Chapter 11: A visit from another shadow

There was still talk of the gangs the next day but at noon the talk of war swept it away. I was back in my plain stable boy clothes and heard a lot more. The Emperor was calling for soldiers from every kingdom in the empire. I also heard rumors that it was because one of the kingdoms was rebelling against Imperial rule. What concerned me were the whispers about Duke Toffel and possibly others.

I finished all the chores and waited until dark. For a change business was slow and the Inn went dark shortly after it got dark. I slipped over the wall and started to make my way toward Duke Toffel’s. I was planning on a visit to his study for a look around. I had not gone far before I felt someone following, which was all it was just a feeling.

I moved into an alley and the darker shadows. I waited but whoever it was stayed back out of sight. In the next street I crossed and went down the block, looking back I only saw movement in the shadows. I tried to lose him several times but when I started towards the Duke’s he was always there. I drifted through the alleys and darker streets with a ghost of a shadow behind me.

I finally had enough and headed for Judgment square. I walked down the middle of the streets, no longer trying to hide or slip away. The shadow followed me as if he expected this. I waited in front of the Speaker’s Stand and he came out of the night as if he was my shadow. He was older, with grey hair and weapons as serviceable as my own. It was as if his face sang in my blood. I knew him even if I had never met him, “Brother.”

He smiled faintly, “I thought you would play for awhile longer.”

I smiled, “I decided to get it over with.”

He nodded and took a breath, “You are like your mother.”

I took it as a complement but he shook his head, “We can not just execute nobles.”

I went still, “That is what we are charge to do if necessary.”

He shook his head, “It makes us look like judge and executioner.”

I kept watching him, “We are judge and executioner. We are the Empire’s honor and protectors from those within.”

He sighed and looked away, “Those are your mother’s views.”

I nodded, “Yes they are. They are also the vows each of us made to the gods.”

He looked at me sharply, “There are times when doing our duty in that way make it harder for all of us...”

I frowned, “You are talking about my mother and the Emperor’s son.”

He nodded his face set, “If she had just let the Emperor’s court handle it we would not have been hunted by his followers.”

I snarled, “You know the plot was already in play. If she had waited he would have been Emperor!”

He jerked as if struck, “Would that have been so bad?”

I growled, “Yes! He dishonored himself by killing the heir in the tournament. His plan to kill his father was another stain. Do you really think an Emperor that could do that would rule wisely?”

I had heard enough and held up my right hand with the silver ring shining bright as if it knew this moment would come. He stared at me and then my hand before raising his and placing it against mine. There was a bright flash and we were no longer standing in a dark square. We stood in a bright glow and we were not alone. Nine semi transparent and one solid figure stood around us in a circle.

I looked around at the men and women, “My brothers and sisters, our brother has said my mother acted wrongly in taking the Emperor’s son.”

There was a whispered murmur and the solid looking woman walked closer, “Elizabeth acted as a Peacemaker should. She did not have to challenge the noble brat, she should have just cut his heart out. Instead she made him speak his crime before all and then gave him a clean death.”

She looked from me to the other Peacemaker and disappeared. A huge looking man walked forward, he looked like he had been a blacksmith. He looked at the other Peacemaker, “Elizabeth did as a Peacemaker should. The Imperial family is Peacemaker business.”

He looked at me and something made him grin. He pulled off his ring and it flared with a life of its own. When it flared, I could hear someone screaming in agony. He held the ring out to me and my left hand came up automatically, “My honor is yours now youngling.”

He looked at the other peacemaker as his ring dropped into my open hand. As he slowly faded, his ring felt warm and some how right. An old woman walked to us grinning, “Our life is one of strife. Elizabeth acted as her honor and oath demanded. Our allegiance is not to a ruler, it is to the Empire. We hold it as our honor and our trust.”

She smiled and looked at her own hand as she pulled her ring off. At first it looked blackened and cracked. It flared and I looked at it as she held it out to me, it was bright and whole. She placed it gently in my hand, “My honor is yours now, guard it well.”