Benjamin Ashwood (19 page)

The
next morning the Citadel was a beehive of activity for the start of the
Conclave.   Ben, Rhys and Renfro departed Whitehall in the confusion.  Dueling
was legal in the eyes of the King and the law when proper procedure was
followed.  Rhys’ duel with Lord Fredrick had been presided over by one of the
Citadel’s most esteemed Generals and had been witnessed by half of the upper
class in Whitehall.  There was no doubt about the legality.  That didn’t mean
it was smart to hang around town after publicly killing a high born.  There
were worse consequences than prison time when a commoner mixed in the business
of Lords.

The
only road out of Whitehall started from an imposing stone arched steel gate on
the mountain side of the Citadel.  The bulky fortifications made more sense
when viewed from the mountain.  Though it would be nearly impossible to mount
an attack from that side, Ben supposed it was better than fighting your way up
through the entire city.

Just
outside of the heavy gates, there was a soaring stone bridge that passed over a
river gorge.  The water plummeted down an impressive waterfall into the city
below.  The bridge was sturdy and blissfully short but Ben shuddered when he glanced
over the side.  He guessed it was 20 stories below where the waterfall ended
violently in a rocky basin which flowed into the manmade reservoir that
supplied the city with fresh water.

Beyond
the waterfall, the road was wide and well maintained.  In places though it was
covered in a heavy mist from the turbulent White River crashing down over
boulders and bends in the gorge.  The morning was spent in constant shade and
coupled with the mist, it was a damp and chilly way to wake up.

They
travelled nearly a full day deeper into the mountains behind Whitehall until
they found a clearing near the road and adjacent to a large pool in the river. 
The country was heavily wooded and mountainous so there was little
development.  It didn’t have the same series of small towns that led up to
Fabrizo. 

Rhys
explained that once the others joined them they would move up to the top of the
mountain range and go through the Snowmar Pass.  On the other side was the
Sineook Valley which supplied the agricultural needs of Whitehall and many
other cities on the Blood Bay.  The Lords of the Sineook Valley were
traditionally allegiant to Whitehall as all commerce to the East, most of what
the Valley produced and purchased, passed through Whitehall’s ports.

During
the early morning travel Ben had been afraid to broach the subject of the duel
with Rhys.  He didn’t know how the man would be effected by killing another
person.  He was expecting Rhys to bring it up himself.  He had been very drunk
the night before and Ben found it hard to believe he had a clear memory of
everything that happened.  Surely he had his own questions he wanted answered.

But
as their journey progressed, he realized Rhys did not seem effected at all and
was actually in a pretty jovial mood.  When they took their first rest Renfro
ended up being the one to break the ice.  He collapsed onto a mossy log by the
side of the road.

“Oh
man.  How much more of this do we have until we see a proper city again?”
groaned Renfro.

Ben
felt bad for the young thief.  He’d never been far out of Fabrizo and it was
flat as a pancake.  The entire journey for him so far had been aboard the ship.

“Just
four more days of this until we reach Snowmar Station.  All uphill by the
way.”  Rhys had a wicked grin as he observed Renfro’s crestfallen expression. 
“A little exercise is healthy for you.  It will feel good once you get used to
it.”

Ben
couldn’t resist, “Rhys, I’m surprised you’re feeling so well.  It was a bit of
a rough night, wasn’t it?”

“Just
go ahead and ask me,” smirked Rhys.  “I know you’ve been stewing on it all
morning.  Let’s get it over with.”

“Ok,
I guess I do want to know what happened last night.”

“You
know what happened Ben.  The man called me out and he ended up dead.  If I
recall, you were there to watch it.”

“I
was there,” bristled Ben, “which is why I’m a little surprised you recall
anything at all about last night.”

“Ah
yes.  Well, I wasn’t quite as bad as it seemed.  Word of advice, if you’re
truly in a state where you can’t see straight, then the best course of action
is generally to just apologize and worry about fighting later.  It’s not a good
idea to bare steel when you’ve had too many cups.  Better to make friends and
have another cup.”

“So
it was an act.  Why?”

Rhys
unstopped his water skin and took a long drink.  “It wasn’t entirely an act.  I
had to drink enough to make it look real.  As to why, it needed to look
accidental.  Bad luck for poor Lord Fredrick that his wife’s drunken lover just
happened to turn at the wrong moment.  There were plenty of witnesses and not a
one of them will think it was anything other than a crazy, tragic end to one of
Wanda’s many affairs.”

“Hold
on.  I don’t understand.  Are you saying you really killed Lord Fredrick for
his Lady Wanda?”

“No
Ben,” Rhys answered with a sigh.  “I killed Fredrick for you.”

Ben
could only stare back confused.

Rhys
took another sip of water and frowned before continuing, “Fredrick apparently
got himself into a bit of a pickle with the Thieves Guild in Fabrizo.  Something
about a missed payment and needing to make an example.  You can explain how
that goes, right?”  He looked towards Renfro before continuing.  “You two had a
blood debt to the Guild.  Takes more money than I have to get out of that kind
of debt.  Blood though, that is easy enough to spill.  The Guild and I both had
things we wanted and came to an agreement that satisfied both of our needs.”

“I,
I had no idea,” stammered Ben.  A friend had risked his life and an innocent
man had died because of him.  Ben slumped down next to Renfro on the log and
stared at the ground.  “But, why?  Why you?  I mean, don’t they have people who
do that kind of thing?  Casper…”

Rhys
picked up a rock and tossed it into the river.  “Aye, anyone can cut a throat
in the night.  And you’re probably right, I suspect Casper has cut his share. 
But sometimes these things need a little more finesse.  Lord Fredrick got into
some things he shouldn’t have been involved in.  But he also had a lot of
powerful friends – King Argren for one.  The Thieves may live outside the law,
but they aren’t stupid.  If Argren set his mind to it he could crush them and
everyone in Fabrizo who tried to stand with them – not that anyone would.  They
needed to get a message across without anyone in power being able to tie it
back to them.”

“Why
you though?  What if you hadn’t come along right when they needed it.  And how
did they know you could do it?”

Rhys
hung the water skin back on his belt and studied Ben.  “This isn’t the first
time I’ve been involved in something like this.  The thieves had some
suggestions and we spoke about options.  They are aware of me and must have
thought it was worth the risk to let you two go.  They were very concerned
others might see Fredrick get away then start having their own ideas.  If I
hadn’t come along I’m sure they would have found someone else.”

“I
just…”  Ben couldn’t summon the words to express his thoughts.

“Give
it some time lad.  I know you feel guilty, but that’s the way the world works
sometimes.  You or them.  If it makes you feel better, Fredrick was a bad man. 
He got in with the Guild and then he betrayed them.  He constantly cheated on
and beat his wife.  He made his choices and he was going to pay for them,
whether or not we got involved.”

“Well,
I for one am thankful,” broke in Renfro.   “You saved my life to and I owe
you.  Whatever you need, just ask.”

Rhys
rolled his eyes.  “I’ll remember that.  If I ever need a pocket picked or
someone to make me look good on a hike, you’re the one I’ll ask for.  Come on,
let’s get moving, we’re wasting daylight.”

The
rest of the day was spent in silence except the constant huffing and puffing
from Renfro and the occasional bird call.  There were few other travelers out
because people had either come into Whitehall for the Conclave already or
weren’t leaving town while all of the excitement was going on.  The terrain
reminded Ben of home and for the first time since he had left Farview, he felt
a pang of homesickness.  He was still excited for what lay ahead, but the real
world was turning out to be a much uglier and more dangerous place than he had
anticipated.  In the stories, the dangers were always clear and everyone knew
what was right and what was wrong.

By
the time they spotted the clearing, Ben and Renfro were both ready to stop. 
Rhys seemed just as cheerful as he had been that morning and acted like he
could hike all night.  But even for Rhys with his boundless energy, the
clearing was a good spot to stop and wait for the others.  It was within a
stones throw of the road so they wouldn’t miss their companions and the White
River tumbled over a short rapid into a broad, calm pool which promised an easy
water source and the potential for fish.

It
was spring in the foothills of the mountains so while it wasn’t hot, it would
still be warm enough to camp in the open.  Setting up camp just involved
unloading their packs and gathering firewood to stack next to a well-used fire
pit that must have been dug out decades or even centuries earlier.

They
had sausage, cheese and biscuits they’d brought from Whitehall and shortly
after they ate, Renfro rolled up in his bedroll and fell asleep.  Rhys packed a
pipe full of tobacco and wandered the outskirts of the clearing while he
smoked.  Ben stared into the fire and thought.

It
seemed his world was getting more complicated and deadly.  First, there was the
encounter with the wagon driver at Murdoch’s.  Protecting Meghan was clearly
the right thing to do and at worst he would have taken a beating and been cut
up a little.  In Fabrizo, helping Renfro had been a more difficult decision
because he didn’t know him and the little thief had just tried to rob him, but
it had nearly resulted in Ben’s death as well as Renfro’s.  At the time, he
thought it had been wrong to leave Renfro to die.  He was glad he hadn’t, but
would he make the same decision again?  And he still wasn’t sure how he felt
about Rhys killing Lord Fredrick.  Rhys said Lord Fredrick was a bad man, but
even if he was an evil man, would Ben have made the decision to trade
Fredrick’s life for his?  Casper the thief would have argued for that choice,
but Ben didn’t want to be the kind of man who passed life and death judgment on
others.

In
the stories, the hero always saved the day and never had to face these types of
decisions.  You saw the monster, you fought the monster and you saved the
innocent damsel.  But what if the person you were trying to save was a bad
person – a thief?  What if the monster was really your friend and was actually
saving you?

Ben
was still lost in his own thoughts when Rhys settled down across from him and
tapped out his pipe into the fire.

“Still
thinking about it?” he asked.

“Yeah,
I can’t stop thinking about it.  I just keep going over it in my mind.  You
said this isn’t the first time you’ve done something like this?”

“Like
this?  If you mean saved someone, it might be,” Rhys answered with a snort.

Ben
sat up and looked at his friend, “you know what I meant.”

“No
Ben, that wasn’t the first time.  I haven’t always been a good person and I’ve
done a lot of things that maybe I shouldn’t have.  Things I’ve learned over the
years to regret.  But saving you at the expense of a man like Fredrick?  I
don’t regret that.”

“I’m
glad I’m alive, don’t get me wrong.  I appreciate you taking a risk to save me
and I owe you.  But…  I don’t know if I could have made the same choice.  Even
to save my own life.”

Rhys
slipped off his boots and laid down by the fire with his head on his bedroll. 
“Well Ben, the thing about me doing what I did is that you didn’t have to make
the choice.  You couldn’t have made that choice.  Fredrick’s death is on me Ben,
not on you.  And I think you’re right, if you had the choice you wouldn’t have
taken it.  I don’t think you would simply trade another man’s life for you
own.”  Rhys propped himself up on one elbow and looked at Ben.  “I like that
about you Ben.  That’s why I did what I did, because I didn’t think you would
have done it.  And this world needs people like you.”

The
next morning, Ben felt better.  The world was still a more complicated and
dangerous place than he had dreamed back in Farview, but Rhys was right.  Ben
had not made a decision that cost a man’s life.  Lord Fredrick put himself in a
situation with the Thieves Guild and Rhys had bartered for Ben’s life.  When Ben
had been faced with a life or death choice, he had chosen to try and help
Renfro.  Even though it worked out badly for them both, Ben fell asleep
comfortable with where his moral compass steered him.

Renfro
and Rhys were both in good moods too.  It was a beautiful day and being back
out in nature in a simple camp with a couple of friends was a nice way to spend
it.