More Like Us
The Wardens: Tablets, pretenders, and the power of the Nine.
1
Caid dodged another fruit flying past his head. Only in a district lined with as much coin as Parian would people throw away perfectly edible food. Caid scanned his surroundings. Geth popped up in front of him before he completed his overlook. A red apple gleamed in his hand, and a dagger protruded from the sleeve of his hooded robe.
“What are you doing?”
Geth’s eyes flashed to the apple, and he showed a wide smile.
“I won’t let food go to waste. Just because these hooligans threw it away, doesn’t mean it isn’t worth eating.”
Without cutting a piece, he bit into the apple, spraying juices into his mustache. Caid didn’t comment. Geth wouldn’t have cared and would have left it there just to annoy Caid if he made it a big deal.
“Can’t you focus for a minute?”
Geth turned, leaving the path open again for Caid to finish scanning. Groups had split between two factions. One side of the mob wanted to fight for the Rosens. The other side the Gjorns. Both sides Caid didn’t care about. The Warden’s missions were never about playing favorites, they were about assessing the situation, understanding the targets, and making sure to not get caught or killed.
“What is there to focus on exactly? We can see the obvious tension. One side would cave in the other sides head. The other side would do the same. What are we trying to learn here? I can tell you the verdict, they are both pissed and hate each other.”
Caid ignored the jibe. It was about more than the fruit flying around the streets. The underlying battle wasn’t one of physical conflict. It hadn’t been about that at the beginning and the ending wouldn’t be about that either. Not to say there wouldn’t be any victims.
That was their job. Pass down the Nine Warden’s verdict. Galmont had told Caid his mission for that. The first step would be to assess.
Caid saw another arm draw back, this time it was an empty fist that plowed into the side of a man’s head. With a grunt, the man crumpled. Others looked around to see who would jump in, but wisely they backed away into the crowd, dragging their unconscious friend with them. Too much longer and the streets would turn into a riot.
“Where are the envoy?”
Geth spit a seed onto the ground, using the dagger to pick his teeth. He looked around.
“Expecting to see your boyfriend?”
Caid gave him a side glance. Geth held his hands out in mock fear.
“Do you really have to be so contrary all the time?”
Geth pulled his hands down and laughed.
“I don’t see any envoy here. They are probably protecting the homes. That is a better use of their resources right now.” Geth threw the core of the apple back into the crowd. The half-eaten apple bounced off a child’s head. Geth cringed. “Didn’t mean to do that.” He turned to Caid. “All of this over an artifact neither of them can even read?”
Two men exchanged heated words only a few steps away. Caid moved to the side. Being a warden would dispatch any wild antics of most men, but there were those who dreamed of killing a warden as well. Fame and glory came with coin and power.
“There is more to it than a simple spat over an artifact. Religion is at the crux of the argument on the surface, but Galmont says there is more to it than that. So, I guess there is.”
Geth mocked Caid’s mouth movement. When Caid turned to him, he mimicked not meaning to get caught. Caid closed his eyes to refrain from berating Geth again. The man was a child. A child with extreme skills in combat, but a child.
“Galmont always says there is something more. This time it is a tablet. The last time it was some message sent from the Nine! Do you think Galmont talks to himself? Just sits in his room and pretends the gods are talking to him?”
Caid wouldn’t participate in the bad-mouthing of the head warden. He knew too well someday he would wear the same cloak and others in Geth’s position would say the same about him. Caid grabbed hold of a low-hanging awning and pulled himself up and sat down. There was no telling how long they would be here before Caid got the picture in his mind. What were these men and women fighting for? The Gjorns protested the Rosens had stolen a religious artifact from them. The Rosens denied the Gjorns ever possessing such an artifact. The Rosens didn’t deny having an artifact of religious value, but more so than the religion, the Rosens didn’t balk when some announced the tablet was worth two times more than a lifetimes worth of coin.
That explained why the Rosens and Gjorns fought over it. It didn’t explain why the people cared about it. What did a spat over money and religion have to do with the common folks who had neither? A showing? Opportunity to impress. The Rosens didn’t care about the citizens of the city. They cared very little about anything. Lord Rosen was in line to run against Seer Creft again in the election. He had lost two years running, but his money kept him growing in terms of hope of a seer spot and in girth.
The Gjorns weren’t even from Maralay. Those who fought for them stood to gain nothing. Scorn by those in Maralay was the obvious result, but what else did they want? Maybe they truly believed in the fabled power of the tablet. Power beyond belief, but if it were true, why didn’t Rosen have any real power?
Geth pulled up and sat beside him, crossed-legged on the awning. They weren’t high above the crowd, but they were far enough away no one would accidently bump into them. They watched in silence for a few minutes. Geth drumming his fingers on his knees in boredom and Caid trying not to break Geth’s fingers in annoyance.
“Galmont could have given this to Rawn. Shouldn’t you be doing something more important?”
Caid flicked his tongue over the back of his teeth. It was a trick with Geth to never speak too fast. If you allowed him to run on a tangent, he would never stop. Calculated attempts on ceasing the conversation always worked best for Caid.
“Would you have rather been sitting here with Rawn?”
Geth pulled his cheeks back to show his teeth in disgust. His nose crinkled, and his eyebrows scrunched. Caid thought it was a bit dramatic.
“You know that I wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for you. Partners. You and I are like the sun and moon.” Geth looked awfully proud of his comparison.
“You mean on separate plains and never showing up in the same spot?”
The deflated sigh changed Geth’s expression.
“I only mean…”
Geth never got to tell what he meant. The commotion on the streets shifted. It had been loud moments before. There had been yelling, screaming, name calling, and some physical altercations, but that all changed in the blink of an eye.
The sudden change from a blaring atmosphere to complete and utter silence jarred Caid. He stood on the awning, looking over the heads of the crowd. The two groups had merged. Neither spoke. Caid couldn’t see what they gathered around, but a large gap formed in the center and they circled around it.
Caid hopped from the awning to the pathway below.
Whatever drew the crowd’s attention had to be captivating enough to stop the fighting. Not one fruit flew over the crowd. Caid pushed through without opposition. Geth followed a few steps behind. At the front of the crowd, Caid could see an opening ten feet around. The two sides were hard to tell apart once they bunched in together. Many in the crowd still held fruit in their hands. Others had one shots grasped in their fingers. They had been willing to kill one another over the spat, or at least threaten it. When Caid got to the front of the crowd, he saw what stopped the commotion. Laying prone across the cobbles was a well-dressed man with medium length hair. The man had to be a noble of some sort. His hair and clothes showed that. Caid stepped into the opening. The exposure wasn’t something he would normally invite, but he wanted to see the man closer. Had Galmont sent them for this? What did the head warden know about the feud Caid didn’t?
“I don’t suppose he is just laying down there for an afternoon nap?” Geth stepped out of the crowd.
Caid could feel the eyes shifting from the body to the two wardens that stood over it.
“I don’t think he will wake up anytime soon.”
Caid could see a cut across the neck, blood trickled down the side, but oddly there wasn’t splatters of blood like he would expect from such a wound. The force necessary for cutting someone’s throat should have sent blood cascading over the cobblestones and onto anyone nearby. There wasn’t evidence of that, but the blood pooling under the man’s neck showed he hadn’t moved either. Something was off about this kill. It was familiar, almost like one of their own.
“It was The Wardens!”
A voice called over the silence of the crowd. Murmurs rose. Caid followed the first voice and saw a gray-haired man pointing to the building nearby. There in blood was the symbol of The Wardens painted with pristine accuracy.
The crowd grew wider. Before, Caid and Geth commanded respect, but now that there was a death they only brought fear. It ran rampant through the streets. Caid could hear the name of The Wardens being passed down the line. Each new group yelled to another, and soon enough the whole district would think they had killed a man in broad daylight in the middle of the street.
“This wasn’t us, was it?”
Geth knew better, but the symbol was accurate. It was never used in public. Wardens didn’t take pride in their kills. They did so in secrecy. A good warden never took credit. If all went well, then no one ever knew they were there.
“Of course, we didn’t do it. Why would Galmont order this? Why would he have us on standby to look for it?”
Geth shrugged.
“I was hoping you could tell me that, actually. You know you’re supposed to be the next in line, not me.”
This hadn’t been The Wardens. Although the symbol on the wall and the odd cut across the throat made him wonder. He checked the path again for anyone suspicious. No one jumped out at him as a killer. The group backed away, and many dispersed. No one wanted to be in the sights of The Wardens. No one understood how
The Wardens killed, or how they decided who deserved to die. Caid didn’t even understand it. Galmont passed the orders, and they did as they were told. It was the way it had always been. This was different. If one a warden had killed this man, which he doubted, they had done so without the consent of the head warden. Would one of his fellow wardens go rouge? He doubted it, but the evidence was right in front of him.
Caid glanced around the crowd one more time. People moved away at a pace that told him they wanted nothing to do with this situation. Anyone brave enough to kill in broad daylight and then paint the symbol wouldn’t be out here making a fool of themselves with fruit battles.
The prospect of finding anyone responsible seemed small. Caid glanced at the rooftops. That is where he would have hidden if he had done this. The rooftops provided a sanctuary. No one climbed to the rooftops. No one ever bothered to look up and monitor them. Caid glanced around, seeing nothing to his left or in front of him. Then he turned to his right and there to his side was a shadowy figure crouched on the rooftop, staring into the crowd. Caid couldn’t see his face, but he wasn’t wearing The Warden’s green. He wore a dark brown cloak covering his features. Caid slapped Geth on the shoulder.
The man noticed Caid’s gaze on him and turned his head only slightly. It was enough to let Caid know he hadn’t been watching. He had his attention on the crowd. Now they made eye contact without either being able to see the other’s eyes. The muscles in the man’s legs tensed, and he turned. Caid ran through the crowd. Screams sounded behind him. The crowd panicked and ran. They believed he had gone mad and would kill them all.
Caid hadn’t gone mad. He had a target. Without waiting to see if Geth followed, Caid pulled himself onto the rooftop closest to him. The figure stood and started his escape, but Caid was in hot pursuit and wouldn’t be an easy tail to shake off.
Caid left the screams of the crowd behind. The envoy could clean up the body. He would find out who impersonated a warden and thought they could get away with it.
