CHAPTER FIFTY-TWO
*~~~**~~~*
Alaric Sampson
*~~~**~~~*
27th of Decepter, 935 PC
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Therrin had taken it upon himself to help Lily keep her balance as she spun in circles slowly. If her eyes were open she might be mistaken for a sight-seer looking at the massive forest ahead of them in wonderment. Sadly, there was no time for sight-seeing anymore, no safe strolls through nature, no way to enjoy the awe-inspiring world The Creator had given them. Which was precisely why Lily was using her magic to discern whether or not Urman Gant was still hidden somewhere in the Emerald. The traitorous informant was not a man Alaric wanted to let get the upper hand on him. Commoner or not, Urman was slick with a knife and ruthless to no end when he thought you were coming between him and his goals.
When the intuitionist came to a stop she thanked Therrin and said, “There’s something off to the east. Quite far though. No immediate threat.”
Alaric and Tripelthin shared a glance like they had several times already on this trip. There were countless things in the Emerald Forest that could trigger Lily’s intuition but only Gant truly interested them.
“Does it feel like a deep sense of dread, like something you wouldn’t want to be around if you were alone?” Alaric asked. She nodded. “He’s on the move then.”
“Do you think Kathar is with him?” Tripelthin asked him.
“Feels large enough that there could be more than one person,” Lily said. “If that helps. Feels like several actually but it’s difficult to know for sure if it is multiple people or one big threat from this distance.”
Tripelthin laced his hands and put both pointer fingers against his upper lip, his thumbs were tucked under his chin. “Who would travel with Gant other than Kathar?”
“Mum used to say bad omens have a way of feeling twice as big as they really are until you confront them,” Therrin said, acting as though he might have thought of something profound.
Diedro put a hand on his shoulder and nodded as if his own mother may have said something similar at some point.
Therrin’s mum may have been a wise woman, Alaric had no idea. But he did know she was only a commoner and her silly rhetoric was her only way of understanding the mysteries of the world.
“Can you tell who these people are?” Alaric asked Lily, suspecting he knew the answer.
The healer’s wise grin faded when Alaric didn’t acknowledge him. He pulled his bag from his shoulder and retrieved his dwindling wheel of cheese for him and Diedro to finish off.
“No, sir. All I can do is sense the danger. Have to put a face to a feeling when I get close enough,” Lily said.
Gant was a threat if he caught them off guard, but face to face, he was no match for Alaric or Diedro. Three hells, even the small batch of Lotus in the temple had struck about as much fear into Alaric as a feisty kitten. They might have scratched him up a bit on a better day, but when he decided he wanted them dead… A whole company of Lotus could change the narrative. Even Diedro would struggle to dodge a few dozen arrows and Lotus blasts. I surely don’t have enough magic to tame a beast that large. I was lucky to survive my decision at the temple, I can’t afford another encounter like that. He didn’t know that to be true but he’d sworn to himself and Tripelthin that he wouldn’t use his magic again unless absolutely necessary.
“Are you sure we have time for this?” Tripelthin asked. “Perhaps we’d be better served to continue toward Locke. If they’re traveling east, we might cross paths in a more favorable setting.”
Alaric nodded as he said, “If Kathar didn’t go with him then we would be well-off to have him as bait. The lords know Urman can’t turn down a heroic rescue mission.”
Tripelthin was hardly convinced, narrowing his eyes and studying Alaric as if he had an ulterior motive. “And if he isn’t there?”
“Then we have a little more information to work with.” Alaric turned to Diedro who was smoking a smoke stick between bites of cheese. “Gather your things, we’re going in.” Tripelthin threw his hands in the air and jerked his head away at not having his advice respected.
Diedro closed the door to the stagecoach and handed Edwin a handful of Leos, telling him to wait for them. The driver muttered something and nodded. Poor boy hadn’t relaxed in two days. He’d appreciate their absence while they wandered through the Emerald.
Diedro adjusted his belt as he walked toward them. The shortswords dangling at either side of his waist were even more intimidating after seeing what they’d done in the temple. “Gant’s the traitor?”
“Aye,” Alaric said. “Last I saw him he had short brown hair. About your height but thicker. Kathar is slender and a bit taller. Better looking too. He’s mine.”
“Weapon of choice?” Diedro asked.
Alaric grimaced. “Not sure.” The words tasted like bad medicine. He doubted Rhyne ever told his men he didn’t know something about one of their targets.
Diedro was unfazed though. He tossed what was left of his smoke stick in the snow and ground it out with his boot before lifting his hood. “Just point me in the right direction.”
*~~~**~~~*
To the left of the overgrown path were hearty oak trees, leafless but for the bottom branches. To the right, twisted, contorted versions of the same tree known as strangler oaks. Their bark was dour and oozing something black and their branches hung low, nearly scraping the forest floor in places. Thick, slithery vines moved like snakes all through them. Good men, men Alaric had known, had lost their lives in that part of the forest. All for senseless financial endeavors or while chasing after artifacts from times unknown. One look at the place and common sense alone should have told them to turn back but greed often leads to the opposite of common sense.
The two young love birds walked side by side up ahead. Not hand in hand, but they may as well have been with their laughter and stories about their homes in other cities. The healer put himself on the side closer to the terribly altered trees like a courageous knight but when the trail would bend a tad too close to the danger he’d let Lily pass in front of him so they could walk single file.
Diedro was even farther ahead, alone. The gray cloud of a smoke stick appeared above his head every so often but other than that he wasn’t much to look at; never eager, never straggling. Reliable. Exactly what Alaric needed right now. The fact that he’d barged into the temple beside Alaric without hesitation had not gone unnoticed. He would make sure the mercenary received something of value as soon as he could find the right gift.
Suddenly, Tripelthin’s hand on his wrist brought Alaric’s already slow pace down to a crawl, letting the space between them and the others grow. “Diedro is wrong. You need to kill Kathar.” Even with the gap he spoke so low that Alaric had to concentrate hard to hear him.
“Do you think this is something you couldn’t have said in front of him? He’s not a murderer. The lords know he’s not a damn murderer.”
“Fear has nothing to do with this. I’d simply prefer to speak to you when you’re clear of his influence. I see how he makes you second guess yourself.” Alaric could feel the annoyed face he was making. “Ah. Don’t act like it’s not true. Clearly something happened between the two of you? I’ve been waiting for you to share but apparently I’m not worthy of such information.”
“That’s not important. What is important is why you think I should kill Kathar.”
Tripelthin’s reaction made it quite clear Alaric was the only one not privy to some secret. “Because anyone that helps Urman is your enemy now. Suppose Kathar is in his den. Do you really think he will be glad to see you?”
“No, but if I killed everyone that felt that way, we’d have a quarter of the help we do and the empire wouldn’t be half as crowded. Three hells, you might not be standing here if that was the case, Trip. With the arguments we’ve had.”
“You know what I mean.”
“Do I? It sounds as though you’re thirsty for blood.”
“You may refrain from killing Kathar but Kathar may not refrain from killing you.”
“As if Kathar could possibly threaten me.”
Tripelthin shook his head in disgust. “Your ego blinds you.”
Therrin happened to notice they’d come to a complete stop. “Everything's alright back there, sir?” This turned Lily and Diedro around as well.
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Alaric waved. “Aye! Just catching my breath, thanks.”
“Do you need some of my magic?” Therrin asked.
All of it, you little gold mine. “No, no. I’m fine. Still no signs of anything, Lily?”
“No, sir. All clear.”
“Very well then, continue on. We’re coming.” He started walking. “Kathar is worth more to us alive than dead. No one has stood on more sides of the fence than him. Imagine the information we could pry from him.”
“A storm for the ages will follow us with him in the coach.”
“Only if the wrong people know we have him.”
Tripelthin scoffed. “And with your ability to keep secrets…”
Alaric stopped again, this time to put Tripelthin in his place. “You’re an advisor and I tend to heed your advice but in this particular case, you’re wrong. Only scared men and evil men kill innocent people. Are you either? Perhaps both?” The comments bounced off the advisor in a way Alaric wished they would have bounced off him when Diedro used them to sucker punch him.
“No mistake is too small to be harmless right now, Alaric. Leave the wrong man standing and you may regret it very soon.”
“There’s only one person I’m afraid to leave standing and it’s a woman.”
Tripelthin rolled his eyes as he helped Alaric over a fallen tree. “Onto other matters then. The Lotus Queen’s army grows stronger and more dynamic everyday. The possibility of The Hounds joining her forces, Rellin’s advancements-”
“I’m well aware of what she’s up to.”
“What I mean to say is, chaos and unruliness are being replaced by orderly conduct and discipline. Perfection. No longer will we be able to simply coast along on our magic. We will need to be every bit as disciplined and focused as what they’re becoming, not what they are now.”
“Why bring this up?” Alaric asked. “I’m not oblivious.”
Tripelthin pointed up ahead discreetly. “Because you are relying on two naive youths that don’t seem to care as much about this war as they should. Fluttering butterflies have them looking everywhere but at the enemy.”
“I have no reason to doubt either of them don’t understand the importance of what we’re doing,” Alaric said. Am I missing something?
“Never one to simply take the advice of your advisor, are you?”
Alaric shrugged. “It would take a more compelling argument for me to simply concede that you’re right.”
Tripelthin’s wrinkled scowl suggested that if they were alone he would raise his voice. “It is not I who finds reasons to argue. I’m simply trying to advise you. Just as you asked me to. And I’m telling you, you’ve put too much of yourself into this cause for some starry-eyed whore and her newest lover to be off picking flowers and discussing their future instead of making sure you are safe. So, no, I am not trying to argue with you. I am trying to win a war. Remember when we both were? Or have you forgotten what we’re fighting for?”
“I told you we would speak to them.”
Tripelthin left Alaric standing there on the rugged trail feeling as though it was he who had been put in his place. Something that was occurring far too often for his liking.
Before Tripelthin got too far away, he froze, staring at his feet.
Something about the ominous atmosphere of the strangler oaks made Alaric’s methodical gait intimidating rather than an obvious reminder of his inadequacies. When he finally arrived at the pompous asshole he checked to make sure the others were still preoccupied with the trek then leaned into Tripelthin’s ear. “Do you feel that? That helplessness.” He slowly bent Tripelthin’s knees ever so slightly, denying himself the satisfaction of putting the man on the ground where he belonged. “If you’ve forgotten who you’re speaking to then you’re taking your life for granted.” He made the bones in Tripelthin’s chest grind, his muscles stretch and burn. The advisor’s eyes began to strain. “I can’t forget this war because I am this war, Tripelthin. I suggest you remember that.” He released his grip, leaving the advisor rubbing his chest and shooting dirty looks at him as he walked away.
*~~~**~~~*
The sun peered at them through the trees from a hair’s breadth above the horizon as they came to a high point in the land. The early evening snow blew sideways with the wind, making everyone that much more pissy. Below them was a bowl-shaped clearing so distinct it was impossible not to recognize it. Bent trees curled over the bowl like hags gathered around a cauldron and logs were placed neatly to form a pentagon around a long-extinguished fire in the middle so even if someone stumbled upon the clearing they’d never think anyone lived right below it.
“Here we are,” Alaric said to Diedro, covering the side of his face with his cloak. Some might have taken the weather as a bad sign, but he left superstition to commoners. “Lily, anything?”
“The feeling from before is moving east, slowly. There are some traces of something around the bowl as well. Small. Maybe traps?” She’d tucked her black hair inside her own cloak after an hour of it blowing uncontrollably in the wind.
Diedro pulled his hood down further. “Want me to handle it alone?”
“I think we’ll join you. Everyone keep your eyes open.” No one looked particularly happy to hear that. Or maybe it was the weather, who knew…
An angry, albeit humbled, Tripelthin was the first to start down the slope, huffing and puffing his frustration with everything under the sun. He was followed closely by Diedro and Lily.
Alaric stopped Therrin before he could follow his lust, holding him still with a finger while the others got deep into the bowl and started searching for the hatch. The healer’s eyes still had a coat of innocence over them but now it was joined by a tint of affection as well. “You’re playing a dangerous game.”
Therrin’s eyebrows pointed inward in confusion. “What do you mean, sir?”
“She’s a lovely young woman but she’s more trouble than she’s worth. Have your fun while you’re on the road but don’t get attached.” Things that came between Jameson and his romps often ended up with a handful of holes in them. And while losing Therrin would be a great loss, he couldn’t exactly blame the halfwit for marking his territory. Alaric regularly used his magic to send similar messages when his wife, Catalina, was alive.
“Lily and I are just friends, sir.”
He put a hand on Therrin’s shoulder. “Like I said, don’t get attached.”
*~~~**~~~*
The first thing Alaric noticed was a khet board sitting on a carved tree stump. He picked up one of the expertly crafted tiles and examined it before he tossed it on the floor. He’d never understood why his colleagues in the Crimson Nine would make such a point of walking down to the town square to play the game with the hodge podge of commoners, ruffians, and masters that met there. No game was worth playing if it took hours upon hours to get good at it.
“Not much has changed,” he said to Tripelthin.
Tripelthin found himself staring at a piece of beautiful handmade art hanging on the wall, illuminated by the flames at his fingertips. His frustrations from the woods were still evident in his tone as he said, “I can respect his refined tastes.”
The fact that the advisor made a point of not looking at him hardly bothered Alaric. Escaping Tripelthin’s constant observation made looking for the items he was hoping to find that much easier. “Sad to think he’s been caught up with a man like Urman for so long.”
Diedro picked up the khet piece Alaric had dropped and placed it back on the board where it belonged. “You wouldn’t believe what someone would pay for a set this nice. Everyone in The Hounds played from time to time.”
“Including you?” Tripelthin asked.
“Aye.”
“Any good?”
Diedro shrugged at him. “Ya gotta think, we were all men who ended up killing for a living… Hardly had the time to read a book about a game that didn’t keep your head on your shoulders.”
“Point taken. Though, I’d offer that khet is exactly the kind of game that keeps your head on your shoulders. If your officers understood its intricacies well enough.”
Diedro shrugged again. “Point taken.”
Alaric wandered into the kitchen as a way to escape the boring conversation. Quality craftsmanship could be found all throughout the quaint den but the kitchen was the most impressive. Cabinets that would take most men a lifetime to build hung all along the far wall with more below the marble countertops. A table with such finely carved details that you’d have to get close to truly appreciate them took up one half of the room. No sense in that though, he’d seen Kathar’s work plenty of times and what the carvings represented would surely bring tears to his eyes.
Tripelthin opened a small box on the counter and put his nose to it. “Seasoned meat.” He grabbed a piece and took a bite out of it. “Delicious.” Which meant it was exceptional if it met his standards. He tossed a piece to Diedro then closed the box, leaving Alaric with his empty palm out.
The others followed Alaric as he made his way out of the kitchen and down the only hall the den had to offer. It was short and stumpy like a severed arm. Tripelthin’s flame illuminated two closed doors staring at each other at the end of the way.
Diedro did the honors of opening the door on the right, sword raised only briefly. “Nothing.”
The entire room looked staged for some great event. Not a speck of dirt or dust anywhere. Not the slightest wrinkle in the bed sheets.
“Check the other room,” Alaric said and stepped past his men into Kathar’s room. He closed the door behind himself and let out a long whisper of a breath.
He searched the drawers the same way a frantic burglar might, tossing clothes on the floor and leaving drawers open, only he did it with dignity and deliberation. It wasn't until he opened a nightstand in the far corner of the room that his heart skipped a beat. There, in the bottom drawer, was a statue of a woman carved from lindenwood – young and beautiful. Long, flowing strands of her hair blew in an imaginary wind. Her long eyelashes were curled upward. Her slim fingers were laced politely in front of her stomach. He admired the detail put into her dress that flowed behind her like ripples on a pond before he placed the statue into his pocket carefully, delicately, refusing to let it be ruined.
A gentle tap on the door disrupted his painful stroll through the past.
He stood, wiping the corner of his eye and buttoning his cloak pocket. “Coming.”
*~~~**~~~*
Alaric climbed out of the den to find Lily and Therrin sitting on one of the fallen trees. The healer was smiling as his eyes watched Lily’s finger trace something on his palm.
“Time to go,” Alaric said firmly, startling both of them out of their silliness.
Therrin shot to his feet. “Of course, sir. Back to the stagecoach?”
Alaric ignored him and watched Diedro help Tripelthin up the ladder. When the advisor was on his feet, Alaric looked at him and said, “Torch it.” An olive branch extended to a man he would need by his side whether he liked it or not.
Tripelthin smiled for the first time in hours and snapped his fingers. “Gladly.”
Diedro’s hard frown sent exactly zero doubt through Alaric as he walked past the mercenary toward the embankment. Diedro was a wise man, a moral man, but he wasn’t a diplomat.