The Seeker and the Sword (A Hollow Fate Novella)

by Todd Herzman

  Serena gave a weak smile and nodded.

  Lilah swung her gaze around and found Jercolf chatting in the corner with a couple of guests.

  ‘If he is the mage... he’ll be executed?’

  Lilah’s eyebrows drew together as she looked back at Serena. ‘Of course—if it is him, he’ll suffer for the evil he’s committed. Not to mention the murder.’ Serena’s eyes fell. Lilah forced a reassuring smile. ‘Don’t worry, I’ll keep you safe.’

  Lilah walked the length of the Red Rose and joined Jercolf in the corner, nodding as she approached.

  ‘They saw him last night.’ Jercolf gestured to the couple he spoke with—they looked like travelling traders. ‘But they were in bed before he left. No one seems to have seen him leave.’

  ‘Men like him stay at places like these till the doors close and the ale runs dry.’

  ‘I did smell it on his clothes. The ale, among other things.’

  ‘Turns out he’s a caravan guard, as I thought. Had a friend with him last night, they were due to leave on a caravan this morning.’ Lilah started walking before she’d finished speaking and heard Jercolf follow.

  They stepped back into the alley. Seeker Haldin glanced up at them with questions in his eyes. Lilah reiterated what she’d told Jercolf.

  ‘He may have witnessed the murder,’ Jercolf said when Lilah had finished.

  Lilah threw a glance at him. ‘Or committed it.’

  ‘He’ll likely be stopped at one of the gates.’ Haldin looked to the mouth of the alley. ‘Assuming they didn’t leave early morning.’ He looked at his daughter. ‘Do you know which way they’d be heading?’

  ‘West, to Trafon.’

  Seeker Haldin gave orders to the remaining recruits then started walking. ‘Follow,’ he said to Lilah and Jercolf.

  They obeyed, trailing behind her father’s long legs. The West Gate was the closest gate to the Red Rose, but it was still a fair distance to walk.

  ‘What about the people inside the Red Rose?’ Lilah asked as they increased their pace.

  ‘One of them could still be responsible. The place will be guarded until we know for sure.’

  She thought of Serena as they walked. If someone in the tavern was responsible, she’d now be locked inside with them. Lilah tried to put that out of her mind and focus on the task at hand. In all the rush and excitement, she’d almost forgotten this was also a test—a way to prove herself.

  If she caught the mage, they’d practically have to choose her as the next seeker. She’d make her father proud.

  They stormed through the streets of Kharleon, walking six blocks until they made it to the gate. A long line of caravans and carts had formed. Disgruntled traders and farmers eyed Seeker Haldin as he made his way to the guards, no doubt blaming him for their delay in leaving the city.

  Lilah tried to rake everyone they passed with her gaze. Could be one of them was the mage. She looked for furtive glances, hoods drawn up, people limping or nursing wounds—she wouldn’t put it past Warrick, from what she’d heard, to have attacked someone—but found nothing and no one that looked suspicious.

  A guard greeted them at the gate. ‘Seeker.’ He inclined his head at Haldin. ‘The gate is secure.’

  ‘Did you have any caravans heading to Trafon pass through this morning?’

  The guard nodded. ‘Aye, one. The head merchant was right grumpy, too. Was glad to see the back of his wagons.’

  ‘How long?’ Seeker Haldin looked out through the gate. Lilah followed his gaze to the expanse of farms surrounding the city.

  ‘About an hour ago.’ The guard looked from the seeker to the recruits. ‘I would’ve stopped ‘em had I known—it was before the order came down.’

  A sergeant with greying temples stepped out of the guardhouse door off to the side. ‘Gregory!’ he bellowed. ‘Get these people some horses.’

  Gregory—the guard they’d been speaking with—bowed his head and rushed off to the guardhouse stables.

  The sergeant clasped forearms with Seeker Haldin. ‘This caravan have your mage on it?’

  ‘Might do, that or a witness.’

  The sergeant nodded. ‘My guards are at your disposal.’

  Seeker Haldin tilted his head at Lilah and Jercolf. ‘These recruits didn’t expect to be in the field today. I’ll need them outfitted from your armoury, Sergeant...’

  ‘Blimes, sir.’ Blimes looked at the two recruits then swept a hand toward the guardhouse. ‘Right on through.’

  There were more guards at the gate than usual to help control the crowds. One of them stepped up and led Lilah, with Jercolf on her heels, into the guardhouse, down the hall and left to the armoury. The guard selected a key from a ring on his belt and unlocked the door. The armoury was larger than the academy’s, but the weapons inside were far less varied, having only spears, arming swords, daggers and crossbows.

  Lilah eyed the armour. There were spare hauberks and gambesons to outfit the reserve guard in times of need. An image of Warrick, his body crushed in the alley, entered her mind. Armour wouldn’t help against someone with that kind of power—unless it was embedded with protective crystals. Lilah touched her necklace, the mage would likely crush her in the ring mail if he was able to break through her own crystal’s protection, and the gambeson would only slow her down.

  She hefted one of the arming swords. It was castle-forged, light and well-balanced. She sheathed it and strapped it to the left of her belt, moving the dagger that had been there to the right. She didn’t take a buckler, opting to keep her off hand free.

  Chances were, even if they did encounter the mage, she wouldn’t do any fighting—her father was the one with the Starblade and the gauntlets embedded with crystals, after all. Still, she wanted to be prepared.

  Jercolf shrugged a hauberk over the gambeson he’d put on, then grabbed a spear. ‘More reach,’ he said when she raised an eyebrow.

  More reach, Lilah thought. She turned to where the crossbows hung on the wall, grabbed one, then tested the pull back and checked the integrity of the string. She slung the strap over one shoulder before grabbing a quiver of bolts. She smirked at Jercolf as they headed out of the armoury toward the stables.

  Gregory, the first guard they’d spoken to, had three horses saddled up and ready. Seeker Haldin was already with him.

  Haldin briefly looked them up and down before mounting one of the horses. ‘Time to go.’

  Lilah picked the smaller of the remaining horses, letting Jercolf, with his larger frame and added armour, ride the other.

  The back of the stables opened around the corner of the West Gate. The trio rode out, turning their horses to see the line of caravans and carts had only grown longer. They took a slow trot toward the gate.

  ‘You would think they would wait for the gates to reopen somewhere more comfortable,’ Jercolf said.

  ‘They just want to get on with their day.’ Seeker Haldin flicked the reins, setting his horse into a canter as they approached the gate.

  Lilah followed suit. It had been some time since she’d ridden out with her father, and this time couldn’t be more different than the last. She knew she wasn’t a seeker yet, but she could almost imagine she was.

  The guards raised the portcullis in time for their approach. Lilah’s green cloak flapped in the wind as they made it onto a clear road outside the city walls. The horses were well rested and well fed, and they made a good pace down the road as they passed the surrounding farms. No caravan could move faster than a rider. It wouldn’t be long until they caught up with Warrick’s former companion.

  The ride gave Lilah time to think, and her thoughts went where they always did when her mind was left free to wander. To Serena. She remembered her, shocked and shaken, standing behind the bar.

  Warrick’s loss was not one Lilah would mourn, even if she had known the man, but having something like that happen so close to someone she loved... Lilah would see this mage, be it
man, woman, or child, put to justice for the malfeasance they’d performed. She would see Serena feel safe once more.

  Chapter 4

  The horses slowed to a trot as they reached the caravan. It was five wagons long, with two guards at its rear. The road to Trafon was flat and clear, and the guards had spotted Lilah and the others in time for the head merchant to make his way to the back wagon. He was a heavy-set man in his fifties—Lilah couldn’t help but wonder how a man who lived much of his life on the road could become so... plump.

  She eyed the guards, then shook her head to her father. She’d been the only one to see what the mercenary looked like—neither of the rear guard were old enough to be him.

  ‘Hail, Seeker.’ The merchant raised a hand in greeting as the horses came to a standstill. Lilah crinkled her nose as the smell of a horrid perfume wafted from the man. The merchant smiled up at Haldin atop his horse. ‘What brings a seeker to my humble caravan? Just passing through, I imagine, as you'll find no magic here.’

  ‘Did you have a guard by the name of Warrick?’ Seeker Haldin dismounted. Lilah did the same, coming to stand next to her father. Jercolf stayed on his horse as planned, in case someone in the caravan decided now was a good time to run.

  ‘Yes, I did. The bastard didn’t show up this morning.’ The merchant spat in the dirt. He looked at the seeker, at the recruits. ‘It’s not him you’re after?’

  ‘Warrick died sometime in the night.’

  The merchant nodded as if he’d just been told it might rain later that day. ‘I see. Suppose that’s why he didn’t show.’ He scratched his balding head. ‘What of Jerome?’ The merchant’s eyes tracked Jercolf as he trotted his horse around the side of the caravan.

  ‘Jerome?’ Haldin’s hand rested on the pommel of his Starblade. His gaze slowly shifted over the guards, merchants, apprentice merchants, and younger helpers who’d come around to see why the caravan had stopped.

  Lilah admired the way her father’s voice stayed even—how he never gave away his thoughts or feelings in the words he spoke.

  ‘Neither Jerome nor Warrick showed up this morning. The two are—were—inseparable. I just assumed they were both passed out drunk after a long night of partaking in’—he glanced at Lilah, then looked back at the seeker—‘earthly delights.’

  Lilah’s father took an almost imperceptible step forward. ‘So we will not find Jerome amongst your caravan?’

  The merchant narrowed his eyes. ‘As I said, Seeker, the man didn’t show. Were he here, I’d gladly turn him over.’

  ‘Do you usually leave your own people behind?’

  The man stood straighter, though it did little to improve his height. ‘I run a business. Each person who signs on to this caravan knows that if they are late, I will leave without them. Time is coin, and I will not have anyone waste mine. My wagons are open to your inspection, either search them or let us be.’

  He turned on his heel and walked back through the wagons to the head of the caravan.

  ‘He sounds like a pantomime of a merchant, like in one of Ellegy’s plays,’ Lilah said, watching the merchant’s plump figure recede down the road.

  ‘Ellegy only ever wrote what he knew.’ Haldin stepped forward, approaching the first wagon.

  ‘You don’t think he’s here, do you?’

  Seeker Haldin nodded his head in the direction the merchant had gone. ‘I don’t think a man like that would keep one of his caravan guards from the law. But, we must still be vigilant—assumptions only breed mistakes.’

  Assumptions only breed mistakes, Lilah had heard her father utter those words countless times before. And although she agreed, she wondered how much time they might waste searching wagons for a man that was not even here.

  ‘Am I right to…’ Lilah almost said assume. ‘If Jerome is not here, that increases the chances of him being a witness—or even the mage—doesn’t it?’

  ‘Or a second victim.’

  ‘Right,’ Lilah said.

  ‘Or the merchant is correct, and our man is passed out somewhere after a very long night. Caravan guards are much like sailors, they spend so much time between cities they forget how to act when they’re inside of one.’

  Some of the travellers on the caravan looked to be a family; they formed in a group by the side of the road. Lilah made to speak with them as her father checked the first wagon. The family—husband, wife, an older daughter of perhaps sixteen summers, and a younger son perhaps half that—huddled close as Lilah approached. They all had straw-coloured hair, the mother and daughter’s kept back in a braid.

  Lilah made sure to keep her hand away from the pommel of her sword. She didn’t wish to appear threatening. Threat and intimidation, like all tools, had their place, but that place was rarely in the gathering of information. It was better to make a person feel at ease—make them feel safe. It was not a natural instinct in seekers, and Lilah was the first to admit she could be better at it, but this seemed the best time as any to practice.

  ‘Hail.’ Lilah stopped a few feet away, so they didn’t feel as if she were crowding them.

  The father looked unsure. ‘Hail.’ His voice sounded strange—he had an accent Lilah had only ever heard in the north marketplace. She tried to place it as his gaze slid to where Seeker Haldin was checking the wagon. ‘We heard you speaking with Kellan. You will not find Jerome here.’

  ‘It does not surprise me that Warrick met his end.’ It was the mother who spoke now, her accent stronger than her husband’s.

  Guhrat, Lilah thought, stiffening slightly at the realisation. A kingdom of sinners, where witches and wizards practice magic in the streets. ‘It doesn’t?’ Lilah tried to keep her voice even. The mother gripped her daughter’s shoulder tighter.

  ‘Warrick was a fine guard,’ the father said. ‘But he had a very loose tongue.’

  ‘He was a wretch,’ the daughter said, practically spitting the last word.

  ‘A popular opinion.’ Lilah looked at each of them closely. She couldn’t label them mages simply because they were from Guhrat. Besides, why would a mage immigrate to Kharleon if they wished to practice magic? They may not have known they were a mage. Assumptions breed mistakes. ‘And Jerome? Your head merchant—Kellan?—says they were inseparable.’

  ‘They were almost as brothers. This was not the first caravan they walked with together.’ The father looked Lilah in the eye. ‘What will happen to the mage who killed Warrick?’

  Lilah held her head high. ‘Justice.’

  ‘And if they had done it in self-defence?’ The mother’s brows came together. ‘You would slay them for defending themselves? You Kharleons and your prejudices.’

  ‘Yiana,’ her husband said. ‘You’ll get her thinking it was one of us with those words.’ He looked back at Lilah. ‘My apologies, Seeker, we are not yet… accustomed to your ways.’

  I am not a seeker, Lilah wanted to say, but saw no reason in confusing them.

  ‘Magic is rarely used for good,’ Lilah said. ‘It is too powerful a weapon for just anyone to wield. Besides, we do not kill all who use magic in Kharleon—some are allowed to become Tahali monks.’

  ‘Allowed? Or forced, else suffer the fate of a Starblade?’

  The husband put a hand on her shoulder. ‘Yiana, please.’

  Yiana pursed her lips and looked away.

  Lilah grew more tense after every word these people spoke. They didn’t like Warrick, and they didn’t see the inherent evil in magic as most in Hirlcrest did—but they wouldn’t talk so freely if one of them had committed the crime, would they?

  ‘Thank you for speaking with me.’

  Lilah left them before she let their beliefs anger her and started questioning the next people in line. None of the travellers she spoke with—not even the other guards—had kind words for Warrick. But none had been angry, either—none but the Guhrat girl. Lilah would have to mention that to her father.

  Lilah stood at the front of
the caravan. Her father was checking the last of the wagons. The head merchant, Kellan, stood off to the side, his arms crossed above his prodigious belly. Jercolf still sat atop his horse, lightly trotting around the caravan in a circle, eyeing the travellers one by one. He finally rode toward her and brought his horse to a rest.

  ‘None of these people look to be in any particular distress. You’d think they’d be affected by hearing one of their own had been killed.’

  ‘I have a feeling none of them felt much love for Warrick.’

  ‘And the other missing guard?’

  ‘Nowhere to be seen.’

  Haldin exited the last wagon, his face blank as he approached his daughter and Jercolf. ‘He’s not here.’ He looked at Lilah. ‘Did you find out anything useful?’

  Lilah looked over at the fair-haired Guhratan family, at the daughter only a few years younger than herself. From what she’d learnt of Warrick, from Serena and the people in the caravan, Lilah wouldn’t put it past him to have tried something with the girl. Lilah’s studies told her magical outbursts, usually the first manifestations of a mage’s Affinity, often came during traumatic times. She’d assumed—and assumptions breed mistakes—that the family wouldn’t talk so freely had they committed the crime, yet it had been the parents who had done most of the talking.

  He’s a wretch, the girl had said.

  Lilah nodded at the family, still huddled close by the last wagon. ‘That family is from Guhrat. The daughter in particular didn’t like Warrick—though none in this caravan but Jerome seemed fond of the man.’

  Seeker Haldin turned his head and caught the girl in his gaze. ‘You’re thinking he may have been unjust with the girl, her powers manifested and she lashed out?’