Ebudae wasn’t sure what happened after that because she also fell asleep. Even when soldiers began coming in and out to collect the evidence, both girls remained deep asleep. It helped that Frath and Gilron watched over them, shushing anyone who made the slightest noise.
Chapter 29
Frath entered Distra’s church the next night. The shadows danced sadly in the violet candlelight as they usually did. He looked for the stranger, and saw the disturbance in the shadows near the front left.
The statue raised its head, showing purple eyes from behind the cowl. Ethereal words slithered throughout the church. The shadows reached out to touch them lovingly. “Tell me of your adventure.” The eyes faded and the head bowed.
He walked up the aisle and sat on the same pew as the man. Frath tossed the food he had brought onto the bench next to him. “In case you’re hungry.”
The man looked up. His eyes had lost much of the insanity. “Thanks.” The voice was ragged as though he hadn’t had anything to drink in years.
“There’s a wineskin in there too. You sound thirsty.”
He tried to pull on the rope tying it, but his fingers were at odd angles and didn’t work right. Wordlessly Frath moved closer to untie the bag. The man moved away and put a hand on the hilt of the sword. Frath swore it hadn’t been there earlier.
“I’m not going to hurt you. I worked too hard to save your broken . . .” He let it go. “You need a healer. I know a good one.”
“No,” he croaked. His broken hands gripped the neck of the wineskin after Frath pulled out the stopper. He took a slow drink.
Frath sat back and looked at the statue. Distra liked to hear him talk about the city. Mostly she liked hearing about the people he met. The ones that suffered were her favorite. Oddly enough, she didn’t like death unless it was related to a survivor’s sorrow.
He didn’t know where to start. Distra likely knew much of it. She had a direct connection to his mind and saw many of the things he saw. In addition, she knew what the shadows knew and could see through the eyes of crows. But she was a goddess and had other things to do than stay in his head all the time, a fact he was grateful for.
“Pelya and Ebudae made some new friends.” He debated where to go from there. “They didn’t last very long. All but one is dead and that one was tortured. I’m not sure if that one’ll ever get her mind back.”
The stranger raised an eyebrow. He didn’t say anything, probably because it would hurt. But he did listen with great interest from that point on.
“They helped the friends save a man. Then they saved some slaves. Then they met a Knight of Reanna in the ruins below Dralin.”
The man raised the other eyebrow. It seemed they weren’t broken; probably the only things on him that weren’t.
Frath reached out a hand. “Name’s Frath, by the way.” Frath withdrew it when the man looked at it and then at his own broken one.
“Tathan.” The voice was slightly less of a croak.
Ice flowed through Frath’s veins. It wasn’t a common name in the country of Altordan. Black hair, grey eyes and a dark sword fit the description of the most notorious thief in all the lands. “That wouldn’t be Tathan of the Shadows, would it?”
The man gave one very slow nod and gripped his sword. Frath gulped nervously. Even in such a crippled form, the man might be able to kill him, such was his reputation. The sword was named Lifedrinker, cursed with deadly magic and rumored to be intelligent. That was a very bad combination.
Distra’s voice slithered throughout the church once more. “Leave him alone.”
Frath didn’t know which one of them she was talking to, but got the impression that it might be both. “Right . . .” Realization dawned. “Tathan of the Shadows. Hey! That makes more sense. Distra is the Goddess of Shadows . . . and Sorrow . . . and a bunch of other stuff, including generally lousy feelings. I tend to have those a lot, so it works for me.”
He realized that he was the only one having a conversation. Tathan was staring at him warily. Distra had gone back to being a statue.
“Fine, fine. “ Frath grabbed a slice of bread and some cheese out of the bag. “So they rescued these slaves and that’s when things really started to go bad.”
For a long while, he told the story. The only thing he left out was the part about Rojuun. He wasn’t sure how to feel about them and wasn’t comfortable discussing it in front of Tathan.
“I don’t know how to feel about Ebudae. There’s much more to her than meets the eye. What I do know is that she’s Pelya’s best friend and that she doesn’t have any family around other than me and Pelya.” Frath ran his hands over his face. “When I called her daughter, both of them hugged me like I was the greatest guy in the world.” He shrugged. “So Ebudae’s my daughter now and I’ll be there if she needs me.”
Tathan lifted the wineskin in approval and took another sip.
“The girls are back at the manor. Ebudae used a lot of magic, so she’s sleeping a wizard’s sleep and has been since I carried her back yesterday.” Frath took a swig from the wineskin when Tathan offered it. “Pelya’s exhausted, so she’s been sleeping too. I need to get back there soon. She’s going to need to talk. It’s the first time she killed anyone and it was hard on her.”
Tathan nodded sadly. Frath had no idea why, but he was talking mostly to Distra, so it didn’t really matter.
“She doesn’t like killing.” He rubbed his face again. “She hates killing. I could see it in her eyes and posture. She also told me, but I’ve heard people say it before.” Frath handed the wineskin back. Tathan was taking small sips, but he looked tipsy. “Pelya truly meant that she hated it. I think she’d be happy if she never killed anyone again.”
Tathan frowned.
“Yeah, it’s going to be a problem if she joins the City Guard. This is Dralin and killing people is part of the job. There’s just too much evil and risk in this city to avoid it.”
Tathan nodded sadly again.
Frath was beginning to enjoy the conversation with Tathan. The man didn’t seem too bad considering he was a master thief with countless killings attributed to his name. “The good news is that there was more than enough evidence in the Blavoci estate to shut down the entire operation. It’s going to cost him a lot of money.”
Tathan almost smiled, but caught it before it happened.
“Yeah. You’re right. It’s good to see corrupt slimeballs brought before justice.” Frath leaned back and rested his arms over the back of the pew. “The operation freed over four hundred slaves who will be sent back to their home countries or given a chance to survive here. It’s not the best, but it’s better than life as a slave in this cursed city.”
Tathan nodded.
“Master Thanzin is in jail. He won’t survive long. If the courts don’t sentence him to death, I’ll make certain he gets dead.” Frath turned his head and looked straight into Tathan’s eyes. “Nobody is allowed to harm or even threaten harm to my daughters.” Tears began to flow from Frath’s eyes and his jaw clenched in uncontrollable anger. “They’re all I care about in the world. I’ll kill anyone and I’ll keep killing them over and over if they hurt my Pelya.” His voice lost all of his volume as the muscles in his neck clenched. “I’ll kill them. They can’t hurt my Pelya. Thanzin’s going to die and he’s going to scream in terror as he dies. I’ll make certain of it.”
Tathan said nothing. It was probably for the best. Frath was obviously a very disturbed man.
It took a minute to regain control. Frath wiped away the tears with the sleeve of his clean tunic. Bava had brought it to him the night before and had lain with him to give comfort. “Life is hard. You probably know that . . .”
Tathan nodded sadly yet again. He was very good at it, almost as good as the shadows in the church.
“All my life I’ve seen suffering.”
Another sad nod.
“Yeah. It’s hard to see everyone suffer. I haven’t had the best life, but it’s bette
r than most. I see so many young people being hurt in terrible ways.” Frath leaned forward with elbows on knees and hands folded together. “Sometimes I have nightmares that Pelya or Ebudae is one of those girls lying in an alley or in the basement of a brothel. It’s just too hard . . .”
Tathan sat quietly with him, saying nothing either out of respect or because it would hurt too much. Either way, it was nice to have a friend at the moment.
“Listen. I’ve got to get back.” Frath stood. “Thanks for listening. I also want you to know that I’m serious about the fact that you owe me. One of these days, I’m going to ask you for a favor and you’re going to do what I need. Got it?”
Tathan stared at him for a moment before nodding once.
“Good. I’ll be back every now and then with some more food. If you decide you need healing, let me know and I’ll take you to someone.” Frath studied him for a moment. “You’ve got a real bad reputation. I’m in the Dralin City Guard and I take my job seriously. Try to stay out of trouble. I don’t want to arrest you.”
Another nod.
“Alright. Time for me to go.” He turned to the statue. “I’ll see you later, Distra. Thanks for . . . I don’t know what. Everything I suppose.”
The shadows danced sadly as he walked down the aisle and exited the church.
***
Pelya ran fingers through Ebudae’s silken hair, clean and still damp after the bath she had taken. Moonlight coming through the open windows and a few candles with yellow-green flames illuminated the room. Ebudae was asleep in her lap after having a second large meal of the day, the first being from that morning.
Upon arriving back at the manor the day before, unconscious Ebudae had been placed in bed by Frath. Pelya had taken a bath immediately to get the blood off before she too went to sleep wearing her favorite dark-blue nightgown. At first, sleep had been heavy, but then nightmares began.
The vision of the men dying flashed across her mind again causing tears to rush up to her eyes in the hopes of escaping their prison. She suppressed them again, determined not to cry over their deaths. The men she killed worked for corrupt men who trafficked humans. The tears were not being obedient.
“Pelya?” Frath stood in the doorway of the room.
“Daddy?” Pelya’s voice sounded pitiful to her own ears. She felt childish for wanting him to come pick her up and hide her away from all the bad things in the world.
Frath held out his arms and came toward the bed. “Come here. I’ve got you.”
Pelya carefully slipped Ebudae’s head on a pillow before getting out from under the covers and rushing into her daddy’s arms. He carried her into the common area of the suite, unhooked his sword to place it on the floor and sat down on a comfortable chair by the crackling fire in the hearth. Tina liked to keep one going even in the summer time and Ebudae had never discouraged her.
The tears flowed as Pelya curled up in his lap. She didn’t fully understand why she was crying so hard, but it was the only thing she wanted to do right then. Frath held her tightly without saying anything. He understood her need for release and allowed her to have it.
She fell asleep in his arms when the tears were spent, but woke with a jerk when Tina accidentally clinked glasses together while setting down a bottle of wine for Frath. The servant looked horrified at having woken her. “It’s alright,” Pelya assured her. “I didn’t mean to fall asleep.” Her face was messy, so she used a handkerchief that Tina gave her to wipe it. “I’m sorry, Daddy.”
“You have nothing to be sorry for. In fact, I’m glad you were able to cry. It’s one of the first steps in dealing with it.” He ran his hand firmly up and down her back to get her muscles to relax some. It helped. Tina closed Ebudae’s bedroom door all but a crack and then left the suite so they could be alone.
She looked up into his eyes, seeing the tender concern there. “I don’t want to kill anyone ever again, Daddy.” Pelya felt more vulnerable than she ever had in her life. If he were to become angry, it would crush her.
“I’m glad.” He kissed her forehead.
“You are?”
“Yes. I’m glad you don’t want to kill people. I don’t like it either.”
Pelya frowned in confusion. “But you’re good at it and all of you joked about it.”
“I’m sorry.” Tears sprang to his eyes, but he held them back. The light from the fire glistened in them, making the facets sparkle. “I never wanted you to think I like it. I don’t. We joke about it because we know how terrible it is and we either laugh or go insane with remorse.” Frath ran a hand tiredly over his face. “I justify killing people by only . . . mostly only killing people because they’re hurting others and making the world a worse place. If I can arrest them, I do so. If not, I kill them. That doesn’t necessarily make me good, but I try to do my best to make the right decisions.”
“Mostly only?” The words struck Pelya as odd.
“I . . . don’t want to tell you, but . . . I’ve killed some people who might not have deserved it. I’ve killed a couple of people because they made me mad.” Frath looked miserable. “I murdered them and got away with it.”
The confession terrified Pelya. She flung her arms around his neck. “It’s alright, Daddy. I love you.” She had to. He was the best thing in the world. Pelya sat back and looked him in the eyes again. “Dralin is a terrible city. It makes us do terrible things sometimes and I don’t care why you did it. I just don’t care.”
The tears escaped Frath’s eyes finally and he broke down. She tightly wrapped her arms around his neck again and let him bury his face in her shoulders. It felt good to be there for her father instead of him having to always be strong for her.
It wasn’t long before he used a sleeve to wipe his eyes. “Sorry. We’re talking about you, not me.”
“It’s alright, Daddy.” Pelya stood, stretched out her stiff muscles and then proceeded to pour them both a glass of wine. He didn’t very much like her drinking wine most times, but didn’t protest. She sat in the chair on the other side of the skinny table and brought her legs up so she sat facing him. “If you don’t want to talk about this, we don’t have to.”
“No! I do want to talk about it. It’s important to do so. Killing someone isn’t natural. It takes a toll on the soul too. If you don’t talk about what happened, it can eat away at you from within, making you bitter and angry. Some people even become addicted. I’ve seen it.”
“I don’t want to become addicted to killing, Daddy.” The very thought made her want to scream in horror.
He reached a hand over. “You won’t. I’m not worried about that at all. What I am worried about is how hard you’re taking this.” Frath shifted in his seat, finding a more comfortable position. He took a sip of wine. “The men that you killed were legitimately bad men. That means something, to me at least.”
“It means something to me too. If they weren’t, I don’t know if I’d be able to live with myself.”
“I definitely understand that. Another thing that makes a difference is that they were trying to kill you.” Frath emphasized the point by squeezing her hand.
“But we were invading the estate they were paid to protect, so they were just doing their job.” Pelya liked her father’s argument better, but doubt had been nagging her.
“Did you notice that they were all men?”
It had occurred to her at one point during the fighting. “I did notice that. Dralin is known for having women in the Guard and they’re popular to use for estate guards as well. The Altordan army has women in it too.” She took a sip of her wine, careful not to drink too quickly.
“Very true. There are many kingdoms that don’t allow it though.” Frath released her hand and shifted in his chair again, crossing one leg over the other. “One thing I’ve found to be true in almost every case with slavery though is that women usually don’t participate, at least not directly.”
“Really? Why?” Pelya took another sip and set the glass down. She love
d listening to her father talk about his work because he had perspectives that none of the instructors or books had.
“I think it’s for two reasons. Women tend to nurture more than they hurt. I’ve seen it repeatedly. A man sometimes feels a beast-like desire to hurt something, while a woman wraps her child in her arms and takes a blow.” There was anger in Frath’s face as though he was remembering rather than theorizing.
“What’s the second reason?”
“Because men who think other people are property also tend to think women are property as well. Rather than accepting a woman as an equal, they’d throw her in a cage with the slaves.” He looked mad by that point.
“I wish I could help you protect all the women in the world, Daddy.” Pelya knew he considered the death of every innocent young woman in Dralin as a personal failure and wondered how much of it had to do with her mother.
He smiled at her. “Thank you. I wish you could too, but it doesn’t seem possible to change the world.”
“You told me not to worry about the whole world. Just try to have a positive effect on everything you touch. I try to do that as much as possible, Daddy.”
“I know you do, and you’ve already had a positive effect. I don’t just mean that you’ve led the way on saving hundreds of slaves and shutting down Blavoci’s holdings in Dralin.” Frath took her hand again. “You touch the lives of everyone around you for the better. It’s true in the Guard, but I also look at Ebudae. She only smiles when you’re around and I’m pretty sure you’re her only friend in the world.”
“You are too,” Pelya pointed out. A thought occurred to her. “There’s something I should tell you though.”
“Oh?”
“Yes, but I don’t want you to hate her.” Pelya suddenly decided that she shouldn’t have brought it up.
“I already know she’s not normal. Really, I don’t think there’s anything you can tell me that would make me hate her.” He squeezed her hand in reassurance.
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