Lovu

  “What do you mean ‘I hope’?” Lovu asked Topal bluntly. “Where is this ‘friend’? What is the situation looking like in the city?” It took her a few minutes to collect her gear and sit down with her back against a tree.

  “It means exactly what it means,” she said, holding up a finger to count down the questions. “Ideally, he’ll be able to get us into the estate.”

  She held up a second finger and used her other hand to point back in the direction she had just come from. “I left him back there on a hunting trail. I wanted to ask you a few things before I introduce you. Last one’s complicated, hence why I wanted to talk first,” she said, putting up a third finger and leaning forward, her arms crossed over her knees with her chin resting on top. “What do you know about Lord Vor’s sons?”

  “Did something happen to them?” Lovu said, his heart jumping into his throat. “Was Kamvor attacked?”

  “Not by the looks of it,” she said, briefly explaining what she had seen in town. As plainly as possible, she laid out everything Hafu told her and how she had paid for contact with an Honor. “Do you know which son could be holed up in the estate?”

  “That has to be Akil!” Lovu practically shouted as he started pacing in excitement. “He’s my bodyguard, but we got separated in the Residence just before I met you. The last thing he told me was to make my way here so we could meet back up. He has two older brothers, but the oldest is next in line to inherit his father’s Lordship and would have already been in the estate while the other married Lord Waku’s oldest daughter a few years ago and moved into the Waku estate right after the wedding.”

  I’m so close, Akil. Just wait a little longer.

  Despite his eagerness to get moving, that news only made Topal’s brow scrunch up more. “So, it’s Akil Vor after all,” she said quietly. “How well do you know him?”

  “Better than anybody,” Lovu said, his heart fluttering at the thought of their reunion. “He is my oldest friend and closest companion. This week has been our longest time apart since before he was assigned as my personal guard.” Unfortunately, that only deepened the furrow further. “Is something the matter?”

  “No,” she said, despite her face. “That’s the problem. Something feels off, but I can’t place why. I half expected you to tell me there was no way the man in the estate was one of Vor’s kids.”

  “Is there anything else that might make it easier to find an answer?” Lovu said, his anticipation souring into anxiety.

  “Not that I can think of. Every angle I try to unravel it from adds up…”

  “Perhaps that means everything is alright?”

  “Maybe,” she said with a sigh as she rose to her feet. “I could be overthinking things.”

  “You could. Or…” Lovu said as he made a connection in his mind, but he immediately regretted even thinking it. To cover his tracks, he looked for a way to deflect the conversation. “We should take this as a blessing. As unfortunate as this past week has been, Fam’e is kind after all.”

  “What is it?” Topal asked, stepping closer. “You just thought of something. You’d better say it.”

  “I would rather not,” he said, trying to be as upfront as possible. “History has shown it to be a… sore topic. I do not want to overstep boundaries again.”

  “I’m not a fucking child. If it could keep us safe, just fucking say it,” she said grabbing him by the cloak.

  “It’s just… you said that the ‘friend’ you made was an Honor right?”

  “I did. What about it?”

  “Well,” he said, swallowing hard. “I know you hold contempt toward Honors and this fellow doesn’t exactly sound pleasant. I trust your intuition, but I just thought that… maybe your personal emotions might make you resistant to working with him? Perhaps that is where your apprehension is coming from?”

  He expected her to snap, but her face didn’t change. It didn’t relax, but it also didn’t grow more aggressive. After a moment, she let go of his cloak and took a step back. “Something feels off,” she said definitively before sighing. “But maybe you’re right. I’d prefer not to rely on him, but there’s no better way into the old-city. We play it by ear and stay on guard. If I say abort, we abort, but I’m not gonna drag this out because of a dumb hunch.”

  “Don’t worry. Akil would never do anything to put me in danger and once I tell him everything you’ve done for me, he’ll extend the same protection to you.”

  “I’m glad you feel confident,” she said, setting her eyes on the distance. “Let’s get going.”

  “Whom’s dis?” the drunken Honor asked as they stepped out of the trees and onto the hunting trail. He was slumped against a tree looking like he could pass out or throw up at any second.

  “I’m-”

  “He’s a friend to the Vors,” Topal said, cutting Lovu off. “Get us to the estate and make sure the Honors there listen to us when we tell them that.”

  “Come on Topal,” Lovu said. “Even if we have him vouch for us, a Lord’s guard won’t just take him at his word. We’ll have to tell him my name eve-”

  “Okay,” the drunk grumbled, completely ignoring Lovu’s response as he turned to walk away, waving for them to follow. “C’mon. Sooner we do this, sooner I c’n get bag to the Tap.”

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  Topal leveled a gaze at Lovu and he suddenly understood her apprehension. It wasn’t long before the edges of town were visible from the trees, so Lovu pulled up his hood and stuck close behind Topal. Even if everything seemed to be peaceful, he had no intention of getting lazy this close to Akil.

  A pair of Honors manned another gate, responsible for monitoring hunters coming and going, but all it took was a single wave from their “friend” to get through without hassle.

  The sun was finally getting close to the horizon as they marched through the streets, casting them in dusk’s long shadows. Kamvor looked completely different from Lavote. Even at the outskirts, the buildings looked significantly nicer than what he had seen in the slums during their escape. Everything here was built from a mix of stone and wood with a clear purpose in mind. In Lavote, it seemed like people built what they needed when they needed it with no thought for longevity or future needs, making Kamvor look orderly in comparison. It was by no means extravagant or remotely close to the marble of the Residence and the merchants’ quarter, but it felt far more homely.

  Ahead of them, Lovu could see a towering wall, just below the estate that overlooked the city. It had a proper gate, unlike the free-standing arches at the edge of town, where they found another pair of Honors in polished silver armor. On their cloaks he saw the embroidered sigil of a river splitting around a bushel of fep – the small, juicy berries that grew in Kamvor’s vineyards. It was the sigil of Akil’s family, and no matter how much Topal insisted the Honors weren’t to be trusted, he couldn’t help but feel a surge of emotion at the sight.

  “The fuck are you doing here,” one of the Honors said as they approached, his scowl breaking through any kind of peace Lovu felt. “I thought we told you to-”

  “Shut up,” the drunk slurred, interrupting the guard. “These folk’s gotta get to the Lord.”

  That seemed to cut through their resistance as the Honors scanned them. Nothing changed as they looked Topal over, but as soon as they met Lovu’s eyes, he gently pulled back the hood enough to reveal his Wounds. When he did, their eyes went wide, quickly replaced by a smile.

  “I see,” the Honor said, stepping aside and ushering them into the old-city. “Right this way then.”

  “That’s right,” the drunk said as he shuffled past. Before Lovu and Topal could follow, the Honor held up a hand.

  “We’ll take him from here,” he said, glaring at Topal. Lovu could tell she was about to say something, but he cut in front of her before she got the chance.

  In the wildlands, she knew best how to survive. It’s time for me to offer her the same now that we’re back where I belong.

  “She is a dear friend,” he said, standing as tall as he could and smiling gently. “I understand your desire to keep your charges safe, but I will personally vouch for her good nature with Fam’e as my witness. After all she has done for me, I intend to see her treated well and wish to introduce her to Sir Vor. I can guarantee that once he hears of my journey here, he will offer her the same blessings.”

  The Honor grimaced. “Your grace, I understand this… woman has likely helped you, but I can’t just allow her to-”

  “That is enough,” Lovu said, a grip tightening on his heart as he held up a hand to stop the Honor. “If you will not allow her to pass, then we will wait here for Sir Vor to come to the gate instead. As I said, once I speak to him, I know he will allow her passage. So please, inform him of our arrival.”

  In a flash, the Honor’s grimace turned to a blank stun. It took him a few moments to recover, but when he did he turned to his companion and whispered something in her ear. With a firm nod, the other Honor ran off into the old-city.

  “If you insist, I will allow her to pass from here. I cannot guarantee the Lo- Sir Vor will allow her into the estate, but Sir Ngik will go and inform him.”

  “Thank you,” Lovu said with a deep bow. “May Fam’e grant you peace on her path.” Despite things going as smoothly as possible under the circumstances, he couldn’t help but notice the catch in the Honor’s voice.

  Did he almost call Akil “the Lord”? Did something happen to his family that would have made the title fall to him?

  A pit formed in his gut as they stepped into the old-city. It was like passing into an entirely different world. Although the buildings were all made from more or less the same materials as the new city, they felt different. The rough-hewn stone bricks were shiny and polished while the wood was painted to a smooth finish. They towered above the streets, almost as tall as the walls that surrounded them. Buildings five and six stories tall closed them in on every side with awe-inspiring oppression.

  From there, it was less than a ten-minute walk to a secondary wall at the district’s center, guarded by another pair of Honors. As they approached, the Honors stood at attention instead of treating them like threats.

  “These folk’s need ta-” the drunk started to say but was interrupted by the guards bowing to Lovu.

  “Your grace,” the one on the right said. “We received the message from the outer gate. Sir Vor has heard your plea but insists on meeting you face to face before welcoming your guest into the estate. You must understand, this violates protocol in countless ways, so he insisted.”

  “Thank you for your diligence, Sir,” Lovu said, returning the bow. Turning to Topal to ask for her opinion, he found her eyes locked with the Honor that wasn’t speaking.

  “Go ahead, Lovu,” she said without looking away. “I expected this much.”

  He wanted to protest, asking her to dissent, but if she was willing to go so far, it was probably the right move. Still, he didn’t plan on damaging her faith in him any further. “Topal, hold out your hand.”

  “What?” she asked, breaking her stare with the Honor to look at him in shock.

  “Please,” he said gently and after a prolonged silence, she did as she was told. Pulling off his mother’s ring, he pressed it into her palm and closed her fingers around it. “This ring is very precious to me, and I have no intention of reclaiming it until I have seen you fairly compensated. I’ll make sure you are seen inside post-haste.”

  After taking a moment to inspect the ring, she nodded solemnly and returned her attention to the Honor. “Very well,” Lovu said, doing the same. “Take me to see him.”

  The Honor turned and stepped through the estate’s outer gate. Behind it was a steep, stone staircase leading up the mountain. On either side were smooth tracks where carriages could be pulled up by wenches at the top. Lovu likely would have struggled to climb it before that week, but his tired legs simply pressed on without complaint. At the top of the stairs was another gate that opened into a small courtyard with the estate at its center. It was significantly larger than any single villa in the Residence, but nothing compared to the Voice’s Palace.

  The front door opened to a grand entry hall with paintings on every wall depicting generations of the Vor family. There were too many to pick out Akil, if he even had one there. Unfortunately, something else did stick out to him. The stench of stagnant rot slapped him across the face as the double-doors pulled the air from inside with them. It reminded him of the chambers used in the Pedestal for treating the sick.

  The pit of apprehension in his stomach grew into a boulder.

  The Honor guided him toward one of the side doors of the hall. “The Lord is waiting in here.”

  Lovu swallowed. Slowly, he pushed them open to reveal a grand dining hall with a figure sitting at the head of the table opposite the door. Behind it were a row of ceiling length windows that had been shattered, letting clean air flow through, washing away the smell of decay. As the sun set in the distance, Lovu saw the figure’s bandaged face, stained red with blood and a disgustingly familiar voice reached his ears.

  Crunch.

  “Ip it ishn’t my prished pig,” Tama Foyrilmang said, her voice whistling through shattered teeth barely hidden by the bandages.