III - Tale of the Lost Sword

"What the- what is this?" Minos yelled. He looked over to Rei, whose hands were now holding on to the handle of the sword hanging on his belt.

     "Hold it." Cassana snapped. A faint yellow light now emanates from the gem. A floating luminous circle, humming and riddled with runes, was hovering above it. The same identical circle was also wrapped around Rei's right arm. As Cassana pulled the staff lower, the circle around Rei became tighter.

     "A sorcerer!" Minos, again stating the obvious.

     "I prefer wizard." Cassana answered.

     "Whatever. It makes sense now, why you know so much... You from The Tower?"

     "Of course. Unranked."

     "Really? For how long?"

     "Five years."

     "Five years? You're not a very good wizard then."

     Cassana moved the staff lower, "careful, I could still cut your friend's arm off."

     "You couldn’t. I know what that is, it’s a binding spell, only meant to incapacitate, not to maim."

     "Are you sure about that?"

     "Well then go ahead." The smile has completely disappeared from Minos' face. "Cut them off, do it." Minos called her bluff. Ashvell felt the man's body turning stiff, suddenly he wasn’t sure about his footing.

     Minos moved his neck and pressed it against the blade. It started to bleed, to Ashvell's shock. "Ah, Cass?" the driver yelled with confusion, "What are we doing here? Are we gonna kill these guys?"

     "Sorry." Cassana cleared her throat, "I like your friend, but I don't like you, so... be careful of the next words you say. Who told you about my father?"

     "Do we really need all this hostility?"

     "Answer the question."

     "Look, buddy," Minos said to Ashvell, "you're strong, but I can handle you. I can get out of this grab in more ways than one, so I'm not scared of you-"

     Before he can even finish what he's saying, Cassana waved her staff, and they all watched as Rei was lifted off his feet, up to the ceiling, with his arms and legs sprawled out, held in place by four yellow spectral binders. "Answer the question!" she pointed the top end of her staff towards Minos, he felt the faint heat emanating from it. Sapphire, definitely sapphire. He would love to quip a joke right that moment, but he felt the hairs on his skin raising on its ends.

     "Nobody! Okay?"

     "Lie! Only a few people know about my father's past."

     Minos looked up at the ceiling to see how Rei was doing. You were supposed to keep me safe. "Fine!" he screamed, "but put him down first."

     "Not before."

     "Alright. But you should know, this information took months of digging and research. No one's discounting what your father did to stay hidden. He was successful. For the most part."

     "I don't care. Tell me, now."

     Minos took a deep breath. "There was a merchant that your father had a transaction with, years ago, he bought something. It was a long time ago, probably even before you were born. He was The Capital's lead. He knew your father's name, and his previous life. And he also knew that your father settled in a village somewhere around Mt. Visiga. But of course there are a dozen villages around Mt. Visiga. It's almost impossible to find your father, without alerting him that somebody's looking for him. Then the war started; so, your father, not really the monarch's priority."

     "Until, earlier this year, there was another merchant, who happened to get his hands on the very same thing that your father bought from the first merchant years ago. That's how we found out the name of the inn that your father is supposed to own. But then, with the siege and all that, we couldn't act upon that information. Until, of course, the recent cessation of fighting. And now that The Capital has resources to spare, they sent us to find him."

     Cassana's expression turned from anger to consolation. She seemed to know exactly what Minos was talking about. She gave Ashvell the signal to let him go, and released Rei from her Binding Spell. The foreigner dropped down to the floor with grace, then in one blink, pulled his sword from its sheathe and swung it up to Cassana's neck. Minos could see the rage burning from Rei's eyes. Cassana tried her best not to flinch and stared him down with equal ferocity.

     "He's the deadly one," said Minos, trying to contain his grin, "so you were right trying to use maximum force on him. He liked you earlier, but now, probably not anymore."

     Cassana pushed the blade away from her neck and walked back to her wooden desk, placing the staff on top. She turned around to take a moment away from everyone's eyes, holding down a well of tears that were about to burst. She pressed her palms on the table, willing her hands to stop shaking. She turned back after taking a deep breath.

     "What was it that you were going to talk to my father about?"

     Before Minos could answer, they were interrupted by a voice calling out from the above.

     "Cassana? Is everything alright?" It was one of the footmen who were having lunch upstairs.

     "Yeah. I'm fine, what's up?" she shouted from her end.

     "Can you come up here for a moment?"

     "Sure, wait." Cassana climbed up the stairs, but before stepping through the door, looked down on Ashvell, "Can you watch over them for a while? Robb is handling your store, right?"

     "Yeah." The young driver answered, "go, I got this."

     Cassana closed the door behind her. The tension that was earlier filling the room has finally dissipated. Ashvell motioned for Minos to sit down on the bench, and he gestured to Rei asking if he was alright, which the foreigner simply answered with a nod.

     Minos pressed his palm on the wound on his neck. "Sorry about that," said Ashvell. "Is it deep?"

     "No, it's just a flesh wound." Minos answered.

     "I have something," the young man lifted a handful of leaves from the pouch on his waist, which he then crumpled on his palm. He walked towards the shelf of bottled liquor and picked one that was half-empty. He uncorked it and poured a few drops on the crumpled leaves. He squeezed them, then applied them on Minos' wound. "Press it. That's so it won't rot."

     "Thank you," Minos trilled again. "Is she always that violent?"

     "Well..." Ashvell scratched his head and smiled, almost in admiration, "only on bad days."

     "How often does she have a bad day?" Minos replied with a grin.

     "Look man, she had a rough year. She was supposed to get that, that... test from the magic tower thing.."

     "Ranking Exam."

     "Yeah, that. But then her Mom got sick, so she had to come home, and so she missed the whole thing."

     "Where's her mother now?"

     "She got worse, her sickness, until eventually, she... was gone."

     "Damn."

     "Then her father, I don't know what happened to him, he just changed after that. Eventually, the war reached its peak with the siege and all that, and when he heard they were looking for healers, he went off and joined them. Next thing we knew, they were returning his corpse."

     "Do you know her father? Have you..."

     "Yeah." Ashvell found a place to sit by Cassana's wooden desk, "Actually, he gifted me this," he pointed towards his dagger, "on my ten and five's birthday. This was his before."

     "Can you describe him to me? What's he like?"

     "He was a nice old man. He was soft-spoken, and very gentle, and he's smart, he's very smart. He's the one everybody relied on in this village. Losing him was a big blow, not only to Cassana, but to the rest of us as well."

     "But...?"

     "But... he wasn't so nice with Cassana. I don't know exactly what happens within their house when I'm not around, but Cassana has endless complaints about her father. I think the biggest disagreement they had was when she went to The Tower, because he didn't want her to study magic."

     "She disobeyed him?"

     "Yeah. See, since we were kids, Cassana has always wanted to be a wizard. But, you know, it's expensive and... it's not really the kind of thing that people like us can just aspire to be..."

     "Ashvell!" Cassana was just stepping down from upstairs when she overheard the young driver talking, "are you telling him my life story?"

     "No?" Ashvell replied, trying to deflect her question.

     "Ashvell!!" Cassana sounded more like a reprimanding mother than an irritated friend. "You know what, just leave, get out, go back to your wagon."

     "I'm sorry." Ashvell apologized. Cassana pulled him by his collar, dragging him to the stairs. He tried to bow to Minos and his companion before leaving and Minos gave him a wink.

     "So, where were we... right, what do you want to talk about with my father?"

     "Ok, so.." Minos rubbed his nose before bracing himself "Take a seat and let me paint you a picture. Thousands of years ago, the gods watched over our lands with benevolent might. They made the sun rise and set during the day, and they made the moon appear for three-quarters of a month. They let the rivers flow into the sea, they commanded the trees to blossom and bear fruits, and the animals to graze and wander through the earth." Rei faced away with embarrassment.

     "Look, we all know the story, you don't have to..." Cassana groaned, shaking her head.

     "But then," Minos exclaimed, shushing the red-head, "the evil god Eon, descended upon from the heavens, and he ruled over the earth with a tyrannical fist."

     "An oversimplification, but go ahead." Cassana heckled.

     "He trampled over the living, and took control over the dead." Minos continued, waving his arms around for full effect, "he blocked the sun and moon, and turned the oceans into a vast wasteland of tundra and ice."

     "Eon was the god of the sun, he didn't..."

     "Shush!" Minos was reaching to cover Cassana's mouth with his palms, the young woman swatted them off with annoyance. "And then with his army of monsters and fae-folk, he conquered the human kingdoms and enslaved all of humanity."

     "Technically, the fae-folk were enchanted, they didn't do it out of their own free-will."

     "Can you just, let me finish?" Minos said.

     "You're telling the story wrong."

     "I'm trying to make a point, so can you just, listen?"

     Cassana shrugged. She seemed to know where Minos was going.

     "So, after a hundred years of subjugation, after suffering under the tyrannical rule of the evil god Eon, the humans finally rose up and fought back, under the leadership of Markelus."

     "There we go..." Cassana quipped.

     "Battle raged on across the continent, until finally, Markelus faced off with Eon. He drove his sword to the tyrant's heart, and killed him. Henceforth he became known as the Godslayer, and his weapon, the-"

     "Sword of the Godslayer."

     Minos swung his arms sidewards, like a musician that just delivered a heartwarming ballad.

     "So you're not really after my father, you're after the sword."

     "Yes."

     "You could have just said that."

     "Where's the fun in that?"

     "The only one who had fun in this room was you." Cassana glanced at Rei, who gave her an affirmative nod. "I hope you're not planning to be a bard, because you are terrible at it."

     "That's a bit harsh."

     "Look, you got two things wrong, okay?" Cassana stood up, trying to tower above Minos despite being one foot shorter than him. "One, you tried to make it like Markelus was the only one who rose up against Eon, he wasn't. It was an alliance of kings and warriors, it was an assault. It just so happened that he was the one in the room when Eon showed up. And there was nothing special with him, he was just a man."

     "What?"

     "The story you told me, is the same fabricated story that the Varinian dynasty has been telling for the past hundred years, to justify why they are sitting on the throne of Zephyrus. Because they have the blood of Markelus running through their veins.." Cassana shifted to a more sarcastic tone for that last phrase. Minos could tell that that was not the first time she delivered this passionate argument. "No. It was all a lie. Markelus is just a man. And his sword is just a weapon. There is nothing special in neither of them. It was a lie to keep the family on top, remain on top."

     "Is that what they teach in The Tower these days?"

     "It's the truth." Cassana declared.

     "Fair enough." Minos conceded. He sat back in his chair. "Let's just agree to respect each other's opinion."

     "It's not an-"

     "Hep hep," Minos raised his index finger, "let's move on, let's proceed to your second point."

     "What?"

     "You said I got two things wrong, right? What's the second one?"

     "Oh, right. The second one: my father has been living in this village for twenty years. He hasn't been part of the Felwyrs for the past.. thirty years or so. And the sword disappeared fifteen years ago, right? So, yes the Felwyrs are supposed to be the guardians of the sword, but he has nothing to do with its disappearance."

     Minos sat down in consideration of what Cassana just said. Someone like her father would be good enough to cover his own tracks. He stared at her, he observed the movement of her eyes, the way her eyebrows shifted, and how her lips curled. She could be telling the truth. Or she could be a greater liar than I am.

     "I admit I have no rebuttal to offer against what you just said."

     "If only you would have just told me sooner that it's about the sword... this conversation could have been over and done minutes ago. But no, you chose to preempt it with a charade of twisted tales."

     "And you chose to threaten us with magic instead of answering our simple question."

     "It wasn't a simple question." Cassana objected, "my father went through great lengths to protect his past, what he was before, where he's from. It cost him everything to stay hidden here, away from everything else, away from the world. So, of course, I will be greatly concerned if I find out that a bunch of strangers suddenly know who he was."

     "Did no one else in the village know about him?"

     "Just me, my mother, my grandparents. Ashvell."

     "Really?" Minos chuckled. He has only met Ashvell for a few hours yet he already knew he was someone who couldn't hold a secret.

     "Well that was my father's mistake, but I made him promise not to tell anyone."

     "So to the rest of the villagers, your father just... lied then."

     "To protect me. My family. And us, the village."

     "Do you not see it?"

     "What?" Cassana asked.

     "For you, the sword may be a lie, the power that came with it, may be a lie. But it was a lie that was necessary to keep this kingdom strong. The power of the Varinian dynasty comes from Markelus' triumph against Eon. And it rests on that sword. Without it, without that lie, that illusion, the dynasty would collapse, the monarchy would collapse, the kingdom would collapse.

     "The Varinians are doing everything they can to recover that sword. I am here under orders from the Prince of Zephyrus. And he is offering fifty-thousand marks to anybody who could help me find it. Now, I can tell that you're not somebody who is motivated by money, you have ideals, and I like that about you. But imagine what that amount of money could do, to the people here. Fifty-thousand marks for a fake, powerless, ordinary sword. Which clearly, means nothing to you and your father.

     "So I'm gonna ask you, man to woman, all the cards on the table: do you know where your father hid the sword?" Minos stared down at Cassana with all the sincerity he could muster. But before he could even finish his question, her eyes already revealed the answer.

     "And like I said, my father never had the sword. He has nothing to do with its disappearance."

     Minos raised his arms in surrender. "Well then, I guess we're done here."

     "I'm sorry." replied Cassana.

     "Don't be. Like you said, unless you're the one responsible for losing it, otherwise, you don't have to say sorry." Minos answered with his usual cocky grin.

     Cassana stood up and escorted them back upstairs, Minos gestured for Rei to follow.

     "Look, if you're looking for a place to spend the night, you can stay here. First night is on me." Cassana offered.

     "I'm sorry I'll have to decline that offer. Though we might stay in the village for a while, take a gander at what you have here..."

     "There's not much to see, it's just farms."

     "You got the best view of the mountain." Minos said, as he was walking out of the inn. "A shame we would have to go back to the Capital empty-handed though."

     "I'm sure they'll know you tried your best. Safe travels." Cassana waved.

     "Eirene's blessings upon you." Minos bowed, like a stage performer at the end of a show. Cassana shook her head with a smile.

     Minos stepped out of the inn and shielded his eyes from the sun that had just reached its zenith at that point. He looked around and saw several peasants were already walking about on the streets. He turned to the stables and found it empty except for their two horses. I still have one card to play, he thought to himself.

     He walked to the stables and began untying his palfrey, "A wizard." he groaned to his silent companion. "Of all the things we prepared for in this journey, all the sorts of bandits and vagabonds, we got bested by a wizard. Who would have thought?" He freed the mount and started tugging it behind, "And you, my good friend, you were supposed to protect me, keep me alive. What happened there? Don't tell me that a pretty, feisty little redhead is all it takes to let your guard down? Unbelievable. Embarrassing. Pathetic."

     "Oh shut up." His silent companion finally replied. Minos looked at him with surprise. "You're alive, aren't you?"