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Chapter 5: Silver and Priests
The air in Alik Village was thick with tension. As Alex, Teresa, Selina, and Brutus made their way down the road, half the village was already out in the streets. Carts lined both sides. People scurried between houses and shops, piling more bundles atop already-crammed wagons. Torches in sconces and hands shook, and weapons long unused hung from the belts of villagers. No scent of baking bread or simmering porridge filled the air this morning.
An invisible dread was closing in.
A large woman, hitching a horse to her cart, spoke to her husband. “With this many crowding to cross the continent, the captains will charge what they like. And keep the silver close! It’ll be crawling with light fingers.”
“It’s in the front box. Don’t take your eyes off it.”
An older man hefted a heavy chest onto his cart. He scanned the surroundings, taking in other carts and wagons, his hand tight on the handle of a cudgel. Alex recognized him. Usually, they’d nod and share a brief smile in the mornings. Today, he offered the same smile, but his eyes were full of unease and agitation.
Teresa spoke to Alex, her voice low.
“We should hurry. Something feels… wrong.”
She was scanning the neighbors sharply, her whole body taut with tension. Her posture was that of a huntress in a moonless forest.
“Desperate people do desperate things. Let’s get to the gate quickly.”
Selina looked up, asking,
“Is something wrong?”
Alex forced a weak smile.
“Everything’s fine, Selina. It’s all okay.”
But the South-West Gate was anything but okay.
Even before sunrise, a huge crowd had formed a long queue before the wall. Everyone had the same idea: leave early to avoid the masses. The result was the opposite. Guards were stopping families one by one, taking names. Recording who was leaving, who was staying, ensuring that in the dark times to come, the right people would be protected.
Alex heard the familiar shout of Guard Paul from up ahead.
“Alright! Alright! Everyone maintain order! Just keep it orderly, and we’ll have you all through before the sun’s fully up!”
Normally, no gate would open until sunrise. Seeing the crowd now, Alex had a gut feeling: if they didn’t open now, there’d be trouble.
People fidgeted with anxiety; some cast nervous glances at the sky or the top of the wall, as if expecting monsters to swarm at any moment. Alex, too, found himself looking up uneasily. The sky was clear of monsters. For now.
Most people clutched their belongings tightly; some counted coins in their pouches, worrying if they had enough for the sea passage to the continent.
Alex’s hand brushed the hidden inheritance deep in his pack and the smaller coin purse at his hip. He silently thanked his parents’ efforts. They had enough for passage for four, at least.
When they took their place at the back of the line, people naturally gave space upon seeing Brutus’s massive form. Brutus, seemingly very pleased with this reaction, plopped down on his haunches and tossed the morning’s bone fragment onto the roadside. Three tongues lolled out as he panted, drinking in the crisp morning air.
Teresa smiled, scratching behind one of Brutus’s ears.
“Good boy.”
Brutus whined, pushing his other two heads toward her hand for more affection. Selina, following suit, rubbed his side.
“Yeah, real good boy.”
“Yep, the very best boy.”
Alex reached out to pat Brutus’s back.
Grrrr.
A low growl. Alex stopped his hand immediately. He forced his gaze away, looking at the buildings arrayed before the gate: the stables and simple stalls that once welcomed travelers, the guardhouse, the high chairs where village boys had sat to shine boots for a coin. Alex sighed wistfully.
“I’m… going to miss this place.”
“Already?”
Teresa gave him a sidelong look.
“We haven’t even left yet. Do you actually want to stay?”
Alex shrugged.
“It wouldn’t matter if I did. I can’t stay anyway.”
“Suppose not.”
Teresa slowly looked around the village.
“Let’s hope it’s still here when we come back.”
Alex carefully patted her shoulder.
“It will be.”
From ahead, Paul’s shout came.
“Next!”
The line began to move. Teresa said quietly,
“I hope you’re right, Alex.”
They moved forward at a steady pace, and Alex ran through his plans. The nearest coastal town was about ten days on foot. But with Selina, it would surely take longer. They’d have to carry her when she got tired. If Teresa could persuade him, maybe Brutus could even give Selina a ride. They’d have to be careful on the road. Ravener’s return meant monsters would start appearing above ground, and priests would surely be searching for the champions. Brigands were a problem, too. With this many people fleeing, they’d have rich pickings.
But there’s safety in numbers, Alex thought.
“Teresa, your eyes are better than mine. Can you scan for people we know well, anyone we could travel with, even for a short stretch? It’d be safer to move in a group.”
Teresa glanced at him and said,
“I was just about to say the same thing.”
With the focus of a hunter seeking prey, Teresa scanned the crowd meticulously. Her gaze, sweeping over the people behind them in line, suddenly stopped.
“Alex.”
“What?”
“Turn around, slowly and casually. Don’t react. Stay calm.”
Alex nodded, feeling a heavy knot tighten deep in his gut as he slowly turned his gaze in the direction she indicated.
His entire body went rigid.
At the end of an alley, three figures in white robes were moving through the crowd. They appeared to be aiding and comforting departing people, but their trajectory was clearly heading toward this line. Alex whispered, breathless.
“…No.”
Priests of Ulter were coming this way. Their brilliant white robes stood out starkly against the drab colors of commoners’ clothes. No one was staring directly at them yet, but Alex knew instinctively: it was only a matter of time before his Mark was detected. In past generations, among those Marked as the Fool, there must have been those who tried to run. But there were no records of the kingdom failing to find them. Only records of them disappearing during the journey.
Alex narrowed his eyes.
There’s something that detects the Mark.
He didn’t know how, or from what range, but he was certain of it. And that certainty placed him at an absolute disadvantage. But the fact the priests weren’t charging straight for him meant he hadn’t been pinpointed yet. That could change at any moment.
Teresa gritted her teeth, whispering,
“Alex! You’re staring right at them now!”
“…Dammit.”
The line ahead had shrunk considerably. Only about fifteen people stood between them and freedom. The guards were processing people as fast as they could. Alex’s back itched. He felt the priests’ eyes boring into him, about to point and shout ‘Fool!’ at any second.
If the guards hurried a bit more, if the priests were delayed just a little… maybe they’d make it.
“What are the priests doing?”
“Getting closer.”
Teresa’s lips barely moved. Alex grimaced. This line was moving too slowly. What could he do? Cutting ahead would draw unwanted attention. That was just asking for trouble, and drawing the priests’ eyes was the last thing he needed. Alex’s face scrunched further. He’d heard of powerful mages who could teleport, vanishing and appearing at will. If only I had that magic…
Alex narrowed his eyes.
Wishing won’t fix this. I have to work with what I have.
Think. Adapt.
Think. Adapt.
Then, something odd entered Alex’s field of vision. Six people ahead in line, a gaunt man in an ostentatious vest, mounted on a horse, was turning to address the couple behind him. He spoke in an overly loud voice.
“I say, have a care!”
The man’s face wore an expression of open irritation. The horse snorted and pawed the ground, and the man jerked its reins roughly to calm the spooked animal. He patted something at his hip—a rather bulky coin purse.
“I should be the one saying that. You have a care. Your look is most disagreeable.”
“I don’t care if it’s disagreeable, step aside. Don’t touch me.”
The woman’s enormous husband stepped forward.
“Did you just call my wife a thief?”
“I said no such thing. I merely wish to protect my personal space and stated that you are crowding me.”
“Your ‘space’ is half the line, and people are pushing from behind. What do you expect us to do?”
“I expect you to step back! I am the burgomaster’s adjutant!”
“Why is someone like you running, then?”
The burgomaster’s adjutant began to quiver like a hot kettle.
“Say that again! You and your wife will see a week in the stocks for that, mark my words! You can greet Ravener’s monsters from the front row!”
The adjutant took a deep breath, about to call for the guards. The large man’s face flushed, but he said nothing more. The people behind them quietly took a step back, making room for him and his wife to give space to the arrogant official.
That’s when an idea sparked in Alex’s mind.
“Teresa, get behind me, block the view of my back, and tell me if anyone’s watching me.”
Teresa’s eyes flicked toward the priests.
“Whatever you’re going to do, do it fast.”
She moved casually, as if it were nothing, positioning herself to shield Alex’s back from view. Alex slipped his hand into his coin purse and drew out a handful of gold coins. His gaze was fixed on the back of the large man ahead. Right now, everyone was hungry for coin for their passage.
If I approached that man, pressed two gold coins into his hand, and asked him to hit the guy on the horse… No, that’s too obvious.
Paying someone to start a fight would just make the payer memorable. Alex’s eyes shifted to the back of the arrogant official. Switch to Plan B. He transferred the coins to his other hand, slipping one between his thumb and forefinger.
He dredged up every memory of throwing a coin. The feel of tossing one into the fountain yesterday. The sensation of rolling it between his fingers. Childhood memories of tossing coins in the air and catching them. The memories flooded in, each crystallizing into organized data: the throw that went the farthest, the angle of his hand that was most accurate, the intuitive sense of how much force was needed to reach a target. All woven into a single set of instructions.
Alex surveyed the people standing between him and his target.
The moment no one is paying attention to me… Now!
Ting.
Alex flicked the gold coin.
