by Billy Wong
"It... sounds like you might be a little drunk yourself."
Rose slammed her fist on the counter, making cups jump and patrons stare. "I'm not drunk! My liver's invincible, it's been punctured many times and it still works—of course I'm not drunk!"
#
Finn let much of it go in one ear and out the other as Rose bombarded him with her thoughts about their possible courses of action, have not even finished her explanation of what had happened before dragging him along to rescue Evan. At least it seemed she had found a way to get her enthusiasm back, even if she might need to be intoxicated... "So you're back to being all chummy with Justin," he asked, "after all the trouble he's caused us?"
"What trouble? He never did us lasting harm, even if he tried to make some legal problems for us in the past."
He didn't really want to bring up the awful event they'd both rather forget, but felt compelled to. "What about... our child?"
Guilt filled him instantly when her eyes clouded with forming tears, but she blinked them back. "That wasn't his fault—it was The Lost who hurt me, even if we met them because of Justin. He doesn't find any joy in what happened to me; he truly feels sorry about it, and I can't rightly hold a grudge against him over it."
Finn smiled at her then, and marveled, "You're amazing, my love. I still can't believe how easily you forgive, even after you've suffered so much."
"It's that or blame the innocent, and I'd rather not go down that route like Justin did."
They traveled to Victor's manor in Coeb, and upon letting them into his dining hall the prince smiled disingenuously. "Welcome, great warriors. What can I do for you?"
"You can let Evan go, is what," Rose said without delay. "He's no use to you, and it's not fair of you to hold him here like he's some novel animal."
Victor replied calmly. "I think you're wrong on both points, actually. Your friend has shown some strong signs of regaining his abilities, and as I am the second most powerful person in this nation, I can do whatever I want with him. For all our sakes."
Finn could understand the appeal of being able to foresee and prepare for things before they occurred, but there were two problems. For one, Evan was a human being too, and should have the right to choose his own course. And also, several people including Finn, his wife, and the seer himself no longer thought his visions a valid basis for decisions due to the flexible way they could be interpreted.
He expressed these concerns to Victor and added, "Besides, it's not like you can be sure these 'signs' are true, and I highly doubt the effectiveness of a layer of dirt as a substitute for an island."
"I don't believe Evan's foresight will automatically solve all our problems, but do think it can be a valuable tool and that we should use every tool at our disposal that could help to protect our future. Don't you?"
"Evan isn't a tool," Rose said, trying hard just to keep her voice moderately calm. "He's a good person who doesn't deserve to be enslaved by anyone, you included."
"Enslaved? You call living in a prince's dwelling, attended to by servants, eating food worthy of great feasts every meal, slavery?"
She shook her head. "It is when you're not allowed to ever leave, always watched over by a bunch of guards like a prisoner, and made to sleep in a room full of dirt."
"It's my home," Victor growled, "and in it one must abide by my rules."
"But he doesn't belong here in the first place. He should be out there, where he intended to go when he left his island."
"Just let us take him away, eh?" Finn said. "You're not the most beloved royal, and your reputation will only be worse off if people find out you're holding some poor sod hostage, trying to make him tell you the future when he obviously can't." He saw Rose glance disapprovingly at him for his aggressiveness, but though it might not be her preferred negotiation style, it tended to serve him well.
But it was the wrong move this time as Victor, a fierce warrior in his own right, met his verbal charge eagerly. "And if I don't release him? Will you murder me like you did my brother's houseguard?"
The accusation wasn't technically true. It did however bring silence to the room while the guards stared at Rose and Finn, some gripping their hilts tightly in preparation for a fight, others looking more like they prepared to run. Finn noticed Justin's absence and felt relieved for a small blessing, not that he wouldn't react poorly once he heard about this.
"We didn't murder them!" he replied. "They attacked us first when Lawrence commanded them to, and you know that!"
"So you concede you killed his men. But why would you do that?"
"He wanted to kill our children!" Rose said, voice choked. "At that moment he would have had us killed, so we had to defend ourselves—wouldn't you?"
"I probably would. But why exactly would my brother want to kill your innocent babes? He is not insane, so he must have had a reason for it."
Rose fell silent, but Finn bellowed, "It was the wrong reason!"
Victor smirked. "Whether it was wrong or not, you rebelled against your liege, threatening his life as you fought him. I could have the two of you arrested and executed right now."
"I'll never let that happen," Finn said, and pulled the mace off his back. He felt confident he and Rose could defeat all the soldiers here, even if Victor joined in; either of them should be able to handle the underlings while the other took on the prince. As for what would happen afterwards, he'd think about it then.
Rose, who hadn't drawn her weapon, begged them to stop. "Please don't do this. I hate this fighting amongst ourselves bullshit... Victor, I know you want to protect Kayland, though you go about it the wrong way. We too have fought with all our hearts to preserve the kingdom, and helped save it many times. Do you really want to make enemies of us and lose our talents? If nothing else, we are strong. We should stay on the same side, but I'm not sure we can do that if you insist on abusing our friend." Finn liked her argument, but worried it might not be enough to avert the fight threatening to break out if Victor knew why Lawrence had sought their children's deaths.
As it turned out, he either didn't know the reason or didn't give it the weight his brother had. He sighed and said, "Rose, Rose, Rose. It's true you are probably the greatest warrior in the world, and your husband the second best in Kayland, and that you've helped the country a great deal. Who knows, maybe your continued service will do more for us than Evan's unreliable foresight would. So fine, take your friend and go. And maybe you could spar with me sometime, and take some of the boredom out of courtly life."
They both breathed a great sigh of relief at the prince's concession, but what he had already said would be damaging enough once it made its way through the channels of rumor. Hurrying to fetch Evan before Victor changed his mind, Rose groaned, "Damn, Finn, now everybody's going to know about our problems with Lawrence..."
He tickled the back of her neck. "It's okay, cheer up. Things didn't go as badly as they could have."
The deep, rich laughter he forced from her throat seemed to make her feel better in spite of herself, and her sense of humor returned. "I suppose nobody's dead at least, and that's what really matters!"
Finding Evan's room with the help of a maid, the couple opened his slightly ajar door to see a floor covered with loose dirt. Finn shook his head as he greeted the seer. "Looks like you've really been living a dog's life, huh?"
"This is apparently how they treat prophets in your country. Glad you guys finally came to visit me."
Rose grinned. "Better than that, friend. We're here to free you!" She wrapped him in a crushing hug.
His eyes lit up with hope, gratitude, and worry. "So how do you plan to do it?" His orbs widened further when Rose answered.
"Already done! Now you can have all the adventures you dreamed of, see the world, meet new friends..."
Evan nodded. "Considering the great ones I already have, I might not need any more! Kidding, but still... so he actually listened to you, then?"
"He did, eventually. Made a b
it of a mess for us before that, though."
He gazed downwards apologetically. "Sorry about making things hard for you. And thanks for helping me out again."
Finn shook his head. "You saved our kids, remember? We'll always owe you for that."
"Evan," Rose said, "do you know anything about a stone spike with some sort of power inside it, from your investigation of The Lost before or your visions?"
"I've never seen it, but it sounds this could be what they make sacrifices to." He paused and whispered, "I did have a... vision of Justin defeating a powerful demon. I thought it just represented The Lost themselves before, but if there's an actual demonic essence inside this spike..."
"Justin defeating a demon?" Finn said with a laugh. "We might be giving him too much love these days. Maybe if the one you saw represents a Lost. He can beat one Lost."
"Maybe he'll kill the last one," Rose suggested. "He is presumably coming with us. What about you, Evan?"
"No, I've had enough of battling them. I'm not up to snuff skill-wise, and I'd probably do better to just stay out of your way."
Frankly, Finn felt a bit glad they wouldn't have another weak fighter to protect; Rose tended to get hurt a lot protecting less self-sufficient allies, and he didn't like seeing that at all. The trio left the manor and walked down the road talking. When it came time for them to part ways, Rose gave Evan another parting hug.
"Enjoy your freedom!" she said, Finn loving the cheer back in her voice.
When the seer was gone, he asked, "Rose, do you think we should still bring Justin along? If he finds out about us and Lawrence, there's bound to be trouble." Being so patriotic, he would view their defiance of the ruler less than favorably, and if he learned about the prophecy, he'd likely be all up in arms about their selfishness again.
Her face told him she didn't like it, but seemed to understand. "Yeah, let's just go without him. Though he might've been able to help us out with his added experience with The Lost, but..."
"Sorry I pushed Victor into talking about it."
She looked up at him and touched his hand. "It's okay. The important thing is that we accomplished our goal of saving Evan. And it's not like we don't deserve some flack for...
Realizing she must feel guilty again, Finn squeezed her hand in return. "It's not our fault Lawrence put so much stock in a stupid prophecy, especially not yours, and we had to protect our own. Besides, if he really wants to stop the foretold threat, he should have waited for it to come and faced it like a man, not gone after our defenseless kids."
The boisterous way he'd said the middle of his last sentence managed to put a grin on her face. "Thankfully they weren't so defenseless, considering they had us. So that's what we're going to do, right? Face whatever comes and kick its ass?"
"Of course, my love. That's what we do best."
#
Returning to the manor, Justin found it abuzz with rumors about Rose and Finn's earlier conflict with Lawrence. He hastened to Victor's study, where he asked anxiously, "Is it true they defied Prince Lawrence and slaughtered the royal guard? If so, why would he let them get away with that?"
Victor looked up from the scroll he examined. "Yes, it's true."
He hadn't bothered answering the second question, but Justin barely noticed. The fury which had built within him even as he heard the rumors burst loose, and he demanded, "And why didn't you punish them if you knew?!" He regretted raising his voice at the prince right away, and hoped he would realize his anger was directed at Rose, not him. He'd even begun to trust the damnable woman, when he should have known better...
Thankfully Victor didn't seem offended by his outburst, and only smiled a little. "If Lawrence didn't punish her for it, why should I? He must have had his reasons. One of which might be that it wouldn't benefit our kingdom to lose its greatest champions over such a trivial matter as an argument and a few knights."
"But to let such treason go unpunished undermines the authority of the crown!"
"It imagine that might be why Lawrence kept it a secret, then."
"And now that it's not a secret anymore, will you continue to let them get away with it?"
Now the prince's voice grew exasperated. "And what would you have me do? There isn't really an option besides letting it go that would do more good than harm. Sometimes you just have to accept things and move on."
The words did remind Justin of his own actions when Rose had allowed his uncle to get killed a few years ago; he'd wanted to do something to right the wrong, but in the face of Rose's immense strength thought himself powerless. Was even Victor intimidated by her? "But why did she come into conflict with Lawrence anyway? Do you know what she did?"
Victor seemed to consider how much to tell him, leaned back in his chair and shrugged. "What she did? Nothing. It wasn't Rose herself he went after, but her children he tried to have killed. So it might be that guilt had something to do with him backing down, too."
Justin gaped. Lawrence had tried to kill toddlers? Even he'd have trouble accepting an authority that committed such an atrocity, if the reason wasn't somehow sound—and it would be hard to have a sound reason for that. "Why did he try to do it?"
"According to your prophet friend, apparently when they grow up, her children are destined to... destroy our world."
"What?! H-how?"
"That part, Lawrence didn't really explain. Something about an ancient evil coming back with their help when they're grown, I think."
"And now nobody is doing anything about it?" How long had Victor known about this, and how could he speak so calmly of such matters?
Victor chuckled. "You know not all prophecies come true, yes? You'd have to be a fool to think otherwise. And besides, I wouldn't stoop to the level of killing children. Not just because they're no challenge—most people aren't, anyway. It's just an unpleasant thing to do, and best avoided if at all possible. I'm not about to make myself feel so unclean just for the sake of preventing a possibility."
Justin wouldn't ever look forward to slaughtering children as young as Rose's were, either. But this case deserved special consideration. The end of the world! No price could be too great to prevent that. "Your Highness, may I go and speak with Evan in order to find out more about this matter?"
"After nearly yelling at me, you switch right back to your formal tone as if nothing happened to make your request? Hmm... it's fairly obvious you won't be able to concentrate on much else here if I deny it. Fine, go then. I hope I don't hear about you killing small children anytime soon. I wouldn't like that."
"Neither would I." Such an act should only be the very last resort, and even then... He thought of how devastated Rose would be, perhaps totally destroyed, were she to lose Jacob and Amber. Whatever she'd done, she didn't deserve that pain, and neither did they. But he still wanted to know more about the situation before making a decision. "Thank you," he added.
"If you do kill them," Victor said, "I doubt you'll live long."
"I know. I won't do anything I'd regret."
Walking out, he began to make a connection between the ancient evil Rose's kids were foretold to unleash and the power The Lost wished to revive. Both entities were supposedly ancient, powerful, and evil or at least potentially harmful. Could the two be the same? And yet, Rose's children were so young, nowhere near the age at which they were supposed to release the evil. It was not time for overzealous sacrifices, yet.
If his theory was correct, Justin thought, there should be a way to avert the prophecy without committing the sin of child-killing. The Lost had to finished off, and their spike destroyed, before Rose's kids could grow up and bring out the power within to catastrophic effect. Though it might be tough to completely wipe out the organization, against his common sense Justin felt up to the task. For some reason, maybe due to the stakes, he'd never felt more alive in his life.
Chapter 6
After a few days of hanging around the shadier parts of Seil, Rose and Finn got wind of a handsome man with one ey
e searching for a spike like that Justin had described. Though this would not be the spike's thief, he might well be a Lost or person knowledgeable about their activities. Following a lead Finn had gotten by intimidating a barkeep, the couple waited inside the Wild Ox, a seedy casino upstairs of a brothel said man was known to frequent.
Seeing a slim, haughty-looking eyepatch wearer in his forties come up the stairs, Rose stopped him. "You're the one who's looking for the spike, aren't you?"
"Rose Agen and her husband Finn, I presume?" he said on sight of her scar-covered face.
"Yes, that's us," Finn snapped. "Now, why are you looking for it?"
The one-eyed man grinned. "You don't even want to know my name first, I suppose? I'm John Silk, and I seek the spike because I've heard it holds great power. I'd like to see what that power is."
"And do you have any idea where the spike might be found?" Rose asked.
"It's thought by some a soldier in the Kayland army stole it. But I don't think he did."
"I know him, and I know he didn't." There was no point in hiding that from him, especially considering it might help keep The Lost off Justin's back.
"So who do you think took it?"
She didn't know, and if she had a good guess, she wouldn't have told him. "Someone seeking its power."
"You don't trust me, do you?" Before she or Finn could reply, Silk added, "You shouldn't, not when you're talking to somebody who wants the same thing we both can't have. But tell me, why do heroes like you want such an object? I hear it's evil."
Finn gave a rough nod. "Exactly, and that's why we're going to destroy it."
Seeing alarm flash through Silk's eyes before he recovered his game face, Rose knew he wasn't after quite the same ends. "I see. Then, farewell. It's always exciting to meet others interested in the same goal. May the better players win!"
John Silk left for the gambling tables, and Finn grumbled, "He's a bit on the suspicious side, don't you think?"
"Yeah, he is," Rose said. "Seems a little cheery to be a Lost, though he could be hired by them. Let me guess, you want to beat some more answers out of him?"