We left at first light towards the river. I did not carry much. I draped my brown cloak around my shoulders and sheathed my sword into the scabbard that was attached to my leather belt. I carried only a small pack containing a good supply of salted meat so I would not have to worry about hunting and slung four pelts, one of a wolf, two being from elk, and the last being from a large hare, over my shoulder. Alexander greeted me with a smile that morning, but it quickly faded as I informed him that he will be the one carrying our pontoon to the river.
The hike took most of the morning and Alexander and I talked little. As hard as he tried to cover it, I heard his beleaguered breath as he struggled to carry the sizable wooden boat. I could not help but smile at that, for the boy was skinny and looked weak; too weak if you asked me. Aye, he indeed stood taller than me, but he was as lanky as a skeleton. But even though I had my doubts, Alexander carried it dutifully and without protest the entire way. I thought he would burst into tears of joy when we finally made it to the river.
“Praise be to the Maiden!” He exclaimed. He let the tiny pontoon boat crash onto the river bank and immediately gulped down a generous amount of the icy water.
He had no clue of what was yet to come. “Don’t go praising her yet, boy,” I laughed. “West is that way.” I pointed upstream. “We have about fifteen leagues of paddling before we reach Cold Harbor.”
His spirits sunk and let out a large groan.
“You should be grateful,” I continued. “After the storm last night, I figured she would be angry and violent. Aye, the current is steady, but the river looks calm for the most part; it should be some good, steady paddling ahead, but it can be done as long as we stay close to the banks.”
“Great,” Alexander said bitterly.
With each stroke, the pontoon glided across the wine-dark water. We stuck to the right bank where the current was the weakest and paddled continuously as we made our way upstream. Despite the effort, I found the trip rather exciting. I did not travel to Cold Harbor often, and it seemed that any time I paddled on this small river, I would see something new. The day we left was a rare day where Ugur had decided to make his presence known by shining through the thin gray clouds. The banks were lined with flowering bushes of pink, purple, and blue, and above them laid gnarled branches of river bark trees that peeled and drooped in every direction and without pattern. The branches were still barren for the most part, but new life was beginning to grow. We passed by many a fantastic creature along the way, creatures that seemed to captivate Alexander and were completely foreign to those in the Free Cities.
“What is that?” he exclaimed as we paddled around a gentle curve of the river.
“A beaver,” I said plainly.
“It looks like a giant rat with a paddle for a tail. Is it eating that tree?”
“Don’t be foolish, boy. No animal eats trees; it is merely collecting branches so it can build its home.”
“They are carpenters?”
“Aye, and good carpenters at that. They make their homes in the river, dragging the branches underwater and constructing dams to sleep in.”
He stared at the beaver intently, observing it as it chewed through a branch. I prodded him with the butt of my paddle. “Keep paddling boy, I am not going to carry all the weight here.”
In the prime of my youth, when I served as a guard for the Marnish merchant ships, I had the strength of ten men. Any pirate that had the misfortune to go against me in battle would find a mad brute screaming obscenities and swinging his large two-handed axe violently in their direction; usually, it was the last thing they saw. However, my youth has passed and the great strength I once had has been slowly fleeting with each passing day. We had paddled nine leagues before the sun hung low in the sky and with each continuous stroke my body screamed in resistance. Though my son had hardly said anything about it, I knew he too grew tired by the day’s ordeal. Tired, ragged, and unbelievably sore, we beached our boat on a small clearing devoid of bushes and set up camp. Neither of us said a word as we ate a few strips of the meat I had brought and fell asleep quickly thereafter.
We rose the next morning to a blazoned sun that turned the sky red and the few clouds golden.
“We’ll reach Cold Harbor by the afternoon,” I said to Alexander as he relieved himself by a nearby bush. “When we reach the gates, you will let me do the talking. Agreed?”
He hesitated. “Are you sure? There is a bounty on your head after all.”
“I will do the talking,” I said bluntly; Alexander did not object.
Though we were both sore, the paddling the next day was easier, for the river was still. We paddled most of the time in silence and I had felt guilty for that. He was my son, after all, and I could hardly manage all but a few brief conversations. A part of me believed that I was no longer able to carry a conversation anymore. So, with all the effort I had, I tried to make small talk.
“How did you find me?” I asked.
He seemed surprised by that question, for he struggled to answer it for a second. I had initially assumed that he did not hear me.
After a moment, though, he shrugged. “When you grow up in taverns your entire life, you learn to listen. I was surprised how easy it was to find you when I arrived in Cold Harbor; they speak your name quite freely there. You may be a ghost to the people in the Free Cities, but I assure you that is not the case here.”
He was right, I had killed too many poor souls who thought they could earn glory and the favor of the Consul of Marnes by killing me to know that my name was on many people’s lips in Cold Harbor. It was no one’s fault in town, however. I was a son of Cold Harbor and almost everyone knew me and my face. I would not be able to go unrecognized even if I chose to disguise myself.
“Truly, it is a good thing that you changed your mind and decided to come with me,” Alexander continued. “I would imagine it is only a matter of time before Marnish soldiers wind up at the doorstep of your cabin.”
“Maybe then I would finally be done with this game,” I replied.
“It is a game you seem to be winning.”
“The bounty hunters that come after me are more like flies at this point. They are foolish men much like yourself that come to seek glory, but all they ever find is death.”
Alexander did not pause. I could not see his reaction, but I knew it all the same as he silently paddled forward. I knew where he wanted this conversation to go. It will be a long journey ahead with him, and a son has a right to know the truth about his father.
“Go on,” I said gruffly as I itched my beard. “Go ahead and ask me about it.”
“Ask you about what?” He replied.
“Don’t play games with me. We both know what it is you want to ask.”
The paddles dropped into the water and silently glided forward. A hawk shrieked in the distance.
“So, it is true then?” He asked cautiously.
“Aye, it’s true, I killed the wife of the Consul, but it is not as you think.” I paused. “Her death was an accident. I loved her.”
In the isolation of my cabin, I often felt as I was slowly becoming a ghost from the past. With each passing day, life continued, but that was not the case for me. Life stood still in that tiny cabin and in the wilderness, one month could feel like one week. And as I began to tell the story to my son, a lump in my throat began to harden, for it felt like the events had only just transpired.
“I knew the Consul when he was just a spice merchant. I respected him. He was good at his job and ran his operations with extreme efficiency. He hired my company to oversee security for all of his operations and it was a very successful partnership. I would visit Marnes frequently and he insisted I stay at his house when I did. It was there that I met her. I don’t know how to describe Natalie as anything other than beautiful, but even more alluring was her confidence and the way she commanded herself. She was a woman who knew what she wanted and would stop at nothing to take it. Of course, she was married to my employer so I dared not act on my love, and was instead forced to admire only from afar. I’ll never forget the night she came to my bedroom unexpectedly and confronted me about my admiring gaze. I was in shock when she, the most beautiful and powerful woman I had ever met, confessed her attraction towards the ugly bastard that I am.”
Alexander sniggered.
“We were both fully aware of the danger we were in and the consequences that would follow, but I guess none of that matters when you are in love; it surely did not matter to me at the time. We agreed that she would run away with me. I was due to guard a ship that was bound for Chora the next morning and so I made plans to smuggle her aboard.” I had to take a breath; I still found the story raw even five years later. “I have been hunted ever since that day. From Chora, we traveled north to Chichiro and Boudica hopping from hideout to hideout as we dodged bounty hunters that were trying to bring her back. It was in Faronte that Ascianus found us. He must have been tracking us for a while, for he had been waiting for me in my home to come back from the market for quite some time. When I opened the door, I found him holding Natalie at knife-point. She was calm as ever as Ascianus demanded me to surrender but I let my rage blur my thoughts.” I was fortunate that Alexander was in front of me, for I could not stop the tears running down my face now. The lump in my throat was as hard as a rock by now and I knew if I continued, I would find myself sobbing and lose my dignity.
“Well,” I struggled. “Let’s just say my throwing knife hit the wrong target.”
“I see,” he said. I think Alexander knew how difficult retelling that story must have been for me, so I thanked the Maiden that he did not ask for me to continue. We paddled in silence, letting the unspoken uncomfortableness settle in. I was embarrassed and angry at myself for being so vulnerable to him. A man should never let his son see him cry.
“After my mother died, I was alone and had nowhere to go, so I thought I would try myself as a bard,” He said, breaking the tension. “She had always told me what a beautiful voice I had and I even earned some coins at the Red Phoenix. I traveled throughout Cronosia and Marnes, singing for anyone that would pay to hear me, and along the way, I met my wife. She came from a small fishing village on the border of the two states. She was a daughter of the village ealdorman and at first, he was skeptical, but when he heard how I was prepared to offer more than the bride price, he agreed instantly. We were wedded the next day under the eyes of the Maiden and her stars. She was happy to follow me as I traveled the land as a bard, and if we are being honest here, she was very skilled at attracting clientele to my performances. In the purest essence of the word, we were partners. Partners in business, partners under the eyes of the Maiden, and partners in life. Then one day, we came to Bracchano and I presented myself to the Baron Ascianus. He took one look at my wife and decided to take her as his own. No one objected to this, what did it matter the wishes of a lowly bard when it came to the wishes of a Baron? And so, when I objected, he banished me from the city and threatened to kill me if I ever came back. I thought maybe her father could help me get her back, but when I told him what had transpired, he merely shrugged me off as well.” He laughed bitterly. “In a way, I think that this was the Maiden’s doing. She was the one that brought father and son together in order to finally receive justice.”
“It is not justice that I desire,” I said coldly. “I seek nothing other than revenge; to kill the man that should have died instead of my Natalie.”
For the past fifteen leagues, we had been paddling upstream on a minor tributary to reach the main branch of Redman’s River. Now, we had arrived at the fork where the tributary and the main branch met. There was little more paddling that needed to be done now, as the town laid downstream from where we were. We would be in Cold Harbor in mere hours.
********
We looked ragged and worn as we reached the gates of Cold Harbor. Our clothes were soaked by a tumultuous series of rapids that pummeled our boat as we paddled the final leg of Redman’s River. The town has grown considerably since my youth thanks to the abundance of quality timber, furs, and stone in the region that pads the pockets of the Marnish. Though the town is bleak and grim, and the folks are severe, Cold Harbor prospers and stands as a beacon of civilization amid the vast wilderness to the east and the barbaric warring states to the west. Alexander insisted on him doing the talking and after much debate, I reluctantly agreed.
“What business do you have in Cold Harbor?” One of the guards at the gate asked. He was young and squat and tried unsuccessfully to look as intimidating as possible.
“We have furs to sell,” Alexander explained and gestured to the pelts on my shoulder. “Good ones too.”
“Only a handful of furs, I see,” the young guard said with a pompous grin.
“Another shoddy hunter,” the second guard added. He was a slender man with slender cheeks and shaggy hair. “Must be from up north.”
“Aye, now let us through,” I grunted from under my hood. The guards scowled at my curtness.
Alexander laughed and slapped me on the back. “I apologize for my colleague; he does not deal with others much.”
“There’s a fee to get in,” the young guard scowled. I felt both their eyes bore into me from underneath my hood. “Two florins. Each.”
The slender guard grinned. It was an exorbitant bribe through and through. To many working men, that would have been a full day’s pay and I am sure that they believed we would not be willing to pay for such a meager number of pelts we had to sell. But to their surprise, Alexander nonchalantly pulled four florins from his bag to pay the guards and they reluctantly let us pass.
Ever since I was a boy, the stench in Cold Harbor had been horrendous. Piss and shit lined the streets and the awful smell merged with the putrid scent of the tanneries to produce a vile assault on one’s nose. The only respite was when the rains came and washed all of the excrement downhill into, the river, and out to sea. When I was younger, I had grown accustomed to the smell, as I am sure most of the townsfolk have, but I remembered it strongly as Alexander and I passed through the labyrinth of shoddy houses and shacks that housed the town’s working population.
I had always hated this town. It was shit-filled, poorly constructed, and rat-infested. My mother was a tavern wench and I never knew my father. We grew up destitute and often I would have to steal and scavenge to survive. I thanked the Maiden the day that I was pressed into service on a Marnish merchant ship, and after I had completed my contract the only reason I came back was that I felt that I could not abandon my mother. She went with the Maiden the same day I returned. Having nothing left to tie me back here, I immediately sought to leave this cursed town again, vowing to never return. But, if there was anything I knew to be true in the world, it was that fate has a certain sadistic irony to it. I would return to Cold Harbor many times throughout my life, but as I walked with Alexander through the rancid and ill-kept streets, I had again convinced myself that I would never see this town again.
I led us to the Dancing Sprite, a tavern that looked more like an unmarked house than anything else. The tavern was smoky and I needed to duck beneath a rafter to avoid hitting my head. No one looked up when we entered, but I could sense Alexander’s hesitation.
“You would do best to trust me,” I grunted.
I approached the bartender, a tall and burly man with no hair and a crooked nose.
“Dagomar,” he grunted, not bothering to look up at me.
“Erik,” I replied. “You are doing well.” It was more of a statement than a question.
“Aye, business is steady.” I placed the pelts I was carrying on his counter and he observed them before finally looking up. “You have pelts to sell?”
“I do. I have business to settle in Ibara and I seek passage on a ship to the Free Cities,” I said bluntly.
Erik looked at the pelts, and then to me, and then to Alexander who was waiting nervously by the entrance.
“Getting out, aye?” He asked.
“I reckon it’s time.”
“I reckon it is.” Erik agreed. He inspected the pelts I had laid on his counter. “I know a ship leaving tomorrow at dawn for Qarm. A trade ship carrying some good pine. I would imagine they could use some extra protection. The waters up north have been particularly dangerous as of late.”
I nodded. “Qarm is a good city.”
“It will cost more than a few pelts, however.”
“Do you remember where my cabin is?”
He stopped inspecting the pelts and gave me a quizzical look. He glanced again between me and Alexander and nodded in understanding.
“Take whatever you wish,” I continued. “There are some additional pelts there, among other things.”
Again, Erik nodded. “Alright then,” he grunted and peered towards Alexander. “You are welcome to stay here tonight. Margot has some stew on the fire cooking and I’ll fetch the ale for you and your friend.” He paused for a moment and I saw worry strewn across his face. “May Ugur grant you calm weather and a safe voyage.”
I nodded. “And may the Dark Maiden watch over you and Margot.”
I gestured to Alexander to follow and we took a seat at a table in the far corner of the tavern.
“We cannot stay here tonight,” Alexander said anxiously.
“And why is that?”
“He was the one who told me how to find you. I’m sure he has told countless others too.”
“He has,” I agreed. “I am sure of it.”
“Then why would we stay here? What is to stop him from collecting the bounty on you from the authorities while we sleep?”
“He would not do that.”
“And what makes you so certain?”
“I have known that man since I was a boy; he is a close friend.”
Alexander did not object further, but he did not believe me, for he stood guard the entire night. Knowing what I know now, I am certain that Alexander would have done anything in his power to ensure I was safely on that boat heading to Qarm at dawn. He must have been so relieved when the first rays of morning illuminated the sky and found that no one had come in the night for me.