“We covertly investigated one man based on the word of a known criminal, why wouldn’t we look a little closer at this Senator in the same manner?”
“Because he is currently in a closed session with the Senate as they attempt to pass a particularly difficult piece of legislation,” Kinsey explained, “and his house is a national treasure, complete with the finest locks that can be made to prevent people like us from breaking in.”
“If he’s not home, it’s the perfect time,” Pacian said evenly. “You’re a smart man - figure it out.”
“There is only one way to obtain access to that house, Mister Savidge,” Kinsey stated plainly, “and that is to obtain one of the enchanted keys that will simultaneously open the lock and break the magical seal on the house. There are two such keys - the Senator has one, and the other is kept by the duke, and since Johnson is out of our reach we will need to persuade His Grace of the necessity of breaking in, despite a lack of evidence to back up your claims.”
“We don’t have another option here,” Aiden sighed, unable to think of any other way to find out the truth of Bartlett’s claims. “You should try and get that key, because so far everything we’ve learned is pointing at Senator Johnson.”
“I believe in you,” Pacian added with a sardonic wink. Kinsey looked back and forth between the two of them for a moment and then slowly stood up, leaning heavily on his cane.
“I will speak with Sir Godfrey. If I can persuade him, together we will have a better chance of convincing the duke,” he told them, though with a noticeable lack of conviction. “I suggest you get your rest, gentlemen, as if I am successful we will need to move quickly. I will send word via one of my associates as to the outcome of my request.” Kinsey hobbled away through the crowd and Aiden finally relaxed.
“That went well,” he remarked.
“I think I should get my head looked at,” Pacian said, gingerly touching his scalp underneath the hood of his cloak.
“That’s a good idea,” Aiden answered casually. “You should also get your injury checked out too.”
“You’re hilarious, you know that?” Pacian muttered. Looking around, he spotted the distinctive white clerical robe of Nellise across the common room. Her hood was up, but it was impossible to completely obscure her striking looks so easily. Gesturing for Pacian to follow, Aiden walked across the room. She was talking with Sir William, and the two of them went quiet as the boys approached.
“I hope we’re not interrupting anything,” Aiden greeted them. “Pace could use some patching up, if you’re okay with that.” Doubt entered her golden eyes as she looked up at Aiden, but she nodded silently and gestured at the empty chairs.
“Gentlemen, please join us,” Sir William said cordially. He stood from his chair and offered Aiden his hand, which he shook firmly.
“I wish to offer my congratulations on your stunning victory last night,” he continued as they took their seats. “I regret that I was unable to assist further due to the damnable poisoning those underhanded dogs used, but I was well-pleased to hear upon my awakening that you had carried the day. Stirring work indeed, sir! Not just as a service to the crown, but to avenge my own failure to catch that scoundrel Holister those many years ago. I consider myself in your debt, Aiden, for bringing him to justice, and finishing the only meaningful contribution I have made to the Kingdom in my long decades of service.”
“Praise should go to Nellise, Sir William,” Aiden corrected, looking at the young cleric as she retrieved a newly-acquired crystal from her pouch and began whispering soft prayers. Within moments, he felt an invigorating sensation sweep through the air, and his wounds began to tingle and itch as they started to heal.
“Is that so?” Sir William asked, raising an eyebrow. “It was our lovely young priestess who told me of your triumph this morning and she neglected to mention her role in it.”
“We were on the verge of defeat when she stepped into the room and challenged Holister personally,” Aiden explained. “Certainly, Sayana and I helped, but it was Nellise who struck the final blow.”
“It wasn’t all that final, as it happens,” Pacian remarked shrewdly as his wounds were also mending. “She had the opportunity to finish him off properly, but went kind of soft at the end. That’s the reason the bastard is still alive right now, instead of being food for worms.”
“What you call softness, I call strength,” Sir William told Pacian firmly. “She has not abandoned her ethics as readily as you would like to believe.”
“I’m getting pretty sick of your superior attitude, Willy,” Pacian snapped. “This world is a nasty place, something you failed to learn in all your long years.”
“Easy Pace,” Aiden warned, seeing a potential for unpleasantness growing.
“Why were you passed over for higher titles I wonder?” Pacian pressed, ignoring Aiden. “Dozens of knights serve the King, moving up the through the ranks to become Counts and Earls, and yet here you sit as the lowest of the nobility, complaining about a life wasted. You want to know what I think? It was your vaunted ethics that got in the way, and those who would do whatever it took to fight bastards like Holister were promoted and celebrated as heroes, until the King eventually stopped calling on you altogether.”
Sir William’s expression was unreadable, but instead of the outburst of anger Aiden had been expecting he merely drew Solas Aingeal from its sheath and placed it on the table in front of him. Nearby patrons blanched at the sight of a drawn weapon in the common room of an inn and backed away. Pacian himself flinched visibly as he glared at the weapon, but he held his ground.
“I serve a higher power,” the knight spoke quietly but firmly. “Long have I waited for the chance to aid King and country, but lately I’ve come to see that I have always, first and foremost, been a servant of God. Despicable men are moving through the world seeking to twist the glory of our civilisation to their own ends. I would not sacrifice our ethics in order to thwart their plans, for that would make us no better than them. If you truly think your ways and means are right by God, then take up my blade and mete out whatever justice you see fit to those deserving of your wrath.”
“That’s enough, both of you,” Nellise interrupted in exasperation. “I have healed you as much as I can while your minds are clouded with this pointless contention.”
“I think I’ll go track down Maggie and get her to heal me up,” Pacian said pointedly, getting up from the table to leave. “Nellise knows what I mean when I talk of dealing harshly with dangerous men, isn’t that right Nel?”
“Pace, back off… right now,” Aiden warned. Pacian turned and casually walked away from the table without a second glance, ignoring the dangerous look Sir William levelled at him.
“I am losing patience dealing with that one,” he muttered, sheathing his sword once more.
“I’m not going to defend him this time,” Aiden remarked, “but I do apologise for interrupting your talk with his nonsense. The closer we get to the people behind everything that’s been going on, the more ruthless he gets.”
“What have you two been up to, Aiden?” Nellise asked curiously. “Those wounds weren’t from last night.”
“Pacian and I did some investigation earlier,” Aiden confided, rubbing his temples. “Before that I had an interesting encounter at the University. It’s been an eventful day, to say the least.”
“By ‘eventful’ I must assume ‘dangerous’, judging by your injuries,” she remarked.
“Tell me, Nellise,” Sir William asked, “that issue Pacian hinted at concerning dangerous men. To what was he referring?” Nellise lowered her eyes and let her hair fall before her face. Aiden suspected she was in no mood to talk about the incident in Akora, but was surprised a few moments later when she quietly began to relate the story to the old knight. Her voice fell to a whisper in a few places but she didn’t stop until she had finished explaining the tragic event.
When she was done, nobody at the table spoke for nearly a minute.
Sir William seemed to be thoughtful, although his moustache quivered with barely controlled emotions held just beneath the surface.
“You have spoken to the clergy of this, yes?” he asked of her, receiving a timid nod in reply. “Did you find no solace within the halls of the Church?”
“I was counselled briefly, but my other transgressions took precedence,” Nellise replied, her voice conveying a feeling of disappointment rather than anger. “Having meditated on this, I can’t say that I blame them for casting me out, for they were right - since Akora, I have been more concerned with fighting evil than helping the innocent, and while that might make sense to both of you, it is not the way of the Resolute Heralds. I am something else, now, though I am yet to understand my new path.”
“You’ve certainly changed since we met,” Aiden remarked wistfully. “You were so bright and full of life, ready to help a couple of poor country boys find their way in the world, but now you’re weighed down with burdens.”
“Including my nightmares,” Nellise added in a broken voice. “Almost every night I relive the horror, though it does appear to be fading with time at least.”
“I know that it’s been hard for you, having to work your way through your problems while dealing with everything else, but we’re always here to support you, should you need it,” Aiden offered, lightly touching her hand with his own and noting that for the first time in many days, she did not flinch.
“Thank you, Aiden,” she answered quietly. “Though you dispute my claim of being an angel, your words and actions continue to prove otherwise.”
“There’s nothing divine about helping a friend, you know,” he admonished her, wishing she’d give up this notion.
“I sensed that something was amiss from the first day we met,” Sir William said slowly. “I now understand the source of your pain madam, for you are doubtless finding it impossible to resolve your newfound desire to fight evil with the peace and tranquillity you have known through your contact with God.”
“I no longer feel that close connection I once had,” Nellise whispered. “It is as the Codex says - one cannot feel truly in touch with the divine while mired in earthly matters. How can I fight and kill when it goes against everything I have been taught? ‘All men are brothers, all women are sisters’ the Codex says, but I have encountered men whom I would scarcely call human, let alone my own brother. It is far easier to strike them down than to try and help them see the lost divinity within themselves.”
“They need not be separate ideals,” Sir William stated, drawing curious looks from Aiden and Nellise. “Your hatred and fear of such men is what is causing the distance between you and God, for such feelings are antithetical to the divine light that flows through all things. But I will tell you something now that I suspect even the Church does not know - there is no evil. At least, not as we think of it.”
“I would beg to differ on that point,” Aiden replied drily.
“Darkness is merely the absence of light Aiden, not a force in and of itself,” Sir William proclaimed. “So it is that evil is merely the absence of good - those we fight may act out in terrible and destructive ways, but we should remember their actions and thoughts have closed them off from God, and while they may be alone and afraid, they are not truly monsters.”
“Are you saying we should take pity upon them?” Aiden asked with a hint of sarcasm in his voice.
“No, merely consider them as misguided,” Sir William continued, directing his remarks at Nellise, who watched the old knight intently. “They lash out at the world, attacking people with swords, or words, or other unspeakable acts to try and deal with their pain. But it is a lie that they have been told, or they have told themselves for nothing is truly separate from the divine.”
“We should not fear them or become angry with them for their actions, for they are like angry children, striving for attention from a universe they believe has turned its back on them. Hold on to the purity of your spirit and hear the sadness and rage of their empty existence echo in your soul, and allow their hatred to pass through you unheeded. You will weather their intemperate nature and remain strong, bolstered by the knowledge that you walk in the light, even in places of utter darkness, for at no time are you ever separate from God.”
Aiden was silently impressed, never having heard anything quite like it, even from the ancient books he used to read. Nellise was similarly thunderstruck by these sentiments, and both of them remained silent for a good long while after Sir William had finished.
“Yeah… I have my doubts,” Aiden remarked awkwardly, having difficulty grasping the idea that the evil he had encountered on his travels was as easily defined as the old knight proposed.
“I will ponder your words, Sir Knight,” Nellise spoke slowly, looking at him with a curious expression of admiration and longing. “There may be some merit in your perspective, though it may take some time to fully digest this startling revelation.”
“You have all the time in the world, dear lady,” Sir William replied with a smile. “My heart would leap to see you unburdened from your worries at last.” The two of them continued to talk about lighter matters, and Aiden felt somewhat excluded from the conversation. He didn’t mind, though, for he was hungry and tired, and more than happy to head over to the bar and order some food.
He sat alone as he ate a meal, allowing his mind to idle and simply enjoy the good food and relaxing atmosphere. The end of the bar where Aiden was enjoying his meal was dimly lit, but inside his pouch there seemed to be a blue glow. He stopped chewing his food and slowly opened the pouch, noting that the light seemed to be coming from a corner of the cube.
“There you are, I’ve been looking everywhere for you mate,” Ronan remarked suddenly, clapping Aiden on the shoulder and causing him to almost choke on his food. He snapped the pouch shut again and turned to look at the sailor, hoping he hadn’t noticed anything unusual.
“You scared me half to death, Ronan,” Aiden admonished him, mopping gravy from around his mouth with a napkin.
“Sorry about that,” he apologised, “I tend to do that to people. Look, I just wanted to say that I’m sorry about that whole thing with Sayana, and if you want me to steer clear, I’ll do so.”
“No it’s okay,” Aiden dismissed after a moment’s thought. “I over-reacted earlier, and really you’re both free to do whatever you want. She and I talked about it a bit, and in the end we both agreed that she should storm away in a huff and stop speaking to me.”
“Yeah I’m sure that was mutual,” Ronan remarked laconically. “But if you’re fine with it, so am I.” Aiden was distracted by a red-haired man approaching from across the room and looking right at him. He seemed familiar, but Aiden couldn’t quite recall where he’d seen him before.
“Oh, and before I forget, I should mention that I went looking around for Perry and his crew, but they’ve moved base again,” Ronan continued, a strange tightness in his voice. “Something tells me that place we met him last time wasn’t even a proper headquarters. It was probably just set up for our meeting. Long story short - I have no idea where he’s disappeared to now.”
“Does that bother you?” Aiden asked.
“No, why would it?” Ronan answered, a little too quickly. A long moment of silence ensued during which he fidgeted with his glass, before finally telling the truth. “He played me, Aiden, right from the start. The contact led me to their ‘base’ was put there to lure me in. I left on good terms, and there’s an unwritten rule that you respect former colleagues ‘cause you never know if they might come back and work for you again. But not now - he’s sold out, and probably laughing at me right now.” The glass in his hand suddenly shattered, causing a minor stir as people turned to see what the noise was.
“You’re usually pretty hard to read Ronan, but something tells me this is really bothering you,” Aiden drawled.
“It’s more than just me. Everyone who works for him is now in peril. Perry’s consorted with a bunch of
mad bloody killers and they’re half as likely to murder them all just to keep ‘em silent,” Ronan spoke quietly, but through gritted teeth. “There are some good people in that guild and they’re all in as much danger as we are now, so I’ve got to find them before the assassins do.”
“So you’re not quite through with the guild after all, I guess,” Aiden deduced.
“Just this last job, and then I can sleep at night,” Ronan assured him.
“Yeah that’s great,” Aiden replied distractedly, noticing the strange man trying to catch his attention from a nearby bar stool. He discreetly gestured for Aiden to come over to him, and he realised this must be the contact from Kinsey. “We’ll have to deal with Perry later, as I suspect things are about to come to a head on this whole assassin issue. Get the others ready to move, I’ll be back shortly. There’s someone I have to speak with.”
“Not a problem, I’m raring to go,” Ronan answered. Pushing his plate aside, Aiden left a few coins for the waitress and walked over to the curious man. He was young, probably only a year or two older than Aiden himself, but had a sharp wariness about him that spoke of a lifetime on the streets of Fairloch.
“Our mutual friend says that Sir Godfrey wishes to speak with you personally,” the red-haired man confided in hushed tones. “They’re expecting you in the castle.”
“Right now? Okay, I’ll head straight over there,” Aiden replied. “Why do you look familiar to me?”
“I was making a right arse of myself at the gate to the Senate District,” he explained with a half-grin. “Kinsey wanted me to keep an eye on you in case you got into trouble, but I never expected you to try and walk through a guard post right after a fight. Not all the City Watch have been bribed, but enough of them have that you’d have gotten into pretty serious trouble if they’d taken you in for questioning. So I had to improvise to make sure they didn’t notice you two amateurs. You’re welcome.”
“Oh… thanks?” Aiden answered, caught off guard.
In Defence of the Crown (The Aielund Saga Book 2) Page 32