Lawk and the Left Hand entered the king’s private study, keeping to the shadows and going unnoticed. As was often their task, they waited patiently and utterly silently as they listened.
The Right Hand, it seemed, was weaving his own tale in hopes of gaining the upper hand on the situation. The man was speaking rapidly, as if he had 30 seconds left to live, and fervently with apparent rage and all of the false conviction he could summon, “It was that damnable assassin! He caught me off guard, but I managed to wound him severely enough that he fled. However, I could not pursue due to my own injuries, as you can clearly see. It’s a good thing this so-called Wraith of Laramea managed to finish him off. Though, that begs another question. You insist the Left was attending to other tasks, so who might this Wraith be? Perhaps a rival assassin hoping to garner a bigger payday? We should investigate immediately. Shall I alert the guard?” Without waiting for a reply, he hollered toward the door, “Caldwell!”
The door burst open and a tall, but young guardsman rushed in, one hand on his sword hilt and the other on his dagger. But, before the traitorous Hand could utter another word, the Left emerged from his place in the shadows to interpose himself between the RIght and his liege, and calmly, but commandingly ordered the new arrival, “Shut and bar the door, young man. And, let no one else enter under any circumstance unless you are directly ordered by your king and your king alone.”
The room was deathly silent for a brief moment, as everyone was taken by surprise, save for two. Caldwell, his eyes wide, quickly looked to King Lysander for confirmation, and immediately set to his task at the royal’s nod.
“You dare interr-”
“Silence, vermin, Laramea has no place for traitors, save its graves and its gallows.” As the Left spoke sharply, the Right Hand felt as if a knife blade was pressing into his throat and death was at his doorstep.
Lysander, immediately on edge, stood, assumed a ready stance, and placed a hand on his own sword.
Recovering from his surprise and gathering the his own strength of will enough to hold off the already politely restrained killing intent of the Left, the Right burst out with his own intent like that of a great sword slamming against a shield, “HOW DARE YOU-”
“Speak.” The king spoke in a normal tone, but his words were felt and heard by all present, immediately silencing the Right Hand in a tone that brooked no argument, as an aura of authority commanded by one man and one man only filled the room.
The Right and Left both retracted their auras, for that is what they were wielding aside from words. One’s aura was capable of many things. Lawk’s talent for sensing his surroundings was one such way in which they could be utilized. And, the manner in which he distracts opponents with his intent to strike in areas other than his true attack is another such manner in which one is able to wield an aura. But, aura explanations aside…
Lysander, unlike the other two, did not retract his authoritative presence. He simply waited, maintaining his ready stance, for the Left to speak.
“Your Highness, I know it is difficult to believe, but our supposed old friend has betrayed us. Lawk caught him rebuking the Dim Dagger for not successfully killing John.”
“Preposterous! That boy couldn’t possibly have witnessed such a thing. Even if it were true, there is no way a 12-year-old could evade my senses. He lies.”
Lawk selected this moment to silently present himself behind the Right Hand, appearing to emerge directly from the shadows themselves in clear view of the King but in the Right Hand’s blind spot. Caldwell startled, but was fortunately wise enough to not utter a word, having observed that his liege was aware of the additional presence in the room and need not be alerted.
Lysander, maintaining his composure, simply raised a stern eyebrow at the Right Hand, who stopped speaking promptly. The king wanted to see how long it would take the man, who he was already more than strongly suspecting to be the liar in the room, to detect the youth standing only a single pace from him.
The Left continued recounting events unphased, until he arrived at the point where he explained that he had taught Lawk to make cuts in distinct patterns and to develop his own signature of sorts for instances such as these. At this point, the Right Hand, though skillfully maintaining his composure, lost control of his body by the tiniest of margins, just enough for his cheeks to flush slightly and for perspiration to begin to make itself known.
The King commanded, “Lawk, please step forward and describe in detail the pattern in which you cut this man, so that we can confirm the facts.”
Startled by the young man’s presence and realizing his jig was up, the Right Hand made an attempt to snatch Lawk and take him hostage. But, in his less than optimal state, which he had slightly worsened himself with additional cuts and bruises to lend credence to his lies, the man was no match for the young warrior assassin. Lawk slipped just out of reach, drew his weapons, and for all intents and purposes vanished from sight.
At the same moment, a bloodthirsty, spiteful, and furious aura blasted outward from the Right Hand, and a thud and a clang were heard as Caldwell slumped to the floor, his freshly drawn sword falling beside him.
The large traitorous warrior uncorked a bottle of dark crimson liquid with swirls of black and made to drink it, but the Left Hand’s dagger pierced his throat before he could raise it to his lips. And, a second dagger arrived almost simultaneously from the shadows, burying itself in the man’s skull. The last dregs of life left the former Right Hand, and his aura dissipated.
King Lysander’s now stern visage softened slightly as Lawk emerged from the shadows once more, and he retracted his authoritative aura, as he turned to the youth. A moment of curiosity put the harsher feelings of betrayal on hold. “Lawk, you seem to have withstood that man’s powerful aura quite well. How did you manage this?”
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“I’ve never really had any difficulty withstanding aura’s, my King.”
“Remarkable. You’ve trained this with my Left Hand, here?” He added quickly, “And, I’ve told you, my boy, call me Uncle Lysander. You’re the son of two of my closest friends, and with how much time you spend with Lana, you may as well be family in all but name.
His lips turning up slightly at the scene, the Left replied in Lawk’s stead, “Even I cannot affect him, my friend. And, as you well know, auras are somewhat of a specialty for me. I can no longer even fully escape the boy’s detection at this point. It seems we have yet to discover either the full depth or breadth of his remarkable talents. Today, he passed his final exam. He is ready to take on solo missions, and I have already tasked him with protecting Lana.”
***
A short while later, Caldwell awoke with a start and looked up to find the hand of a blindfolded, well-built youth outstretched toward him, as if to help him up. He grabbed the hand and stood, before bending to retrieve his sword, returning it to its sheath, now that the situation was clearly under control. After all, the king and Left Hand were sitting and discussing candidates to be the next Right Hand as if the former occupant of the position’s corpse was not laying on the floor closeby.
“Ah, Guardsman Caldwell, how do you feel?”
“F-f-fine, my King. Th-thank you.”
“Excellent. Do not worry about losing consciousness. You were quick to react to the situation, but you were out of your league. It is no fault of your own. I know you have undergone a significant amount of aura training, since you are assigned a post outside my door of all places. I am told you are quite the capable man in all aspects of both your post and combat. But, the former Right Hand was a rare case. He was far beyond the capabilities of most. Do not let this get you down. Let it drive you to improve further, and perhaps one day you will prove yourself worthy of the position.”
“Yes, my King.” His liege’s simultaneously consoling and inspiring words helped the young guardsman regain his composure.
“As for what you saw and heard here today. The official statement will be that the Right Hand turned traitor, and he was executed by the Left Hand, while attacking me in my personal study. Regarding-”
Three quick knocks came at the door in quick succession, interrupting the king. “Father, father!”
“Please, let her in, Lawk.” The youth complied.
“Father!” Lana burst through the door, before stopping cold and going silent, her eyes widening.
Raising a hand to stop any questions before they started, Lysander instructed his daughter, “Before we discuss this,’ he gestured at the corpse, “what were you running over here to tell me, my dear?”
She blurted out her reply, “Uh, well, there are rumors going around that a wraith killed a Dim Dagger in broad daylight. Witnesses only caught brief glances. Well, most people don’t seem to think it was an actual wraith, but they’re calling the one who killed the assassin the Wraith of Laramea. The story is spreading like wildfire. But, what happened here? Is everyone okay? I mean, other than…well, you know.” Lana’s mood took on a more somber tone and her words slowed a bit toward the end of her reply.
“Yes, Dear, everyone is fine.” Turning to Caldwell, Lysander ordered, “Not a word to anyone, until we have fully discussed this. Send some of your fellow guardsmen to summon the rest of my children and my wife, as well as John and Stace Brahm.”
“Right away, my King.” The diligent, young guardsman nodded his head, quickly saluted with a fist over his chest and exited the room, set to complete his task.
***
Over the next 10 minutes or so, everyone summoned arrived at the king’s study, and explanations were made starting from the beginning, explaining all that had transpired. Caldwell was included out of courtesy and for the sake of clarifying what could and could not be said.
“So, you all know what we are dealing with, but this knowledge is to be restricted to the people in this room. As far as the public is concerned, we will make an announcement. Caldwell, your fellow guards will undoubtedly press you with questions when you see them next. Your answer will be as follows:
“The former Right Hand betrayed the crown and hired multiple Dim Daggers to attack the Royal Ranger. All assassins were easily dealt with by the Royal Ranger, when the attempts on his life were made. The final hired assassin experienced firsthand the prowess of the Royal Ranger and refused to complete the job. He made to escape the kingdom, but was hunted down by the Wraith of Laramea, a being who protects our kingdom from the shadows and only shows itself when absolutely necessary. Additionally, the former Right Hand made an attempt on the King’s life in his personal study. He was swiftly brought down by the Left Hand and the Wraith of Laramea. This information should suffice to quell curiosities and further spread the legend of the Wraith of Laramea, until we make an official announcement confirming everything. Knowing the Wraith is out there will hopefully aid to quell fears. Who knows, maybe we will even reap a secondary bonus of reduced crime, not that we have much of that with our Left Hand’s reputation for lurking in the shadows. But, with two fearsome entities now, we should see even less trouble, especially since the Wraith will not be confirmed as being a person. Rather, we will purposefully refer to it as an entity. There is power in the unknown. And, we should wield it to the benefit of our kingdom.”
Lana smirked and teased, “Lawk, you’re gonna be what parents threaten their children with to get them to behave. I can see it now, ‘Charlie, wash up and go to bed now or the wraith will punish you. Mary, stop squirming and let me comb your hair properly or the wraith will punish you.’”
A few chuckles went around the room at this, but Lysander suppressed his laugh, reducing it to the slight raising of the edges of his lips. “Lana, enough of that. This is serious. Comport yourself appropriately or I really will have the Wraith punish you during training.”
Lana went silent immediately, but looked to Lawk and winked.
She could’ve sworn she saw the barest hint of a smile in her nearly expressionless best friend’s eyes. “I think I’m starting to understand his miniscule signs of emotion. It only took me four years, but I’m getting there. I’ll have him figured out by the time we leave for the Anchor for sure!” the young princess thought to herself.
***
For John and Stace’s part, they couldn’t have been prouder of their boy. Lawk was the youngest by leaps and bounds to fully complete an apprenticeship with a Left Hand in the history of Laramea. He was supremely talented in so many ways, that for the most part they didn’t even worry about him. But, on the flipside of this, they also worried greatly for one reason. One day their boy’s talents would get him mixed up in something he may not come back from. His courageous and stoic nature could easily get him into some serious trouble. And, there was still the matter of him seeking out his birth family and his goal of putting an end to his birth mother’s killers. If those killers were what Stace and John feared, then dark and difficult times may be approaching for more than just their little family.