by H. M. Clarke
“Your Grace.”
And with that Malchance left to let Garrick eat in peace.
SHATAL BARED HIS TEETH and took a nip at Malchance’s grey.
“I think Shatal has a thing against greys. He took a dislike to High Provost Deten’s grey as well, “Garrick said as he reined the horse’s head back.
It was evening. The Service had been quick and the sermon short. But the populous had seen him in his father’s place, in his father’s seat which is what Bishop Tomas had intended.
Outside, the streets were still crowded with people rushing about their business, though a good many of them wore the robes of the clergy.
Garrick moved Shatal closer to Malchance to get out of the way of the human traffic.
“I knew we should not have come out for this. Look at the people, and they are all watching us.”
Garrick chose to ignore Malchance. His resolution to be nice to him had nearly dwindled away with all his moaning if he mentions assassination one more time though...
“They are here to see me most likely, word has passed around that I was at the service tonight.” His voice was stiff and unemotional.
Malchance nodded, his eyes now constantly scanning those in the crowd around them, his left hand casually gripping his sword hilt. They made their way towards the end of the busy road. Lost in thought, Garrick moved his horse through the press of the crowd, barely feeling Malchance’s presence next to him.
Suddenly, the buildings beside him fell away and the two of them was standing at a large, well paved intersection. Wooden signs swinging gently on metal arms proclaimed the names of the streets that met at the corner. They had just come down a street called Chapel Street that entered onto a large thoroughfare simply called The Academy. Looking across the wide boulevard, Garrick could see the elegant form of a building rising over the heads of the river of people.
“Wasn’t Talan and his men meeting us here?” Garrick asked.
Malchance started to nod and stopped. He sat his horse stock-still and then his left hand slowly tightened its grip on his sword hilt.
“What is it, Willard?” Garrick looked at the warrior and then tried to peer across the road, his height not being as great as Malchance’s putting him at a disadvantage.
“I cannot see anything,” Garrick said crossly to himself.
“There’s something not right here. I think we’d best go back down the street and wait,” Malchance muttered.
Both men turned their horses and moved back around the corner into Chapel Street. The noise of the crowd drowning their talk to just themselves. Looking constantly around him, Malchance’s worry and fear began to make Garrick uneasy.
“Malchance, what is going on?” he demanded once they were far enough down the street.
“There were members of Felian’s paid network waiting outside that building for you to pass. I cannot let them see you.” He said the last more to himself.
“Let them see me. What have I to fear from citizens that report what they see? Hundreds have seen me already in the last few minutes. What would five or six more hurt?”
“Remember, I am here to protect you.” He then looked back in the direction of the thoroughfare, watching for any sign that they were being followed. “We’d best dismount as we wait for Talon. I don’t want us to be bigger targets than we have to be.”
Garrick grudgingly nodded agreement and quickly dismounted, being careful to avoid kicking anyone in the crowd around them. “You don’t really think that Felian’s henchmen will try anything with all these people around do you?”
“It pays to be careful Garrick. It is easier to kill someone unawares in a crowd than in an empty room.”
Garrick looked about him and saw the wisdom in Malchance’s words. The moving crowd made the perfect cover for anyone up to no good. He now began to feel guilty about his earlier thoughts about the Duke. “I now regret asking Talon to meet up with us here because I want to be up close with my people.”
Suddenly familiar faces came strolling through the crowd from the direction of The Cathedral. Garrick quickly jabbed a finger in their direction. “There is Talon and the Guard.”
Malchance turned in the direction of Garrick’s finger and nodded to himself.
“Come on.”
Slowly, they began to push their way through the crowd towards the small group of armored men. Their towering height made it easy to see them through the press of people and they seemed to move forward in the crowd like the prow of a boat cutting through the water. Swords and shields acting as a deterrent to the uncaring pushing crowd.
“Hail, Prince Garrick!” A voice called somewhere in the crowd. Garrick cursed under his breath.
Captain Talon stopped his men on spotting them rushing towards him through the crowd. His sudden halt stunned those people swarming around him into a momentary standstill.
A soft whistling sound sped past Garrick’s ear and the woman in front of him silently crumpled to the ground, a splash of red showing the feathered dart which hit her.
Another whistled through the empty air where his shoulder was as Malchance pulled him quickly towards the Soldiers, hitting another bystander. Garrick watched helplessly as the man’s eyes rolled up and he slumped silently to the ground.
Around them, the stilled mass of people began to scream and run wildly from the street as they began to realize what was going on around them.
Releasing the reins of the horses, Malchance pulled Garrick roughly to him and enclosed him in a tight bear hug, turning his back to the direction in which the darts were coming.
“Talon, help us get to cover!” Garrick shouted over the screaming of the stampeding crowd.
Captain Talon and his men were already heading in their direction, fighting against the crush of people trying to escape from the street.
People trying to escape the danger were buffeting Malchance from all sides. Garrick could feel the shove of every person that came in contact with him though Malchance did his best to protect him from that as well.
Suddenly the sound of the fleeing crowds was gone, replaced by that of the Prince’s Guard who formed a protective box around them. Malchance quickly released Garrick from his arms and quickly drew his sword with one smooth motion to hold it glinting in the evening light.
Garrick stepped back away from the sword and came up hard against Captain Talon. Before him was the man who had fallen, his body trampled by the crowds in the rush to get away. Lying just outside the circle of men was the crumpled body of the woman.
“It seems that trouble has followed you.” Captain Talon said with a frown across his bare face, his sword held comfortably across his right shoulder. Around them, Garrick’s heavily armed and armored bodyguard stood with weapons raised waiting. The Captain had not been happy about the change in orders when they left the Cathedral.
“This is no time to dispute your orders Captain,” Garrick growled, drawing his sword.
“Well,” Talon said as he looked full circle around at the seemingly empty buildings that faced onto the vacated street. “It seems that your playmates have gone.”
Garrick did not answer him, he stood with his sword before him and waited.
Minutes passed and Garrick glanced uncertainly at the buildings around him. Sweat beaded on his brow and he nervously wiped it away with the sleeve of his coat. Everything was now silent in the street, only the occasional creak of leather and metal from the Guard making any noise.
Then slowly figures began to appear from the buildings around them. They seemed to pull themselves from the very cracks in the roof tile, seeping out from the shadows of stone walls and small alleyways. They approached the circle slowly.
Around their circle stood six men. Garrick could see the line of Malchance’s jaw tighten as he saw the emblems that they wore openly on their black cloaks. Embroidered in a scarlet thread was an open book surrounded by a circle. A corrupted symbol of the Justicars.
Looking at the men, in turn, Garrick could distin
guish no difference in appearance between them. They all had dark hair, dark eyes, pale skin and were the same height. They stood staring at them, unmoving. Garrick, Malchance and the guard stared silently back.
Suddenly, as if to a silent cue, the six drew swords and charged into the circle of guards. In the blink of an eye, one of Talon’s men crashed to the ground in a spray of blood. A black cloaked figure came to stand over the body, the serrated edge of his sword gleamed red as it caught the light.
Malchance moved himself to stand between the figure and Garrick. Garrick felt Talon move suddenly away from him. Turning he saw the Captain catch a wicked edged sword on the crosspiece of his blade before aiming a solid punch at the man’s jaw. The Dark Justicar fell to the ground and Talon stepped forward to fill the spot of another of his fallen men.
Garrick now stood by himself in the center of the whirling circle of blades. He spun around at the sound of every loud grunt or cry, thinking that another Dark Justicar had broken through the line of men to attack him.
Malchance still stood facing the first Dark Justicar who had now moved passed the body before him without giving it a second glance.
The man’s face wore an unnatural grin, lips peeled back to reveal tightly clenched yellow teeth. His eyes were opened as wide as his lids allowed showing more white than iris, he looked as if he was in terrible agony. But he moved not like a man in pain but with the grace of a wild cat.
Malchance was now crouched in a fighter’s stance, his sword held at an angle before him. The Dark Justicar stopped his approach just out of lunging range and stood to smile his hideous, rictus smile. His unnatural gaze moved slowly from Malchance’s face to rest eagerly on Garrick. His skin seemed to crawl under that gaze and he felt the need to scratch himself all over.
A flash of light caught his eye and saw the man lurch backward.
Embedded to the hilt in his shoulder was one of Malchance’s daggers. Another dagger was now balanced in Malchance’s left-hand waiting.
“Take your eyes off him.”
Slowly, the man grasped the dagger and pulled it from his flesh. He glanced fleetingly at the dagger before tossing it to the cobblestones.
Garrick stood as still as stone, watching every move the man made. All around them the Guard was still fighting, though two more were missing from their numbers. There was only one more black cloaked body to add to the enemy dead.
“You have no hope of winning,” Garrick simply said
“We were just asked to deliver a message, My Prince if we could not kill you,” the man said conversationally.
Garrick grunted to himself before replying. “What message do have for me then.” Shouts could now be heard coming from the end of Chapel Street. Garrick looked behind him to see a group of heavily armed Temple Warriors coming towards them from The Academy.
“I have a message to deliver to you. I am to tell you that there is no place where you are safe, that there is no place where you can hide, that eventually you will bow to my Mistress and everything you have will be hers. She would prefer it to be willing. If not,” the man shrugged.
Suddenly the man began to laugh insanely. The others who accompanied him were hacked down by Talon and his men as they too began to laugh. His laughter quickly turned to a gurgling noise and the man began to claw frantically at his throat. Garrick watched in horror as blood began to flow freely from his nose, eyes, and mouth. He slowly sank to the ground as his legs crumpled beneath him.
Malchance walked forward and nudged him hard with the toe of his boot. The Dark Justicar did not stir.
“He is dead,” pronounced Malchance as Temple Warriors came to join them.
The Commander of the Temple Warriors gave them an irritated look. “What is going on here?” The woman asked as both Duke Malchance and Captain Talon approached her. The Commander’s gaze skimmed quickly over the many bodies that now lay across Chapel Street. Her eyes widened as she saw the emblem on the black cloaks of the dead.
“We have had some trouble,” Captain Talon said.
“More than you realize.” Garrick sheathed his sword and approached the small group and they slowly began to explain what had happened to the Temple Commander.
CHAPTER NINE
“GARRICK, YOU HAVE TO act now.”
Malchance had followed hot on Garrick’s heels and spoke as soon as Captain Talon closed the door to his receiving rooms.
“You can’t let this go without repercussions. They tried to kill you, Garrick. Treason was committed. You must make an example of them.”
“I must? The word ‘must’ is not used to princes.” Garrick rounded on Malchance, using him to expel the pent up fear and adrenaline that he had been keeping contained in that one sentence. It would not do to show any weakness in public. Not now.
Garrick released the breath he was holding. “But, a prince should never flinch from doing acts of ruthlessness which are necessary for safeguarding the State and their own person.”
Talon suddenly straightened as if about to accept orders and Malchance’s look of fury quickly evaporated into one of quiet expectation.
“A prince must take these things so much to heart that they do not fear to strike even the very nearest that you have if they are implicated.”
The words were from a treatise on rulership that his Great Grandfather had written for his son, and that book had been memorized by every royal child since then. But only now did Garrick truly understand what that phrase really meant.
Garrick looked at his childhood friend, his shield and protector. He was acutely aware that their torn and dirty clothes also carried the blood of innocent victims caught between Felian and her bid for power. He had let this go on long enough. The innocent should not pay in blood for his squeamish conscience.
“Find Ranen and Felian, and those who harbor them. They are to be held under arrest for committing High Treason.”
“By your order Prince Garrick.” Malchance snapped his heels together and quickly strode from the room followed by Talon.
“RIGHT, SEARCH EVERY room!” Captain Talon stood in the atrium to the Great Hall of Ranen’s home, staring grimly at his men as they began to fan out through the rest of the house. “You two, upstairs,” Talon jabbed a finger at two men still loitering in the hall and then pointed up to the main staircase.
Malchance stood off to one side next to Ranen’s wife and two children, flanked by two of Garrick’s guardsmen, watching.
“My husband is not here. He left early this afternoon and has not returned.”
“Do you know where he was going?”
“No, sir.” The woman hugged her children closer as the sounds of booted feet began to be heard in all areas of the building.
Malchance smiled at the woman. “You have beautiful, well behaved children.”
“Thank you Duke Malchance.”
“I wish I had a daughter. Girls can bring such joy to a family, can’t they? Do you mind?” Malchance held his hands out to the little girl who looked to be no more than maybe three or four. The woman hesitated and he saw the grip around the child’s shoulder tighten before the women reluctantly let her arm slip away.
Malchance reached down and lifted the little girl into his arms. “What pretty hair you have. What is your name?”
The little girl smiled at the compliment and ran a pudgy hand over her blonde curls. “My name is Raynar.”
“It’s very nice to meet you, Raynor.” Malchance smiled down at the girl. Her mother anxiously watched them both. Malchance ignored the woman. He stepped a short distance away from them, turning so that the little girl’s back was to her mother. “Do you know where your father is?” The little girl shook her head, but her eyes automatically moved to the dark wood paneling to the right of the fireplace. He slowly placed the little girl back on the floor and her mother quickly reached forward and snatched her close.
“Captain Talon?”
“Sir.”
Malchance moved to the wall and studied th
e intricately carved wood. The same woodland vine motif was echoed across all the panels, all fresh and new. Except for one. A panel carving to the far right shared the same motif, but it was dull, the polish had been worn away. Especially around that thick carved flower. The Duke reached out and touched a finger to the hard, wood petals and heard a feminine gasp come from behind him. He smiled.
He gripped the flower and twisted. A soft click was heard behind the wood and a large section of the wood paneling opened an inch away from the rest of the wall. Malchance nodded to Talon who pulled the door fully open to reveal a small room, dimly lit by a small smokeless lantern and huddled in black wool robes in the far corner was the pudgy form of Ranen.
THE NEXT MORNING, GARRICK was reading through the documents that Malchance had handed him. The first of which was the charges laid out for treason and attempted murder. Then on the next several pages was all the evidence they had collected to show these charges be true and accurate, and then, on the final page was a very long list of names. A list of names much longer than what Garrick thought it should be.
“For a Justicar, Ranen quickly turned on his allies and fellow conspirators.” Garrick spread the papers across his work desk.
“Yes, he did. We had not even started the interrogation before he started spilling names, schemes and murder plots.”
“I thought they were supposed to be made of firmer stuff than that.”
“You would think so. Ranen must have gotten used to soft living as the High Justicar. Plus he has a wife and two children. His cooperation will ensure that they are not stripped of their money or rank.”
Garrick nodded and picked up the last page from his table. Ranen and Felian’s names were at the top of that list, but as his eyes moved down, he saw several names that surprised him at being there.
“Are you sure of these?” Garrick asked holding the list up for Malchance to see.
“Yes. Names I was not sure of are on another list in my office awaiting further investigation.”