Tales of Fire and Ruin - Chapter 19: Chapter 19

Endris threw the door to the mansion open and ran inside. I went after him, despite it seeming like an awful idea to enter a burning building. The kitchen was empty but there was already a thin layer of smoke floating in the room. Whatever Endris wanted to do, it would have to be fast.
"Valda! Conrad!" I called out as we hurried through the kitchen and into the hall. "Gisela!"
I didn't receive a response. Endris' fingers dug into my arm as he dragged me along. The smoke grew thicker the closer we came to the stairs, and my eyes stung. In the lobby, the flames had spread to the carpet. I felt the blistering heat on my skin.
"Up!" Endris bellowed. "Wait on the balcony!"
Endris let go of my arm and turned to the living quarters. "What are you going to do?" I asked.
"I will set the trap."
I wanted to ask what trap, but Endris ran like the wind and vanished into the living quarters before I could utter a single world. For a moment, I hesitated. If the fire spread, I'd be trapped inside. Burning alive wasn't appealing, but neither was yielding to Ytel's men.
Endris better have a good plan.
Cursing under my breath, I ran up the stairs two steps at a time. On the second floor I called out for my family again with no response, and then I dashed on to the third floor. There was a balcony in the master bedroom. My parents' bedroom. It looked out over the road leading to our mansion, the nearby woods, and beyond that, the town. I assumed that was the place Endris meant for me to go.
I burst through the door, hoping to find my parents holed up in their chambers, but it was empty. The bed was unmade and my father's cane was gone, however, indicating they had left in a hurry. Swiftly crossing the room, I stepped outside onto the balcony. Above me, I saw muddled pinpricks of light in a dark sky. Below me, figures with weapons moved in the smoke. It wasn't safe for them to stay in there much longer. The smoke and serpentine powder burned in my lungs with every breath, and I wasn't even in the thick of it.
I had done as Endris said, but after a few moments of waiting, doubt gnawed at the back of my mind. I couldn't just sit here forever. What was he planning on doing? I paced, and another few moments later, I grew impatient and wanted to go outside to find Endris. That was when someone stumbled onto the balcony behind me.
Valda's hair was tangled, and black smears were smudged all over her face and ripped dress. Her eyes filled with tears when she saw me, and she let out a strangled sob as she pulled me into an embrace.
"Laurence," she cried out, "I thought you had left. How are you here?"
"Don't worry about that right now," I replied, squeezing my sister tightly. "Are you alright? Where are the others?"
"I don't know. I only found Endris, and he told me to find you on the balcony." Valda sniffled. "And he told me to tell you that you need to aim for the woods."
"Aim for the woods?" I repeated. I stared into the distance at the black silhouettes of the trees. "With my thunder? Why would I do that?"
"I don't know. Wait for the horn and aim for the woods. That's all he said."
I shook my head in confusion. "I have no idea what Endris wants, but we can't stay here much longer. The mansion is burning. We need to get out."
"No, wait, look," Valda said, pointing at the ground below.
I squinted, and then I saw what she meant. A lone figure on horseback moved towards the woods. It was a mere shadow crossing the landscape—if you didn't look carefully, you'd miss it. Then the deep sound of a horn echoed across the cliffs.
A moment later, I heard men yelling: "retreat!" A dozen more figures ran from the mansion after the person on horseback. The horn had to symbolise an order to retreat. The men ran for the woods.
"That must be them!" Valda called out. "The men who attacked us."
"I can't tell from here," I protested. "And neither can you. What if they're not? What if they're Ariane's warriors?"
Valda frowned at me in disbelief. "Why would Endris tell you to strike the woods if they're not Ytel's men?"
Because both Endris and Ytel lived in Wildewall, and my only real tie to Endris was Oleander. But Endris and Ytel had never truly seen eye to eye either.
"Laurence, please," Valda pleaded. "Stop them. They will return to Wildewall and spread lies about what happened. You know they will!"
I released a shuddering breath. If we were wrong... I looked at the figures heading for the woods, the ones I'd soon kill, and muttered a soft prayer to the thunder god asking for forgiveness.
Then I closed my eyes. I drew all my power to my mark until it burned brighter than the flames consuming the mansion. Sounds faded. All I heard was my heart thundering. All I felt was sweat running down my neck and raw energy coursing through my body like the unstoppable currents of the sea. I balled my fists and gathered more magic until my chest was about to burst. Then I opened my fingers and released my magic.
The heavens tore as I sent bolt after bolt crashing down near the woods where men ran. When my rain of thunder ended, nothing moved anymore in the dark. The strength left my body soon after and I slumped to the ground despite my attempts to hold on to the railing of the balcony.
"Laurence? Laurence!" Valda's muffled cries rang in my ears. I felt her hand pressing on my back and then I passed out.
The next time I blinked my eyes open, light flooded my vision. With a groan, I shielded my face from the sun with my arm. When my eyes adjusted, I realised I was downstairs in the kitchen, covered in blankets and sore from neck to hips. The room was silent; I didn't hear fighting and everything in the kitchen looked normal. The only evidence I had that I hadn't only dreamt of a fight and the mansion in flames was the pain in my lungs and upper body. I coughed and swatted the heavy blankets off of me.
Hasty, light footsteps instantly came my way. "Lord Montbow!" Oleander called out, before his worried face hovered over mine.
My mother and Valda soon joined him.Under their watchful gaze, I sat up slowly. Not that I had any choice in the matter. Every moment I made sent searing jolts of pain through my mark.
Mother rested her hand on my shoulder. "How are you feeling, Laurence? Don't move too fast."
"I'm alright," I replied through gritted teeth. I had gone through this before. After using my god's blessing to its fullest strength, my magic always silenced in me for a while, but it would return.
"Where is everyone? Did we all make it out?" I asked as I tried to stand. Oleander helped me by putting my arm across his shoulders and pushing me up.
"We're all here, Laurence," my mother replied. "Also, thanks to you. Rest easy."
"No, I want to see everyone," I protested.
"Can we please take him to the living quarters, Lady Montbow?" Oleander asked quietly. "I don't think Lord Montbow will rest unless he sees everyone alive."
"You're probably right," Mother said with a sigh. She gestured me and Oleander to come along.
We walked to the living quarters together, with Oleander supporting me. On the way, I saw the lobby had all but collapsed. The staircases looked like the fire touched them as well, and I wasn't sure if they were even usable anymore. Large buckets stood orderly in a row adjacent to the stairs.
Before my mother opened the door leading to the living quarters, I heard agitated voices arguing inside. They abruptly stopped when Oleander, my mom, and I stepped inside the room. All eyes shot my way. My entire family was there, and Ariane and Endris, too.
"Thank you," I muttered under my breath to the thunder god as relief flooded me. Then I grinned widely at the occupants of the room. "Please, don't stop talking on my behalf."
"Laurence!" Fynn immediately jumped up and ran at me with wide open arms. I didn't have the heart to tell my little brother to be careful, so I bit on my lip to stop a groan in pain from spilling from my lips as I bent down to hug him.
"We all thought you were gone, but you weren't! I knew you'd never let us down," Fynn said, burying his head into the crook of my neck.
I chuckled, grateful there was still at least one family member with absolute faith in me. Everyone else seemed to keep their plans secret. I looked around the room and found only tense and serious faces. Especially my dad and Conrad had never frowned deeper. Mother had also seemed troubled on the way here, and I wondered what in the thunder god's name was going on.
Oleander helped me to a chair, and I sat down heavily with a moan. "I see everyone's alive," I said. "I'm very glad to see it."
"Yes," Ariane replied. "It's all very fortunate. Endris knew Ytel's commander uses a horn to communicate with his men. By killing the commander and blowing the horn, he could trick them into leaving the battlefield, turning them into sitting ducks for you to zap."
"I see," I said. "What's with the long faces then? The mansion is damaged, sure, and the plan didn't go according to, well, plan. But we won, right?"
"If you believe killing everyone is a victory," Ariane replied.
I raised a brow. "What do you mean? Killing everyone was your plan all along. You wanted me to, I quote, rain my thunder down on Ytel's men if they tried to attack."
"Ytel is dead, Laurence," Ariane deadpanned.
"What?" I frowned, then looked down at my open palm. "Did I...?"
"No, he wasn't struck by your lightning," Gisela replied. "He was further away inside the woods, hidden... but not well enough."
"It was a knife," my father added. "Multiple stabbing wounds inflicted to make it hurt, to make it hard to breathe, before he would finally die."
I hastily covered Fynn's ears as father went into the details. The little tyke squirmed in my grasp until he broke free. He looked at me indignantly.
"Endris and Fynn, could you check up on the horses?" my mom asked. "The poor beasts had quite a scare last night. Especially Spot needs you."
My mother knew exactly how to appeal to Fynn, the animal friend who was always eager to make himself useful. Fynn stood up straighter. "Yes, Mom," he said without arguing.
Endris also stood without a word and walked out with my little brother.
When they were gone, Gisela took out a piece of cloth from underneath the table and unwrapped it, revealing a knife with blood still clinging to the sharp side. "This is the knife we found on Ytel's body."
I recognised the knife. It had Montbow's signature on it. "This comes from our kitchen," I said.
Mother pressed a hand to her forehead and squeezed her eyes shut. "Killing Ytel's men because they attacked us is one thing. Killing a knight another. That will send tongues wagging in Wildewall. By the thunder god, just as we thought better times were coming."
"So? He attacked us first," I said. "He blew our front door out of its sockets with his special powder."
"That wasn't Ytel's powder," Valda said, side-eying Conrad. "That was our powder. For a flare. Most of us just didn't know we had it."
Conrad didn't respond to Valda's accusations.
"It's all in the past now," Gisela dismissed Valda's words. "We need to look forward. We have a dead knight in our woods, a barely liveable home, and Laurence's departure to handle now."
"Did anyone confess?" I asked. "To killing Ytel?"
"No," Father replied flatly. "And anyone who is smart wouldn't come forward now. They would immediately be under arrest for killing a knight of the queen, and on their way to Wildewall to rot in the dungeons for the rest of their days if they are not executed."
"Wait a moment, a knight like Ytel isn't entirely above the law either," I protested again. "Ytel died a warrior's death, and it happened during a clear assault on a noble family. Wildewall's laws are clear about this."
"You would be right if the Montbows were a noble family," Ariane said. "Less so as long as you live in exile." Ariane looked me up and down. "But if you go to Wildewall's ball and dazzle them, you may be reinstated in the court and have your word count as more than a mere disgraced merchant. Your storm-touched status helps with that. You will at least get a hearing and a chance to plead not guilty."
I knew I had to attend a hearing in Wildewall if a knight died in our territory. But did we truly have no guilt in this matter? I glanced at Conrad. He and Ariane had been keeping so many secrets I didn't know if he didn't.
As a matter of fact, several people in this room would have the knowledge to pull a murder like this off, and literally everyone in this room had a motive.
To all my family members, Ytel was a thorn in our side which kept trying to dig its way in deeper and deeper and had tried to bleed us dry several times. To Endris, Ytel was an arrogant knight and the personification of the worst nobles offered; on a power trip and perpetually hungry for more than he should want. Perhaps it wasn't something he held a grudge over, but I could never be sure about Endris. Even to Oleander, Ytel was a man who had murdered a dragon. Something he repeatedly cautioned against. Then there was Ariane, who could have ordered one of her servants to do it. Maybe the warrior who stabbed Ytel was dead already. I couldn't tell; we'd all gotten scrambled and split up in the panic and nobody saw everything that happened because of the smoke. Everyone with access to our kitchen could have done this, except for little Fynn and me.
"Perhaps it is better this way," Ariane offered with a shrug. "You sent a clear message to others who are after the Montbow family with this kill. You Montbows have been too soft and careful, anyway." Ariane hummed. Either way, it's even more crucial now that Laurence departs for Wildewall as soon as possible."
"Wouldn't it be dangerous to leave my family and the mansion undefended now?" I asked. "They will know."
"It will be more dangerous if you don't go to the capital and form the narrative before others make up stories in their heads themselves," Conrad said. "You can decide what people believe."
Conrad stared intently at me with mismatched eyes. Forming the narrative is what he would do. He'd spin the story in his favour with ease, saying little, but saying just enough to make people doubt.
I sighed. "What am I supposed to sell them then? What narrative?"
"Do we need to decide everything for you?" Conrad mocked. "You tell them it was a tragic fate for Ytel, but such is the risk if you get greedy and try to claim land that doesn't belong to you. It shouldn't be hard. Ytel is not there to defend himself, after all."
"People in Wildewall knew what he set out to do," Ariane agreed. "All you have to do is act as Conrad says and make the Montbow family look honourable and upstanding, and Ytel, the villain for trying to take advantage of your misfortune."
I swallowed thickly. "He must have allies. Ytel," I said. "Someone will take revenge while I'm gone."
"We can't exclude that possibility," Gisela admitted.
Valda offered me a small smile. "It's a risk, like sending you to the mountains was a risk, but if it pays off... maybe we will get to dance at next year's autumn ball as well. And at least we now have a boat to escape in."
"I will also write more of our old, loyal guards," Mother said. "Some of them may return now that we can pay them. Leonardo even offered to stay for free, remember?"
I smiled, remembering the blond, zany swordsman who used to bounce around here. He was an orphan, incapable of sitting still and barely an adult, but damn, that guy could make swordplay look like art.
Mother grabbed my hand and squeezed it. "You will go Wildewall's autumn ball with Endris and Oleander. Then you travel to the mountains to kill a dragon and become a knight."
My gut twisted. I wanted to tell my mother no. I didn't want to leave my family behind undefended, but Ariane and Conrad also had a point. I would help my family more if I did what was suggested: spin the narrative and do everything within my power to get the Montbow family in good standing so we would have protection from the court.
"Very well," I caved. "We'll go to Wildewall as planned."
"Good, I'm glad you finally see reason," Ariane spoke crisply. "My servants are on their way back with our traveling supplies. My surviving warriors are resting now and will be ready tomorrow. The wounded stay here and join Montbow's guard when they recover."
I snorted at Ariane's confidence. "Looks like your plan paid off in the end, huh?"
Ariane smiled at me like a satisfied cat. "Of course my plans paid off. They always do, beloved."