Chapter Fourteen: Secret Discovered

“Wow, you were really hungry weren't you?”

The four members of Black Tusk had led me back to their temporary base in the northern part of the noble district. A rather out of the way house, tucked behind several of the larger manor's that lined the streets of the once opulent part of the city. I recognised it instantly as one of the servant homes, a common thing here in Ellai.

While slavery was forbidden in the city, and in much of the world beyond, becoming a servant to a high ranking noble house was a coveted job for ordinary citizens. Everything was paid for by the family in question and you and your family were given accommodation. It wasn't irregular for whole generations of the same family to serve one house and they almost became a part of it themselves, indispensable to those they worked for.

The house itself was better than many I had seen. It had three bedrooms and a dining area for the people who had once lived here and Black Tusk had made themselves at home.

Four bedrolls were placed in one of the bedrooms and, in another, a pile of equipment they had thought they would need lay in one corner. We sat round the dining table as I continued to guzzle down the wine and salted meat they had so kindly offered me, all of them merely watching, dumbfounded, as I continued to shovel plate after plate into my stomach.

Gods, I never realised how hungry I was. Using magic has this effect and while it does diminish over time, the need to consume one's own weight in food after using magic over a prolonged period of time never truly goes away. I'm just glad I was given this opportunity.

I'll be the first to admit that perhaps I had eaten more than I should have but who knows when my next meal would be? I believe this to be something left over from my time as an orphan living in Callai, eat while you can because there may not be a chance to later.

The other's just watched as I finished up, the only other person eating seemed to be Ada as she adorably nibbled on a piece of meat, her eyes never leaving me. While she seemed to trust me more now, I know for a fact that trust was not absolute. She was strong willed and intelligent, like the rest of her band and I knew should I make a move to harm them that they would attack me without hesitation.

The wolf looked like she just wanted to stop me from eating her food. The looked on her face something between a pout and a scowl, as she watched me polish off my final plate and lean back, a content expression on my face.

Ursula had gone into one of the bedrooms after returning and returned to her human state, dressing in the same black armour as the rest of her compatriots, her caramel coloured skin and chocolate eyes on display for the world, her hair the same colour as her fur.

Paying no attention to the troupe for a second, I wiped my mouth on the sleeve of my magically made garments and contemplated what to do next.

While I had already committed to helping them, I wouldn't be leaving without the sword and, since they were here to stop anyone from taking the fucking thing, we were at an impasse or rather, I had a daunting decision to make.

They would no doubt try to stop me should I take the sword, an action that would lead to their death's as I wasn't confident that I could just knock them unconscious without having to kill at least two of them. I'm also sure that if I did kill two of them, the remaining two would hunt me to the end's of the earth and while this wasn't too much of a problem, I still didn't want to be caught off-guard by another sound arrow to the face.

Those thing's were annoying.

“So? Are you finished Mr. Thief? Or would you like to eat more of our rations?” hissed Ursula bitterly, as she gave me a hate filled stare.

Bell snorted “Ursula, these are your rations. You brought enough food to sink a ship.”

Ursula blushed at that and looked away, mumbling something about wolves needing more food than other, stupid races.

Ada finished her meal and looked up, staring at me.

“So what do you want to know, Thief? As agreed, Bell will tell you all and, in exchange, you tell us about you.”

I nodded at the statement and leaned forwards, linking my hands on the table as I settled my gaze on the vampire commander, who matched it with ease.

“So, the first thing I want to know is... who sent you?” I said, my tone even, I didn't want my excitement to get the best of me. I knew who sent them and I needed to confirm it if I wanted to enact the next part of my plan which was... risky, to say the least.

Bell breathed out deeply and stared at the ceiling “The one who sent us is Cinder, Queen of the Vampires and ruler of the Red Citadel.”

I merely nodded, trying very hard now to keep my excitement on the inside. Cinder! She had sent them. How was she? Was she ok? Has she been feeding well? I needed to know!

While I was excited at the revelation, it appears that the members of Black Tusk were not. If anything, they were rather annoyed... and scared.

“What!” shouted Leigh, who sat next to Bell, the elves eyes wide in shock “We're working for the Lady of Pain!? Why the fuck didn't you tell us, Bell? If we fail this mission, all our lives are at stake!”

Ada was kind of just staring at Bell in shock and as Leigh finished speaking her face drained of all blood as the words spoken by her friend sunk in.

“I know you usually deal with the clients, but Bell, this is one of the Knight's of the Rebel Court. Arguably the most fucking dangerous one, at that. Why wouldn't you tell us this? If we fail we can't go back to Scarl Forest, you won't be able to go home!” Ada said, her eyes as wide as Leigh's as she reached her hands across the table and placed the on Bell's “Why would you agree to work for her? Why is she even interested in the sword!?”

Throughout this exchange, Ursula was silent, but her face was an expression of deep thought, her eyes staring at nothing as she tried to come to term's with what her friend and commander had done.

Placing them all at risk.

I continued to watch the show before me with an annoyed look. Why were they so scared of Cin? I know she could be a handful sometimes but that didn't mean she was some kind of monster. I didn't like the way they called her 'the Lady of Pain' either. She wasn't that bad... well, not really.

Just as I was about to defend my Knight, Bell beat me to the punch and slammed a hand down on the table, breaking the wood. The girls jumped while I simply watched, waiting to hear Bell's explanation.

“I understand that you are all upset, that I had put our lives at risk by working for the Queen...But we have a history.” Bell said, her eyes never leaving the crack in the table. “I was there with my mother, a maid to the last Queen, the day that the Knight Cinder came to the Red Citadel. All I could do was hide as she slaughtered every person in the throne room. The nobles, the Queen, even the fucking servants. She killed them and guzzled their blood.

“The only one's left alive were my mother and myself. We could only watch as she lapped up the blood that had spilled on the floor and laughed. She was laughing the entire time... But then she started to cry.”

Bell looked up at us then, her eyes were sad. “You have to understand, Cinder was the same age as me when I met her for the first time. She was feral and more powerful than any vampire I have ever seen. Drinking the blood of the other's just made her stronger. If you saw her then you would swear she was a nightmare, a monster belched from the deepest pits of hell. But all I saw was a girl who had lost something dear to her and was acting out.”

Bell stood up and circled around the table, her hand on her axe as she went to the window of the dining room and stared out into the desiccated garden that lay beyond. Her shoulder's trembling slightly.

“I was afraid, but I was young and so was she. I approached her and hugged her and she cried into my shoulder. She was shaking so much. 'What's wrong' I asked, 'why are you crying?'.”

Bell turned and faced us now, tears falling down her cheeks as she stared at her group.

“She said, 'my father's gone and I don't know where he is. Marwen said he's not coming back.'”

Bell smiled then “ My mother hugged her as well and, together, we comforted her.”

She took her seat at the table and wiped the tears from her eyes “Together we helped Cinder establish her rule and she became my sister, of a kind. She's not as bad as everyone says she is, she's just a little lost sometimes. I left the Red Citadel when I was young because I wanted to see the world, like she had. She wanted to come with me at first, but mother prevented it, saying that she needed to stay to rule over Scarl Forest.” Bell laughed and gave a grin “She was angry for day's after that and barely left her room, but she listened to mother, who she made her royal advisor, which was a good thing. I doubt I could've enjoyed travelling as much as I did with Cinder by my side. She has a habit of getting into trouble.

“So, soon after I left I established Black Tusk and we made a name for ourselves. I didn't tell you girls about my background because people are scared of Cinder, and I didn't want it to taint my relationships. It was only after we arrived back in Scarl Forest that I decided to visit her and she asked me to help her make sure her father's sword was safe. She was insistent that no one be allowed to take the sword and then she told me about the group that would be coming from Callai.”

Bell finished and leaned back in her chair.

For a moment their was silence as everyone just absorbed what was said. The first to speak, surprisingly, was Ursula.

“We don't care about your past, you stupid idiot, you should have told us. But I understand why you didn't. I see you as my sister, so the Knight Cinder is my sister also.” The she-wolf gave a nod and a smile before wrapping an arm around the vampires shoulder, which drew a grin from the commander.

“I second that!”

“Hear, hear!”

The girls all wrapped themselves around Bell and were laughing at each other in moments. I missed that sense of belonging. Knowing that you had done a terrible thing and that your family would forgive you. Something more precious thank any amount of riches on this continent.

I, however, had a different reaction to this story.

I was shaking, my hands hidden under the table to prevent Black Tusk from seeing the emotion that was running through my body. My face remained impassive, I have had a lot of practice keeping my true self hidden, as was expected of a King. But I could feel my mask slipping, imagining Cinder so alone made rage rip through me but, thankfully, I managed to keep it under control.

Marwen had taken me away from her. No, Vitriss had taken me away. I was the only one that could keep Cinder on an even keel, keep her from losing herself to the madness of becoming a true feral. From what Bell was saying, it appears that her mother and herself were responsible for keeping Cin from becoming the thing myself and Marwen had always feared she might one day become. But still, Marwenna should have been there, should have kept her safe. She might have been my Knight, one of my six generals, but she was also a child who needed family. Even I, an orphan, knew that much.

Why had Marwen left her alone? Cin could've run away, but that should have been secondary, Marwen could have chased her, could've convinced her to return to Callai with her, kept her close, kept her safe.

“Marwenna” I spat the name out between gritted teeth as my hands closed into fists, my nails digging into my skin and breaking through, blood pouring out onto the floor.

The girls all stopped as I said the name and stared at me for a moment, confused.

“What?” said Ada, her eyes suspicious.

“Nothing” I said with a smile, healing the wounds in the palms of my hands and forcing a relaxed expression on my face “That's a great story, Bell, truly. But while I can understand why Cinder would want to stop anyone from getting the Xolumbrandir, why would she want to stop a group from Callai? One that belongs to Marwen, who is also a Knight?”

Bell stared at me for a second, the suspicion that was evident on Ada's face appearing on hers for a split second before she seemed to give a shrug answer.

“As far as I know Cinder trusts Marwen, but she doesn't trust those that she has sent. My sister knows all that is happening in the world beyond the Scarl Forest, her spies range everywhere. She knows that Marwen has sent the Knight Descendants to stop anyone from taking the sword. Apparently, the reason they are coming is because someone stole the Rebel King's mask. Cinder also asked that we retrieve that item as well. You wouldn't happen to know anything about that, would you, Thief?” Bell finished, her tone mocking as she smirked at me while pointedly looking at the mask that sat next to me on the table.

“Guilty! That was me, I took the mask and knew full well that someone would be sent to retrieve it. Although, I didn't foresee the interest in Xolumbrandir. The sword cannot be wielded safely by anyone. Why is Cinder concerned that the group would try to take it? And what are these Knight Descendants?” I asked, my own tone serious. As much as I enjoyed a good back and forth, I needed information now.

Leigh was the one who spoke this time, her eyes still unable to meet my own as she hid slightly behind Ada before answering.

“Well, the Knight Descendants are a way to unify the people after The Rebel Court disbanded. There are four in total. The son of Faral, the granddaughter of Heilvol, the grandson of Drogna and the son of Marwen.”

There was silence after that.

Apparently they had been waiting for my answer, but all I did was stupidly stare at Leigh, my eyes wide and distant which, for some reason, seemed to scare the shit out of her because she hid even further behind the back of Ada, who somehow looked defensive. Her bow was now in her hands for some reason. When I looked at the others I saw Bell had drawn her axe and dagger and was staring at me dangerously. Ursula was on her feet, fists clenched, a vein popping out of her forehead as she looked like she was about turn into a wolf.

I was honestly quite surprised, why were they all looking at me like I was a threat?

Then I noticed that my body had begun to draw in energy unconsciously, at hearing the final words of Leigh's sentence.

'Son of Marwen'

The word's ripped through me now and I felt them. My teeth clenched as mana began to be drawn in without my command at a much larger rate. My fists clenched again as more blood poured from the wounds that I had just closed seconds before.

'Son of Marwen'

I jumped to my feet, causing the members of Black Tusk to jump back in surprise as I walked to the other side of the room, as far away from them as I could, and placed both my hands and my head against the cool stone. I needed to calm down. It was so easy in my old body but it was like this one wasn't fully under my control yet, drawing in mana when I lost my temper.

'Son of Marwen'

The mana I was drawing in was a river now and I was all I could do to try and contain it, try to hold it back, lest I destroy the city and Black Tusk. Even Xolumbrandir would be unable to survive such a cataclysm.

It was then that I felt a hand on my shoulder. No, not on it, it was rubbing my shoulder.

“There, there, it's ok.” I heard the voice of that elf, Leigh, say as she continued to comfort me, calming me down. Her voice was quite soothing and seemed to work quite well on me I could feel the rage that had been building up inside me start to subside and fall to pieces as the mana being drawn into my body became merely a trickle. I took three deep breaths as I steadied myself, my eyes closed.

Marwen had a son.

I heard the words again, shouting inside my head, but I felt no rage associated with them, only a gnawing sadness. I needed to stop this. Stop worrying about this pointless nonsense. I have a job to do, I can't be seen losing control in front of these mercenaries. Fuck Marwen. Fuck Valant. Fuck her son. I don't care, I don't need to care.

As much as I wanted to.

I turned and found the members of Black Tusk still had their weapons drawn. Except for Leigh who was merely smiling at me comfortingly.

I returned the smile and nodded “I apologise lady Leigh, girls, forgive me. I do not have the true control over my magic I wish I had. When I give into anger, I draw it in subconsciously.”

Leigh kept up that smile “I thought as much. What I told you, when I told you about the Knight Descendants, there was something that you didn't want to hear, wasn't there?” She asked gently, prodding at me.

While I shouldn't be giving them any information about myself, I believe that at the very least I could trust them for the moment. Bell knew Cinder after all, something that I didn't suspect she was lying about, considering the reactions of the rest of her band. Besides, I would need allies. If I wanted to get the sword back, my attention could not be halved, I would need my full power to take on Xolumbrandir. That means I need these four to run interference with the Knight Descendants... Marwen's son... Faral's son.

I laughed out loud as I thought of Faral finding herself a man who wouldn't run away at the first opportunity. The pirate was rather terrifying in person.

Heilvol's grandson, Drogna's grandson.

“Tell me, are the Knight's Heilvol and Drogna... are they dead?” I asked weakly, my gaze on the floor.

I could feel Black Tusk staring at each other confused, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

“Yes, they died centuries ago I believe...why?” Ada replied, curious to discover why I was asking about the Knight's of the Rebel Court.

I nodded and felt the pang of sadness deep inside me. While I had hoped that they would still live I had long faced the possibility that they had succumbed to their mortality. I smiled. I just wished that I could've seen them just one last time.

“What of Abhor and Faral? Do you know what has become of them?” I asked again, this time raising my eyes to stare at Ursula, who shrugged. Instead, Leigh answered my question.

“Lady Faral is the Admiral of the Stormbound Sea, she lives on a small island out there I believe, with an army of sea raiders and pirates. Although they are mostly merchants now. As for the Lord Abhor... rumours only I'm afraid. Some say he is dead, others say that he retreated into the depths of Paltos and awaits the return of his King. I know not what is true, there are many stories about the Knight's of the Rebel Court.” Leigh finished.

“Ok, thank you Leigh, that's all I needed to know-”

“BY THE GODS!” Bell roared and suddenly jumped to her feet and aimed a finger towards me. “Are you... can you be...” She was babbling it seems and I knew exactly where her train of thought was taking her.

I sighed. It seems I had been asking too many fucking questions.

Ada, Leigh and Ursula were all staring at their commander like she was mad.

“Bell? What's wrong?” Leigh asked worryingly, placing a hand on her friends shoulder.

Bell was wild-eyed and stared at me for a moment more before breaking out of her self-induced trance and looking around at her friends.

“I know who you are. The magic you can command is greater than even Cinder's... The mask allowed you to take it and Xolumbrandir became desperate to kill you when you attacked the constructs.” She said, her voice husky and low as she raised her eyes to meet my own.

“You are Corus, The Rebel King. Aren't you?”

Well, shit.

* * *

The entourage of the Knight Descendants made their way through the last section of the small and narrow pathway through the Cold Shears. The footing treacherous and deadlier than was expected.

The way through the path had been rather troublesome. Not because of the road itself, but rather the passenger they had picked up along the way. A man by the name of Bartu the bandit. An unfortunate but common feature of Ellai in recent years was the influx of bandits who pray on the pilgrims making their way to pay their respects to the Rebel King.

The man named Bartu had tried very hard for the past day now to run away, to escape the group of heavily armed warriors, but to no avail. Bartu couldn't use magic and had gone into a sobbing silence, bound and flung over the shoulder of one of the royal guard.

His crying was the only sound that accompanied them as they made their way up towards the city of the Rebel Court. The word's he had kept screaming were firmly fixed into their minds.

“Ya can't fight im! He made a fuckin storm, you ball brained idiots! A FUCKING STORM!”

For the last day that was all he had said, talked about the man he had met. The one who had grown angry after Bartu told him the story of the Rebel Court's victory at Ellai. The one who had summoned a storm and laid waste to the city in a terrible fury.

Of course, the group of royal guard doubted his words. They had no cause to believe him, but for some reason, the Knight Descendants themselves knew he wasn't lying. He had seen something in that city and, whatever it was, it was most likely the thief that they were searching for.

If Bartu was to be believed, then perhaps he was a mage, which would mean they would need to double time it towards the sword and make sure that no one took it.

Mahalis glanced at Lor, the prince of the sea, who seemed focused straight ahead. On the city and, ultimately, the Xolumbrandir.

Mahalis could only hope that Lor could hold back his desire to possess the sword. It may be the King's sword, but that didn't mean it was worth losing one's life over. Marwen had been explicit when she told them that no one was to touch the sword but Lor was never one for following the rules. He could only pray that some sense would knock itself into the cocky half-elf. Before he made a mistake that costed them their lives.

It was after they passed the last corner that they finally arrived at their destination, Ellai.

Beyond the verdant valley that surrounded them below was the destroyed city. Even in it's currently run down state it seemed to hum with power, telling the tales of those who had stayed here centuries past.

“So, are we going to go?” asked Lor, his eyes fixed hungrily onto the city.

Kara came up beside him and nodded “Yes, Lord Lor, if what the bandit said was true, then we may be all that stops this thief from gaining the power that Xolumbrandir contains.”

“I agree.” said Dran, the dwarf playing with the massive axe that rested on his shoulder. “We cannot retreat and go to Knight Cinder with our tails between our legs. I say we meet this thief in battle and make sure he does not acquire the sword.”

Lor turned to the elven prince “What say you, commander?”

Mahalis ignored the mocking tone of the elf and instead studied the city before him. It was quiet, eerily so, something was wrong and he was sure that he would be putting everyone in danger if he went in without knowing exactly what the situation in the dead city was.

But the most troubling thing, was that part of him didn't care. Part of him wanted to get down there and thrill in battle against a worthy foe.

Keeping his voice calm, Mahalis spoke “We will make our way into the city, slowly and cautiously. First priority is to locate the thief, then ensure the sword remains in the tower. No one touches it, understood?”

The other three members of the team all gave an 'aye' of approval, before beginning to head down the path and into the valley proper.

As Lor passed him, Mahalis grabbed the arm of the half-elf and fixed his eyes with his own.

“No one touches it, am I understood, Lor?” Mahalis said, his gaze threatening. His free hand wrapped around The Angelis.

Lor grinned and raised his hands in surrender as he began to walk down the path.

“You're the boss, boss.”

Mahalis watched his subordinate go for a second before indicating for the royal guard to follow. Preparing himself mentally for whatever he was about to find within the city below.