Chapter 30:

The sun was setting when Braxton Bolindear and Robert O’Donnell made their way away from the Noblis estate. As they left the sandstone manor in exhaustion, it’s single tower seemed like a looming finger, a rude gesture made just for them.

“That man,” Robert O’Donnell grated, “Is a monster.” The red-haired lieutenant made this statement with all the confidence of a man declaring water is wet. In Braxton’s opinion, the boyo wasn’t remembering their time in Dean Rankin’s company if he thought that anyone in the house they had just left was a monster. But he didn’t say that. It wouldn’t have been helpful. Instead, he just let out a long groan, stretching as best he could from the back of his horse.

“Which one?” Braxton growled out. “Lord Noblis or Lord Donovan?”

“It’s Ser Donovan, not Lord, Sergeant-Major.” Robert said reproachfully. Braxton snorted his disbelief at that particular statement, but Robert pretended not to notice. “And does it really matter? Either one is terrifying. I’m halfway convinced that Lord Noblis is a few spears short of an armory, kind of concerning when you consider that he is the commander of a quarter of the King’s Army. Caj Donovan… He’s just terrifying. That level of skill at his age… I shudder to think how dangerous he will be in a few years. It’s almost inhuman.”

The showing that Caj Donovan had put on had been truly impressive, with his knowledge of history and tactics quite thorough, and his education in the ways of battle being even more so. He wielded whatever weapon the put into his hands with skill, although he showed the greatest skill with polearms and longsword. More telling was his skill in unarmed or disadvantaged combat. Donovan’s control of his body was so thorough as to be perfect, so smoothly sharp as to be the edge of a razor, and so eerily fast and direct as to be the point of an arrow.

He moves very much like a Wolf I once chanced to meet. Braxton mused inwardly. Yes… he moves like a Wolf, but he looks just like a Shark.

Braxton hummed, distracted by his thoughts. He scratched at the stubble coming in on his chin. He would need to get that shaved at some point; it wouldn’t do for him to lose his mutton chops. Someone might mistake him for being Anacsotan or Elforian, and he couldn’t have that! His pondering mind turned back to Caj Donovan, and he felt slightly sick to his stomach. He remembered the journey to The Bone Yard six month’s ago, and how he and Lieutenant O’Donnell had left before seeing who had been the victim of Dean Rankin and his guard. He had a suspicion that he knew the individual who was unfortunate enough to have been given such attention that night. A man he thought had died so many years ago… He thought of the Donovan’s, and of Norman O’Brien. He thought of Wolves and Sharks. Yes, Braxton thought dangerous thoughts, treasonous ones perhaps. Thoughts not suited for speech. Robert recognized the look of dark contemplation, and left the aging man to his dark recollections of times long past, and darker reflections on time soon to come.

***

Caj and Rai sat in the front of the crackling firepit, both nursing a cup of tea. It was late, and Emma, being far wiser than either of them, had long since gone to bed. Caj smiled at that thought.

She is more of an adult than I am liable to ever be. He thought affectionately. She was a good girl. Smart too. He looked at her brother who was sitting across from him, burned visage focused intently on the mug in his hands, obviously deep in thought. Caj felt an odd surge of love and pride for the boy, no, the young man sitting not five feet away. Rai wasn’t the same ten-year-old boy that had jumped from a rooftop to club a rapist three-and a-half-years ago. He was bigger, stronger. Caj noted that Rai was probably as broad in the shoulders as any boy of 14 could be expected to be, and stronger than most. Caj felt a sudden surge of self-reproach. How often had he just talked to Rai? Talked to him as a person, instead of viewing him as a responsibility, or a potential resource. How often had he thought about how the young man felt? Not as often as he should, he realized. He kicked himself. The past was the past, but he needed to be better in the future.

“So Rai,” Caj spoke out. Rai looked up slowly from his cup. “How do you feel about me going to the Knightyard?” Rai gritted his teeth slightly and licked his lips.

“I do nae rightly like it, Big-man.” He said coldly. “It was the Red-backs that killed One-eye. Now, ye are headin’ right intae the heart of their den. Like a rabbit in a Wolf’s den.” Caj looked at Rai with an arched eyebrow.

“Did you ever consider that perhaps it is the other way around, Rai?” He queried, laughter in his voice. “Maybe I’m the Wolf, heading into a Rabbit’s warren…” He smiled his largest, scariest grin. Rai, long since used to his smile, just snorted, taking a sip of his cooling tea.

“More like a Shark in a School of fish.” Rai grinned now, stretching his scars, “Actually, Big-man, I think I do be likin’ that one better. It compares the Red-backs tae chum.”

Caj chuckled at that, leaning back in his chair contentedly. A long silence was entered, until Caj finally broke it with a quiet question.

“Do you want to come with me? You are old enough to make your own decisions now, and I know that Isaac and Isabelle would be more than willing to take you on-” Caj cut off abruptly as Rai raised his hand, shooting Caj a twisted smirk.

“Oh, I’ll be coming.” Rai said seriously, “Did ye really think I’d let ye go get yerself killed without being allowed tae watch? Really Big-man, I thought ye knew me better than that.” Rai’s smirk broadened into a full-blown smile. “Of course I be coming. Ye’d nae be able tae balance yer books else-wise. Yer like tae spend all yer coin on over-priced baubles.” Rai finished, looking quite proud of himself. Caj shot him a flat look.

“Baubles, eh?” He asked, the anticipation of revenge glinting in his eyes. “Careful there Half-head, I’m only just starting to be able to understand your limited vocabulary, if you changed it up now, I might not be able to follow.” Rai didn’t even look phased, and when he next spoke, it was in a perfect imitation of a Greatriver accent.

“Really Ser Donovan, I feel compelled to discourse in such a superannuated manner due to your limited comprehension of the standard vernacular of your own language. It makes it toilsome, no, nigh impossible, to wax colloquial about anything in your presence without feeling the need to lecture you one the basic grammar structure of your own dialect…” Rai cut off in a choking fit of laughter at the incredulous look on Caj’s face. Caj was certain that his jaw couldn’t be more than an inch off the ground. He closed it with a slight clop.

“Wha…Huh…How…I…uh…what?” Caj stuttered out. Rai laughed even harder, slapping his knee, and forcing himself to be relatively quiet, so as to not wake half the manor. He waved at Caj, filled with humor.

“It be something One-eye said tae me once, when he got upset at me.” Caj’s facial expression did not change. “Ye should know, Big-man, that I been holdin on tae that one fer a good like while, I rightly did.” Caj blinked twice, then said the first thing that came to mind.

“If you can talk like that, why don’t you do it more? It would save you trouble with the socialites.” Rai snorted.

“If I wanted tae be a silk-stockinged prat, I’d have tae start with more than me voice.” The young man replied, taking a final draft from his cup of tea. “I think I’d need tae be starting with me left hand and me, ah… me Beauty mark, as it were.” He gestured at his face. “The only way I’d not stand out in those circles is if I dressed me-self all in purple lace and pretended to be a curtain.” Caj smirked.

“I doubt you would make a very good curtain Rai. You’d look terrible in lace. Leave that to the women why don’t you?” Caj said archly. Rai huffed at that. Nothing was said for about ten seconds. Then Caj quietly observed,

“Of course, If you really, really, would like something in purple lace, I could see what I can do. It might be a bit of an odd order, but-“

“Thresh ye!” Rai growled at him good-naturedly. “I’m going tae bed, I can nae handle any more of yer horse shite.” Caj chuckled as the young man shuffled his way into the side room. He took a final swig of the tea, wincing at the taste now that it was cold. As Caj went about tamping down the fire, cleaning the mugs, and securing the shutters, he had the idle thought that this really was the sort of thing a manservant was supposed to do… ah well, let the lad have his sleep and his freedom. It was just two mugs. He turned his mind to the future. He was going to the Knightyard, to the place which trained the best commanders, and the most famous warriors. He was going to Greatriver, the capital of the nation, the seat of the king, and the home of the headsman. That last one gave him pause. Home of the Headsman. He heard a crack and he looked down to see that one of the ceramic mugs had shattered in his grip, and his hand was bleeding.

“Bloody, burning, balls of Chaff.” He cursed under his breath. He wanted to kill the man. He craved the man’s death so desperately that it wasn’t funny. He wanted to feel Dean Rankin’s blood gush over his hands while his knife was buried in the man’s chest. No, he wanted to feel the man’s life slowly leave him, as Caj’s hands gripped tighter, and tighter, enclosing his throat. No, he wanted to… Caj stopped, breathing hard through his nose. What did it matter what he wanted? He had others to think about. It wasn’t just him. Any war he started with Dean Rankin would be something that he dragged Rai and Emma into. It was something he would be pulling Natalia into. It wasn’t just his life that he risked. He inhaled, acknowledging his anger, then breathed out. Letting it go. Not the time. Not the place.

Lesson 8: Do not fight while angry. It is like eating Elforian food while having stomach bug. It feels very good now, but what comes out later… not so much, yes?

Bietre’s voice thundered in Caj’s mind, and it made him smile. He waited for a recollection of something Narm said to follow. No words of wisdom entered his mind just then, but he swore he could almost hear the old man’s voice.

What He said. On both counts.

Caj’s smile turned into a full-blown grin. He chuckled slightly, dark mood dissipating. He would just have to try and step into the future without anger. HE was moving to a new stage of his life. A new place, with new people, and new lessons to learn.