Utopia Falling, page 28
“I can still hear you,” Reyne shouted back without turning his gaze from Mithany. Once more, he yelled over his shoulder towards the closed door, certain Daedyn would hear him, “The fire pit can wait. I’ll get it later.” For Reyne, it wasn’t a hard choice.
“Fuck it. I’ll put out the fire,” Daedyn said, mostly to himself, but loud enough for everyone in earshot. “We’re not done with this,” he said to Mera.
Take Aim
Hensdale: 27th day of the Salmon Moon
Quith
The day honoring the Feast of Teth slipped further into night. A short distance from the brothers’ front porch, Neladith and Quith remained positioned in the tall grass—waiting. The pair of assassins, having already set up, were prepared to strike from just beyond a nearby tree line in the dark, the way they liked it. They needed only for Reyne to emerge in order to accomplish their deadly assignment.
“Nothing’s happening,” Quith said, stating the obvious. He pulled his field glasses from their case. Darkness prevented scintillation from the sun’s reflection bouncing off the glass lenses. “You want a look?”
“No. I trust your assessment.”
“You sure it’s balanced perfect?” Quith asked.
“Balance perfectly. The hardest part of this shot is going to be the timing. If he moves down the stairs, it’s going to affect my judgement. It’s only four steps. Not a lot of time to calculate the target’s speed to lead him properly.”
“You making excuses? You haven’t even missed yet. Where are the extra arrows?” A concerned look grew on his face.
“No excuses, just want you to know how difficult this shot is going to be so that when I make it, you’ll be in awe. Oh, no other arrows. Only the one. It’s all I’ll need. It’s all I’ve ever needed,” she said confidently.
Cocky bitch, isn’t she, Quith thought. Hope she’s that good, and my missed attempt on Reyne Brenton will soon be forgotten.
Quith shot out a cricket call to his security team. As expected, the reply came back, music to his ears.
The evening grew dark, and the moon hung low just above the tree line. The ops leader monitored the unfamiliar orb hanging in the sky as it creeped on through the night. The moon, the stars, and even the sun hid from them in their world.
“You know, I didn’t expect to see you at the inn in Owls Neck, and I certainly didn’t expect to see you with that boy,” Quith said.
“Well, compared to an old guy like you, he’s a boy. But he isn’t, not really. He may appear young, but he has all the skills of a much-practiced older man. Skills I definitely appreciated and expect to again,” she replied with a grin. “You’re right, though. In other ways, he acts like a boy, grabbing my boobs in public because he loves playing with them and thinks no one’s looking. Not the behavior a young lady expects. If I’m being honest, I kinda like the thrill of getting groped in public.”
“Either way, it all worked out. You’re here now.”
“I made it here without a hitch. What better way than out in the open with the fiancée of the man you’re gonna kill, along with her brother? Great cover. And he was quite attentive to me on our walk back to Hensdale. Oh, here’s an interesting thing we encountered on the trip. Came across something they call a Great Yetgnal. Big beast, nine feet tall. Hairy fucker and smells awful. But, the guy you call a boy, he couldn’t have been better. Don’t worry, I’m not attached to him. If he gets in the way, you’ll have no objections from me. Remind me after to tell you more of that story about how he stood up to a Great Yetgnal. Delightful story. Ends with someone shitting their pants.”
“Good,” was all Quith said in reply. He couldn’t help thinking how he wished he was that young man, then added, “Young lady? Lady? Who would that be?” he laughed.
“Fuck you. I am so a fuckin’ lady.”
Quith shot one finger to his lips. “Shhh,” then pointed. “Look. The door is opening. Get ready.”
Consequences of Deceit
Hensdale: 27th day of the Salmon Moon
Brenal | Daedyn
Reyne slipped away to join Mithany in his own bedroom. Mera and Arek sat at the table with Brenal. Daedyn paused at the door he’d just nudged open an inch or two. It looked as though he was about to leave them all sitting there to go outside and tend to the fire pit, but the erupting conversation between Mera and Brenal anchored him inside.
Brenal addressed Mera, “My friend, it seems there’s much you haven’t shared over the years. I’ve seen a lot of unique wonders in this world, but what you spoke of to Reyne earlier is beyond what my limited mind can come to terms with.”
Hollid Brenal sat dumbfounded. His friend for so many years told of a life, a world that he never shared with him. It hurt Brenal. He didn’t care if it was true. A man who was his friend didn’t care enough or trust him to share everything he’d just told Reyne—until tonight.
“When you brought the newborn Reyne to Pachelle and Gwerther, you asked me to watch over the boy, to keep him healthy and to keep you posted on his developments. Now I feel used more than anything.”
“You’re a dear friend.” Honesty tinged with sadness mingled in Mera’s words. “We’ve been friends a long time. I didn’t share this important fact with you, dear friend. But there was a reason.”
Pain painted across the old man’s face. Mera could see the disappointment. Thoughts rose and fell of what words he might offer to bring him a small measure of comfort. None seemed sufficient to the task. He tried anyway.
“You must think me a terrible friend, having asked you to watch over Reyne all these many years, only sharing with you he was an abandoned newborn. I didn’t lie. The murder of his parents left him abandoned.” Mera paused, hoping the words might push through the tension between them. “Know this. I wanted to provide you with the truth of it all but didn’t dare risk it. Your counsel and keen mind would’ve been a great resource and a greater comfort all these years. But I couldn’t do it without putting your life and that of Sura’s at great risk.”
Still feeling the sting of betrayal, Brenal cut him off. “And now you feel no such compunction. What? I’m now expendable that the job is done. Having done your bidding over these past twenty-odd years, I’m no longer needed? So you can tell me now?”
The words hurt Mera. It was apparent Brenal intended to hurt him. Brenal did what most people do when someone hurts them. He hurt back.
In careful reflection, still searching for words that might bring Brenal a small measure of ease, a tsk escaped his mouth. “Of course not.”
Those words hung in the air between the two men: one seeking a way back to amity, the other trying to balance betrayal against friendship. Moments seemed like hours as silence filled the room. Brenal was defiant. He would not be the one to break the silence, the one to fill the void as demanded by human nature. Mera wasn’t sure what he could say, as the tension was uncomfortable for him as well.
In the end, Mera breached the quiet. “I’ve always known what I do puts my life at risk, and accept that for myself. I couldn’t put that on you, couldn’t put your life at risk. Not a friend such as you. How could you ask me to jeopardize what you had with Sura? Even now, what price would you pay to have her back?”
Brenal had always been a kind and gentle man, but not at that moment. “You can’t use her like that. She cared about you, too. You can’t!” he demanded in anger.
“And what if I did?” Anger leaked out in his reply. “What if I did share with you all this? And what if they discovered you were my confidant? What if Sura paid the price of our secrets or if my true purpose cost you your Sura? What then?” His tone faded back to empathy.
Mera went on, “Would you have understood? Would you have been willing to forgive me? With a pain in my heart, I kept this and more from you. If it costs me your friendship now, then that’s a price I don’t want to pay, but I’ll accept it with great sadness, knowing it was best for you all these years. Now these kids are in a helluva lot of trouble. And I need your help to save them.”
Silence took control of the room once more. Mera thought he might have just found the right words after all. This time he was going to remain silent for as long as it took until Brenal put together his own thoughts in reply.
Understanding came slowly to Brenal. Seconds passed into a minute or longer. Time seemed to move so very slowly when there was nothing but the empty void of silence staring down troubled friends. An eternity passed. Brenal’s countenance finally declared acceptance. He missed Sura too much.
With a sense of finality to the understanding they’d reached, Mera placed his hand on Brenal’s shoulder, firmly gripping it in an unspoken acknowledgement of their reconciliation: a reconciliation born of need. Mera smiled. No other words were needed. Brenal didn’t return the smile.
Standing at the door, Daedyn hadn’t moved during Mera’s and Brenal’s tense exchange. He also saw the closed door to Reyne’s bedroom. Voicing feigned anger at his brother, Daedyn yelled loud enough to force his voice down the hallway and through the door, “You hear that, lil brother? As usual, I’m doin’ your work. And I’m taking your special coat. Dad’s old coat. I’m keepin’ it. It’s mine now.”
No reply came back, but Daedyn didn’t think he’d get one. He knew his brother too well. It upset him Reyne chose Mithany over him, or possibly he was jealous of the influence over Reyne she stole from him, or was it something his heart never accepted?
She wanted Reyne.
She didn’t want him.
Whatever the cause, Daedyn wasn’t sure why, but he was getting more annoyed with his brother with each passing moment. His anger wasn’t pretend. It was real. Daedyn turned his attention from the closed bedroom door. The pain of what lay behind it stung all the worse, more than usual.
Pushing open the front door, he muttered, “Pussy-whipped little prick.” Daedyn didn’t voice the rest of what he was thinking. He had to admit to himself, Guess I’d do the same thing if I was alone in a bedroom with her. Stopping just before stepping through the open door, he reflected. Only the slight pursing of his lips gave him away. What did it matter? No one but Mera was watching.
Daedyn thought, I’m the one who’s gotta get used to this. Doesn’t look like he’s leaving Hensdale. You’d think I’d be used to this side of the door by now.
He stepped outside, closing the front door behind him.
He paused for a short time on the porch, looking out over the alphen grove in darkness, thinking about what would change once Reyne and Mithany got married. Mostly, he felt sorry for himself. He feared his brother would slip away. His best friend. They’d still be brothers, but Mithany would be living there, permanently. He already accepted years ago he had lost Mithany forever.
Maybe he wouldn’t lose Reyne totally, but no matter what happened after the two got married, things were going to be different.
Looking out towards the burn pit, he saw only darkness. The flames had faded, yet the embers lingered, Ironic, he thought, much like the dying flames of hidden love.
Daedyn let himself pause there on the porch, consumed in self-pity. Not that Reyne was going anywhere with Mera, but losing him to Mithany was an even greater forfeit. Reyne would marry the woman he still secretly loved. Grief filled his heart while he stood alone, contemplative and silent in all-encompassing darkness.
A Shot in the Dark
Hensdale: 27th day of the Salmon Moon
Neladith
“You sure that’s him? Your call, leader,” Neladith questioned Quith.
His team gathered the intel.
They scoped out the target.
They chose the location.
As team leader, it was Quith’s job to tell her whether to release the arrow and to confirm she was shooting at the right target.
Three short chirps escaped Selundra Quith’s cupped hands. A moment later, the same three short chirps came back. Confirmation from the spotters the package had arrived.
“You heard the reply. You can almost make out his face. And look, the height. The shoulders. That hair. The jacket. He had it on when I saw him earlier at the pit with Meraturoc. The target wears it to go out at night and sometimes in the morning. That’s him. Take the shot,” Selundra Quith ordered.
Making only a slight adjustment for the target’s position on the porch, with the arrow nocked on the bowstring, Neladith drew back the leaded-glass missilette. There would be no pull to the right or left. The four bow strings came together at a single spot—dead center. Sighted in line with the body but above the target’s head to account for gravity’s pull. She calculated it all over again in her mind, drop rate, weight of the arrow, pull weight, speed, and distance of travel. The target’s position changed from the strike zone they’d anticipated at the bottom of the steps to the top of the step where he now stood. The target remained motionless at the top. All the better to shoot at a still object.
She released.
The snap and twang of the bowstring sounded perfect to her trained ear.
They could only hope he wouldn’t move in the next one point three-five seconds.
Childish Games We Still Play
Teth: 27th day of the Salmon Moon
Kaythlin
While Daedyn stood on the porch of his childhood home alone, inching ever closer to an abyss of pity, in another part of Tartica, the Grand Ball hosted by First Lord Jerithan was breaking up.
The Chancellor of Adelle along with his First Lady and captain of the KCG walked together towards their sequestered rooms inside the Temple Palace. The halls deep inside the palace were empty save the three Adelleians.
Noise drifted on the evening air, delivering muffled voices fading ever further with the growing distance between the Palace’s Grand Glen Hall and its departing guests.
Enough real estate to offer private conversation, separating the Tomelais and Derr from the other retiring Ball attendees, moved Derr to say, “Good. We can finally talk. Rotti, someone tried to kill you this morning. To remove your playing piece from the board. It can’t go unanswered.”
Kaythlin slipped her arm through her husband’s. She nestled her head into his broad shoulder as the pair walked arm in arm.
“They will try again,” Derr stated flatly.
Tomelai stared down the long hallway.
Kaythlin spoke in dulcet tones, “My dear Druin, you are not going to let anything happen to my love.”
Madrotti Tomelai moved his free hand over his wife’s engaged arm.
“Gentlemen, I have been thinking. Perhaps there is a way to put an end to it before any further attempts are made.”
Derr said, “I defer to that strategic brain of yours. Let’s hear what you have in mind.”
Kaythlin looked around, making certain they were free of prying ears. “Follow my line of thinking. Take yourselves back to the time you were boys. Well, you are both still boys in so many ways. You are just playing more dangerous games.”
A chuckle rolled off Tomelai.
Derr’s face showed no reaction. It rarely did.
Kaythlin continued, “So, what did you two do when you were off playing some silly board game as children? Madrotti, as usual, you were losing. Forgive me, my dear husband. I am certain Druin exaggerates.” She squeezed his hand and laughed. “In any event, how many times, Madrotti, did you grab the board and throw it up in the air? You ended the game and denied Druin victory. It is exactly what you need to do in the Council of Nations tomorrow.”
Tomelai and Derr turned to face each other. Two pairs of eyes narrowed in unison. Tomelai tilted his head to the side. The men engaged in what looked like a silent discussion, and both reached the same conclusion.
Derr announced their mutual decision, “The Covenant. Of course. That’ll work.”
Tomelai’s forehead wrinkled, apparently rolling the idea over in his mind, before being released to join the rest of his face in a broad, evil grin. “Kaythlin, that is the answer. You are brilliant.” He wrapped his arms around her, lifting her off the ground, and affectionately twirled her as though dancing in the empty hallway. “And Drew’s telling of those childhood stories—well, he is full of shit.”
Derr ignored the retort. “We still need to determine who was behind the attack this morning. When we do, we will exact our payment, of that, there is no doubt. That game hasn’t even been set up to play yet. And I have to agree with Rotti. Kaythlin, you are an exceptional gamemaster. You may have just saved your husband’s life.”
Kaythlin’s feet once again touched the ground. She looked up into Madrotti’s eyes. “It has never been attempted. It will create complications, unforeseen consequences. But I do not see any other path to put a stop to further attempts to assassinate you. But you, my love, are strong and will weather the storm that follows.”
Till Death Do Us Part
Hensdale: 27th day of the Salmon Moon
Neladith | Quith
On the porch, standing alone in the dark, the man hadn’t moved. If Neladith had done the math correctly and if she executed her shot precisely, he had only a moment left to live. The slightest error would mean failure—her failure.
The arrow took all of one point three-five seconds to reach its target. Exactly as Neladith calculated. She did everything right.
Good for her.
Bad for him.
Without a sound, the leaded-glass arrow entered the back of his neck, just below the base of his skull. The arrow shattered on impact. A multitude of broken razor-sharp shards ripped through his flesh. The target didn’t cry out; he couldn’t—it was already too late.
