Rise of the Citadel (The Search for the Brights Book 2) (18 page)

The outskirts of
the town came into view and Bowie immediately started looking for the first inn
he could find. People in the street seemed normal enough; going into stores and
carrying out their normal daily tasks. The town seemed to have a larger amount
of women than a normal town. Bowie had only seen a few men in the street, but
for every man there were three women.

  The inn had
music drifting out of its main room and into the street. The moss and vines
grew up the side of the stone walls around the building. The whole town smelled
like an old musty cellar. They tied their horses up and went inside.

A man with a
patchy beard was wiping out mugs behind the counter. Tables were being used by
a few patrons but one man caught Bowie’s eye: a man sitting in the corner
writing on a scroll, wearing an outfit much like the one he had seen Mary
wearing. The leather straps went across his chest and held a curved knife in a
sheath. His hair was cut short and he was writing slowly on the scrolls. Bowie
walked over to the man’s table and sat down next to him. Auburn followed and
pulled out a seat for herself.

Bowie waved for
a barmaid to come over. “Can we have a couple plates of whatever you are
cooking in the back?”

She
nodded and looked at the man who also nodded to her.

Bowie removed
his hat and placed it on the back of the chair. “The king will be here in a
couple weeks and is sweeping in all the soldiers, workers, and wizards he can
find. Are you planning to join the king in battle?”

  The man rolled
up his scrolls and glanced between his two new dinner guests. He seemed as if
he didn’t know what to say to them. He took a long drink from his mug and
placed it back on the table. “I am a loyal man to the king,” He finally said.

  Bowie smiled,
“Good to hear. If you would like, I have a troop of archers just north of town
on the road. We always welcome wielders with a place to rest and eat when we
are camped. You are welcome to join us, but it will be at least a week maybe
two until the king arrives.”

  The man nodded
and stood to leave, “Thank you for the information. I have some things to
arrange before the king arrives here.”

  Bowie stood as
the man walked out of the room and upstairs. He began to wonder if he had given
the man to much information, but ignored the notion and sat back down. The
barmaid brought two plates of stew and a couple of rolls. Bowie started to eat,
but Auburn was still watching the stairs.

“He was a bit
strange don’t you think? We didn’t even get his name.”

  Bowie was
already too far into his stew to think about the wielder that left. “Perhaps we
will see him in the morning.”

  Auburn, still
looking at the stairs, finally looked around the rest of the room and saw
everyone staring at them. She looked down at her plate and started to eat.
“Perhaps,” She said pushing a chunk of meat around her bowl.

They ate their
stew as the innkeeper moved through the room, whispering into various patrons
ear’s. Each person left their drink or food and departed the inn as soon as he
finished talking to them. Soon, Bowie and Auburn were the only two left in the
inn.

  Bowie left his
plate and went to talk to the man. “Excuse me. Is there a blacksmith in town?”

  “There is. He
has been pretty short on supplies lately but you can ask him yourself. He is
near the other end of town. Mr. Kershaw is his name, but he doesn’t make
weapons or armor. He deals mostly in horseshoes and tools and does pretty
shoddy work.”

  “Good thing
for us we are looking for tools to be made. Thanks for the information. I also
need two of your rooms.”

  “The rooms
here are full, as are all the rooms in town.” The innkeeper wiped his mugs
clean doing his best not to look Bowie in the eye.

  Bowie tapped
the counter and looked back at Auburn, he knew something strange was going on.
The town was not busy enough and everyone in the inn left when they arrived.

“You just happen
to know that every inn in town is full?” Bowie didn’t expect and answer and he
didn’t get one. The man just kept cleaning his mugs. “Perhaps there's someone
that would let my lady stay in their extra room or barn?”

  “There’s no
place in town for you to stay. You had best just eat your meal and be on your
way before it gets dark.” The inn keeper didn’t look up from his work.

  Bowie tapped
on the counter a couple more times. He couldn’t figure out what game the
innkeeper was playing but it didn’t feel right.

“Perhaps you are
right. We will finish our meal and get out of town.”

Finally the
innkeeper looked up. “It probably is for the best.” He smiled at Bowie and then
went back to cleaning his mug.

  Bowie returned
to his table and scooted his chair very close to Auburn. In hushed tones he
whispered, “Something strange is going on. Eat your food quickly so we can get
to the blacksmiths. I’m not sure it’s wise to be in town when the sun goes
down.”

Auburn showed
Bowie an empty plate and slid his pate in front of him. He grinned and took a
couple more spoonfuls of the stew. He put the biscuit in his pocket and put his
hat back on his head. Auburn led him from the the inn and he pointed her
towards the blacksmith.

  The streets
that had townsfolk walking them earlier were now empty. The two stood alone
amongst the wind and dust. Businesses had pulled their curtains and Bowie could
hear some doors being locked. An eerie silence made the hair on the back of Bowie’s
neck stand on end.

Auburn leaned in
close to Bowie, “Take your bow?”

Bowie tightened
his hand and nodded his head in agreement.

“Probably
nothing, but I won’t take any chances.” He grabbed a handful of arrows and put
them in the quiver at his hip. “Let’s go talk to the blacksmith and get out of
this town. Next time we’ll bring a few men with us.”

Auburn put her
arm through Bowie’s as they walked down the street to the blacksmith.

  A man was just
leaving when Bowie and Auburn walked up. Bowie recognized him as one of the
patrons from the inn. Bowie tipped his hat to the man who nodded back and
darted into the next house.

Bowie stepped
inside the blacksmith’s shop, “Good afternoon. I am Sergeant Crescent of the
army of the Earth Realm. I need a few things made while I camp outside the town
for a week or so.”

  The tall,
muscular man stepped away from his furnace to face Bowie. “I’m no good with
weapons or armor. You had best find yourself a different man.”

  Bowie followed
the man around the anvil and other forgery tools strewn about, “I don’t need
any armor or weapons made-” Bowie was waving his hand as the blacksmith cut him
off.

  “I have very
little to make horseshoes. I doubt I will be able to get you anything you can
need in such a short time.”

Bowie took a
moment to consider the man. A businessman would usually try and sell his
service, even if he wasn’t sure it would be the quality the customer wanted.
Work was work, and it kept food on the table.

  Bowie reached
into his money pouch and found three pieces of gold. He held the gold out for
the blacksmith to see.

“It’s a shame to
spend so much money on a simple set of carving tools, but the king said he
wanted it.” Bowie put his leather bound kit of arrow making tools out on the
table. “I know the king doesn’t get down here to this area of the kingdom very
much, but he acquired a set of tools for wood carving and he wanted more to be
made. I was told to have it ready by the time he got to this town. I would
really appreciate it if you would take the king’s money and give me something
that will at least let me keep my head until I get to war.”

  Auburn
squeezed Bowie’s arm, “I feel a bit scared here in your town with all the
businesses closed so early. I didn’t see any of the king’s men here, is there a
post for those stationed in this town?”

  The large man
eyed the gold pieces but answered Auburn, “There hasn’t been any of the king’s
men in this town for a long time. We have requested men sent out here a few
times but even paying our town’s taxes we get no help.”

  Bowie tossed
the three pieces of gold onto the table and pulled out two more and they joined
the pile. “I hope that helps replace the town’s taxes. Perhaps while I’m here I
can see to doing some good for the town. I could bring more men in and put them
to work. Maybe a few men hunting for food would help as well?”

  The blacksmith
wiped his soot-covered hands on his leather vest and cleared his throat. “I
don’t think the people would take to having the army stay here. I will make
another set of your tools here if you give me a couple days. I don’t think the
mayor would dislike me taking the king’s gold for an honest day’s work, but
just in case, I think we should keep this between us.”

Bowie nodded his
head and pulled Auburn to the door.

  “We will be on
our way then.”

Bowie hurried
down the street with Auburn being towed on his arm. He helped her get on her
horse and took one last look around the at the buildings. Bowie’s eye caught
someone riding down one of the side streets of the town. He thought it was the
man in the leather outfit but was unsure so he said nothing.

  Auburn pulled
at the dress trying to get her feet in the stirrups. “This dress does not help
when in a hurry.”

Bowie nodded in
agreement and pulled himself into the saddle as Auburn spurred her horse
forward. With everyone in the small town acting so strange, he was glad to be
leaving.

**********

  Whenever Chit
was summoned by the king it was always to do some dirty work. Sometimes Chit
enjoyed the work he was doing, but most of the time it was nothing more than
parading around behind the king to add to his intimidation. He was sure that
today was no different. Chit waited outside until Captain Lorusk was brought
out of his tent to present Chit. The captain was a handler of sorts for Chit.
He kept him on his best behavior, or at least from stepping too far out of line
that he would have to be hung for insubordination.

  Lorusk came
around a tent into Chit’s view. He was always dressed in his polished battle
armor. Chit had been given a set for himself but he chose not to wear it most
days. He thought it was uncomfortable and he didn’t need metal plates to
intimidate people. The captain did not offer a greeting and walked past Chit
without giving a command. He knew Chit would follow him, and that made Chit
angry.

  “My lord,
reporting as ordered.” Chit offered a greeting and bowed at the waist with his
fist on his chest.

  The king
looked up from the scrolls and plates of food on his table to look at the
captain and his Champion. “Everyone out. Gortus, you will stay.”

Lorusk and Chit
stood their ground as a wave of wizards and scribes left the large tent. Chit
saw in the shadows near the back of the tent sitting on a chair the Kapal that
trained Kilen in Deuterium. The Kapal was dressed in his black spiked armor up
to his neck. Pure white hair flowed down his back to contrast his dark gray
skin. He made no move to get up, he was content in eating his plate full of
meat.

  The king
rounded the table and handed the captain a scroll.

“Chit, I have
been wanting to talk to you alone for some time now.” The king passed Captain
Lorusk to stand close to Chit. He looked in Chit’s eyes and waited for a
response that did not come. “You have failed me in your task to defeat Kilen.
Now he is at the heart of the Elder Wizards camp becoming stronger. You see,
they have taken him in as their own.”

The king started
to pace back and forth, and Lorusk handed Chit the scroll. Chit’s lips moved as
he slowly read the words, trying to make out the meaning of the message.
Finally, the captain snatched it out of his hands.

  “It says that
Alexander was an Elder Wizard all along. Kilen was taken in as a weapon bearer
before he left Deuterium.” When Chit still didn’t understand what was going on
the captain kept talking, “He reports to the Elder Wizards now.”

  “Thank you,
Captain.” Lorusk nodded to the king and stepped to the side. “You see Chit,
when you failed me you also gave rise to a new problem. Kilen already has two
elemental marks on his blade. If he gets a third he will be able to be a king.
The small farm boy from Humbridge will be a king of either the Wind or Water
Realm.”

  “What would
you like me to do?” Chit was not understanding how he could help.

  The king
laughed, “Train. All I want you to do is train. You will train every moment of
every day to kill weapon bearers. You will become an assassin of wizards and
weapon bearers to wield at my command.”

Chit nodded his
head in acceptance.

“Good. After all
that is why I invited Gortus. He’s going to train you just like he did Kilen,”
Atmos said.
            The Kapal in the corner didn’t stand, but simply spoke over the
king, “No.”

  The king
stopped and turned to look at the face still covered by shadow. “You deny me?”

  Gortus had
finished picking the meat off of a bone with pointed teeth and tossed it onto
the plate he was eating from. “I will train no one. I have already trained a
human against Kapal customs and look at what it has caused.”

  Atmos spat as
he yelled, “You will do as you are told!”

  Chit was
surprised at how suddenly everything unfolded. Gortus slowly stood from his
chair and Lorusk drew his sword and stepped between the Kapal and the king.
Chit, being slow to react, drew his sword and stood beside the captain.

Gortus didn’t
draw his sword but just laughed, “You forget why I am here. You pay me to eliminate
magical threats. Not to train your men.” The pale eyes of the Kapal looked at
Chit and the Captian, “I would have your men stand down unless you want their
entrails on your throne.” The dark skinned man flashed white pointed teeth,
stained red from his rare meal, at an attempt to smile.