Fantasy reputations and redemption

[pluvian_penguin]

After two and a half months on the run, Yair was getting used to the new pattern his life had taken. Leave a village as soon as possible after dawn, only to stop at every other cluster of houses along the road, searching for information and a nurse for Adelina. She was... making things difficult. He didn't like to admit it, but it was true. Without her, he would have been to the right port in ten days.

I could have gotten across the sea by now, he couldn't help thinking to himself as his gelding snorted into an empty trough.

But if he'd left Adelina anywhere else, she could be dead, now. Sometimes he wondered if anyone else could see the magic in her eyes as easily as he could. Sometimes he wondered if he was seeing anything at all, or just afraid that he would, someday. A baby could show strong magic, at times, but hers was much more subtle. A stray coin floating to her hands, a flower suddenly dyed on her blanket, a poorly skilled violinist's bow snapping.

Things that Yair could almost explain away, if he wanted to. But he couldn't do that now. He had to be so much more than what he'd once been.

Fatherhood. It was a frightening prospect.

A door closed to his left, and he looked over to see the young woman he'd spoken with earlier that afternoon. He'd made a bargain, helping her father in the fields for a few hours while she watched Adelina. The baby fussed more when they travelled all day long. He didn't think he was very good at calming her.

“The inn's about ten miles up the road,” she told him, one hand holding the horse's bridle as he mounted. “Around that part of the forest.”

He glanced in the direction she nodded towards. There was a long line of trees straggling out from the main woods. Enough to block the view beyond, though not enough to hide bandits, as far as he could tell. He'd be able to get there before nightfall. Not by much, but he'd need to arrange dinner and a room.

“Thank you,” was all he said, and the moment the girl had passed the baby up to him, he turned his horse and was off.

The trees were thick enough that he went through the woods at a canter, keeping a sharp eye out for any movement, though he saw nothing than a startled rabbit. On the other side of it, the road sloped down, to a town nestled in the base of a small valley. There were a few dozen buildings sprawling out, acres of farmland surrounding the outer dozen, the rest clustered together. Even from here, he could see the glow of a smith's forge and the racks of a tannery. One building was larger than the rest, with a large yard fenced in by wooden posts. That, he guessed, would be the inn.

It was another hour and a half to get there from the woods. The sun had just begun to sink below the ridge of mountains, casting a dusky blue haze over the land below. Candles were beginning to come to life in windowsills and on tables, and mothers called their children inside among worries over wolves. Yair passed it all without a second look. Few of them seemed to pay him much mind, either.

He stopped at the inn, talking briefly with a stablehand to confirm where he was, before he had the boy lead his horse away to be cared for.

“I need a private room,” he said to the woman who greeted him inside. “And a cradle if you have it. I'll pay in gold.”

“Oh, I think we can manage,” she said brightly. “And will you be wanting dinner?”

The following conversation would have been much easier if it weren't for Adelina's decision to start wailing.

Yair could only smile tightly, hoping that the innkeeper wouldn't be too irritated with him for the disruption. She simply shrugged, and caught a young girl by the elbow, telling her to lead Yair to one of the upstairs rooms, and send dinner up after him in about half an hour.

He was able to get Adelina to calm down, after that, though still unaware of what had bothered her so much. She was far too young to be getting her teeth in, wasn't she? A woman had asked him about that a week ago, and he hadn't known how to answer her, except to say not yet.

There was a knock at the door, and another when he didn't answer immediately. Adelina fussed again when he tried to lay her down, so she stayed where she was, half-asleep on his shoulder, with her baby blanket in his other hand. Despite his full hands, he managed to get the door open. It swung more quickly than he meant to, and he caught it with his foot.

“Sorry,” he said absentmindedly, not really paying attention to the person on the other side of the door. “She's just – you know.” Well, chances were the stranger didn't know. Yair hadn't known himself until he was abruptly thrust into this responsibility.

With that, he looked up, expecting to see the girl from before, but instead...

“Who are you?” he asked, trying to keep his voice light even as his brows furrowed.

 

[crypt]

For a while now, Anzo had been tracking Yair and trailing behind him, steadily growing closer to him each time he stopped at a town to rest. He had to admit, the other man was good at covering his tracks, but Anzo had been in this line of work for a long while. He had a knack for finding people who didn't want to be found and that was precisely why he had been hired by the headmaster to find the ex-witch-hunter in the first place. From how Yair was described to him by the headmaster, he sounded like an utterly insane individual who was said to be trying to wreak havoc on the entire continent using dark magic.

In his mind, he'd be doing the world a favor by ridding it of someone so unstable. Plus, the reward he was promised for going through all of the effort and trouble gave him some extra incentive.

After a couple of hours of riding on horseback, he had finally made it to the town he was certain Yair was residing in. It seemed like a perfect place to lay low and it was one of the only decently-sized towns for miles. Logically, given where Yair had been hiding before, this would be the best place to go.

His horse had been moving at a good, galloping pace, so he preemptively pulled on the reigns to slow down as he closed in on the town. From the road, he had seen a good few buildings and many vast stretches of farmland, but he was still confident that he'd be able to track his target down. He had found people in larger towns, after all, so he didn't think this would be an issue for him in the slightest. He'd go through his usual routine, which consisted of checking all of the logical places where someone might stay, checking the more unorthodox, shadowed places, and then, if needed, he'd scout the town out thoroughly on foot.

He wouldn't stop until every corner of the town was checked and only then, when he was sure that Yair wasn't there, would he move on. It was possible that he had just simply made his way through the town, but given how late it was, Anzo didn't think so.

When he passed through the gates of the town, he set his mind to searching for an inn because that was the most obvious location. He surveyed the town on his horse for a good couple of minutes before his gaze fell on the largest building in town, which he assumed was the inn. Upon closer inspection, the sign hanging above the door confirmed his assumption.

In one fluid movement, he gracefully dismounted from his horse, leading it over to the stables by the reigns so it could be tended to. Assuming that everything went well, he wouldn't be here for long, but he still wanted his horse to be taken care of in the meantime.

With his horse now in the stables, he turned and walked up to the door to the inn, pushing it open. He strode in, his boots making deep echoes against the wooden floor as he walked. He approached one of the staff members, a woman, and stopped in front of her, taking down his hood.

He cleared his throat before speaking. "Excuse me. I'm currently looking for a friend of mine, a close friend who I'd like to visit," he said. "He told me that he'd be staying here and he should have arrived today." He lied as if it were as easy as breathing and, at this point, it practically was for him. "He's tall with black hair and brown eyes. I could also give you his name, if that'd be of more help."

"Oh, that's quite alright," she chirped, flashing a smile. "Not too long ago, one man did come in who matched that description. You're welcome to head up and strike up a conversation, see if he's the friend you're looking for. He's staying in the seventh room on the left."

He smiled, his smile deceptively kind. "Thanks for your help, that's probably him, so I'll go up."

Without further ado, he departed from the woman and walked upstairs. He headed down the hall and only stopped once he was in front of the correct door, raising his hand to knock on it. When he knocked, he heard rustling coming from inside the room, then he heard footsteps approaching. The footsteps grew closer before they stopped and once they stopped, the door swung open a brief second later. Sure enough, when the door opened, his eyes fell on a man holding an infant. He assumed that this was Yair, the man who he had been tracking, the man who he had been ordered to kill.

When he was asked who he was, he didn't answer immediately, opting to survey the other man's appearance instead; he was doing so to verify that this was who he was actually looking for. Curly black hair, not quite as dark as ink, tumbled from his head, the curls framing his face. Brown eyes stared at him expectantly, waiting for him to reply, but he still didn't, not yet. He took a few more moments to scan him from head to toe before he came to his conclusion. Appearance-wise, he was a complete match for the one he was looking for, but he didn't attack instantly since he was holding a child.

"Who am I?" Anzo echoed his question, then chuckled. Slowly, he placed a leather-clad hand on his left side, his fingers resting over something concealed beneath his coat. "Why don't you take a guess as to who I could be?"

 

[pluvian_penguin]

The man just stared a moment, which... That was a little odd, right? It wasn't just in Yair's imagination, that there could be something afoot, here? He'd become paranoid in the last few months, but he was of the firm opinion that he had every reason to be. The headmaster would kill him to keep things quiet. Or at least, Yair was pretty sure he would. After all, it wouldn't be the first time...

He shifted his weight, briefly considering the idea of just shutting the door in the man's face. But there was half a chance that he could be some other member of the inn's staff. Perhaps the inkeeper's husband, or a man they kept around to handle security. The second thought was quickly brushed aside. In a smaller town like this, there wouldn't be nearly enough trouble to warrant a man here full-time.

Then he abruptly figured out who the man was. The veiled threat made things clear enough. A hired man would only be hunting them for one reason.

“You're here for her,” Yair said, his mouth suddenly dry. He took a step back, gaze cutting to the side, where his weapons laid on a small table, next to a bag with what little supplies he had. Out of reach. Stars. It was so stupid to have put them down.

“You can't just – she's a baby.”

Would that even matter? It hadn't to the headmaster and his minions. They might have noble blood, but there was nothing of nobility about their actions.

“I'll go back with you,” he said abruptly, hoping that might be enough of a bargaining chip to give the stranger pause. “If you attack us now, you'll draw attention. All those people downstairs? You think they would let you leave if they thought you murdered a man? But if you let her go, I'll– I'll put her on a ship. She'll never come back here. And I'll go with you.”

He took another step back. Not toward the table with his sword, he wasn't stupid enough to start a fight while holding a baby. Just away. Away from the man who must want her dead.

There was no world in which Yair actually wanted to go anywhere with the stranger, but himself was the only thing he had to bargain with. Adelina knew nothing of how her life had begun. She'd never be able to say anything about the men who had nearly cost her everything.

But Yair himself was a different story. He knew so much, maybe too much. He was the one who needed to be silenced. And he could be, easily, right in this very room. Anything could happen to Adelina after that. He was the only person who cared what happened to her.

“I just don't want her hurt,” he said, hoping that something he said would have any impact. “I know what she is, she's just... She's innocent, too.”

 

[crypt]

Anzo stood in the doorway, patiently observing as realization dawned upon the other man. What Yair had to say, however, made his lips press into a thin line.

From how he spoke, Yair seemed to be under the impression that Anzo was going to hurt the infant, which wasn't his plan at all. The headmaster had only ordered him to deal with the rogue witch-hunter, there had been no mention of a baby. In all honesty, he had been extremely confused when he first opened the door because he wasn't expecting him to be holding a child.

Seeing Yair glance over to the table, where he could see his weapons laid out, caused his expression to harden. "I wouldn't try anything if I were you," He said, his voice carrying a warning. "What're you going to do? Try and fend me off with a blade in one hand and a baby in the other? While it would be brave, it would also be very stupid."

What he had to say next surprised him and did, in fact, give him pause. His eyebrows raised a fraction when he offered himself up in the hopes of keeping the child safe. He had been anticipating resistance, a fight, perhaps, but not this.

Anzo took the opportunity to step into the room when Yair stepped back once again, kicking the door closed with his boot. He pulled his long coat out of the way, revealing the two axes he kept on his person. Both axes resided in holsters under his sides and a strap and button clasp kept them in place so they wouldn't fall out when he moved. The sharp edges of the axes were covered up by a guard of sorts which ensured that he wouldn't get cut.

Casually, he reached down to his right side, unbuttoning the strap that secured the axe. He removed it from its holster and took off the guard, sliding it down into one of his pockets.

"You seem to be convinced that I'm here for her, but I'm sure you'll be relieved to hear that isn't true," He stated. "You're the one I was sent after, not her."

He then took a step forward, his fingers curled around the handle of his axe. "Now, tell me," He mused, his eyes fixed on Yair. "Why should I take you up on your offer? Why should I just let the girl go? You're quick to protect her—so determined that, after only a couple of months with her, you'd offer yourself up to keep her safe. That tells me that there's more to this, isn't there? She's important."

"After you're out of the way, nothing is stopping me from taking her to the headmaster. I'd likely get a better reward for turning her in." He continued on.

He wasn't sure what the headmaster could want with the baby, but he didn't think anything bad would happen to her. After all, the headmaster seemed trustworthy enough. Both the headmaster and the witch-hunters were seen as righteous, doing what they had to do to keep order, so why would he have any reason to doubt them?