The Descendants Book One: The Broken Scroll (17 page)

Egan’s face contorted into an ugly expression.  “What?” 

“You said he and Deverell loathe one another.  What if he doesn’t want to obey Deverell’s command, but also doesn’t want to lose his governorship for not following direct command from Deverell and the First Governor. These ceremonies seem to be supported by the King.  There’s no reason to say Alanon has any loyalty to him either.” 

Egan seemed unsure what to address first, Davin’s unexpected insight or his actual argument. 

“Those are big speculations,” he said, skeptically.   

Liam looked thoughtful, and then said, “Yes they are, and could see all of us executed before the day’s end.” 

Egan started to speak again, but Liam cut him off.  “However,” the Scholar continued, “I say it is worth an attempt.  Even if we have misjudged him, there’s still the chance we can get the crowd involved.  I am willing to try something rash.  When I get give the signal, you rouse the crowd any way you can.  Wait here.” 

Egan nodded and didn’t fight his friend.  He stepped back up to where Davin stood and watched as Liam meandered around the circular top section of the theater.  For a bulkier man, he was quite adept at dodging the onlookers.  Smoothly, he found a path through the crowds and to the edge of the theater’s left side. 

When he got there he stopped and peered at the people immediately in front of him in the seats.  Davin looked at Egan to see if he knew what was going on.  He felt better when Egan looked as confused as he did. 

Liam finally found what who he was looking for and started down the steps.  He came up to a woman a few rows down who recognized him instantly.  She bade him to sit by her and he took the invitation. 

Immediately he began whispering in her ear.  She answered back, pointing to the scene taking place down below.  Davin started to figure that Liam was formulating a plan with her to get Radash out.  Why Liam needed her to help him, Davin couldn’t make sense of.   

Davin looked back to the stage.  The three thieves and the scribe were being strapped down to the tables in preparation for their punishments.  The captives were noticeably shaking with fear at what was to come. 

Davin recalled the way he felt when Roland had been tortured before all.  The anger inside him made his body ache with pain and he had to look away.  These people actually were criminals and he didn’t know them, but he still felt sorry for them.  They didn’t deserve his kind of treatment. 

When he turned back to Liam, the two of them weren’t where they were sitting anymore.  Davin spied them heading down the side steps toward the stage. 

What on earth are they going to do?
Davin thought, his mind whirling. 

Liam called out toward the stage.  Every eye, sitting or leaving, turned to see who had been brave or foolish enough to interrupt the ceremony.  Some of the crowd began mumbling, probably discussing who the man was. 

“Stop!” Liam called out again.  “He is not the man you want.  This man did not kill Governor Gradis!  Please, he’s my son!”

The crowd had grown silent while he was talking, but now was murmuring with a new energy.  Egan and Davin looked at one another, astonished at the bold move Liam had just made.  

“Yes, listen to my husband.  Our son is no murderer,” the woman next to Liam added, with a note of desperation.   

So that was what she was for, Davin realized.  They were playing the loving parents role.  Davin admitted it was smart, but could it work?  The governor stopped speaking and turned to the disrupters. 

“What is this nonsense?  This boy confessed to me himself.  And he told me he has no parents,” the governor lied.  “He is an orphan and has committed an atrocity.”  Liam knew he was lying and played on it. 

“I was there the night that Gradis was killed,” Liam cried.  “I know what happened and my son not there.  He has never even left this city.  Have mercy, please.” 

How Governor responded was irrelevant.  What mattered was the crowd’s reaction.

Liam finally reached the stage and stood up by the governor.  The governor gave him a nasty look.  He snapped at the soldiers around him. 

“Seize this man.  He is obviously mistaken.  Hold him and keep him quiet until after we are done here.”  Liam was doing a good job of acting.  It seemed people were buying his performance.  The ones who had begun to leave were getting back to their seats. 

Liam reached out for Teague and embraced him.  Teague caught on quickly.  He changed his demeanor from
shock to a warm embrace.  No one seemed to notice the hesitation.  The soldiers pulled them apart and held them away from each other.  Even the woman on the side of the stage was continuing to act the concerned mother well.

It all would be
highly entertaining if it weren’t so serious
, Davin thought. 

“Good people,” Liam yelled, “don’t let them do this to us!”

“That was it,” Egan said.  “Copy me.” 

Egan began to jeer loudly as he moved further down into the theater.  He drew the attention of people surrounding him and Davin.  Many looked as if they wanted him to be quiet.  But it didn’t last once they realized what he was doing.  A few began to join him in his jeering.  Within a minute, the outbursts of disapproval rippled through the crowd and grew so much in volume that the governor could no longer ignore it. 

The combination of Liam’s acting and Egan’s arousal of the crowd was working.  They were taking the side of the family that was being ripped in two.  They jeered the governor and his men.  The governor was being rendered powerless.  He tried to calm the people down, but they weren’t listening anymore.

The governor stood, sweating violently, and assessed the situation for a moment.  He shot glances all around him and saw that there wasn’t a single person there that was on his side.  He finally raised his hands to silence the crowd, accepting his defeat.   The people had made the call. 

“After consideration for what this man here says,” he pointed at Liam,” I have decided to deem his son a free man.  He is released into the custody of his parents.  They may do with him what they will.”  Cheers erupted from the crowd when he finished. 

Egan uttered quietly, “Incredible.”

“It worked,” Davin exclaimed.  “Alanon isn’t working with the King.” 

Egan looked at Davin with uncertainty.   “Are you sure you want to stand by that statement?   This tells us nothing about that governor’s loyalty.”

“How so?”   

“Consider both sides.  Even if the governor is standing with O’Hara, he isn’t about to start a mutiny right here in this theater.  The powerful do rely on the support of the public to some degree.  He wouldn’t risk such open cruelty in front of the masses.  They would turn on him and there aren’t enough soldiers here to fight against an entire city.  The last thing that O’Hara wants is for his citizens to
know
he’s lost his mind.  And that they can rise against him.”

“But what if Alanon is
against
O’Hara, wouldn’t he be in favor of an uprising?” Davin asked.  “By him not allowing it he has given his answer and remained a loyal servant.” 

“Again, he could be,” Egan answered readily, “but we can’t know for sure.  He wouldn’t want an uprising to happen here, where it would be easy to blame him for it.  He knew the army here could easily end his life, regardless of whether they could handle city’s population.  He knew exactly how to play both sides.”

“So we save Teague, but the governor doesn’t reveal enough of himself to get in trouble,” Davin admitted.  “Smart man.” 

Egan sighed.  “Yo
u don’t get considered one of the king’s most valued for nothing,”

Davin thought about that as they waited for Liam to get back to them with Radash.  So there were ways normal man had power over the elite.  He had never really thought about it, but, then again, he was never very politically minded.

He and Egan watched the two of them climb the stairs with the woman falling behind.  They didn’t speak to each other on the way up. 

When they reached the top Liam introduced the woman.  Her name was Page.  She was a close friend of his that ran a book shop near his home.  She was nice enough and had the look of someone still relatively young in years, but still had experienced lot in her lifetime.  After a short conversation containing her invitation for them to visit her shop while they were in town, she left.  Davin was sure he would see more of her while during his stay. 

Davin looked down at the stage.  The ceremony looked like it was over, though the captive’s limbs still looked in order.  The governor must have called the whole thing off for the day. 

Radash spoke up once Page had gone.  “I want to thank you kind sir, for getting me out of there.  I was going to be killed for a murder some mad man committed.”  Egan and Liam caught each other’s eye.  Liam brushed the subject off quickly.

“What’s done is done.  I shall expect not to hear about it again.  You are safe now.  I must press that we leave quickly before we have the chance to be followed.  Come, we will talk well into the night when we reach my home.  It has been a while since I have had such distinguished guests.” 

Chapter 10 An Evening of Disillusionment

It was quite a walk from the theater.  The city seemed rather large to Davin’s eyes at first, but he had grossly misjudged its size.  Liam told them that the city at least a league from the north gate to the south walls.  And the same from the east gate to the sea. 

Davin watched as the general public slowly returned to their daily routines after the ceremony.  Friends greeted one another, kids went back to playing, and shop owners went back to work, but it felt a little quieter than a large city should.  Most were looking pensive or reserved.  From all the conversations Davin over heard on their way, no one was talking about the ceremony any longer. Somehow he knew it wasn’t because it wasn’t on their minds, though.  It is the sort of event that isn’t easily forgotten. 

Davin wondered to himself. 
Do they fear a backlash against their response at the ceremony, or the mere fact that a ceremony like that had to take place in the at all?

Either question wasn’t pleasant to consider
. 

And even still, the citizens of the kingdom were naïve to his and Egan’s current situation, but who would make them privy to it.  The King wasn’t going to announce that there were Descendants’ in the
ir midst.  Egan had said it back in the amphitheater. 

As they continued walking, Liam explained that
to Davin and Radash that the city was split into districts.  Six districts made up the whole and each contained a name related to the fact that Slainte was a port town.  He pointed out another of the canals that ferry boats took toward his end the city. 

They needed to walk through
Lower Seabreeze
and
Middle Seabreeze
before Liam told them they were close to his home. 

They wound through streets brimming middle class apartments.  They passed two upscale shopping districts, both in which there were all kinds of interesting shops.  There was a sweet shop full of various candies that rose up three stories high.  Davin made a mental note to return before they left. 

At one point they came across a blacksmith stoking the fire he used to forge the metal into weapons.  Davin was reminded of Roland and a familiar tightness in his chest resurfaced.  He found himself staring at the blacksmith and they caught each other’s eye for a moment.  The man gave him a nod.  Feeling embarrassed at being noticed, he turned away quickly. 

After passing a couple of rather large green recreation zones bustling full of families playing games that consisted of running about wildly, and children climbing all over giant tree houses, they reached the north end. 

The wealthy homes rose above the rest of the city on a hill side, as if perched on a pedestal to be admired.  Everything in this area was for the well-off only.  The land space given to these homes made the multistoried apartments in the lower city seem claustrophobic.  All of these houses were made of either stone or brick.  Wood was only present for the doors and shutters.  Wide balconies extended outward from the second stories and all every mansion’s yard was surrounded by sturdy iron gates. 

The streets of this area were wide.  Thirty men could stand side by side and just reach the other side.  This district also had fountains that ran only feet from each other through the middle of every street.  The water jumped from o
ne fountain to the next.  Planter gardens also spotted the street at regular intervals.  All of this added an extra helping of refinement to the place. 

Davin and Teague walked along, taking it in. 

“My home is down this main street and to the right.  We will be quite comfortable there.  It is rather large.”  He smiled sheepishly as he led them the way he had indicated.

They passed several more many roomed mansions.  In each yard there were relics of importance to each owner: statues, bird basins, exotic plants and the like. 

At the end of the street they turned right and their eyes fell upon Liam’s home.  It sat in a short row of homes just like his and all the others.  He hadn’t lied.  It held its own in the size department.  Its color was that of a blood red, and it was wide like the other homes in the district.  The arching windows and the two deep, rounded balconies on the second floor maintained their distance from an excessive display of wealth, despite their grandeur.