RE: Monarch

Chapter 26. Crossroads IX

"And thats the end of the story." Mother flipped the book closed and kissed me on the forehead. She poked at my cheek when I didnt respond. "Whats wrong, darling?"

I frowned, fiddling with my bed sheets. "Why didnt Sir Savien just kill the bad guy earlier, before he hurt everyone?"

"Well, Sir Savien couldnt be sure. The villain made threats and boasted, but many people do such things." Mother shrugged.

"But it was so obvious," I groaned. "By doing nothing, Sir Savien practically killed those people himself."

"Now, that is more of a question for a philosopher than it is for me," Mother said wryly.

"It just doesnt make for a very good story," I insisted.

"If Sir Savien had killed Lord Astra outright, he wouldnt be the hero of the story, he would be the villain, a man willing to strike out with violence at the first sign of opposition."

"But what if he knew? Really knew. Beyond a shallow of a doubt."

"You mean a shadow of a doubt?"

"Yes," I grumbled. My mother set the book aside on the nightstand and sat me up, looking deep into my eyes.

"Darling, one day you will be king. You may have to make decisions that decide the life and death of others. In the moment, such decisions are never easy. It is one thing to slay an opponent in battle. Another entirely to murder him in his bed. And another still to inflict pain on him when you know he is beaten.

"Even if you know that hes evil?"

"Even if. You must be better than evil men, child. Even if that decency costs you dearly. You must be better. Otherwise, the only difference between a hero and a villain is the lens they are viewed with."

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"This is a bit unfair, but Ive lived this life before."

It wasnt as effective as I would have hoped. The spindly mans eyes glazed over for just a moment, then snapped back, alert and alarmed. There was a blur of motion as he reached up to his right, his hand forming the focal point. He caught an object thrown at him, a large rock, slightly bigger than a fist.

But he missed the arrow. It shot from the opposing alley, less than a foot from the ground and blisteringly fast, piercing his ankle. He looked down at it and blinked in confusion.

Then he collapsed to the ground. The paralytic worked fast, but such a small dose would be out of his system just as quickly. Orben jumped down from the rooftop, landing with a dull thump. Tamara stood, brushing off the detritus she had camouflaged herself with. With no comment or fanfare she grabbed the reed-thin man from under his armpits and dragged him into a nearby alley.

For once, Orben was not smiling.

I didnt blame him. There was no honor in this. Orben kept watch from the mouth of the alleyway as Tamara drug the man deeper in. I pulled the two copper rods from my pocket. Cephur patted Orben on the back as he entered the alleyway, his blue eyes cold and hard. He had served as the lookout for our little ambush and given me the signal.

"Let me do this, your grace," Cephur said slowly, "this isnt a burden a boy should bear. Even a prince."

"No." I gritted my teeth, kneeling before the mans paralyzed form. "This was my plan. Let my soul bear the price."

"It will haunt you."

I nodded, as if I understood. But my heart raced and my stomach twisted. I had killed before. A handful of demi-humans during the invasion. Barion. But all of those occurred in moments of chaos, where the alternative was letting myself be killed or worse. But I knew what would happen if we did nothing. Kholis didnt have the resources to hold this man, and I, myself had seen what he was capable of. Turning the tide of a battle single handedly. Slaughtering my companions without a second thought. Worse, he had wanted to capture rather than kill me. If he had succeeded, hadnt lost his temper, all would be lost.

The reset point being so close to my death was a wake-up call. I had hoped it would be consistent. That every time I died, I would have approximately the same trailing ten days, as I had in the Everwood, to fix things. Much can be accomplished in ten days. But that was proven wrong with disturbing clarity. I had no idea how many times I could come back. Worse yet, there was a very real possibility of being stuck. If Thoth had captured me, it was entirely possible that I would not have died again for weeks, even months, rendering my companionsincluding Mayagone forever.

Every risk had to be calculated and measured carefully. And even with my mother's treatise on decency swirling in my head, in situations like this, mercy was an extravagance I couldnt afford.

The spindly man stirred. He took in a deep breath as if to yell, stopping pre-exhale as I held my sword-breaker to his throat.

"Quiet," I said. Then, "Whats your name?"

"Tusk," he answered.

"How many men are there in the city, Tusk?"

No reply. I wasn't really expecting an answer, not from someone Thoth held so close at hand.

"Do you have any family?" I asked. From the side, I saw Tamara shudder.

"Oh yes, my lord," Tusk smiled wickedly, but his dark eyes belied panic. "A crippled wife and seven children. Whatever will I do if you threaten them?"

I kept my voice calm. "Its not like that. If you have family, Ill take care of them."

Tusks eyes rolled, his head turning to look at Cephur. "What kind of slipshod butchery is this?" Then his focus returned to me. "If youre going to do it, just do it already."

"What is your real name?"

"Why does it matter?"

"It matters." I said, holding up the two copper rods. If I was denying this man his chance at Valhalla, I could at least pay the toll so he could cross the ethereal river to the underworld itself. But to do that, I needed his name.

"Ah. This isnt about me at all. You want me to make you feel better." The man mocked. "Give you a little morsel of comfort to help you sleep at night after you murder me. Ill give you a word of advice, kid. Theres nothing waiting for us on the other side. No afterlife. No Elysium Halls. No Valhalla. No Hades. Nothing but darkness and the great black beast."

His words disturbed me, not for their crueltythough that was not easybut for their accuracy. The darkness and the great beast. It was a precise description for the thing I witnessed in the jet-black nothingness between lives.

The mans dark eyes leered at me. "Youve seen it, havent you? Youre like her. You both have that same faraway look. All you have to do is come with me, boy. She can answer all your questions."

"Cairn." Cephur warned.

"Im sorry."

I plunged the knife into the spindly mans heart. He gasped, then fell silent. The light behind his eyes flickered out, his mouth open in a silent "o." Blood trailed down from the knife and trickled onto the ground.

It was done.

I felt sick.

Not fully understanding why, I placed the two coppers in his pocket anyway. While I could not offer the tribute properly without his name, maybe the gods would understand.

We found the encampment in a little more than an hour. Cephur instructed Maya and I to wait and only intervene if things got out of control. The four guards Lucius had drummed up had switched from their plate into leather reconnaissance armor and trailed behind the three rangers. Tamara popped up from the tall grass and pulled one of the lookouts down with her, and Cephur grabbed the others mouth roughly, sword emerging from the mans chest.

Then someone shouted and the battle began in earnest. The four guards had nowhere near the combat training of the rangers but still held their own against the bandits, many of whom seemed to have never been in a real fight. That in and of itself surprised me. Id imagined Thoth to be this immovable force, capable of bending thousands to her will, but her initial forces seemed weak. It was strange that neither the giant nor the man in the cowl had shown up either time.

One of the guards was toppled by a bandit. He was under attack by the short man from last time, the one that was also spying in the corner of the banquet hall. I rushed forward to cover the man, feeling the weight of my new sword in my hand. Before he could stab down at the guard on the ground, I swung wide. He stepped backward just in time, his arms waving wildly, trying to regain his balance. Then he took in my diminutive form and grinned. He raised both arms overhead and brought the sword down in a vicious blow. Had it connected, it would have split my head open.

But compared to Cephur, this man was slow. Almost painfully slow. I shifted to the side, watching the blade pass me by analytically. There was something wrong with his movements. Then it hit me.

His sword was too heavy for him. Not by much, maybe half a pound at most, but the unwieldy weight led to a clumsy follow-through. That gave me a clear weakness to exploit. He swung at me again and I ducked underneath, feeling the steel whistle over my head. I baited him into another overhand strike, and as soon as he was fully committed to the blow, swung my sword upwards towards his descending head. The dark-green blade caught him in the throat, and he went down soundlessly.

The glow faded from Mayas bloodied hands as she finished healing the guard. He stood, nodded at her, and rushed back into the fight. Only, it had shifted so far into our favor it was hard to call it a fight. Nine men had already fallen, and five more struggled. An arrow took one in the throat. Cephur hounded down a fleeing archer mercilessly, cutting him down at the knees and slicing through the point where his neck met his skull. Orben punched a bandit with his gauntleted arm and the man careened face-first into the muddied ground.

The two remaining men threw down their weapons and sprinted away, retreating towards the forest. Tamara pulled her bowstring to her cheek, preparing to fire.

"Let em go, Tams." Cephur said. He wiped his sword on the grass, cleaning off the red. "Theyre beaten." He took one more look around and turned to walk towards Maya, who had retreated to the small hill overlooking the clearing.

Slowly, Tamara released the tension from the bow string and replaced the arrow into her quiver.

I looked around at the bodies and the carnage. Twelve of them. Unbidden, memories of Inharion village came to mind. This was different, I knew that. They had been out for our blood. If given the chance, they absolutely would have killed us first.

A dull moan carried to me on the wind. I followed the sound across the battlefield and came across a heavily wounded bandit that clutched his chest. His eyes were wide.

"Help me," he said. "Please help. Im cold."

I pulled my sword breaker and helped him in the same way Alten had aided me, ending the night of the invasion. There was no denying that I hated these men and the woman behind them. But there was no need for them to suffer.

After Id cleaned my dagger with an old rag, I nearly turned back to the others when my eyes crossed over a shadowy figure, camouflaged almost perfectly in the darkness of the night, standing completely still. I started and drew my sword.

"Whos there?" I asked. But in my sinking heart, I knew the answer even before I saw the eye.

"Youre different this time," Thoth whispered gleefully.