Chapter 6: True Colors
Even though Cat was understandably a mix of uneasiness and sullenness, I still got her to cooperate and go to bed at the time she usually does, with promises that I would take care of things and that she had nothing to worry about. I’m not sure if she completely believed me but at least I could tell that she wanted to. So when she let herself be ushered to bed I was reasonably sure she wouldn’t try sneaking out. That was good because some instinct told me I didn’t want to her to eavesdrop on the conversation that would be taking place downstairs.
Father and Marcus were already waiting for me in the dining room when I arrived, an empty bottle of wine already on the table between them and a second bottle halfway to the same. I knew right away by the look of them that father had already filled Marcus in on the situation. Both of the men seemed both somber and reflective, two words that I would never normally associate with either of them.
They both look up as I walked in and for once neither of them looked interested in immediately starting something. Father motioned for me to take a seat in front of them and after a moment’s hesitation I sat down facing the both of them. Marcus made as if to pour me a glass of wine but with a raised hand I declined. I understood the temptation, but right now the last thing I wanted was to have drink dull my wits. My muscles felt coiled and tight and I wasted no time breaking the tense silence around the table like a hammer on a piece of glass.
“Well? Where do we stand?” I asked.
Father and Marcus exchanged a look I couldn’t decipher before Orlandus turned to me and spoke. “I did some digging and spoke to our barrister in the city. It turns out the priests weren’t exaggerating. Since Abadeth is a God of prophecy, Armond Beleth gave the Cult of Abadeth certain rights guaranteed by law when his family was first elevated to rule as the Ducal Family of Iskander. Among those rights are far reaching powers to act in order to advert the realization of any catastrophic omens or prophecies which could potentially harm either the province or the empire as a whole. These powers include wide leeway to take custody of any commoners of interest and do with them as the cult deems necessary in pursuit of their remit to protect the province. All they need is a court order from a provincial magistrate, which is truth is little more than a formality. Unless you’re a noble of course. Then you get an actual trial and a hearing,” he said, black and bitter resentment dripping from his tongue as he took another deep drink of wine.
At hearing my father’s words I was speechless. In that moment I began to feel feel first stirrings of despair rising within me before I clamped down and crushed that feeling ruthlessly. Such useless distractions could not be allowed to find purchase in me. Not now.
“There must be some recourse, some appeal,” I said, thinking furiously. “We have made many friends in the nobility. Perhaps the lord who rules Coria? There must be someone who can advocate for us in the courts.”
Orlandus looked at me warily and shook his head. “The law is in the books and there is precedent for it. Even nobles cannot defy the law, not without putting their heads on the chopping block and none are likely to do that for us, friends or no. Legally our hands are tied. We have no other recourse with the law. It is unfortunate but there is nothing else to be done.”
I held my father’s gaze for a few moments longer, gauging his sincerity, before letting out a heavy breath and rubbing my face with both hands. “Fine. This is a disaster, and utter bullshit, but fine. As much as this travesty of a law enrages me, we must keep our minds focused on solutions to the problem at hand. Most importantly, I think, is figuring out what we can do to keep Catherine out of the hands of these priests.”
There was a long moment of silence before father spoke, his voice full of certainty and authority. “We will be doing no such thing.”
His words shocked me as if I’d been slapped. I looked up at father, my eyes wide with disbelief. “What?”
Father’s face became grim and made of stone. “When making a decision, we must weigh the risks and consequences against the possible chances of success. The chance to keep Catherine out of the hands of the Cult of Abadeth is essentially nonexistent. The cult is powerful, and wealthy. They could likely enlist even Ascended for help if they thought it necessary. Who is going to stand against that? You? Me? Not to mention they have the whole of the law and thus the whole of the province firmly on their side. But even if we could somehow successfully hide Catherine away and somehow not be immediately implicated of that crime – and hiding her would be a crime by the way – even then we must also consider the consequences. Our family and our business lives and dies by our reputation. When word eventually got out that we are even suspected of being involved in this kind of criminal activity, and make no mistake word would get out sooner rather than later, then much of the reputation I have spent decades building for this family and for this business will be ruined. Our reputation, our credibility, our good name, all of them would be hopelessly smeared, crippling the Chapman family and name for decades. That’s even if our name ever successfully recovers in any of our lifetimes. Ruination, and that’s the best case scenario we could realistically hope for. So no. We will not be taking any action to stop this. Tomorrow morning when the priests return I will be surrendering Catherine into their custody. I’m sorry, but for the good of this family there is simply no other choice to be made.”
I understood his words but something inside of me refused to believe them right away, insisting that I must somehow be misunderstanding what father was trying to say. It simply could not be. This was betrayal. Betrayal of the most vile, despicable kind.
“Surely you can’t be serious?” I asked, needing to be sure.
Father’s face twisted into a scowl. “I’m dead serious. This is the only sensible option. You would see that too, boy, if you had your priorities straight and didn’t always live with your head in the clouds.”
I felt my disbelief slowly begin to transform into something cold and sharp and ugly.
“Do you even know what they intend to do with her?” I asked him through clenched teeth.
“They refused to say,” said Orlandus dismissively. “And frankly as of tomorrow it will no longer be our concern.”
It was a titanic effort of will not to jump across the table and strangle my father right then and there. My gaze instead turned to Marcus. The heir to of our family shrank back when he saw the look on my face.
“What of you, brother?” I asked, my voice quivering with emotion. “Do you agree with father on this… atrocity he is contemplating?”
Marcus looked unsure, face conflicted, until he turned to look at father. Some kind of silent communication passed between them and then Marcus seemed to find some small measure of courage. He turned back to look at me and gave me a shaky nod. “Yes brother. Father is absolutely right. This is horrible, unthinkable even. How I wish it had never come to this. The Gods are cruel, brother. But this is the only way to save our family.”
It was funny. I’d always though of my father as, if not evil, then someone willing to walk right up to the line whenever it became convenient. However despite his faults I’d always thought Marcus was different. Short sighted, quick to anger, quick to judge and throw accusations, but not someone who would sell out his own family. I’d even thought that he’d loved Catherine in his own awkward, standoffish way.
What a fool I had been.
“Marcus,” I said, a deep sorrow momentarily overriding all of my senses. “I have never been more disappointed in you in all of my life.”
Marcus flushed red, and I could see him becoming both embarrassed and angered by my words.
“Think, brother, think!” Marcus suddenly insisted hotly, eyes wild. “What kind of future can we have if we do what you are suggesting? Will you be able to live a long, happy life? What will it do to our marriage prospects if our family gets further involved with this kind of scandal?”
“Marriage prospects?” I asked incredulously, looking at my brother in utter disbelief. “Our sister is about to be carted off by a bunch of priests who will do to her who knows what, and you’re worried about your marriage prospects? How about instead you worry about your sister who doesn’t deserve this and who has done nothing wrong!”
“Hasn’t she, though?” Marcus countered, his expression somewhere between shame and belligerent defiance. “Father told me all about the [Curse] and what the priests said. What do we as common men know of the mysteries of the Gods and their prophecies? Maybe they are right. Maybe our sister is some kind of threat. Maybe she has some kind of horrible destiny that will bring disaster to the empire. And if she does, isn’t it our duty as citizens to hand her over for the greater good of the empire?”
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“You’re seriously telling me your believe this?” I demanded. “Since when do you ever give a piss about what some priests have to say?”
“Well, what do we know? What if they are ri-”
“I’m not going to listen to this,” I said, cutting him off with a sneer and a sharp gesture. “Don’t talk to me about about sacrificing for the empire. I know a thousand times more about that subject than you ever will. I didn’t think you yellow bellied and craven, Marcus, but it seems that your deficiencies as a man go far beyond being a violent drunkard and a lout.”
Marcus’s face went red as an apple and his fists curled in anger, but I put him out of my mind for the moment and turned to face my father, stabbing a finger in his direction. “And you,” I said, contempt dripping from every syllable. “I didn’t think you’d casually throw away one of your own children for the sake of your obsession with name and coin, but once again I find myself disappointed.” I paused as I seethed, considering my next words carefully. “If you will not help then I will take matters into my own hands. I’m taking Catherine and we’re leaving. I’ll not see her sacrificed for the sake of the greed of one heartless old fool.”
That seemed to be the final straw. Orlandus lost his temper then, hitting his fist on the table hard enough to send cups of wine flying. I was less than impressed. He looked at me and it was easy to tell that he was enraged by my defiance.
“You are as emotional as you are short sighted,” hissed Orlandus, his eyes attempting to bore their way into my skull. “Think about the future, think long term. You and your brother, you are the future of this family. Your children will be the ones to carry on and inherit our name, our legacy, our wealth and name and prestige. You sister is a woman. She was only ever going to be married off into another family, where she will be bound to contribute to their future and success. Her only use would have been to find her an adventitious marriage, with her looks something useful could have come of it in a few years. Maybe she could have even charmed her way into some circles of the lower nobility. But none of that matters now. You will not be taking Catherine anywhere, she will remain where she is and be turned over to the cult in the morning as the law demands of us.”
I looked at him, and I had never despised another human being as I did my father in that moment.
“Do you really think,” I said in a low, dangerous voice. “That you simply saying so is going to stop me?”
“Damn right it will, because I’m ordering you to!” Orlandus exploded, jumping to his feet and screaming at me. “I am fed up with your defiance, boy! I am the pater familias of this family, and my word is absolute. Everything the three of you have ever had, it’s because I allow it! I provide it! And I am the one who rules this household and everyone in it. By law, it is my right, and you will obey!”
As much as I hated him, he was correct about one thing.
By law, the power of the pater familias was absolute.
By law.
By law.
By law.
I felt like something inside of me broke, and in that moment I suddenly burst out laughing. If anything Marcus and father suddenly looked even more wary and even frightened of me, which only made me laugh harder. My fath-, no, Orlandus’s words were perfect for what he’d just pushed me to do, just perfect!
And I was going to enjoy every second of the terror and despair I was now going to cause them.
“What in the hells is so funny, boy?” asked Orlandus, trying desperately not to show how unsettled he felt.
A wide smile spread its way across my face. I’ve been told many times it’s a rather hideous thing, terrifying even, my wide lips seeming to stretch from ear to ear and my teeth too white and too large to be entirely comforting. I embraced it then, reveled in it, letting my so-called demon smile spread wider than ever. At the same time it felt like my eyes were filling and bulging near to bursting with the overpowering chaos of all the emotions trying to force their way out from me all at once.
Reactions, I idly noted, were hilarious. Marcus was staring at me wide eyed and terrified, looking like he might legitimately end up soiling his pants at any moment. Father tried to put on a brave face but it was easy to tell he was extremely intimidated and unsettled, his hands beginning to shake all on their own. It drew another peal of involuntary laughter from me, sharp and shockingly loud, causing the two men in the room with me to jump.
“Have you completely lost your mind? In the name of the Celestials, what could possibly be so funny?!” Orlandus demanded, somehow finding in him the courage to speak.
“Oh, just you old man,” I said, pulling my laughter back enough so I could speak. I turned my sights fully on him, my voice gaining a malicious edge. “For the last three years, always swinging that pater familias club around at me like it would shield you from your dangerous son. That [Level 20] butcher of men who has never quite fallen in line no matter how much you throw your lard around and how much you stomp your fat feet. Even that protection though, even that little security blanket was nothing more than a flimsy illusion of safety you were allowed to keep because I allowed it.”
It took a few moments before Orlandus put the pieces together and his face started dawning in horror. My grin grew wider until it began to seriously hurt and I didn’t give the least damn that it did. The bastard had known all along. How insecure he must have felt with me around all of these years.
“Did you really think I wouldn’t do my due diligence?” I asked, a mocking lilt to my voice. “Oh, I was in a bad place after I came back from the war no doubt. But I’ve never been one to shrink my duties and responsibilities. So after I came back I made sure to look up all of the of the new rights and responsibilities I now had as a newly minted Knight of the Empire. And lo and behold, you wouldn’t believe all of the new beautiful little legal options I had available to me now.”
The more I spoke, the more Orlandus continued to pale. Marcus on the other hand looked back and forth between us, confusion written plain on his face. “What? What is it?” he braved to ask.
I ignored him, keeping my focus firmly on Orlandus, who looked as devastated as he should have looked when he found out one of his children was being taken away. Bastard. So I mocked him, and twisted the knife just a little bit more. “Well? Are you going to tell your other son? Or is it simply too much for you to handle? Tell me, are you going to all apart Orlandus? Maybe cry, beg me for mercy?”
“You’ll ruin this family,” he breathed, eyes wide and wild.
“It certainly is tempting, I’m not going to deny it,” I replied.
“WHAT? What is going on here?” Marcus demanded again, looking back and forth between the two of us.
I spared him a glance before deciding to go ahead and explain for the sake of everyone present. “I’m a knight now, which makes me a noble, even if it’s the lowest rank of noble in the empire. The empire as a whole doesn’t much like the idea of nobles being under the authority of commoners, being as nobles are supposed to be by definition their betters. It simply isn’t considered proper, you see. So in the case of a commoner earning himself a noble title – such as myself – there are some rather old laws in place that would allow said newly minted noble to be instated as the pater familias of his family with nothing more than a simple petition to any local magistrate,” I turned my attention back to Marcus, not bothering to hide the condescension and gloating in my tone. “Do you understand what that means, brother?”
My the slowly dawning look of horror on his face, it seems that he did understand. “You – you can’t!”
“Oh I can,” I said, my expression suddenly turning dark and vicious. “I can and I will. I’ll go to the magistrate in the morning and have him officially make me this family’s pater familias. Then I’ll proceed to use my authority to sell everything this family owns, all of our properties and assets and business contracts. Then, when there is nothing left, I’ll take all the money with me and leave the province. I’ll leave the two of you here, penniless and destitute to try to scratch out a living from literally nothing. But I won’t leave before whispering in the ear of anyone who will listen why they should never trust the two of you with two bent coppers ever again. Do you think they’ll listen to me? As your pater familias and as someone with quite the overblown reputation? Because I think they will. I’ll make beggars out of the both of you, and I’ll laugh as I leave you behind in the dust, my heart filled with nothing but satisfaction at the fact that justice has been served. That, dear brother, is the fate awaiting the two of you,” I told him with a sneer. “A fate you will so rightfully deserve for your callous and self-serving betrayal of your own flesh and blood.”
Silence descended at my proclamation, Marcus staring at me in mute horror and Orlandus with a pained look of grim resignation on his face. A part of me felt elated. Though they were family, they had hardly ever treated me – or, I suspect, Catherine – with the anything near the amount of consideration I had put forth for them. Though they say that rejoicing in the suffering of others is the surest path to evil, in that moment my glee at their anguish did not feel as such. No, in that moment it felt like a small piece of something far more pure and far more noble.
It felt like justice.
“Alright, you’ve made your point,” said Orlandus tiredly, looking like he’d aged a decade in just a few minutes. “What do you want?”
I was silent for a minute as I considered my options. Though part of me urged me to humble those two further, my soldier’s discipline insisted that my actions must all be bent towards the completion of my mission. But what was my mission exactly? After brief consideration it very quickly became obvious what my mission needed to be from here on out: It was to take Catherine permanently out of the reach of the cult and anyone else who might seek to do her ill due to her [Curse]. Maybe even find someway to remove the [Curse]. To that end, attempting to push the pater familias issue wouldn’t solve my immediate problems. That is, the problems in robes that were due to come knocking in a few short hours demanding I surrender my sister over to them. No, it was far better to keep the pater familias card in reserve as a threat. I felt the last of my crazed grin leave me like water down a drain, leaving in its place the stone cold gaze of a professional legionnaire.
“You will give me every last bit of coin we currently have on the property, every last copper. Then you will give me anything we have in stock and any of your personal possessions that are both valuable and portable,” I said, my voice clipped and commanding. “Then you will do nothing to stop me and Catherine from leaving this place. You will not alert anyone that anything is amiss. When the cult returns in the morning you will simply tell them that Catherine and I disappeared during the night while the two of you slept. Afterwards you will not take any action that I would consider hostile towards us at any time in the future, and the two of you will do your best to forget we ever existed. Fail to comply, try to cheat or betray us in any way, and rendering you penniless will only be the first of the many retributions that I will rain down upon your heads. Do we understand each other?”
Orlandus looked like he wanted to protest, pride and self-interest warring within, but after taking another look at my face his shoulders slumped and he hung his head in defeat.
“Aye. We understand each other.”
“Excellent,” I said, my mouth moving to form a pleased and considerably less crazed looking smile. “Go get those things together for me quickly, then. I need to go get packed.”