My eyes met his. I saw concern there so I explained, “I have no coin.” The words were barely above a whisper.
“Speak again.” He leaned forward.
“I said, I have no coin,” I bit out louder.
The table went silent.
“But your father is paid well, is he not?” Ger asked beside me.
“My father tossed me out. Look, I don’t want to talk about it.”
The guards all glanced at one another. “No matter. You’re part of The Guard now. You’ll be paid and given a room at the palace. Here.” Ger handed me his other drumstick. “Share with us tonight.”
The guards nodded and pushed their metal plates to the centre of the table.
I would’ve refused from embarrassment if I wasn’t so damn hungry. I didn’t know how to thank them. I’d never been shown such kindness. I nodded curtly.
“We’re your brothers now.” Ger patted my shoulder.
I scowled at his hand. He sure enjoyed touching me.
Someone cracked a jest, and the whole table laughed. I was glad the attention had been taken off me. I devoured the shared food and licked my fingers clean when the plates were empty.
Without my knowing, some of the guards told Constable Bouvant about the situation with my father. The constable passed the message along to King Corbin, and I was given a bedchamber in the soldiers’ quarters on one of the lower levels of the palace. A pouch of coin waited for me on the table beside my bed, a bed big enough only for one body. I sat down on the mattress and took in the small, plain bedchamber. I wasn’t used to luxury so it was perfect, much better than sleeping in the barn with the horses.
The following days were much the same. We’d rise early, polish our leather practice armour and meet at the training grounds by midday. We shared a meal and ale afterwards. I grew used to the routine, even began to enjoy my time with my comrades. Ger became my first friend. He was patient with me, but he pushed me to do my best. He told me stories of when he was my age. His own father was a retired knight who lived in a manor outside of Terra.
Eventually, the constable deemed me worthy enough to use a real sword. He gifted me with a blade of my own, a simple longsword with a deadly sharp blade. He told me he was proud of me. I’d tried not to care what others thought of me after my father had kicked me out, but I couldn’t help but feel a sense of pride at his praise.
My father avoided me like the plague. It was as though he were pretending I’d never existed. I was sure he wished it to be true. It didn’t bother me anymore, what he thought. I had my brothers. I had a purpose to serve and protect my kingdom, which I hadn’t felt when I’d been torturing.
I took my pleasure with one of the serving wenches late one night. Tess, a new wench with a bodacious body and curly, dark hair had been undressing me with her big, brown eyes since she saw me.
Her top lip curled as I pinned her against a wall in the kitchen of The Watering Hole after the other staff and customers had cleared out for the night. “Such a strong man, you are,” she breathed. As I buried my face in her neck, she added, “Too bad even you can’t stop The Redeemers.”
I pushed away from her and caught my bearings. “Traitor,” I sneered.
She put a hand to her bare chest. “No, not I. But I hear whispers.” She bent forward and pulled her dress back up to cover her body.
I narrowed my eyes at her. “Go on.”
She busied herself with the buttons on the front of her serving dress, taking her time to answer. “I’d look to the slums if I were you.”
Those words were all I needed. I had my beige tunic and black breeches back on before she glanced up.
“Going so soon?” she pouted.
“I have work to do.”
I flew from the tavern back to the soldiers’ quarters.
I pounded on the door to Ger’s room. He opened it wearing nothing but a blanket.
“Put some clothes on. We’re going to the slums.”
He gave me a bleary-eyed stare and asked, “Why would we do that?”
Impatient, I went to his chest of clothes and dug out a pair of breeches and an old tunic. “I believe we may find some traitors there.”
Ger smirked. “Don’t you think we’ve checked there? I’m sure there are traitors in the slums. Traitors are everywhere. We just haven’t had any luck finding them unless they want to be found.”
“Have you tried disguising yourself as one of them?” I took the bottoms of the breeches and tore them a little.
“Hey! What are you—”
I’m making us look like one of them.” I indicated my own torn up clothing from under my cloak, which I’d rolled through the dirt.
“Oh.” He took the tunic and helped me make his clothes appear more worn. He grinned. “No need to comb my hair then.”
I laughed and roughed up his hair even more.
We both wore our hoods up. We’d streaked dirt across our faces, but we wanted to be sure we wouldn’t be recognized.
Buildings became more worn the closer we got to the slums. The smell of urine swirled through the air. Loud conversations and yelling echoed out through the windows and doors of tiny, cramped taverns. I almost stepped on an old woman sleeping in one of the alleyways as we searched and listened for anything suspicious. Only the unfortunate dwelled here. One had to be rough to survive in the slums. Though I kept a pair of daggers hidden beneath my cloak, walking through the shithole of Terra still made me apprehensive. Maybe it was stupid to listen to the words of a tavern-wench. Ger ambled along beside me carelessly like he’d been there dozens of times. Maybe he knew we’d find nothing. Maybe he was just humouring me to prove there was nothing to be found in the slums.
I was about to suggest we go home when I saw someone disappear into an old, abandoned shop. I frowned and headed in the direction of the crumbling stone building. Moss claimed part of its decaying walls. The wood around the frame of the door was half-rotted. Whoever once held business there was long gone.
“Did you see something?” Ger had to lengthen his stride to catch up to me.
“Someone went inside there.” I didn’t bother slowing to answer.
“It’s probably just some vagrant living there until someone else comes along to boot them out.”
“No, look. It’s more than that.” A flicker of light shone through the broken window. The closer we got, the clearer I could hear voices from within.
“So maybe it’s a group of vagrants then,” Ger offered.
“Let’s check it out.”
Ger shrugged and stepped up to the rotting door and opened it. “After you, my lady.”
I stepped inside and was met by thick, stuffy air. A group of about a dozen and a half filthy slum rats stood near the back of the room. They all faced a man wearing a black cloak. His hood was drawn, and his mouth and nose were covered by red material. Only his dark, gleaming eyes showed.
“What do we have here?” Ger said lowly enough only I could hear as he brushed against my side.
I stopped before the crowd. A middle-aged woman with matted hair and a tattered dress, which I couldn’t even tell the colour of, scowled over her shoulder at us.
“Shh, quiet,” I warned over my shoulder as I inched closer to listen to what the robed man was saying.
A young couple came in and joined the group.
“No one should have to live like this. But you are not alone. I’m here to help you.” He sounded a bit familiar, but his voice was gravelly—like he was trying to disguise it.
A few nodded their chins at his words. Could this be the leader we’ve been searching for?
“Your lives are worth more than this. Your deaths will be worth more. You have come tonight for a reason. I urge you to join us in the fight against the useless king who sits, stuffing his face on his golden throne while you all rot here in the slums.”
“Yeah!” A bunch of voices rose up in agreement.
“Let me lead you. I will make sure you are treated fairly once
King Corbin is crushed. With me, you will rise,” the cloaked man rasped to the crowd.
“Traitor,” I said under my breath and made to move.
Ger gripped my arm. “Not here.” He kept his voice low while the robed man continued to gain cheers from the audience with his words.
I shook his hand off and glared at him.
“There’s too many of them against only two of us. Let’s go. We will get back up.” He stepped backwards.
“Death to King Corbin! Death to Queen Nicola! Death to the Dirva’s,” a young woman began to chant. She couldn’t be more than my age. An even younger girl stood at her side in a dress that was too nice to belong in the slums. I took in their round cheeks and wavy brown hair… sisters.
Though the older sister was more worn and less curvy than the last time I’d seen her, I recognized her instantly when I spied the side of her face… Claudia.
I didn’t wait for Ger. I slunk to the door and slipped out before she could see me.
Ger caught up moments later. “You look like you’ve just seen a ghost.”
“I have. Let’s find Constable Bouvant.”
The Constable was built like a rock, and though kind-hearted, he’d gained his position for a reason. He wasn’t someone I’d want to mess with. I was reminded of that fact when we’d woken him up and told him our information.
He took no pity on the guards who’d been asleep when he all but broke their doors down and tore them from their beds to get them ready and moving quicker than I’d thought possible.
Ger and I kept our disguises on, but strapped our swords to our waists. Garnering frowns from drunks stumbling home for the night, we led the others to the old shop where we’d witnessed the gathering of what appeared to be new recruits for The Redeemers.
I pondered Claudia’s appearance there. A lady of the court fallen to the slums. She was one of them. My father had done that… I had let it happen. I didn’t understand. Her father had been a wealthy man. His wealth would’ve gone to her and her sister. How could she have possibly spent it all already?
One of my comrades kicked in the now locked door. Wood splintered where it was rotted. He shoved his shoulder through the rest of the way and we followed him into the empty shop. The smell of burned wax was the only evidence anyone had been there.
“You should’ve brought reinforcements,” the gruff guard with a long beard spat, turning to Ger. “I don’t expect much of the new one, but you should know better.”
Ger opened his mouth to argue, but I stepped between them. “We wouldn’t have learned anything if there were more of us. They would’ve spotted us and ran.”
“That wasn’t your decision to make.” Spittle flew from the soldier’s angry lips.
I stepped closer so I could look down at him. “I was trying to help.”
“Enough!” Constable Bouvant shoved us apart. “Reynard is right. This wasn’t your call to make, Sepheus. You have done well in finding the leader, though I doubt they’ll ever meet here again. Next time, come to me with your plans.”
I tore my gaze from Reynard and bowed my head to the constable. “Yes, sir.”
“Good, now I want an account of what you saw as soon as we get back to the palace. Faces, what was said… anything you can remember.”
“Of course.”
Constable Bouvant gave Ger a calculating look. “Meet me in my quarters, both of you.” He led the way out of the empty shop.
Ger and I stayed near the back of the group. We’d had enough attention for the night. I was lost in my own thoughts when a hand tugged on my sleeve. “So it was you I saw running for the door,” declared a voice I knew all too well.
“Claudia, what are you doing here?” I scanned the area. Her little sister was nowhere in sight.
“I don’t believe my father was a traitor. The king shouldn’t have either.” Her voice shook.
The others had begun to notice I’d fallen behind. I turned away from her. “Get out of here.”
“Not before I do this,” she shrilled, stabbing me under my armpit with a short blade.
Pain flowered from where the blade still stuck in my side. Slowly, carefully, I pulled it from my body and let it fall to the ground.
Her jaw was open, her eyes wide. It was like she couldn’t believe what she’d just done. She was about to bolt, but I was quicker. I lunged at her and we fell to the ground. I heard Ger shout for help as I reached for the blade, still covered in my own blood, and shoved it into her chest. It wasn’t a move I was proud of. It was fueled by rage… by panic, a killing blow. We’d needed her alive. I’d let my emotions get the best of me. The memory of her playful pout before we’d taken pleasure in each other before everything went wrong flashed in my mind.
A single tear escaped from the corner of her eye as I crouched beside her. Her breath came in rasps. I’d hit a lung. The rest of the world disappeared. I didn’t even see my comrades crowded around us.
“Take care of my sister,” she breathed. And then the light in her eyes went out like a snuffed out flame. She was gone.
I dropped the blood-coated knife on the ground.
Ger placed a rough hand on my shoulder. “I’m sorry.”
“Get off!” I pulled away from his hand.
The others stared with judging eyes. I faced them all. “She was a traitor. Find her sister. Do what you will with her.”
I walked away from their accusing eyes. They let me go.
Chapter 7
No one questioned me about Claudia after her death. I did my best to forget her. Her death had made something twist inside my chest. She was turned into a traitor because of my father’s lie.
Her sister was found and questioned by Constable Bouvant. His methods of questioning were slightly kinder than my father’s. The girl knew nothing except they’d been living in the slums since Claudia had secretly married a lord who threw them out shortly after he’d taken possession of her wealth and estate. The young girl was sent to live with an old widow who took in children who’d been lost to the world… children with disturbed minds who needed someone to keep them in line.
We’d gone back to the slums a number of times to see if we could catch any word of where The Redeemer’s leader had gone, or what their next move might be, but our luck had run out. Constable Bouvant came up with a plan; a plan which would lead us into the forest to scour for traitors. They had to be hiding somewhere.
Flowers beginning to bloom through the thick trees gazed up at me from on top of my chestnut mare. We clomped along the mossy forest, watching for any signs of people, watching for any sort of danger—a vicious animal who’d love to eat us for dinner. Keep moving, the key to staying out of danger. The damp air clung to our skin, made heavy by the spring rain. As the season turned into summer, the air would grow thicker and stifling hot, even under the shade of the trees. It was like the sun poured its heat into the forest to be trapped within the branches of those tall trees.
I didn’t have much hope for this quest we were on. The forest around Terra was vast. The traitors could be anywhere. I wondered if any of them had met up with sharp-toothed animals or poisonous insects. Maybe nature was picking them off… doing our job for us.
The forest thinned and we came across a farm owned by an elderly couple. They invited us inside their small home and offered us tea. They were no traitors. Not with their curved backs and brittle bones.
Exhausted from our travels and in low spirits from our failure, we ventured back through the forest. Constable Bouvant wasn’t ready to give up. He had us travel back to the palace a different route than the way we’d come. He was skilled in navigation. I was grateful someone knew where we were going. I’d have never found my way home from where we’d ventured. He promised to show me his map and teach me how to navigate one day.
The sun burned molten orange through the trees. My mount’s withers quivered, trying to stop the black flies from feasting on her blood. A painful cry came from the front of our group. Elly, one o
f our female guards, clutched her arm where an arrow protruded through it. I peered up into the large leafed trees as another arrow loosened. My mount shook her head. Even she could feel the fear in the air, the promise of death.
“Forward! Hurry!” Constable Bouvant ordered.
A handful of our soldiers carried bows and arrows. They aimed for the trees. I squeezed my heels into my horse’s sides to keep up with the rest.
Deer skin tents were erected through the trees. Movement caught my eye. Just over a dozen men and women scrambled for weapons.
I leaped from my mare’s back, drawing my sword. I charged for a giant of a man with a weathered face and long, scraggily hair. He wielded a sword larger than mine. The nicks in the blade told me mine was of better craftsmanship. I charged at him with iron force. My strength stunned him, and he stepped back to try and regain control. It only took two strikes before I knocked his blade from his hand and shoved mine through his throat. Red sprayed my face like the wet paint of the newly renovated palace of Terra.
A warrior of a woman lunged toward me with her sword raised, her rusty-brown hair braided back from her sun bronzed face. Her eyes hardened as she licked her cracked lips. The face of every suspect… every traitor I’d met, flashed in my mind.
I ducked as she swung.
She was the queen’s handmaiden. She was the lynx-woman who’d taunted me. She was Claudia, who I’d killed with her own blade. Justice? What justice? There was only death; as far as I could see.
I slashed my blade at the warrior. She’d anticipated my move. She dodged and came up on my right side with a swing. Pain stung my right shoulder as my leather armour split, skin torn beneath it. I ignored the searing sensation.
“Who is your leader?” I managed between breaths.
She only cocked her head to the side and smiled, taking another swing.
I blocked her and kicked her in the shin so hard she shrieked and almost dropped her sword. She tried to recover. Too late. I’d already buried my blade in her stomach. She slunk to the ground. Thick crimson covered my hands.
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