Roads of the Righteous and the Rotten (Order of Fire Book 1) (24 page)

24

“M
onks have temples,
priests have altars, but here, like this, is when we’re closest to the One.”

Zar watched Prince Alyn as he spoke, lying on the ground with his back and head in the grass, kicking his legs and waving his arms like a small child playing. The man looked to be right at home.

“You can learn a lot out here,” the man continued, “when you’re alone and there’s no noise but the sounds of nature.”

“I’ve been alone in nature countless times,” said Zar, “just as you say, but I still haven’t learned what
you’ve
learned.”

“Oh?” Alyn looked at Zar with a curious smile. “What have I learned that you haven’t?”

Zar sat down next to him in the grass. “I don’t know, but you have
s
omething
.”

“And what is that? What do I have?”

“Well, I don’t know,” said Zar laughing. “That’s why I said
something
. If I knew what it was I would have said it.” Both men chuckled then Zar continued, “You’re at peace, that much I know—peace with yourself.”

Alyn turned his head towards Zar and squinted slightly. “And you are not?”

“No.”

“That came quickly,” said Alyn, showing Zar a grin.

“Because it’s the truth,” said Zar, smiling briefly before pulling his face back straight again. “I’m very much at odds with myself.”

“Why?” Prince Alyn’s inquiry was slow and deliberate.

Though Zar had never spoken to anyone save Asha on the subject, he wanted to share his thoughts with the man. “Because of things I’ve done.”

“They are in the past,” said Alyn, grabbing a handful of grass and plucking it. “Things in the past belong to the past, so leave them there.” The prince cast the pieces of grass into the wind and watched the breeze carry them away.

“So it’s you
and
your sister that are philosophers.” Zar laughed.

“Aye,” the prince replied, laughing. “She spends as much time out here as I do, perhaps more. You learn a lot out here when you’re alone—and when you’re quiet enough to listen. You are burdened by your past—”

“Oh, is that what nature told you?” Zar bantered.

Alyn grinned. “That’s what
you’ve
told me, but it is unnecessary to be burdened so.”

“You put it so simply, prince, and I suppose I shouldn’t be surprised. A quiet royal life in a country as sweet as this must make most things seem simple.”

The prince shuffled in the grass and looked towards Zar with raised brows. “Are you a fortune teller or a witch that you know the events of my past? We all have phantoms lurking in our past. You think I don’t? Why? Because I’m royalty? I have many. Mine differ from yours, but are no better. Don’t you see, they make us strong, and while they will always be a part of us only we decide who we will become.

“My mother was a witch—not Queen Kora, but my birth mother. While father was away on campaigns to unite the kingdom I witnessed my mother practicing her arts, screaming over fires and bones, and drawing strange symbols across the ground. It always frightened me, and I would never take part in it, but my older sister—my sister who is now gone—would practice the arts with my mother. I was a small boy when I first learned that my sister had been practicing those arts as well, and by that time, well, I’m certain it had been going on for quite some time. But I never joined in. Honestly, I was afraid of it.

“Mother said she did it for my father. She said she did it so he would come home safe, so he would be victorious in battle, and he always was. Every time I witnessed it, she would make me swear not to tell Father, for she had told my father before they were wed that she had denounced all of her old ways. Father was brought up as a strict disciple of the One God, and as a follower of the One could permit no witch to live, let alone marry one.

“My father knew of her old ways, he knew of her past, but he loved her. He loved her, and he thought she could change, but she didn’t. Probably she didn’t feel the need to. She never imagined that he would kill her, and by himself, he couldn’t. But with the insistence of his family, his brothers and sisters in the faith, his priest, and perhaps with the idea that it was the One God’s will, he was very much capable.

“And more than that, I’m sure she never imagined her son would break his promise and tell his father that she was still practicing the dark arts, even supplying evidence of bones and ornaments, and showing Father markings on the floor that were covered by furs. She never imagined it. But I did it. I thought I was doing the right thing by telling my father and it caused my mother’s death and my sister’s banishment. My mother was beheaded and my sister, still just a girl, was sent to the east continent on a summer ship that was never expected to make the journey to Krii. It was just as much a death sentence as my mother’s beheading, except it left some small piece of hope that she could have survived, a small piece of heart left for my father.

“I gave her a parting gift. I was so ashamed of what I had done that I couldn’t bear to face her myself. It was my Leviathan’s claw that I had found while exploring the mountains one day. She had always wanted it. I etched my name in it first, then I gave it to one of my guards to give to her.

“That story is a truth that can never be undone. My father—as he is now—would never have allowed my mother to be executed and my sister banished, even if it
did
mean breaking his religious vows. He’s a different man now, but without all that ugliness, perhaps he’d still be the same. It takes grave mistakes for us to grow into who we are meant to be, even if it seems unfair to those around us. Whether we like it or not, our past helps us grow into the men we are meant to be.

“So,” Alyn continued with a smile, “would you hear more stories of my
quiet
royal life?”

Zar returned a grin, put his head down and shook it slowly. “And here I thought I was joking about you being a philosopher.”

The two men laughed.

“Enough of that grave talk,” said Prince Alyn, “but let’s continue on this topic, speaking freely, and perhaps we can lighten your burden just a bit, because I truly don’t believe there is any need for it.”

“Aye,” Zar agreed. “I dare say it feels quite refreshing to talk to someone other than Asha about these matters.”

“Asha?” The prince questioned. “Your camel? Are you completely mad?” Alyn laughed out the words.

“Not completely,” Zar replied. “She always lends an ear, but I’m afraid she doesn’t completely understand.”

Alyn only laughed.

“How can I pretend to be a good man when I’ve been so wicked in the past?”

“You’re pretending?” Alyn questioned.

“Certainly not. I have changed, but it isn’t enough to make up for the old man that I was—and what he did. When I’m in the company of people who are
truly
good, I know I’m not one of them.”

“I can understand your position. Every person needs a place. A person without a purpose makes quite a mess trying to find one. As far as those who are
truly
good
, as you say, well—no man in the One God’s world is truly good, but the fact that you are burdened by this speaks for itself. If evil didn’t trouble you then that would be far more concerning. Wicked men don’t feel shame over doing wicked things.” The prince hopped up from off the grass and climbed onto his horse. “Let us ride. I’ll show you the wonders of this city.”

Zar wasted no time mounting Asha and making after Alyn’s mount that was already trotting off across the plain. Alyn brought them to the outskirts of Xuul, where the Twisted Pillars of Yew encompassed the city. They rode leagues besides the yew’s and watched as their formation curved around the city, each tree different than the next, some with engraved names and words from ages ago when they were yet trees of wood.

Next the prince led Zar out of the valley and up through the mountains, and when they had traveled to the high places in the hills, Alyn brought them to a peak that provided a clear view of the entire city in the valley below, sunken into the ground as if it had been cast from the heavens by the One himself. He could see the entire ring of yew trees King Xarus of Xuul had planted to surround his royal city. He could see the very roof of the palace. He could see the tops of all the buildings, the inns, the shops, the cottages, and little black specks of people moving around them.

Atop a northern hill on the outskirts of the city, four large buildings stood. “What are those?” Zar asked.

“Granaries,” Alyn replied. “We not only feed the people here in the valley. In the winter, those from all corners of the land come for food. We feed them all.”

Zar looked to Alyn without attempting to hide his surprise. “How are you able to do this?”

“With four giant granaries,” said Alyn with a chuckle. “As king of Xuul, my father has thousands of men in his employ. Tens of thousands. With so many hands and a clear purpose it’s simple to achieve a common goal. That goal being food, of course.”

“It’s—good.” Zar stared upon the kingdom with unblinking eyes. “Why is it so good?” Zar asked, standing a bit entranced. He realized he had said it aloud as he saw Alyn’s face react to his words. “Why is this land so good?”

“This land is no paradise,” said Alyn, looking down upon the city below. “But we are unified—one land under one ruler, one people.” Alyn pulled an item from his waist purse, held it up briefly for Zar to see and tossed him the object. “Look.”

Zar swung his hand for the shiny object and the piece of metal sunk into his palm. He opened his hand to find a golden coin, the visage of a man engraved in its center. Zar studied the face in the coin, the hair, the crown—all had been chiseled with such detail. “This is your father’s face.”

“Aye,” answered Alyn. “We aim to have a general currency, with these coins minted from gold to be given out—every family a specified amount based on its size—to encourage buying and selling and to equalize the levels of wealth among the people. For one family to be rich while the next is starving is unacceptable. And still, for some, it would be the first piece of gold they ever held.”

“You royals of Xuul certainly know what you’re doing, “said Zar. “The plan makes sense. How long before you carry this out?”

Alyn looked at Zar and grinned, then looked back down into the distance and shook his head slowly. “When we find the gold.”

“Gold?” Zar questioned. “Are there no mines? This is the richest land I’ve ever—”

“We are rich in food, in health, and in history,” said Alyn, “but gold and silver are sparse. Gold hasn’t been mined here since before the great flood. We have no gold in this land.”

“I daresay you’re quite wrong about that,” Zar offered with a smirk. “Not even a month ago I was standing in a great pit of gold and gemstones.”

Alyn laughed. “Always the jester, are you?”

“Not this time. There may be no gold mines anymore, but what of the treasuries of the wealthy adventurers that lived before the flood when this land was rich?”

Alyn’s brow rose and he grinned slightly, looking quite intrigued. “King Xarus was strong and he was loved, but aside from the marbled yew trees and a few unique trinkets he left nothing in the way of gold. The first to dig out the drowned city spent ten years digging for wealth as well—what little was found is still retained by my family today. Captain Goldhand was rumored to be the richest pirate to sail the blue, but it’s a well known fact he died at sea, and all of this gold and treasures sunk to the deeps with him. Bruudor was rumored to—”

“Aye, Bruudor,” Zar interrupted. “What of Bruudor?

And what of his keep?”

“The rumor is there is a map to Bruudor’s Keep,” said Alyn. “Some say it’s here in Serradiia, others say it’s hidden in Krii. No one has found it.”

“
Three
men found it,” said Zar, “and two of them fought each other while
I
took it. I daresay they killed each other over it.”

Alyn watched Zar’s face in silence. “What do you say?”

he finally said.

“I have found the keep,” said Zar. “I cannot deny I once thought it to be nothing more than a myth, but a most interesting series of events led me to the place.”

“If you
have
found Bruudor’s treasure it would be wise not to tell anyone at all,” said Prince Alyn, smiling slightly.

“Aye, if I planned to keep it. I’ll take a sum of the treasure, to compensate my good friend Prynner who gave me the map, but I have a small keep of my own hidden back in Krii—from me and Asha’s adventuring. I would give the rest to you—to this kingdom. After all, it seems what I seek I cannot buy with gold.”

Alyn’s eyes never moved from Zar’s. “You would do this? Why?”

“Why?” said Zar, chuckling. “Why, he asks, why. I offer you Bruudor’s Keep and you ask me why?”

“Your offer is, of course, appreciated,” said the prince, his eyes looking wide with wonder.

“Because I believe in this place,” said Zar. “You and your family have done many good things with this land, and with Bruudor’s treasure I know that you’ll do many more good things. I cannot say that about the royals in my own country.”

Alyn squinted slightly as he showed Zar a look of determination. “Your charity will be known throughout this kingdom.”

“I do not do this for praise,” said Zar.

“I know,” Alyn replied, then fell quiet as he looked to Zar in silence. His lips began to stretch in a grin, but then pursed as Zar’s eyes fell upon him. He looked to be biting his tongue.

“Speak, prince,” said Zar. “What is it?”

Alyn let his smile shine through. “How much gold is there, exactly?”

25

Zar had never
been much
for statues and idols—but that golden Leviathan—seeing it melted down from its grand form into a swamp of glowing formlessness felt somehow like an atrocity. But that’s what Zar and Alyn had decided to do. It would provide far more for far more people rendered to thousands of coins than mounted on a wall decorating the royal hall.

Zar had thought he had seen all of the wonders of Xuul—the Twisted Pillars of Yew, the majestic mountaintop view of the city, the architecture of the buildings, and the kindness and benevolence of the warm and open royal family—but these things were grains of sand in the sea compared to the ceremony the king held after he and Alyn returned from retrieving Bruudor’s treasure. Zar would never forget the scene.

It was late morning and the chapel bell chimed. Zar left his chamber to find Princess Rhea standing suspiciously outside the door. She smiled, grabbed his hand and pulled him after her. Zar felt the intent in her soft and zealous hand, and as the bell over the Place of Prayer sang louder in his ears, his blood stirred in quiet suspense.

They came to the chapel, nearly every seat occupied.

The royal family sat in a row of seats upon the dais, and as Zar drew closer to them he realized the two empty seats he saw were for him and the princess. Moments after they took their seats, King Aron stood and the people attended.

“We are assembled here this day to give thanks to the One, and to recognize his servant, Zar, who has come to us from afar, and has given his heart and his treasure to the commonwealth of Xuul. He has come to us from across the sea—even now in the season of the dragon—and did contend with the beast of the blue, and triumphed over it to land on the shores of Tiran. Rise, Zar, and approach.”

Rhea giggled and whispered, “
Go
,” into Zar’s ear, and he figured he had sat idle longer than the second it seemed like to him. He approached the king.

“Kneel before the One God,” said the king. Zar knelt.

“From this day hence you are my son, my blood, a prince of Xuul—with all of the liberties, privileges, and honors bestowed upon one that holds such royal title. Know that it is not the gold you give, but your act of giving that affords you such recognition. Now, rise, Zar, Prince of Xuul, Leviathan’s Contender, and Patron of the Lost City.”

The audience clapped and cheered. They were all royals of the court, many blood to the king and queen, yet Zar could see sincerity in their eyes, and they all looked upon him as royalty, as a genuine member of their family, as if he was a blood-born son to Aron and Kora themselves.

Zar felt like a new man. He
was
a new man. He held his head differently, spoke differently, walked differently, even smiled differently. Even a year a later, spending his second autumn in Xuul, his fingers tingled differently as he sent an arrow deep into a target. Even that arrow seemed to fly differently.

“Good!” Alyn called. “Let’s see if I can match it.”

“We both know you can,” said Zar, watching Prince Alyn as he knocked and drew his arrow. Alyn sighted down the shaft for a few brief seconds before letting the arrow fly. Zar’s sunken arrow shaft shifted in the target as Alyn’s squeezed in next to it, splintering the red-painted wooden surface of the target.

“But do go on,” said Alyn. “Finish telling me about this Tuskin fellow. From what you’ve told me so far the man is quite interesting.”

“Aye,” Zar agreed, laughing. “So after surprising me in the deerskin, we started talking about our land, what the realm was planning to do, what the Condor were planning to do, what
he
was planning to do.”

“Ah, the man has plans,” Alyn bantered. “Grand ones.” Zar chuckled. “He is a person of purpose, I daresay.”

“His purpose being what?”

“To save Krii,” Zar answered.

“Truly?” Alyn grinned and chuckled until he saw Zar’s face and realized he wasn’t being facetious. “Save it from what?”

“Not what, whom,” Zar replied. “To save it from Tiomot, to save it from the Clan of the Condor who are planning to dethrone Tiomot and take it, and to save it from the war that would result from it.”

“What was the man’s plan?”

“To keep the land from war by supporting Dandil, the king of the south.” Zar shook his head as if he didn’t believe the words he spoke. “To overthrow Tiomot and cause Dandil to rule both the mainreach and the south.”

“You’ve spoken many ill things of this King Tiomot,” said Alyn, “but of Dandil I’ve heard nothing. Would you say he is a man fit to rule?”

“I believe so,” Zar answered. “Dandil is old and stubborn, perhaps a touch selfish—not minding the affairs of the mainreach as long as all is well in his Cyana—but there is peace in his lands. He doesn’t favor war or lawlessness. His patrols aren’t criminals. Krii would be better under his rule, I daresay.”

“So what stopped the man from fulfilling this plan?”

“I doubt anything could stop that man,” said Zar with a laugh. “He’s probably making an attempt as we speak.” Zar grew quiet as Tuskin’s words echoed in his mind, and Alyn read his face as the solemnity straightened his lips from a smile to grimness.

“What is it?”

“Before I left the continent, he asked me to help him.”

“Yet you are here instead,” said Alyn.

“Yet I am here instead,” said Zar as his eyes fell to the ground. He didn’t want to meet his brother’s gaze. He knew what Alyn would say—he didn’t want to hear it, but he was about to anyway.

“You’ve spoken of nothing more since you’ve been here then how rotten the land is where you come from. I find it strange that when a man offered a solution you left instead of pausing to consider it.” Alyn’s voice was soft as usual, but cut straight to the heart. His tone was merciful, his words were not.

“And who told you I didn’t consider it?” Zar questioned. “Of course I considered it. I considered it and decided to keep my life instead of being a hero. Tiomot wants me dead.”

“The decision was yours alone, brother. All I say is this: you have no right to complain about the world if you won’t make an effort to change it. Men like you and Tuskin may be all your country needs. You’ve ever praised our well- being here, but it wasn’t always so. Once upon a time we were poor and war-torn. It took the collaboration of men to bring about the Xuul you so love and praise today.”

“I wasn’t ready, then,” said Zar, meeting Alyn’s eyes and holding his gaze. “I was nothing more than a man without a place.”

“And now?”

“Now my place is clear. It’s not enough to leave Krii if there are people I love that are still there. If it’s in my power to change it, I will.”

“And if you find you cannot,” said Alyn, “you bring them here. You bring them home.”

“I’ll sail back this winter—while Leviathan sleeps.”

“You’re a wanted man there,” said Alyn, “you should take some men with you—”

“I’ll go alone,” Zar stated. “It will be better not to draw attention. I’ve been a wanted man most of my life—wanted by noblemen because of supposed crimes, wanted by their wives because of the allure of being wanted.” Zar smirked. “And through all the wanting I’ve managed to survive.”

Prince Alyn laughed. “Truly, brother, you are a Prince of Xuul now. There’s no need to do this alone.”

“I do appreciate the sentiment,” Zar replied, “but I wish for the soldiers of Xuul to stay in Xuul. The help I need will be in Krii, I daresay.”

“So be it,” Alyn agreed. “I would go myself if I didn’t have affairs here—and if my date of return was a certain thing. You may have to wait until the next winter to find your way back, unless you want to gamble with your odds like the last time. Truly, I don’t recommend it.”

“Your people need you here. There will be other days for traveling. I’m sure you imagine it a lovely sight seeing a land you’ve never been to before.”

“I’ve seen Krii,” said Alyn. “When I was just a boy our family traveled over on a winter trade ship. Father said traveling to other lands and seeing new things was a luxury that wasn’t afforded to everyone, and that I should appreciate every sight.”

“The well traveled Alyn,” Zar bantered.

“Well traveled indeed,” the prince replied, grinning.

“In a few weeks I’ll be traveling to Numaya in the south to court the beautiful Lady Teree.”

“Ah, the
beautiful
Lady Teree?”

“Aye, at least the last time I saw her she was. Let us pray the years have been kind.”

“How far is this Numaya? How many days journey?”

“Not days. Weeks, months. It’s as far south as south goes, the grand duchy of Duke Raabin. They were their own kingdom once. Now that Xuul rules all of Serradiia it is our royal practice for our sons and daughters to find wives and husbands from different corners of our country, so that the lands which we are far away from and have less influence over will remain loyal through the bond of matrimony. Our people becomes their people, and theirs ours.”

“You’re making one big family,” said Zar impressed. “The wise nobles of Xuul.”

Alyn shook his head. “The winter will be upon us in two months. I’ll send a messenger to the coast for the trade ship schedules. If you refuse to take men with you there’s no need to prepare a ship. There are several trade ships that cross to Krii in the winter, and you can make the journey without much notice—if that’s your intent.”

“It is.”

The two men were silent for a while and Alyn looked at Zar with a soft smile before speaking again. “Rhea has become fond of you.”

“And I of her,” Zar replied. He wished to say nothing more of Rhea to Alyn. Not that she was the reason he didn’t want to leave Xuul. Not that she was beautiful, and from the first time he’d laid eyes on her he’d desired her. He didn’t want to mention the peculiar bond that had developed between them since their first conversation, an attraction that wasn’t driven by lust, but by honesty, and curiosity of one another. While Zar had nothing to be ashamed of in this situation, he thought it best to be succinct on the matter. He didn’t want to say anything he would be responsible for later, and since he wasn’t sure there would be a later, he said nothing else.

°

“Will you be back?” was all she asked. She didn’t care to know the specifics of his plans, plans that Zar himself didn’t yet have. All she wanted to know was would he return. He told her “Yes,” not knowing if it was true, but hoping to the heavens it was.

When Alyn left for the south it seemed Zar and Rhea never parted. Zar loved to be with her. She made him smile just by being herself—her facial expressions, the sound of her voice, the light in her eyes. Here was a woman who chastised her own guards for following her and Zar as they rode through the countryside, telling them emphatically, “This is your prince! Do you also follow when I am riding with Alyn, or do you not trust your prince from Krii?” Here was a woman who knew she was beautiful yet was humble still, and attributed every good thing she had as a gift from the One God.

She was beautiful in the morning, fresh from sleep in her bed robe and her hair uncombed. She rode fiercely through the woods with her hair down, her dark locks flowing through the air behind her as she moved. She looked just as beautiful in those leather riding clothes as she did daintied up in her royal gown with her hair pulled back.

Zar had never courted a princess, and was careful how he spoke to her and what he said. He never moved to touch her unless blatantly invited, and they had done nothing more than hold each other’s hand or arm while walking in the field.

She intrigued Zar with her gentle eyes and cutting words, with her seeming naivety that was an illusion made apparent every time she spoke, with how innocent she looked, but how knowing she actually was. And more than this, he was drawn to her for reasons more true than her comely face or how she filled out her garments. She stirred far more than his flesh.

After riding for hours, Zar and Rhea dismounted and rested by a brook, lying on their stomachs as they gazed towards the water. “My brother says you’re too hard on yourself, constantly remembering old mistakes,” Rhea said.

“Does he, now?” Zar replied. “And would you also give encouraging words? I know you’re just as philosophical as he.”

The princess giggled, and scooted closer to the bank of the stream until she overlooked the water. “I would give a warning.”

Intrigued, Zar scooted next to her. “What warning?”

“Who do you see in the mirror, Zar?”

Zar looked down into the water, but knew the woman was talking about more than his reflection. So he spoke honestly, just as honest as he had been with her brother. “I see a man, corrupt and wicked.”

“Then here is my warning,” said Rhea, turning her face from the water to look at Zar. “Take care what you say about yourself, for what you say you will believe, and what you believe you will become.”

“I don’t wish to be that man,” said Zar.

“Who do you wish to be?”

Zar thought for a moment then replied, “I wish to be the man your father said I was—Zar, prince of Xuul, Leviathan’s Contender, and Patron of the Lost City.”

“Then be that man,” said the princess. “From this day on be that man, and do not ever say you are anything else.”