Fire Heart Chapter 20

It was with trepidation that I stepped into that house. I had no desire for adventure, as Merry did. Nay, the only thing I could feel as I passed through the doorway was a hollowness, which was further exacerbated by the overwhelming scent of unwashed humans that assaulted me. Merry didn’t seem to notice the stench though- or if she did she was doing an excellent job ignoring it.

“Well…what do you guys think?” Benson said, cracking a slight smile.

“It’s definitely interesting.” Merry said, smiling back as she looked around the place.

Interesting was one word for it. The inside of the house was in the same state of disrepair as the outside had been. The floor was full of holes where the wood had worn away completely and The walls were covered with decaying tapestries and bizarre human decorations, such as a shelf holding rectangular objects filled with white sheets of …something?(I would later find out that these were called ‘Books’). Where the actual wood of the walls could be seen one would also find splinters poking out. The ceilings were just as patchy as the floors were too, with sections of the night sky visible in places.

I had to admit, I rather liked how similar the place felt to the forest floor.

There was furniture strewn about, tables and chairs and even a sofa, but over the years it had all become damaged to the point of no repair. If the place had anything going for it, it was that this was actually a fairly large building. That was important, as there were also a dozen or so children running around the place- presumably all slaves.

“Hey everyone!” Lyca shouted “Listen up, we’ve got some new arrivals here!”

Suddenly the attention of every human in the place was drawn to Merry and I. She squeezed my hand to make sure I wasn’t getting overwhelmed and then flashed a bright smile at all of the onlookers, many of whom smiled back and approached the two of us.

Most of these kids were around our ‘age’ or younger, though there was a boy that appeared to be the same age as Benson. He too was likely a slave knight given his physique. There were also a pair of slightly older girls that rushed forward to embrace Lyca.

Merry quickly became a center of attention among the children after Scratch let it slip that she had the skill. They all crowded around her, bombarding her with questions about it. I rather thought that she would be nervous, but she seemed to be soaking up the attention.

“Woooor Merry, that’s so cool! Can you teach me to cook too?” One girl, the youngest in the group, asked

Merry just blushed and said “Ahaha, I’m still learning myself…”

For my part, I found myself surrounded by Lyca and her friends, who suddenly began asking- or rather interrogating me about the nature of my relationship with Merry. I tried my best to ignore them, but eventually they irritated me enough to get the reaction they were looking for.

“Would you wenches kindly shut up? You’re annoying me.” I said, glaring at the trio.

But, rather than scare them off, I seem to have only emboldened them as they started giggling and whispering to each other. I couldn’t understand what their problem was, every other time I had tried intimidating someone it had worked but somehow these girls were impervious to my attempts. Granted, I hadn’t let out any bloodlust, but prey were usually aware when they were near a predator.

The oldest of the three, a brunette named Tia, even stuck her nose in my face and said “Teehee, you’re the brooding type, huh? I don’t think that’s a bad thing though, especially since you’re so cute…”

Again I found myself confounded by females. Rickurds face and body were shaped by the years of work he did at his family farm. His body was fairly muscular for its age and his hair was windswept and unkempt. There was nothing cute about it, it was a proper human form. I considered explaining this to the girls, but they seemed too preoccupied with their whispering and giggling. Eventually Merry found me however and tightly grasped my hand, pulling me away from the girls. For whatever reason, this only made them laugh more.

After we had been thoroughly introduced to the crowd, Benson showed back up and pulled the two of us away.

“There is one more person I’d like you guys to meet.” He said “I’d appreciate it if you were nice to him as well.” He looked pointedly at me when he said this, which I also found irritating.

Benson led us to a room at the back of the house where, sat on the only unbroken chair in the house, was an old, wrinkled man. Unlike the children, who all wore patchwork clothes, the old man was dressed in a fine silk tunic and a pair of clean breaches covering his legs. He wore nothing on his head, but a very nice pair of boots covered his feet. There weren’t even any mud stains on the shoes.

His refined appearance matched the room he was sitting in as well as, unlike the rest of the house, there were no holes in the floor or ceiling of this place. The furniture, which included a feather bed, was all new and there was even a desk for the man to write on, as well as a fireplace to warm himself by.

Personally, I found the contrast between this room and the rest of the house uncanny.

“Ahem” Benson cleared his throat “Illumen, Merilyn, This is Sir Ogden Merlmire- the Lord who rules over Elmbrook.

I had to admit, I hadn’t expected that. I’d figured that the ragtag band that Benson was running fed themselves by stealing scraps from the villagers. It had not even occurred to me that they might have a Lord backing them.

The old man looked at me with an unusually piercing eye and I suddenly felt my block a skill, which I assumed was the old man’s attempt to appraise me.

“Hmph.” The old man grumbled “I see you’ve brought me someone with some talent for once.”

“Yes sir, Merry has already shown herself to be more tha-”

“Not the girl you fool, though she is impressive enough in her own right. I’m talking about the boy that not only has the ability to bind others in place, but who can also block appraisal skills.”

Benson looked at me and his jaw practically hit the floor.

“Y-y-y-you can…?” he said, at a loss for words.

I said nothing, though I did grunt in affirmation.

“That’s crazy…” he said, still in awe.

“Yes, and it leaves one to wonder what other talents you are hiding.” Sir Ogden said, a hungry look in his eye.

Irritated, I said “Oh goodness Sir, I simply have no idea what you are talking about. I am simply a humble farm boy trying to escape captivity with my dear friend.”

Of course it was a lie and of course they could see right through it- but that was the point. They only had two options, try to force the information out of me or accept that I would stay quiet- and either option was a win for me.

Fortunately for them, they decided to choose the latter option as Ogden said “Hmph. Very well, keep your secrets. Benson, I’m putting the boy-Illumen, was it? I’m putting him under you. The girl can join the rest. She has a chef skill, so have her cook for the kids. You’re all dismissed.”

Grimacing, Benson said “Sir…? I actually think you should put Merry under me as well. She and Illumen are extremely close and…” but suddenly he withered under Sir Ogden’s glare

“R-right, sorry sir!” he shouted stiffly.

I looked between the two, unsure of what their interaction meant. But then Benson quickly pushed us out the door.

“What was that all about?” Merry asked, a worried look on her face.

“Don’t worry about it…” Benson said “Sir Ogden is just a bit strict, that’s all.”

“Judging from your face I would say he’s more than a ‘bit strict’.” I said

Bensons face turned red, and he said “Look, all you need to know is that Sir Ogden allows us to live here for free, ok? He won’t report us to the guards and he lets us do as we please as long as it doesn’t put everyone else in danger of getting caught. I won’t tolerate any badmouthing of him either. If it weren’t for Sir Ogden…!” But Benson stopped there and allowed himself to calm down.

“Look…the bottom line is, Sir Ogden doesn’t judge people based on whether or not they were born into this class or that one. He judges based on talent, skill and personality. He believes that the strong and the talented should be rewarded- slaves or not. You’ll eventually see Illumen, I promise you will.” And with that, Benson left us with the rest of the children and went off somewhere on his own.

****

The next morning I woke up to the smell of meat. Merry was already at work cooking breakfast-a task which she was clearly enjoying. The few children who knew anything about cooking had given her all of the recipes they had and so when I received my plate I got to enjoy the new delicacies that were a poached egg, sausages and a strange, tasty mush called porridge.

“I still can’t believe Sir Ogden gets us meat!” one of the children squealed, happily digging into their sausage.

Meat, as it turned out, was difficult for poor humans to come by.

After breakfast Merry returned to playing and talking with the rest of the kids. I on the other hand was pulled aside by Benson who brought me to a room with Scratch, Lyca and the other ex-slave knight.

“Right. Since Lord Ogden has put you under me Illumen, you’re going to have to do some work.”

“Ho hum, will I now?” I said, a tacit threat hidden in my words. I would do anything for Merry but there was no way I would subject myself to any one else’s whims.

Sensing this, Benson said “Come on man, don’t be so difficult. You’re not the type of guy who wants to sit around playing with a bunch of kids anyway, right?”

Well, I wouldn’t deny that. But still, no one ordered me to do anything.

Sighing, Benson said “I only need you to go outside of town and keep watch. If you see anyone you think is a runaway then just come tell me and I’ll take care of the rest. The guards always leave their post at the same time so you shouldn’t have any trouble getting back into town either. Easy enough, right?”

…

“It would be a really big help, please Illumen?”

…

“I might be able to get you some extra spending money if you do a good enough job.”

…

“If you help me I can get you an extra serving of food at dinnertime. We’re having steak and kidney pie tonight, you know.”

…

……

………

An hour later I was sitting in a tree on the outskirts of the forest, overseeing the land for miles in every direction. There was a fair amount of traffic coming into Elmbrook, but none of it seemed to be slave related. To the north the land was full of grassy knolls with not a tree in sight for miles and to the south was a large, tranquil lake.

And to the east was a mountain range. Past Elmbrook, and the grassy knolls was a chain of the great craggy cliffs and snow covered peaks. It hadn’t been my first time seeing mountains- I had passed by several ranges in Estora as well- but these mountains crushed the Estoran ones on scale alone. Part of me longed to climb those peaks and stand at the very top of the world as was my rightful place. And part of me feared what standing there might bring, as being at the top made me visible to all below.

Hours passed, but still there was no sign of anyone who looked like a slave. I didn’t mind though, as I now had time to relax and be away from the humans. Though I worried about Merry, I knew she could take care of herself.

Eventually, when the waning sun finally fell and the guards at the gate abandoned their posts to drink and cavort, I dropped from my tree and crept back into the village. When I was a little ways away from the village however, I had to duck down onto my stomach. There, exiting the village from it’s opposite side, was a carriage.

“Now what could they be doing at this time of night?” I wondered curiously. Surely it had to be safer to travel during the day?

Not that it mattered to me either way. After the carriage was out of sight I was able to get back into the village without incident, but when I approached the rundown house I heard someone wailing. I started running, rushing through the door to find Lyca on her knees sobbing her eyes out.

“What is it? What has happened?” I asked the crowd urgently, wanting to make sure Merilyn was alright.

Lyca looked up at me and, through tears she said “ It’s Eri and Tia, they…they’ve been captured!”