The Land: Catacombs (Chaos Seeds Book 4) (29 page)

CHAPTER 19
 

“My family comes from across the Beckoning Sea, south of the Plains of Gold.  We served the local ruler as magicians.  For generations, our services were valued and our family was respected.  I was from a proud bloodline.”  Beyan’s voice was thick with bitterness and regret, like a once sweet syrup that had turned rancid.  “We were always strong in various magics.  My uncle was an accomplished Earth mage and my grandmother was a Dark mage.  It was known, though, that Death magic was the true strength of my family.  It was the magic that my grandfather was born with.  It was the magic that I was born with.”

Beyan laughed without any real humor. “I remember how, as a child, I was praised.  The local assessor discovered that my starting Death affinity was 100%.  My family was so proud and all I heard for days was how wonderful my life would be.  I sometimes wonder if they were right.  If my life might have been great if…” His voice caught.  Richter and Sion looked at one another, but neither spoke.  Beyan kept sawing at the body of the skath he was working on.  They went back to work as well. 

After a few minutes, the gnome started speaking again.  “My grandfather was a powerful Death mage, but he was more interested in creating life.  At least that was how he explained why he dove between the legs of every woman in the kingdom.  My grandmother turned a blind eye to it, but one day he chose a target that she couldn’t ignore.  He bedded the wife of the local duke.  The fool!  To make matters worse, the duke’s son found them in the act, and my grandfather killed him.”

Beyan barked a short, dark laugh. “My bastard of a grandfather was gravely injured as he made his escape.  He only just managed to make it home before he succumbed to his wounds.  Mind you, he didn’t warn any of the family of what he had done or what danger he had placed us all in.  He simply hid in his room and died.

“The duke had already started mobilizing his men to search for my grandfather.  If there was one thing my family was known for more than its magical ability, it was my grandfather’s philandering ways.  It didn’t take the duke long to know exactly who was responsible for the cuckolding of his wife and the murder of his son.  To make matters worse, he had used death magic to kill the noble heir.  There was no doubt as to my grandfather’s guilt.” 

Beyan shook his head.  His hands continued to saw back and forth.  They were all doing their best to preserve the skath hides while they harvested.  He collected himself again and added, “The duke was known as a brutal man.  My entire family would have been tortured before death in retribution, if not for my grandfather’s warning.”  Beyan’s voice quavered at the end and he grew silent again.

A few more minutes passed and Richter couldn’t resist asking, “But I thought you said that your grandfather spoke to no one before he died?”

Beyan smiled with sick fatalism.  His hand continued its bloody work. “You forget.  There was another Death mage in the family.  They discovered my talent when I was five years old and for the next year, I practiced incessantly until I reached skill level eleven and could cast the spell
Commune with Dead I. 
It would only work on the recently deceased, but it forced spirits to appear and tell the truth for a short time.”  He chuckled darkly. “You have no idea how much ‘loving’ family members were willing to pay to get the truth out of a dearly departed husband or uncle.  My chores didn’t consist of sweeping the floor or washing pans.  Instead I added to the family by hearing spirits confess to murders in detail or reveal where they had hidden money from their families.  I will say one thing about being a Death mage.  It gives an unvarnished and stark view of life.

“So when my grandmother saw the bloody remains of my grandfather, she knew that the trouble had not ended with his death.  Unlike him, she was no fool.  Knowing time was probably short, I was called to his bedside and stood there while my grandfather’s spirit related his latest conquest in detail.  I still remember my grandmother’s face.  Even as she listened to his betrayal, there were tears in her eyes at the loss of her love.  Then she made the mistake of asking if he still loved her.”  Disgust filled Beyan’s face. “‘I never loved you,’ he said.  I swear I could hear my grandmother’s heart break, Lord Richter.”

Beyan exhaled deeply. “Once the tale was done, she stoically had me ask a few more questions.  She found out that he had squandered most of the family’s vast fortune on liaisons and drink, but also that there were pockets of money hidden through the house and more importantly, hidden books of magic.  There were only six of us left, my mother, father, grandmother, and two sisters.  We raced through our home and grabbed what we could.  Then my grandmother started a fire and we raced for the docks.  When the duke’s men later came to the house that had sheltered my family for centuries, blades out and looking for blood, they found only flames and ash.  I remember looking back and seeing the only home I had ever known burning brightly with the body of my grandfather inside.”

“I’m sorry,” Richter said quietly. 

Beyan shrugged and kept talking. “We fled.  We were lucky enough that the tide was high and a ship was sailing out.  With only what we could shove into the sacks that we carried over our shoulders, we sailed out.  Over the next few weeks, we hopped from port to port and ultimately we landed in Lebaron.  We lost ourselves in the capital city of Elecktra, and started putting our lives back together.

“At first, things were not so bad.  We had been able to grab enough money and gems to buy a small alchemy shop with rooms above for us to live in.  Neither my mother nor my father had been born with an affinity for magic, and so they had supported themselves by making potions.  My grandmother remained saddened by the loss of my grandfather, but the rest of us had never been close to the callous man.  Life continued.

“Years passed.  My older sisters grew up and were married off.  Both to incredibly boring men as I recall, but they seemed happy.  One moved to Kailand to run a bakery with her husband and the other ran off one night with a trader from the Twins.  My parents had not agreed with her choice of husband.  They were both gone by the time I reached ten years of age.  I have seen neither of them since.

“More time passed and my family found happiness in our new life.  My mother and father worked hard and were able to buy a larger shop.  I worked with them each day and learned everything that they could teach.” 

The gnome smiled again, but with true happiness for the first time. “I remember the scent of the herbs greeting me when I woke each morning.  The people of our neighborhood treated us kindly because they came to trust that potions bought from my family would work as promised.  We began to prosper.  There was only one rule that was instilled in me again and again.  I was never to show anyone my magic. 

“You see, Lord Richter, Death magic is not overly common in the River Peninsula.  Especially not in gnome families.  As such, while not taboo, it, and those who practice it, are generally not trusted.  My grandmother foresaw that if word of a gnome death mage became well known, our anonymity would be destroyed.  Though we had not heard from the duke for many years, my grandmother never let me forget the stories of his cruelty.  I was told over and over that we must remain hidden to remain safe.  My grandmother was wiser than I appreciated at my young age.  I should have listened.”

Beyan grew silent for several minutes.  The only sound was the buzzing of flies around the three men.  The Death mage took a deep breath before he finished his story.  “You see, as much as I hated my grandfather for what his actions did to me and my family, the hunda fruit did not fall far from the vine.  As I grew older, my gaze was drawn more and more to the girls that lived near us.  One night, I finally convinced one of them to lift her skirts for me.  Convinced!  Ha!  I learned later that I was the fifth boy to gain that ‘honor’ in less than a month.  I was a fool. 

“At the moment, though, I was convinced that our love was a story for the ages.  As I lay next to her in a derelict storage shed, I compounded my foolishness by telling my ‘true love’ my entire story.  I even demonstrated a spell for her.  She was so impressed!  I was so proud!  I knew that I would love her for the rest of my life…” 

When Beyan spoke again, Richter heard no bitterness, only sorrow. “I imagine that as soon as I had headed home, she immediately ran to an information peddler.  The going rate for information from street urchins was a single copper.  That was the price of my family’s lives.  A tight fit, a wet slit, and a single copper.  That is what was traded for the only people in the entire world who cared for me.  Like my grandfather, I betrayed my family for lust.

“From that moment, it was only a matter of time.  My grandmother was right you see, my lord.  The duke had never forgotten my family and what my grandfather had taken from him.  Both his son and his wife.  The story of the duke who had blinded his unfaithful wife with his thumbs before throwing her onto the street to live as a beggar was well known.  No, he had not forgotten us.  The only thing that had changed through the years was that the bounty on my family had grown larger.  Less than a week after my foolish mistake, my family was walking in the local market and a host of men set upon them.  They were slaughtered.

“The only reason that I still live is that a neighbor of ours risked her own life to run back to our shop where I was watching the counter.  My heart darkened with every word as she told me of the deaths of my mother, father, and grandmother.  I remember that I stood motionless with shock for a long moment, but then I started to move.  Despite the joy and prosperity we had found, my family never forgot the night we had to burn our own home.  Beneath a paving stone behind our shop we had hidden a bag that contained the majority of our wealth and the magic tomes we had saved so many years before.

“I took the satchel and started running.  I didn’t stop for years.  I traveled all over the River Peninsula, never staying anywhere for long.  Ultimately, I settled in Law.  My funds were much reduced, but I had enough to repeat the example of my parents.  I bought a small shop and practiced the alchemy trade.  I did not befriend my neighbors.  I withdrew within myself and kept small.  I stayed quiet.  I never used my magic again, until today.”

Beyan put his skinning knife down and stood.  He walked over to a nearby bucket of water and plunged his arms in, scrubbing vigorously to remove the skath blood.  When he came back, he was calm.  “I would have been content to live that way until the end of my days.  Perhaps not content exactly, but I could have done it.  I grew accustomed to my solitude.  I considered reaching out to my sisters from time to time, but I realized that leaving Elecktra, leaving the family behind, was probably the only reason that they were still alive.  I knew that attempting to find them would only place both them and myself in greater jeopardy.  So I took the lesson that close personal bonds were to be avoided. 

“Living in Yves, I began being rude to people to keep them away.  After time, that practice became easier, and then it became reflex.  For years, I have thought that the anger in my heart was an armor that kept me safe.  I have thought that it existed by my own choice.  When I used my magic today, though, I felt a peace I have not felt in years.  I now know that my anger and misery came from denying my own nature.  I will never do that again.”

Beyan poured some water out of a skin onto his dagger and began cleaning it with a rag. “Now you know my story, Lord Richter.  If you wish me to leave, I will.  It has been many years since I fled Elecktra and I have heard nothing of the duke in all of that time, but I cannot promise that my presence is not a danger to you and the village.”  He waited for Richter’s response. 

Richter and Sion stood, washing their hands and blades as well.  Futen had returned while they worked and hovered nearby.  Richter leaned over and whispered to Sion.  He handed over his Bag and the sprite nodded and jogged off.  He told Futen to have Sumiko meet him at the base of the slope leading to the northern meadow.  The remnant floated off, and Richter turned his gaze back to Beyan, who still stood nearby, his bald pate burned slightly red from so much time in the warm sun. “Walk with me.”

As they passed by the hunters, Richter told them to save and salt the meat and also what to preserve when the other skaths were brought back.  The men told him it would be taken care of and the two men continued on.  They were silent until they were beyond earshot again, but then Richter shared his thoughts.  “You have a home here.  You do not need to hide your magic any longer.  Every nonhuman here is fleeing oppression and the dictates of vengeful nobles, and I see no reason to treat you differently.  I only demand from you the same thing I demand from everyone else that lives within my lands.  Do not harm any of your fellow villagers and work to keep us all safe.  Can you promise me that?”