Avondale (20 page)

“So if a wizard casts a spell out of order, it can be destructive?” Rafe asked.

Tiberius was grateful for his friend’s sincere curiosity. Rafe had never teased Tiberius because he couldn’t run as fast, or fight as well as the other boys their age. He had always tried to help Tiberius, no matter what task was before them. And it seemed that even now Rafe was willing to trust his friend.

“No, it’s not about things being in order,” Tiberius explained. “But the magic is extremely powerful, so controlling it can be difficult. It’s sort of like riding a horse. You don’t start out with a war horse.”

“Not if you know what’s good for you,” Rafe chuckled.

“Oh, I’m so happy that you two find this hilarious,” Olyva said. “Have you forgotten that we were banished?”

“We haven’t been banished yet,” Rafe said. “Don’t give up hope. Perhaps the Earl has changed his mind.”

Tiberius kept silent. He knew that Rafe was trying to keep Olyva’s hopes up, but Tiberius knew his family. His father and brothers would never change their mind, and unless the King forced them to do something different, they would soon be sent out of the city forever. That thought made Tiberius sad, but there was another part of him that wanted to see what lay beneath the blanket of mist over the blighted lands. Perhaps things weren’t as bad as everyone said. They had been wrong about magic, after all. Still, he knew that wasn’t the kind of encouragement that Olyva needed. She wasn’t prepared to leave the safety and security of the city. She was from the Earl’s family in Hamill Keep. Being the daughter of an Earl was different from being a son, but there was certainly a higher expectation of luxury that came from being in a royal family.

They heard boot heels clicking on the stone floor of the hallway that led to their little room. From the sounds, Tiberius guessed there were at least a dozen people in the party. He sat back on the bench beside Rafe and waited. There were voices outside, and then Grentz stepped into the room. He looked sad and angry at the same time. Rafe stood up.

“Father,” he said. “What is going on?”

“You’re about to be banished, that is what is going on,” Grentz snapped. “What the hell were you thinking?”

“I was…”

“No!” Grentz said loudly. “I don’t want to hear it. Not any of it. Just listen to me. I’ve been pleading with the Earl all night. He won’t take you back, but the King will. I doubt you’ll be an officer, but at least you’ll have a chance to live and perhaps make a name for yourself.”

“We can all go to the Citadel?” Rafe asked hopefully.

“No,” Grentz said, his voice strained.

Tiberius could tell the elder warrior was conflicted. He was considered the most dangerous man in Avondale, yet he was not without compassion. It was clear that he didn’t like the decision passed down by Leonosis any more than Tiberius did, but he was focused on his saving his son.

“Lady Olyva cannot be saved,” he said sadly.

“I won’t do it,” Rafe said. “I won’t leave her to die, father. I love her.”

“Her fate is sealed, Rafe,” Grentz argued. “I know you care for her, but you don’t have to die to prove that.”

“He’s right,” Olyva said. She was weeping again.

“No!” Rafe argued.

“Think about it,” Grentz argued. “And consider the Earl’s son. He has tied his fate to you, that means you aren’t just sacrificing yourself, you’ll be sacrificing him as well.”

Rafe hesitated, more conflicted than ever now that the weight of his decision was fully on his shoulders. Tiberius stepped up to his friend and spoke quietly.

“Stay with Olyva,” he said, ignoring the look of rage on Grentz face. “We don’t know what lays beyond the mist. If you give in now, all we’ve given up will have been wasted.”

Rafe looked up at Tiberius, looking him in the eye to ensure that Ti meant what he was saying. He knew that Rafe would go with the King if Tiberius urged him to, not because he was afraid of dying in the blighted lands, but because he would not force Tiberius to go with him. Tiberius nodded encouragingly and saw Rafe’s conviction harden.

“We will take our chances together, father,” Rafe said, putting his arm around Olyva, who sobbed with relief into his shoulder.

“Then this is goodbye,” Grentz said angrily. “I never thought you would throw your life away. What a waste.”

He spun on his heel and strode out of the room. Tiberius saw the look of pain on Rafe’s face. His whole life, Rafe had been trying to please his father, but now he knew he could never do that. Tiberius squeezed his arm, trying to comfort his friend.

There was talking out in the hallway again, and then a guard stepped into the room, followed by Leonosis. Tiberius could tell by the look of cruelty on his brother’s face that whatever reason brought his brother down to their holding cell, it wouldn’t be pleasant.

“Brother, brother, brother,” Leonosis said. “You have a knack for getting yourself into terrible positions. Perhaps you were cursed by god, I don’t know, but I can’t say I’m surprised.”

“What do you want, Leonosis?” Tiberius said.

“I want a lot of things, brother, but that’s not why I’m here.” Leonosis tilted his head as if he were examining something he’d never seen before. “I’m here to save your pathetic life.”

“I don’t want anything from you,” Tiberius said.

“Of course you don’t, and I assure you that I have no desire to give you anything, but for some reason the Princess does. I don’t understand it, perhaps she has a soft spot for worthless wretches like you.”

“Tiberius isn’t worthless,” Rafe snapped. “He’s twice the man you are.”

Leonosis struck so fast that not even Rafe saw it coming. It wasn’t a necessarily powerful blow, just a quick jab, straight into Rafe’s throat. Rafe was taller and more powerfully built than Leonosis, but he staggered back, clutching his throat and gasping for air.

“Rafe!” Olyva shouted.

“Guards,” Leonosis said calmly, trying to sound bored.

Four men hurried into the small room. Two grabbed Tiberius and began hauling him out, while the other two grabbed Rafe and constrained him.

“Stop!” Tiberius shouted. “Let me go!”

He struggled, but it was a useless gesture. The two guards holding him were much too powerful for Tiberius to break away from.

“Follow me,” Leonosis said. “Let’s get this over with.”

As Tiberius was dragged down the hallway, he could hear Rafe shouting his name desperately. Then suddenly Rafe went silent, and Tiberius wondered what they had done to the young warrior to shut him up. He hoped whatever it was, that it wouldn’t be permanent.

News of the banishment spread through the city like a wildfire. Most people were shocked, others callous and uncaring. When Lexi heard the news, she fled back to small inn where had been staying for the last week. Since travel outside the city was non-existent, inns had become the domain of the poor and those whose work kept them on the shadier side of the law. Lexi had spent most of her life sleeping wherever she could find shelter. She had learned early on not to stay too long in any one place. Avondale, like any large city, had a large indigent population. The Paladins largely left the poor alone, rousing those that were foolish enough to fall asleep in the street, but otherwise turning a blind eye.

Inns were the safest place for Lexi to take shelter. She could lock the door, sleep in an actual bed and even get a warm meal or two in the process. Of course inns charged for their services, and even though Lexi didn’t traffic her body as many young, poverty stricken girls did, she did offer her talents to a wide assortment of inn keepers. She had paid for her stay in the inn with the gold she had taken from the palace, and despite the fact that she had paid for at least two weeks in the squalid little establishment, she felt as if she had stayed in one place too long. She didn’t like to be predictable. The ability to be found was one she avoided steadfastly. If someone wanted her help, word would get around, but she feared someone being able to track her down and accost her, or worse, if she stayed in any one place too long.

The celebrations throughout the city lauding the King’s arrival were an opportunity that Lexi simply couldn’t pass up. While most of the people in the city were feasting and drinking, Lexi was quietly slipping into some of the larger homes, taking a few small valuables from each. She wasn’t greedy, and never took more than one or two items from each home she hit. By the time she heard about Rafe and Tiberius being banished from the city, she had acquired one of the best hauls of her life.

She sat in the small room of the inn trying her best to think of what to do next. She had been torn over Tiberius’ confession. All along she had refused to even consider that she might have feelings for him. He had been like a shooting star, beautiful, fleeting, and out of reach. Their friendship had been surprising, but she had seen it as an opportunity. Lexi knew the importance of relationships, and knowing the son of an Earl would became a Paladin would have been very valuable in Lexi’s preferred trade. Still, she had never expected to care about him, or that he would have feelings for her. Since they last saw one another, she had wrestled with his offer. She knew that she would never be content to live in hiding, nor did she relish the idea of tending a garden and cooking meals in a tiny shack in the forest. But if Tiberius was set on leaving the city, the thought of having a friend to visit outside the rough and tumble lower levels of Avondale was certainly something she found appealing. And the more she thought about it, the more she realized that Tiberius would need her. She could move back and forth between the safety of his hidden domicile in the forest and the city where she could acquire the things he would need. She had wrestled with the idea, mostly at night when she couldn’t sleep, but now everything was different.

There were people who had ways of moving outside the city walls, although Lexi had never known why they would want to. There was no place to go outside the city, but she guessed it was a convenient place to lay low or hide stolen goods. She couldn’t imagine what Rafe, Olyva, and Tiberius would do. She didn’t know Rafe very well. They had met a few times, but she always got the impression that he didn’t approve of her. Lexi was good at reading people and Rafe was an easy mark. He was focused on moving up through the ranks of the Earl’s war band; nothing else seemed to matter to him. She was shocked that he’d thrown all of that away for a girl.

Lexi didn’t know Lady Olyva at all; they had never met. She had of course heard stories about Olyva, as it was common news that she had come from Hamill Keep to marry Brutas. People said she was beautiful, others that she was simple minded. Lexi had wondered how difficult it would be to suddenly be thrust into life as part of the Earl’s family. She couldn’t imagine spending her days idle, worrying about what to wear to court or who was doing what among the other nobles of the city. She spent her days doing as she pleased, but most often that meant finding a way to survive. There were times when Lexi went days without food, or slept in alcoves shivering with cold. Still, she didn’t think she could ever be satisfied with life at court, navigating social alliances, and avoiding scandalous gossip. At least on the streets, she knew what she had to do to survive.

As she paced in the small room she had rented at the inn, a pile of stolen goods on her narrow bed, her hand flexing around the hilt of the stolen Wangorian dagger she had used to defend herself against two men only a week ago, her mind kept going back to Tiberius. He was unlike anyone she had ever known. He wasn’t vain like she’d expected, but rather humble, despite being raised in the Earl’s palace and being a member of the royal family. He had never struggled the way she had, but he was completely dissatisfied with his posh untainted life. And of course there was his obsession with magic. She doubted that anything good could come of that, and yet, she hated the thought of never seeing him again.

Her analytical mind kept going back over the things a person would need if they were really going to try and survive in the blighted lands. Food, weapons, some form of shelter, and even clothing were all high on the list, but her mind kept going back to horses. If she were banished, the one thing she would want more than any other was a good horse. She had never ridden a horse. There was no real need for them in the city. She knew that the Earl kept a stable, and that his wife and daughters sometimes traveled by carriage through the city. There were stables on the lowest level of the city where much of Avondale’s livestock where kept. The horses were used to pull plows or wagons full of harvested foods back into the city. The wealthiest citizens kept horses for hunting in the forest and for carrying their families to the lake at the center of Avondale’s bowl-like mountaintop.

She decided that staying in her room was a waste of time. She wasn’t doing anyone any good by hiding in the inn, which was practically abandoned. Almost the entire city had gone to the huge main gates near the Earl’s palace to watch Tiberius, Rafe, and Lady Olyva be forever banished from Avondale. It was a barbarous thing to watch, but banishment happened so rarely that it became a spectacle when it did, not to mention that it had never happened to a member of the Earl’s own household.