“Things could be going a lot better.”
My amused snort wasn’t lost to Viconia and Alexi as we sat around the table, briefly lifting their gazes in my direction before returning to our individual pieces of equipment scattered in front of us. All three of us had our armour entirely disassembled and piece by piece we were going through the extensive process of cleaning and maintaining them.
“Don’t just snort at me Kaius, you know exactly what I mean.”
“I know.” My gaze lifted up to Viconia and the deepening scowl that she was wearing. “Everything that we have fought and bled for is already unravelling and it hasn’t even been a week yet.”
Though he tried to hide it, I couldn’t help but notice the way that Alexi lightly touched his scarred cheek when I mentioned bleeding. “As always, Detane is a problem.” He said almost absentmindedly.
“But one we can deal with.” I lifted up one of my vambraces that had a fresh series of scratches across it from sword practice and frowned at them. “How is he going?”
“Hasn’t spoken more than a handful of words since getting beaten up. I almost prefer the complaining Detane that we are accustomed to.”
The silence that fell was leaden and I stared at the young sword master. “Why don’t you just say what you are thinking?”
“I’m not thinking of anything.” He replied, running a length of chainmail across his breastplate and scouring it clean of grime and oiling it at the same time.
“Bullshit Alexi. You’re wondering why we haven’t sent him on his way.”
The repetitive motions of his hands ceased and he sighed loudly. “Fine. Why is he still here?”
“Because he’s one of us.”
Viconia made a sound that a cross between a snort and a chuckle and rolled her eyes. “Doubtful mrannd’ssinss.”
“I didn’t consider that a convicted murderer is ‘one of us,’ Kaius…” Alexi stopped and trailed off as he saw the expressions on our faces and our mutual amusement. “Gods damn it, you two don’t make things easy.”
“We’ve all got our dark secrets, even if they aren’t entirely secrets.” Grinning while lifting up Dragonbane to inspect its length, Viconia gave Alexi a haughty look that wasn’t subtle in its teasing.
“There’s definitely some things you two could have gotten away with not telling me and there’s definitely a few things that I would have slept a lot easier not knowing about.”
“Like our sordid pasts?” I teased in return.
“Yes, and fine, you make your point. Detane isn’t the only murderer in our ranks, especially with the two of you.”
Viconia had lost her jovial attitude and had turned serious, her wolf-yellow eyes narrowing slightly in his direction. “We’re all killers, Alexi. Only what surfacers consider to be ‘civilised’ separates the reasons for killing into ‘good’ and ‘evil’.
“Vicky… you burned a man alive.”
“Only after he and his son violated me.”
“Have we found out anything new about Detane?” I interrupted, partially to save Alexi from his unease and embarrassment.
Gritting his teeth and trying not to glance at Viconia who was now staring at him with a very particular stare of hers, Alexi shrugged and turned his attentions fully to me. It was taking a surprising amount of effort as Viconia had a way of looking at someone that could make hot blooded men quivering with desire, while also simultaneously leaving them feeling very disturbed and terrified. I usually likened it to a look that a spider would give to an insect trapped in its web.
“Not much more but it is certainly interesting. I asked around the Duke’s entourage and it seems that Detane is one of the most renowned killers in Highrock, especially in the Kingdom of Wayrest.”
Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.
“What makes him so renowned?”
Alexi continued looking at me despite Viconia’s question and I could see out of the corner of my eye that she was now truly playing with him. “Killing one’s kin in Highrock is one of the most terrible of crimes, but it also appears that Detane used to be a Baron. Not only did he kill his wife and his two children, but he was caught in the act by several witnesses. His title was the only real reason why he wasn’t simply hung and as such death was not deemed enough of a punishment.”
“A Baron. Gods we have attracted all sorts here.” I continued rubbing polish and oil into the vambrace but continued listening intently. “So they cut up his face as a sign of his crimes and banished him from Highrock to live out the rest of his days as an outcast. It explains how he can fight so well.”
“That’s not what really gets to me though.” Alexi’s motions with the chainmail stopped and with it the oiled scraping. “I haven’t been able to confirm exactly what or how it happened but everyone I have spoken to has agreed that the way that he killed his wife and children were horrific. Not only that, but before the title was stripped from him he used to be the Baron of Norvulk.”
This caught my attention and I saw how serious Alexi was being. So did Viconia judging by the way that her teasing expression softened and her brows furrowed.
“Norvulk? Isn’t that the Title of Baron Jaseton?”
He nodded and I found myself chewing my lip. “Yes. Baron Jaeston acquired the title after Detane was convicted. He originally held the title of some of the lands adjacent to Detane’s but when he was stripped of everything, Jaeston was handed it on a silver platter.”
“Shar curse the politics of the surface.” Viconia muttered to herself. “Is all of Tamriel this complicated?”
“This is nothing.” I replied, almost chuckling to myself. “But if I’m honest, Highrock is by far the most complicated of all the provinces.”
“It still leaves us with a disgraced, child killing baron among our number, one who is a walking target for all of these newcomers.”
“He’s not a child-killer.” Viconia stated suddenly and flatly, stopping in mid motion as she registered our attentions turn to her. “What?”
“There were almost a dozen witnesses from what I heard, and he even confessed.”
I looked at Alexi. “He spoke to you?”
“Well...” He paused and looked between the two of us. “I went to speak of him before doing my rounds with the others and he wouldn’t say a word. He’s been in that tent for two days now but didn’t say anything more than ‘it’s all true’ before I left.”
“Sort of sounds like a confession to me.”
“I still don’t believe it.” Viconia replied. “He may have done it physically but he’s not someone for murdering a child.”
“You seem really certain.”
She looked at Alexi with little more than a smirk on her face. “Of course I am certain. He’s a stunted, insufferable, arrogant, malicious, little man but I can guarantee you he doesn’t have it in him to intentionally harm a child, let alone one of his flesh and blood.” Carefully she lifted her arms, twisting them back and forth in the candlelight to reveal the network of scars that covered almost every centimetre of skin but remained mostly hidden due to her complexion. “I suffered through countless agonies and tortures because I couldn’t bring myself to hurt an infant and there is very little that I would find distasteful in this world. Trust me when I say this; if I couldn’t do it, then he couldn’t.”
After the moments pregnant pause, Alexi coughed into his fist and tried not to stare at any of Viconia’s exposed flesh in morbid fascination. “The more I find out about you Viconia, the more terrified I become.”
We all laughed but there was a serious edge to it with an undercurrent of unease. Alexi especially was still extremely sombre. “What are we going to do with him though?”
“Keep him here and look after him. Despite everything he has proved himself, and besides that he’s a greater danger to himself than anything else.”
“How is he…”
“He’s trying to get himself killed.”
Cutting him off in mid-sentence, I saw the way that Alexi’s mouth opened and then snapped shut. “Are you certain?”
“Unfortunately… Very much so. Ever since he joined us there’s been a few instances that I didn’t really understand at the time, but I do now. A couple of days ago I challenged him over his attitude and actions, especially with goading Mazoga. I wasn’t entirely serious when I asked him whether he was looking at killing himself but his reaction spoke more than words ever could. I think that the only reason why he joined and went into Blackmarsh with us was that he was expecting to get killed in the process.”
“Kaius… It was a gods-damned miracle that we all came out of that. Injuries and everything aside, that entire journey was suicidal and I still don’t know how we managed to succeed.”
Again his fingers lightly pressed into his scarred cheek and I smiled faintly. “Exactly. From the outset we all had very little chance of coming back alive and that’s what Detane wanted. His goading of all of us, especially Mazoga is he’s trying to get one of us to fight and kill him.”
“If he seeks death, then why doesn’t he simply commit suicide?”
Both Alexi and I shrugged at Viconia’s question. “In most of the faiths; especially in that of the Nine, suicide is a sin. An especially grave one at that. He is already disgraced and condemned and any hope he has is redemption through battle.”
Viconia chewed on a lip. “I can’t understand your religions. On one hand they are so weak and forgiving, and on the other they are brutal and harsh and don’t appear that much different to the worship of the spider queen.”
“That’s the church of the Nine for you.” I muttered. “Half filled with righteous zealots. Half filled with passive martyrs.”
“Which half do you fall into Kaius?”
I couldn’t help but grin at Alexi’s comment and raised an eyebrow. “The kind that quietly goes about his business and doesn’t wait for divine intervention for assistance. It wasn’t the gods that retrieved the relics.”
