Private Tales Sins of the Father, Part III: Catharsis

[Samantha Black]

Southern End of Bristlewood Forest
Outskirts of Vel Estren
Early Evening


The remainder of the day following the slaughter at manor Krixus had gone by in a blur. Ralene spared very little time and effort for discussion, opting to give Alistair the silent road to contemplate his decision and the inevitable consequences of his actions. For herself? Ral's mind spun those very same things, but she did not allow herself to linger on them lest she get distracted from her new mission. They needed to stay out of sight, so she'd lead Al through the hunters trail of Bristlewood, making their way south toward Vel Estren. When they reached the edge of the forest, she strayed east for a short while until they'd picked up a trade route that would bring them in from the eastern side of the city.

Now as they stood on a hillside overlooking the valley where Vel Estren glittered with torchlight, Ral came to a stop and dismounted her horse.

"I'm going to rip a shoe off my horse," she explained shortly to Al before he bothered to ask, "and then we're going to handwalk in the rest of the way."

 

[Alistair Krixus]

Predictably, Alistair had remained silent throughout the trip. His eyes clearly focused on someplace that wasn't here. His mind had been uncharacteristically jumbled since his father's death. One minute he was remembering all of the horrible things that his father had done to him. The next, he was remembering when his father bought him a sword for his birthday. Of course, he had probably done it to try to show that the family had some wealth, even though they did not.

Then he found himself thinking about so many of the missions he had gone on as a Dreadlord. For so long, his drive at been to represent his family well...Was that still possible? Did he have to continue representing the family name? Maybe he should just leave everything behind after graduation?

Alistair barely heard Ralene's comments but slid from his horse without complaint. He was just running on autopilot at this point, but he nodded along.

"Sorry, it's been a long day. Want to go over your mission again for me?"

He knew it was unlike him and would not be surprised if Ralene got mad at him, but he did not want to let his lack of focus result in mistakes.

Ralene

 

[Samantha Black]

There were few things Ralene disliked more than throwaway apologies. Useless sorries that meant nothing and wasted everyone's time. She grimaced as just that very thing slipped from Al's mouth but forced herself not to dwell on it - there was far too much more important things to dwell on now that they had made it to the mission destination.

Instead she busied herself with doing just as she said she was going to, pulled out one of her heavier daggers and fixed herself in the practiced farrier's stance at her horse's side, its front left leg hooked in place between her own.

"Band of Highwaymen have set up on the main road coming in from the south of Estren," she said while she worked on slowly prying the shoe from the hoof. It was a delicate balance between not breaking her horse's leg and not dithering about.

"One of the men has information on a turncoat Dreadlord. I need to find him and bring him in for questioning."

 

[Alistair Krixus]

Alistair took the information silently and began to prepare himself. He readied his horse and moved to guide them down the road. His mind was still a mess, but Alistair would attempt to compartmentalize it all as best as he could.

He was on a mission that needed to be complete. Just let the training take control and guide him. That was what the Academy had ingrained in him. It would take up his mind and let him get lost in the task at hand. That was the best he could hope for.

"Understood, we can remove the remaining bandits? I will have hold back from killing any until you confirm the target."

Discussing and planning were a good way of ignoring everything else in his head. The weight of his sword at his belt felt heavier, Alistair wanted nothing more than to get lost in the blood and gore of battle.

Ralene

 

[Samantha Black]

"Only if we're getting paid for our time," Ral replied as she prised the shoe from the hoof, loosed the horse's leg from her grip and forcefully tossed the shoe off into the wild yonder.

The shoe experience a good deal of hang time before dropping into the middle of a wheat field.

Sheathing her dagger she took up the reins and followed alongside Al. Her horse walked with a slight limp - perfect.

"Estren doesn't know who we are or why we're here. To them, we're just travelers passing through. Our story is you're a noble and I'm your body guard, we were jumped by a smaller group of bandits on our way in, managed to escape them but my horse threw a shoe when we ran. We'll dig a bit, see what kind of reward there might be for taking out the Band to the south, make it sound like maybe they're expanding to up the ante. Then we'll track them down on foot."

She glanced aside at Al and gave him a short look over, "I'll let your name slip while we're digging for a bounty. That's your alibi."

 

[Alistair Krixus]

Alistair nodded along in understanding. It was a good plan. It also meant that he could let Ralene do a lot of the talking since she was the bodyguard, and a noble would never dirty himself with talking to people of such low origin. At least, that would be his excuse. They would just assume Alistair was an asshole.

He could not stop a small smile from slipping onto his face, the first smile all day.

"What? Do I not look like I could be your bodyguard?"

He let the soft smile linger for a second more to show that he was only kidding before he dropped it once again. Anyone could look at Ral and tell she did not need a bodyguard. Alistair looked athletic enough, but his physical appearance was not as dominating as others.

"Good plan." That was all he could think to add. It just felt like his mind was still in a bit of a fog.

Ralene

 

[Samantha Black]

That got a snort out of Ralene, humor lingering somewhere along the lines of her face for the first time in what felt like several days. "Hm," she didn't doubt his skills or power and, fuck, out of all the students she'd worked alongside she'd trust Alistair with her life for sure, but maybe not for every situation.

"In a court of nobles maybe," she jibbed back lightly. Noble though both of them were, it was Al that looked the part. Ral would never have any reason to be in such a place, but she'd ended up at the teahouse among all the other lofty lady nobles so apparently anything was possible.

Leading the way into Vel Estren, they sought out the town square and tethered their horses to the main hitching post before making way to what appeared to be the local militia office. A uniformed man sitting behind the main desk barely batted an eye at them, "Bounties are paid out between the house of 6 morn and 6 eve. You'll have to come back-"

"We didn't come for bounties," Ralene replied, "we came to report banditry on your eastern approach."

That got his attention. The man blinked and turned to regard the pair, eyes skating over Ralene to give Alistair a modicum more attention, "Eastern approach you said?" He stood then and smoothed a hand over his officer's jacket, "That is news. We've not had any issues with that road in some time. Were there any casualties?"

"Lost a purse of coin," she said, "and my horse is missing a shoe."

"My apologies on behalf of Vel Estren. I will send my guard to the eastern approach to look into this. In the meantime, I can offer you a hot meal, a warm bed, and a cold drink. If you take your horse to the smithy in the morning, I'll see it gets a fresh shoe."

 

[Alistair Krixus]

Alistair let a small smile stay on his face as he nodded in agreement with the noble comment. It was true and they both knew it.

For their arrival into Vel Estren, Alistair did his best to give off the annoying pomposity that most young nobles gave off when arriving in places like this. He needed to give off a certain image, so he might as well start now.

He let his eyes trail around trying his best to still look bored, but also annoyed...a lot of emotions in one. The place was...decent enough, difficult to tell if the militia here actually took their jobs seriously, probably not.

Alistair leaned in and whispered to Ralene, but was still loud enough that the militia man would be able to here.

"This place is a cesspit. How long will we be here?"

Ralene

 

[Samantha Black]

Ralene faintly pitched a dark brow at Alistair's murmur, ever the prudent and patient guard of the discerning noble, "Until the morrow at the very least, Lord Alistair."

That most definitely caught the uniformed man's attention. A noble? In Vel Estren? Gods almighty, this was a terrible time to have fresh bandits on the roads. He gently cleared his throat and stood a little straighter, "Deepest apologies for the trouble. I assure you this is the first we've had any bandits on the eastern approach in ... quite some time. We've been so focused on the southern road..."

"What's wrong with the southern road?" Ral asked as curiously as she figured anyone hearing that comment might.

"A much larger problem than mere flagless bandits. If you have need to travel south, we recommend taking the longer road to the west to do so. Now, you'll want to head to Gilder Hall just up through the square from here. Tell the Innkeep Amal that Lt. Rovan said to set you two up with her best rooms and service."

"Much appreciated," Ral replied, "we've been on the road for a few days now, come from the capital. It'll be good to sleep on a real bed, won't it m'Lord?" She turned to Al with a barely concealed smirk as she made her way for the door and stepped back out into the square.

 

[Alistair Krixus]

Alistair did his best to look down his nose at the man, which he was regretfully quite good at. The same was true for the naturally annoyed look on his face when it came to dealing with the militia. Most of them proved to be incompetent, judging by how often Dreadlord initiates were sent out.

The young noble feigned shock at hearing there were also bandits on the southern road but said nothing. He nodded in the affirmative about sleeping on a real bed before following after Ralene. He spoke, once again, to her in the whispering voice that could very easily be overheard.

"This will surely delay my schedule. They can't even handle a few bandits. What a joke."

He was pretty sure that he had laid it on thick enough. A small smirk played at his mouth as he looked at Ralene, before he exited into the square.

As soon as they were outside, he took in a deep breath, moving off in the direction of the inn.

"I think that was a pretty good start."

Ralene

 

[Samantha Black]

"Check yourself," Ralene looked after him with sharp amusement, keeping her voice low as they moved toward the inn, "you're a bit too good at playing the noble prick."

But at least it seemed to have taken the effect needed. Keeping in stride, Ral's eyes scanned the walkways and streets as they moved along on foot. Vel Estren was a fairly busy place with plenty of people in the city square and what appeared to be an active mercantile economy. There were storefronts for various crafts, and she noted a leather work and repair shop.

"We can get our room, grab a bite at the inn, chat up the innkeeper and find out more about their southern road troubles. I want to scope things out tonight after the city's gone to sleep."

 

[Alistair Krixus]

"A shame isn't it? If I was never taken to the Academy, I would have made an excellent actor."

He was going to choose to ignore the much obvious fact that if he had not gone to the Academy, then he would have just been an actual noble prick.

Alistair's eyes scanned over some of the businesses that seemed a bit more popular than others in the square as he took note of them.

"Wouldn't hurt to try and speak with some of the more successful merchants. Bandits disrupting an entire trade route would certainly be a hot topic."

The nighttime adventure Ralene was suggesting was a good idea, as long as that did not immediately devolve into outright warfare. No offense, Ralene did not exactly scream stealth.

"Sounds good. We can go when the sun sets."

Ralene

 

[Samantha Black]

"If is a dangerous word to begin your sentences with..." Ral remarked absently as they came finally to the Inn and made their way up the stairs to the entrance, "you can chat up the merchants all you want. We already know more than they do about who's leading the band."

That was really all that mattered to Ralene because the leader of the band was who they were here for. Everyone else under him? Just fucking unlucky blokes. She pushed the door open and stepped inside - pleasantly surprised to find that this was not a typical tavern Inn, but an actual layover home. From the outside it appeared to be a small manor that had perhaps at one point sat on this hill all on its own ... at least until Vel Estren grew around it. A hostess stepped forward: a pretty, young blond woman who appeared to be about their age, in a clean and polished handmaiden's outfit. At least, that's what it looked like - not as if Ralene knew the difference.

"Welcome to Gilder Hall," she curtsied and gave them both a charming smile, "how can we accommodate you fine folks?"

"Are you Amal?" Ral asked.

"Amal is tending to some other guests at the moment. I am Brida and I can assist you in whatever you may need in the meantime."

"Lt. Rovan sent us your way. Said to set us up with your two best rooms and service, one night. Possibly two."

"Well if Lt. Rovan sent you then you must be very fine folks indeed. Please follow me." Brida curtsied again, a bit lower this time, and lead them off down a large side corridor lined with doors all the way to the end of the hall, "Our Noble's suites are our finest rooms," she said as she pulled a ring of keys from her waist and unlocked the first door. Inside was a lavish room of ornate furniture and decor. The trappings from the curtains that hung before the floor-to-ceiling windows to the bed canopy and comforter, to the patterned rugs on the floor were all a deep royal blue.

Ral raised her brows, not bothering to step inside, "Blue's always been your color, Lord Alistair."

 

[Alistair Krixus]

Alistair could only shrug in agreement with Ralene's assessment. Knowing a few rumors never hurt anyone, as they all had to stem from a little truth. Then again, if Alistair just had to kill all the bandits that were not the leader, then he did not really need to bother himself with rumors.

When they arrived at the inn, Alistair was surprised at the quality. It seemed Lt. Rovan was taking their housing seriously. He kept his mouth shut when they entered, falling back into the asshole noble demeanor. They were greeted by the pretty young maid and he nodded slightly but continued to look down on her.

The room they were brought to did have good color coordination as Ralene so helpfully pointed out. It was all just a bit...much. Not really a complaint, but Dreadlords tended to develop preferences for simpler living accommodations, that included himself.

"Yes, it's not awful. It will do for a night...maybe two."

That was about as noncommittal and flippant as Alistair could be on a moment's notice.

Ralene

 

[Samantha Black]

"Very well, m'Lord," Brida smiled and stepped across the hall to unlock the doorway just across from his. This room looked rather similar in nature - just as lavish, with a slightly different theme to it: red.

"Ah well look at that," Ralene gave a half smile, "my favorite color."

"Clearly these rooms were meant for you both. Will your Lord and Ladyship wish to dine-in or would you like to join the other guests in the dining hall this night?"

"I'm no Lady," Ralene replied, "and I've not anything to dress with for a fine dinner with fine guests. I'll dine-in, thank you."

"As you like," Brida nodded and looked to Alistair, "m'Lord?"

 

[Alistair Krixus]

Yes, Alistair would much prefer this room over the gaudy monstrosity that Ralene would be sleeping in...Red was just such an overly aggressive color when used incorrectly.

He made his way over to the bed and placed his hand on the mattress to test the softness. Very soft. He would just have to deal with that for the night.

The next question was expected, but it irritated him. He knew the answer he probably should have given, but he really did not want to do that. Eating with a bunch of other assholes would just annoy him. Thankfully, Ralene did give him an out.

An annoyed expression crossed his face as he rolled his eyes at Ralene.

"I suppose I will stay in and eat with my socially inept guard. My mother would be angry to learn that I left my beloved defender."

He said the last part sarcastically, and maybe he was putting it on a bit thick, but that tended to work the best. A small pang of guilt registered as he thought of his mother, then his family, and finally his dad.

Ralene

 

[Samantha Black]

Brida smiled, briefly wavering on the harsh words of the Lordling, but found her momentum again in another curtsey that caused Ralene to loft a brow. Was that normal? To curtsey at every decision? She had exceptionally little experience or knowledge of the lives that surrounded nobles, but to find this as a normal thing struck her as ... dehumanizing if not abusive. Ral wondered, briefly, if her father expected his servants to curtsey and bow and fawn over every little thing.

"As you wish, I will have your dinner brought to your room, my Lord. We will be serving roast pheasant this eve. Please ring the service bell if you require anything further from the Staff, we are here to serve."

The handmaiden made her departure and Ralene watched her go with a growing sneer of amusement. Once Brida was out of sight she leaned over toward Al with a broad, shit-eating grin, "Beloved defender, am I?"

A derisive snort followed. Rocking back onto her heels, Ral swiveled and entered her own room, leaving the door open as she began to shed her protective layers of armor.

 

[Alistair Krixus]

Alistair nodded to the courtesy and turned away indicating that she was no longer needed. Better keep the pompousness up as much as possible.

It was not long after Brida's exit that Ralene interjected and poke fun at him, but he just smirked back at her. He made his way over to the bed before throwing himself onto it.

He released a sigh as he could not deny that the bed was pretty comfortable. Alistair called out into the hallway and into Ral's room.

"What? You didn't pick up on all the sarcasm? Not even the eye-roll? You're getting sloppy Ral."

Thankfully, Alistair's chosen role in this mission was one where no armor was required, except for his weapon. So with a quick movement, his sword was resting against the bedside table as he took a moment to just sit there and get his thoughts together.

It was strange, up till now, the focus of the mission had overshadowed any of his own thoughts. However, as he lay there staring up at the ceiling, all of his thoughts on the murder of his father came flooding back into him. For the normal, this would have been the moment that tears welled up in their eyes as they were overwhelmed with emotion, but not for Alistair. Instead, he just lay there in silence.

Ralene

 

[Samantha Black]

"Either that or you're getting sentimental..." Ral responded in the same manner. This was, of course, completely unbecoming of a noble and their bodyguard. Hell, she doubted a Bodyguard would have warranted their own room but instead been expected to sleep in the hall while maintaining their proximity and duties. Whatever the case would have been, she wouldn't complain about the lavish room.

Though, looking at the bed, she wasn't terribly certain how well she'd sleep on it.

Some silence followed. Ral stacked her armor on the chest at the end of the bed then crossed the hall into Al's room to take it all in.

Blue.

Her eyes landed on the wetbar at the far end near what appeared to be a study/sitting/dining area. A glance to Al in his silent contemplations told her the only thing she needed to know: Al needed a drink. So without asking, Ralene made her way across the room to peruse the options.

"You did well," she said, all hint of humor gone from her tone, "you followed through on your intentions and you did what needed to be done."

 

[Alistair Krixus]

"It was definitely the first one."

Alistair responded back absentmindedly. He was so lost in his own thoughts that he did not even notice Ralene moving back into his own room.

The room he was surrounded in was all blue, but all Alistair could see was red. The dark crimson color of his father's blood. There had been so much blood. It was so easy. The man had barely put up a fight. It should not have been surprising. He was just some merchant, while Alistair was a trained killer...It was more like an execution.

He picked back up on Ralene talking, thankfully hearing the entire statement.

"I was to afraid to turn back. Ironic, in all these years, I kept from killing him out of fear, but I was too afraid to turn back once I actually decided...In the end, it was fear that kept driving me. It's pathetic."

Ralene

 

[Samantha Black]

"You're not pathetic."

A rather lovely crystal tumbler gently swooped into Alistair's line of sight, filled with a healthy splash of amber liquid, clutched overtop by the hand of his fellow initiate. Ralene had her own in her other hand, and she insisted he take his by removing his option to decline.

"What you did wasn't pathetic. Being afraid doesn't make you or anyone pathetic. You still came through and finished the job. If you hadn't, I would have been forced to do it. That would have made you pathetic," Ralene was watching him closely, seriously, "and I never would have forgiven you for it."

 

[Alistair Krixus]

Alistair allowed the drink to be pushed into his hand. He sipped at the alcohol, and while it did burn going down, the numbness that followed was rather pleasant. Al continued to look into the amber liquid for a few seconds, with no indication that he was hearing everything else that Ralene was saying.

A small smirk spread on his face, but it was void of any humor or amusement. "Yeah, I was probably afraid of you and Liliana seeing me as some sort of coward. I guess it worked out in the end. You put a man in front of two women and some part of him will not want to embarrass himself."

The man he had killed was so pathetic. He was his own father. Would he end up like that? Would he end up so pathetic even after all of his effort?

Ralene

 

[Samantha Black]

"I have doubts that our gender had anything to do with it."

Had Alistair taken two male initiates with him, like Zael or Edric, she was pretty confident he still wouldn't have wanted to be seen as a coward. Couldn't let the boys down, after all. Either way, Al appeared to be taking this whole patricide thing a bit harder than she'd expected him to. Especially after everything he'd told her the man had done to not only him, but his entire family.

The monster was dead. Al no longer had to concern himself with what terrible thing his father would do next. Now he could see that his family was taken care of and mend the broken pieces of it. If he wanted to, anyway.

In these situations, Ralene had little experience in giving comfort. It wasn't something she'd ever received for anything - really, none of them ever did. She didn't really know what to do or say to make him feel better or prouder of himself, and that was her own shortcoming that Ral wasn't even sure she felt she needed to work on.

"Hey," she clamped a hand down on Al's shoulder and leaned down to look him closely in the eye, "I don't really know what to tell you to make you stop looking like you're on death row, but you ended your nightmare by your own two hands. That's no small feat." Ral squeezed his shoulder. Gently.

"But if you need some time to think on today that's fine. We've got time. Do you want solitude or company?"

 

[Alistair Krixus]

Fair point.

Alistair hated to be embarrassed around anyone. It could have been his horse, much less any specific gender. The only difference would have been those like Zael would just have been messing with the whole time he was trying to kill his father.

"I know. If anything, I am more irritated that I am so out of it for some reason...maybe that it just took so long for me to get the courage to do this...I guess I expected more. I built that man up my entire life and he died like some gutter rat...At least it was fitting."

He suddenly tilted his head back and downed the entire drink. He then moved to refill his glass again and took his seat back up.

"Might as well stick around...I'm sure I'll have plenty of time to sit alone with my thoughts, later."

Ralene

 

[Samantha Black]

She was sure that his father probably seemed far bigger and scarier years ago than he had today. Having not been in Alistair's shoes and experienced the abuse of those years in his youth, she really couldn't say. The late Krixus Patriarch had been nothing but a bloviated pig, so far as she was concerned.

There hadn't been anything scary about him to be witnessed on his last day. Not even his protectors and guards had been near capable of inciting fear. Though perhaps using herself as the benchmark for such things was unfair. Wasn't a whole hell of a lot that frightened Ralene.

Dragons. Dragons were pretty fucking scary.

"He did seem like a pretty shitty human being," she agreed, "I'm sure Vel Anir is full of people just like him. Maybe the revolution will help bring more to the surface." But Ral wasn't going to hold her breath. It's likely that those people would either get smarter, or the corruption of Vel Anir itself ran too deep to really be cured.

At the invitation to stick around, she moved to sit on the bed next to him, her own tumbler cupped between two hands. Ral leaned her arms onto her knees, looking pensive for a moment, "You know ... after graduation, you could actually lead a normal life. You could go home as part of the Reserves. Lead your family as the new head of the household. Run your family's shops the right way. Give your friends a good discount on their alchemy supplies..." half smirking, she nudged him with her elbow.