Chapter 005
Pillow of death and a game called life
I suddenly have terrible premonitions.
I can hear Gavlan talking with another slave - maybe my other guard - behind the closed now door. He’s trying to speak quietly, but after sticking my ear against the door I can hear him quite well. Gavlan sends the other slave to my father, to inform him - just in case he didn’t know - that Lenniel and Iverie are scheming together. And he does it out of his own free will, stockholm syndrome anyone? Or, maybe he was instructed to do so, I don’t know. But he doesn’t mention them talking about my brother.
I doubt if he, with his collar still on, could intentionally withhold such information, so he simply must’ve not hear it. Or didn’t connect the dots the way I did. I may be a little racist here, but if he’s a beastman, a former warrior and a tribesman from next to nowhere… I doubt if he has any idea about the capabilities of scheming humans. He has rather simple mind when it comes to things like that. He’s not an idiot - he found out that it was Lenniel speaking with Iverie - but once again, I doubt that he could think about it in such a devious way as I.
This whole situation realistically has only one explanation. My father actually cares about his second son even though he’s a bastard. And how can Iverie and her accomplices be sure that he won’t… legitimize him fully in the future? By now he only had one son, and until few months ago they were sure that the only child of Naharius was retarded. So all their plans were probably created without any future obstacles in that matter. And now, suddenly, there are two. And, as my parents hate each other’s guts, the chances of yet another child suddenly popping up are at best slim. Although, father never sold the slave he slept with - God knows why - I doubt he would impregnate her ever again. I don’t think he would be so idiotically suicidal to try that again.
I have a bodyguard now and - in a way - I’m in the spotlight, at least for now. So they most likely can’t make any sudden or rush moves against me. But my new brother… he can be a much easier target to eliminate. And if they could disguise it as a completely natural death… it sometimes happens to infants his age. Not often but often enough to hide a murder.
And because of that I face a problem. WHAT THE FUCK SHOULD I DO?!
I could - of course - try to warn Gavlan or my father but… it would be futile and suicidal because there’s no way they would believe me. A four-year-old kid going around, telling people he overheard a terrible scheme of his uncle and aunt, who were planning to murder his sibling?! Not only nobody would believe me. I would also attract unnecessary and unwanted attention to myself. That would literally be my death wish… Iverie would prioritise my elimination above all else just to make sure I wouldn’t persuade anybody.
And the finishing blow to the idea of warning anyone is a simple fact that Gavlan also overheard their conversation… but without that one crucial part about them planning to murder my brother. Even if I miraculously managed to find a way to somehow persuade my father that I’m not just talking nonsense, he would simply call for my bodyguard and question him about the whole situation. And - quite unfortunately - he would hear that Gavlan doesn’t know about anything like that…Besides, Gavlan already sent a messenger to him so the questioning wouldn’t even be necessary as persuading my father is simply impossible with the current situation.
So… what can I do? Is it hopeless? And just like that… I suddenly have an idea. There just might be a way… The rooms Lena was accommodated in are right next to my own. If, by any chance, my newly born brother would be assigned a room in a similar fashion…
I move towards a window and open it. Outside is a cornice. It’s a bit narrow but with my current body I should be able to sneak on it to my brother's room. It would only require clear weather and open windows in his room but it’s the middle of the dry season so it most likely won’t be a problem.
And my master plan? Use my father’s paranoia to make him believe that my brother is in danger. It should be enough to just leave some signs of unknown presence at night. Pretty much Cousin Torture 2.0, but this time without scaring anybody for life… Except maybe worsening father’s paranoia. Which might not be that bad, considering the fact that my ‘aunty’ IS out there to destroy everything he cares about. Iverie can make any kind of paranoia entirely justified.
But for now I can only go to sleep…
* * *
The next morning I hear from Gavlan that my brother is going to live in the room close to my own - right next to Lena’s. It’s actually pretty clever of my father. After all my second bodyguard spends nights in the corridor right in front of my quarters. Which means that he’s - indirectly - protecting my siblings just as well as me. Even though I, in place of my father, would hire - or buy - additional guards for that purpose, but perhaps grandfather said ‘no’. That would actually explain quite a lot. After all, taking in consideration all the money everyone in this family must have for their own disposal, and obvious animosities between them the last thing the patriarch wants is everyone having their own armed militias.
I’m sure - well, almost - that Iverie won’t do anything as long as there’s plenty of people around my brother. Whatever her plan might be she’ll try to execute it discreetly, as she most certainly wouldn’t want to strengthen my father’s position. And that’s precisely what would happen if someone murdered his second son. Naharius would most likely force grandfather to run a serious investigation, and if they were to find any traces leading to Iverie…
That’s why, for now, I patiently wait for things to get calmer.
* * *
Four days later the commotion around my brother’s birth is finally fading and only two nannies are assigned to take care of him throughout the day. At night he’s more or less alone but I’m sure that if he were to wake up and start crying there would be someone to nurture him back to sleep. And that’s because the nannies spend nights in the room opposite to my own, as they are pretty much shared between my two siblings. The new child in the family is also periodically visited by his mother. Turns out the Veles aren’t big enough assholes to forbid it and the fact that it surprised me speaks volumes about my opinion of them… Moreover, even father sometimes comes to see his new son, even if only during his breaks from working. I seriously begin considering that he simply fell in love with that slave girl. Then again, that would be too much even for him. For the time being as far as I know he just behaves like an actual father would towards his child.
All of that means that Iverie can only attempt to sneak into my brother’s room some time at night… if not for my nightly guard - I still don’t know his name, but he’s probably a human - who from his post can also see the door to my brother’s room. He would inevitably take interest in every nocturnal visitor trying to get in. Successfully invading my brother’s room would require full frontal attack and eliminating the guard in which case persuading anyone that it was just an unlucky accident would prove… difficult. Which means - as long as I spend every night in my room Iverie can’t hurt my brother.
Of course if she’ll ever decide to go all out and send an assassin, or poison his food… then I can do absolutely nothing about it. All my reasoning is based on me hoping that all this ‘And of course neither one of you (…) you really call yourself men?’ I heard while eavesdropping means more or less that she has no other choice than to do it herself…
For now I discard those negative thoughts, there’s no time for them. Currently I need to somehow ‘persuade’ my father to put more funds into security personnel - without saying even a word to him. Not an easy thing to do.
During the day I made sure to look into my brother’s room a few times, just to make sure the window in there is open. And it was. No one likes when it’s too hot and humid so naturally most windows in the mansion are open all the time, but you can’t be too careful. Staying awake in the middle of the night was always so easy - I mean, in my previous life - but now it seems like it’s the hardest task so far. Maybe it’s this new body, the atmosphere here, or just the humongous change of my lifestyle, but I have to fight against every minute not to fall asleep.
Finally, I think I’ve waited long enough. Big clock on the temple tower in the city shows one hour after midnight. Nights here are surprisingly not as dark as I one would expect without electricity. That’s probably thanks to the three moons… well two that can reflect light since the third one is completely black and can be seen only during late evenings. Moreover I think that the lack of any street lights make it so the moonslight seems much brighter in comparison. And if that’s not enough the clock’s face is illuminated from the inside and semitransparent. Anyway, I get up from my bed and approach the window. It’s open, I made sure of it so it won’t make any noise. Carefully, sitting on the windowsill, I lower myself on the cornice right outside. Thankfully there’s no strong wind - only slight breeze. Otherwise it would be challenging to keep my balance.
Even though it’s only the first floor I have a great view of Res. Most building in the vicinity don’t have any floors above ground level. And it also helps that the manor, mansion or whatever it’s called sits on a big hill overlooking the city built on both sides of a river estuary to the sea, with a few bridges connecting them. A small island on the river holds a temple complex with mentioned earlier clock tower. Gavlan told me that mages also reside there, but he didn’t expand on that topic using an excuse that I’m too young to understand.
Res is a big city even for medieval standards. In the ancient times it would be in the lead of the european cities. It’s hard to judge judge by looking at it but I’d be surprised if it housed less than two hundred thousand residents. Which would easily put it the top twenty biggest cities in the Roman Empire.
I looks like near the river flowing in the valley buildings are much smaller and closer together than here on the hill. So it looks like the more money you have the higher - and closer to the citadels and city walls - you live.
Aside from that observation, the most interesting thing about Res are its massive and complex wharf and harbor extending over the whole sea shore and part of the river. I actually know all of that because one time I managed to persuade Gavlan to describe it all to me while pointing at the most important building through the window in my room.
At the moment however I don’t have time to enjoy the views even if I wasn’t just crawling on a cornice towards my brother’s room. It was the third window to the right (or to the left looking from the outside) counting from mine. It would be way harder if I was afraid of heights or something. I’m not saying that crawling on this suddenly-not-so-wide-ledge is a pleasant experience… but I guess it could’ve been way worse.
Shortly, I reach the right window and let myself in. The inside of the room is rather barren, then again, what’s actually needed in a room belonging to a yet nameless infant… Right in the middle, on the big fluffy carpet is - of course - a crib. In one corner is a table with a single, unlit, candle on it. On one wall are two cupboards, presumably for rags serving as diapers and such, and on the other - door to the bathroom. It seems like every other room has one… This place is really damn civilised. Thank God for that.
So, what can I do to convince everyone that there’s something bad happening in this room at night… For now let’s just make a mess. If that’s not gonna be enough then next time I’ll think of something else. Diapers everywhere, candle smashed into pieces, table upside down… It’s actually quite challenging to run havoc in someone's room without waking him up. Especially if that someone is an infant. Especially when you’re just a small - physically weak - child (I barely managed to slowly flip that table, thankfully it wasn’t too big)… If not for that I would move the crib and then spread the carpet against the wall or something like that.
This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.
One more glance at the room and this mess I created, and I evacuate.
* * *
The next day I wake up to noises and commotion somewhere in the corridor. For a second I’m actually afraid that Iverie might’ve visited my brother right after me - it’s really noisy - but thankfully that isn’t the case. It’s, in fact, my father expressing his paranoia driven anger and unloading it on anyone at hand. Apparently his first reaction was assumption that slave nannies have done something… but that idea died quick natural death as the collars prevent them from lying and even in his current state he couldn’t argue with their version.
The rest of that day went rather uneventful. I stay in my room and only go out to eat dinner so I miss most of my father’s investigation, but it looks like he couldn’t find anyone to put a blame on. Grandfather didn’t believe in father’s ‘there was someone in my son’s room!’ talk, so he refused father’s demand to hire additional bodyguards. Stupid old man. On the other hand Naharius’s paranoia slowly but surely became common knowledge over the last few months, so it’s hard for anyone to treat such demands seriously… However, in the evening, I manage to hear my father ordering my night guard to keep an eye for any abnormalities in my brother’s room. That night I once again sneak in there while making sure to be extra silent and stealthy.
Payoff isn’t in any way spectacular but father seems to be more agitated and I think that even grandfather begin to develop some doubts. Of course, the situation where someone was breaking into a newborn’s room just to make a mess is in itself idiotic - why would anyone do that? On the other hand, as much as I’m aware, the locals are very superstitious and I’m under impression that they really fear that it might’ve actually been a demon’s doing. I’d laugh at that, but the truth is I don’t really know the extent of what’s real here - just like with local deities. It’s a fantasy world after all.
Then again, the lack of… proper reaction of my family is the reason why for the third night I decide to add a tiny little bit more… impact. During the day I manage to get my hands on a small knife from the kitchen. Nothing impressive - it’s blade is even shorter than the hande - but I guarantee it’s razor-sharp. And so, when I get to my baby brother’s room, except for the ‘regular mess’ I also make a few easily noticeable cuts on the crib… And to play a little on local beliefs I make them in such a way to resemble claw marks.
But I don’t think it’s quite enough. I guess it’s kinda reckless… but it should suffice as a last step in my master plan. First, I make sure that I have a clear evacuation path and then… with my heart in my mouth… I press the edge of the knife’s blade onto my baby brother’s cheek. I don’t remember too clearly what happened next - it’s more like a blur of too much movement. I think I ran to the window and in one stupidly dangerous jump I made it to the ledge outside. Not even taking time to crawl I ran to my room throwing the knife away accompanied by my brother’s crying and screaming. If, right after that, anyone bothered to check if everything was ok with me, they would find me in my bed covered in sweat and on the edge of hyperventilation. Fortunately no one seemed to care, probably because they were much too busy.
No more than ten minutes after I left the room, the entire building is full of… activity. My visit in my brother’s room certainly have been noticed and soon I can hear my father very loudly speaking with nannies. It’s pretty much the repetition of what happened after my first nightly visit there - he asks them questions, they answer, my father is getting even angrier at everyone.
In the meantime my night guardian enters my room, checking if there’s everything okay with me and then informs me of what happened. Not like I need it, but I can’t exactly say that, so I just act like I’m shocked. He tells me to stay in my room and leaves right after my consent. When the door close behind him I can hear my father interrogating him, but my bodyguard has nothing interesting to say, beside the fact that he was the first to find my brother and that he saw no one in his room.
Then… my grandfather arrives, asking what happened. Unlucky for him. at this point my father has too much problems to deal with, so instead of even trying to stay calm, and give a polite answer, he simply snaps.
“What happened? WHAT HAPPENED?! Exactly the thing I warned you about! Someone broke into my son’s room and hurt him! Not only that - we also have NO FUCKING IDEA how the assailant got in, or who was he… And why’s that?! Because particular someone forbid me from hiring one or two additional guardsman out of fear that I would tell them to go and rape or kill his lovely little niece!“
“What?! This wasn’t…”
“I! DON’T! FUCKING! CARE! I’m going to hire as many bodyguards as I see fit. Disinherit me for that if you want. I wonder how other members of our family will react to the fact that you forbid them from protecting themselves. For the rest of the night Vallir is going to protect them both. And, as I suddenly feel like spending the whole night in my younger son’s bedroom, me and my bodyguard are going to help him.” Oh, so my night guardian’s name is Vallir. Well… I’ll probably forget it anyway.
“But…”
“No buts. This whole situation is your fault. I know you have this delusional idea that you can make me, Lenniel and Iverie into one, big, loving family… Face the truth already!”
I can hear my grandfather saying something, but it’s utterly incomprehensible. Then there’s a short moment of silence, after which my grandfather leaves. And my father continues.
“Vallir, you heard the orders. Be so kind and do not take a nap till Gavlan’s shift. Tomorrow night the two of you you are going to get some… helpers.“
“With all due respect, can’t we just move them into one room?” Vallir speaks up.
“No. Children, before gaining name, must be in separate rooms.” A moment of silence. “ It’s a tradition based on temple’s teachings so I can’t really act against it. Iverie would find out, she always does, and then that woman would make me look like a goddamn heretic. It’s just a one night, tomorrow I am going to go look for some slaves with bodyguard experience.”
It’s not hard to imagine what sort of face Vallir’s making to that answer. He comes into my room, but before he has a chance to say anything I simply inform him that I heard the whole conversation. He nods, and leaves to his post in the corridor.
I must admit that in long term my hastily put together plan may… and almost certainly will… backfire. Everything I’ve done to indirectly protect my brother is actually quite… stupid. At least from my grandfather’s point of view. I mean - what use is in sneaking into his room three nights in a row and… do nothing? Except for leaving a small gash on his face? Worst case scenario, Iverie may use my actions and my father’s responses to persuade grandfather that it was all done by Naharius in the first place, just to gain an excuse to hire armed men… Well, at least she won’t do anything tonight… And it seems like starting tomorrow my little brother will gain actual protection.
* * *
Did I really believe that something as trivial as two heavily armed guards would be enough to stop Iverie from doing something nefarious? Am I an idiot? Technically I was right that she wouldn’t try anything yesterday… but now is a completely different story.
It was all so pointlessly useless. Everything I’ve done in those recent days was useless. I feel so powerless as I sit in my brother’s bathroom and through a small crack between the door and a wall I can see Iverie strangling my brother to death with a pillow. Even if I’d scream it wouldn’t change anything. The guards assigned to protect my dying sibling are just two sets of doors away from me… but they could as well be on a moon right now. All my desperate attempts to save his life - for nothing, as Iverie simply came in… through a wall!
If not for a stroke of luck I would be there, with my brother. But when she entered I was in the bathroom. I only heard a silent crackle and when I jumped towards the door I could see her entering the room, through what looked like a disassembled part of a stone brick wall, together with… something.
Her companion is more or less a humanoid black stain, similar to that black bastard who put me here… and yet so different. Whatever it is, it gives a similar oppressing feeling, but while my ‘abductor’ made me feel like being in a cage with a hungry tiger, Iverie’s friend is more like a rabid dog. A big and angry one, but the difference in power between them is obvious… and massive.
Also… I can’t really describe this feeling… my abductor seemed much more… attuned with darkness? More… natural within it? I don’t know why, but I felt like it’s important for some reason.
“Now look at that, magic sure can be very handy.” She said, looking around the room. “As expected from one of the sorcerers from the Council. The guards, they won’t hear anything, right?”
“That’s right.” Magician’s voice was… artificial, or at least somehow distorted. I finally understood the eerie feeling from earlier. This is just an illusion, made to cover his identity. With his body covered in darkness and changed voice, I can’t even tell if it’s a man or woman. I could see his ‘eyes’, but just as his ‘face’ they were fake, like… dots painted on darkness, to make people feel less uneasy when speaking to him. “No sound will leave the boy’s chambers. Even your lar won’t notice us. Unless we leave this room, we’re safe. And even if we do… I’d be able to fend off both bodyguards and lar for long enough to make our escape. But I presume you wouldn’t be too happy having everyone know that he was murdered, so let’s not try that.”
Standing next to my brother’s crib, she nodded, and then took one of the pillows lying in it. I already knew what she was up to, even before she started strangling him with that pillow. My sibling didn’t make a sound and after a few minutes the deed is done. She puts the pillow back as if nothing happened.
“We’re finished here, let’s get going?” Iverie says in her usual cold manner. the magician nods and when she turns her back, he… looks my way. For a second our eyes meet and I’m sure that’s the end - I’m dead. But, surprisingly, he does nothing against me - he only touches his lips with his index finger in a ‘silence’ gesture, and then he follows Iverie. Shortly after that, hole in the wall closes itself.
It takes me good ten seconds to force myself to open the door and move towards my brother’s crib. My legs feel strange. My head too. I’m barely conscious.
One look at my sibling tells me that it’s too late to do anything. Iverie was… thorough in her deed. I close his eyes and mutter a weak apology for failing him in such a horrible way. Then I escape through the window.
Three times I nearly fall to imminent death, but I barely notice that. Right after I manage to reach my bedroom I lose my last bits of control.
Fuck.
Fuckfuckfuckfuckfuckfuckfuckfuckfuckfuckfuckfuckfuckfuckfuckfuckfuckfuckfuckfuck!!!
Iverie, you FUCKING BITCH! I will kill you, I swear I will. I can’t wait to see your FUCKING smile fading, with a dagger in your heart. No, that would be merciful. I’ll make sure you WILL FUCKING SUFFER!!! You, and your fucking magician. I don’t know how long it’ll take me but I swear that I WILL PISS ON YOUR GRAVES.
I don’t even notice that I’m throwing things - mainly toys - before Vallir suddenly enters. He doesn’t find any assassins, only a boy throwing a tantrum. One look from me is enough to make him leave.
No more playing around. No more ‘well, this guys are such idiots’. I’m going to spend God-knows-how-many years on doing everything that is necessary to see that ambitious and amoral bitch dying in pain. And I’m going to enjoy every last bit of it. I’m going to…
*ding!*
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||=====Congratulations!=====||
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You managed to crawl your way through the first five years of your life… Finally! It took you forever… no, wait. Not really… five years is five years… hmph… D : Well, nevermind then. You are here after five years of being a creepy kid in a creepy family, I really hope you liked it : D By the way, what you’ve done with your uncle was just AWESOME! The pure evil of what you’ve done really made me proud! : ) You still didn’t kill anything nice for me though. : / I guess it’ll change sooner or later. I’m nearly sorry for your aunt… just kidding, I’ll keep my fingers crossed for you killin’ her in a really amusing (and painful!) manner : D!
By the way - you just cannibalized (well, sort of) your host, so the RPG mechanics are now fully online! And after this message is closed you’ll gain access to one-time tutorial also known as Tutorial Which Lacks All Really Important Informations Because I Didn’t Care To Write Them All Down - TWLARIIBIDCTWTAD for short, but I couldn’t remember it like AT ALL, so I had to change it. So now it’s simply a tutorial. I also had a funny name for the entire RPG system but the voices in my head didn’t let me use it, so I also had to change it ;_; Well, have fun : D
Shadow, This World's #1 Murderous Jester
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Well… Fuck.