Suriax (12 page)

* * *

Kern heard singing and smiled. He often
dreamed of waking up to the beautiful sound of a woman, his woman,
singing. Children would be laughing in some other room of the
house. The smell of freshly cooked meat and bread would fill the
air. But it was only a dream. That was not the life he had. There
was no wife and certainly no children. So who could be singing,
now? The last thing he remembered . . . panic flooded through him
as he remembered the blue flames engulfing his hands. Sitting up,
he inspected them closely, expecting burns. There were none. His
hands looked the same as always. How could that be? He saw them
burning. He felt the heat.

“It’s alright.” Marcy put her hands over
his.

“What happened, and why do I feel I was beat
upside the head with a brick?”

She crinkled her nose. “That’s not too far
from the truth. During all the excitement last night, you fell and
hit your head on the bricks lining the garden outside. You managed
to knock a corner off one of them,” she grinned. “I always knew you
had a hard head. Now I have proof.”

Kern rubbed his head, feeling the knot there.
“Very funny. So, what was all that?”

“As far as any of us can figure, it had to do
with the Solstice celebrations. Only Suriaxians were affected.”

“Uncle?”

“Is fine. He wasn’t born in Suriax, and he
never changed his citizenship from Aleria. That seems to be the
determining factor. Thomas wasn’t affected either.”

“Then you . . .”

Marcy pulled back her hair to reveal a dark
marking in the shape of a flame at the back of her neck. “We all
have one.” His hand went instinctively to his neck. “And we can all
do this.” She held out a hand and blue flames immediately covered
it. Kern jumped, but she was unconcerned, not a flinch. Waiting a
few moments, she closed her hand. The flames went out instantly. “I
was hit just after we crossed the border. The merchant barely got
the cover off the wagon and pulled Frex out before I set the thing
on fire. Thomas got a few burns trying to put me out. Then we heard
the other screams and saw the fires in Suriax and figured out what
was happening. The merchant ran off as soon as we were all out of
the wagon. It was a good thing the palace sent someone to meet us,
or we would have had to walk the entire way here.” She gave a weak
grin and laugh. The skin around her eyes was creased with lack of
sleep and worry. Kern put a hand on her arm, and she instantly
stiffened, pulling back. “Now that you’re up, I should go check on
how Thomas is doing with his burns. Frex is down at the end of the
hall.” Standing abruptly, she left.

* * *

“Now you hide.”

He could hear children laugh excitedly,
followed by a deep chuckle. “I may be a little big for most of the
hiding places in here,” Frex said. “How about you hide again for
me, and I’ll find you?”

The children agreed, and Frex began counting.
After he finished, the giggling continued. Kern looked in to see
Frex and four small children who weren’t really what you could call
hidden. One was under a table, one hid squatting in a corner with
his hands covering his face and one was in the middle of the floor
with a blanket half covering her body. Her feet were still visible
and kicking. The best hid was an older boy hiding behind a planter,
but even he was giggling, easily giving away his position. Frex
stalked around the room, grinning ear to ear and pretending to not
know where they were.

“He looks to be having a good time. They all
do in fact.”

Kern jumped. Pielere stood behind him,
looking in on the children. “Yes, I haven’t seen Uncle this happy
in years,” Kern replied.

“We should leave them to it, then. Come take
a walk with me.” Pielere gestured down the hall. They walked to the
courtyard. Kern noticed, not for the first time, the looks people
shot him as he passed. They didn’t trust him. They didn’t like him.
Some outright hated him. He noticed some of this hostility before,
but it was worse now, since the night of blue fire. That is what
the servants were calling it. His palms burned at the thought. He
took a deep breath to calm himself before the flames could manifest
themselves. It took him several hours of practicing after Marcy’s
visit, but he finally had some control over the flames.
Unfortunately, it was not before he set fire to his jacket. He
really liked that coat, too. “How are you enjoying it here?”

“Honestly,” Kern paused, not wanting to
insult anyone, “I’m not sure I really belong here.”

“You know you are welcome to stay as long as
you like.”

“I think a few of your subjects may disagree
with you on that.”

Pielere noticed a servant girl hurry past
them, watching Kern suspiciously from the corner of her eye. He
nodded. “Suriax is not very popular with most Alerians.”

“But why? You guys are all about laws. So are
we. We just follow different laws from you, but we still have
order. I know most people don’t agree with our laws allowing
murder, but everything is regulated and documented, and random
killings aren’t that common. You aren’t going to get killed just
walking down the street, at least no more than anywhere else.”

Pielere sighed and paused by a helephor plant
at the edge of the garden. It was a large red plant, easily
standing four feet tall with long, bell shaped petals. The inside
of each petal was orange and yellow, and the smell it produced was
strong and sweet. It was typically found along the edges of the
cliffs by the sea, at the far side of the continent and did not
normally grow in this climate. This one was thriving. Behind it
stood five more. It was one more example of the different world his
siblings lived in. Pielere continued, oblivious to Kern’s
distraction. “When did you join the Flame Guard? I recognized your
jacket,” he explained at Kern’s surprise.

Kern thought for a minute. “I was pretty
young, about ninety three, I think.” Had it really been that
long?

“And in that time, how many people have you
killed?”

“A thousand, maybe more.” Pielere’s eyes
widened. “But it was all perfectly legal,” Kern hastened to
add.

“And what of the families of those you
killed?”

Kern shrugged. “It was always a job or an
order, so if they had a problem with it, they would most likely go
after whoever ordered the kill. Or they could just kill me in
response. Either way, no laws are broken and order is
maintained.”

“There are man’s laws and god’s laws.
Regardless of what laws are passed and what may be legal in one
land or another, there is still such a thing as right and wrong.
Man’s laws are supposed to exist to protect and enforce god’s laws,
to protect people. Otherwise they are just arbitrary means of
acquiring and maintaining power.”

“But our laws are a god’s laws. They are from
Venerith.”

“There is a reason we call Venerith the
Corruptor. His ways sound good. He plays to our sense of reason.
But he ignores the spirit behind the law, the real reason for laws.
Our father was twisted to believe laws existed for his benefit,
that it was okay for him to exploit loopholes, make up excuses to
fine and imprison innocent people and do all this in the name of
the law. Grandfather understood his role as leader and protector of
the people. He understood the responsibility of his position, the
sacrifices he must make and how every one of his actions could have
a real impact on the lives of those he ruled over. He took his
responsibilities seriously, and so do we. We do not lead for our
benefit. We lead for those who depend on us for their protection.”
Pielere fell silent, his head tilted to the side as though he was
listening to something.

“Are you alright?” Kern asked when he didn’t
say anything else.

“Hmm? Oh, yes. I do apologize for that.”

“What happened?”

“It’s nothing. It’s just that sometimes I
think I hear voices.” Kern raised an eyebrow. “I know. It sounds
crazy.”

“No, not crazy at all. And what exactly do
these voices tell you to do?” He took a step back in mock fear.

Pielere laughed. “They don’t tell me to do
anything. They ask for help, mostly.”

“Help?”

“Yes, I guess I spend too much time ruling on
cases. I’m starting to hear made up ones in my head. There was one
a few days ago, a woman, asking for justice for her family. She
talked about a grandson forced to work for her landlord to keep
their rent from being raised.”

Kern felt his jaw go slack. “That is no
hallucination. I met that woman on my way here. She runs a small
bakery. Their old landlord died, and his son takes advantage of
their lack of written contracts to force the residents into his
service. If they don’t, he raises the rent beyond their ability to
pay.”

Pielere took it all in, not looking as
surprised as Kern felt. He could tell Pielere already felt the
voices were real. This news just gave him the proof he needed to
allow himself to believe in them. “Thank you for the information. I
will see the situation is resolved right away.”

“Your Majesty,” a small gnome girl ran up to
them. In truth, she was probably at least a hundred years old, but
her small size and spritely features gave the illusion of added
youth. Pielere gestured for her to go on. “There are more reports
of violence in the market and along the border near the bridge;
twenty more robbery attempts and four more killings. Another ten
people are being tended to for their injuries, mostly burns.”

“Send three more squadrons out to patrol and
bring in any of the perpetrators. Also see what you can do to
secure more ranskie plants to treat the burns. The clerics are
probably running low by now.”

“Yes, Sir.” She bowed and left just as
quickly.

“What is going on?” Kern asked.

“I’m afraid the events of last night have
left quite a mark. There have been riots breaking out everywhere.
Most of Suriax is on fire or has been in the past twelve hours.
We’ve been hit by an influx of frightened tourists and quite a few
Suriaxians who believe they can now ignore our treaties and do
whatever they wish. We’re almost ready to close down the border.
Travel between the cities is already being partially restricted.
You should probably stay around the palace, at least until things
calm down.”

Kern caught another sideways glance from a
servant and agreed Pielere was probably right, but he couldn’t just
sit around doing nothing. “Maybe I can help. I am a guard, after
all. I could do some patrols.”

Pielere looked at him uncertainly. “I don’t
know. You aren’t an Alerian citizen. I’m not really at liberty to
assign you to such a task. But,” he cut Kern off when he would have
argued, “you are free to come and go as you please, so what you do
with that freedom is up to you. Of course, I can also point out
there will be guards posted on every block near the border bridge,
so if one were to see anything troubling occurring, it would be
easy to report said activity.” Kern grinned. “On that note, I must
get back to work. Keep out of trouble,” he called over his shoulder
as he left.

* * *

Laureen felt her heart beating out of her
chest. Kern was the rouge guardsman. He didn’t seem to recognize
her when she walked past him talking to King Pielere. Then again,
they didn’t know each other all that well, and he had a lot on his
mind. So did she. Unconsciously, her hand went to her neck. She
could still see the looks of fear on their faces. Why did she
choose to go out last night? If she went to bed as usual, no one
would know, but they were talking about Kern and his relationship
to the royal family. She wanted to learn as much as she could to
report back to the queen.

“Laureen, isn’t it?”

She stopped and turned to Queen Mirerien. She
anticipated this meeting all morning, though she thought an advisor
or staff member would be the one to question her. “Yes, Your
Majesty.”

“You are Suriaxian.” It wasn’t a question.
After last night, there was no denying it.

“Yes, Ma’am.”

“Why did you not disclose this when you came
to work for the palace?”

Laureen panicked. It was said no one could
lie to the queen. “I was ordered not to,” she lowered her eyes.

“Who gave this order?”

“I cannot say.”

“I see. You know you cannot stay here any
longer?” The queen did not seem angry or upset, but she was not
known for her displays of emotion. It was disconcerting. Anger she
could deal with. She could twist it around, turn to her advantage.
There was nothing she could do with this cold, emotionless
demeanor.

“I do.”

“You are dismissed.”

Laureen returned to her room. Her bags were
already packed. This would not end well for her. The queen did not
take kindly to failure. She would not like losing a spy in the
palace, not when replacing her now would be so difficult. She could
only pray the information she had to give her would be enough to
earn her forgiveness.

* * *

“Help me,” a weak voice called from the
darkness off the alley.

A young girl walking past stopped and looked
for the person who spoke. “Hello?” she asked.

“Help me,” the voice called again. Like an
idiot, the girl walked into the darkness. Kern shook his head. You
wouldn’t see a Suriaxian falling for a trick like that. Alerians
were much more trusting than he was accustomed to and easy prey for
street wise Suriaxians. He looked around, but there was no guard in
sight. Coming up on the alley, he peered into the shadows. A man’s
hand was clamped firmly around the girl’s mouth. She tried to fight
her way loose, but he was larger and stronger. His other hand let
go just long enough to conjure flames, effectively ending her
resistance. Fear shone in her eyes.