He shook the thoughts away. He didn’t like them. Mostly because they didn’t make any sense. He decided then and there that he was just going to live life the best he knew how. If that meant he wouldn’t be going home for another six years then so be it. Not that home was much to him anyway. There was no one waiting for him in Texas or Kentucky. There were no friends that he cared to visit. Perhaps coming to Galamore was the best thing after all. At least here he wasn’t a criminal. He didn’t face the threat of the law coming after him. But one look into the camp made him pull on the ropes again. What was he thinking? He was in more danger here than when he was on the run. At least while on the run he had a chance. Now he was at the mercy of barbarians.
It was a few hours before a group of men came for Joe. They untied his wrists and allowed him to stand. The commander who had hit him in the head stood in front of him. Joe spat on the ground in defiance of the man. He felt it made him seem confident, but really his boldness came from fear. He was likely facing death and he wasn’t about to go out like a coward.
“My name is Clement,” the commander said. “Your future hangs in the balance.”
“What do you mean?” Joe asked, but Clement didn’t answer him. Instead, he motioned for the guards to grab Joe and follow him into the camp.
His wrists were bound by the rope that had held him against the tree, and he was pulled by a large man with a hood over his face that made him look like an executioner.
They followed Clement to the middle of the camp and Joe was tied to another tree. This time he was allowed to stand as the hooded guard stood next to him.
“You have any idea what’s going on?” Joe asked the man, but he was met with silence. Then something happened that nearly made Joe jump out of his skin. Somewhere behind him someone started banging two iron pots against each other over and over. He didn’t know what was happening until a voice followed the noise.
“Get to the middle! Everyone to the middle! It’s time for a vote! Get to the middle!”
Joe watched as soldiers emerged from their tents and did as they were told. Someone about thirty feet away from Joe had started a large bonfire—one that was blazing and could undoubtedly be seen for miles. As the soldiers all began to gather toward the middle of the camp, Joe was happy to have the guard next to him, keeping curious inquisitors at bay. There were plenty of looks in his direction, and Joe could overhear a few of them as they passed by.
“Sounds like a public execution,” one of the men said.
Another snarled at him and said, “I didn’t know our food shortage meant we’d be eating human flesh.” Joe hoped they were only trying to scare him, but something told him that there was more to it than that.
A figure from near the large fire started making his way toward Joe against the flow of the crowd. Joe’s bodyguard took a step forward to block the man from getting near, but stood down when he recognized who it was.
Clive. Joe was relieved to see Clive wasn’t dead, but this was far from over. “What’s going on?” Joe asked with a harsh whisper.
“A vote,” Clive said. He took a deep breath and shook his head. “They wouldn’t listen to me, Joe.”
Joe felt his insides go cold. “What do you mean they wouldn’t listen to you?”
Clive looked at the guard near them and told him to leave. The man did so without question. Clive then looked down at his feet and slowly brought his eyes up to meet Joe’s. “They were fine with accepting the story about our ambush. But they don’t want to accept that you are in the right. They don’t care if you tried to save the Warlord’s life or that you did save mine. They want blood, Joe.”
Joe let the words linger in the air for a moment, half expecting Clive to continue. But when he didn’t, Joe almost lost his temper. “What, that’s it? That’s all you have to tell me? That it’s over? I’m as good as dead now?”
“There is a chance,” Clive said.
“Oh really? Are you just going to cut my ropes again? Should we attack all 700 people here and kill them so we can survive?”
“Keep your voice down,” Clive said, looking from side-to-side. “The only chance you have is if I am voted in as the Warlord.”
“I thought you didn’t want to be the Warlord,” Joe said.
“I don’t. But if I have to I will.”
“Oh, how generous of you.”
Clive took a step forward and snatched Joe by the collar. Joe stiffened as if expecting a punch, but Clive only brought his face near to him. “I didn’t have to stick my neck out for you. I could have let you die out there. I could have just killed you.”
“If it wasn’t for me, the Warlord would have killed you, Clive.”
“Maybe.” His grip of Joe’s shirt eased. “But there’s a good chance I won’t win this election and that doesn’t bode well for you. The other commanders want you dead.”
“Who are you up against?” Joe asked.
“Clement and Dooley. Both of them think you should be executed. If either of them win, then you’re a dead man. If I win, you’ll go free.”
“What has to happen?”
“The vote’ll take place in an hour. The three of us have to get up in front of everyone and present our case for why one of us should replace the Warlord.”
“Do people like you very much?” Joe asked.
Clive let go of Joe’s shirt and took a step back. He stared at the ground again and finally shook his head. “I was the right hand of the Warlord and he was not a very popular man. I can’t say that it looks good. No one can stand Dooley, but many seem to like Clement well enough.”
“So that’s it then? I’m finished?” He cleared his throat. “I should have never come back with you.”
“I didn’t expect this,” Clive said. “I didn’t think they would care about having your blood. But I suppose it will satisfy their need for vengeance.”
“What vengeance? They didn’t even like the Warlord.”
“Which is why you’re still alive.” Clive was pacing now. He seemed very focused and determined, yet clueless at the same time. “There is something else that may help you win your freedom.”
Joe waited.
“There is something written in our bylaws.”
“You have bylaws?”
“Of course we have bylaws,” Clive said as if the question was absurd. “Why wouldn’t we? I helped the Warlord write them. Anyway, it states that in the event of an election, if the second place contender is within fifty votes, then he is allowed to challenge the elected leader to a fight. Whoever isn’t dead is the new leader.”
“You said you wrote this?” Joe asked. “Smart thinking.”
“I said I helped write them,” Clive said. “That part wasn’t my idea. That’s from the mind of Fredrick Merk. But it’s a law that has never come up considering Merk was the first and only Warlord up to this point.”
Joe let the information sink in for a moment. It was crazy that they wanted him dead in the first place. It wasn’t as if they knew he had killed the Warlord. All Joe had done was lie about a stash of weapons. He had only been trying to get out of being killed in the first place.
“So, if you came within fifty votes, you would challenge him?” Joe asked. “You would do that for a person you barely know?”
Clive shook his head. “Of course not. But the bylaws also state that the two can send a willing proxy into the fight. For me, that would be you.”
“What?”
Clive nodded. “That part was my idea.”
“Oh, great,” Joe said with as fake of a smile as he could muster.
“If I don’t win, which I probably won’t, then it’ll be up to you,” Clive said. “But I can say with confidence that your chances are good whoever you fight.”
“Why do you say that?”
“Because you’ve survived to the future,” Clive answered with a smile. “I didn’t meet myself from the future. I met you. And you didn’t look maimed neither.”
“That’s reas
suring,” Joe said.
“I understand that it won’t be easy, but it’s your only chance.”
“What kind of stupid laws are these?” Joe asked.
“They are laws that are keeping you alive for the time being,” Clive said.
“Do you think you can get within fifty votes?” Joe asked.
Clive stood for a moment, considering Joe’s question. There were 700 people in the Renegades. It wouldn’t be easy.
“I will do whatever I can,” Clive said. “I will make a case for myself and we will see what happens. If time and the future works like I think it does, then you should have nothing to worry about.”
But Joe had already decided to forget about the future. He had decided to live his life like there was no such thing as The Book of Time. Yet no matter how hard he tried, he could not escape the fact that Clive believed what he had seen.
Joe should have taken comfort in knowing he was probably going to survive. But what if Clive was wrong? Galamore was a strange world. For all Clive and Joe knew, the person Clive had met a few days ago who claimed to be the Joe of the future could have just been Joe’s ghost.
He stared at the blazing bonfire in the middle of the camp and hoped that he was wrong.
Nate
Autumn, 903 A.O.M.
The company rode together in silence a good ways, Nate figured about a mile, before Alban pulled on the reins of his horse and stopped the cart. No one said a word, though they all knew a conversation needed to happen.
Nate got out of the cart, walked to the edge of the road, and peered deep into the forest, looking at nothing in particular. He wondered who would talk first. He supposed it should be him, but he didn’t want to. Cara had exposed the thoughts of each of them and Nate came out as the criminal. The others came out smelling like roses except for maybe Rachel.
When he turned, he saw each of them in the road. Alban stood only a few feet away from him, his hands set deep in his pockets as he kicked at the dirt. Marum leaned against the cart, cleaning her fingernails, pretending none of this mattered to her. Then there was Rachel. The young woman stared at Nate, her arms crossed over her chest and with a fire in her eyes so intense that she threatened to burn him alive with glowing beams. He looked at her for only a moment before turning back to look into the woods.
“None of ya’ll have to take me anywhere,” Nate said. “I can get by on my own. I’ll be back home in no time.”
“That, my friend, shows how ignorant you are,” Alban said in a soft voice. “You’re talking about finding a few books, none of which anyone knows anything about. It’s been so long that a lot of people aren’t sure they even exist.”
“I don’t need to look for no books,” Nate said, turning toward the man. “I need to find Tyler Montgomery. He knows all about this place.”
Alban shook his head and kicked at the dirt again. “Another quest that may be just as difficult as finding The Ancient Books. You don’t know where he is. You don’t know anything about Galamore. This is a large place. Cara wants us to take you to the Sentinels. Do you know how far that is?”
“Couple of nights?” Nate guessed.
“More than a month’s journey,” Alban said. “They have a fortress embedded on the side of Dragon Scale Mountain. It’s at the very heart of Galamore.”
“Dragon Scale Mountain,” Nate said, nodding. “That’s good. That’s where I need to be to get to the book.”
“Did you not hear a thing Cara said?” Rachel chimed in. “You can’t gain access without the relic keys. No one can.”
Nate spat on the ground and kicked dirt over the saliva. He had heard everything clearly. He knew what was required of him—or at least what Cara thought was required of him.
“Yeah, but did you listen to her?” Nate said. “Even she wasn’t sure of herself. She said the future wasn’t clear.”
“And that’s why we need to go to the Sentinels,” Alban said.
Nate raised an eyebrow. “We?”
“It goes against my better judgment,” Alban said. “I have clothed you, fed you, and kept you safe for a couple of days and all you’ve done is lied to us.”
Nate’s jaw muscles tensed as Alban said this. He didn’t want to wrestle words with the man, but he felt he owed an explanation. “Listen,” he said, “I lied because I didn’t want to scare any of you.”
Alban lifted a hand in the air. “I don’t want to know of your past. I don’t want to know about any of it. I just want to move forward.”
“Father, we can’t take him,” Rachel said, stepping forward. “I can only begin to list the infinite number of reasons why we shouldn’t take him. Not the least of which is that he wants to get home, and to do so would be to write the ending to our world!”
“Listen, Rachel,” Nate began, but he was quickly cut off.
“But he’s also a criminal who’s done things we can’t even imagine,” she continued. “Do you really want to travel with a man like that?” Her eyes tore into him. “I for one would be glad to know what kind of crimes you’ve committed before going on a trip with you. Not that I could trust you to tell me the truth.”
“Rachel!” Alban exclaimed.
“You’re right,” Nate said, staring right back at Rachel. “I’m probably not going to tell you all the things I’ve done in my past. If I told you some of the things, you’d probably shoot me right here. But I will say that all that was in a different world, a different life. Didn’t you hear Cara? I’ve wanted to turn away from all that. I was on my last job when I found myself here.”
“My vote is no,” Rachel said.
“I don’t remember this being a vote,” Alban came back defiantly. “But if it is, I vote yes.”
The two of them looked at Marum who still leaned against the cart. She continued to clean her fingernails when she realized all eyes were upon her. She suddenly stood straighter and swallowed as she tugged downward on her tunic. “I’m not voting,” she said. “My plan is to travel south with you until we reach the northern border of the Sunset Woods, then I will split away and head on toward Gray Elf Country.”
“Cara said that you should travel with us,” Alban said, his eyebrows furrowed. “She said it would be best.”
“Nathaniel has his path,” Marum answered, “And I have mine.”
Nate nodded when she said this, but immediately turned to Rachel. “If you think for one second that I want someone like you as a traveling companion, you’re wrong. You’re angry and vindictive. I’m easily annoyed and I like to get drunk. Those kinds of people don’t mix too well.”
Rachel started to interject, but Nate held up a finger.
“But Cara said that you shouldn’t go back home because the man who is after me will track me there. Levi Thompson will meet you and you don’t want that.”
“Who is that man?” Alban asked.
“He’s not a good guy,” Nate said. “Not anymore. There are some things between us that are unresolved, and he means to resolve them with a bullet in my chest. He won’t stop until he’s got me. I say all this to tell you that it wouldn’t be beyond him to kill you just for having helped me. In his twisted mind he’ll think that he’s serving justice by killing you. You can’t, under any circumstances be there when Levi shows up.”
Rachel and Alban looked at each other. “So,” Rachel said, “we have no other choice but to take you.”
Nate shrugged. “That or find a different place to lay low for a while. I don’t know what’s going to happen, I just can’t let you walk right into Levi. The man’s crazy.”
“What about the homestead?” Rachel asked, turning to Alban. “We can’t just let Bill stay there. It’s dangerous for him too.”
Alban nodded thoughtfully. “Yes, we need to reach a town and forward a bird to him.”
“A bird?” Nate asked.
“A note,” Alban said. “Birds for hire, essentially. I can send a note by air and it should get to him within the day. I will tell him to stay away from the
homestead for a few days. The animals should be fine. Then I will tell him to check in on the homestead every day once he feels there is no danger.” He looked at Rachel and sighed. “It will all be fine, darling.”
“Don’t darling me!” Rachel spat. “I know I don’t get a say about any of this.” She looked back at Marum. “When two men have their mind set on something, the women just sit back and do what they’re told.”
Marum didn’t nod in agreement, nor did she even acknowledge Rachel’s tantrum. She simply cleaned her fingernails.
“That’s not what is going on, Rachel,” Alban said. “You know what situation we’re facing.”
“Then why can’t we lay low for a while, like Nathaniel suggested?” she asked. “He can get there by himself.”
No words were spoken in reply. Alban simply nodded at Nate and started toward the cart. Nate followed and looked toward Rachel, not with a smug expression of victory on his face but with a grateful nod to show her that he didn’t want any of this—that Nate had never meant for them to get involved. He knew all of that could not be said in a single look, but he meant it all the same. Rachel did not try to suppress her scowl as she climbed back into the open-topped wagon.
After many long minutes of traveling along the road, perhaps an hour, Nate finally asked Alban where he was going. Their course had not changed and they were not headed toward his homestead.
Alban cleared his throat and said a word unfamiliar to Nate. “Wanashwa,” he answered. “It’s a small settlement not far from here. I don’t like the idea of going there with the Rangers and your friend after us, but we will need to supply ourselves for the journey ahead. And I need to send a post to Bill to warn him.”
Nate nodded. Part of him wanted to look back at Rachel to see her reaction to the news, but he didn’t dare. She had already known that she was in the minority. But why Alban was so set on helping Nate perplexed him. Nate had done nothing to help the man. Sure, they weren’t safe going back to their homestead, but that didn’t mean they had to take him on a month-long journey across Galamore. It was a bold and risky move for Alban and his daughter to do this for a man they didn’t know at all. Nate had to side with Rachel on this in his mind. She was clearly the voice of reason. But Nate wasn’t about to try and talk the man out of it. Alban knew, as well as Nate, that if Nate were left on his own, he would be lost and would wander the land aimlessly for a much longer time without a guide.
Keeper of the Books (Keeper of the Books, Book 1) Page 22