WFGII V3

The farmhouse loomed ahead of them, only a rough outline in the pale light of dusk. Evessa could barely see her companions through the fog, the red of their inquisitorial cloaks the only thing marking them from the surrounding [[briar.]] <script> var audio= document.createElement('audio'); audio.src= 'https://www.dropbox.com/s/w1bh44vthvc33me/MemoryLowSound.mp3?dl=1'; audio.loop = true; audio.play(); </script>

Renault was past her, already approaching and walking through the open ground. She could imagine the look on his broad, lined face, the hunger and the anticipation cut in two by the scar that ran from forehead to chin. Theo was coming around from behind the house. He stepped gingerly, but was doing a poor job of not getting his boots muddy. [[Evessa thought that he still stepped like someone used to carpeted floors.]]

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They gathered at the first step up to the house. She could see that Renault and Theo were crouching over something. [[It was a bowl of milk.]]

“What’s that for, do you think?” asked Renault, looking up at Evessa. He looked questioning, [[but there was a smile hidden behind it.]]

He knew what it was of course. There was one on her doorstep all those years ago when a young, unscarred Inquisitor Renault had come to her home. Theo answered instead. “Fairy bowl,” he said picking a burr off his jacket and rolling it between his fingers. “Country folk leave out a bowl of milk - [[supposed to ward off evil creatures.”]]

Renault flipped the bowl over with one finger, its contents spilling down the steps. He stood, smacking the dried mud from his thighs. [[“Then we must be the righteous.”]]

[[He kicked down the door.]]

The farmer had been eating in front of his crackling fire, small bones on his plate and a half-empty bottle of wine on a table next to his [[chair.]]

He was an old man, portly, with tangled grey locks of hair that fell across his face. Hearing them, he stood, staring blankly as if he couldn’t believe what was happening. Renault walked purposefully towards him, pushing over the chair and small table, the chicken bones and wine falling and staining the thick carpet beneath. He pushed the old farmer, the force of it making him stumble backwards towards the fire. [[Renault pushed again, hard, pinning the old man against the mantlepiece, an arm on his neck.]]

Theo was already far on the left near a bookshelf, checking a spine, dropping a book, checking another and throwing it aside. [[With a clatter, he heaved a whole row of books onto the floor.]]

Evessa was at the desk, ripping out drawers one by one. [[She could hear Renault beginning his work.]]

“Are you alone?” asked Renault. He held his longsword with one hand, lifting it to point at the line of the stairs. “Anyone up there?” [[The farmer was silent, eyes unreadable behind his tangled mess of hair.->thesilver]]

The hanging question seemed to enrage Reanult, the thick muscles of his forearm bunching against the man’s neck. “The silver!” he shouted, pushing the old man further into the fireplace, far enough that the flames licked at his calves. Evessa had seen him go this far before, but not often. Renault was usually quick and exact with his brutality, the precision of the pain he inflicted his own kind of [[mercy.->bookcase]]

The farmer's legs were bending, nearly giving out, the fire licking at the backs of his calves likely the only thing keeping him [calves.]]

With the bookcase empty, Theo went up the creaking stairs, dagger drawn. Evessa had finished with the desk, its contents emptied and drawers laying haphazardly around her. She stepped towards Renault and the old man, maybe to say something, or maybe to join in and get him talking so they could leave. When she got to the fireplace, she could hear that the farmer had already begun to whisper, eyes [[closed.]]

Renault was breathing hard, teeth bared, and when he looked to Evessa she could see the firelight glinting in Renault's eyes and the sweat trickling along the scar on his mouth. He gave a heavy grunt and dropped the man to the side, the fabric of the farmer's breeches smoking. Renault sighed through his teeth, righted the farmer’s chair, and sat heavily, [[dropping the longsword on the ground beside him.]]

There was quiet in the room for a moment, the fire’s flickering shadows playing across the ruined sitting room. Renault spoke to Evessa without turning his head, [[“Go upstairs and help Theo. He says we'll find it there.”]]

Evessa nodded even though she knew he couldn’t see her and moved towards the staircase. She wanted to say her usual piece about mercy and justice, and how losing one’s silver could be punishment enough. But something about the way Renault sat gave her pause, completely still and seemingly relaxed, but with [[knuckles white where he gripped the arms of the chair.]]

She turned towards the stairs, and that is when she noticed the carpet. In the commotion, its corner had been bent up on itself. Underneath, inscribed on the dark wood of the floor, were black runes. There were many of them, some small, some large, their uneven edges forming the corner of a much larger square. Evessa felt her blood run cold, [[the crackling of the fire seeming to echo in her head.]]

//The yellow light from the window lit the room gently, the smoldering herbs in the bowl making the room hazy with gold. “What does this one mean?” said Evessa, small fingers tracing a line of black letters written in the curve of her mother’s elbow. Her mother’s finger met hers. “Life,” her mother said, “Or rather, the giving of life.” She moved Evessa’s finger from where it lay to another patch of letters on the skin on the back of her hand. “This one means growth. All things that live must grow.” She laughed, kissing Evessa’s forehead. “Maybe you’ll even grow tall like your mother.” “What about this one?” Evessa’s finger touched the smallest of her mother’s tattoos, just below her palm on the inside of her wrist, no bigger than the tiniest of freckles. (text-colour:black)[ [[Her mother lifted Evessa’s hand, intertwining their fingers and pulling her close.]]] // <script> var audio= document.createElement('audio'); audio.src= 'https://www.dropbox.com/s/sila6y6evi3mvx3/MemoryLostShortened.mp3?dl=1'; audio.loop = false; audio.play(); </script>

//“Death,” she said. “Its name is (text-colour:black)[ [[Death.”]]]//

Evessa looked back at Renault sitting in the chair facing the fireplace. She kept her eyes fixed on the back of his head as she slowly moved her foot forward, flipping the edge of the carpet back into place. She caught the glint of an eye from under the grey curls of the old farmer on the floor. [[She held his gaze for a moment before looking back towards the staircase.]] <script> audio.pause(); var audio= document.createElement('audio'); audio.src= 'https://www.dropbox.com/s/w1bh44vthvc33me/MemoryLowSound.mp3?dl=1'; audio.loop = false; audio.play(); </script>

Theo had come down, his eyes flicking up to hers before moving to where Renault sat. “Chest upstairs,” Theo said, “Locked.” He grinned. “But it’s heavy. If it’s full of silver, it must be a lot of silver.” His face told her nothing. [[Renault didn’t look away from the fire, raising his hand towards Evessa, motioning her away.]]

Evessa walked away from Renault and the sitting room, her back prickling as Theo went past her. [[As she made her way up the stairs, she caught one last look at Theo looking at her.]]

The farmer’s bedroom didn’t seem like it belonged here at all, transported from the sitting room of some minor noble. There were rich tapestries on the walls woven with designs of horses, foxes, hares, and hounds. A thick blue and red rug lay beneath the cleanly-made bed. There was a small bookshelf along the left wall, its leatherbound volumes spaced by intricate figurines of wood and dark metal. [[In the far corner stood a chest.]]

Kneeling before it, she could see it had a [[heavy padlock holding it closed.->1]]

[[He didn’t look angry to her, just tired, the scarred side of his face hidden in the deep shadows of the room.]]

She looked at him, shrugging, turning back to the box and running her fingers along it. “The lock… it’s an older style. It will take time.” When she turned back, he hadn’t moved, but his heavy-lidded eyes were following her coolly. He stayed silent. [[She felt a drop of sweat slide its way down her back. They stared at each other silently for a while.]]

“Theo?” she asked, breathing a sigh. Renault nodded, almost sadly. “He’s a good boy, Theo. Knows his limits.” Renault gave a little chuckle, “I think he’s afraid of you,” he said, uncrossing his arms and standing up straight, the tiredness leaving his eyes. [[“But he’s more afraid of me.”]]

The echoing in Evessa’s head had become a pounding. The room was small, decorated walls pressing in on every side, and Renault filling the open doorway. [[Her hand tickled imagining the hilt of the dagger at her hip.]]

“Let’s just leave, take the box and go, it can be that simple,” she said. She tried to sound hopeful, but it came out as pleading. [[Renault took a step into the room, eyes moving to the bookshelf, the bed, the chest, and finally coming to rest on her.]]

“The bishop was planning on burning you.” Renault spoke offhandedly, as if he were giving an account of the weather. “Root and stem, he said. Burn just the stem, the root remains to sink deeper and bloom again one day.” Renault’s hands were open and empty as he took another step inside. “I argued for you to stay, to learn with our order. I’ve seen what happens to little orphan girls when they’re left to live on the streets. I told the bishop that there was a chance for mercy and to steal a child away from the darkness, to become a beacon of light and an example of the church’s power to transform.” Renault was smiling now, and took a third step towards Evessa. “I think he liked that.” [[The pounding in her ears intensified, drums beating darkly in her head.]]

“All I asked was for a little gratitude.” His face was lit now with the moonlight from the tall window, his mouth a broken line. Renault took another step towards her, one hand lifting from his side. “A little loyalty.” At once, she flicked out her dagger, stopping it ringing as she touched it to the side of his neck. [[The moment hung there between them, the sweat on his face all beaded up, making his cheeks glow and scar stand out darkly.]]

He looked a little hurt, wounded that she could threaten him like this. “Evessa, what are you doing? Going to hurt poor old Renault?” He inched a little closer. “Renault who kept you from the streets and the gangs who would have eaten you alive?” [[“Stay back,” said Evessa. “Just stay back.”]]

He took a step in closer, the dagger staying at his throat as he pushed it forward with the meat of his neck, making her move back against the iron chest. “I saved you.” There were tears in his eyes now. “And you betray me for what? The life of this farmer? Like we haven’t robbed a hundred before him. You and me together. [[You’re going to kill me for him?”]]

Behind the tears, his eyes were blazing, the light of moon reflected in them a scorching condemnation. [[He reached for her.]]

She cut the thick artery in his neck a moment before he threw her into the wall, her head cracking off the wood. She fell heavily at his feet, dazed. For a moment, the world spun around her. Looking up, she saw him with a hand against the side of his throat, blood pouring through his fingers in uneven gushes. “You’ve killed me,” Renault said in a quiet, surprised voice, looking at his bloody hand. [[“You killed me.”]]

She was dizzy, the room a blur of blue and red. She tried to rise, but he fell on her, [[roaring.]]

He was heavy, his weight pinning her down, fighting even as one hand held the gash in his neck closed, his body bending around the [[wound.]]

Her left hand was on his face, pressing into his scar, straining and reaching for his eye. The slap he gave her was stiff-handed, rough palm opening her lip and leaving her with the taste of iron. He grabbed her left hand with both of his and twisted it, pulling it back and back and back until the bones snapped. She screamed blood in his face, cut off when both his hands locked around her [[neck.]]

Her other hand was trapped beneath a knee, and his weight was on her hips now. Her left hand flopped limply, and her struggling slowly died. She felt the world receding, a still image of it become blurry and faded. She felt like the pain was happening distantly, maybe to someone else. [[The room was quiet except for her choked snuffling and the pounding of drums in her head.]]

Renault fell off her, sideways. They both lay there, her gasping in air, him with hands still moving and reaching, the fingers grasping even though his eyes had lost their focus. [[The gush from his neck had become a trickle, and a paleness outlined the pink blotchy skin around his eyes.->connection]]

Evessa coughed, cradling her left wrist, making a noise in her throat, a rough sighing with an unhealthy wetness. She could hear something, maybe from downstairs. The words were faint, but they spoke in tune with the pulsing in her head. //“Evessa,”// they whispered, //“Evessa.”// [[Her eyes were closed as she stood, leaning against the bloody bookcase, mouthing her own name as she heard it.]]

“Evessa?” Another voice. Her eyes opened to see Theo in the doorway. He was looking at Renault’s body, a red and motionless mass. [[He looked like he was going to cry.]]

Evessa’s right hand was against the wall, left limp at her side. She was dragging her leg from where Renault had fallen on her as she made her way back toward the chest. Theo still hadn’t looked up from Renault’s body, but when she picked up the bloody dagger from the floor, his eyes widened. She could still hear the voices, pounding and thumping with the surge of her blood, but with words now, underneath. [[Words spoken in tiny black letters.]]

Theo was looking at her, at the blood on the dagger and in her teeth as she [[smiled at him.]]

He ran then, but Evessa was quick, injured as she was. He got halfway down the stairs before she leapt at him, good arm holding the dagger snaking around his knees as she lunged. [[They both landed hard, Sliding down more of the stairs, crunching into her already bruised and battered legs.]]

//“Evessa.”// She heard words again from inside her head. Messages to her, written in the blood on her palm, and in the laces of Theos boots as he struggled against her grasp, and in the flesh of his legs as she climbed him, dagger working as an ice pick. She saw it everywhere in the house now, and she wondered how she didn’t see it before. The books on the ground, the fire crackling in the hearth, even the papers that had fluttered to the ground were speaking, many voices as one echoing in her [[mind.->Theo Dagger]]

It didn’t matter that he cut her with his own dagger, blade slicing and grating against the bones of her scalp, her shoulder, her face. He dropped his little knife, trying to hold onto her arm as she cut, and stabbed, and pulled herself up so her face was right next to his. She looked at him and saw that he was crying, which was stupid because this was the perfect death for him. [[The chair had told her so.]]

When she finally pushed the dagger under his chin, through his mouth and into his brain, he looked surprised and a little disappointed. [[A young, fragile boy dressed in a uniform of black and red that hardly fit.]]

She lay on top of him, the clamour of voices fading, fading all around her until it was just the beat of her heart again. The pain came back, making her gasp and try to sob, but the cuts on her face made it too painful. [[She imagined herself dying. Falling into an abyss as it opened up beneath her.]]

The last thing she saw before passing out was the old man. The farmer was kneeling next to her, hand gently holding hers. The old man’s sleeve was pulled up, and as the world darkened and faded, she noticed the thick black letters tattooed from his wrist to his elbow, [[each design the same as the one beside it.]]

She thought back to that smokey hut, the burning sage and smell of fresh wood. (text-colour:white)[[Her mother laying in the sunlight and twining their fingers together.]]

//[[“What are your names?” she asked the letters.->Death1]]//

//[[Death, they said.->Death2]]//

//[[We are Death.->Death3]]//

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[[<img src="https://i.imgur.com/3Z0AOtV.png" style="position: absolute; left: -390px; top: -280px;" width="1920px" height="1080px">|Start]]

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[[<img src="https://i.imgur.com/FdJKhAO.png" width="800px" height="800px">|The End]]

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She could feel him breathing behind her. [[<img src="https://i.imgur.com/YdXcsHj.png" width="200px" height="200px">|Closed]] [[<img src="https://i.imgur.com/WDcqRkX.png" width="200px" height="200px">|Open]] [[<img src="https://i.imgur.com/VkzftJ5.png" width="200px" height="200px">|E1]]

It was wrought with gleaming iron and inscribed with black letters. Her hands trembled as she placed them on its surface, the metal cold to the touch. She blinked at the chest. The symbols had begun to move under her fingers, slowly, pulsing and undulating like the coils of a thousand [[snakes.->2]]

She could feel something twisting in her chest, its movement lurching with the beat of her heart and the coiling of the letters beneath her fingers. “Shh,” she said, her voice shaking, “Shhhhhhh,” putting a hand up to her mouth as if to hold something in, something that was [[trying to pour out of her.->3]]

Renault arrived quietly, standing, watching her silently from the doorway for a while. He leaned against the doorframe, arms crossed, waiting for her to turn around. Evessa could feel him there, [[his eyes on her back.->4]]

She was trembling, couldn’t even get the lockpicks out of her bag. All she could see were the designs on the chest, even when she tried shutting her eyes. [[She felt him take a slow, quiet step towards her.->5]]

[[Then another.->6]]

[[A third.->7]]

The letters on the chest surged into motion, snakes uncoiling to wriggle up her fingers, her arms, over her mouth and into her eyes. [[The room went black.->Symbol1]]

At once, she flicked out her dagger, stopping it ringing as she touched it to the side of his neck. [[The moment hung there between them, the sweat on his face all beaded up, making his cheeks glow and scar stand out darkly.]]

“Not for sale,” said Renault. A man had stopped his wagon in front of theirs. It was full of children like her, with ragged clothes and faces smeared with soot. Evessa was sitting on the back of Renault’s cart, legs dangling off the end, nibbling on a small hunk of stale [[bread.->E2]]

[[<img src="https://i.imgur.com/gMGKONK.png" width="800px" height="800px">|Symbol2]]

[[<img src="https://i.imgur.com/ChhEGLT.png" width="800px" height="800px">|Symbol3]]

[[<img src="https://i.imgur.com/Ckpnbgb.png" width="800px" height="800px">|connection]]

The wagon driver was grimy, his tattered hat almost entirely covering his eyes. “Me and Bard, we have an arrangement…” he said, wheedling. [[Renault was still, holding the reigns loosely.->E3]]

“Move your cart,” he said, simply. He spoke slowly, calmly. The same voice he had used on her father when he tried to block the door. [[There was not an ounce of kindness in that voice.->E4]]

Renault surged forward, grabbing the hilt of his heavy grey longsword and drawing it half out and stopping. [[Evessa could tell he liked the way the man had flinched.->E5]]

The wagon driver’s face clouded with anger, but his eyes were on the length of gleaming steel at Renault’s side. He spit on the ground. “Bard will hear about this,” he said, walking back to his wagon. Renault’s eyes followed the man as he walked away, hand never leaving his sword’s hilt. [[“He will.”->E6]]

As the cart rolled away, she looked at the children. She could see the shapes of their bones under their shirts and the way all of their eyes followed her little piece of bread. [[She put the whole thing in her mouth and started crunching.->E6.1]]

There was another boy there already with streaky blonde hair. He was wearing a filthy jacket that might once have been blue and was scraping off bits of dried mud, lifting each to his eye before dropping them on the floor. “Meet your new brother,” said Renault. [[“Theo.”->E8]]

The boy looked up for a moment, and then back down to his muddy jacket. Evessa sat on a big wooden chair near the boy, her legs not quite reaching the ground. Renault sat in front of them, pulling out a little red book and dipped a quill in ink on the table. Evessa could feel the boy’s little body breathing rapidly. [[He was holding his own hands tight and tense in his lap.->E9]]

Renault put the quill to the page. [[“Evessa and Theo,”->E10]] he said, drawing out each name as he wrote.

When he was finished, he lifted it, showing the page to the two children. “You are both acolytes with the inquisition now, see?” Renault was smiling, but when she looked up at him, all she could imagine was Renault in his spotless red cloak opening her door. The way he had looked at her family like they were insects. [[He had hit her mother so hard Evessa had felt it through the floor.->E11]]

She looked at the squiggles on the page. She wanted to tell him that they weren’t her, that she was more than some black lines in a red book. He saw the way she was looking at it. Renault lowered the book and put her hand on the page, moving her pointer finger so [[it touched the first set of lines.->E12]]

“This,” he said, “is the letter ‘[[E->connection]]’.”

When they got to the cloisters, it was nearly dark. [[Renault walked her into her room.->E7]]