Emily's Saga

by Travis Bughi

  “As you know, times are tough as of late,” he said, looking around. “There are a lot of things to worry about out there, and the Knight’s Order is doing everything it can to make your life and your property safe so that this city can carry on as normal. As such, we’ve had to make a few changes. Most of you will note that we are now employing ogres, as well as others, to help enforce the laws we’ve sworn to uphold and to help stem the tide of crime that came in the wake of the angels’ disappearance.”

  There was a moment of sorrowful silence at the mention of the angels. Emily guessed that point was still a tender spot for most of the citizens. It certainly was for her.

  “The extra force is working; this much I can tell you. It will not be long until things are back in their proper order and this all becomes a bad memory. However, until that time, the Order will have to continue hiring extra forces, and that means a few changes must occur. These changes, unfortunately, will fall upon everyone if we are to survive this together.”

  Members of the crowd peeled their eyes off Mark to stare at each other with confused looks. Emily, too, was a bit confused by what she heard. This seemed like more of a pep talk than a speech. Whether the approach was working or simply confusing everyone was not immediately apparent, but the crowd remained quiet as Mark prepared to read the scroll. Next to him, Borgan remained ever the composed businessman, utterly still and completely devoid of emotion.

  “In short, it’s a matter of finance. The Knights’ Order cannot handle this burden alone and requires the aid of those citizens we protect.” Mark paused, his voice beginning to lose the strength of confidence, and began to read from the scroll, “At this time, the tax levied upon the wealthy of this city will be extended to each person as a percentage of their total income.”

  A gasp shuddered through the crowd, followed by exasperated chatter, but Mark continued on and raised his voice.

  “This will only be temporary,” he insisted, then lifted his eyes from the scroll. “I know! I know it’s a lot to ask, but please take into context the situation we are in.”

  “Give you some of my money?” one man shouted. “I already spend every piece of it putting food in my family’s bellies!”

  There was a massive grumble from the crowd and a few cries of agreement. The knights guarding the steps looked worried, and Mark wiped his forehead.

  “It will only be a small amount, I assure you,” Mark pleaded.

  “What about the money that thieves are stealing from us?” the woman with the children yelled. “Did you take that into account? You’re no different from them!”

  With a chorus of cheers at the woman’s words, the entire crowd shuffled forwards. The knights at the steps took a pace back. Mark looked like he wanted to back up as well, but Borgan seemed unconcerned. In fact, for just a moment, Emily could have sworn she saw a faint smile on his lips. Emily glanced over her shoulder. The leprechaun sitting on the ogre wore a vicious smile. She didn’t have a crowd to fool like Borgan did and so didn’t bother to hide her enjoyment. She leaned in to whisper something in the ogre’s ear to which it grunted and then turned to push its way through the crowd.

  “Did you know about this?” Emily asked Gavin.

  “No,” he shook his head in regret.

  “Neither did I,” Duncan added, blinking in thought. “It makes sense, though. How else will we pay back the leprechauns?”

  The crowd’s chatter had turned to yelling. Those who thought like Duncan were leaving the crowd in disgust, but not in anger, while those with the shortest tempers, or perhaps the most to lose, were staying nearby. Emily had the feeling that perhaps she should leave, too.

  “What of the docks?” the merchant in front of Emily shouted. “Will there be a tax on exports?”

  Mark’s eyes glanced ever so slightly in Borgan’s direction.

  “Not at this time, no,” Mark said.

  The extra question caused the crowd to quiet down enough to hear the answer, but after Mark gave one, several more were shouted his way.

  “What about food?”

  “And imports?”

  “What counts as income?”

  More questions bombarded Mark.

  “Please, please!” Mark said, waving his hands to hush the crowd. “One at a time! One at a time!”

  Emily’s nerves calmed as the angry mob turned from threatening violence to haggling for information. There were still plenty of boos and jeers, but at least the look of malice was gone from their eyes. Emily grabbed Gavin’s and Duncan’s shoulders.

  “Let’s go,” she said. “Where will we find Mark when he’s done here?”

  “Follow me,” Duncan said.

  * * *

  By way of his new position, Duncan was privy to new things about the knights, including the routes travelled by higher ranking individuals in these dangerous times. He also felt assured that he was going to lose his new position if Mark found out that he’d taken Emily to one on purpose.

  “I shouldn’t be doing this,” Duncan said to himself for the tenth time.

  “Now, now, buddy,” Gavin patted his friend’s shoulder. “Desperate times call for desperate measures. I’ll take full responsibility. Mark already hates my guts anyway.”

  “Yes, because that’s the sign of a leader,” Duncan said sarcastically. “Letting those under my command take the fall. Perhaps it’d be better if you just lie in hiding, Emily.”

  This last part was said in all seriousness as the trio leaned against a building in an open alleyway. While there were many avenues of escape if they were ever caught outnumbered, this route lay in between Borgan’s bank and the angels’ tower, making it the most likely one for Mark’s retreat.

  “I’m speaking to Mark myself,” Emily insisted. “I need answers, and I don’t know if you two will ask all the right questions.”

  Duncan flustered at that, but Gavin kept his face even. Emily knew her comment had an insulting tinge, but it was the truth, and she felt that honesty won out over compassion on this issue.

  “A word with you, Shaw,” Duncan said in a low voice.

  Emily’s eyes popped in surprise. Apparently, her comment had been more hurtful than she anticipated. Gavin shrugged with his eyes at Emily and then followed Duncan off a few steps where they began to whisper. Duncan was obviously upset. He was pointing with his fingers and waving his hands, and Gavin was doing everything he could to tone down his new superior. Ranks meant plenty in the Order, but between these friends, they seemed more like guidelines than actual rules. Finally, Duncan appeared to throw down his trump card, and Gavin agreed. Emily didn’t hear much of it, but she did pick up Gavin’s last words, “Let me talk to her.”

  This would have been a much better conversation to have before we got here, Emily thought.

  Gavin strolled towards Emily and gave her a dashing smile. His chin was pronounced, his eyes a warm green, and the stubble on his skin accented the curvature of his face perfectly. The new scar on his cheek was hidden from sight as Gavin tilted his head to left, leaving only unflawed skin to be seen. As he walked back towards Emily, he held his arms open as if asking for forgiveness.

  By all accounts, Emily thought, she should be swooning right now. She remembered Gavin’s suave looks from the last time she’d been in Lucifan, and she’d fallen over them so deeply it’d pained her heart to look away. However, something had changed since then. Something was different, for now, as Gavin flashed his charm in full force, instead of melting into butter, Emily was feeling annoyed.

  “Miss Stout,” Gavin said in a soothing voice, “can I talk to you for a moment?”

  “Sure,” Emily muttered, and Gavin stepped beside her.

  “Look,” he whispered. “I know you really want to speak with Mark. However, there’s a bit of a problem with the fact that, legitimately, we could both be dismissed from our positions in the Order for this. Now, can you understand that?”

  Emily was mad, furious over being brought out here just to have her
demands discussed and rebuked, but that didn’t mean she couldn’t see plain logic.

  “Yes,” she responded.

  “Now, realize that,” Gavin hesitated a moment to choose his words, “given your less than favorable past with Mark, perhaps he’ll be more inclined to answer your questions if you weren’t the one asking them?”

  Emily sighed and looked down at the ground. She knew where this was going.

  “Maybe we’d get more information,” Gavin continued hopefully, “if someone Mark favored, like Duncan, asked the questions? Mark likes him, you see, because Duncan is all about order and duty, as you well know. So—”

  “I get it,” Emily cut him off, still looking at the ground. “But I’m staying within hearing distance.”

  “But out of sight?” Gavin pressed.

  “Yes, out of sight.” She sighed again. “Tell Duncan he can come back over here. I want to talk to him first, at least.”

  Chapter 10

  Mark came their way not too much later. He was escorted by ten knights, and each of them rode a pegasus.

  Emily was perched on a rooftop for cover. The alleyways in this area did not have enough clutter to make good any hiding place, so Gavin and Duncan had lifted her onto a nearby roof where she now lay flat to eavesdrop on the conversation. The morning sunlight seared her unprotected flesh, but the cool breeze that swept over the rooftops kept her relatively comfortable. With cautious movements, she peeked out over the edge of the roof.

  She risked exposure long enough to gaze in wonder at the pegasi. Like unicorns, they were perfect mounts with four hoofed feat and strong bodies capable of supporting human weight. Unlike unicorns, pegasi had no horn, and, instead, feathered wings—so at odds with the short fur covering the rest of their bodies—sprung out from their shoulders and wrapped back over their riders’ legs. Emily had ridden one before, briefly, but the wondrous feeling that had spread throughout her body as the pegasus took flight had been too astounding to forget. She desperately wished to feel that again.

  “Sir!” Duncan and Gavin both shouted and saluted on sight of Mark.

  They had been leaning against the wall of the building just past Emily but now took a knee to bow before their superior. Mark, leading his escort, stopped his pegasus just shy of them, right below Emily. She was thankful the roof was high enough to hide her body from Mark’s place upon his mount.

  “Macalister,” Mark said. “Shaw. What brings you two out here?”

  “We attended the announcement, sir,” Duncan said, still kneeling, his voice the epitome of discipline.

  “Ah, yes,” Mark sighed, “I should have known. Don’t worry; your pay will not be affected. Enough of our knights defected after the angels left and the crime increased. We don’t need to put further strain on the men by reducing their pay.”

  “That’s not it, sir,” Duncan responded, still kneeling. “Permission to speak freely, sir.”

  Mark hesitated. He seemed unwilling to grant that request in this situation, and his eyes drifted to Gavin. Emily knew Mark had a less-than-savory opinion of the knight. Gavin had a habit of questioning authority and taking a liberal interpretation of commands. When the angels had been around, Gavin had been senior to Duncan, but now that Mark was in charge, the roles had reversed.

  But Gavin knew of Mark’s dislike for him, and so had done a wise thing by remaining silent and kneeling with eyes pointed toward the ground. Mark mistakenly took that as a sign that this meeting was entirely Duncan’s idea.

  “Permission granted,” Mark answered.

  Duncan rose first, followed by Gavin. They both nodded their thanks.

  “Sir,” Duncan said, “if I may be so bold, this tax burden on those least able, was this a demand by the leprechauns?”

  Mark’s lips parted in his surprise. He blinked once, then twice, then closed his mouth again and broke eye contact with the two knights standing before him. Like Mariam had looked when she first told Emily about the amazons, Mark had the look of a guilty soul who knew the truth was coming out.

  “I suppose there is no harm in telling you now,” he muttered, but his words were still loud enough for all to hear. “It is only a matter of time before word spreads. Yes, that was a demand by the leprechauns. In order to borrow from them to pay the debts the Order has incurred, they required that we employ a financial advisor and follow his advice. This was his recommendation to ensure we could pay back the debt.”

  “Jack Borgan, sir?” Duncan clarified. “I thought he was a criminal.”

  “Mr. Borgan paid for his punishment, to the exact amount as I remember. As you well know, it is not in a knight’s nature to hold a grudge, only to uphold the law. And I’m afraid we had no other choice. The announcement you heard is just the first of their demands. There are other changes coming, changes that Mr. Borgan claims will make this city stronger and more secure.”

  “What are they, sir?” Duncan asked.

  “The leprechauns seek to reduce their tax burden, for one. The heavy taxes they’ve had to carry are preventing them from investing their wealth in Lucifan’s wellbeing, which I suppose is true enough. Mr. Borgan also has strongly suggested that we heavily tax imports, and I’m afraid that we are eliminating our ties with charities. It is an obligation that we can no longer keep. Their survival will now be fully up to the goodwill of the people, as it should be. The Order does not a have place dictating funds that do not go directly to upholding the law. This and the rest of these changes will be implemented over the next couple of months, slowly, to allow the city to shift with this change in outlook.”

  As Mark talked, Duncan’s and Gavin’s faces were gaping in disbelief. They seemed unable to comprehend what Mark was telling them, as if his words were too shocking to be said aloud.

  In all honesty, Emily barely understood what Mark was talking about. She knew the meaning of the words, but she’d never dealt with or even discussed things like taxes. There was no tax on the Great Plains because there was nothing for the taxes to pay for. Unlike Lucifan, there were no roads, no policing force, no aid for the poor, nor anything else really. Emily didn’t actually know what a tax on imports would do, or what kind of effect that would have. All she knew was this was what Count Drowin’s allies wanted and was the opposite of what the angels had done. That in itself told her this was very bad, and she gritted her teeth at the thought of Borgan’s hungry smile when Mark had made that first announcement this morning.

  “Of course, these other changes won’t have a public announcement,” Mark continued, ignoring the knights’ faces. “That would cause too much public discontent—”

  “For good reason!” Gavin shouted suddenly. “You would steal from the poor and give to the rich! What kind of greedy logic is that? Help Lucifan, my boot! This only helps the leprechauns!”

  Gavin had lost it. He stepped forward, chest blown out, teeth clenched, and eyes narrowed. He seemed seconds away from throwing his gauntlet down and challenging Mark to a duel. Duncan quickly stepped in front of his companion to block his path and silence his anger.

  But it was too late. Tempers had flared.

  “Silence! You pathetic simpleton!” Mark barked at Gavin. “I’ve had enough of your insubordination from day one! You don’t fully comprehend the situation we’re in, and I will not be berated by such a FOOL! Were we not so shorthanded right now, I’d throw you out on your arse back into the sewers you crawled up from!”

  Gavin almost started shouting back, but Duncan intervened and whispered something in his ear.

  “Sorry, sir,” Gavin said, showing immense effort in restraining his temper.

  “You’re dismissed, Shaw,” Mark replied.

  Gavin kept a burning stare leveled at his pegasus-mounted superior. Mark returned the gaze with icy contempt and held it even as Gavin turned his back to walk away.

  “You too, Macalister,” Mark said once Gavin had started away, “and I’ll schedule for you a session of leadership training with myself.”

&n
bsp; “But sir,” Duncan stuttered.

  “No need to thank me.” Mark held up his hand, and Duncan went silent. “It is obvious I promoted you too quickly. Attitude reflects leadership, and your subordinate here has revealed the depth of your skill deprivation. I’ll expect you first thing in the morning.”

  As Mark finished his sentencing, he motioned his mount forward, and the procession started again. Emily saw a few smirks on the other knights’ faces as they looked down on Duncan and Gavin. Emily was instantly reminded of Gaia, Belen’s right-hand woman, who had always laughed too hard at every joke her leader made.

  “Thank you, sir,” Duncan muttered, “and one more question, sir.”

  “Make it quick,” Mark replied, his back already to Duncan.

  “Is there any way out of this other than taking a loan from the leprechauns?”

  Mark turned back and smiled, as if he found Duncan’s innocence amusing.

  “Bring me two hundred crowns, Macalister,” he said, almost laughing. “That should cover a few basic costs.”

  The rest of Mark’s guard chuckled and kept trotting forward. They disappeared down the alleyway, taking the first turn towards the knights’ quarters and the angels’ tower. Even after they were gone from sight, Emily heard a few chuckles echo off the buildings. Emily waited patiently until she was sure they were gone.

  “Here, Miss Stout,” Gavin called out.

  Emily looked down to see the charming knight below the roof’s edge, both arms held out as if to catch her as she fell. Cute, she thought, but entirely unnecessary. She jumped down beside him, breaking the fall in an easy crouch.

  “So,” she said as she brushed the roof’s dust off her leather skirt, “I guess this confirms it.”

  “Confirms what?” Duncan asked.

  “I guessed right,” she replied. “The city is being traded to the leprechauns, and thus to Count Drowin. He’ll do it slowly over time to avoid a revolt or any other costly acquisition, which makes sense if you think about it. Vampires are immortal, and so if they have anything at all, it’s a lot of time to burn.”