Broken, p.30
Broken, page 30
part #3 of The Divine Series
The center of town was known to the locals as the Root Bazaar. It was a massive open space that was cut in half by the Baden river, over which two wood and iron bridges arched. Both sides of the space were used for an assortment of purposes like celebrations, games, and tournaments, though the west bank was often called the Red Bank, because that was were they held the executions.
Each side of the square was closed in by tightly spaced storefronts and taverns, with a few dirt roads that crossed them, and a single cobblestone road on the Red Bank that led from the north gate to the south gate. It was early yet, but there was already a collection of traveling merchants randomly spotted on the grass on both sides of the river, unpacking their wares and putting them up on display.
Being the largest town between the cities of Killorn and Elling, and a hub from the villages surrounding the Baden and its tributaries, Root spent nearly every day each year hosting traders, performers, and nobles on their way to and from the seat of the province’s Overlord. Such transient wealth also meant there was a strong presence of less than honorable professions. Silas wasn’t always an honest man, but he also wasn’t the type to belong to any of those guilds.
Even so, the merchants kept a close eye on Silas as he walked by. Whenever he came too close to one, they would move to stand in front of their wares, and wrinkle their noses at the smell of him. It wasn’t that they didn’t trust him in particular, but there was something suspicious about a haggard man who couldn’t walk in a straight line, wandering past them at this time of day.
Silas reached the cobblestone road and turned north. Using the river from inside of the city walls was forbidden and punishable by death, as most offenses were under his rule. Root itself had a clay pipeline that led from a diverted basin to various sections of the town, where the inhabitants could go and pay for access to water from which to bathe and drink. As he had no way to pay, he had no choice but to walk.
He sobered up somewhat as he traveled, staying to the outer reaches of the main thoroughfare where it split around the Constable’s Office. The office was the seat of Root’s governor, Constable Penticott. It was a large, ornately columned, two-story building that sat in an area roughly half the size of the square, and was surrounded by an incredible botanical garden, which itself was surrounded by a tall iron fence. The garden was there to prevent any from being able to view his soldiers, out training in the yard, as the office was home not only to the Constable, but also two hundred of his soldiers and the Root dungeons. There was another barracks on the south side of the Baden’s east bank, which housed another two hundred.
“So many soldiers,” Silas said to himself as he walked past, trying to avoid being noticed by the guards positioned around the gate. “Who are they fighting against?” As far as he knew, there had been no war and no uprisings in at least forty years. It was true that some of the soldiers were needed to keep the peace within the city walls, but a solider for every ten inhabitants seemed excessive to him. Even if Silas added the travelers passing through the town, it still appeared too many.
It took him nearly two hours of walking to reach a secluded spot on the Baden, giving him more than enough time to shake the effects of the ale. His head began to throb, and his eyes were blurry from lack of sleep. Silas tried to remember the last time he had been completely sober.
“It was probably the last time I bathed,” he said to himself with a chuckle.
He made his way down to the edge of the Baden, and then lifted his stained white shirt over his head and brought it to his face, sniffing under the arms and drawing back in disgust. He took hold of his pants and removed them as well, though he declined to check on their cleanliness. Last, he bent down and removed the simple leather sandals that cradled his feet.
“A fine day,” Silas announced, stretching out his naked body and letting it catch as much of the cool morning air as it could. The sun was rising in the sky, and by afternoon it would be blasting Root with it’s intensity, so he needed to enjoy the crispness while it lasted. He shifted his neck from one side to the other, satisfied with the resulting crunch, and then bent over and reached his hands to his toes. More cracks ran along his entire back, his elbows and his knees. Finally, he leaned over and looked down into the calm flow of the Baden.
He was confused by what he saw. White hair grown long, a thick white mustache and beard attached to a long, narrow, chiseled face. His body was equally long and thin, though he had managed to maintain some definition in his muscles, even after the years.
“When did that happen?” he asked himself.
He ran his hand along his torso, where a jagged scar cut its way from his right pectoral to his left hip. Try as he might, he couldn’t recall ever being so grievously wounded. Had the drink made him forget? Or did he drink to forget? Or had he forgotten long before he started drinking?
He didn’t know, and when he thought more about it, he realized he didn’t care. He decided that he would clean himself up a little, and with any luck be in right enough shape to convince Wenley to let him wash dishes. Failing that, he would see if he could find some purses to lighten. The penalty for stealing was hard labor in the ore mines, not death, and anyway he was an exceptional thief. If only he could remember where he had learned the skill.
“Am I not in right shape?” he asked himself, staring down at his reflection.
“You haven’t been in right shape in years,” his reflection answered back. Or maybe it hadn’t. Maybe it was all in his head. He wasn’t sure. All he did know was that he needed a drink.
“Now or never,” he said. He gathered his clothes into a ball in his arms, took a few steps back, and then ran forward and leaped into the river. He shouted at the shock of the cold water greeting him, and then began to laugh. He had forgotten how much he liked to swim.
He cavorted in the water for a while, holding his clothes in each hand as he dove under, swam on his back, and paddled upstream and downstream. He was hopeful that the motion would help pull some of the stink out of the cloth, his hair, and his body.
As it was, the play led him to distraction of his own, and before he realized it he was much further downstream than he had intended. Silas planted his feet in the soft mud of a shallow spot in the river and stood up, the water climbing up to his chest. He spun around in a circle, trying to figure out where he was, but not recognizing the location. He had gone way too far.
“Momma, what’s going to happen to me?”
He heard the voice of a boy, and turned his head to find it.
“Nothing, dear. Nothing is going to happen to you.” A woman’s voice. His mother, Silas assumed. He still wasn’t sure where it was coming from.
“I’m scared,” the boy said.
Silas saw movement through trees on the west side of the river. The boy and his mother were in a small copse of trees, near the furthest edge of the farmlands surrounding Root. He had definitely gone way, way too far.
“I’m scared too.”
Silas creased his brow, wondering what they were talking about. He decided he wanted to know, so he swam over to the shore and carefully pulled himself out of the water. He left his clothes on the banks and slithered his way across the ground like a snake, getting himself covered in dirt and grass with the effort. Finally, he reached the trees.
“You aren’t going to tell them?” the boy asked.
“I could never do that to you,” came the reply. “I love you too much to let him take you.”
Silas’ ears perked up even more at his mention. He pushed himself to his feet, and snuck across to the trunk of a wide oak tree. He peeked his head around the corner, able to see the two people who were talking now. He was shocked to find that he recognized them. He was even more shocked when he saw the boy’s face. He had tried to wipe it away, but there was still a smudge of red right below his right eye. He was Cursed.
“Are you going to tell Da?” Calum asked.
“No,” his mother, Selene replied. “Every person who knows is one more person who can betray you. This is our secret, and we’ll take it to our graves.”
Silas knew Selene and Calum. She was a waitress at the Old Oak, a tavern on the other side of town from the Sleepy Hollow. He had spent plenty of hours over there, losing himself in his cups. Calum had been there sometimes, helping his mother wait on the guests. Now it turned out the boy was Cursed.
He ducked back behind the tree, crouching down and hurrying back to where he left his clothes. As quiet as he could, he picked them up and rung them out, then slipped them on still damp. He’d have to go barefoot until he could make his way back to where he left his sandals, but that was fine. He’d be able to afford a new pair of sandals soon, and keep himself from remembering for a long, long time.
“This has to be the best duck I’ve ever tasted,” Eryn’s father said, taking a huge bite of a small wing. It should have come as no surprise to anyone that Jaerl Albion was a large man, with a barrel chest and plenty of muscle to help him swing the blacksmith’s hammer. He was also a man without hair, most of it having been burned away in the heat of the forge, the rest shaved off by Pash Albion to keep her husband “neat and tidy”.
“You always say it’s the best duck you’ve ever tasted,” Roddin said.
Her older brother was perched on the back of his chair, his grey cloak hanging off the back, all the way down to the floor. A hunting knife hung from his hip, and his bow was lying in the corner near the door.
When he had turned sixteen, Roddin had taken an apprenticeship under Master Lewyn to become a woodsman, one of the only other jobs in their small village besides merchant or farmer. As it was, Master Lewyn had given him the knife and the bow, and took him out daily to teach him the secrets of the Whistling Wood. Secrets like how to trap a hare, how to tell poisonous berries from delicious berries, and how to hunt a stag.
Eryn sometimes wished that she could be a hunter too, but between the smithy and the household, she had little enough free time.
“True enough,” Papa agreed. “On second thought, it could use a little more salt.” He laughed then, his booming voice that was made to shout out over the clang of steel filling their small home.
Mother swatted him on the shoulder with a smile on her face, and Eryn forced her most sincere grin. She was still feeling guilty for having used her Curse to shift the bag, just a little.
“So, Eryn,” Roddin said, his voice both light and mischievous. “I hear that Robar Dunn’s eldest has taken a liking to you.”
Eryn looked at her brother, feeling her face begin to flush at the mention of Edwyn Dunn. He was known to all of the unwed girls in the village as the most comely future husband, though she did have some doubts about his overall intelligence. While he could cause her face to melt with flames of visionary delight, she had her heart set on finding someone more like her brother, someone with charm and looks, but a mind to match them.
“Are you starting with me?” she asked, her smile turning true.
“What if I am?”
“If you are, I’ll have to stop you,” she replied. It was a common game they were playing, one that usually ended with one of them bruised in the playful melee. They had a pair of sticks they had whittled out in the yard, sticks that had a vague resemblance to swords.
“Children,” Mother said. “That’s enough.”
“We’re just having some fun,” Roddin said. “Anyway, I really did hear that.”
The kitchen fell silent. He hadn’t meant to cause it, but he had a tendency to forget that Eryn was Cursed. All he ever saw was his sister.
“Right. I’m sorry, Eryn,” he said.
“It’s okay,” Eryn replied. “I know you didn’t mean anything by it.”
Someone more like her brother, she thought. If only a Cursed could marry. Even if her husband never saw through to her secret, it was said that the Cursed could never bear children of their own, and if a wife never bore her husband children, he would know that it meant she was Cursed. That didn’t stop her from dreaming about it, or wishing for it, or living her life as though it was something that could be. As unlikely as it may seem, letting go was just too hard.
“Is there any more porridge?” Papa asked, breaking the silence.
“Of course, my love,” Mother said. She reached over him to take his bowl, and he grabbed her hands and kissed them on the way by.
“You are the star that always guides me home,” he said, his voice turning softer than you would imagine a blacksmith’s could.
“And you are the hero in the night that I long for,” she replied.
“Can you spare us?” Roddin asked, faking that he was choking. It led them to another round of laughter.
The laughter was broken by a heavy pounding at the kitchen door. It was forceful enough that it kicked up dust from around the hinges.
“Jaerl, Roddin, are you home?” It was the voice of Constable Yarrow, the head of Watertown.
Roddin bounced off his chair, taking three steps to the door and pulling it open. As soon as he did, the Constable made his way in.
“Jaerl, there you are.” Constable Yarrow was an older man, but still lean as if he were a youth. He had a thick mop of white hair on top of his head, and Eryn could see that it was slick with sweat. She knew he must have run to their home, the entire mile from the village center.
“What is it, Gideon?” Jaerl asked, pushing himself away from the table and rising to his feet.
“Soldiers,” he replied. “His soldiers.”
Jaerl looked first at Eryn, and then at Pash. She could see the worry cross his eyes, though he hid it in an instant. “What are they doing here?” he asked. “His soldiers haven’t come to Watertown since I was a boy.”
Eryn felt her heart jump up into her throat, and start leaping around there like she had swallowed a frog. Had they come for her? Had someone seen what she had done to the salt?
“I don’t know,” the Constable said. “They only just arrived, and I ran out here to the farms and to your house to tell you. To tell everyone. His soldiers don’t come unless they’re hunting a Cursed.”
Jaerl walked over, past the Constable to the door. “I’ll go and get my hammer,” he said. “We should find out what they’re doing here. Roddin, you come with me. My dears, wait here.”
He ushered the Constable out the door. Roddin followed behind, grabbing his bow and quiver on the way out. Before he closed the door, he looked at Eryn. “It’ll be okay,” he whispered. “I won’t let anything happen to you.”
Eryn smiled, but it didn’t quell the beating of her chest. As soon as the door closed, Mother came over and wrapped her up in a tight hug.
“Don’t worry, my love,” she said. “Papa will take care of everything.”
“I don’t want them to take me away,” Eryn said into her mother’s shoulder. “I didn’t do anything wrong. It’s not my fault. I don’t want to die.”
Pash held her daughter and tried to fight back her tears. She squeezed her tighter. She would do anything for her daughter, and would give anything to see her safe.
Time passed. After a while, Eryn and her mother broke their embrace. “Go up into the attic,” Mother said. She was getting worried that Papa and Roddin had yet to return. “I’ll tell you when you can come down.”
Eryn was scared, but she nodded and scooted up the ladder into the attic. Just because Mother had sent her up there, that didn’t mean they were coming for her. She was just being cautious.
More time passed. Eryn could tell the moon had risen high into the night by the glow of light filtering through the tightly woven thatch of the roof. She had begun to calm a short while ago, and now she rested almost peacefully.
Her peace was disturbed by the sound of horses and shouting. Her heart rising to her throat once more, Eryn jumped to her feet, ready to descend the ladder to find out what was going on.
“Eryn, stay hidden,” Pash cried from below.
She backed away from the ladder, moving to the rear corner and crushing herself into a ball, as tight as she could be. She heard the shouting more clearly now, Papa calling out to Mother.
“Pash, run, please. For the love of Amman, run.” Her father was desperate. The words frightened her more than anything ever had before. More than Roddin almost being trodden over by Maxin had.
“Jaerl,” Pash shouted. “Jaerl!”
The pounding of hooves was getting louder. Eryn knew they were getting close. She tried to stay tucked in tight, but she had to know what was happening. She had to check on her father and Roddin. Getting to her feet, she ran over to the lowest part of the thatch and clawed at it frantically until she had cleared away just enough to see.
She was looking out too far. The first thing she saw were the horses, giant black horses unlike any she had ever seen. They were ridden by men in metal helms and armor, six in all. Two were carrying torches, and two were holding bows. The bows had arrows already notched to them.
It was then she saw Papa and Roddin, running up ahead of the horses but losing ground fast. Roddin was lighter and faster, and he paced way ahead of their father, desperate to reach the house.
“Pash, take Eryn. Take Maxin and run!” Her father’s voice was so loud. She would never forget how loud it was.
Eryn watched her brother. She saw an arrow land in the ground near his feet. They were shooting at him!
“Eryn,” Pash cried. “Come on, my love, we have to go!”
Eryn’s eyes filled with tears. How had they discovered her secret? She hadn’t told anyone! The last thing she saw before she started for the ladder was her father turning to face the riders, raising his hammer up over his head.
“How dare you try to harm my child,” he screamed.
She jumped down without using the ladder, landing in her mother’s arms. At the same time, the door opened and her brother stumbled in. He dropped to the ground exhausted, his tiredness saving his life as an arrow followed him through the door and struck the cupboard behind them.
“Roddin,” Mother said. “Take Eryn. You have to get out of here!”
