His lips pursed. “I don’t have the money for that, though. Not with me, anyway; everything was paid for on our trip down, and I was going to be working in Ellawynn, and, of course, with bandits and the like, I didn’t want—”
I cut him off with a wave, then reached into the coin purse on my belt. “You don’t need to worry about any of that.” I fished out a fistful of golden Imperials and held my hand out to him expectantly. After a few moments of hesitation he held out an upturned palm, and I deposited the heap of coins. “Take as much time as you need, and don’t spare a single expense. For the two of you, and for Layne and your grandmother.”
“No, this is too much,” he muttered, stunned. “We could stay a month in Lienna and have a regal service with just...three of these.” He plucked three coins out of the pile in his palm and then offered the heap back to me. I crossed my arms and stared back at him, expressionless. “Then...five. We don’t need it, but we’ll take five,” he said, sifting two more coins from hand to hand.
“You’ll take the lot,” I countered. His eyes jumped from mine down to the fistful of coins and back again, then began to waver as he slowly accepted the money, sliding it into his pocket. “I wasn’t lying before; Lyn is going to need someone to help her through all of this. That money is for both of you.” I gave him a hard look through narrowed eyes. “Are you up to the task?”
“Yes,” he replied immediately, with a sudden strength he had lacked before. “I can do it.”
“Good.” I put a hand on his shoulder. “I’m sorry that this is all we can do for you, but Lia and I have other matters to attend to now. If you ever need anything from us, just get a message to Elise Tressel from Three Barrels. She’ll pass it on to us.”
He bobbed his head in reply for a moment, then stepped forward and wrapped his arms around my chest. “Thank you, Lux,” he whispered. “You’re a good friend.”
“That means a lot, Miles,” I said, putting an arm over his shoulder and patting him on the back. He stepped away a moment later and composed himself, smoothing out his clothing and wiping the water from his eyes.
We’re almost back, Lia’s voice said in the back of my mind. My vision flashed away, replaced instantly with the view from her eyes: she walked at the back of a procession of two horse-drawn carts, accompanied by a group of four women in gray, hooded robes.
Thank you, I answered, switching my sense back to my own body. “Miles, you can head out to the road now. Lia will be back soon with some women from the Church.” His eyebrows shot up for a brief moment, but he shook away the surprise and made his way out to the road from our camp. I moved to where Lyn was sleeping and knelt down beside her, shaking her gently by the shoulder.
She rose with a start, blinking up at me in confusion until the memories of our night of travel returned to her. Her normally puffy chestnut hair was momentarily deflated and stuck to the side of her face, and she took a moment to right herself. “Lux, is everything all right?” she asked, concerned.
“Yes, everything’s fine,” I answered. “Lia found the two of you a room and brought back some women from the Church to take care of Layne and Josephine.”
She smiled, but the pain was clear in her eyes. “That’s very kind of you,” she said, wrapping my cloak more tightly around her shoulders as she stood up. “I’m not sure what Miles and I would have done without you.”
“It’s...best not to think about it,” I answered, unsure of what to say. “I gave Miles some money for the two of you to use while you’re here in Lienna. You can stay as long as you need.”
“Thank you for that, as well,” she said with a small nod. “I hope you won’t hold what he said last night against him.”
“Of course not. We spoke this morning and worked things out.” I looked out towards the road, watching through Lia’s eyes as he met up with her party. “He’s a good guy.”
She smiled a more genuine smile. “Yes, he’s always been a very compassionate person. Emotional, to a fault sometimes, but it’s why we love him.”
“He’s going to need your help to get through this, Lyn.”
“Yes,” she agreed. “Somehow, we’ll come out of this stronger than before. Somehow.” Her eyes fell to the shrouded sledge beside us. “I don’t know what my life will look like without Layne.”
I felt a sudden, powerful flush of emotion through my chest. “I...lost my wife, a long time ago,” I said wistfully. “It’s an ache that never goes away. But it does change, over time; that pain reminds me to never take what I have for granted. I’d miss it now, if it was gone. It’s what I have left of her.”
She tilted her head to one side as she listened to my story, and her eyes began to glisten with fresh tears. “Thank you,” she said quietly, reaching out to take my hand. “I hope you’re right.”
I gave her fingers a reassuring squeeze as I returned her smile. “Me too.” The sound of conversation drifted through our camp as Miles and Lia began to discuss Layne and Josephine’s arrangements. “We should join them,” I said, motioning to the road with my head. Lyn agreed, dropping my hand as she made her way towards the rest of our party, and I followed after her with the sledge in tow. The robed women hurried into action when we appeared at the roadside, relieving me of the sledge to transfer the bodies into shrouded caskets that were then loaded into the back of their carts. They spent a moment discussing the timeline of their work with Lyn and Miles before turning to make their way back to Lienna.
When they had disappeared from sight, Miles gave Lia and me a respectful bow. “We should go as well. We need sleep, and food, and...some other things I’m sure I’m forgetting.”
“This is where we part ways, then,” I said. “I wish there was more we could do for you, but—”
“You’ve done more than enough already,” Lyn interrupted me. “We’ll be forever in your debt.”
I moved to argue, but Lia took a step forward and spoke first. “Even so, please don’t hesitate to ask us for anything. We’ll be there for you.”
“Of course,” Miles answered. “We’ll be in touch when things...settle down.”
Lia stepped forward and wrapped Lyn in a tight embrace, and the pair shared a brief series of whispers. Despite my best attempts to give them privacy, I couldn’t help but hear the exchange through Lia’s ears. “Remember what we talked about. Primes know we could do with a bit of good news,” Lyn said.
“I will,” Lia answered. “Write me some letters when you get the chance; Miles knows where to send them. I’ll send you some back if you tell me where you’re staying.”
“I will,” Lyn echoed. “There was so much more we needed to talk about.”
“I know. I’m sorry.” They shared a final moment of silence together, then broke apart. “Primes watch over you,” Lia intoned.
“And you, together,” Miles and Lyn answered in unison. Lyn slipped her arm around Miles’ waist, and the pair turned and began their trip back to the city. Lia and I moved to the roadside and sat down in the grass, watching them together through our shared Detection. We waited until they reached the inn before we withdrew the extended energy, and we both let out heavy sighs.
“So. What do we do now?” Lia asked. While the question sounded genuine, I could already feel that she knew the answer to the question.
“Lia...I know we just started our first real adventure together, but...we have to go back.”
“Yeah.” She lay back into the grass and stared up into the brightening morning sky. “I don’t know what to tell everyone back home.”
I fell back beside her with another sigh. “I know what you mean, but...that isn’t what I meant.” I pinched the bridge of my nose in annoyance as I finally accepted the truth. “We have to go back to Kaldan.”
***
14. PLANS
The heavy wooden door shattered beneath Jarut’s shoulder, and we slipped past him through the splinters, each clearing one side of the throne room’s entryway. The two guards in front of me jumped away fro
m the shower of wood and metal with just enough time to scramble for their weapons and shout before my sword ended their protests. I spun to assist Kel, but I found her standing casually above the three corpses she had silently created, watching me. She tapped a dagger against her shoulder and mouthed the phrase I already knew was coming: “Too slow.”
The bloody violence of our procession towards the throne stood in stark contrast to our last visit, when we had been paraded as heroes before the most important nobles in Alderea to receive the King’s blessing. A three-year campaign of death, loss, and betrayal separated the two events. Every guard that fell before us on our advance towards the throne stood as a poignant reminder of where we had come from and what we had lost in order to return.
“ORLAN!” Jarut bellowed as he caved in the skull of an approaching Disciple with the blunt end of his battleaxe. “Come down here and face us yourself!”
King Orlan recoiled on his throne, and his disheveled gray hair and untamed beard began to tremble beneath his bejeweled crown. “Protect me, Disciples! Protect your King!”
I felt my blood boil as he cowered behind the sea of expressionless faces. A series of rainbow lights flashed along the length of my sword as my combat enhancements flared to life, and I dove headfirst into the crowd of Disciples. Kel and Jarut joined me a moment later, but their assistance was entirely unnecessary; none of the members of the mob before us were strong enough to deflect my blows or fast enough to escape my onslaught. The place within me where I once pitied the Disciples had long since been gutted and replaced with a growing fire of rage and disgust.
The guards that fell to our assault were clearly not trained soldiers; anybody who had so much as looked at a sword had been rounded up and sent to the warfront years ago, leaving the Alderean capital almost entirely undefended. The King’s retainer had stayed behind at his insistence, but their bodies were strewn across the front steps of the keep, having valiantly blocked our path as we arrived. Despite the matching royal armor and weaponry, the clumsy movements and lack of coordination of the King’s current defenders revealed them for what they truly were: civilians.
I broke through their ranks long before Jarut and Kel and leapt up the steps to Orlan’s throne in a single jump. “YOU,” I roared, pointing my sword into his blue and purple robes until the tip pressed against his sternum. I lunged forward and shoved him roughly against the throne by his shoulder. “How could you do this?” I shoved him again as my arm began to tremble, not waiting for a reply. “HOW?”
“Elden!” Jarut shouted, rushing up behind me. “That’s enough. Let him go.”
I looked up at him in bewilderment as every inch of my body screamed for me to run Orlan through with my sword. “You can’t...Jarut, he—”
“Elden,” he repeated, “listen to me. You aren’t thinking clearly. Let him go. ”
My nostrils flared at the admonishment, but I shoved Orlan one final time as I withdrew my sword and took my spot next to Kel. Jarut stepped forward to take my place, crossing his massive, plated arms and staring down at the cowering king with cold, narrowed eyes.
“Please, spare me!” Orlan shouted, holding his arms up over his head to defend against some unseen attack. “I’ll give you anything you want, just spare me!”
“I want answers, Orlan,” Jarut snapped. “Tell me: Was the war always a lie? Did you plan all of this from the start?”
“No!” he cried. “No, I had no idea, I swear! It was Baasch! Baasch was working for Kalateth the whole time!” The old king squirmed backwards against the dark iron throne as he babbled, trying in vain to find a means of escape. “He started the war and tricked me into sending my troops away so he could take control of the capital himself!”
“And you just GAVE it to him?” I shouted over Jarut’s shoulder, unable to contain my anger. “I saw my friends DIE because of you, and you just—”
Jarut turned abruptly and blocked the king from my view. “ENOUGH, Elden,” he commanded. “You’ll stay quiet, or you’ll leave.” We locked eyes for a long moment before I turned my head away to stare at the floor, silent and seething. He turned back to Orlan and pointed an armored finger into the king’s chest. “You could have recalled the royal army. You could have called for aid from the north. But you gave the city over to him and didn’t say a word.” He let the statement linger for a moment, then leaned his face down level with the king’s. “Why?”
“If I hadn’t gone along with his plan, Baasch would have just killed me and done it anyway!” he replied frantically. “He told me it was the only way to save Alderea from evil! He said it was the only way to keep everyone safe!”
In a sudden flurry of movement, Jarut hauled Orlan out of his throne by the collar and carried him down to the base of the dais, where a thick pool of blood had formed around the dead Disciples. “THIS is keeping everyone safe?” he demanded, grabbing the nearest corpse and holding it before the king. He turned the slain man’s head to one side, revealing the long, tell-tale crimson scar of the Disciples that branched out from his ear and mottled the right side of his face. “No emotions? No desires? No free will? You consider that safe?”
“Yes, because they were alive!” he insisted. “Either everyone followed the Path of Kalateth, or they died. That was the choice Baasch gave me, and I chose the option that kept my people alive!”
“Everyone?” Kel said, silently appearing at Orlan’s side. She drew a dagger and traced it along his bearded cheek to his right ear. “If that’s the case, why haven’t you become a Disciple?”
“Baasch said Kalateth had greater plans for me than a mere Disciple,” he answered indignantly.
Kel snorted. “Jarut, I’m tired of this insipid old man. Can we kill him now?” I took a quick step forward and tightened the grip on my sword in anticipation.
“No,” Jarut answered calmly. “We aren’t going to kill him.”
Kel and I did a double take in unison. “Excuse me?” she asked, annoyed.
“Thank you!” Orlan sputtered, patting at the arm that still held him by the collar. “Thank you, Jarut!”
Jarut’s eyes narrowed as he stared intently into the king’s eyes. “Death is a kindness you don’t deserve.” Orlan fell silent at the harsh indictment. “You deserve to live the rest of your life knowing what you’ve done. And when we kill Baasch and remove Kalateth’s influence from Alderea, all of your subjects will know what you’ve done, too. History will remember you as Janus Orlan, the King who brought ruin to his country. You’ll live with that shame, and you’ll die with it. That’s what you deserve.”
Orlan fell limply to the ground as Jarut dropped him and turned away. The throne room fell silent for a long moment, until Kel kicked at Orlan’s foot. “Tell me: where’s Baasch now?”
The king who brought ruin to his country looked up at her, looking suddenly more frail and tired than he had moments ago. “He’s...in the undercroft.” Kel nodded and stepped away, but Orlan grasped out for her boot. “He’s too powerful to be stopped now. Kalateth has blessed him with gifts beyond any normal man.”
“I guess it’s lucky we aren’t normal men, then,” Kel quipped as she walked back to the chamber’s entrance. “You might get to live through tonight, Coward King, but Baasch doesn’t.” I followed along closely behind her, focusing all of my rage into the task ahead of us. “You ready, Luxblade?” she asked.
“I’m ready,” I agreed under my breath. “Baasch dies tonight. But before he dies, he’s going to suffer for—”
---
I awoke to a loud crash and an agonizing fire in my chest. Thrashing against the bedsheets above me, I struggled up to a sitting position as I sucked in air to appease my burning lungs, but the breath did little to assuage the pain. My thoughts were far too frantic and scattered for me to assess the source of my distress, but I could feel that something was missing that I dearly needed. I struggled to my feet and scanned the bedroom wildly. “Lia!” I shouted, clawing at my chest. “Lia, where are you?”
Our mana coalesced in an effort to reform the lost connection, but the bond we created was only an echo of the one we had shared before. I could feel her consciousness against mine, but we remained two distinct, separate entities like we had hundreds of times before during our meditations. Even so, the presence of her energy was enough to calm my panicked mind. “Lia,” I gasped, “what happened?”
She remained quiet while her breath slowly returned to its baseline state. “I’m not sure,” she answered eventually, curling even tighter against my bare chest. “I was downstairs making us some breakfast, or, uhm,” she paused, looking out the window at a clearly setting sun, “dinner, I guess. I was making us some food, and you started to...remember.”
I ran my hand along her tightly braided hair and sighed. “You saw my dream.”
“That was a dream?” she asked, turning her head to peer up at me with one amber eye. “I could feel everything like I was actually there. Like I was you. I’ve never had a dream like that.”
“That’s just how I dream, I guess,” I shrugged. “Or, used to. It used to be a nightly occurrence, but I haven’t had a dream like that in a long time. At least since we built our house here.”
Lia thought over the statement quietly, then turned her head back onto its side, resting her ear over my heart. “That was Alderea, wasn’t it? And those people...Jarut and Kel?” I gave her a small nod. “You’ve told me about them before, once or twice, but it was strange to see them so clearly, and to...know them.”
Restart Again: Volume 3 Page 31