by Donald Brown
Then Jasper realized that Jamie was still tied to the horse. He selected a few more coins and handed it over. “Can this guy,” he mumbled, nodding in Jamie’s direction, “stay next to Jenny as well?”
“O.K. sir,” Brittle replied, a bit uncertain.
“Thank you.” Jasper smiled while Jamie gave one last cry of frustration before he was pulled away with the horse.
They then walked to the blue door, which was pulled open from the other side before Jasper could even touch the handle.
The party of three was greeted by dozens of voices yelling from inside the tavern.
37
“Yeah, and tell him to go kill himself!” a heavyset man shouted, backing out of the tavern. He noticed the new party and then smiled, holding the door open for Jasper. “Excuse me.”
Jasper nodded in thanks and headed inside.
Storm and Hadrian exchanged frowning looks.
“Maybe we should just wait here,” Hadrian said.
“Come on, Hadrian,” Storm replied, whereupon he confidently walked into the bar, Hadrian close on his heels.
The people inside were ambling about, shouting cheerfully at each other. Many of them were clearly plastered drunk, something which Storm and Hadrian weren’t used to. In Sanctuary they were forbidden to drink any form of alcohol. The Spiritual Leader had denounced it as poison from the Outsiders, something designed to dull their senses.
Storm could now pick up many new dialects and languages he didn’t understand, as well as completely new racial features. This definitely seemed like a trading hub gathering.
Whilst following Jasper, he passed a table where a group of young men where chattering excitedly.
“That’s it, boys. I am going to use my savings and move to the Republic!” one of them proclaimed, raising his cup of wine in triumph.
His friends were sceptical about this news.
“But what about the distance, Mark?”
“Isn’t the road dangerous?”
“Yes, even if the gossip about it is terrific, it sounds too perilous to travel there.”
But Mark wouldn’t have any of it. “I don’t care! I am getting out of this dump!”
“Over here,” Jasper said, waving to them from a short distance away. When he saw them following, he headed towards what looked like the barman.
As soon as the barman noticed Jasper, his face lit up and he gestured for him to come to the serving counter. He was bald-headed with a glorious red beard, but it was his girth that shocked Storm. He was probably one of the fattest persons he had ever seen. They were not used to seeing fat people in Sanctuary. It wasn’t exactly possible with the food rations they received.
“Hey, Jasper, long time no see,” the bartender grinned, revealing two rows of broken teeth. “What will it be today?”
“Hey, Dan,” Jasper replied. He grabbed a barstool and took a seat in front of the counter. “Just the usual please.”
“How are those Sanctuarians treating you?” Dan asked, putting down a glass in front of Jasper and filling it up with an amber liquid from a funny-shaped bottle.
Jasper shook his head, taking out his pipe and lighting it with a match. “You don’t want to know, Dan,” he said, inhaling smoke and then coughing. “You don’t want to know,” he repeated, glancing at Storm and Hadrian, who were standing behind him.
It was then that Dan first noticed the two brothers. “And for these gentlemen?” he asked, bending forward to peer at them. “My God! By the looks of it they haven’t seen food in a long while!” he then exclaimed, somewhat taken aback.
“Just get them some beers,” Jasper said, motioning for the brothers to sit down.
“We cannot drink alcohol, Outsider,” Hadrian replied. “It is poison from–”
“Calm down, my friend,” Jasper interrupted. He reached out and gripped Hadrian’s shoulder, then gave a meaningful look around the room. “We wouldn’t want everyone in here to think that you are discourteous, now would we?”
Dan watched the entire exchange, interested, but then decided to make nothing of it and turned to fetch their beers.
Storm took a moment to study his surroundings. He was slightly overwhelmed by the feeling of happiness that was radiating from the place. It also made him feel somewhat uncomfortable; he was not used to people enjoying themselves like this.
This seemed to annoy Hadrian as well. “People should be more respectful,” he told Jasper. “This public display of selfishness is disgraceful.”
“They are only enjoying themselves,” Jasper replied. “If you take that stick out of your ass and sit down, you may enjoy yourself as well.”
Storm and Hadrian seated themselves, just as Dan returned with the beers and placed it in front of them. Both boys stared at it and only after a pointed glare from Jasper, did Storm take his and hesitantly drank from it. It tasted quite bitter and he had to force himself not to pull a face. He smiled and nodded to Dan, as if he was enjoying the beverage. Hadrian blatantly refused to drink, folding his arms across his chest with a grimace on his face.
Dan beheld Hadrian for a moment and then took out a filthy mug from the cupboards by his knees. “Where did you say were they from, Jasper?” he asked, absentmindedly polishing the inside of the mug, but clearly fishing for some gossip.
“It is strange, Dan,” Jasper said, his mouth twitching. “I could swear I never told you where they were from.”
“Oh, so you didn’t,” the bartender replied, taking out another mug. “But, where are they from?”
Jasper hesitated, his mind probably jumping between the notions of making up a story and wondering whether Dan would actually buy it.
After a short while, he lowered his voice to barely above a whisper. “Er… they are… they came with me when I was returning from, uhm...” Dan now leaned closer, not happy with Jasper’s hesitation, but then Jasper only shook his head and blurted out, “What the hell, they are from Sanctuary.”
The atmosphere in the room changed in an instant. At the mention of Sanctuary, two of the tavern windows burst open and a blustery wind started blowing in. The guests all whipped around in alarm and those closest to Jasper – who had heard his words – all started saying, “Sanctuary?” “Sanctuary?” until it was echoing from everyone in the pub. Even the musician stopped at that point, dropping his brass flute into his lap.
There followed an awkward moment as everyone merely stared at the two brothers. Some of them in disgust, others in hatred.
Dan walked over to the windows and slammed them shut.
“HE SAID THEY ARE FROM SANCTUARY!” a young man yelled into the ear of his much older friend, who was clearly a little deaf.
The old man’s bushy white eyebrows narrowed in surprise and he said, “Oh!”, before fixing the two with a look of loathing.
Some of the people turned to look at the young man in repugnance, almost as if he had uttered a forbidden swearword.
Dan moved from the windows and laughed, waving his hands in the air for them to calm down. “Don’t worry folks, Jasper over here is just at it again, making jokes. Don’t take him so seriously.” He gave a fake smile and then motioned to the musician to resume playing.
Most of the guests absorbed the news with a bit of dissatisfaction, realizing that they had been unnecessarily fooled into anxiety. Dan strolled back to the counter, smiling at everyone, asking whether they needed anything else to drink.
Once behind the counter and sure that everybody was immersed in conversation again, he leaned in close to Jasper. “Are you mad!” he growled, trying to keep his voice down. “You can’t mention that place and bring them into my tavern. Get them out of here!” It was only then that Storm understood that Dan wasn’t only the bartender, he was also the owner of the inn. The second thought that entered Storm’s mind was that Jasper was now not even going to bother to ask Dan to take Jamie off their hands. Dan would instantly realize that Jamie was a Sanctuarian as well and then refuse to harbor him.
“Listen, Dan,” Jasper murmured, cutting to the chase, “these boys were born long after all those horrible things happened and they are still very young. Look at them.”
While Dan stared them down, Storm encouragingly tried another sip of the beer and Hadrian just looked at the barman-cum-owner as if he was the devil himself.
Jasper continued in a low tone of voice. “Look, they were banished from Sanc… that place,” he hastily changed his words when he saw Dan’s eyes flashing. “They refused to submit to the leader’s commands and now they are being hunted.”
Dan rubbed his stomach for a moment as he considered the situation. “Fine,” he then said, although it appeared as if he was saying it against his better judgment. “But I want no more mention of that place in here. No funny business and I want them out of my inn by tomorrow morning.” He glared at the boys sternly, emphasizing his message, but then grew curious again. “Tell me one thing, Jasper,” he said, “I have known you for quite some time and I know you are interested in things like money. Why did you bother helping them?”
Storm perked up at this and Hadrian also discarded his disdain for curiosity.
“Let’s just say I have a personal stake in this,” Jasper answered.
Dan’s head tilted in amazement. “Are you telling me you had children with her?”
Jasper waved for him to stop. “Let’s leave that for now,” he said.
“Hey, Dan, a refill over here, please!” a muscled man shouted from the other side of the bar counter, oblivious to their conversation.
Dan gave one last mysterious look at the two Sanctuarian brothers before setting off.
“Who was he talking about?” Storm asked Jasper.
Jasper shook his head from side to side, staring at his glass. He seemed sad at the mention of her.
Storm’s mind was racing. Could the person the barman was referring to be their mother? Could Jasper therefore be his father? Jasper was darker skinned, which would make sense, as he remembered his mother being lighter skinned. He scanned his surroundings, lost in thought, and saw that there were now a group of men gathered around a young man with long black locks, cladded in metal armor.
“Yes, I killed many people at Domina,” he announced. “I was at the forefront.”
“I heard tales that the Horde is assembling again,” one of the younglings who had listened ventured.
“Oh, yes…that is indeed my feeling as well,” the man in metal armour concurred, to the dark mutterings of those around him
The men nodded their heads in interest and listened more carefully, but Storm refocused his attention on Jasper and Dan who were conversing once more.
“You can’t tell anybody we were here, Dan,” Jasper urged. “The Sanctuarians are after the boys now. I have to admit: it is quite strange. Usually they don’t care about it after one of their own has escaped. We were actually attacked by two of them outside the tunnel.”
“What?” Dan gushed. “They are actually moving out of that hell hole? Never since the Civil War had they dared setting foot out of there.”
“Something about these two seems definitely special,” Jasper remarked, puffing on his pipe.
“I can’t imagine what that is,” Dan said drily, watching Hadrian glowering at him, “But, I won’t say a word, don’t worry.”
“Thank you,” Jasper said, patting Dan’s hand.
“In exchange for a favor,” Dan added with a hint of a smile playing across his lips.
Jasper let out his customary sigh. “Now what?”
“I guess you are going back to the safety of Pandemonium tomorrow?” Dan probed. Once Jasper had nodded, he quickly continued: “I would like you to take my son, Daniel, with you. He is a bit of a troublemaker and I believe a few years in the Republic will sort him out.”
“And where is your son?” Jasper asked, looking around behind the counter, almost like he expected the son to pop out and greet him.
“That would be him,” Dan said, pointing to someone behind them.
Storm, Jasper and Hadrian turned in unison to witness a boy, about the same age as Storm, dancing on a table to a clapping audience. He had red hair, even brighter than his father’s beard, with freckles covering his face. Storm could see that he was very tall and as the boy glanced about – watching his spectators being entertained – there was a twinkle in those green eyes that spelled trouble. As they watched, Daniel lost his footing and fell off the table. The tavern roared with laughter as he re-emerged, rubbing his head and grinning sheepishly.
“Yeah,” Jasper said, turning back to face Dan. “No… I don’t think so.”
Hadrian silently nodded in approval.
“Oh, come on, Jasper,” Dan continued in a subtle voice. “The boy needs the experience of a formal society. He cannot grow up in a tavern. He needs a chance to become something more. I want him to grow into a man who is independent and responsible.” Dan looked at Jasper with wide eyes. “Remember all the things I have done for you? You won’t even notice him. He will be more occupied with your friends over here.”
Storm and Hadrian were both taken aback by that suggestion. Storm sure as hell didn’t want to keep this Daniel busy all the time. He looked over his shoulder again and watched as Daniel burst into another dance.
“I can always find a way to let it slip that the boys are from a certain place,” Dan added when Jasper still didn’t respond.
“You are blackmailing me,” Jasper stated, putting out his pipe and returning it to his bag.
“I am just trying to make you see reason,” Dan continued, smiling.
Jasper swallowed the last of his drink. “Fine,” he said, slamming the empty glass down on the surface of the bar counter.
“Thank you, Jasper,” the owner of the tavern said. “Thank you so much.”
“Well I am tired and I think these two can do with some proper rest,” Jasper told Dan, getting off the barstool. “Prepare your boy for tomorrow morning at six. I want to set out early.”
“I’ll see to it,” Dan replied, reaching out with his hand for Jasper to shake it, which he did, although not with much enthusiasm.
They headed to the staircase to the sleeping quarters, leaving behind Storm and Hadrian’s half-done beers.
“Aren’t you going to finish that?” Dan asked them.
“Drink your own poison,” Hadrian mumbled.
Dan took the full glasses away, muttering under his breath, “Bloody Sanctuarians.”
The three of them went up the stairs, to the safety of their rooms. Jasper had rented a room for himself, whilst Storm and Hadrian shared another.
Both of them had not slept much the previous two nights and with the effect of the beer exhaustion soon overtook Storm.
38
Storm stirred.
It was still dark and he deliberated for a while why he had woken up.
Then he heard a rustling sound. There was some sort of activity coming from outside the window. He hesitantly sat upright on his bed and then noticed that the noise had awoken Hadrian too. His eyes were gleaming in the semi-darkness.
“What was that?” Hadrian whispered, his blanket pulled all the way up to his nose.
Storm put his finger to his lips and silently got up before he slowly started making his way to the window. He cringed when his first step on the wooden floor brought about a tiny creak and then – realizing that his cover had most likely been blown – he just continued at a normal pace.
Once he had reached the low window, he hid most of his body behind the wall and peeked out with only one eye. His vision did not immediately detect anything threatening, until his eye fell on a man that was laying on the ground, right outside the tavern door.
At first Storm thought he was dead, but then to his solace the tavern door opened and another man giggled at the sight, swaying around as he walked. “Come on, Brian!” he said, kicking the man on the ground in the stomach. “You should really stop drinking that much.”
Fred was helped up
by his friend, but only after vomiting on the lawn, something that made Storm realize he had seen enough. This new world was keeping them on their toes, strangely enough, even though Sanctuary was considered to be a far more dangerous place in a guy like Jasper’s mind.
“It’s nothing,” Storm told Hadrian, “just a drunk man. Let’s get some more sleep.”
Hadrian did not seem at all reassured, but Storm climbed back into bed and tried to fall sleep again. Which he had a hard time doing but once again, like in the dessert, he finally managed to drift into a slumber.
***
The next morning they rose early and got ready to set off again.
Hadrian and Storm had slept much better this time. They had largely forgotten about the event that had awakened them in the middle of the night. The feather mattresses and soft pillows had really done the trick.
It was Jasper who came to wake them up and it was immediately clear that his night had not gone so peaceful. He seemed grumpy and his eyes were red and swollen.
“Good night’s sleep?” Storm asked him, a little sarcasm in his voice.
“Not remotely,” Jasper replied. “Those drunken turds kept me up the entire night.” He placed some fresh clothes on the dressing table by the door. “Put those on,” he instructed. “You two are stinking. Then let’s go downstairs and grab some food.”
He left without waiting for them to reply. Hadrian and Storm got out of their beds, put on their new clothes. Hadrian very reluctantly, but he could no longer stay in those clothes. He folded his Peacekeeper uniform up neatly and brought it with him as they made their way to the hallway outside.
They walked down the stairs and made themselves comfortable at one of the tables. It was far quieter at this time in the tavern, only the three of them and a few traders who looked like they had to set off early as well were awake. The place smelled like stale beer and tobacco smoke.
Jasper ordered food from one of the servants and then they waited.
“So, how long is it still to Pandemonium?” Storm asked.
“A couple of days,” Jasper replied, rubbing his eyes with his fists.