01 - The Price of Talent (4 page)

“You said something about it following me?”

“Yeah, daddy didn’t like the look of that thing at all. So he had it locked in a chest in the basement. But it reappeared in here with you less than a day later. So this time he locked it in the attic. Same deal. So after that, he just kept it in here not wanting to touch it.”

“Wow, really? That… Doesn’t make any sense. I haven’t seen that sword since…” And then I realized that perhaps bringing up where I saw that sword last was a bad idea. “Well, I don’t remember ever having seen it before waking up in here.”

“Well, that’s odd and no mistake. Still, no odder than you being the only survivor of whatever made that huge hole in the ground.”

“Yeah… Are you sure that I was the only survivor?”

“Yup. We searched through the debris, but there wasn’t anything left. Really it’s a miracle you survived at all.”

“So, then… My parents…”

“Oh. Oh Tyr, I’m so sorry. I hadn’t realized… Oh… I’m so sorry…”

              No need for me to dwell on the next half hour of grieving here. Meredith did her best to comfort me, but there is not much you can do for a kid who just realized his parents are dead.

Chapter 3.

              It was a few days before I was really in any shape to talk to anyone. Fortunately, Meredith kept me fed and Willikins kept the chamber pot clean. By this point, they had given up on calling it decorative.

              It wasn’t until I was fully recovered that I met the Mayor. He was a big man, over 6 feet tall and just as broad. And while he was normally, from what I remember from my previous trips into town, an affable friendly guy, he seemed strangely reticent around me. It wasn’t until dinner a few days after my recovery that I found out why.

              Since my recovery I had been taking meals with the Mayor and Meredith. Meredith said it was because it spared Willikins having to bring it up to me in my room. Still, my feeling was that the Mayor wanted to keep an eye on me. After all, I had been spending a lot of time with his daughter since he took me in. At least that was what I thought was bothering him.

              On my third such dinner the mayor made an announcement.

“Son, I feel I should let you know, in the next few days, there are going to be some clerics coming here to take a look at that godless blade we found you with. I have let you keep it till now only because my previous attempts to put it away safely failed.”

“You sent for clerics to look at my sword?” I asked.

“As soon as they brought you here son. There is something unsavory about that blade and it would do you some good to be away from it. No good comes from a young man like yourself having a blade like that.”

“But sir, that’s all I have left from… From the calamity that killed my family and destroyed our farm. I would rather hold onto it. Not because it’s a weapon, but as a keepsake.”

“I know son, and were it not such an evil looking blade, a blade that can seemingly escape locked boxes, I would not have called for the clerics. But after all the fuss the people at the hospital had surrounding it and you, well, the church would have insisted they look into it anyway. I really had no choice.”

“But you’re the mayor, can’t you just turn them away?”

“Hah! Son, you have a lot to learn about who runs this country if you think I have the power to turn away church officials. I serve at their pleasure. I run this town because they can’t be bothered. In larger towns and cities, the mayors are church officials. We are one of the few towns small enough not to rate more than a single friar to look after the town. That is the only reason I have been allowed to be mayor.”

“I… I guess I see your point sir.” And then realizing I might have been wearing out my welcome by questioning him, I said: “I’m sorry for questioning you about it, sir. You’ve been so kind to take me in and it isn’t my place.”

“It’s ok son, I understand. After what you have gone through, well, I can afford to be tolerant.”

“Thank you, sir.”

              The rest of the dinner was spent in silence. I was quite nervous about the idea of facing the church’s inquiries again. After all, my last meeting with church officials hadn’t gone so well. Worse, I was concerned about putting the mayor and his daughter in any danger. They really had been gracious to take me in. If it wasn’t for them, I likely would have already ended up in the hands of the church. And given what happened to their inquisitors, I doubt they would have been as gracious hosts as the Mayor and Meredith were.

              Once dinner was over, I headed back to my room. I was full of conflicting thoughts and emotions. My first thought was fear that the church would steal my sword away before I could figure out why it had bonded to me and why it could talk to me. Also, I was afraid that they would not stop at just taking the sword, that they would imprison me… Or worse. The last group of inquisitors had hardly been friendly.

              Moreover, while I had time to grieve while I was recuperating, I was not at all sure what happened to cause the death of my parents and the explosion of the farm. I remembered the inquisitor trying to kill my mother, but nothing after that. Really, all I had to go on that my former life was over was the word of the Mayor and his daughter. Still, they didn’t really have reason to lie to me, and I doubt my parents would be ok with being parted from me for so long… Still, I had doubts.

You can’t honestly think that these inquisitors will be any nicer than the last ones. If we are really lucky, maybe they won’t kill everyone in this house and take me.

Well, you were with them at the time, what do you remember of your life before you bonded to me?

Kid, I am an inanimate chunk of metal. It’s safe to say that I don’t know anything that you don’t know.

Oh, so then you’re no help about the church’s motivations.

Well, we do know that their goal is to root out magic and heresy. And we know that for decades they didn’t give a shit about this far flung region of the holy empire. So something drew them this way. It is safe to say that whatever that is, they haven’t lost their curiosity about it.

So then what should we do? If I run now, what will they do to Meredith and the Mayor? I owe them a lot. I don’t want them to be in danger on my account. But if I stay, will their situation be any better?

Well, the inquisitors are expecting to see you and me. If you are not here, I doubt they would look kindly on the Mayor or Meredith for not keeping you here. So if you are really concerned with their welfare, we may be stuck meeting with these inquisitors.

You may be right. They tried to kill my mom for no reason at all as far as I can see. If they would do that, I bet they could do anything. Maybe if we are nice and polite, we can at the very least lead them away from this place.

True enough. If all they do is try and take me with them, well, we both know that no bonds or box can keep me away. Give them a few hours’ head start, then call me back, then they will have nothing and the Mayor and Meredith will be safe.

OK, so then it’s agreed, we try and lead these inquisitors away from the Mayor and Meredith.

Agreed.

              And with that having been settled, there was nothing left to do that night but turn in. Unfortunately, I did not sleep well. I had too many worries and too many thoughts to sleep. They were all fighting for attention, and like people all shouting in a crowded space, the cacophony drowned out most rational thought. Fortunately, I did eventually sleep, if fitfully.

              Breakfast the next day was a somber affair. Everyone apparently was focused on their own thoughts. Willikins was the only one apparently unaffected. But then, from what I remember of him now, he was always professional. I can’t remember him ever having spoken actually…

              Unfortunately, no one knew when to expect the inquisitors, so we each spent most of the day fretting in our own way. I spent the day in my room mostly. I was debating what to do when they confronted me. Unfortunately, I couldn’t really come up with anything other than lead them away from the Mayor and Meredith. The sword was no help either.

I don’t know why you are spending all this time fretting. We have a plan; it’s as good as we can come up with given how little information we have. You just need to put on your big boy pants and stop sulking.

              He was right of course, but that didn’t make me any less apprehensive about the coming confrontation. For at this point, I was sure it would become a confrontation. Not without good reason though, considering what I had gone through to that point.

              The inquisitors did not show up until right before dinner. I assume because that way we had to invite them to dinner. Well, I say we, but I mean the Mayor.

              The doorbell rang at just after 6pm. I remember this well because I had spent the better part of the day checking the old clock the Mayor kept at the top of the landing. Such luxuries were unknown to us at the farm; we did our time reckoning by the sun and the sun dial. It was much cheaper than a proper clock, you didn’t need to wind a sun dial and it never needed to be repaired. No moving parts after all. Still once you knew it was there, it was hard not to watch time go by with such precision. This is especially so when you are dreading something.

              Willikins answered the door and let in the inquisitors. The first thing that struck me about the three men that walked into the foyer was that they were all wearing medallions. This was significant because, of the group that came to my house, only one had the medallion, the other two were clearly just guards. Here they were all inquisitors.

              Another thing that struck me was that these were not small men. The only other inquisitor I had seen had been oddly skinny; these three men were built like the blacksmith, though perhaps a little longer of limb. Also, while all three had short swords, none of them had a sword that looked like mine. They did, however, each have hand crossbows. Fortunately, these were not locked and loaded, but carried over the shoulder.

              Their uniforms looked like that of the previous inquisitor, except that they were wearing white church cloaks over their mail. Willikins took their crossbows and put them next to the coat rack. He also took their cloaks. When he motioned for their swords, they just grimly stared at him. And with that he decided to leave them alone.

              The Mayor came in at this point and greeted all three.

“Gentleman, Gentleman, welcome to my humble abode. I must admit I did not know what to expect when I sent you that letter some weeks ago, but I am glad you have come. We are just about to sit for dinner, I can have Willikins add places at the table for all of you…”

“Yes… That would be… Nice,” said the oldest looking of the three. I say oldest looking because his hair had the most gray in it. This does not mean he was old, in fact I doubt he had seen the latter half of his 40
th
year, but since the other three had almost no grey, that is how I saw him.

              As the older inquisitor walked into the dining room with the Mayor, the other two looked up the stairs at me peering around the corner at them.

“That the one?” Said one.

“Has to be. The Mayor has only one child, a daughter.”

              With that they both smiled and walked into the dining room for dinner. It was then it occurred me that if I was going to run, now was the time to do so. Unfortunately, I was paralyzed by my fear of the situation. Also, I remembered that we did have a plan, and that was to spare Meredith and the Mayor as much hardship as I could.

              So, not knowing what else to do, I put on my proverbial big boy pants and went down for dinner. Besides, they had spotted me already anyway.

              When I got to the dining room I saw the table laid out, with Meredith to the Mayor’s right and me on his left. Unfortunately, the two younger inquisitors were seated after me and Meredith, with the oldest of the three sitting at the other table end. This meant that they would be between me and the front door for the whole meal. There was the other door, the one that lead to the kitchens from which Willikins brought our meals, but I wasn’t sure whether there was a way out of the house that way. Still, I was resigned at this point to have a very awkward meal, so I took my place and sat.

“Well, now that we are all here” said the Mayor, “perhaps some introductions are in order?”

              To which the eldest of the three responded: “My name is Richardo, but you can call me Rich. The man to my right is Raffael, or Raf for short, the other is Mikael, or Mik. We are of the order of inquisitors out of Caer Sud.”

“Very nice” said the Mayor, “You already know me from my letter. My daughter’s name is Meredith. This young man, the one found in the crater where his family farm used to exist, is Tyr Janus. After dinner we can look at the weird sword that was found with him that gave the hospital workers such a worry.”

“We appreciate you contacting us,” said Rich. “It is not frequent that we get requests for an inquest. Still, it reminds us of the faith the church is putting in you to run this town in the church’s staid. Such actions will ensure that this continues without… inconvenience to all parties.”

              Willikins came in with food at this point. Mutton with greens and rolls. I’m not sure why I remember the food, since I spent most of the meal just picking at it. Still, it is funny what the brain focuses on when you are worried stiff.