Page 9 of Veil of Vasara (Fate of the Five #1)

CHAPTER 9- HESTAN

I was not entirely sure what I had been expecting from my conversation with Dunlan. Some part of me had hoped the food shortages would be the topic of our meeting, but I suppose, in some ways, it was.

For if his niece Dyna could secure the King’s hand in marriage, it would strengthen our alliance with Vasara, which would mean access to their wealth and resources, which would mean more food.

I was right about one thing, the task at hand required urgency. We would be leaving tomorrow morning. It was my job, my sole priority, to secure Lady Dyna’s welfare. For that, I would need to be well rested before tomorrow’s ride. Especially since it had been years since I’d ridden a Pegasus. The Hunt weren’t granted access to the animals, only the King’s guard and Army. It would be difficult to hunt anything, to get close enough to catch any food, with a Pegasus around.

I highly doubted we’d face any immediate danger on the journey to Vasara since most of it would be spent in the sky.

Normally, however, I wouldn’t have been prepared to take that risk.

But now, I was standing by the house the woman had scaled.

I hesitated. I knew whatever I found up there would be important, relevant somehow. I also knew it would be my duty to report my findings to the King and his guards.

I could currently avoid informing them about what I had seen without breaking my oath, since the notion she had left something behind of import was only an assumption.

But if I did find something, then it would become truth, and I would be faced with a choice. Break my oath or break this woman’s trust.

I had no reason to keep her trust, no logical reason anyhow. I had served the King for most of my life. He had saved my life, it was to him I owed my loyalty, and yet, I could not bear to hand this woman over to the authorities.

Just as I was trying to make sense of my strange pull towards protecting this person, the door of the house opened.

“What do you want? You’ve been hovering outside my house for ages now, begone will you!” An older man, his brown skin peppered with silver stubble, dismissed me with a gesture of his arm.

“Captain Hestan Hikari,” I introduced myself.

The man’s eyes widened in recognition as he took a closer look at my face. “Captain.” He peered at me more closely. He didn’t seem apologetic, if anything, that made me warm to the man.

“Can I help you with something?” he asked.

Telling the man the one thief who had managed to steal anything from our supplies had been standing on his house earlier, and had potentially left something behind, did not strike me as a good idea.

“Yes,” I replied, deciding to try a different strategy. “Who lives here?”

“Just me,” he answered, still sounding antagonistic.

His house was rather large. “Just you?” I questioned, catching a glimpse of its wide interior. Most of the people in Kalnasa lived in small houses, cottage type abodes or huts. But there were a few who could afford to live in larger houses, in Kalnasa’s Central City Celion, and its Inner City, Reyaru, closer to the Palace.

“Yes, my wife died last month,” he said. “Is there a problem?”

“May she rest with the Gods,” I bowed my head slightly.

“Damn the Gods,” the man muttered under his breath.

I raised my head and did not dispute his statement. I’d said it as a sign of respect, nothing more. “Sir, I was looking for someone who lives around here, but I cannot seem to find them.”

“Hardly surprising, since you’ve been standing in the same place for the past half hour.”

I blinked hard, and offered him a slight smile. “I’ve scaled the area already. I was thinking about where I might have failed to look.”

“Who is it you’re looking for?” he asked reluctantly.

“Sara Vaich.” A woman I knew lived in a different village.

“Never heard of her.”

“Do you know where I might ask?”

“If I’ve not heard of her, then nobody around here has.”

“Still, I’d like to be sure.”

The man glanced at my uniform quickly, the white and blue garments overlaid with silver armour, and then at the spear behind my back.

“Did this Sara do something?”

“If she did, would that be incentive enough for you to help me?”

“Would I receive an incentive?”

That made sense, times were tough here, if I were this man, I’d likely try a similar tactic on a wealthy looking warrior.

“Would you like one?”

The man crossed his arms. “I wouldn’t say no.”

“How’s ten gold pieces to ask around for me now?”

“Now? In the middle of the night. Hah.” He reflected for a moment “Forty gold pieces.”

I internally groaned. “Fifteen”

“Thirty-five”

“Eighteen”

“Twenty-five.”

“Twenty.”

“Twenty-two.”

Twenty-two gold pieces was a lot of money. Despite looking well dressed, and well paid, I wasn’t actually well paid at all. Everyone’s wages had been decreasing. These clothes and weapons were the only thing of value I owned.

Not only was I considering going against those I had spent my life serving for this woman, but now I was giving away my own money too.

She had somehow managed to steal far more from me than she had intended.

“Is it a deal or what?” the man asked impatiently.

In response, I opened a pouch hanging deep within my clothing. I gave the man eleven gold pieces.

“You will get the other eleven when you return, and not too quickly, otherwise I will know you haven’t taken your time to do this properly.”

“For you Captain”- he saluted me mockingly - “I will take all the time in the world.”

“I’m very grateful.” I smiled slightly. “I’ll wait here.”

“No, no, please, make yourself comfortable.” The man opened the door more widely behind him.

Deciding not to arouse any further suspicion, I nodded quickly at the man and went inside his house. Shortly afterwards, his footsteps echoed down the street and his fist began thumping at nearby doors.

I didn’t sit on any of the wooden chairs surrounding the small fireplace. I didn’t move at all. I simply stood in place and waited. I closed my eyes and listened. Listened for the moment when I could no longer hear the man’s voice, or the sound of his fist thumping insistently on wood.

The moment came, and I didn’t hesitate. Within seconds I was out of the door and scaling the sides of the building. I was on the roof, right at the corner.

I crouched low, despite the fact the owner of the house was a few streets away, I could see him from the height I was at now. I bore witness to the several angry confrontations he had with his neighbours, who were furious about being awoken at such a late hour. I would have felt pity for him, only I knew I had paid him more than enough to face them.

Still remaining low on the roof, I slowly made my way towards the centre of it, where the woman had been standing. At first, I couldn’t see anything. That was unusual, I had a sharp eye, but then, a slight movement, a lulling breeze created a shift in the fabric’s position.

I was, I noticed, fearful. I was afraid of touching this object. I had no idea what it was, or why it had been left here in the first place. I didn’t know if it was dangerous, poisonous, or a trap of some kind.

I ran my hands through my now tied back hair, shaking my head at the absurdity of my choice and lifted it up.

It was not a piece of fabric, but rather a piece of paper. Black, thick, gritty like sand.

I had seen this before, once, many years ago. I was with Dunlan, who at the time, was a much younger King, and I, barely a man.

“It’s beautiful isn’t it,” a voice from behind me had said as I peered at it across a desk in the library.

“What is it?” I’d asked the girl, a young child.

“ It’s called Noxscroll. They make it from Noxstone.”

“Is that why there’s nothing on it?” I’d asked touching the corners with my thumb and forefinger.

“No. There’s writing on it, you just can’t see it.”

“What do you mean?”

“You just can’t. It’s a secret.” The girl smiled at me, mischievously, clearly finding my ignorance amusing.

“So how does someone see… the secret?” I asked, raising the paper above my head.

She jumped to try and reach it, but her height made it impossible.

“I’m trying to show you!” s he said, frustrated.

“ Oh.” I passed it to her, a challenging look in my eyes.

The girl walked across the room and said something to a man who I realised had been watching us. He handed her a dagger.

“ Don’t tell me only blood can reveal the writing,” I said, mentally preparing myself for a humble exit.

“ No, look, come.” She beckoned to me, guiding me towards the window where the light was entering the library. Then, she held the dagger just above the paper in a way that would allow the weapon to reflect the moonlight onto the page. The lines flickered and erupted onto the paper as if summoned against their slumber. It was no secret, just a symbol, the symbol of the Audra, a dark tornado, infinitely spinning on itself.

“ You can only read marks on Noxscroll by the light of Noxstone,” she said proudly.

“And what do you write with, a shadow quill?” I asked sarcastically.

The girl looked confused. “There’s no such thing as a shadow quill. We use the steel…see?” Using the dagger, she drew a line across the paper, then holding it to the light once again, smiled as the line showed up across its surface.

I had the feeling that whatever was on this piece of Noxscroll I now held, was more than an emblem.

Did the woman who left it here write on this? Or did someone else? Why did she want me to see it? Surely, she knew I would not be able to read it myself. Noxstone was rare, weapons of their making were mostly owned by a select few prestigious warriors in Audra, and an ever-fewer number of people from other Kingdoms, who had extravagant amounts of money to spend on such a purchase.

After the twenty-two gold pieces I had lost today, purchasing a Noxstone weapon was out of the question. There was no way I could visit Audra anytime soon either, since I was headed for Vasara tomorrow morning, or more precisely, later today.

There was one third and final option, which added to the list of poor choices I was making as a result of my unfathomable need to follow this woman’s path.

That was stealing some.

This woman had made sure to draw my attention to this paper. Perhaps I was desperate to uncover her motives because I knew I was the only one who could.

No, that wasn’t true. I could, I should inform Dunlan, then others could assist.

But I did not know what this Noxscroll was concealing. Its contents could be utterly useless, something I would be wasting the King’s time with. To employ the assistance of several others, therefore, could be complete profligacy.

But the contents could also pertain to a threat to the King’s safety.

A wise man would have shared it with the King, with his friends, his allies.

Or would he? I had no true notion of where wisdom lay. Trusting in others, or trusting in oneself?

The owner of the house was walking back towards it. Before I could come to a final decision, I pocketed the paper within my clothes, jumped off the building with a light landing, and slid back into the man’s living room.

I hadn’t noticed before, my eyes had been closed, focused on paying attention to the vicinity of the owner to his property, but now I had a spare moment to look around, I took in the wide variety of weapons stacked along shelves, mounted on the walls, and stuffed into corners.

This man was a smith, and well respected one at that, which explained his ability to live in this house.

He walked back in now, smiling widely. “Sorry Captain, nobody knows this Sara of yours, as I said.”

I lowered my chin slightly, placing my hands over one another as I said. “Unfortunate.”

“You promised me eleven more pieces.”

Without replying, I placed the remaining eleven pieces in the man’s outstretched palm.

“You’re a smith,” I said as a statement and not as a question.

“Was.”

“What do you know of Noxstone?”

The man raised an eyebrow. “I know that I would never go near it, even if you gave me all the gold pieces in the world.”

“Why?”

“Because it’s lethal that’s why.”

“In battle, yes, but as a smith?”

“Never come across anything like it, in all my years. I’ve known smiths who’ve injured, damn near killed themselves just trying to handle that stuff,” he elaborated.

“Do you know of any smiths who take the risk?”

“No,” he said. “Not the sane ones anyway?”

“And those who are not?”

The man looked impatient. “Like I said, no. I told you nobody would know your Sara and you didn’t believe me, and I’m telling you now, there is not one smith in this entire Kingdom that will forge a Noxstone weapon, for any price.”

I remained deep in thought, my eyes fixated on the door behind the man.

“In other Kingdoms?” I inquired, slowly bringing my eyes back to his face.

“What are you up to Captain -ey?”

I mentally reprimanded myself. Revealing my interest in Noxstone to this man was dangerous, both for him and myself.

“Nothing. At least that’s what you will tell people, should they ask why I was here.”

“And will there be an incentive for my silence as well?” he eyed me greedily.

“Staying alive should be incentive enough,” I retorted.

He clenched his jaw. “I see.”

I reached for the door.

“Gendal,” he blurted out, as I did.

I looked over my shoulder.

“He’s a smith, used to make Noxstone weapons, other tools, jewellery of rare gems and the like. Stopped all his work a few years ago. Nobody knows why.”

“I thought you said nobody in this Kingdom would touch the metal.”

“I didn’t say Gendal was from Kalnasa.”

“Then where?”

He shrugged his shoulders. “I don’t know. He moved around a lot, went wherever business was good.”

“Certainly not here then,” I muttered. The man grunted in agreement.

“Last I heard, he was in Vasara.”

“What does he look like?” I asked.

The man outstretched his palm in an expectant gesture. I sighed heavily.

He smirked. “I don’t think you’ll actually kill me so…let’s say five, shall we?”

I walked over to the man, and reluctantly placed another three, rather than five gold pieces into his rough, calloused hands. His fingers grasped over them immediately.

“What do you want to know?”