NexLord: Dark Prophecies (20 page)

“Yes, I’m here every day, so if you ever need
flowers you know where to find me,” she added brightly, but the
effort started her coughing, and Aerin had to wait a few moments
for her bout to subside.

“My apologies, Sar, I have a bit of a cough,”
she explained.

“If I may ask… how long have you been ill?”
he inquired.  

“Well, let’s see... I think it started
just before my daughter’s thirteenth birthday,” that would make it
about a year and two months.”

Aerin’s voice caught in his throat as he
tried to reply, “You have been sick for more than a year?”

The old woman caught the sound of his voice,
“It’s all right, Sar, I’m sure I’ll be getting well soon.”

“You should see a doctor about that cough,
they might be able to help,” Aerin suggested.

The old woman smiled, “I’m just a poor woman,
Sar, I’ll heal up on my own soon, I’m sure.”

“
Well,
I
want you to think about seeing a doctor. I can bring one here, so
you wouldn’t even have to go anywhere.”

A look of fear came over the woman’s face,
“Please, Sar, I don’t have the money for that!”

“Well just think about
it.  Besides, there is a friend of mine who loves to get
flowers, so I will be buying quite a few from you over the next few
days.”

“You are kind, Sar, you sound very young for
a man of means.”

“Everyone tells me that, it must be my
voice.  Well here is your payment, please keep the
change,” Aerin said and took one of her hands in his so he could
place the coins in her palm.

“Thank you, Sar, and I appreciate your
stopping to talk to an old woman.”

“It is my pleasure.”

“Wait, you forgot your flowers!” she
exclaimed.

Aerin took the worst looking flower he could
see.  “There, I picked out what I
want.  Perhaps I’ll see you here tomorrow?”

“I’ll be here, with more flowers, if you need
them.”

“Well then, it is a date!” Aerin said as he
left.

The next day Aerin returned and found Lor’s
mother back on her stool.

“Good day!” he said in greeting. 

She remembered his voice.

“It’s the young sounding master, come back to
see Renda about more flowers.  Good day to you, Sar,
though I am cross with you!” she said, her happy tone belying her
words.

Aerin was puzzled, “What did I do wrong?”

Renda smiled, “Well, you paid far too much,
my daughter nearly choked when I gave her the
coins.  Then you didn’t even take your
flowers!  I will not take charity, young man!” she
explained with her playful tone a little sterner at the end.

“I did take a flower,” he replied.

“But you paid for more than the entire
bucket, you shall take them today,” she
decided
and then started to cough again.

“Please, Renda, let me call a physician to
see to your cough,” Aerin pleaded.

“I’m fine, but don’t you try to change the
subject, you will take the flowers!” she said, shaking an old
crooked finger in his general direction.

Aerin fished out more coins, “I will, but I
will have to pay a little more if I am going to take them
all.  It must take you some time to collect all these
fine flowers.”

“I couldn’t take a penny more,” she said
firmly.

“Then I cannot take the flowers,” Aerin
countered.

Renda hesitated a moment, “All right, but you
must promise to take all the flowers in my bucket.”

“Done,” Aerin agreed and placed twice as much
money into her hand as he had done the day before.  He
gathered the flowers up and noticed that they were of much higher
quality than previously.

“You have gotten new flowers!” he
exclaimed.

She nodded, “Yes, my daughter brought them
this morning; she tells me they are quite pretty.  Smell
how fresh they are.  Since I did so well yesterday, she
thought I had better have some new ones today.”

“Well these are far too nice for what I have
paid,” Aerin exclaimed.

“Nonsense, a deal is a deal,” Renda said
firmly.

“All right, you win, but see a doctor about
that cough or I might not be able to buy flowers from you
tomorrow!”

“Perhaps, we’ll see,” answered Renda.

Aerin left with his flowers, wondering what
to do with them.

When he got back to the courtyard he had an
idea.  Perhaps he could cheer up Mara with the
flowers.  He immediately headed for her
room.  During the past day he had not seen her, she had
been missing from their morning practice for one of the few times
since the beginning.

“Mara?” he said, standing outside her door
after he had knocked twice.

“What is it... have the Togroths attacked or
something?” she said in a gruff voice.

Aerin shook his head, before realizing she
couldn’t see that gesture through the closed door, “No, Mara.”

Her voice sounded irritated.  “Then
don’t disturb me.”

He almost left, but he thought the flowers
might cheer her up, so he called out tentatively, “But, I have
something for you.”

After a
pause,
he heard stirring in the room.  “All
right, but this had better be good.  If you have brought
me a frog or something, I’m going to roast you over a slow
fire.”

The door finally opened and Aerin looked into
the dim room.  Mara’s eyes looked even redder than the
last time he had seen them.  Her long hair was
down.  Aerin noted that unbound her hair seemed darker,
hardly gray at all.  She wore a large robe pulled in
tight around her shoulders.

“What are you staring at?” she growled.

“Nothing,” he answered, casting his eyes
down.

“Well, why have you come to disturb me?”

Aerin reached down and to the left of the
door, where he had put the flowers out of sight.  “I
bought you these,” he said, apologetically.

Mara’s voice stopped, mid growl, “You bought
me… flowers?” she asked with a strange tone in her voice.

“Yes, I thought you would like them, but
if…”

“Aerin, I can’t even remember the last time a
young man brought me flowers, in fact, I don’t believe I remember
any young man ever bringing me flowers... thank you!” her face lit
up with a smile that warmed Aerin’s heart. 

Suddenly Mara turned her back to him and
wiped at her eyes with the back of her hands.  After a
moment,
she went to the trunk in
the corner.  “I’ll have to find something to put them in,
they will need water.”  She busied herself in the trunk
with her back to Aerin.  “Why don’t you go fetch me a
bucket of water?” she asked.

Aerin put the flowers on the table and went
to do as she asked.  

When he returned with the water Mara was
arranging the flowers in a water pitcher.  “This is the
best I could do, but even so, they are lovely,” she said with a
smile.

“Here is the water,” he told her,
unnecessarily.

Mara smiled, “I can see that, bring it
here.”

After pouring some of the water into the
pitcher, Mara set the bucket on the floor and sat down on the edge
of the bed.

“Thank you, Aerin, for brightening an
otherwise dismal day.” At his look she continued, “No, don’t ask,
to talk about it would only make it hurt again, but don’t you
worry, this too will pass.”

Aerin nodded.

Mara patted the bed beside her so Aerin sat
down.

When the boy was next to her she put her arm
around him and just sat for a time.  Her eyes were far
away in some other time and place.  After awhile she
spoke softly, “Aerin, I have been preparing
you.  What I have in store for you is a great burden, and
I realize that I haven’t really given you any choice.  I
have been driven by a great need, but this has caused me to steal
something from you.”

“Steal?” he inquired, not understanding.

“Yes, I’ve stolen your childhood, and I’m
taking away your chance at a normal and happy life.”

Aerin looked up at her troubled face, “But,
Mara, I’m happy with you.”

She looked at the boy and smiled, “And I love
you, Aerin, but just because we love someone doesn’t mean we can’t
hurt them.  In fact, only someone you love can cut deep
enough to reach your soul.  
Believe
me, I know.”

“I don’t understand, Mara,” he said in a
whisper.

“No, I suppose you don’t.  Aerin,
where do you think all this teaching is going?”

Aerin considered for a moment, as was true of
most boys his age, he had not really thought much into the
future.  “I guess we are learning to fight so we can be
ready to face the Togroths.”

“There is more to it than that,” Mara said
gently.  “You can figure it out if you think about
Gandarel.”

“Gandarel?” Aerin said in
question
, and then he saw
it.  “Gandarel is going to be the new NexLord!”

Mara nodded and watched his face; she could
almost see the connections being made, as his expression went
through a host of changes.

“And he needs bondsmen to fight with him,
like Juman, Hazlerfeld,
Kor,
and
Sethra!”

Mara’s voice was a whisper that could barely
be heard, “Yes.”

“And you are preparing me to be a
bondsman?”

“Yes, I’m sorry.”

“SORRY, but, Mara, this is the grandest thing
I could ever have imagined!”

Mara shook her head, “It is a terrible burden
I place upon you, remember what happened to the bondsmen you
mentioned.”

“They got to fight beside the great Ragol!”
Aerin replied.

Mara shook her head, “They got to die for
Ragol.”

“But they saved the world, and that is a
worthy death!" Aerin exclaimed.

“There is no such thing as a worthy death,
only a worthy life.  When the time comes that you realize
what it is I have done to you, please take pity on me, and remember
that I warned you,” Mara told him.  “It is a sorry thing
I do to a boy so kind as to bring a grieving woman flowers.”

Aerin wondered for whom she grieved and then
thought to cheer her up by saying, “I will always love and respect
you, Mara.”

She smiled wanly, “Will you,
Aerin?  If I told you the terrible things I have done to
those others in life who have loved me, would you still
care?  Would you still be my friend?”

“Yes, there is no doubt in me,” Aerin
replied.

Mara hugged him to her. 

“I would die for you, Mara,” Aerin told her
sincerely.

She stiffened as if a blade had been thrust
through her.  “Don’t say that to me, Aerin, don’t ever
say those words lest you be caught and
destroyed.  Promise me, you will never say that to me
again!” she grabbed him forcefully by the shoulders and looked into
his eyes to measure the sincerity of his response.

“All right, Mara, if it is that important to
you.  I just wanted you to know how much I cared.”

She pulled him into a tight embrace and he
felt her shaking with tears, “I know, boy, I know.”

The night of the Freedom day celebration,
Aerin pushed his way through the crowd on his way to meet with
Dono.  People were thick in the streets wearing their
costumes and masks.  Tonight was the night Dono thought
Lor might attempt to break into the Merchant Master’s
Villa.  

Aerin finally arrived at the corner outside
the abandoned building, where the day before Dono had followed Lor
to his stash of burglary tools.  They figured Lor would
have to come here before the night crawl started.  

Dono was nowhere in sight, so Aerin stepped
into the shadow of an alley to wait.  The dark tight
fitting clothing he wore made him part of the shadows. 

Aerin felt a stab of guilt as he realized it
was his friend Lor who had taught him how to move about the city
unseen.  He reassured himself with the thought that he
was here to stop Lor from making a big mistake. 

Across the street and up the block, Lor
stepped out of the building doorway.  He also wore dark
clothing and carried a dark bag over his shoulder containing
tools.

“Where are you, Dono?” Aerin whispered under
his breath.  It took all of Aerin’s training to hold
still in the shadows when Lor looked his direction.  Lor
had once explained to Aerin that at night it was
movement
which caught the eye, not
shape
.

As Lor headed for the nearby alley to climb
to the High Road, Aerin took one last desperate look for Dono, but
the
red-headed
boy was nowhere in
sight.  With a heavy sigh, Aerin started up the nearby
drainpipe, climbing alone into the night to follow his
friend.  He still didn’t know how he was going to stop
Lor, but he knew he had to do something.

Aerin thought of various wild plans, as he
followed his friend across the rooftops.  He would tackle
Lor at a convenient spot and beat the insanity out of
him.  Or, he would catch up and then threaten to call the
Guardsmen on Lor if he entered the Merchant Master’s
Villa.  The problem with these, and other
plans,
was obvious to Aerin, Lor would just rob
the merchant on a different night, being careful to make sure no
one was following him next time.

Before long Lor reached the merchant quarter,
and quick as thought, he descended halfway down a building and then
leaped
onto the top of the guard
wall that surrounded the Merchant Master’s Villa.  Aerin
took considerably more time navigating down the building and
reaching the wall.  By the time he was on top of the wall
he feared he might have lost too much ground, he couldn’t even see
which way Lor had gone. 

Aerin leaned down to study the top of the
wall in the dim moonlight, looking for scuffs in the moss to help
him see which direction Lor had traveled.  He heard the
snap of a small branch and instantly fell forward onto his
hands.  He lowered himself quietly onto his stomach along
the top of the wall so as to present the least visual
target.  A strange sound of bushes rustling and water
dripping started nearby.