by J B Drake
“Privacy, Neremi.”
“From what?”
“She had an offer for us.”
“For us, or for you?”
At her words, both Thane and Eldred snickered, but instantly regretted it as Neremi shot them a freezing glare.
“For us,” Thalas continued. “The money came from her.”
Neremi stared at her beloved, but her eyes remain unchanged. “Why would she give you five hundred gold?”
Thalas smiled. “No me, us, all of us. She gave me five hundred gold for each of us.”
“Dear gods…” Thane whispered as the others stared agape.
“What in the world for?”
“She has a task for us, one only we can complete. The five hundred is our advance, with five thousand more once the task is done. Each.”
“Dear gods…” Eldred whispered as the others stared at Thalas.
“What sort of task is worth that kind of money?” Neremi asked, her tone showing her reluctance to learn the answer.
Thalas’s smile grew as he stared at his beloved, but as it grew it took on a much darker tone.
“The street rats,” he said.
“What about them?” Thane asked.
“Wait,” Neremi replied, “she can’t possibly want us to kill them for her, does she? You listen to her rant, you’d think she want that pleasure all to herself.”
“For that kind of money, I’d happily kill them both on my own,” Thane added.
Thalas shook his head. “We’re not to kill them, we’re to befriend them.”
“What?” the three cried in unison.
“Please keep your voices down!” Thalas hissed before looking about them.
“I am not befriending that scum,” Neremi snarled.
“Me neither,” Thane growled. “It’s bad enough they’re in the Tower with us.”
“Fine,” Thalas replied. “More for Eldred and I.”
“Now, hold on a moment,” Thane added hastily. “Let’s not rush this.”
Thalas smiled. “So you are in?”
Thane moved to speak, but no words came. Then, he stared at Neremi. Catching his gaze, Neremi sighed, then shrugged.
“Why does she want us to befriend them anyway?” she frowned. “They killed her sons.”
Thalas grinned. “Vengeance, Neremi. While they are under the Tower’s protection, she can do nothing. But if we befriend them, we can lead them to a place of her choosing, a place where the Tower’s reach is wanting.”
“Oh…”
“Precisely.”
“We carry a lot of risk here, Thalas,” Eldred said, his worry plain. “If we befriend them and lead them away from the Tower, it is us the Tower will look to for answers once they are found dead.”
Thalas shook his head. “They will not be found dead. They will not be found at all. It will be as if they ran away.”
“Nobody will believe that,” Neremi added.
“Nobody will be able to prove otherwise either,” Thalas replied.
“Are you sure about that?” Eldred asked.
Thalas nodded. “Lady Fairshroud will make sure of it. If we’re found out, the trouble will reach her door and she knows it. She will make sure they’re never found.”
Silence fell upon the friends as they tried to make sense of what they had heard.
“It is a lot of money,” Thane said at last.
“Yes, “ Thalas replied, nodding. “And you won’t believe how long it takes to count them, split them, bind them and hide them.
Thane grinned. “So that’s why you were late.”
Thalas nodded. “Yes. And I couldn’t start any of it while my father was awake, couldn’t risk him hearing me.”
“Where’s the money now?” Neremi asked.
“Under my bed. Father’s working late tonight, we can head over to my home once we’re done here.”
Neremi grinned. “That’s why you said to meet today instead of yesterday evening.
Thalas nodded.
“But why meet here?” Eldred asked. “We’ve never eaten here before, at least not without our parents paying.”
Grinning, Thalas looked at Eldred. “That is precisely why we’re meeting here. What better way to celebrate than to dine like we deserve for once?”
As one, both Eldred and Thane feasted their eyes upon the spread before them.
“So, uh,” Thane replied, “who’s paying for all of this?”
Thalas grinned.
“This one is coming out of my share,” he replied, words that brought a smile to Thane’s lips as he reached for the nearest serving spoon.
“So, who befriends who?” Eldred asked, staring in wonder as Thane piled his plate high.
“I shall leave that to you and Thane,” Thalas replied.
“Wait, what?” Thane asked as Eldred frowned at Thalas.
Thalas shrugged. “If I start being overly friendly, they will suspect something is amiss. And if they don’t, Davian will.”
“And Neremi?”
“It’ll be far easier for the two of you to get past the girl’s suspicions than Neremi. You have your looks, and Thane has his size.”
“My looks?” Eldred asked, arching an eyebrow at his friend.
Thalas nodded, grinning. “If they are good enough to ensnare a certain high-elf who shall remain nameless, they should be able to ensnare a lowly gutter rat.”
Eldred stared with pursed lips at Thalas for a spell before turning to Thane.
“I’ll take the boy, you take the girl.”
“Fine,” Thane mumbled as he shrugged, his mouth filled with all manner of delicacies. Then, he looked from Eldred to the others. “What will you two be doing?”
A smug smile parted Thalas’s lips. “Nothing cements friendship like adversity. Neremi and I are going to be openly bitter about your burgeoning friendships, and you two shall eventually win us over, showing us they aren’t so bad.”
“You devious little…” Neremi muttered with no small measure of pride.
Thalas grinned in response.
“Anything else?” Eldred asked.
Thalas shook his head. “No, that’s all. The boy should be at that Mardaley’s store by now, due to return to the Tower in the evening. If we hurry, you can get your coin and have enough time to cross paths with him.”
“If we hurry?” said Thane, smiling. “Is that a challenge?”
Thalas smiled. “Well…”
Grinning, the others attacked the spread before them as Thalas raised his drink to his lips, his smirk perfectly hidden by the goblet.
*****
With a wide yawn, Tip stretched as he stood before Mardaley’s Glorious Emporium. Turning, his gaze fell upon a staring Maline as she stood with her hand on the door handle, shaking her head as a smile parted her lips.
“Tired, then?” she asked.
Tip grinned. “Only a little.”
Nodding, Maline turned to the store. “Want me to come back after?”
“No, no,” Mardaley replied from within. “No need. I’m going to be locking up shortly.”
“Okay,” Maline replied as she stepped out into the street, closing the door behind her.
“Bye, Mardaley!”Tip yelled into the store.
“Goodbye, Tip!” Mardaley called back as the door shut.
Grinning still, Tip turned to Maline. She was still smiling at him.
“Come on,” she said as she began walking away. It was then that Tip saw the parcels under her arm.
“What’s that?” he asked as he fell in step beside her.
“Got two deliveries to make real quick-like,” Maline replied. “Then we take a coach.”
“Okay,” Tip replied before sighing.
“You have every right to feel proud, my darling. You did wonderfully today.”
“Thanks, Ani,” Tip thought in response as he turned his gaze to what lay before him. “Going to get really good, you’ll see. Going to practice everyday.”
“Oh,
I believe you!”
“Talking to…her?” Maline asked, breaking Tip from his thoughts.
Turning, Tip stared at Maline before nodding.
Maline smiled in response, then turned her gaze forward.
“Glad you so happy, Tip,” she said. “When saw you running out earlier, thought you was having a bad one.”
Tip’s smile dimmed a spell.
“But you did good,” Maline continued. “Not seen Mardaley look so proud in a long time.”
At her words, Tip’s smile grew once more.
“Going to get good, Maline,” he replied. “Going to protect Marsha like she protects me.”
Maline nodded. “Good to have a friend like Marsha.”
Tip nodded in response.
“And good for Marsha to have a friend like you.”
Tip’s cheeks reddened at this, the young elf turning his gaze away as his pace slowed. Stopping, Maline grasped Tip’s face in her hands and turned his eyes back to her.
“Not everyone’s got what you two got, and not everyone deserves it. You remember that, okay?”
“What’s her issue?”
Frowning, Tip stared at Maline, unsure what to say. It was her gaze that unnerved him the most, the intensity of it. But before he could think of a response, the street lamps began to light up around them.
“Ah,” Maline said as she lowered her hand, her gaze upon the lamps. “Best hurry.”
Then, she looked back at Tip as she resumed her pace. “Why you got to practice so late today anyway?”
Tip grinned once more. “Mardaley wanted to finish ages ago, but didn’t want to.”
“Why?”
Tip shrugged, grinning still.
“It’s because you had fire in your belly!”
Tip chuckled in spite of himself, a chuckle that soon spread to Maline.
“Come one, then,” she said after a brief spell, quickening her pace. “Best get these delivered quick.”
“Where we going?”
“Oh, uh…” Maline began as she looked down at the parcels under her arm, but as she did so, a figure leapt out from the shadows, flinging one arm about Maline’s waist and another about her lips before pulling her away from Tip. For a moment, a brief moment, Tip felt the fear and shock he’d felt earlier with Marshalla. For that brief moment, he stood stunned, unable to move, unable to think. But it was only an instant, and as the parcels fell crashing to the floor, Tip yelled Maline’s name before calling forth a ball of flame and flinging it in the face of Maline’s abductor, a face covered in shadow.
But the ball was weak, its power minor, and as it hit the shadowed figure, a startled yelp echoed about them. Tip froze the moment he heard it. He knew that voice.
“Fargus?”
“Stay where you are! You stay there!”
Confused, Tip stared as Fargus dragged Maline back. But Maline was having none of it.
“What you doing?” she yelled as she fought him.
“Saving your life is what!” Fargus snarled. “Hold still.”
“Get near him, Tip.”
Tip took a step forward, but in response, Fargus pulled forth a blade and pressed it to Maline’s throat.
“Damn it.”
“You stay there,” Fargus warned. “You hear, you…whatever you are. You stay back and stay there!”
“Fargus,” Maline replied. She was no longer fighting him. “Fargus, please, what you doing?”
“Still care for you, Maline,” Fargus replied as he stared wide-eyed and wild at Tip. “You don’t deserve it, but still care.”
“Follow them, Tip. With luck he’ll drag her to a place with fewer eyes about. I’ll take care of things from there.”
“You scaring me,” Maline replied, her voice quivering. “Please, let’s just talk and—”
“Talk?” Fargus exclaimed. “To that thing?”
Tip looked about them. They were not alone, but the few people about were content to either just stand and stare or simply turn about and walk away.
“Saw you, you bastard,” Fargus continued. “Thought you was alone, didn’t you? But saw you!”
“Saw what?” Maline asked.
With his heart beating against his chest, Tip closed the gap between he and Fargus.
“Said stay back!” Fargus screamed.
“Tip, Tip, stay!” Maline begged. “Stay! It’s okay, Fargus not going to hurt me, stay!”
“Follow them, Tip, follow them. He needs her alive for as long as you are within sight.”
“He’ll kill her, Ani,” Tip thought, the tightness in his throat growing.
“Only if he has no further use for her. Trust me, Tip, follow them.”
Gritting his teeth and swallowing hard against the mounting dread within him, Tip shuffled forward. It was slight, barely half a step. Then he did it again, and then again. Whether Fargus noticed or cared, Tip couldn’t say, but either way his advance didn’t anger the man.
But Maline noticed, and as she stared from his feet to his face, she smiled and nodded slightly at him.
“What, you got nothing to say?” Fargus bellowed, his gaze upon Tip the whole time. “You got nothing to say? Saw what you did! Saw how you killed him!”
“Wait, what?” Maline exclaimed as Tip came to a screeching halt.
“Ani, what’s he mean?”
“I…truly have no idea.”
“Did we kill someone?”
“The only lives we’ve taken were the Tower mages’, nobody else’s.”
“Answer me!” Fargus shrieked, but before anyone could speak, a blinding flash ripped out from a distance as a lightning bolt slammed into Fargus’ elbow, propelling the blade against Maline’s neck away from her as Fargus screamed in pain.
“Well I’ll be…”
Wide-eyed, Maline watched the blade tumble from Fargus’s hand as his arm fell away from her. Seizing her chance, she rammed a clenched fist between his legs before shoving him away from her.
“Quick, run!” she shrieked and leapt at Tip. But Tip’s gaze was upon their saviours.
“Wait, look,” he said as he pointed behind her.
It was Thane. He was cracking his knuckles, his eyes locked on Fargus as he whispered something to himself, something Tip couldn’t hear. But there was something in his gaze, and it made Tip’s heart swell.
“Ugh,” came a groan from the wounded vagabond that was Fargus.
Turning, Tip and Maline both watched Fargus stumble to his feet, his blade back in hand. He stared at them with eyes that were darker than Tip had ever seen. And what’s more, he was closer to them than Thane was. Standing tall, the drunken vagrant took one look at Thane before staring at Maline, and as he stared, he snarled.
“Fargus…” began Maline as she pulled Tip away from him. “Wait, don’t—”
Before she could complete uttering her words, however, Fargus lunged at them, blade at the ready. Wincing, Maline pulled Tip close as she shielded him from her old lover. But even as Fargus lunged, so too did Thane, and though Fargus was much closer, it was Thane who landed the first blow, his whole frame a blur as he slammed a fist into Fargus’s exposed side. Tip watched as a tiny explosion of fire and stone erupted from Thane’s fist as he struck, a fist that seemed to be wreathed in flames and earth.
“A mage wielding Obsidian Fists…now that is interesting.”
A tense silence fell upon all, except Fargus, who’d been flung away from Tip and Maline and now lay doubled over where he’d landed, holding his side as he moaned and coughed. With a calm befitting a victor, Thane walked over to Fargus before crouching just before him.
“I know not who you are or what you want,” he said in a tone that made Tip’s hairs stand on end. “But if I ever see you anywhere near these two again, I shall end you.”
“You don’t get—”
Thane held a hand up. His fists were normal once more. “You don’t seem to understand me. Tip is one of us. He is under the protection of the Shimmering Tower, and shou
ld you harm him, or any of his friends, your life shall end. Is that clear?”
Fargus moved to speak, but thought better of it and instead glared at Thane where he lay.
“Good,” Thane replied before standing, his gaze upon Fargus still.
“Good thing we came when we did,” came a voice from behind Tip and Maline. Startled, both turned to see Eldred staring at them.
“You know them?” Maline asked as she glanced from Eldred to Tip.
Tip nodded.
“That’s Eldred,” he said, pointing to Eldred, who duly bowed.
“And that one’s Thane,” he continued, turning to point to Thane, who’d now joined them.
Tip looked behind him for Fargus, but the vagrant had long scurried away.
“I see our reputation precedes us,” Eldred said, smiling.
Tip smiled too, then a memory forced its way to the fore.
“Davian said you hate us,” he frowned, “Marsha and me.”
“What?” Maline exclaimed as Eldred and Thane shared a glance.
“He said you call Marsha and me scum.”
Eldred and Thane shared another glance before staring at the little boy as Maline glared at each in turn.
“He’s right,” Eldred replied at last, “we did, many-a-time. But, when we saw you two being attacked, when we saw you standing there so despondent with nobody stepping forward to aid you, it…well…you’re one of us, Tip, whether we like it or not, and the Tower protects its own. How we treated you in the past was…well…”
Shaking his head, Eldred sighed.
“I wasn’t always well liked at the Tower,” he continued after a brief spell, “and neither was Thane. It’s wrong of us to put you through what we went through, so…the Tower protects it’s own, and you’re one of us. We will live up to that tenet, if you’ll allow it. ”
“Just like that?” Maline snarled.
Eldred nodded. “Just like that.”
“You a bad liar, boy.”
Eldred shook his head as a sad smile parted his lips. “It’s no lie.”
“Nobody changes that quick, that easy.”
“Ah, but people do. Some emotions can change one’s nature in an instant. Love, despair, even hate.”
“So what changed yours, then?”
“Regret,” Thane intoned.
“You what?”