. Eric had always nodded his head without understanding the true depth of their words.

To think that he would one day feel that gaze upon him and see the interactions of the divine on the mortal plane: preposterous. Or so he had thought, now, now he was no longer so sure that he could live with what he was going to do. Would the gods judge him harshly, had they already relegated his very soul to suffer in the eternal void, never knowing the warmth of their presence.

As Eric was slowly coming around to making plans to foil the plans of his employer, even at the cost of his own liberty the cart came to a stop. Looking around he realized with a sinking feeling of dread that it was too late, they had already exited the city while he was stuck in his own indecision. It would be too late to alert the guards and free the girl, they had already reached their first destination.

They were currently stopped at a small home outside the city, on the edge of the forest to the northeast that abutted the river. They would not be waiting here long as Eric could already see the other wagons approaching the stop on the road, as well as the low light from several lanterns that were posted on the barge some distance away moving closer on the river.

The barge would serve as the main form of transportation from this point on, until they reached the estate on the opposite shore near the small town of Eldor. Miss Avery’s own estate, Eric knew little of the actual place as he had never been so far from the city, but he had been told that she had access to a network of caves where she would be able to hold the goods until such time as she could negotiate for the proper buyer.

Some time later, after all the carts had been offloaded, their goods moved to the ship, Eric was once again caught up in the travel of their growing convoy. There were now fifteen men and women aboard the barge with him, while he could see several large specially designed boxes tucked away holding their more important cargo.

There were quite a large number of smaller boxes piled atop these larger ones, secured with great works of netting that would ensure little movement and smaller chance of lost profits. The nets also served as a deterrent to any random luggage checks along the way, no one wanted to be responsible for having to untangle and then retie a whole slew of nets just to check on the cargo of a minor merchant ship.

This trick proved to work on two occasions as small enforcement ships stopped alongside to inspect their travel papers as was customary with such a large ship; small fishing vessels and johnboats were not subject to the requirement of transport writs.

It took the full length of the night before they arrived at the docks near the estate. Several long wagons were neatly lined on shore, awaiting the goods that were due to be delivered up at the manor house. The provisions were considered essential for the running of the place. Large collections of spices, rope, tar, lumber, cloth, and other sundry items. It was not uncommon for the lady Andrea Avery to take in large collections of essentials as well as a varied assortment of other trade commodities each spring to sell and barter with through the seasons leading to harvest time.

Eric marveled at the fact that she had been orchestrating such large-scale transfers of goods, and other items for so many years now without being apprehended. He did not know whether or he should be in awe of her ambition and luck, or if he should fear the fact that such evil was so vagrant in its deeds. Though after some time he realized that the ancient adage was true; The only thing needed for evil to triumph was for good men to do nothing.

The workers spent two solid hours securing the cargo and moving about to clear up the barge before they began their short jaunt up the hill to unload the goods in a large barn.

The large doors opened at their approach revealing a cavernous space the seemed almost empty. The high rafters supported a large, pitched roof from which hung several large chains, pulleys, and tackle arrangements. Not far to the east was the main house, while to the south in the direction of the city they had left was a large graveyard; used to house the dead from the town of Eldor.

Dawn had already greeted the cool earth by the time the entire line of carts had been unloaded. Eric had watched as the smaller more innocuous goods were stored in large chambers at the sides of the building and had even witnessed the removal of the living property as the large boxes were carted down a narrow passageway that disappeared underground through a large section of the floor that had been hoisted up via some complicated mechanism in the ceiling.

He supposed that it made sense to secure the people, no, property in a place where no one would go looking as well as a place they could not easily leave. Some larger men had come up from below, a much rougher crowd of people than he had seen before in his time as part of Avery’s organization, he made sure to stay far away from them, though he did watch as they hauled one particular box down into the maw of earthen darkness.

It was this sight alone that hurt his heart the most, for no discernable reason as he had seen many such pieces of cargo being carried down; some even making pleading, frightened sounds as their occupants awoke to find themselves in utter darkness, bound and helpless.

Eric had to go, even before he knew it, he had already made his way to the main house. He had entered in through the entrance reserved for servants and other less flavorful guests and quickly demanded an audience with the Mistress of the house.

It was while he waited that his mind caught up with him. What would he do? What could he do? Would he be able to convince the lady to change her plans, surely not. No, he did this only to help ease the burden of his soul. To free the weight that had been dragging him into an abyss of despair since he had first bundled the girl for travel. He needed to be able to say he tried, even if it was too late to be of any use. He knew that then; he knew it now.

It was fifteen minutes later when a man came to greet Eric. The man was garbed in a pair of stiff red pants with brass buttons running down each leg. His shirt was of the same red leather, more vest than shirt and did nothing to cover the bulk of muscle underneath. He wore two large blades at his waist and had a small knife strapped below the knee on his left leg.

Eric did not know what he expected, but it was surely not for the man to smile and beckon him forward down a small hallway before coming out at the base of the stairs leading to the second of three floors in the home. He followed the man up the stairs and down another richly carpeted hallways before stopping outside an open door.

Inside Eric could see Lady Avery sitting at a table, sipping tea. It was too late for a change of heart, or a change in plans, he would need to follow through till the end.

“Enter, if you would.” Came the calm tones from the lady of the house.

Eric entered the room followed by the man in red, and at a nod from Andrea the door was closed by her most faithful servant. Eric nervously glanced at the closed door even as he took in the sterile feel of the room they were in, he detected a strong odor in the air, not quite covered by the fragrant tea steeping on the table, no doubt waiting for Miss Avery to be in need of a refill, though he had assumed she would have some servant or another to perform the task of refilling the glass.

There were no windows in the room, nor any other major furniture pieces. Only the table and three small chairs. Various paintings were placed along the walls showing nothing more than vague impressionist views of some scenic view or another.

Steeling his nerve to speak Eric looked steadily at the woman sipping her tea so peacefully and opened his mouth to speak. As he did so, Avery nodded to her right and Eric felt a stab of pain in his neck, even as the world around him dimmed. He only had the barest of moments to reflect on his life as he fell to the floor, his lifeblood pooling around him as darkness moved in.

“Please Reginald, if you could remove the trash.”

Erics body was still warm as the man, Reginald dragged him to a chute in the wall and dropped the body down the oversized hole before removing a bucket and beginning to clean up the small mess he had made removing waste from his mistress’s estate.