Colin Tabor - The Fall of Ossard

I cut off her words, “Mother, I’ve far too much to live for.” In Flet I whispered, “Take care, my husband is listening.”

She fought the urge to glance at him, but nodded. “Remember what happened to your grandmother. Expect no mercy.”

In the common tongue, I said, “I’ll be alright,” but my words were hollow. I couldn’t hide my doubts.

She tried to smile.

Regardless of how we might want to control such things, our secrets and our lives, it’s impossible. Pedro was my husband, and so was involved. He would come with us to the Guild despite there being so many truths that had to be hidden from the Heletians – and he was one of them.

My mother stepped down to the cobbles as my father yelled to the driver, “Go, get them out of here!”

The crowd cried out, some holding up the holy star of Krienta while others bravely clutched the symbols of other faiths. To do so put them in as much danger as me, but they were desperate and frightened – and had good reason to be.

For the first time there’d been a sixth kidnapping, and we’d already seen the seventh attempt. We could only assume that there’d be more. Would the cultists stop at seven, or would they continue until the city was bereft of children?

Our driver pulled on the reins as the Cathedral’s bells began to toll.

Dong…

The mob cried out.

Dong…

The carriage lurched off.

Dong…

Someone yelled, “She’s the chosen of Santana, and our only hope!”

Dong…

My father bellowed, “Sef, keep her safe!”

Dong…

And the mob around us fell back as the horses forced their way on to the road.

Dong…

I whispered, trying to drown out the sounds of chaos, “They’ve got their seventh in any case.”

Dong…

And behind us the mob broke into mourning.

Our journey saw us head through the heart of the district, taking the widest roads so we could gain some speed and get away from the crowd. Before long, those following us were left far behind. Our driver swung us around, steering us towards the Cassaro, and then along the riverside road until we reached the Guild’s compound.

Pedro sat glumly with his shoulders slumped, a lost look haunting his eyes. “Just what are we to do?” He shook his head and then glanced up to focus on me. “Please, tell me what really happened?”

Sef turned to look out the window, watching the passing streets through black lace curtains that worked with the day’s dying light to hide our faces.

I didn’t know what to say.

Could he handle the truth? Would he support me, or would he side with the Church? He’d returned from the monastery shattered, but also a believer. Just how deep was his faith? How dangerous would it be to expose the truth of the Flets; of our adherence to our ancestral beliefs?

This was getting complicated, and it was only just beginning.

I did have to tell him something, but what? Whatever it was, it had to be believable as he was already feeling alienated.

“We were in Market Square when the bell tolled six.”

He nodded.

“People panicked, and in the chaos I saw a lady and her daughter being harassed by a man in robes, some kind of cultist. Sef had Maria, so I grabbed the knife off his belt and charged the man. I slashed at him hoping to ruin his spell. It worked, giving the girl and her mother a chance to flee. People didn’t seem to notice him until I hit him, it sent sparks flaring when I did, but I don’t know why. I didn’t do anything but try and stop him.”

Pedro’s gaze left me, moving to Sef. Inadvertently I’d made my daughter’s treasured bodyguard and my good friend look bad. I added, “Sef followed, giving Maria back after my charge. He drew his sword against the cultist to face him. By then we had quite an audience including the priests and Benefice atop the steps of the Cathedral. The cultist cast some kind of spell in front of everyone and then disappeared. We came straight home from there.”

Pedro grumbled at Sef, “You would mind the baby, while my wife attacks cultists?”

“I hadn’t seen him.”

I placed my hand on Pedro’s knee, trying to still his anger. “No one saw him. It was not Sef’s failing.”

“But you did?”

I shrugged.

Pedro nodded and then said, “I should have been there.”

“We’re all safe, let that be the end of it.”

He looked to me. “But it isn’t, is it.”

We arrived at the Guild, our coach racing through the compound’s gates to enter the courtyard beyond. A guildsman stood waiting. He hurried us into the Guildhall where we were led upstairs to a small lounge. “Please make yourself comfortable.” Behind him, a staffer hurried to close the window’s curtains. “As soon as we’ve cleared safe passage, you’ll be told.” Then he left, shutting the door behind him.

Pedro asked, “Safe passage to where?”

“I don’t know, we’ll have to wait and see.”

Sef wandered to the other end of the room, looking at the paintings that hung on the wall and leaving the seats to us.

Pedro sat with an arm around Maria. She fell back and into his lap, playfully snuggling. He smiled as he stroked her long dark hair. Before long she was asleep.

It was then that he looked up, suddenly grave. “I had to do it.”

I stared at him not knowing what he meant.

He continued, “They were all doing it. So many were joining that I didn’t feel I had a choice. And they told me of the benefits, of the blessings of Avida. A lot of the young men were getting involved. To succeed you had to be a member. To talk and deal with them you had to be a member. It was plain, I had to join.”

I finally understood. “When we first met?”

His voice was weak, “Yes, that was my initiation.”

“The…” my throat froze.

He winced, sensing the sorcery as it choked off my words. He finished the sentence for me, “The ritual. I’m so sorry. I thought it was all a superstitious joke. I knew I had to take a virgin, and the higher her power and beauty the better the return.”

He leaned forward, but took care not to disturb Maria. “I didn’t know of the boy’s part in it, not until it was too late. I was drunk and overcome with lust. When I… When I saw what they did to him, I just didn’t care.” He shook his head as tears welled in his eyes. “My only thought was that he was just a Flet.” He looked down at Maria as tears rolled down his cheeks. “I’m sorry, I was such a pig.”

I was stunned. He’d never spoken of the ritual. I’d almost believed that somehow the monastery had cured him of its memory.

I didn’t know what to say, or what I could say: The magic still held me even after all these years. I could only try. “How much do you know?”

“Not enough. Nothing really. Just that there were a few chapters in the city. They recruited from everywhere, but particularly amongst the rich. I don’t know who we can trust.”

The door opened and a guildsman looked in, “My Lady, Guildmaster Kurgar is ready to see you – alone.”

Pedro shifted uncomfortably, but nodded. “Go, I’ll watch Maria.”

I followed the man down a passage to another room. It was well appointed and finished in timber, sporting the colours of both the city and Newbank hanging from the walls. Those grand ensigns were accompanied by smaller pennants, those of the fortified cities of Fletland, and even a shield of the Praagerdam, the land lost to our forefathers during the horrors of Def Turtung. All of it, along with three framed maps of those territories, gave the room a deep sense of heritage.

Behind a large desk rose the man I knew my father had so often dealt with. He stood at a good height with a solid build, but wasn’t overly bulky. Ironically, jet-black hair capped his head – a rarity amongst the Flets, it made our Guildmaster look almost Heletian. He carried an air of determination, but it was the intelligence in his eyes that stood out.