The fortnight has finally passed. For Prince Aero, it has been an agonizing two weeks. Aside from his visitors on the third day, Matthew has been allowed to visit only once. That meeting was to tell the prince that Governor Dabir wouldn’t allow him any more visitors.
So he has sat knelt, down chained in to place inside the heavy stocks almost constantly. Always alone, always in the dark. His only company has been the rats who also live in the cell.
About twenty minutes ago, guards came into his cell and took him out of his binds, then rebound him. He was placed in a hood and carried away. Aero was convinced that this was a death march, but it isn’t. Not yet any way.
He was led to a chair, forced to sit in it then left alone.
For several minutes he has heard nothing but the same deafening silence that he has grown so familiar with over these past days.
The silence is broken by the creeping open of a door, followed by feet only to be followed by the sound of someone sitting in a chair in front of him.
Aero can make out sounds happening before him. Someone drinking and setting a glass on a table, movement of the chair, and the sound of someone eating. Not to mention the aroma of a meal that has quickly filled the room.
“Ser Aero… but, it’s Prince Aero isn’t it?”
It’s Governor Dabir. His voice has become so familiar since arriving in Meego.
“Both are correct.” Aero replies from under the hood.
“Yes, but you did not let us know that when you arrived. You hid that fact from us, why?”
“It was David’s doing, he made that decision last minute, right before your convoy picked us up. I didn’t have time to question it, your men were there, and we had to leave immediately.”
“Really? You expect me to believe that? You’re not as good at lying as you think you are.”
“I’m not lying.”
“And I’m sure you didn’t even come for the sword. If you want to save your life, you must answer these next questions truthfully. If I don’t like the answers, we will have to take drastic actions to get the truth.”
Aero sits in silence with anticipation of the Governor’s questions.
“Who is David?”
“He’s my oldest brother, son of King William and the heir to the throne. He will be king one day.”
“I doubt that, I assure you that boy will never rule.”
Dabir takes a pause to allow Aero to hear his words.
“Aero, you can’t protect him. His fate is in my hands, the same as yours… Who is David?”
“My oldest brother, heir to the throne.”
“WHO IS DAVID!” Dabir screams, as he slams his hand down on the desk.
Startled, Aero doesn’t respond.
“Who is David?”
“The future king! My brother, oldest born son of William the thirty-second. Every bit of that is true.”
“Not all of it, but we will find out together.”
“Am I on trial? Are you going to execute me?”
“I ask the questions around here. Do not ask another question.”
Aero remains silent. He doesn’t have much strength to fight back. In his heart, he is already defeated, the last weeks have destroyed his strength and his will.
“Why did you come to Meego?”
“My father commanded me to come.”
“Why?”
“To do my duty.”
“Which was?”
“To get the sword.” Aero says begrudgingly.
“Finally, you can tell the truth. You came for the sword.”
“No, that’s what my father sa…”
“SHUT UP!” Dabir shouts “Do not try to spin the truth with me, you came for the sword and you got it into your hands! You are guilty!”
Anger fills his tone; Aero can hear the hatred in his voice.
“No, I di…”
The bag is ripped from Aero’s head by Dabir, who is face to face with him.
“I SAID SHUT UP, LIAR!”
Aero does shut his mouth, he is visibly angry yet stone cold quiet.
“Do you admit to taking the sword?”
“Yes.”
“Then you tried to carry out your father’s mission. You are guilty of trying to destroy Meego.”
“Destroy Meego? Hell no I didn…”
“SHUT UP!”
“NO! YOU SHUT UP AND LISTEN TO ME!” Aero screams in frustration. These past two weeks of isolation have finally got the best of him. That and the Governor’s accusations.
“I did pick up the sword, but it was out of desperation. I only did so because there was no other weapon nearby and the guards were being slaughtered before our eyes!”
“But why would you even think to pick that piece of junk up? The form it was in when you first saw it was not the form of a weapon. It couldn’t have hurt anything.”
“It was all that was there.”
“No, there was a shillelagh on the shelf beside you. You went for the sword for a reason.”
“It was closer then.”
“Do not lie to me, why did you pick up the sword?”
Aero hangs his head in fear. While he does, he remembers the words of his friend Crimson. He told Aero before he left the cave to always be truthful in Meego. It’s the difference between life and death.
“The sword called out to me.”
“And you think that makes it yours?”
“No, I picked it up to save our lives. I did that, I saved your life and David’s in that moment.”
“But then you ran away with the sword. You tried to keep it.”
“No, Governor Dabir, you saw the last assassin run away. I chased him, and found Matt and Ali drinking and we killed him. I was about to return the sword when we heard the commotion outside. We ran out and those assassins were everywhere! We fought them and met with your militia and pushed them to the docks where we slaughtered them all. I did that for Meego, not my father.”
“What exactly are Underbridge Assassin’s I;ve never heard of them?”
“They are an old assassin guild that is housed near the riverbed of the Red Snake Canyon, about fifteen hundred feet below Antro’s Bridge. They have an ancient magic that allows them to turn invisible. To set a bounty, you throw the assigned targets name and details off the bridge. They complete the bounty but set the price afterward. If you can’t afford the fee, they kill you. So whoever sent that many of them had to be extremely wealthy.”
“Someone like your father.”
“I don’t deny that.”
“Or perhaps his son.”
“You think I hired them? I killed so many of them. Why would I do that?”
“To make you look like a hero.”
“Governor, I didn’t do that, and I didn’t steal the sword.”
“Why didn’t you return it? I had to send my daughter to get it.”
“Ask Captain Brotou, I coordinated the clean up of the docks and the streets. We searched the assassin’s bodies for clues, and carefully set the Meegan dead to the side. I would have returned the sword; I give you my word.”
“The words of liars don’t impress me! Do you know how many Meegan men in my family have had to hear your family’s lies all these centuries?”
“No, but I am not them. I gave Rania the sword without hesitation.”
“To be honest, I was surprised her dagger didn’t have your blood on it that night.”
Aero looks at the Governor in shock. These two men are enemies due to a thousand-year-old curse, but they love the same woman. Dabir’s love is that of a father, and for Aero to hear that he expected her to kill him frightens Aero to no end. The father of the woman he loves, expected her to kill him. Aero can’t even begin to understand that logic.
“Governor let me say this plainly. I want you to hear my words, you have a hang up about this sword. Yes, it called out to me. Yes, I picked it up and fought on behalf of Meego with it, and yes… I returned it immediately when asked. I DO NOT WANT THAT DAMN SWORD!”
“Even if I believed that, I’m not hung up on just the sword. You brought assassins and spies into my city.”
“I already told you…”
“I’m not talking about the Underbridge Assassin’s; I’m talking about your people. The ones you brought with you.”
“What? Who?”
“All of them. Two of the finest knights in the kingdom. Put a sword in their hand and they kill. Lieutenant Rain, who immediately embedded herself into our militia. She probably knows everything about our defense strategies, and countermeasures to take Meego down from the inside. Roasa, who befriended my daughter almost instantly. No telling what that road witch has got out of her.”
“Stop! You will not accuse my people of being assassin’s or spies or anything. Especially Roasa!”
“Ah, you love her?”
“It’s not like that.”
“Then tell me, I would love to hear this.”
Aero wonders why the Governor has taken such an interest in Aero’s relationship with Roasa, but he answers anyway.
“We found her on the road, weeping over the still warm body of her husband Jose, who had just been killed by knights for their food. While Stephan and Matt chased the knights down, I dug a grave and placed Jose in the ground and buried him with my own hands. Stephan and Matt brought back the knight who killed her husband and she killed him. About a week later, she discovered that Ser Stephan’s squire, Rich was working for the knights that killed Jose, by feeding them information about our travel. Roasa killed him. When we arrived at the old palace, the brother of the knight that killed Jose arrived wearing his brother’s armor. She killed him. My heart aches for her.”
“Do you love her?”
“I have found great joy in seeing her heal here in Meego, not having to look over her shoulder to see if evil knights are hunting her down. I do love her; we are family now after everything we have been through. But I am not in love with her. I’m in love with Rania, and Roasa isn’t her.”
Governor Dabir sits back in his chair to contemplate his response.
“That all sounds so good, but there is a problem. You will lie to get what you want, and your people are assassin’s and spies. They must be dealt with!”
“They are innocent! They are none of those things! They are good people! The best I have known in my entire life, I know if I need them, they will be there! They are the type of people that when push comes to shove, I would take any one of them against any five warriors. We became a family on the road here, you can’t train that.”
“Guards! Take him back to his cell, have him ready for the fighting pits tonight. Prince Aero, you got a deal!”
“Deal? What deal?”
The bag is placed over his head as Dabir leaves the room with a smile on his face. Aero screams for him to answer but he is gone. The soldiers drag him back to his cell as questions fill his mind.
What does the Governor have in store for him now?
Relics of the Old Age 