After that, I just couldn’t stand it anymore—I had to get away from this city. The more time I spent around Baladir, the more I remembered what could have and should have been. I walked out of the gates without looking to see if anyone else was ready.
CHAPTER 4
Severance … there probably wasn’t a more appropriate name for a city anywhere in Athania, in more ways than one. The city got its name because it was divided by a river, right down the middle, from east to west. The city name became even more suitable a few years ago, when King Keegan passed away. Keegan was a fierce and ruthless king, much like his father before him. He ruled his kingdom through swift and harsh justice, and paid little attention to anything else. Keegan’s passion was war, and it always seemed that Lorehaven was involved in a battle somewhere; the king was a brilliant military strategist, and soon after his reign began, he quickly conquered the territories around him, expanding Lorehaven greatly. But King Keegan’s inattentiveness to other matters in his country (besides those that came with punishment) did not harm Lorehaven, because Keegan was smart enough to appoint good and competent lords to rule each territory in his absence. His queen, Lareina, was a very capable ruler in her own right, and she ruled very well while Keegan was out to war, which was constantly.
Keegan’s death, however, nearly sent Lorehaven on a downward spiral to its ruin. The queen had already passed on a decade earlier, leaving either Prince Devlin or Prince Brogan to assume the throne. The problem was … the princes were twins, and there seemed to be a dispute between the two as to which one was born minutes before the other. No one was alive or around who knew for sure, and the twins refused to rule jointly. What promised to become a war between the twins instead became endless, incessant bickering—one would claim the king said he was born first, the other, the queen. Instead of plunging Severance into civil war, as expected, the twins took residence in the buildings that framed the river, one on each side, and literally resorted to throwing things at each other from the windows.
That’s how childish it got.
After a year of that (literally—two princes, in their mid-forties, no less—throwing whatever they could pick up at each other and shouting insults from across a river), the people finally realized that the twin princes weren’t going to settle things (either amicably or by killing each other). However, the people, though they were sick to death of the princes’ childlike behavior, were too afraid to do anything about it, because the military (split in half by their choice of prince) would have squashed any chance of the people taking matters into their own hands. Then an odd and funny thing happened—the military (who, some may be shocked to learn, were people too) had also grown tired and disgusted with the princes’ pathetic squabbling. The divided military became one again, and the commander approached the nobles who began the movement in support of change, telling them that they had his support. The princes (who were still guarded by a group of soldiers, who stayed loyal thanks to some extra gold in their purses) were enraged, but there was little they could do about it. The nobles got together and elected a Senate, who now ran the country. Meanwhile, Princes Devlin and Brogan continued their infantile battle to decide which one was the least mature (at least in the eyes of the people), and from the moment the Senate was elected, the people completely ignored the princes.
I don’t know how far we traveled that day, but it didn’t feel very long. So many thoughts were warring inside my head that I barely noticed anything. It’s a strange feeling—while I’m in Delmar, all I can think of is leaving, getting away. But when I actually am leaving, the feelings of anxiety are replaced by a sense of loss. And then reality sets in …
I don’t have a home.
Then, on the tail of that thought, comes another bit of suspected truth—you’re not human anymore, Aidan. You don’t belong anywhere.
I tried to recall Mirabelle’s words, that this is where I belong, with my people, but it didn’t bring the same feelings of comfort.
Maybe you will find some answers someday …
Maybe a gnome will pop out of my butt and just give me the whole story already.
Derrick called for a halt and told us set up camp. The sun was just dipping down over the hills in the distance, and the air was a bit cooler than it had been earlier. The road we were on was winding and led further south, and was surrounded by grassy fields on both sides—little cover from potential threats, but there weren’t many to speak of out here anyway.
We set up camp near a large oak tree just off the road. Derrick, Mirabelle and I put up a couple of tents. Iskandor went off in the distance a ways and, since we were still in dragon-friendly territory, morphed into his dragon form so he could relax a little. Even though we were still in Delmar, walking around with a full-grown dragon anywhere could attract a lot of attention, and so Iskandor tended to keep the appearances of his true self to a minimum.
After we were done setting up, I walked over to join my dragon friend. We hadn’t really spoken since we landed at the White Castle, and although Iskandor could be quiet at times, he was never this quiet.
“Something troubles you, my friend,” I said upon approaching.
Iskandor didn’t say anything for a few moments while he continued to stare off into the distance. I moved around to the front of his massive frame and sat on the ground, leaning against his scaly torso which was lying parallel to the ground. Sounds uncomfortable, but it never bothered me.
“I just have a bad feeling,” Iskandor asked finally.
“About what?” I asked.
“I’m not sure,” Iskandor replied.
“Don’t worry,” I said encouragingly. “Everything will be fine. This business with Timor shouldn’t take that long to deal with.”
“It’s not that,” Iskandor said. “I don’t know—just a bad feeling.” When I didn’t respond, he changed the subject to one even more sour for him. “Do you often think about what you are?”
“Sometimes,” I responded with a sigh. “There’s been so much going on, I don’t get much time to think about it.”
“Aidan …” Iskandor began, but I cut him off.
“Don’t say it, my friend. You have nothing to apologize for. You didn’t know this was going to happen, that I would become … this,” I gestured to my own body, “and you saved my life. Because of that, I was able to save my country and fall in love with the woman of my dreams. And I have a dragon for a friend—I don’t think it gets much better than that.”
My attempts to bolster Iskandor’s spirits weren’t working—his demeanor didn’t change and he continued to have that faraway look in his eye. He didn’t even look at me.
“You want me to do the fishhook thing with Derrick again?” I asked him. Once when we were traveling together, a prank I initiated had ended with Derrick getting poked in the rear end with a fishhook. He had yelped and danced around, holding his bottom. Surprisingly, Iskandor had laughed hysterically (he usually didn’t pay attention to our crazy antics).
But even that didn’t get a reaction.
“Look, of course something bad’s going to happen,” I said with a shrug. “Once we get to the city, we’re going to have to do a lot of walking, and Derrick’s going to complain about his feet hurting. I know it’s irritating, but if it bothers you that much, overcook his venison. Then you’ll be even.”
Iskandor’s giant face was suddenly in mine. He didn’t raise his voice. “I’m serious, Aidan.”
This reaction shocked me—Iskandor had never been this intense with me before. “Ok, ok … I see that …”
“Something bad is going to happen, Aidan,” Iskandor said, an ominous note in his voice that made me very wary. “I can feel it.”
I was concerned about the tone in his voice, but another part of me said, “When is something bad not happening to us?” I kept that part to myself, though.
“Look,” I said, trying to sound reassuring, “if something happens, we’ll deal with it. That’s what we always do. There’s
nothing we can’t handle.”
“Don’t say that, Aidan,” Iskandor warned. “Things can always be worse than what they are.”
I was silent for a moment and was about to reply when I heard a commotion back at camp. I turned to see what was going on, then chuckled to myself.
“Well, there’s the reason right there,” I muttered. “Kirra just showed up.”
***
“You should know better than to sneak up on someone like that!”
“Oh, relax, Fussy Britches. It was just a joke.”
“The point of a joke is that it’s supposed to be funny!”
“Did you not see me laughing?”
At this point, I finally reached Mirabelle and Kirra and stepped in between them. Derrick had been trying, but even with his big frame, he wasn’t having much success separating the two fiery women. “Calm down, ladies. What happened?”
Mirabelle glared at Kirra. “Old ‘Queen of the Misfits’ over here thought it would be funny to sneak up on me! I almost cut her head off!”
“Oh, please,” Kirra replied, in her customary snooty demeanor. The weathered features of the retired thief were amused and confident, almost arrogant. “My dagger would have been buried in your ample chest before you even had the chance.”
Mirabelle had already had her dagger drawn, but now she drew her longsword as well. “Shall we see who would emerge victorious in a fight?”
Kirra smirked, twirling her dagger in her hands. “I would love that.”
Suddenly, the ground started shaking as heavy thuds came closer and closer. “Enough of this.”
Iskandor’s presence changed the mood completely. His behavior was completely bewildering me—he was never this moody with us.
The bickering over, I turned my attention to Kirra. “What are you doing here?”
“Derrick summoned me,” Kirra replied with a shrug. “Told me what was going on and I thought you might need my help.”
“When did you summon her?” I asked Derrick.
“I sent out a falcon the day we decided we were going,” Derrick answered. “Though it occurs to me now that we probably should have arranged to meet her somewhere, instead of the other way around. Would have avoided problems such as this one.”
“There’s no problem for me,” Kirra replied with a smile. “I live for things like this.”
“Not for much longer, you won’t,” Mirabelle said under her breath.
Honestly, I didn’t see how her skills as a master thief would help in this particular situation, but another capable fighter was always welcome. Kirra was not only formidable with her daggers, but also her bow.
“I appreciate it, Kirra,” I said sincerely.
“Of course, Lord Aidan.” She accompanied her sarcastic comment with a mock bow.
I rolled my eyes inwardly. Once again, Kirra’s presence had just made things more interesting.
Mirabelle heaved a sigh of exasperation, then turned and stormed off.
“Looks like I upset your girlfriend,” Kirra remarked, smirking.
“Well, it doesn’t really help that that was your intention in the first place,” Derrick replied.
Kirra held her hands up. “Hey, I can’t help it if she can’t take a joke. What do you want me to do—not play pranks on her?”
“That would actually help a great deal …” I said.
“Well, forget it,” Kirra said. “Seeing the look on her face when she finds a dead rat in her boot is just way too good to pass up.”
I sighed heavily. I wanted to go after Mirabelle, but she needed time to calm down first.
“So … what’s going on?” Kirra asked cheerfully.
I just shook my head, so Derrick answered for me. “Timor tried to reinstate his status with the mages and it didn’t go well. Now he’s missing again.”
“Old four-eyed stick in the mud?” Kirra asked, eyebrows lifted. “You called me out here for him?”
“He’s one of us, Kirra,” I replied. “We have to help him.”
“How are we supposed to find him?”
“That’s not our concern yet,” I said. “Right now, we just have to verify his story with the mages before they decide to hunt him down. Also, they want to discuss the Sirak matter.”
“Of course they do,” Kirra responded with a smirk. “The people are so up in arms that if they could burn their little tower to the ground, they would. I say let them.”
“I’m sure you would,” Derrick said, “but right now, we kinda need their help to deal with old half-skull face. We need all the firepower we can get.”
Kirra thought this over for a moment. “I suppose you’re right. After all, what better way to fight fire than with fire, eh?”
With that, Kirra seated herself on a log and began to clean her daggers, whistling to herself—like nothing ever happened. I shook my head inwardly and left to find Mirabelle.
CHAPTER 5
The country of Longhaven had lost a great deal of respect from the neighboring countries following the twin princes’ fight for the throne in Severance, which ultimately led nowhere. When the Senate was formed, Longhaven earned back a modicum of that respect, but only that much, since they were no longer a monarchy, and the other countries continued to look down on them because of that. In an effort to regain some of credibility, the Senate decreed that the gates to the city would always be open, and that the gate guards would be little more than inn greeters (though the actual law was worded a little differently), smiling and happily greeting any and all visitors to Severance.
This practice worked both ways for Severance and for Longhaven—on one hand, the other countries gained a little more respect for them because the city had become very visitor-friendly, welcome to anyone who wanted to come and see their beautiful city. On the other hand, some countries respected them even less because they were allowing anyone and everyone in the city, with little or no regard to who they actually were.
Case in point: when we arrived at the city southern gates, the gate guard smiled at us and said, “Hello, travelers! Welcome to Severance! Enjoy your stay!” Then we walked right past him into the city.
So, without blinking, the guard had just let in someone who may be only partially human, a dragon, and the most well-known thief in the entire land.
Not the best way to run a city.
The city itself had also been reformed into a much more lively atmosphere—on nearly every corner, there were street illusionists, musicians, and street performers. The inns and taverns were open at all hours of the night, and the people hollered and screamed joyfully, basking in the party atmosphere.
It was only early evening when we had arrived, and the city was already in full swing. People crowded the streets, drinks in hand, already enjoying the happy mood of the pleasant evening and the raucous night that was sure to follow.
“You would never have believed that anything had ever happened to this city,” Mirabelle commented.
“They do this to forget,” Derrick said. “Also, the rowdy mood of the city folk covers up the adolescent behavior of the two princes. It blends right in.”
“It’s all very strange,” I observed. “Allowing this to continue will not help this country in the long run—it only serves to damage their credibility further.”
“This is the best city ever!” Kirra exclaimed, obviously not listening to our conversation. “Why don’t I visit here more often?”
“Where is our destination?” Iskandor asked, clearly ignoring her.
“The Senate building, which is in the northern half of the city,” Derrick answered.
We continued through the city, facing no resistance except having to weave our way through the swelling crowds. The city itself was very beautiful, with amazing, intricate architecture and wondrously tall buildings. Tapestries hung from windows, rooftops, and poles, and they seemed to greet us as we passed them.
We slowly maneuvered our way to the western part of the city, where the bridge that connected
the northern half and the southern half was. As we approached, the sounds of the screaming people began to fade, as most of the people were congregating in the lower portion of the city, where a majority of the taverns were. As those sounds began to fade, other sounds began to rise, sounds more singular and pronounced—sounds of bickering and the clanging of objects being thrown and colliding with the stone walls.
“Hmm … I wonder what that could be,” Derrick said sarcastically.
Sure enough, as we walked through the enormous arched opening onto the bridge, Princes Devlin and Brogan could be heard very clearly, bickering at each other from across the river in their top floor dwellings. Every once in a while, we could see an object flash in the fading sun, soaring across the river until it crashed against the stone wall and fell into the river below.
“If King Keegan could see this, he would be enraged,” Derrick said.
“He might have thrown them into the dungeons himself,” I added.
“If not had them whipped,” Mirabelle said. “Keegan was a no-nonsense kind of man, especially when it came to childish behavior like this.”
In the northern half, things weren’t nearly as out-of-control, due to the fact that the taverns were more spread out. There were crowds in front of the sparse taverns, but they weren’t crowding the streets as they were on the southern half of the city.
I was just beginning to wonder where the Senate’s building was when Derrick stopped us suddenly. “Well, here we are.”
My eyebrows raised in surprise. “This is the building? Are you sure?”
“I’m positive,” Derrick answered.
I’m not sure what I expected to find when we arrived at the place of business for the Senate, but this square, squat, shabbily decorated building certainly wasn’t it. The outside of the building was slightly rundown, pieces of stone having fallen off at various places. The only possible signs that marked this building as the Senate’s dwelling was the flag of Lorehaven, a green stem with evenly-spaced lavender flowers on a white background, bordered by green and gold trim, and the flag of Severance that hung next to it, a simple white flag with a stripe of blue that ran down the middle of it.
The Treachery Of A Weasel Page 5