Chapter 13

  Leo

  Inside Otto’s extravagant villa office, Leo examined the contents of his father’s strongbox. Leo found a letter addressed to Grand Vicar Rodrigo Malgais. He opened the letter and read it. As he read, his heart sank into his stomach. The letter had to be over a decade old, but written after Otto’s conversion. Leo finished, then reread it in disbelief. Otto had granted Salvatore’s exclusivity contract to serve as Rodrigo’s Essemancer, and in exchange, Rodrigo selected Leo’s design for the Tellisium Cathedral in Ryvium.

  No wonder Father was never proud of my accomplishments. He bought it for me. Leo scrunched the letter into a ball, yelled, and threw it at the portrait of Otto hanging on the wall. It bounced off harmlessly. Leo screamed again and kicked the balled paper across the office. Leo realized that lies and secrets were best kept buried.

  After that, Leo begrudgingly read over Otto’s ledgers until his eyes glazed over and numbers blurred together. It did little to dull the pain of his father’s betrayal.

  “Are you ready?” Karl asked.

  Leo was startled at the break in silence and looked at Karl standing in the doorway. “For?”

  “We need to dig the graves.”

  Leo closed the ledger and stood from the desk to help his brothers.

  Karl pointed toward the wall. “You may want that,” he said.

  Leo turned seeing the sword and scabbard lying against the wall. “What for?”

  “You’re not as accustomed as I to always carrying a blade, but it’s time to reconsider.”

  Leo retrieved the sword and buckled the belt around his waist. A few servants offered to dig the graves, but Leo insisted he would do it himself. The servants nodded in understanding and then extended the same courtesy to Diego, who accepted. “There’s a grove east of here,” Leo said. “Bury them there.”

  “I know the place, Master Medistein,” Diego said with a bow. He spun and departed with the servants to dig graves for Pietro, Marco, and Mario. Men who had died in service to house Medistein. I should help him dig those as well.

  “Reinhard and Nicco are waiting,” Karl said. They left the villa and walked up the hill toward the gravesite. Soft, thick grass cushioned his steps. Leo’s thighs ached as they ascended to the top of the hill. A massive oak tree crowned the hill--too big for five men to wrap around its trunk hand-to-hand. It was Sophia’s favorite spot on the estate. The heavy branches drooped down and rested against the grass. Fresh spring leaves shaded a nearby weeping stone. This was the reason his mother favored the spot. The perfect spot to bury her.

  Nicco sat against the tree with his heirloom bastard sword Vindicator resting across his lap. According to the story Lorenzo found a bastard sword fitting since he rose from a commonfolk to nobility. Lorenzo was a master swordsman and swordsmith. Whenever he wasn’t crafting swords, he practiced with them. Traessyean fire was required to heat the skysteel and forge Vindicator. Sharpened metal folded over fifty times. A Tellisium diamond centered the crossguard. Leo admired the rippled waves as Nicco polished them with a rag of oiled leather. At the base of the blade was Lorenzo’s mark, a ‘B’ cradled up to a larger ‘L’ sharing its vertical stem. Nicco looked up with a sorrowful expression and slid Vindicator back into his sheath before resting it against the tree. He packed up the whetstone and oil jar inside a satchel. Nicco mumbled an incoherent prayer, drew a diamond on his chest, and stood.

  “Leo,” Reinhard said, “perhaps we should bury your parents in Tarona, where the city can honor them.”

  Leo shook his head. “Mother preferred the countryside.”

  “Yes, but all Tarona’s citizens should be able to mourn their loss.”

  “I don’t care about what they want,” Leo said. “They’re not family. This is about what I want...” He sighed, hearing himself speak. “Besides,” he said with more composure. “Most citizens only knew Father, and we only have his charred corpse.”

  “About your father,” Reinhard said gently. “Yesterday, I sent some watchmen to retrieve his bones from the carriage. It’s not the most ideal--”

  “Thank you, Uncle,” Karl said.

  “Where is he?” Leo asked.

  “In the temple with your mother for now.”

  “But he wasn’t Theogonist--”

  Nicco stepped forward. “I can honor him with the proper Tellisium rituals. That way, we can bury each per their respective faith.”

  Leo sighed. For whatever reason, Leo couldn’t accept his father’s conversion. Even in death, it still bothered him. Leo felt guilty thinking so ill of the dead, especially his father.It didn’t matter now. Leo picked up a nearby shovel and stabbed the ground. He pushed down and heaved a clump of dirt.

  “We should bless the ground before we begin,” Nicco said. Leo noticed Nicco held a copy of Tellius Thesis in his hand. Reinhard must have already informed Nicco for him to come prepared to bury Otto under such a consecration. Leo decided to leave it be. Nicco sketched a diamond on his chest and bowed his head. Reinhard and Karl did the same. Despite his aversion, Leo relented and traced the sacred symbol on his chest--starting at the top, left, bottom, right, and completing at the top again. He bowed his head, gripping the shovel tight.

  “All-Father, we bless this hallowed grave so that you may see their virtues from the heavens and stars above. May Tellius guide their Essence to join with you--”

  Leo roared and threw down the shovel. “Now is not the time to appeal to god!”

  Nicco leaned back. “We can bless the ground for your mother as well.”

  “I don’t want the All-Father’s blessing, nor the damn Primordials. They’re all worthless!”

  “Would you abandon them in your time of need?” Nicco asked.

  “As they abandoned me?” Leo snatched the holy book from Nicco’s hand and tore the pages from it in fury. Everyone froze in horror. Leo struggled to tear an inch of pages from the book and threw it on the ground in frustration. He drew his sword and hacked the book. Tears swelled in his eyes. The steel bit into the leather-bound cover. Leo grunted with each chop as the book danced and flipped on the ground. Overcome with anger, grief, and sorrow. Snot ran and still he continued to hack the holy book. Each strike gashed the book and tore pages free. The wind blew, catching a few pages and sending them floating with the wind. The pages drifted, dipped, and rose. One stuck to the wet weeping stone.

  This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

  “Leo,” Reinhard called calmly.

  Leo ignored him and turned his wrath on the nearby weeping stone. The blade sparked against the stone.

  “Leo! We’re all angry.”

  “You weren’t there!” Leo yelled. “You didn’t have to watch the light leave her eyes.”

  Leo turned the blade on Nicco. “I blame you for Mother’s death.” Nicco held up his hands and stepped back. “You call yourself a champion? You said you had them and sent me to get Mother. If you’re such an excellent swordsman, how did you let one escape your blade? You let that brigand bastard kill Mother!”

  “Leo!” Alessandra yelled in a motherly tone. He stopped and turned to her as she ran up the hill. “That won’t solve anything,” she said more calmly. She struggled to fight back tears of her own.

  Leo heaved with rage. He hated everyone. Alessandra’s attempt at filling the motherly role in Sophia’s absence. He hated his uncle’s calm demeanor. Did he even care they died? He hated the brigands for killing his parents. Karl’s resistance to allowing him to take more guards. Nicco for failing to protect her. He hated Tellius and his All-Father and the fucking Primordials. But mostly, he hated himself.

  “Leo,” Reinhard said from behind him. He felt a hand on his shoulder. “I too have held one I love in my arms as she died.” He turned Leo around. “I know what it feels like to see the light fade from their eyes. I’m here for you.”

  Leo dropped the sword, and it stuck into the soggy ground around the weeping stone. Reinhard hugged him. Allie and Karl joined. Burdened with guilt, Leo sniffled snot and looked at his adopted brother. “Nicco--”

  “I know,” Nicco said, looking down in shame.

  Leo pushed free of this kin and stepped toward Nicco, then hugged him as a brother. “We will find those responsible--”

  “--And we’ll kill them all.” Nicco finished.

  * * *

  Fresh rain cleaned his nose, and the sky had turned gray. They dug two graves side by side. Leo nailed a temporary wooden headstone to the tree. Leo had carved his parents’ names and dates of birth and death upon it. He would need to have proper headstones made once he returned to Tarona. He considered even commissioning a diamond-shaped one for his father. They had died on the twenty-fifth day of Highblossom in the year fifteen hundred. Notated beneath each of their names was their religious affiliation. Divided in practice, but not in faith.

  All the servants had gathered to attend the funeral. Leo noted even the twelve members of the Skywatch huddled in a group in the back to pay their respects.

  Due to the condition of Otto’s bones, they put them in a large flour sack. Allie knotted the sack and tied a narrow rope around it. Leo handed her Otto’s misshapen wedding ring, and she threaded the rope through it. She lowered Otto’s bones down into the grave and tossed the rope in afterward. Allie made the Sign of the Diamond--index fingers and thumbs pressed together in front of her chest--and extended them outward to impart the Tellisium blessing. Nicco did the same. “Let your Essence be eternal,” she prayed. Reinhard repeated the phrase. Leo heard it from time to time, mostly as a blessing or farewell exchanged among Essemancers. Leo had never considered the words’ religious connotation until now.

  They had wrapped Sophia in white cloth and laid her across two parallel ropes. Reinhard, Karl, Nicco, and Leo each took hold of an end of a rope. They shuffled their feet over the grave and lowered her gently down. Once she rested at the bottom, they tossed the ropes in. “Let your Essence be eternal,” Reinhard said once again. This time, everyone echoed the prayer. If Reinhard had taken it from the Teachings of Tellius, Leo didn’t know from what passage.

  “You’ve said that before. Is that from Tellius Teachings?” Leo asked.

  “No,” Reinhard said. “My wife used to tell me it.” Reinhard looked at the graves. “Goodbye Otto. Tell Markus I will join you both one day and we can finally sail westward across the Great Sea. Sophia, you pulled me from the darkest recesses of the Void after Suna died. Without you, I would have...” Reinhard wiped his eyes. “Well, you and I know. Thank you for your love. Tell Suna to wait for me. I know she can grow impatient.” Reinhard chuckled and wiped his eyes.

  I wish Bianca were here. “I hoped to tell you--” He paused realizing he almost let slip their engagement. The grief clouded his mind. He decided to keep the secret to honor Bianca’s wishes. “Mother,” Leo began again, still unsure of what to say. “I’ll remember what you told me about family, and I’ll try to be less defiant. And Father, you were tough on me, and I didn’t make it easy, but you made me the man I am today. The house and family are secure.”

  Alessandra twisted her magus ring about her finger. “Father, you always treated me as your princess. You inspired a wealth of knowledge in me. And don’t worry, I changed my mind about our secret.” Allie smiled. “Sophia, I promise to look after the boys. Tellius knows someone has to keep them in line.” They all laughed.

  “Goodbye, Mother. You always knew the right thing to say. Goodbye, Father, I’ll miss our games of chess.” Karl said.

  Thunder rolled overhead. Rain fell. Leo didn’t care. They stood in the rain and waited. Nicco combed back his blond hair with his fingers.

  “Do you remember the time we all played peek-and-seek?” Nicco asked. They had played peek-and-seek a lot while at the villa, especially in the summers.

  “Which time?” Alessandra asked.

  “Karl and I were no older than ten, so you two would have been around twelve,” Nicco said. Leo couldn’t recall the exact time Nicco referred to, but a rush of fond memories came to him all at once. That brought a much-needed smile.

  “This time it wasn’t just us kids playing like usual. It rained that day and we were bored. Mother got the idea to play peek-and-seek, only outside in the rain. Father was reluctant at first, but somehow she had convinced him to leave the books for an afternoon. Uncle even joined in.” Reinhard smiled.

  Nicco continued. “Mother had a talent for convincing others to push the boundaries of comfort. So we all ran outside, laughing in the rain. Splashing in puddles with not a care in the world. I don’t know why, but I remember hiding in this tree.” He reached out and placed his hand on the bark.

  “Only you would seek to climb a tree when a storm is about,” Alessandra said.

  Nicco shrugged, and the others chortled. Nicco gazed up as though he envisioned himself still in the tree. “So I climbed this tree as high as I could. So high that the branches bent under my weight. From the top, I spotted Mother concealed below. Only she squatted behind the trunk. Reinhard was the seeker, and he found the rest of you quickly enough. All except Leo, Mother, and I. Uncle saw her hiding here, but he didn’t want to go up the hill to get her. So he shouted his sage wisdom. ‘Sophia, the wise rabbit does not return home while the fox is on the prowl.’” Nicco said, mimicking his uncle’s deep voice and wise demeanor. Everyone chuckled.

  “Sophia revealed herself, but I stayed hidden in the tree. A few moments later, lightning struck nearby. Deafening loud, so close, the hair on my arms stood upright. It startled me to fright, and I slipped on the wet branch and fell. I remember grasping for branches, to no avail. I must have screamed or something, because somehow Mother caught me. She saw my fear, and in hindsight, I imagine she was too, but all I remember is her comforting me. Squeezing all my limbs and checking me for scrapes and bruises. If she hadn’t caught me, I would for sure have broken a limb, or worse.” Nicco smiled, “and I remember what she said to me, clear as though it were yesterday. ‘I will always be there to protect my children.’ It was at that moment that I really knew she loved me as one of her own. She taught me family was more than blood. And at that moment, I vowed to Tellius to act like her. I would protect my family, no matter what.”

  Alessandra wiped tears from her reddened eyes.

  “I remember that day,” Leo said with a sniffle. “Well, I remember it differently than you. Actually, I really only remember winning the game.” Leo smirked, fighting back his own tears. Nicco’s story brought with it an epiphany. “That’s how they knew. The attack in Avictfell intended to flush them out. They wouldn’t dare kill them in the city. The Crimson Cloaks would have to investigate the murder. But highway robberies happen all the time and are rarely solved. The bandits waited, knowing they would flee home for safety.”

  “Who knows of the villa’s location?” Nicco asked.

  “Plenty of people,” Leo said. “But that is not the right question. Do you know how I always won at peek-and-seek?” Leo paused. “The trick is that when hiding, act as though you’re the seeker. Position yourself in an advantageous spot and wait until you see the seeker searching for you. Once they turn their back, you stalk the seeker from a distance, always outside their vision, lurking in the shadows, hiding in the spot where they last looked.”

  “That’s how you won so much?” Nicco asked.

  Alessandra tilted her head in astonishment. “Because who would look where they just searched if they found nothing?”

  “Exactly.” Leo nodded. “And now it’s time we seek the seeker.”

  Worry filled Alessandra’s eyes. “We gather information seeking justice, not revenge.”

  “No,” Leo said. “This time one is required to achieve the other.”