“How unprofessional,” Laisha said quietly, weakly.
“There’s no need for professionalism here, Laisha,” said Raidon. He was staring up at the wooden platform as if his eyes saw more than the men that stood atop it.
A tingle shot through Alistar’s body, and he followed his uncle’s stare. The crowd had finally dispersed enough for him to see clearly. As he looked up, he caught a pair of eyes staring his way, a fierce gaze that made no effort to hide the object of its observation.
The eyes belonged to a rather short but brawny man. His heavyset frame was clothed by the most extravagant materials that Alistar had ever seen, light and dark shades of red with fur trim closely fitted to his scarlet collar and down the front of a fine cloth tunic. His strong arms and thick neck were adorned with highly reflective jewelry. He wore glistening bracelets and rings of silver, along with a broad necklace, all holding fat gems that matched his clothing in colour. His bearded face was pocketed with scars, closely cropped hair lined with greying streaks. Aside from his outfit, he was almost exactly identical to the guard that had spat on his father’s corpse, leaving no mystery to their familial relations.
The man stared down at Alistar as if he were some repulsive creature, the strength and hatred of his gaze causing goosebumps to arise all over his body. Many memories surfaced as he laid eyes on the man, and without thinking he met the almost overbearing stare with a meek glare of his own.
Standing around the former captain of the guard was a variety of people. The faces of several robed figures were shrouded by heavy hoods, red armour poking out from beneath the simple grey cloth. Those around the count wore finer armour than that of the guards, heavier, better maintained and of higher quality. The four workers that had just been released stood among them. Alistar recognized the man who constantly bullied him.
Suddenly, he was being tugged backwards at his elbow. He turned to follow his uncle, who had dragged him into motion.
“Come along, Alistar,” Raidon said softly. “Let’s take advantage of this free time.”
“Shall we have a lesson?” His mother’s voice was so weak that he had to strain to hear it. “What would you like to practice, Alie? Shall we work on your speech? Or perhaps mathematics. If you’d like…”—she was interrupted by a fit of coughing—“you may go and fetch Kaila and she may join…”
“Hush now, Laisha,” Raidon said, gentler than when he’d addressed Alistar. “Let’s take this time to rest.”
Alistar hadn’t had a lesson in months. The only practice he managed to sneak in was mental review, quietly in his mind during the long hours on the working line. He missed his lessons, but not enough to put additional strain on his mother. The three of them were exhausted, and he would have declined even if his uncle had not spoken up.
His family had almost made it to their sleeping area when they were surrounded by a handful of guards. After a brief exchange of words, his mother and uncle were forced away and he was left standing in place as the two of them were escorted into one of the long barrack buildings on the other side of the palisade wall. This action didn’t go unnoticed in the cavern, as workers had never been permitted to enter the barracks before.
Alistar was gripped by an immense sense of worry, and his stomach soured. What could the guards want with his family? Hadn’t they suffered enough?
Among the many personas behind the palisade wall, he caught the eye of the young captain. His face was swollen and reddened, one of his eyes inflated and purpling. The young man fixed him with a poisonous leer, as if he were at fault for whatever misfortune had befallen him. Alistar felt the urge to put on his best taunting smile, to mock the miserable cretin from a distance and run off into the tunnels. Despite this tempting fantasy, he knew he would pay for it later if he actually did it, so he killed the urge.
After a few minutes, Kaila and her grandpa came over and stood with him, the three wondering why his family had been invited into the barracks. Kaila’s grandpa assured Alistar that no harm would come to them, but he knew that Talon was just trying to comfort him. A while passed and his family eventually returned, his uncle supporting his mother as they worked their way over to Alistar and the others. He immediately noticed that his mother had been crying, fresh tears staining her face as they approached.
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Without waiting for them to walk the full distance, Alistar ran over and poured out his worry in a series of careful questions. He wasn’t given an answer, but rather was told to keep quiet and to follow them back to their bed of rags. Later on, when the waves of voices began to subside and the regular sleeping hours were drawing near, Alistar fixed a look on his uncle and frowned. Up until now, all of his questions had been brushed aside, so he chose to inquire about a different topic.
“Uncle,” he said slowly. “Why were those four men released?”
Even though the question was different, his uncle sighed and avoided Alistar’s eyes, saying that he would tell him soon enough.
Long after the three of them had gone to sleep, Alistar heard the light shuffling of subtle movements. A few moments later, he heard his uncle’s voice.
“Laisha, are you awake?”
“Regretfully… Is Alistar asleep?”
Alistar was resting his head on one of his arms, his exposed ear suddenly covered by one of his uncle’s rough hands. Due to the way he was sleeping, his other ear remained fully exposed, although it might have seemed covered from the way he rested over the bend of his elbow.
“It seems so.” Raidon paused for a moment, breathing shakily as if overcome by emotion. “Laisha, about earlier…what are we to do?”
His mother didn’t answer. Just when he thought she might have fallen asleep, he heard a slight squeak followed by tremulous inhalations. She was crying.
“Laisha….”
“There is but one path to take, Raidon.”
“My staying here would be best.” Raidon’s whispers were firm on the surface, but beneath that they were wrought with conflict.
“You must go, Raidon. You must take Alistar and leave these mines. After you’ve rested enough and have regained your strength, you’ll cross into the Lucian Empire, into the Province of Civus, and from there—”
“I cannot!”
“—you will seek out my youngest brother, Caedmon. He rules over Distan County, the closest place to these blasted mines outside of Ragnus’s lands. He will take you in. I’m sure of it.”
Why were they talking about leaving the mines? And why did they bring up the Lucian Empire? Even he knew that they were in the Baldor Empire.
“How can you expect me to leave you behind? You will die, Laisha, if you remain here alone. How could I live with myself after that? Oh, what a grand service I would be doing my brother in leaving his beloved wife to her death, in this of all places.”
“Raidon,” she inhaled sharply. She had begun to whimper from either pain or sorrow, likely from both. “You will be saving his son.”
When there was no response, his mother continued.
“It’s too late for me. It was too late weeks ago. I’ve barely been holding on, we both know it. The only reason I’ve clung to this life of mine is this young boy that lies between us. He is smart, Raidon. Smart, and terribly clever. Have you ever known a boy with a mind like his? You see how he works along with us every day without any complaint. Such fortitude in a child is unheard of. He’s just like his father, but he also has an intelligence that I’ve never seen in one so young. I cannot—I will not let him die in here. My Alie won’t die!”
“Lai—” Raidon’s voice broke. He was crying, sobbing quietly like a child that was hiding from a group of bullies.
“He is special,” his mother continued. “I can feel it. I don’t know what it is, but I feel something. He hasn’t reached his tenth year, but he’s already had a reaction. And that was when he was seven.”
“I know this, but—”
“And most importantly, he is my son. Rodei gave his life to give our boy a chance to survive, and if it must be so, then I will do the same.”
Nobody spoke for a time.
“Don’t look at me like that, Raidon. I can barely walk on my own anymore. This is the only way. They told us that we can’t head toward Hatsford like the others, else they’ll just send us back. There are dozens of leagues from here to the next nearest town, and some of the most dangerous wilderness in all the continent sits in between.” Though the weakness in her voice was laced with apprehension, her passion was almost tangible. “Even if I accompanied him, how would I protect him? Let alone myself, as long as you’ve got that limiter on…”
“No more,” whispered Raidon. “I’ll go. I’ll go…”
“Rai,” she said softly, sadly. “I never expected to leave here. All of this work, all of these years—it was for Alistar. Although the days we spent in the high gardens are but a thing of the past, at least we were able to enjoy such times. Alistar…he knows no such luxury. The embrace of the wind, the warmth of the sun, the basic right to make your own decisions—these are all foreign to him. I don’t want this to be his life.”
His uncle sniffled, a different person than ever before.
“I will return for you,” he said at last. “Please hold on until that day. Once I’ve brought Alistar to safety and have gotten rid of this wretched lump of metal, I’ll return and destroy this entire mine myself.” He had to stop talking to collect himself. “There will always be sympathizers among the guards. If I regain enough strength, then it’ll be possible.”
His mother’s next words came out shakily, cracking like the voice of a pubescent child. “I will wait.”
The conversation ended on that note, the two crying in silence before they finally succumbed to exhaustion.
All throughout, it had taken almost everything Alistar had to conceal his consciousness. He didn’t sleep a single second that night, which was the longest, most uncomfortable night of his life.