Chapter 69: Kill Him
Sounds of wings flipping was heard. Followed by a deep, rolling beat, like thunder.
People on the street looked up and seeing what it is, a woman dropped her basket, a man grabbed his son by the shoulder and pulled him back against the wall.
Three dragons came down through the clouds.
The first one came down like like a falling mountain. The Wings spread wide.
Then behind was the second one, then the third one.
The three dragons landed in the open yard at the edge of town.
The ground shake when they landed.
Dust and loose gravel rushed out in every direction.
There was a hanging sign above a shop swung hard on the chain. Horses were tied at the far post screamed and pulled against their ropes.
For a moment, no one was moving..
Then the riders climbed down first.
After them Professor Valerius climbed down. He stepped down slowly and adjusting his coat as his boots touched the ground.
Magnus came down next. He was wearing the royal robe. The robe caught the wind as he landed and settled around him.
Then Elara, Sael and Power also climbed down.
All of them walked together toward the town.
People on the street has their eyes on Valerius, then they shifted it to Magnus. Recognising the both of them and the royal robe, the people on both sides of the street started lowering their heads as they passed.
A merchant bowed without even looking up. Two older men near the well stepped back and dipped their heads. A group of young boys who had run out to see the dragons scrambled to the side of the road and went quiet.
Magnus did not pay attention to any of it.
Valerius gave a short nod to no one in particular.
They kept walking and made they way to an inn door and walked in.
The inn went quiet immediately they entered.
The man in the corner who was laughing stopped. The two men debating something at a table near the window both turned.
The group near the fireplace froze where they sat.
Behind the bar, a woman was mixing a drink. Her hand was moving in a steady circle over the top of a clay cup. Then when she noticed the silence, her hand slowed down as she lifted her eyes.
Seeing who walked in, her hand stopped completely.
She set the mixing spoon down on the counter and leaned slightly toward the bar girl standing next to her.
"You. Take over."
The bar girl blinked, then nodded and reached for the spoon.
The woman straightened up. She smoothed the front of her apron once, then stepped out from behind the bar. She crossed the floor toward an empty table near the far wall.
She turned and look towards Valerius. Then she waved once like she was inviting them to come over.
Valerius nodded as he led the group over.
When they reached the table, the woman looked at them each in turn.
"Professor," she said to Valerius, and gave a nod that was more than a nod.
Magnus stepped forward slightly and inclined his head. "Sable."
So that was her name, Sable.
She turned to the three riders next. She looked at each of them for a moment, then gave them a slow nod.
Then her eyes moved to Elara, Sael, and Power. She nodded again. They nodded back.
Then her attention came back to Valerius.
"Rooms?" she said.
"We will need them, yes," Valerius said. "For the night and maybe tomorrow night too."
Sabel nodded without asking more.
She turned and walked back to the bar and leaned in close to one of the bar girls, said something low that no one else heard. The girl nodded once and disappeared through the back door.
Sable turned back around.
Valerius was already leaning toward Magnus, speaking quietly near his ear.
Magnus listened, then straightened and turned his full attention toward the riders.
Sable tilted her head toward the stairs and then left.
...
The third floor was quiet.
Sable stopped at the last door at the end of the hall, she pushed it open and stepped inside.
The room was plain. A table, two chairs, a small window with shutters half-closed.
Three candles unlit at the center of the table.
Sable looked at them.
"Pyra Alaris." She said as she flipped her hand and te three candles lit up together.
She pulled off her jacket and draped it over the back of the nearest chair. Then she turned.
Valerius had just stepped inside through the door.
"How long?" she asked.
Valerius crossed to the chair across from her and sat down slowly. He leaned back, and for just a moment, something in his face let go. It was not much but just enough to show how tired he was.
"Until the matter with the Forsaken Lords is resolved," he said.
Sable nodded and stare at him for a moment. Then she turned to the table. There was a clay jar near the edge. She picked it up, poured into a cup, and handed it over to him. Valerius took it.
"How are you?" she asked. She sat down across from him. "You and that exhausting work of yours."
Valerius looked at the cup in his hand.
One corner of his mouth moved.
"Still exhausting," he said.
...
The Old Starweaver Mansion was the same as Reynold remembered it.
He was standing in front of the mansion. His eyes were on it. Then it moved to the iron gate, the stone wall and then the upper windows.
All of it was exactly as he remembered.
He walked up to the gate and knocked.
He heard footsteps. Then the gate opened and a man appeared. He looked middle-aged, has broad across the chest, with a guard’s collar on.
He looked at Reynold.
"Boy," he said. "Who are you here for?"
Reynold looked at him.
He did not recognise the man. This was not the gatekeeper who had worked for them before. Their old gatekeeper was thin with a scar along his jaw and a habit of humming to himself when he thought no one could hear.
This man was someone else.
Reynold said, "I’m here to see the keeper of the house."
The gatekeeper frowned for a second. "You mean Sir Harven? The owner?"
Reynold paused and then nodded.
"Yes," he said. "I’m looking for Harven."
"Wait here," the gatekeeper said. He started to pull the gate back. Then he stopped.
He turned around.
"Who should I say is asking?"
"Reynold Starweaver."
The gatekeeper’s face changed hearing the name. It was only for a second, just a small shift around the eyes and mouth before his expression turn natural back.
He nodded once and left.
...
The gatekeeper found Harven in the courtyard.
Rhe guards were already flogging the woman and the daughter.
The woman was on her knees with her arms tied to a post, and the sound of the lash was carrying across the open space.
Gift was on her knees beside her mother with her arms out.
The gateman stepped forward and cleared his throat.
Harven turned.
"What?" he said.
"Someone is at the gate," the gateman said. "Asking to see you."
Harven’s face said he did not care. "Which boy? There are always people showing up at the gate. Tell them to go away."
"He said his name is Reynold Starweaver."
The guard stopped mid-swing ad he turned to look at Harven.
Harven went completely still.
Reynold Starweaver!
Harven clenched his hand tightly. He was not careless. He had kept track of Reynold this whole time. He knew the boy had made it into Wyrmwood Academy.
Then he had heard the story about him being bond to three dragons.
What was he doing here now?
Harven breathe out normally. He looked at the gateman.
"Did he come alone or he came with his dragons?" he asked.
"Yes sir. No dragons just him."
Harven’s shoulders loosened slightly in relief.
He was alone without his dragons..
He is Just a boy then.
Harven nodded.
"Go back to the gate," he said. "Tell him I am not receiving any visitors right now. And if he makes any trouble about it, have the guards throw him out."
"I am afraid," a voice said from behind him, "that will not be necessary."
Harven turned.
Reynold was already standing in the yard.
Harven stared at him.
"How did you get in here?" he said. "Who let you through?"
Reynold looked around the yard slowly. At the walls. At the windows of the upper floor. At the stone step leading up to the front door where he used to sit as a small child and watch the rain.
"Do I need permission," he said, "to walk into my own parents’ house?"
Harven’s jaw tightened.
"Your parents’ house." He let out a short scoff sound. "Your parents are dead, boy. This is my house now. You are trespassing." He turned to the guards. "Take him and lock him in the cellar. And if he resists.." He dropped his voice slightly. "Kill him quietly, discard his body and make sure nothing is trace back to us.."
The gaurds were already moving..
In the center of the yard, the mother raised her head.
She looked at Reynold through the pain still in her body.
She recognised that face.
She had known that face since he was a baby. She had carried him. She had cleaned him. She had watched it sleep in a crib.
She murmured his name without sound.
"Reynold."
Beside her, Gift went still.
Then she started saying no. "No. Stop. No, leave him.."
A guard stepped toward her and kick her.
Reynold eyes was on them.
He was looking at the welts across the woman’s back. Then he shifted his eyes to the state of Gift’s worn dress.
Reynold’s face immediately went cold.
Before he could move, four guards reached him from both sides with their hands locked around his arms. A fifth one came in from behind and grabbed his collar.
They pulled him back.
Reynold fought them trying to free himself. He planted his feet and pushed against their grip,his shoulders straining, but the guards were stronger.
They dragged him toward the side passage that led down to the cellar.
"Please... stop!" Gift scrambled forward on her hands. "Please.... that’s Reynold, that’s the young master, you can’t..."
Across the yard, Harven watched Reynold being dragged through the door.
He smoothed the front of his shirt.
Then he looked at the woman still on her knees in the yard, and then at Gift, who was shaking.
"You two, get back to work," he said.