by Cox, Craig
"Hey Alex!"
He didn’t seem to register her shout for a few moments before he raised his head and looked at her.
"Why don’t you give me a hand looking for some stuff? I need some new boots, you could handle that, couldn’t you?"
He scowled at her before he walked to one side of the street to begin his search. Ashe had been looking for over an hour before they decided to stop and get something to eat. They had ended up back where they had been a couple of days before with Braden, Troy and Magnus just after they entered the city. She ordered the same steamed pork as they had eaten before, Alex seemed to perk up a bit once he had put some food in his belly. Ashe was about halfway through her food, when an old man brushed past her knocking her arm. She almost had a lap full of food and was about to complain but the man was frail and when he turned around and looked towards her, it was to Alex he apologised. The man's voice was quiet and raspy, years of knowledge hidden in the undertones. He was dressed in a full-length worn-out green robe, which seemed to glow in the light. A light blue cloak engulfed his small frame and around his head was wrapped a blue piece of fabric which covered his eyes, the old man was blind. He carried in his right hand a four foot stick, the head was a polished wooden ball.
"It's no problem, I didn’t drop any." She replied.
The old man reached out his free hand and after one failed attempt placed it on Ashe's forearm.
"It is not safe for someone like you to be roaming the capital’s streets."
"What do you mean, someone like me?"
"An Arcane." the old man whispered.
Chapter XXIX
Braden
Braden lifted another cup of the bittersweet liquid to his lips laughing in between mouthfuls. Was this his fourth or fifth? He really wasn’t sure and he didn’t even know if he had counted the one he had drunk with Kova in the main room downstairs. Both him and Knox had been drinking heavily since they had sat down, Manu and Badu only had one. They seemed to be keeping their senses keen, but for what Braden wasn’t sure. They had taken turns looking out of the massive window onto the courtyard, whilst the other helped Knox explain the deep workings of Alton, and its many hideaways and haunts. From what he could remember, there seemed to be a fine balance between the city guard, the noblemen’s retainers and the tavern gangs. Knox had preferred a more refined name than gang, but it was the only thing which had stuck in Braden's mind. When he had first heard that he was sat in a gang stronghold he panicked. Only the cup in front of him had saved him as he hid his face behind the lip of the cup. Knox didn’t seem to be a bad person and the way he described his group's activities and movements, it seemed as though they were more of a help to the city than a hindrance, of course that was his side of the story. Braden guessed that the city guard had a different side. Their main source of income and activity was security, either protecting the shops and merchants or any small time noblemen and wealthy peasants who were visiting the city, keeping them safe. There were around a hundred such groups by Manu's count in the city, all were different in size, some even concentrated on personal protection. Their secondary aim was to keep the peace, troublemakers were treated harshly by the gangs, normally given a severe beating before being handed over by a neutral party to the town guard for further punishment. Most businesses handed over money with minimal fuss, it seemed preferable to pay the price for security from thieves and the corrupt guard than to live outside a gang's protection. Badu had described in detail the level of corruption that was running through both the city guard and the large number of the noblemen’s retainers in the capital. Both took bribes to look the other way from illegal activities, some sought out trouble to use their titles, to then bribe the victims into submission against a false claim. The guard knew to stay out of the gang's way, however, they were few in number compared to the number of gangs and fewer still in proportion to the number of people in the city. The Lord of Alton had, from Knox's view, long forgotten about the city’s inhabitants and their well-being. He had apparently married the daughter of a northern Lord and the dowry had been more than enough for him to forget about his duty. Braden's shock had slowly turned to anger over the state of the city and lack of care from anyone in power.
"We are always on the precipice of destruction." Knox's dark tone finally broke Braden's silence.
"How?"
"The three sides are in fine balance, on one side you have the uncorrupted retainers, city guard and the gangs which are trying to keep the peace. Then you have those who enjoy the chaos, the gangs who cause trouble and the growing unrest of the common people at the corruption in the system."
"And the third side?"
"The opportunists. Those who suck gold from the fine balance, most of these are the corrupt guard and retainers. But every coin they take, pushes us further to the edge."
"It wouldn’t take much to get the people to riot." Badu had come back from the window.
"A poor harvest this year pushing up the winter prices, could be the tipping point." Manu added.
"We were on the edge of it when the Prince passed away. The whole country was in love with him, this city even more. He had personally used the finances from his holdings to host games and feasts for the Alton. The city was distraught when he passed, and a few small scuffles had broken out, but Lord Cadare had summoned his own troops in anticipation." He continued.
"Only five thousand men with swords and spears could keep the peace then. And now they have gone." said Knox.
"So why doesn’t anyone do anything?"
"Because they are either blind, being blinded or cannot do anything. Imagine if you were the King and your enemy brings a few thousand men into the capital surrounding your castle, you would be a little twitchy yourself. Without an actual riot, they won’t do anything to stop one brewing, the noblemen are more reactive then proactive, when it comes to the people of Alton. All I know is that rioting and disorder is not good for us or any of the gangs. As much as the big Lords up in the Citadel don’t want to admit it we are the only reason this city has kept together."
With that Knox took another swig from his cup finishing the last of his drink. He wiped his mouth with the back of his hand before rising quickly, the alcohol had clearly had some effect, as he stumbled slightly forcing him to grab hold of the couch to steady himself.
"Anyhow Braden, enough sitting around talking about the city. Why don’t we go for a look around."
Chapter XXX
Braden
They had left Badu back at the tavern, to keep a watch over the square and Kova. Knox had spent ten minutes telling her, that she wasn’t coming out with them and that she needed to keep watch with Badu. After they had left and put a few streets between them and the Cock in the Crown, Knox explained that she wasn’t normally that keen to come out with them, but the look she had given Braden on the way out when she thought that no-one was looking he could guess why.
"Maybe it’s because of what happened this morning, or maybe she just wants to make sure you’re safe?" Braden replied.
He had hoped that Knox didn’t think it was for any other reason, Braden was certain that he didn’t want to get on Knox's bad side.
"With you and Manu accompanying me, I’m sure I will be fine."
There was also another member of the group, whose name was Markus. He was one of the men, who had turned up late to Knox's 'meeting' earlier in the day. He dropped his head, when he realised that Knox had made a jibe at him. Braden looked back at Markus but didn’t say a word, instead he turned his attention to his surroundings.
"All the surrounding streets belong to me and the boys, everything from Middle street over there to Corrie's bakers in the east and from the third circle road down to the fifth."
Alton was split into its defining districts by a circular wall surrounding High Alton, the road immediately outside was called the circle road. The rest of the city was designed in layers each starting and finishing with another circle road each longer than the last
. Some of the roads had gates into the other districts and a few didn’t go the entire way around. Manu explained that the circle roads were only a few hundred years old, the design of an architect instructed by the King, after half the capital had burned down in a great fire. Majority of the surviving city was torn down and rebuilt to meet the architect's vision. It had made it much easier to defend against any future fires. The wide circle roads made it hard for the flames to advance quickly, unlike the dense zigzag streets of the original city and also much easier for the volunteer fire service and city guard to block off areas on fire and keep everything safe and under control. They had made their way through a few simple side streets when they came upon the first stall. Knox placed his arm across Braden to stop him, as Manu walked up towards the stall’s owner. When he spotted Manu walking towards him he smiled, Braden had expected fear to flash across the man’s face, perhaps even for him to put up a fight against paying Manu and the group, but after finishing with his customer, he walked into the back and returned with a small pouch and placing it into Manu's hand. The dark skinned man quickly pocketed the pouch inside his shirt, before thanking the man. Before he could leave, the stall owner placed a bag of apples into his hand as a gift for the group. Knox called out his thanks, as Manu distributed the apples between them. Braden took a bite out of his apple as Knox continued to explain the relationships with the patrons in the city.
"You see, it is very much a friendly relationship. Most of these people believe they owe us more than the percentage of their profits that we ask for due to past services. Hence free apples."
Knox quickly finished his apple, before they reached the next stall. This time Markus collected the debt, no extra food this time. Manu made a sarcastic remark about Markus' attempt to get extras which Knox laughed at. Markus then spent the rest of the trip sulking at the back of the group. The group visited another five more owners, some were small stalls selling fresh produce, one was a tailor and another a restaurant which Knox visited personally. They had been steadily making their way West then South along the Middle road. They reached a stall on the corner of fourth circle road, a small side street, selling fresh fish.
"Why don’t you do this one Braden? No free fish though, I can never get the stink off."
"You sure?"
"Yeah of course, and whilst you’re at it anything he gives you take home today."
Manu was about to say something, but Knox just raised his hand which stopped him mid word. Braden looked over their shoulders at Markus who just scowled back at him. Walking across to the stall, the man looked over and gave him a big smile.
"So you are looking for some fish for your evening meal sir?"
"No, I am here on behalf of Knox."
The man looked a little in shock, he obviously didn’t see him come across from the group. He then began to laugh, Braden wasn’t sure if it was at him or just in general.
"I owe Knox nothing."
Braden was taken back at the spitefulness in the man's voice. He didn’t know what to say, he felt someone walk up alongside of him, luckily it was Manu.
"Everything alright here, Braden."
The man's eyes widened a little bit at the sight of Manu, he must have known who he was.
"This man says he owes Knox nothing."
"Skagger owns this street now. He took it from Knox when he killed him this very morning."
"Did he now?" Said Knox as he walked alongside Braden and Manu.
The man's eyes opened wider still when he saw Knox and the colour drained from his face. Both Manu and Knox took a step closer to the stall and the man panicked. Picking up a fish in each hand he aimed at both Knox and Manu, before launching them at their heads and then leaped over his stall sprinting up the road.
Knox knocked the fish thrown at him away with his arm, but Manu was not as lucky. Standing closer to the man he had less time to react. The fish hit him squarely in the face, it didn’t cause any damage to the big man, only staggering him. As soon as the man had reacted, Braden was on the alert, expecting a fish to be thrown at his face as he had been the first one to ask about the money. but the reputation of the two men either side of him had took precedence in the stall owners targeting. Braden was already in pursuit of the man when he heard Knox scream at Markus to catch him. Skirting a few confused pedestrians, he kept his eye on the man, skipping past a fruit stall as he turned the corner onto Middle Road. The man wasn’t too far ahead of him, but used his knowledge of Alton to his advantage taking a turn back into the side-street at the last moment, forcing Braden to almost run past it. Braden could feel the alcohol burning through his system as he ran, his lungs were on fire. He had to take the turn at full pace bouncing off the opposing wall to keep as much speed as possible, as he headed down the side street, ducking underneath a low stall selling a few foul smelling products and what looked like small animals in jars. He caught sight of the man as he turned another corner, Braden was now breathing hard and shook his head as he realised he would have to bounce off another wall to ensure that he didn’t lose the man. Sprinting round the corner he finally caught sight of the man's destination. Braden skidded to a halt as he looked at a group of five men blocking the street, a sixth man was talking to the stall owner. He patted him on the back before pushing him behind the group and down the street. He turned back to Braden and smiled, just as Markus, quickly followed by Manu, rounded the corner behind him, they both skidded to a stop beside him.
"Well Manu, you are a little out of your depth here are you not? This is my patch." Braden realised that they were now past the Fifth circle, out of Knox's area.
"Well according to that man, we have been in your patch for a while." The man laughed.
It was a light, almost feminine laugh as it echoed across the street. A few pedestrians walked around the corner but taking one look at the two lines of men, they quickly turned back, leaving the side street empty for just the nine of them.
"Didn’t Knox tell you, that he relinquished those lands to me this morning as he bled out."
"I don’t remember doing that."
Braden turned around to watch Knox casually walk round the corner to face the six men. He was completely calm, if anything he was confident. Manu moved to one side to allow him to step beside Braden. Looking back at the sixth man the confidence had disappeared, to be replaced by a look of confusion.
"Tongue-tied Skagger? Makes a change."
It took Skagger a few seconds to regain his composure before he replied.
"I believe you are still on the wrong side of the fifth, boys!"
He waved his hands forward as he stepped backwards, away from the upcoming confrontation, Knox just smiled rolling his shoulders. Manu followed suit and so did Markus, it was the happiest the men had looked all afternoon, looking at the chance to make up for earlier. Braden did his own quick stretching of his shoulders and neck before reaching to the blade Knox had given him earlier, Manu put his hand on Braden's.
"We don’t settle these things with blades, only fists."
"Fine by me." Braden replied, cracking his knuckles.
The four of them spread out, the last thing they needed was a stray punch catching each other. The five men ahead of them began to split up as well, two headed towards Manu and one each came towards the others. As they closed the gap, Braden began to bounce up and down on the balls of his feet, stretching out his legs, as his chest began to warm. The closer they got the hotter it became. He thought he heard Manu growling, but he dared not look away from the men, coming at them. As soon as they got ten foot away, it erupted. The five men charged, Manu and Markus charged back at them as Knox and Braden stood still, Manu smashed the first man straight off his feet as he swung his fist into his chest and neck. That was the last Braden observed before his man was on him. At the last moment, he stopped bouncing on the balls of his feet and dropped to his knees, a wild punch flew just above his head. The speed of the punch caught him by surprise and his counter punch didn’t get much po
wer behind it. The man kicked out at his right leg, knocking it out from beneath him, forcing him down onto his rear. Another kick came racing up towards his face. The burning increased, a fire inside of him, his arms felt light and strong, he raised both his arms across his face before pushing them down against the man’s boot. The shock was jarring, Braden felt it vibrate up his arms and into his chest, it also knocked the man momentarily off balance but that was all he needed. Braden aimed his first punch just above the man's left knee to the back of leg, as soon as his fist hit the tissue he knew it was a perfect hit. As the man tried to put weight on the leg it failed underneath him. Slipping back up onto his knees Braden's next strike was into the ribs forcing him to bend over, a third was a right swing which connected to the side of the man's face, forcing him to drop to his knees. Getting to his feet, he finished the man off by grabbing the man behind the head and forcing the knee into the man's jaw knocking him out cold. Looking up he took stock of what was happening around him, Markus to his right was handling himself well. It had turned into a punching match. Knox was in a worse condition to his left, he had a cut above his eyebrow which had blocked the vision in his left eye, but worse of all was Manu. The two men had used their numbers, to their advantage and were slowly wearing the big man down, with continuous punches to his head and body. Leaping into action, Braden ran past Knox purposely clipping his attacker’s heel as he swung a punch knocking him off balance. He hoped it was enough for Knox to take advantage. Closing in on Manu and his attackers, he watched as one stepped back ready to launch a running kick into the big man's chest. Choosing his target, he broke into a full sprint, before crashing into the man's side. At the last minute Braden had launched himself forward slamming his shoulder into the man's ribs as he wrapped his arms around him, tackling him to the floor. They hit the packed earth with a large amount of force. Braden heard a cracking sound, which he was sure was the man's ribs, as he screamed out in pain. Braden had ended up sitting on the man's legs. In desperation the man swung wild punch after punch at Braden, who got a quick punch into Braden’s ribs first to the left then to the right, catching the broken rib with the second punch. The man screamed out again before Braden silenced him with a punch to the side of the head knocking him out. Braden was breathing heavily now and took a moment to catch his breath before turning back towards the rest of the group. He did so just in time to see Manu pick up Knox's attacker and throw him into a pile of wooden scaffolding. He looked over to see the other man, lying face down in the dirt, he couldn’t tell if he was dead, but after looking closer he could see the slight rise and fall of his chest. The final attacker was still throwing punches with Markus, but when he looked up and saw Knox, Manu and Braden walking towards him he turned and ran. Markus was about to sprint after him but Knox called him back. Markus' face was already covered in bruises and his knuckles were a deep shade of purple. Braden wondered if his ribs looked as bad. Markus was not the most graceful and skilled fighter but it seemed he could take a beating and Braden respected that. Knox's cut had stopped bleeding, it looked as if he had rubbed some dried sand into the cut to stem the blood flow. Half of his face was caked in blood and Braden assumed he was black and blue under the blood. Manu’s dark skin seemed to cover the worst of the bruising, a little blood was trickling from his nose and there was a few rising bumps across his face, which Braden thought would be a deep purple if he was the same skin colour as the rest of them. Braden, however, had come out of the fight a lot better off than the others, his leg still ached a little from where the man had kicked it and his forearm was tender, where he had blocked the second kick but apart from that, he was fine.