Remembered (25 page)

“How long must I wait?” Kellus asked in a pleading voice.

“I wish I knew,” Nordorum answered. “But it has always been
my experience that the darkest hour is before dawn.”

Kellus shrugged his shoulders, unable to find a reply.

“I know how you feel about spending time in the hospital,
and I don’t want to take away your free will, but I am going to insist that you
go see Conor. I’ll come with you.” Nordorum jumped to his feet much too agilely
for a man of near seventy years. He held out his hand to help Kellus to up, and
then placed his hand on the younger man’s shoulder sympathetically.

Once down in the hospital, Conor stuck a needle into
Kellus’s arm and attached the other end to a small bag filled with clear
liquid. “Lie down,” he ordered.

As soon as Kellus’s head hit the pillow, sleep took him.

He woke the following morning to the feel of a hand on his
forehead. Opening is eyes, he met his father’s concerned gaze.

“Father,” he mumbled. “Why are you here?”

“You haven’t been by to see me in two days, son,” Tol
answered. “I came over here today to see if everything was alright, and I was
told you were down here in the hospital. What happened, son?”

“I had a bad dream yesterday and it left me very unsettled,
and I guess I hadn’t eaten for a while, so that when I did, my stomach rebelled.
Conor wanted to keep me here for a day to replenish some fluids,” Kellus
replied.

Tol rubbed his face with his left hand then let it rest over
his mouth. He stared into his son’s eyes deeply, as though he was contemplating
saying something. He took a deep breath. “Son, I have something—”

At that moment, the door opened, effectively shutting Tol
up.

The Under Master, Lionel, walked over to Kellus’s cot. “Ah,
Tol Kir,” he called out. “How are you?”

There was a moment of thick silence.

Kellus looked to Tol questioningly and thought he saw
murderous rage flash in his father’s eyes. He assumed he was imagining things,
but Tol’s sudden smile looked very forced.

“I am well, Lionel,” Tol answered in a flat voice. “And
you?”

“Never better,” the Under Master replied. “I just stopped in
to see how this young man was doing. Are you feeling better?”

“Yes, sir,” Kellus answered.

“Good,” Lionel responded. “I suppose I should leave you
alone with your father. I don’t want to interrupt your visit.” After a brief
wave to Tol, Lionel walked back across the room and through the door.

When Kellus turned to ask his father to continue what he was
saying, he noticed Tol’s left hand was balled into a fist that he pushed firmly
against his mouth and his eyes were glaring at Lionel’s departure.

Odd.

 “Is everything alright?” Kellus questioned.

“Yes,” Tol replied, his smile turning warm.

“What were you saying before?” Kellus inquired.

Tol shook his head and sighed. “Nothing,” he responded. “I
have nothing to tell you. But if you’re really feeling better, I should go back
and reopen the shop. I just wanted to run over and check on you.”

Kellus nodded.

“I’m going to close up early on Friday and drive you home,”
Tol added, standing up. “I’ll see you when…around lunch time?”

“Listen, I’ve been thinking,” Kellus said. “I think I should
stay here this weekend. I don’t think I should go home for a while.”

Tol’s eyes swelled. “No, Kellus, you must come home,” he
responded firmly.

“I think my presence there is a hindrance to everyone’s
happiness…” Kellus trailed off and shrugged his shoulders.

“No!” Tol screeched. “Please, Kellus, not this weekend.
Please don’t pull this now.”

“Why is this weekend so important?” Kellus questioned
suspiciously.

“Your mother has something planned,” Tol replied.

“Father, I don’t think—”

“For your mother, son,” Tol said loudly. “Think of someone
else for a change.”

Guilt flooded through Kellus. “Okay,” he answered.

“Promise me, Kellus,” Tol pushed.

“I promise,” he said, feeling agitated.

As Tol left, Kellus found himself falling asleep once again.

When he awoke the next time, Conor was fussing around his
bed. “You’re awake,” he said.

“Yes, sir,” Kellus answered.

“Would you like me to send for some food for you, or would
you prefer to go to the dining room to join the other men for lunch?” Conor
questioned.

Kellus couldn’t face those pitying eyes. “I’d prefer to stay
here for the night if you don’t mind,” he replied.

“That’s fine,” Conor stated.

As the afternoon wore on, Kellus began to feel the burning
return. He closed his eyes against the pain, wondering, for the hundredth time,
how he had allowed this to happen. But he already knew the answer: it was the
savage. That damned, vile demon that he’d allowed himself to be manipulated by.

In the darkness, he remembered his every encounter with the
beast.

“I would like you all to watch how Kellus performs this next
move,” Mandolis called out to his class of apprentices.

Kellus ran at the wall, sword in hand, and pressed his left
foot to the concrete, followed by his right, then left again, so that it looked
as though he was running up the wall. When his feet were almost as high as his
head, he pushed away, twisting his whole body upside down, and landing with
both feet on the ground.

Applause broke out among the apprentices.

“With this move, you can double back behind your opponent,
and once behind him, run him through the back, or slice his head off,” Mandolis
said causally, as though he was talking about peeling an apple.

Kellus walked back to stand with the other apprentices.

“We’ll leave it there for today,” Mandolis said. “I’ll start
teaching you that move on Monday morning. Now, I have an announcement to make.
I have been informed by the Master that I have been given the honor of
organizing a patrol for the mid-spring festival tonight,” he rolled his eyes as
if he thought it was anything but an honor. “So, I’ve decided that you ten fine
gentlemen are going to be the town’s chaperones, if you will.”

“What does that mean?” Ciro asked.

“It means that basically you’re on peacekeeping duty,” Mandolis
answered.

Grumbles broke out among the apprentices.

“Gentlemen, please.” Mandolis called them to order. “It’s
not so bad. There never has been a lot of trouble at these events. You’ll more
than likely find yourselves bored. So, when you’re not breaking up fights, you
will be expected to make sure the beer and wine barrels are full. Look on the
bright side, there will be a lot of pretty girls there.”

“Do we get to taste the beer and wine?” Danus asked.

“Do we get to taste the pretty girls?” Tilidus added.

“No, and no,” Mandolis said, laughing. “We need you all
clear minded and sober, and you are all under oath in regards to the girls,
although, there’s no harm in looking.”

Pretty girls…um. Kellus knew of only one pretty girl in this
town, a term that was an understatement when it came to Annella Derlyn. He
shook his head slightly. Why the hell was she flooding his mind lately? For the
past couple of weeks, Annella Derlyn had been forefront and center in almost
all his thoughts, a fact that he found slightly disturbing.

A long time ago, when he was just a boy of sixteen, he’d
seen her at her parent’s funeral and fell madly in love. It was a childish
fancy, the kind of overwhelming emotion, unrequited want that only someone very
immature could harbor, especially towards someone they’d never even spoken to.

Sure, she was beautiful, kindhearted and interesting, but
that was no excuse for the obsessive thinking.

And why had he rushed to fix her gate at the first
opportunity? Why did he insist on buying a hair clip that she admired from his
father, and then proceed to talk Danus into sneaking out of the Citadom with
him, late in the evening, to plant it on her doorstep? Probably just the
remnants of an old crush, the opportunity to do now what he would have loved to
have done then.

His father eyed him suspiciously the day he bought the hair clip.
“What?” Kellus had demanded. “She seems like a sweet girl, and she lives in
near poverty. I just think it would be a nice thing to do, to give her a little
something that she couldn’t normally afford.”

“You sure, son?” Tol had asked. “She’s very beautiful. Are
you sure there isn’t more to it?”

“Nope,” Kellus had answered firmly.

At seven o’clock that evening, he met Danus outside his room.
As they walked down the hall, they were joined by Rom and Tilidus. Together
they left through the back of the Citadom and walked one street north to
Lanshore Field.

The place was crowded. Every person living in West Vistira
must have shown up, along with a lot from the borders of the east, south, and
north.

As they cut through the field to meet Mandolis at the back,
he saw her sitting on the grass with two younger people, who could only be her
twin siblings.

He stopped short and swallowed hard. His heart began racing.

How strange.

He came to a stop in front of her—Danus, Rom, and Tilidus
behind him. “Good evening,” he said, smiling like a complete fool.

“Good evening to you, too,” Annie replied, her beautiful
face smiling back at him. “Have you come to enjoy the party?”

“No,” he replied, shaking his head, “we’re on duty,
unfortunately. We’re here to make sure that everyone behaves in an orderly
manner,” he added, gesturing to his three companions. “With all the beer and
wine available, we’ll see to it that the gentlemen remember to behave like
gentlemen,”
‘and to kill any man that gets near you.’
Okay, what was
that thought?

“Come on, Kellus, we’re supposed to meet Mandolis for
assignments,” Danus urged, like a fucking killjoy.

“I have to go,” Kellus said regretfully. “Enjoy the party,
Annie.”

He reluctantly walked away.

“Kellus,” she called, “may I speak to you briefly.”

His stupid heart thumped again.
‘It would be the
highlight of my night’
, he thought.
“Go on ahead, Danus,” Kellus
said, reminding himself to act calm. “I’ll catch up momentarily.” He turned to
her, arching his eyebrows questioningly.

“I want to thank you for the hair clip. It was extremely
generous of you,” her beautiful mouth muttered.

“What hair clip?” he asked, deciding to have a little fun
with her.

“The one that I looked at in your father’s shop; you left it
on my doorstep,” she replied.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” he responded. He
bowed to her and began to walk away, but turned back, looking over his right
shoulder, and winked with a sly grin.

“Dare I suggest that you have feelings for that woman?”
Danus said playfully as they walked towards the back of the field.

“I told you already, Danus, I like her, she’s a nice girl,
that’s all,” Kellus argued.

“You keep saying that, but your face says something else,”
Danus replied.

Kellus shrugged his shoulders, having no idea what Danus was
talking about.

Sometime later, Annie’s sister came asking for a glass of
wine. She was probably too young for it, so Kellus asked her the obvious
question. “You’re Annie’s sister, right?”

“Yes, I’m Cora,” she replied. Something about this girl
reminded Kellus of himself. She had a devilish, playful glow in her eyes. He
liked her instantly.

“Is this for your sister?” he asked.

“And if it wasn’t?” she questioned, rising her eyebrows.

“You look a little young to be drinking, but I’m not your parent,
so I can’t stop you,” he responded.

“Yes, it’s for my sister,” she laughed.

Kellus suddenly had a funny thought. “Will it make her
tipsy?”

“I doubt it. Why?” Cora inquired.

Why did he ask? Why was the thought of Annie tipsy so
appealing to him? In fact, why was the thought of Annie anyway at all so
appealing to him? “I think I’d thoroughly enjoy seeing Annie intoxicated,” he
answered.

Cora shot him a questioning look and walked off.

As per usual, there were no disturbances during the
festival. After the apprentices checked the barrels of wine and beer for the
twentieth time, Mandolis told them that they were free to mingle for a while.

Kellus was fully aware that his feet were leading him in the
direction he’d seen Annie earlier, but decided not to argue with them.

But what he saw when he reached the spot caused the
strangest reaction. A man, about his age, was walking her towards the dance
floor, holding her hand. Something rumbled in his chest. Could that be envy?

He skirted behind the crowd and found a tree with direct
view of the dance floor.

The man put his hand on her waist and a knife twisted in
Kellus’s stomach. He grabbed her hand and pulled her close to him. Kellus
fought the urge to batter the man’s face.

He stood like an idiot, transfixed on the scene before him,
green with envy.

Suddenly, her beautiful brown eyes landed on him. He felt
self-conscious, willed himself to look away, but couldn’t muster the strength
to do so. She was so lovely, such a joy to behold, that he didn’t even care
that he looked like he’d been stalking her, didn’t care if he looked like an
absolute fool.

Abruptly, he knew that he had to be in that man’s place at
any costs. He slowly pushed away from the tree and walked over to the couple,
reminding himself to play nice with her suitor.

“Excuse me,” he said to the man. “Annella and I are friends,
and I thought that I might have a dance with her while I had a moment to
spare.”

“Certainly,” the man replied cheerfully, “she’s all yours.”

“Interesting choice of words,” Kellus mumbled because he
suddenly realized that he wished that was true.