Akira Rises (6 page)

“The old man’s control already appears to have slipped.” Benjamin commented dryly, and added, “in more ways than one. And how does one help Akira fall in love? Our sister seems to hate most men. She finds fault with most.”

“That she does. It will not be easy to find her a husband. We shall have our hands full. I hope she can be reasoned with,” Edgar said. “She has voiced her opinions about marriage on more than one occasion.”

“Well let's’ move on, we have more ground to cover. God willing, we shall find our mother alive somewhere somehow. It is time to move them both out of the manor for their own protection.” The look on their faces as they urged their outs forward was not hopeful. It negated any optimism in their conversation.

Hope faded each day as they wearily continued the searches. The river waters lowered. The river could no longer hide its grisly secrets.

~

A week after the deadly storm passed, a battered bloated corpse was found. A fisherman found it in the mud along the river bank. It was several hours walking distance downstream from the ferry crossing. Only the clothes and jewelry gave evidence that it was the body of a woman, and by the way the body was dressed, it was the body of a noblewoman. Those that found her commented grimly that the river had shown no favoritism between nobles and peasants. Another funeral would need arranging. The noble woman would not be delivered to the earth in a mass grave as had been dug for the common unfortunates.

The body was wrapped carefully in blanket after a ring on her finger was gently removed from the rotting corpse. Had a priest not been present the ring may have disappeared. It was dutifully handed over to the holy man.

No man wanted to examine the body closely. Those brave enough to try identify the body made the sign of a cross over their chests, as they held handkerchiefs over their noses and mouths. The smell of death was putrid. Baron Rolfe’s wife was missing, as was her servant. Conjecture beside the river bank was that the mortal remains of Lady Shy had been found. It was agreed by those who found her, that it was a pity the river took Lady Shy and not her boorish husband the baron. Lady Shy and her daughter were known for their kindness and generosity. It was a pity young Akira was now motherless. Not one onlooker expressed sympathy for the baron. A voice was heard to say was a shame it was not the baron’s flesh falling off bones into the mud.

Black ravens watching the movements of the people below from their high tree top perches called out with their loud voices as if irritated that they had been chased away from the river’s offerings. The priest that had been unluckily close by, and summoned to the macabre scene, shuddered.

When the body was removed and loaded onto a wagon, and all the humans dispersed, the birds flew off together, all but one. The silent raven flew off in the opposite direction. Nothing was left for them. The ravens knew the river was sure to have more offerings for carrion scavengers further downstream. The receding waters would provide river regurgitated sustenance to worms, maggots, birds and other vermin. Nothing would go to waste. The river took and the river gave.

~

Benjamin ushered a very somber priest into the great hall. It did not bode well that the priest had urgent need to speak to his father. Benjamin sent a servant to fetch his father. Benjamin’s lightly bearded face was grim. There were shadows beneath his eyes from lack of sleep. Priests seldom brought good news. Worried, Benjamin sent for Edgar and Marcus. They were keeping Akira company in the kitchen.

Baron Rolfe entered the great hall, followed by his personal attendant. Just seconds after, him, Akira and Edgar rushed into the great hall. The call for the baron had rippled through the household and all ears were listening.

 The priest handed the ring to the baron. The baron glowered and nodded. He confirmed it to be the wedding ring of his missing wife. The baron handed the ring to his oldest son. Akira sank to the floor on her knees. She felt as if the breath had been sucked out of her lungs in one rush. She did not want to believe the obvious. She gasped and held back a wail. Her mother did not feel dead to her, but there was her ring.

The wail escaped her lips and was heard throughout the manor, heart wrenching for the servants who eavesdropped hoping for better news of their mistress’s whereabouts. Tears wetted the faces of the servants. The tears were for Akira. As the days of searching had unfruitfully passed they had secretly mourned for their mistress. Only death would have kept her from her daughter for so long. For Akira’s sake, they hadn’t voiced their sorrowful consensus.

Benjamin and Edgar kneeled down to cradle their sister in a hug. Marcus placed a hand on each of his brother’s shoulders. He knelt down with them. He swallowed as if swallowing a painfully large lump. The look of anguish on Akira’s face pierced the control he normally could exert over his emotions. Then he stood and stared at his father. He offered his father no comfort, said nothing. He saw no pain in his father’s eyes. It struck him that his father was either very strong or very cold. Very cold. Marcus helped Akira to her feet and away from their father. He wondered how culpable his father was in their mother’s death. He wondered how much control the mages had over his father. He looked to Benjamin and Edgar. They seemed to sense his thoughts. The knowing looks were grim.

The manor was depressingly solemn for the baron, as his sons and daughter openly grieved their mother. It annoyed him that even the servants wore long faces. He took out his silver pocket flask and sipped. Despite the gloom and doom around him he had not felt so good for some time, that was until he remembered his wife’s threat that should she die for any reason other than of old age, damning and damaging letters would be delivered to the king’s hand. His stomach instantly felt as if it was on fire. The burn reached as high as his throat. He grabbed his goblet, throwing it against the stone walls of his bed chamber. Burgundy wine dripped down the wall, as he marched purposefully to his wife’s chambers. He ransacked the room, looking for letters, papers, anything that could be used against him. He found nothing. He returned to his chambers leaving a mess of clothes and overturned furniture behind him. Lady Shy’s desk was in shambles. The burn in his gut was hotter and he wondered who in the manor would be in possession of any of his wife’s letters. He immediately thought of Akira, then quickly dismissed that idea as it was far too obvious. His wife wouldn’t put Akira in danger

On the day of the storm, the mages had brought him a fresh supply of potions...a potion to sleep, an elixir to ease his aches and pain, and several potions to bolster his virility. A hex against the tax collector investigating dwindling funds for the king’s coffers, and soon all would be manageable again. Even his troublesome daughter was going to become manageable, for the mages could help him with that also. When his conscience bothered him, he drowned it out with another sip. Gone were his glory days. As much as he tried reliving them, they were farther and farther away. The lengths he had to stoop to maintain his image of control had long since been too far to recover from.

CHAPTER EIGHT

L
ife, according to the baron, waited on no man’s grief. Life had to go on. Baron Rolfe resumed his duties after a respectful week of official mourning after they buried the remains of his wife. There were arguments about property borders to sort out, charges of theft to deal with and despite the recent sadness a young couple found love and were seeking the baron’s permission to wed.

The bride to be was pretty and shy. She looked so virginal, so fresh, like a plum to be picked. The baron envied the young man. He noticed the way she looked at her prospective husband. She blushed when their eyes would meet. The baron saw no reason they could not wed, but it suited him to make them wait for his answer. He told them to come back in three days. For two days, the baron recalled the young woman’s blush, her smooth looking cheeks and the swell of her breasts beneath her simple tunic.

Nothing he drank, no potion distracted him, and his thoughts obsessed with the young woman. A voice in his dreams told him the young woman was his for the taking. The voice fed his ego. The voice encouraged him to take what he wanted, for was it not his right? The insidiously flattering voice argued with his doubts.

When the seeds of greed and envy took root, the black rave perching outside his bedroom window took to the sky and returned to a dark place in the forest where it perched comfortably at the side its master.

On the third day after the young couple petitioned him, Baron Rolfe decided he would give them permission to wed, but he would invoke the old custom of first rights. As baron, according to old laws, he was entitled to first rights. The petitioners and their family members gasped when he set out the terms. Quickly a ripple of outrage spread through the village. The young man had two days to deliver his untouched bride to the manor.

Edgar and Benjamin were as dismayed and as shocked as the petitioners and villagers at their father’s demands. Bad news travelled fast. The clergy advised the baron it was a sin, and his soul was in danger if he forced himself upon a virgin betrothed to another. Furthermore, they warned him he had not confessed for over a year and his stingy support of the church had been reported to the king. The baron refused to respond and had his bodyguards show the pious men the door.

While the distraught young man delayed offering up his betrothed, Edgar and Benjamin fought behind closed doors with their father. Akira had begged them to intercede on the young woman’s behalf. She really had not needed to beg her brothers to help the young couple for they were already planning to confront their father. The young woman had just turned fifteen and threatened to throw herself into the river rather than be presented to the baron like a sacrificial lamb. Edgar and Benjamin warned their stubborn father that the peasants would revolt, that other barons no longer practiced the barbaric custom of first rights. The baron scoffed at his sons, argued with them. Akira could not bear the thought of the young woman taking her own life. She was at her wits end when suddenly she thought of a way to convince the young girl not to take her own life. Akira sent for the village midwife who knew of medicines and sleeping draughts, and knew the midwife, a white witch, who could help the young girl. Akira rode out from the manor with Benjamin in tow.

Inside a daub and wattle hut, Akira sat on the edge of a hard but clean bed. I beg of you to do nothing to harm yourself.” Akira squeezed the hands of the young girl. “I know my father has men watching that you do not run away, and he will kill your Tom if he refuses to deliver you. If I give you a way to erase from your memory what my father will take from you, your innocence, will you accept it? I pray my brothers can make him relent and leave you be, but I fear he is not in his right mind.”

The young girl sobbed. “You can numb my mind... but what of my betrothed's memory?”

Akira sighed, “If he truly loves you, he will know your heart is only for him, and that which my father will do to your body is a temporary, though grievous insult.”

“But what if your father plants me with a bastard child?” The young girl wailed and her mother looked at Akira.

“Yes... what then young miss? It is a mortal sin to kill a babe in the womb.” The girl's mother was wringing her hands. “And why would you go against your father for us?”

“I’ve herbal teas from the midwife that will prevent a child from being conceived. You must talk with your betrothed. It is a great sacrifice you will offer if you will to live despite the evil of my father. If you kill yourself, not only do I worry for your soul, I fear more will die, for the peasants, like your family, will rise up and there will be fighting. My father has boasted he will hire more mercenaries and send for soldiers to uphold his law. I’ve no good feelings for my father. None. I blame him for my mother’s death.” Akira sighed. “It would be a mortal sin for me to do to him what is in my heart, but if I could gain the courage, I’d kill him for all of us.”

There was a pregnant silence. Akira’s admission made her very vulnerable. Her honesty was dangerous.

Benjamin looked away. He struggled with his emotions. His sister’s compassion for the young girl humbled him. Gone was the child who annoyed him with her questions. Gone was the young girl who challenged his views and actions. Before him was a young woman that had the grace and beauty of their mother, the heart of an angel of mercy, the will to be a warrior who would go against a father.

The weathered peasant woman reached for Akira’s hand. She placed it beneath her rough calloused hands. “I believe you. You have the same compassion your mother had for us low borns. Leave the potions with us. We must decide what is best. My daughter and I thank you for your efforts to stop that monster. You must not jeopardize your own soul. Now go before you risk your own safety. We will pray for you.”

“And I will pray for you.” Akira rose and Benjamin followed his sister from the simple dwelling.

With their mother recently buried, the youngest son of Lady Shy began to regret dismissing the warnings of their mother for so long. Care needed to be taken. It would not take much encouragement for Akira to do something rash and have their father alerted that behind his back his sons were working against him, and those dark forces who had him in their power. He could not assure his sister her brothers were not blindly following a mad man. He and his brothers had decided she would be kept in the dark for her own safety. Now he wondered about their perception of their younger sister. Akira was showing a maturity beyond her years, and as much courage and leadership skills as any one of his older brothers. That he himself followed Akira and agreed to talk with the young girl and her family was a fine example of her determination and persuasive powers. It was a pity she was female. Young men her age might not find her independence and forward thinking appropriate. Finding a husband worthy of her was going to prove difficult.