Brave Story (98 page)

“What do you mean?”

“Captain Ronmel came in with some of his men. They went into the branch office. Whatever business they have is in there.”

Wataru’s eyes opened wide. “You mean they’re chasing a criminal or something?”

The doctor shook his head. “Remember when the four high branch chiefs sent out orders to the Highlanders without the approval of the Senate? Word is that Captain Ronmel’s business here has something to do with that.”

With a start, Wataru remembered the dangerous tension that had passed between Captain Ronmel’s troops and the Highlanders in front of the Lourdes observatory. And Captain Ronmel’s words: if the branch chiefs and the Highlanders get on the bad side of the Senate, then one day the Knights of Stengel and the Highlanders might stand on opposite ends of the sword.

So what Captain Ronmel feared had come to pass.

“Apparently, the captain has come for none other than Kutz herself,” the doctor said. “Someone in the Senate wants her detained and sent to the capital. Not sure what the matter could be…”

Wataru knew. The assassination plot. Word must have leaked from somewhere, and someone in the Senate caught wind of it. There would be those in the Senate who didn’t favor the idea of the emperor in the north suffering a sudden demise.

Kutz said it had been her plan. That made her the ringleader. If she’s arrested, she’ll be tried for sure. Where was High Chief Gil in all this? And the three who were supposed to go north with her?

“I don’t care what they say she’s done. They can’t come in here and take the chief away,” one of the townspeople said, snorting loudly. “Those Knights of Stengel are just the Senate’s lapdogs. Who can trust them? And they’re all ankha too. You can bet they don’t think too highly of us beastkin.”

Several others standing around agreed. One waved his fist. “If anyone is going to put those Knights in their place, it’s got to be us!”

The doctor’s ears flattened against his head. “I’m sure the government and the Knights know how you all feel. That’s why they have us surrounded. It we strike back unthinkingly, I fear something terrible may happen.”

“Then you’d just have us stand here and watch them take Kutz off without a fight?”

“That’s not what I’m saying.”

“Well then?!”

Wataru slipped away before the argument grew even more heated.

He ran until he reached the front gate. It was closed and barred, as the doctor had said. Knights were stationed outside, and a notice of some kind had been posted in plain sight.
Probably a warrant for Kutz’s arrest.
A local beastkin was loudly arguing with one of the Knights. Across the street, a small child was crying as he clung to his mother’s skirt hem.

A darbaba cart was parked off the road by the gate—perhaps stalled by the arrival of the Knights. The waterkin driver was upset with the situation and was locked in a debate with another of the guards. Wataru hid behind the large wheels of the cart and listened to their exchange.

“Like I said, I have nothing against the Knights at all. But you have to understand I’ve got a shipment of the best shulshu here. You ever eaten one? Freshly killed, they make one of most delectable meals to be had, but freshness is everything. Every minute I stand here waiting the value of my cargo drops.”

“We’ll open the gates as soon as we’re done, you have my word. We don’t mean to hinder business in Gasara any longer than we have to. Please, be patient.”

“That’s all fine and well, but my shulshu are rotting here.”

“If you have a problem with it, talk to your branch. We’re following government orders here, that’s all. If your branch chief goes along with us, we’ll be out of here in no time.”

So they were after Kutz. Where is she? I’ll have to sneak into the branch
and take a look for myself.
Wataru’s hand went to the hilt of his sword.

A double circle of onlookers stood in front of the branch. The outer ring seemed to be mostly residents. The inner ring consisted of five Knights of Stengel, standing in a formation in front of the door.

Trone must be inside.
Wataru thought a moment, then went around to the back of the building. All the windows were firmly shut. The window to Wataru’s room on the second floor, which he had left open that morning, was closed too. Even the shutters had been locked.

Wataru returned to the front of the branch. He mingled with the crowd, waiting for an opportunity to enter the building. Everyone was talking and shouting and demanding answers. It was noisy.

All at once, the Knights moved to the side and the door to the branch opened. A voice was heard from inside. One of the guards nodded in acknowledgment.

Wataru made sure no one was looking and drew his sword. Quickly he made the sign to create the invisible barrier. Once obscured, he slipped through the crowd and past the Knights.

“Hrm?” A Knight grunted. “What was that?” He looked down at his feet, but Wataru had already made his way inside.

Trone was sitting calmly at Kutz’s desk in the center of the room. There were two Knights by his side. Directly in front of the desk stood Captain Ronmel.

It appeared the other Highlanders had managed to duck out of sight in the nick of time. Wataru could see no one else.
Either that, or they’ve already been taken away.

“
I’ll ask you one more time,” Captain Ronmel was saying to Trone. Wataru had heard the Captain’s voice many times before, but never had it sounded so ominous, so full of threat.

Trone, on the other hand, seemed unconcerned. He leaned back in his chair, fixing his glasses on his nose, looking perfectly relaxed.

“Where is Branch Chief Kutz? We know she hasn’t left the town.”

“I’m sure she’s around somewhere. Wish I knew. I’m not her bodyguard, you know.”

“Even if you don’t tell us, you won’t be doing her any good. We’ll find her sooner or later and take her in.”

“Then I suggest you get busy! Sorry I can’t tell you what I don’t know.”

“If we start searching the town, it will upset the residents more than they already are. I would think you’d want to avoid that from happening. Cooperate.” Captain Ronmel’s eyes burned with a cold blue intensity. Like Trone, he seemed at ease—like he was ready to wait for days to get the answer he wanted. Still, Wataru thought he detected a hint of weariness in his demeanor. There were shadows under his eyes.

“We know you are the sub-chief at the branch here, responsible for keeping order when Kutz is away. I wouldn’t think Kutz would wish to create any needless commotion here in Gasara.”

“Oh, I think I know exactly what the chief would wish—and I certainly don’t need you to tell me.” Trone’s words were sharp and to the point. Though he was still leaning back in his chair, his eyes flashed. “I’m still not sure I understand why exactly the chief has to be brought in to the Senate. It sounds like a case of unwarranted arrest to me.”

The young Knight standing to Trone’s right suddenly beat his fist on the desk. Documents scattered and a pen clattered noisily to the floor. “We have a warrant right here!” The Knight’s eyes burned through the gap between his helmet and breastplate. Captain Ronmel lifted his hand to stay the Knight, his eyes never leaving Trone’s face.

“I’ve lived a few years myself, and I’ve never seen an arrest warrant from the USN before…” Trone began picking his nose. A long nail extended from one round furry finger and began deftly probing one of his nostrils. “Nor had I ever heard of anything like this treason law it talks about. How can I be sure this warrant is the real deal? Could have been faked.”

Captain Ronmel’s eyes took on a dangerous gleam. “Very interesting. So you claim our warrant is a forgery?”

“I’m just saying it wouldn’t surprise me, coming from the likes of you,” Trone said, revealing the fangs on one side of his mouth as he chuckled. “I’m sure your keepers in the Senate feed you well. A well-trained dog will do anything his master says. Why, you’d walk through a sea of nightsoil to get a bone if your master said fetch.”

Trone would’ve continued if the young Knight standing by the desk didn’t suddenly lash out at him with his fist.
At least he didn’t draw his sword,
Wataru thought. The other Knight standing guard quickly moved to stop him, and another ran in from outside. Immediately a great brawl started, rowdy enough to shake the building. Wataru slid across the floor past Trone’s feet and hid under the desk.

Wataru was breathing hard with the effort required to keep the barrier up. He let it fade. Clasping his mouth with both hands, trying not to make a sound, he breathed with both shoulders heaving.

When the shouting and yelling and punching had died down, Wataru saw Trone’s feet lifting off the floor. There was a heavy slam above his head. They must have pushed him onto the desk.

“You’re welcome to your ridiculous delusions…” he heard Captain Ronmel talking, his voice calm, as if nothing had happened. “But we have sworn our allegiance to the Senate, and we act with their full authority.”

“Oh? I wonder about that,” came Trone’s reply, undaunted, even if his face was pressed to the desk.

“Not only did the four high branch chiefs not heed the Senate’s admonition and send their Highlanders out without authority, but we know they planned terrorist activities against the Northern Empire. High Chief Gil is already in our custody. We are currently interrogating the Highlanders who were with him about this plot to assassinate Gama Agrilius VII. You’ve been caught red-handed, Trone.”

Captain Ronmel’s voice cracked with emotion for the first time. Wataru hunched down beneath the desk.
So High Chief Gil had been arrested.

It was over. At least Kutz was still free.
Hopefully we can keep her that way.

“You’ve known Kutz a long time,” Captain Ronmel said. “So you must know her past. You know that I was also once a Highlander, one of her trusted partners. An incident drew us apart, but I always had the highest respect for her work, and I do not wish to see her unfairly treated. More than anything, if she plans these acts against our country’s best interest, I will have her stopped.”

Trone was silent. Wataru could hear his ragged breathing.

“Tell me, where is she? I want to help her. If she does not surrender herself now, she will be marked as a traitor. She’ll be hounded wherever she goes in Vision. Do you really want to put her in that position?”

Kutz and Captain Ronmel. Lovers forever, but always a step apart. Wataru felt a stab of pain in his chest, though his breathing had finally become more regular.

Trone sighed softly. “I’m pretty sure Kutz doesn’t want your help, not anymore.”

Wataru heard the clatter of Captain Ronmel’s armor.

“I don’t know how it was in the past, but you and Kutz see different things from different places now. Your hopes, your ideals—everything you hold important, you hold alone. Kutz knows this. It looks like you don’t.”

Trone muttered something about men being like that, before continuing, “Looks like the cowards down at the Senate are clucking and fretting about these powered boat designs reaching the North. They want to form some sort of peace treaty before the North can attack, is that it? You know the Senate is filled with sympathizers, even I can see what it is they’d do. So, what exactly are they planning to offer the North in exchange for peace? You can’t say you don’t know what the emperor is doing up there. It’s bloodshed—worse, genocide. Beastkin are made to work like slaves, ripped away from their homes in the light of day. And you’re happy with all this?”

“We are trying…” Captain Ronmel began, but Trone cut him off. “Then again, I suppose you wouldn’t care so much. No matter what the beastkin in the south have to face, it won’t affect the Knights of Stengel, will it? You’re not here to protect the south. You’re here to protect yourselves, the ankha.”

“You are wrong!”

“Am I? Look at Lyris! Your buddy Captain Zaidek is rolling out his own brand of empire in that town under the auspices of keeping the peace—all in your precious government’s name.”

There was a brief pause, and Captain Ronmel said, surprisingly calm, “I am not Zaidek.”

“Oh? A lapdog is a lapdog from where I sit.”

“No. I’m no sympathizer with the causes of the Northern Empire. Nor would I care to raise my sword in defense of their ideals. If our Senate truly intends to allow the ideologies of the North to creep into our lands in exchange for peace, I would not accept it. I would resist it with every fiber of my being. Sometimes, even dogs turn against their masters. We do have a will of our own, you see.”

Trone was silent. It appeared that Captain Ronmel was waiting for his answer. The tension in the air was palpable, even under the desk where Wataru was hiding.

When Trone spoke next his voice was hoarse. “Even if we got our peace from the North and had to give nothing in exchange, I wouldn’t fancy being their allies. They have enslaved my people and tossed their corpses away like garbage. If peace means friendship with their sort, I choose war. I choose to fight, and fight until there is no one left. That’s something more important to me than my own life. Something more important to all us Highlanders. I wonder if you Knights have it?”

“So you mean to say that, for this thing which you hold dearer than life, you planned to assassinate the emperor? Was that your true objective? To me, it looks like you are engaged in nothing more than base revenge.”