Book of Remembrance: The Forgotten Gods: Book One (20 page)

It shocked me to hear how deep
seated his feelings toward me were, but he had not answered my question. I
waited, trying to keep my expression blank.

Finally, after another long
silence, he said, “I am a descendant of a general in Rakadamon’s army.
A general who betrayed everything and everyone to turn to the dark
side.
The Cha thinks history may repeat itself.” His voice dropped at
the end and I had to lean in to hear.
 
He
shook his head miserably. “They told me I had to come with you. I argued until
I was hoarse, until they said that if I truly meant to stand against Rakadamon,
I would do whatever I could to ensure that I did not turn against my people.”
He looked up at me, a fierce glint in his eyes. “I am Tretakai and I would not
betray that.” More softly, he added, “No matter what the Cha may have seen.” I
sat chilled.

 
So, I have a potentially deadly spider in my
hair and I don’t know if he will decide to bite. “I don’t see how coming along
and spending this time with me, someone you strongly dislike, will ensure that
you do not turn towards the dark side. What is the logic behind that?”

He looked at me with
exasperation etched on his face. “Do not ask me. That is what my argument was,
but they would have none of it. I guess only time will tell.” And what will
time show us Brant?
You betraying not only me, but also the
whole of mankind?
I shivered at the thought.

His eyebrows climbed his
forehead. “So that is me…now, what are you doing here?”

I knew this was coming, but
after what he had just revealed to me, I was more distrustful of him than ever
before. “The Cha told me there is someone here that I must find.”

When I stopped there, he held up
a hand in annoyance. “That cannot be all. Who is this person and what do you do
once you find them?”

Here things were truly vague
with my plan so I shrugged and said honestly. “I don’t really know; on both
counts. The Cha said that I would have to find him, he did not say how. As to
what I am supposed to do with this person…” I shrugged. “I am not sure. I think
that he must follow me. In addition, before you ask, I do not know where he
must follow me. I suppose I must puzzle this out as I go along. The Cha was
vague, at best, with his instructions.”

After considering this for a
moment, he nodded to himself. He looked at me resolutely. “Where do we start
looking?”

Eventually
we returned to the Rose inn for supper.
 
This time when we walked in, the buzz of conversation filled the common
room. We sat down at the table in the far corner.
 
There was a rose in a slim vase in the middle
of the table and the back of the chairs were carved into three roses with their
stems intertwined. For some reason, all these roses made my stomach turn.
Perhaps just because they made me think of the innkeeper.

We had not been sitting for long
when a serving girl came over. She wore a smile, but it was clearly forced and
it did not come close to her eyes. Her manner was in stark contrast to the
usual serving girls who were always talkative and friendly. I supposed they
hoped that you would give them a tip. This girl though, stopped a foot away
from our table and with downcast eyes bobbed a small curtsy. “Good evening
sirs. What can I get for you?”

I gave her a reassuring smile,
although I do not think she even saw it. “Can we have two ales please and what
is for dinner tonight?”

She blushed furiously and
nervously her eyes flickered up to us and then down again. “I do apologise, I
should have told you that already. Do forgive me. We have roasted pork and
vegetables.”

I nodded still smiling. “No need
for the apology. We’ll have the dinner as well then please.” She bobbed another
quick curtsy, spun on her heels and dashed away.

Brant shook his head.
“Strange people.
It seems that you would try to be friends
with every single person that comes across your way.”

I frowned at the comment, but let
it by. “Do you not think it odd that she seems so nervous?
And
not only her, the porter this afternoon as well.
It seems very peculiar
to me.”

He looked at me as if deciding
whether I was serious. “To be frank, I had not noticed anything unusual with the
porter, but even if I had, I would not concern myself over it. Perhaps they
have only recently started in this line of work.”

He laughed scornfully. “You saw
the way Jerea was when she started at the Five Bells back home. She was
breaking things here, there and everywhere.” He gave a harsh laugh. “I even
heard she spilt a whole dish of hot soup over old man Krips.”

I grimaced at his delight in
these things.
Poor Jerea.
He may have a point
though.
 
Something just did not feel
right here. Doubtfully I said, “I suppose that could be all there is to it.”

Soon after, the serving girl
came back out with our ales and steaming plates filled with food followed. She
did not say a word and kept her eyes on the dishes she was serving. The smell
made my mouth water and my stomach grumble. I had not realised how hungry I
was. I wolfed down the plate and called her over to ask for another. I looked
around the room. Brant followed my eyes. “What is it that you keep looking
for?”

I shrugged. “Nassarit had said
he would come and have a drink with us tonight.”

He rolled his eyes. “Surely you
are not that short on money that you are relying on a gleeman to come and buy
you a drink.”

I looked at him in annoyance. “I
enjoyed his company is
all.
”

He shook his head. “I would
rather not have that weasel here. I did not like that man. He seemed too
self-important.” Exasperated, I scowled at him. This coming from the most
arrogant man I knew, except perhaps, the Kichwa himself.

The next morning we still had no
real idea of where to start looking. The Cha had talked of rumours about him so
we decided it might be easiest to chase the rumours as opposed to the man.

We started visiting taverns, inn
common rooms and walking through the market listening to conversations rather
than paying any attention to the goods on display. A few days later and we had
learnt a lot. Unfortunately, nothing that was of any use.

We adopted a more proactive
approach. We were in the third tavern of the day and had not had any luck so
far. We sat in the middle of the stuffy room and listened to the conversations
around us until we heard two men talking loudly in voices gruff with alcohol.
We were about to join their table when we heard a loud commotion going on
outside.
 
Men were shouting in angry
voices and something shattered.

Curiosity drew us outside where
a large crowd had already gathered. We pushed to the front and in the middle of
it all, were two men.
 
A large man stood
with a menacing glint in his eye. He had a sword in his hand, holding it up threateningly
with the sun glinting of the blade. He took a step closer to the other man who
was much smaller and dressed like a farmer, in a coarse knee-length coat. He
looked to be in his early twenties and his face was what I thought most women
would find attractive with an angular jaw and large eyes.
 
At first glance, he looked fearful, taking a
step back each time the other advanced. His face was blank though and his eyes
looked calm.

As we watched, I became aware of
heat starting to spread across my chest. Whenever I looked at the farmer, the
heat started pulsating. The farmer was backing off from the burly man who
started laughing a deep bellowing laugh. “Look, he is all talk with nothing
behind it!”

The farmer reached under his
coat and pulled out two glistening black whips. The burly man stopped laughing,
but he still had a mocking smile over his fat lips. “What? Are you going to
herd me like your flock of sheep?” He was pointing the tip of his sword at the
other’s chest.

A cold smile spread slowly across
the farmer’s face. He flicked his wrist and quicker than the eye could follow,
the whip curled around the burly man’s sword and ripped it from his hands. His
mouth dropped open as he stared dumbly at his empty hand. Before he could move,
the farmer had struck again, striping the burly man across his backside. He
yelped in both surprise and pain. The farmer chuckled cheerily, holding his
whips ready.

The big man growled and stormed,
his teeth showing in a snarl. The farmer almost causally flicked again, this
time the whip neatly wrapped the other man’s feet together, and with a bellow,
he fell flat on his face. The farmer circled him slowly and each time he tried
to get up, he would tug with surprising strength at the whip holding the big
man’s feet, pulling him flat against the ground again and eliciting a groan
from him. The farmer was now the one wearing the mocking smile.

With a light snapping noise, he
hit the burly man on the back with his other whip making him yelp. “That is for
the sheep I know you stole,” he hit him again, “and that is for lying about it.
Now, will you remember this time that stealing is wrong?” He said this almost
playfully, but with a dangerous undertone.

The burly man twisted so he
could look at his captor and he spat towards him. The farmer held up a finger
and wriggled it slowly from side to side. “That is not the correct answer.”
With another lightning quick flick of his wrist and another snapping noise the
burly man squirmed on the ground, moaning.

His shirt was in tatters and
blood bloomed across his back. The farmer was frowning. “Would you like to
think carefully over your answer this time and then try again?”

The man on the ground was
breathing heavily by this time, sweat pouring down his face. Between moans, he
managed to croak out, “Yes, I will remember now that stealing is wrong.”

The farmer gave a nod.
“Very good.
Now, you may undo your legs and we can be on our
way.” He rolled onto his side and with another few groans managed to sit up. He
undid his bonds and hurriedly shuffled away before getting to his feet and
running off without another backward glance.

I only realised then that I was
gripping my shirt, sweat running down my face and chest. Brant looked at me
with a mix of concern and suspicion. “What is wrong with you?”

I took a deep breath. It felt as
though I was leaning head first into a furnace. I furtively glanced down the
front of my shirt, but it looked normal. I half expected it to be glowing.
Brant was still looking at me strangely with his eyebrows raised. I shook my
head. “He is the one we are looking for.”

His face was incredulous. “How
could you possibly know that? Just because he was swinging those whips with
some skill, does not mean that he is the one.” I gave my head a small shake. “I
know.”

The crowd dispersed, people
talking in a low murmur. I thought this curious. This farmer had clearly not
only caught a thief, but also made him pay for it. They should have been
cheering him along. Instead, I saw a number of them glancing sideways at him.
What was that in their eyes?
Fear, anger, both?
The
farmer seemed not to notice or perhaps he did not care. He brushed himself off
and stalked away. We quickly followed.

We caught up with him as he sat
down in the Blue Moon Tavern. When I looked across the room at him, my chest
caught aflame again, or so it felt. Gripping my shirt, I walked up to his table
with Brant following close behind. “May we join you?”

His eyes looked weary when he glanced
up. “I am not looking for any more trouble.”

I thought I caught a slight
accent.
Foreign.
That explains the lack of support
from the crowd then. “We are not looking to make trouble with you. We just want
to talk.”

He shrugged. We sat down and
promptly, a serving girl came to take our order for two glasses of mead.
Abruptly, I realised the heat in my chest had stopped as quickly as it had
started. If I had needed any more confirmation that we had found the right
person, that was it.
 
A moment later, the
serving girl was back with our mead.

Before I said anything, he
spoke. “You have been looking for me.” It was a statement not a question.

I nodded. “How did you know?” He
laughed throatily. “You cannot believe that you have been stealthy in your
search for me.
Asking anyone and everyone.
It soon
came round to me that two men have been asking of rumours of someone different.
Even if they did not know about…I am foreign and so, different in all their
eyes.” I was sure that he was about to say something else, but there will be
time enough for questions without scaring him away now.

Brant suddenly spoke, “That was
quite a performance you put on back there.”

The farmer snorted. “Bearin has
needed putting in his place for some time. The oaf thinks that he can bully
anyone as he wants.” He shook his head, his lips pulled back in a snarl.

“I don’t think I have seen
anyone use whips quite like you did today. Where did you learn that?” Brant
asked.