The Judge (13 page)

Chapter 27

“You look like you’re up to no good.”

Connor wheeled around, his eyes adjusting to the dark even as he sought out the person who had caught him off guard. The bushes and plants in the palace courtyard made it hard for even him to see. But he recognized the voice. He could never forget the voice that had raised him for eighteen years.

“Mom, you scared me.”

Rebecca Moore was sitting on a stone bench. A thick blanket was wrapped around her shoulders.

“Sorry, I couldn’t sleep. I needed some time to think so I decided what better place to remind me of home than a garden.”

Connor hesitated. He knew that daybreak was close. If he was going to try and free Orion on his own he needed to go now.

“Oh, well, I’m glad you found somewhere to rest. I have to go—patrol the area now.”

“Connor, you know how much I love you, right?”

“Yes.”

“Well, with all that love comes special abilities of my own. I’m not extra strong or fast but I do have special powers. Like knowing when you’re lying or going out to do something you’re not supposed to.”

Connor stopped, knowing there was no getting around his mother’s intuition. She was a master at finding the truth. He had hated lying to her, anyway. As if his mother sensed his hesitation, she continued, almost laughing.

“Connor, do you remember the time you tried sneaking out of the house to go to Katie’s party?”

Despite the siege being laid on the palace, Connor had to smile. He took a deep breath and crossed his arms.

“You mean the time I tried to climb out of the window? I fell into all the garbage cans and broke my wrist. You came out running from the side of the house with a rolled up newspaper.”

Both Connor and Rebecca laughed out loud at the memory.

“I’m not sure what I was going to do with a rolled up paper,” Rebecca said through fits of laughter.

“You even hit me a few times with it before you knew it was me,” Connor said, wiping the joyful tears from his eyes.

“Oh my goodness, Connor. Anyway, you have that same look on your face now as you did back then. The same look when I asked you where you were going.”

Connor had stopped laughing. It only took him a second longer to decide to tell his mother the truth.

“I’m going to try and free Orion. I know that if I told you or anyone else that you’d try and stop me.”

Rebecca nodded in the dark. Connor couldn’t make out her distinct features but he knew his mother well enough to know she was pursing her lips. She was thinking of the right words to say.

“I’m not going to try and stop you son. I just want you to be careful and do what you think is right. Don’t make decisions because you’re impatient but because you know that deep down this is the only way.”

These words were worse than hearing Rebecca tell him not to go. He hated when she did that because she was right. She wouldn’t give him direct advice but she would ask him questions about his decision. Then he would think it out on his own and decide he was doing the wrong thing.

“Just think about it,” Rebecca said. “I know it’s easy to be impatient. You and your father are both doers and that’s not a bad quality, you’re a leader. Just make sure you’re making your decision based off what is best for everyone, not because of a lack of current activity.”

Connor felt his shoulders slump. Somewhere deep inside he had known his plan was risky and brash. He knew his chances were slim but he hated waiting for Vercin to make the first move. He felt helpless.

Connor walked over to the bench, taking a seat beside his mother. Years working at her own floral shop had given Rebecca the perpetual smell of flowers and warm earthy scents. Connor hadn’t realized how much he had missed her till now.

Rebecca smiled at her son, reaching over to place a soft but firm hand on his shoulder.

“You’re going to do great. I always knew you were special. I mean, I guess every mother thinks their children are, but you were different. I knew from the second I held you in my arms, when you were taking your very first breaths. You were born to do great things, Connor.”

Connor felt a smile spread across his face. A smile of thankfulness to his mother and for all the years she had taken care of him and believed in him.

“Thanks, Mom. Just saying thank you doesn’t seem like enough for all you have given me.”

Rebecca’s hand fell off her son’s shoulder but she didn’t stop smiling.

“Oh, Connor, it’s more than enough to see you now.”

Connor sat with his mother in silence. His type A personality was still telling him to jump over the wall and take action. But he knew that this meeting in the garden had happened for a reason. His mother was right. He would still rescue Orion. He would still find away to bring his friend back but this decision to go alone was born from impatience not wisdom.

Connor wasn’t sure how long he sat with his mother talking about what had happened in the time he had left her till now. Time must have flown by faster than Connor had guessed because he jumped to his feet as the dark sky evolved from shadow-like clouds to a soft grey.

As if on cue there were shouts from the palace’s front gate. A loud horn blew, reverberating through the air.

Connor looked at his mother. Rebecca’s eyes told him everything. She hated him going, she wanted to tell him to stay. She wanted to hold him again like she had when he was a child, to protect him from everyone. But she knew she couldn’t. Tears for her son filled her eyes, but she gave him a hug and a determined smile.

“Be safe, son.”

Chapter 28

“What’s going on? What’s happening?”

“Connor,” Morrigan said as she peered over the top of the wall towards the enemy camp. “I just sent a messenger to go and get you. It seems as though Vercin would like a meeting with you.”

Connor followed Morrigan’s gaze to a small group of figures breaking away from the main camp. One of the small silhouetted figures held a long pole with a large white flag.

Connor strained to see who was coming but they were still too far away. His best guess was that it was Vercin and Julie, accompanied by maybe one or two of his captains.

“I doubt he’s going to change his mind. I’m not even sure why he wants to talk.”

Morrigan tilted her head. Her hair was wrapped behind her. A long red robe draped across her body, hiding everything besides her neck and head.

“What makes you say that?”

“Vercin didn’t march his army here to talk.”

Morrigan beamed at Connor like she was his own mother.

“You’re right. I’m not sure why he wants to talk but he’s not going to give up or bargain with us. He probably wants to gloat or try to instill fear before he attacks. All tactics a man sure of victory would use. He’ll be very surprised indeed.”

“Well, let’s go see what he has to say.”

Morrigan nodded and the two moved down the stairs. Warriors from various Elite families lined the walls. A large group had been stationed at the front entrance. Connor noticed Randolph giving his men final instructions near the main gate.

The gate itself was a vast interlocking network of steel and iron plates welded together. The once wooden doors were now solid steel gates.

Randolph looked exhausted. Bags dropped from under his eyes and his black hair poked in a dozen different directions. Nevertheless, Randolph was there, a sword in his hand as he stationed his men.

“Randolph,” Connor said as he and Morrigan approached the gate.

Randolph stopped mid-sentence as an older blue-eyed man he was talking to saluted Connor.

“Yes? Everything is in place. They won’t be getting though the gate easily or without great cost to their own army.”

Connor nodded in approval at a man he still knew was trying desperately to wipe red off of his slate.

“It looks amazing, Randolph. You’ve done a fantastic job. Thank you.”

Connor took a moment to pause so that Randolph would know his words were genuine. Connor looked past Randolph at the handful of Ulfric family members who had sided with him. It was beyond his ability to imagine what they must be feeling now, to know that they stood against their own family.

Randolph, as well as his followers, knew very soon they would be drawing the blood of their own kin. When Vercin and Connor had called the Elites of the five families to their banners, all had joined Connor except for the Ulfric family. The majority had sided with Vercin, except for the few that now stood in front of him.

Connor looked at grim faced warriors, all with bright blue eyes. He knew they would fight for him until the end. He knew that their sacrifice in no way would be less than anyone else’s, maybe they even had more to sacrifice.

Connor was brought back to the moment as a genuine smile crossed Randolph’s lips. He was clearly pleased by Connor’s words. It was in that moment that Connor made the decision to bring Randolph with him.

“Randolph, Vercin wants to talk. About what I’m not sure, but Morrigan and I are headed there now. Would you like to join us?”

Connor could see Morrigan’s jaw drop and then quickly close beside him. Her gesture of surprise was followed by Randolph’s own.

Randolph raised his eyebrows and opened his eyes wide.

“You would want me to come with you? I mean after—”

“I wouldn’t have it any other way. You deserve it just as much as anyone else. If you feel uncomfortable I would understand.”

Randolph shook his head furiously. He dropped to one knee and a gloved hand fell to the sword at his waist.

“It would be an honor to be by your side.”

Connor clenched his hand nervously. He wasn’t used to having anyone bow or bend a knee to him. All eyes in the courtyard, not just of the Ulfric family but of every family were on him and the conversation taking place. Connor felt compelled to do something, but what, he wasn’t sure. The seconds ticked by. The pause only became more and more awkward.

“Rise—good—ser—I mean—my chil—You can stand up.”

Randolph rose to his feet. If he had noticed Connor’s fumble of words he didn’t let on. Instead he beamed with pride as he turned and shouted orders to his men.

“Open the gate!”

Connor walked with Morrigan on his right and Randolph on his left. The path from the palace gates to the enemy camp was a wide road made of hard packed earth. Greens and browns paralleled the road on either side as the jungle surrounded them.

Vercin, Julie and a man holding a pole with a large whit flag could be seen fifty yards down their path.

Connor walked with purpose. He made sure his shoulders were back and his chin was high. The thought that this could be a trap crossed his mind but he shoved it away in a second.

If this is a trap then so be it. Worrying won’t help. You know what to do. Morrigan and Randolph are with you. It may even be better if it is a trap. Then all of this can end here and now.

These ideas and thoughts were soon gone as the trio stopped a few yards short of Vercin and his companions. Connor could see who the third member of their party was now. Christof Ulfric. The same man who had acted as a lawyer, trying to prove Connor as an imposter during hearing in front of the Elite council that seemed so long ago. In a strange way Connor almost had to thank the man for making him take the set of ancient trials. It had banded the remaining families together. The same families that now made up the army inside the palace walls.

Vercin was wearing full armor with a thin steel crown on his brow. Julie practically mirrored Morrigan, wearing a similar black cloak.

“So here we are,” Vercin said, smiling. He placed a hand on the hilt of his sword.

It didn’t surprise Connor at all that the would-be king was the first to speak. In fact, he had expected it.

“Here we are. What did you want to talk about? Unless it has to do with your surrender or the release of Orion, I have nothing to say.”

Vercin’s eyes twinkled. His one blue and one brown eye that set him apart from everyone else practically laughed all by themselves.

“Oh, Connor, you are getting so much better as a leader. I’m almost proud of you. What is the saying?” Vercin looked at Julie. “Something about a little engine?”

“The little engine that could.” Julie nodded, refusing to take her eyes off Morrigan.

“Right. I have to say there have been so many wonderful analogies created since I have been away.”

Connor clenched his jaw. He knew Vercin was enjoying himself. The man had an ego the size of the palace itself. He was flaunting his calm demeanor in front of Connor now. A demeanor that said he was sure of victory and couldn’t care less about the bloodshed that was coming.

“I’ll take that as a no,” Connor said. “So, what is it that you want?”

“Ahhhh… always straight to business. Nice outfit, by the way. I have seen our ancestors wear it. I wore it once, before my eyes were opened and I realized that as Judges we were not meant to save the Elite world, we were meant to rule it. I’ve come here to give you one final chance to stand down. Join me or not, I don’t care anymore. Just stay out of the way. The human world was born to be ours. It is our fate as the top of the food chain to stand in a position of dominance and power. Anything less would be a true waste of what we are.”

“We’re here to protect them, not to rule. We have been given a gift to use to help people, not to enslave them.”

Vercin shook his head like he was sad to hear the news. His eyes flicked over to Randolph as though he had noticed the man for the first time.

“And you, Randolph Ulfric? You are going to follow a young Judge into impossible odds and die at his side when most of your family is with me?”

Randolph answered but he was looking at his cousin Christof when he spoke. “I was tricked into helping you escape. I was lied to by members of my own family. That’s not what family does. I have found a new family that doesn’t lie, doesn’t manipulate, and yes, I will die by their side.”

Christof met Randolph’s gaze with a sneer. Hate shot out like lasers from his eyes. “You are a bloody idiot and a fool, Randolph Ulfric. I will kill you myself for standing against our true king.”

Connor was shocked for a moment that a once timid lawyer could have grown so bold. The approving nod that passed from Vercin to Christof that followed explained it all.”

Randolph must have also caught the exchange, “You are a fool, Christof, and nothing more than a dog pleasing a master.”

Christof moved forward, a hand sliding to the long sword at his side. Vercin stopped him with an outstretched hand.

“Well, then I guess we do, in fact, have nothing to talk about,” Vercin said. “But before I go, Connor, before you go back and hide behind your joke of a wall, before I come and slaughter you all, I want you to realize how flawed your thought process really is.”

Connor didn’t want to hear Vercin talk. He was sick of listening to his voice. But what made him feel even sicker was that he wanted to know what Vercin had to say.

“You follow an ancient set of rules. You are a Judge. A Judge that comes when the Elite race and the world needs them. But what about all the little times the world needs you? All the small occasions when a Judge doesn’t rise and still hundreds, maybe thousands of people die. In a way, you’re no better than I am. You come when you feel you are called. You save some while others die.”

Connor watched as a wicked smile passed Vercin’s lips and he turned to walk away. Julie took a few steps backwards, following her king’s lead. “I’ll have my daughter back, Morrigan. When your body is lying cold on the field of battle, I’ll take her back and clear her mind of the poison you left.”

“We can let her make her own decision, Julie. While you were lying to her and turning into the monster you have become, she has grown up into a very capable young woman.”

Julie sneered and turned to follow Vercin and Christof.

Connor looked at Randolph and Morrigan as they also turned to go.

“Well, that went well,” Connor said. “Do you think they’ll attack soon?”

Trumpets rang out from the enemy camp. A rumble like a thousand feet marching filled the quiet air. Shouts from deep throats and roars from the insane members of Karnag peppered the air.

“I had to ask.”