Death Or Fortune (6 page)

    
With my sword back on my hip I held the axe that caused the death of three
innocent people.  I also held a scroll that the executioner carried that
detailed who he was supposed to kill in the name of this so called Messiah.
 Rage had taken hold of me before I returned to the city.  Rage from
having found a real traitor in the kingdoms employ and rage from failing to
protect those who could not protect their selves. Had anyone stood in my way
this night, I would have cut them down with the traitors axe without second
thought.
     I marched right back to the office of Captain Turk.
 The guard at the door tried to warn me off but the look in my eyes made
him think twice. Turk wasn't alone and to tell the truth at the time I was glad
to see him and Nikle together.  I had quite enough of the entire thing.
 I wanted some answers, no more cryptic messages or warnings. These men
were going to tell me what I wanted to know. Not that they did but I got my
point across rather well.  I slammed the axe down on the desk and tossed
the scroll at Turk.  Nikle just stood and stared at the axe with the blood
stained royal seal.  I then reported to both of them just what I had seen
and done.  At the time I was determined to make them see that they must
work together.  Had I known that as soon as I walked out that Nikle was
going to accuse me of planning the whole thing I would have thrown the axe at
him. Turk was the only thing that kept me from sleeping in a jail cell that
night.  He defended me when I was not there to defend myself.  For
that I will always be grateful to him.
     I returned to the inn but the only soul in sight was
Stephan.  I asked him for whatever food he had left from dinner and as
much ale as he could carry.  He nodded his head and went off to get what I
had asked for.  Before long I had a full belly and half a tankard of ale.
 I didn't want to move.  Everything that had happened that day had
taken its toll on me.  I was in a foul mood and nothing was helping.
 I don't even know how long Stephan was standing there beside me.  I
just happened to see him out of the corner of my eye, gripping that bar towel
in his fist.  Watching me, wanting to say something but unsure of how to
start.  For a small moment I just figured he was waiting around to see if
I needed anything else. When I told him that I was fine and would be headed to
bed soon he asked if he could talk to me.

     
"You remind me of my brother.  He was an adventure seeker. Always
looking for the next treasure, next fight, the next everything. Everything
except for the next woman. He had one woman at home; they were loyal and loved
each other very much."
This was not what I expected.
"When my
brother did not come home, it nearly destroyed that woman. When they returned
us his mangled body I was for sure that she would kill herself. I am still
convinced that I saved her life. Even today, while I know she is happy she
still gets that far off look in her eye. As if she wished things were
different.  I am telling you this because I remembered the way my wife
looked at my brother when he was around.  I remembered the look she would
get in her eye whenever he would leave. I saw that look today on the face of my
daughter as you left today."
I did not see this coming at all. Yet I
was glad to be hearing it.
"I want better for her. I want someone safe,
someone that isn't going to ask her to scrub tables every night.  Cook
another man’s food for him. We get several young lords in here, I have been
waiting for one of them to step up. Yet you are the one who she has eyes for
and you have only been here a day."

     I told him
I would take all that he had to say under advisement. Yet in my mind I just
kept telling myself that I would have to win his approval before I could make
my move on her.  I would have to make a big move in order to win him over.
 Having him tell me that I wasn't good enough made me determined to have
her all the more.  I wasn't sure how I would do it yet but with time I
would figure it out.  I drained the last of my tankard and headed towards
my room.  I checked on Hans and Pare to find their room empty. The mage
was gone as well. I stripped down, washed and headed towards the bed.  I
never saw the note from Hetaron telling me that they had left without me, that
they had found a way to take down the door.  I would not find that until
three days later.

     I spent
the next day or two in and around the inn.  I didn't want to go far away
in case my friends came back and it gave me a chance to spend time with Jasmin.
It was always quick and short as I did not want her father getting angry. I
began to write her letters, speaking of her beauty and my feelings for
her.  Longer and longer notes about how I wanted her father to approve of
me and hundreds of other things.  Each one brought her a little closer to
me. With each one her eyes got a little brighter.  She would be mine in
time; I just had to win over her father.
     During one of my quick walks around the city I ran
into Arturo, the friend of Captain Turk. We spoke for some time, he showed me
around his shop in the merchant district. It was quite impressive but lacked
the love I felt when looking at the wears Boris showed me. Yet there was
something about him that set me at ease. He felt like the grandfather I never
knew or even better the father I always wanted.  Here was a man that did
everything I wanted to do with my life.  Now he was living out his
remaining years in a place that he loves with people who respect him. Not out
of fear but out of love.  I invited him to join me at the inn for a meal
later that night.  I thought if Stephan saw me with him, he may begin to
think better of me by proxy.
     I wish I had Arturo's gift for telling stories.
 For hours on end he told me of his adventures in the north, about his
service to Arcadia as the former captain of the city watch and about a group
called the Swords of Sovereignty.  Before the end of the night he had me
ready to ride off on some grand quest.  He also told me of his own son and
of his dreams for him.  In my entire life I had never been so captivated
by another man.  It was clear that Turk spoke well of me to him, otherwise
I couldn't see him taking this time with me.  Looking back today, thinking
of him and how he treated me, makes me hate my own father even more. Where
Arturo treated me like a man of honor, my father approached me as just another
tool to be used as he saw fit.
     By the third day I had started to worry.  There
was still no sign of my friends. Yet I did not dare venture out on my own. They
knew where I was and that is where they would find me. Yet I knew something had
happened but I dared not act blindly.  I needed something to guide me. Had
I know that something was on the floor of my room right under the bed I would
have done something right away. On that third night when I returned to my room
I opened my windows to let in the breeze. The rush of wind filled the room and
helped the parchment that Hetaron had left for me drift out from under the bed.
 Even still it was a small miracle that I even read it.  I assumed it
was old, maybe something from the last person to use the room.  I very
nearly tossed it in the fire place without even reading a single line.  They
had returned to the ruins without me.
     It had been three days since they had left, with no
sign of anything from anyone.  I began to put on my armor, sure I was
going only to recover their dead bodies.  I could not think of a single
reason why they would go on without me. Today I know they were driven there by
Hetaron and his greed. He talked Pare into it and then Hans who only went so he
could protect them.  As soon as I had my armor on, I grabbed my weapons
and headed for the door.  The look Stephan gave me as I walked out the
door could have burned a hole in my helm but I did not have time to think of
such things.  Once I was out of the inn I yelled at the stable hand to
bring my horse.  As I was waiting I saw Jasmin and her mother walking
towards the inn. She was wearing a sky blue dress of silk and lace, she was
stunning.  This was the first time I had ever seen her outside of the inn.
The only thing brighter than her eyes was the moon in the night sky. I stepped
aside as they made their way in the door, giving them a slight bow as they
passed in front of me. My gaze held firm on her, as was hers on me. It was all
I could do not to reach out and take her into my arms right there.  Had
the stable hand not arrived right then with my mount I may have done just that.
     I rode hard for the ruins. I was afraid of what I
would find, that fear was the only thing that kept me from thinking of Jasmin.
 I wanted to follow her back into the inn but I could not leave my friends
to whatever fate they made for their selves.  Once I was outside of the
city my mind drifted back to my talks with Arturo and his stories. They were
the stuff of legend, something I could never live up to. Each line on his
weathered face held a tale, each line told of pain and victory.  I doubt I
will ever live to see the age that Arturo did.  I could only hope to make
a tenth of the impact he did on this world.  When I found my friends
horses the true fear had started to set in. The two of them had eaten anything
they could from around them. They had been up here, alone for days.  I
untied them and lead them to a new spot so they could eat fresh grass and not
stand in their own filth.  They were good animals, if my friends were
dead, I could sell them for a good profit.
Provided I don't die
I
thought as I once again returned to the stairs that lead me down into the ruins
below.
     I tightened all the straps on my armor to quiet any
noise possible, drew my blade and made my way in.  I knew my way around as
I had the only map of the place.  Not that I needed a map to know where
they were headed, the wizards study.  Long before I could see inside I
could see that the door to the study was open. They had at least done that
much. The closer I got to the door, the slower I moved.  I could not
afford to give myself away. A wizard did not need much time to unleash death
that much I had learned from Hetaron.
'If a wizard can speak, he can kill
you'.
This is a lesson I remembered and used well later in life but I will
get to that at another time.

     I expected
to find anything from three burning bodies to three frogs in a jar.  I did
not expect to see Hans and Hetaron standing over the wizard’s desk, reading a
stack of papers. There was one dead body in the room and he was face down on
the floor under a pool of his own blood.  A small knife was sticking out
of his back.  Here was the all-powerful wizard we all so feared. Dead and
rotting on his own floor thanks to a halfling he ignored.
'You are late
Kromwell.'
Hetaron said to me. He was almost amused with himself.  Then
turned and walked out of the study through a door in the back.  I looked
to Hans and saw something on his face I did not like.  It was a look that
I have come to dread over the years.  I pointed to the body on the floor
and asked him what had happened.

    
'Pare
and Hetaron came to me, talked me into this plan to wait out the wizard. It
worked but we have been hidden in a room just down the hall for what seems like
a week. The man over there, according to these letters his name is Saran, is or
was a high level member of this SOMA group. We waited three days for him to
return, I had started to lose hope. He was in a foul mood when he came in. I
don't think he knew we had been here even with all the damaged we had caused.
 Once he came in though, he knew. We didn't really hide any of the bodies
Darmot. We saw him headed for this room and once the door was open we attacked.
 First Hetaron with his magic and then I with my faith.  In all the
confusion he never saw Pare, who is lucky to be alive by the way. If I ever
have to spend that much time with him in a closed room again’
as he said
this, Hans shook his head
,  ‘never mind. This Saran was powerful, as we
expected, when I saw the blood gushing from his mouth I didn’t know what to
expect. When he fell over I just saw Pare standing there with that stupid grin
on his face.'

    
'Then
we found all these letters. Letters from this Messiah, Darmot this is bad. They
are planning a war, they have an army and are coming to Arcadia. Not only that,
they have men in the city, men who answer only to Saran and the 'field
commander' in the city.'
I almost knew who it was before the name jumped
out of Hans’s mouth.
'It is Captain Nikle, Darmot. He is this field
commander and there are a dozen letters from him reporting on everything in the
city. He has a dozen or so men in the city and they are planning a riot to
weaken the interior defenses of the city.  So that the king will be forced
to look inward and not at the army marching on his gates. We have less than a month
before they get here. We have to do something with these letters Darmot but I
am not sure what. I don't know who we should trust.'
I walked over to my
friend, placed a hand on his shoulder and told him we would take care of it, we
would do the right thing. This seemed to give him some kind of comfort.  I
told him to gather up all the papers he could find and put them all together.
 I then went to find the others, we had to act fast. Then I saw something
I could not quite believe.  Even today it still makes me grin when I think
of it.

     As I
entered the passage in the back of the room I noticed it was all natural cave.
 The walls still held specks of untouched ore.  I saw Hetaron
standing on the edge of a pool of water with a staff in his hand, this was something
new, it cast a light all around the area. As I went to stand beside him I
looked to where he was watching.  Pare was making his way across the
ceiling of the cave using a series of ropes and anchors he had hammered in as
he went.  I asked Hetaron what he was doing and he just pointed across the
water. On the other side I could see a blue glow, some type of orb.  Pare
heard me and looked down to wave at me,
'Hi Darmot!'
He was making quick
work of it yet we did not have the time for this.  We had to go back to
the city.

    
"Wouldn't be easier to just swim across?" I asked. Hetaron let out a
sick little chuckle and said
'Only if you want to feed the shark.
' I
told him we had a task to do and to hurry up.  I returned to Hans and
started going over the papers with him.  It sickened me to see Nikle's
name signed on so many of them. We at last found the one thing we needed.
 It was a list of the names of all of Nikle's men who were now sworn to
the Messiah. I placed this list in the hands of Hans and told him to guard it
with his very life until he placed it in the hands of Captain Turk.  I
would be taking the rest of the papers.  Not to Turk but straight to the
king himself.  Arcadia was in danger and I would not fail to warn him, not
as long as blood still flowed in my veins.  In this, I would not fail.