Night fell on Cartela as the citizens prepared to rest, hoping for a better tomorrow. At the center of the city, the last rays of sunlight passed through the flame-shaped windows of an immense building: the Cathedral.
Inside a luxurious office on the top floor, two men were talking. One man was bald tall and bulky. The other one was so also bald but so fat that the chair he was sitting on appeared to scream out of pain.
"Is everything ready?" the fat man asked.
"Yes, your grace." the tall man answered.
"Good." the fat man said while smiling, "Just make sure the city lord won't be able to trace it back to us."
"Yes, your grace. I assure you he won't even find a single speck of dust. But he will have suspicions."
"We hold too much power. Suspicions only, cannot affect us."
The tall man nodded.
"Now go."
The bulky man stood up from his seat and walked towards the door before being interrupted.
"And, Kollar, what about the barbarian guard?" the fat man asked.
Candles' light highlighted the yellow teeth revealed by Kollar's grin.
"By the time he arrives at the scene, his honor will be lying down in a pool of blood, broken in pieces."
***
Tolbar stood in front of the gate, admiring dawn while polishing his mace. Today he wouldn't accompany Marie into the city. Instead, Toma and Leo had volunteered. At first, the barbarian had refused, but they insisted on him taking it easy for the day. Tolbar found it suspicious, however, they had a good argument.
Guarding Marie would tire out any man, eventually. Tolbar had been happy to do so, but the stress of a potential threat hidden in the constant crowds took a toll on him. Even if he enjoyed the feeling of talking to some citizens, he needed rest and calm to regain his focus.
As he was taking care of his weapon, he sensed a presence approaching him. Years in a dangerous environment would sharpen anybody's senses, provided the person survived. Since he recognized the owner of those light steps, he didn't bother to keep his guard up.
"Wow, are you add, add, addict..." Lena sighed, "such a hard word."
"Addicted to the view of dawn? Yes, I think I am." Tolbar responded with a warm smile, "Starting the morning watching this spectacular phenomenon of nature is blissful. Every time I see the night dissipate, I feel like the shadow cast by the necromancer upon us fades ever so slightly. For me, this morning light represents hope."
The little girl's blue eyes widened as she saw Tolbar in a new light. The guard hasn't spoken long sentences of his own volition since she met him. Only when asked to speak or forced by the situation would he do it. Never did he take the initiative until now.
Lena had come to like the man, despite his brutish appearance. She felt at ease around him, as if an unbreakable wall stood between her and danger. But she always wanted to see how it felt like to stand on top of those walls.
"Can you carry me on your shoulder?" Lena blurted out shamelessly.
Tolbar found the question awkward at first, but his defenses shattered at the view of two round blue eyes shining with hope.
"Of course, my little lady."
Before Lena could say "thank you," Tolbar grabbed her by the waist and placed the child on his broad shoulders. The little lady didn't even have the time to scream that the world seemed to have gotten bigger.
"Is that how an adult usually sees the world, Tolbar?" she asked.
"If most adults were as tall as I am, yes."
"Ooh... I want to grow up as tall as you then!"
"Hahaha!"
Tolbar couldn't contain his laughter when he thought about how her parents were of average heights. But who knows what might happen in the future?
"Why are you laughing?"
"I'm sorry my little lady. I was thinking about the future."
Before Lena could ask what it was, Marie's carriage stopped in front of the gate, its coachman asking for Tolbar to open it.
The barbarian brought down Lena and did what he was paid for. When the carriage passed the gate, Marie walked out to greet the guard and pick up her daughter.
"Are you ready to go my little spark?" Marie asked.
"Yes mother!" Lena said while walking in the carriage before turning in Tolbar's direction, "You are not coming?"
"Toma and Leo will escort you two today. So there is no need for me to go." Tolbar answered.
"But, I don't like those two! I don't feel safe around them!"
Leo and Toma seemed to blench at the girl's remark, which didn't escape Tolbar's glare. Sweat was pouring down their faces, making them look even more suspicious to him. Plus, their eyes. He's seen those kinds of eyes before, but he couldn't remember where.
"Enough Lena," Marie said, "Toma and Leo have always guarded us well. I do not see why today would be different."
"But mother..."
"Not buts little lady." Marie said while grabbing her child's hand, "Let's go, we're already late. Tolbar, we leave the mansion in your care."
"Yes, my lady. Please, stay safe." Tolbar said while watching the little girl silently pleading him with her round eyes.
He turned his gaze to Toma watching him from inside the carriage, and the latter immediately understood the message behind it: "Bring them back safely or I'll have your head." He gulped at the thought and nodded in his colleague's direction.
Tolbar watched the carriage leaving, thinking about the little girl whose small head popped out from a window, glaring at him with worried-filled eyes.
The barbarian has known them for almost four months now, and he had noticed something peculiar about the child. She might have some kind of gift. He was still unsure despite witnessing it multiple times.
One time when his complete focus was on the crowd surrounding Marie, he hadn't noticed a carriage and would have rammed into it if the little girl hadn't called out his name then.
Another time, when he was walking on the street with Marie and her. She warned him to walk a tad bit faster. He hadn't listened back then and feces soaked him as a beardy woman threw her pot chamber out the window.
Those kinds of examples had formed a decent pile, but Tolbar still thought of them as mere coincidences. After all, what were the chances a little redheaded girl could feel danger before it happened?
Before he could reach a conclusion, he was interrupted in his thoughts by a noble seeking entry to the lord's domain.
The man blurted out some sophistry about his name and how great his family was as Tolbar inspected his carriage. He had to keep his calm under the man's constant stream of snobbishness. But that didn't bother him as much as the man's glare.
The guard opened the gate, happy to get rid of the noble. However, as he saw the carriage moving further into the mansion, a realization struck him.
He had remembered where he had seen Toma and Leo's eyes before. They were the same as those stuck-up nobles, filled with greed and corruption.
Then the face of the little girl's appeared in his mind, struck with worries as she looked back out of the carriage's window. Doubts sparked in his heart, gnawing at his logical thinking, imploring him to run and catch up to Lena as fast as he could. But he couldn't abandon his post just on a hunch and a girl's supposed gift.
"What might be troubling you this early in the morning?"
Stix stood behind him, arms crossed behind his back, in a butler outfit. This black-haired steward was still a mystery to Tolbar, even more now that he knew the man could creep up on him.
"I was having a mental debate with myself, sir," Tolbar answered.
"And may I inquire of your trouble, Tolbar?"
"I... sir, I don't know how to explain but. I think I should catch up to lady Marie's carriage."
Stix's eyebrow went up, highlighting his puzzlement at the barbarian's answer.
"Why would that be?"
"I... had a hunch, sir, after looking into this noble's eyes."
The steward struck his pointy black beard as if thinking about a profound truth. A habit he had picked up due to a lord who had caused him too many headaches.
"Eyes, hun?", Stix declared, "Maybe you shouldn't trust your hunch then."
The barbarian looked down, ashamed of someone else finding out about his thoughts.
"Or maybe you should follow it. After all, eyes are the windows of one's soul. They can reflect one's intention... or not. But I believe sometimes it does. If you follow your hunch, please tell me now so that I can send somebody else guarding this gate."
Tolbar was about to answer when he saw Stix's complexion turn serious.
"But bear the consequences of your actions. That is all I am going to say. Now, what will you do?"
Having heard what he needed to hear, Tolbar's mind was set. Determination built up in his body, fueling his muscles with the strength needed for the possible incoming trial.
"Sir, I..."
"Sir, I..."
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