Chapter III

Raphael is getting sent on a mission - and Rose wants to come along, but Rafe isn't sure he wants to take her.

Chapter III

Just One Condition

 

“Back off, I’ll take you on.

We’re headstrong, we’ll take on anyone.”

-      Headstrong by Trapt

 

The next time I woke up, I was lying in my bed, naked from the waist up. I could feel the quilts against my toes and knew that I had no socks on. Glancing around, the room was devoid of people trying to make me feel better about the bandages wrapped around my left thigh under my pants and the thick bandaging around the right bicep. Good; I didn’t need it.

     Slowly, I sat up. Just as I had, the door opened and Rose came in with a tray of food. She saw me, and scolded, “You should be lying down, Rafe. You’re still weak.”

     I ignored her as she brought the food over, eyeing it hungrily. “Chicken soup with honey biscuits,” I realized out loud.

     Looking at me with a note of surprise, she said, “How did you know that?”

     “It’s one of my favorites,” I explained simply. “Bethany always makes it when I feel crappy.”

     She smiled and set the tray in my lap, sitting by my feet. She took the second cup off the tray and sipped at it, telling me, “The other one is yours; I made coffee. I hope you like it.”

     Obliging, I sipped. “It’s good,” I said easily.

     “Do you mean that?”

     “Yes, but don’t get too excited. I’ll eat anything �" even if you covered it in dirt,” I told her, almost laughing at the way her face fell and she sighed with annoyance.

     “You couldn’t just let me have it?” She complained, shaking her head at me helplessly.

     “I can’t let anyone just have one, now can I? They’ll think I’ve gone soft, and then it’s work-work-work, all the time.” Shaking my head, I told her, “No, madam, I cannot just let you have it.”

     Rose sipped at her coffee again, asking me softly, “Are you going to try to interrogate me about everything? Your father did.”

     “He’s not really my father, for one thing,” I corrected, merely wanting to clarify that I meant it when I said he was “like a father” and not my father. I already had to lie to Ana about it. “Secondly, Durza is likely going to grill you again, so I’m not going to bother with it.”

     Eyebrow risen, she tried again, “You aren’t the least bit curious?”

     “I figure you’ll tell me when you want to tell me, Rose. In the mean time, I owe you a bit for getting me home safely. For now, the only way to pay back that debt is to respect that it’s not my business,” I told her, draining the last of my soup that I’d practically inhaled.

     She was quiet a moment before saying, “He’s furious with me, I think. I refused to tell him much other than for reasons beyond my own control, I’m being hunted.”

     I shrugged. “He’ll either get over it or find a new way to find out about you. Expect him to be sending spies to your family any day.”

     “My father died when I was twelve, my mother died having me, I have no aunts or uncles to speak of, no cousins, and the only grandfather I know disowned me. The only other relative I have is a half-brother I haven’t seen in five years,” she told me, shrugging her own shoulders. “Tell Durza I said ‘good luck with that’.”

     “I will,” I replied chuckling. “Did you part on good terms with the half brother?”

     “Yes and no,” she said casually. “Yes, if only because he understood. No, because it was in the middle of the night and I didn’t say goodbye.”

     “Why did you leave?”

     “His wife, Emily, was pregnant and I was wanted, even then. I didn’t want to risk anything happening to her. She’s likely the only chance my father’s name has of carrying on,” she responded, sipping her coffee again.

     “Can I ask you a question? I just need a yes or no,” I told her.

     “I suppose that would be fine. What’s the question?”

     “Are you wanted for anything like murder?”

     “No!”

     “Alright, then we’re okay,” I said. I sipped my coffee, ignoring the look of outrage on her face. “I had to ask.”

     She just shook her head, finishing her coffee in one gulp. She set the cup down on the tray and sighed, looking out my window. “I shouldn’t even be here. It’s dangerous for all of you.”

     “Rose,” I said, getting irritated with this martyr s**t. “I’m a fully trained assassin. Derek and Bethany are Couriers, trained to deal with the idea of being murdered for breathing. Durza trained me, and he’s the best damned assassin I know. I really think the only one you might be possibly endangering is Ana, and even she can handle a knife.”

     She blushed, but didn’t say anything. I sighed. “I just don’t want to bring anyone harm,” she said.

     “I understand that, but stop talking about it. Obviously, Durza isn’t that worried about anything. He hasn’t kicked you out,” I told her, trying to make her lighten up.

     Rose was about to speak but the door opened and Derek came in, dropping a scroll on my lap as Rose moved the tray. He looked solemn as he said, “You’ve got a contract.”

     Sighing, I didn’t bother to open it, looking at him and saying, “Where am I going?”

     “Durza said it’s to take you to Bird’s Hollow, in the lower east. There are multiple issues that need ironed out. Haven tried, but they need a non-bias party to help. The people of Bird’s Hollow want to lead a full assault on the local Guard barracks, to cease the attacks happening on Meir Village. However, Haven disagrees with the action, but cannot convince Bird’s Hollow to listen to reason,” he explained. “Raphael, the men from Haven are right. Bird’s Hollow doesn’t have the arsenal to take on Barrack Nine. They’d be slaughtered. Not only that, but the Hollow would be given away �" there would be no way for other Refugee Bases to hide like that again.”

     “Hide like what,” Rose asked cautiously.

     “In the trees,” I said to her softly, my eyes focused on the scroll as I thought it through. “They’ve made an entire civilization in the trees. It’s actually quite effective, if a bit cold come winter.”

     “Why not just move the people of Meir into the Hollow?”

     “That plan would be excellent, except Hollow needs Meir on the ground. They run the farms and keep Hollow supplied enough to live. Not only that, but Barrack Nine would notice the sudden disappearance of five hundred people,” Derek said to Rose, his tone firm but not unkind.

     “What’s the difference between being in Hollow and being in Meir?”

     “Not much,” I said. “Meir is purely civilian, is all, while Hollow is filled with Haven-refugees. They’re still mostly civilian people, but the people in the trees are kind of like a task force for Haven. They’re a small army �" mostly soldiers and their families. Three hundred live up in the Hollow. They’re like a guardian to Meir. For every town, there’s at least one Hollow in the area.”

     “Keep in mind,” Derek added, “that at least a hundred of the people in Hollow are women and children. We’re spread thin, so each Hollow only has about a hundred to maybe even fifty men trained to fight.” Sadly, he said, “We just can’t spare any more, if we want to be able to keep all the towns covered enough to know when they need help.”

     “Why am I being sent?”

     Derek turned to me, saying, “The situation will hold for now, but the Hollow men are getting restless. They’ve already tried an assault once, and lost half of their numbers.” A note of irritation etched his tone as he added, “the fools almost gave away the Hollow to boot.”

     I nodded, asking, “When am I expected?”

     “Bird’s Hollow expects you by the end of the month. They’ve agreed to forgo any action until you arrive.” Derek frowned deeply, speaking very softly, “Rafe, the peace is so weak. Erin said that the men are talking about grabbing every able-bodied boy and training him so they can try again. You have to find a way to cease the assaults on the town folk and calm the Hollow.”

     Thinking a moment, I suggested, “I want to go on foot.”

     “Rafe, that means you’d have to leave at the end of this week to get there in time, and that’s counting on the idea that you don’t hit any snags,” Derek argued. “Why don’t you want a horse?”

     “I’ll be staying up in Hollow. I won’t need a horse up there, and besides, I’d rather not have to worry about losing one of Durza’s horses if I have to bolt unexpectedly.”

     He sighed, saying, “It’ll be hard on your leg.”

     “Going at all will be hard on my leg, Derek.”

     Shrugging, he said, “Okay, it’s up to you. Shall I tell Durza you’ll be leaving in a couple of days then?”

     “If you don’t mind, I’d like that.” Derek nodded to me, bowed slightly to Rose, and then left.

     Rose immediately turned to me and said, “Let me come with you.”

     “You’d be more of a burden on me than a help, Rose,” I said as gently as possible.

     “I’m not entirely useless or helpless. I can use a bow and arrow. I just don’t have one of either. I’m a damn good shot, Rafe. I could be of help to you,” she assured me. “Besides, I’m also good with medicine.”

     Hesitant, I said, “I like to work solo, Rose. It’s easier on me.”

     “Raphael, if you want to pay me back, then let me come with you.” I didn’t say anything so she went on. “I only get restless staying in one place for too long. If they find me here, everyone around me dies. I feel better if I can keep on the move. Seeing as how I have nowhere else to go and nothing else to do other than stay out of sight, going with you is my best option.”

     I didn’t want to give her a definite answer now, so I told her instead, “How about this? I’ll think about it between now and the night before I leave. I’ll give you an answer by then.”

     She held out a hand. “Shake on it,” she demanded.

     I hesitated again, but shook her hand.

 

     It was only the next night when I visited Ana in town. She was at the orphanage, helping the old woman take care of the children as she so loved to do. I leaned on the frame of the door, glancing around the beat up innards of an ancient building. The town donated this building as an orphanage, and it kind of reminded me of the one I briefly lived in as a child. Paint peels, wood splintering and falling apart, broken down, missing windows, drafty, dusty, and overall things broke all the time. There were two or three stairs that looked ready to break at any second, the walls had holes in them, doors hung off the hinges, and floor boards were always creaking.

     Ana loved coming down here, though. She sat in the middle of a cluster of children now, regaling them with a nicer version of what most people called The Fall.

     The Fall is how people refer to the End of the White Age, the Death of the True Monarchy, and the Beginning of the End. Less dramatically put, it was the day that Leon’s younger brother, Desmond, stole the throne of Ethein for his own selfish gain.

     Leon was five years older than his little brother, and they differed vastly on how to run a country. Not that Desmond ever had any say in that matter, as he was only ever supposed to be a Prince. That was never good enough for Desmond, oh no. He wanted power. He wanted to rule. He even tried to kill his own brother for it.

     I wasn’t even born, and Durza said that he was only a boy when it happened. Leon was dead now, taken by a poison his brother fed him when he was ejected from the monarch. I’ll get to that, though.

     Leon had been twenty five while Desmond was only twenty. Having only taken the throne a few years before, Leon was still fairly new to the position but the people loved him. He was good. Taxes were constantly fluxing to meet the demands of the populace- and there was even a six month period where Leon repealed them entirely because wild fires were blazing up all over the western farms. To give the west time to rebuild, he cut out taxes and actually doled out a fixed income to those made homeless by the fires.

     On top of that, the armies were in great shape. The men were well trained and better �" all happy to be serving. It was a thing of beauty in those days, for a son to come home bearing the crest of the Guard. Slavery was at an all-time low. It was actually a form of punishment one could serve if they wanted to post-pone death at the hands of an executioner.

     Towns had enough money that orphanages weren’t run-down pieces of garbage that no one else had wanted. Things weren’t always so bleak. The sky seemed bluer, the grass seemed to shine, and the sky was never cloudy. Ethein, in its prime, was such a beautiful place.

     There were those who hated Leon, though. He served his people. He made a habit of telling the populace, “I do not serve my silk-wearing fellows, but those who have loyally agreed to serve me in my reign. I serve you, my people.” Don’t let his all-around good-for-the-people attitude fool you. Leon was highly intelligent, determined, and by no means a man to be crossed. He was, however, a king any man would proudly follow.

     Leon’s reign was remembered as the Light Ages. It was only the rich, who didn’t profit from happy homes that hated these days. People didn’t have to be servants to keep the house going, and small towns were booming all on their own. While every town was willing to help and aide others, they could function on their own. They didn’t need the rich to pony up with some loans or to offer up labor-jobs to men who couldn’t feed families because most men found work easily in those days.

     Rich men hated Leon. They hated that his focus was not to keep his pockets overflowing with gold, but to keep the people safe and happy. The Guard spent more time at the borders to defend against the sporadic raids from Ithon, a country made of seventeen islands over the Viridian Sea, and Telis, a desert inhabited mostly by thieves, rouges, and small tribes who still prayed to fifty some gods. The Feathers wanted the Guard to protect them from “the unwashed masses” instead of to protect those masses.

     Not to mention how they hated the low tax-amount. Royals all get a small slice of the taxes, just for being Dukes and whatnot. The fact that Leon worked to make the people happy, instead of the well-off, is what caused something named The Blue Order (a play up on ‘blue-blood’) to be formed.

     Desmond, of course, was at the head. After he had a steady enough following, he gathered up the men recruited by his Blue Order friends and stormed the castle. Leon had expected to win easily, but Desmond had managed to make enough gold to buy off at least a quarter of the Guard. Since most of the Guard was at the border, that only made Leon’s downfall easier.

     The castle was taken and Leon fled all within two hours. Desmond let his brother live only because his claim to the throne relied on royal blood �" so killing his brother was just a bit over the line. He did it anyway; just not openly. It took years, but he sent his spies after Leon. They injected him with a poison that slowly but surely weakened him �" effectively killing him in a span of five years.

     Desmond’s rule brought on what was named, as I said, The Fall. The Guard was sent back to the castle to defend the monarch, increasing the amount of raids on towns by the barrel full. Taxes were jacked up, women were restricted to “work suitable for females”, children without parents were either sent into slavery or if they were lucky, a set amount of years as a servant. It became the law that any unmarried women living alone were to be made to enter several different professions �" such as, as one can guess, slavery or prostitution.

     It was also laid down that females cannot own a damn thing. Their dowries go straight to husbands. The jails started filling up with anyone who missed so much as a single tax payment or anyone who spoke out against the new king. As long as any sick twist was willing to faithfully serve, murderers were released from the prisons and given a Guard uniform.

     Likewise, more than half the Guard was slaughtered for remaining loyal to Leon.

     It became illegal to marry out of class, as well. Dozens of marriages between rich girls who fell for the man from “the wrong side” were annulled and the man put into slavery for the offense of daring to “pretend to be one of his betters”. Comparatively, women who lucked out on rich husbands were stripped of any titles and put into the nearest w***e house.

     Desmond was all about the purity of royal blood.

Single mothers were ripped from their children, who were tossed in orphanages or put into slavery. Orphanages fell apart because no one wanted the burden of dozens of kids �" because no one had the time. Everyone was working to scrape up enough to keep tax collectors happy enough to overlook the vast amount missing from the gold due.

     I remember looking around the orphanage, listening to Ana read the lighter story of hope that King Leon’s twenty-one year old son, Elric, would return us to glory as I waited to escort her home. I looked at the broken down place and it clarified everything I did for the Brotherhood. It made nightmares and long nights worth it.

     It was a solid reason to keep fighting to see Desmond’s head on a pike.

 

     Out after dinner two days before my leave, I was trying to get my arm and leg back into regular work. I healed faster if I didn’t baby anything. Rose was sitting up on the wall, reading a book while I ran back and forth, leaping over and around obstacles I’d laid out.

     “I mean it, Rafe. I could help,” she said randomly, closing her book and looking at me.

     Sighing, I decided to take a break. I was doused with sweat as I leaned on the wall, draining my canteen of water. “Why do you keep pushing this so hard? I told you I would give you an answer.”    

     “You’re going to say no, and I really want to get moving again. I’m safest with you, and I can help,” she said, eyes still locked on me. She seemed to look right through me sometimes, and to be honest, it bugged me.

     “There’s no way you know what I’m going to say,” I dodged.

     “I know you’ll say no unless I keep pushing the matter with you, Raphael. You think I’m just some helpless girl because you found me in the woods and had to rescue me. I get it! But I can help you, and if you let me, I will. Please, Rafe, I just want to go with you. I can take care of myself, if that’s what’s bothering you,” she went on, determined.

     “Keeping you safe isn’t necessarily the problem, unless you’re a complete dolt. However, someone who can control her features like you can isn’t an idiot,” I pointed out, just to let her know that I paid attention.

     It didn’t bother her and she tried again, “What is the problem then?”

     “The problem is that I don’t like partners. I play nice when I have to but those are short-term missions. This thing is going to have me gone for weeks,” I told her, sipping my water again.

     “I’m not your partner, though, not really. I’m just a tag-along. You’d still be calling the shots with whatever you do �" I’d only be there for commentary and to bounce ideas when you need it,” she argued, her voice telling me that I’d somehow given her hope that saying yes was more likely now.

     “Rose, I just don’t think it would be a good idea. You’d be mostly bored, stuck in the Hollow �" and you like to keep moving. We’d be there at least a month, maybe more!”

     “Rafe, the only reason I need to get moving is because the men hunting me recently found me near here. If I can put some serious distance between this area and myself, then I’d be able to afford sitting tight somewhere for a bit. You and Derek did say Hollow was very well hidden, too,” she pointed out, grinning because she knew I was running out of arguments.

     Damn, I hated that she saw through me.

     “You’d be bored,” I tried again.

     “I’d keep busy somehow. Even if I’m just helping the sick in Hollow, that alone would keep my time occupied while you work.” She bit her lip, making her terribly adorable as she said, “Please, Rafe, I won’t be such a problem like you think.”

     “If I’m going to say yes, you have to answer a question.”

     “Anything you want; just name it.”

     “Why are they after you?”

     “Okay, anything but that,” she said, her heart visibly sinking.

     I stared at her a long moment before asking softly, “I don’t need details or your whole life story. I just need the basic reason. What is it about some girl that makes so many dangerous men want to kill her?”

     She sighed, looking at her hands in her lap as she spoke, so softly that I had to listen hard to hear her. “It’s nothing I’ve done and it’s not even who I am.” Rose seemed to be looking for the right way to explain it, as if it were terribly difficult to explain simply. “It’s not even necessarily what I have that they want, though that is part of it,” she explained. “I mean, they can’t use it.”

     “Alright, so it’s something you have �" but why do they want it if they can’t use it?”

     I heard her swallow thickly as she murmured, “Like I said, it’s not exactly what I have that they want �" it’s me, but then it’s not me.” Frustrated, she said, “I’m not making any sense, am I?”

     Stepping closer to where she sat on the wall, I said, “You’re making enough sense for me to follow. Let me see if I’m straight; they want something you have, right?” She nodded. “Alright, but it’s something they can’t use. Does that mean they want you because you can?” She nodded again, seeming relieved that I pieced it together.

     “Only I can use it, too. It’s in my blood.” Tears came to her eyes as she looked at me and whispered so low that I scarcely heard, “They’d make me do terrible things with it, Rafe. I can’t let them have it.”

     “Destroy it,” I suggested.

     “I can’t do that either! I’ve tried!” She sounded helplessly upset, like all of her choices were limited �" and chosen for her no matter how she fought.

     “Why can’t it be destroyed?”

     She wiped her eyes as she told me, “A wise woman told me that what I have is a part of my own soul �" and my soul is where the power it holds comes from. Unless I’m willing to commit suicide, it can’t be destroyed.”

     I held up a hand before she could talk anymore, “Alright, alright, calm down. You’ve answered more than what I asked, so I’ll ask no more.” I saw that she still looked ready to cry. I slipped on my clean shirt as I said, “You might not want to, because I’m filthy and I reek, but if you need a shoulder �" mine is open.”

     Rose just laughed weakly as she broke down into tears, leaping off the wall and throwing herself in my arms. I held her there for a long time, letting her cry it all out into my shirt. I leaned on the wall, stroking her hair and just not saying anything. There was nothing to be said at any rate.

     After a long silence and she finally calmed, she said, “Can I tell you something that’ll sound ridiculous?”

     “Sure, if you want to,” I replied.

     “I’ve never had a friend before,” she confessed. “I mean, I’ve known people that I got along with and that got along with me �" but I’ve never had anyone who I could tell my secrets too and trust completely.”

     “That has to suck,” I said lamely.

     She laughed though, so I felt a bit better for saying it. “I only mention it because…” She pulled away, looking up at my face as she said softly, “It’s very easy to talk to you. I think maybe it’s because we’re becoming friends.”

     I smiled. “I’ll be your friend, Rose.” Pausing, I added, “I have a condition though.”

     “What is it?”

     “Never call me Raphael again,” I told her.

     She laughed and said, “It’s a deal.”

 

Author's Note

IGNORE " IN THE TEXT BECAUSE WRITERSCAFE REPLACES - WITH THEM. -- Tell me what you think. (: