Chapter 14

  Leo

  The rain had cleansed the air after the funeral ended. A cool breeze blew away the clouds, leaving behind clear skies and the lingering smell of rain. Leo, Karl, and Nicco filled the graves with dirt and exchanged stories of their parents. Diego brought them a pair of lanterns as night came.

  “Allie,” Reinhard said, “it’s getting late and we need to discuss the Cipher Scroll.”

  “Let’s go inside,” Allie said.

  Reinhard hesitated. “Go on Uncle,” Leo said. “We can finish burying them.”

  Diego took a lantern and escorted Reinhard and Alessandra back to the villa.

  Once they finished filling in the graves, Leo hoisted a shovel over each shoulder. Karl did the same.

  Nicco walked over and picked up the holy book--Tellius Thesis. Then he picked up the sword Leo had discarded. Nicco’s forehead wrinkled. “Come look at this sword.”

  Karl approached. Curiosity commanded Leo as well.

  Karl shook his head. “Needs sharpening.”

  “It does,” Nicco said, “but look at the smith’s marking.”

  The steel glinted off the lantern light. Near the base of the blade, a marking resembled a kite shield halved down the middle. The letters K.T. straddle each side of the line. Leo scratched his head. “What am I looking at here?”

  “I know this mark,” Nicco said. “It belongs to a smith in service to the Order of Tellius, or Knights Tellius, as indicated here.” Nicco pointed toward each letter in turn. “Priest, bless their weapons.”

  So despite their earlier argument, perhaps the Tellisium Church was involved. The web continued to grow. “I thought you said the church was honorable, that they--”

  “You were right,” Nicco acknowledged.

  “You’re actually agreeing with me?”

  Nicco flipped the hilt of the sword, examining it further. “To an extent.”

  “How so?” Karl asked. Leo shared Karl’s sentiment.

  “The Black Blades have a unique founding history. The company leader, Captain Bastian Bach, and most of the company lieutenants, are disgraced men who left the Order of Tellius. That, or the church banished them, depends on who you ask.” Nicco gestured with his hand. “Regardless of their departure, some of them used to be knights.”

  “Why didn’t you mention this before?” Karl asked.

  Nicco shrugged. “I didn’t think it was relevant.”

  “Well, it seems fucking relevant now.”

  Leo’s eyes narrowed. With a mixture of courteous perplexity, Leo asked, “So whoever we killed along the highway used to be a knight in the Order of Tellius?”

  “Men with no honor don’t belong in such an esteemed institution,” Nicco answered. “Bastian and those men started the company and took the motto: Enemy of Religion, Enemy of Revenge, Enemy of Remorse.”

  “How fitting.” Leo scowled.

  “Indeed,” Nicco said. “We take the sword and tattooed hand to Bastian and demand--”

  “Persuade,” Leo corrected.

  “Persuade,” Nicco agreed. “We tell him we know his company was contracted and one of his lieutenants led the brigands.”

  “The list grows shorter. We only need to find him.” Leo looked to the horizon and watched the last glow of red radiance fade.

  “Let’s just hope Bastian is in Avictfell,” Nicco said with a clenched jaw. “My thirst for revenge is eager to be quenched.” Nicco’s response seemed genuine. Leo he couldn’t recall a single instance where he had lied. The opposite was true. He was often brutally honest to a fault.

  “Have you dealt with the Order of Tellius before?” Karl asked.

  “No, but as a young boy, I was fond of them. I remember my blood father telling me stories of brave and honorable knights. He taught me of the Order of Tellius, among others.”

  “Others?” Karl asked.

  “The Primordial Knights, the Gryphon Knights,--”

  “You had to be no more than five,” Leo said. Nicco never spoke of his blood parents. They had died so long ago.

  “Yes,” Nicco said. “After they died, I read all I could about the various orders and wanted to join an Order even more. I turned to stories of mercenaries, brigands, and corsairs. As Lorenzo said, from the stories, the Order of Tellius was the most honorable.”

  “Why didn’t you ever join?”

  Nicco thought for a moment. “The opportunity never really presented itself. With Reinhard as my godfather, and Otto and Sophia as adopted parents, I didn’t really have any Tellisium parents. I suppose Theogonists wouldn’t push their adopted son to follow a different faith.”

  Leo ignored the fact that his father had converted. “You never consider the Primordial Knights?”

  “They aren’t a holy order of Tellisium. Who would join an order of a different faith?”

  “Otto converted shortly after their death. Why not join then?” Karl pointed out. Leo’s grip tightened around the shovel handle. Leo wished Karl would let the matter die along with his father.

  “I was too young, heir to my house, and a proper noble with a landed title. Few landed knights or lords join holy orders.”

  “But it’s not unheard of, and with parents of both faiths, you could choose either order.”

  “True, but you forget the Inquisition. They would hunt down heretics.”

  Leo laughed in disbelief. “The Inquisition isn’t a holy order.”

  “Not true,” Nicco said. “The Inquisition is a holy order of Tellisium, only not the honorable kind other orders are usually associated with.”

  “A fair assumption,” Karl said. “I doubt we could find another person who believes such.”

  “It’s church politics,” Nicco dismissed with a wave. “The Inquisition Conclave, the knight’s orders, and the College of Lectors all have their internal hierarchy to care about.”

  Leo had a sudden thought. “If the Inquisition is a holy order, as you say, and this smith supplies the Knights Tellius, could that also include the Inquisition?”

  Nicco rubbed his chin. “It’s possible, I suppose. I don’t know the intricacies of armament procedures within the church.”

  “If the church is going to contract a smith to forge the Knights Tellius’ swords, I don’t see why they would exclude the Inquisition.”

  “Do you think the Inquisition murdered our parents?” Nicco asked.

  Leo took the sword in hand. “Their reputation makes it more likely than a knight.”

  “Former knight,” Nicco corrected. “Remember, they were cast out of the order.”

  “Or left,” Karl added. “As you said, depends on who you ask.”

  Nicco picked up a few damp pages and laid them on the disfigured book. “Assuming this is true, why would the Inquisition want to kill our parents?”

  “I don’t know,” Leo said, searching the blade for any further clues. “I’m merely considering the evidence.”

  “Circumstantial at best,” Karl said. “You’re overthinking it. Most crimes are not some elaborate scheme or conspiracy. More likely, some highway bandits chanced upon a coach in the night and attacked. That, or some scoundrel, simply bought this sword at a market.”

  “Possibly,” Nicco agreed. “But what about Alessandra? They attacked her the same night.”

  “A young lady on the road alone at night.” Karl shook his head. “Easy prey, except she wasn’t. Besides, she said they didn’t wear all black like the mercenaries you two encountered.”

  “True,” Leo agreed. “But agents of the Inquisition like to wear normal clothes. They want to be inconspicuous and observe.”

  Karl shook his head. “I don’t know. It all seems too grand. Far more likely, two easy targets presented themselves and bandits took the opportunity that fell in their lap.”

  “Unless,” Leo said, holding up a finger, “as Uncle said, they were two unaffiliated groups.”

  Karl scoffed. “So now we have two conspiracies with two separate factions, both of whom attacked simultaneously along the same road.”

  Leo’s stomach growled. “Unless both were hired by a single conspirator. But we won’t know anything until we interrogate our suspects. Let’s go inside. It’s well past dark and I’m hungry.” Leo looked upward at the heavens above. Thousands upon thousands of stars painted the violet night sky. With his parent’s death, two more stars had been added. Solace warmed him as he thought of his parents, their Essence twinkling together. “Beautiful night.” His brothers looked up. A shooting star raced across the night sky. “Did you see that?”

  “Fallen star,” Nicco said. “The All-Father banishes another corrupted Essence from the heavens. Forsaken as a specter to wander the earth, in search of redemption to return to heaven.” He made the Sign of the Diamond in front of his chest and pressed outward toward the night sky. Nicco had offered a piece of his Essence as a blessing to aid the specter. Leo and Karl made no such offering.

  This novel is published on a different platform. Support the original author by finding the official source.

  Leo had witnessed Nicco perform the blessing many times before, but never towards a forsaken specter. “Why do you bless a specter?”

  “With every fallen star, the Void’s darkness expands. I’d prefer the heavens expand, so I bless the specter, hoping it will find redemption.”

  “Seems idealistic,” Leo said. Nicco said nothing, and the brothers returned to the villa.

  Inside the foyer, a split staircase curved upward. An exquisite chandelier hung overhead. A scale model ship of the Twilights Shadow sat on a table encased in glass. The Twilights Shadow had been Markus’ brigantine he had plundered the Enthos Sea with. A black hull with red sails that favor attacking at dawn or dusk with the sun at its back.

  “Master Medistein,” Diego said as Leo ascended the stairs. “Master Reinhard and Lady Alessandra asked to speak to you in your father’s office.”

  “Thank you, Diego.” Leo went into Otto’s office. Reinhard had painted and gifted the canvas of Otto that hung behind the desk. Reinhard and Alessandra sat across from the desk. He walked past them and peered out the window at twinkling stars, hoping to clear his mind. “Diego said you wanted to speak with me.”

  “Yes,” Reinhard said. “You are master of this house now. There are certain affairs for you to review.”

  I’m the master of my house. The responsibility hadn’t quite hit him until now. “The only affair I care about is finding out who murdered my parents.”

  “There will be time to investigate the murder of your parents. You must temper these extravagances and your relentless pursuit of the fairer sex. As the master of the house, it’s expected you to marry.” Bianca. He pictured her beauty and longed for her gentle touch and banter. “...And there is still the matter of the Ricci estate to address with the Karvyeans,” Reinhard finished. Leo had dazed off for a moment.

  “Enough about the Ricci estate,” Leo spat. “The Grand Vicar agreed, and we made payment.”

  “You must appease the imperial family as well, or we will have far greater problems.”

  “The Karyveans can wait--”

  “--If you do that, you will let house Medistein fall to ruin,” Reinhard finished.

  Otto kept meticulous records. Branch-designated ledgers for the Medistein Bank and others by region. Each of those had the lords and burghers who owed him money. Leo found and opened the master ledger and skimmed the pages. The levels of debt were astounding. If he called all the debts of the lords except the imperial families, it would still only equal half of the Ricci estate, even if they all promptly paid.

  Further examination of the books led to the discovery of the cause. Excessive lending to the crown--the Karvyeans. Emperor Viktor had incurred staggering amounts of debt. Leo wondered how the crown hadn’t gone bankrupt. Perhaps they would, hence the need for the Ricci estate. The Medistein Bank extended vast sums of credit to the Tellisium Church as well. Financing the Great Expeditions had pushed House Medistein close to bankruptcy. The cost of war. Otto had mentioned Leo needing to temper his extravagant spending, but Leo concluded it would have made little difference. No wonder Otto had been so stressed. If either the crown or church defaulted on their debt, House Medistein would fall into ruin. Next Leo found the sums totaling the cost of the Medistein Tower. An entire page of expenses with an asterisk and a note on the bottom. The note read see Appendix: Medistein Tower of Tarona.

  Leo thumbed through the back to the Appendix. Over a dozen pages of detailed expenses. The materials alone were excessive. Lumber, stone, and marble. Other more exorbitant items of gold, silver, glass, and iron. The labor cost for the projects: stonemasons, carpenters, blacksmiths, goldsmiths, plumbers, engineers, glaziers, painters, and sculptors. He stopped when he read the cost of the furnishings and luxuries. Lines and lines continued. Over three hundred thousand tarins in total.

  He flipped to the last entry. The total summed just under a million tarins, including the outstanding debt to the crown and church. His father had financed the ambitions of others. The military might of the crown. The faith of the church, and his own ambitious construction project.

  Further analysis would need to be done, but Leo couldn’t imagine how his father had balanced such vast accounts. Or rather, let them become so heavily leveraged. They were wealthy, yet their wealth proved fictitious, written only in ledgers.

  “Our house’s wealth is a lie,” he whispered to himself. “My pride and ambition over-leveraged our books. I forced my father to deal with the church and crown. They were the only clients large enough to support my goal.”

  “Otto’s goal as well,” Reinhard said. “Becoming the dominant financier of the crown and church gave him significant influence; influence he hoped to use and rise into the nobility.”

  “The old nobility would never accept him,” Alessandra said. “I told him as much.”

  “This problem cannot be solved,” Leo said. “It’s too late.”

  “Find a way,” Alessandra said.

  Leo shook his head. “I don’t even know where to start.”

  “At the beginning,” Reinhard said, amused.

  For once, Leo didn’t see the humor. “Uncle, this is too much. It’s far too big. We are a house of cards. A little wind and it’ll crumble. Now I understand Father’s urgency. I mistook him as being his usual stressed self, but had I known, had we known--”

  “I knew,” Reinhard said.

  “Why didn’t you tell me?”

  “Your father insisted he could handle it. He was a proud man.”

  “Why? I don’t understand. Why do it all?”

  Reinhard ran his finger along the desk. “Why do men ever strive for greatness?”

  “To be remembered,” Leo answered.

  Reinhard shook his head. “Power. Gold is power, commerce is power. Ideologies, knowledge, and religion are all power. Military might is power. Symbols are power. Politics and war are often used to achieve that power. But why labor so hard for something? In pursuit of that power, do we not exhaust our wealth, question our faith, and lose loved ones in wars? What price is too much?”

  “I knew Father wanted to become a noble, but this is too high a price. This will ruin us. This will ruin Tarona. We’ll be banished at best, likely hung. Then the debt crisis will fall on the church and crown. It will force them to raise taxes, the people will riot in the streets. Lords will have to choose between killing their people or joining the rebellion. It will be civil war.” Leo rubbed his temples. “Why is every ruler in our history always ambitious, or mad, or tyrannical, or an idiot?”

  “Power corrupts,” Reinhard reasoned.

  “Why do content men never become rulers?” Leo asked.

  “Your question answers itself,” Reinhard said.

  “Did it corrupt Otto?”

  Reinhard’s lips opened. He hesitated, apparently gathering his thoughts, before carefully speaking. “Otto was ambitious,” Reinhard said. “He was a skilled negotiator and a master of Essemancy. He made many friends and twice as many enemies. As men in his position often do. Something I fear you will soon discover.”

  “Do you ever stop with the sage wisdom?”

  “My wisdom is your sarcasm.” Mischief sparkled in Reinhard’s eyes.

  “Gods help me.” Leo’s expression turned serious.

  “May I offer a suggestion?” Reinhard asked. Leo’s brow rose in anticipation. “Have Alessandra message the Karvyeans, explaining the recent events. And as for my sage wisdom--”

  “Please don’t.”

  “Very well, something simple. Don’t reveal what hasn’t been asked.”

  “That’s your wisdom?” Leo asked in amazement. “Sixty-five years and that’s the best you have. To lie.”

  Reinhard shrugged. “Use your strengths. Besides, your grandfather wasn’t the only rogue in the family.” Leo couldn’t believe what he was hearing. He laughed because there was no other appropriate response. “Speaking of Markus, there is something you need to know concerning the runes he stole from the Julk.” Reinhard looked to Alessandra with an arched bushy gray brow. “Forgive me, dear, but some matters only the master of the house should know.”

  “Then how is it, you know?”

  “Because Markus and Otto both told me,” Reinhard said.

  “Perhaps a bit of the old pirate luck smiles on us after all. This secret could have died with Otto.”

  “Indeed,” Reinhard agreed. “And it’s the key to our house’s rapid ascension in fame and wealth.”

  “Essemancy?” Leo asked. Reinhard nodded. “If it concerns Essemancy, I want Alessandra to hear it as well.”

  “You may want to hear it first before making such a decision.”

  Leo looked at Alessandra. She had always been loyal, stubbornly so at times. He had to trust her. “Alessandra is family. I trust her. Since you and Father knew the secret, it’s best we both know it, too. In case...”

  “Spoken like a man of great wisdom,” Reinhard said.

  “If I’m to untangle this mess, I’ll need all the help I can get. Besides,” Leo smirked, “she is the second smartest of the four of us.”

  “Smartest,” Alessandra corrected with a raised brow.

  “If you say so,” Leo said.

  “I know so. As does Uncle.”

  Reinhard held his hands up with a wry grin. They all laughed and Leo felt some of the sorrow leave him. It felt good for a change.

  Reinhard stood, peered down the hall, and closed the door. He faced them and stroked his beard. “Where to begin?”

  “At the beginning,” Leo said, amused.

  Grinning, Reinhard shook his finger. “When Markus returned from Sojun, he had maps with salt mine locations, a few scrolls, gold aplenty, and even some captives. Ample wealth for a luxurious life. He recognized an opportunity and possessed the precious Traessyean Codex stolen from a monolith. This Codex is unique. Its knowledge not even found within the Arites Academy library. The Codex has hundreds of runes upon it, many of which we cannot translate. I’m the only person who lives that has seen it in its entirety.”

  “Where is this Codex?” Leo asked.

  Reinhard hesitated. “With this knowledge, you each will carry a great responsibility.” Leo nodded.

  “I understand, uncle,” Alessandra said.

  “It was here,” Reinhard said, tapping the desk, “but after Medistein Towers’ completion, Otto had the Codex transported to Tarona, where it lies within his office strongbox.”

  “We should review it at once,” Leo said. “Hopefully, we can uncover new runes of power.”

  “Perhaps you two can decipher what Otto and I could not. I’ve read over it a hundred times and deciphered all I can. Otto and I have transcribed segregated portions of it to other trusted Essemancers, Arch Magus Sabine, Allie, Salvatore, Svetlana, my late wife Suna, and a handful more perhaps.

  “So that’s why at the academy we were always getting pieces of paper with strange new runes,” Alessandra concluded with a sparkle in her eyes. Reinhard nodded. “I’ll be back.” She darted from the room and slammed the door.

  Leo looked to Reinhard, who just shrugged.

  “Should we wait for her or...”

  “This is a good time to practice your patience,” Reinhard said. They sat and waited for a minute.

  “Whose got time for that?”

  Reinhard chortled.

  The door burst open and Alessandra held a piece of dirty paper aloft. “This is how I did it!”

  “Did what?” Leo asked, shaking his hands in the air exaggeration, matching her enthusiasm.

  Allie either didn’t care or didn’t pick up on the joke--likely the former. “The lightning! It wasn’t the Cipher Scroll. As Reinhard said, only known runes are contained on the Cipher Scroll. This lightning power was unknown. After I left the academy, I folded the paper up and slipped it inside my glove. I had tried for months to decipher it. Only after father...” she paused, grief stole a bit of her excitement. “Father gave me a bag of black salts in Avictfell before he departed.”

  “So that is how you cast it,” Reinhard said.

  “I deciphered a rune,” Alessandra said with melancholy.

  “After all this time, I thought you would be more excited,” Leo said.

  “I am. But this was Father’s last gift to me. And I killed--”

  “He saved your life,” Reinhard said. “Otto and I were always vigilant in protecting this secret. We never revealed more than a couple of runes at a time, and only to the most brilliant minds. Over time, as we deciphered runes, we transcribed them to the Cipher Scroll. A list of all the known Traessyean runes. We wanted to bring about Enlightenment. And we did, for a time at least. But when my wife Suna died, our progress slowed considerably.”

  “She deciphered most of them?” Leo asked.

  “Yes,” Reinhard said with a nod.

  “Given Markus stole the Codex from her lands, it is fair to assume she may have had more familiarity with the ancient Traessyean runes,” Alessandra said.

  “We can add it to the Cipher Scroll,” Leo said. Alessandra frowned at the suggestion. “What?”

  “I killed a man,” she said somberly. “This power doesn’t Enlighten anyone--”

  “On the contrary, it seems to have done just that,” Leo smirked.

  Alessandra frowned and crossed her arms. “This rune,” Alessandra stammered, “this power, there is no peaceful application, it will only bring death. That is something I cannot support.”

  “Don’t be ridiculous,” Leo said. “This rune will catapult our house to the pinnacle of power.”

  “And when others learn of its existence?”

  “We won’t tell them,” Leo reasoned. “Besides,” he held a finger up, “you don’t even know exactly how you cast it. You said so yourself.”

  Alessandra shook her head. “The truth always finds a way of getting out.”

  “Give it here,” Leo said and stood. Alessandra pulled the paper away from his reach.

  Leo flustered and snatched at the paper, but he was too slow. Alessandra dashed away. Leo pursued. Allie ran toward the fireplace and held the paper above the flames. Leo froze. “Don’t,” he said, shaking his head.

  “Your reaction is the exact reason this should remain secret,” Alessandra said. “Men only crave power.”

  “Our house is at stake! Our parents were murdered! You nearly as well! Or have you forgotten?”

  “Leo,” Reinhard said. He didn’t look. His eyes focused on the paper above the flames. “Not minutes ago, you said you trusted her. You wanted her to hear the truth. This decision you both should agree on.”

  “When Markus died, you willingly shared this power with Otto?” Leo asked, turning to his uncle. Leo searched his eyes, looking for wisdom.

  Reinhard nodded. “With great--”

  “Don’t fucking say it,” Leo said.

  “Very well,” Reinhard said. “How about this? At a certain point in life, only happiness and contentment matter.”

  Leo considered the words. Looked back to the paper, the fire, and met Alessandra’s green eyes. The fire’s light reflected in them.

  “Not for me,” Leo said and darted forward.

  Alessandra threw the paper into the fire.

  “Nooo!” Leo cried. He reached forward, desperate to retrieve the burning paper. The edges blacked and curled. Alessandra tackled him. “Get off!”

  She did, but it was too late. The paper had burned to ashes.

  “What have you done?”

  Alessandra showed no remorse or regret. “What you must do if you intend to lead this house.” Alessandra said, and she left the room.