Solomon's Exile

by James Maxstadt

  “Maybe.” Shireen’s voice interrupted his thoughts. “We need to get back. I’ll take Solomon.” With that, she strode quickly back to the lounge and reached down to pull Solomon up onto her shoulders.

  “Wait!” Lacy cried. “You can’t move him like that! He’s hurt!”

  Shireen stopped and looked at her. “We must. He must be brought back to the Greenweald. He’s done his duty here, that’s obvious, and now he’s needed there. And we must hurry. Another’s life may depend on it.”

  As if that settled the conversation, she grabbed Solomon’s wrist, who chose to let out a groan at that very moment. Shireen jumped back, and they all stared at him. Luke let go of Lacy’s hand as she moved to his side. “Solomon? Can you hear me?”

  With another groan, his good eye fluttered open. It cast around the yard, finding Lacy, then Luke himself, and finally settling on Daisy. “You came back.” His voice was a husky croak. “Good girl. Took you long enough, though.” In spite of his words, he scratched the dog between the ears.

  “She came as fast as she could,” Orlando said. “We could barely keep up.”

  For the first time, it seemed that Solomon registered that Shireen and Orlando were there. He broke into a smile that was painful to watch as it twisted the horrible wound on his face. “Took you guys long enough, too,” he whispered.

  Luke stood back as Shireen bent down and squeezed him.

  “We have to get you back,” she said, when she finally released him and stood. “We’ll get you to the healers. Then, we have other things to deal with.”

  Solomon made a face. “What about my exile?”

  “Florian has rescinded it. He and Jediah are working together. We can tell you about it later. For now, say your goodbyes so that we can go.”

  Luke already had the impression that Shireen wasn’t so much the bad cop, but that she was impatient and anxious for action at all times. Orlando looked more serene and willing to wait for events to unfold before reacting. Sort of like he and Lacy, he mused.

  “Goodbyes?” Solomon said. “No. Lacy is coming with us. She’s been hurt by that thing too, and needs healing. Luke also.”

  “We can’t take humans into the Greenweald!” Shireen exploded. “It’s unheard of!”

  “A lot of things that have been unheard of are happening,” Orlando said, stepping forward and taking her hand. Again, Luke felt that he was watching his own interactions with Lacy play out in someone else.

  But this talk of going to the…what was it?...the Greenweald? What was that? He turned to Lacy and raised an eyebrow, a well know expression between the two of them that meant, “what the hell?”

  She put her hand on his chest. “I’ll explain more later. Just know for now that it’s where that horrible thing came from. But it’s also where he comes from.” She indicated Solomon with a tilt of her head. “So it can’t be all bad, right?”

  Luke smiled. He was back, and free of the Soul Gaunt, and with Lacy. There was still a lot to atone for. His drinking, his disappearance, his behavior in general. But she seemed willing to put it behind her for the moment. And for now, that was good enough.

  “Okay,” he said. “Then let’s go see another world.”

  “I still don’t like it,” Shireen mumbled.

  CHAPTER 34

  Jediah had returned to his own compound, and Florian sat in one of his many gardens, uneasy, despite the quiet of the afternoon. He had to admit that it felt good to be working with his friend again. Yes, his grief was very real and legitimate, but he was seeing a little more clearly now. He should have listened to his daughter, and not been so stubborn about who she had fallen in love with.

  Florian didn’t want to admit to being any sort of elitist, but he supposed that he was. He couldn’t bring himself to face that his daughter, one of a noble class, had fallen for a common soldier. The fact that Solomon was hardly common didn’t enter into the equation. It had all come down to his birth, and the fact that he had been born to commoners. How foolish of him.

  Now, he sat in the sunlight and missed his daughter, and nursed his own guilt. At the alienation that had sprung up between them, at her death, and at the misplaced anger that had caused Solomon to be exiled. If he only had it to do again.

  And then there was Thaddeus. Florian was second-guessing his decision to send his cousin to the Rustling Elms compound with Jediah’s soldiers. He had been so sure that it was something that was being blown out of proportion and had wanted someone that he trusted there to tell him what was really going on. Because he no longer trusted his oldest friend to do what was needed.

  For the first time in his life, he felt old, and tired. It felt like mistake after mistake was piling up, until they were in a huge, teetering stack, about to fall and bury him under. Maybe that wouldn’t be such a bad thing. Let someone younger, less prone to emotion, take over the responsibility of running a Great House. His choice of successor would have been Thaddeus, with Celia gone, but now that option was gone as well. There was no one else. His family had never been large, the way some of the others were. But now someone from one of the other noble families that swore allegiance to House Whispering Pines would have to be chosen. Enough. That was a task for another day.

  He sighed and took a sip of his wine. These were dark days. Even here, sitting in the sunshine in gardens that were the envy of most other Houses, it felt dark and cold.

  The servant approached so quietly that Florian hardly even noticed him at first, but when the man hadn’t moved on after a moment, he realized that his attention was needed.

  “Yes?” he said, trying to keep the irritation from his voice. “What is it?”

  “My lord…” the servant hesitated. “You’re needed.”

  “What’s that supposed to mean?” He reached for his wine glass again.

  “There is someone here, my lord. For you, I mean.”

  This uncharacteristic fumbling of words in a servant was unusual. But then again, he had been in such a funk for these last several days that who knew how the staff was viewing him now.

  “Bring them here then.”

  “My lord…. it’s Thaddeus. He’s returned, and he’s injured.”

  Florian’s hand stopped with his wine halfway to his mouth. He stared at the servant, too stunned to move. Then the wine glass fell from his grasp to shatter on the ground, and he was up and moving toward the main house, the servant trailing along behind.

  “Thaddeus,” Florian said quietly. They had laid him in his bed in his chambers and two healers were there poring over his wounds. The one on his hand looked especially bad, but it wasn’t until one of the healers had moved, that he saw that two of Thaddeus’s fingers were missing entirely. There was also a large cut on his leg, several smaller scrapes and nicks, and bruising all over. It looked as if his cousin had been savagely attacked, and barely escaped with his life.

  Florian was sure that was pretty close to the truth.

  “Thaddeus?” he tried again, but there was still no movement.

  “Give him time, Florian,” one of the healers said. She was most competent healer in all the Greenweald, and as such had earned the right of familiarity.

  “Alright,” he said, and retreated to a chair across the room to leave them to their work.

  The healers of the Greenweald were unmatched in their craft. Many were the Folk who had been brought back from the other side of death by them. They served no House exclusively, but had taken oaths to do their best to provide aid to any who needed it, regardless of House affiliation. If anyone could help Thaddeus recover from an ordeal with Soul Gaunts, it was they.

  Eventually, they finished their work and stepped aside. The female, Willow, who had spoken to him before, approached.

  “He should recover. Given time and rest. Keep him here, and make sure he drinks plenty when he wakes. Water, Florian, no wine. At least not yet. For the first full day, give him water only. Then, if he’s hungry, he can have a little food. More as time goes on and
his strength returns. The important thing is to keep him rested and calm. Whatever did that to him really did a lot of damage, but we’ll stay on top of it.”

  For a moment, Florian was surprised by the last statement. He had been living with the knowledge of the Soul Gaunt invasion and attack for what felt like forever, but he was one of very few who did know it. He wouldn’t reveal more, not even to the Healers, without consulting Jediah first.

  “We’ll do as you say. Thank you for coming.”

  “It is our duty,” Willow replied. She bowed her head, gathered her equipment and left the room.

  Florian sank back into the chair. He would wait right there until his cousin woke up.

  He woke with a start when he heard the moan from the bed. Instantly, he was on his feet and across the room. His cousin was moving, his forehead slick with sweat, as his head turned on the pillow. His eyes moved under his lids, and another moan escaped from his lips.

  “You’re home, Thaddeus. You’re safe.”

  Thaddeus stilled for a moment, but then continued to mumble, moan and writhe on the bed. Florian kept talking to him in a calm, quiet voice, telling him that it was over, he was back home, he wouldn’t be hurt anymore.

  Finally, after what felt like a very long time, Thaddeus quieted, and slipped back into a deeper sleep.

  The next time he stirred, Florian was there already. He had stayed sitting on the edge of the bed, his hand resting gently on his cousin’s arm since the first time Thaddeus had moved. His back ached and he felt exhausted, but he was determined that his would be the first face that Thaddeus saw when he came to.

  A low moan came from him again, not as tortured sounding this time, but more an exclamation of discomfort. Florian watched as his eyes fluttered open, shut again against the brightness of the room, and then opened a slit.

  “So bright…” His voice was a rough whisper.

  “I’ll draw the curtains,” Florian said, starting to rise from the bed.

  “No! No, I like it.”

  Thaddeus eyes opened a little wider. Unbelievably, he looked at Florian and gave a small smile. “I didn’t think I’d see you again.”

  “I didn’t think you would either. I’m glad we were both wrong.”

  “Florian, it’s Soul Gaunts. Not just one though. There are many. So many.” His eyes widened and his voice took on a tone of panic as he said this.

  “I know. I know. Relax. They can’t get to you here.”

  “Hah. They can. And they will, if we let them. You can’t know…”

  “We do. I was here when Shireen and Orlando came back. They told us everything.”

  “Everything? Including how they abandoned me?” Thaddeus’s voice was bitter and he looked away from Florian.

  “They thought you were gone. Even with that, Shireen wanted us to marshal both our houses and ride to your rescue. It was only Jediah that was able to calm her down.”

  “And you, cousin? Did you want to ride to my rescue as well?”

  Florian bent his head. “I did, of course. But…I have greater responsibilities. To the whole House. Jediah is the warrior, and his opinion was that both of our houses together wouldn’t have been enough…”

  “So you left me.”

  “We thought you were gone. If we had known, believe me, Thaddeus, there wasn’t a force in the Greenweald that would have stopped us.”

  Thaddeus kept his eyes adverted, but then sighed and turned back to his cousin.

  “It doesn’t matter anyway. I learned things. A lot of things.”

  “Such as?”

  “They’re not here for war. They’ve been driven from their home and need a place to settle. That’s all. They’re hungry, and scared.”

  “The Soul Gaunts? You mean the Soul Gaunts are scared? Thaddeus, that’s…”

  “Unbelievable, I know. Trust me, I felt the same. But then…well, they let me go, didn’t they?”

  “Looks like they did a lot of damage to you first.”

  Thaddeus nodded. “But I did some to them before that. They were acting in self-defense. I know this all sounds crazy, but they want peace.”

  Florian regarded his cousin. He had been through so much, perhaps, too much. Thaddeus’s mind had always been his single most valuable asset. But now, maybe it had been damaged too much.

  Still, there was no harm in hearing what he had to say.

  He rose to his feet and got a cup of water. He handed it to Thaddeus and sat back down in the chair near the window.

  “Tell me,” he said.

  CHAPTER 35

  Shireen felt like she was in turmoil, and didn’t know which way to turn. That glance into the human’s pool had unnerved her more than she wanted to admit. Not only was the sight of the dirty, black material floating in the pool enough to turn her stomach, but there was Solomon himself.

  He had done it again. He was already a living legend in the Greenweald, a fact that had only been reinforced when she discovered that he had fought, and beat, a childhood nightmare. But now, he had done it again, and this time with no weapons but his own wits and the strength of his arms. He was her oldest, dearest, friend, and yet now, she felt like she hardly knew him at all.

  He was more than the best of them all. He went beyond that to something supernatural.

  But Orlando didn’t seem to feel the same. She watched as he helped Solomon climb gingerly to his feet and support his first tottering steps. Solomon smiled through the ruin of his face and joked with Orlando as he made his way over to the pool, followed by the two humans.

  She stood back, wanting to join them, and yet not wanting to at the same time. They lined the edge of the pool, looking over the walls at the thing that floated there. The thing that she didn’t want to see.

  Then Solomon looked around, his gaze moving across the yard until he found her. She felt pinned down, and unable to move. He looked quizzical for a moment, but then stepped away from the pool and came toward her, his one remaining eye focused on her.

  To her horror, she felt the tears begin. No sobs shook her shoulders, and she didn’t open her mouth and wail, but they ran down her cheeks nevertheless. She could feel her face burning. Why? She didn’t even cry at the sight of all those bodies at the Rustling Elms compound, regardless of how maimed they were, or the fact that some of them were children, who had never hurt anyone and should never have been…

  Then Solomon was there. He didn’t say a word to her. He simply wrapped his arms around her and pulled her close. She lay her head on his shoulder and gave in to the grief, the regret, and the relief that all flooded over her at once.

  When the storm had passed, she joined the others at the pool. The remains of the Soul Gaunt floated, its face, if it had one, hidden by the mass of sodden black fabric.

  “Well,” Solomon said, “I guess we should see what we’re really dealing with here.”

  He reached out and snagged the fabric, pulling it closer. Shireen’s breath caught as an emaciated white hand slipped free and floated behind, the arm it was attached to disappearing into the sleeve of the cloak. Solomon grabbed it more firmly when it was near and heaved it out of the pool, dumping it to the ground at their feet.

  She didn’t want to see this. She really didn’t. But, it was better to know the enemy, and maybe find a weakness. And as anxious as she was to return to the Greenweald and have Solomon in front of the healers, she knew that they’d probably never have this chance again.

  The five of them squatted near the mess, and for the first time, Shireen truly took notice of the humans. They were beneath her, really, as all humans were beneath those of the Folk. But there was something about these two, especially the woman. She had obviously done something to impress Solomon, and that fact alone was enough to pique her interest.

  Solomon pulled the cowl back, exposing a hairless, skull like head. It was white, like the underbelly of a toad, or a grub that was exposed when you turned a fallen log. The eyes were sunk deep into their sockets, and in death were
nothing more than black marbles. The nose was two slits in the front of its face.

  Its mouth was the most terrifying part. It was too large for the head, and stretched well back along the cheeks, as if it would cause the top part of the things head to tip off if it opened wide. Solomon pried the jaws open, exposing a row of sharp, serrated, triangular teeth, made for only one thing, the ripping and tearing of flesh.

  “He’s a looker,” Solomon mumbled.

  Shireen looked up to see what the others were doing. Orlando was studying the features of the thing as if it were a puzzle to be solved. She wasn’t surprised at that. Ever the thinker, he would work with Solomon to try to find out what other weaknesses the Soul Gaunts would have.

  Solomon was Solomon, fearless and determined. He was the one actually touching it, an act that no one else seemed eager to take over.

  The humans were…well, they were surprising. They both watched with looks of dread fascination on their faces. A look that she was sure was reflected in her own. The woman, Lacy was it?, had a hold of the man’s hand and was squeezing it tightly.

  For his part, the man looked down at the thing with his eyes blazing with anger. There were unshed tears standing in them, and he clung to the woman’s hand as hard as she hung on to him. Shireen recalled him saying something about being in thrall to the Soul Gaunt, and marveled that he was here to tell the tale.

  There was something strange there, for sure. Something they’d have to get to the bottom of.

  “Let see what else,” Solomon was saying. He grabbed a hold of the nasty cloak and stood, spilling the Soul Gaunt onto the ground.

  It looked much like the head and hands would have led you to believe. White and hairless, it didn’t look so deadly sprawled on the ground in the sunlight. The ribs showed plainly through the skin, as did the bones in the arms. The torso ended beneath the hips, where legs would normally be. There was no sign of a wound, or any sort of defect, the body simply ended, leaving a stretch of smooth white skin.