PART VI: Following His Footsteps
Under the cloudy skies of Kalaa, where the streets were filled with people being escorted and guarded by soldiers, by the eastern entrance the posted guardsmen saw a carriage traveling down the road towards them—and next to it rode a man.
One of the guards tapped the other with the back of his hand, grabbing his attention, then asked, "Hey... is that a giant riding that horse?"
The other guard took a look and said, "By God, he's almost as big as the carriage—that poor horse's back must be broken by the time he gets here."
"Who's carriage is that even?" the first guard asked.
"I can't make out the banner—all I can see is gold... and some sort of sigil in the middle."
"Could it be House Grimwith?" the first guard asked.
"No, you idiot—what business would Grimwith have in the capital? They are barely allowed to be nobles still after that stunt they pulled," the second guard responded.
"Yeah, you are right. You know, it could also be House Provos," the first guard stated as the carriage grew closer by the second, almost in viewing distance of the guards.
The second guard shook his head in disbelief. "Did you not hear what the nobles are saying? Riger is dead... How does he avoid nobles' eyes and suddenly appear again in the capital after months? Wait, is that..."
The guards couldn't believe it as the banner waved atop the carriage—the golden banner, with the famous roaring lion being carried out in the winds.
They both looked at each other—this could only mean one thing: Commander Riger of the Silver Knights was alive and well, and he was in the capital. The most influential man in Stella apart from the king was here.
"Fuck... Send a pigeon to the Golden Guards quick!" the second guard commanded as he readied himself to welcome Commander Riger Provos.
And as the pigeon flew from the east of Kalaa to the Silver Keep to prepare the Golden Guards for the return of their only living senior in the palace, the carriage finally reached the gate, along with Tazan.
The coachman of the carriage saluted the guard, who, despite his many years working as a gate guard, was nervous regardless and saluted with the wrong arm.
The coachman burst out with laughter, and a voice of an elderly man from inside the carriage asked, "Why are you laughing, Undil?"
The coachman contained himself and responded, "Apologies, Commander—it is just that this guy—" And before he even finished his words, he burst out with laughter again, then continued, "He saluted with his left on his chest," and he broke into laughter again.
The guard looked down and realized he had saluted with the wrong arm and quickly switched, and stood tall.
The elderly voice sighed, then said, "Give him a break—I was nervous as well when I first saw Tazan."
"Huh? Who is Tazan?" The guard thought to himself before he realized—so far his attention had been on Commander Riger's status, that he had overlooked the giant that stood in front of him, twice his height and thrice his size. Tazan's smile did not help the guard reduce his fear of his build.
"I am sorry, commander—it is just so funny. He slammed his left arm against his chest so hard, it felt like he hated himself—" And as the coachman continued mocking the guard, the guard's attention was completely absorbed by Tazan so far. Trying to understand where Commander Riger had found this giant of a man, he did not concern himself with the mocking, and he jumped from thought to thought.
"A barbarian? No... Barbarians are smothered with weird ink all over their bodies—his arms are clean, although filled with scars... A northman? But why would he be filled with scars? Those are slashes of swords and holes of arrows... Why would a slave of the north see battle?"
And suddenly a voice awakened him from his deep thoughts.
"GUARD!" The coachman yelled out, with a more serious expression now.
"Why are you making us wait? Do you not recognize the banner? Or the sigil? You are greeted by the presence of the Commander of the Silver Knights, the living legend Riger, son of Lorgar Provos. Do your job, guard," the coachman said.
"Apologies, lord—I was just—" And before the guard even finished his words, the coachman cut him off.
"I am not a lord... I am Undil of the Silver Knights, guard of Riger, and you shall address me as Ser and nothing else, guard."
"Yes, apologies, Ser Undil... Please head right in—I have already sent someone to inform the Golden Guards of your arrival... If I may ask you as well, Ser, where did you find this... man?" The guard hesitated with his words before finally pointing towards Tazan.
And as soon as he finished his question, Tazan began to answer, only to be stopped by Undil. "You... No, you may not ask, guard. Now have these horses rested and change them with fresh ones, but leave that white one be—it's still as fresh as any horse you have in your stables," Undil stated as he smiled.
And suddenly a huge burst of laughter broke from inside the carriage.
"Yes... Hahaha, of course she is still fresh—isn't that right, Undil?" And a hand extended from the window, wearing silver armor, and patted the horse as the horse leaned in towards the voice.
"Of course, Ser—right away." The guard saluted with the right hand as he gently slammed it on his chest, then he left his post empty as he went to call the stablemen to arrange horses.
"What a disappointment this city's protection has become—isn't that right, Commander Riger? I mean, look at this—the guards have completely left their posts."
Undil stated as he shook his head.
"Well, don't be like this, Undil—I am sure that the more capable guards are used for more important purposes than guarding this empty road... I bet you most of them were repositioned to the west and southern gates," Commander Riger stated back as he smiled while patting his horse.
Andil's hooves were cared for and spotless. The white horse nuzzled Riger's silver-armored hand, patient and content.
Andy's brown horse stumbled. Mud to its knees, a bleeding gash across its ribs, lungs screaming—but the crow was still ahead, and Andy drove his heels in once more.
Only a handful of Andy's men followed him as he pursued the crow—the rest were too exhausted.
Branches whipped overhead. He kept the crow in sight—barely—but couldn't close the distance.
Where Andy and his men were slowed by mud, the crow's wings were battered by heavy raindrops. Without a chance to rest, it only grew heavier with each drop of water that soaked its feathers.
Here's the corrected version:Nex ran barefooted through the mud, carrying Amal.
He shivered with each raindrop hitting him. Without a chance to rest, his feet dragged through the mud, slowly making distance from Andy.
Back in Kalaa's streets, the sound of the wooden wheels of the carriage rolled by—it drew the attention of every peasant nearby, more so since the guards escorting these peasants stopped and saluted the carriage.
"Why are there so many guards in the streets? Is this normally how Kalaa is, Commander Riger?" Actaeon asked.
Riger sighed. "Well, young boy—there's too many reasons. Simply put, to relieve your curiosity for the time being—a plague has been forcing southerners out of their homes and into the north, while also people flee from the south of the empire hoping to find refuge with a more merciful king.
Now, almost more than half of our military forces are filling the streets of the five major cities, controlling the population, making sure no one gets infected, and making sure everyone is abiding by the law," Riger answered with a small hint of sadness in his voice.
"But how can you possibly look after these many people day to day, while making sure their needs are met?" Actaeon asked.
"You don't," Tex answered. "I have done the math—it is impossible to meet the requirements of our own people currently. With the south basically becoming a lawless zone for whoever wants to risk their lives staying in or going there themselves, we have lost many farming lands, and many more ports from the southeast. We barely have access to the ocean of Wu."
Actaeon froze for a second, then asked the question both Riger and Tex were waiting for. "Then... why do you take imperial refugees in? It is better for them to stay north in the empire even as slaves—why offer them fake hope without telling them about the plague?"
Tex looked at Riger, waiting for him to answer, then he looked back at Actaeon with a small moment of hesitation, readying himself to answer before he was cut off by Riger.
"Look, boy—our king is merciful, and he would have accepted these refugees even if... Trust me, I raised him myself—I know what kind of person he is, and I can tell you his biggest strength isn't just on the battlefield leading his soldiers, but it is without a doubt his kindness."
"What does that have to do with my question, Commander Riger? I need to know what the king was planning to do with us had we not been found by you—had we been like these people—then I will decide for myself whether or not the king is kind, but I need to know," Actaeon asked firmly.
"The imperial refugees... Their men are sent to do hard labor, either west on the farms and woods, or north on warfronts. Their children and women are kept here, in major cities, safely, and given priority to be fed and housed... While our own women and children are on the streets." Tex took it upon himself to answer this time, not awaiting for Riger.
Actaeon looked outside, watching as the women and children were being escorted by the guards, and then he remembered his time as a slave in the empire, with Nex and Tazan and the northerners, being treated as inhuman, being thrown at whatever danger just as long as they were useful.
He scoffed, then answered, "How lucky we imperial refugees are. We run from a tyrant emperor that treats his peasants like slaves and sends them to war, to a tyrant king that treats us like slaves and separates us from our loved ones... A kind king... A hypocrite calling himself merciful."
Actaeon then closed the curtains and just sat there, looking Tex and Commander Riger in the eyes as they were unable to refute his argument.
Atop the Silver Keep, on the highest floor, sat Leofric's office. Leofric sat behind his desk, looking out the window.
The doors opened—Sao came in through the door. "Your majesty, you called for me?"
After a few moments of silence, Leofric answered, "Have a seat, young lord—we shall begin our conversation once the others arrive."
"Well, if you don't mind, your majesty, what is it exactly we are discussing? I would rather be out there looking for Nex myself than sit here talking politics all day," Sao asked.
Leofric did not look back, and only answered after a long, deep breath: "It is important, and you shall know once the other two get here, young lord."
Sao sat there fixing his posture as he waited impatiently.
On the western entrance to Kalaa, the carriage carrying Countess Sunrise—carrying her sigil, the sun rising from behind a hill—was too unfamiliar to anyone who wasn't from the west. The peasants looked around as they questioned the legitimacy of the nobility that was being carried by this carriage.
And as the carriage finally reached the gate, the guard said, "Who goes there? Please identify yourselves by getting out of the carriage."
"You dare ask someone of higher stature than yours to get out of their ride?" The coachman asked.
"Apologies—however, as you know, with this plague, and these... people, we need to confirm your lords aren't—" The guard was cut off as the coachman pulled the letter out with the royal seal clearly shown on it.
"Is a summon from the king enough?" the coachman asked.
The guard lowered his head and moved out of the way. "Apologies, sir—open the gate!" he yelled out.
Back in the west, Nex had been running on and on through the woods for hours—his feet bled as he stepped on each pebble and rock. His body only moved forward as he imagined a peaceful life with the infant and his friends.
Meanwhile, Andy had not let the crow out of his sight—his horse drove him forward with its very life force, gasping between each few steps, eyes flickering shut.
And just as the smell of the forest had begun to fade from Nex's surroundings, and the smell of wheat farms started creeping closer, he stepped out of the treeline—finally leaving the nameless forest.
He saw the wheat farms laid out far away in front of him—unending waves of wheat.
Relieved, he fell down on his back for a few moments, catching his breath.
Smiling as he held Amal tightly, he placed his head gently on her forehead, then laid on his back and placed her on his chest as he tried to rest for a few moments.And while Nex rested, the crow had finally left the cage of the forest—into the freedom of the skies, it flew up high immediately.
And when Andy reached the end of the forest himself, his men dragging behind him and urging him to wait, he kept following the crow. As soon as Andy's horse pushed itself beyond the forest, it dropped down, falling head first with Andy on its back.
Andy stood up and looked above, watching the eyeless crow fly high into the empty skies.
He looked down below to look for Nex, but all he saw was miles and miles of empty green lands. Then ahead was a road—he recognized this road as he had traveled on it many times.
It was the road to Kalaa, the capital.Andy looked up at the crow again, then let out a small chuckle, realizing he never saw Nex once during this whole chase.
Meanwhile, Nex was resting his eyes on the far west of Stella.
As the eyeless crow led Andy and his men on an empty hunt, Nex was making his way towards his freedom.
But the ground shook beneath him with familiarity—he had witnessed, heard, and felt this thousands of times back in the empire. It was the sound of cavalry, many riding fast.He sat back up and looked at the distant farms.
Between the wheat he saw a tall and dashing man sitting atop his horse—his blond hair was visible from miles, and behind him, as confirmation of Nex's suspicions, the banner of Sunrise carried by one of the soldiers.
It was Sang—his aim was clear, same as his brother's: to seek out and capture Nex.
Nex stood up. With the little strength he had gained from his brief rest, he held Amal tightly and turned around, determined to go through the forest to the north this time.
However, as he stepped once, his feet gave out from beneath him—falling head first, he shielded Amal and turned onto his side, hurting his shoulder, as he kept Amal safe.
The infant cried out. While she had kept quiet all day inside the forest, now, almost as if she sensed Nex being hurt, she let out a soft and quiet cry.
Seeing this, Nex pondered on the Countess's words: "Am I going to fail to protect her as well?" he asked himself.
He sat up, then looked down at his feet. His feet's skin was torn off by every rock and piece of wood on the way, and he asked himself,
"Have I done enough? Should I just accept my fate?"
His eyes shut close—his every bone and muscle told him to go to sleep, even through the cries of the child. But once his eyes were shut, one very important memory returned—a memory of a certain small girl wearing an owl mask, sitting beside him while they let their feet hang from a balcony.
He let out a faint smile, then said, "I had forgotten you for years... Why have you come to visit me in my memories now?... Mallory."