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"Is that it?" |
More than one set of eyes widened at Viconia’s flippant comment and the men-at-arms stepped aside after several moments thoughtful consideration. With Viconia and Alexi flanking me I stepped closer until Detane’s body was almost at my feet where he was trying to gather his thoughts and stem the bleeding from his face. |
"Who are you?" I said very simply, looking between the two knights and curling my lips in distaste. |
"Sir Steglon of Norvulk. Esquire to Baron Jaseton." |
The second knight stiffened as I turned to him in turn and he coughed lightly, clearing his throat. "Sir Tilile. Also an esquire to Baron Jaseton." |
"I am Sir Desin, and as I have said this man is mine and there are laws about such actions. Assault is punishable by flogging I believe." |
At my back, Alexi caught the cue and I could almost hear his expression from his words alone. "Indeed it is sir. Knights and nobles are no exception." |
Both knights finally lost their arrogance and realised that they were in a situation that their titles and rank could not protect them. They turned slightly pale and Sir Tilile appeared as though he was now sweating from more than just the heat. |
Steglon was a different matter and while suddenly nervous he still had an insubordinate streak deep in his being. "Do you understand the kind of man that you have in your employ, sir?" |
"Maybe you should explain yourself and your words." I growled. |
Taking the bait but slowly becoming more deferential, he made a vague gesture to Detane who was groggily picking himself up from the dirt despite the blood pouring from his busted lips and nose. "This "man’ you claim to be your own is a murderer. By the lords of Wayrest he has been banished, exiled from High Rock as p... |
"If he was a murderer, then why was he not hanged?" Viconia asked coldly. |
"If he had been an ordinary murderer he would have hung, but his crime was far worse than normal. His victims were kin; his wife and children to be exact." Sparing a glance to the kneeling Detane I saw the cold expression on his face but it was not one of anger or hatred as the knight continued speaking. There was not... |
"So he was banished instead?" |
"Indeed." Sir Steglon nodded and went to spit on either the ground or Detane but stopped himself. "His face was marked and he has been declared to be an outlaw; to be hunted for all the days of his life and for all goodly citizens of High Rock to render him harm if able." |
Still, there was no reaction from Detane but I could smell the fear and sorrow on him with my vampirism. "We are not in High Rock, and if there are any attacks or further assaults on anyone here I will take great pleasure in enacting Imperial law." My threat hung in the air and both the knights before me understood pe... |
Staggering upwards, the short Breton looked around at the collection of men and women, knights and servants alike but there was none of his usual attitude. He was as cold as a glacier and as emotionless as a stone as his pain and injuries seemed forgotten. |
Only when Detane moved between us and away from the huddle of knights and men-at-arms did I stop my glare at the two knights who had assaulted him. He was still dabbing ineffectively at the blood from his face and now hunched over from the blows he had taken to the body. |
"Now what?" Alexi hissed to me as we escorted the short Breton away from where the servants of Baron Jaseton stared in sullen silence. |
"Now?" I said simply, sparing a glance to Detane who looked as though all the fight and will to live had left his body. "Now we go and look after each other." |
"Things could be going a lot better." |
My amused snort wasn’t lost to Viconia and Alexi as we sat around the table, briefly lifting their gazes in my direction before returning to our individual pieces of equipment scattered in front of us. All three of us had our armour entirely disassembled and piece by piece we were going through the extensive process o... |
"Don’t just snort at me Kaius, you know exactly what I mean." |
"I know." My gaze lifted up to Viconia and the deepening scowl that she was wearing. "Everything that we have fought and bled for is already unravelling and it hasn’t even been a week yet." |
Though he tried to hide it, I couldn’t help but notice the way that Alexi lightly touched his scarred cheek when I mentioned bleeding. "As always, Detane is a problem." He said almost absentmindedly. |
"But one we can deal with." I lifted up one of my vambraces that had a fresh series of scratches across it from sword practice and frowned at them. "How is he going?" |
"Hasn’t spoken more than a handful of words since getting beaten up. I almost prefer the complaining Detane that we are accustomed to." |
The silence that fell was leaden and I stared at the young sword master. "Why don’t you just say what you are thinking?" |
"I’m not thinking of anything." He replied, running a length of chainmail across his breastplate and scouring it clean of grime and oiling it at the same time. |
"Bullshit Alexi. You’re wondering why we haven’t sent him on his way." |
The repetitive motions of his hands ceased and he sighed loudly. "Fine. Why is he still here?" |
"Because he’s one of us." |
Viconia made a sound that a cross between a snort and a chuckle and rolled her eyes. "Doubtful mrannd’ssinss." |
"I didn’t consider that a convicted murderer is "one of us,’ Kaius..." Alexi stopped and trailed off as he saw the expressions on our faces and our mutual amusement. "Gods damn it, you two don’t make things easy." |
"We’ve all got our dark secrets, even if they aren’t entirely secrets." Grinning while lifting up Dragonbane to inspect its length, Viconia gave Alexi a haughty look that wasn’t subtle in its teasing. |
"There’s definitely some things you two could have gotten away with not telling me and there’s definitely a few things that I would have slept a lot easier not knowing about." |
"Like our sordid pasts?" I teased in return. |
"Yes, and fine, you make your point. Detane isn’t the only murderer in our ranks, especially with the two of you." |
Viconia had lost her jovial attitude and had turned serious, her wolf-yellow eyes narrowing slightly in his direction. "We’re all killers, Alexi. Only what surfacers consider to be "civilised’ separates the reasons for killing into "good’ and "evil’. |
"Vicky... you burned a man alive." |
"Only after he and his son violated me." |
"Have we found out anything new about Detane?" I interrupted, partially to save Alexi from his unease and embarrassment. |
Gritting his teeth and trying not to glance at Viconia who was now staring at him with a very particular stare of hers, Alexi shrugged and turned his attentions fully to me. It was taking a surprising amount of effort as Viconia had a way of looking at someone that could make hot blooded men quivering with desire, whi... |
"Not much more but it is certainly interesting. I asked around the Duke’s entourage and it seems that Detane is one of the most renowned killers in Highrock, especially in the Kingdom of Wayrest." |
"What makes him so renowned?" |
Alexi continued looking at me despite Viconia’s question and I could see out of the corner of my eye that she was now truly playing with him. "Killing one’s kin in Highrock is one of the most terrible of crimes, but it also appears that Detane used to be a Baron. Not only did he kill his wife and his two children but ... |
"A Baron. Gods we have attracted all sorts here." I continued rubbing polish and oil into the vambrace but continued listening intently. "So they cut up his face as a sign of his crimes and banished him from Highrock to live out the rest of his days as an outcast. It explains how he can fight so well." |
"That’s not what really gets to me though." Alexi’s motions with the chainmail stopped and with it the oiled scraping. "I haven’t been able to confirm exactly what or how it happened but everyone I have spoken to has agreed that the way that he killed his wife and children were horrific. Not only that, but before the ... |
This caught my attention and I saw how serious Alexi was being. So did Viconia judging by the way that her teasing expression softened and her brows furrowed. |
"Norvulk? Isn’t that the Title of Baron Jaseton?" |
He nodded and I found myself chewing my lip. "Yes. Baron Jaeston acquired the title after Detane was convicted. He originally held the title of some of the lands adjacent to Detane’s but when he was stripped of everything, Jaeston was handed it on a silver platter." |
"Shar curse the politics of the surface." Viconia muttered to herself. "Is all of Tamriel this complicated?" |
"This is nothing." I replied, almost chuckling to myself. "But if I’m honest, Highrock is by far the most complicated of all the provinces." |
"It still leaves us with a disgraced, child killing baron among our number, one who is a walking target for all of these newcomers." |
"He’s not a child-killer." Viconia stated suddenly and flatly, stopping in mid motion as she registered our attentions turn to her. "What?" |
"There were almost a dozen witnesses from what I heard, and he even confessed." |
I looked at Alexi. "He spoke to you?" |
"Well..." He paused and looked between the two of us. "I went to speak of him before doing my rounds with the others and he wouldn’t say a word. He’s been in that tent for two days now but didn’t say anything more than "it’s all true’ before I left." |
"Sort of sounds like a confession to me." |
"I still don’t believe it." Viconia replied. "He may have done it physically but he’s not someone for murdering a child." |
"You seem really certain." |
She looked at Alexi with little more than a smirk on her face. "Of course I am certain. He’s a stunted, insufferable, arrogant, malicious, little man but I can guarantee you he doesn’t have it in him to intentionally harm a child, let alone one of his flesh and blood." Carefully she lifted her arms, twisting them back... |
After the moments pregnant pause, Alexi coughed into his fist and tried not to stare at any of Viconia’s exposed flesh in morbid fascination. "The more I find out about you Viconia, the more terrified I become." |
We all laughed but there was a serious edge to it with an undercurrent of unease. Alexi especially was still extremely sombre. "What are we going to do with him though?" |
"Keep him here and look after him. Despite everything he has proved himself, and besides that he’s a greater danger to himself than anything else." |
"How is he..." |
"He’s trying to get himself killed." |
Cutting him off in mid-sentence, I saw the way that Alexi’s mouth opened and then snapped shut. "Are you certain?" |
"Unfortunately... Very much so. Ever since he joined us there’s been a few instances that I didn’t really understand at the time, but I do now. A couple of days ago I challenged him over his attitude and actions, especially with goading Mazoga. I wasn’t entirely serious when I asked him whether he was looking at killi... |
"Kaius... It was a gods-damned miracle that we all came out of that. Injuries and everything aside, that entire journey was suicidal and I still don’t know how we managed to succeed." |
Again his fingers lightly pressed into his scarred cheek and I smiled faintly. "Exactly. From the outset we all had very little chance of coming back alive and that’s what Detane wanted. His goading of all of us, especially Mazoga is he’s trying to get one of us to fight and kill him." |
"If he seeks death, then why doesn’t he simply commit suicide?" |
Both Alexi and I shrugged at Viconia’s question. "In most of the faiths; especially in that of the Nine, suicide is a sin. An especially grave one at that. He is already disgraced and condemned and any hope he has is redemption through battle." |
Viconia chewed on a lip. "I can’t understand your religions. On one hand they are so weak and forgiving, and on the other they are brutal and harsh and don’t appear that much different to the worship of the spider queen." |
"That’s the church of the Nine for you." I muttered. "Half filled with righteous zealots. Half filled with passive martyrs." |
"Which half do you fall into Kaius?" |
I couldn’t help but grin at Alexi’s comment and raised an eyebrow. "The kind that quietly goes about his business and doesn’t wait for divine intervention for assistance. It wasn’t the gods that retrieved the relics." |
Rising to her feet, Viconia stretched and I could hear the way that her spine crunched. "As you two seem hells-bent on discussing theological matters, I need to stretch my legs." Lightly, a hand trailed across my back as she moved past me towards the dirt track leading between the tents. "I won’t be long." |
As the crunch of gravel made itself heard over the sounds of the tent village preparing for the night, I placed the vambraces down and reached for one of my pauldrons. "I wish I knew what we were supposed to do now that the relics are all gathered." I said and Alexi picked up on my weary sigh. |
"I don’t think anyone, yourself included actually expected for all of them to be gathered in their entirety. Nothing like this has ever happened before." |
"And yet here we sit, waiting with our thumbs in our arses waiting for... something. Divine intervention maybe?" |
"Stranger things have happened." A half-filled jar of tallow rattled on the table as Alexi scooped out some onto a cloth and began buffing his leather under layers. "Something will happen though. Whether it be fate or whatever you like to call it, the entire Church of the Nine is seeking out the source of the attacks.... |
"No. He and the others are too interested in shaking down everyone in sight for septims." I could feel the roughness of the polishing cloth under my fingertips as rubbed down the metal plate until it slowly began to shine a blueish-black tinge under the day’s dust and grime. "I don’t know how long I will be able to ke... |
"For as long as you have to." He growled, dropping his voice into a conspiratorial whisper. "Lose the key or something. At least we know that Jaeston’s wizard isn’t able to break into the vault and I don’t think any of them trust or like wizards enough..." |
In the deepening gloom a sudden shout of surprise and pain echoed, followed by a series of impressively loud curses. Alexi and I stopped in mid motion, staring off into the direction of where they had come from with mild apprehension even as his face curled in amusement. |
"Someone’s having a fun night." He remarked, snorting under his breath before his face hardened at the unmistakable sound of breaking pottery and splintering wood as a young child began screaming and crying. |
What truly caught our attention and made us kick ourselves to our feet was he drawn out scream from what was undeniably a woman’s throat and one filled with nothing but fear. |
"Damn it, we left Vicky unattended again." |
Snatching Sunchild from the table and nearly spilling the rest of the contents across the dusty soil, I gave Alexi a brief glance before moving in the direction of the commotion. "When have you ever heard Viconia scream?" |
His expression turned into his usual jovial one as though he was laughing at the entire world and everything in it and the smirk was almost a physical force. "Well... There was this one night where you two were sharing that tavern room next to mine..." |
"You know what I mean." Quickly, and despite his attitude he and I were moving with purpose, shifting through the tent lines in the direction of the commotion while moving through the gaggle of curious and concerned people. The screaming had turned into a muted collection of sobs that only I could hear over the growin... |
Bursting inside the tent we were greeted with a shambles; the handful of personal items scattered about where a crude table and set of shelves had been knocked over and broken and everything else in disarray. With nothing more than a swaying lantern hanging from the tent’s arch there was poor light but the size and sh... |
The woman who owned the tent was dishevelled, her hair ruffled and I could see the fresh, glowing redness of her cheek from where she had been struck and it was also obvious that her clothes had been ripped and damaged. In my eyes the evidence was already good enough for me to understand what happened, even if not for... |
"Get help." I said as simply and coldly as I could manage, glancing between the woman cradling her son and Alexi as he simply nodded and ducked back out of the tent. Viconia had an expression on her face that I had seen a few times before, and one of which was during the battle against the vampires of Glenvar. As for ... |
"He was raping her." |
"I can see that." Slowly, stepping closer to the two of them I made space for Alexi when he reappeared with one of the woman’s neighbours and a pair of sentries wearing the Red Diamond. "You stopped him?" |
"What does it look like?" her arm twitched and the man openly gaped, appearing as though he was attempting to make a noise but being utterly incapable of doing so at that moment. His eyes were flitting between mine and hers, unblinking and pleading with the two of us even as he went as pale as the fabric of the tent. |
"...right..." He forced out of his mouth without having the air in his lungs to expel. "...my...right..." |
"Loosen your grip Viconia." I said, moving over to him and staring at his pained expression. Whether Viconia did or not didn’t seem to make any difference and I spared a glance to the woman who was now being comforted by her friend. "Your...right? Right to do what?" |
"...Servant...law...Knight..." |
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